Once again, thank you so much for the reviews. There is another author's note at the end of the chapter as well, but this one is for thanks and a warning.
WARNING: This chapter and the next chapter will include implied/referenced sexual assault. While it is nothing graphic, if it is something that will upset you, I suggest skimming the chapters. There isn't a way for me to creatively have the information about it in such a way that I can say skip a specific section. As I said, it's nothing graphic, but there it is implied briefly in this chapter. Most of the discussion of injuries and explanation of the referenced assault will happen in the next chapter.
Bon Hyeong slammed the file down on his desk, his fingers pushing through his silver-streaked hair as he clenched his other fist. The more he was discovering about his wife's accident and his daughter's circumstances, the angrier he became with everything around him. He slumped into his seat, rubbing at the back of his head where a headache was forming as he thought about what Song Lee Bin had informed him almost a week ago after Jun Pyo's accident.
Bon Hyeong walked into Song Lee Bin's study with purposeful strides, his body tense as he studied his brother-in-law. He saw him standing in front of the large picture window that looked out over the Song mansion gardens below that had often been where they had gathered as a family before their lives had been shattered when Shan Gi had died and Bon Hyeong had closed himself off from the world, irrevocably changing the dynamics of their relationships. If he could turn back time, he would do so, because his son deserved to grow up knowing that his friends were also his family and not just children that had come together in kindergarten.
"This was the last family portrait we took," Song Lee Bin said, seeing Bon Hyeong's reflection. He turned and handed the framed picture in his hand to the other man.
Bon Hyeong took it and felt his throat work as he looked at their smiling faces. Shan Gi had been six months pregnant with Ga Eul and her pregnancy just starting to show. She was smiling down at Song Woo Bin and Gu Jun Pyo as both boys, only just two years old if that, pressed their ears to Shan Gi's belly in hopes of hearing the baby within. Jun Hee stood smiling up at Bon Ha as she hugged her aunt. Bon Hyeong and Lee Bin both stood with their arms around their wives, laughing at their family.
"We are overdue," Bon Hyeong said, his voice rough. He stared at the picture, particularly the boys with their ears against Shan Gi's belly. "She's really my daughter?"
"She is," Lee Bin said. He walked to his desk and picked up two pieces of paper. "I ran two tests. One a paternity test and the other another form of paternity test but one that also cross-matches to siblings thanks to Jun Hee giving me strands of her own hair."
Bon Hyeong took the reports and looked at the percentages that gave no doubt that Chu Ga Eul was the daughter he thought lost all those years ago. His fingers tightened on the papers, wrinkling the edges. He set them down before he ripped them, taking a few deep breaths.
"What else have you discovered?" Bon Hyeong's voice was rough as he asked the question.
"She attends a local public school, though for a time she was attending an art school for dance. Those taking care of her pulled her out, saying it was too much money to continue sending her," Lee Bin said. "She works at a porridge shop part-time, something they made her do to pay for any extra things that she wanted. I've been tracking their bank records. They are paid handsomely to care for her, but it would appear they purposely live in such a manner to make her think they are living poorly because of taking her as a ward."
"A ward?" Bon Hyeong questioned.
"From reports I've gotten from asking neighbors, both current and past, they make her very aware that she is not their daughter and they are just her caretakers," Lee Bin said. "They did not confirm, but also did not deny when asked, that they are abusive to Ga Eul."
"What?!" Bon Hyeong ground out.
"There were a few hospital reports of her sustaining injuries, particularly to her legs, including her hip being dislocated multiple times, but each report had the cause listed as dance injuries," Lee Bin said. "So nothing is flagged as abuse. Any other injuries, if she has had them, were not reported to the hospital or authorities. If she has had any, even recently, she has kept silent."
"What of anyone seeing the injuries?" Bon Hyeong asked. "Woo Bin and the boys have been around her-."
"If Woo Bin saw anything of the like on someone he knows, he would have put a stop to it immediately and discovered the truth far easier than me," Lee Bin reminded Bon Hyeong. "If anyone tolerates such abuse even less than I do, it's my son."
"I want my daughter with me," Bon Hyeong said, his voice strained.
"I know you do, but you can't uproot her just yet," Lee Bin said. He lifted a hand when Bon Hyeong snarled. "I am still investigating, remember? I need all proof in hand, especially for whoever is paying her caretakers."
"Caretakers? They don't care about her!" Bon Hyeong snapped.
"Give me a week at minimum," Lee Bin said. "Then we will end all of this and not only inform the boys but also bring your daughter home."
"A week. No more."
"Just a few more days, Bon Hyeong," he murmured to himself. "And your little girl will be where she belongs."
Normally Ga Eul had no issues with walking home alone after a shift at the porridge shop. She was used to traversing the streets of Seoul to and from public transportation and to her home without any trouble. Today, however, something felt distinctly off as she had left the porridge shop. She had a few errands to run on her way home, so she was taking a slightly different route than normal.
Ga Eul's steps hesitated as she drew closer to an alley, a frown forming as she felt a cold breeze sweep over her. She shook her head and pushed forward, thinking that she was simply scaring herself since this was an unfamiliar neighborhood to her. Despite being near Shinhwa Academy, she had rarely been in this area before. As she walked past the alley, she felt the presence of someone before a hand was clamped over her mouth and she was dragged into the alley, her scream muffled by skin against her own.
"You look like you are doing better," Yi Jeong said to Jun Pyo as he settled back in his chair, holding his cup of tea as the members of F4 gathered in their lounge.
"Still sore if I were to move too quickly," Jun Pyo admitted. "But the doctor is happy with my progress." He sighed and shook his head. "Appa has been particularly attentive, which has been surprising."
"You didn't see how angry he was when he arrived at the hospital," Woo Bin said as he set his pool stick back into the stand with the others. "The only person I've ever seen that angry has been my own appa."
"Under the circumstances, I think you can forgive him for being attentive," Ji Hu pointed out. "The fact is, you could have been hurt worse or even killed."
"Thanks to the three of you arriving when you did," Jun Pyo said. "Thanks again, by the way."
"Be sure to thank Ga Eul the next time you see her," Woo Bin said, taking a seat.
"Ga Eul?" Jun Pyo asked, setting his teacup down.
"She's the one who realized Jan Di was missing and came to us," Ji Hu explained. "When you rushed out of here, we weren't certain what was wrong. After we went to your house and saw you weren't there, we could only guess you had found out about Jan Di."
"Chief Lee was able to locate the two of you for us to get to the warehouse," Woo Bin continued. "But the fact is, if not for Ga Eul, we'd have never known something was wrong since you didn't say anything."
"The text and image I got told me if I didn't come alone, he'd hurt Jan Di," Jun Pyo explained.
"Has your appa gotten anything further out of him?" Ji Hu asked Woo Bin.
Woo Bin frowned and set his teacup down. "That's the frustrating thing," he admitted. "He has, but he's not sharing any information with me. Nor is he about the investigation that Jun Hee-noona-." Yi Jeong hissed at Woo Bin, the other man's eyes widening.
"What investigation?" Jun Pyo and Ji Hu both asked. Woo Bin winced at the question and Yi Jeong's scathing look.
"It's… not something we can discuss," Yi Jeong admitted.
Jun Pyo and Ji Hu both looked at one another before shifting to look at Yi Jeong and Woo Bin curiously. Woo Bin sighed. "Aish, look, we promised Jun Hee-noona we wouldn't say anything until she told us we could," he said. "You know how both of us are regarding that, so you won't get anything out of us. What I said was a slip of the tongue."
"You are keeping secrets with my noona?" Jun Pyo asked.
"All we'll say is she seemed intent on keeping it a secret until she had all the information she needed." Yi Jeong said. "She promised that once she had it all, she'd share it with all of us."
"What is she up to?" Ji Hu asked.
"I'm going to go find out," Jun Pyo asked as he pushed himself to his feet with a wince. "Aish… these ribs."
"It hasn't been a week," Woo Bin reminded him, the other three getting to their feet when they saw Jun Pyo wince.
"Might be best if you leave your car here and I'll drive you home," Ji Hu suggested. "I'll go get the car."
"Still weird to think you are finally driving something other than your motorcycle," Yi Jeong teased him as he headed for the stairs. "We'll be right behind you."
Ji Hu was walking out of the lounge, his hands digging in his pocket for the keys to his Escalade. He still wasn't entirely comfortable with driving a vehicle, but he had gotten better since the competition and he was forced to do so. He still preferred taking his motorcycle or being driven when it was colder, but something had compelled him to drive today, he just wasn't sure why. His eyes lifted and he frowned as he saw So Hyun Sub hurrying with his arms around a girl that was covered in blood and was badly limping. Hyun Sub was also covered in blood. Ji Hu's blood ran cold at the sight of both of them, seeing Hyun Sub constantly looking behind them. His eyes lifted and he saw Ji Hu, looking almost relieved.
"Ji Hu," he said. "Take her to Gu Bon Hyeong. She needs to be seen by a doctor immediately."
"What is-," Ji Hu was cut off as the girl lifted her face. "Ga Eul!" He hurried forward and caught her just as she stumbled and fell to the ground. He cradled her, heedless of the blood that now stained his white coat.
"Sunbae..." Ga Eul moaned as she leaned into him, her bloodied fingers curling into his coat.
"Get her to the Gu's mansion," Hyun Sub said once more. "I'll make sure they don't follow." He turned away from them and hurried back the way he had come with Ga Eul.
"What… Samchon!" Ji Hu called after him. He turned his head to the door of the F4's lounge. "Guys! Get up here!" He turned back to Ga Eul and shifted her in his arms more, feeling her head lolling against his chest.
"Ga Eul, can you hear me?" Ji Hu asked, a hand coming up to cup her cheek. Her dark eyes lifted to his, but he could tell she was only registering the pain she was in. He heard the sound of the other three members of F4 emerge from the lounge before their steps were heard running on the concrete before he had the three of them kneeling around him.
"What… Ga Eul?!" Yi Jeong asked, startled.
"What the hell happened?" Woo Bin asked, his voice dark.
"I don't know," Ji Hu asked. "So Hyun Sub was with her, he had blood on him as well. He told me to take her to Jun Pyo's appa, then took off back that way and said he would make sure they didn't follow." He gestured with his hand the direction Hyun Sub took off towards.
"Appa was with her?" Yi Jeong asked, his heart dropping.
Jun Pyo shrugged out of his coat and draped it over Ga Eul's form. "Ji hu, give me your keys. I'll drive, we'll listen to what he said and take her to my appa. Someone needs to-."
"Go," Woo Bin interrupted. "I'll call my boys and we'll figure out what the hell is going on and how So Hyun Sub is involved."
"I'll stay with you," Yi Jeong said. He brushed some of Ga Eul's hair away from her face. Ji Hu shifted and swung her into his arms as he straightened. The four of them were almost sick at the pained scream that slipped from Ga Eul's lips before she slumped against Ji Hu's chest, unconscious. Without a word, Jun Pyo hurried to Ji Hu's Escalade, opening the back door as Woo Bin and Yi Jeong helped get Ga Eul inside. Ji Hu got into the back, cradling her against him as Woo Bin closed the door. He and Yi Jeong stepped back as Jun Pyo got into the driver's seat and started the car. Tires screeched as the Shinhwa heir drove off quickly.
Woo Bin clasped Yi Jeong's shoulder as they watched the white vehicle take off. "Call Jun Hee-noona, forewarn her that Jun Pyo and Ji Hu are on their way with Ga Eul," he said, even as he pulled out his own phone and quickly dialed a number. "Chief Lee, send my best to me at the lounge." Once Yi Jeong got off the phone with Gu Jun Hee, the two men took off at a sprint in the direction Ji Hu had pointed to find out just what in the hell happened.
"What news did you want to discuss?" So Yun He asked as he rested his hands on his wife's shoulders as she sat in a comfortable chair in the sitting room of the Gu mansion.
"It's time that we tell the kids the truth," Bon Hyeong said. "A few things have been discovered and it's going to come out and it will require also informing the kids their familial relations."
"What could possibly have been discovered?" Yun Seok Young asked.
"The daughter Shan Gi and I were expecting when she died isn't dead," Bon Hyeong said bluntly. "And she has managed to become friends with the boys."
"What?" Kim Seu Ya, So Yun He's wife, asked as she shifted to the edge of her chair.
"Jun Hee noticed her first," Song Lee Bin said as he stood beside his wife. "During that ridiculous competition that Ji Hu and Jun Pyo were having."
"How did she notice her?" Seok Young asked.
"Because she looks identical to my Shan Gi," Bon Hyeong said. "She immediately reached out to Lee Bin to ask him to investigate, which I also insisted on. Jun Hee managed to get a few strands of her hair and a DNA test was run to prove who she is."
"And it's definitive?" Yun He asked.
"It is," Bon Hyeong said. "Lee Bin had two tests run. A paternity test and one that cross-matched to siblings by using Jun Hee's hair."
"Let me call Il Hyun and have him come," Seu Ya said, pulling out her phone. She glanced at Bon Ha and Lee Bin. "The twins?"
"Already upstairs in the old nursery playing," Bon Ha said. "They won't understand the logistics and I am sure the anger we'll face. But we'll have to explain to them about the family-."
"Appa!" Jun Hee ran into the sitting room, frazzled and fear written on her face. "Yi Jeong just called. Ji Hu and Jun Pyo are on their way with Ga Eul. She was attacked and is badly hurt."
"Where are Yi Jeong and Woo Bin?" Lee Bin questioned.
"They stayed behind to go investigate after Woo Bin called Chief Lee," Jun Hee said.
Seok Young walked over to Jun Hee. "Prepare one of the rooms for her," he said. "I'll get my bag from my room." He looked at Bon Ha. "Will you assist?"
"Of course," Bon Ha said. "My nurse's bag is in our room, I'll go grab it."
"I'll take you to Ga Eul's wing," Bon Hyeong said. "We had it prepared for when we told her and brought her home. Jun Hee, wait for Jun Pyo and Ji Hu and bring them to her room." Seok Young and Bon Ha immediately left to go get the things they needed before Bon Hyeong led them to the suite of rooms in one of the wings of the Gu mansion he had arranged for her. The moment he had called for the four families to come to deal with the news, he had ensured that rooms were all ready for everyone to stay, suddenly thankful for that bit of foresight.
The house was in a whirlwind as Jun Pyo and Ji Hu rushed in, Ga Eul firmly held in Ji Hu's arms with Jun Pyo's coat still over her. Jun Hee gasped when she saw them, rushing forward. She brushed back some of Ga Eul's dark hair, looking at the two men's worried faces. "Follow me," she said simply and turned to hurry through the halls to Ga Eul's new suite.
Seok Young and Bon Ha both looked up as the boys entered with Jun Hee. Ji Hu barely had time to register his grandfather's presence before he was moving over to them. "Put her on the bed," he said firmly.
Ji Hu carried Ga Eul to the bed and laid her down onto the plain sheet that had been draped over the more luxurious material of the bedspread covering the bed. Ji Hu quickly backed up to avoid his grandfather as he and Song Bo Han moved to uncover the girl to begin to assess her injuries.
"What the hell happened to her?" Gu Bon Hyeong asked as he walked over to Ji Hu and Jun Pyo.
"Discuss this outside," Bon Ha said before either of the boys could answer. "Seok Young and I need to see how badly she's hurt and if…"
Bon Hyeong paled at what his sister's trailed off tone implied. He waved his hand at Jun Pyo and Ji Hu and led them out of the suite into the hallway. He turned and his eyes immediately fell on the blood that covered Ji Hu's normally white coat. He felt his gorge rise at his beautiful little girl's blood on Ji Hu.
"Ji Hu, why don't you go change?" Bon Hyeong suggested. "I know all of you boys left spare clothes here in the rooms you have stayed in before. I'll send your coat out to be cleaned."
"I'll replace it," Ji Hu said, his voice rough. "I don't think I could wear it again even cleaned knowing…" Bon Hyeong and Jun Pyo both reached up to grasp Ji Hu's shoulders.
"Go on," Bon Hyeong said. "Get changed. You too, Jun Pyo. Once Yi Jeong and Woo Bin get here, we'll wait for news from Seok Young about Ga Eul. We have a lot that needs to be discussed."
"Appa, what is going on?" Jun Pyo asked. "Ji Hu and I found out that Jun Hee asked Song Lee Bin to investigate something and were heading out of the lounge to come to see her when Ji Hu called for us and had Ga Eul in his arms after So Hyun Sub told him to bring her here then said something about stopping them from following."
"So Hyun Sub was there?" Bon Hyeong asked a frown etching into his features.
"He looked like he had been in a fight," Ji Hu admitted. "He was supporting Ga Eul when I saw them. Once I realized it was her, it's when he told me to get her to you. When I saw them, he kept looking behind where they had come from concerned. Like he was expecting people to be following them."
"Maybe he was," Bon Hyeong murmured. He shook his head. "Go. Get changed and meet me in the sitting room. We'll discuss this further there. Go on." After a moment of reluctance, Jun Pyo and Ji Hu both walked off to go change as Bon Hyeong had suggested. Ji Hu immediately pulled off his coat and handed it to Butler Lee. Bon Hyeong could hear the young man telling him to just get rid of it. He didn't blame him, he wouldn't have been able to keep something covered in Ga Eul's blood either. His mind immediately went to the knowledge that So Hyun Sub had handed his daughter over to Ji Hu before racing off.
"How are you involved, Hyun Sub?" he muttered quietly.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: So I've been re-watching the show again while writing this story, particularly because I needed the scene references for the first four chapters. Since the story is pretty much AU after the competition and having moved up the kidnapping plotline, I really don't need to continue watching except I just let it run. And I can honestly say that the likelihood of Jan Di being in this story besides one more time is probably pretty slim. In my rewatch, I honestly do not understand how Jun Pyo and Ji Hu ever fell for her. I knew I didn't like the character when I watched the show initially, but it's gotten worse in subsequent re-watches. I don't know if it was the writers or the actress, but there is not a single appealing thing about her IMO. Like, I get Woo Bin and Yi Jeong finding her amusing because of her fights initially with Jun Pyo and "putting him in his place" so to speak, but even that was annoying as hell. I honestly never bought the idea of Ji Hu being attracted to her whatsoever and felt it was more like Seo Hyun putting a bug in his ear while in Paris and thinking there was more. Jun Pyo I could sorta understand his fascination with her, but he has such a screwed-up home life that he was bound to make bad relationship choices. Honestly, none of the women in the show that was for Jun Pyo I am particularly fond of. I have not watched any of the other live-action versions of the show that were created, so I don't know if this problem with Jan Di is universal across the other shows, but I definitely feel this way about her in the Korean version. I can't bring myself to watch the other versions, simply from the images of the guys. The only guys that I've seen in any version that actually is believable as the most handsome men in a country to qualify as the F4 are the Korean versions. I might try and give the new Thai version a chance, but maybe a single episode out of curiosity. Anyway, this was more of an author's ramble that's been on my mind than an actual note. See you next chapter!