Chapter 8

The next day, F4 lounge.

Gu Jun Pyo, Yoon Ji hoo and So Yi Jung were anxiously waiting for Song Woo bin. It was the weekend, and no one was present in school besides F3. There was a pin drop silence in the F4 lounge, as Yoon Ji hoo and So Yi Jung were lost in thought, all the while, Gu Jun Pyo was pacing around.

The confrontation with the dry cleaner and Woo bin's cousin had shocked them. Until now, no one before them had ever dared to cross their word. And now, for the first time in their lives, their absolute rule over Shinhwa had been questioned. And not knowing much about their challengers and their associates, didn't sit well with them.

They looked up to see Woo bin arriving with few men wearing black suits around him. He nodded at his guards and they took station outside the lounge. As soon as Woo bin entered, Jun pyo asked impatiently, "Where were you for so long Woo bin ah?"

Looking towards their fearless leader and his lifelong friends, Woo bin sat down on the couch, handing them a file in his hands. He waited for them to look over the file, leaning back on the couch with his eyes closed.

"It says Geum Jan di and Chu Ga eul have been here in Korea their whole lives! They've never once gone out of the country," Yi Jung said, surprised, as he looked up to see similar expressions on the faces of the other two.

"But then how do they know Woo bin's cousin," Jun pyo wondered.

"This is the only official information my men have been able to gather on two of them," Woo bin replied with a sigh.

"Official?" Asked Ji hoo with a raised eyebrow.

Woo bin nodded. "Well, why don't we go over what we know about them, officially and unofficially, and then formulate some conclusions," Yi Jung suggested, glancing through the file in his hands.

The others agreed, Woo bin got up and started pacing as he spoke, "Let's start with Geum Jan di then. She is the only biological daughter of her parents, who own a modest dry cleaning business. Her family is accommodating and friendly according to observations. She herself was a swimming champion in her old school. An average student by all means, with average grades. Nothing out of ordinary really. Kind Hearted and brave but short tempered and sometimes loud." He looked towards them, before continuing with, "Next we have Chu Ga eul, artist by the looks of it. Star painter of Seoul public highschool. She was adopted by the Geum family, but exact records of when or why the adoption happened were kept confidential. Not even my people were able to get those details. Abusive household perhaps? But there are no records of her birth parents to be found either. She too is a perfectly average student, with no records of ever getting in trouble. Geum Jan di and Chu Ga eul have been together in the same school since they were in kindergarten, according to their records. She's also a skilled fighter, but there are no records of her ever enrolling for martial arts training. Both of them work at a porridge shop as waitresses. The surprising thing is, neither of them seems to have gotten in trouble before this, there's no records of them getting even a detention," he trailed off. "Something sounds fishy with this. There are way too many gaps in this story."

Yi Jung nodded. "According to what we've seen, neither of them are able to stay out of trouble. It's not in their nature to be quiet. And neither of them seem average in everything."

"Then there is Ha Jae kyung. Sole heiress of Ha empire," Woo bin continued in a colder voice than before, "which is one of the most successful groups in the states. They were established in oil production at first, later they entered into other sectors like energy and power, rapidly growing their net worth. Now they have a large chain of businesses under their command, making them one of the most well known groups in the world. She herself is also kind and brave, but quite a handful to get along with, and does not befriend anyone easily, so her friendship with those two is suspicious as well. Especially since she's familiar enough with both girls and their parents to be welcomed into their home, by that I mean she's staying with them," he explained as he saw Yi Jung ready to interrupt him with a question. He continued with, "She's someone who does something only because she wants to, no one can force her to do anything against her will," he finished with a ghost of a smile on his face.

"And last but not the least, your cousin," Ji hoo said, leaning back on the couch.

Nodding towards him, Woo bin continued.

"Her presence in Korea, along with Jae kyung's is most surprising. As you know, she's Uncle Min Jung and Aunt Maddie's only daughter. She was in Shinhwa with us till kindergarten. Soon afterwards, she went to the states with her parents, and she has taken up her father's position as head of the Song clan in the U.S. Along with that, she is the sole inheritor of her mother's fashion line. And she's also a partner in Indian software company named Desai Infra tech. She is fiercely loyal to her loved ones and the worst nightmare for her enemies. Apparently, she's also the leader of V4 as Jun pyo has dubbed them," he finished, making quotation marks in the air.

"You don't believe the stories of Geum Jan di and Chu Ga eul are completely truthful," Jun pyo, who was unusually quiet during his explanation, concluded.

Nodding, Woo bin agreed. "There are few questions that remain unanswered. Like what are Ha Jae kyung and Song Navya doing here? Or how does Geum Jan di and Chu Ga eul know either of them so well? And most importantly, why did she use the name vixens yesterday..." He trailed off with a look of serious and thoughtful expression on his face.

"What's so special with name vixens?" Yi Jung asked, a question that was on the forefront of everyone's mind.

Turning back, Woo bin explained, "The Vixens, is one of the most feared groups in the underworld. No one really knows who they are besides that there are four women in it. None of their victims saw their faces, but they are famous for their ruthlessness and effectiveness in carrying out their tasks."

"Do you think-?" Jun pyo asked sharply, and Woo bin nodded in agreement before he could complete his question.

"Think what?" Yi Jung asked.

"That the possibility of these four being the vixens is quite high," Jun pyo replied.

"But that seems illogical guys. You yourself said Geum Jan di and Chu Ga eul have never been out of the country," Ji hoo said, not able to believe that conclusion fully.

"I agree with Ji hoo. And we don't really have enough information to conclude that for sure," Yi Jung stated.

"Despite everything, Navya is still my cousin Jun pyo, and I cannot and will not go against my cousin if you are thinking about waging war against her," Woo bin said, getting up with a tone of finality. "But I won't stand against you either," he continued with a sigh.

Looking at him, Jun pyo nodded, "I understand Woo bin ah. I could never ask you to go against your family. But the other three girls should be fair game." Woo bin agreed to that. Then turning to face everyone, Jun pyo said, "We are going to collect information about them first. Woo bin, Yi Jung, I want both of you to get closer to Ha Jae kyung and Chu Ga eul, Ji hoo and I will see if we can get anything out of Geum Jan di and Song Navya," he continued with a wide grin. "Besides if Geum Jan di apologizes first, then we won't even have to get involved, and there wouldn't be any conflict between V4 and F4," he announced confidently, still sure that Geum Jan di would be begging for his forgiveness sooner or later.

Later that day.

So Yi Jung was heading home a few hours after his conversation with F4. Glancing towards the coordinates of the porridge shop Woo bin had sent earlier, he decided to see if he could find anyone there.

Parking his orange Lotus Elise outside, he went inside the modest sized shop, looking around to see if anyone was there. The shop was almost empty, except for a couple of odd customers here and there.

"Hello," a cheerful voice greeted him as he was looking around. Turning towards the voice, he instantly recognized the face in front of him. He'd seen her in school and in Woo bin's file just a few hours ago. Chu Ga eul was standing in front of him. There was a flash of recognition in her eyes as soon as he turned to face her, but to her credit, her cheerful expression didn't waver even a bit. He smiled at this.

"I heard the porridge here is really good, and came to try it for myself," he said, flashing her his famous casanova smile.

Maintaining absolute professionalism, she replied, "Of course, please have a seat. Which flavoured porridge you would prefer?"

"What would you recommend Miss Ga eul?" he asked.

"Everything here is quite good, but you might want to try pumpkin porridge," she replied with a smile.

"Then one pumpkin porridge please," he replied, with a charming smile.

"Coming right up" she replied before moving on to attend to her other duties, and leaving him baffled with her composed attitude. He was used to girls fawning all over himself, throwing themselves at him, and even fighting with each other to spend time with him after giving them his signature smile. For the first time, he was encountering a girl who was apparently unaffected by his charms.

Unbeknownst to him, Ga eul was having a hard time trying to tamp down butterflies in her stomach. She didn't understand why she was reacting to him in such a way. This was not at all like her. It wasn't the first time she was serving a handsome and charming guy, and a well known Casanova at that! She'd never felt in such a way before. It took everything in her power and all the training she had done for years to control her actions around him. She rushed towards the kitchen to escape his presence.

"Master! One pumpkin porridge," she told the manager and chef of the porridge shop, sitting down in hopes of calming down her racing heart. No Ga eul! Don't be charmed by his Casanova smile. You know better than that! Be professional with him,- she told herself when the master announced that the porridge was ready. She sighed, and took the porridge on the tray before going towards the table where So Yi Jung was waiting, phone in hand.

"Here's your porridge!" She announced, when she noticed his distracted state of mind.

Looking towards her, he smiled as she set the bowl of porridge in front of him.

"Would you please sit with me Miss Ga eul?"he asked with a smile that charmed most women within a second.

Trying not to blush, she replied, "I'm sorry sir, but that would not be possible as I have other responsibilities to take care of. Please let me know if you need anything else." with as much professionalism as she could muster and a polite smile, before turning to leave.

"Miss Ga eul! Please? I wouldn't have asked but I hate eating alone," he said, hoping she would agree, as he needed to talk to her to get as much information about her as possible.

She sighed, thinking it through before agreeing reluctantly. "Alright, a little while won't do any harm I guess," she said, while cursing herself internally.

"And Miss Ga eul, please call me by my name, we go to the same school and are classmates after all," he said, before taking a spoonful of porridge.

"In that case, I must insist you refer to me with my name as well," she replied, trying to gauge what he was trying to accomplish.

He smiled, before asking, "Do you work here often then?"

"Yeah, Jan di and I work here part time," she replied.

"Is she here as well?" he asked.

"No, her shift is already over," she replied with a smile.

"Have you guys known each other for long then?" he asked.

She felt like kicking herself once his motive became apparent. He was here for information. "Yeah since kindergarten," she replied, trying to keep her face neutral.

Sensing a change in her tone, he changed the topic, taking conversation towards more general things like hobbies and art. Soon, she too was enjoying herself in his company, and opened up a bit.

They were conversing animatedly when he asked, "How do you know Song Navya or Ha Jae kyung Ga eul ssi? I mean you all seem quite close."

All of a sudden, her expression closed off. "I don't see how I know either of them is any of your business Yi Jung ssi. Clearly you were here only for fetching information. We've known Navya since we were in kindergarten, and I think you are done with your porridge? Thank you for coming to eat here," she replied in a cold voice before getting up, collecting his bowl and going off in the direction of the was disappointed with herself for falling for his charm, thinking she should have known better than letting her guard down in front of someone because of their handsome face and charming smile.

He stared at her as she left, Not knowing whether to curse her or himself. He got up with an annoyed sigh. Everything had been going well, he was even enjoying himself for a change, not that he would ever admit it aloud. And then she became annoyingly assuming and cold when asked about other girls of V4. He left the porridge shop, annoyed at himself and her, though not even he could understand why. He had come for information, then why was he annoyed with her for guessing the truth? Or with himself for asking that question?