CHAPTER 31

SAIA'S POV:

Boo Ki's head lays in my lap as I watch Woo Bin speak quietly to several of his men. She curled up on the couch beside me and fell asleep not long after we reached Woo Bin's house. We are both still in shock over what happened tonight. I never imagined anything like this would happen. I can still feel the heat from the blast on my skin and my ears still ring from the noise. Woo Bin has a burn on his shoulder but other than that we are very lucky to be alright.

The door opens and Ji-Hoo comes rushing in. His eyes immediately fall on me and I see the relief on his face when he sees I'm okay. My heart aches at the sight of him and I let my eyes fall to Boo Ki's sleeping face. I'm honestly not surprised he is the first one to arrive. Woo Bin called all the F4 to come to his house to tell them what happened tonight. He doesn't want to risk telling them over the phone. My eyes burn and I desperately try to keep myself calm as Woo Bin approaches Ji-Hoo.

"Are they okay?" Ji-Hoo asks him.

"Yes, as much as can be expected anyway." Woo Bin says coolly. Boo Ki stirs in my lap and sits up.

"How are you feeling? Do you want anything?" I ask her.

"I could use some water." She says quietly. I make my way out of Woo Bin's office and towards the kitchen, grateful to be away from Ji-Hoo so that I can think again. I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and look up in surprise when Woo Bin walks in.

"Are you okay?" He asks. I nod my head but he watches me skeptically. "Yi Jung and Ga Eul are here. I won't leave you alone with Ji-Hoo."

"Thanks but… He didn't kiss her back Woo Bin-ah." I quietly say. I swallow hard and try not to let my emotions overwhelm me.

"…What?"

"Ji-Hoo. He didn't kiss Seo Hyun back. It has played over and over so much in my head that I finally realized that he never kissed her back."

He looks at me thoughtfully and I can see he is thinking back on it too. "Yes." He says slowly. "You're right. He didn't kiss her back. The only time he touched her was to push her away." His eyes grow wide as the realization hits him. "So if you knew this, why haven't you said anything?"

"He didn't deny it Woo Bin-ah. He didn't defend himself in any way. Plus I realized that I have become so focused on him and everyone else, I haven't really taken time for myself. I need some space to sort things out and I want to help you catch these guys, especially after tonight."

"Okay…But when are you going to talk to Ji-Hoo? I'm still pissed off at the guy but he does still love you."

"I don't know." I say uncertainly. The door swings open again as Ji-Hoo walks in. His eyes narrow at Woo Bin and I almost laugh over the fact that he still gets jealous after everything that has happened.

Woo Bin clears his throat and takes the bottle of water out of my hand. "I'll take this to Boo Ki." He says and leaves me standing alone with Ji-Hoo. Thanks a lot Woo Bin… I can't believe he just did that to me!

Ji-Hoo quietly watches me as I stare at my hands. His neutral mask is carefully in place and his eyes are guarded. He's waiting for me to react first so that he knows how to respond but I stubbornly keep silent. He moves closer to me until he is only an arm's length away and I have to fight the urge to run away. I still remember the look of pain on his face when I had pulled away from him. It's the only thing that keeps me from running right now. I can't bear the thought of doing that to him again. But I'm still hurt and I don't know if I'm ready for this conversation.

"…I heard about what happened. I'm glad the two of you are all right." He says quietly.

I nod as I watch my finger draw circles on the counter top. My heart feels like it is trying to leap out of my chest. His breathing is shallow and fast. I can tell he is just as nervous as I am.

"Why won't you say it?" I finally ask. "You didn't kiss her back so why won't you say it?"

"Because I never should have let her touch me in the first place."

"Why did you?"

"I was so exhausted from that double shift… I didn't realize what she was doing till it was too late." He says weakly. Still staring at the counter, I nod my head.

"I believe you…but… I need time Ji-Hoo-ssi." I say quietly. "Not because I don't trust you but because I need to get my head on straight again. After everything that has happened, I really need to focus on myself for a little while." I finally raise my head to look at him and he lifts his head from staring at the floor.

"I can wait. I'll wait for however long it takes."

His earnest sincerity is almost my undoing but I force myself to turn away and walk towards the door. I hesitate before leaving and turn to look back at him. He stands where I left him. His head hangs down against his chest and his eyes are closed. The only sign of his inner turmoil is his clenched fists at his sides. What am I doing? What if I had died tonight?

"Ji-Hoo?" he lifts his head and opens his eyes to look at me. "I miss you and… I still love you very much."

"I love you too Saia."

(^_^)

Sitting on the floor of the dance studio in Woo Bin's house, I gingerly take off one of my toe shoes. My foot is a bloody mess and I cringe. Ji-Hoo sits down on the floor in front of me with his medical bag and takes my foot in his hands while I remove my other shoe. We have settled into a strange routine the past four days. Ji-Hoo has shown up every day at the end of my practice to clean up the wounds on my feet. We haven't spoken at all since that night in the kitchen but he has stubbornly been here to take care of my feet since then.

I scowl at the newest blister on my left foot as Ji-Hoo cleans the broken and bleeding toenail on my right one. He doesn't seem to get the idea of needing "time and space" but I think he wants to be here more for himself than for me and I am grateful for his care. My ankle makes a loud pop as I shift to let him tend to my other foot and he looks at me in surprise. He smiles at the grimace on my face and lifts my foot into his lap. I let out a hiss of pain when the alcohol touches my new blister but he tries to be as gentle as possible. Leaning back to watch him, I twist my right foot till it pops. He smiles and when he's done tending to my wounds, he presses his thumbs into my arch. The pressure feels so good that I close my eyes as he continues to massage my foot.

"Sunbae. Saia. Woo Bin wants to talk to us in his office." Jan Di says from the doorway.

"Okay. Thanks Jan Di-ah." I say and she beams at me. I hobble towards his office with Ji-Hoo close behind me. My sore feet make walking for me unsteady and he keeps close to me in case I need help. Everyone is already in Woo Bin's office, including Min Seo Hyun. I plop down next to Boo Ki on one of the couches and Ji-Hoo sits in Woo Bin's chair behind his desk.

"The people that bombed Boo Ki's apartment are very, very good. Not only did they control the power of the blast, they made it look like it was caused by a gas leak." Woo Bin says.

"Seriously? How is that possible? No gas leak would explode like that." Jun Pyo scoffs.

"Actually, yes it can under rare circumstances." Woo Bin counters.

"What about the trigger?" Yi Jung asks. "A gas leak wouldn't cause an explosion by the door knob turning. Something else would have to set it off."

"That's where the genius of this explosion comes in. All the materials they used for the trigger point dissolved with the blast. The only reason we found any evidence of it is because we knew what we were looking for."

"But I'm guessing, the police have ruled it as a gas explosion…" Jun Pyo says.

"Of course but honestly I think it's for the best. We still need to keep a low profile for now. Saia and Boo Ki have been a huge help trying to single this guy out. We managed to narrow it down to three guys."

"How do we know that all three of them aren't involved in all this?" Jae Kyung points out.

"Whoever these guys are, we know that they are too selfish to share power. Their partners won't be in the same government but in governments all over the world. There's only one guy in Korea that we need to find."

(^_^)

I have a way of narrowing down our search but I don't particularly like the thought. It isn't a good idea to tell the others just yet either because I know they will be completely against it and won't hear me out. It sucks really. I was the one that did the research on Kim Tae Mu and discovered that Kang Woo is his son. Even though Kang Woo is an ass, he did at least try to apologize even though it was a little late. It gives me a tiny shred of hope that maybe he isn't as bad as everyone thinks but I'm not counting on it.

I walk into the hospital not really sure of what I am going to say to him but I know I am probably the only one that has a chance of finding out if Tae Mu is the one involved. I feel a little guilty for ditching DK, the bodyguard that Woo Bin has following me, but I really need to do this alone. I even made sure that I came when Ji-Hoo isn't working.

"Excuse me but could you please tell me where I can find Dr. Kim Kang Woo?" I ask the girl at the front desk. She gives me directions and I find him talking to a patient in the E.R. He looks up when I approach and stares at me in disbelief. He looks like he's just seen a ghost. I guess he's just as surprised to see me as I am to be here.

"I need to talk to you." I say.

He nods and leads me to his office. He looks at me nervously as he sits down and I look around his office curiously. It's sparsely decorated, much like Ji-Hoo's, but somehow Kang Woo's office still feels cold to me.

"So? What do you want to talk about?" He asks. Sitting down across from him, I take a close look at him. His eyes are guarded and I wonder if he was like that when we were together. I honestly can't remember.

"I was wondering if you could tell me about your father." I say.

He gives a snort of laughter and smirks at me. "My father? All you have to do is pick up a newspaper or a political magazine. You'll find out everything there is to know about him."

"…Really? So everything there is to know about Kim Tae Mu is out in the open? His life is an open book?" I ask skeptically. He shifts a little uncomfortably in his chair but covers it up with a smirk.

"What? Are you a reporter now? Trying to get an exclusive interview or something? He's a politician but he's still human. I'm sure he has secrets just like anyone else."

"Do those secrets include my father?"

Kang Woo's mask slips for only a second but it's enough to see that I hit a sore spot. "My father would never be associated with a family like yours, especially with a psycho serial killer. It would destroy his career."

"Right, because your family is so perfect and squeaky clean…or is it because my family and I are trash in your eyes even though my brother, sister, and I had no choice in what family we were born into." I say coldly. I see a flash of guilt in his eyes along with some kind of inner turmoil but he obviously isn't going to explain. Discouraged, I stand up to leave but before I reach the door he stops me by grabbing my hand. I look at him in surprise but he just stares in disbelief at my hand clasped in his.

"Kang Woo…" I say warningly.

"Listen to me." he says hesitantly before he looks into my eyes. "You should leave South Korea. Go to China or India for awhile."

"What?"

"You aren't stupid. I know you wouldn't be here if you didn't have a valid reason. You have no idea what you are entangled in. You should go someplace safe, somewhere that you can get lost in for awhile."

"Are you telling me to run away?"

"Ani. I'm asking you to not be so stubborn and brave for once. Just walk away. Please. Take Boo Ki with you. Think of it as an adventure or something."

"Have you lost your mind? I can't do that!"

"Why, because of Ji-Hoo?" he snaps. I angrily twist my arm out of his and walk out of his office. "Saia… Saia, wait!" he grabs my arm and I turn to him, yanking myself free.

"I didn't want to come here. I didn't want to see you. But I thought that maybe, just maybe, you aren't as selfish as I remember. So I came hoping that you would help but you haven't changed. You are still just as cold-hearted as you always have been."

"Am I?" He growls at me. I've never seen him so angry but I'm not afraid of him. "Is it really so selfish for me to want you out of the line of fire? You're the one that's so damn selfish. You put yourself in a position to make people worry about you all the time. Stop trying to protect everyone and do what I ask for once, damn it!"

"Why should I? I don't owe you anything!"

"Is everything alright here, Miss Caelum?" I look behind me to see Dr. Park watching us carefully. I turn back to look at Kang Woo as he stares angrily at the floor.

"Yes, Dr. Park. Everything is fine." I say.

"I thought you were dead. He told me you were dead. Please just go while you still can." Kang Woo pleads in a hushed voice.

"I can't." I tell him and I walk away.

A/N: I just want everyone to know that I haven't revealed things about Boo Ki for a reason. I haven't forgotten her or anything. The same goes for the whole Woo Bin, Jae Kyung, and Boo Ki situation. I do know what is going to happen to them but my dear readers will have to wait a little longer. ^^ I do welcome any theories any of you may have though. They are a lot of fun to read. ^^ Thanks for reading!