| Fan Fiction |
by shattered teardrops
Ga Eul and Seung Hyun sat adjacently by the living room. She was holding what appeared to be cotton which was soaked in alcohol and was cleaning Seung Hyun’s bruises. He had a violent gash on his right cheek and a bleeding wound at the side of his mouth. “So how have you been?” Ga Eul asked as she was applying medicine unto the wound. It was weird to call him by his first name again after all the years that they had not seen each other. She had a lot of fond memories of him. Aside from Jan Di, it was Seung Hyun who taught her the value of strength.
Under normal room light, Ga Eul could clearly see what Seung Hyun had come to look like. He still had that fierce look in him just as before. He didn’t look anything near Yi Jung’s sophistication. For one, he looked thuggish. His piercing eyes looked especially menacing as it looked like slits but Ga Eul was surprised to have felt the softest touch from him when he held her hand as he hissed in pain when she directly applied the cotton unto his wound.
“Ow… A little careful on that, please…” He held her hand in mid-air as he complained. His tone wasn’t harsh, more like pleading. Ga Eul would have lashed out at him for complaining when she was trying her best to cleanse his bruises, however, she could not help but notice his touch on her hand. He might not have looked like it but he held her hand carefully. His grip was firm, not too tight, not to lose and when he took hold of her hand, he did it in such a way that it was not to sudden. It was like he was very careful on touching her.
They were in that exact position when Yi Jung suddenly entered the room. Seung Hyun immediately let go of Ga Eul’s hand and Ga Eul straightened up when Yi Jung appeared. On the other hand, surprise was clearly written on Yi Jung’s face as he looked at Ga Eul and then at the guy named Seung Hyun, then back to Ga Eul again. For a moment, he wondered briefly if something very significant happened while he was inside his room, taking a change of clothes.
“Yi Jung-sshi, are your eyes alright?” Ga Eul stood up and walked towards where Yi Jung was standing. She had to tip toe to look clearly into his eyes to check if they were really okay. She extended one hand and touched Yi Jung’s eyelid, genuinely checking out his eyes. His eyes were still a little reddish but other than that, they looked perfectly fine. She was so focused on checking whether Yi Jung’s eyes were okay that she didn’t realize just how close she stood in front of him and that their faces were only inches apart.
“Yeah, it’s…” Yi Jung was caught off guard by her bold action. He went wide-eyed when she stood up so close to him that he could already smell the same scent he smelled on her handkerchief, only this time, the scent was much stronger, sweeter and much more intoxicating. He found himself involuntarily holding his breath as she continued to check his eyes. He could feel his heart thumping wildly inside his chest as he stood so close in front of her. A lot of women had done so much more to him than this mere display of concern, but not one of them had the same intense effect as this one.
When Ga Eul finally realized that their position was oddly too compromising, she abruptly took a step back and looked away from Yi Jung, unable to meet his eyes. Yi Jung did the same and uncomfortably rubbed his nose. In order to shrug off the uncomfortable silence, Yi Jung turned to the guy sitting on the sofa with an odd smirk written on his face as he observed them. “Choneun So Yi Jung imnida. And you are?” He asked, composing himself again.
“Choi Seung Hyun but most people know me as TOP.” He replied shortly. Both men looked eye to eye, sizing each other up. After a full minute of silence and intense eye-contact, nobody looked away. Instead, Seung Hyun or TOP, stood up, still not tearing his gaze off of Yi Jung’s and spoke. “Next time, don’t let your girlfriend wander off alone at that time of night. It’s too dangerous.” He lectured and picked up his baseball cap which laid on the nearby table. “Since I have no more business here, it’s nice meeting you too. I’m going.”
“Wait.” Yi Jung held him back. Ga Eul thought that Yi Jung would lecture Seung Hyun that she wasn’t really his girlfriend. However, she was surprised when he took out his wallet and took a thick stash of bills. “Thank you for saving Ga Eul.” He handed Seung Hyun the stash of bills which Seung Hyun only looked at but did not take.
TOP looked at the thick stash of bills and then shifted his eyes to Yi Jung. On his face was a blank and unreadable expression. “A thank you is enough. Besides, women are supposed to be respected and protected. I did what I had to do.” He replied and turned his back on them again. “By the way, it was nice meeting you again, Ga Eul…” He turned to give Ga Eul a smile before he walked away.
This time, it was Ga Eul’s turn to hold him back. “Wait!” She closed the gap between her and Seung Hyun. She stood in front of him and carefully placed a bandage on the bruise on his right cheek. She did so with such delicate hands that Seung Hyun thought she had the softest hands like a mere feathery touch as her hands grazed his skin. The action temporarily rendered him captive under the spell of the pretty princess he just rescued. “There. All done. Thank you for saving me and it’s nice to meet you too again.” Her voice brought him out of his trance but he was soon captivated again, this time, by her sweet, sweet smile.
Ga Eul felt pure gladness when she heard Seung Hyun spoke about respecting and protecting women. He hasn’t really changed much. He was still her dear hero, the one savior who looked bad but was actually a really gentle little boy. That sounded really nice. And though Seung Hyun didn’t look like the part, he certainly was a gentleman, no less than Yi Jung. He was very cool and manly too. She watched his back as he walked away with a smile on her face. It was nice meeting him again. And he had such honorable ideals… If only most guys thought the same…
For some reason, Yi Jung felt an oddly rising anger inside him as he watched Ga Eul looking fondly at the TOP guy as he walked away. ‘Meet again? You two know each other?’ He mentally asked but did not speak out loud. Instead, Yi Jung made no effort to hide his aggravation. He was simply too annoyed to do so. “Why don’t you just follow him?” He said with sarcasm evident on his voice but Ga Eul ignored his comment.
“Yah… Yi Jung-sshi, what were you doing at that place by that time anyway?” Ga Eul turned to Yi Jung to ask. His expression suddenly turned from anger to discomfort and panic. He honestly didn’t prepare any excuses regarding his presence at such situation. Surely the time and place by which he appeared was too exact to be excused as mere coincidence. He smiled uncomfortably and turned his back on her.
He bit his lips trying to think of a logical excuse but found none. Instead, he decided to change topic. “Ah! Ga Eul-sshi, what do you think of snow skiing?” He asked out of the blue. Well, it was the weekend again and he remembered Jun Pyo suggesting that they all go out of town to temporarily relax. After all, Jun Pyo and Jan Di had been having problems regarding Jun Pyo’s evil witch for a mother.
-oOo-
“Ga Eul… Ga Eul…” Yi Jung shook Ga Eul lightly in order to wake her up and inform her that it was time for them to start their departure for their weekend trip. Ga Eul readily agreed to come when he invited her. She was about to leave to go home in order to pack her things when he held her back saying that he had her handkerchief washed and that she should just wait for it. Pouting, Ga Eul sat by the living room and waited as Yi Jung left to go check if her handkerchief was ready to be taken.
Apparently, when he got back to the living room, he found Ga Eul serenely asleep. Without much choice, he buried Ga Eul’s handkerchief inside his pocket instead and sighed as he looked at her serenely sleeping face. Finding himself unable to find any reason to wake her up, he gently lifted her up then carried her towards his own bed room and allowed her to sleep. When he finally settled Ga Eul on top of the comfortable bed, Yi Jung’s face suddenly scrunched up into a frown when he realized where he just brought her. He actually brought her to his real bed room which was filled with mementos of his childhood.
For years, he had been using two rooms. The first room was his fake bed room in his workshop where he took most of his girls. It was where he celebrated most of his sexual conquests and hot escapades with different girls. The second room was where he took Ga Eul. It was a room filled of mementos from his childhood. From his first family portrait with his parents when they were still a happy family, to his kindergarten picture with F4, even his first molded pot, everything was inside that room and not one girl had ever been there, up until the moment he took Ga Eul in.
Sighing in defeat, Yi Jung merely buried both his hands in his pocket and looked at Ga Eul as she was sleeping. He guessed that she was too tired from working two jobs apart from going to school and she probably needed as much sleep as she could get.
“Ga Eul…” Yi Jung called out again. Finally, Ga Eul stirred and readily woke up. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was Yi Jung’s handsome face looking at her. She immediately thought she was dreaming and smiled sweetly at him. “Ready for snow skiing?” When he spoke again, it was then that Ga Eul realized that he was real and she was in no dream.
She abruptly sat up atop the bed, causing her head to bump against Yi Jung’s. Both of them hissed in pain and held their foreheads. “Ow! Yah, are you always like this when you wake up? Your head sure is hard.” Yi Jung commented with a pained expression on his face as he held his forehead.
“Aish… Your head was harder!” Ga Eul retorted and so once again, they were caught up in a heated argument about whose head was harder. Their argument was abruptly halted when Ga Eul realized where she was. “Omo! Am I still in your house?” Looking around, Ga Eul noticed dozens of childhood pictures framed along the wall. For a moment, she thought she was back in a time when the F4 were still kids. However, the surreal image of Yi Jung looking a little embarrassed told her that she was still in the present time. ‘So… He really is a little boy…’ She thought and smiled.
After a minute of silence, Ga Eul suddenly remembered what she had to do and scrambled in panic. “I haven’t asked permission from my parents yet and I haven’t packed anything!” Ga Eul stood up from the bed and began to panic as she hurriedly got out of the room.
Yi Jung stood up as well and coughed up behind her to catch her attention. When she looked back at him, she found herself looking at a dearly familiar suitcase. “You were saying?” Yi Jung asked and handed her the suitcase. He had been considerate enough to inform her parents where they were going and asked his driver to fetch Ga Eul’s luggage while she was asleep. Of course! She was with the F4! Those guys do things in an instant. What’s so hard about packing?
“And my parents?” She asked.
“Taken care of. I’ve informed them and asked permission in behalf of you.” He replied. “So… Do you know how to ski?” He asked with that sinfully charming smile again.
“Hah. I’m not as clumsy as you think I am.” Ga Eul retorted back and sported that pretty smirk on her face once again.
“We’ll see about that, Chu Ga Eul… We’ll see…” Yi Jung continued smiling.
-oOo-
The skiing site they all went to was filled with lots of people and lots more of snow. Jan Di was thrilled to know that the F4 invited Ga Eul too. Both of them were so excited to go skiing that they immediately changed into their skiing gears the moment they arrived. Jan Di also showed Ga Eul the necklace the Jun Pyo had given her. She looked a bit burdened by being given such a gift but Ga Eul knew that deep inside, Jan Di was truly touched by Jun Pyo’s gesture. She secretly wished that someone would do something like that for her too.
When they were out into the snow, since Ga Eul knew how to ski and Jan Di was helpless when it came to it, Ga Eul tried teaching her friend but only exhausted both of them in doing so. Jan Di was not cut out for sports involving balance such as ice skating and yep, even skiing.
After a few more tries, Jan Di was finally getting the hang of the sport. She was beginning to ski on her own when she was bumped into by some girls. Ga Eul had been looking out for her all along. She saw her friend being bumped into by two girls but seeing Jan Di talking to them as if she knew them, she relaxed a little. Jan Di sat sprawled on the snow and was trying to get up but was found it difficult to do so. Being the helpful friend, Ga Eul took off towards Jan Di to help her. When she looked to her right though, she saw a drunk snow boarder, sliding aimlessly through the snow. Ga Eul’s eyes widened in worry about her friend that she hastened her pace towards Jan Di.
Apparently, the drunken snowboarder was racing swiftly. Ga Eul realized that she just stepped right into his way. Dreading for the worst, Ga Eul merely closed her eyes and waited for the impact but none came. Instead, she felt herself being hurled out of the way by some unexplainable force. When she opened her eyes, there he was, the sinfully handsome devil himself, So Yi Jung. And he just saved her from the drunken snowboarder. Apparently, he ran towards her and pushed her out of the way before the snowboarder could hit her, causing both of them to fall to the snowy ground. Ga Eul’s lips turned into a smile as she realized how close their faces were. She felt like she was in heaven. And yeah, much to her distaste, she was still attracted to him.
“Ga Eul… Ga Eul… Are you okay?” Yi Jung called out with deep worry etched on his handsome face.
“Oh… Uhm… Yeah…” She softly replied, still unable to believe that Yi Jung had saved her.
“Yah! Chu Ga Eul! Did you come here just to get crashed by some drunken snowboarder?” Yi Jung’s voice raised a notch higher and his tone was angry and unforgiving. It was like he was mad at her for not being careful. For Woo Bin to have seen something like that coming from So Yi Jung, it was truly interesting. It even reminded him how Yi Jung had tricked him into believing that what he gave him was Ga Eul’s number. He mentally reminded himself to think of a way to get even with his friend’s little prank.
“I was just worried for Jan Di!” Ga Eul defended and Yi Jung knew it was true. However, he wasn’t going to accept any excuses from her.
“Aish! I won’t accept excuses! You should really take care of yourself more! What if I hadn’t reached you in time, huh?! How can you worry about other people when you can’t even worry for yourself?!” Yi Jung appeared to be really pissed off and annoyed at how careless Ga Eul could be. Seriously, she should stop with that others-first policy of hers! She wasn’t even taking good care of herself.
“Yah! Are you telling me not to be worried over Jan Di?!”
“I just said you should worry about yourself more!”
Ga Eul was silent for a while before she finally spoke with a calmer voice. “But you’re just the same…” She said. “You also worry more about others than yourself, right? If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have jumped to my rescue. And you also worry more about the other F4 that’s why you always come to help them.”
To Be Continued…
-oOo-
- - - - - - - - - -Preview of Chapter Ten: “An Untold Secret”
“You didn’t have to hide out here, you know…” Yi Jung’s voice was soft and his tone was comforting. On his face was an all too tender expression as he laid eyes on Ga Eul’s tear-stricken face.
Ga Eul’s composure began crumbling before Yi Jung’s very eyes as he saw tears threatening to fall once again. She still tried her best to contain them again but this time, she did not succeed. Tears came falling one after another as she broke into hysterical sobs. Yi Jung found himself breaking his playboy principles as he gathered the crying Ga Eul into his arms for a comforting embrace. At that very moment, Yi Jung forgot his philandering ways and the playboy commandments he had long kept. At that exact moment, his world only revolved around comforting Ga Eul. He refused to think about the consequences.
-oOo-
a/n:
-oOo-
Date Written: Feb22,’09
Date Posted: Feb28,'09