Author's Note: So... it's been a while. Time has been VERY hard to come by for me. With that being said, I am also not the greatest at action scenes so this chapter was re-started like five times before I finally produced this one. As I felt it was getting a little too long for what I wanted to tell in a single chapter, despite it being shorter than others, I did end it where I did with the intent to pick up fairly quickly with the final two chapters. The next chapter is the final main one which will be followed by an epilogue. While I had not intended on taking two years to complete this, I am at least thankful it will be completed by either Thanksgiving or before Christmas.
Once Ga Eul and Il Hyun were safely out of the building, the members of the F4 transformed into hardened fighters. Jun Pyo said nothing as Woo Bin took over leadership and gave orders to all of them, including his men that arrived, Saeng Jun, and Ju Won. Ga Eul had never even managed to take in the fact that all the men were dressed in a very different manner, each of them clad head to toe in black, the very jacket she had fisted her hand in at Jun Pyo's waist one that was tactical in nature.
"He is going to be armed," Saeng Jun reminded them. "As will Saeng Yu."
"And even more pissed because he won't be able to find Ga Eul," Ju Won said.
"Let him be pissed," Woo Bin snarled. "I'll rip him apart for all of this."
"Get in line," Yi Jeong said.
"Enough," Ji Hu said. "We all want a piece of Park Sung Ho and Kim Saeng Yu, but we also have to be careful. Getting ourselves killed or seriously hurt is going to destroy the people in our lives. Plus, it would be better to bring these bastards to justice than take revenge."
Woo Bin grunted. "As much as I hate to admit it, Ji Hu has a point," he said. A slow smirk started to form. "Doesn't mean we can't make it a painful process."
"Not too painful," Saeng Jun said. "At least not so that it will create legal ramifications for any of you."
"Got it, can we take care of this now?" Yi Jeong questioned, his body practically vibrating. It was obvious his patience was wearing thin from his tone.
"We end this," Woo Bin said.
Ga Eul once remembered someone saying that the hardest thing was to wait for news. She never truly believed them until now, especially as she stood outside of the warehouse where she had been held. She had refused to fully leave the scene with Il Hyun, despite his insistence to do so. She told him she could not possibly leave when those she cared about were risking their lives in her defense. Except she now stood with the man, who was anxious as well, waiting to find out what was going on.
"Ga Eul!" She immediately spun, stumbling on her injured feet to see her father and uncle rushing towards her.
"Appa," she said, her voice trembling as he erased the distance between them and hugged her to his chest. In the strength of her father's embrace, she broke down and clung to him, her face buried in his chest. She felt his larger hand cupping the back of her head as she sobbed against him.
"Il Hyun? What are you doing here?" Lee Bin asked the other man.
"Saeng Jun contacted me and I came with him," Il Hyun explained. "I knew it was going to be hard for them to handle this while keeping Ga Eul safe, so I tasked myself with that."
"The boys?" Bon Hyeong asked.
"Inside the warehouse looking for Park Sung Ho," Il Hyun said. He turned as he saw police forces arriving.
"Both Park Sung Ho and Kim Saeng Yu have a gun," Il Hyun continued to explain. "Ga Eul said Sung Ho killed Ginger and Miranda was also shot when she and Ga Eul ran."
"They went in there knowing weapons were involved?" Bon Hyeong demanded.
"Saeng Jun, his men, and my men are with them," Lee Bin said.
"It's still our children!" Bon Hyeong said. "What if something happens?"
"They can handle themselves, samchon," Il Hyun said. "There was no way they weren't going to bring them down, especially after kidnapping Ga Eul and being the reason that Sunny was shot."
"And now Miranda," Lee Bin said. "As well as murdering Ginger. Regardless of how one might feel about that woman, she didn't deserve to die."
"Debatable," Il Hyun growled.
"Samchon is right," Ga Eul said, her voice husky from crying against her father. She turned, wiping tears from her cheek. "She deserved to be punished for her hand in this and what she did to Yi Jeong, but she didn't deserve to die."
"Regardless of all of that, they should not be handling it themselves," Bon Hyeong said, bringing the conversation back to the F4 members.
"Saeng Jun and Ju Won are with them, as are Saeng Jun's men and mine," Lee Bin said. "Regardless of what we want, we can not protect them for-."
An explosion from nearby broke the silence. They stumbled as the ground shook. It was not a large explosion, but enough to cause part of the warehouse to cave in.
"No!" Bon Hyeong bellowed. Chaos started to erupt as sirens were heard approaching before lights filled the growing darkness of night from police, fire trucks, and ambulances. Il Hyun kept hold of Ga Eul as she tried to escape his hold, needing to find the F4 and others.
"Appa!" Woo Bin's voice called, strained with pain. Lee Bin and Bon Hyeong both spun, relief filling both men. While there were obvious injuries, Woo Bin, Yi Jeong, Jun Pyo, Ji Hu, Saeng Jun, and Ju Won were all walking towards them of their own volition. While they approached, emergency teams were swarming the building in varying degrees, pushing gurneys by ambulance crew, other tactical officers with weapons, and hoses to put out flames.
"Boys," Lee Bin breathed out as he moved to the men. He immediately drew Woo Bin into his arms, feeling the younger man slump into him, breathing heavily.
"Jun Pyo," Bon Hyeong said as he hugged his son close. He felt arms wrap around their waists and knew that it was Ga Eul.
Il Hyun moved over to his brother and Ji Hu. He hugged both of them to him, feeling Yi Jeong's arm being held at an awkward angle just before he heard him hiss in pain. He held them a moment before pulling back to check on his brother.
"He took a bullet for me," Ji Hu said, pained. "His upper arm was hit."
"Wasn't going to let that son of a bitch take you out," Yi Jeong grunted. "Not after you got hit in the head."
"What about those responsible?" Il Hyun asked.
"In custody," Saeng Jun said as he walked over, his tactical vest and badge on. The entire group lifted their heads as they heard the rumble of helicopter blades before lights illuminated the helicopter itself as it arrived.
"Is that a life-flight ambulance?" Ga Eul asked.
"They must have called it in for Miranda," Saeng Jun said.
"She's still alive?" Ga Eul asked.
"For now," Saeng Jun admitted sadly. "But if they have called in the life flight box, it means things are not looking good."
Bon Hyeong looked at all of them, his head turning before he could say anything when he heard screaming and cursing. Song Ho was thrashing against the restraints around him on a gurney as he cursed both the officers and the EMTs around him as he was wheeled away. Bon Hyeong shifted to hide Ga Eul from having to see the mangled mess of what used to be the man's right leg.
"Lee Bin, let's get the kids transported to the hospital to be checked out," Bon Hyeong said. "Yi Jeong, especially, needs that arm looked at."
"Agreed," Saeng Jun said. "You take care of them, I'll take care of things here." He gave each of the F4 a look when he thought they would protest and was glad to see none did. They were gathered into ambulances and cars before heading to the hospital.
The level of exhaustion and pain that Woo Bin was feeling could not keep him from seeking out Sunny's room in the hospital to see how she was and to let them know that those behind what happened to her were handled. He saw Park Young Ja leaning against the wall beside a door, softly crying. Woo Bin's body filled with dread and adrenaline as his pace increased to reach the older man.
"Samchon?" he said, his voice shaky with concern.
"Woo Bin," he breathed out. He shook his head and reached for the obviously uninjured shoulder. "Sunny is fine." He caught Woo Bin as his knees gave out and he eased the younger man to the floor to let his back rest against the wall.
"When I saw you crying..." Woo Bin trailed off.
"Relief," Young Ja said. "I was crying in relief. She's groggy and in some pain, but she's awake and will be fine."
"I need to see her," Woo Bin said, immediately adjusting to get to his feet. Young Ja assisted him as he got to his feet before leading the younger man into Sunny's hospital room.
"Woo Bin," Soon Shi said. "You've been hurt."
"I'm all right," Woo Bin said. "Just a dislocation that's been set." He moved over to Sunny's bed, moving to take the seat that Seo Jun had been sitting in. He tried to wave her off initially until she gave him a pointed look and he knew better than to argue. He glanced around the room, noting that Sun Lee was not there.
"Wook Shi?" he questioned.
"In custody," Soon Shi said. "Sun Lee went with him."
Woo Bin scoffed. "With the evidence presented to her, she still stands behind him?" he asked.
"She's in denial," Sunny said, her voice groggy. "She doesn't want to believe she could be wrong about someone's character."
"More than one person's to be honest," Soon Shi said. "We heard about Ginger."
Woo Bin sighed. "Yeah," he said. He looked at them. "Ga Eul is safe. Yi Jeong was shot in the arm, but he will be fine. The rest of us sustained minor injuries."
"Park Sung Ho?" Young Ja asked.
"He and Saeng Yu are in custody," Woo Bin said. "Saeng Yu is in surgery for his injuries as I am sure Sung Ho is, though I wouldn't be surprised if he lost the rest of his right leg."
He turned his head and gently took Sunny's hand. "Miranda is in surgery," he told her softly.
"Miranda?" Sunny asked, confusion crossing her features.
"She overheard Sung Ho and Ginger talking," Woo Bin explained. "He knocked her out and took her and Ginger to where they were hiding Ga Eul."
"What happened?" Soon Shi asked, her features pale.
"From what Ga Eul said," Woo Bin started. "Ginger was mouthing off, not realizing just how much danger they were in. Sung Ho shot her point blank. Miranda somehow got a hold of a board and swung at Sung Ho and Saeng Yu, giving time for her and Ga Eul to run. Unfortunately, while they were fleeing Miranda was shot in the back."
"She's in surgery you said, so she's alive?" Sunny asked. Woo Bin squeezed her hand gently.
"For now," he admitted. "She was airlifted to the hospital, so she was in critical condition when she went in. We've not heard anything else since we all arrived."
"If she was shot in the back, the possibility is there that if she survives she'll be paralyzed," Seo Jun said sadly. "How many more lives will be destroyed due to Park Sung Ho?"
"Did something more happen?" Woo Bin asked.
"My brother committed suicide after your father and Gu Bon Hyeong informed him of what his son was up to and that it led to Sunny being shot," Young Ja said sadly. "Another reason for my tears outside."
"Your... brother?" Woo Bin said.
"Park Sung Ho is my cousin," Sunny said. "Appa is Park Ki Bum's idongsaeng/i."
"Oh God," Woo Bin breathed out. "I... am so sorry."
"We rarely had contact anymore," Young Ja admitted. "His business dealings were questionable and I did not want to be associated with it. Plus I did not agree with his lack of reigning in Sung Ho. I just never realized how bad it really was."
"Darling, it is not your fault," Seo Jun said as she rested her hands on her husband's arms. "Ki Bum made his choices of the direction he wanted to go with his business and it is obvious he had no control of Sung Ho. Nothing you could have done could have prevented this."
"And in the process, our daughter was almost killed," Young Ja said, his voice rough.
"Eomma is right," Sunny said where she lay. "Nothing you could have done could have prevented what happened. I don't think anyone knew how far Sung Ho was willing to go for his end game. Even Ki Bum-isamchon/i."
"And Sunny wasn't killed," Woo Bin pointed out. "She will heal and life will move on. I am sorry you have lost your hyung, but everyone is right. He made his own choices. You can not let the guilt of something you couldn't prevent eat at you."
"Woo Bin is right," Soon Shi said before eyeing the younger man. "And I do believe you should be resting yourself. It is obvious you are also in pain."
"Woo Bin? What...?" Sunny immediately turned her head and tried to shift to push herself up, groaning as she forgot for a moment she had been shot and gone through surgery.
"Easy," Woo Bin said immediately. "Nothing I've not experienced before."
"Still you need to be resting," Lee Bin said from the door. "And you should be wearing the brace that the doctor gave you."
"I didn't want them to worry," Woo Bin said.
"Hmm," Lee Bin eyed his son. "I'll tell your mother that when she has a fit you are not wearing it to brace your shoulder."
"Where is the brace?" Sunny asked, tugging at his uninjured arm.
"You need to rest," Woo Bin admonished her.
"So do you!"
Lee Bin bit his lip at the young couple. Soon Shi couldn't help but chuckle. The two looked over at the older woman.
"How about this," she suggested. "Sun Ja, you will lay back and rest. You only just woke up." She looked at Woo Bin. "You go and rest as well, plus wear the brace."
"But I-." Woo Bin started to protest, wanting to remain with Sunny, but Soon Shi simply gave him a look that stopped him. He bowed to her, reaching over to brush his knuckles against Sunny's cheek. "Get some rest, I'll come by tomorrow."
"You rest too," Sunny said, her eyelids fluttering as exhaustion from everything seeped into her and she was asleep before Woo Bin finished standing.
"I'll be back tomorrow," Woo Bin said to the older people in the room. Soon Shi reached out and patted his good hand. Lee Bin rested a hand against his son's back and urged him to leave the room.
"Woo Bin." Both Lee Bin and Woo Bin turned when they heard Young Ja's voice. The older man approached the two, giving them a nod before he focused on the younger Song.
"I owe you an apology," he said.
"Samchon?" Woo Bin said, a frown forming.
"I knew the truth of you and your family," Young Ja said. "And yet I did not do a good enough job of stopping the things Sun Lee said about you or accused you of that led to the breakup and her hurting you the way she did."
"That isn't your fault," Woo Bin immediately said.
"Fault or not, I should have put my foot down. I may not have been able to stop her fully, but I should have done more," Young Ja said. "I understand neither her actions nor those of my brother and nephew can be changed. I need you to know, though, especially for Sun Ja's sake, that I respect you as a person and I can't think of anyone better for my daughter."
Woo Bin's throat worked as he suddenly felt emotional. It had never occurred to him that he had missed the acceptance and familiarity of other members of the Park family when things had ended with Sun Lee. Not just the closeness he had with Sunny, but also her parents and grandparents.
"Thank you," he said, bowing to him. Young Ja urged him to straighten more, making sure to be careful of his injured shoulder.
"Get some needed rest," Young Ja insisted. "Sunny will see you in the morning."
"Good night." Lee Bin nodded to Young Ja with a soft smile before turning to lead his son back to the private rooms where the F4 members and their families had been given to rest and be seen to. Lee Bin suspected the next few days, if not weeks, were going to be long and tedious.