Thank you so much everyone for your reviews. I won't guarantee I will update this fast all the time, but I admit your reviews have been fueling the fire, so to speak, with this story. I have a 2021 goal of writing a new chapter per day for all of my WIPs, so I am hoping that will mean I'll get this updated quickly. Of course, I had a strange idea come to mind in a dream last night where the SS501 was performing at a club that the F4 took Jan Di and Ga Eul to, and during the performance, both girls were fascinated with how Hyun Joong looked so much like Ji Hu. Then Hyun Joong saw Ga Eul and asked her to dance during Again so I am trying to tell my brain that this is not a story I need to write, but my brain works in strange ways.
The last place that Ga Eul had wanted to ever be was standing at the edge of the Shinhwa pool in order to talk to So Yi Jeong, but her annoyance had grown as she thought about how he had agreed to swim on behalf of Gu Jun Pyo against Geum Jan Di. For whatever reason, it didn't bother her as much as Song Woo Bin swimming against Yun Ji Hu, but the principle was the same. Perhaps it was because, from what Jan Di had told her, So Yi Jeong had actually volunteered whereas Song Woo Bin had been more or less told to participate so that Ji Hu could do so and it wouldn't be just Yi Jeong and Jan Di competing against one another.
"You actually want me to throw the race in Geum Jan Di's favor," Yi Jeong said more than asked.
"Whether they win or lose doesn't matter to any of you, but to Jan Di-," Ga Eul started.
"She has to leave the school," Yi Jeong said. Despite how he felt about the situation and his anger at Ji Hu for kissing Jan Di when Jun Pyo had claimed her as his girlfriend, he didn't want to see the girl expelled because of Jun Pyo's temper. However, he knew if he hadn't stepped in, Jun Pyo would have had a fit for having to forfeit the competition because of his own inability to swim. He also didn't want to lose Ji Hu in F4, but he knew that eventually, that fence would mend. Despite Jun Pyo's anger, eventually, he would have patched up his relationship with Ji Hu. Or he suspected Jun Hee-noona would step in further. To be fair, she probably would regarding Jan Di being kicked out too, he thought to himself before Ga Eul brought his attention back to her.
"Aren't you embarrassed to work your butt off to win against a girl?" Ga Eul all but snapped at the handsome man.
"Don't you think it would be more embarrassing to lose after working my butt off?" Yi Jeong responded, annoyed at Ga Eul's tone. He saw her turn to him out of the corner of his eye.
"So you're saying even if you die, you'll win this race?" she demanded.
"Well, I don't intend on putting my life on the line over something like this, I'm saying I won't take it lightly," Yi Jeong said, keeping from rolling his eyes at the annoyance he felt at her dramatics. He glanced up at her finally.
"Hey!" Ga Eul said, facing him.
"Hey," Yi Jeong cut her off and got to his feet. "I don't think you're in a position to complain."
"What?" she asked indignantly.
"I warned you, didn't I?" Yi Jeong said. "I warned you that it would be best to stop her. I came to your rice restaurant and gave you some friendly advice."
Ga Eul lifted her eyes to his, giving him a twisted smile. "It's not a rice restaurant, but a porridge restaurant," she snapped. "And regardless, you warned about Gu Jun Pyo and if you had any idea who Jan Di is, you would know that she is going to do what she wants. So don't act like you and the rest of your F4 friends are innocent or in control of everything."
Yi Jeong smirked. "Birds of a feather, I suppose that term is correct," he said.
"What?"
"Is Geum Jan Di's nosiness contagious?" he asked.
Ga Eul's jaw tightened and he could tell that she wanted to lash out with a firm slap across his face. "You little-."
"The exit is over there," Yi Jeong effectively dismissed her as he walked to the edge of the pool and put his swimming goggles on before diving into the water and away from the infuriating woman still on the deck. Ga Eul watched his form in the water before huffing and storming out of the pool area, cursing him with each step that she took as she left the grounds of the prestigious school.
Ga Eul was increasingly glad that she had walked because the crisp air was giving her a chance to let the anger roll off of her after her confrontation with Yi Jeong. What it was about the man that infuriated her she wasn't sure. Perhaps it was his attitude overall regarding Jan Di's relationship with Jun Pyo. She understood the potential of wanting to protect the friend you cared about, but this was as much Ji Hu's and Jun Pyo's fault as it was Jan Di's. She hadn't been wrong when she told Yi Jeong that Jan Di would do what she wanted, regardless of any warning she was given. She was sure that he, ultimately, meant well in delivering the warning, but he should have warned Jan Di directly instead of trying to use Ga Eul to do so.
To be fair, Ga Eul hadn't spent as much time with Jan Di since she had started attending Shinhwa as much as she had before. She mostly knew of things that were going on when she had the chance to talk to her at the porridge shop during their shifts, which Jan Di had missed more than she attended of late.
A small part of her had been deeply annoyed at being dragged along to New Caledonia just because she was needed as an excuse to allow Jan Di to go, though she had enjoyed the trip for the most part outside of the drama that happened and was now affecting them all now. Yes, she had enjoyed going to a new place and the pictures she had taken, even enjoyed the time in the sun, but she couldn't help but feel annoyance over the fact that she had not been there as a friend of anyone but Jan Di's and, honestly if she had not been needed to ensure Jan Di would not fight going, she'd have been stuck covering for Jan Di at the porridge shop yet again. Even now, she had no real communication with the members of F4 and was only being included because Jan Di wanted her to be supportive of her.
Ga Eul paused as she walked, letting her head fall forward. She felt guilty for being so annoyed, but hadn't this been their relationship always? Yes, Jan Di had defended her often, and sometimes, on the rare occasion she listened, Ga Eul was Jan Di's voice of reason. When they spent time together and just hung out, they did have fun, but more often than not Ga Eul felt like she was in Jan Di's shadow. She didn't have the same loud personality that Jan Di did, in fact, she had often been teased when she took dance that her quiet nature would work against her as she progressed because it meant she wouldn't try for larger roles. However, that hadn't mattered, because the moment she had truly gotten into dancing, her guardians had pulled her out.
That was another thing that often bothered her. Despite being best friends since kindergarten, Jan Di had never caught on that something was definitely not right in Ga Eul's family life. There was a reason that if they had sleepovers all those years that they were at Jan Di's home and never at Ga Eul's. Jan Di didn't even know that the people who took care of Ga Eul were not her parents biologically, a fact that they would remind her about as often as they could. She had never understood why people would take on the care of a child that wasn't theirs if they didn't want to properly love them as their own.
She also didn't understand how anyone would intentionally hurt a child, regardless of if it was their child or not. Another matter that Jan Di was unaware of, but Ga Eul would have hidden the bruises even if those who cared for her were her parents. She had been grateful that, for once, she had no bruises that needed to be covered in New Caledonia. At least none that wouldn't already be covered, particularly the one between her shoulder blades.
Ga Eul had to quickly shift her thoughts away from the mess that was her home life and away from the things Jan Di didn't know or was often too preoccupied in her own world, which was often the case, to ask about Ga Eul. Jan Di merely assumed that Ga Eul's life was a perfect one. She began walking once more, unaware of the individual that was following her and another individual that had been constantly taking pictures of her.
Kang Hee Soo slapped the pictures she had been given onto her desk after dismissing Jeong Sang Rok from her office. She pressed a button on her phone, waiting for the other person on the line to pick up. They barely had a chance to say hello before she began her tirade.
"How the hell did you allow that little bitch to get anywhere near Shinhwa Academy?" she demanded. "And who the hell is the little bitch with her that I've seen in other pictures with Gu Jun Pyo?"
"The other girl is Geum Jan Di, the young woman you put into Shinhwa on a scholarship to quiet the growing criticism after she saved the bullied boy from a suicide attempt," the voice said on the other end. "As for the Chu girl, she is friends with the Geum girl. My resources say she went to speak to So Yi Jeong in regards to the competition that Gu Jun Pyo is currently having with Yun Ji Hu."
"That little bitch should never have even gotten within breathing distance of anyone from the Gu, So, Song, or Yun families!" Kang Hee Soo screeched. She took a few breaths to attempt to calm herself.
"What do you want to be done?" the voice asked.
"I want both of those little bitches handled," Hee Soo said. "And I want Song Lee Bin's investigation stopped."
"Do you have a preference of how we handle them?"
Hee Soo sneered at the phone before walking to her liquor cabinet and poured herself three fingers of whiskey over ice. "That is your responsibility to figure out," she said. "I want the Geum girl to be put in her place."
"And the Chu girl?"
Kee Soo looked into her glass, swirling the amber liquid around before taking a drink. "You decide," she said. "Teach her a lesson or finish what should have been started when her bitch mother was taken out nineteen years ago."
Gu Jun Hee had come early for the final competition in hopes of seeing Ga Eul beforehand. Song Lee Bin had asked if she could find a way to get a strand of hair from the girl without her realizing it in the hopes to have a DNA test run. She wasn't sure how she was going to accomplish it, but she knew that she needed to in order for them to run the test to know if she was related to them. She had no idea that the perfect opportunity was presenting itself as she saw Ga Eul struggling with her coat. Moving over to the younger woman, she reached to help Ga Eul untangle her hair from the button of her coat. Once released, she took Ga Eul's coat from her, noticing strands of her hair still tangled around the buttons.
"Thank you, Ms. Gu," Ga Eul said. The idea of her being so formal stung Jun Hee's heart. Instead, she simply offered Ga Eul a smile and shook her head.
"Please, call me eonni like Jan Di does," Jun Hee insisted. "Why don't you head in and I'll hand your coat to Butler Lee."
"You're coming in for the final competition?" Ga Eul asked.
"Of course," Jun Hee said. "I have to see this through to the end to see how I have to handle the outcome." She nodded to the door that led to the pool area. "I'll be right in." Ga Eul gave her a bow and turned away to walk into the pool area.
Jun Hee turned and walked over to where she saw Butler Lee standing, waiting. She handed him Ga Eul's coat but stopped him when he started to hang it up. She quickly untangled several strands of hair from the buttons on Ga Eul's coat before pulling a plastic baggy from her pocket and putting them inside. She quickly sealed the bag before looking at Butler Lee.
"This needs to be delivered to Song Lee Bin immediately," she told Butler Lee. "I only trust you with this, al-assji?"
"Of course, mistress," Butler Lee said. "My assistant is already here. He will be in charge while I personally take this to Master Song."
"Please hurry," Jun Hee said. Once she got a nod from the older man, she turned to head into the pool area. She had to slow her steps when she saw Ga Eul standing behind Jun Pyo where he was seated. She took a moment to really look at the two of them together and see the resemblance between them. She had always known that she and Jun Pyo had gotten their chocolate-colored eyes from their mother and she noticed that Ga Eul had as well. The more she saw her, the more she was certain that she had to be the sister they thought they had lost all those years ago. The more she studied Ga Eul, the more she could see a few features that she would have gotten from Bon Hyeong, but the rest of her was all Shan Gi. It made Jun Hee ache because she missed her mother terribly.
Coming out of her reverie, Jun Hee started walking to the other side of the pool, glaring at the three idiots in pink who were cheering for Song Woo Bin and So Yi Jeong. She wondered if those she had considered friends back when she was a student had been such simpering idiots as those three were. She barely looked at her brother, though she desperately wanted to. Seeing Ga Eul and Jun Pyo together made her heart warm and she hoped that Song Lee Bin's test on the hair strands would prove quickly who Ga Eul was so that their family could be whole once more.
Focus shifted to the competition as Jun Hee called everyone forward and started the race. Glancing at her brother, she noticed that he seemed lost as he watched the competition. She hoped it meant that she could avoid allowing Yun Ji Hu and Geum Jan Di from being expelled from the academy and avoid Ji Hu from losing a lifelong friendship.
Jun Pyo could hear Ga Eul fidgeting behind him. He knew that she wanted Jan Di and Ji Hu to win the competition because it was her best friend. A small part of him wanted them to win because Ji Hu was one of his best friends. He knew that, ultimately, this entire situation was more about his pride than what had happened. He knew that Song Woo Bin's words to him about Ji Hu going crazy over Seo Hyun's sudden engagement would affect the things he did were true, but his pride was too hurt to let this go. He genuinely liked Jan Di and this was a violation of his feelings at a time that he had no idea how to deal with them. He blamed both of his parents for how stunted he was emotionally. He couldn't blame his noona, she had done the best she could with him growing up and being so young herself.
Ga Eul glanced at Jun Pyo where he sat, watching the race intently. There was something in the way he was sitting that made her want to reach out and put a hand on his shoulder in comfort, but it almost felt like if she did she would be betraying Jan Di. Jun Pyo wanted to expel her for what happened and Ga Eul wanted her to remain at the school. If she were to ever leave, it needed to be on her terms, not someone else. Still, Ga Eul couldn't help the urge to reach out and comfort the older man. She could clearly see this was upsetting for him and she started to wonder if maybe she had been rooting for the wrong member of F4 for Jan Di.
She wouldn't deny that Ji Hu was attractive and he seemed genuinely kind and sweet based on the limited interaction they had. But Jun Pyo was also attractive, like all the members of F4 were, and he had put a lot of effort into trying to impress Jan Di with the only way he knew how which was money. He seemed like a lost little boy much of the time she had seen him of late with the competition and she had even noticed during their trip to New Caledonia that he seemed intent on impressing Jan Di. She also remembered how quickly he had raced to her side when she had been calling for Jan Di when she had gotten a cramp in the ocean. She had been too concerned about Jan Di to wonder why he hadn't rushed into the water to save her, instead, Ji Hu doing it, until later that evening when Woo Bin and Yi Jeong had explained to her and Jan Di exactly why Jun Pyo was terrified of water.
"Hey!" Ginger said when Jan Di and Yi Jeong dove in for their laps. "Geum Jan Di, it's the end for you!"
Jun Pyo caught Ga Eul's wrist as the other girl advanced, her face twisting angrily at Ginger's words. Ga Eul glanced down, surprised he had grabbed her. Jun Pyo got to his feet and shook his head at her. "She's an idiot and not worth it," was all he said before releasing her wrist. Ga Eul kept glancing at the water before she noticed how close Jan Di and Yi Jeong were in the race. She became engrossed in the competition once more and didn't see Jun Pyo walk away and head for the lights.
Everyone waited with bated breath to see who would finish the race first until the entire pool area went black as the lights went out. It was only for a few seconds before they came back on, but the race was over and no one knew who had won. Voices rose as everyone demanded to know who had won. Only Jun Hee and Ga Eul noticed that Jun Pyo was now walking out of the pool area and away from the crowd. Ga Eul hadn't known the man long, but she could see what Jun Hee saw. For the sake of his friendship with Ji Hu and his love for Jan Di, he had deliberately ensured that the race was over with no clear winner while also forfeiting the final competition without actually stating so and allowing Ji Hu to remain in F4 while both could remain at Shinhwa Academy. Jun Hee would probably have to talk to her brother later and figure out how to mend the friendship between Ji Hu and Jun Pyo, but his actions meant that he was willing to mend what was broken.