Hello friends...How have you all been? Although very late, still I would like to wish you all a very Happy 2019. I was unwell, then went on a vacation, then unwell again. But I am truly very sorry for not being able to update this story for a long time. Even I feel that I have been dragging this story way to long. Hopefully, it should come to an end in a few chapters.

I will apologise in the very beginning to my readers for any gross error you find in it with regards to the few medical terms and concepts mentioned in this chapter. I have absolutely no background in the subject, everything is courtesy to Wikipedia and internet. Being an ideally lazy and incompetent writer, I would have skipped it entirely. But seeing the outstanding diligence and accuracy my dear friend and author JHsgf82 is displaying in her fanfic Open Hearts on the medical descriptions without being from that background herself, I was really inspired to at least look up for a couple of words to make it look a little real. Hahahaha... I know mine is a poor manifestation. Anyway, don`t hate me after this chapter. Remember, every cloud has a silver lining :)

Enjoy reading and let me know about your view.

...

Ha Jin tapped on her phone screen again, let out a sigh and looked out of the window. Time was running out for her, but still she had not heard from Ji Hoo about his whereabouts.

Was he still coming for her?

The front door bell rang, and her mother rushed to usher the guests in the living room with excitement.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hong, welcome to our humble abode. What a great pleasure to have you with us this evening," spoke Mrs. Go with exuberance.

So Bin's mother gave her a condescending nod and a measured smile, before taking her seat on the couch.

"So, how's things been?" asked his father nonchalantly.

"Ha Jin-ah! Come here. See your new Abeoji and Omonim are here," shouted her mother from outside her room's locked door.

"I'll be there in a minute, Omma," responded Ha Jin, barely managing to hide the shiver in her voice.

From her room, she could hear both her parents raving about So Bin and the wedding preparations with more enthusiasm than anything she had heard from them before.

A tear dropped on her hands that were resting on her lap. Soon, more started flowing, until a tiny pool formed in the small hollow of her palm. She did not know who to blame. Destiny, herself or Ji Hoo. And in a flash, all the moments she had spent with him started pervading her mind.

I refuse to believe that you abandoned me, Ji Hoo. I will not believe that until you come and tell me yourself…

Suddenly, a peal of laughter coming from the living room jerked her back to the reality at present. To her ears it did not sound like her parents or the guests laughing. It reminded her more the boisterous laughter of So Bin, every time he would jeer at her or boast about himself. All the moments of humiliation and pain she bore in his presence began to haunt her, mocking and slapping her in her mind.

Ha Jin froze in her position. Even her tears stopped flowing. She would have to do something. She could not just lament all her life and shed tears like this.

Ji Hoo or no Ji Hoo, I cannot live every moment of my life by others' will anymore. I will live my life on my own free will…

She stood up, wiped her tears with the back of her palm and took a deep breath.

….

Ji Hoo was rushing through the corridor. He needed to have a consultation with Dr. Lee who was the senior most surgeon, fortunately present in the hospital at the moment and preparing for the surgery with him. Yi Jung's condition was unstable, his breathing was asymmetric with uncontrolled bleeding. The bullet had perforated through his back into the chest area. The extent of cardiac or lungs injury could not be confirmed with the initial trauma protocol carried out at the emergency department. There was risk of severe tissues and nerve damage, and he was also suspecting some effect on the spinal cord. Immediate surgical intervention was required. He could not even ponder over the thought about how or why his friend was shot. They were left with very little time. His friend's life was in his hands now.

He paused in front of the visitors' waiting room where he saw Ga Eul sitting on the edge of a couch, disheveled and slightly disoriented.

Ji Hoo rushed to her, bent in front and shook her lightly by her shoulders, calling, "Ga Eul! Ga Eul!"

"He's shot, Yi Jung is shot. There's blood. Blood everywhere," she replied in a monotone, staring at the floor.

A chill ran down through his spine. He cupped her face in his palms and made her look at him.

His eyes misted, as he pleaded, "Yi Jung will be fine, we will operate and he will be alright. Have faith, Ga Eul."

Ji Hoo was getting late, but he could not leave Ga Eul in such a vulnerable state. He ran to the nurse station and informed the staff nurse to take Ga Eul to his office, and sedate her, if necessary. He also asked her to inform Dr. Park who was treating Ga Eul for the past few weeks.

As he was leaving Ga Eul under the nurse's care and hurrying towards Dr. Lee's office, a fragment of news being played at the television caught his attention.

"The Song Tower is in flames, and even now explosions can be heard from the upper floors. The fire brigade is unable to enter the building yet. And, there is still no news about the Song family. Police is searching the Song mansion and questioning the staff…"

Ji Hoo's feet got glued to the floor as his eyes caught the visual on the screen. The high-rise building that used to stand proudly and adorn the downtown Gangnam skyline was blazing in wild flames, and being reduced to ashes like a paper in flames.

"Dr. Yoon, you are being summoned by Dr. Lee, right now!" exclaimed a senior nurse, and almost pulled him by his arm seeing him stalled in front of the TV screen.

"… past underworld affairs… chaebol brought to its horrific end… the Song family alive or dead…"

"Yi Jung, and now Woo Bin…" mumbled Ji Hoo incoherently, as sweats broke out on his forehead and a cold fear crept in his heart.

….

"What man! Having second thoughts now?" sneered Kim Seok. "Should I call my men and ask them to clear you family because you chose this sl** over them?"

"No! You won't do anything like that," barked Woo Bin, trying to grab him by his collar, when Kim Seok's men pulled him back and hit him hard, throwing him on the ground.

"Tie him up and take him to his wretched family, as long as they are still breathing, hahaha," guffawed Kim Seok, with an uncanny glint in his eyes.

"Leave Jae Kyung! She is no way related to us, leave her plea…" begged Woo Bin, before he was gagged with a cloth, blindfolded, tied by the men and dragged away at gunpoint.

Jae Kyung kept staring at him from the back until he disappeared beyond the warehouse walls.

"Aaah, what bliss! I was waiting for this day all me life," declared Kim Seok smugly. "Now, li'l bro, just get rid of our Song Prince's plaything. She is of no use to us now."

Do Jung pulled her head by the hair with a jerk, making Jae Kyung squirm in pain. All the loud cheers and laughter around her became louder and more taunting. She just closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

….

"Ha Jin-ah tried her wedding dress the other day, didn't you, my dear?" spoke her mother with a chirpy tone.

Ha Jin did not bother to respond, but kept staring at the coffee mug in her hand.

"You don't look very cheerful, Ha Jin. I hope everything is alright," commented Mrs. Hong with a clipped tone.

"Of course, everything is fine," interjected her mother. "She has been preparing for this wedding and eagerly waiting for it."

"No, not at all," muttered Ha Jin in a low voice.

"What's wrong, Ha Jin-ah?" her father asked, alarmed.

"Everything's wrong here. This farce of a wedding, this pretense of happiness, everything!" exclaimed Ha Jin, raising her voice.

For a moment the room was completely silent, except for the faint ticking of the wall clock.

Ha Jin's mother pulled her arm sharply and rebuked, "Have you lost your mind? What are you talking about?"

"I am saying that I am not happy with this marriage. I have never loved So Bin and I think this marriage will spoil my life," retorted Ha Jin while standing up, freeing her arm from her mother.

"Ha Jin-ah," roared her father. "Just sit down and apologise to Mr. and Mrs. Hong, right now!"

Ha Jin seethed in anger and refused to obey her parents.

"Is there some other man in your life, Ha Jin?" queried Mrs. Hong pointedly.

"Andwae, no way…" refuted her mother when Ha Jin interjected.

"Yes, there is. I love him and want to live my life with him."

Another moment of silence followed.

"So, what So Bin told us before leaving for US was true then. You are having an affair with that notorious F4 guy," grumbled Mr. Hong.

Both Ha Jin's parents looked at him with ashen faces.

"It must be some misunderstanding, some passing fancy. Nothing serious," blurted her mother, breathing heavily.

"It is serious. Do you want to know how serious it is? I slept with him. More than once…" declared Ha Jin when her mother stood up and slapped her hard, throwing her on the couch.

"How dare you embarrass us like that, you wretched soul? What did we not do for you all our life?" cried out her mother.

Her father was shivering in rage, unable to utter a word. Mr. and Mrs. Hong stood up.

"Our son knows about all her debauchery, still he is ready to accept her," scoffed Mrs. Hong with eyes oozing hatred.

"Try to control her in the meantime. Once she gets married, I am sure So Bin will be able to teach her a good lesson," added Mr. Hong with equal contempt.

Ha Jin had had enough. She stood up, pulling her hair back from her face.

"Even after hearing all these, you don't see anything wrong in this marriage, do you?" she questioned her parents with sheer disbelief.

"You should be grateful that you are still considered for this marriage, Ha Jin!" roared her father. "You will not take a single step out of this house until your wedding day."

"I think you forgot that I am not a ten-year-old girl anymore who is dictated at every step of her life by her parents," shouted back Ha Jin. "I have had enough! I am going out now, I need some fresh air."

Her mom pulled her arm and screamed, "You will not go anywhere! I will lock you in your room!"

Ha Jin jerked her hand free of her mother's clutch and rushed to the door where her long winter jacket was hanging by the hook. She grabbed it, slipped her feet in the boots and scurried out of the door, banging it close behind her. She felt her car keys in the jacket pocket, and remembered that her wallet was in her room. But no way she was going to enter her house now and face her parents without Ji Hoo. Else, she would never be able to see him again.

As she started her car engine and sped off the drive way, she saw her parents and the Hong couple standing at the door, glaring at her.

….

Dr. Lee was instructing the team while discussing with Ji Hoo about the surgical procedures when he noticed, for the first time, that he was not in his usual demeanor. Dr. Yoon had been always commended for his composure during any emergency situation in the OR, even by the senior-most doctors and specialist surgeons. But today Dr. Lee could feel a slight delay in his responses, maybe by a fraction of second, and almost an imperceptible shaking of his fingers as Ji Hoo picked up the retractor to hold the edges of the incision.

"Dr. Yoon, are you ok?" asked Dr. Lee him, at a low voice so that only Ji Hoo could hear him.

Before he could reply, suddenly the heart and respiratory rate monitor started beeping, alarming everyone present.

The anesthesiologist standing close to the monitors cried out, "The HR and RR are dropping fast. We are losing him!"

Ji Hoo dropped the tool from his hand on the tray and stumbled few steps back from the OT table. His eyes were bulging out, mouth opened slightly without uttering any word, and chest heaved with erratic breath.

"Dr. Yoon, step out of the OR, right now!" commanded Dr. Lee in a deep yet calm voice.

He turned to the rest of the bewildered team giving out instructions while he picked up the same retractor from the tray.

Ji Hoo stood there for a few moments before walking out of the OR as if in a daze. Out of sheer habit, he went to the washing room to clean up. As the blood on his hand started washing off with the water from the faucet, a shiver ran through his whole body.

"Yi Jung-ah… Woo Bin-ah… Don't leave me, please…" he murmured before tears hazed his vision.

Holding onto the corner of the washbasin with one hand, he slowly knelt down on the floor, covering his face in uncontrollable sobs.

….

Woo Bin, still blindfolded, stumbled on a box as he was pushed from the back into a dark room. The putrid smell of the room almost made him throw up, if not for the cloth tied tightly around his mouth.

"Oppa…"

He raised his head instantly, and turned on both sides to locate the source of the sound. He groaned as loudly as he could, indicating the men to untie his eyes.

"Open his eyes," directed one of the men, and another came closer to free his eyes.

At first, it seemed all to be pitch dark as his eyes were freed from the tight hold. But slowly, his eyes got accustomed to the dim lighting and he could perceive the room around him.

"Oppaa…"

"Mi Na, Min Ji…" he cried out as he could finally see his family huddled together at the far end of the room against the wall. Their hands and legs were all tied. The stench in the air and the filth on the walls and the floor had made them sick to their gut. His father had his eyes closed and head rested on the wall, his mother was leaning in the front and weeping. Min Ji and Mi Na were tied together, facing away from each other.

Woo Bin growled again to set him free. The same man came and held a gun against his forehead.

"Don't try to act too smart, eh! It will take only a second of bullet shower to finish them all," he warned before untying all the knots.

Woo Bin glared at him one last time before scurrying to his family.

"Abeoji, Omoni, are you alright?" he cried as he hugged them.

"Oppa, what's happening? Why are we being tortured like this?" wept Min Ji.

"Everything will be all right. I will take you out of this dump yard," assured Woo Bin and started loosening the knots around their limbs.

He turned back to the men, who were still standing close to the door, pointing their guns at Woo Bin and his family.

"Go and tell your boss Kim Seok that he will have to pay a huge penalty for doing this to my family. I will not let him go away with it," he growled with sheer hatred.

"In your dreams. Once your little family reunion soap opera is over, we will be knocking you down one by one," replied the man standing in the middle with a snicker, showing off his gold tooth.

"What rubbish are you talking about?" shouted Woo Bin in utter shock.

His mother and sisters started wailing, his father released a heavy sigh.

"That's what Chief had ordered us from the very beginning," replied the man nonchalantly with a shrug.

"No, no, nooooo..." cried out Woo Bin as he stood up and darted to the men.

Immediately, guns started firing and the dark room echoed with the ear deafening sounds of gunshots and loud cry.