Thank you to everyone that continues to read this story, including some newer folks recently. I am going to apologize in advance if updates are slower. I got a promotion at work and so my schedule is ramping up. I write as I can, but I'm working much longer hours, plus I have started learning Korean so I need to also carve time in my day to keep up on those lessons. I'm juggling a lot right now. A lot happens in this chapter that ramps up what is going on and basically, the shit starts to hit the fan. Please stay with me as the story evolves and don't give up yet despite what may happen. It's going to be a wild ride for a few chapters.
Yi Jeong and Ji Hu both agreed that they would probably find Ga Eul at the art center. Once the two men arrived, they decided splitting up was going to be their best course of action. Yi Jeong had immediately headed for the art rooms he had introduced her to, while Ji Hu headed for the dance studio he had designated for her. He was actually surprised when he found the room empty. As he stepped out into the hallway, his keen ear started to pick up the sounds of a piano playing nearby in one of the music rooms he often frequented. He let his feet carry him in that direction, a soft smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he recognized the melody that he had recently started teaching Ga Eul to play on the piano when she would come to sit with him as he practiced and she did not feel like spending time dancing in her studio.
Stepping into the room, he let his eyes adjust to the darker interior, surprised that she had dimmed the lights. He knew she had to be in a particularly dark mood or that she was dealing with a headache to do so. She had told him once she often lowered the lights to deal with head pain or if she felt like it matched her mood. After what happened in the lounge, he had a sneaking suspicion that it could be both. He jumped slightly when she smacked the piano keys hard enough to create a haunting squawk of noise.
"That's no way to treat an instrument," he reprimanded with a soft tease. He watched her stiffen and sighed softly, realizing she was still struggling with what she thought the F4 had done to Sunny. He strolled down the aisle way toward the stage even as she turned and she walked to the edge of the stage before sitting down with her legs hanging off the edge. His heart ached when he saw wet tracks of tears on her cheeks as she stared at her toes.
"You know we didn't send that card, right?" Ji Hu asked her as he stood in front of her. Slipping his hand from his pocket, he reached over and gently lifted her chin with a finger to look into her tear-filled eyes. "Right?"
"My head says yes, but my heart hurts," she admitted with a whisper. "Seeing Sunny being hurt that way and seeing Jan Di's reaction when I pulled that card out of Sunny's bag... my heart couldn't move past the hurt and disappointment I suddenly felt."
Ji Hu brushed his thumb over her cheek to wipe a tear away before he moved to the edge of the stage and hoisted himself onto it beside her before putting his arm around her shoulders and drawing her to him. He pressed a kiss to her hair. "Deep down, you know we would never do that anymore," he whispered against her hair. "I know your heart hurts seeing the card and seeing what was being done to Sunny, but it was not through us. We learned after Geum Jan Di, and frankly, we've been learning to be better men because of you in our lives."
"Then who?" she asked. "Why try to make people think it was all of you?"
"Geum Jan Di headed back to Shinhwa and is going to keep her ears open to see if she hears anything to report back to us because we are wondering the same," Ji Hu said.
Ga Eul had to laugh, though it almost sounded like a scoff. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked. "Jan Di tends to react before thinking and if she thinks someone is trying to hurt me..."
"Hopefully she will realize how important it is to keep her temper in check," Ji Hu said. "I would think by now she understands our relationship with you well enough that she will leave it to us."
"I think she feels like she has to make up for what she said to me shortly after I found out who I was," Ga Eul said.
"This is not the way to do it," Ji Hu said, rubbing her arm lightly. "Trying to prove herself is one thing, but whoever is responsible for this is using former methods we used to in order to make it seem like it was us, which not only physically hurt Sunny but is trying to create a wedge between you and the rest of us. This is targeted."
Ga Eul sat up, turning to stare into Ji Hu's eyes. "Targeted?" she asked softly. "Why? Is this Kang Hee Soo even though she's in jail? And why me?"
"Shh," Ji Hu said, reaching up to smooth Ga Eul's hair back, her eyes closing. "We will figure that out, I promise."
Ga Eul opened her dark gaze to look into his, feeling herself get lost in the depths. This was the closest they had ever been and she felt an urge to simply lean forward, something she had only felt once before. "Sunbae," she said quietly. She was not sure what Ji Hu saw in her face, but soon he was moving closer.
Ji Hu's thumb brushed along her cheekbone, his other hand moving to brush her hair from her forehead. He looked over her lips, seeing her tongue peek out as she licked her lips. His head lowered, his eyes half-lidded to see hers closed, and he was only a breath away from kissing her before she spoke.
"I can't," she whispered. Ga Eul felt Ji Hu's forehead press against hers.
"I can't either," he admitted with a whisper. With a slight groan, he pulled back and swung his legs up onto the stage before he stretched his long frame out. He felt Ga Eul shift until she was laying with her legs in the opposite direction. She tapped the top of his head and he lifted it with an arched brow before she laid down beside him, snuggling her shoulder beneath his head even as hers laid on his shoulder. Their faces were like a yin and yang symbol where they lay.
"I did want to kiss you," Ji Hu admitted, staring at the light frames above them on the stage.
"I would be lying if I said I didn't want you to kiss me," Ga Eul admitted in return, also staring at the ceiling. "But I also like someone..."
"Yi Jeong," Ji Hu guessed. He felt Ga Eul's head turn on his shoulder.
"How?" She watched the corner of his mouth quirk in a smile.
"It's obvious there is something between you," Ji Hu said. "And he's the reason why I couldn't kiss you just now, no matter if I wanted to. I won't risk what happened with Jan Di."
"Are you swallowing your own heart for a friend?" Ga Eul had to ask him.
Ji Hu's hand lifted and he stroked his fingers along her hair. "I am not," he said. "As much as I wanted to kiss you, it wasn't right. Jan Di was impulsive and I regretted it the moment it happened. With you, I don't think I'd have regretted it necessarily, but I knew it would not have been right for us."
"Because of Yi Jeong?" Ga Eul could not help but ask.
"In a way, but also because of you," Ji Hu said. He let his fingers run through the length of her hair as they lay there together. "It's obvious, as I said. Given the chance, I could have fallen in love with you. Perhaps if it was me you had met before Yi Jeong and before the mess with Jan Di. Maybe things could have been different."
"You said you regretted kissing Jan Di," Ga Eul said.
"Mm," Ji Hu said. "I followed my heart to Paris, and despite a brief time together, Seo Hyun had already moved on from the love I thought we shared. So much that she is the one that insisted Jan Di was a perfect person to help me heal from my heartbreak over her. I actually believed her too."
"But?" she prodded.
"But Jun Pyo liked Jan Di and took her to Caledonia to show her," Ji Hu said. "While there I thought maybe my second chance was slipping away and I grabbed at it impulsively only to realize my mistake too late after I kissed her. The moment I did, I knew that no amount of insistence from Seo Hyun could make it true. I had wanted desperately to take it back. I intended on apologizing to Jan Di and just ignoring I had ever made the attempt, but Jun Pyo saw it all."
"Jan Di didn't help the situation by not being forthcoming with... anything about you or Jun Pyo," Ga Eul said. "I remember how angry I was at her when she told me she didn't know which of you to choose."
"She can't be entirely to blame," Ji Hu said. "I should have been more in control and not allow my heartache over Seo Hyun to cloud my judgment."
"Don't," Ga Eul said. "The past is the past now in that regard, and the fact is all of you were in the wrong, even Jun Pyo. Even if he was hurt by your actions, he didn't have to take things as far as he did."
"Everything has a purpose," Ji Hu said. "Remember, if not for that competition, Jun Hee-noona would have never seen you."
"Mm," she hummed. "Still not all that crazy that it took something like that to find out."
"Things worked out in the end," he reminded her. He tugged at a lock of hair. "At least it all will once you've cleared the air with the others, especially Jun Pyo."
A soft groan escaped Ga Eul's throat as she turned and buried her face in Ji Hu's neck. She felt his fingers brushing through her long locks once more. "I can't believe the things I said to him and Woo Bin. To all of you," she said.
"Don't forget you also slapped him," Ji Hu pointed out, jumping with a mild yelp as she pinched his shoulder. "Violent."
"Oh stop," Ga Eul said, laughter filling her tone. She settled her head on his shoulder once more, staring at the lighting rigs above them. "How do I make this up to him?"
"Perhaps just apologize and tell him what you told me," Ji Hu suggested. "That your head knew the truth, and your heart did deep down, but that between Sunny and Jan Di both reacting to how real that card looked, your heart just couldn't move past the hurt you felt."
"Why is it we seem to be in positions to apologize to each other?" she asked.
"From what I understand from Yi Jeong, it's typical sibling behavior," Ji Hu said. "He and Il Hyun didn't speak for a bit when Il Hyun walked away from the family after finding out Yi Jeong was to be the So heir. Not to mention Eun Jae."
"Il Hyun's girlfriend?" Ga Eul asked.
"Yi Jeong once thought he loved her," Ji Hu explained. "It left a bit of tension between the two brothers."
"And... now?" Ga Eul asked quietly. She felt Ji Hu's fingers stroking through her hair.
"Yi Jeong realized that Eun Jae was the first non-related female in his life that showed him not all women were like his mother," he explained.
"Is his mother really that bad?" Ga Eul asked. "I know eonni said that she has been in and out of the hospital over the years."
Ji Hu sighed softly. "From what my harabeoji has said is that Park Cho Hee is very fragile of mind and always has been," he said. "Putting her into an arranged marriage with a man who had already given his heart to someone else, someone who didn't reciprocate, was always going to lead to disaster."
"Harabeoji So doesn't seem like the type to do an arranged marriage," Ga Eul said. "I mean when I've talked to him and Halmeoni So."
"My harabeoji said that So Yun He had hoped that arranging a marriage for his son would help him get over your eomma and apparently Park Cho Hee's bumonim hoped that arranging the marriage would help stabilize her. None could foresee the complete disaster that came of it," Ji Hu said. "I think the only reason Il Hyun and Yi Jeong came to be is that Hyun Sub knew a So heir was needed and I think maybe he hoped if Park Cho Hee had children to focus on, she would ignore his infidelities."
"Well that did not work out in his favor," Ga Eul said.
"No, not at all," Ji Hu said. He turned his head and tugged at a lock of her hair. "We should go so you can see to your oppa and sachon."
Ga Eul groaned before she nodded and finally shifted her body upwards so that she could rise. She felt Ji Hu sit up after her before he was swinging his long legs around and they were side by side. He bumped his shoulder to hers. "Think of it like ripping off a band-aid," he said. "It'll hurt less."
"I just feel so bad for thinking so ill of all of you," she said.
Ji Hu shifted and put his arm around her, rubbing her arm. "It happens," he said. "You had no way of knowing. Despite being Jun Pyo's sister, you are still learning who we are and who you are. There are bound to be missteps along the way."
Ga Eul took a moment to rest her head against Ji Hu's shoulder. "Thank you, Sunbae," she said.
Ji Hu squeezed her shoulder before getting off the stage and turning to help her down. "Time to face the music."
No matter how much Yi Jeong downed another scotch, he could not get the images that were in his head out. He had already downed four glasses of the best scotch that he usually got at Woo Bin's club, working on his fifth, with a sixth already heading his way. He closed his eyes a moment after taking a long swig, but immediately all he could see were Ji Hu and Ga Eul.
Yi Jeong had taken the time to go to the art room in the art center, hoping to find Ga Eul there. He frowned when he saw the lights off in the room and knew she was not there. He tilted his head a moment then remembered how she had a room that Ji Hu had arranged for her that was a private dance study as an early birthday gift. One of the many times he had to push his jealousy aside over how Ji Hu seemed to show interest in Ga Eul. Instead of thinking about how he had fumed about the gift, he headed for the room instead only to see that it was also as dark as the art room had been. He had yet to see Ji Hu and wondered if the man had any success in finding her.
Jogging, he headed out of the room, looking through the hallways along the way when he heard the echo of her voice in one of the auditoriums. He headed in the direction and was about to enter when he paused, struck at the sight he saw.
"Why? Is this Kang Hee Soo even though she's in jail? And why me?" Yi Jeong heard Ga Eul say.
"Shh," Ji Hu said, reaching up to smooth Ga Eul's hair back, her eyes closing. "We will figure that out, I promise."
Yi Jeong watched as Ga Eul opened her dark gaze to look into Ji Hu's. "Sunbae," he heard her say quietly. Yi Jeong's heart slammed against his chest as he watched Ji Hu move closer.
He watched as Ji Hu's thumb brushed along her cheekbone, his other hand moving to brush her hair from her forehead. He saw Ga Eul's tongue peek out as she licked her lips and Ji Hu's head lowered. Yi Jeong felt his anger and heartache grow as he watched how their heads got closer together. He turned and immediately hurried away from the scene, unable to stand watching as his supposed best friend betrayed yet another one of them by kissing the girl they were interested in.
Yi Jeong threw the rest of his scotch back, letting the liquor burn down his throat, and reached for the sixth glass that had been delivered to him. He already had Woo Bin's voice in his head as his subconscious. Except Ga Eul wasn't yours to be angry over now was she? the voice said. You never made your interest known and dragged your feet too long, just like I told you would happen. Now she is Ji Hu's.
"Shut the fuck up," he slurred.
"Yi Jeong-sunbae," a familiar and unpleasant voice asked him.
"Go away, Ginger," Yi Jeong grumbled as he sipped at his drink. He blinked a few times, knowing he was going to need to call someone to get him home, but he was not quite ready for that yet.
"I'm not here to cause trouble," Ginger lied as she slipped into the seat beside Yi Jeong. She had immediately headed to the club the moment she had received a cryptic text message from Park Sung Ho stating that it was time for her to take advantage of the plan in motion in order to get So Yi Jeong for herself. When she had arrived she had learned that he had immediately started drinking scotch and was preparing to start working on his sixth drink. She had no idea what had caused him to start drinking so much, but she was sly enough to know that she was taking advantage of whatever she could in order to land in Yi Jeong's bed. Or at least make him think she had as she slipped her hand into her purse and palmed the small baggie.
"I want to be alone," Yi Jeong said as he took another drink.
"The state you are in, I think the last thing you should be is alone," Ginger said. "You know how much I-."
"I can't believe he did it again," Yi Jeong slurred into his glass. "First he kisses Jan Di and creates havoc with all of us, and now Ga Eul?" He slammed back his drink.
Ginger simply stared at him a moment, letting the implication of what he said hit her. She felt anger simmering on Miranda's behalf, but hearing the anger and sorrow in Yi Jeong's drunken slur made her realize why exactly Sung Ho had sent her the message to tell her to get over here and take advantage of the situation. The chaos created with the red card and Sunny had obviously done something to the F4 and found Yi Jeong now angry with Yun Ji Hu over Gu Ga Eul. It was the very thing Ginger needed. As the waiter approached, she simply nodded to him to leave the newest glass for Yi Jeong. Doing whatever she could so that the waiter did not see, she managed to dump the baggie of powder into Yi Jeong's drink and mix it before handing it over.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Not your problem," Yi Jeong said, taking the glass from her hand and taking a large gulp of the liquid.
"Yi Jeong... you know I love you," Ginger said. "I only want the best for you, so I am worried. I know you have gotten drunk before, but I've never seen you this drunk before."
"It doesn't matter..." Yi Jeong simply took another swig of his drink, his brain already starting to grow fuzzy. He did not care, because all he wanted to do was erase the mental image from his mind of Ji Hu lowering his head to kiss Ga Eul.
"Where's Yi Jeong?" Woo Bin immediately asked as Ga Eul walked back into the F4 lounge with Ga Eul at his side.
"Good question," Ji Hu said. "I didn't see him as we were leaving the art center but I sent him a text to tell him I found Ga Eul and that we were heading back here."
Woo Bin frowned and pulled out his phone, sending a text off to Yi Jeong as Ga Eul slowly approached Jun Pyo where he was sitting with Jae Kyung.
"Oppa, I'm sorry," Ga Eul said in a small voice. "I shouldn't have reacted the way I did."
Jun Pyo pushed himself to his feet. He glanced at Jae Kyung when she nudged his knee with her foot and tilted his head. He simply nodded when she arched a brow at him. He turned to his sister. "You really hurt me by the things you said," he admitted.
Ga Eul ducked her head. "I'm sorry," she said once more. "I know I shouldn't have-."
"But I understand why you reacted as you did," Jun Pyo interrupted. Ga Eul's head came up, a surprised look etching into her features. "We looked at the card more and it really does look like the ones we used to send. But I swear, we don't-."
Ga Eul reached over and took his hands. "I know," she said. "And deep down I already knew even when I saw it, but when I saw how scared Sunny was and how pale Jan Di got... I just reacted. Ji Hu-sunbae said that you all think I am being targeted?"
"It's the only thing that seems to make sense," Jun Pyo said. "Why else give Sunny the card but to make you angry with us because the two of you became friends?"
"I'm starting to wonder if there is also more to it than just that," Woo Bin said as he closed his phone to wait to see if he heard from Yi Jeong.
"What do you mean?" Ji Hu asked.
"I wanted to wait and see if Ga Eul came back to tell you all," Woo Bin said. "When I drove Sunny home, she told me that she received the red card even before Ga Eul offered her friendship to her."
"What?" Jun Pyo questioned as he turned.
"Ga Eul, do you remember the day we went to see Jae Kyung in the hospital and you, Jun Hee-noona, Jun Won-hyung, and I ran into Sunny and her family?" Woo Bin asked. He continued once she nodded. "A few days after that is when Sunny got the card in her locker."
Ga Eul's eyes widened. "That was at least a couple of weeks before Jan Di and I talked to her and I offered to be friends with her," she said. She thought a moment. "The day that happened, she had run into Jan Di and me and seemed really upset and nervous. We found her crying in the bathroom but she refused to tell us what was going on."
"So she was probably being harassed by everyone even then in our name," Ji Hu said, taking note of Woo Bin's tightened jaw as his body stiffened in restlessness.
"I chalked it up to Miranda and Ginger harassing her because of their friendship ending," Ga Eul admitted. "Especially when Sunny said that her acquaintance with them was shaky at best."
"Sunny was always an intelligent young woman," Woo Bin said. "But she had it in her head, mostly put there by her sister, that she wasn't and that the only way to get what she wanted was to become friends with Ginger and Miranda and act as they do."
"Eonni told me that Sunny's sister is your ex," Ga Eul said. "But were you close to Sunny?"
Woo Bin sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Actually, we were," he admitted. "But after what happened with Sun Lee, I distanced myself from Sunny as well, particularly when she started hanging out with Miranda and Ginger more."
"She said it was expected," Ga Eul said. "Because of who their families were and that many considered them almost the female equivalent of all of you. However, she said that she knew the minute that anyone went against Ginger, including her, that things would not be good and that their relationship was only on the surface."
"So you think maybe Ginger or Miranda initiated that fake red card?" Jun Pyo asked.
"Neither are intelligent enough to do so," Ji Hu pointed out.
"Someone definitely took advantage of the situation with Sunny though," Ga Eul said.
"Someone who has been observant enough to see how kindhearted you are," Woo Bin said. "My guess is the moment Sunny turned her back on Ginger and Miranda that she would be a good target for them."
"But how would that lead to Ga Eul?" Jae Kyung asked.
"Ga Eul is all about second chances," Jun Pyo said. "Look at how she has been repairing her relationship with Jan Di."
"So you think that whoever is orchestrating this used Sunny to get to Ga Eul?" Jae Kyung asked. "To what end?"
"To drive a wedge between her and us," Woo Bin pointed out. "The first thing that is going to hurt Ga Eul is the idea that her oppa, sachon, and the rest of the F4 either did not change from how they were before when they said they had or reverted back to how we were before meeting her and Jan Di." He glanced at Jun Pyo. "Because whether we want to admit it or not, Jan Di is the reason we actually did start changing."
Jun Pyo grunted but sighed. "You aren't wrong," he said. "But it's Ga Eul who has been the reason why we've continued to change."
"Won't argue that, but the point is we stopped sending those red cards after Jan Di," Woo Bin said. "And Ga Eul knew that."
"So whoever this is wants to create discord between Ga Eul and the F4," Jae Kyung said. "The question is why?"
"Something we will find out," Jun Pyo said.
Yi Jeong had never felt as horrible after a night of drinking as he did at that moment. He had barely eaten because none of what he had consumed stayed down. Even the smell of coffee turned his stomach, so he made the decision to not have any of the delicious coffee his brother normally brewed, instead, he had simply dressed and done what he could to make himself look presentable. Except he also knew that he looked horrible.
There was something that was gnawing at his belly, even as he had managed to slink home very early that morning once he had woken up in a hotel room that he did not remember being in. If he thought too hard, it made his head pound even more. He heard the whispers of people that sounded horribly loud even despite the whispers. He noticed people kept glancing at him and he wanted to snap, but he expected that he would end up vomiting if he attempted to.
A soft frown formed on Yi Jeong's face as he saw some of the Shinhwa girls giggling before looking away from him. His steps slowed as he saw varying looks being shot at him, including those of disgust, which had him wondering what the hell was going on.
"Guess Ginger finally got what she wanted," someone said near the screen in the lobby. The crowd parted and Yi Jeong felt cold wash over his body as he stared at the image on the screen. He could not believe what he was seeing as he stared at an image of himself half-naked in a bed with Ginger, equally as half-naked, draped over him. To those looking at the image, it was obvious what had transpired between them, though Yi Jeong wanted to deny it. He would never touch Ginger, but then why was he staring at an image of himself in bed with her?
"You slept with Ginger?" Yi Jeong's eyes closed as pain lanced through his chest before he slowly turned and saw Ga Eul just staring at the screen.