Thank you for the reviews. I just want to let everyone know that some updates may not be as fast now. I have other stories I am also trying to work on, including some new ones in the BOF fandom, but in addition to that, I've gone back to work full-time after a two-month furlough due to COVID-19. On top of THAT, I was able to register for my spring semester in getting my bachelor's degree, which is something I didn't think I was going to be able to do because of financial reasons. So, needless to say, writing might be slower as I navigate getting back to work as well as homework.
In this chapter is the section I mentioned in a past author's note about a fallout with Geum Jan Di. You'll also note how affectionate Jun Pyo is. I am making Jun Pyo very affectionate in this story because every time I re-watch the show I see just how starved for affection he really is. He now sees the opportunity for it with Ga Eul and I really want to play that up in this story.
Gu Bon Hyeong hesitated a moment as he approached Ga Eul as she sat on the sofa in the living room after having had breakfast with the family. The Songs, Sos, and Yuns had taken their leave to their rooms earlier, giving way to the Gu family to spend time together without them. It was the first time that Bon Hyeong really had the chance to talk to his daughter. Jun Pyo had been hovering near Ga Eul, but Jun Hee had finally gotten him to sit in a nearby chair away from her so that their father could have the chance to speak to his youngest child.
"May I join you?" Bon Hyeong asked her.
"Of course," Ga Eul said, shifting so that Bon Hyeong could sit down.
"Easy," Bon Hyeong immediately moved next to her, not wanting her to aggravate her injuries. He gently lifted Ga Eul's legs and sat down before resting her legs across the top of his. He grabbed the blanket that Bon Ha had brought down and draped it over her legs. He plucked at the fabric, offering a nervous laugh. "I am not certain what to say…"
"I'm not either," Ga Eul admitted. "I sometimes thought about what I would say to my parents if I ever met them. But that was when I had thought they had abandoned me…"
Bon Hyeong looked at her sharply. "You do know that isn't what happened, right?" he asked.
"I'm not aware of everything," Ga Eul said. "But based on the things I was told last night by Song Bon Ha and Yun Seok Young, plus things Eonnie said while she helped me get dressed this morning, I have an idea."
"I thought you had died with your mother," Bon Hyeong said. "She was killed in a car accident when pregnant with you. I was told you both had died. Song Lee Bin is still investigating the accident and to find out why I was lied to about you."
"What if you had found out I was alive after but I was gone?" Ga Eul asked.
"I would have moved heaven and hell to find you and bring you home," Bon Hyeong said.
"Noona," Jun Pyo said. "How did all of this come about?"
Jun Hee set her teacup down. "Your competition with Ji Hu. The day that you two were racing horses, I was struck to the core when Ga Eul walked in with Geum Jan Di. It was like seeing a ghost. You saw the picture of Eomma."
"Do I truly look that much like her?" Ga Eul asked.
Jun Hee looked at Bon Hyeong, who gave her a small nod. Jun Hee rose and looked through the framed images on the table, finding one of Bon Hyeong's favorites of his wife where she was smiling softly with a flower in her hand. Jun Hee turned and handed it to Ga Eul, who took it. Ga Eul's eyes widened as she looked at the picture. She wasn't a perfect mirror image of her mother, but she could now understand why Jun Hee would have thought she was looking at a ghost when she had first seen Ga Eul.
"You look so much like your mother," Bon Hyeong said. "When Jun Hee showed me the image she had of you on her phone, I was shocked to the core."
"How…?" Ga Eul asked, looking at Jun Hee.
"When I saw you, I asked Woo Bin and Yi Jeong if they happened to have a picture of you," Jun Hee said. "I mentioned if it was one with Geum Jan Di, so as not to alarm them, which I should have realized was a moot point."
"How so?" Jun Pyo asked as he rested his elbows on his knees.
"All four of you are incredibly intelligent and fiercely protective," Jun Hee said with a soft smile. "No matter how nonchalant I asked, both Woo Bin and Yi Jeong were on alert and wanted to know why I was so interested."
"But they weren't aware of the truth," Jun Pyo said.
"No they were not," Jun Hee said. "I told them that I didn't have the answers, but that I needed to investigate first. Once I knew more, I would let them know."
"They never told me or Ji Hu," Jun Pyo grumbled. "At least not until Woo Bin slipped yesterday at the lounge."
"I asked them not to say anything," Jun Hee said. Jun Pyo looked at her sharply, merely earning a sad smile from his sister. "Namdongsaeng, you were very focused at that time with the competition with Ji Hu. I knew you didn't remember Eomma and I didn't want you to worry. I also wanted concrete answers and proof before bringing you and the others in, because I knew the moment that the truth of Ga Eul's identity came about, it meant revealing the family connections as well."
"Last night I had actually gathered the families together in order to begin the process of telling you boys about the family connection," Bon Hyeong said. "And to figure out how to bring Ga Eul home."
"That's why everyone was here when Ji Hu and I arrived with Ga Eul," Jun Pyo said. Bon Hyeong nodded. "So you never intended on keeping us in the dark."
"Not anymore," Bon Hyeong said. "Admittedly we kept you in the dark for a long time."
"I can almost understand about Eomma," Ga Eul said softly. "And what you thought had happened to me. But when they were telling the twins last night, it sounded like they had just found out themselves."
"Because they had," Jun Hee said. "I was the only one old enough to remember when we were all together as a family."
"But why keep that a secret?" Ga Eul asked.
"Remember what I was telling you in the bathroom about Halmeoni?" Jun Hee asked.
Ga Eul nodded. "But even if she disapproved of Lee Bin-samchon," she said. "Why would she be angry enough to keep sachons apart?"
"Unfortunately," Bon Hyeong said. "Matters such as that are complicated in families such as ours."
"Family drama is complicated no matter if it is a commoner family or a wealthy one," Ga Eul said. She let out a breath before her head tilted. "What… happens now?"
Bon Hyeong sighed softly, rubbing her left leg gently through the blanket. "You are still underage, so legally speaking you should have been in the system since those who you were with never adopted you," he admitted. "But since a paternity test was run confirming I am your father, my attorneys have already been working overtime to ensure all of your paperwork declaring who you are has been handled. And once we have further information regarding the accident and what happened with your birth, it will determine what happens to the hospital."
"So I am officially and legally Gu Ga Eul?" she asked with a small voice.
Bon Hyeong reached over and stroked her cheek, moving to lift her chin gently. "You were always official," he said softly. "But yes, legally you are Gu Ga Eul now. Everything you should have had has been arranged for you. Obviously, your suite of rooms is done. A bank account has been created and filled for you to have access to anything you wish. We can go to where you were living and arrange for all of your things to be brought here and anything you had under the name Chu Ga Eul will be transferred to you here."
"My job? School?" Ga Eul asked.
"You'll go to Shinhwa of course, right?" Jun Pyo said.
Bon Hyeong glanced at his son. "That's actually up to her," he said. His gaze shifted to Ga Eul. "Ideally, I would like you to attend Shinhwa as Jun Pyo does and Jun Hee did, but I also understand if you prefer to remain where you are."
Ga Eul shrugged her shoulders. "I'm concerned about going to Shinhwa because of all the trouble I heard Geum Jan Di went through there," she said. She winced when she saw Jun Pyo duck his head. "Oppa, I didn't mean…"
Jun Pyo's head jerked up to look at Ga Eul. "Say it again," he said quietly.
Ga Eul frowned. "Huh?" she asked.
"Say it again…" Jun Pyo said, the roughness of his voice telling Ga Eul what he wanted to hear from her once more. A gentle smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
"Oppa."
Jun Pyo launched to his feet and hurried over to her, kneeling beside the couch and wrapping his arms around her waist, laying his head in her lap. Ga Eul's fingers slid into Jun Pyo's curly hair. She felt him trembling against her, her other hand resting on his shoulder, feeling them shake as he cried silently. Jun Hee also moved until she was sitting on the floor behind her brother, resting her head on her father's knee, something she hadn't done since she was a little girl. She rubbed Jun Pyo's back. She knew how much Jun Pyo had wanted to be a big brother, though he had stopped voicing that want around the age of 11 when Kang Hee Soo had yelled at him about such frivolous wants. Despite all of that, Jun Hee knew that all Jun Pyo had wished for was to be an older brother. It was one of the reasons he and Yi Jeong had the relationship they did since he was the youngest of the F4. Jun Pyo considered all of the F4 as his brothers, but it was Yi Jeong as the youngest that finally let him have, in a small way, what he had always wanted. But now, he had a biological younger sibling and it was obvious he already adored her.
"To continue what I was saying, I didn't mean what happened with Jan Di and the F4 initially, but everyone else that continues to give her a hard time," Ga Eul finally explained. "All they will see me as is another commoner entering Shinhwa and if I'm around F4, I'll be seen as a threat."
"You are Jun Pyo's sister and a Gu," Bon Hyeong said. "Hardly a threat. Even so, you know that Jun Pyo will not allow anyone to hurt you."
"Physically," Ga Eul said. She offered a sad, all too-knowing smile. "Sometimes words hurt more than any physical blow can."
"You mean those who were supposed to be your parents," Bon Hyeong said.
"Yes, but I have been bullied in school too," Ga Eul said. "But yes, those who were supposed to be parents to me. They were abusive, as I said last night, but when they realized if they let it get too physical too often, they would eventually get caught. So words and emotions were their primary weapons. I was too fat to be a dancer. I was too ugly. The worst was that I was unloved and unwanted by my birth parents."
"But…" Bon Hyeong started. Ga Eul reached over and closed her fingers around his.
"I know, Appa," she said. "I know that's not true now. But to the ears of a child for so many years, who wanted nothing more than the love of family, it was the harshest thing to ever hear."
He turned his hand beneath his daughter's. "Then tell me what it is you want," he said gently.
Ga Eul took a breath before offering a small smile. "I want to attend Shinhwa with my oppa," she said. "It is where I would have gone to school had I been with you all the time as it is."
"The paperwork will be filed. You can start next week," Bon Hyeong said with a smile. "Seok Young wishes you to rest your leg this week. He and Bon Ha both said you will need proper physical therapy to strengthen your hip."
Ga Eul nodded. "It's why my hip is so weak," she said as Jun Pyo lifted his head and shifted closer to the couch to stay close to his sister. "Because I was never able to properly go through physical therapy before there was a demand I get back to work."
"Is that why you also quit dancing?" Jun Hee asked. "I know you were attending a school for it."
"It requires money and time to attend dance school," Ga Eul said. "They ensured my hip remained weak after the first couple of times so injuries happened easier. But once they put it on my shoulders to pay for everything of mine, I had to attend a more public school."
"Once your hip is properly healed and Seok Young and Bon Ha have ensured you are well," Bon Hyeong said. "If you would like to return to dance, I will ensure it happens."
Ga Eul smiled. "I would like that, Appa," she admitted.
Bon Hyeong reached up and stroked her cheek. "As Jun Hee and Jun Pyo did not, you shall lack for nothing," he said. "While I was not the best abeoji to them growing up, I want to do what I can to make up for that now and to ensure I do better for you and Jun Pyo. Business is important, but family is more."
"Shinhwa wouldn't be where it was today if not for the things you and Harabeoji did over the years," Jun Hee said.
"But there was a cost," Bon Hyeong said. "I often have wondered over the years how different things would be if Shan Gi had lived, but that is not what happened."
Jun Hee squeezed his other hand. "Appa..."
"Jun Hee, I want you to return to Korea to work at Shinhwa," he said. "I want all of my children near. But I know you need to discuss it with your husband."
"Actually, Kim Ju Won and I have been discussing returning to Korea," Jun Hee admitted. "We are considering starting a family and we would rather be here than in America. We had been looking at the end of this year, but I am sure that I can arrange to remain here and Ju Won will follow once he wraps up everything there."
"That would be wonderful," Bon Hyeong said with a smile. "It's time for our family to be together once more. And I believe that it would do well for you to be here to curb Jun Pyo's overprotective nature for his yeodongsaeng."
"Yah!" Jun Pyo protested, earning a laugh from his father and sisters.
"I am appreciative of you wanting to protect her, Adeul," Bon Hyeong said with a smile. "But I do not know how appreciative Ga Eul will be, especially once Woo Bin also goes into protective mode."
"I suspect all of the F4 will be protective of her," Jun Hee teased.
"Yah," Ga Eul said. "I can protect myself!"
Jun Hee chuckled. "It's no use, yeodongsaeng," she said. "Even though you can protect yourself, you have an oppa who has always wanted a dongsaeng, you have a sachon with twin yeodongsaengs he is protective of, and then there are Yi Jeong and Ji Hu. If there is one thing, besides their family statuses, that the F4 all have in common is their protective and loving natures. Once they deem you as a part of their inner circle, you are under their protection and love. Add-in, for you, that you are now related to two of them, well…"
"No way around it, hm?" Ga Eul asked.
"None."
It had been almost a week since Ga Eul's attack and discovering she was related to Gu Jun Pyo and Gu Jun Hee. In that time, she had spent most of her time with her siblings and with the other members of F4 and So Il Hyun as they had been over quite frequently. Today had been the first day she had gotten a chance to go out and about. She had managed to slip her brother's care and that of the other F4 members, as they had taken it upon themselves to ensure that anything she needed from her old home was retrieved and brought to the mansion. She decided to go to the porridge shop to talk to Bom Choon Sik about her absence, though she had spoken to him briefly on the phone about that. She had still yet to decide if she was going to return to work or not.
Opening the door to the shop, she stepped in, noting that it was not busy as usual. Jan Di was sitting at a table and rose immediately when she heard the door open. She started to bow and welcome Ga Eul when her eyes widened.
"Ga Eul!" she said, racing over to give her a hug. "Master said you were sick. How are you feeling?"
Ga Eul glanced at Choon Sik as he leaned on the counter from the kitchen area. She gave him a slight wave before answering. "I am feeling better," she said. Of course, a nip of hurt hit her chest, because if Geum Jan Di had bothered to contact her at all this week she'd have learned a bit more than she was willing to tell Choon Sik, but once again Jan Di had ignored whatever could have been going on in Ga Eul's life. Ga Eul only wished she could say it was not normally the case, but it was.
"What happened? You were fine the last time I saw you," Jan Di asked. "Then you weren't at work and…" Her questions were cut off as the door chimed and there was a loud scuffle of feet before Ga Eul was hauled away from Jan Di and she was in Jun Pyo's arms, her feet off the ground.
"Jun Pyo, be careful of her!" Ji Hu said.
"Yah! Gu Jun Pyo!" Jan Di hollered, beating at Jun Pyo's arm. "What do you think you are doing?"
"Geum Jan Di, I'd leave him be right now," Woo Bin said as he walked over, tugging on a lock of Ga Eul's hair. "And you…"
"You scared the hell out of us," Ji Hu finished.
"You were supposed to stay at home," Yi Jeong said. "While we finished. Imagine how we felt when we got back and you were gone."
Ga Eul sighed, stroking Jun Pyo's hair. "Oppa..." she started.
"Oppa?!" Jan Di squawked.
"Jun Pyo, maybe put Ga Eul down?" Yi Jeong suggested.
Jun Pyo shifted his hold on Ga Eul before he was carrying her bridal style. "Ji Hu, grab a-," he started.
"Yah!" Jan Di demanded again. "What the hell are you doing?!" Her jaw tightened as Jun Pyo ignored her and walked to a chair that Ji Hu had pulled out.
"Oppa, I can stand," Ga Eul said.
"Perhaps, but you forgot something in your room," Ji Hu said as he pointed to the crutches in Yi Jeong's hands.
"What were you guys doing in her room?" Jan Di demanded.
"You can sit and rest, or I am locking you in your room for another week," Jun Pyo growled, still ignoring Jan Di.
"Yah!" Ga Eul exclaimed. "You can't do that!"
Jun Pyo merely smirked as he sat her down. "Want to bet?" he asked.
"Eonni won't let you!" Ga Eul said, offering her own smirk.
Ji Hu and Yi Jeong snorted as Woo Bin shook his head. "I don't think you can play that card, Ga Eul," Woo Bin said. "When Jun Hee-noona found out you weren't in your room as you were supposed to be, plus you slipped your guards, she was just as upset as we were."
Ga Eul let out a long sigh. "You were all busy, I had to come to see Master, and I have things to get done before starting at Shinhwa on Monday," she pointed out. "You all have been hovering…"
Jan Di, by this point, had had enough of being ignored. She shoved at Jun Pyo once Ga Eul was seated. "Yah! Stop ignoring me!" she demanded before looking at Ga Eul with a strange look. "You are starting at Shinhwa? The F4 has been in your room? You are calling Gu Jun Hee eonni? I never thought you would be like the other girls that wanted to get with F4. And why Gu Jun Pyo after everything with the competition?"
Ga Eul had a small smile on her face to the men around here to show she wasn't truly as angry as one might think, but it quickly dropped with Jan Di's tirade of questions. Confusion slipped across her face as she tilted her head, trying to reconcile what she was hearing from someone that was supposed to be her best friend.
"What are you implying, Geum Jan Di?" Jun Pyo said.
"We haven't talked in two weeks, Gu Jun Pyo," Jan Di said. "Is this why? Did you move on to my best friend? Is this supposed to be some sort of revenge? Something happened between me and Ji Hu, so something must happen between you and Ga Eul?"
"Watch your words, Jan Di," Woo Bin said darkly.
Jan Di turned to look at him. "Well? What would you think?" she asked. "He claims to like me, wanted to give me his heart, but now he's all over Ga Eul?"
"Be careful, Jan Di," Ji Hu warned next. "Do not speak as if you understand or you'll say something you'll regret."
"Are you defending them now, Sunbae? After all, that happened because you kissed me," Jan Di continued. "Or is it acceptable for him to do it but not you? When a common goal comes about, it's okay for the great Gu Jun Pyo to move on." Jan Di looked at Jun Pyo. "What if she kisses Yun Ji Hu or Song Woo Bin or So Yi Jeong? Will you treat them as you treated Ji Hu-sunbae and me?"
"Geum Jan-," Jun Pyo started to growl, but Ga Eul was faster as she quickly stood up and lashed out with a hard slap to Jan Di's face. Immediately reacting instead of thinking, Jan Di started to pull her own fist back to retaliate when her hand was caught by Song Woo Bin and Ji Hu was quickly drawing Ga Eul out of her reach.
"How dare you," Ga Eul said, her voice low and filled with hurt. "How dare you imply…" She pressed her lips together firmly, swallowing the sudden lump in her throat. "You are supposed to be my best friend, yet you immediately jump to conclusions."
"What am I to think, Ga Eul?" Jan Di asked, yanking her wrist away from Woo Bin. "You disappear for a week, telling Master you were sick, then you show up here and shortly after the F4 come storming in looking for you as if their lives depended on it!"
"So you immediately conclude it's because I'm involved with one or all of them?" Ga Eul asked. "You imply that Jun Pyo would cheat on you? Which, by the way, is probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! He has been solely devoted to winning your affections while you couldn't decide who you wanted to like between him and Ji Hu!"
"You wanted me to like Ji Hu and not Jun Pyo!" Jan Di pointed out.
"Because you gave me the impression that you liked him more!" Ga Eul snapped. "I was actually trying to support what my best friend wanted! It wasn't until later on the way home from Caledonia that you told me you couldn't decide. And then after everything that happened with the competition you still pushed Jun Pyo away when you confessed to him. He was seriously hurt because of you and you never reached out to him once! You barely came to work, leaving me to cover you-."
"Isn't that what you just did?" Jan Di demanded. "It took you two days to call Bom Choon Sik to tell him you were sick. Why couldn't your parents? Were you even sick or were you off with the F4?"
A low growl started in Jun Pyo's throat at the mention of Ga Eul's supposed caretakers. Ga Eul immediately reached out her hand, feeling her brother's fingers close around hers to center himself. The move was not lost on Jan Di. Her eyes flashing as she leveled a look at Ga Eul once more. She opened her mouth to start in again when Ga Eul lifted a finger to stop her.
"Where were you?" she asked in a low deadly tone. "All this week, where were you? My supposed best friend."
"What?" Jan Di asked.
"The day you didn't show up for work, without regard as always, I knew something wasn't right. I tried to call you. Choon Sik tried to call you. When I finally got a hold of your parents, they told me that Choon Sik had told them you were off with F4. I knew immediately something wasn't right, so I went to them. Only Jun Pyo had already gone off to attempt to rescue you, heedless of what happened to him. He was beaten severely and had cracked ribs protecting you, but you never bothered reaching out to him after the attack," Ga Eul limped, the first sign that her body was aching or that something more than being sick was the issue.
"I was attacked last week, but didn't want to tell anyone, so I said I was sick," Ga Eul said, her voice thick with unshed tears that had formed. "But where were you? Where was my best friend trying to reach me and make sure I was okay?"
"Ga-," Jan Di started.
"Where has my supposed best friend been all my life to not know how bad things were for me?" Ga Eul asked. "We've known each other since kindergarten, but you've never been to my house. You've never met the people who raised me."
"You always insisted on coming to my house!" Jan Di argued.
"Did you ever stop to ask yourself why that was?" Ga Eul asked her. "You never once asked me why I was closed off when it came to them. Or when I was sick or hurt you never asked me why. You never asked why I stopped dancing either. You never showed any interest in anything I did. If it didn't revolve around Geum Jan Di, it didn't matter, right?"
"That's not true!" Jan Di cried.
"Really? Because all I have ever seen is your selfishness and everything that revolves around you. I thought maybe I was being too harsh in feeling resentment towards you at times over the years. I thought it was because I was envious of you having a loving family with parents and a brother that loved you. Yes, they are loud, overbearing, and they drove you crazy, but I could see through all that they loved you. Do you have any idea how envious I was of that?"
Ga Eul shook her head, a tear slipping onto her cheek. "But you could never understand it because you never bothered to really learn about me. If you had, you would have known the pain I've endured for years from the people who raised me. You would have known how much it hurt me to know that they didn't give a damn about me because they weren't my parents!"
"You're adopted?" Choon Sik asked quietly from where he stood just in front of the counter after coming around from the kitchen after the first argument started.
"I wasn't even that," Ga Eul said. "I was an unwanted paycheck. Apparently, they were paid handsomely for keeping me, while doing nothing for me and forcing me to give up things I loved, physically and emotionally hurt me, and forced me to fend for myself all this time."
"You could have told me," Jan Di said.
"When, Geum Jan Di?" Ga Eul asked with a small laugh. "During all your crises and drama since we were kids when was there time for you to ever focus on anyone but yourself or the fiasco that was your family? I was of use to you when you needed me, but otherwise, you cast me aside. I thought for the longest time that I could live with it because I thought you genuinely cared for me. It wasn't until I was dragged into the F4's world and suddenly found myself with others in my life besides you, then suddenly cut off once the competition, and my usefulness, was done that I realized it was the same thing I had been dealing with ever since we met."
Ga Eul wiped at her cheek as more tears fell. "But what I realized is that I am tough," she said. "I've gotten used to your whims of fancy and I've gotten used to your vapid selfishness because I had to or I'd never have friends. But now in reflection of why that stupid competition happened, I'm pissed at you. And how you subsequently pushed Jun Pyo away, maybe still hoping something would happen with Ji Hu, before you were kidnapped, that I realized just how angry I am. What's made it worse is how, after risking his life for you, you just never bothered seeing how Jun Pyo was. It's been two weeks, Jan Di. Two weeks since he was beaten and had his ribs cracked protecting you!"
"I-," Jan Di started.
"I will tell you this only once, Geum Jan Di," Ga Eul said, her voice hardening. "You don't deserve Yun Ji Hu. You don't deserve the friendship and protection of the F4. And you especially do not deserve Gu Jun Pyo. You will have their protection for a while, but eventually, you won't need it so I will tell you this now. Stay away from my oppa. He deserves to be loved by someone who actually knows what love is and isn't selfish or self-righteous. You thought you were so much better than him because you stood up to his bullying and you stood up for the little person. Your minor actions do not take away your own brand of selfish behavior. You constantly said that the world doesn't revolve around Gu Jun Pyo. Well, heed your own words, because the world does not revolve around Geum Jan Di."
"Ga Eul," Jun Pyo said softly.
"I want to go home," Ga Eul said, her resolve starting to break. "Please, Oppa."
Jun Pyo walked closer and turned Ga Eul to face him. He cupped her face and looked into her eyes, studying her a moment. He finally nodded, his thumbs brushing the tears from her cheeks as he leaned down and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. He looked over at Jan Di, his expression hardening.
"Ji Hu, Yi Jeong," he said. "Could you take Ga Eul out to the car? Woo Bin and I need to have a brief talk with Geum Jan Di before we join you. Then we'll head home."
Yi Jeong walked over and put his arm around Ga Eul's shoulders, staring coldly at Jan Di. Ji Hu joined him and handed Ga Eul her crutches. He gave her a look when she started to protest, smiling at Yi Jeong a bit as she sighed but took them. They flanked her on either side, moving at her pace as she slowly made her way out of the porridge shop. She paused at the door.
"Bom Choon Sik, I am sorry for doing this on such short notice, but I won't be returning to work here," Ga Eul said. "I wish you luck in finding someone and thank you for allowing me the chance while I was here." She bowed her head before leaving the shop for the last time.
Once Ga Eul had left, Jun Pyo and Woo Bin faced Jan Di, standing shoulder to shoulder to face her. Jan Di had never seen either of them as angry as they were at that moment, not even when Jun Pyo had seen her and Ji Hu kissing or when Woo Bin had stormed into the warehouse to save them two weeks ago. For the first time, she was truly terrified of the two men. In fact, she had to admit she was truly terrified of all of the F4, considering the cold looks that Yi Jeong and Ji Hu had given her.
"If you ever speak to Ga Eul that way again or imply what you did again, I will rip you apart," Jun Pyo said.
Woo Bin put his hand on Jun Pyo's arm, feeling the anger vibrating from him. He wasn't much better, but he knew he could contain it better. "Geum Jan Di, we considered you a friend. Perhaps we can again, but what you said to Ga Eul just then was too much," he said.
"You were my friend before you were hers, so why does she suddenly take preference?" Jan Di asked.
"Because she isn't just a friend, she's family," Woo Bin said. "If you had bothered to reach out to her, as she said, you could have discovered a lot. Including finding out sooner that those taking care of her were not her parents. You also would have found out that they were abusive to her all her life. How many times did you see bruises that didn't fit and she brushed them off?"
Jan Di's pale expression was all the answer they needed. "She said she-," she started.
"You didn't dig deeper," Jun Pyo cut her off. "A true friend would have asked deeper questions, even if Ga Eul had gotten mad."
"She's right to be hurt by you," Woo Bin said. "Even without the knowledge of her reality or the accusations you made against her today. You couldn't be bothered to reach out to her at all this week just to see how she was."
"I-," Jan Di tried.
"No," Jun Pyo said. "You don't get to speak. You will just listen."
"I got it," Woo Bin said, squeezing Jun Pyo's arm. "Ga Eul wasn't sick, she was attacked. I won't tell you the details here, because if you want to know them that's for her to say if she ever wants to speak to you again, but currently, the details are none of your business."
"Attacked…" Jan Di's eyes widened.
"While it was already being investigated before she was attacked, it was also confirmed who Ga Eul's biological family is," Woo Bin said. "And the only reason I'm telling you this information is that it'll be public knowledge soon. Ga Eul is the long-lost and thought dead third child of Gu Bon Hyeong and his late first wife. This means that Ga Eul is Gu Jun Pyo's yeodongsaeng, so she has every right to call him oppa."
Jan Di's gaze jerked to Jun Pyo's after hearing that. She swallowed hard, understanding the fury more than ever. She realized just how much of a mistake she had made by not keeping her mouth shut or learning the reality of the situation before speaking. "I…"
"We also found out that I am their sachon," Woo Bin said, his voice taking on a harder tone. "And the one thing I will never tolerate is anyone slandering, accusing, or hurting my family. All of which you did today to Ga Eul and Jun Pyo. So I will reiterate what Ga Eul said. You don't deserve Gu Jun Pyo, Geum Jan Di. Stay away from him. And until she is ready, if she ever is, I would suggest staying away from Gu Ga Eul as well."
"I'm not suggesting," Jun Pyo finally said. "I am telling you to stay away from my yeodongsaeng. If she chooses to forge a relationship with you in the future once she has a chance to get over everything that you just said to her, then I will grudgingly accept her decision. But as for any lingering feelings I had for you, they are gone. I know I am stubborn and quick to judge, but I'd like to think I can change, and for my yeodongsaeng's and noona's sake, I am going to do so. However, I refuse to be with someone who is so quick to think the worst of someone they claimed was their best friend since kindergarten all because you couldn't be bothered to wait, learn, and listen."
Jun Pyo stepped toward Jan Di, smirking when she took an involuntary step back. "I won't go into detail why, but you are being discreetly protected because of the witch who I thought was my mother until this week," he said. "But otherwise, you are a non-entity to me and the rest of the F4. You will remain at Shinhwa because I can't be bothered to worry about your presence anymore, not when I suspect I will need to protect Ga Eul but don't expect anything from any of us again."
"Let's go," Woo Bin said. "Ga Eul, Ji Hu, and Yi Jeong are waiting for us." With one last glance, the two men left the porridge shop, and Geum Jan Di, behind.