Thank you again for the reviews. I very much appreciate them.
A/N: In this chapter, Ga Eul may seem a bit too sassy in her confrontation with some people. I purposely did this, because she has the backbone to do so (she proved that in her very first conversation with Yi Jeong), but she also realizes she has to establish herself at Shinhwa so she isn't just seen as Jun Pyo's little sister and in need of the F4 to handle things for her. So I made it a point for her to be uncharacteristically sassy immediately to some to essentially let people know she isn't going to always rely on big brother and cousin to deal with her problems.
Monday came almost too soon for Ga Eul. She was nervous about starting at Shinhwa Academy that morning. She had a sneaking suspicion she would have to deal with a bunch of idiots, at least what she remembered from what Geum Jan Di had told her when she started. She also was not looking forward to seeing Geum Jan Di for the first time since the confrontation a few days ago at the porridge restaurant.
"You know you don't have to wear your uniform," Jun Pyo said as she came down the stairs slowly from her room on her crutches. He grabbed her bag from her and helped her steady herself on one leg.
"Right, because I'm not going to stand out as it is on crutches and being new," Ga Eul pointed out to him. "I don't need to be targeted for not following school guidelines."
"You better not be a target," Jun Pyo growled. Ga Eul reached over and squeezed his hand.
"Easy, Oppa," she said. "I'd like to get by on my own merit in how I handle things. I know the article announcing me is coming out today, so everyone will know soon enough I am your yeodongsaeng."
"You two are going to be late," Jun Hee said as she walked over to them. "The driver is waiting."
"Are you sure Ga Eul should be starting today?" Jun Pyo asked. "Shouldn't it be after everyone knows she's a Gu? Or her leg is better?"
"I've already missed a week," Ga Eul said. "And Bon Ha-sungmo and Harabeoji Yun both said I am fine to do normal activities as long as I use my crutches, which I will."
Jun Hee rubbed Jun Pyo's arm. "Jun Pyo, as much as we may want to, we can't protect Ga Eul from the public forever," she said. "Which means it's time for her to start at Shinhwa. Don't worry, the article is going public in the next couple of hours so everyone will be aware of who she is."
"Not soon enough," Jun Pyo grumbled. He shook his head and took Ga Eul's bag. "All right, yeodongsaeng, let's go." Jun Hee walked with her brother and sister out of the mansion and watched them get into the car before it drove off to head to Shinhwa Academy.
Ga Eul wished that she could say her first morning at Shinhwa Academy had been uneventful, but that wasn't the case. Not when she had immediately been confronted by the self-proclaimed queens of Shinhwa. Miranda and Sunny said they vaguely remembered her as that little friend of Geum Jan Di, but Ginger had given her a hard glare as she remembered her from barging into the F4 lounge the day Jan Di had gone missing. Of course, they had warned her off of the F4, stating that it was bad enough that more commoner trash was being allowed in Shinhwa. Ga Eul had simply rolled her eyes and walked away from the three, too annoyed with their attitudes to see the dark looks they had sent her way.
The worst part was that Ga Eul had many classes with the three idiots, as she had dubbed them. She was pretty sure that they barely had a brain cell to rub together between them, attempting to rely on their looks and status as rich heiresses to land themselves a rich husband. Namely one of the F4. Of course, having classes with Ginger, Miranda, and Sunny also meant she had classes with Geum Jan Di. Like the three girls, many remembered seeing her face during the competition between Jun Pyo and Ji Hu, so it had surprised everyone and immediately created a fervor of gossip when the two girls avoided one another and didn't speak. Ga Eul wasn't against talking to Jan Di, but it was still too soon since their fight at the porridge shop.
Once lunch period came, she was grateful for the chance to relax and finally see the F4. Jun Pyo had told her they normally remained in their classroom, which he had wanted her to be in with him. While the other members of F4 had agreed, Ga Eul had said it would be better if she was with those in her own grade so she wasn't distracting them or another tutor would be needed just for her. If she and Jan Di hadn't fallen out, she would have suggested Jan Di join her and take them up on the offer, but she knew that would not go over well right now, not when Jun Pyo and Woo Bin were still furious with her over her accusations. Since Ga Eul had declined their invitation to be in their designated room, they told her they would come to join her for lunch.
However, best-laid plans tended to fall apart, or in this case, go splat when she found her crutch being kicked out from under her by a pink heel and she found herself falling to the ground with a painful cry. Her crutch was kicked away when she reached for it and three sets of heels came into her line of vision. She lifted her head, glaring at the three smirking faces in her line of vision.
"Such a clumsy commoner," Ginger said her tone dripping with saccharin disdain. "Why they let any of your kind in here, I really don't know. At least with Geum Jan Di, it was the claim of her saving someone. What's the excuse for you?"
"My kind?" Ga Eul asked. "I'm more curious how idiots like you can manage to remain here." Her head jerked from the slap Ginger hit her with.
"Watch your mouth, Commoner," Ginger snarled.
"Yah!" Geum Jan Di's voice penetrated the painful haze Ga Eul was currently feeling. She felt the familiar embrace of Jan Di as she put her arms around her and tried to help her stand. "You three are going to regret hurting her."
"I doubt we'll ever regret hurting a comm-," Sunny started to say, but loud gasps and murmurs floated amongst the students that had congregated around them the moment that Ginger had kicked Ga Eul's crutch out from under her.
"Gu Jun Pyo has a younger sister?" someone said in the crowd.
Ginger, Miranda, and Sunny all turned, their eyes falling on the flatscreen that often posted gossip or news for the students. Emblazoned across the screen currently was the title "Long Lost Gu Heiress is found" with a clear image of Ga Eul alone along with two family photos, one with Gu Bon Hyeong, Jun Pyo, and Jun Hee, and the second the three siblings together.
"Gu Ga Eul, formerly going by the family name of Chu, was recently discovered by Gu Jun Hee after meeting her through her brother, Gu Jun Pyo, heir presumptive of Shinhwa," a student read the article on their phone. "Gu Ga Eul is the third child of Gu Bon Hyeong and his late wife, Gu Shan Gi. Gu Shan Gi was killed in a car accident while pregnant with her third child. Until recently, it was believed Gu Ga Eul had died alongside her mother. Gu Bon Hyeong is relieved and elated to discover that his daughter is in fact alive. Plans for an official celebration of her return to the Gu family are currently in the works."
"Not so common, am I?" Ga Eul said quietly, leaning on Jan Di's shoulder, the other girl's arm around her waist. The three girls slowly turned, their eyes wide as they looked at Ga Eul and Jan Di. Ga Eul knew the moment that her brother and the rest of the F4 arrived when the three girls' eyes shifted and their faces paled considerably.
Jun Pyo strolled over to his sister, stopping beside her on the opposite side of Geum Jan Di. His eyes traveled over the mess of Ga Eul's bag spilled on the floor and her discarded crutch. He looked up at the crowd, a single eyebrow arching.
"Anyone care to explain why my yeodongsaeng's things are strewn about on the floor, along with one of her crutches?" he asked.
"Be careful how you answer," Song Woo Bin said, leaning against a nearby pillar. "Because we'll find out regardless."
"Ginger kicked her crutch to trip her,'' one of the nearby girls said. "And then slapped her when she talked back."
Jun Pyo looked at Ginger, his eyebrow arching once more. "You put your hands on my yeodongsaeng?" he asked Ginger. He almost smirked when he saw her throat work as she swallowed nervously.
"I… I didn't know…" Ginger started.
"You think that even if she wasn't Gu Jun Pyo's sister that you can just lay your hands on her?" Yi Jeong questioned from where he stood beside Woo Bin.
"I… I…," Ginger started to say.
"You what?" Ji Hu asked. "Figured she was a commoner, so it wouldn't matter if you treated her like dirt? Like you've done to Geum Jan Di since her arrival?"
"Sunbae..." Miranda all but whined, hoping to divert attention from Ginger. Which was probably the worst thing she could have done when Woo Bin leveled a hard gaze at them.
"Let us illuminate you to the situation you find yourself in," Woo Bin said. "Ga Eul was being raised by commoners until she was discovered to be Gu Jun Pyo's sister. She is now home where she belongs and attending Shinhwa as she should have always been. So you have managed to harm an already recovering member of the Gu family."
Pushing off the pillar he was leaning against, he tucked his hands into his pockets and lazily walked to Geum Jan Di's side where she still had an arm around Ga Eul. His smile, normally warm and sent shivers down the spines of all the ladies he came across was now cold and sent a different form of shiver down their spines.
"It's been brought to our attention that Gu Jun Pyo and I are sachons, which means that Ga Eul is my younger sachon. Therefore you not only managed to harm a member of the Gu family but a member of the Song family," Woo Bin said. "And it is no secret how protective I am about my family."
"Needless to say," Yi Jeong said. "Gu Ga Eul is under the protection of the F4. Something Ginger should have known since she has seen Ga Eul associating with the F4, including coming to see us in our lounge just a couple of weeks ago."
"We just thought she was some commoner friend of Geum Jan Di's," Sunny said. "And even that seems unbelievable since they haven't spoken at all today."
Ji Hu walked up beside Jun Pyo. "The relationship between Geum Jan Di and Gu Ga Eul is between them and has nothing to do with any of you," he said. "However, it doesn't change what Yi Jeong said about Ga Eul. Does anyone care to argue further about Ga Eul's connection with us?"
"Yeodongsaeng," Jun Pyo said. "How would you like this to be handled?"
"I'm waiting for them to pick up my things and the crutch that was kicked away before I decide," Ga Eul admitted. Ginger was glued to the spot, but Miranda and Sunny immediately moved to gather Ga Eul's things into her bag and picked up the crutch that had been kicked aside. Jan Di took the crutch from Sunny and fit it under Ga Eul's arm before taking the bag.
"While I should be a complete bitch about this," Ga Eul said. "I am feeling generous today. I'll let the three of you go on the condition that you never speak to me again."
"That's all?" Ginger asked, unable to keep the sneer out of her voice. She flinched when Jun Pyo stared at her.
"What?" Ga Eul questioned. "You prefer I stoop to your level of pettiness and ask my oppa and sachon to fight my battles for me?" Ga Eul simply smirked. "I can take care of myself in that regard because the fact of the matter is the three of you lack the ammunition needed in a battle of wits against me. I have better things to do with my time than to engage."
"Yah!" Ginger stomped her foot.
"Oh please," Ga Eul scoffed. "That's the best you can come up with? Or are you just that stupid to continue to press the issue when I can sense every single member of the F4 wants nothing more than to rip you apart for laying a single finger on me?"
Swinging forward on her crutches, she stared into Ginger's eyes. "I had no intentions of using my connections to the F4 to get through things in this school, though I knew it was inevitable once my identity was revealed," she said. "The interesting thing that people like you tend to do is underestimate who you are facing. You think because I was a commoner that it means I'm weak or inferior to you. The fact of the matter is, I am far more superior to someone like you than you could imagine."
Ginger sneered at her. "Oh really? How?" she asked.
Ga Eul simply smirked more, tilting her head. "Because I actually need to use my brain to get to where I need to be and to accomplish things in life," she said. "You simply think you need to rely on the physical beauty you've bought and the means to spread your legs when the time comes so that you can hope to gain a rich husband. And it's obvious your sights are set far higher than you can achieve if you think either of the men in my family or the other two members of F4 would ever sully themselves with the likes of you."
"How dare you!" Ginger snapped.
"I dare plenty," Ga Eul said.
"If you weren't Gu Jun Pyo's sister or protected by the F4, you'd never make it here," Ginger said.
Ga Eul simply lifted a slim shoulder. "Perhaps," she said. "But then again, if I wasn't Gu Jun Pyo's sister, I wouldn't be at this school either. Interestingly enough, it still wouldn't change the facts. While I'll be using my brain to get my education and eventually get a higher degree to be an independent woman, you'll still be laying flat on your back in the hopes that you can sleep your way into some rich man's wallet."
Ginger pulled her hand back but was grabbed by Sunny and Miranda, the two other girls hissing at her to calm down and remember who she was facing. "You bitch!" Ginger said. She flinched at the almost animalistic growls that came from the members of the F4 and Geum Jan Di. Ga Eul simply waved her hand at them.
"Oh please, let her touch me again," Ga Eul said. "She caught me off guard before, but please give me a reason to show you what I can do with these crutches against those spindly chicken legs of hers."
"Get out of our sight," Jun Pyo said, barely controlling his anger. "I better not see you in front of my yeodongsaeng again." Miranda and Sunny managed to drag Ginger away from them and into the crowd of students. Once the rest of the students took a look at the F4, they scurried off towards lunch, leaving the six people alone.
"Are you okay?" Jun Pyo immediately asked Ga Eul as he moved over to her.
"A little sore from falling," Ga Eul admitted. "But otherwise I am fine."
"Your cheek is red," Jun Pyo said, stroking where Ginger had slapped her.
"It'll fade," Ga Eul said. She turned as Jan Di stepped forward with her bag. Ga Eul felt her brother stiffen and she put her hand on his chest.
"I could-," Jan Di started to say when Jun Pyo yanked Ga Eul's bag from her.
"Oppa," Ga Eul admonished. "She was there to help and defend me."
"So?" Jun Pyo asked.
Ga Eul glanced at the rest of the F4 before looking at Jan Di. She was shuffling nervously, glancing at her feet. It was obvious she wanted to talk to Ga Eul, but the F4 was making her uneasy.
"Could you give us a moment?" Ga Eul asked them. She looked purposely at Woo Bin, who nodded and grabbed Jun Pyo. It was obvious the curly-haired man intended on protesting Ga Eul being left alone with Jan Di, but Woo Bin understood that Ga Eul needed to speak to Jan Di without interference.
"We'll meet you in the cafeteria," Ji Hu said, also understanding what Ga Eul needed. Ji Hu helped drag a protesting Jun Pyo away. Yi Jeong lingered a moment before giving a slight nod. He brushed his fingers against Ga Eul's shoulder as he passed her, glancing at Jan Di. He disappeared around the corner after the other three men, leaving the two friends alone.
"Ga Eul, I-," Jan Di started.
"Wait," Ga Eul said. "I know you are probably going to apologize, but I won't accept it."
"What?" Jan Di asked, confused. A soft sigh escaped Ga Eul as she shifted her crutches and leaned on them, suddenly feeling exhausted with the day.
"I can't just forget what you accused me of, Jan Di," Ga Eul said softly. "You accused someone you claimed was your best friend of having some sort of thing with the guy you said you liked. Then you also accused me of having something with the other members of the F4 and doing it because I wanted to be able to lay claim to one of them."
Jan Di ducked her head. "I am sorry…" she said quietly.
"It doesn't matter right now," Ga Eul said. "I can't accept an apology when I am not ready to let go of what you said."
"Ga Eul…" Jan Di started.
"I can't accept an apology from someone who thought I could do something like that to her," Ga Eul said, her voice catching. "Someone who also couldn't be bothered to reach out to me for almost a week to find out if I was okay."
"What can I do to…?" Jan Di asked, swallowing.
"You have to give me time," Ga Eul said. "I… I think I want to try and repair our friendship, but it's too soon. Thank you for helping me today, it helped me realize that you seem to want that too. But you really hurt me, Jan Di."
"Ga Eul, I-," Jan Di started.
"No," Ga Eul said. "Please. Listen. You not reaching out to see if I was okay isn't the first time that you've just ignored me since we've been friends. You get so wrapped up in your life and the things going on that involve and surround you that you forget everything else and everyone else. I used to brush it off because you were all I had, but the one time I needed you most and you couldn't even reach out to me."
"Jun Pyo could have-."
"Jun Pyo's focus was me," Ga Eul said. "His focus was making sure I was okay, as an orabeoni is supposed to do. The same with Eonni. Their focus was on making sure I was healing well after my attack, not on making sure the person who was supposed to be my best friend knew what was going on because she didn't reach out on her own."
"The others-," Jan Di tried once more.
"Jan Di, the point is, you should have reached out to me to see if I was okay either when you hadn't heard from me or after Master said I was sick, but you didn't," Ga Eul said. "On top of that, when you finally did see me again, you leaped to some very outrageous conclusions about the F4 and I all because you were suddenly not the center of their world. Instead of asking questions to find out what was going on, you simply assumed the worst about me. Me. Someone you claimed to know as well as you know yourself. Someone you've known since kindergarten. When, in all the time you've known me, have I ever given the impression I would ever try and land a rich boyfriend. Let alone try and steal away the guy you like."
"I… I spoke before I thought about what was saying," Jan Di all but whispered.
"And that's the problem," Ga Eul said quietly. "Jan Di, you never think before you speak out. You immediately assume you are in the right about everything. You get into trouble so often because you don't think of the consequences of your words or your actions. Sometimes it can be admirable, other times it's… well it's a disaster."
"Ga Eul…" Jan Di said.
"I need time, Jan Di," Ga Eul said. "I know it has been a few days, but I need more than just a few days to get over what you accused me of. I need more than a few days, especially under the circumstances of my life being flipped upside down, to get over the hurtful things you said and thought of me at that moment."
"I'm so sorry, Ga Eul," Jan Di said, tears spilling onto her cheeks.
Ga Eul shook her head. "As sorry as you are, I can't say everything is okay and go back to the way things were," she said. "As I said, I need time. I'm not closing the door on our friendship, I am just saying I need time to navigate this new reality I'm in as Gu Ga Eul before I can think about potentially repairing and rebuilding a friendship with you. This isn't like the time you broke my favorite toy and I was mad at you for a week before I came back and everything was fine. You seriously hurt me, Geum Jan Di. I need time to get over that."
Jan Di sniffed her tears before she gave Ga Eul a small smile and a nod. "I understand," she finally said. "I'll be around. If and when you are ready to talk more, I'll be there." She turned away from Ga Eul, her shoulders hunched as she walked away. Ga Eul watched her a moment, trying to push her own tears down. Ducking her head, Ga Eul went off in search of her brother. She was going to insist on getting food and heading to their private classroom. She needed time away from the other students and a chance to recenter herself before going back to classes and getting through the rest of the day.
I want to address one review in particular where it was asked if Jan Di had to be painted as a bad person and the F4 seeing her as something good that happened to them. I did make it clear that I am not a fan of Geum Jan Di early on. With that being said, she is (even in the show) quick to jump to conclusions, which is what she did to Ga Eul and the F4. There are a number of things over the course of the show that she did to endear herself to the members of the F4 that just have not happened in this story. There were a gap of weeks, if not months, in the show from the end of the competition and Jun Pyo/Jan Di dating to the events of the kidnapping. Because I needed the kidnapping to happen in my story, it got pushed up and altered a bit. This means all that time from the end of the competition until the kidnapping (which involved Yi Jeong and Ga Eul's fake date against her ex and all the crap Kang Hee Soo did to the Geum family) never happened, including the entire modeling fiasco. Essentially, Kang Hee Soo tried screwing with the Geums a bit before releasing the model guy on her which led to the kidnapping. Obviously, her shoulder did not get injured either, since I had Jun Pyo keep her from taking the blow of the chair. Ultimately, my point is, I did say this was a story that was going to focus on Ga Eul and her relationships with the F4 with very little Jan Di and there was a point where Jan Di was going to be seen in a bad light. Eventually, she and Ga Eul will work things out. Obviously, I hinted at that in this chapter, but Ga Eul is going to need some time. I will, officially, say now that Jan Di will NOT end up with Jun Pyo NOR Ji Hu in this story. I, personally, never thought either relationship worked and frankly, Jan Di just didn't seem interested in either in how the actress reacted even to Jun Pyo's marriage proposal. I just never believed in the love story between either couple. As I said at the beginning of the chapter, I do very much appreciate everyone's reviews. Do not take me addressing them sometimes in a negative light when I am just trying to give you a general idea of where I am at when it comes to my muses regarding what I am writing and who I am writing about. Geum Jan Di might be seen in a negative way right now, but she is by no means the bad person in this story nor the antagonist. The main antagonist is Kang Hee Soo with the secondary being Ginger/Miranda/Sunny. That was always my intention.