Author's Note: I'm all better! I can move around without my belly feeling like it's trying to escape. That is a very wonderful feeling. Anyway. Sorry it's taken so long to post. I was at church then I had to clean the house. It's almost over! It makes me sad. Feel free to ask for any kind of story after this.
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The next morning Ji Hoo walked into Eri's room and wasn't surprised to find Yi Jeong or Francois asleep. The former had somehow weaseled his way into the patient's bed. The kindly grandfather was asleep in the chair. Eri had her head tucked into Yi Jeong's shoulder. The three looked like something out of a manhwa.
He sat down on the windowsill and cracked open his latest book. It was something Eri had recommended. At first he thought the woman was mental for recommending a French story, but as he read he found himself falling into the book so deeply he couldn't put it down. If she ever found out he would never hear the end of it.
Out of habit, every few seconds he would glance up at the incessantly beeping monitor just to make sure his friend was still with him. After hearing she had coded on the table, Ji Hoo had wanted to keep a vigil on her. Unfortunately he'd had other things to deal with, so he had left that to Yi Jeong and Francois. If anyone could do it, it was them.
He'd had his hands full with his other friend. Woo Bin hadn't wanted to stay in his bed. He had asked nonstop if he could go see his girlfriend. No matter how many times Ji Hoo had told him she was fine and resting like he should be, he still wanted to go. So to ease the bitching and bellyaching, they'd sedated him.
He heard the door open and looked up. Kyu Lee walked in and stopped just inside the door. She stared at the bed, then looked at him. He shrugged. There wasn't anything he could do. Yi Jeong would put up a fight if they told him to move and the man was scary when he was angry. He had thrown his beloved pots once.
Kyu Lee took the vitals and everything else she needed before quietly leaving the room. There was no need for her to remain after that. He blew out a deep breath and tried to focus on his book, but the look on the woman's face was seared into his brain. What was he going to do? He wasn't any good at this. He had figured that out in high school when he had been friend zoned by both Seo Hyun and Jan Di. His heart couldn't take another friend zoning.
He was always nagging Eri to tell him what she was feeling, but he felt like a hypocrite. He couldn't say what he was feeling for fear that someone will misinterpret them. He really shouldn't feel that way. He had had a firm grasp on all of his emotions from the time he was a child. Eri hadn't, and yet every time he told her to let hers out he felt like he was talking more to himself than to her.
"Tell her how you feel," came the muted phrase from his left.
He looked over and saw Eri watching him. Seeing her awake brought another sigh out of him and smile took over the frown. He would have moved if not for Yi Jeong. He didn't want to wake the man.
"If you don't tell people how you feel, you'll never know if they feel the same for you in return," she said.
His smile saddened. "I think I may have heard that before."
"You have. It's what you said to me not too long ago."
He had. She'd had a hard time dealing with Kyu Lee and had spent more time at Yi Jeong's studio than she had at home. He had finally hunted her down and talked to her about everything. He'd said that no one could exclude her feelings on things, and all she had to do was speak up. He'd said those exact words to her that day and she was finally using them on him.
She sat up, something he was horrified to see. She didn't act like she was in pain, but that could be the morphine doing its job. "Look by grandpere." He did as she asked and was surprised to see a violin case. "I want you to play for me."
"But you won't hear it. They took your hearing aids," he argued.
"Just do it."
Nervous, he picked up the case and flipped the latches. He hadn't picked on up since sophomore year of college. He wasn't even sure his fingers would remember the right cords. He looked at Eri hoping she would tell him he didn't have to do it, but she was snuggling back into her place.
He pulled the bow out of its snug position and reached for the violin. His hand shook just a little bit as his fingers closed around it. He put it to his chin and tested the strings all were in tune, something that significantly surprised him. The instrument was old by the fading on the chin piece and the neck.
He pulled the bow across the strings and they resonated with a beautifully sad sound. Not even three bars into the music and he was lost. His fingers remembered every note, every melody as he drew the bow across the strings. He let the music take him somewhere far away, somewhere he hadn't been in a very long time.
He was back at Shinhwa High School in his secluded area that only a few people knew. He could feel the crisp fall morning as the wind rustled the leaves above him, adding to the majesty that was classical music. He wasn't Dr. Yoon Ji Hoo. He was Yoon Ji Hoo, senior at Shinhwa High School and member of F4. He was sought after by every woman who had money or wished to have money. He could see the fire escape where he would sleep, and talk to Jan Di.
He was emotionless Yoon Ji Hoo, the man who didn't register anyone on his level except F4. He was just flying by because no one had interested him. The only way for him to express how he felt was through the very thing he held in his hand.
And that's exactly what he was doing in the recovery room of the hospital. It didn't matter that his boss could walk in any time. It didn't matter that he hadn't played in years. It didn't matter that he was lost in his own little world. All that mattered was that he was expressing everything he couldn't say with words.
He let go. Everything he was feeling – sadness, rage, love, hate, annoyance, despair, heartache – everything was let go in this piece. It was a piece he had memorized long ago but it had an even more special meaning now. He was sad that Eri couldn't have any more kids. He was mad and hated the person who had done this. He hated his past heartache that made him indecisive. He loved being in love, but he was annoyed at how much he craved to say the words. And he despaired for not being able to say those words before the woman had chosen another.
When he drew the bow over the strings for the last time, he felt raw and ragged. He looked over to see Yi Jeong wide awake and watching him. Eri wiped a tear sliding down her face then looked up at him.
"I have never heard a more beautiful yet sad rendition before." Ji Hoo was shocked to see François watching him. "Anyone who can make my ma petit-fille cry like that must have some pent up sadness that only she can see."
"Grandpa," he breathed. Everything was still so fresh he couldn't find the words to say.
"It's okay, ma petit-fils. Music was created to give us an outlet to our emotions. We cry, laugh, scream, panic, breathe, and eat to music. It has become a sincere part of every person. No matter how many times you lie to yourself, this," he grabbed Ji Hoo's hand holding the violin, "will never lie. You are at your rawest when you freely give in to the music."
"I haven't heard you play like that in years," Yi Jeong said.
"For a musician not to play for years, it must be very hard. Imagine if you were not allowed to do pottery for a year. A few months when injured is easy to endure, but years? I could not imagine."
Eri hit the button to raise the bed up. When she was happy with its height, she swung her legs over the edge, much to the dismay of the men.
"Should you be moving?" Yi Jeong asked.
She glared at him then said, "I need to go to the bathroom. Are you going to help me or just sit there?"
Reprimanded and slightly disturbed, the man slid off the other side of the bed and walked around. He helped her down and into the bathroom where she promptly closed the door on him while muttering something about idiot boys. François couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out as he watched his granddaughter boss around two grown men. When she was done, she opened the door and Yi Jeong helped her back in the bed.
"Are you angry?" Ji Hoo asked.
She shook her head. "No. I've already made peace with it even if it was just in my dreams. I know it would be hard after the trauma I've already been through. I was very lucky to have a beautiful child."
Saddened by the thought, he excused himself to go check on Woo Bin. Luckily the man had been discharged and went home to change out of bloody clothes. He returned with clothing not only for Eri but for the baby as well. They weren't going to let him wear some of it while in the NICU, but as soon as he was released he could wear it.
His bandaged face widened in a smile seconds before Ji Hoo realized he was flanked by his parents. Song Woo Jun and Lee Ka Lee were almost as formidable as Kang Hee Soo with one difference. They had actually allowed their son to make decisions on his own. When they found out he was dating Eri, they hadn't said no. They had asked how old she was, who her father was, what he did, what her mother did and what her plans for the future were. Not once did they mention that their relationship was ill-fated. Out of the four of them, Woo Bin had the best parents.
"How is she?" Ka Lee asked as soon as they were together.
"She's awake and moving around. I'm sure Woo Bin has told you everything," he said as he turned them towards the elevator that would lead them to Eri's room.
"He did. We're here to see our grandson. We know it is against traditions, but since Eri is half French, we assumed she would not know the Korean birth traditions," Woo Jun explained.
"I would be surprised if she did."
He knocked on the door before he slid it open. Eri was sitting in the chair her grandfather had preoccupied before he left. She smiled at him, waving slightly with her IVed hand. Woo Bin brushed past him.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, kneeling down to take her face in his hands. They had matching bandages on their faces. He was facing her so she could read his lips.
She pulled his hands from her face but held them in her lap. "I'm fine. I'm not hurting particularly badly right now. Did you bring what I needed?" He nodded and handed her a black case. She pulled the hearing aids out and popped them in her ears. "Finally. I can hear instead of lip reading. Hello, Woo Jun, Ka Lee.
"We're breaking traditions for you," Ka Lee said as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Normally we wouldn't visit the mother so soon, but seeing as you are classified as French, I assume you do not know."
"Mom," Woo Bin warned.
But Eri waved his warning away. "I may be used to French customs, but my father expressed to me the value of his Korean heritage when I was little. I still remember most of it. If you are ashamed to have broken your traditions, I will not think it a slant against me if you walk out that door. But you are free to visit me any time."
Woo Jun smiled approvingly at his son. "You have a feisty woman, my son. Have you decided on a name?"
"Dad, before we tell anyone that, let me introduce you to François DeArgint, Eri's grandfather," Woo Bin introduced.
Woo Jun's mouth fell slack as he stared at the older gentleman in the room. "François DeArgint? The François DeArgint? The one who owns DeArgint Mining and Construction?"
François nodded. "Yes, but my oldest son is in charge since I retired last year. Are you Song Woo Jun?"
"Yes, yes, I am. It is an honor to meet you. Woo Bin, did you know that this man is the second highest shareholder in our company?"
"Grandpere?" Eri asked, the incredulity in her voice completely fake. Woo Jun and Woo Bin looked at her. "Uncle Etienne isn't the biggest shareholder in your company. I am."
The father and son looked at the grandfather. He cleared his throat in the way only old men can and fumbled with his hands. "I transferred all my accounts into Eri's possession upon her twenty-fifth birthday. Her name is on everything I own. I may have let my company to my son, but my heart went to my only petit-fille."
Woo Bin smiled. "You knew this from the beginning."
"Yes, but money has no importance to me. I could be flat broke and still be happy." She turned her head to get her grandfather's attention. "Grandpere, I have something to tell you."
François turned to her immediately, old wrinkled hand caressing her cheek lovingly. "What is it, ma petit-fille?"
"Kyu Lee already told me what happened. She delivered the baby early because even if I had survived surgery, the baby probably wouldn't have. Also, there was so much stress on my system that she went ahead and made it impossible for me to have children. My baby is the only child I will ever have naturally."
Silence filled the room. Only Woo Bin and Ji Hoo knew the whole story and they had been sworn to secrecy early on. Woo Bin was going to be the one who took it the hardest. Eri had already made peace with it. He could tell by the tone of her voice.
Ka Lee was the first to respond. "You poor, poor child."
And that's when Eri's face closed down. She had read the pity in the woman's gaze and had suddenly become detached from the emotions surrounding the room. Yi Jeong moved from the far side of the room to the windowsill, wedging himself behind the chair and burying his hand in her hair. Woo Bin took her hand, careful of the IV line, and François placed a hand on her shoulder. Ji Hoo crowded closer. There had never been a more united front.
"I do not appreciate your tone with here, madam," François said. "Bearing and rearing children is not everything it used to be. Not every couple has children. I have never understood the Korean traditions and nor do I try to. But if you look down on ma petit-fille for not being able to have any more children, I will not be afraid to rage a war so brutal on your company you will go bankrupt before I am finished. Only your precious son and grandson will survive because Eri has accepted them."
François had been very calm during his stay. He had told funny stories and had played the part of the kind grandfather. He had even volunteered to buy dinner a few nights in a row. But the man that had risen to the challenge wasn't that kindly old grandfather. He was a ruthless business man that would go to the ends of the earth to protect that one precious thing to him.
Eri placed a hand on his. "Grandpere, do not make threats. It is very unbecoming. If anyone should make threats, it is me. I own the stocks and I have borne them a grandson. If anything that makes me even more powerful than you. I could easily find a flight back to France and take the child with me. His birth certificate hasn't been registered. He isn't legally your grandson. He isn't a Song."
She continued without remorse or emotion, a very dangerous thing to Woo Bin's parents. "Do not treat me like I have lost something, because I haven't. I agree with the doctor that it would dangerous to bear more children. I knew that when I found out I was pregnant, but I care for Woo Bin more than even I realize sometimes. I wanted that child. But if you continue down this path of guilt and treachery, I will have no remorse in snatching that child out from under your noses and taking him back to my home country. Yes, I have dual citizenship, but I can easily make it where I am a citizen of France. If I do that, you will never see him ever again. Woo Bin will have access to him whenever he wishes, but not you."
Ji Hoo watched Woo Bin wipe at his nose, a clear sign he thought this entire thing was funny. And in a way it was. Eri, soft-spoken Eri, was finding her voice amongst them. She had already put Kyu Lee in her place, had given Ji Hoo the means he needed to express his thoughts and feelings, and was now working on her in-laws. She didn't need to understand her emotions to wield them.
Kyu Lee knocked on the door at that moment. "Okay, partiers in room 420. It's time for my patient's dinner and bath. I must ask you to leave."
Ji Hoo mouthed thank you as the CAN came in, making Woo Bin protest. The man was handsome and he was the one going to clean Eri. The new father and boyfriend didn't approve.