I'm back again with another oneshot courtesy of shimadas' request on Archive of Our Own! Let's travel back in time for a little bit to visit SoSoo once more. I'm offically changing this to just be oneshots about SoSoo (modern and historical), because there have been prompts asking for certain historical settings, so here we are :) . Hope you guys enjoy, and as always, feel free to leave prompts; any and all are welcome. <3

Stretching out her legs, Hae Soo sits down on a rock shaded by the canopy of the swaying leaves overhead.

The sun shone brightly, bouncing off the green leaves while the flowers were in full bloom at her feet. What a wonderful time spring was.

Soo was more than thankful that court ladies had more airy clothes compared to others of the royal court.

Leaning her head back against the tree trunk, she basks in the slight sliver of light that managed to shine through in between the leaves and onto her face.

A shadow suddenly blocks the sun, and when she opens her eyes, she sees the thirteenth prince, Baek Ah.

"Wangjanim." Soo stands up to bow.

"Ah, there's no need. We're friends. No one's around to care anyways," Baek Ah dismisses with a wave of his hand.

"I'm here, though." Wang So comes out of nowhere, shocking Hae Soo, but not Baek Ah.

Oh that's right. I forgot he spends his afternoons napping here instead of his grand, princely chamber. 

"Hyung! Great, now I don't have to look for you. The two people I wanted to see are here." Baek Ah gestures to the two bewildered people in front of him.

"What do you need us for?" Turning on Soo, he says, "And no bow for me?"

"I know how much you favor me. No bows, Wangjanim." Soo smiles, earning a scoff from So. Baek Ah watches intently at the scene playing out in front of him.

"I guess the two people I needed to see only want to see each other." Baek Ah's joke results in an awkward cough from Soo, and So dusting off nonexistent dirt on his clothes.

The thirteenth Prince tries to hide his laugh, but fails to keep the smirk off his face, which doesn't go unnoticed by his brother.

"Anywaysssss..." Baek Ah drags out the words. "I feel like we're all close, but we never are together—all three of us—to get to know each other better."

"I'm not really allowed to be around you guys unless I want trouble to head my way," Soo speaks up, a bit bitterly.

"That's okay. No one has to know, and we definitely won't tell. Especially not to Oh Sanggung." Baek Ah states matter-of-factly. So nods in agreement.

I guess these brothers are more alike than I thought.

"Ok. Alright," Soo sighs, giving up. "What do you want to do to—she puts up air quotes—"to get to know each other better?"

The thirteenth and fourth prince look at her weirdly, trying to mimic her hand movements. Confused, Baek Ah and So look back and forth at each other.

"What is this?" So asks, trying—but failing—to do air quotes.

Shoot. This is a thousand years too early. 

"Uh...my hands are cramped from doing the laundry." She nods to try and validate her—bad—lie.

"Isn't that the water maids' job?" Baek Ah had to go and ask.

"I meant...from holding up trays. Yes, for the teacups that go on the tray."

Nice going Soo, you sure saved yourself from that, she thinks sarcastically.

"Okay?" Baek Ah was even more confused, but she was glad he let the matter drop.

"We really need to teach you some fighting skills to give you strength if you can barely hold up a tray." That would've been slightly insulting had So not sounded so caring.

"We're wasting time now." Baek Ah gestures for them to sit.

So sits on another rock next to her, and even when their shoulders brushed, Soo didn't move.

Baek Ah stood in front of them, almost as if he was giving a speech.

"Let's show each other our talents!" The thirteenth prince claps by himself.

"Aw hyung!" He whines to his older brother. "You're supposed to be on my side. Plus, this will be fun!"

His second-youngest brother looked so excited, he couldn't say no to that face. "I'll do it, but are you sure Soo even has any talents?"

Whack. 

Her attempt at trying to hit him fails as Soo's knuckle only comes in contact with arm muscle.

Maybe I do need more muscles. 

She squeezes her arm and then So's.

"Just what are you doing now?" So asks, half shocked, half amused.

"Why are you feeling my brother's arm?" Baek Ah was very flabbergasted.

Snapping out of it, Hae Soo realizes what she had done. Both princes were still looking at her.

Blushing, she fumbles to retract her hand. "Stronger than I thought," is all she can say.

"That's because I do more than you. I can ride horses and fight well."  

Just the fact alone that he could stay on a horse without falling off was worthy of appraise enough to Soo. Her pride kept her from saying so, though.

"See?" Baek Ah spreads his arms to the sky. "We're bonding." He never looked happier.

Soo laughs. "Tell us your talent then."

Baek Ah points to the musical instrument on his back.

"I can play instruments, as well as draw pretty decently, if I do say so myself. More artistic than princely, you can say."

"Play us a song," So encourages.

Soo claps softly, and Baek Ah gives in. Sitting on the warm, soft grass, he begins to pluck the strings, hands moving delicately and accurately from experience.

So suddenly shifts beside her. Looking over, she sees him lean his head against the tree—exactly as she had done earlier—with his arms crossed across his chest comfortably.

The musical tune drifts over the expanse of the grassy area, calming the three inhabitants currently sitting underneath the dancing sunlight.

A content smile spreads over So's face. Soo had been watching his expression the whole time, grinning at his happiness—something that she doesn't see often.

The wind was blowing his hair into his face, and Soo wanted so badly to brush it away, but decides against it, not knowing if he was awake or asleep.

She copies So's position and lets the music flow through her.

Baek Ah sure was right about this being what he was good at.

"BAEK AHHHHH!"

"HYUNGGGGG!"

A grotesque sound comes from the once beautiful sounding instrument.

Snapping her eyes open, she sees Baek Ah looking around. Finally, realization washes over his face.

"I forgot. I promised Eun hyung and Jung that I would help keep score while they compete against Soon Deok."

"Why do I have a feeling like Soon Deok will win?"

"That's because she always does," Baek Ah smiles, packing up his things.

"Hyun—" He cuts off his sentence upon seeing So.

Lowering his voice, he points at his brother. "He's asleep, so stay with him for me. I have to go." With a wave, the thirteenth prince exits the vicinity, as the shouts of Eun and Jung only get louder by the minute.

~~~

Feeling something on his face, So's first instinct was to reach out and grab it.

"Omo!"

"Soo?"

He had pulled too hard, and she was now on the edge of the rock, face close to his and staring down with wide eyes.

"What were you doing?" He didn't let her wrist go.

"Nothing." Soo tries to move back, but So pulls her even closer while staring at her, trying to gauge her honesty.

"Wajangnim...my wrist hurts." He lets go then, apologizing and looking worried at the same time.

Earlier Soo had tried to push So's hair back like she had wanted to do earlier. Since Baek Ah was no longer there to misunderstand, Soo went for it. She definitely did not expect the fourth prince to react so quick on reflex alone.

The real reason she wanted him to let go was because her heart was beating weirdly without reason. She couldn't understand why.

Her wrist was still tingling from where he held it.

"Where's Baek Ah?" So looks around, finally noticing that their prior trio had been reduced to two people.

Glad for the subject change, Hae Soo says, "He had to go help Eun and Jung. Something about squaring off with Soon Deok."

So chuckles. "If General Park trained me this well, his daughter could bring them down with a finger."

"Look at you—what a show off," Soo jokes.

So's side smile appears, and despite herself, Hae Soo thought he looked cute that way.

Wait, what? Snap out of it, Hae Soo! 

"You shouldn't be one to talk. I haven't seen your talent yet," So says pointedly.

Thinking hard, Hae Soo racks her brain.

"I got it!"

Without thinking, she grabs So's hand on instinct and pulls him towards the Damiwon. She feels him holding onto her hand tighter, and knows he was willing to follow by the sound of his footsteps crunching on the grass.  

Hae Soo pushes Lady Oh's warning to not lead So on if she didn't feel the same way to the back of her mind.

Maybe her heart was starting to waver and head towards him.

~~~

"Here we are!" Hae Soo throws open the doors to her room.

"Where are we?" So eyes the small space curiously.

"My room," Hae Soo replies as if it was no big deal.

At that, So turns to leave before Hae Soo grabs his arm and drags him back in.

“If you were afraid of being around us princes, this shouldn’t have even crossed your mind.” So raps Soo on the forehead playfully.

Holding a hand to her head, she states, "I need paper to show you my talent, and this is the only place I knew that was empty and also had everything I was looking for."

Soo gestures for him to sit while she slides the door back into place, closing off the room from any prying eyes that were bound to start rumors.

Sitting across from So at her small wooden table, she pulls out several sheets of paper, ink, and a few brushes.

"Are you trying to teach a Prince calligraphy?"

Hae Soo glares at him.

"No, I'm teaching you my calligraphy."

"What's the difference?"

Just about a thousand years or about ten centuries, give or take. 

"It'll be something you've never seen before."

She starts writing out all the Hangul characters—consonants and vowels in neat rows.

So looked on, amazed as Soo wrote neatly and efficiently, an air of confidence about her.

"Where did you learn such writing?" So flips the finished paper around and around, clearly intrigued.

"I learned when I was really young...in my hometown that's very far from here."

"Interesting. These look so simplistic compared to the complicated ones I had to learn. What is it called?"

"Hangul. Would you like me to teach you?"

So looked up, a big grin spread across his face.

"If you would like too, then I would love to learn, Soo-ya."

"In return, I want you to help me improve my calligraphy in writing Chinese characters."

"Of course I will."

"Ok, let's start with your name..."

“Why does it mean cow?” So looked very displeased.

Giggling, she replies with, “There are other meanings too, your Highness…”

They pass time quickly going back and forth—Hae Soo demonstrating and Wang So executing what he was taught.

"Wow. You learned very fast, Wangjanim."

Indeed So did. He was now writing Hangul easily, almost as if he had learned straight from the royal teachers themselves as a young prince.

"I think that's enough for me today. Now, I can teach you another thing that I'm good at."

Grabbing a new sheet of paper, So dips his brush into the ink. Placing the brush in his right hand, his left hand holds up the sleeve of his writing hand so as not to get ink on it, or mess up the writing.

Slowly afterwards, a poem begins to form. At least, Hae Soo thought it was a poem from the very minimal knowledge she had of Chinese characters.

"There." So turns the paper so that it faced her.

Concentrating, Soo could read it in full, although she didn't understand the meaning.

"When the water has run dry, sit and watch for the rising clouds."

"This is beyond beautiful. What does it mean?"

"When you can see into my heart, you'll understand the meaning."

Still not quite comprehending, Soo just nods. "I promise I'll try my best to give an answer. Even if it takes some time."

She sees So smiling to himself. "Take all the time you need. I can wait." If it's you, I can wait a lifetime. 

Hae Soo grabs another sheet of paper and places it over So's previous one, trying to trace over his characters.

Struggling, she couldn't seem to match it perfectly and the characters came out much sloppier than his neat and precise writing style.

"Why can't I do this?" Hae Soo mumbles to herself.

Chuckling, So stands up and walks around the table to sit beside her.

Taking the paper from her, he slides his poem out from underneath it and spreads a new, clean sheet in front of them.

He fixes the position that she held onto the brush, and moves the paper right in front of her.

Maneuvering his body, he places one hand on the table, and one around her right hand that was holding the brush.

She could feel his face close to hers, and hoped he couldn't see the red flush she knew was creeping up from her neck onto her face.

"Write using light movements, using your wrist." He guides her hand as he talks. His voice alone was hindering her focus, not to mention how well aware she was of the lack of distance between them. The fourth prince was a distraction himself. How did he expect her to write like this? 

Slowly, characters appeared on the paper. Since So was helping her, the writing resembled his. Surprisingly, it didn't take long to finish copying the poem.

"Wajangnim! I did it!" She smiled widely as she turned her head, forgetting just how close they were in her moment of accomplishment.

The smile slowly disappears as she locks eyes with So. Time seemed to stop, and Hae Soo knew Lady Oh had been wrong; wrong all along.

So was the first to snap out whatever it was that had transpired in that short amount of time.

"I promise I'll be back everyday to learn from you and help you in return."

In a flourish of rustling robes and the sliding of the wooden doors, Wang So was gone, leaving Hae Soo alone with her running heart and finger tracing over the words of the poem he had written.

~~~

-1 week later-

True to his word, So came back for lessons, never missing a day.

Baek Ah even joined in, and both princes promised to keep Hangul a secret amongst the three of them.

Most of the time, So and Soo would join sides and mess around with Baek Ah, even if his writing was on par with theirs.

Lessons almost always involved laughter and an ink war. For Soo, it also consisted of stolen glances at So, for she had finally figured out the meaning of his poem.

Baek Ah suggested they write a message to each other to practice their calligraphy, and Hae Soo and So readily agreed. It was a brilliant idea.

When they all finished, they distributed the folded up pieces of paper accordingly.

As Baek Ah is about to open his, Soo interrupts. "Wait! Let's not open it until we are all in our own rooms."

"Did you tell me off in this?" Baek Ah asks suspiciously.

Soo laughs wholeheartedly. "You'll just have to find out."

"Hyung. She's not very nice." Baek Ah points an accusatory finger.

So chuckles. "Let's leave then." Clapping his brother on the shoulder, they both exit her room with their messages in hand. She sees Baek Ah wander off first down the hall, paper held up high to any light source to get a glimpse of what was inside.

Before So slides the door all the way closed, his eyes meet Soo's and they smile at each other.

~~~

That night, Baek Ah finds in his messages that So was heartfelt—albeit a bit of joking—and Soo's was mainly drawings. The most prominent, and the one that left the biggest impression was: \^O^/. He had no idea what it meant.

—

By candle light, she opens So's message and sees he had written in perfect Hangul. Her heart warms immensely, and she imprints into her memory his words. "널 은애 한다."

I love you too. 

—

After So had opened Baek Ah's message, he moved on to Hae Soo's. Slowly and carefully opening the treasured paper so it wouldn't tear, he reads her now neat Chinese characters in response to his poem. "No matter what, I'll always wait for you."

My heart will never change.

No copyright infringement intended. All references and inspirations are from the original writers/directors.