It was only meant to be a competition. One that would show Gu Jun Pyo that he did not hold rank over everything when it came to life. That he did not hold the fates of two individuals within his hands as much as he thought. Yes, there was a risk when Yun Ji Hu and Geum Jan Di had accepted the challenge that if Jun Pyo won two out of the three that it meant ending a lifelong friendship and could result in them both being expelled, but Gu Jun Hee wouldn't have let most of that happen if she could talk sense into her brother. However, the moment she had walked into the barn and up the stairs for the first competition beside Jan Di, the last thing Jun Hee could focus on was the competition.
She had to focus, which was hard when she wanted nothing more than to stare at Chu Ga Eul and question her at the same time. She had a face that Jun Hee hadn't seen since she was a little girl and it was impossible. It had to be impossible. Even as she waved her hand to Song Woo Bin and So Yi Jeong to start the race, she was already drafting an email to her father in her head. She immediately dismissed that idea, instead picking up her phone as the race began and sending him a text telling him he had to call her as soon as possible.
Gu Jun Hee needed to know why Chu Ga Eul looked exactly like her late mother.
Once the race was underway and Woo Bin and Yi Jeong had rejoined the rest of the crowd, Jun Hee had walked over to stand beside them, sipping her champagne. "The young woman with Jan Di," she said. "Who is she?"
Woo Bin and Yi Jeong both looked over to where the two girls were standing at the railing, watching the race within the arena before Ji Hu and Jun Pyo were heading outside to finish the race. It was Woo Bin who answered. "Chu Ga Eul," he said. "Geum Jan Di's best friend. Like us, they've known each other since kindergarten."
Jun Hee hummed in response, watching Ji Hu and Jun Pyo racing around the rink, taking another sip of the champagne. "Would either of you happen to have a picture of her you can send to me? Perhaps one with Jan Di?" she asked. While her tone sounded innocent enough, she knew it was an unusual request, even for her. Which was why it was no surprise when both Woo Bin and Yi Jeong turned away from the race and focused their attention on Jun Hee.
For a moment, Jun Hee suddenly understood the power that her brother and his friends had that created havoc amongst most women they came across, especially these two that were considered the Don Juan and Casanova of their group. Despite knowing them since they were so young, she was not blind to how handsome both were. However, there was something more now as the two young men focused on Jun Hee. She could see curiosity within the depths of their dark eyes, but also something more, especially in Yi Jeong's eyes. A protectiveness that was reserved only for those closest to them. It was not lost on Jun Hee at that moment and she filed that particular bit of information away for later.
"Why are you so interested in Chu Ga Eul, Jun Hee-noona?" Woo Bin asked. Of the four men, Woo Bin was the most protective in the F4. Jun Hee knew that it came from his fierce loyalty and how he was raised by his parents.
There was much that Jun Hee knew of the four prominent families that she kept close to herself since losing her mother even at a fairly young age herself. Despite everyone often fearing the darker connections that the Song family had, she knew that Song Lee Bin was a good and loyal man. If there was one thing that Woo Bin had inherited from his father, outside of his striking features, was that loyalty. Loyalty to family and those he loved would have been fiercely nurtured in Song Woo Bin by both his father and mother, especially after a surprise pregnancy resulted in the birth of Woo Bin's younger twin sisters. She remembered the quiet meeting she had overheard between Song Lee Bin and her own father, Gu Bon Hyeong, after discovering the pregnancy. Discussing his concerns about losing his wife the way Bon Hyeong had. Losing the precious daughters he now had the way Bon Hyeong had lost his third child with his beloved wife.
Or had he? The thought flitted through Jun Hee's mind as she heard Ga Eul say something to Jan Di. It shook her attention from the two young men in front of her for a moment until she refocused.
"I… can't explain," Jun Hee said. "Not yet. Not until I know more. But… trust me?"
"You know we do," Yi Jeong said. "But why-."
After handing off her now-empty champagne flute to a servant, Jun Hee reached over and placed her palms against both men's cheeks, giving them the gentle smile she only reserved for Jun Pyo and the other three members of the F4, whom she had come to see as additional younger brothers.
"I promise you both that I will tell you once I know more," she said. "But I need a promise in return." The confused inquiry on both their faces earned another smile from Jun Hee. "I need you to promise to keep this to yourself. Especially from Ji Hu and Jun Pyo."
She watched Woo Bin and Yi Jeong glance at once another. After so many years as friends, it was as if the two were speaking telepathically before they looked at her once more. "One condition," Woo Bin said. Jun Hee tilted her head. "Keep us in the loop. And for me, personally, if you need my assistance. Tell me."
Jun Hee knew exactly what assistance he meant and it warmed her to think that he would assist in the manner she may very well need. However, she already knew that if she found any inkling that what she was thinking was true, she knew that Woo Bin would not be the Song that would be stepping in for assistance. It would be her uncle, Song Lee Bin.
"I promise you two that I will keep you informed, but I do insist neither Ji Hu nor Jun Pyo know. Not yet. Not until I can confirm some things first, because this is going to affect all of our families," Jun Hee said.
Yi Jeong paused as he looked through the photos on his phone, glancing at Woo Bin. The moment Jun Hee had promised to keep them in the loop, he had pulled out his phone to find a picture he had of Ga Eul while they had been in New Caledonia. It was one that he had snuck of her and was one of his favorites, despite that he tried to deny any inkling of affection towards the young woman.
"Affect our families?" Woo Bin asked.
Jun Hee's smile was pained in response before she shook her head. "Once I know more of this Chu Ga Eul and can confirm something, I promise you both I will fill you in," she said. "But for now, please? If you have a picture?"
"Yes," Yi Jeong said, going back to what he had been doing. He found the picture and quickly sent it to Jun Hee's phone. His brow furrowed as Jun Hee bussed his cheek, then Woo Bin's, before she turned and walked away from them, already lifting her phone to her ear as she disappeared around a corner to complete her call.
"Why do I feel like things just became more complicated even without this stupid competition over Geum Jan Di?" Woo Bin asked. Yi Jeong merely shook his head, unable to voice his own concerns at that moment, the two young men focused on where Jun Hee had just been rather than on the crowd around them as they cheered on Jun Pyo in the race.
Jun Hee knew that she left Woo Bin and Yi Jeong with more questions than answers as she had walked away, immediately calling her father. Despite the text she sent demanding he reach out to her, she needed to speak to him immediately. She cursed when she got his voicemail and immediately made another call.
"Jun Hee, this is an unexpected surprise," the deep voice said on the other end. "It's been too long."
"I know," she said. "And I wish I was calling for a casual chat, but I'm not."
"What is it?" The voice was immediately at attention, waiting for whatever Jun Hee was about to say.
"I need your help," Jun Hee said. "Woo Bin already offered to help as well, but he is not aware of our family connection…"
On the other end of the line, Song Lee Bin released a sigh. If Jun Hee had been there, she would have seen the older man slump into his seat, suddenly feeling his years. As it was, his wife entered the room with two cups of tea. Her eyebrows went up in concern as she saw her husband's reaction. He simply shook his head at her, silently saying he would explain once he was off the phone. Song Bon Ha simply inclined her head as she set the tea down on Lee Bin's desk, taking her own before settling into the chair across from him.
She had broken from Korean tradition regarding taking her husband's family name instead of keeping her own when her mother had thrown a fit after marrying Song Lee Bin. She had also known that her late sister-in-law had taken Bon Ha's brother's name when they married for the same reason. She knew how much it had pissed off her mother that both Bon Ha and her brother had married people that had not been approved by her. Thankfully, their father wanted his children happy even with their high social status. Song Lee Bin was as close as possible to being the same social status as Bon Ha, but Kim Shan Gi had not been even remotely close to Bon Hyeong's social status. While she had not been a commoner, technically, she was from a more moderately wealthy family than the one she had married into.
"I wondered if a day would come when they would have to learn of that connection," Lee Bin said to Jun Hee over the phone, breaking into Bon Ha's thoughts. "Why do I have a feeling whatever you need my assistance with is going to be the reason that is going to happen?"
"You'll understand once I send you the picture I am going to send to your phone after our call," Jun Hee said. "It's an image of a young woman named Chu Ga Eul. I need her investigated quietly and quickly. I'm already going to be informing Appa as well, so he may call you too. She's a new acquaintance of the F4 through Geum Jan Di, who is-."
"The scholarship student to Shinhwa. I recognize her name but not this Chu Ga Eul's, though now that I hear it, it does seem mildly familiar," Lee Bin said. "What interest do you have in her?"
"As I said, you'll understand once you see the picture I'll be sending to you," Jun Hee said. "I can't voice it over the phone right now, because I don't know if the boys are trying to overhear since they are concerned over my interest in her."
"They know you'd never hurt her," Lee Bin said. "You aren't that type of person."
"They know that," Jun Hee said, smiling at Lee Bin's assurance of her character. "But I saw the fierce protectiveness in their eyes when I asked if they had a picture of her to send me. Yi Jeong in particular, though I am sure he would deny it if someone dared to point it out."
Lee Bin let out a small growl. "Yes, well, the boy thinks he doesn't deserve to find happiness because of that troll he has for a father and how he's acted all these years."
"Sweetheart," Bon Ha said quietly. Lee Bin lifted his eyes to her and shook his head.
"Send me the image, jokattal," Lee Bin said. "I'll get to work and get back to you."
"Thank you, Samchon," Jun Hee said. Lee Bin ended the call and set his phone down with a sigh.
"What was that about?" Bon Ha asked her husband, watching him tilt his head back to rest on the back of his large chair.
"Gu Jun Hee is requesting I look into someone. She's going to send over an image to me," he said. "Apparently it is someone Woo Bin and his friends know. She sounded… haunted."
Bon Ha looked startled. "Haunted? Jun Hee?" she questioned. "And you called her jokattal, which you haven't done in years."
Lee Bin lifted his head and looked at his wife, feeling far older than his age suddenly. "Whatever this is that she is having me look into… I think it is going to bring out a number of family secrets that we've purposely kept from all the kids but Jun Hee," he admitted. "I don't know why, but I feel it in my gut. She's already forewarned me that once your oppa sees this girl's image, he will probably also be contacting me."
Bon Ha set her tea down. "What could possibly have Bon Hyeong-oppa that interested once he sees?" she asked. Lee Bin shook his head as his phone chimed, indicating he was receiving a message. Reaching for the device, he saw it was an image from Jun Hee. He opened it and let the image download into his phone. Once the pixels cleared and the image came into view, Lee Bin's eyes widened and the color drained from his face.
"Lee Bin!" Bon Ha was so startled by her husband's reaction, she immediately rose and hurried around the desk to his side. His hands shaking, all Lee Bin could do was hand his phone to his wife so that she could see the image he was looking at. Bon Ha's reaction was similar to Lee Bin's as she looked at a face that should not have been. She was vaguely aware of her husband's voice as he picked up the landline receiver on his desk.
"Chief, I have an important assignment for you and the boys," Lee Bin was saying. "Find me every last bit of information you can on a young girl about 19 years of age named Chu Ga Eul. In addition, I want every single bit of evidence and record of investigations done on the accident that killed Gu Shan Gi nineteen years ago. Not only evidence and investigation of the accident itself, but every hospital record on hand that dealt with her case, including the obstetrics and birth records."
Lee Bin's gaze found Bon Ha's as he spoke. "I want to know why there is a young woman that could be Gu Shan Gi's twin walking around when the daughter she was pregnant with when she died was said to be dead," he said into the phone. "And get me Gu Bon Hyeong's itinerary of meetings or find me a break in those meetings. I need to speak to him immediately."
Gu Bon Hyeong rubbed at the back of his neck as he walked into his office after another long meeting. He waved at his personal assistant and secretary as they both fell into step beside him. He sat down and nodded to his secretary after she set down his tea before bowing and leaving his office.
"Sir, your phone kept going off during the meeting. I had it on silent and the vibration off, but your daughter seems to be trying to get a hold of you as well as Song Lee Bin," Lee Bin My said as he set Bon Hyeong's phone onto his desk.
A frown crossed the older man's features at the news. He knew that Jun Hee was back in Korea and dealing with a matter with her brother, so it was a surprise that she was trying to reach him. It was even more surprising when he learned that Song Lee Bin was trying to also reach him. Despite the F4 being friends, it had officially been nineteen years since the Gu, Song, So, and Yun families had truly kept in touch. The last time they had truly done anything together had been when they had to say goodbye to Yun Ji Hu's parents almost sixteen years ago. Short of the private conversation a few years ago with Lee Bin when his wife was pregnant with his twin daughters, the families didn't communicate outside of official business. So why was Song Lee Bin reaching out?
"You may go," he said to Bin My. His personal assistant bowed and left the office even as Bon Hyeong reached for his phone on the desk. He saw that his secretary had understated how much his daughter was trying to reach him as he saw the amount of missed calls. Coupled with the multiple missed calls from Song Lee Bin, adding in all the text messages from both, he felt his concern spike. His jaw tightened when he also saw a missed call and voicemail from Kang Hee Soo demanding him to call her. He simply deleted both of those and listened to Jun Hee's voicemail. He frowned when he heard the tension in his daughter's voice when she said she had something important to discuss with him and to call her as soon as he could. Listening to Lee Bin's message, it was similar. What in the world was going on?
A swift knock sounded on his office door and he looked up just as the door opened and Jun Hee walked in. He quickly got to his feet when he saw how distraught she looked. He quickly came around his desk and was startled when she immediately stepped into her father's arms and clung to him.
"Ttal, what is it?" he asked, stroking a hand down Jun Hee's back. "You called so many times. I'm sorry, I was in meetings."
"I… I have to show you something," she whispered. She pulled back from her father and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Bon Hyeong was worried as he watched his daughter's hands shake as she unlocked her phone and found what she was looking for before turning to show him what it was. Looking down, Bon Hyeong's face paled so swiftly that he felt Jun Hee's hands curl around his wrists after he pulled the phone from her hand and stared at the image.
"Wh…" Bon Hyeong couldn't even form a sentence.
"Her name is Chu Ga Eul. She's the best friend of Geum Jan Di, who Jun Pyo seems to have a crush on. Since Jun Pyo has been trying to woo her, he's brought Ga Eul into their world and Yi Jeong took this picture of her when the F4 took the girls to New Caledonia recently," Jun Hee said. "But… how can she look identical to Eomma?"
"I… I don't know," Bon Hyeong whispered, his eyes riveted to the image of Ga Eul on Jun Hee's phone.
"Appa... could the hospital have been wrong?" Jun Hee asked. "Could the baby have lived and we were lied to?"
"They wouldn't dare," the older man growled. "Go away!" His voice snapped, still not looking away from the image as another sharp knock sounded on his door. His head jerked up when the door opened, ready to lash out at whoever dared to ignore him. The words died, bubbling in his throat when Song Lee Bin walked in with Bon Ha.
"Seobangnim? Yeodongsaeng?" Bon Hyeong asked. "What are you doing here?"
"Jun Hee contacted me when she couldn't reach you," Lee Bin explained. "I was going to come alone when I couldn't reach you either, but your yeodongsaeng insisted on coming with me."
Bon Hyeong glanced at his daughter before stepping back and opening his arms to Bon Ha, his younger sister immediately hurrying over and wrapping her arms around her brother's waist. He rested his chin on top of her head, letting his eyes close a moment and taking a moment to just hold his sister after so long.
"You've seen the image," Bon Ha stated more than asked. She felt her brother nod. "Oppa..."
"I have no answers," Bon Hyeong said. "I only just saw it."
"I already have my people investigating," Lee Bin said. "Every last bit of it. We will find out if anything was kept from us."
Bon Hyeong shook his head. "They wouldn't have dared lie about this, not knowing our families," he said. He knew, however, that it was very possible. That image on Jun Hee's phone was haunting him and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was the little girl he thought he lost with his beloved wife.
"With the right money, anything is possible, even against us," Lee Bin commented. "But I'll know for certain in a few days."
"Appa, if she is the baby-," Jun Hee started.
"I will do everything in my power to return her to us, where she belongs," Bon Hyeong said. "She deserves to be with her brother and sister."
"Could Kang Hee Soo have had something to do with any of this?" Bon Ha asked, stepping back to her husband, feeling him slip his arm around her shoulders. She felt a shiver run down her spine as she watched her brother's face turn to a cold, impenetrable mask of hatred. She knew that he didn't like Kang Hee Soo and had only agreed to marry the witch because their mother had taken advantage of his heartache over the loss of his wife, claiming he needed a new wife to help raise his children. Except the witch had never cared for either child and Jun Hee grew up too fast because she became a mother figure to Jun Pyo as he grew up and both Bon Hyeong and Hee Soo had spent so much time handling Shinhwa business. Bon Ha was convinced that Kang Hee Soo only had an interest in becoming the wife of Shinhwa's heir to hook her manipulative claws into a top position.
"If she did, she will regret ever coming into our lives," Bon Hyeong said, breaking into his sister's musings.
"We'll cross that bridge if that happens," Lee Bin said. "Let me investigate first."
Bon Hyeong sighed heavily, letting his head fall back. His head was starting to hurt as he thought of all the implications that could be found if this girl was, in fact, his daughter. Letting out another sigh, he straightened his head.
"Regardless of what you discover, it's time our families came together," Bon Hyeong said. "And it's time the boys found out their family connections."