[EXO] Oh! My Goddess
Oh! My Goddess
by mara_ciro
Kyungsoo/girl!Suho | 4,429~ words | G | Kyungsoo and Jooyeon's relationship has gone far since they first met
Before anything else, girl!Suho was named Jooyeon just to avoid confusion on my part.
It’s been a while since they’ve been able to spend time together like this.
Kyungsoo’s arm is wrapped around Jooyeon’s waist, with her head on his chest. He feels her stir as the sun’s rays seep through their curtains. He hears a muffled groan as Jooyeon wakes up.
“Just WHY are the curtains open again, Soo?” is the first thing Kyungsoo manages to understand among Jooyeon’s incoherent complaints. “You know I don’t like the sunlight waking me up.”
He chuckles as he remembers why the curtains weren’t shut. They enjoyed the fireworks show from the comfort of Jooyeon’s bedroom, and they both got carried away with what happened after that they forgot about the curtains. He hoped Jooyeon was in a good enough mood, as she tended to be incredibly cranky and demanding when she felt that she was rudely awakened.
“Kyungsoooooo,” Jooyeon whines, weakly slapping his chest. “Shut the curtains.”
He shakes his head as he gently tries removing Jooyeon’s arm from his waist. Jooyeon decides to make things difficult by clinging on to him tighter. “Don’t go. I need my cuddle buddy,” she says.
“How do you expect me to close the curtains then, princess?” Kyungsoo says, his lips quirking upward.
“Use the remote, duh,” Jooyeon says, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, pointing to a small remote next to her capiz lamp.
Kyungsoo shakes his head as he reaches for the remote Jooyeon pointed to. Sometimes, he forgets how different his fiance’s lifestyle is from his own. “Sorry, we don’t have this kind of window in our mountains,” he says, as he looks for which button to press.
“It’s the red one on the top left,” Jooyeon says as she seems to have sensed Kyungsoo’s problem.
No matter how long it has been, Kyungsoo wonders what Jooyeon sees in him. They came from extremely different backgrounds. She was the youngest heiress to a multi-national telecom company, while he was the youngest son of her father’s personal assistant. There have been so many men who came in and out of Jooyeon’s life, yet she still chose him.
It was a funny twist of fate, really. Kyungsoo’s father was the chief of security of Jooyeon’s family. When Kyungsoo was five, his father took him to the house where he worked. The minute they arrived, the first person Kyungsoo noticed was a little girl wearing a frilly pink dress, holding on to a doll and a book.
“Kyungmin ahjussi!” the little girl smiled, bowing to him. “What’s that?” she added, pointing to Kyungsoo.
“Jooyeonnie,” his father said. “This is my son, Kyungsoo.”
Jooyeon’s smile faded in favor of a look that was in between disgust and curiosity. “But Kyungmin ahjussi, he’s too ugly to be your son! Look at those pants! They look dirty.” Her dark brown eyes examined Kyungsoo from head to toe, her scowl getting deeper with whatever it was she saw.
“What’s wrong with my pants, princess?” Kyungsoo snapped.
“Everything,” she replied. “Now get out of my way.”
“Jooyeon!” an adult’s voice said from behind them. “That’s not a nice thing to say to anyone, especially not to Kyungmin’s son. Now say sorry to both Kyungsoo and Kyungmin.
Jooyeon bowed respectfully to his father, apologizing as she did so; however, she rolled her eyes at Kyungsoo, all the while not meaning her apology. Her father wasn’t satisfied, but Jooyeon looked like she was about to cry.
“We will talk about this later, Jooyeonnie,” he said. “Now go upstairs to your room.”
Jooyeon climbed up the stairs, turning back to stick her tongue out at him when no one else was looking. Kyungsoo sighed as she stared at the girl. She was mean, and he didn’t like mean people like her. Besides, she was a girl… and girls were… Ewww.
Whether they both liked it or not, they were always together. No, not in the sense that they were forcibly joined by the hip. They found themselves engaging in similar activities and being friends with the same people. They found themselves vying for honors in school, both of them joined the student council and were part of the choir. Despite being in one group of friends, both Kyungsoo and Jooyeon managed to act as though the other didn’t exist.
At best, Kyungsoo thought Jooyeon was a whiny bitch. He knew that wasn’t a nice thing to think, but that was what Kim Jooyeon was. She was a perfectionist, and tended to get angry if things didn’t go her way. Once that happened, she started screaming, cursing, and pointing out everyone else’s mistakes. It was difficult to please her, that people who worked with her often ended up quitting. The few who managed to survive her were those she actually liked and often said they were the better for it. It mystified Kyungsoo how so many boys still attempted to confess their feelings for her, despite knowing how she was. He often found himself rolling his eyes at the poor idiot who’d even consider trying.
It all changed on a quiet Friday afternoon during their planning seminar (which was basically the student council’s excuse to use the school’s money to fund their vacation) at Jooyeon’s family’s ranch at Jeju during the end of their first year in high school. For some odd reason, the rest of the student council had gone missing after their meeting, and Kyungsoo found himself alone with Jooyeon at the small lake outside Jooyeon’s house.
He must have forgotten how to breathe when he saw the sun casting light and shadows over Jooyeon’s fair skin. She just stood there with her hands facing the sun, staring at them with wonder in those dark brown eyes. She smiled at them in such a way Kyungsoo never saw her do in all the years he had known her. For the first time in his life, Kyungsoo actually agreed with the other boys in school who said that Jooyeon looked like an angel. It made perfect sense too-with the light making her shine brighter than ever, and her flowing white dress blowing in the wind.
“Kyungsoo?” Jooyeon’s voice had asked, practically whispering his name. It sounded like music to his ears, quite unlike all those shrill screams he had gotten used to hearing all his life. Jooyeon had the voice of an angel, or at least, if angels had voices, he swore this is how they would have sounded. He mentally hit himself on the head for not realizing this any sooner.
He blinks out of his stupor and sees Jooyeon staring at him with raised eyebrows and her lips quirked into something between judgment and laughter.
It was at that moment Kyungsoo realized that he was about to fall into the blackhole that was Kim Jooyeon’s charms and that there was no going back.
“What are you thinking about, Soo?” Jooyeon asks, looking up at him. Sleep was still evident in her eyes as she yawned and stretched.
“Nothing really…” he says, burying his face in her hair. “Go back to sleep, Jooyeonnie.”
Jooyeon moans as she buries herself deeper in Kyungsoo’s chest. “What date is it today?”
“April 2,” he replies, stroking her hair.
Jooyeon suddenly bolts up, her eyes wide awake. “April 2?” she asks, staring at Kyungsoo. “Oh no! I forgot I have an important client meeting today!”
Kyungsoo sighs as Jooyeon sits on the bed, pouting like a child. “Can’t you send Jongdae instead?”
Jooyeon sighs. “Jongdae knows you’ve been staying over. If I don’t show up, he’d never shut up about it. God forbid he opens his mouth and tells the entire team. He can be a pain sometimes.”
“Make that all the time,” Kyungsoo mutters under his breath.
Jongdae was both Jooyeon’s childhood friend and Kyungsoo’s best friend since high school. Back in the student council, Jongdae was the only person who had the ability to tolerate Jooyeon’s nitpicking. Whenever she spoke, people, including Kyungsoo himself, tended to roll their eyes at her. Like it or not, that bossy nature of hers was effective in getting matters done effectively.
Kyungsoo had no idea how he and Jongdae managed to become best friends, and how the latter picked up on his feelings for the spoiled, bratty Jooyeon. Jongdae plotted all sorts of outrageous schemes just to get them together, yet ironically, it was the simplest one that ended up working.
It was the unofficial, non-school-sanctioned seniors’ send-off party at Luhan’s place. There wasn’t much alcohol since some of them were barely legal, but there was a lot of food and music (not to mention laughter) to make up for it. Kyungsoo remembered seeing Jongdae making his move on the foreign exchange student Nina after watching them dancing around in circles the whole year.
As he helped himself to another glass of iced tea, Jongdae puts an arm around his shoulders in the only way he can. “Aren’t you supposed to be with Nina?” Kyungsoo asked his best friend. Not that he was complaining or anything. He was grateful for Jongdae’s company, but he knew Nina was leaving in a few weeks.
“Nina and I have the entire month, but YOU only have this week before Jooyeon moves to America,” Jongdae said, pointing to Jooyeon.
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “Jongdae, none of your schemes have ever worked. I’ve decided to give up.”
Jongdae makes this sound that’s between a growl and a groan. “Since when have you been a quitter, Soo?”
Kyungsoo stared at Jooyeon, who was laughing at something Luhan said. She spotted Kyungsoo and Jongdae, and waved at them to come over.
“Just talk to her, Soo… Keep it simple,” Jongdae said as they walked over to where the girls were seated.
If anyone told Kyungsoo back then that he would be talking to Kim Jooyeon and laughing at her corny jokes back then, he would have requested them to go have themselves checked in a mental institute. He tried his best to ignore Jongdae, who seemed to be pulling all stops to get them alone together.
All of a sudden, Jooyeon stood up. “It’s getting pretty loud,” she said, as she made her way to the backyard.
As she walked outside, Luhan and Jongdae both gave Kyungsoo a look.
“Well?” Luhan asked, looking at the door Jooyeon just exited. “Aren’t you going to go after her?”
Before he could react, he found himself being pushed to the door by Jongdae and Minseok, who had just just joined them. “Hwaiting!” all three of them said as they closed the door behind Kyungsoo.
The sound of the door must have surprised Jooyeon, who turned to see what the cause of the sound was. “Oh! Kyungsoo!” she said, smiling once she recognized who it was.
There wasn’t anyone else in the backyard, so now was a good a moment as any. Kyungsoo took a deep breath as he approached her. It was now or never. “Jooyeon… I…”
“Yes?”
Kyungsoo couldn’t find the words to say, so he made up for it by taking her into his arms and closed the gap between their faces. It was his very first kiss, and he knew he put a lot on the line just by doing that.
He quickly let her go and bowed formally. “I- I shouldn’t have done that," he said, scratching his head, as he turned on his heel to go.
“It took you long enough, Soo,” Jooyeon said.
“I- what?!” Kyungsoo said, turning back.
He saw Jooyeon wearing an expression that was torn between bemusement and laughter; her eyebrows were furrowed but her lips were turned upward. There was a slight twinkle in her eyes as she beckoned Kyungsoo to come closer.
“I can’t believe it took you this long,” she said once he was close enough.
“What?”
Jooyeon sighed as if she was talking to a child. “I’ve like you since we first met, Kyungsoo.”
Kyungsoo’s jaw fell open. “How could you like me when you dissed my pants?”
Jooyeon puts a hand over her mouth as she giggled. “I know it wasn’t a positive first impression, but I always found it cute how you were the only cute person who actually dared to fight me back. I’ve been trying to get your attention ever since!”
“Are we… you know?” Kyungsoo asked as he pointed to themselves.
“Only if you wish,” Jooyeon said, shrugging. “So how do we do this whole long-distance thing? I’ll be in America and you’ll be in Paris…”
“We can always keep in touch using Skype and Kakaotalk,” Kyungsoo said, as he casually slung an arm around her shoulders. “And I can fly over there once a month.”
“I can also fly to Paris, so that it’ll be a change in scenery.”
“Let’s make this work, Jooyeon,” Kyungsoo said as he looked into her eyes. “I actually want this relationship to last.”
“I guess we better go and get ready,” Kyungsoo says as he slowly removes his arms from Jooyeon’s waist.
“Where are you going?” Jooyeon asks as she reluctantly rolls off her bed. “I don’t remember you mentioning anything important for this week.”
“I’m meeting the engineer in charge of my latest baby,” Kyungsoo says. They both knew what he was talking about. It was his latest restaurant concept, which he referred to as his latest baby, lest some competition overhead and stole his idea from him.
Jooyeon stops in her tracks as she turns around to look at him. “Who else will be there?” There’s this unreadable expression on her face, and Kyungsoo knows that she’s trying her best not to look like a jealous, over-possessive, crazy girlfriend.
“Relax, Yeonnie,” he says, getting out of bed himself “It’s just Chanyeol and Jongmi.”
Jooyeon turns from her bathroom door to stare at him with a raised eyebrow. “THAT is exactly what I’m worried about. Jongmi.”
Kyungsoo chuckles. He recalls how he and Jongmi had some sort of fling the summer before he realized he liked Jooyeon. They didn’t work out due to too many differences, and besides, he was only a tool to get Chanyeol to notice Jongmi.
“You know she and Chanyeol are already married, besides, Chanyeol’s the best engineer I know and Jongmi’s his go-to architect/interior designer. You know that Jooyeonnie,” he says, smiling at her.
“Ugh, you’re right I suppose,” Jooyeon says as she rolls her eyes and shuts the door to the restroom.
Kyungsoo makes his way to the other adjacent bathroom reserved for him to prepare for the day as well. He steps into the shower, and he sees a suit already laid out for him on the side. It was a blue Ermenegildo Zegna one that he doesn’t recall buying. Jooyeon could be a handful sometimes, but he knew that she only wanted the best for them both.
He showers quickly, since he still has to prepare breakfast. Despite Jooyeon’s constant protests of “There are MAIDS to do that for us,” Kyungsoo enjoyed doing it anyway. After all, he didn’t want to rely on Jooyeon’s helpers all the time. He only wears the pants and the shirt, but he doesn’t bother putting on the suit’s jacket.
Kyungsoo returns to Jooyeon’s bedroom, and kneels as he reaches for something under the bed. He pulls out his black leather shoes from the night before and dusts them off before putting them on.
“Kyungsoo!” Jooyeon’s voice calls out from her dressing room/walk in closet. “Help!”
Kyungsoo gently taps the code to Jooyeon’s dressing room before he enters. He still doesn’t understand why her closet has tighter security than her office. “It’s because I have limited-edition clothes, perfumes, jewelry, and shoes in there!” Kyungsoo chuckles as he thinks of this. Only Kim Jooyeon would guard her precious collection with her life (and heaven forbid his too) just so no one else would touch them. The fact that Kyungsoo was even allowed to step into the room spoke volumes of how much she trusted him.
The scent of expensive leather and fresh flowers from Jooyeon’s Hermes Kelly Caleche is the first thing to assault his senses. Kyungsoo initially disliked this scent on her at first, but as time passed, he realized this scent fit her almost perfectly. She was feminine, but at the same time strong-minded to the point that she came off as aggressive to those who didn’t know any better.
“A little help with the necklace?” she says, pointing to the pearl pendant in front of her.
Kyungsoo smiles when he sees her choice of necklace for today. It’s the first gift he’s ever given her in the course of their relationship. He got it for her during her first visit to him in Paris; he also recalled how he tried conveying to the French jeweler what he wanted done when his fluency in French was close to that of a child’s. Ten years later, Kyungsoo is proud to say that he can now speak the language almost like a native.
Jooyeon looks up at the time. “Oh no! We’re going to be late!” She stands up as she grabs a satchel that matches her whole outfit. She pulls him out of the room with a strength she usually hides.
Kyungsoo sighs as he lets himself be pulled out the door; so much for having preparing breakfest for them both. He shakes his head as he is pulled into Jooyeon’s car, with him on the passenger seat. It’s rather crushing for his dignity to be driven around by his fiance, but when they were rushing, Jooyeon drove like a Formula One race driver and taxi driver rolled into one. This unusual ability helped them make it to their appointments on time, and in some cases, make them look more prompt than the others. Kyungsoo’s barely blinked when he finds himself in front of the restaurant in record time. He gently kisses Jooyeon on the lips as he gets off the car.
The meeting with Chanyeol and Jongmi flies by pretty fast, as all three of them are so used to working with each other. Chanyeol immediately understood what Kyungsoo wanted to happen and already had ideas for materials he could use. Meanwhile, Jongmi had ideas Kyungsoo wasn’t expecting from her, but found that he prefered her suggestions over the vision he had in his head last night. After he bid the couple goodbye, Kyungsoo also checked on the other restaurants he manages. He gets to meet Sehun, one of the new cooks the restaurant hired. He is a young high school student killing time as his friends are all out of town. Kyungsoo sees potential in him, if only he’d learn to stay still and not get excited over everything. Then again, it’s the same enthusiasm he had when he was Sehun’s age, only the young boy expresses it more exuberantly than he ever did.
He is in the middle of teaching Sehun how to bake the perfect apple pie, when someone pokes his head inside to tell him Jooyeon is waiting. Sehun whines as Kyungsoo bids him goodbye, with promises that he will invite Sehun for a one on one baking class. This seems to pacify the young cook as he waves Kyungsoo goodbye, along with remarks of being safe. Kyungsoo turns to give Sehun one last withering glare before he shuts the door.
True enough, Jooyeon is parked outside the restaurant, looking as though she just came out of a shopping trip instead of several meetings in a corporate office. He envied her ability to look as fresh as a daisy no matter what time of day or night it was.
“Hi there, stranger,” she says as he enters her car. He knows it’s a bit embarrassing to be picked up by his own girlfriend instead of the other way around, but he just lets things be. After all, Jooyeon claims that driving calms her nerves. Besides, there was another reason why Jooyeon insisted in picking him up.
“Hi you guys!” a voice says from inside the restaurant. It’s the restaurant’s manager, Byun Baekhee. “Were you here all day, Kyungsoo? I didn’t see you!”
Jooyeon growls softly from the driver’s seat as Kyungsoo smiles at the manager. “I was at the kitchen with Sehun all afternoon, Baekhee.”
“I can’t believe no one told me!” she whines playfully at him. “Are you guys having dinner here?”
“No, Baekhee. We’re not,” Jooyeon replies before Kyungsoo could open his mouth. Jooyeon rolls her eyes as she starts her car. “We’ll be going ahead. It’s nice seeing you. Hope the next time isn’t too soon.”
Jooyeon drives off at a speed Kyungsoo is all too familiar with. “Yeonnie….” he says once her driving speed returns to what he considers normal. “Is it Baekhee?”
“Who else?” Jooyeon snaps, as she makes a particularly sharp turn. “Why won’t she get the hint that you’re taken?”
“You know she’s like that with everyone,” Kyungsoo says as he shakes his head. “You should get used to it by now.”
“But I don’t like it when she tries flirting with you.”
Kyungsoo sighs as he looks out the window. Jooyeon’s going to get over this like she always does. “So what do you want for dinner?”
“Sushi.”
“Kiyomuzi?”
“Yes.”
“Lead the way, Your Highness.”
“Shut up, Prince Charming.”
The drive to Gwangjin is a lot more relaxed now that Jooyeon has calmed down. Kyungsoo tells her about Sehun, while she rants to him about Jongdae teasing her during the meeting all day. Jooyeon laughs as Kyungsoo talks about wanting to possibly take on Sehun as an apprentice in the future.
“If we were to have kids, I think I want a son like him,” he admits.
“You said he’s tall right? Which one of us will give him the height?”
“I just hope that we have some obscure tall relatives whose genes will manifest in him.”
Jooyeon laughs at this. “But hasn’t it occurred to you that once our child expresses interest in cooking, he or she would be expected to have taste buds and skills close to yours?”
“Well, there’s that. But if the kid inherits your company, the kid will be expected to either take it to further heights or to be the answer to all your screw ups.”
“EXCUSE YOU, KYUNGSOO!”
They laugh until they arrive at the restaurant. Kyungsoo’s stomach hurting from both laughter and hunger. Zitao, the restaurant’s owner, already knows them by name and face. “Your usual table, Mr. Do and Miss Kim?”
“Yes, thank you, Zitao,” Jooyeon replies as Zitao leads them to their usual window seat which provides them a good view of the Han River.
The restaurant is both quiet and classy, not to mention serves excellent sushi, which is no wonder why Jooyeon likes it here. The sushi and green tea do more than enough to restore Jooyeon’s pleasant mood, until Kyungsoo’s phone rings.
“Hello?” he says once he picks up. “Kristina?”
He sees Jooyeon pout at the mention of his best friend’s name. Kyungsoo listens as Kristina explains why she has called him for help once again. Kyungsoo and Kristina have been best friends ever since they were toddlers. For some reason, Kristina always managed to get herself into odd situations and Kyungsoo was always there to bail her out of them. Among all the girls in Kyungsoo’s life, he knew Kristina was the one Jooyeon was the most distrustful of. Admittedly, he was to blame for it as well. After all, he broke off more dates with Jooyeon than he cared to count just to come to Kristina’s rescue.
“What now?” Jooyeon asked testily once he put down the phone.
“Apparently Soojung’s family owns the restaurant Kristina’s working in and now she’s scared for her life,” Kyungsoo sighs.
“Then why doesn’t Yixing put a stop to it?” Jooyeon snapped. “Soojung would listen to him.”
Kristina’s boyfriend Zhang Yixing was once engaged to restaurant-chain heiress Jung Soojung. They only broke off the engagement when Yixing made it clear that he was more interested in pastry chef Kristina. Soojung gave both Yixing and Kristina hell for it at first, but says in interviews that she “eventually got over it.”
“Tell Kristina to grow a pair, Soo,” Jooyeon said as she daintily sipped her tea. “Soojung’s not allowed to give her hell anymore. If she does, it’ll be all over the news, and that’s against her plan of trying to stock up on positive PR as the Jungs have a new venture coming up this year. And trust me, Soo, you might want to collaborate with them on this.”
“How can you talk about business at a time like this?” Kyungsoo chuckles as he shakes his head at her.
“How can you take calls from HER while we’re on a date?” she shoots back.
“Touché,” he says as Jooyeon beckons for some more green tea.
Kyungsoo’s phone rings again. Just as he is about to answer it, Jooyeon takes it from his hands and looks at the receiver. She has this unreadable expression on her face as she answers.
“Kristina Wu. Can you PLEASE stop ruining my dates with Kyungsoo for your practically non-existent issues? I swear, you’ve been doing this since time immemorial and it has got to stop. Do I make myself clear? Good. Thanks. You can talk to Kyungsoo tomorrow. Bye.”
Kyungsoo blinks as Jooyeon talks to his best friend on the phone. He gets his phone back as Jooyeon rolls her eyes. Just as he is about to put his phone in his pocket, he sees a message from Kristina. He discreetly opens it to read,
“Jooyeon is something else all right. Tell her I’m sorry for ruining your dates and that she and I should have coffee and cake some time. Yes, this is a girls’ date in session. Oh and Soojung and I are talking now. Hope things go OK.”
He chuckles as he saves the message and keeps his phone in his pocket. Jooyeon looks at him with a raised eyebrow and he shakes his head in reply. He doesn’t intend to rush off to save his best friend when his fiance is right in front of him, whining that she wants cake. He obliges as they settle their bill, trying to guess what kind of cake she wants tonight.
Every day is always some kind of crazy, as it has always been since they first met, but Kyungsoo knows he’s not going to trade Kim Jooyeon for anyone else.
Only one, I will look only at you
Love you Venus
Oh! My Goddess!
-30-
Notes:
by mara_ciro
Kyungsoo/girl!Suho | 4,429~ words | G | Kyungsoo and Jooyeon's relationship has gone far since they first met
Before anything else, girl!Suho was named Jooyeon just to avoid confusion on my part.
It’s been a while since they’ve been able to spend time together like this.
Kyungsoo’s arm is wrapped around Jooyeon’s waist, with her head on his chest. He feels her stir as the sun’s rays seep through their curtains. He hears a muffled groan as Jooyeon wakes up.
“Just WHY are the curtains open again, Soo?” is the first thing Kyungsoo manages to understand among Jooyeon’s incoherent complaints. “You know I don’t like the sunlight waking me up.”
He chuckles as he remembers why the curtains weren’t shut. They enjoyed the fireworks show from the comfort of Jooyeon’s bedroom, and they both got carried away with what happened after that they forgot about the curtains. He hoped Jooyeon was in a good enough mood, as she tended to be incredibly cranky and demanding when she felt that she was rudely awakened.
“Kyungsoooooo,” Jooyeon whines, weakly slapping his chest. “Shut the curtains.”
He shakes his head as he gently tries removing Jooyeon’s arm from his waist. Jooyeon decides to make things difficult by clinging on to him tighter. “Don’t go. I need my cuddle buddy,” she says.
“How do you expect me to close the curtains then, princess?” Kyungsoo says, his lips quirking upward.
“Use the remote, duh,” Jooyeon says, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, pointing to a small remote next to her capiz lamp.
Kyungsoo shakes his head as he reaches for the remote Jooyeon pointed to. Sometimes, he forgets how different his fiance’s lifestyle is from his own. “Sorry, we don’t have this kind of window in our mountains,” he says, as he looks for which button to press.
“It’s the red one on the top left,” Jooyeon says as she seems to have sensed Kyungsoo’s problem.
No matter how long it has been, Kyungsoo wonders what Jooyeon sees in him. They came from extremely different backgrounds. She was the youngest heiress to a multi-national telecom company, while he was the youngest son of her father’s personal assistant. There have been so many men who came in and out of Jooyeon’s life, yet she still chose him.
It was a funny twist of fate, really. Kyungsoo’s father was the chief of security of Jooyeon’s family. When Kyungsoo was five, his father took him to the house where he worked. The minute they arrived, the first person Kyungsoo noticed was a little girl wearing a frilly pink dress, holding on to a doll and a book.
“Kyungmin ahjussi!” the little girl smiled, bowing to him. “What’s that?” she added, pointing to Kyungsoo.
“Jooyeonnie,” his father said. “This is my son, Kyungsoo.”
Jooyeon’s smile faded in favor of a look that was in between disgust and curiosity. “But Kyungmin ahjussi, he’s too ugly to be your son! Look at those pants! They look dirty.” Her dark brown eyes examined Kyungsoo from head to toe, her scowl getting deeper with whatever it was she saw.
“What’s wrong with my pants, princess?” Kyungsoo snapped.
“Everything,” she replied. “Now get out of my way.”
“Jooyeon!” an adult’s voice said from behind them. “That’s not a nice thing to say to anyone, especially not to Kyungmin’s son. Now say sorry to both Kyungsoo and Kyungmin.
Jooyeon bowed respectfully to his father, apologizing as she did so; however, she rolled her eyes at Kyungsoo, all the while not meaning her apology. Her father wasn’t satisfied, but Jooyeon looked like she was about to cry.
“We will talk about this later, Jooyeonnie,” he said. “Now go upstairs to your room.”
Jooyeon climbed up the stairs, turning back to stick her tongue out at him when no one else was looking. Kyungsoo sighed as she stared at the girl. She was mean, and he didn’t like mean people like her. Besides, she was a girl… and girls were… Ewww.
Whether they both liked it or not, they were always together. No, not in the sense that they were forcibly joined by the hip. They found themselves engaging in similar activities and being friends with the same people. They found themselves vying for honors in school, both of them joined the student council and were part of the choir. Despite being in one group of friends, both Kyungsoo and Jooyeon managed to act as though the other didn’t exist.
At best, Kyungsoo thought Jooyeon was a whiny bitch. He knew that wasn’t a nice thing to think, but that was what Kim Jooyeon was. She was a perfectionist, and tended to get angry if things didn’t go her way. Once that happened, she started screaming, cursing, and pointing out everyone else’s mistakes. It was difficult to please her, that people who worked with her often ended up quitting. The few who managed to survive her were those she actually liked and often said they were the better for it. It mystified Kyungsoo how so many boys still attempted to confess their feelings for her, despite knowing how she was. He often found himself rolling his eyes at the poor idiot who’d even consider trying.
It all changed on a quiet Friday afternoon during their planning seminar (which was basically the student council’s excuse to use the school’s money to fund their vacation) at Jooyeon’s family’s ranch at Jeju during the end of their first year in high school. For some odd reason, the rest of the student council had gone missing after their meeting, and Kyungsoo found himself alone with Jooyeon at the small lake outside Jooyeon’s house.
He must have forgotten how to breathe when he saw the sun casting light and shadows over Jooyeon’s fair skin. She just stood there with her hands facing the sun, staring at them with wonder in those dark brown eyes. She smiled at them in such a way Kyungsoo never saw her do in all the years he had known her. For the first time in his life, Kyungsoo actually agreed with the other boys in school who said that Jooyeon looked like an angel. It made perfect sense too-with the light making her shine brighter than ever, and her flowing white dress blowing in the wind.
“Kyungsoo?” Jooyeon’s voice had asked, practically whispering his name. It sounded like music to his ears, quite unlike all those shrill screams he had gotten used to hearing all his life. Jooyeon had the voice of an angel, or at least, if angels had voices, he swore this is how they would have sounded. He mentally hit himself on the head for not realizing this any sooner.
He blinks out of his stupor and sees Jooyeon staring at him with raised eyebrows and her lips quirked into something between judgment and laughter.
It was at that moment Kyungsoo realized that he was about to fall into the blackhole that was Kim Jooyeon’s charms and that there was no going back.
“What are you thinking about, Soo?” Jooyeon asks, looking up at him. Sleep was still evident in her eyes as she yawned and stretched.
“Nothing really…” he says, burying his face in her hair. “Go back to sleep, Jooyeonnie.”
Jooyeon moans as she buries herself deeper in Kyungsoo’s chest. “What date is it today?”
“April 2,” he replies, stroking her hair.
Jooyeon suddenly bolts up, her eyes wide awake. “April 2?” she asks, staring at Kyungsoo. “Oh no! I forgot I have an important client meeting today!”
Kyungsoo sighs as Jooyeon sits on the bed, pouting like a child. “Can’t you send Jongdae instead?”
Jooyeon sighs. “Jongdae knows you’ve been staying over. If I don’t show up, he’d never shut up about it. God forbid he opens his mouth and tells the entire team. He can be a pain sometimes.”
“Make that all the time,” Kyungsoo mutters under his breath.
Jongdae was both Jooyeon’s childhood friend and Kyungsoo’s best friend since high school. Back in the student council, Jongdae was the only person who had the ability to tolerate Jooyeon’s nitpicking. Whenever she spoke, people, including Kyungsoo himself, tended to roll their eyes at her. Like it or not, that bossy nature of hers was effective in getting matters done effectively.
Kyungsoo had no idea how he and Jongdae managed to become best friends, and how the latter picked up on his feelings for the spoiled, bratty Jooyeon. Jongdae plotted all sorts of outrageous schemes just to get them together, yet ironically, it was the simplest one that ended up working.
It was the unofficial, non-school-sanctioned seniors’ send-off party at Luhan’s place. There wasn’t much alcohol since some of them were barely legal, but there was a lot of food and music (not to mention laughter) to make up for it. Kyungsoo remembered seeing Jongdae making his move on the foreign exchange student Nina after watching them dancing around in circles the whole year.
As he helped himself to another glass of iced tea, Jongdae puts an arm around his shoulders in the only way he can. “Aren’t you supposed to be with Nina?” Kyungsoo asked his best friend. Not that he was complaining or anything. He was grateful for Jongdae’s company, but he knew Nina was leaving in a few weeks.
“Nina and I have the entire month, but YOU only have this week before Jooyeon moves to America,” Jongdae said, pointing to Jooyeon.
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “Jongdae, none of your schemes have ever worked. I’ve decided to give up.”
Jongdae makes this sound that’s between a growl and a groan. “Since when have you been a quitter, Soo?”
Kyungsoo stared at Jooyeon, who was laughing at something Luhan said. She spotted Kyungsoo and Jongdae, and waved at them to come over.
“Just talk to her, Soo… Keep it simple,” Jongdae said as they walked over to where the girls were seated.
If anyone told Kyungsoo back then that he would be talking to Kim Jooyeon and laughing at her corny jokes back then, he would have requested them to go have themselves checked in a mental institute. He tried his best to ignore Jongdae, who seemed to be pulling all stops to get them alone together.
All of a sudden, Jooyeon stood up. “It’s getting pretty loud,” she said, as she made her way to the backyard.
As she walked outside, Luhan and Jongdae both gave Kyungsoo a look.
“Well?” Luhan asked, looking at the door Jooyeon just exited. “Aren’t you going to go after her?”
Before he could react, he found himself being pushed to the door by Jongdae and Minseok, who had just just joined them. “Hwaiting!” all three of them said as they closed the door behind Kyungsoo.
The sound of the door must have surprised Jooyeon, who turned to see what the cause of the sound was. “Oh! Kyungsoo!” she said, smiling once she recognized who it was.
There wasn’t anyone else in the backyard, so now was a good a moment as any. Kyungsoo took a deep breath as he approached her. It was now or never. “Jooyeon… I…”
“Yes?”
Kyungsoo couldn’t find the words to say, so he made up for it by taking her into his arms and closed the gap between their faces. It was his very first kiss, and he knew he put a lot on the line just by doing that.
He quickly let her go and bowed formally. “I- I shouldn’t have done that," he said, scratching his head, as he turned on his heel to go.
“It took you long enough, Soo,” Jooyeon said.
“I- what?!” Kyungsoo said, turning back.
He saw Jooyeon wearing an expression that was torn between bemusement and laughter; her eyebrows were furrowed but her lips were turned upward. There was a slight twinkle in her eyes as she beckoned Kyungsoo to come closer.
“I can’t believe it took you this long,” she said once he was close enough.
“What?”
Jooyeon sighed as if she was talking to a child. “I’ve like you since we first met, Kyungsoo.”
Kyungsoo’s jaw fell open. “How could you like me when you dissed my pants?”
Jooyeon puts a hand over her mouth as she giggled. “I know it wasn’t a positive first impression, but I always found it cute how you were the only cute person who actually dared to fight me back. I’ve been trying to get your attention ever since!”
“Are we… you know?” Kyungsoo asked as he pointed to themselves.
“Only if you wish,” Jooyeon said, shrugging. “So how do we do this whole long-distance thing? I’ll be in America and you’ll be in Paris…”
“We can always keep in touch using Skype and Kakaotalk,” Kyungsoo said, as he casually slung an arm around her shoulders. “And I can fly over there once a month.”
“I can also fly to Paris, so that it’ll be a change in scenery.”
“Let’s make this work, Jooyeon,” Kyungsoo said as he looked into her eyes. “I actually want this relationship to last.”
“I guess we better go and get ready,” Kyungsoo says as he slowly removes his arms from Jooyeon’s waist.
“Where are you going?” Jooyeon asks as she reluctantly rolls off her bed. “I don’t remember you mentioning anything important for this week.”
“I’m meeting the engineer in charge of my latest baby,” Kyungsoo says. They both knew what he was talking about. It was his latest restaurant concept, which he referred to as his latest baby, lest some competition overhead and stole his idea from him.
Jooyeon stops in her tracks as she turns around to look at him. “Who else will be there?” There’s this unreadable expression on her face, and Kyungsoo knows that she’s trying her best not to look like a jealous, over-possessive, crazy girlfriend.
“Relax, Yeonnie,” he says, getting out of bed himself “It’s just Chanyeol and Jongmi.”
Jooyeon turns from her bathroom door to stare at him with a raised eyebrow. “THAT is exactly what I’m worried about. Jongmi.”
Kyungsoo chuckles. He recalls how he and Jongmi had some sort of fling the summer before he realized he liked Jooyeon. They didn’t work out due to too many differences, and besides, he was only a tool to get Chanyeol to notice Jongmi.
“You know she and Chanyeol are already married, besides, Chanyeol’s the best engineer I know and Jongmi’s his go-to architect/interior designer. You know that Jooyeonnie,” he says, smiling at her.
“Ugh, you’re right I suppose,” Jooyeon says as she rolls her eyes and shuts the door to the restroom.
Kyungsoo makes his way to the other adjacent bathroom reserved for him to prepare for the day as well. He steps into the shower, and he sees a suit already laid out for him on the side. It was a blue Ermenegildo Zegna one that he doesn’t recall buying. Jooyeon could be a handful sometimes, but he knew that she only wanted the best for them both.
He showers quickly, since he still has to prepare breakfast. Despite Jooyeon’s constant protests of “There are MAIDS to do that for us,” Kyungsoo enjoyed doing it anyway. After all, he didn’t want to rely on Jooyeon’s helpers all the time. He only wears the pants and the shirt, but he doesn’t bother putting on the suit’s jacket.
Kyungsoo returns to Jooyeon’s bedroom, and kneels as he reaches for something under the bed. He pulls out his black leather shoes from the night before and dusts them off before putting them on.
“Kyungsoo!” Jooyeon’s voice calls out from her dressing room/walk in closet. “Help!”
Kyungsoo gently taps the code to Jooyeon’s dressing room before he enters. He still doesn’t understand why her closet has tighter security than her office. “It’s because I have limited-edition clothes, perfumes, jewelry, and shoes in there!” Kyungsoo chuckles as he thinks of this. Only Kim Jooyeon would guard her precious collection with her life (and heaven forbid his too) just so no one else would touch them. The fact that Kyungsoo was even allowed to step into the room spoke volumes of how much she trusted him.
The scent of expensive leather and fresh flowers from Jooyeon’s Hermes Kelly Caleche is the first thing to assault his senses. Kyungsoo initially disliked this scent on her at first, but as time passed, he realized this scent fit her almost perfectly. She was feminine, but at the same time strong-minded to the point that she came off as aggressive to those who didn’t know any better.
“A little help with the necklace?” she says, pointing to the pearl pendant in front of her.
Kyungsoo smiles when he sees her choice of necklace for today. It’s the first gift he’s ever given her in the course of their relationship. He got it for her during her first visit to him in Paris; he also recalled how he tried conveying to the French jeweler what he wanted done when his fluency in French was close to that of a child’s. Ten years later, Kyungsoo is proud to say that he can now speak the language almost like a native.
Jooyeon looks up at the time. “Oh no! We’re going to be late!” She stands up as she grabs a satchel that matches her whole outfit. She pulls him out of the room with a strength she usually hides.
Kyungsoo sighs as he lets himself be pulled out the door; so much for having preparing breakfest for them both. He shakes his head as he is pulled into Jooyeon’s car, with him on the passenger seat. It’s rather crushing for his dignity to be driven around by his fiance, but when they were rushing, Jooyeon drove like a Formula One race driver and taxi driver rolled into one. This unusual ability helped them make it to their appointments on time, and in some cases, make them look more prompt than the others. Kyungsoo’s barely blinked when he finds himself in front of the restaurant in record time. He gently kisses Jooyeon on the lips as he gets off the car.
The meeting with Chanyeol and Jongmi flies by pretty fast, as all three of them are so used to working with each other. Chanyeol immediately understood what Kyungsoo wanted to happen and already had ideas for materials he could use. Meanwhile, Jongmi had ideas Kyungsoo wasn’t expecting from her, but found that he prefered her suggestions over the vision he had in his head last night. After he bid the couple goodbye, Kyungsoo also checked on the other restaurants he manages. He gets to meet Sehun, one of the new cooks the restaurant hired. He is a young high school student killing time as his friends are all out of town. Kyungsoo sees potential in him, if only he’d learn to stay still and not get excited over everything. Then again, it’s the same enthusiasm he had when he was Sehun’s age, only the young boy expresses it more exuberantly than he ever did.
He is in the middle of teaching Sehun how to bake the perfect apple pie, when someone pokes his head inside to tell him Jooyeon is waiting. Sehun whines as Kyungsoo bids him goodbye, with promises that he will invite Sehun for a one on one baking class. This seems to pacify the young cook as he waves Kyungsoo goodbye, along with remarks of being safe. Kyungsoo turns to give Sehun one last withering glare before he shuts the door.
True enough, Jooyeon is parked outside the restaurant, looking as though she just came out of a shopping trip instead of several meetings in a corporate office. He envied her ability to look as fresh as a daisy no matter what time of day or night it was.
“Hi there, stranger,” she says as he enters her car. He knows it’s a bit embarrassing to be picked up by his own girlfriend instead of the other way around, but he just lets things be. After all, Jooyeon claims that driving calms her nerves. Besides, there was another reason why Jooyeon insisted in picking him up.
“Hi you guys!” a voice says from inside the restaurant. It’s the restaurant’s manager, Byun Baekhee. “Were you here all day, Kyungsoo? I didn’t see you!”
Jooyeon growls softly from the driver’s seat as Kyungsoo smiles at the manager. “I was at the kitchen with Sehun all afternoon, Baekhee.”
“I can’t believe no one told me!” she whines playfully at him. “Are you guys having dinner here?”
“No, Baekhee. We’re not,” Jooyeon replies before Kyungsoo could open his mouth. Jooyeon rolls her eyes as she starts her car. “We’ll be going ahead. It’s nice seeing you. Hope the next time isn’t too soon.”
Jooyeon drives off at a speed Kyungsoo is all too familiar with. “Yeonnie….” he says once her driving speed returns to what he considers normal. “Is it Baekhee?”
“Who else?” Jooyeon snaps, as she makes a particularly sharp turn. “Why won’t she get the hint that you’re taken?”
“You know she’s like that with everyone,” Kyungsoo says as he shakes his head. “You should get used to it by now.”
“But I don’t like it when she tries flirting with you.”
Kyungsoo sighs as he looks out the window. Jooyeon’s going to get over this like she always does. “So what do you want for dinner?”
“Sushi.”
“Kiyomuzi?”
“Yes.”
“Lead the way, Your Highness.”
“Shut up, Prince Charming.”
The drive to Gwangjin is a lot more relaxed now that Jooyeon has calmed down. Kyungsoo tells her about Sehun, while she rants to him about Jongdae teasing her during the meeting all day. Jooyeon laughs as Kyungsoo talks about wanting to possibly take on Sehun as an apprentice in the future.
“If we were to have kids, I think I want a son like him,” he admits.
“You said he’s tall right? Which one of us will give him the height?”
“I just hope that we have some obscure tall relatives whose genes will manifest in him.”
Jooyeon laughs at this. “But hasn’t it occurred to you that once our child expresses interest in cooking, he or she would be expected to have taste buds and skills close to yours?”
“Well, there’s that. But if the kid inherits your company, the kid will be expected to either take it to further heights or to be the answer to all your screw ups.”
“EXCUSE YOU, KYUNGSOO!”
They laugh until they arrive at the restaurant. Kyungsoo’s stomach hurting from both laughter and hunger. Zitao, the restaurant’s owner, already knows them by name and face. “Your usual table, Mr. Do and Miss Kim?”
“Yes, thank you, Zitao,” Jooyeon replies as Zitao leads them to their usual window seat which provides them a good view of the Han River.
The restaurant is both quiet and classy, not to mention serves excellent sushi, which is no wonder why Jooyeon likes it here. The sushi and green tea do more than enough to restore Jooyeon’s pleasant mood, until Kyungsoo’s phone rings.
“Hello?” he says once he picks up. “Kristina?”
He sees Jooyeon pout at the mention of his best friend’s name. Kyungsoo listens as Kristina explains why she has called him for help once again. Kyungsoo and Kristina have been best friends ever since they were toddlers. For some reason, Kristina always managed to get herself into odd situations and Kyungsoo was always there to bail her out of them. Among all the girls in Kyungsoo’s life, he knew Kristina was the one Jooyeon was the most distrustful of. Admittedly, he was to blame for it as well. After all, he broke off more dates with Jooyeon than he cared to count just to come to Kristina’s rescue.
“What now?” Jooyeon asked testily once he put down the phone.
“Apparently Soojung’s family owns the restaurant Kristina’s working in and now she’s scared for her life,” Kyungsoo sighs.
“Then why doesn’t Yixing put a stop to it?” Jooyeon snapped. “Soojung would listen to him.”
Kristina’s boyfriend Zhang Yixing was once engaged to restaurant-chain heiress Jung Soojung. They only broke off the engagement when Yixing made it clear that he was more interested in pastry chef Kristina. Soojung gave both Yixing and Kristina hell for it at first, but says in interviews that she “eventually got over it.”
“Tell Kristina to grow a pair, Soo,” Jooyeon said as she daintily sipped her tea. “Soojung’s not allowed to give her hell anymore. If she does, it’ll be all over the news, and that’s against her plan of trying to stock up on positive PR as the Jungs have a new venture coming up this year. And trust me, Soo, you might want to collaborate with them on this.”
“How can you talk about business at a time like this?” Kyungsoo chuckles as he shakes his head at her.
“How can you take calls from HER while we’re on a date?” she shoots back.
“Touché,” he says as Jooyeon beckons for some more green tea.
Kyungsoo’s phone rings again. Just as he is about to answer it, Jooyeon takes it from his hands and looks at the receiver. She has this unreadable expression on her face as she answers.
“Kristina Wu. Can you PLEASE stop ruining my dates with Kyungsoo for your practically non-existent issues? I swear, you’ve been doing this since time immemorial and it has got to stop. Do I make myself clear? Good. Thanks. You can talk to Kyungsoo tomorrow. Bye.”
Kyungsoo blinks as Jooyeon talks to his best friend on the phone. He gets his phone back as Jooyeon rolls her eyes. Just as he is about to put his phone in his pocket, he sees a message from Kristina. He discreetly opens it to read,
“Jooyeon is something else all right. Tell her I’m sorry for ruining your dates and that she and I should have coffee and cake some time. Yes, this is a girls’ date in session. Oh and Soojung and I are talking now. Hope things go OK.”
He chuckles as he saves the message and keeps his phone in his pocket. Jooyeon looks at him with a raised eyebrow and he shakes his head in reply. He doesn’t intend to rush off to save his best friend when his fiance is right in front of him, whining that she wants cake. He obliges as they settle their bill, trying to guess what kind of cake she wants tonight.
Every day is always some kind of crazy, as it has always been since they first met, but Kyungsoo knows he’s not going to trade Kim Jooyeon for anyone else.
Only one, I will look only at you
Love you Venus
Oh! My Goddess!
-30-
Notes:
- This was written for lessvocals’ bid at exorelieffund as well as being her birthday present. Unni, I know this isn’t exactly The Heirs AU you asked for but I tried my best to make it fluffy, cheesy, and domestic.
- The fic was inspired by this fic. I hope I managed to make the fic as different from that one.
- Title, LJ cut text, ad the last lines were taken from Oh! My Goddess by TRAX
- Thanks to darkyulate for the beta, to my fellow #TeamMod members daeseol and onyu for holding my hand and listening/reading to my rants on our numerous email threads.
- Thanks also to airplanewishes, xxbbq, and #TeamMod for the numerous word war sessions that led me to finally finishing this.