Chapter 16

A few days later

It was a pleasant evening altogether. After a slight breeze of rain, there was a pleasant smell of soil lingering in the air. The grass was moist and birds were chirping as they flew to and from their nests. The pathway was surrounded by flowering bushes and tall trees, making Seoul park a pleasant walk, or so Yoon Ji Hoo thought. But he could have been biased as everything was quite pleasant for him from the past few days. On this day, he was especially happy. He was enjoying a stroll in Seoul park. There weren't many people in the park, only kids were running around, chasing each other as they laughed and played. He smiled at them, feeling joyful as he watched their innocent smiles and infectious laughter, remembering his own escapades along with his childhood friends. The same friends who were trying their best to get one over their new opponents.

An amused chuckle escaped his throat as he remembered the last few encounters between the two groups. All three of them were irritated with Jun Pyo at first when everyone of the boys were pranked. Intelligence gathering was one thing, but Jun Pyo had pranked all the girls of V4 without even informing other boys. So when ladies retaliated they were completely unprepared for it. Although in hindsight they should have expected something like this. Knowing Jun Pyo, a warpath with V4 had been destined to wage on since they barged into school . So when they had found out Jun Pyo had filled Geum Jan di's locker with shredded paper; removed all the art supplies from the art studio, which irritated Chu Ga Eul to no end according to Yi Jung and his own observations; Covered Ha Jae Kyung's car with plastic wrap and Jun Pyo himself told them she had kicked his car and was close to bodily harming him after that when he went in front of them to gloat, they were far from happy. For quite some time he himself was furious with Jun Pyo for removing the strings of all the instruments in the music studio.

After that, V4 must have concluded that all the guys were involved in Jun Pyo's actions as the next day they found their lounge covered in a weird shade of pink colour. But somehow that was not enough, So Yi Jung lost all his clothes after the gym session, his favourite violin was still missing and all the girls in school were still following Jun Pyo like lost puppies. Jun Pyo was doing everything he could think of to get rid of them. And to the amusement of his mates, nothing was working. He remembered Jun Pyo thought that issuing red cards to all the girls would work, but Yi Jung and Woo Bin convinced him it would be impractical. Personally, he was sure they just didn't want their amusement to end.

They had decided to meet up at his house to decide the next plan of action, where they chewed Jun Pyo out for doing something like declaring a prank war between the two groups without even informing all of them, but Jun Pyo was adamant on his stance that he was only being fair as all V4 were already working together and there was no point in targeting just one of them. As he stated, they were the ones who started this. After that day things became quite different for everyone.

On the same evening, they had shown up at a porridge shop at Yi Jung's insistence. Although it was confusing at first as it wasn't the sort of a place they ever went to, that confusion soon faded away as they saw V4 sitting in the shop through the glass. Their faces were covered in the public persona they always adapted. Going inside the way they always did, they faced the girls. All of them stood abruptly from their chairs, probably due to the shock of seeing all of them in that place. The shock had faded away and their faces were similarly showing media smiles, which was curious in Geum Jan Di and Chu Ga Eul's case, although their body language was tense. He was able to recognise this, though he wasn't sure others did.

"Didn't I say this is quite a place Jun Pyo ah?" Yi Jung asked, his infamous dimpled casanova smile present in full force.

Jun Pyo hummed with disinterest, looking around with thinly veiled contempt.

"Would you ladies join us for a meal?" Yi Jung asked, smiling at the four girls in front of them, who were sporting varying expressions. Geum Jan di was the most obvious one. That girl was an open book with her expressions. She was fuming, if she had been in a cartoon then perhaps her face would have turned red and her ears would have released smoke, but all she did was narrow her eyes at them all. Chu Ga Eul was probably angry as well, though she was less obvious. Song Navya was not pleased to see them there either, though she was also confused about something, though he had no doubt that if she wanted to hide her emotions then he wouldn't have seen any expression on her face. Curiously, it was Ha Jae Kyung who was most surprising for him, her face was a carefully blank mask, giving nothing away.

The other girls glanced at Jae Kyung, which confused him, and she nodded, accepting the invitation, thoroughly surprising him. He didn't know the dynamics of the group in front of him, but he would have pegged Geum Jan di or Song Navya as leaders. Shrugging it off, he focused back on people around him, losing himself in thoughts wouldn't do in the middle of the conversation after all.

He took a seat on a nearby chair with Yi Jung and Woo Bin, while Song Navya and Ha Jae Kyung sat across them. Chu Ga Eul excused herself to the kitchen saying she would be back to take the orders, as she was an employee there.

Geum Jan di tried to follow her, stating the same excuse with a forced smile on her face. But before she could take a step in the kitchen's direction, Jun Pyo stepped in her way, effectively blocking her path. She glared at him, "Get out of my way Gu Jun Pyo."

"Is this hospitality here? I must say it's quite bad. No welcome, no greetings. The appearance of this place is abysmal at best. Plus the employees are not even polite," he said, staring at her.

Her glare intensified even more. "If you want to eat then sit down or get out of here," She yelled at him. Trying to step past him. But he was blocking her way, again and again, not letting her pass, amused with their little game if the grin on his face was anything to go by.

"Yah! You sit down! Besides, are you stupid?" He said, his amusement fading into confusion.

"Excuse me?" She replied, seething.

"You are presented with the opportunity to dine with the great Gu Jun Pyo. What do you think you are doing going away from him? Is this the way most influential people are treated here?" He asked arrogantly, although the confusion was still present in his tone.

"Yes this is exactly how pompous people are treated here, now get out of my way," she said, folding her hands in front of her chest, all the while glaring at him.

He was starting to look crestfallen when they heard a gasp behind Jun Pyo. "Geum Jan di! What are you doing?" All of them turned to see a portly man in a chef's uniform standing right behind Gu Jun Pyo.

Jun Pyo's expression turned into a smug smile as the words left the chef's mouth. And Geum Jan di became even more furious if that was even possible. If looks could have killed then Jun Pyo would have been dead at that instant.

She looked at the chef and replied, "Trying to get away from here so I can help Ga Eul, as you can clearly see master," With clenched teeth.

"Oh no! You sit here with this gentleman, I'm sure Ga Eul and I can manage. It won't do well to treat such an important customer impolitely, right?" The chef, Master Jan Di called him, told her with a large smile. Now she was glaring at him with even more vigour, while Jun Pyo was sporting the largest smile they had seen in a while. Master left the dining area and Jun Pyo pulled out a chair for Jan di on a separate table, which ended up irritating her even further. But she sat down with a huff, probably cursing him in her head.

Ji Hoo noticed Woo Bin was looking anywhere except the girl sitting across them and she was avoiding him as well. While Yi Jung was lost in thought, Navya was the only one who looked remotely comfortable sitting there. Trying to remove the tension that was quickly raised to high levels among the occupants of the table, he decided it would be as good a time as any to inquire about his beloved violin. Clearing his throat, he placed his hands on his lap, and leaned forwards, "Miss Song Navya..." addressing her formally, as Gu Jun Pyo had decided to forego all manners, it wouldn't be polite to follow his example.

Looking at him with a slight smile on her face, she replied, "Navya is fine Mr Yoon."

"Then I would insist on you calling me Ji Hoo," he replied, mirroring her smile.

She replied with a nod.

"You wouldn't happen to know where a certain violin is, would you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, a smile still on his face.

Her smile turned into an amused smirk, "No, of course not."

'Ah, so this is how she wants to play then,' he thought, knowing that she knew he knew she was lying.

"I suppose not much can be done then," he replied, giving her a challenging smirk, to which she replied with an amused chuckle.

Not knowing what else he could say, he sat quietly, observing everyone. Ha Jae Kyung and Woo Bin were fidgeting in their seats, which was out of character for Woo Bin. Geum Jan di and Gu Jun Pyo were still alive, and Jun Pyo was going on about something while she looked like she was a single step away from physically harming him. And Yi Jung was still lost in his thoughts, although there was a smile on his face. Ji Hoo thought about interrupting his thought process when he came out of his trance on his own. Looking around, Yi Jung quickly excused himself and went towards the kitchen.

Ji hoo was contemplating following him to see what he was up to when he saw Navya getting up as well. Noticing his gaze, she nodded at him. Making up his mind he got up as well, quickly excusing himself.

She headed towards the way Yi Jung went along with him. They were about to enter the kitchen, when she blocked his path with an outstretched arm, while quickly backing up herself. He thought about teasing her regarding her stalking his friend, but discarded the thought, due to wrong timing. He was doing the same thing after all.

Ducking behind the wall, they saw Yi Jung talking with Ga Eul, who had stopped placing bowls on the counter and was facing him.

"Ga Eul, I had hoped I would be able to enjoy your company for a while today," Yi Jung said, with a predatory smile.

Ga Eul was looking nervous. And the Master was busy in another corner of the kitchen, preparing their orders.

"I have work to do," She replied with a forced smile and a clipped tone.

"Is that so? Are you sure you couldn't have spared even a few moments Miss Ga Eul?" He asked in a flirtatious tone while taking slow steps in her direction.

She looked ready to flee, searching for an escape route while replying, "I'm afraid not."

Now he was standing directly in front of her. Placing his hands on the counter, he effectively pinned her in one place. Her hands were in front of her chest. She leaned back, trying to regain her composure. He leaned in towards her, his lips a few inches away from her ear, as he said, "Ga Eul if you wanted to get me without clothes, all you have to do is say the word. There was no need to trouble yourself so much." While taking an apple placed on a shelf behind her and backing away with a smirk, leaving furious and flustered Ga eul behind.

Navya and Ji Hoo wisely decided to go back to their seats, before Yi Jung's return. They made it back in record time, as he came out of the kitchen, taking a bite of the apple in his hands as they sat back down. Ji Hoo shook his head with a smile at Woo bin's inquiring gaze. And soon Ga Eul came out along with the master, porridge bowls in hand.

Every day was a whirlwind of pranks after that. The next day, Ha Jae Kyung's lunch box was full of noodles that appeared like worms, something that managed to scare her a lot if her frightened screams were anything to go by. Geum Jan di's locker got covered in new substance almost every day. He himself had managed to hack Song Navya's Facebook account, and Yi Jung updated her feed with random lines of songs every hour.

But then again, the girls gave as good as they got. Gu Jun Pyo's ringtone was 'I'm Barbie girl' all of a sudden, something all the guys gave him a lot of grief over. Although how such a feat was achieved, no one was sure. Woo Bin was sporting a new bleached blonde hair colour, which was annoying him to no end, although his fan club was busy swooning over his new looks. A few of Yi Jung's favourite ceramic pieces were missing all of a sudden. And he himself was still getting calls from some a stupid dating profile Princess Song had set up for him, while conveniently forgetting to ask for his consent.

Their pranks were becoming more and more vicious and perhaps even juvenile when Jun Pyo thought it would be a great idea to spread rumours about Geum Jan di. One day, the internet was flooded with some rumor of a Shinhwa girl being pregnant. Although no direct name was given, the initials of the girl sounded like Geum Jan Di's name. Apparently, the other girls had taunted her regarding the same. Angry with Jun Pyo for messing with her quiet life, she had stormed into the F4 lounge. Taking a fighting stance, she delivered an impressive roundhouse kick to Jun Pyo's face, knocking him over, before storming off. And Jun Pyo had taken that as her declaration of affection for him, as according to him she wouldn't have said she had not even kissed any guy before if she was not in love with him. It was an incident that managed to make him chuckle whenever he remembered it.

Since then, Jun Pyo was trying to court her with pranks, while the war fell into the background. All of them found watching Gu Jun Pyo and Geum Jan Di much more amusing than anything else, save for random pranks that happen every once in a while.

Overall, life was going good this year for him. Not that it usually didn't, but there were precious few people who were close to him. Despite the patchy start and rocky path they were treading on, he felt those four girls become closest to friends all four of them had in school. He didn't know how, but somehow they had managed to prank their way in his heart.

Besides all that, he was exceptionally pleased this day, as he was greatly anticipating her return. The one person in his life who has been his rock through everything. Someone who was there for him through thick and thin. Who stayed with him, reached out to him in darkness when he didn't want to get out of it. She would be back in Seoul within a few hours. She made his darkest day brighter with a single smile, and now that there was a brightness in his life, he was eager for her to be there with him in that light, eager to be truly happy.

Thanks for reviewing, Sorry for the delay!

And huge thanks to KyliEisMC2 for editing! Otherwise no one would've been able to understand half of what I've written :P

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