"Come on," Woo Bin muttered to himself, sparing a glance at his phone to see if it was still working somehow. "Come on, come on."
The number you have dialed is unattended or out of coverage area. Please dial again later.
Neatly swerving to get ahead of the slow-moving vehicle in front of him, Woo Bin dialed the number again, eyes flickering between his phone and the road ahead of him.
The number you have dialed is-
"Goddamnit, Chu Ga Eul," he said aloud, throwing his phone to the passenger seat in frustration and loudly honking his horn for good measure. "Where the hell will I even find you?"
Come to think of it, this was something he ought to have thought about first before he even got into his car and drove off to who knew where.
Except he wasn't really thinking much of anything, not after Geum Jan Di let out a tiny little slip of a tongue that very nearly knocked him off his own axis.
She's basically completely in love with-
-him?
That was the end of that sentence, right?
Jan Di wouldn't have said to him if he wasn't involved in any of this, right?
Jan Di wouldn't have said to him if it wasn't real, right?
...right?
He grimaced.
What if he was just misinterpreting things? What if these stupid feelings he had were basically obscuring his vision, making him see things which weren't really there? What if he was just setting himself up for a monumental heartbreak?
God, when had he become so damnably pathetic that he was potentially worrying about something like a heartbreak?
Unfortunately. he'd come to realize he actually had an answer to that.
Song Woo Bin used to laugh at the melodramatics both Go Jun Pyo and Yoon Ji Hoo pulled, all because of one lovely Geum Jan Di. He'd thought his own friends were idiots, allowing themselves to be strung up and pulled in all directions just because they loved this one woman.
Now that he was in a similar situation, however, he found out that none of these things were even remotely close to funny; that he, himself, was pretty much helpless at the face of this stupid thing - much like his friends probably were back then.
And if anyone were actually to laugh at him now, he didn't know what he could be capable of doing so god help him.
Trying to convince himself to be somewhat rational about this, Woo Bin pulled over to the side of the road and began doing what he should have done in the first place:
Think of where one Chu Ga Eul could be at this time of day.
Two answers quickly popped in his head, and Woo Bin wasted no time revving his engines as though he was in pursuit of something life changing.
And, well, in a way - he was.
All right, so the first idea he'd had was... well, wrong, to put it bluntly.
Not that he could be blamed about it, of course.
Firstly he'd gone to Chu Ga Eul's house - as any sane person looking for someone else would have done. Unfortunately she wasn't there - but her parents were. Consequently, he had a hard time leaving because they seemed so glad to see him and kept offering him... things.
"You must be hungry," her mother had said, before whipping up containers with food inside - specifically, seafood stew and kimchi - and looking so pleased about it, too.
Damn, he'd remembered how good those tasted. She must have read his mind because the next thing he knew, she was setting up a seat for him and-
"Coffee? Tea?" her father had asked. "We bought something special in case you dropped by-"
"Yes, yes," Ga Eul's mother added, her grip practically like vise on his arm as she pulled him further into the house. "You really should have some."
So, obviously, he had to stay for at least thirty minutes to accommodate all that.
Not that he minded it much.
Or at all.
So now he'd gone and pursued idea number two: he'd gone here at Shinhwa University - specifically, the building where he'd found Ga Eul all those weeks ago.
Of course, only when he was already at the site did he realize that he actually knew no one whom he could ask about Chu Ga Eul's exact location.
He'd thought about bugging the Vice Chancellor about it, but-
"Ya! That man, that's-"
"-Song Woo Bin!"
"Prince Song!"
"Prince Song!"
No sooner had he stepped foot in the premises was he immediately mobbed by a strong throng of women seemingly coming from all directions, just so they could take his picture and generally bask in his presence.
This was something he was used to; something that used to greatly entertain him. However, today, at this very moment-
"Ladies, please," he said, fighting to keep a smile on his face even as his patience began reaching its breaking point, "I have some urgent business to attend to. Maybe-"
"What is it?"
"Tell us!"
"Oooh tell us!"
Woo Bin sighed. Well, might as well play this part up with his unexpected audience if he actually wanted to get something out of this mess.
"Actually," he said, "I'm here because I'm looking for-" Dramatic pause. Only when he was sure he had everyone's attention did he continue with, "-Chu Ga Eul. Has anyone seen her?"
Blank looks met his question - before furious whispers began filling up every corner of the hall.
"Chu Ga Eul?"
"Who?"
"Hey, isn't she that poor Porridge Lady?"
Porridge Lady? Well, that was new.
"Go Jun Pyo sponsored her, right?"
"I wonder what she did to-"
"She probably wheedled him into doing it, that two-faced-"
That one, unfortunately, wasn't. Woo Bin would have glared at the source of that statement if only he knew where it was from.
"She's not here," said a voice above all the others that Woo Bin could have sworn was somehow eerily familiar to him.
Then the crowd parted to reveal a trio of women led by someone with red hair, pointed chin, short legs, and-
-oh.
Shit.
He really should have thought about this possibility, too.
"Park Yo Na," he acknowledged her, because at least she, unlike everyone else, gave him a clear cut answer. He gave her his best, most knee-buckling smile. "Mind telling me where she is?"
She looked absolutely indignant as she responded, "What am I, her secretary? I don't know where she is. And no one here particularly cares about her, too, so don't even bother asking them."
Woo Bin looked around him; the women had gone deathly silent, not willing to support Yo Na's statement - but not willing to refute it either.
Goddamnit! If this was how Ga Eul was treated in this school then he really ought to have a 'talk' with the Vice Chancellor.
Yo Na fanned her nails out and studied them. "She's probably off somewhere doing what she does best - seducing men rich enough to sponsor her every whim." She then crossed her arms and smirked right at him. "I bet you're just the latest in the line of men she'd fooled, Song Woo Bin."
It took everything in him not to do something about that smug look on her face, right then and there.
Instead, he shoved his hands in his pockets, leaned closer to Yo Na and whispered, "It's funny - I thought I told you that you won'tlike seeing me angry." Then he leaned away from her, pointedly ignoring how she seemed to have frozen on the spot, and smiled.
"I suppose I have no reason to still be here, then." He'd taken three steps away from the group before whirling around again and saying loudly, "Oh, and Park Yo Na- that invitation of yours for me to go to your party? That'll be a hard no from me - and from the F4 in general. To be honest, I'd rather get shot at than go." To the others he said, "And if I found out that any of you went there, well. I hope you enjoyed the days you've spent here in Go Jun Pyo's school, because you won't be able to step foot in it right after. I'll make sure of it."
He then gave them this little bow and wave before leaving altogether.
Great. Just friggin' great.
Now he was back where he'd started: right inside his car, with no idea where to go next.
Woo Bin cursed himself, realizing that, basically, he was now out of options. If Ga Eul wasn't at home, or even at school - then where could she possibly be?
What was he supposed to do now?
He sighed, setting out to drive home instead of going anywhere else. Well, at least he could say he tried, for today. Maybe tomorrow things would go better; maybe Ga Eul would even be the one to reach out to him first.
Woo Bin had a feeling, however, that that would not happen anytime soon.
The stoplight blinked red before him. Woo Bin's car crawled down to a stop; already he was mentally preparing the list of drinks he would like to consume as soon as possible. Absently, he glanced at the side of the road.
And blinked.
Because, wouldn't anyone know it, the shop right across the street was actually the porridge shop. Where she used to work at.
And inside it was-
-oh.
Woo Bin just had to chuckle, mentally calling himself an idiot.
He really should have added the porridge shop to his list of options earlier today, didn't he?
He pushed the door open, the bell overhead ringing as it signaled the appearance of a customer. Woo Bin noticed that there were very few patrons inside the porridge shop, who then stopped their eating to gawk at him the moment he entered. He grinned and waved at them good-naturedly, feeling as though he was drunk in good spirits.
"Good evening. Welcome to-"
Lo and behold, the object of his search appeared from behind the counter, bowed to him, and only stopped her practiced line when she looked up and actually realized who he was.
If he was any sort of sappy fool, he would acknowledge that his heart felt full as he took his time in looking at her. But since he wasn't, Woo Bin just shoved one hand in his pocket, the other saluting her as he greeted, "Yo."
Ga Eul blinked at him, frowning. She then surreptitiously looked around them and whispered, "What are you doing here?"
"What?" he said, as innocent as a lamb. "I can't come here as a customer nowadays? Can't I sit here and enjoy a bowl of your deliciously hot porridge?"
Still frowning, she dutifully led him towards a cozy - and somewhat secluded - spot. "What do you want?" she demanded hotly.
Taking his sweet, sweet time, he sat down and stared up at her. "What would you recommend?" he shot back.
She exhaled loudly. "Sunbae-"
Time to cut to the chase, then. "To be honest, I'm not really hungry," he said quietly. "I came here because I want us to talk. We never did get much chance after-"
Well. After that day in his office.
Ga Eul pursed her lips and said, "I have- I have work to do." She gestured at the near-empty porridge shop, before staring intently at his shoes. "I also have, um. Some things I have to get back to doing."
He knew she knew how flimsy her excuse sounded, right there - but he didn't point it out.
So he said, "Why aren't you in school today?"
She took her eyes off his footwear for a moment as she asked, "How did you-?"
"I was looking for you there," he said easily. "And I found trouble instead." An image of Park Yo Na flashed in his mind, making him grimace. "Do all your classmates treat you the way Park Yo Na does?"
Probably mistaking his expression to mean something else, Ga Eul shook her head and said, "Please don't worry about any of it; I can handle myself there."
"You didn't answer my question-"
"I said-"
"I can talk to Jun Pyo or the Vice Chancellor, if you want. I can make them stop. Just tell me-"
"Just-!" Her hands were curled to fists at her sides as she said loudly, "You're the one who needs to stop, Woo Bin-Sunbae. This, whatever this is, it just-"
Woo Bin shut his mouth, suddenly at a loss for words.
Ga Eul covered her face with her hands then, looking as distressed as he'd ever seen her. Then she drew a deep breath and, seemingly summoning all her courage, looked at him and said, "Stop making me depend on you so much."
What an odd thing to say. His confusion must have been evident on his face as he responded, "I don't understand why that is such a bad thing."
"Because it is!" she said. "You'll think me so ungrateful, because after all you've done for me I'm saying these things, but it's just- you've been so-"
"-Kind and considerate?" he ventured, echoing the words Jan Di told him earlier when she failed to continue her tirade.
Ga Eul paused and stared at him. "What?"
He shrugged. Leaning back on his chair he said, "I might have... been talking to Jan Di this morning." He then smiled at her before purposely adding, "She might have told me things you've said to her about me. 'Kind' and 'considerate' both came up."
Ga Eul's mouth worked for a while; her face colored, then paled, and it was all he could do not to rush up to hold her upright as she repeated, softer this time, "What?"
"She didn't say anything embarrassing, so don't worry," Woo Bin said. "I mean she basically told me point-blank that she'll drown me if she found out I hurt you, but other than that it was a slightly civilized conversation."
As if her legs were suddenly unable to support her, Ga Eul wilted in front of him, ending up seating haphazardly on the chair opposite his.
Spotting an available pitcher of water and glass from behind them, Woo Bin stood, poured water in one, and handed it to her.
"I'm-" Ga Eul reached for the glass and drank everything in one gulp. Drying her mouth with her sleeve she said, "I'm going to killJan Di."
"Ya. Am I really cavorting with a murderer?" he mused out loud. "Although I'll gladly do it, since it's you we're talking about here." Woo Bin then chuckled when she glanced at him in total horror.
"What-" She cleared her throat. "What else did she say...?"
"Nothing much," he said, while omitting the fact that her friend basically accused him of setting Ga Eul up for more pain by associating with her. There was no point to telling her that, after all. "Though she did ask me if I really liked you." Woo Bin reached for her hand, noticing that it was ice-cold. Absently, he rubbed his thumb against her palm.
She swallowed, hard. "And?"
He met her eyes then. "What do you think I told her?" He stroked her hand again. "Though I suppose she already knew the answer even before she asked me that question."
Ga Eul sighed. Timidly, quietly she asked, "Do you really?"
Woo Bin could have easily asked her to elaborate, but he didn't. Instead he raised the hand he held and, softly, gently, kissed the back of it - all the while looking at her intently.
Please don't doubt me.
"I have all the time in the world to prove it to you, if you want," he offered instead.
Her brows furrowed. "How?"
"Well," he said. "How does a formal date with me sound?"
notes: I'm sorry it took me so long but really guys THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT (even if I always leave you with cliffhangers) AHHHH
do you feel the end coming because I kinda can oh no