Eri stood in the doorway and watched the movers bring in the four full length mirrors into the shop. They had been moving everything out of the way so they could pull the shelves away from the walls and set up the mirrors.
Min Ho stood by the cash register holding Bin Ji and watching the front. He was the part time worker that Yi Jeong had hired when he realized he wasn't going to be able to run the shop all the time. Eri did most of the work for him but she had kids so she couldn't always be there. So he had hired two part time workers and another full time worker.
When Min Ho first started working, he had hit on Eri immediately. Eri wasn't able to distinguish friendship from romantic interest, but she didn't really care since she had Woo Bin. She had simply brushed him off as another person jut looking to get close to her. It wasn't uncommon since she was married to and friends with F4.
Eri had been minding her own business when he had cornered her after hours. She still lived behind the glass wall of emotions, but she couldn't stand a man cornering her. Even Woo Bin didn't do that when he was irritated with her. He knew better. She had shoved him away and stared at him with that cold and calculating gaze she took on when she was so close to knocking open that emotional door.
Luckily for Min Ho, Yi Jeong had walked in at that time. The scolding the shop owner gave the employee was a lot nicer than the one his friend was about to unleash. He explained everything, that Eri was a married woman with two kids and if he wanted to continue working there, he would make sure he knew his boundaries. He also made sure the student knew that if he kept on, Woo Bin wouldn't be as nice.
Since that night, Min Ho had been very respectful. Sometimes even Eri got mad at him for calling her Noona all the time, but he wouldn't stop because Woo Bin and Yi Jeong scared him more than the slip of a woman.
He had taken to keeping an eye on Bin Ji or Ahn Na when they came. Bin Ji loved him because he was able to play horsey, one of the boy's favorite games. He also let him eat whatever he wanted, mostly ice cream and any other sweets he wanted. Eri swore if he did it ever again, she was going to skin him.
Eri watched as the two men brought the mirrors into the front of the shop and set them along the walls. She glanced at Min Ho briefly to make sure her son was taken care of then went back to helping people move things in. As long as no one was crying or pitching a fit, she didn't have to pay attention to what others were doing.
Once the movers were done, she paid them and locked the back door. She was messing around in the back room when she heard Min Ho yell out seconds before there was a crash. It took seconds for her to realize there was no crying.
Cold dread settled in her heart as she remembered there was no one else in the shop but her and Min Ho. And Bin Ji.
She dropped the vase she had and ran to the front. Shattered mirror met her as soon as she came behind the cash register. She rounded the counter and icky redness covered the floor. She stared at it for a moment before she followed the flow to the source.
Min Ho was holding Bin Ji with his shirt covering his head. Blood stained the material. Eri wasted no time, emotions shutting off even though it was her son that was injured. She grabbed the gauze and tape and returned to the show room. Taking Bin Ji from Min Ho, she carefully wrapped his head and taped it. She checked his little body to make sure there were no other wounds and set him back into Min Ho's lap.
"Call an ambulance," she ordered.
Min Ho didn't have time to argue as he pulled out his phone. His fingers slipped on the smooth surface as he tried to dial resulting in Eri dialing for him. He spoke quickly and succinctly, and it wasn't too long after that the ambulance arrived. The men took the little boy away. Eri looked at Min Ho.
"Go with him. Your arm is cut and needs to be tended. Call Woo Bin or Yi Jeong. They'll meet you there," she said.
He stared at her for a moment before he followed her orders. She watched him leave with cold detachment. She could feel something right under the familiar coldness but she couldn't grasp it.
She needed to clean the showroom up. She walked into the back room to grab the broom and dust pan. When she returned she just started sweeping up the broken glass. With the glass cleaned away, she grabbed a bucket of water and a scrub brush and went to work on the blood.
Yi Jeong ripped open the front door and stared in shock. Blood ran almost black in his floor. He looked around to see what had caused it and saw the shattered mirror. Then he saw the woman sitting in the floor.
Cautiously he crossed to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder. When she turned her gaze to him, his heart clenched. The fragile door that held all those raging emotions was cracked and he could see what was about to come out.
Not caring that his thousand dollar suit was going to get ruined, he dropped to his knees and pulled the woman into his arms. Eri never hugged back but this time her arms went around him. She held her bloody hands away from his back as she buried her face in his shoulder.
Yi Jeong held back the tears as agony ripped through his best friend. He knew she was starting to panic. Bin Ji was her only natural son that she had almost lost due to a car accident. He was the one thing that proved that no matter how hard life tried to kill you, you always could make something good.
"Eri, we have to go to the hospital," he whispered. "We have to know what's going on. You have to get it together. Come on."
He pulled her to her feet and walked her out the door, locking it behind him. He put her in the front seat of his car and walked around to the driver's side. Not really caring that he was breaking all kinds of traffic laws, he sped to the hospital they would take him.
As he hit a red light he looked over at Eri. She was staring at her hands, her face completely blank. It was then he realized he should have helped her wash the blood from them before loading her in the car. She looked like she had been in the accident instead of her son.
When they arrived, he bailed out of the car quickly and pulled her from it. He led her into the lobby and to the elevator. He wanted to speak but the look on Eri's face told him she wouldn't hear anything he had to say.
They stepped out onto the fourth floor and saw Woo Bin immediately. He was talking to one of the doctors. He looked at them then, his mouth dropping as he saw his wife. Yi Jeong had to wave him off because he knew the moment he touched her she would react violently. She was barely holding all those emotion in.
"So you were the one who stopped the bleeding," Dr. Kim said. Eri looked at him. "I should have known your handiwork when I saw it. He's lost a lot of blood and we had to put him into a coma. Since I knew it was your son, I made sure to note that he might have a hard time staying asleep. He has a broken clavicle and fractured wrist. But the most concerning part is the fracture to his skull. The only thing that saved that child's life was the young man who came in with him."
"What do you mean?" Yi Jeong asked.
"There were huge mirror shards in that young man's back. I think when it fell he covered the boy up with his body, but he miscalculated a little. He slammed his head down to protect it but in doing so he fractured his skull and scratched it on the glass. The glass had to be falling fast because it was a split decision."
"Is there anything we can do?" Woo Bin asked.
"The swelling in his brain needs to go down. Right now we just have to play the waiting game."
"Eri!"
Woo Bin called her name as she took off down the hallway. The two men followed her, leaving Dr. Kim to watch after them. There was only one place she would go in the hospital after leaving the pediatrics floor.
She got a head start on them, so by the time they made it down one flight of stair she was already down another. She bolted through the door of the first floor. By the time they got to her, she was already in one of the recovery rooms.
She and Min Ho were staring at each other. The young man's mouth opened slowly as he stared at her. It was obvious he had never seen her in this manner. There wasn't much holding the door closed on those dangerous emotions.
Min Ho looked about ready to say something but the second he saw the blood all over her clothes and hands he frowned. He searched her face for something but it wasn't there. It wouldn't be.
"Is he all right?" he whispered.
Eri, who wasn't used to being the one who couldn't control what was around her, dropped to her knees as she took his hands. He looked surprised at first, but agony tore through him. He looked up at Yi Jeong and Woo Bin, begging them to help.
"We can't touch her," Woo Bin said. "She's barely keeping it all in. Last time something happened like this she destroyed a painting she and Yi Jeong had worked on."
"She's terrified," Yi Jeong explained. "Bin Ji is her only biological child and he will be her only natural child. He holds a special place in her heart. She doesn't know if he's going to make it."
Min Ho took her hands and pulled her closer. He made her look up at him. The emotions roiling through the golden depths tore at him once again.
"Noona, he's going to be okay. If I harmed him more by trying to save him, I'm sorry. I didn't want him to get all cut up like I did. I'm sorry." His voice came out choked. "You need to go home and get cleaned up. You need to rest. You can't be at the hospital looking like this. They may think you work here again." He looked up at the men. "What did the doctor say?"
"He's in a coma but they're not sure how long he'll stay under because he may not take chemicals very well. He might have inherited that from her." Woo Bin motioned to Eri who was now sitting on the bed. "They need the swelling on the brain to go down. Before you get all mopey, his injuries could be worse if you hadn't done what you did. I'm thankful for that."
"She may not be though," Yi Jeong muttered.
Min Ho asked some more questions, some of them about if he was going to be able to work at the shop. Yi Jeong put all of that to rest by telling him his job was safe.
Somewhere in the middle of all of that, Eri stood and left the room. No one stopped her; no one could if they tried. Min Ho looked at Yi Jeong who shook his head. Now wasn't the time for any of it.