A/n: I’m here with Chapter 23, and I am particularly happy with it. For a number of reasons which you will read as you go, and very important for Seulrene fans of course, :) but that aside. There’s other good stuff here too, so this is another personal favorite chapter. Please do enjoy it! Thank you everyone who enjoys this fic as much as I do. 

 

Sooyoung stood there tapping her fingers at the door as she waited for the servant to let her in. What does a girl have to do to get in her own house around here? 

 

“Well, are you going to let me in or not?”

 

“Uh, yes of course, Ms. Sooyoung.” He nods several times and moves to the side. “It is surprising to see you here, ma’am. But, welcome home.”

 

Sooyoung looks around. The house is virtually the same as she remembers, as expected. Why should it change? No one has probably been here other than the staff who have lived here and keep the place in impeccable shape. Sooyoung told herself under no circumstances would she come here, and yet here she is. Knowing full well what this house means and why her father left her this place. 

 

“Thank you,” Sooyoung nods. “So is the head chef still the same, because I could sure go for some food.”

 

“The kitchen staff will be happy to make you anything you want, Ma’am. We are under your employ.”

 

“Huh, have you all been waiting around for me to show up. You don’t work for my sister?” In Sooyoung’s mind she might own the house. But her sister is still the Kang family boss. Surely, there’s some way Seulgi can control even this too if she wanted.

 

“Not technically, ma’am. We work for the owner of this house, which is you. In your absence, we’ve just been running things as usual.”

 

Now that is interesting news to the younger alpha. She thought for sure that either way her sister would have some say in this. Having her father’s house might not have been her first choice. Still, Sooyoung is glad to have something all her own.

 

“If that’s so then I’d love a plate of fried chicken and a really really cold beer. Something expensive I’m sure dad has some expensive beer around the place. Something imported.”

 

“Of course, Ma’am. I’ll inform the chef now.”

 

As the servant goes toward the kitchen Sooyoung calls out in a cheerful manner. “No chance of calling me Head in charge? No, I guess not.” She wonders if her dad had anyone call him anything special. She had spent time here as a child sometimes, mostly to spend with Seulgi at the insistence of Dara who wanted to make sure the two of them had a relationship. Sooyoung always wondered what made her so accepting of the situation. She doesn’t think she would have been so willing to accept a bastard kid into the family if she had to. For a moment she thinks about her father and if he were actually the father of Seungwan’s child, if her wife had actually slept with him then. 

 

“Hell, if I would have accepted his kid.” 

 

Thankfully that is not the case. But hypothetically if the situation were reversed and it was like how she grew up. Sooyoung isn’t sure if she could be as kind as Dara had been to her, quite ironic considering how her mother and Dara are actually friends now. 

 

“Hey, servant guy. I’ll be up in my dad’s study.” She doesn’t actually expect to be heard. Sooyoung knows enough that someone is always around this house. No matter how quiet it is. She stops when she gets to the grand staircase. This is where he pushed her mother down the stairs and so she has that reminder of what he did. 

 

“ing .” She mouths and walks up the stairs toward his study. The last time she came here she had pulled a gun on him. He laughed in her face and called her a coward. He was right though as she wouldn’t have actually shot him, no matter how much she wished she could have. For a split second and only that the alpha expected to see him sitting in his chair drinking his favorite vodka. Of course he wasn’t sitting in his chair. 

 

“Finally, I can sit in the big chair.” She sighs and sits down in the comfortable leather chair. Her father would not be screaming at her to get up on account he couldn’t. She put her feet up on his desk and let out another sigh. Now all she needed was to get into his collection of alcohols and she would be in heaven, or close enough. In the back of her mind she hoped her sister was having a better day than she was.

 

 

With both herself and Seulgi agreeing to not let their entire day be ruined thanks to the actions of others. Joohyun found herself glad she didn’t allow herself to let her mate’s former assistant ruin her mood. Because not only would she have not enjoyed one of the best meals she ever had in a gorgeous restaurant. Joohyun would have missed out on the full experience of the mini tour that came after it. Seulgi took her to some of her favorite tea houses, stationary shops where between the two of them they ended up with more than enough cute gifts to bring back home, and she also got to try sake for the first time at one of her wife’s friend’s own shops. She couldn’t have enjoyed this had she been in a ty mood. But maybe she loved walking and holding her alpha’s hand most of all. They just felt like any couple on a trip together.

 

“What did they say?” Joohyun asks her wife as they leave the small takoyaki stand together. She wondered because Seulgi spoke Japanese. A fact she didn’t know about her alpha. But it was nice to find out especially now. 

 

“They asked if we were on our honeymoon and I said yes. So the wife told me to make sure I showed my beautiful wife a good time.”

 

“Hm,” the omega eyes her suspiciously. “Did she really say all that?”

 

“Yes,” the alpha promises with a laugh and kisses her forehead. “I wouldn’t lie at someone’s food stand, Hyunnie, that’s just not done.”

 

The raven laughs and shakes her head at her wife’s silliness. She has no choice except to believe her wife since Seulgi speaks the language, furthermore she does indeed trust Seulgi. She has no reason not to trust the woman she loves. 

 

“These are delicious.” Joohyun bites in into the dumpling. “I watched the couple making them together as we waited. I think we should try and make them too, at home.”

 

“Yeah, I would really like that, Hyun.” Seulgi agrees, as she always looks forward to any small or big thing the two of them can do together. She makes a mental note to buy all the things they would need to make takoyaki. She’s been having such a good time with her wife. She hasn’t thought about the trial today, at least not officially. Not until later on that evening when they returned home. Not until after they had lounged around in their living room, made dinner, and had gotten ready for bed. Or rather Joohyun noticed that they had both gotten ready for bed around the same time but someone had yet to join her. The last thing the omega remembered hearing was Seulgi saying she would be down at the lake for a little while. 

 

Seeing no sign of her wife in the house and the lights still on. Joohyun grabbed a sweater and slipped on her house shoes before heading outside. The closer she got to the lake she could see Seulgi sitting on one of the benches. 

 

“You weren’t going to leave me in that nice warm bed alone, were you?” 

 

Seulgi turns to look at her with a small smile in apology, and Joohyun only needed to look at her face once to know she was not okay. The omega walked over and sat down right away wrapping an arm around her taller partner and hugging Seulgi close to her.

 

“Are you not cold?”

 

“I’m okay, Hyun. I was coming up to the house soon. I just couldn’t help myself and I checked my messages.”

 

Joohyun understood. She figured that it would be harder for her wife to go the whole day without hearing something about what happened back home. That’s why she knew no matter what she’d be here for support in whatever way that meant.

 

“Seungwan just gave me that best friend supportive message but she knew I’d be okay because you’re with me.”

 

Joohyun agrees and holds her hand for a moment. “But that’s not what’s troubling you.”

 

“No. Soo called and told me what happened and how many years Baekhyun was sentenced to for killing my dad. I am glad it’s over, Hyunnie. Even if it still doesn’t feel good, you know.”

 

“I know, baby.” She frowns in concern and caresses her wife’s face. Her wife is grieving a father she loved there’s no other way around that. Joohyun can respect it and can still support her wife through her grief and pain because that’s what she wants to do. “One day at a time, right? There’s no timestamp on how you grieve.”

 

“Yes, one day at a time.” The monolid woman agrees and leans over to kiss the side of her wife’s cheek. “Thank you, I’m sorry if I worried you. Are you ready for bed?”

 

“Yes, let’s go to bed.”

 

She was absolutely ready for bed. And so she carefully helped Seulgi up, where they walked back up to the house together. Seulgi felt exhausted but at least exhausted in the way that came from a good day and not emotionally draining. The alpha would sleep well tonight because she would be beside the woman she loved. The moment they were finally upstairs in their room. Her omega wrapped her arms around her in the gentlest of ways and insisted on cuddling her. Seulgi laughed in amusement at the way her wife held on tight and buried her face in the crook of her neck.

 

“Comfortable?” Joohyun wonders since she doesn’t plan to let go of her mate. 

 

“I’m comfortable, Hyun.”

 

“Good, otherwise this would be a very long night.”

 

Seulgi reached for her hand and gave it a soft squeeze. A silent thanks but the message had been received loud and clear. 

 

“Thanks, Hyunnie.”

 

“You’re welcome, Seul.” Sleep came a lot easier for them than it did for the younger Kang. 

 

Sooyoung spent most of her time looking through dad’s personal collections of liquors. The man had the best tastes in alcohol and he had so many different kinds. Sooyoung was positive that in this big house this couldn’t even be all of it. But she sat there in his chair, feet up on his desk, with an open bottle of one of his favorite vodkas. 

 

“I bet you're just spinning in your grave thinking about me sitting here drinking your favorite drink, dad.” Sooyoung laughs in amusement and pours herself another glass. If he were alive he would no doubt be screaming at her right now or worse. Good thing he’s not then.

 

“Now where the do you hide the rest of the good stuff, since I know there must be more.” Sooyoung puts her head down for a moment, but only a moment. She should know better than to drink so much without eating properly. But it was much too late for that now. Less than ten minutes later Sooyoung was on the floor of his study, empty bottle in hand and staring into space. She felt awful.

 

“Look at you, how pathetic you are.” 

 

“W-What?” The alpha blinks and sees her dad standing there, dressed well in one of his expensive suits, looking virtually as she remembered which couldn’t possibly be since he is dead. Sooyoung stumbled back slightly.

 

“Dad?”

 

“You really are pathetic, Soo. I give you my beautiful house and the first thing you do is start to drink yourself stupid. I’m not really surprised, I suppose.”

 

“What the are you talking about, you’re dead.”

 

“Am I?” Chanyeol laughs. “You’re so drunk right now you don’t know if I’m here or not. I hope you plan to do more than sit in my study and drink all my expensive liquor.”

 

“ you, dad. Even when I’m hallucinating you’re still on my .” She sighs and turns over because she’s kind of exhausted and can’t think straight. Whatever she’s drinking must have been stronger than she first thought. Maybe all she needs to do is sleep it off. That’s what she normally does.

 

“Sooyoung?”

 

“I’m not listening to you, you’re not real.”

 

She does manage to sleep at least for a short while and when she wakes up the first thing the alpha feels like doing is throwing up, as expected. But rather than do that she gets up and walks down the hall toward her father’s bedroom. She barely makes it without falling and only does because someone walking in the hall notices and helps her.

 

“Ma’am, do you need help? I can prepare a change of clothes for you.”

 

Sooyoung stares into her father’s bedroom. Her mind flashes to thoughts of what could have possibly occurred here between her dad and Seungwan, though logically she knows nothing actually happened.

 

“Yes. But I’ll sleep in one of the guest rooms.”

 

“Of course, ma’am.”

 

The sound of her phone woke Seungwan out of her sleep. She had not too long ago finally drifted off too and without checking she answered, eyes half-closed and voice laced with sleep. 

 

“Hello?”

 

“Seungwan.”

 

“Soo.” The omega wakes up more at the sound of her wife’s voice. She honestly didn’t expect to hear from her. What time was it anyway? 

 

“Where are you? Are you alright?”

 

Just because she hasn’t called her or spoke to Sooyoung since earlier doesn't mean Seungwan wasn’t worried about her wife. In truth, the alpha honestly didn’t sound all that good to her right now.

 

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” She repeats as she steadies herself against the wall. “I’m home.”

 

“Home?” She wonders if her mate means home as in her apartment or somewhere else. Since with Sooyoung’s resources it would not be all that surprising if she had other property, some that maybe Seungwan herself doesn’t know about. She would have to go somewhere on occasions she leaves town. That causes Seungwan to think that maybe she’s not even in Seoul right now. “Did you leave town?”

 

“N-No, no don’t worry. Can I ask you a question?”

 

It doesn’t take Seungwan very long to realize that her wife is drunk. She probably should have realized sooner given how long she’s known the woman, and has seen her drunk. Not to mention how many times she’s actually taken care of her when she was. It’s a bit disappointing though, seeing as how well Sooyoung has been doing to not drink. 

 

“I don’t think we should be having this conversation when it’s late and you’ve been drinking. I’m glad you’re somewhere safe, Soo. Get some sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.”

 

She was about to end the call when Sooyoung spoke again. “Seungwan, no never mind. I’ll see you in the morning.”

 

“Sooyoung, I love you okay.” She wants to at least remind her wife of that much. Because she does love her. “Try and get some sleep.”

 

“Uh-huh,” the alpha nods with a whisper before she hangs up. She does say one last thing. “Sorry for leaving earlier, that was wrong.”

 

“Thank you, Soo.”

 

While she did appreciate the apology Seungwan also didn’t have much energy for anything else. They ended the call at the same time and the omega didn’t know if she cried because of hormones or some other reason. But before Seungwan could lay down again. The bedroom door opened and she felt familiar warm arms around her. Then the comforting peach scent of her mother-in-law working to help her calm down.

 

“It’s going to be alright, Seungwan.” Jinri whispers to her. The blonde leans into her embrace like a lifeline. She is so grateful to her mother-in-law and there’s no way she can possibly begin to thank this woman. She is able to go back to sleep without much issue as Jinri sings her back to sleep. The older omega actually stays with her the entire time. She would stay with her daughter-in-law for as long as she needed. In the back of her mind Jinri told herself to have a serious talk with her daughter. Someone had to.

 

 

By the time Sooyoung did wake up she had the worst hangover she’s had in a very long time. She felt awful and was ready to throw up right now. The dark-haired woman got out of bed and decided she needed food first before a shower. 

 

“Hangover breakfast,” She thinks about something greasy and delicious to cure herself of the current state she’s in. Sooyoung makes it downstairs to the kitchen in one piece and doesn't even have to ask the chef to cook anything. He's already making fried eggs, buttery toast, and bacon sandwich concoction that looked honestly delicious. 

 

“I worked for your father.” Is the only thing he has to say to her. Sooyoung doesn’t need any other explanation than that. 

 

“Alright well, thanks I guess.” She takes her food when it’s done and heads out to the dining area to eat. The last time she sat here it was a disastrous dinner with everyone. It brings back some pretty bad memories too but Sooyoung sits anyway. The alpha barely has a chance to bite into her food when her phone rings. Sooyoung answers the phone and accepts the video call. 

 

“Yes, big sister? What are you doing calling me, I mean are you not technically on your honeymoon? Don’t you have to be having?”

 

Seulgi shakes her head and chuckles slightly, of course it's her sister that is ridiculous as usual. 

 

“Good morning to you too, Soo. Oh…” Seulgi pauses and looks at the background, recognizing that her sister is in their dad’s house and that completely surprises the older sibling. She didn’t expect that Sooyoung would go there. “What are you doing in dad’s house?”

 

“Technically it’s my house.” She shrugs and sips her coffee. “Damn, chef makes a great cup of coffee. Look at this, it even has that pretty cafe art and everything. Anyways, what’s up, Seul?” Sooyoung figures that there must be some reason her sister is calling. 

 

“I wanted to say..”

 

“Seul, when you’re ready come down for breakfast, baby. It’s almost done.” Sooyoung can hear Joohyun in the background.

 

“Hey, sister-in-law, dearest. Are you not going to come say hi!”

 

Seulgi mouths to Joohyun that she’s having a video call with Sooyoung and so the omega comes over to sit down and say hi too. Sooyoung takes immediate notice of how Seulgi is simply looking at Joohyun the whole time with a proud mate look on her face. If that wasn’t the look of someone in love then Sooyoung had no idea what was.

 

“My sister is showing you a nice time, right? I hope so.”

 

“Yes, she’s very romantic and sweet, so you don’t have to worry that she’s not showing me a good time, Sooyoung.” Joohyun assures and looks back at the alpha with such a loving look that if they were any other people. Sooyoung just knows she would have thrown up her breakfast. But this is her sister who has been through a lot and she deserves to be happy.

 

“Seul, you’re sweet and romantic. I don’t believe it.”

 

“Shocking, I know.” Seulgi plays along.

 

Joohyun is leaving soon to go check on the food downstairs. But not before saying a proper goodbye to her sister-in-law and then turning to her wife to leave a series of small kisses to Seulgi’s lips. Sooyoung practically chokes on her food at the moment but is able to cheer rather loudly.

 

“Alright, alright calm down, Soo.” 

 

“Hey, you’re getting all sorts of good morning kisses like that with your wife and I’m supposed to be silent. Did you tell her you love her yet?”

 

“I…” Seulgi honestly hadn’t. But she will or rather tonight she hopes to as she does have a very romantic surprise for them and thinks it’ll be as good a time as any to finally express her feelings to the woman she loves. “Not yet.”

 

“What, why not? It’s clear you love the woman. Are you afraid she doesn’t love you, sis? Don’t be scared of that. I’m like 99 percent sure she isn’t just married to you still because of the Kang money.”

 

“Only 99, huh?”

 

The younger alpha shrugs with a small laugh. “One percent chance of error. But don’t be afraid, sis. Tell Joohyun you love her.”

 

“Thank you, Soo. I appreciate the pep talk, I will don’t worry. Now, before I get too far off topic I did call to talk to you.”

 

Sooyoung knew it was coming before Seulgi said it. She still listened as her sister expressed her gratitude for going to the trial for her. She even thanked her for informing her what happened after.

 

“You don’t need to thank me, Seul. I did that as a favor for you.”

 

“I know. But I know that couldn’t have been easy. So I’m grateful, sis. I honestly don’t think I could have gone even if I didn’t have this trip to take.”

 

“That’s why you have me. I’m not always your kid sister to everything up, sometimes I get things right. Now, you go on and have breakfast with your wife. We can catch up properly when you get home.”

 

“Yeah, Hyun and I were talking about having dinner again with you and Wan. If she’s feeling up to it you guys can come over to our house.”

 

“Yeah, I think she’d like that, sis. We’ll talk about it more later. Take care of yourself, Seul.”

 

“You too, Soo.”

 

Seulgi gets off the phone and heads downstairs where Joohyun is waiting for her. She takes a moment to look at her wife who is kind of distracted with a game on her phone. She looks so cute as she mouths a small excited yes when winning a game. Seulgi just stands there looking at her, probably like some lovesick puppy of sorts, though she kind of can’t help herself. The alpha is in love with the omega sitting right there at their breakfast table. Of course, Joohyun notices that Seulgi is looking at her first.

 

“Would you rather stare at me than have breakfast, because you are kind of like a meal yourself.” She teases and that certainly gets the monolid woman out of her daze.

 

“W-What?”
 

Joohyun smiles at the surprised look on her mate’s face. It was cute to see a surprised Seulgi. “I asked if we were going to forget about breakfast and just stare at one another, since you could very well be the meal with how good you look, Seul.”
 

“Ah…” Seulgi rubs her head, cheeks slightly red in a way that caught her off guard. It is amazing how the person you are in love with can make you embarrassed in the best way. She doesn’t recall blushing so easily because of anyone else before. “If anyone’s the meal between the two of us, it’s you, Hyunnie. But seriously I’m so hungry and  everything you made looks delicious. Let’s eat.”

 

“I’m starving too…” The omega does an extra long pause on purpose. “For food, of course for food.”

 

“Uh-huh.” The taller woman nods and lightly caresses her cheek before sitting down at the breakfast table too. All Seulgi can think about is what Sooyoung said. She shouldn’t be afraid to tell Joohyun she is in love with her. She has no reason to be afraid. The alpha thinks back to when she first suggested they get divorced. Joohyun had her chance to bail then and she chose not to. She didn’t want to leave her and now they were much closer, so much closer. Seulgi had no reason to think that her feelings were not returned. 

 

“I’m telling her tonight.” Seulgi made up her mind. She was going to tell her wife she loved her. Little did the alpha know her omega had very similar thoughts. Joohyun has been thinking constantly of how and when to tell Seulgi she loved her. She needed Seulgi to know the truth of what she felt and so Joohyun decided she would do so tonight. She had no idea where they were going or what they were going to do. One thing for sure was Joohyun would be telling her mate she was in love. She loved her so very much and it was time Seulgi heard those words from her. 

 

“I’ll tell her tonight.”

 

 

It wasn’t Sooyoung’s plan to be out of the office for another day. In fact, she would much rather be at work being productive. But she felt it best to take another day out of the office and make it more of a work from home sort of day. Sooyoung had expected to be home by now. She found herself a little too comfortable in her dad’s house. Particularly, since his study had everything she could need to get her work done from here without really needing to be in her own office. Though she missed it, being around her staff, talking ideas or designing new things at her desk. She’d be back tomorrow especially as she was sobered up and the mess of the trial was over.

 

“You don’t have to rush back if you’re not feeling up to it.” Yerim speaks as they talk. Sooyoung had called her to have an idea on what was currently going on at the office.

 

“No, I’m good, Yerimie. I’ll be back in the office bright and early tomorrow, so I hope you’re not missing me too much.” Of course, the alpha being who she is sends her a kiss through the screen and Yerim simply shakes her head.

 

“I’m hanging up now. I think you’re still drunk.”

 

“For your information, I’m completely sober, thank you. What do you expect me to do when you come onto my laptop screen looking as beautiful as you do?”

 

Yerim never takes Sooyoung seriously since she knows this is just a part of her personality. The alpha kind of can’t help herself. But she knows where they stand exactly and there will be no crossing of any lines, as Kim Yerim has a lot of plans and goals. None of them being a homewrecker. Besides she is pretty positive Sooyoung is only messing with her because she finds it fun.

 

“Okay, come over, you know where I live. Bring condoms.”

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