PART 2
"Yi Jeong told me a little about his family, but I didn't know, I mean, I never guessed…" the girl trailed off, but she could tell from Jandi's expression no explanation was needed.
"It was difficult for me too at first" the nurse looked at her patient kindly, "though I will say you handled it with a lot more grace than I ever did. One of my first encounters with Jun Pyo ended with my shoe in his face after I roundhouse kicked the little twerp" she smiled at the startled girl in front of her, "we didn't exactly hit it off, guess you could say I 'kicked' it off with him" Jandi finished with a laugh, moving to readjust the IV line in the girl's small wrist.
Ga Eul thought back to the moment she had found out the man she had grown to love wasn't all that he seemed. She had been shocked and something else, hurt. An explanation had been required when Ga Eul caught sight of the black-clothed men standing guard outside her room. Obviously not hospital staff, they looked more like elevated thugs with their ear wires and gruff expressions. The nurses had been afraid to venture in, the doctors barely less so. Ga Eul had never experienced something like the crazy she was seeing. Merely utter a name, and staff snapped to attention, ready and willing to bend over backward to grant whatever wish or demand had been uttered. It was insane, like something from a movie. But what did that make her? The damsel in distress? The spunky sidekick? The oblivious heroine?
Ji Jeong fought back the nerves threatening to surface as he watched the sweet girl's face work into a slight frown. He hadn't anticipated telling her like this. She deserved better from him.
"Ga Eul, please answer me. I'm sorry I lied to you. I just…well…I couldn't go back to my normal life…I…I couldn't risk losing you." He trailed off weakly. Stupid, stupid Yi Jeong, he berated himself, you're a fool if you think that's going to work.
He had intended on revealing more about his past and his family slowly over time when he could explain everything. Now that all went out the window and all that sputtered out was the bare honest truth, and it sucked. He didn't want her to think their whole relationship was a lie…even if the lie of who he was had woven its fabric into every interaction they shared…
He peeked up at the girl who had yet to answer. Hoping she would speak, hoping she would give him a piece of her mind as she so often had threatened those students in the past, hoping she would say something. But she sat quietly, staring at her folded hands, expressionless face revealing nothing.
Ga Eul knew he was waiting for an answer but she didn't even know how she felt let alone how to convey those feelings muddling themselves in her head. She knew this was incredibly hard for him. He must have been hurt deeply to have kept this from her so long. She had often suspected he had a troubled home life, but nothing like what she had just learned. She knew why he had feared he could lose her too, she had made her contempt of the rich snobs at school well known. She hated herself for it.
"I'm not mad at you Yi Jeong." The girl put her hands over her tired eyes, weary with thought and the mental exertion of untangling the many threads of his character, "I'm not mad that you're part of a high-class family because you're not like those brats at school."
She paused, unsure how to continue, breathing out slowly she started again, her aching ribs reminding her why she was still in the hospital, "I'm mad you lied to me. I'm mad you thought you couldn't trust me to stay… I…I guess, I'm mad at myself… that you felt you couldn't trust me…I don't know..."
She buried her head in Yi Jeong's chest as he scooped her up in her hospital bed, the warmth reassuring her as his deep voice soothed her nerves."It's ok. We're ok. We don't have to figure things out right now."
She looked up at him with her tear-streaked cheeks, "just thinking of all the stupid things I said, I feel so ashamed, I always hated being judged, but I guess that's exactly what I did. Judge people based on their status rather than who they were and, in the process, pushed you away so you couldn't talk to me. I should've—"
"No. Don't blame yourself. It's my fault more than anything. You're too sweet for your own good, you know that?" he squished her head playfully against his chest, how had he met such an angel? "It's ok to just heal right now, we'll figure out the hard stuff as we go. But this time, we'll do it together."
Ga Eul smiled thinking back to that sweet moment, how they had both dozed off in each other's arms only to wake up to an embarrassing scene with the rest of the F4 sitting around, grinning at the two snuggled up together. Her cheeks had blushed dark red as she grabbed the covers to hide while Yi Jeong just chuckled, not embarrassed in the slightest to show off his girl.
Apart from a brief encounter with Woo Bin, it had been her first real meeting with Yi Jeong's friends. Shy at first, any trepidation was soon lost as they laughed and joked with their friend and welcomed her with extreme warmth and kindness as if they had known her for years. Were these really the men the nurses seemed so intimidated by? Was this what it was like to be surrounded by friends? By family? She could tell just by the way they interacted they had formed a special bond some might even consider closer than family.
Ga Eul saw them more often than not in the coming days, although at first she suspected it was mainly for Yi Jeong's benefit, to reassure him someone was watching over her, she soon grew to look forward to their visits when Yi Jeong couldn't be there as he was in intensive therapy for his hands. The doctors had high expectations of an excellent recovery if he followed instructions-and Ga Eul was determined he would if she had any say-so, with that, he was effectively banished from her room to get his treatments and rest. Although she missed him terribly in those hours he was away, she rather enjoyed learning more about his friends.
Watching Jandi and Jun Pyo bicker back and forth good-naturedly like two old grumps haggling over the price of fish at a market.
Listening to the stories Woo Bin would tell her, many of Yi Jeong as a child, never failing to make her laugh at the scraps they found themselves in despite all the paid supervision they were given.
And, thanks to Ji Hoo's quiet, reserved kindness, her room was now filled with an assortment of sweet-smelling flowers, including some of her favorite wildflowers. Although she had only mentioned her love of gardens once, he seemed to pick up on those things.
With one or more of them visiting her room, keeping her company, chatting with her, and Na Ri's occasional visits when she could get out of class, Ga Eul was never alone for long.
Even now, she couldn't help but laugh picturing the scene that had ensued when Na Ri first learned of her hospitalization. The girl had flown all the way back from Paris to "be with her friend in her hour of need" as she had so dramatically put it over the phone, and Ga Eul had been awaked one day to the sound of a major scuffle at her door as her friend tried to fight off the guards stationed there. Though Na Ri was a slight wisp of a girl, Ga Eul half believed she would have made it too if she hadn't intervened and called them off once she heard her friend's voice.
With the new and old friends frequenting her room, Ga Eul wasn't sure who was more protective over her, Yi Jeong, Na Ri, or the three new brothers who had entered her life, but she had learned to expect and even look forward to it, and she was happy.
It had been a little over two weeks since their hospitalization and Ga Eul had finally convinced Yi Jeong to go home and get some rest. Balancing his therapy, watching over her, and trying to catch snippets of sleep in his own room couldn't be good for him, and while the man stubbornly stuck to her side like glue, he had melted when Ga Eul told him it hurt her to see him like this and she'd blame herself if he got worse.
Appointing 4 guards outside her room—instead of the usual two—with Jandi's promise not to leave the floor until he came back, Yi Jeong had left and grabbed a few desperately needed hours of sleep. But it was all too quiet, and Yi Jeong found himself tossing and turning on his gigantic king-sized bed which felt much too big after the small hospital beds. He'd been much more comfortable snuggled with Ga Eul on the tiny bed in her Eul. That was it. He'd gotten enough rest, throwing the covers from him and heading towards his closet. Yi Jeong began reciting what he would say to the girl who'd probably pout that he didn't listen to her and take an entire day off.
Flicking on the large screen TV for some background noise, Yi Jeong prepped to head back to the hospital when an announcement caught his attention. Had he heard wrong? No, they repeated it again—that bastard's name. Turning to the TV with new interest Yi Jeong halted his movements fastening his cufflinks. It was just a short recap of the Shin University fires with an update on Dae Sab, who was still in police custody and had yet to be charged with anything.
What the heck were they dawdling around for? Yi Jeong cursed as his phone cut the call again. Woo Bin always picked the perfect time to not answer his phone. Grabbing his keys, Yi Jeong decided to head by Woo Bin's place. Maybe he knew more about the man who should be rotting in jail right now. Perhaps the F4 would have to speed that up. Law or no law, the man deserved to be locked away for life. Though Yi Jeong almost wished they'd release him, it'd do him good to have another "meeting" with the man he so desperately wanted to kill.
"Don't even think of it, Yi Jeong would kill you…besides, I already did."
"I thought you quite the background checking after what happened with Jandi. She was so angry when you had her dad followed."
"Yah, that was for his own protection, and I did end up saving him from those loan sharks, if you remember correctly."
"Those were his friends."
"Yeah, well, they looked suspicious just the same. Don't get me wrong, it's just to give us time to hide anything from Yi Jeong's family before they have a chance to do their own digging. We can't let her get hurt."
"You really think Yi Jeong's grandfather would go after her family? That's more Madam Kang's style." Jun Pyo added dryly.
"She doesn't really have any family to go after from what I've found. At least no biological family. The odd thing is, her records stop at age eight. I can't find anything before that age, not even adoption records."
"Hhmm, there's more to her than meets the eye, that's for sure" Ji Hoo made a mental note to check with his grandfather, perhaps he still had a few connections with the orphanages in South Korea after years of generous donations. Then again, maybe Ga Eul didn't want them meddling with her life…he'd wait and see.
"that's not all," Woo Bin continued, this time in a lighter tone. "I looked into her high school records, and what I found was rather interesting. She's had a bit of a troubled past. She had a juvenile delinquent streak—"
The surprise was evident on Jun Pyo and Ji Hoo's faces to hear the gentle girl who wouldn't hurt a fly had a bit of a past.
"get in any fights?" Jun Pyo couldn't help but ask with a slight smirk.
"No no, nothing serious, got in trouble with her teachers, played hooky, goth style, that type of stuff." Woo bin produced a picture of Ga Eul he'd been meaning to tease her about that brought a surprised chuckle from Jun Pyo and an amused smile from Ji Hoo. Goth style indeed, though, even the black eyeshadow and dark lipstick couldn't hide her pretty features.
It was hard to believe the delicate creature who loved flowers and sketching things on the little drawing pad Yi Jeong had given her would ever be a rebellious teenager. If anything, this new information gave them all a sort of kinship with the girl, heaven knew their hands weren't the cleanest when it came to high school antics.
"What about the arsonist? Any leads on his family?" Ji Hoo questioned after some moments had passed in silence.
"No, they're being good for now, haven't made a move to help their scumbag son. I did hear back from the fire chief though, the monster ensured several buildings were lit so firefighters would be diverted from the shed. Dae Sab fully intended to let her die there. The beast. I guess things didn't quite go to plan when Yi Jeong saw him on campus. It was a miracle. If Yi Jeong hadn't seen him or spotted the shed fire first, there's no telling what would have happened. Especially seeing how the man was obsessed enough to build a shrine to her and everythi—"
Woo Bin stopped short, but it was too late, Yi Jeong's gaze was murderous as he stalked through the entrance, having just caught the last few words.
Turning fiercely on Woo Bin, he demanded more information. "what are you talking about? A shrine? Why didn't anybody tell me?"
Woo bin glanced at his friends who silently nodded. There was nothing else to do but tell their friend everything now. All three had decided it was best to wait until Yi Jeong's mental state was more stable, and once he was doing better, it seemed of little use to give him all the gritty details of the creep who had stalked his girl. They could easily protect her without risking Yi Jeong going to jail…but he needed to be told and now was as good a time as any.
Yi Jeong listened quietly, his face getting darker and darker with each new detail.
"—We removed all the pictures of her and sent documentation to the police, so he'll also be charged with stalking and premeditated murder. My men found out he tried to pass the fire off as an accident, stating he lit the other two because he panicked. They obviously didn't buy it after seeing the evidence we provided."
Yi Jeong surprised his friends with his silence. They couldn't see his face as he had turned to stare out the window, but they didn't have to guess at his thoughts. They had all grown fond of the gentle lady in hospital room 307 and there would be justice if the F4 had anything to do with it.
