Author's Note: so I was sitting here watching Buring the Beast and I realized that I have to buy more yarn to finish the blanket. It's going to be a long next couple of nights for me to finish this. Not to mention I have already watched two dramas in two days. I have no life really.
I bought all of our Christmas dinner supplies very cheaply. If I could buy food for five people under fifty dollars like I did, we would all be rich. It's amazing. The only reason I spent more was because I bought a couple of things for myself. But my Christmas shopping is done. Everyone has a present. That's what happens when you're so broke that you have to pick the cheapest things to give/make everyone.
I hope everyone has a good holiday whatever you celebrate this time of year. Let me know your plans for the end of December. I like to know what everyone around the world celebrates. It's so interesting to me.
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"Noona, we don't have to go out."
Soohyun ignored him and stared down at the street again. She had been wrangled into staying with Hoon Jin as soon as she had left Won's. It was probably a good thing too. Hyun Joon had called a couple of days ago about a news crew camped out in front of her real place. Somehow they had followed them here.
There had been a news story on TV a few nights ago about Won and his not so monogamous affairs. They had gone into great detail when giving the news story. There were pictures and everything. They had made a crazy demand that Won choose who he like: Kang Da Kyung, Jeon Hyeon Joo or the mysterious woman he had just met. Luckily for her, they hadn't said anything about her. That didn't mean they didn't know who she was. She wasn't going to delude herself.
She had left the man before the story had even broken. Did she miss the man who had taken care of her? Yes, she missed him terribly, but what she missed most was their friendship. She could talk to him about anything. Most of the time the conversations revolved around his love life and her illness, but she hadn't cared. He had been a true friend. Now this was happening.
She wondered how he was doing. Won always had a habit of writing everything down. She had stumbled across his journal while stumbling through the room to the bathroom. Because he had been at work and she had been bored, she had read it from cover to cover. She had learned more about him that way than she had talking to him.
"What is Won-ssi even doing when all of this is going on?" Hoon asked as he looked down from another window.
Soohyun knew what he was doing. He was trying to find a way to keep everything away from her, but it was a little too late. They had already found out where she was staying. It was only a matter of time before they found out about her medical history. Then things were going to get really interesting.
"Noona?" She turned to look at Hoon. "We can stay home all day if you want. We don't have to go out."
She shook her head. "I have to. I need to pick up my new prescriptions and run a couple of errands."
Hoon slid up beside her and felt her forehead. Crinkling his, he frowned deeply. "You're running fever. Are you sure you should go out? It's kind of chilly outside."
"I'll wear a jacket, but I need to go."
Hoon Jin looked at Soohyun and wondered when things had gotten so bad. She had never been like this before. Usually she would just let it roll over her, but she was actually taking all of this deep into thought.
Sighing he stood behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. He propped his chin on her shoulder, kissing her ear when she turned to look at him.
"Do you want to go back to Kim Won-ssi?" he asked. She shook her head. "Noona," he spun her around to look at him, "you don't have to stay here. You can go anywhere you want. I'm not going to stop you."
Soohyun sighed and turned away from him to get ready. She didn't want to leave but she wasn't sure Hoon Jin could handle all of this. He had done well with the sickness but having the spotlight on him was new. He wasn't the most even keeled person she knew.
He was waiting on her when she came from her room. He helped her into a light jacket then followed her out the door. They were silent as they rode the elevator down to the lobby. Hoon stepped up to her side and took her hand before they started for the front of the building. His hand was warm and strong as he let her take the lead.
Flashbulbs went off instantly as people started yelling. Hoon shifted to pull her into his side and shield her face as he pushed his way through the crowd to his car on the street. He hadn't wanted to park in the garage but now he wished he had. They stood on either side of him as he opened the door and shoved Soohyun into the car. He fought his way through them so he could get around to the other side, fighting the snarls that were building up in his chest.
The ride to run errands was long and quiet. Hoon told Soohyun to stay in the car while he ran in to get her prescriptions and something for lunch. When he returned, she was asleep in the front seat. He ran by Zeus Hotel to turn in the paperwork she had filled out for another extended leave. Her boss looked at it with a frown. Clearly everyone enjoyed her presence. It had only been a year since she had returned and now she was gone again. He had a feeling they were wondering what her track record would be if she was fully healed.
Once again when he got into the car and looked over at Soohyun. Terror flooded through him. He remembered what had happened the first time she had gone through chemo. She had nearly died. Without a second thought, he put the car in gear and zipped down the street.
((&
Hyun Joon sat in a meeting with the shareholders. He wasn't thrilled with his boss at the moment. They had gotten into it as soon as he had walked into the office. It had been a glorified yelling match. He had laid into him about using his sister.
True to his nature Won fired back. He had argued that Soohyun had voluntarily agreed to live with him. It wasn't his fault that the press had found out about the situation.
Hyun Joon hadn't believed him and argued that if he hadn't broken off his engagement this wouldn't have happened. His sister wouldn't be the brunt of all the news reports. They were making her out to be a gold digger.
They had argued right up until the time of the meeting. While he had given his report, Hyun Joon had refused to look at Won even though the man was the one he was supposed to be convincing. Everyone else seemed to notice because they a shifted uncomfortably.
Right in the middle his phone started to ring in his pocket. Not unusual, Hyun Joon ignored it. If they needed him they'd leave a voicemail.
He knew something was wrong when it continued to ring. He pulled it out to check the Caller I.D., and his blood ran cold. Hoon never called him unless it was an emergency. He jumped up out of his chair and disappeared out the door.
Won knew something was up because Hyun Joon never left a meeting even if he was mad at Won. The man didn't return even after the meeting had ended.
One of the secretaries to a manager was standing at his door with a handful of files. She followed him into the room and set the blue packets on his desk.
"Do you know what happened to Lee Hyun Joon?" he asked on the off chance that he did.
"He said he had to go to the hospital. That his sister had been rushed to the ER. He said that if you needed anything to call him," she answered.
Won stared at the desk as he processed what he had just been told. Soohyun had been taken to the hospital again. No one had called him. He didn't know what had happened and no one had thought he needed to know.
He tried to curb his temper and clicked on his news feed. The ticker was still all about him and his escapades. There was a picture of a hospital and a headline that read "CEO's Secret Woman Hospitalized for Unknown Reasons." He clicked on it and listened to the story.
"Today just after eleven o'clock, the mysterious woman known as Miss K was seen being rushed to the hospital. Miss K is the woman Kim Won-ssi, CEO of Jeguk Group, left his fiancé Kang Da Kyung for. Since we broke the news about the affair two weeks ago, Miss K had disappeared from sight. Now we understand why. The woman was sick and spending time in a hospital. There has been no news of what her condition is but we will keep you appraised of everything when we find out."
The reporter went on to another story and Won hit the mute button. Da Kyung wouldn't have released the story because they had come to an agreement, but the same couldn't be said about her father and mother. Her father had pulled his support of his position as CEO and was now backing Madame Jung. The woman had received a decent portion of the company when she had divorced Won's father, but it hadn't been enough for her to take over. If Won lost three more supporters, he would have to step down. This story might be enough to do that, especially if Mr. Kang was feeling jipped.
The door to his office opened again. Looking up, he saw Da Kyung standing before him. She looked concerned, almost near tears. It was at that moment he knew the woman hadn't spread the rumors. She obviously had had no idea what had been said about Soohyun.
"Is she okay?" she asked immediately. "The news said she collapsed. Why are you still here?"
Won stood and walked over to her, pulling her down to sit in the chairs at the table. "I don't know if she's okay. No one has called me about anything."
Da Kyung stared at him. "How can you not know? Isn't she living with you?"
He shook his head. "She moved out two weeks ago. She's been living with Hoon Jin. Somehow they found his apartment. I don't even know where it is and they found it. As far as I know, she's never been out and about with him." He looked at her again. "Did you leak any information about her?"
She shook her head. "I never even told my dad. He asked and asked but I wouldn't tell him. It wasn't anyone in my family."
"Who would do it then?"
"I don't know, but you don't need to be sitting here. Your friend is in the hospital and you don't know what's going on. How does that look to anyone? She's supposed to be your girlfriend and here you sit."
The word triggered something. He looked at Da Kyung with a weird look. She tilted her head at him. "What if it was another woman who was upset at me?"
"Do you think Hyeon Joo is petty enough to do that? Didn't she walk away from you?" she asked.
He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. I don't know who would do this. Hyeon Joo has always made her thoughts known to me. I haven't seen her since that day I ran into her at the gift shop when I was with Soohyun."
"I've seen her. She said she wanted to get back together with you but knew she couldn't because of me. I also told her about Soohyun. She knew everything. She could have done it."
Won shook his head. "The only thing is we won't be able to find out. News programs are legally safe to protect their sources. They won't have to tell us."
"What if we can go about it a completely different way? We can make up a couple of other rumors and stake out the studios, newspapers and everything that gives news. Then when someone comes to say no, they aren't right, we can nab them and find out who it is."
"That could also be called lying in wait. It could also be called illegal."
She frowned at him. "If you don't do something, Soohyun will suffer even more. She's already sick. This will make the healing process even harder because she won't be able to go anywhere without being recognized."
Won just stared at her for a long while. She had given him grief over his friendship with Soohyun and had even broken their engagement. Now here she was making a point to tell him that he needed to go see the woman she didn't like. He didn't know if she was trying to make amends or trying to ease her conscience, but at that moment, he was glad he had someone on his side because Hyun Joon and Hoon Jin clearly weren't.