"Hae Soo-ssi!" So called out, and hastened his step when he finally spotted her again, leaned up against the wall at the far end of the headquarters building.

At the familiar voice, she raised her head and looked around, yet failed to recognize him until he had almost reached her.

"Wang So-nim?" Her eyes widened as she stared him up and down, for the first time seeing him all dressed up in formal business attire. "Uwa!"

"Is that a..." He stopped there, and the grin that had been on his face at her reaction faded. Tilting his head, he scrutinized her in concern, noting the tell-tale signs that she had been crying. "Are you okay, Hae Soo-ssi?...What happened?"

"I'm okay, I guess," she sniffed and wiped her eyes, smearing some of her make-up in the process. "It's just...I don't..." She didn't finish, only shook her head and wiped renewed tears.

"Anything I can do to help?" he questioned softly, reaching for her arm.

"Take your hands off her!"

At the harsh command from behind, So spun around in a flash, ready for a fight.

"NO, NO, NO!" Soo screamed and jumped forward. "It's okay, he wasn't going to hurt me! He's...he's..."

"He grabbed you..."

"It's okay! It's a misunderstanding," she hurried to clarify. "He's Wang So!"

Yong Sun gasped, and instinctively took a step back, looking like he had just received a kick in the stomach. "Wang So-ssi...Joesonghamnida! Jebal nal yongseohaejwo," he muttered, bowing deeply and retreating another step.

"You know this guy?" So questioned suspiciously, directed at Soo, yet guardedly shifting his gaze between her and Yong Sun.

"Yes!...Yes, I do, and I'm sorry," she confirmed with an eager nod. "Geurimja is my bodyguard, and I should have known he's somewhere close by. He always is, and he's been protecting me..."

"You said Geurimja…"

"That's just his nickname, Eonni told me," Soo explained, flushing embarrassed. "His real name..."

"Jeon Yong Sun!" So stated with an intrigued grin, and nodding approvingly. "Lady Hae always knows how to pick the best of the best...Mianhamnida, Yong Sun-ssi, and thank you for looking out for Lady Soo," he added, with a respectful bow of his own to the younger man.

Soo's jaw dropped, while Yong Sun merely stared in disbelief at the sudden turn of events. There was not a single person in all of Lady Hae's network—or perhaps in all of Seoul—who had not, at one time or another, heard of Wang So. Most of the vile rumors about him had long since been discredited or even disproven by Lady Hae herself, but his reputation as a superb Martial Artist and hardcore fighter still preceded him just about anywhere in the city. The problem with rumors and reputations, however, was the fact that they tended to create a mental image of the person that, more often than not, contradicted reality.

Hae Soo suddenly started laughing. "Both of you heard of each other, but neither of you knew who the other one was."

"Soon Deok was actually the one who told me about Geurimja," So commented. "Apparently you are one of the few, who managed to defeat her in a tournament," he ginned at Yong Sun.

"Ah, yes," the younger man replied bashfully. "Park Soon Deok...the Blue Viper. She is by far one of the toughest opponents I ever faced. There were even some rumors that she let me win."

"I seriously doubt that," So chuckled. "Soon Deok is much too competitive, to let anyone win against her intentionally...whether it's in competition or in a debate...And trust me, I'm speaking from experience here," he added in a somewhat self-deprecating manner.

"It is said, she trained you in Martial Arts," Yong Sun half-asked, half-stated.

So nodded wistfully. "She did...a long time ago. And I wouldn't be here now if she hadn't taught me."

"My sister is learning from her as well..."

"O-oh! Baek Ah better watch out then," Soo muttered to herself, just little too loud.

"What?"

She quickly clamped both hands over her mouth, and looked up at So in wide-eyed alarm, blushing fiercely. "Nothing!" she mumbled from behind her hands.

He regarded her with a curious squint, then remembered Baek Ah mentioning something about a girl. One of Lady Hae's people...

"Hae Soo-ssi," he tried to sound stern, but didn't manage to keep a grin in check. "What do you know about this? Hmmm?"

The red hue, tinting Soo's cheeks, turned another couple of shades darker. She inwardly scolded herself for her blatant mistake. But So wouldn't be upset about Baek Ah and Woo Hee dating, would he? Well, he might be if he don't remember how much they were in love back then...or if he remembers how terrible it ended. Oh, this could be bad either way! I might have just ruined Baek Ah's chance…

"Please don't get upset," she made an attempt at damage control. "He's just been hanging out with her a few times. She was working as a security guard at the hospital, and we all got to meet her when we were in the cafeteria and she threw out... Anyway," she quickly redirected, "Woo Hee is really nice and...and I think... Baek Ah...really...likes her," her voice trailed off as she watched the color drain from So's face at the mention of the name.

"Yongseohae jusipssio (Please excuse me/Beg your pardon), Wang So-ssi," Yong Sun cautiously spoke up when So failed to reply. "I will tell Woo Hee to stay away from your brother if you do not approve."

"No!...No, it's not that at all!" So quickly regained his composure. "I just...never mind!" He shook his head and forced a halfhearted grin. "They're both adults, and that's their private business. As long as you don't mind your sister hooking up with the brother of someone like me, then I don't have any objections."

Yong Sun raised a bemused eyebrow at him. "Lady Hae was right," he declared somberly, but then smiled. "The one rumor about Wang So that definitely seems to be true is, that you do not think very highly of yourself. I for one would consider it an honor for my sister to be dating your Namdongsaeng...And don't worry, Hae-Soo-ssi," he told Soo with an impish grin, "Baek Ah-ssi will be perfectly safe. Woo Hee only wants to learn how to properly defend herself as a woman. That's why she chose Park Soon Deok as her teacher...she claims I only know how to beat people up."

"Ah!" Soo considered it safer to just keep her reply as short as possible, after So's reaction to the mention of Woo Hee. He hadn't managed to fully maintain his self-control, and while his left eye was—as usual—covered by his long bangs, she noticed the right one was still narrowed slightly, meaning something was bothering him. But does that mean he remembers, or is this about something else? Would it be worse if he did remember, or if he didn't? Aish! Hae Soo, you really messed up this time!

"But since my services weren't required here," Yong Sun continued, still grinning, "I will be leaving then...Wang So-ssi," he bowed deeply once again, "mannaseo bangawosseoyo (it was nice to meet you)."

"Nado mannaseo bangawoyo (good to meet you too)," So replied, returning the courtesy, yet appearing somewhat distracted.

"Hae Soo-ssi," Yong Sun bowed to her as well, "mom josimhaseyo (take care), najunge bwayo (see you later). Annyeonghi gyeseyo (Good Bye when leaving)!"

"Jal gayo! (Bye!)" Soo called after him, then blinked mystified when he vanished from view before he even reached the corner of the headquarters building. "How does he do that?" she wondered aloud.

"What?...Who does what?" So squinted confused.

"Geurimja! He always just appears out of nowhere, and then disappears into thin air," she stated, shaking her head. "Like poof, he's there, and then poof he's gone."

"I don't know...Teleportation?" So quipped, though without the slightest hint of humor in his voice.

Soo cast a probing glance up at him. "Are you okay? You seem really...off...right now. What's the matter?" Like I don't know!

"It's nothing! Don't worry about it," he gave back, sounding less than convincing, then quickly changed the subject. "What about you? You were crying your eyes out when I first got here. What was that all about?"

"That..." Soo noticeably hesitated and pursed her lips. "Well, I wasn't going to say anything, but since you asked...that was about everyone in our department getting fired this morning. I'm sure you had your reasons, but..."

"What?" So cut her off sharply, staring at her in disbelief. "Who told you, you got fired?...Who said it was me...I didn't...I didn't fire anyone! Why would I..." He stopped there, shaking his head, then began pacing agitatedly back and forth.

"Well, that's what we were told," Soo shrugged, however realizing that his reaction was a rather clear indication that something didn't fit. Wang So wasn't someone who would feign outrage to make himself look innocent. She knew him well enough—he was mad, genuinely pissed off, and if his glare was any indication then someone other than herself and her colleagues was going to have a very bad day soon.

He suddenly stopped pacing, and turned back to Soo, fixing her with an adamant stare. "Okay, first off..." He took a deep breath to calm down. "Nobody is getting fired…well, maybe with one or two exceptions, but not you!...Second, who even told you this nonsense?"

Soo hung her head, then only turned her eyes up to look at him. "Yeon Hwa," she confessed in a cautious whisper.

So kept staring at her for another couple of seconds before he busted out laughing. "Yeon Hwa?...Hwangbo Yeon Hwa?...And you actually believed her?" he asked incredulously.

"Well..." She wavered once again, biting her lower lip. "We didn't know what was going on. I knew you had that board meeting today, and she told us she had just come from that meeting, and...and you had appointed her as the new CEO, and that we were all fired and would be replaced with people from Wang Industries...I told her she was lying, but..."

"But what?" he queried, fighting to keep his cool. "What could possibly make you think that I would do anything for her after this?" He brushed his bangs back with an irate motion, exposing the fresh scar underneath.

"I...I didn't want to believe it," she muttered, unwittingly retreating a step. "But when she showed us the paper with your signature on it...what were we supposed to think?" Soo looked up at him with tears blurring her vision. She couldn't see his expression, but distinctly heard the sharp breath he exhaled from between his teeth.

Wang So squinted his eyes tightly shut and swallowed hard. His knuckles cracked when he clenched his fists, hissing a vulgar expletive under his breath.

"Mianhamnida, Wang So-nim," Soo whispered, fidgeting anxiously. "I should have known better, but that paper she had looked completely real...Everyone thought so, and..." She stopped there, and looked up as she felt the first raindrops hit her. "Oh, great!...That just tops it off for today!"

She had no sooner finished the sentence when the heavens opened up.

As if doused by the sudden cloudburst, So's anger dispersed. He reacted instantly, unfolding the waterproof trenchcoat he had carried with him. He quickly draped the coat over Soo's head and shoulders, then urged her toward whatever scant protection the headquarters' wall provided. As the wind whipped around, he moved in front of her to shield her as much as possible from the deluge, heedless of the fact that he himself was getting drenched in the process.

Soo timidly glanced up from underneath the protective cover. Her breath hitched in her throat when her eyes met his, and the vivid image flashed through her mind—the memory of herself, beaten and bruised, kneeling beneath Cheondeokjeon (the Palace) in the pouring rain, Wang So by her side, protecting her from the elements with his cloak. Barely recovered from the poison he willingly drank to save his brother, and in defiance of the King's order, he had been there for her, had once again risked his own life for her. She remembered—this was when, whatever feelings she might have had for Wang Wook, had died inside of her, after Wook had turned his back on her and walked away. Wang So, however, had always been there for her, whenever she needed him, until—

The downpour stopped as abruptly as it had started, yet So didn't move. He still stood, as if frozen in the moment, shielding her with his coat and gazing down at her with an unfathomable expression in his dark eyes. He was soaked to the skin, streams of raindrops trailing down his face and dripping from his long bangs.

"Wang So-nim?" Soo spoke up guardedly when she noticed him visibly shiver.

He suddenly gasped and blinked his eyes as if waking up from a trance, then quickly removed his coat from around her, and wordlessly turned to walk away.

"Wait..." Soo started after him. "Wang So-nim! Please...just wait a moment," she added, catching up to him when he stopped, yet without turning around.

"I need to ask you something. Have we...you and I...have we..." She couldn't bring herself to finish the question.

"Met before...a long time ago?" Wang So completed it for her, shivering again and still refusing to face her.

"Yes!" She bit her lower lip, afraid to say anything else.

When he turned back to look at her once more, she could clearly see the raw emotions that he—like his scar—usually kept hidden from everyone.

"That day on the stairs, when you saw my scar, you called me Fourth Prince, so you know," he said low, a noticeable shudder in his voice.

"I didn't even know your name then!" Hae Soo gave back equally low as new tears started to well up in her eyes. "When we met in the elevator earlier that day...I didn't...didn't...know who you were. Wook ordered me to stay away from you, after I told him what you had said..."

"Hae Soo-ssi..." he tried to interrupt.

"He said you were dangerous...called you a thug and a killer, and..."

"Hae Soo-ssi!"

"...made me swear that I would never talk to you again..."

"Soo-yah!"

"I didn't know...really...I..."

After the third unsuccessful attempt to stop her deluge of words, Wang So stepped forward and tightly wrapped his arms around her. HER! His Person! His Soo-yah whom his soul had been searching for, longing for and who, deep down inside him, had always remained his one and only Queen.

"Don't you remember...what they had called me before?" he asked, his breath catching in his throat as he felt her shudder in his embrace. "Back then, you were always the only one who saw and treated me as a human being!...I was nothing without you, my Soo-yah!"

"Did you know...it was me back then...in the elevator?" She squeezed the words out between sobs.

"No!" he confessed. "But when you touched my scar, I saw it..."

"Saw what?" Soo inquired anxiously.

"I saw us...you and me...back then...when you..."

"When I first covered your scar," she finished the sentence for him.

"Yes!...And when I gave you a ride home that evening..."

"I was on the horse with you, after you saved me from falling into the moat."

He nodded pensively. "And just now..."

"You were protecting me from the rain with your coat, like you did when I was kneeling in the courtyard."

Another affirmative nod.

"That's what I saw too," Soo told him, her eyes still brimming with tears, yet wide in amazement. "We shared visions of our past life, Pyeha!"

"Just So-yah," he corrected her gently with an almost bashful smile as she turned her face up to once more meet his eyes.

"But then why were you going to leave just now?"

With that question, the endearing pout that he had always loved so much, and had missed for so long, appeared.

Nevertheless, his smile faded as he admitted, "I'm scared!" Looking away from her he continued. "Every time I saw us, I remembered just some little piece...But when Yo-hyung and I were at the safe house to see Jungie, Ji Mong made me remember everything...everything I had put you through back then! I remembered your pain, your sadness, your suffering, your..." He stopped short of mentioning her death, but the unconcealed anguish in his voice said enough.

"It wasn't your fault, Pyeha," Hae Soo assured him with all the sincerity she could muster. "None of it was ever your fault!"

"No, all of it was my fault!...The letters...your letters...I should have read them, but I didn't know they were yours because Jung had sent them in his name. I didn't know...I should have been there for you, but I came too late...much too late. You must have hated me for leaving you all alone..."

"Wang So-nim," she broke in resolutely, cupping his cheeks with her hands and gently turning his face back toward her. "I never, ever hated you! I loved you!...I always loved you with all my heart...And it was me who left...who left you alone when you needed me most. I hated myself for leaving you! I had promised myself to always be with you, be by your side and help you become a great and just ruler. But I broke that promise to you and to myself. I just couldn't ...I just..." Sobs choked the rest of her words as more tears started to fall, mixing with the last of the raindrops to stream down her cheeks.

Wang So timidly reached out in turn to cup her face in his hands, then leaned down to softly kiss away the tears. When he hesitated just before his lips reached hers, the sobs suddenly stopped and he could feel Soo's arms wrapping around the back of his neck, pulling him closer.

"Pyeha!" she whispered affectionately.

"My Soo-yah!" he gave back in a shuddering breath.

And in this moment, nothing else mattered to either of them anymore. Not the fact that they were standing in plain view of everyone outside the Hwangbo Enterprises headquarters, not the prying gawks of passerby, nor some derisive remarks about their lack of manners and decency. To Wang So, the 4th Prince of Goryeo and Lady Hae Soo, nothing in this new world mattered, only that King Gwangjong had at last, after a thousand years, been reunited with his one and only Queen.

A/N: Yaayy, they made it...Finally! Not sure where this will go from here, back to the beginning of this journey, but at least we got them back together. Stay tuned for more in 2022. Until then, thanks to all my readers and followers. Take care, stay safe and have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!