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There had been absolutely no sound. All Sunny knew once she yelled Ga Eul's name was some man with Sung Ho lifting a black gun and two flashes came from the end of the barrel. She had not even realized she had been shot until her stomach and shoulder started to burn with an intensity she had never expected. She was quickly lightheaded as she glanced down to see blood starting to seep from the wound that was not quite her stomach but close. She pressed a shaking hand to it and felt the slipper, yet sticky fluid immediately started to coat her fingers. When she lifted her head, the shooter was in the car and quickly driving away. She knew Sung Ho and Ga Eul were inside.
Sunny felt like her limbs were almost similar to rubber as she stepped forward, stumbling slightly. She had to keep her strength quickly to find the F4 to tell them about Ga Eul. She could feel the adrenaline quickly draining and the burning sensation shifting to unbearable pain. She was aware of the blood that was pouring from the wound on her shoulder. She finally got to a doorway, her bloodied hand gripping the frame as she tried to push the door open, hoping someone was nearby to get who she needed. Luck was partially on her side as she heard the voices of the F4 approaching.
"So you finally pulled your head out of your ass?" Woo Bin was teasing one of his best friends as they walked.
"Eloquent as always," Ji Hu teased in return, his hands in his pockets as he strolled with the other three.
"I agree with Ji Hu," Yi Jeong pointed. "But yes, I did. Jun Pyo, remind me to thank Jun Hee-noona for-."
"Woo Bin," Sunny all but whimpered once they were close enough.
The men looked over, startled by the blood-covered woman. Woo Bin was the first to move as he raced forward and caught Sunny as she started to collapse, whimpering as she jolted from the movement.
"She's been shot," Ji Hu said, pulling the scarf around his neck off and pressing it into Sunny's side. He cringed as she weakly cried out. "Yi Jeong, get her shoulder. Jun Pyo call-."
"On it," Jun Pyo said as he already had his phone to his ear to call for an ambulance.
"Who the hell would shoot her?" Woo Bin demanded as he held her close. "God, please don't say this is because of me..."
"Don't say that," Ji Hu said. "Sorry, Sunny, this is going to hurt worse." He pressed harder, feeling her stiffen and a pained whimper slipping past her lips. Thankfully, Yi Jeong followed suit along with him to press against her shoulder harder.
"Ambulance is on its way," Jun Pyo said as he knelt down. "I'll go out to wait for them." He started to rise when her bloodied fingers caught his sleeve. He glanced down before looking at her.
"Ga Eul," Sunny whispered, wincing and licking her lips before she tried again. "Taken."
Jun Pyo paled. "What... what do you mean?" he asked, trying to keep calm.
"Park Sung Ho," Sunny managed to get out. "Took her. Man with him shot me."
"Sung Ho did this?" Woo Bin all but growled.
"And took Ga Eul in the process," Yi Jeong ground out.
"I'll kill him," Woo Bin snarled.
"Later," Ji Hu said. He gave Jun Pyo a look as he snarled. "First, let's get Sunny seen to and to the hospital. Then we hunt."
Sunny weakly squeezed Jun Pyo's arm getting his attention. "Save her," she whispered. "Save her fi-." She slumped against Woo Bin as she passed out.
"Sunny!" Woo Bin said startled.
"Probably shock and blood loss," Ji Hu said. "And we have no idea what internal organs were hit."
"Ji Hu's right," Jun Pyo said, pain in his voice. "We get her to the hospital first, then we hunt." He removed Sunny's hand from his sleeve and he quickly got to his feet to head out to the front of the school to wait for the ambulance he could already hear approaching. There were perks to who he was and where they were. The other members of the F4 were unable to say anything further as a whirlwind of paramedics appeared and began working on Sunny to prepare her to be transported.
A crowd started to gather once they heard sirens and immediately gasped as they saw the trail of blood that led to where Sunny was being seen to, but authorities quickly moved in to keep them at bay and to stop speculation. Two more police cars pulled up as the paramedics continued to stabilize Sunny and put her on a stretcher to load her into the ambulance. Detectives stepped out of the new vehicles, one of which was Ku Yoon Gi.
"Let's get her to the hospital," the paramedic said. "She's stable for now."
"Woo Bin, you should go with her," Jun Pyo said.
"No one can go anywhere," Yoon Gi said. "Not until you've answered our questions. Especially you, Song."
"Meaning what?" Woo Bin questioned.
"A shooting at Shinhwa Academy? And you here covered in blood? Seems suspicious," Yoon Gi said.
"You think I'm responsible for this?" Woo Bin demanded, his arm caught by Yi Jeong to still him.
"It's no secret what your family is into," Yoon Gi said as he pulled out a pad of paper to take notes. "So it would be no surprise if you were in the thick of this."
"Guilty until proven innocent, huh Detective Ku?" Jun Pyo said as he looked at the man. "Normally it should be the other way around."
"An innocent woman was shot," Yoon Gi said. "And your sister was kidnapped. Surely you would want to get to the bottom of this, hm?" Jun Pyo simply stared at the man.
"Woo Bin, you should go with Sunny," Ji Hu spoke up to mimic what Jun Pyo said before Yoon Gi stopped them, noticing the paramedics were briefly waiting now that she was loaded into the ambulance.
"And I said he isn't going anywhere," Yoon Gi said.
"I am going with my girlfriend," Woo Bin said. "Perhaps you should-."
"If you go, I will arrest you for resisting," Yoon Gi said.
"What is he resisting?" Yi Jeong asked. "Random questioning when we didn't witness anything or hear anything?"
"Convenient," Yoon Gi said.
"Woo Bin, go," Ji Hu said once more. He looked at Yoon Gi darkly when the man shifted his stance. "If you try and stop him, you will have your badge stripped faster than you can blink for detaining Sunny's guardian."
"She has parents," Yoon Gi said.
"If you would bother asking instead of accusing, you would know that Park Sun Ja has not been living at home for almost a month and has been in the care of the Song and Gu families, specifically Song Woo Bin as her significant other," Ji Hu said. "So no, her parents are not her current guardians. Woo Bin is." He glanced at his friend. "Go. Any questions can be asked at the hospital once we know Sunny is safe."
Woo Bin did not even question his friend and moved past Yoon Gi, glaring at him as he passed before he jogged to the ambulance and got inside. As its sirens blared and pulled away from the school, Yoon Gi turned to the rest of the F4.
"This will not be over," he said. "I will question him."
"Go ahead, but he'll have no more news for you than we do," Ji Hu said. "Sunny didn't see her assailant's face. All she managed to say was that both people were masked, both her shooter and Ga Eul's kidnapper. So maybe instead of standing here and futilely questioning us-."
"You should get down to finding my sister's kidnapper and you'll find Sunny's assailant," Jun Pyo finished. "Now if you don't mind, I need to inform my father that my sister's been kidnapped again and find out where the hell Kang Hee Soo is."
Yoon Gi arched a brow, honest shock showing on his face. "You don't know?" he asked.
"Know what?" Yi Jeong asked, annoyance lacing his tone.
The second detective that had been beside Yoon Gi and remained silent, even as he harrassed Woo Bin, finally spoke. "Kang Hee Soo is dead."
The rest of F4's eyes widened as they glanced at each other before looking at the detective once more. "Since when?" Ji Hu asked.
"Her body was found last night in her hotel room," the detective said. "Drug overdose."
"She still could have had a hand in Ga Eul's kidnapping," Yi Jeong said to Jun Pyo. "Before her death, we should go talk to your appa."
"You are not going-," Yoon Gi started.
"If you dare say that we aren't going anywhere one more time, I will put a call into your captain," Jun Pyo snapped. "Ji Hu's right, you have no right to detain us, especially when we just gave you our statement. We heard nothing and saw nothing. Sunny was coming back into the school to look for help when she collapsed in her boyfriend's arms. She managed to say she didn't see her assailant or who took Ga Eul before she passed out from pain and blood loss as I called paramedics."
Yoon Gi's jaw tightened and he pointed his book at the men. "Don't go far," he said. "I'm sure we'll have more questions about this and about Kang Hee Soo's death."
"You said the bitch overdosed, so what questions do you possibly have?" Jun Pyo demanded.
"She wasn't known for being a drug user," Yoon Gi said.
"She also wasn't known for planning a car accident resulting in a murder and arranging an infant kidnapping while funding people to keep a child away from her true family, and yet she did both," Ji Hu pointed out. He tilted his head. "Are you done now?" He glanced at the other two before he could respond. "Let's go." He lead Yi Jeong and Jun Pyo away from Yoon Gi, heading towards the parking lot where their vehicles were parked.
"I hate those arrogant pricks," Yoon Gi murmured. When the detective beside him questioned what he said, he simply ignored him and went to where forensics was marking off where Sunny had been with the four men.
"We never said anything about Ga Eul," Yi Jeong said quietly as he and the other two walked to their vehicles.
"Nope," Ji Hu said. "Which means he knew before ever arriving and finding her shot." He stopped short when Jun Pyo did. "What?"
"He was at the scene of the last kidnapping when Sung Ho conveniently found Ga Eul and her caretakers were killed in a shootout," Jun Pyo said. "He was the lead detective on that case."
"You don't think..." Yi Jeong started.
"Not here," Ji Hu said quickly. He pulled his phone out as it pinged. He saw the group text from Woo Bin.
Appa knows about Sunny. He's leaving this to us with the full power of his men at our disposal. That fucker is involved in this, which means Sung Ho has a cop in his back pocket.
"Let's head to the Song's mansion," Ji Hu suggested. "We'll talk to Lee Bin-samchon there and find out more about this supposed drug overdose of Kang Hee Soo's."
"You don't think it was an accident?" Jun Pyo questioned.
"Too many things are starting to link together and they are too eerie for my liking," Ji Hu said. "Right now, it looks like all roads are leading to Sung Ho."
"Which means my drugging could too," Yi Jeong speculated. He shrugged when the other two glanced at him. "Like you said, too many things are starting to link together, but we'll go down that rabbit hole away from prying ears."
"Meet you there," Jun Pyo said as the three separated to get to their vehicles. As he walked, he dialed a number waiting for the other side to pick up.
"Hyung, you may want to clue in Saeng Jun that Ku Yoon Gi is in the pocket of at least Park Sung Ho, if not his father too," Jun Pyo was saying as he opened his car door. He nodded to the other F4 members as they got into their vehicles. "I'm on my way home, I'll explain more when I get there. Make sure Noona and Appa are there. We have a huge situation." Once he got acknowledgment from his brother-in-law, he hung up. He was not going to give further details over the phone because he knew the man would say something to Jun Hee and he did not need either his sister or father riled up before he could get there to tell them of everything.
Ga Eul began to shift where she was laying on something not quite soft enough to be her bed, her head feeling stuffy from whatever she had been drugged with. She was having some difficulty opening her eyes as she tried to shake off the stuffy feeling. She almost felt like she had overslept, but memories started coming back as she remembered how she had been talking to Sung Ho and how angry he was before he grabbed her and began to drag her towards an SUV before smacking her when she fought back. Despite trying to fight against his grasp even further, she had found herself being grabbed from behind with a cloth over her mouth. She could faintly remember, before passing out, hearing someone call her name but she was now wondering if she had simply dreamed that part.
She shifted up onto an elbow as she came to, realizing she was in a room that was definitely not hers. She looked down as she felt something heavy against her wrist and felt her heart thump against her chest as she saw the shackle around her wrist. The other was not shackled, but whoever put it on her did not want her going far.
"You're awake," a too-familiar voice said. Ga Eul's eyes lifted to see Sung Ho sitting in a chair near the bed. She immediately tried to scramble backward, but her chained wrist made it difficult to get far.
"Why are you doing this?" Ga Eul asked.
"You need to come to your senses, Ga Eul," Sung Ho said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "I'm trying to show you that you deserve so much more than So Yi Jeong. He'll never be faithful to you."
"So you kidnap me to make me choose you?" Ga Eul asked. "That's not how this works, Sung Ho! I don't see you in that way. Even if Yi Jeong wasn't interested in me, I am not interested in you!"
Sung Ho's features darkened and he straightened where he sat. "You are interested in me, you are just too blinded by that jerk," he said. He pushed himself to his feet. "But don't worry, you'll see soon that I am the better choice."
"The better choice doesn't choose to kidnap someone and chain them to a bed because they didn't get their way," Ga Eul said.
Sung Ho moved over to her and bent at the waist to look into her eyes. He reached a hand out, his jaw tightening when she turned her face away from him to avoid his touch. He caught her chin, pinching hard enough to hold her when she tried to fight away from him. "You are mine, Gu Ga Eul," he said. "Get used to that fact and this will all be much easier."
"I'll see you in hell first," Ga Eul spit out.
Sung Ho merely smirked in a way that caused a cold ripple of fear to slither up Ga Eul's spine. "Be careful what you wish for."
"Jun Pyo, what is going on? Where is your sister?" Bon Hyeong asked as the F4 members walked into the Song mansion. "There's important-."
"She was kidnapped by Park Sung Ho," Jun Pyo cut to the chase. "And we know about Kang Hee Soo."
"What?! She was kidnapped?!" Bon Hyeong demanded.
"How did you find out about Kang Hee Soo?" Lee Bin asked.
Bon Hyeong turned to look at his brother-in-law. "You don't sound surprised about Ga Eul," he said. "Did you-."
"I did not know about Ga Eul," Lee Bin interrupted. "But Woo Bin isn't here because he is at the hospital with Sunny right now because she was shot. Hearing that Park Sung Ho kidnapped her, then that means Sunny was shot because she was a witness."
"He also has a cop in his back pocket," Ji Hu said.
"What?" Bon Ha asked as she walked over. "What do you mean?"
"When paramedics arrived to take Sunny, the police also showed up," Ji Hu said. "Ku Yoon Gi was one of them. We hadn't even mentioned Ga Eul to him at all, but he already knew that she had been kidnapped."
"Ku Yoon Gi?" Bon Hyeong asked. He glanced at his son. "Wasn't he at...?"
Jun Pyo simply nodded. "He was at the scene of when Park Sung Ho miraculously managed to be in the right place at the right time to save Ga Eul when she was kidnapped by the caretakers."
"Seems a bit too convenient," Lee Bin said.
"We also think Sung Ho may have been behind Yi Jeong's drugging," Ji Hu said.
"What drugging?" Bon Ha demanded. She looked at Yi Jeong. "Someone drugged you?"
"There was speculation that I got overly drunk and had sex with Choi Jin Hee because of images she plastered on the news screen at school," Yi Jeong said. "It left a lot in question, especially because Woo Bin and the others couldn't find evidence that it was false."
"So she drugged you to sleep with you?" Bon Ha snarled. "I'll kill her!"
"Bon Ha," Lee Bin caught her arm before she could go off.
"She's being handled," Jun Hee said as she and her husband walked in. "And Park Sung Ho was involved. I just got that information."
"And now he has Ga Eul," Bon Hyeong snarled. He looked at Lee Bin. "We need to make a visit."
"To where?" Lee Bin questioned.
"Park Ki Bum," Bon Hyeong said. "And he'll be ripped apart if he has any idea what his son is up to."
"Let's go," Lee Bin agreed as he headed for the door just as it opened and cops came in, followed by Ku Yoon Gi. Knowing what they did, Lee Bin and Bon Hyeong saw red. Before either could say something, Yoon Gi spoke.
"Song Lee Bin and Gu Bon Hyeong, you are under arrest for the murder of Kang Hee Soo."
"Woo Bin!" The young man in question lifted his head and quickly got to his feet at the sound of the male voice that called his name. Woo Bin immediately bowed to the man, noticing Sunny's mother, Kim Seo Jun, and grandmother was not far behind.
"Woo Bin, my Sun Ja?" the man asked.
"She's in surgery," Woo Bin said.
"What happened?" Seo Jun asked as she stood beside her husband.
"Isn't it obvious?" Sun Lee said as she approached with Keng Wook Shi. "His violent lifestyle is what happened to her."
"Shut your mouth, Park Sun Lee," Kim Soon Shi snapped at her granddaughter. "You are married to the Keng heir now, do you need to be reminded what they do?"
"Halmeoni!" Sun Lee protested.
"Enough," Park Young Ja bellowed at his daughter. He lifted two fingers to point at the newlywed pair. "Your halmeoni is right, you have no room to talk for the shame you brought to us."
"The Songs are gangsters!" Sun Lee snapped, flinching at her father's cold gaze.
"The Songs are business people and have served in their proper capacity for decades," Young Ja said. "I have been fortunate to work with Woo Bin's father for a number of years. Your husband's family, on the other hand, are gangsters."
"Appa!" Sun Lee said.
"There isn't time for this," Woo Bin finally snapped. He focused on Young Ja. "My sachon was kidnapped. Sunny saw who did it and was shot. She came looking for me and the rest of the F4-."
"The F4," Wook Shi snorted. "What a ridiculous bunch of chaebols."
"If you aren't going to be of any use, you can leave," Young Ja said to his son-in-law darkly. He focused on Woo Bin once more. "Go on."
"Before Sunny passed out, she told us she saw Park Sung Ho kidnapping Ga Eul before she realized she was shot," Woo Bin explained. He swallowed hard. "She wanted us to find and save Ga Eul first instead of seeing to her."
"Damn that girl," Seo Jun said. Everyone turned as the doors to the emergency room opened.
"Park Sun Ja's guardian?" the nurse asked. Her father started to step forward before remembering that Woo Bin currently was considered her guardian since she had moved out for some reason that they had yet to tell Young Ja.
"That's me," Woo Bin said. "These are her parents, Park Young Ja and Kim Seo Jun. How is Sun Ja?"
"She is still in surgery, but there is no serious internal damage," the nurse explained. "The doctor is finishing up now, the biggest concern is the blood loss she sustained. It may have weakened her heart a bit, so the next twenty-four hours as we give her a transfusion will be critical."
"You mean... she could still die?" Soon Shi asked.
The nurse nodded. "My apologies," she said. "I wish I had better news than that right now."
"Thank you," Woo Bin said. "It is better than bad news." The nurse bowed and turned to leave them. Soon Shi immediately moved over to a seat and sank down. Her eyes falling on Woo Bin's hands, which were still stained with Sunny's blood. She reached out and took his hand, holding firm when he noticed the blood and tried to pull his hand away.
"You said Park Sung Ho was responsible for this?" Soon Shi asked after a moment.
"I did," Woo Bin. Soon Shi lifted her eyes to his and he felt a shudder run up his spine at the formidable look she was giving him.
"Find him, Song Woo Bin. Find him and your sachon and make him pay for what he's done to your family and my Sun Ja. Will you do that for me?"
"That I can do."