Thank you to all for the reviews. I had to take my time with this chapter, which is something I am going to be doing moving forward. I've been in such a rush to update once a week because it's been expected that it was starting to affect how I felt about the story and where I wanted to go. I realized I needed to take a step back so that I can give my readers (and myself) the best story I can. So I've worked out an outline of things to come. However, that's already changed a little because a few things I wanted to tackle this chapter will now happen next chapter because of how long this one got and the transition will be smoother to tackle in a new chapter rather than rush it in this one. In addition to just wanting to do the best story, I am in the last few weeks of my current semester at school, and work has been crazy. I had intended on trying to update last weekend, but I had my first COVID vaccination shot and it knocked me on my ass for two days. I get my second shot in two weeks and fully expect to be down for a couple of days with that one too. In any case, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Park Sun Ja had never, in her life, wanted to scream as much as she did at that moment. It had been a week since she had informed Song Woo Bin that Ginger's obsession with both So Yi Jeong and her hatred of Gu Ga Eul was growing and in that time, she had done nothing but listen to both Ginger and Miranda constantly insulting the young woman and complaining how she was constantly taking up Yi Jeong and Yun Ji Hu's time, which meant less time for the two women to potentially get the members of F4 to notice them. She slouched more in her seat, rubbing at her temple as their increasingly loud, shrill voices started piercing through her skull.
"Sunny, what is your problem?" Ginger demanded.
"Yeah, you have not been listening to anything we've been saying lately," Miranda added.
"Probably because I am tired of hearing what you have to say," Sunny murmured, her eyes closed as she continued to rub her temple.
"What was that?" Ginger asked.
Sunny merely waved her hand. "I have a headache," she said.
"Please, you've been using that excuse constantly of late when we are talking," Ginger said.
Sunny's hand dropped and her eyes lifted with a suffering sigh. She pushed on the arms of the chair, getting to her feet. "Yes, I have," she said. "But today I genuinely have a headache from listening to the two of you prattle on about So Yi Jeong, Yun Ji Hu, and Gu Ga Eul. Your obsession with the two of them and with your need to take her down is tiresome."
"Prattle? Tiresome?" Miranda scoffed. "When did you start using big words?"
"Despite what you think, Miranda, and what everyone else thinks, I actually am intelligent," Sunny quipped. "But I've always hidden it to remain friends with the two of you and thinking this stupid doe-eyed queen bee act would yield something."
"Are you implying we aren't intelligent?" Ginger asked.
Sunny rolled her eyes, lowering her head and pinching the bridge of her nose as the pounding in her head increased. "Pabo," she murmured. She winced as her hair was grabbed and her head yanked back.
"What did you say?" Ginger demanded her face twisted in anger.
Sunny slapped at Ginger's hand and stepped back, glaring at the woman. "Don't you dare touch me," she said. "You have a serious problem, Ginger."
"Yeah, you right now," Ginger said.
"No, your problem is your obsession with someone you can never have!" Sunny snapped. "Don't you get it? Either of you?" She looked at Miranda. "There is no way in hell that any of the F4 would even look at any of us twice. This fruitless attempt at gaining their attention is done." She looked at Ginger, pointing at her. "And your incessant need to constantly spew vitriol on Gu Ga Eul isn't going to endear you to them. No matter what you say or do, she is still Gu Jun Pyo's yeodongsaeng. Nothing you do or say is going to change that fact."
"Bold words for the girl in love with Song Woo Bin," Miranda said. "What? You start defending Gu Ga Eul and you think it'll give you a better chance with him?"
"Despite what everyone thinks, I know better," Sunny said. "No matter how much I love him or want to be with him, I know I stand absolutely no chance. Even if he would have once upon a time, my sister completely destroyed any chance of him ever wanting to be with me."
"What are you babbling about?" Ginger asked.
"Forget it," Sunny said, grabbing her jacket and her purse. "You two are hopeless." She started towards the door to leave, only to be stopped, and jerked around by Ginger who slapped her harshly across her face before she was pointing a finger at her.
"You walk out that door, Sunny, you can forget our friendship," Ginger said. "And you can guarantee that your life here at Shinhwa will be a living nightmare."
Sunny had her head turned away, stunned by the slap as she held her hand to her stinging cheek. Narrowing her eyes, she looked at the other girl. "Being friends with either of you has been nothing but since the day I stupidly thought how we acted was what others wanted to see from us. Do you honestly think you can make things worse for me? Go ahead. I'm done living in your insane fantasy that So Yi Jeong is yours. You are crazy, Ginger. Both of you are."
Miranda grabbed Sunny's hair. "What did you-," she started to say until Sunny shoved her away, which only earned another slap from Ginger. Swinging her purse wildly, she saw both girls jump out of the way. She quickly turned and fled the room, slamming the door behind her before she slipped off her too-tall heels and ran barefoot as fast as she could down the hall. She crashed into a smaller body as she rounded a corner when she looked away from her path.
"Ow, dammit," Ga Eul said as she landed hard on the ground. She glared at Sunny as she pushed herself up. "Why don't you- Sunny, what happened to your face?"
"Nothing," Sunny quickly said, scrambling to her feet. "You never saw me." She took off past the girl as she quickly ran down the stairs. Ga Eul frowned as she pushed herself to her feet, wiping off the dust from her backside as she looked after where Sunny had run, wondering what had caused the girl to take off as she did and what had happened to her face.
"Park Sun Ja you better hope we don't find you!" Ga Eul's eyes widened when she heard Ginger's voice and quickly tucked herself in a nearby doorway as she heard two pairs of heeled feet quickly running past the hallway she was in.
"Where is she? She could not have taken off that fast," Miranda's voice said.
"Stupid bitch probably took off her shoes," Ginger said. "Guess she can still run like she did when we were younger." Ga Eul frowned at what they were saying about someone that was supposed to be their friend. "Come on, she probably went to her car." She heard the quick click of their heels head off and grow faint as they got further away. Stepping out of the hallway, Ga Eul couldn't help the frown that deepened.
"What the hell was that about?" she murmured.
"There you are!" Ga Eul could not help but jump at the sudden sound of Geum Jan Di's voice. She lifted dark eyes to the other girl.
"You were looking for me?" she asked.
"Gu Jun Pyo is," Jan Di explained. "I thought I saw you heading this way so I told him I'd get you. He said something about getting to the mansion. Me too."
Ga Eul titled her head with surprise. She quickly bent down and grabbed her bag that had fallen when she and Sunny had collided with one another. "Did he say why?"
"Just that it was important for all of us," Jan Di admitted and fell into step with her as Ga Eul started walking back the way Jan Di had come. "Do you think it has something to do with Kang Hee Soo?"
Ga Eul glanced at Jan Di quickly. Without speaking, both girls began to jog down the hallway until they reached the front doors where Jun Pyo was waiting. "Oppa, what's going on?" Ga Eul asked.
"Not sure," Jun Pyo admitted. "All I know is that Appa called and said we need to get home immediately before the press gets here. And that Geum Jan Di has to come with us along with the rest of the F4. Everyone else is meeting us at the estate since the guys already headed off. Let's go."
Jun Hee watched her father with worried eyes as he paced back and forth in the large living room of their mansion. She glanced over at Song Lee Bin where he stood by the fireplace with a hand on the mantle. While he seemed calm, she could see the tension in his body that was also evident in her father's as he paced. The two were the antithesis of one another at that moment, but the tension was the same. She knew that Lee Bin had news for all of them but was refraining from revealing it all until everyone had arrived.
"Appa," Jun Pyo said as he hurried into the house, Ga Eul hot on his heels along with Geum Jan Di. "What is going on?"
"Your samchon has news, but I want everyone else here first," Bon Hyeong explained. He looked towards the door when it opened and he heard more people entering the house once Butler Lee had opened the door for all of them. Coming around the corner were the rest of the F4, Jae Kyung, the rest of the families, and Jun Hee's husband.
"Oppa?" Bon Ha asked as she also entered. She glanced at her husband after looking at her brother. "Nae sarang?"
"Kang See Hoo has been arrested," Lee Bin said. Bon Hyeong paused and stared at his brother-in-law.
"She what?" Jun Pyo asked. Jun Hee got to her feet at the news. Lee Bin looked to the door of the living room, causing everyone to look and see Jeong Sang Rok standing there. He bowed to Bon Hyeong as the older man approached.
"What are you doing here?" Bon Hyeong demanded. "You made your loyalties known by remaining with Kang Hee Soo."
"At my request and orders," Lee Bin said. Bon Hyeong turned, arching a brow at the man. "Jeong Sang Rok's loyalty is to the Gu family. He was simply waiting his time at Kang Hee Soo's side until Jun Pyo was ready to take over her position at Shinhwa and then he intended to become Jun Pyo's secretary and assistant instead. And thankfully he remained at her side."
"Why?" Jun Hee asked.
"Because he is the reason that I was able to get the documentation we needed to ensure her arrest today," Lee Bin said. "And how I was able to fully complete the investigation into everything she's been into and the truth of the accident nineteen years ago."
"How?" Bon Hyeong asked.
"Kang Hee Soo kept all of her records of... everything in her office at Shinhwa," Sang Rok explained. "She thought it was all kept confidential in a safe she had, but I managed to find the combination for it and began pulling the files to make copies."
"Can copies be used to convict her?" So Seu Ya asked.
"Copies of the files can be used," Kim Ju Won said. "But the copies also would give authorities a means to get a search and seizure warrant to get the originals. And having copies will also keep her from being able to hire someone to destroy any files to hide evidence."
"What exactly was found in the files? And how exactly did you discover them, Secretary Jeong?" Jun Pyo asked.
"I overheard Kang Hee Soo talking to someone, I do not know who, about Chu Ga Eul," he said. He lifted his hand and shook his head. "Excuse me, I mean Gu Ga Eul."
"What was being said?" Woo Bin asked where he stood beside his mother.
"There was mention of an investigation and that nothing could be linked back to her and that people were being paid well to raise Mistress Gu," Sang Rok said. "The moment I heard such, I quietly began observing everything she was doing and had been doing even further. It is how I learned that it was Song Lee Bin who was behind the investigation she spoke of."
"Which is when he reached out to me," Lee Bin said. "He explained to me where his loyalties lie and told me of what he overheard. I told him to maintain the facade that his loyalty was to her and not the family in order to keep her trust and have easier access to anything he could in case we could use it."
"And that's how I found the safe," Sang Rok explained. "It did take time to find out the access code, but once I did I found a number of documents dating back to when Gu Shan Gi was alive."
"Did... did Kang Hee Soo have anything to do with the accident?" Bon Hyeong asked.
"She is the one who arranged it," Lee Bin said gently. Bon Hyeong's eyes closed as his chest constricted. Bon Ha hurried over to her brother, gripping his upper arms.
"What of..." Bon Hyeong started to say. He paused, unable to voice the words he knew that he needed to, but he couldn't bring himself to vocalize. Bon Ha seemed to understand what her brother needed to know. What even she needed to know.
"Did our eomeoni have anything to do with the accident?" Bon Ha asked softly.
Lee Bin glanced at Sang Rok and inclined his head for the man to speak. Taking a deep breath, Sang Rok spoke. "I do not think she had anything to do with the plans, but there was a note in Kang Hee Soo's records from Bin Mi Sun stating that she wished Kim Shan Gi was not in your life."
"I suspect that Kang Hee Soo took that as a blessing to find a way to eliminate Shan Gi from your life," Lee Bin said.
"However, since there were children involved, it wasn't a simple matter of creating a scandal to drive her away," Seok Young stated. "So Kang Hee Soo-."
"Resorted to murder?" So Yun He asked.
"Ambition will drive people to do vile things," Seok Young said. "Even murder." He glanced at the others. "It is why Ji Hu's parents were killed as well. I am only thankful I did not lose him too."
The other members of the F4, Il Hyun, Ga Eul, and Jan Di all looked at Ji Hu. The young man inclined his head, indicating that he knew but had kept it from the rest of them. "Something to discuss later," was all he said.
"Point being, if Kang Hee Soo thought she could take Shan Gi's place, she most likely took Bin Mi Sun's words as confirmation to do whatever she had to do to make that happen," Lee Bin said.
"So eomeoni had a hand in Shan Gi's death and losing nineteen years of Ga Eul's life," Bon Hyeong said.
"Oppa..." Bon Ha said.
"No, yeodongsaeng," Bon Hyeong said harshly. "It doesn't matter if there is no definitive proof that she knew of Kang Hee Soo's plans or not. She effectively gave that woman free rein to tear my life apart. She effectively gave that woman permission to rip my heart from my body and make my two older children orphans and make me think my third child was killed with my wife!"
"Bon Hyeong, it's not Bon Ha's fault," Lee Bin defended his wife. Bon Hyeong pulled his hands from Bon Ha's and roughly ran them over his face, walking away from his sister to pace. He suddenly felt trapped.
"Appa," Jun Hee said. "We can't change what halmeoni said to Kang Hee Soo. But we also can't change how she interpreted those words."
"Jun Hee's right," Seu Ya said. "I knew your eomeoni and she was a ruthless woman. No, she did not like Shan Gi, but she was never someone who would resort to something such as having Shan Gi killed off. That was Kang Hee Soo's decision."
"I partially disagree," Lee Bin said. Seu Ya arched an eyebrow at the younger man. "If she thought it would benefit her agenda, she could and did resort to violence. She did with me when she thought she could intimidate me as a younger man and have me beaten before Bon Ha and I married."
"What?" Bon Ha asked. "You... you've never told me that."
Lee Bin simply offered her a sad smile. "You were already so angry with her over her words to me so often, I did not want to add to that burden," he said. "And she underestimated my own training, so I was able to defend myself well when it happened. I had minor injuries and nothing she could do would deter me from being with you." Bon Ha rushed to her husband and hugged him tightly, feeling his arms wrap around her.
"Then why do you not think she would have been fine with what Kang Hee Soo did?" Bon Hyeong asked.
"Because she may have had harsh words after Bon Ha and I married, and potentially would have tried to resort to violence to separate us, the moment Woo Bin was born it was different," Lee Bin said. "I suspect she still would have wanted to separate us, but she would never have wanted to leave Woo Bin without a father."
"But she pushed for the marriage," Bon Ha reminded him. "After Shan Gi died, she pushed Kang Hee Soo to Bon Hyeong."
"Yes, but I do not think she would have knowingly agreed with or approved of having Shan Gi killed," Lee Bin said. "Because it meant leaving Jun Hee and Jun Pyo without their mother. Plus Shan Gi was expecting Ga Eul at the time, which would have meant she would condone having one of her sonja killed. I think if Kang Hee Soo had found a way to separate Shan Gi and Bon Hyeong from a scandal or something that didn't involve hurting her, she would have approved. But killing her, especially while pregnant with Ga Eul? No."
"I'm not sure any of that theory is any better," Jun Pyo admitted from where he stood. "She would resort to violence, but since Noona and I were born and Eomma was pregnant with Ga Eul, she would just rather lie to push Eomma and Appa apart and still have Kang Hee Soo in our lives."
"I didn't say that it was right, joka," Lee Bin said. "But it is a theory."
"Regardless, Kang Hee Soo took halmeoni's words and used them as permission to hurt eomma," Jun Hee said.
"And she took her position she thought she had as Gu Bon Hyeong's wife to mean she could do whatever the hell she wanted," Lee Bin said. "Including having Geum Jan Di kidnapped by Lee Jae Ha, which resulted in Jun Pyo's attack." He took a breath. "She was also behind those who attacked Ga Eul."
"What?" Bon Hyeong said darkly. "Attempting to kill her in utero wasn't enough? She almost caused my daughter to be raped? I'll kill that bitch myself!"
"Gu Bon Hyeong, come to your senses!" Yun He said. "She will pay for her crimes, that is being seen to. And your children are safe."
Bon Hyeong took a shuddering breath and wiped his hands over his face before shifting to push his fingers through his hair. Ga Eul moved to her father and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I am all right, Appa," she said. "Yun He-harabeoji is right. She will pay for her crimes and Eonni, Oppa, and I are safe."
Bon Hyeong hugged Ga Eul to him and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Thank you, sweetheart," he said. He rubbed her back gently before looking over at Lee Bin. "What do we do now?"
"Unfortunately, we wait," Lee Bin said. "They have the files and evidence, now it's a matter of them reviewing everything and starting their own investigation that we will need to cooperate with."
"Of course we'll cooperate," Bon Hyeong said. "The sooner we do means the sooner she will be convicted and this nightmare will be over."
"Which means things can go back to normal and you can inform JK Group," Bon Ha pointed out to her brother. Ga Eul glanced at her aunt before she looked at Jun Pyo, who was looking at Jae Kyung. Ga Eul turned to see her reaction and saw that the older girl's head was lowered. She knew that Jae Kyung was thinking about how it would not be necessary for her and Jun Pyo to spend time together anymore to keep up pretenses. Despite that Ga Eul knew the two of them had been getting along better, but she was not sure if Jun Pyo would now cut ties with Jae Kyung. She hoped that the look he was giving Jae Kyung meant he would not do that.
"JK Group I will handle with due diligence but it's a delicate situation," Bon Hyeong said. "Ha Jung Min was still hopeful of a true engagement, so he is going to still be resistant to the idea that it's not going to happen." He had to admit that he was hoping that in the interim of waiting for this very thing that Jun Pyo and Jae Kyung would grow close to one another. He had started to see some progress there and, like his daughter, hoped that the need to no longer pretend to be engaged would cause Jun Pyo to cut ties.
"He'll be aware soon of her arrest," Bon Ha reminded her brother.
"It does not mean I will not still have to handle things delicately," Bon Hyeong said. "But we'll cross that bridge when the time comes because I don't doubt he will be in touch as soon as possible."
Jae Kyung jumped when her phone started to ring. She pulled out the device and looked at the screen before lifting her eyes to Bon Hyeong. "It's as soon as possible, I think," she said. She answered the phone, lifting it to her ear. "Appa?" She tilted her head as she listened. "Yes, they just got the news. I don't have any details yet." She sighed heavily as she pinched her nose. "Appa, I am sure that Gu Bon Hyeong will be in touch as soon as he knows more, but as I said, they just got the news."
Jun Pyo walked over to Jae Kyung, resting his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him as he did, mildly surprised by his reaction. "I know, Appa, but he will contact you once he knows more. Yes, I am here with Ga Eul and Jun Pyo. You know as much as they do right now." She sighed and shook her head. "Appa, please, Gu Bon Hyeong will be in contact once he knows more, you need to wait!" She pulled her phone away and hung up.
"Already?" Bon Hyeong asked her.
"It's all over the news," Jae Kyung said.
"It's trending on Twitter and Facebook," Ju Won said as he glanced at his phone. "Which means we'll soon have people swarming-."
"Security will handle that," Lee Bin said. He looked over as Jan Di's phone started to ring. She fumbled with the device as she tried to answer it quickly. Once she said hello, she almost immediately was pulling it away from her ear. Ga Eul arched her brow as she heard loud chattering coming from the other end, even now recognizing Na Gong Joo's shrill voice as she was ranting rapidly at Jan Di. Ga Eul was pretty sure she heard something in regards to reporters outside of the cleaners that they had reopened. Jan Di quickly commented she would be home soon before she hung up.
"I'll take you home," Ga Eul said.
"No you won't, you only just got your license," Jun Pyo said. He took a step back from his sister's look when she turned to him, arching a brow. The move was not lost on Jun Hee, who simply grinned.
"I've had it for almost a month," Ga Eul said. "I am perfectly capable of taking Jan Di home on my own." She lifted her finger when Jun Pyo started to protest once more.
"How about I go with you as well?" Jae Kyung suggested.
"I like that idea," Jun Pyo said. "She never goes anywhere without Chen anyway."
Bon Hyeong chuckled with a shake of his head before waving his hand. "You girls go," he said. "Thank you, Jae Kyung, for going with her. I do feel better knowing Ga Eul will have someone on the way home as well. We'll all talk more when you get back." He glanced at Jan Di. "Geum Jan Di, your family will continue to have people to run interference for a while until this entire situation blows over."
Jan Di bowed to Bon Hyeong. "Thank you," she said. She had to admit that it pained her to see Jun Pyo apparently moving on with Jae Kyung. Add in that Ji Hu obviously had no interest in her whatsoever and there were times when Jan Di felt like she was blowing in the breeze when it came to her time spent around the F4. Before discovering Ga Eul was a Gu, Jan Di felt like she had a sense of belonging in a group when it came to the F4. Even now she could admit that her harsh words to Ga Eul came solely from jealousy over the F4 shifting their attention from Jan Di to Ga Eul. She had to do a lot of reflecting since that day. She had hoped she would be able to talk to Ga Eul about it on the way to her house, but with Jae Kyung joining them, it was going to be impossible.
"Let's get going," Ga Eul said. "Before the mansion is suddenly swarming with reporters and it'll make driving harder."
"Be careful," Bon Hyeong said to his daughter. "As soon as you've seen Geum Jan Di safely home, you and Jae Kyung come back so I know you are safe." Ga Eul simply smiled and walked over to press a kiss to her father's cheek.
"We will, Appa," she said. She looked at the other two women. "Let's go." The three headed out of the mansion after Ga Eul grabbed her purse.
"Appa, are you sure letting them go is a good idea?" Jun Pyo asked his father.
"You need to loosen your grip on your protectiveness when it comes to your yeodongsaeng," Bon Hyeong said to his son. "As much as any of us want to protect her, she is going to start to resent it a little. And she deserves a chance to start being more independent now that she has her license."
"You aren't even sending someone to follow her?" Jun Pyo asked.
"Chen is with them," Bon Hyeong said. "And she is as fiercely protective of Ga Eul as she is of Jae Kyung, so I do not have concerns there. Yes, we are going to be harassed by the media, but I feel better now that Kang Hee Soo has been arrested."
Ji Hu frowned where he stood, the look not lost on Il Hyun, Woo Bin, or Yi Jeong. Woo Bin shifted over to the man and tapped his shoulder. "What is it?" he asked.
Ji Hu shook his head. "I can't explain it," he admitted. "But something feels... off."
"Off how?" Woo Bin asked.
"Like I said," Ji Hu said, glancing at his friend. "I can't explain it. It's like a gut reaction that something doesn't seem right. Like a piece of a puzzle is missing." He glanced at Il Hyun and Yi Jeong as they moved closer.
"Do you not trust..." Il Hyun tilted his head to indicate Jeong Sang Rok.
"I believe he is loyal to the Gu family and did exactly what he said he did," Ji Hu said. "And it's not him that is making me uneasy." He let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know, maybe learning the truth of my own parents' deaths is coloring my reactions and making me question everything around me."
"Yeah, about that," Yi Jeong said. "What exactly did your harabeoji mean?"
"I always thought that the reason we got into the accident is that I was goofing off in the backseat," Ji Hu said. "And it caused my abeoji to become distracted and that's why he lost control of the car."
"Which we always told you wasn't true," Woo Bin pointed out. "So did Min Seo Hyun."
"Never changed how I felt," Ji Hu said.
"Why does it seem like there is an until now statement coming?" Yi Jeong asked.
"No, I suspect I'll always feel that way," Ji Hu admitted. "I still distracted my abeoji, but from what harabeoji discovered is the car's brake line was tampered with on the car. Apparently, he had been receiving death threats at that time. He only never imagined that some of those threats would be carried out. He also never imagined they would be carried out against my bumonim and I."
"Is that why he left?" Il Hyun questioned.
Ji Hu nodded. "In his grief, he thought I would be safer if he was not there," he said. "In the grief of it all, he left to keep me safe, not realizing just how much it would hurt me and damage me to not have him in my life after losing my parents. And he didn't consider the secrets our families had held from us all those years. He thought perhaps someone from eomeoni's family would step in to take care of me."
"Meaning my mother," Yi Jeong said.
"Or my father," Woo Bin pointed out.
Ji Hu hummed in response. "But harabeoji talked to Lee Bin-samchon and found out that they had all made a promise," he said. "They would keep an eye on me, but since they had also made the promise to keep the family ties a secret, they would not go back on that promise yet either. And it was discovered that my eomeoni had put it in writing that she wanted the family promise to outweigh anything else. Samchon and harabeoji are both convinced that when she put that in writing, she never imagined that she and abeoji would both die while I was a child."
Woo Bin cursed softly shaking his head. "God, this entire situation that Kang Hee Soo started is nothing but a huge mess," he said.
"That Kang Hee Soo started?" Yi Jeong questioned.
"Think about it," Woo Bin said. "If not for her causing Shan Gi-sungmo's accident, which killed her, that stupid family secret would have never been put in place. We'd have grown up knowing who we were to each other, along with Ga Eul. This means that when Ji Hu lost his parents, even if Seok Young-harabeoji had still left, Ji Hu would have come to live with one of our families rather than being raised in that huge house on his own."
"Don't do that," Ji Hu said. Woo Bin frowned at him. "Don't pull out the laundry list of what-if scenarios. We could spend years analyzing how everything could have been different had one factor about our pasts changed from what it was. In the end, all that will do is cause us further pain and make us linger on the past."
"Ji Hu is right," Il Hyun said. "What we need to do is live in the here and now and move forward. Nothing about the past can be changed, so there is no use in thinking about the what-ifs." The four men glanced over when they heard a phone ringing and Bon Hyeong looked at the caller ID. He tilted his head when he saw Ga Eul's number.
"Ga Eul, are you and Jae Kyung already on your way back?" he asked as he answered the phone. "Please tell me you didn't race to Geum Jan Di's place."
"Sir, this is Chen," the voice on the other end sounded strained and filled with pain. "There was an accident as we were driving. We were knocked unconscious. An ambulance is on the way to take Jae Kyung and Jan Di to the hospital." There was a pause before Chen spoke once more.
"Sir, Ga Eul is missing."