Thank you again for the reviews. I admit that this chapter took a bit. I had to regroup myself and refocus. I was a little disheartened after the last chapter, but then I had to remember that I write these stories mostly for myself as much as I do enjoy feedback from others. This chapter would've been posted last night, but the site was having some sort of authentication/login issue that wasn't resolved until this morning.
I want to make one thing very clear about the story in confusion with the family stuff. Ji Hu and Ga Eul are NOT cousins by blood. If you want to argue that they are cousins by MARRIAGE, then the argument HAS to be made that Yi Jeong and Ga Eul are also cousins. Ji Hu and Yi Jeong's mothers are cousins to one another and those mothers are BOTH cousins to Woo Bin's dad. There is no blood relation between Ji Hu, Yi Jeong, and Woo Bin's mother. It is through Woo Bin's mother that Woo Bin is related to Ga Eul, Jun Pyo, and Jun Hee. When I decided I wanted familial connections for everyone, I specifically made Ji Hu and Yi Jeong related to Woo Bin in such a way that there would be no blood relation to the Gu family.
I also named the twins in this chapter: Song Ae Cha and Song Jin Ae. Ae Cha and Jin Ae are actual Korean names I found on a Korean name site. They have other meanings, but the primary meaning of both names is love.
Yi Jeong hurried over to the bed and pulled back the covers to allow Ji Hu to lay Ga Eul down on the bed. He was careful of her hip as he set her down, moving the pillows to support her more even as Yi Jeong covered her with the covers. Jun Pyo crawled onto the bed and settled himself beside his sister, propping up against the pillows. He put his arm around her, drawing her against his chest.
"Her bed is bigger than yours, Jun Pyo," Woo Bin said.
"Enough for all of us to pile on," Jun Hee said. "All of you get on the bed and relax. I'm going to go change. I'm sure Butler Lee will have refreshments sent in. We can all talk and spend time together this way."
"Haven't had a pile-on sleepover since before you got married, Noona," Jun Pyo said.
"The four of you were ten the last time we did this," Jun Hee said. "And Il Hyun was twelve." She grinned at them. "I'll be back so we can do so again after so long." She turned and left Ga Eul's suite just as Butler Lee and the maids brought in refreshments.
The four other men settled onto the bed, Il Hyun was a bit more hesitant than the rest of the F4. Woo Bin reached over and squeezed Ga Eul's left ankle through the blankets. "How are you feeling?" he asked her.
Ga Eul gave a small sigh. "All right, I suppose," she said. "Besides the obvious pain." Her eyes shifted over to Il Hyun. "Who are you?"
Yi Jeong reached up and put his hand on Il Hyun's shoulder. "This is my hyung, So Il Hyun," he said. "Hyung, this is Chu… er… I suppose it's Gu Ga Eul now, isn't it?"
Ga Eul blinked. "I… hadn't… I guess so?" she said.
"Of course it is," Jun Pyo argued. "What else would you go by?"
"Jun Pyo, she's been Chu Ga Eul all this time," Ji Hu reminded him.
"But she's not," Jun Pyo said firmly.
"Jun Pyo…" Woo Bin said.
"No, he's right," Ga Eul interrupted. "Besides, I was only a Chu because they had to give me a last name. I wasn't even actually adopted by them. They just let me live in their house and fed and clothed me. It wasn't until I was old enough to work that they stopped providing a lot of that even."
"How can anyone treat a child like that?" Il Hyun questioned.
"Ga Eul, why didn't you ever tell us they were hurting you?" Woo Bin asked. "We would have helped you sooner."
Ga Eul offered Woo Bin a wry smile. "When?" she asked. "The only interaction I really had with any of you was in regards to Geum Jan Di. Either wanting me to warn her off from getting involved with Jun Pyo, going to New Caledonia, or being at the competitions to keep her and Ji Hu-sunbae from being kicked out of Shinhwa."
"Warning her off?" Jun Pyo asked before eyeing Yi Jeong. He knew that of the three members of F4, he was the most likely to do so. Yi Jeong simply raised his hands.
"That's your focus?" Il Hyun had to ask. "Not the fact that the girl you just found out is your yeodongsaeng was effectively ignored by all of you if it didn't involve this Geum Jan Di person?" The four men all looked at each other, guilt washing over their faces. Jun Pyo hugged Ga Eul closer to him, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"I'm sorry, yeodongsaeng," he said quietly. "Never again. I promise."
"No," Ga Eul said. "It's okay…"
"No, it's not," Woo Bin said. "Il Hyun-hyung is right. We may have brought you into our world because of Geum Jan Di, but that doesn't mean that was the only reason we should have stayed in yours. We treated you as a friend, we should have continued."
"Only now you are family," Jun Pyo said. "At least to Woo Bin and I."
"The family thing is confusing me for the rest of us," Yi Jeong admitted. "Lee Bin-samchon said we weren't related to the Gus by blood."
"Oppa!" two young, female voices said as the clatter of feet came into the room.
"Don't jump on the bed," Woo Bin warned the identical girls as they headed for the bed. "Come here." The two girls slowed their steps and moved to the side of the bed where Woo Bin was. He picked up one of them, while Yi Jeong picked up the other and settled them on the bed after each got a hug from the girls.
"Who are these two adorable girls?" Ga Eul asked with a gentle smile.
Woo Bin smiled, running a hand over the dark auburn locks of the little girl closest to him. "These are my own yeodongsaengs, Song Ae Cha and Song Jin Ae," he said. "Ae Cha, Jin Ae, this is Ga Eul. She is Jun Pyo and Jun Hee-noona's yeodongsaeng."
Jin Ae, the twin that was currently snuggled into Yi Jeong's lap tilted her head. "Jun Hee-eonni has a yeodongsaeng?" she asked with a slight lisp.
"Yes, I do," Jun Hee said as she walked over to the bed. She settled herself on the other side of Ga Eul from Jun Pyo. "I thought she was lost a long time ago, but with the help of your appa, we were able to find her again. We also found out something else about our family, do you want to hear it?"
"Appa and Bon Hyeong-samchon told us that we are sachons to Jun Pyo and Jun Hee-noona," Woo Bin explained after the girls nodded. "Which means that Ga Eul is also our sachon now too."
Ae Cha tilted her head up to look at her brother. "How come we are sachons now?" she asked.
"Because they told us that Eomma and Bon Hyeong-samchon are hyeongje jamae," Woo Bin said. "Bon Hyeong-samchon is Eomma's oppa."
"Hm mm," Jun Hee said. "You are also sachons to Ji Hu, Yi Jeong, and Il Hyun through your appa."
"How?" Jin Ae asked.
"Well," Ji Hu started. "They told us that my eomma, who is gone now, is Yi Jeong's eomma's sachon. And they are both sachons to your appa."
"But not Jun Pyo-oppa's sachon?" Ae Cha asked.
Jun Pyo shook his head. "Ji Hu, Yi Jeong, and Il Hyun aren't sachons to me, Jun Hee-noona, or Ga Eul-yeodongsaeng," he said. "But you, Jin Ae, and Woo Bin are our sachons."
The twins looked at one another, their heads tilting. It was almost frightening to watch them communicate soundlessly, something that Woo Bin had always found a little unreal, but he knew that twins had a special way of communicating with one another because of how close they were. Or that was always the theory he had heard. Once his sisters had been born and they had started getting older and communicating, he had instantly seen how different their communication was with one another compared to the rest of the family. Finally, the two looked at Ga Eul.
"Can we hug you?" they asked at the same time. Ga Eul smiled and gave them a nod. She carefully sat up more.
"Carefully," Woo Bin warned his sisters. "Ga Eul was hurt, so you need to be careful not to hurt her."
"We be careful, Oppa," Jin Ae said, even as Ae Cha cautiously crawled over to Ga Eul and wrapped her little arms around her.
"It's actually kind of frightening when they do that silent communication thing," Yi Jeong pointed out.
"Think of how I feel living with them," Woo Bin teased. He lifted his hands when Jin Ae and Ae Cha looked at him with the same narrow-eyed look that was so reminiscent of their mother. What made it all the more amusing was the fact that Jin Ae still had her arms around Ga Eul's neck, their cheeks pressed together. The wind was slightly knocked from Woo Bin's chest as he saw just how much Ga Eul looked like his sisters. Even though she was the mirror image of her own mother, he could see similar features in Ga Eul that she would share with the Gu side of the family, the same ones that his mother and sisters had.
"Well I know that I am glad that we ladies are not quite as outnumbered now that Ga Eul has entered our family," Jun Hee teased, her fingers stroking Ga Eul's long dark hair. "It's a bit easier now to face off with the five of you when there are four of us."
"Yes, but two of them are only five-years-old," Jun Pyo said.
"Don't underestimate the twins, Jun Pyo," Yi Jeong teased. "I've seen some of the cunning things they managed to pull off when I've visited the house before. They are mini-Jun Hee-noonas in the making."
"And I am sure it won't take long for Ga Eul to be just as cunning," Ji Hu commented, grinning.
After the twins crawled back to Woo Bin and Yi Jeong, Ga Eul tiredly rested back against Jun Pyo once more, her head snuggling into his chest. "Not sure how cunning I can be," she said.
"You gave me a tongue lashing when we first met," Yi Jeong said. "I think you are perfectly suited to being cunning."
"You deserved it," Ga Eul said. "Thinking you can use your cute face and smile to get whatever you want."
"Normally it works," Yi Jeong said with a shrug and a grin.
"I remember that day," Woo Bin said. "The first glimpse I ever got of Gu Ga Eul was her angrily storming out of Yi Jeong's studio with her apron on from the porridge shop." He turned to Yi Jeong, giving him a look. "You called her tacky."
Jun Pyo glared at Yi Jeong. "You called my yeodongsaeng tacky?" he asked him.
Yi Jeong put his hands up in defense. "I did not call her tacky," he said, glaring at Woo Bin. "I said I didn't like tacky things."
"In reference to her," Woo Bin pointed out.
"Yah!" Yi Jeong reached over to smack Woo Bin.
Jun Hee quieted him when she noticed that Ga Eul had fallen asleep against Jun Pyo's chest. "Everything must have caught up to her," she said. "So we'll just be quiet and let her rest." Ji Hu reached over and curled his fingers around Ga Eul's left ankle, watching her face as she slept, the bruises a stark contrast to her currently pale pallor.
"You okay, Ji Hu?" Jun Pyo asked.
"The last time I was covered in someone else's blood was after the accident," he said quietly. "I felt incredibly sick when I saw her initially. When she passed out because of the pain…" He took a shallow breath. "I just need to know she's okay."
Woo Bin put his hand on Ji Hu's shoulder. "She is, buddy," he said.
Of the four other men in the room, it should have dawned on at least three of them that Ji Hu would be most affected by seeing Ga Eul injured as she was. The fact that he held it together enough when rescuing Jun Pyo and Jan Di spoke volumes of the control he could maintain in a situation like that, but it was different for Jun Pyo. Ji Hu had played an active role in the rescue, whereas with Ga Eul he had simply carried her away from the situation and had not been there to stop what happened. It was something all of the members of F4 wished they could have stopped her attack.
"Are we all really going to stay in here?" Il Hyun asked.
"I am," Jun Pyo and Ji Hu both said.
"Me too," Yi Jeong said.
"Perhaps the twins should be put to bed," Jun Hee suggested. "Just in case they toss in their sleep so they don't hurt Ga Eul." She nodded to the twins that had fallen asleep against Woo Bin and Yi Jeong shortly after Ga Eul had against Jun Pyo.
"Yi Jeong, will you help me tuck them in?" Woo Bin asked. "Then we'll come back."
"Sure," Yi Jeong said, carefully getting off the bed and picking up Jin Ae as Woo Bin did the same with Ae Cha.
"I'll ask for more blankets and pillows to be brought in while you two are gone," Jun Hee said.
Woo Bin and Yi Jeong were silent as they took the twins to the suite where the Songs were, taking them into their room to tuck them into the large bed. Making sure they wouldn't wake up before quietly leaving the room and closing the door just enough behind them. They walked side by side for a few moments in silence before Yi Jeong broke it.
"Do you think Ji Hu has a thing for Ga Eul?" he wondered.
Woo Bin lifted his shoulders. "No clue, but I wouldn't blame him if he did," he said.
"What?" Yi Jeong asked.
"Ga Eul's a great girl. Realized that the moment I officially met her," Woo Bin said. "She'd be a great catch for someone."
"But he was just into Jan Di," Yi Jeong said.
"Except I don't think he really was," Woo Bin said. "I think assumptions were made by Seo Hyun-noona when he saw their friendship and the fact was Jan Di did have a crush on Ji Hu. The only person who couldn't see that initially was Jun Pyo."
"In Caledonia, I assumed Ga Eul had a crush on Jun Pyo," Yi Jeong said. "Because she was so adamant about nothing happening between Jan Di and Jun Pyo. I didn't notice the crush on Ji Hu that Jan Di had. If I had, I probably would have tried to step in before everything happened the way it did."
"We can't be referees for them all the time," Woo Bin said. "No matter how much we want to protect our friends."
"And now Ji Hu seems to have a thing for Ga Eul…" Yi Jeong said quietly.
Woo Bin put his hand on Yi Jeong's arm, stopping their forward movement. "Don't assume that," he said. "If you are going by what happened tonight. I would have been in the same boat if I'd been in Ji Hu's shoes."
"It doesn't matter if he does, right?" Yi Jeong asked. He avoided Woo Bin's eyes.
"Yi Jeong, you said you weren't interested in her," Woo Bin said. "But I am starting to wonder if you are protesting a bit too much."
He lifted his head, frowning deeply. "What are you saying?" he asked.
"I am going to be blunt," Woo Bin said. "If I hadn't just found out that Ga Eul is my sachon, I would have made a play for her. She's beautiful, she's kind, she hasn't taken any of our shit like most women, and she doesn't seem to care that we could have made her life so much easier because we can buy whatever we want. She pushes back against us the few times we've been around her. She is honestly the type of woman I could see myself falling for easily, but it's out of the question for me because she's family."
"You wouldn't have dared go after her in front of me, would you?" Yi Jeong asked.
Woo Bin simply shrugged. "You keep saying you aren't interested," he reminded him. "Unless you are and if that's the case, then put up or shut up."
"The hell?" Yi Jeong asked.
"I mean it, Yi Jeong," Woo Bin said. "You constantly compare yourself to your abeoji and think that you will break the heart of any girl you get involved with if you committed to her. But you aren't him, you have a deeper heart and would rather rip it out than hurt someone the way he has hurt your eomeoni. If you keep doing that, running away from your emotions, you will lose a great person."
"You mean Ga Eul," Yi Jeong said.
"Ga Eul or someone like her," Woo Bin said. "And if you lose her to Ji Hu, you will only have yourself to blame because you were too scared to go for what you wanted. Do you want to risk losing your own happiness because of your fear? Because Eun Jae walked away when it got too hard for her?"
"Ji Hu would actually tear us apart again-," Yi Jeong started.
"No," Woo Bin stopped him. "You can't compare if he fell for Ga Eul to the situation with Jan Di and Jun Pyo. You keep forgetting that you have claimed you aren't interested in Ga Eul. What? Is she supposed to wait around until you are interested? Ignore the potential of someone being interested in the hopes that you may be at some point once you get your head out of your ass?"
"Yah!" Yi Jeong said. "Whose side are you on?!"
"Ga Eul's," Woo Bin said. "Even if she wasn't my sachon, I'd want her to be happy. Whether that's with you or Ji Hu, though I don't know why in the hell you are making that leap right now."
"Because of how he was acting in there!" Yi Jeong said, sweeping his arm towards the rooms where Ga Eul was.
"Do you blame him?!" Woo Bin asked hotly. "He comes out of our lounge to see her covered in blood and she collapses into his arms. He carried her to the car and probably into this house only for all of us to hear she was sexually assaulted, only just having been rescued by your abeoji from being raped. How would you have felt? I know how I would have felt if I had been in his shoes and I damn well would have acted the same way. I would have wanted to be as close to her as possible to make sure she was okay."
Yi Jeong let out a breath, frustration rolling off of him as he pushed his fingers through his hair. "Fine, I get that," he said. "Yes, I would have wanted to as well. I did want to, but Ji Hu took her from Jun Pyo first."
"Because he was the one that carried her in that state," Woo Bin pointed out. "Jun Pyo understood that enough that he knew with his ribs, he couldn't carry her. If his ribs were fine, he would have fought Ji Hu to keep his yeodongsaeng in his arms and take her himself. But Ji Hu wouldn't have tried to take her. He did it because Jun Pyo couldn't and he needed that reassurance of feeling that she was okay."
Woo Bin walked over and put his hand on Yi Jeong's shoulder. "Look, buddy," he said. "I think you are making a mountain out of a molehill because you are scared. You are scared that you could lose Ga Eul to someone else, but the problem is, she's not yours to lose yet. You need to figure out if you are interested or not. If you are, then you need to step up and show her you are and win her heart. If you aren't interested, then you need to step back and let someone else win her heart. You can't leave her in a state of limbo of not knowing one way or the other. It's not fair to you, it's not fair to whoever could love her if you don't think you can, and it's especially not fair to her. And the fact of the matter is, you now have to face Jun Pyo and me if you can't figure out what you want and string her along. Either you are interested or you aren't. Make the choice and go with it."
"That's blunt," Yi Jeong said.
"You're right," Woo Bin said. "But you need blunt right now or you will get a swift kick in the nuts from a protective oppa and sachon because I can already tell that whoever Ga Eul gets involved with if it isn't you, is going to have a helluva time between Jun Pyo and me."
"And if it's Ji Hu?" Yi Jeong questioned.
"Regardless of who it is, because if you think Jun Pyo won't corner you and threaten you if you hurt her if you stake a claim, then you haven't been paying attention to how he's been acting tonight since finding out," Woo Bin said. "I actually pity whoever did this when Jun Pyo gets a hold of them."
"When we get a hold of them," Yi Jeong pointed out. "You can't tell me you don't want a piece of them."
"We all do," Woo Bin acknowledged. "But back to the point. Figure out if you want her, Yi Jeong. And figure it out fast, because if Ji Hu is feeling anything towards her, you may have your work cut out for you in winning her affections."
Yi Jeong simply smirked. "We'll see about that."