Secret of the Autumn

by xiaoj

[AU] Chu Ga Eul has always been a country bumpkin in the eyes of the F4. Especially so, in the case of So Yi Jeong, the renowned Korean Casanova. But what if… Chu Ga Eul wasn't really a country bumpkin, nor was she the ordinary commoner friend of Geum Jan Di that everyone thought her out to be? And this secret side of hers was revealed unintentionally to the Korean Casanova of F4,

25. Chapter 25

Author's notes: Okay, I have to admit - I started this new document on a spur of a moment. I'm not even sure if I would persevere to the end with this new idea. Either way, I was reading English Fics on the SoEul couple from the TV show Boys Over Flowers [Korean Version] and thought, perhaps I should try my hands in writing something on the couple. I had my fair share of dabbling in the ship with the Chinese language but I have never tried writing it in English before.

Summary: [AU] Chu Ga Eul has always been a country bumpkin in the eyes of the F4. Especially so, in the case of So Yi Jeong, the renowned Korean Casanova. But what if… Chu Ga Eul wasn't really a country bumpkin, nor was she the ordinary commoner friend of Geum Jan Di that everyone thought her out to be? And this secret side of hers was revealed unintentionally to the Korean Casanova of F4, how would that affect the entire story flow in the Boys over Flowers universe?

Title: Secret of the Autumn

Chapter 25 - To the Ski Resort, Let's Go! Part 6

Location: Shinhwa Ski Resort, Veranda on 2nd Floor, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. 2nd May 2009, 7.30pm

It didn't take very long for Song Woo Bin to locate the person he's looking for, even though he didn't have his underlings readily under his disposal here in Sapporo. Still, when he heard the sound of speaking coming from the veranda area on the 2nd floor of the resort - he knew he had hit the jackpot. After all, the conversation taking place on the veranda was held in Korean, and being in Japan, at present - there are only so many people who would be caught conversing in the Korean tongue.

So, whoever is out there speaking on the veranda could only be one of the girls from the annoying trio. Thus, Song Woo Bin made a beeline for the access doorway that would bring him out to the veranda while hoping that the person out there is the very same person he's looking for. Not that it would matter if it's not, but he thought the person he had in mind to speak on the subject is easier to get through as compared to the other two members of the trio.

Thankfully, it seems he was in luck. From the moment, Woo Bin landed his eyes upon the figure dressed up in hot pink - he knew he found the right person. The heiress to the Park Enterprise, which owns a chain of 3-stars boutique hotels in Korea. A fellow member of the annoying trio from the class of Geum Jan Di, commonly known to the school population as Sunny.

Stopping for a moment to listen to the conversation going on via the phone, the Don Juan of F4 settled into a position to wait for the phone conversation to be done since he had a feeling that the conversation taking place between the girl and whoever on the other end of the line is coming to an end soon. Hence his decision not to interrupt the phone call even though the situation Geum Jan Di is facing at present could only be considered as dire.

Sunny, Park Sun Ja had just ended a long phone conversation with her father talking about her college plans when she turns around to find the Don Juan of F4 leaning against the wall behind her, obviously waiting for her to be done with her phone call. The sight of the Don Juan of F4 causes Sunny to freeze up momentarily, as she went wide-eyed with shock and some slight unease pooling at the bottom of her guts.

"...Woo Bin-sunbae? Is there something you need from me?" Sunny inquires, shifting uneasily under the assessing gaze of the Mafia Prince.

"Yes, I'm going to ask you something and I expect an honest answer out of you. Given the business deal between Ii-Shin Construction and the Park Enterprise that's undergoing in process, you wouldn't dare lie to me, would you?" Song Woo Bin commented, his tone taking up a warning edge.

There is a reason why Woo Bin had opted to approach Sunny instead of the other two members of the annoying trio. Part of the reason is that due to the business deal ongoing between his family business and the family business of the girl, he had it on fair authority that Sunny wouldn't dare risk her family business by lying to him. Another reason is that he had come to realize through observation that the girl is easier to reason with when she's away from the influence of her two friends. Henceforth, Woo Bin was hoping that by getting the girl alone, Sunny would be partial to confirming his suspicion for him.

"...Of course, I wouldn't dare lie to your face." Sunny, Park Sun Ja paused for a second before nodding as she responded with a look of resignation in her eyes.

Inwardly, Sunny murmured an apology to her two friends because she knows she's about to betray them to the Don Juan of F4. After all, between her friendship and her family business - she cares a lot more for the family business build-up by her father than her friendship with Ginger and Miranda. Moreover, she was against their idea to steal the necklace from Geum Jan Di, to begin with. Only, her words of advice had fallen on deaf ears since neither of her friends seems keen to listen to what she has to say on the ploy cooked-up by Ginger, out of jealousy.

"Was the collision with Geum Jan Di out on the slope this morning a staged performance on your part?" Song Woo Bin prompted, keeping his piercing gaze on the girl - his demeanor serious and the complete opposite from his usual Don Juan persona.

"..." Sunny, Park Sun Ja sighed inwardly as she thought. 'I knew this was a bad idea, to begin with…' And then, she took a deep breath and responded to the prompt of the Mafia Prince with a nod. "Yes, it was staged. As for the reason… it was Ginger's idea. She didn't like the fact that Geum Jan Di had received something so unique from Jun Pyo-sunbae and decided that Geum Jan Di need to be taught a lesson. So, we were tasked to try and get the necklace away from Geum Jan Di in a discreet manner… Ginger is hoping that Geum Jan Di would get into trouble with Jun Pyo-sunbae upon losing the necklace, eventually."

"So, basically what you're saying is that the three of you stole the necklace from Geum Jan Di and later fooled her into thinking that she had dropped her necklace out on the ski slope? Are you aware that there's a blizzard storm approaching and Geum Jan Di is still out there looking for something that isn't even there to begin with?" Song Woo Bin stated in a lecturing tone of voice, looking unimpressed as he regards the girl standing in front of him at present.

Upon the words of the Mafia Prince, Sunny frowned as she snapped her head up and throw a question of her own back to the Don Juan of F4. "Wait… what do you mean by Geum Jan Di is out on the slopes amid an approaching blizzard storm looking for her missing necklace?"

"...Are you telling me you didn't send Geum Jan Di out in the snow to look for her missing necklace?" Song Woo Bin asks the bewildered-looking girl back in return, looking puzzled himself.

"I've been here out on the veranda speaking on the phone with my father for the last hour, I haven't seen Geum Jan Di in person since this afternoon at the cafe when she started panicking over the notion of losing the necklace she received from Jun Pyo-sunbae. How the hell am I going to be able to fool her into heading out into the snow in search of her necklace? My only part in this entire ploy of Ginger was to stage that collision incident out on the ski slopes with Geum Jan Di so Miranda could find an opportunity to steal the necklace from her. Anything beyond that, I had no hands in it." Sunny, Park Sun Ja pointed out objectively to the Don Juan of F4, her tone laced with mild annoyance. If there's anything Sunny detested the most, outside of being treated like an airhead bimbo - it's to be blamed for something she didn't do.

Sunny wasn't lying when she says her only part in Ginger's ploy was to stage the collision with Geum Jan Di out on the slopes, so Miranda could attempt to steal the necklace from the commoner girl. After all, when Ginger led them to ambush Gu Jun Pyo in the hallway, all she did was stand aside and let her two friends handle all the talking. After which, she had promptly left for the veranda to call up her father on the phone - given that she had forgotten to call her parents up after landing safely in the New Chitose Airport, the night before. As for what her friends did after she left them to their own device - Sunny had absolutely no clues.

"I see, if that's the case - would you mind accompanying me to find your friends?" Song Woo Bin prompted, at the end of Sunny's account of the story.

"Sure. Do you need me to lead the way to our designated meet-up point?" Sunny inquires, sounding somewhat meek but given the circumstances - it's only natural that she wasn't her usual confident self.

"If you know where they are, by all means - lead the way." Song Woo Bin shrugged, in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

Back in the lounge of the ski resort, Chu Ga Eul ended the call to find the lounge nearly emptied out. Aside from a certain Casanova of F4, both Yoon Ji Hoo and Song Woo Bin have disappeared from the room.

"...Where did Ji Hoo-sunbae and Woo Bin-sunbae disappear off to?" Chu Ga Eul blinked, turning her questioning eyes upon the figure of So Yi Jeong for an answer.

"Ji Hoo went out to get us dinner, with Geum Jan Di missing and a blizzard storm approaching - he thought, we probably wouldn't be in a mood to head out for dinner. As for Woo Bin, he claims that he needs to verify some facts with a certain someone." So Yi Jeong responded providing the country bumpkin with the information concerning his friend's whereabouts, for the moment.

"Ah… at least, one of us still remembers that it's dinner hours. In my frantic worry for Jan Di's safety, it seems the notion of getting dinner has escaped my notice as well." Chu Ga Eul commented as she dropped herself in the seat next to the Korean Casanova with a weary sigh.

"How did things go on your end?" So Yi Jeong inquires, knowing full well that the girl had taken to contact the local authority in regards to a rescue operation during a blizzard storm.

"Not good. They say that the blizzard storm would pose a significant challenge in locating someone in the mountain. The wind makes it hard for the helicopter to be flown safely through the night, and not to mention the snow would affect the visibility of the rescue team. Their suggestion is for us to wait until the storm dies down before they could dispatch a team out for the rescue mission." Chu Ga Eul admitted with a heavy heart.

"Same here, the advice from the professional ski coaches employed in the service of the ski resort basically said the same thing." The Korean Casanova responded in a tone of solemnity. Even though he was now alone with the country bumpkin, the heavy atmosphere that stung the air made it difficult for him to try and make small conversation with the girl. So, they ended up just sitting next to one another on the sofa couch in the lounge in silence while waiting for Ji Hoo and Woo Bin to return from their respective errands.

Location: Piano Bar in Shinhwa Ski Resort, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. 2nd May 2009, 7.45pm

There are two recreational spaces within the ski resort owned by the Shinhwa Group in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. The first is the lounge - presently reserved and utilized exclusively by the members of F4 while they are here at the ski resort. The other recreational space is the piano bar, offering exquisite wines to the customers who are looking to chill out after their skiing activity with a glass of wine while enjoying the music from the piano. Their resident pianist would be performing on the mini-grand piano situated in the bar every night from 7pm to 9pm.

"What on earth is keeping Sunny? Surely, a phone call between her father and her wouldn't last this long?" Miranda was complaining, directing her words towards her childhood friend - Ginger.

"Miranda, be a bit more patient. Sunny has always been an obedient daughter to her parents, I'm sure she's not just speaking to her father. She could be speaking to her mother on the phone as well, and you know how mother tends to be. They can be quite nagging by nature, and unlike you - Sunny is too polite to hang up on her mother." Ginger, Choi Jin-Hee, the leader of the annoying trio deadpans to her childhood friend who seems to make it a habit to badmouth Sunny at every opportunity that arises. Did her decision to bring Sunny into the fold of their friendship cause red flags to rise in the mind of her childhood friend? Why else would Miranda seize the opportunity to blemish Sunny's image in her eyes, every single time the girl is away from them?

To the outsiders, Ginger, Miranda, and Sunny might appear to be thick as thieves as they are always seen together on campus grounds. In reality, though, that isn't exactly the case. It's true that Ginger and Miranda, are always together. After all, they grew up together with their parents being friends with one another. And so, they are pretty much childhood friends. Sunny, though, is different. In fact, Sunny didn't grow up in Seoul like Ginger and Miranda, nor did she attend Shinhwa Academy, right from the beginning.

Sunny was originally from Busan, the second-largest city in Korea outside of Seoul. The Park Enterprise wasn't an old business corporation too, in fact, it was pretty new. Given that it has only been established about a decade ago, roughly about the same time that the Miyazawa F&B Group entered the Korean market.

The Park Enterprise was founded in Busan, Korea by the father of Sunny. After working for a decade with the renowned hotel group - Hyatt; Sunny's father decided to venture out on his own. So, he left his pretty well-paying job with the Hyatt group and started his own business.

With limited capital funding, the man could only start small… and so, after spending some time on the market research. The man decided to start up a boutique hotel business, catering to the mid-range travelers in his home turf - Busan. Starting out with just one boutique hotel under the branding of 'Park Residence' in the area of Nam-gu, the business flourished and started bringing in profits within three years of its establishment. Striking the iron while it's hot, Sunny's father took over the building of another hotel which is winding down due to poor management, and open his second hotel - this time, in the Gijang-gun. Another two years later, he set up his third hotel in Busan, this time within the old central district (Jung-gu).

Offering rooms at an affordable rate for mid-range travelers, the hotel chain under the Park Enterprise is very popular with students' travelers on a budget but didn't wish to go overboard by being too budget by lodging in accommodations that would require them to sacrifice their privacy by sharing facilities like the bathroom, and the business travelers who are simply looking for no-frills accommodation options. Providing room-only options to their guests, the boutique hotel – Park Residence is a hit with budget-conscious tourists.

Now, the Park Enterprise has five boutique hotels in Busan, two boutique hotels in the Incheon area where one of them is within a 2km radius from the Incheon International Airport, and three boutique hotels in the city of Daegu. Within the city of Seoul, thus far, they only had one hotel building in the Myeong-dong neighborhood that opens its door about three years ago and is looking to open a new hotel in the Euljiro-dong, both within the central (Jung-gu) district of Seoul.

Three years ago, Sunny's father has his eyes set on expanding his boutique hotel business into the city of Seoul and thus had shifted his entire family over, and that is also when Sunny officially joined the Shinhwa Academy. Previously, Sunny was studying in the Haeyeong Middle School of Busan. Either way, because Sunny's father started his boutique hotel business from scratch - Sunny wasn't exactly born in a wealthy environment like Ginger and Miranda. And thus, when she wasn't in the presence of Ginger and Miranda, her personality and character weren't that annoying. That was, ultimately, the reason why the Don Juan of F4 was a tad more patient when dealing with Sunny as compared to the other two girls from the annoying trio.

"I don't understand. Why are you even friends with Ginger and Miranda?" While on the way over to the piano bar in search of the remaining duo from the annoying trio, Song Woo Bin couldn't help but comment to the girl dressed in hot pink walking a few steps behind him.

"That's a very good question. I find myself asking the same question every single night these days, but if I really have to come up with a reason for being friends with them… I guess it's because they were the first to acknowledge my presence? I doubt you had any inkling of my origins… but I wasn't born and raised in Seoul. I was, in fact, from Busan. Three years ago, my father relocated our family from Busan to Seoul as he shifted the headquarters of his boutique hotel business from Busan to Seoul. That was when I transferred into the infamous Shinhwa Academy, but just like any other outsiders - I was practically isolated upon transferring in. Before Ginger and Miranda comes along, I had literally no friends in school. Maybe, that was why I cling to them and the friendship they offered me so desperately that I find myself doing the bidding of Ginger without protest. Even if, I might not agree with her ideas all the time." Sunny commented as she thought back to the time of how the friendship she had with Ginger and Miranda comes to fruit.

It has been Ginger that befriended Sunny first, the heiress to the Choi Foundations - a cosmetic business, had spent weeks observing Sunny from the side-line before making the decision to approach Sunny. With the common interest in fashion, it's only natural for them to hit it off, right away. Since Ginger and Miranda are a packaged deal, it's not too much of a wonder for Sunny to end up befriending Miranda, too. Only Miranda seems to have some kind of rivalry mindset against Sunny, fearing that Sunny would eventually replace her as Ginger's best friend. As such, Miranda often goes out of the way to boss Sunny around.

One such example would be earlier this morning when Ginger was having the problem of an upset stomach. Despite knowing full well that Sunny doesn't know Japanese, Miranda went on to task Sunny with the responsibility of procuring the medication for Ginger's diarrhea ailment when it had been her who was equipped with the Japanese conversational skills.

Over at the piano bar, upon the sight of her childhood friend staring at the necklace she had stolen off from the neck of Geum Jan Di earlier on in the day, Miranda flicked her gaze towards the window uneasily. Shortly after Sunny left them to their own device, they encountered Geum Jan Di asking around in the lobby of the ski lodge about the whereabouts of the missing necklace. Although it was apparent that Geum Jan Di had no intention to approach them for information - the two of them had shared a look among themselves before making the decision to approach the commoner girl, themselves.

Of course, they had approached Geum Jan Di with deliberation. Pretending to be helpful, Ginger had started out by asking Geum Jan Di if she had lost a necklace. Miranda then followed up with the description of the necklace, and upon catching the attention of the commoner girl. Ginger went on to comment that a skier had found it out on the slopes, and then left it with the owner at the summit's cafe thinking that the owner might go back to the cafe for the necklace when they found it to be missing. Given that Geum Jan Di had indeed patron the summit cafe at some point in the earlier part of the day, she didn't suspect a single thing about this entire thing being a lie. And so, Geum Jan Di thanked them both sincerely and hurried off to grab her ski jacket from her room; left a note behind for her childhood friend, and promptly headed out into the snow to look for her missing necklace.

"I wonder how her face would look when she realized that we'd lied to her about her necklace being left at the summit cafe." Ginger, Choi Jin-Hee smirked as she tried to refrain from sounding too gleeful about the possible reactions of Geum Jan Di after realizing that she had been fooled by them, in her eagerness to locate the missing necklace.

Given that the news about the approaching blizzard storm just came on over the TV about 20 minutes ago, Miranda and Ginger who hasn't been paying attention to the local news aren't aware of the bit of information yet. In the case of Miranda, she simply felt uneasy after noticing the worsening climate through the window of their current location. Swallowing nervously, Miranda directed a line of query towards her childhood friend and leader of their little group. "Ginger... nothing's going to happen to Geum Jan Di, right? The weather outside seems to be taking a turn for the worse..."

"Well… whatever happens to her out there was brought upon by her own actions. For such a humble commoner, how could she have the right to be on the receiving end of a one-of-a-kind token from Jun Pyo-sunbae?!" Ginger, Choi Jin-Hee gritted out her words in an unrepentant manner as she tightens her fist around the necklace Miranda had managed to steal from the neck of Geum Jan Di earlier this morning.

"But Ginger... we just want to teach her a lesson about knowing her place, not to threaten her life..." Miranda commented the sense of unease pooling in her guts begins to peak when she took note of the worsening weather with each passing minute. The more she observed, the more Miranda thought that the worsening weather could be a sign of an impending blizzard storm, and based on her understanding, being trapped in the middle of a blizzard is no joke.

Yoon Ji Hoo, who had been fortunate enough to overhear a portion of the girls' conversation wasted no time in barging into the room Ginger and Miranda was in and demanded an explanation from the duo. "What did the two of you do to Geum Jan Di?"

"Ji Hoo-sunbae!" Miranda falters as she blanched upon the realization that the auburn-haired member of F4 had overheard her conversation with Ginger, and cringed on reflex.

"Out with it! What did the two of you do to Geum Jan Di?!" Yoon Ji Hoo had all but demanded, and upon the sight of the missing necklace laying on the palm of Ginger caused a dark look to form on the face of the auburn-haired member of F4.

It was this particular scene that Sunny and Song Woo Bin had chanced upon when they finally arrived at the piano bar of the ski resort.

"Ginger, Miranda. Given that I've already come clean about my part in this entire ploy to 'teach Geum Jan Di a lesson' to Woo Bin-sunbae, the two of you better come clean about what you two had done to her while I'm preoccupied elsewhere as well. There is a blizzard storm going on out there, hence the worsening weather. The earlier you two come clean to Ji Hoo-sunbae and the rest of the F4 about what the two of you told Geum Jan Di, the earlier they could narrow down the search area for the rescue team. I'm sure neither of you needs an impromptu lecture about the dangers of being trapped in a blizzard storm, right?" Sunny, Park Sun Ja was silent for a second before speaking up, and when she finally addressed her two friends - she wasn't smiling, in fact, she looks downright displeased with her two friends.

To say that Sunny was upset is an understatement, she had thought the worse her friends would do was to spark a disagreement between the Shinhwa heir and Geum Jan Di over the loss of the one-of-a-kind necklace Gu Jun Pyo had gifted to Geum Jan Di. What she hasn't expected though, was for her friends to trick Geum Jan Di into heading out into the snow to go in search of something that isn't even out there, in the first place. Sure, they might be able to get a good laugh out of the fact that Geum Jan Di had naively believed their words and made a wasted trip over to the summit cafe but they shouldn't have tried to pull this stunt while it's snowing outside, and on foreign land. Even if there wasn't a blizzard storm approaching their area, they shouldn't have sent Geum Jan Di out to the snow alone without a local guide.

Getting stranded in the mountain could be equally trying, and add in the fact that it's snowing heavily out there – this is way beyond the level of a simple joke. Maybe, it's high time she starts thinking about cutting her friendship ties with Ginger and Miranda. The Mafia Prince is right, she ought to choose her friends wisely. People like Ginger and Miranda are obviously not a good influence for her...given how frequently they tend to take advantage of her, by sending her out to do their bidding at every possible opportunity that arises.

"..." Miranda and Ginger shared a quick look among themselves, getting caught red-handed while speaking on the subject by Yoon Ji Hoo of F4 is already bad enough. Now, they had to add the Don Juan of F4 in the mix - it looks like doom is hovering on the horizon for them. As for Sunny's demand, well… they aren't very concerned about their friend's upset reaction at them. It isn't as though Sunny is going to forsake their friendship, the girl's too desperate to hold on to their friendship bonds to even think about severing their friendship ties, at present.

Unknowing to them both, Sunny was indeed considering cutting them out of her life for good, this time. After all, Sunny would be getting swamped with her duties and responsibilities of being the heiress to her father's boutique hotel business soon. In short, she wouldn't have so much free time on hand to continue fooling around with Ginger and Miranda, for the foreseeable future. Sure, the remaining year in Shinhwa High would be exceptionally lonely and hard for her to endure without friends… but she could always video-call her friends in Busan for a chat every now and then. Besides, who's to say for certain that she wouldn't be able to find herself some new friends after cutting out Ginger and Miranda?

Location: Outside Shinhwa Ski Resort, Ski Slope No. 3, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. 2nd May 2009, 7.45pm

While the confrontation is taking place in the piano bar between Yoon Ji Hoo of F4 and the duo from the annoying trio with Song Woo Bin and Sunny being the observers on the side-line. Outside on the ski slopes, the Wonder Woman of Korea was trekking up the slope heading in the direction of the summit cafe.

Geum Jan Di trekked up the slope according to the information given to her by Miranda and Ginger from her class. Originally, she hasn't been thinking of asking them if they had seen her necklace - it had been them who had approached her while she was asking around in the lobby area if anyone had seen her necklace anywhere around. According to Miranda, apparently, some skier found it along the ski slope and left it at the summit cafe for safe-keeping.

In her eagerness to locate her missing necklace, it didn't even occur to Geum Jan Di to think about the possibility of them lying to her. After all, it's a well-known fact that the annoying trio detested her with a passion. So, why on earth would they be so helpful to supply her with the information that she seeks?! Either way, because she had trusted the words of the duo from the annoying trio - Geum Jan Di was now trekking uphill towards the direction where the summit cafe is located, hoping to recover her necklace as soon as possible, completely unaware that a blizzard storm is approaching.

[Damn… this is really chilly and windy up here. Is this place always this windy at night?] - Having no idea that the wind is due to the approaching blizzard storm, Geum Jan Di simply thought that the chilly wind is a norm in this part of the area.

In the meantime, the bodyguards escorting the Shinhwa heir eventually pulled up the black sedan outside the Sapporo train station as that's the only place that comes with a public restroom they could find in the area.

"...Are you guys going to follow me into the washroom as well?" Gu Jun Pyo had all but demanded when the guards continue to follow him from behind. So, the Shinhwa heir came to an abrupt stop in front of the entrance that leads to the restroom of the train station and shifted his attention towards the bodyguards in charge of keeping an eye on him with a look of annoyance.

Upon the look of annoyance that came from the Shinhwa heir, the group of bodyguards in charge of escorting the Shinhwa heir towards the airport promptly halted their steps and decided to wait outside for the Shinhwa heir to emerge from the washroom facility.

It was in the washroom at the Sapporo train station that Gu Jun Pyo receives a second phone call from his long-time friend, Yoon Ji Hoo. This time, his friend told him that Geum Jan Di has been duped by the members of the annoying trio and is now out in the blizzard storm trying to find the necklace which is actually stolen by the members of the annoying trio.

[That stupid woman!] - Gu Jun Pyo thought, as he promptly shrugged off his original trench coat and pull out a wad of cash from his wallet, and forced them into the hands of a young man with a shopping bag from the store - Uniqlo, after noticing that it held a winter jacket with a hood that's suitable for him to use as a camouflage means.

"Sir?" The young man was beyond puzzled when he found a wad of cash being pressed into his hands by an unknown guy.

"Take this, I'm buying your new jacket from you." Gu Jun Pyo throws out easily in Japanese to the young man and promptly took the jacket out from the shopping bag to swap it out with the trench coat he was originally wearing.

"..."

Once he was done switching out his outerwear, Gu Jun Pyo wasted no time in hiding his signature hair under his own beanie cap and later pull the hood of the new winter jacket he had procured forcibly from an unknown young man and stepped out of the public washroom. Making sure to hide his face as he walked past his group of bodyguards who were waiting outside the washroom area, the Shinhwa heir didn't dare to let down his guards until he was safely outside of the train station. Only then, the Shinhwa heir makes a beeline for the main road as he tried to flag down a vehicle to take him back to the ski resort.

Trying to flag down a vehicle on the road turns out to be harder than he had thought it out to be, first of all, nobody knows who he is and thus wouldn't stop to give him a ride. Secondly, the Shinhwa heir was unaware that the curb he was standing on had a yellow line marking that symbolize no parking or stopping under the Japan traffic rules. And that ultimately was the reason why no vehicles had bothered stopping to ask what he wants. His mind too preoccupied with the potential dangers the woman he loves was in, the Shinhwa heir loses all sense of logical reasons and promptly stepped out onto the road attempting to get a vehicle to stop with his body, and get them to drive him back to the ski resort.

Isshiki Masashi was on his way back to the Seasons Hotel where he has been lodging temporarily while he's in Sapporo for a couple of reasons. The first, being the attendance of his cousin's engagement party event last night, and the other reason is for his photoshoot taking place for the bulk of today. Either way, he was resting his eyes at the back of the passenger seat of the black Honda Civic owned by his manager when the car abruptly braked jarring him out from his quick shut-eye.

"What happened?" Isshiki Masashi inquires, it's not an everyday occurrence for a vehicle to brake so abruptly on the roads in Japan. Given that most vehicle owners and pedestrians abide by the traffic rules in place by the local government.

"Someone rushes out onto the road from the curb, it seems. And they are now arguing." The manager of Isshiki Masashi responded in an unimpressed tone of voice.

"..." Isshiki Masashi raised his eyebrow up in response to the words of his manager and promptly glances out of the window screen of the car to see for himself - the cause of the sudden commotion on the road. Originally, he didn't think it necessary to interfere… but when he heard the sudden cursing in the Korean tongue - he paused and took a double-take at the guy who was crazy enough to jump out onto the road from the curbside earlier.

One look was enough for him to tell the severity of the situation, he highly doubts the infamous Shinhwa heir is too drunk to tell whether it's time to cross the road or not. So, he signaled for his manager to wait while he stepped out of the vehicle to interfere and hopefully put a stop to the commotion that is causing a temporary traffic jam on the roads. Hopefully, he's able to settle the matter before someone thought it prudent to call in the police force to handle the commotion.

"Sumi-Masen, please pardon my friend's behavior. He's not native and hence has trouble telling the meaning of the road signs." The first thing Isshiki Masashi said upon interfering with the situation was to apologize to the truck driver for the inconvenience caused. And then, he reached out to grab the hand of the Shinhwa heir, dragging the guy back with him to the black Honda Civic belonging to his manager.

"Gu Jun Pyo, not a single word from you. A kind word of advice, next time you're in Japan - I don't care what kind of emergency situation you have on hand, please abide by the traffic rules. This isn't Korea, your name doesn't mean anything to the local authorities." Isshiki Masashi deadpans to the upset Shinhwa heir without bothering to switch his language, knowing full well that the guy could understand Japanese seeing as the Shinhwa heir has been arguing with the truck driver in Japanese earlier on.

"Masashi?" His manager throws him a quizzical look when he came back to the awaiting black Honda Civic with the Shinhwa heir in tow.

"We are making a detour, instead of heading straight for the Seasons Hotel. We are going to drop this guy off at the entrance of the Shinhwa ski resort first." Isshiki Masashi told his manager in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

Gu Jun Pyo, who had been fairly upset earlier, promptly stop trying to shake off the grasp of the unknown guy that barged in and dragged him off from his argument with the truck driver upon hearing the above-mentioned words. For now, he's simply glad that someone is willing to drive him to the ski resort, and thus he didn't complain when he found himself being brutally shoved into the back passenger seat of the black Honda Civic.

With the Shinhwa heir nestled in the back passenger seat of his manager's Honda Civic, Isshiki Masashi took out his mobile device to drop a message to Chu Ga Eul about the scene he had just witnessed moments ago on the road.

Location: Shinhwa Ski Resort Lounge, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. 2nd May 2009, 8.15pm

The atmosphere in the lounge of the ski resort is tense and stifled, with the F3 and Chu Ga Eul keeping to one side of the lounge and the annoying trio on the other side. Following the confrontation with Yoon Ji Hoo and Song Woo Bin in the piano bar, Ginger and Miranda had been forcibly escorted over to the lounge where Chu Ga Eul and So Yi Jeong of F4 were waiting, to come clean about the entire missing necklace fiasco. Sunny, on the other hand, had come over willingly without the need of being dragged over by the auburn-haired member of F4.

Throwing a questioning look over to his two friends, So Yi Jeong had on a look that seems to say 'why did you two bring them over?' in his eyes.

"They are here to make a confession." Song Woo Bin declared in a flat tone of voice, as he flicked his stern gaze over to the figure of Sunny. Knowing full well that the girl is likely the only one from the trio who would come clean without the necessity of being threatened, at every turn.

"A confession about...?" So Yi Jeong raised his eyebrows questioningly at his best friend, before zeroing in his gaze on the fidgeting heiress to the Park Enterprise.

"I'm sorry, Geum Jan Di didn't lose her necklace. We stole it from her during our earlier collision with her out on the ski slopes." Sunny said as she bowed towards the figure of Chu Ga Eul and the Korean Casanova in an apologetic stance.

"What?! And where is the necklace now?" Chu Ga Eul pressed on, wanting to know for certain that the necklace hasn't been thrown off by the trio. Despite knowing the fact that the trio throwing the necklace away is slim to none, due to the value the necklace is worth… but sometimes jealousy can make people do stupid things. Who's to say for certain that they wouldn't discard the necklace at the first opportunity that arises?

"Ji Hoo-sunbae took it." This time, it was Miranda that answered Ga Eul's question. Originally, Ginger was reluctant to let go of the necklace… Yoon Ji Hoo had to snatch it out from Ginger's grasp by force.

"I see… and I supposed this is yet another brilliant idea of Ginger?" Chu Ga Eul stated in a flat tone of voice, keeping her eyes focused on the figure of Sunny for a response. Being astute in her observation skills, Ga Eul had long figured out that Sunny's the only one from the annoying trio that still had some sort of conscience.

"Yes, Ginger thought by stealing Geum Jan Di's necklace - it would drive a rift between Jun Pyo-sunbae and Geum Jan Di's relationship. However, I was completely unaware of them sending Geum Jan Di out to the slopes in search of the necklace, until recently as well. Given that I was otherwise preoccupied when they approached Geum Jan Di with an elaborated lie of some skier having found her necklace by chance and had left it in the care of the owner at the summit cafe." Sunny took a deep breath and proceed to recite the entire story she had heard Ginger and Miranda reiterate to the figure of Song Woo Bin and Yoon Ji Hoo of F4 earlier on during the confrontation in the piano bar.

It goes without saying that Chu Ga Eul was incensed by what the annoying trio had done. In particular, her ire was fully focused upon the leader of the annoying trio. Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that Hyo Rin doesn't deserve to be punished for something her cousin had done – Ga Eul was very tempted to resort to underhand methods in driving the Choi Foundation to bankruptcy. This is the first time she felt so angry that she even contemplated the idea of using the influence the Miyazawa family had in Japan to get her point across to someone.

Still, even though she's not going to the extent of threatening the Choi Foundation with bankruptcy... Ga Eul was unwilling to let the matter rest without doing something to vent off her ire towards the leader of the annoying trio. Thus, the F3 and the two friends of Ginger were treated to the rare sight of Chu Ga Eul slapping Ginger hard on the cheek.

"Choi Jin-Hee, you'd better pray hard that Jan Di is alright. If not, I wouldn't be opposed to using whatever influence I had in Japan to make sure your family business expansion plan into the Japanese market went up in smoke. This is my last and final warning to you if you were to cross me one more time – I'll make sure your father loses his right to succeed the Choi Foundation unless he disowned you publicly in front of the entire media. Mark my words, I'm not someone who would joke on such matters. When I say something, I usually meant them." Chu Ga Eul hissed out at the leader of the annoying trio with barely concealed anger, before stalking off to another part of the lounge to cool her head.

In the wake of Chu Ga Eul losing her temper with Ginger, neither of the members of the annoying trio dare to say anything. Not when the mood and atmosphere in the lounge are still tense, it wasn't until the sound of stomach growling coming from the direction of Sunny that reminded everyone of the sheer fact that neither of them had taken their dinner yet.

"..."

"Why are you three still here?" Song Woo Bin blinked, upon the realization that the members of the annoying trio are still in the lounge.

"Well… we aren't sure if we are free to leave." Sunny felt the prod coming from Miranda and knows it's up to her to respond to the query from the Don Juan of F4. it seems in the wake of Chu Ga Eul and Yoon Ji Hoo losing their temper, Ginger and Miranda were a tad too cowed to interact with anybody from F4.

"Ga Eul-yang?" Song Woo Bin then glanced over to the long-haired childhood friend of Geum Jan Di for an opinion, as though he is deferring to the girl, for a decision. His actions rendered the members of the annoying trio to appear surprised for a moment, however brief it was.

"Let them leave, it's not as though their presence here would help matters." Chu Ga Eul huffed aloud in response, not even giving the girls from the annoying trio a single look - still very much upset about the stunt they had pulled on her childhood friend to give them a damn.

With the departure of the annoying trio from the lounge, Song Woo Bin was reminded yet again about the fact that none of them had taken their dinner yet. And so, the Don Juan of F4 offers to get them some food from the cafe around the corner. Since neither of them is likely to be in a mood to head out to the restaurant for their long over-due dinner meal.

"Woo Bin-sunbae. It's fine, I can simply get them to deliver the food over if you are going to get us something to eat from the cafe." Chu Ga Eul responded as she took out her mobile phone to call up the cafe, and requested to speak to the manager in charge.

"Sorry if this would cause any inconvenience on your part. But I need some food to be delivered over to the lounge of the ski resort. This is Chu Ga Eul, by the way." Chu Ga Eul begins, speaking into the phone in a polite tone of voice.

"Sure, Miss. Can I have your order so I could get my staff to prepare them for the delivery?" The manager on duty at the cafe was quick to react, upon gathering that it's the illegitimate heiress to the Miyazawa F&B Group calling up - the manager promptly allows the exception of a food delivery service to be arranged, without delay.

"Hold on, let me check with my friends on what they would like to have." Chu Ga Eul commented, putting the manager on the other end of the line on hold temporarily as she turns towards the F3 and asks what they would like to have for their dinner.

"I'm going for the turkey breast sandwich, what about you two?" The Don Juan of F4 was scanning through the menu list available on the website of the cafe, and upon deciding on what he wanted to eat - he shifted the screen of his phone towards the direction of his two friends so they could get a look at the menu as well.

"I'll take the tuna sandwich." The Korean Casanova scanned through the menu swiftly before deciding on the tuna sandwich, since he's sort of in a mood for tuna this evening. Yoon Ji Hoo ended up following in the footsteps of Woo Bin by picking the turkey breast sandwich as well.

"Okay, here's the orders. Two tuna sandwiches and two turkey breast sandwiches, as for the beverage choice… I would like to have one cup of hot espresso, one cup of hot cappuccino, one cup of hot latte, and one cup of hot mocha. Charged it all under my tab." Chu Ga Eul responded and then hang up the call on her end, soon after. There isn't a need for her to check with the guys on their preferred choice of beverage, having already known it through her astute observation skills over breakfast this morning.

While Chu Ga Eul was ordering dinner for the F3 and herself via her mobile phone, the members of the annoying trio who had left the lounge were discussing what to have for dinner when Sunny abruptly commented. "You two go on ahead and find somewhere for dinner, I'm just going to grab a sandwich from the cafe next door."

"Are you sure you don't want to join us for dinner?" Ginger turns towards Sunny and inquires.

"Yes, I'm sure. It has been a long day and I'm exhausted. I just want to grab something and eat, shower, and then go to bed. So, the two of you go on ahead and eat something fanciful… just don't eat too much sashimi or you might find yourself ending up with another upset stomach episode, again." Sunny commented in jest, plastering on a smiling expression as she sends off her two friends or soon-to-be-former friends.

After seeing off Ginger and Miranda, Sunny headed towards the direction of the cafe named 'Deli-Cafe'. Heading towards the counter, Sunny took one look at the menu fixated behind the ordering counter before voicing her request across to the staff attending to the cashier counter.

"Is there an English menu available?" Sunny inquires, looking a little embarrassed about not being able to place her orders swiftly. As much as she wishes to be quick in her ordering process, so she wouldn't hold up the queue… but it's a fact that she can't read the Japanese menu.

"Of course." The staff nodded and promptly retrieved a copy of the English menu they reserved for the international customers, and hand it over to Sunny for perusal. Upon the sight of the English menu, Sunny was able to decide what she wanted for her dinner swiftly, this time.

"I would like to have the egg-mayo sandwich set with iced tea, takeaway. Thank you." Sunny told the staff attending to the cashier and count out the exact cash amount of Japanese Yen as she made the payment for her food orders.

"Thank you, here's your receipt. Please wait over at the food collection point for your order, it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes for your order to be ready." The cashier told Sunny in response, and although Sunny didn't get everything the cashier was saying due to the bad pronunciation of the English language. Through the means of guessing and reading the body language of the cashier, Sunny was able to get the gist of the message. Basically, the cashier is telling her to wait for her order on the other side of the counter.

Sunny's only thought as she collected her food and made her way back to the triple room she's sharing with Ginger and Miranda on this trip, was that she really ought to sign up for the elementary level of conversational Japanese upon getting back to Seoul. Otherwise, she might find herself having the need to engage a proper translator every single time she visited Japan, and it can be quite costly on a long-term basis.

Granted, it wasn't a confirmed thing yet. But based on the conversation she had with her father over the phone earlier, that her father does have the plan of expanding their business to the neighboring countries, and Japan happens to be one of them. Only, that wouldn't be happening in recent years… since they need to ensure that their boutique hotel business in Seoul is flourishing first before looking elsewhere for new opportunities. Either way, there's still a bit of time for Sunny to brush up on her lacking language abilities.

With Ginger and Miranda away, Sunny had the entire room to herself for a period. Deciding to make full use of this peaceful time before her two friends return from their dinner, Sunny took out her planner and started noting down the things she need to do upon arriving back in Seoul. On the top of the list, was the matter of cutting out Ginger and Miranda from her social circle and starting anew by working on revamping her reputation in school. Of course, not wanting to let Ginger and Miranda know of her plan to distance away from them, Sunny makes sure to tuck her planner back into her suitcase and lock it up before they return from their dinner.

By the time, Ginger and Miranda get back from wherever they decide to have their dinner - Sunny is already curled up in bed fast asleep. So much so that when the two of them flicked on the lights in the room, Sunny didn't even stir.

Location: Shinhwa Ski Resort Lounge, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. 2nd May 2009, 8.45pm

Chu Ga Eul was mid-way munching into her tuna sandwich delivered over by someone working for the cafe owned by the Miyazawa F&B Group on the premises of the ski resort, as her late dinner when she felt the buzz on her mobile phone indicating to her that she had received a text message. Setting down her sandwich momentarily, she reached for her mobile phone to take a look at the message content.

The moment she finished scanning through the message, her eyebrows shot up a notch drawing the attention of the F3 onto her person.

"Is anything the matter?" So Yi Jeong inquires, setting aside his own sandwich to voice his query across to the country bumpkin because he finds that speaking with a sandwich in hand looks a tad too silly in his books.

"Masashi just send me a message saying that he had picked up Jun Pyo-sunbae on the road and that, Jun Pyo-sunbae was flouting traffic rules before he interfered in the situation." Chu Ga Eul told the Korean Casanova with a bemused expression on her face, unsure of what to make of the circumstances that led to the Shinhwa heir flouting the traffic rules of Japan.

While Yi Jeong's first reaction to the name of Masashi coming forth from the lips of Chu Ga Eul had been apprehensive, the apprehension over the text exchange between the country bumpkin and the notorious playboy of Japan flew out of the window when he heard the bit of information about his missing childhood friend being picked up on the road by the playboy acquaintance of Ga Eul.

"What?!" Both the Don Juan and the Korean Casanova of F4 reacted in the exact same manner, they turn incredulous eyes upon the figure of Chu Ga Eul as though trying to determine if the girl is jesting with them. Why on earth would their friend be flouting the traffic rules of Japan and ended up being picked up by the notorious playboy of Japan, at the end of it?

Yoon Ji Hoo, on the other hand, had a contemplative look on his features. Recalling how Jun Pyo had claimed to be trapped in a bit of an annoying situation earlier on when he calls his friend up. He thought, perhaps his friend was caught by the men doing the bidding for the witch - Kang Hee Soo, the mother of his long-time friend.

Back outside in the snow, Geum Jan Di was still working on trekking up the slope towards the direction of the summit cafe. By this point, she already gathered that the weather wasn't normal… and there's a very high chance of her being trapped amid a snowstorm. Still, it's too late for her to turn back to the ski resort - she was already midway through her journey to the summit cafe. With every step she took, she found herself shivering in the cold. But remembering how hurting her boyfriend had seemed to be when she admitted that she had lost the necklace he had gifted her, Geum Jan Di forced herself to move on ahead.

Still, there is only so much her determination and sheer willpower could handle while going up against the force of nature. Thus, Geum Jan Di soon found herself collapsing from the chilling air of the snowstorm; her body getting too numb from the cold to continue on with her journey uphill.

Meanwhile, Gu Jun Pyo who had been dropped off at the ski resort throw out a hasty word of thanks before rushing towards the direction where he knew the electric snow scooter are available for rental. Of course, being the heir to the Shinhwa Group - there isn't even a need for him to rent the equipment. He simply grabs hold of one and sets off for the direction of the slope that will bring him to the mountain.

"..." Isshiki Masashi watched the Shinhwa heir sped off on the electric snow scooter without checking in with the rest of the F4, and pressed a hand to his skull as he resigned himself to drop Chu Ga Eul another text message. This time, it's about how he had dropped off the Shinhwa heir only to have that guy venturing out into the mountain amid a blizzard storm.

Due to the ongoing blizzard storm, it's obvious that it would be difficult for Isshiki Masashi to head back to civilization in his manager's Honda Civic. Thus, they found themselves heading into the ski resort and spend their time waiting for the blizzard storm to pass while chilling in the piano bar of the ski resort.

During this time, the bodyguards ditched by the Shinhwa heir at the Sapporo train station had finally realized that they had failed in their task because the Shinhwa heir had managed to make his escape under their supervision.

"Damn it…" The leader of the bodyguard team cursed aloud and was about to suggest for them to make a U-turn to the ski resort when they finally heard of the information of an ongoing blizzard storm going on in the area where the ski resort is situated.

"...Leader, why don't we report to the lady president that our return would be a delay as there's an ongoing blizzard storm in the area? That way, Young Master Jun Pyo would be able to get his things into order before leaving with us for Seoul." One of the men on the team of bodyguards dispatched to capture Gu Jun Pyo under the orders of Kang Hee Soo suggested to the leader of the team.

"..."

"Damn it!" Gu Jun Pyo cursed aloud; the scooter had died on him shortly after he barged through the barricaded area set up by the staff of the ski resort paying them absolutely no heeds. Trying to restart the scooter several times to no avail, the Shinhwa heir finally gave up and decided to carry on his search for his girlfriend on foot. Why hasn't he had the insight to check on the battery status before grabbing the snow scooter earlier? The Shinhwa heir couldn't help but berated himself mentally as he yells out the name of his girlfriend while scanning his eyes around the vicinity.

"Geum Jan Di?! Where are you? Answer me!" Gu Jun Pyo calls out, his tone anxious as he flicked his eyes around the surrounding trying to locate anything that would give him a hint of the whereabouts of his girlfriend.

[Geum Jan Di… please be alright, you have to be alright because I'm never going to let you get away from me!] - Gu Jun Pyo thought with determination as he pushes on to carry on with his search for his stranded girlfriend.

Back in the lounge of the ski resort, Yoon Ji Hoo was just about to head out in search of Geum Jan Di since the rescue team isn't going to move until the blizzard dies down when he was halted by Song Woo Bin and So Yi Jeong, combined.

"Ji Hoo, would you please calm down?" The Don Juan of F4 begins, only to find himself being cut off by the agitated Yoon Ji Hoo.

"Calm down… how could I possibly calm myself down when Geum Jan Di is out there alone?!" Yoon Ji Hoo gritted out at his Don Juan friend with unbidden frustration.

"Ji Hoo, I know you're anxious and restless. I'm sure Ga Eul feels the same as you, Geum Jan Di is her best friend. Still, if she can remain calm at present - I don't see why you can't stay calm." So Yi Jeong pointed out to his auburn-haired friend, objectively as he flicked his eyes towards where the country bumpkin is sitting with the look of worry etched onto her features. The girl hasn't stopped frowning since she came to them with the information of Geum Jan Di headed out to the slopes in search of the missing necklace.

"Ji Hoo-sunbae, I know you want to be out there looking for Jan Di. But Jun Pyo-sunbae is already out there looking for her, so now, the rescue team is looking at rescuing two possible stranded individuals rather than the original one individual. So, please - don't make their jobs even more difficult." Chu Ga Eul deadpans as her words draw upon the attention of F3 onto her person, once again.

"Sorry, what was that again?" So Yi Jeong turns towards the country bumpkin with incredulity, thinking that he had misheard what the girl had just commented about Jun Pyo being out there looking for Geum Jan Di?

"I think you heard me right the first time around. I just got another text update from Masashi. Apparently, he had just dropped off Jun Pyo-sunbae about five minutes ago… and then, he said Jun Pyo-sunbae didn't even enter the resort and instead made a beeline for the direction of the snow scooters, hopped onto one of them, and ventured off towards the direction of the mountain." Chu Ga Eul sighed aloud as she reiterates the content, she had just received from Masashi to the F3.

"..."

Without another word, Yoon Ji Hoo dropped himself back onto the sofa couch and continues to wait. Now that, Jun Pyo has beaten him to the task of searching for Geum Jan Di - there isn't a need for him to play the role of the hero, anymore. Still, this night is bound to be a long and restless night for all of them.

While the members of F3 and Chu Ga Eul stayed up the night in the lounge of the ski resort waiting for updates concerning the search for Geum Jan Di and the Shinhwa heir, Gu Jun Pyo had finally stumbled upon the collapsed figure of his girlfriend after a few minutes into his search on foot. The moment the Shinhwa heir noticed a figure slumped face-down into the snow, he promptly reacted and rushed forward calling out the name of his girlfriend as he did so.

"Geum Jan Di! Ya! Geum Jan Di, wake up! Don't you dare fall asleep on me!" Gu Jun Pyo had all but demanded upon reaching the collapsed figure of his girlfriend.

"Gu Jun Pyo?" Geum Jan Di was already half-unconscious, but she thought she heard the voice of her boyfriend. At first, she thought she was hallucinating and thus she murmurs that she would definitely find his heart and that she didn't mean to lose the necklace.

"... You, stupid woman! Who on earth tell you to do this?!" Gu Jun Pyo mutters aloud in response before he recalls the severity of the situation his girlfriend was in and promptly asks if his girlfriend could walk.

Needless to say, he receives no coherent response from his half-unconscious girlfriend. In the end, he decided to piggyback his girlfriend while he searches the surrounding for anywhere, they could rest for the night without being chilled to death. It was sheer dumb luck that they managed to come across a mountain hut, that is unmanned but open all year round for mountaineers to seek refuge. In this case, they are open to the use of the stranded skiers too.

Although the basic amenities are easily available - because the Shinhwa heir didn't think to bring along matches or lighters… even with the readily available logs, he couldn't light up a fire in the fire pit that came equipped in the hut. Regardless, it's good that he managed to find them somewhere with a roof and walls to block out the chilly weather outside. Setting his girlfriend down to lean against the wall of the hut, it took a moment for the Shinhwa heir to recall what it was he need to do to prevent his girlfriend from dying due to hypothermia.

Once the memory from the first aid lesson his sister had forced him to attend during a survival camp event came flooding back into his mind, the Shinhwa heir wasted no time in removing the wet clothing from his shivering girlfriend. Geum Jan Di didn't protest when her boyfriend took off her ski jacket, winter hat, scarf, and everything else she had donned on her person since it's common sense to remove that outerwear once they are indoors. However, when her boyfriend attempted to reach for her shirt which is the only protective layer hiding her bra and body skin from direct view - she started to protest.

"What are you doing?" Geum Jan Di protested, tugging her shirt to herself protectively to shield her body from being seen by the Shinhwa heir. Even in a state of weakness, Geum Jan Di is still clear-minded enough to know that she shouldn't let a guy see her clad in nothing but her underthing.

"Ya! Geum Jan Di, do you wish to die?" Gu Jun Pyo throws out at his girlfriend in frustration, as he tried to unbutton the shirt off his girlfriend once more. Only to have his girlfriend attempt to scoot away from him, fending him off with a look that seems wary all of the sudden.

It took a while for the Shinhwa heir to comprehend the reason behind his girlfriend's reluctance to remove the wet shirt from her person, and when he did - he nearly cursed and swear aloud in exasperation over his girlfriend's moral sense of decency. Still, Gu Jun Pyo is unwilling to remove the shirt from his girlfriend by force - for it could bring him more troubles to come in the future if he goes about the task forcefully. So, forcing himself to remain calm in the face of his girlfriend's hypothermia state - the Shinhwa heir spoke to the girl as though he was speaking to a five-year-old child.

"Jan Di, listen to me. You need to remove the shirt, it's wet. You are already in the hypothermia state, so, you need to get warm quickly. Wearing that shirt of yours isn't going to help… if you're concerned about me seeing your skin without any clothes on, you can wear my shirt but you need to remove your shirt from your person without delay." Gu Jun Pyo suggested upon comprehending the reason behind his girlfriend's hesitance in removing the shirt from her person.

And then, the Shinhwa heir promptly turns around and shrugged off his clothes, layer by layer. Once he had removed the white button-down shirt, he was wearing beneath all the layers of his outerwear, he handed the white button-down shirt over to his girlfriend so she could get changed into his shirt, while he remains shirtless. "I'm going to remain standing here in this position, let me know when you're done changing so I could turn back around."

Hesitantly, Geum Jan Di reaches for the offered white button-down shirt as she finally starts changing out from her wet shirt. She fumbled with the buttons of her shirt for a while, but eventually, she managed to get the shirt off and threw it aside as it landed on the ground with the sound of a wet splat. Tugging on the white button-down shirt handed over to her by her boyfriend, Geum Jan Di hurried to put it on so, her boyfriend could turn back around.

"Alright, I'm done. You can turn back around now." Geum Jan Di eventually said, and Gu Jun Pyo wasted no time in dallying and return to the side of his girlfriend. The first thing he did upon returning to where Geum Jan Di sat was to grab the hands of his girlfriend to check the girl's body temperature. Relieved to find that it's no longer as cold as before, the Shinhwa heir finally allowed himself to breathe easier. Looks like they had avoided the situation of the hypothermia state worsening to the stage of apparent death, which is good. He supposed the fact that he managed to find them both shelter and get them away from the cold weather outside plays a significant part in preventing the apparent death stage of his girlfriend's hypothermia condition.

But still, because the overall body temperature of Geum Jan Di hasn't returned to the normal level yet… Gu Jun Pyo decided to wrap his girlfriend up under the layer of his outerwear. But that means Gu Jun Pyo has to go without anything to keep him warm for a while. Even if they were indoor at present, and thus the Shinhwa heir was in no danger of being freeze to death… without a fire burning away in the fire pit, the air within the hut is still bound to be cold even with the doors and windows to the hut firmly shut.

When Geum Jan Di found herself getting somewhat better, and had regained some form of strength - she calls out to her boyfriend. "Ya, Gu Jun Pyo! Come closer to me."

Thinking that Geum Jan Di need something, the Shinhwa heir didn't protest and went closer to where his girlfriend was seated. He was slightly shocked when he felt his girlfriend tighten her hold on his hands in a firm grasp before he heard the words of his girlfriend by the side of his ears. "Gu Jun Pyo, don't move. Stay here, just because you aren't in a state of hypothermia like I was - it doesn't make you as strong as the iron man. You are still prone to catching a cold if you continue to stay in a shirtless condition."

"I'm not letting you return my shirt to me at present, your clothes aren't anywhere near dry yet." Gu Jun Pyo pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"I know, I'm not offering you a front-row seat to my shirtless state of dress either." Geum Jan Di rolls her eyes as she responded to the words of her boyfriend, before softening her tone as she commented. "What I'm trying to say is that we could share this outerwear of yours between us. Surely, covering yourself with a portion of your jacket would warm you up slightly."

And so, Gu Jun Pyo found himself tucked close to where his girlfriend was and had the jacket, he bought forcibly from the unknown young man at the train station's washroom earlier wrapped over his upper body by his insistent girlfriend.

"Ya, Geum Jan Di. Don't you dare to forget that it's me who had come out here risking my own life in a blizzard storm to save you, and seriously, what were you thinking? How could you believe the words of those girls who have never been kind to you from day 1? They spin you some story about a random skier having found the necklace, and you just foolishly believe them and head out here alone?!" Gu Jun Pyo started, now that his girlfriend is no longer as weak as the state, he had found her in - the words he had swimming in his mind finally found a chance to escape through his lips. And so, while tucked close to his girlfriend under the cover of the same winter jacket - the Shinhwa heir launched into a lecturing session of his own against his girlfriend.

"..." Miraculously, this time, Geum Jan Di didn't interrupt the Shinhwa heir mid-rant and instead waited until the guy had stated his piece before speaking up. "And what do I have to do to repay you for your kind assistance of saving me from dying from hypothermia earlier on?"

Thinking of how frequently Chu Ga Eul had prepared homemade food and brought them over to Yi Jeong in private, the Shinhwa heir hates to admit it but he's somewhat envious of his Casanova friend. Moreover, his Casanova friend wasn't even dating Chu Ga Eul officially to get that kind of treatment… yet, he has been dating Geum Jan Di for some time now and still hasn't got a chance to try out the homemade food prepped up by his girlfriend. And so, when Geum Jan Di asks what he would like her to do as a form of repayment to his savior act earlier - he brought up the idea of wanting to try his girlfriend's homemade lunch.

"You know… the thing you always eat at lunchtime? I want to try that as well…" Gu Jun Pyo commented, trying to appear nonchalant.

"...The thing I always eat at lunch? You mean the fried egg?" Geum Jan Di felt the corners of her lips twitching, finding it hard to believe that her boyfriend wanted to try out her lunch. Yes, her lunch is homemade but… it's too simple compared to Ga Eul's version of a homemade lunch. Because she's living on a budget, she didn't have so many side dishes to go along with her main staple of white rice. Surely, a lunch box containing white rice and fried egg couldn't be that appetizing to the Shinhwa heir, could it?

Unknowingly to Geum Jan Di, what matters most to the Shinhwa heir wasn't the content in the lunchbox but the fact that the food is being prepped up by Geum Jan Di that really counts. Because really, compared to the homemade lunch of Chu Ga Eul on the few occasions he had managed to catch a glimpse when the girl joins them for lunch - his girlfriend's lunch could only be considered as boring. After all, the only side dishes his girlfriend had in her lunchbox is homemade Kimchi and a fried egg to go along with the white rice.

"Yes. I've been wanting to try that out since the first time I saw you eating it at lunch. Can I?" Gu Jun Pyo responded with a nod of affirmation, without giving away what's really going through his mind when it comes down to the idea of requesting a homemade lunch from his girlfriend.

"Well… if you're certain about that… I'll make you a lunchbox when we are back in Seoul." Geum Jan Di allowed a bemused smile to form on her lips as she responded as she lays her head upon the broad shoulder blade of her boyfriend.

In an attempt to keep his girlfriend from falling asleep literally, Gu Jun Pyo continues to hold a conversation with Geum Jan Di. And although the Wonder Woman of Korea does find the constant chatter of her boyfriend annoying to an extent - she also knew she shouldn't fall asleep until her body temperature returns to normal.

Outside, the blizzard storm started to die down significantly. And once the heavy snow started to subside, and the rescue team deems it suitable to begin their rescue search - they promptly set off for the mountains to look for the two missing individuals.

The time is approaching 3am on the morning of the 3rd of May, and the F3 and Chu Ga Eul are still waiting for news of their friends in the lounge of the ski resort. The Korean Casanova took in the sight of Chu Ga Eul's bloodshot eyes and inquires. "Are you sure you don't need to take a nap?"

"It's fine, it's not as though I'll be able to sleep well either… but thanks for asking anyway, Yi Jeong-sunbae." Chu Ga Eul directed a small but weary smile towards the direction of the Korean Casanova before going back to fret over the well-being of her missing friend.

Ga Eul didn't bother asking how the Korean Casanova is holding up without sleep, knowing that the guy was pretty much used to not having enough sleep from time to time due to his clubbing activities while back in Seoul. Speaking of clubbing, the guy hasn't been clubbing for two nights in a row… inwardly, Ga Eul couldn't help but wonder how the Korean Casanova is coping with the fact of being away from the clubs for two consecutive nights. Is there going to be any withdrawal symptoms for the potter of F4 from not clubbing for the entirety of this skiing trip?

[Ya! Honestly, Chu Ga Eul… now's not the time to muse over such random things… Jan Di's fate is still unknown!] - The long-haired girl shakes her head to rid her mind of such stray thoughts and forced herself to remain focused on the task of fretting over the well-being of his missing childhood friend.

It was approaching 5am when the Shinhwa heir finally appears in front of the F3 and Chu Ga Eul with Geum Jan Di in tow. Immediately, upon sighting the return of Gu Jun Pyo and Geum Jan Di - the F3 and Chu Ga Eul promptly raced forward to greet the duo. Chu Ga Eul rushes towards Geum Jan Di while the F3 headed for Gu Jun Pyo.

"I'm so glad you're alright." Ga Eul promptly engulfed her childhood friend into a tight embrace, while the F3 clapped the Shinhwa heir on the shoulder as they expressed their relief at seeing the Shinhwa heir return in a safe and sound condition.

"Everything alright, bro?" Song Woo Bin inquires, glancing at his weary childhood friend in concern.

"Other than feeling dead tired, I'm fine." Gu Jun Pyo responded as his head started to ache from the lack of sleep.

"Then go on up to your room and sleep off the fatigue. Since we are returning to Seoul on your private jet, we could always reschedule the take-off timing with the flight crew." So Yi Jeong commented while keeping half his attention on the figure of Chu Ga Eul.

The country bumpkin had been adamant about staying up the night with them as they waited for the updates concerning the search for Geum Jan Di and Jun Pyo. Hence, the potter was really concerned that the girl might collapse from fatigue now that the tension has been released with the safe return of their friends. Sure enough, no sooner had Chu Ga Eul let go of Geum Jan Di from the tight embrace - the girl promptly swayed unsteadily on her feet as the stress and tension were released in one shot. It was only the fast reflex of the Korean Casanova that Chu Ga Eul didn't stumble and fall.

"Thank you." Chu Ga Eul murmurs softly to the Korean Casanova in gratitude, the last thing she wanted was for Jan Di to fuss over her when it should be, the other way around. She wasn't the one suffering from the aftereffects of the hypothermia still, her unsteadiness mainly stems from the sudden release of stress and tension that had kept her up the entire night before.

"You're welcome, but you really ought to go to bed. Knowing you, there's likely not much packing to be done on your part since you likely had already completed the majority of the packing yesterday. So, you can truly go on and take a nap. I'll give you a call two hours before we are due to leave for the airport to wake you up, so you have no need to worry about oversleeping." So Yi Jeong stated in a tone that allows for no argument, and then promptly made it his personal mission to escort Chu Ga Eul back to her assigned room for a nap.

"...Alright, but please do remember to wake me up with a call two hours before we ought to depart for the airport." Chu Ga Eul relented in the end because she knows she's already at her limit. Staying up the entire night prove to be too challenging for her to handle, and she really need to take a quick nap if she didn't wish to collapse from fatigue in front of her childhood friend.

"Of course, I would wake you up when the time comes. Come on, I need to start packing as well… so, I might as well walk you back to your room for your nap." So Yi Jeong commented, finding a plausible excuse for himself to leave the lounge with Chu Ga Eul without coming outright with the fact that he simply isn't willing to let the country bumpkin go anywhere without him.

As the Korean Casanova leaves the lounge with Chu Ga Eul, Geum Jan Di was ushered over to the sofa couch in the lounge with Song Woo Bin making arrangements for a private doctor in the area to come by and attend to Geum Jan Di and Gu Jun Pyo. Despite the Shinhwa heir's insistence that he's fine, the Don Juan of F4 isn't going to let the matter rest until medical personnel had examined both of them and declared them in the pink of health.

Yoon Ji Hoo, meanwhile, reached into the pocket of his jacket to retrieve the necklace that belongs to Geum Jan Di which was thought to be lost, and handed it over to the girl. "Here. You can have this back."

"Thank you, Ji Hoo-sunbae." Geum Jan Di smile a small but tired smile at the auburn-haired member of F4, her tone full of gratitude.

Seated beside Geum Jan Di on the sofa couch waiting for the medical personnel called in by his Don Juan friend to arrive, Gu Jun Pyo widens his eyes at the sight. Inwardly thinking about the irony of things - how is it that every single time, Geum Jan Di lost something that he gifted her, it would be returned to her through the hands of his long-time friend?

Location: Shinhwa Ski Resort, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Triple Room shared between the members of the annoying trio, 3rd May 2009, 6.45am

Unlike the F4 who could simply adjust the timing of their departure from Hokkaido for Seoul as and when they prefer, the annoying trio had no such luxury. After all, they were traveling on commercial-operated flights and thus had to abide by the standard rules of arriving two hours ahead of the departure time for the completion of their check-in procedures at the New Chitose Airport. As their return flight to Seoul is scheduled to depart at 11am from New Chitose Airport, they are needed to arrive at the airport by 9am.

As such, Sunny was up and about by 6am because she didn't want to fight Ginger and Miranda for the use of the bathroom facility. After going about her morning routine, Sunny went on to wake Ginger up knowing that Miranda doesn't like it when her beauty sleep was being disturbed.

"Ginger, wake up and take your turn at the bathroom. We need to be at the airport by 9am, we can take our breakfast at the airport after the completion of our check-in procedures, but we do need to check-out from the resort by 8.15am, the latest. The sooner you are up and about, the least chance of you having to fight Miranda for the right to the utilizing of the bathroom facility." Sunny reminded as she prodded the leader of their little group awake.

"..." It took a while for Ginger to remember why there's a possibility of her needing to fight her childhood friend for the right to use the bathroom facility. And when she remembers the fact that to stay in the same place as the F4, she had gone ahead and booked them a triple room accommodation as there isn't enough rooms available for them to get individual rooms for themselves during this impromptu little weekend trip to Hokkaido, this time - Ginger couldn't help but groan aloud.

This entire trip had turned out to be a nightmare for her, first - she didn't get to ski, literally. Why? Because the first day - they only managed to reach the resort after 8pm, and she's not a fan of night-time skiing. And then, on the second day, she spends the bulk of her time on the toilet bowl because the sashimi dinner she ate the day before doesn't agree with her stomach. Following this, she had to learn of the information of Geum Jan Di receiving a one-of-a-kind token from the Shinhwa heir that spurs on her jealousy, and viciousness.

Next, her ploy to trick Geum Jan Di into believing that the necklace has been lost when in actuality, she had her friends stole it from the girl went a tad too successful that she and her friends ended up getting into trouble with the F4. Not only that, apparently, she had managed to anger Chu Ga Eul to the extent that the girl not just lost her temper at her but also make it a point to threaten her family business. But really, all she wanted was to get a good laugh at Geum Jan Di's naivety… how the hell would she know that a blizzard is approaching when she first tricked Geum Jan Di into heading out to the slopes in search of the necklace that was never lost out there, to begin with.

Still, what happened has happened. Hence, there isn't any point in crying over spill milk. All she could do now was to ensure that Miranda and she kept a low profile over the next few weeks upon their return to Seoul. Sunny is faring better as compared to them in the eyes of the F4 at present because she didn't participate in the little trick of sending Geum Jan Di out into the snow… and that Sunny was the first to apologize, and come clean to the F4 about her ploy to 'teach Geum Jan Di a lesson about knowing her place' among them.

Either way, because of what she and Miranda had done to Geum Jan Di. Yoon Ji Hoo of F4 was so upset that he basically banned them from coming within a 1km radius of the F4 upon their return to Seoul. In other words, Miranda and her - had to find somewhere else to take their lunch during the lunch hour, instead of remaining in the students' cafeteria which is definitely within 1km from the F4 private lounge in school. Of course, the same rules will apply to Sunny as well - since she's part of their little group.

Only, in the case of Sunny, a certain concession could be made - for instance, she was allowed to approach certain members of the F4 for official reason. Likely, because her family - the Park Enterprise, has an ongoing business deal with the Ii-Shin Construction Group owned by the Song family. Somehow, because Sunny's father has the habit of making Sunny the messenger to convey certain issues relating to the reconstruction and conversion of the building recently acquired in Euljiro-dong by the Park Enterprise into a boutique hotel - Sunny was allowed to approach the Don Juan of F4 solely for that reason, alone. Nevertheless, that's a story for later - right now, the annoying trio is busy getting up from bed and getting ready to depart for the New Chitose Airport for their return flight to Seoul.

When Miranda woke up, both Sunny and Ginger are already done with their morning routines and are amid the task of doing some last-minute packing. Upon noticing that the last member of their group is finally up, Ginger wasted no time shooing her childhood friend towards the bathroom facility as she calls out to her just awaken friend.

"Hurry up and get your morning routine done. After that, you have roughly 15 minutes to pack up and leave, we need to check out from the hotel by 8.15am." Ginger told her childhood friend in her bossiest tone of voice.

"What?! Why?" Miranda lamented aloud, pouting over the realization that she is unable to fit in one last round of a soak in the bathtub before checking out of the resort.

"Our flight departs at 11am from New Chitose Airport, so we need to be at the airport by 9am for the check-in procedures." It was Sunny that responded to Miranda's wail of distress, as Ginger is busy looking for the charger of her mobile phone.

The last thing Ginger needs is to return to Seoul only to realize that she has left her phone charger behind in Sapporo. Sure, she could always get a replacement charger but it's a tad inconvenient for her to explain to her parents just exactly why she would need to get a replacement phone charger since they would be the ones footing the bill at the end of the day.

"..."

~TBC~

Chapter's notes: Alright, this is the end of Chapter 25 and also the last part for the skiing arc. ^_^; Once again, plenty of original scenes and modifications to the drama scenes were made. Original scenes in this chapter are mostly Sunny-related. ^^; Yes, I'm exploring the character development of the annoying trio, in particular - Sunny. Although, quite a big portion of her interaction involves Woo Bin, don't worry - I'm not making them a couple. No way! Woo Bin has no interest in her, he simply finds her more tolerable is all. Besides, their family has an ongoing business contract - so interaction between them is bound to happen.

And then, there's the SoEul… well… not much fluff between them this chapter. Given the situation, it's not exactly suitable for the fluff vibe too ^^; Sad to say, this chapter doesn't have too many SoEul scenes… I did manage to squeeze in some interaction between them though. I know it probably isn't enough… but, given the nature of this chapter - that's the best I could fit in at present.

Next, the drama scenes - first of all, I removed Sunny from the scene whereby the trio trick Geum Jan Di in the drama. Mostly because, they ambushed Jun Pyo in the hallway first… but Sunny didn't speak at all during that scene in the drama, most of which is spoken by Ginger and Miranda. So, in my story - I had her leave the site after Jun Pyo left to confront Jan Di on the missing necklace issue. Given that, Sunny is already preoccupied and the drama scene involving the trio tricking Jan Di - she only had a line… I thought I might as well remove her from the picture and thus the trio becomes the duo in this chapter of my story. ^^; This is the first modification I had made to the original drama scene.

And then, instead of just Ji Hoo confronting Ginger and Miranda, I had Woo Bin in this part of the scene too. Of course, Sunny arrived together with Woo Bin since the Don Juan of F4 confronted her on the matter first. This is the second modification made to the drama scene on my part.

Third of all, I added my own scene of Gu Jun Pyo doing the image change in the washroom at the train station. Of course, in the drama, it was a train station in Korea I reckon, but since my story is set in Sapporo, I made it the JR Sapporo station instead. I always thought how did Jun Pyo switch his outfit in the washroom so fast, and then, I thought of him buying the clothes from a random guy using the same facility at that precise timing. ^^;

Here, I made Isshiki Masashi make another cameo appearance - in the drama, it didn't show how Jun Pyo get back to the ski resort… it features him jumping out onto the road and trying to force a truck to pull over to give him a ride. Suddenly he was out on the slopes in search of Jan Di after barging through the barricade set up at the entrance into the mountains at the ski slopes, I reckon. What happened in between wasn't featured, so, I decided to create my own scenes. ^_^

I seem to recall that there's a near-kiss/kissing scene between Jun Pyo and Jan Di in the hut they seek refuge from the cold, but I can't recall the lines that were exchanged between them that leads up to that particular image… so I didn't put it into my version of the event. But feel free to insert in at whichever point you think would fit the scene ^^;

Last but not least, the other scene that I had modified is when Yoon Ji Hoo returns the necklace to Jan Di. In the drama, it was returned shortly after Jun Pyo and Jan Di return to the ski resort with Yi Jeong and Ga Eul present. However, in my version of the event - those two has left the lounge before the necklace was returned… and then, I seem to recall the scene of Jun Pyo staring when Ji Hoo returns the necklace to Jan Di, and hence I added the possible thought that went through Jun Pyo's mind upon witnessing the scene in my version of the event.

Finally, before I end my long-winded chapter's notes… I can't remember exactly, but I think the scenes that featured the annoying trio in the drama lessened significantly following the end of the skiing trip arc. Likely because the highlight was shifted elsewhere, and soon after the F4 graduated and so, a lesser necessity for the trio to appear on screen for going gaga over the F4. But in my story though, since I'm obviously developing the character of Sunny - she's bound to be appearing in my story every now and then. Likewise for Ginger, due to her relations with my OC - Hyo Rin, it's downright impossible for her name to not appear at all, in the future chapters.

The drama features quite a bit of time-skip between episode 12 to episode 13… but I'm likely not to time-skip so fast. So, please be ready for more of my original scenes coming up in the next chapter. ^_^; And the next arc is the Macau trip arc where Jae-Kyung will appear, only not immediately in the next chapter. Since I need to do some bridging between the time-skips first. ^^;

Alright, that's enough rambles from me for now. See you in the next update ^_^