Chapter 18

On a weekend evening, a beautiful young lady in her early 20's was looking for someone at Seoul airport. It wasn't long after she had landed from France, probably just a few minutes. Her gaze was wandering around the busy place, searching for a familiar face in the crowd of unfamiliar ones. The air was buzzing with the energy of people going to and fro as they scurried about, collecting their baggage, catching a connecting flight, or searching for their own familiar face in the crowd.

Looking around, she failed to see the person she was searching for. Normally, he was always there before her arrival whenever she came to Seoul, waiting for her with a warm smile. It felt odd to not see him there waiting for her.

She plastered a smile on her face with a bit of an effort, effectively burrowing her inner turmoil deep within her mind and went to collect her luggage. Grabbing her bags from the baggage carousel, she pulled the handle of her bag out and started walking towards the exit. Once she was out of the airport, she called for a cab and got inside once her luggage was settled in the trunk.

After giving the address to the driver, she took her phone out of her purse and unlocked it using the side key. She connected her earpiece to her phone. Then tapping on her contact list she scrolled down looking for a particular name. Sliding her finger horizontally on the contact, she called the person she was looking for.

Her call went unanswered, for the first time since she could remember. She called him again, genuinely surprised.

There were just eight people in the room, but the lounge was still a lot noisier than usual as both F4 and V4 congregated together. Some more peaceful than others. Some of them were enjoying a game of snooker, namely Yi Jung and Jae kyung; having a sparring session, Woo bin and Ga eul; trying to have a jamming session strumming on guitars, Ji hoo and Navya; or having a very loud argument, which of course involved Jun Pyo and Jan di.

In the F4 lounge, which was back to its former glory after suffering through an overdose of pink for some time, everyone was enjoying themselves, except for perhaps Jan di, who was a single minute away from pulling her hair out with frustration. It had become something akin to routine for V4 and F4. Jun pyo did something to irritate Jan di, she stormed in to shout at him, the other girls followed, and everyone did whatever suited their fancy until Jun pyo and Jan di were done with shouting. Everyone was amused with the silly arguments the two always had and didn't intervene unless they descended to physical violence, which was admittedly getting rare.

At first, it was extremely awkward for Ha Jae kyung and Song Woo bin, along with Chu Ga eul and So Yi Jung, due to unresolved and developing tensions, but as they were avoiding one person they automatically gravitated towards another. At Navya's insistence, as Woo Bin had asked her not to reveal anything to Jae Kyung, Yi Jung had told Jae kyung about what he learned the other day, about herself and Woo bin. To say that it didn't placate her anger wouldn't be false, cause it didn't. She was mad that he never found a way to contact her, or didn't know her well enough to know she'd never end their relationship with a simple text. After that, something like cordial friendship developed between Yi Jung and Jae Kyung.

Although they did not have anything in common except for both of them being wealthy and excessively flirtatious, both of them found that the other person was fun to be around. Same could be said for Woo bin and Ga eul as well, both of them bonded over their love for martial arts when one day Woo Bin asked her to spar with him, they found their niche. Although she didn't win, it was a tough match.

Navya and Jun pyo had their prank war going on in the background, but it was mostly on each other rather than anyone else much to everyone's relief, and after Ji hoo got his violin back a few weeks after it went missing, Ji Hoo found that he didn't mind the girls being around, after all, they were amusing even when they weren't playing pranks on F4, and he had no problem with that. So although some of F4 and V4 were still hellbent on avoiding each other, others were getting along splendidly.

With all the noise in the F4 lounge, it went unnoticed by all except Woo bin and Ga eul when Ji hoo's phone, which was on the table in front of the couch, rang. Both of them had sat down to take a breath after sparring. Again after a couple of minutes, the phone rang again. It would have gone unanswered again, if Woo bin hadn't leaned forward from the couch he was sitting on and got the phone from a table.

Taking a look at the caller id, he called out to Ji hoo with a snicker, "Ji Hoo, catch if you don't wanna be in shit for god knows how long."

Ji hoo easily caught the phone with an eye roll. Glancing at the caller id, he let out a curse without even meaning to. He placed the guitar besides the couch and got up while picking up the call.

Seo hyun could hear slight noise of argument in the background, again surprisingly for her, the female voices were also audible when he finally received the call.

"Yeoboseyo! Ji Hoo ah, you were going to pick me up from the airport!" She said in a calm voice, ignoring the turmoil in her heart.

"I completely forgot the time! I'll be there as soon as I can Min Seo Hyun," he exclaimed, striding forwards in a hurry to get out of the lounge.

"Min Seo hyun? She's here?" Navya whispered to Woo bin with excitement, who nodded his head in yes. As both of them were still within hearing range.

"Don't worry Ji Hoo ah, I caught a cab, I'll see you in a while." Seo hyun replied, with genuine amusement in her voice, her conflict chased away with evident concern in his voice.

"Are you sure? It wouldn't take that much time for me to get to the airport." He asked.

"Yes, I am sure. Relax Ji hoo ah. Bye." She said, hanging up. Leaning back on her seat with her sigh, trying to sort her feelings out.

He sat back down with a sigh, running his hand through his hair. He picked up the guitar again and started strumming random chords, trying to tune everything else out along with his guilt.

"Gu Jun Pyo! You are the most high headed, insufferable, arrogant guy I've ever had the displeasure of knowing!" Jan di screamed, making the whole lounge quiet, and turning the gaze of every individual present towards them before she stormed out of the lounge.

"What did I do now?!" Obnoxious Jun pyo asked, but he was met with silence.

With a collective sigh, the other girls got up from their respective places and went after Jan di, leaving the boys alone with their thoughts.

(A few weeks before)

A man in his late twenties was holding his phone between his shoulder and head, a laptop was open in front of him. Multiple tabs were functioning on the screen at the same time. He was sitting in his office. A place that was designed by his aunt for his Grandfather before his death. It had brown leather furniture with black accents, a large mahogany desk and warm lighting with a great view of the sea from the window. The office felt comfortable and made him feel close to his lost loved ones somehow, so he never bothered to change it.

"I have sent the final proposal from Shinhwa, let me know if everything's agreeable to you Mr. Desai." The voice of a lady close to his age sounded over the phone.

"Of course Miss Gu, if everything goes according to plan then we can finalize the deal in a couple of weeks," he replied. Sometime after Song Navya enrolled in Shinhwa, he was approached by Shinhwa group for a joint venture in the development of new cellphone technology, in India as well as in South Korea. He was aware that with their combined efforts, they could revolutionize the world of cellphones. So yes, of course, he was interested in the proposal and responded as such. So far, things were going quite well.

"Shinhwa would be pleased to welcome you and Desai Infratech to the Republic of Korea in that case." She said, letting him know that the details would be finalized on Shinhwa turf and most probably on their terms. Shinhwa was willing to cooperate if Desai Infratech was.

"Of course Miss Gu, I'll coordinate with you further on details at a later time," he said with a smile, before hanging up.

Present time

It was a busy Saturday evening. The sun was setting outside the large window of an office in Seoul.

"At what time should I send someone to pick you up tomorrow Mr. Desai?" She asked, busy with files in her hands, her phone tucked between her head and shoulder, as she paced in her office, instead of going out and enjoying herself.

"I do not know the fixed timing as of yet, but minimum travel time from Mumbai to Seoul is six hours, and the time difference is approx 3 and half hours, so something around 5 in the evening I'd wager. Though you do not need to Miss Gu, I'm quite sure I can manage by myself until the time of the meeting." He replied, trying to get out of being surrounded by Shinhwa all the time. He didn't have any problems with being around Shinhwa in a professional capacity, but he had family in Seoul for god's sake, he wanted to take some time out to spend it with them. And he did not feel the need to let Shinhwa know about this, besides it wasn't like Miss Gu did not know that, they were introduced by his cousin after all.

"It's Shinhwa policy, Mr. Desai, all the clients who are here for business purposes are Shinhwa guests, and are treated as such," she replied in a professional voice.

He stopped himself from letting out a sigh, and replied, "Alright, I'll get in contact once I touch down then." Before hanging up.

He scrolled through the contact list again, looking for a particular number. He called the number once he found it, and it was picked up in a single ring, "Grandfather, I'm afraid I will be stuck with Shinhwa at least until the meeting is over," he said without preamble.

The voice on the other end replied with something and he responded, "Yeah, it'll probably be in a couple of days once I land there, and I'd rather not tell her now, let's make it a surprise for her. I'll get in touch once I'm there, take care." Before hanging up.

A/N: Hii everyone! first of all, I'm sorry for not being able to update sooner but this chapter was finished today, so I'm updating it as soon as it was possible.

Yeah I agree end is the point of any story, but it needs time to develop. This story is still into its initial stages. And I cannot say how long it'll be till it's end cause I don't know that myself. I just have a rough outline for the plot, everything else is work in progress.

Now I have an important question to ask, do you guys think Yoon Ji hoo should have fear of driving in this story? I don't know if I should keep that part or not.

another one is, how you guys think interactions between Jan di and Ji Hoo should be? I'm inclined towards completely platonic cause otherwise it would just create unnecessary complications as this is going to be a Jun pyo/Jan di story, but I'm up for suggestions if anyone has any other ideas.

Lemme know in reviews.

Hope you all enjoyed reading, don't forget to tell me what you think of this!

~Crazydreamer33