Thank you so much for your reviews. Apologies for the tardiness of getting this updated. I had wanted to update both this and "The Heart's Prism" over the end of last week/this weekend, but between my birthday, not feeling well, needing to get an art project done for school, work, buying a new car, and overall life, writing took a back seat. I also struggled with this chapter. I don't know why I am, but I am trying to get myself re-energized with writing in general. Perhaps it's just my mental health as a whole that's taking a hit, which always ends up creating issues with me writing. Please see the end for more author's notes so I don't spoil what happens in this chapter.
"Yah! Monkey!" Ga Eul let a sigh escape her at the first thing she heard as she opened the door to the F4's lounge. It had been close to two months since Kang Hee Soo had declared that Ha Jae Kyung and Gu Jun Pyo were getting married. While the marriage was not moving forward, Bon Hyeong and Jae Kyung's parents had agreed to make everyone think it was moving forward in order to make Kang Hee Soo comfortable in her position. They wanted her to think she still had a say in anything related to the Gu family or to Shinhwa.
Once Ha Jung Min discovered that Hee Soo had lied to him about pretty much everything, he had wanted to bring up charges on her for fraud. However, they soon learned that there was much more going on than they knew and they needed to plan strategically to catch her. Especially as Song Lee Bin was discovering more and more that Hee Soo definitely had something to do with the accident nineteen years prior that had killed Gu Shan Gi and changed the course of Ga Eul's life forever. It was finding the exact evidence they needed that was proving difficult and time-consuming, but they needed to do it all right in order to ensure she was handled.
This meant that Jae Kyung and Jun Pyo had to fake an engagement, which had been sitting not so well with Jun Pyo. Jae Kyung was a bit overbearing and overenthusiastic, but overall the young woman wasn't bad. She just had fewer proper social cues than Jun Pyo did and the two clashed, often, when in private. Jae Kyung wanted things to go smoothly, but Jun Pyo was still fighting against a lot of what his father was asking him to do. The fact was, is that Ga Eul felt it was her fault in a way because if she hadn't come back into her family's life, perhaps they wouldn't be dealing with all of this.
"I told you to stop calling me that!" Jae Kyung said. Ga Eul was almost ready to rub at the headache already forming as she slowly came down the steps, watching her brother and Jae Kyung square off. Again.
"It's what you are!" Jun Pyo declared. "You cling like a little monkey!"
"I am not clinging!" Jae Kyung proclaimed. "We are supposed to be acting like we are engaged!"
"Not here!" Jun Pyo declared, waving his hand to indicate the lounge.
Jae Kyung poked at his chest. "You have no idea who might arrive," she said. "So we have to be careful!"
"I didn't ask to play house with you!" Jun Pyo snapped. "I would never choose someone like you!" He turned away from her in his anger, never noticing how her entire being seemed to crumble at his words.
"Fine," she said quietly. "I'll leave you alone." She reached for her purse and quietly made her way to the stairs. She paused a moment, seeing Ga Eul coming down them. Ga Eul hugged Jae Kyung before she whispered her excuses and quickly hurried up the stairs. Ga Eul only heard the small sob that escaped because she was so close.
During the past two months, Jae Kyung had admitted to Ga Eul that she was starting to fall for Jun Pyo, despite his apparent animosity towards her. She had asked Ga Eul what was between Jun Pyo and Jan Di because she saw how Jan Di looked at him. Jae Kyung had admitted she felt somewhat relieved that Jun Pyo had no desire to be with Jan Di anymore, but then she felt bad for saying so because she thought she was being selfish.
Ga Eul had told her that getting through to Jun Pyo would take time and that they weren't exactly starting on the best foot themselves because of Kang Hee Soo. She was concerned that Jun Pyo wouldn't take Jae Kyung's feelings seriously. The two women had talked and Ga Eul actually encouraged Jae Kyung to follow her heart if it meant she wanted to be with Jun Pyo, but she knew that she had a long road ahead because Jun Pyo refused to see anything beyond the fake engagement right now. She had hoped she had been wrong, but it was obvious that was the case.
"Gu Jun Pyo, what is wrong with you?" Ga Eul said as she made her presence known. Jun Pyo turned when he heard his sister's voice.
"What?" he questioned.
"How could you treat Jae Kyung that way?" Ga Eul asked as she set her bag down. "She is in this situation as much as you are and is trying to make the best of it."
"I never asked Appa to agree to a fake engagement," Jun Pyo said.
"Neither did she," Ga Eul said. "And you know why you two have to pretend for now, so why not try and get to know her instead of being such a jerk to her."
"Yah!" Jun Pyo said. "Why are you taking her side?"
Ga Eul rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "I didn't realize there were sides to be taken, except to take the side against Kang Hee Soo and whatever she's trying to pull," she said. "Or did you forget that part in your insistence to be rude and obnoxious to Jae Kyung?"
"You have been a bit over the top with her," Ji Hu agreed with Ga Eul as he strummed his guitar where he sat, observing the siblings. Woo Bin and Yi Jeong were leaning on the edge of the pool table where they had paused their game when Jae Kyung and Jun Pyo had started their argument.
"You should definitely be on my side," Jun Pyo pointed at Ji Hu.
"As Ga Eul said, there are no sides except the one against Kang Hee Soo," Ji Hu said. He looked at his friend. "Or did you forget the part where she is trying to control everything and even insulted your yeodongsaeng and eomma?"
"You are both acting like I am the bad guy here," Jun Pyo said. "I didn't ask for any of this! Why is it that I'm the one being punished?!"
"Punished?" Ga Eul asked. "Why would you think you are being punished to act like Jae Kyung is your fiance? Just give her a chance, Jun Pyo. She didn't ask for this either. Yet she is trying to get to know you and to make it believable to others until Lee Bin-samchon gets what we need to take Hee Soo down."
"It's disrupting everything in life right now," Jun Pyo said. "Why should I have to worry about marriage?"
"You don't," Ga Eul said. "Appa is not asking you to marry her. Yes, people think so for right now, but we all know that it's not the case. Jae Kyung could be a friend though if you stop being such a jerk!"
"Stop calling me a jerk!" Jun Pyo said. "Everything has been turned upside down!"
Ga Eul swallowed, suddenly feeling the weight of everything that had been going on crashing down around her. His words, while she knew were not at all directed at her, had punctured the very balloon that had been hanging over her ever since the night of her party, probably even since discovering who she was. Her shoulders slumped a bit and she offered the four men in the room a sad smile.
"You're right," she said. "Everything has been turned upside down and it's my fault. If I had never been found, nothing would have been different. For any of you."
"Ga Eul…" Yi Jeong started. Both he and Woo Bin had straightened at Ga Eul's words. Even Ji Hu had set his guitar aside, worry flitting across his handsome face as he watched her.
"Maybe Kang Hee Soo was right," Ga Eul continued. "Maybe I should have died with Eomma. Then nothing would have been turned upside down."
Jun Pyo's face fell at Ga Eul's words. "Ga Eul, that's not what I-," he started.
"No, don't," Ga Eul said. She shook her head. "I never should have been found. I never should have been pulled into your lives. If you had never needed me to get Geum Jan Di to either back off of you or to go to New Caledonia, nothing would have changed. You deserve to have all that back." She suddenly felt like the entire lounge was closing in on her. "I have to go."
Turning as quickly as she could, Ga Eul ran up the steps that led out of the lounge once more, trying to leave as quickly as she could. She had gotten a block from the lounge before she bumped into someone. Lifting her head, she looked into Park Sung Ho's handsome face.
"Gu Ga Eul?" he asked. Seeing tears in her eyes and her face flushed and obviously upset, he touched her shoulder gently. "Are you alright? Did something happen?"
Ga Eul stepped back, trying to give him a small smile. "Everything is fine," she said. "Sorry, I was just heading-."
"Is there somewhere I can take you?" Sung Ho asked. "I don't mean to doubt you, but you don't really look alright."
"It's really all right, Sung Ho," Ga Eul said. "I actually want to be alone right now."
Sung Ho had to bite back the growl that wanted to form at her dismissive nature, but he had a role to play and if he was going to win her over, he needed to play more of a gentleman than he was known to be. Especially when he had to convince that brother of hers that he was honestly interested. He wanted to grab her shoulders, but he refrained, instead he tucked his hands into his pockets. "Are you sure? I can take you to wherever you want and then go?" He tried once more.
Ga Eul gave him a small, but thankful, smile. "I appreciate that," she said. "But I think it is better if I decline. I will see you later." She gave him a small bow of her head before she headed off alone.
Sung Ho did watch her go, forcing himself not to outwardly react in case one of the F4 emerged. He knew he wasn't far from the lounge. He was honestly interested in having Ga Eul, but on his terms and not those that he knew Jun Pyo would want to impose. He had no illusions that he loved the girl. He wanted what she stood for. First, she was a Gu. Second, she was apparently now the perfect Achilles heel of the F4 and he would ensure that he would possess her in the end.
"How could she ever think that I wouldn't have wanted to find her? That I would ever give up having my yeodongsaeng?" Jun Pyo asked hotly as he picked up his pacing once more, though this time it was in agitated pain from Ga Eul's remarks.
"This entire situation is taking its toll on all of us," Woo Bin pointed out. "Kang Hee Soo's actions are going to leave a mark on all of us. Just looks like it's hitting Ga Eul right now."
"Not right now," Ji Hu said. "It's been weighing on her since the party. She's just been hiding it." He pushed himself to his feet. "I'm going to go find her."
"Why you?" Yi Jeong asked, his tone bristling that Ji Hu was taking it upon himself to see to Ga Eul's well-being. He knew it was childish because they were all concerned, but he still couldn't shake the idea that Ji Hu was interested in her.
"And how do you know it's been weighing on her since then?" Jun Pyo asked. "She's never-."
"She won't say anything," Ji Hu said. "Not until it becomes too much, as it did today after hearing you and Jae Kyung arguing. First of all, you need to open your eyes to that situation. Second, who would know better than me what it feels like to blame yourself for tragic situations?"
"You think she blames herself for Eomma?" Jun Pyo asked with a frown.
Ji Hu rolled his eyes before shaking his head. "No, she blames herself for all of this," he said, sweeping his arm in a circle. "She is of the mind that if she had never been discovered when Jun Hee-noona found her, that Kang Hee Soo would not be tormenting everyone and you wouldn't be facing an arranged marriage."
"I highly doubt that," Woo Bin said.
"So do I," Ji Hu said. "But it doesn't change Ga Eul's own thoughts right now. And right now, she has been carrying the weight of all of this change on her shoulders. Even before the party, but it all came to a head there and she's been slowly breaking under the pressure of it."
"You think you know her well enough to say that?" Yi Jeong asked, attempting to keep jealousy out of his tone. It was becoming harder and harder for him to reign in any ill thoughts about Ji Hu and Ga Eul.
"How long did I blame myself for my parents' deaths?" Ji Hu asked them.
"You still do," Woo Bin pointed out.
"Exactly," Ji Hu said. "It's not something that will go away quickly, no matter how much anyone tries to say otherwise. She's purposely been hiding how she has felt in order to keep everyone else from worrying about her."
"She knows we are here for her," Jun Pyo said.
"She's grown up thinking she has to keep everything to herself," Ji Hu said. "She had caretakers that made her think she was unwanted and when she reached a certain age, she was responsible for everything. She had to keep things to herself."
"And considering the things she said to Jan Di that day in the porridge shop, it's not like she even had a friend to truly rely on," Woo Bin said.
"Geum Jan Di," Jun Pyo growled. "She keeps-."
"Stop," Yi Jeong immediately said. "That is water under the bridge and something between Ga Eul and Jan Di to resolve. You've made your own feelings about her now clear, but Ga Eul seems to still want a friendship once more and that is up to her, so you need to respect that."
"Yi Jeong's right," Woo Bin said. "And you'll only alienate Ga Eul if you try to state otherwise."
"I'm just looking out for her!" Jun Pyo proclaimed.
Ji Hu simply shook his head and started for the stairs to the lounge. "You guys explain it to him. I'm going to find Ga Eul."
"Do you have any idea where she went?" Woo Bin questioned after him, though his eyes drifted to Yi Jeong. He was not blind to the potter standing rigidly in place, glaring at Ji Hu, his hands clenched at his sides. He wished Yi Jeong would just man up and make his feelings for Ga Eul known. It wasn't going to be long before either Ji Hu actually did fall for her or someone else swooped in while Yi Jeong dragged his feet.
"I'm not certain," Ji Hu said. "But I have a hunch." He gave them a wave before leaving.
Ga Eul was not unaccustomed to walking places, but her father had insisted she refrain from doing so as she had still been healing recently. Thankfully she was feeling better and was even considering getting into dancing once more. She had been stretching and working her muscles again to refamiliarize herself with the moves. A few weeks ago, she had been introduced to the art center that Ji Hu owned and she had fallen in love with the space and had even started looking to see if they held dance classes there. She could have simply asked Ji Hu, but with everything going on, she had tried to keep to herself more.
Normally she had a driver bring her to the art center, just to allow herself a chance to reflect amongst the art items there, but today she was proud she had managed to walk as far as she had. She would probably be a bit sore later, but she enjoyed the walk and it let her clear her head some.
She was strolling through the quieter hallways when a strong presence fell into step with her. She was silent, as was Ji Hu, as they walked the length of the hall. Ga Eul admired the artwork lining the walls, comfortable in the silence between them. "How did you know I was here?" she finally asked.
"It was a hunch," Ji Hu said. "But ever since you were brought here, you've been here quite often to enjoy things."
"Keeping tabs on me?" Ga Eul teased.
Ji Hu smiled a bit. "Not intentionally," he said. "But why didn't you simply ask if I would accompany you?"
Ga Eul ducked her head, studying her feet as she walked. "I didn't want to be a burden," she murmured. She felt Ji Hu's hand on her arm, urging her to pause. She lifted her face to look at him, noticing his handsome face was concerned.
"You are never a burden, Ga Eul," he said. "Not to me, not for one second."
Ga Eul watched him a moment before she felt the tears that had been at bay all afternoon started to slip onto her cheeks. Ji Hu stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, feeling her cling to his waist as she buried her face in his chest and started to sob. Cupping the back of her head, Ji Hu hummed into her ear, trying to soothe her with the music. He could feel her tremble and knew immediately just how much she had been holding in all this time. They stood there for quite some time before he finally felt Ga Eul relax enough to pull back. She wiped her tears from her cheeks, smiling slightly as Ji Hu offered her one of his handkerchiefs.
"Your shirt is soaked," Ga Eul said, trying to brush her fingers over the material. Ji Hu simply grinned and offered her a small shrug.
"It can be cleaned and it's a small price to pay to help you feel better," he teased her. He took the handkerchief from her and brushed her tears away. "Come with me, there's something I want to show you."
Ga Eul took the handkerchief to wipe tears from just below her eyes when she tilted her head at his declaration. Instead of questioning, she took his offered hand and walked with him as he led her down the hallway and around the corner until they came to one of the side rooms. Opening the door, he led her into a dance studio.
"I was going to surprise you for your birthday coming up," Ji Hu said. "But I thought maybe you needed this now instead."
Ga Eul walked further into the room, looking around. "This… this is for me?" she questioned. She let her bag fall from her shoulder near the wall.
"I knew you were interested in getting back to dance once your hip was up to it," Ji Hu said. He walked over to the piano that was in the corner. "So I had them convert this room to a private dance studio for you. Whenever you want, you can come here and practice. I am sure that you can find a private dance instructor to get back to your lessons."
"Ji Hu-sunbae..." Ga Eul started. "This… this is-."
"No it's not," Ji Hu quickly cut her off. "I know how important dance is to you." He sat down at the piano, playing a few chords. "It's as important to you as music is to me or pottery is to Yi Jeong. It's in your blood, not something you can easily give up."
"Yet I did," Ga Eul said sadly, though she had already slipped off her shoes, testing the floor beneath her bare feet.
"Only because you were forced to," Ji Hu said, his fingers warming up along the piano keys, filling the room with music. He glanced over as he played, his lips tugging up into a smile as he saw Ga Eul slowly start to move to the music he was using to warm up. Ji Hu moved until he was properly seated in front of the piano before he moved into a song. He let the music flow through him as he began to play.
Ga Eul automatically took Ji Hu's cue as she began to warm her body up to the slow chords of the musician warming his own fingers up before he moved into a song. As he stroked each key, Ga Eul's body moved to the music. If anyone would have looked into the room, they would have been mesmerized at the two artists so different in their art forms, but working in tandem as if they were a single piece of art on display as Ga Eul's body instinctively moved to the music that Ji Hu was creating with the piano. Each of them was lost in their own worlds, yet they came together so perfectly at the same time. By the time Ji Hu finished playing, Ga Eul gratefully sank to the floor, feeling elation and exhaustion both consuming her after not having truly danced in so long. She would be sore, she knew that, but it felt good to finally do what she loved.
Ji Hu turned to see her flushed face, his heart skipping at the sight before him. He rose and walked over to where Ga Eul was on the floor. He extended his hands to her, curling his fingers around hers as he pulled her to her feet. There was silence between them as Ga Eul looked into his eyes. He could see that much still weighed on her, but some of that weight had been lifted when she had the opportunity to release it during the dance as he played for her. It was the first time he had ever played for someone in such a private setting that hadn't been either the F4 or Min Seo Hyun. It left an odd sensation in the pit of his belly that he couldn't define, nor did he think he should.
"Let me take you home," Ji Hu finally said. "You can come here anytime you want to dance."
"Thank you, Ji Hu," Ga Eul said as she moved to slip her shoes onto her feet. Ji Hu picked up her bag to carry it for her. "I hope you'll play for me again as I dance."
"It would be my honor," Ji Hu admitted softly. Though a small part of him told himself that perhaps that may not be the best idea. Not when he suddenly had the desire to lean down and capture her lips with his own as they had stood face to face after he helped her stand.
Author's Notes: So in the show, I was not a huge fan of the love quadrangle with Jae Kyung, Jan Di, Jun Pyo, Ji Hu. However, I didn't mind the idea of Jae Kyung and Jun Pyo if she were given a chance, so I am exploring that possibility in this story. As you can see, there are hints of the "love triangle" with Ji Hu, Ga Eul, and Yi Jeong. However, I know what is endgame and ultimately, the true love triangle/mess is going to end up being Sung Ho/Ga Eul/Yi Jeong. There will be a lot of confusion and misunderstandings between Yi Jeong and Ji Hu, but since I am writing other stories where Ji Hu and Ga Eul will end up together, Ji Hu and Ga Eul will have a moment in a future chapter will they will admit they could easily fall for each other if there weren't other factors involved. Ultimately, Ji Hu is going to be Ga Eul's male BFF in this because he's a non-relative male that she can rely on and turn to who doesn't judge her or see her like a fragile piece of crystal that he needs to protect. Woo Bin and Jun Pyo are too hyperfocused on the fact that Ga Eul is their family to be impartial, whereas Ji Hu can be. Also, his experience with tragedy is going to mirror hers in such a way that she will feel drawn to him when she needs someone to talk to once the mess with Sung Ho and Yi Jeong starts up. I AM debating introducing characters back into the story or OOCs for Woo Bin and Ji Hu, but I don't want to draw the story away from Ga Eul as I was told I was doing in a review. I know a lot of people tend to enjoy seeing Jae Kyung and Woo Bin together, but for this story I am really considering exploring her with Jun Pyo since Jan Di is a non-variable.
