"What...just happened?" Soon Deok was the first to regain her voice.
So merely shook his head, staring down at the thick manila envelope in his hands, then up her. "She just..." He shook his head some more, unable to find the words for a reply.
Though equally confused, Soon Deok took charge of the situation. "We need to get to your house. We need to find out what is in this envelope and what's in the trunk of the Lexus...and we need to get a hold of Doctor Choi as soon as possible...Yah!" She clutched So's shoulder when he just blankly stared past her at the spot where the Kia had vanished from sight. "Are you listening to me?"
"Yeah, I...Sorry, what did you say?"
"I said...Oh, never mind!" Soon Deok rolled her eyes. "Go take the elevator down, and I'll pick you up at the ground level...Or do I have to run you over the speed bumps again, to snap you out of it?"
"No, I'm all right...Stop that!" He warded off her hand with an irritated motion when she snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. "I said I'm okay," he reiterated. "I'll meet you downstairs."
Soon Deok still bestowed him with a skeptical sideways glance, and grimaced uneasy, watching him walk off toward the nearest set of elevators. She knew him well enough to realize that he was everything except 'okay' at the moment, and—to be honest with herself—so was she. Both of them had known Hae Myung Hee for more than a decade, and although Wang So had been much closer to her, Soon Deok nevertheless felt like she too had just lost one of her dearest friends. Yet even more disconcerting was the way this scenario had played out. Lady Hae had quite obviously been in distress, and in a troubled state of mind unlike anything Soon Deok had ever seen on her before. And that, together with her parting warning to them about Wook, was more than enough reason for grave concern.
Reaching this point in her pondering, Soon Deok ripped herself loose and hurriedly got into the Lexus. She didn't waste any time on admiring the luxurious interior —compared to her modest Kia, this Lexus was state-of-the-art—as she backed out of the parking space, then headed toward the looping exit ramp.
"Sorry! Had to get used to how this thing handles, coming down the ramp," Soon Deok quickly declared when Wang So appeared ready to comment on the fact that she had made him wait.
He didn't reply as he slipped into the passenger seat, only gave her one of those looks that normally didn't affect her at all. Though under the current circumstances, it made her cringe.
#####
They drove in silence, lost in their own thoughts, until Soon Deok parked the Lexus next to one of the four cars already present in the half-moon shaped area below So's home. She cut the engine and released her seatbelt, then hesitated as she reached for the door handle. She cast a concerned glance over at So who hadn't moved yet at all. He just sat quietly, staring at the envelope he had been holding on to the entire time, so tightly as if his life depended on it.
"Are you all right?" she questioned softly.
"Should I be?" he gave back low and without looking at her.
Something in the way he said it sent a shiver along her spine. "Do you want me to go up first and ask everyone to leave?" she suggested cautiously. "I could just tell them you're not feeling well. I'm sure everyone would understand."
So cast her a weary frown. "Who all is there...besides my brothers?"
"Well..." Soon Deok grimaced uneasy. "I thought Myung Hee would be there, but obviously she won't. Other than that, Hae Soo-ssi, and I think some of the people who helped with...Never mind," she quickly interrupted herself.
"Helped with what?"
"Just with getting your house back in order," she replied, a little too fast, and reaching for the door handle again. "No big deal! I'll go up and see who..."
"Stop!" So cut her off harshly this time. "You care to tell me what is really going on?" He fixed her with an icy glare. "What is it I'm not supposed to know?"
Soon Deok visibly deflated and hung her head.
"Let me rephrase that question for you then," he went on when she didn't answer. "How bad did those cops trash my house?"
"I don't know, because I didn't personally see it," she admitted warily. "From what I heard, though...it must have been pretty bad. But Myung Hee and your brothers got it all taken care of," she hastened to assure him, "so don't worry."
His eyes narrowed ominously, and for a moment So looked like he would argue. Instead, he merely released his own seatbelt, cringed as he stepped out of the car, then started toward the house.
Soon Deok swore under her breath and hurried after him. She caught up with him at the bottom of the wooden stairway and grabbed onto his arm.
"So-yah, wait!...Please!"
He stopped, yet again refusing to look at her.
"Please don't let on that you know," she begged, sounding almost desperate. "They worked so hard to get it all done in time...just to have everything perfect again, for when you come home. Please don't ruin it for them!...Please?"
"What makes you think I would do that?...Ruin it for them, I mean," he countered, disappointment evident in his voice. "Is that the kind of person you think I have become?"
"No, of course not, but..."
"But what, Noona?" So pushed the issue. "What did you think I was going to do? Go up there and berate my brothers and whoever else is there, for making sure that I have a clean home to come back to?" He suddenly spun around to face her, and the profound anguish in his eyes chilled her to the core. "Answer me, Noona!" he choked out painfully. "Is that what you expected me to do?"
Soon Deok released his arm and swallowed hard. "Mianhaeyo, So-yah," was all she managed to squeeze past the lump in her throat.
When she didn't say anything else, So merely shook his head, turned, and started up the stairs. "What kind of idiot puts a house on top of a hill," he muttered under his breath.
Under any other circumstances Soon Deok would have at least grinned at the sarcastic remark, but she had clearly seen tears welling up in his eyes, just as he turned away. She realized that, what her words had implied, had truly hurt him. And regardless of what others might say or think about him—she knew him better than that! She knew Wang So wasn't that kind of person, and he never would be.
She took the steps two at a time, and easily reached him as he stopped halfway up, grabbing onto the handrail to steady himself.
"Mianhaeyo, So-yah," she repeated with all the sincerity she could muster. "I really didn't mean it like that. It just came out wrong."
"Forget about it," he gave back from between gritted teeth. "It doesn't matter."
She was about to rebut his remark, but sidetracked when he cringed and tightened his grip on the handrail as he took the next step. "I'm sorry, I wasn't even thinking. I should have drove you up around back, instead of making you take the stairs."
"Doesn't matter," he replied in a sharply exhaled breath.
"So-yah, please...I said I was sorry! Please don't..."
"Yah! About time you got here!" Eun's excited outcry from above interrupted. "They're here!" he yelled back in the direction of the open front door, then rushed down the five steps and caught his brother in a tight hug, nearly knocking him off-balance.
"Eunie...let go!" So gasped, unable to ward off the affectionate assault.
"Oh...I...I'm sorry, Hyung!" Eun quickly released him from the embrace, but still clutched onto So's shoulders. "Mianhaeyo! I wasn't thinking. Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I? I'm just so glad you're home. You should have been here over an hour ago. Everyone was really getting worried, and..."
"Eun!" Soon Deok shouted to stop the young man's verbal tsunami, and bestowed him with a reprimanding scowl. "Shut up, and at least let your brother get into the house and sit down."
"Yeah...Yeah, of course! I'm sorry, Hyung!" Eun muttered dismayed, and smoothed some imaginary wrinkles from So's shirt as he let go of his shoulders.
"It's okay, Eunie," So assured him, despite the fact that the enthusiastic hug had further aggravated his barely healed ribs. He knew it hadn't been intentional, because his kindhearted Namdongsaeng wouldn't even hurt a fly on purpose. "I'm all right," he added, directed at Eun, yet with a glare at Soon Deok to let her know that he didn't appreciate her—however well-meant— rebuke of his brother.
She merely cringed, then rolled her eyes behind his back, though realizing she had overstepped her bounds by yelling at Eun. And she should have known better, since Wang So was as overprotective of his younger brothers as she was of him. She mentally chastised herself, vowing to apologize to both of them later.
"Wait a second, Eunie...Who all is here?" So queried as he stopped at the top of the stairs—mainly to catch his breath.
"Well..." Eun pensively scratched the back of his neck. "Right now just Yo-hyung, Baek Ah-hyung and me. It was actually weird, because we had a whole bunch of people... We wanted to give you a real nice 'Welcome Home' party, but then Yo-hyung got a phone call from someone...he didn't tell us who...and then he asked everyone except me, Baek Ah-hyung and Noona...I mean Hae Soo-ssi...to leave, because we would have some family matters to discuss. And about two minutes later, Noo…...uh, Hae Soo-ssi got a phone call too, and said she had to go. So it's just us now." He had rattled the whole thing off in nearly a single breath, and ended it with a somewhat apprehensive shrug.
So glanced down at the thick envelope he carried with him, then exchanged a meaningful look with Soon Deok. It didn't take much imagination to guess the source of the phone calls.
"Should I maybe leave too?" she queried guardedly. "I mean, if you need to discuss family business, then..."
"I think she would have mentioned it, if she didn't want you here," So suggested when she left the rest unsaid. "She knew you were driving me home, and besides," he forced a faint grin, "you're supposed to be taking care of me, remember?"
Soon Deok stared at him for a moment, then averted her eyes. "Yeah, well...quite a piss poor job I've been doing of that so far, isn't it?"
So couldn't manage to stifle a wider grin this time despite himself, and Eun openly gawked at her rather crude choice of words.
"It's odd, though," she mused, ignoring their reactions. "Why would she have called Hae Soo-ssi away?...She asked you to take care of her."
So's grin vanished and he nodded wistfully. "You're right! That doesn't seem to make sense."
"You really need to find out what's in here," she stated decisively, indicating the envelope in his hand.
"Honestly..." he grimaced uneasy, "by now I'm almost afraid to open it."
At his brother's morbid remark, Eun bent down and placed his ear against the envelope, then straightened again and shrugged. "Well, it's not ticking," he announced, "so how bad could it be?"
So rolled his eyes and reached out to tousle his Namdongsaeng's hair. "Leave it to Eunie, the ultimate optimist," he commented with a halfhearted smile, before he steeled himself against—whatever it may be—and walked into the house.