Yi Jung's POV
He could tell something was wrong, but he couldn't point his finger at it. The tremor in Ga Eul's voice. The fact that she wasn't looking behind her as she left. It had a finality to it. He assumed Jin Woo may have been seriously injured, but she didn't want to say. But what made her hide something like that? It didn't make sense, but he waited on her until she came back.
Everyone felt the atmosphere change when Ga Eul bolted out of the den, but they tried to shrug it off as well. Yi Jung exchanged confused glances with Jan Di once in a while as they contemplated whether to go to the restaurant or not.
He wasn't left to wonder what was wrong for long as he got a call from a strange number. He brushed it off at first, but when the number insisted on calling him, he caved and answered.
"Hello, I'm Jin Woo. Ga Eul's friend. I'm talking to So Yi Jung?"
"Yes, you are." Yi Jung answered, perplexed.
"Ga Eul asked me to call you. She sounded like she was in trouble. I was supposed to wait but couldn't take the risk."
"What? What did she say? Isn't she with you?" He asked, grabbing his attention right away.
"No, she's not. I haven't heard from her until a few minutes ago. She sent me a location and asked me to send it to you. She told me that she wanted you to be there, but to call you after an hour of her phone call. I sent it to you. Ga Eul's told me before there was some guy that's been harassing her. Maybe it has to do with this. I don't know, man. I thought you should know."
Yi Jung felt his blood run cold. He hung up on Jin Woo and saw the location. The vacation house. It was Hong Joon again.
Livid, he called Ga Eul as he got swiftly on his feet. She didn't answer. Of course, she didn't. Not when she instructed Jin Woo to call him later.
"Yi Jung, what's wrong?" Jan Di asked, following him behind.
"That fucker. Ga Eul's going to him." He didn't bother looking at anyone as he searched for his car keys.
"What are you saying? Hong Joon?"
"Who else?" He yelled at her.
"How? Is she okay? I don't understand." Her voice trembling.
"Where are the goddamn keys?" He fumbled through the holder.
"She must've taken them." Ji Hoo said.
"What?" He looked at Ji Hoo. It sunk in then. It was a long way from here to the vacation house. Not with his car, though.
"Sure, she did." He fumed.
"Tell us what's happening? Who called you?" Woo Bin asked.
"I DON'T KNOW. Jin Woo called me. Said Ga Eul was in trouble. She's going to Hong Joon." He shouted, putting his head through his hands. He didn't know how much time he had. Ga Eul was a fast driver.
"Where's she?" Jan Di took him by the shoulders.
"The vacation house."
"Oh God. That's far. She wouldn't have made it there yet, would she?" She asked.
"I don't know. There's no time to mull it over. I'm going now."
If only he had told the security guards not to let her go. But how could he have known that she would do something like this?
"Take my car. You'll reach there faster." Woo Bin said as he followed him out of the den.
"We'll be right behind you. Don't worry. We'll catch her before he does." Jun Pyo put a comforting arm on his shoulder, but nothing could make him calm. Not unless he found Ga Eul safe.
"You have to slow down a bit. We're going to crash at this rate."
"We have to find her." Yi Jung said, for the millionth time, repeating himself like a robot. He wouldn't let anything happen to Ga Eul. That's all that mattered.
"You won't find her if you kill us first." Woo Bin clutched the car door beside him. Yi Jung was like a racing bull, fast and deranged.
"There are five of us and one of him. Nothing's going to happen. He could be talking to her. He knows we wouldn't let him be."
"If you speak one more time, I will throw you out. He didn't bring her to a secluded house just to talk. She knew that as well. That's why she called for me."
"Ga Eul is smart. She wouldn't let him do anything to her."
"When it comes to him—to all of her family—she isn't. Jan Di knows as well. So don't question me."
When Woo Bin didn't respond, he continued, "She's all alone in that house with him. He could do anything to her. Anything. Out of anyone, she went to him. Alone. My brain is going to explode. If that motherfucker touches a single hair on her, he's going to pay with his life—with his everything. I'll make sure he regrets every single intake of air he breathes next to her. She has to be okay first. She's going to be okay. I won't let anything happen to her." He spat out.
He would spiral from anger to worry and Woo Bin took it all in. Yi Jung preferred the anger. At least he didn't have to think about Ga Eul getting hurt. He didn't want to imagine all the ways Hong Joon could hurt her. He was a maniac on the loose. He couldn't handle the remaining hour to get to the house. Even if Ga Eul was fast, she couldn't have arrived at the house before them by a lot.
"It's okay. We're getting closer now. Jun Pyo and the rest are right behind us. No news is good news, right?" Woo Bin tried to calm him down, but Yi Jung shot him a death glare.
No news wasn't good news. It meant nothing if he had zero contact with Ga Eul in the first place. She didn't reply to all his calls or his messages. It was radio silence. He should've known better than to let Hong Joon go the first time. It made sense to him now all the calls Ga Eul had been getting and the texts. If he were careful enough, he would've connected the dots earlier, but he couldn't have guessed Ga Eul wouldn't have run to him as soon as he started harassing her. It was all his fault. He should've put a tracker on Hong Joon or even Ga Eul if he knew it would come to this.
"We're going to take the upcoming turn." Woo Bin said.
Feeling the last of his remaining sane nerves go haywire, he pressed harder on the accelerator.
"It should be around here now." Woo Bin said, looking out the window to find trees surrounding them. The remnants of sunlight didn't do much to help them see through the thicket of trees.
"It was on the edge of a cliff." Yi Jung said.
"Keeping moving forward." Woo Bin instructed.
His car crashed through the ambush of greenery until it started thinning. They were getting closer from what he remembered.
The house was getting into their view, secluded in the tranquil of leaves and waves. His eyes were starting to get fooled by the beautiful nature surrounding them. He could feel his heartbeats slowing. This placid clearing couldn't be dangerous. However, as he squirmed his eyes, he found a mysterious clump lying in the front yard. It was reeking of red, seeping the grass surrounding it. Then he saw the ivory black strands of the hair he loved so much doused in the red.
"Ga Eul?" He screeched the car to a stop as he ran towards that body. It couldn't have been her. He refused to believe so.
"Ga Eul?" His voice strained as he took shy steps towards her. He crouched down near her pale face. Blood was everywhere, getting on his pants as he lightly shook her.
"No! No, Ga Eul look at me." He cried. Her eyes were closed. Her whole body was drenched in blood. Her face. Her hair. Everything.
"Please, look at me." He pleaded as he gently placed her in his arms. She was freezing, but the blood protruding from her head was still warm. It was flowing down between his fingers.
"WOO BIN. GET HIM NOW." He yelled. She couldn't have lied here for long, he thought to himself. She was still breathing despite it being a very faint stream of breaths.
He had to be there. He didn't have time to get away, yet.
"Oh my god." Jan Di said behind him, taking the state of Ga Eul in. She fell to her knees, and Jun Pyo caught her immediately.
"I have already called the ambulance. They'll be here in ten minutes." Ji Hoo said, crouching down next to Yi Jung.
"Jan Di, I need your help while the ambulance arrives. We have to stop the bleeding." He pushed Yi Jung aside who wouldn't let her go.
"If you want her to survive. Leave her. Now." Ji Hoo ordered.
"Let go, Yi Jung." Jun Pyo snatched his shoulders, giving Ji Hoo more space.
He sat on the ground, not able to get up. His hands were covered in her blood. His clothes. Everything reeked of her.
"It's going to be alright. We'll save her. She's going to be okay in no time." Jun Pyo reassured him, but he could hear the hopelessness in his voice.
Her frail body was curled upon itself in decay. He couldn't leave her drowning in this pain. She looked defeated by the glass surrounding her. The red was tainting the glass that cut through her skin.
Ji Hoo was shouting at Jan Di, giving her instructions but he couldn't hear anything.
He let out a scream, causing the darling birds to fleet away in fear.
It should have been a beautiful evening except for the broken body of his Ga Eul lying beside him.
The blood couldn't be washed out. No matter how he tried. It was particularly stubborn underneath his nails. He's been in the washroom for an hour trying to clean her up from him. He tried to convince himself it was red paint every time he nearly broke down. She was okay and that wasn't her blood.
It had been hours since she'd been in the emergency room. Hours since he's been driven to madness, waiting for any consolidations from the doctors. Having enough of his pacing, Jan Di ordered him to the washroom. He couldn't handle himself either. He was soaked from head to toe.
The door to the washroom banged open, revealing Jun Pyo.
"Doctors said her condition is stable now."
He went rushing back to them with Jun Pyo by his side.
"Where's he now?" Yi Jung asked, looking around him when he saw that they were alone.
"Did something happen while I was gone?"
"She's stabilized. They'll keep her under watch for now." Jan Di replied, taking him in a hug.
"She's okay now. She's okay." She muttered, tears falling down her face.
"You're telling me the truth?"
"Yes, yes." She said, wiping the rainfall on her cheeks and muffling her sobs. Jun Pyo took her aside to calm her down.
He heaved a sigh, falling to the ground.
"She's going to be fine. I can vouch for it." Ji Hoo grabbed his shoulder.
"She could have been dead for all we know. We could have been too late."
"We weren't."
"You don't get it! If anything happens to her." He couldn't continue. He didn't want to imagine.
"Nothing is going to happen. She's safe now with us. We're going to take care of her."
"How's she been?" Woo Bin came, running. He rested his hands on his knees, hyperventilating.
"She's okay. They'll keep her under watch now."
"That's a relief." He exhaled.
"Where were you all this time? I don't I've seen you since we found her." Jan Di asked. Woo Bin shared a questioning glance with Yi Jung.
"I kept him busy with something." Yi Jung replied instead.
"You can't be serious. Now's not the time." Jan Di said, infuriated.
"Exactly. So leave it to us. It's better not to ask." Yi Jung replied.
"She wouldn't like this."
"Well, I've stopped giving a shit about what she likes after what happened today. Nobody gets to question me on what I do from here on out."
"She's my best friend too, you asshole." Jan Di pushed him. "She would hate whatever you're planning."
"That's not for any of you to decide. That fucker would've been on the loose if we hadn't gotten to him first. He's a danger to everyone. Not only Ga Eul, and if you and Ga Eul's morals wouldn't allow you to sully your hands then I'll be the one to do it. So fuck. Off." he snared at her. She held his gaze in anger before she backed off.
"We're all on edge now. Let's rest. Jan Di and Yi Jung, you should go to a hotel. Reserve rooms for all of us and cool off a bit. We'll be here if anything happens." Ji Hoo suggested.
"I'm not leaving."
"Nor am I." YI Jung said.
"At least go change. We won't be spending the night in the hospital. We have to find a place to sleep. I'll order a car for you. No one's in the shape to drive." Ji Hoo said, trying to convince them.
"Maybe he's right." Jan Di was the first to back down.
"We're not doing anyone favours by staying here." She persuaded him. He followed her along in silence.
Yi Jung ended up on the bed after he took a shower. The stress and despair following him all day overpowered him when the bed was in near sight. He woke up after a short sleep in terror. It had been a nightmare, and he'd never been more glad to wake up. The sight of Ga Eul lying in that front yard would never leave him for the rest of his life. He was sure of that.
His whole body was sore from exhaustion, and it was showing on his haggard face. His hair was ruffled and his clothes a mess, but he didn't have the energy to do anything about it.
He took the elevator down to the lobby, waiting for Jan Di to come down. They hadn't spoken to each other since their fight yesterday. It was their turn to watch over Ga Eul since Ji Hoo and Jun Pyo had only now returned from the hospital to get a bit of sleep.
"I'm ready. Let's go." She said, not looking at him.
Their silent treatment continued on the car ride to the hospital. Yi Jung couldn't be bothered to deal with anyone berating him. He understood that Jan Di loved Ga Eul. Maybe the only one who could ever come close to loving her as much as he did, but he wouldn't tolerate anyone berating him for doing what was necessary. For protecting Ga Eul.
Ga Eul had been transferred out of the emergency room overnight. Only one person could be allowed in her room at a time, so Jan Di and Yi Jung comprised their time. When it was Jan Di's time to be with Ga Eul, he would catch up on Woo Bin.
He wouldn't deal with Hong Joon until he was sure Ga Eul had been better. He was keeping him hostage, knocked out and beaten until he had the time to get to him. He was going to be painfully slow and take his time with him. A lesson had to be taught, and he'd be damned if he wasn't the one who did it.
"Hey." Jan Di said, joining his table at the cafeteria.
"You won't be able to change my mind." He announced quickly. The last thing on his mind was Jan Di's moral dilemmas.
"I won't try. I'm angry. So unbelievably angry when I look at her. Then I feel bad. They're still taking so much from her. It's like they're soul-sucking leeches. I can't stand looking at her like that, and I have to talk to someone. I can't sleep at night, thinking about her. About how she was swept into something that wasn't her own to begin with."
"They called?" Yi Jung asked, sipping his coffee. He had a feeling this was going to happen.
"I don't know how they knew, but they tried contacting me. I didn't respond. But I got frustrated. I think I get it now–why you want to do it. So do whatever you want. I don't how to deal with these people anymore, but surely the way Ga Eul's been avoiding them isn't enough. I want them far away from Ga Eul as much as possible. Enough is enough."
"She has to get better first. Anything can come after that." He replied. Part of him was glad that Jan Di was starting to see it from his side. That meant Ga Eul would be easier to convince when she woke up. She'd have to find a way to live knowing that he'd destroy Hong Joon and anyone like him.
"The doctor said things could've been much worse if we hadn't caught her in time. I mean how worse could they have gotten? Broken ribs and leg. Severe head trauma. How much more is enough?" Jan Di huffed.
"He's going to pay. I won't let him easy this time."
"Do what you will. Go now. It's your turn."
He nodded his head, leaving her to her thoughts.
He slowly opened the door to her room. There were so many tubes attached to her. Her shallow breaths were measured, and he could tell when she started to feel pain as her face grimaced. He would call the nurse to increase the dose of painkillers and then watch her turn into a solemn state of sleep. He would hold her hands in his and lay his head beside them.
He had never felt this helpless looking at her relying on tubes to survive. His chest was empty except for the throbbing pain festering inside him.
For a while, it had all been bleak. The days when Ga Eul was trapped in her slumber felt like years. He spent the last five days taking shifts from Jan Di, watching Ga Eul's fragile chest up and down, waiting for any changes. He would inspect her as she squirmed or grimaced in her sleep—anticipating a sign she was getting better.
On the sixth day, he had begun to feel like a machine going into routined motions until the day ended and biding his time. Taking his second cup of coffee for the day, Ji Hoo came rushing to him.
"Ga Eul woke up."