Author's Note: So I've been listening to "Chok Chok" by Super Junior D&E, and I got to say that I have no idea why I laugh every time. It probably because every time I watch a video of it at a Super Show, Donghae and Eunhyuk are running around with those springy antennae headband things on and Heechul is jumping around in a Kimono. I die every time I hear it. But that has nothing to do with story. I'm just putting my playlist out. This is what I write to.
Anyway, this story is going to be short as of now because I'm not getting any inspiration at the moment. I know what I want to happen this chapter and in the end but I haven't figured the in between bits yet. Any help would be appreciated, but it could also lead to another story.
Also! I have a correction to make. Thanks to a lovely review, I now know the real name of Yi Jeong's father. I made up a name because it was so hard to find him. I had to go back and rewatch the episodes where he is. But his name is changed here and will be throughout the rest of the story(ies). Thanks, jayjayzek!
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Ga Eul sat on the couch with Ahn Na as Woo Bin made dinner. It had been three days since Bin Ji had gotten hurt. The swelling on his brain had decreased but not by much. His little body was bruised and swollen from Min Ho's falling on him, but he didn't seem to be in too much danger other than the brain. He was going to be staying in ICU from now on.
Woo Bin's family and Min Ho had been taking turns keeping vigil at the boy's bedside. When they found out that Min ho had saved their grandson from even worse injuries, Woo Jun and Ka Lee had taken care of all of his medical bills. They had even brought him food whenever they knew he was going to be there. Since Woo Bin had to work, they alternated who would come in at what time and who would stay overnight.
While everyone was worried about the four year old boy in the hospital, Eri was scarce. She rarely came home and no one had seen her at the hospital since the day Bin Ji was brought in. No one had seen her, even Yi Jeong who knew her habits best when she was in a state of duress.
On the surface it seemed like Woo Bin didn't care, but underneath he was worried. He was the only one Eri talked to and that was through text only. She never told him where she was, only that she was fine. Everyone knew she wasn't fine but she wasn't talking to anyone to let them know that.
His heart hurt. His son was in the hospital and his wife was MIA. Nothing about this situation felt right, but there was nothing he could do about it. Not understanding what made his wife tick was the hardest part of his marriage. One minute she's making leaps and bounds and the next she's back in her shell. He couldn't keep up with it so he tended to take a step back more than he should.
Yi Jeong walked into the house caked in clay. He kicked off his shoes at the front door and pulled off his apron to toss beside them. He walked over to Ga Eul and kissed the side of her head. He ruffled Ahn Na's hair playfully then went into the kitchen to see what Woo Bin was up to.
He pulled a cucumber off the cutting board and popped it in his mouth. "Where's Eri?"
Woo Bin shook his head as he dumped vegetables into the pan. "I don't know. I haven't heard from her today."
Yi Jeong sighed and frowned. Frustrated as he was, he knew better than to go out guns blazing. Not paying attention to what his family was saying, he put on a clean pair of shoes and left the house. There was no point in taking the car so he just walked to the studio.
The night air was hot so his skin moistened immediately. He was soaked by the time he walked the five minutes to the studio. The lights were on and the door unlocked so he walked right on in.
Ji Hoo looked at him from the doorway. He was pleasantly surprised to find him there when no one else had known. He gave him a look that clearly asked what was going on.
"I followed her from the hospital. She stopped in to talk to Bo Na then left before anyone saw her. She's been staying here after you leave, and leaving before you come in. It's really smart to hide in plain sight," he whispered.
They watched in silence as Eri dimmed the lights. Super Junior started blaring from the speakers as she stood in the middle of the room. They couldn't see what she was doing at first, but as she moved around the tarp covered floor, the realized she was working on something.
It was a glass box. She was walking around it with a hammer and nail and tapping the glass gently in random spaces. They watched the spider cracks spread out across the pristine structure.
Satisfied, she tossed the tools away and grabbed a bucket of paint as Super Junior's Donghae and Eunhyuk sang about Chok Chok. Ji Hoo watched as she took paint and smeared it over the glass. The cracks absorbed the thick material and made the glass even more in depth.
Without warning, she picked the hammer up and shattered the box. Glass and paint flew everywhere, bright colors shining through the dim light. She didn't move for a long time even as glass sat on her shoes and the floor.
The song changed to something slow and more intimate. One of them should have probably should have gone in because what she did next stunned them both. She took one of the vases she had made and tossed it at the wall. It was followed by a few more plus a couple of bowls and a flat disc she had randomly made one day.
"Why does she always tear up my studio?" Yi Jeong mused.
"Because you made it a safe haven. None of us come here when we know she's upset. Except for you and her, we don't have a key for the building. Why wouldn't she go home?" Ji Hoo wondered.
"I'm there. I'll know immediately when something is wrong. Have you seen her at the hospital at all?"
Ji Hoo shook his head. "This is the first time. Bo Na is in charge of night shift lately and she said Eri comes in at like two in the morning. Min Ho has been staying overnight recently, but he doesn't see her either. It seems she is very stealthy about all of this."
Yi Jeong sighed again, this time resting his head on the doorjamb. There was nothing that flabbergasted him more than this side of Eri. She always kept things internalized but showed them in her work. Happiness, sadness, annoyance, anger, it all came out in the paintings or the clay. But this was new. He had only seen her destroy one piece of artwork since he had known her and that was years ago.
When the dust cleared, they watched her lay on the dirty table with one foot propped up. She scratched around the cochlear implants lodged in her skull.
"You know," she said aloud suddenly, "I want to reverse this. Maybe it's better to be deaf once again. I have never regretted anything in my life. Not losing my family, giving up my job, moving to Korea and getting married, but this," she pointed to her ears, "this I regret."
Both of them moved into the studio as she continued talking. "Since I've gotten these implanted, I don't feel like me. I don't feel like Song Eri. I feel like I'm someone else. The silence was blissful. I could disappear into for days and not care."
"That's selfish," Ji Hoo scolded. She rolled her head to look at him. "You have a family to take care of. Your son is in the hospital."
"Think about it for a moment, Ji Hoo," Yi Jeong stopped him. "We've all wondered what was going on. Eri normally is very quiet and reserved, but lately it's been even worse. You've had your hands full with Kyu Lee and your baby arriving so you haven't seen everything. What's been going on? You know the confidence of this space. You can say anything you want here and it won't leave. It's like Las Vegas."
"It's only been a year since I've had these implanted, but for the last few months I've had constant migraines. They get so bad I can't even go out, much less stay with my kids."
"What did your audiologist say?" Ji Hoo asked as he stretched out beside her.
She shook her head. "He said there was nothing I could do. That was two weeks ago. I think I'm better off going back and having them removed."
"What made you think of this suddenly?" Yi Jeong questioned although he was certain he knew the answer.
"Bin Ji. It was when I was wrapping his head after he cut it on some glass. Head wounds bleed more than everything else. It made me wonder how much I bled when they did these." She touched the devices once again. "Then I remembered I hadn't taken anything for the headache but when I went to get it, I saw blood all over my hands."
"What is going on here? Is it something that I may want to be part of?" All three looked over as Yi Jeong's father walked further into the studio. Yi Jeong slid off the table and met him halfway. "What? Are you keeping me from the party?"
"Now is not the time to be doing this," Yi Jeong hissed.
"I have never formally introduced myself," his father said, completely bypassing him and going straight for Eri. Ji Hoo stood and crossed his arms over his chest. "I can't greet my son's lover?"
"She's Woo Bin's wife, Mr. So," Ji Hoo stated icily.
"All the more reason for me to introduce myself." He looked over the young man's shoulder and cringed. "What in the world are those things?"
"Father!" Yi Jeong shoved him away from his friends. "Those are cochlear implants. They help hearing impaired people hear."
Recognition lit up his father's face. "So this is the woman who helped you make the wash basin and pitcher. I wondered who could have such lovely hands to rival my son's. Now know it was a woman whose hands matched her face." He smiled. "My name is So Hyun Sub. I am Yi Jeong's father."
Yi Jeong didn't like the look Eri gave his father. He had seen it one too many times before and it always led to an altercation of some sort. She slid off the table and stepped up beside Ji Hoo. They were nearly the same height when she stood straight up.
"So you're the father who doesn't know how to keep a woman happy?" she said. She punctuated that with full look over. "Unfortunately I don't see anything special about you so why would I want you to join my party? If we're clearly having fun without you, why should we ruin that?"
Ji Hoo had to keep a straight face even when Yi Jeong couldn't. There was that mouth once again. Even when she was having a hard time in her personal life, Eri could always find time to put people back in their places. Hyun Sub had instilled in his son the value of a good looking woman. Yi Jeong had finally gotten away from it when he met Ga Eul but his dad still thought that it was the best thing from him.
Hyun Sub made a move towards her. Ji Hoo grabbed her arm to pull her back but she pulled out of his grasp. He met Yi Jeong's gaze over his father's shoulder and asked what he should do. The other man shrugged. They were at a loss.
But one thing was for certain. All that pain and anger were firmly behind closed doors. The Eri that stared out of that face was the Eri they knew; the unfeeling, rock-solid woman who took everything head on.
"I'm pretty sure if I begged nicely I would be able to get him to do whatever I wanted. That includes using this place as a secret love nest. I'm not sure how much you've heard, but these guys do whatever I ask. My temper is legendary amongst them. How do you think I got Woo Bin? It wasn't because of my personality."
Yi Jeong plugged his nose to keep the snort from coming out as he choked on his laughter. Leave it to her to come up with the crudest thing ever to say to his father. She had a bad habit of baiting people, but they weren't too smart not to fall for it.
Unfortunately his father was the same way. He rose to the bait way too easily. He stepped into her personal space and almost pressed his nose into her neck. He raised a hand to run his fingers through her hair. Yi Jeong instantly what she was going to do the minute he spoke.
"Why don't you come with me?" Hyun Sub had no shame.
The smile that spread across Eri's face was humorless. In the blink of an eye, she grabbed Hyun Sub's hand and twisted until it was halfway up his back. Woo Bin had taught her well. After applying pressure, she shoved him away.
"Do you really think I'd be with a man who's been had by almost every young socialite? You've really lost your mind," she quipped. She looked at Ji Hoo. "I'm going home. I've got some things to talk about with Woo Bin."
He nodded. "Good idea. Call me tomorrow if you need anything."
They watched her leave, waiting until she was out of the building before they turned their ire on Yi Jeong's father.