Chapter 5

Present day, Seoul.

The first day of school went better than either Ga eul or Jan di were expecting, as their resolve to stand up against bullying began with a good start.

But the same could not be said for Gu Jun Pyo, heir of the Shinhwa empire. For the first time in his life, someone had dared to defy his order. No one could dare to disobey him and yet a commoner did it without even second thought. That commoner dry cleaner and her friend. It was beyond his comprehension. Everyone around him had only fawned over him ever since he was born, not even his parents rebuked him. The closest anyone had ever gotten was perhaps his noona, and his F4 friends. But his noona was not like everyone, she was different than others. And the F4 were like family to him, perhaps more than his real family and they never went against his direct orders publicly. How could dry cleaner be so stupid? He was Gu Jun Pyo, did she have no self preservation?

He was throwing darts in the F4 lounge. Only three of them, Gu Jun Pyo, So Yi Jung and Song Woo Bin were present in the lounge, strangely without any female guests. Yoon Ji hoo was probably sleeping somewhere or playing some musical instrument, which was usual for him. So the atmosphere was unusually quiet in the F4 lounge.

So Yi Jung and Song Woo Bin, who were playing snooker to entertain themselves, noticed their leader's disturbed state of mind more than once.

"What's up with him? I don't think I've ever seen him so disturbed…" asked Woo bin.

"I'm not sure, but it might have something to do with the new girl in school, that ice cream one…" So Yi Jung answered while bending down to aim, with the cue stick in his hands, he kept his eyes focused on the target in front of him and took a shot. Predictably, the ball went straight into the pocket.

"Yi Jung ah, something is odd with those two. They seem awfully familiar somehow and the way long haired one fights, it's almost like…" he trailed off saying the last sentence in an almost inaudible voice and glanced away, deep in thought.

Yi Jung glanced up at this, "They are just commoners Woo Bin ah, I don't think they can be harmful to us in any way, but it won't hurt to run a background check on them either."

"I already have my men on it," he replied.

"And why do you know anything about the way she fights?" Yi Jung asked with a teasing smile and raised eyebrow.

"I saw her practicing in the gym today, she managed to catch me off guard," he said in a serious voice.

Yi Jung stopped playing and stood up straight to look at his friend, shocked. Both of them knew it was almost impossible to catch any of them off guard when it comes to combat. All the training Woo bin's father and uncle put them through since their childhood ensured that. And Woo Bin was more proficient than the rest of them, so when he said they seemed odd, he believed him without a second thought.

"We have to do something about him though, it's getting boring without Jun Pyo's regular drama…" Woo Bin signed.

"You focus on getting their background checked, I'll focus on ensuring entertainment for us." Yi Jung replied with a smile before heading towards Gu Jun Pyo.

"I'm getting a really bad feeling about where this is going…" Woo Bin muttered underneath his breath before letting out a sigh and taking his phone out, which had started ringing.

"Gu Jun Pyo…" called Yi Jung, "What's wrong man? You seem disturbed somehow."

Jun Pyo sighed, "It's that dry cleaner and her friend Yi Jung ah, they need to learn their place."

"You are worrying too much about this Jun Pyo, just deal with them the way we've dealt with others," he replied, "but her friend didn't really do anything, did she?" He added.

"She talked back to me," Jun Pyo stated as though it was an offence deserving of great punishment.

"Well still she hasn't done any harm to you." He pushed.

"I guess you are right, but that dry cleaner is going to pay for this." Jun pyo said with a large grin and scary twinkle in his eyes.

Same day, Seoul airport.

As the private jet belonging to the Ha family landed on the runway of the airport, heiress of the Ha empire, Ha Jae Kyung and Princess of Song clan, Song Navya exited the jet. The whole airport was evacuated a couple of hours before their arrival, with all other flights delayed. As they reached the exit gate of the airport, two Porsche 911's were waiting for them outside, one a matte black and the other grey. Men in black suits were moving all around them, ensuing their safety. Guards handed them keys and both girls sped off towards their destination.

Turning on the inbuilt communication system in her grey Porsche, Jae Kyung called Navya. "Was all that hustle really necessary?" She asked, annoyance clear in her voice.

"It's not like any of that was in my control Jae, grandfather insisted on it. I couldn't disobey him, although I did make my dislike about having excess security clear," She replied with a sigh.

"I still don't get why he insists on excess security measures, it's not like we need protection or your people are not already on guard," Jae Kyung huffed.

They reached Song mansion before twilight. As they entered the house, the family's long trusted butler Mr. Lee greeted them.

"Welcome back Miss Song, Miss Ha. Your grandfather is waiting for both of you in his study." He said before leading them towards the study of the Song clan's leader.

Grandfather Song was facing the wall, sitting on his chair, his back towards the entrance of study. His study was brightly lit and comfortable, surrounded by various types of books, a large table in front of his chair with a few trinkets and photo frames containing images of himself with both his grandchildren, their friends and other family members.

Mr. Lee announced their entrance after knocking the door. Both girls bowed to him in greeting as Mr. Lee left.

He turned to face them. "Take a seat girls," he said in a commanding voice.

Both of them obeyed. "Now that both of you are here, in one piece, would you care to tell me what's the reason for your sudden visit here? And this time I want the whole truth, Navya," he said, with a sharp glance in her direction. "Not that I'm not pleased to see you both, but you know how dangerous coming here could have been," he explained in a wary voice, rubbing his eyes with knuckles. His age clearly showing with worry lines under his eyes.

Navya sighed, before taking out a custom made smartphone out of her pocket. She played a video showing Geum Jan di and Chu Ga eul saving a guy from committing suicide by preventing his jump from Shinhwa rooftop, and showed it to her grandfather.

"How did this video reach you two?" He asked sharply, "Didn't you place a monitoring system that scanned their facial features and blocked any footage with them from sharing on social media?"

"I did grandfather, but with so many other people in this video, my programming was automatically overridden. I also had alerts on Korean media, making sure not even their names would leave Korean cyberspace, but it was programmed to send me any footage concerning them, which is why this video alerted my systems," Navya replied. "I had to manually block it, before it could spread all over the world."

"You know how all big firms work Mr. Song, they would take the easy way out by forcing Jan di and Ga eul to attend Shinhwa, instead of actually implementing any reforms," Jae Kyung said in a quiet and confident voice. "We can't let them suffer because people think they're outsiders and don't belong with the rest of them."

Grandfather Song sighed, leaning back on his chair. "That's exactly what they did, girls."

"We're attending Shinhwa beginning tomorrow." Navya said, with finality.

From the first time since their arrival, a genuine smile appeared on his face. "I think that would be beneficial for all Navya." He said with a pleased smile on his face.

"Wait, you're not worried?" Asked Jae kyung, surprised.

"Of course not! It would be much easier to protect all of you here than from the other end of the planet!" He replied, "I would say now would be a good time to let Woo bin in on this secret."

"No!" Both of them yelled at once. He noticed some strange emotions passing over Jae Kyung's face, but it was gone immediately.

Noticing his quizzical expression, Navya explained, "We do not want to let Woo Bin or his friends in on anything until they cease their bullying tendencies grandfather."

He smirked at this. "Then do try to make sure their bullying ceases. God knows it's about time they get their heads out of clouds and start acting like human beings." He continued after moments of silence from surprised girls, "Get settled you two, your training resumes from tomorrow."

"Mr. Song, I'm planning on living with Jan di's family…" Jae kyung stated, knowing well that if she mentioned anything about renting a flat, she'll be asked to stay in Song mansion, and then she won't have a choice to say no. Not that she had any problem with staying there, but avoiding a certain someone who lived in the same mansion as much as possible, was her first priority.

"Didn't I say Geum Jan di and Chu Ga eul would be continuing their training as well?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, before dismissing both of them.

After freshening up and greeting Navya's Aunt and Uncle, both girls went to Jan di's house, a place where their hearts longed to be.

It was already quite late in the evening. Both girls went inside the house and greeted Jan di's surprised parents warmly.

"Oh dear, it's so nice to see you both again girls! When did you two arrive?" Asked Jan di's mother excitedly, rushing forward to embrace both girls.

"Just a few hours ago," Replied Navya.

"Where can I put my things auntie?" Asked Jae kyung, pointing towards her luggage.

"Didn't like Song mansion Ha Jae kyung?" Asked Jan di's father teasingly.

"Just missed all of you guys more," she replied cheekily.

"Place it in Ga eul's room, you two can share it," she replied affectionately. "Now go, both girls are upstairs."

Jan di and Ga eul were going through their homework, along with discussing all the happenings of the day when Navya and Jae kyung arrived in Jan di's room.

"Having fun without us guys?" Navya asked loudly, in a teasing voice to alert them about their presence. Their heads snapped towards the source of voice, and both Jan di and Ga eul started yelling excitedly. Surprised to see Jae kyung and Navya, they rushed forward to embrace them both. Soon four of them were in a group hug, their hearts overflowing with emotions.

Breaking apart to wipe tears of happiness away from her eyes, Jan di asked, "What are you two doing here?"

"Well, we couldn't exactly let you two have all the fun, could we?" Jae kyung replied with a large grin on her face. Everyone chuckled at this.

"So, are you going to tell us what happened or not?" Navya inquired.

Ga eul and Jan di repeated everything that happened during the whole day, although it was amusing at first, Navya and Jae kyung realised their decision to attend Shinhwa was the correct one.

Soon, Navya got up to leave saying, "I'll be here in morning to pick you all up, now I have to be at family dinner, grandfather's order. Oh and tomorrow morning, at 5 am, grandfather has ordered that we resume our training."

Everyone groaned at this. "Doesn't this girl ever get jet lag?" She heard while descending down the stairs, making her chuckle in amusement.

Dinner time, Song mansion.

Almost every member of the family was present to welcome her back, even her cousin Song Woo Bin, who was usually busy at night visiting various clubs around the city.

Grandfather Song arrived a couple of minutes before dinner was served. Everyone stood up to greet him. This was usual in Song household, all important bits of information were shared with family before the dinner by grandfather Song, which was why family dinner was an important thing for them.

"Today, we are celebrating the return of Song Navya, my precious grandchild, who has successfully managed everything regarding our family business almost single handedly, after the unfortunate passing of her father. From tomorrow onwards, she's going to attend Shinhwa highschool, along with my grandson, Song Woo bin." He stated in an authoritative voice. Everyone rejoiced after hearing this news. He continued, "She has already taken measures to ensure business in the States runs smoothly. Now both Song Woo Bin and Song Navya would start helping my son Song Mal chin with business here as part of their further training."

His last announcement came as a surprise to both Woo Bin and Navya. They would be expected to work together. Although they got along well enough, they had grown up as sort of competitors for each other. They knew each other's weakness and strengths but weren't close by any means. This was going to be hell for both of them. They shared a look, thinking the same thing. Little did they know that for the first time in their lives, they'd silently agreed on something, training was going to be miserable.

Thanks to kyliEisMC2 all previous chapters have been edited and updated!

Enjoy reading and let me know your opinions in reviews.

~Crazydreamer33