Letting her phone slide out of her hands, Bom remained in her position with her hands still by her ears while her phone landed on the floor beside her thankfully not broken. Her hands were shaking and she just couldn’t digest what she heard over the phone. Seungri, who was beside Bom, picked up her phone from the floor in a hurry hoping to talk to Uncle Kim whom Bom was talking to earlier and thankfully he was still on the line.

“Uncle Kim? This is Seungri, Bom’s friend. Did something happen?” He asked.

“Is Bom alright? I knew she was going to take this hard.” A low voice greeted him.

“She’s…”

“Chaerin and Minzy are on a medical helicopter right now and would be in Seoul any minute now. I’m already here at Seoul Hospital. Bring the two girls here and son…take care of them.”

“Yes sir.”

“I’ll send Bom a text on our exact location later.”

“We’ll head there now.” Seungri said before he hangs up the phone.

“Seungri ah what is it?” Dara asked anxiously.

“Noona~ noona~ knock out of it. We need to go to them now.” Seungri said, trying to knock his noona out of her trance.

“Seungri ah!!!” Dara shouted impatiently when she didn’t get an answer from him.

“Chaerin and Minzy are on a medical helicopter on their way to Seoul Hospital right now.” Seungri said.

Immediately he felt Bom’s arms wrap around his body as she cried her lungs out. Dara was taken aback and like Bom earlier, she too was frozen in her position until Youngbae who was sitting to her side held her hand to assure her that the two girls were going to be alright and that he would always be there with her. Jiyong jump up from his seat, running out of the cafeteria in jaw-dropping speed towards his car parked at the school carpark and the others followed suit behind him.

When they arrive at the school carpark, Jiyong’s car was already drawing out of the lot and out of school, speeding down the roads. Taeyang pulled Dara with him while Seungri had Bom with him. Daesung and Seunghyun got into their individual transport and they too made their way to the hospital that was 15 minutes away from school. However within 10 minutes all of them were already at the hospital and according to Uncle Kim’s text, all of them were now waiting outside the Operations room.

“Uncle Kim!” Bom called out as she and Dara head into the open arms of the man in his 50s, crying their lungs out.

“Hey girls calm down alright? They are going to be fine.” He said patting their head to calm them down. “And you must be the one I was talking to earlier son?” Uncle Kim looked at Seungri making him nod.

“Jiyong hyung, Seunghyun hyung, Youngbae hyung and Daesung hyung. We’re friends with Chaerin and Minzy.” Seungri introduced.

“Kwon Ji Yong? I heard a lot about you from our baby Chaerin.”

“Chae…”

“She would be fine. She’s a fighter and you should know that.” Uncle Kim assured the boy.

“Uncle Kim don’t mind me for asking but what happened in Gwangju?” Youngbae asked.

“Girls take a seat first neh?” He called out to the two girls still in his arms and with the boys’ help, the two finally sat down, Youngbae beside Dara holding to her hand while Seungri  continued to withhold his promise to Chaerin by staying by Bom.

“What I got from my team is that by the time they arrive to where the girls are, the both of them were already unconscious. However they were able to catch Nam this time. He’s with the police right now with my team in Gwangju and I’m arranging for him to be brought over to Seoul as soon as possible.” Uncle Kim explained.

“What did he do to them?” Seunghyun asked.

“According to the doctors, the police and evidence on site, he was hitting them with everything he could find around the house. Both of them lost blood but as of initial examinations onboard it’s nothing life threatening.” Uncle Kim said and just as he finishes his sentence, two doctors came out of the Operation room.

“Mr Kim I’m glad to say that the girls are in stable condition. Both sustained external injuries but nothing major and we would be running some test on them as time goes by just to make sure they are fine. Ms Gong’s initial reports are on the positive side and if everything is right she can be discharged in a day or two. However we’re sorry to say that as Ms Lee’s injuries are more serious and there were signs of concussion, we can’t determine how long it would take her to come around. It might take a few hours but do be prepared that it might be longer than expected.”

“Noona!!!” Taeyang shouted as Dara went limp in his arms while Bom too look like she was going to black out, causing Seungri to quickly pull her back to seat.

“Is there any blood clot in her brain?” Uncle Kim asked calmly.

“We found none at the moment and we’ll keep a close look out on her. Detailed reports would be out in a few and I’m keeping my fingers crossed. We’ll transfer the both of them to their wards and you guys can then visit them. At the same time I’ll keep Ms Lee near the ICU just in case of any emergencies. Mr Kim do you mind following me to my office before signing some administrative for the girls’ stay?” The doctor asked.

“Sure be there in a few.” Uncle Kim said before the doctor made his way off. “Will you guys be alright?”

“Run along Uncle Kim. We’ll take care of things here.” Seungri said making the older man giving him a nod before leaving them.

Minzy was transferred to a two bed ward, one of it tentatively taken up by Dara who fainted and in the future when Chaerin wakes up and she’s much stable, she can join Minzy in the same room, something that Uncle Kim has arranged knowing that Chaerin hates it when she is alone in the hospital ward. Chaerin’s room was one floor up as it has an internal lift to transport patients up one floor to the ICU or down for those who do not need to stay in ICU but still had to be given attention to. Her room was a single bed ward with floor to ceiling windows, lightening the room when the sun is up.

“Can I call you Jiyong-ssi?” Jiyong jolt out of his thoughts, lifting his head up to see Uncle Kim walking towards him.

“Just call me Jiyong.” He said and Uncle Kim just gives him a smile before settling beside him.

“Why aren’t you going in to look at Chaerin?” He asked.

“I…I just need some time to think.”

“Think? Is it something you could share with me?” Uncle Kim asked. “If it’s concerning Chaerin I could help~ I can say that I know her more than the other girls, also things that she couldn’t confide with the girls, it naturally comes to me.”

“Not trying to be rude but you…”

“Ah right I guess you guys don’t know me other than my name. I’ve been with Chaerin’s parents since 30 years ago so I practically watch her grow from the size of a pea until who she is now.”

“So you’re their?”

“Well you could say I was the family butler.”

“Butler?”

“Although not official like what you might be thinking, decked in suits and all but I take care of the family matters some way or another.”

“If that’s the case why aren’t you with her family now? Since you are the family butler?”

“I quit because of Chaerin.”

“Chaerin?”

“Well Chaerin wasn’t the loved one in the family unfortunately for according to Mr Lee, he was blaming Chaerin for affecting his work since she was born. However when Chaerin’s sister Harin came to this world, things got better for him so the couple naturally thought that Harin was a gem and treated her like a princess. No matter how hard Chaerin tries she would never gain approval from her parents. I found her crying in her room one day and she just spill everything out to me about how she felt it hard being in the family. I guess that’s how the both of us got closer naturally. Whenever she felt sad she would come to me and I would be her listening ear. Chaerin and her family fell out when Chaerin wanted to pursue studies in Fashion.”

“Why are they against that?” Jiyong asked.

“To be honest I don’t know son. But according to what I heard it seems like he wanted her to study law or medicine, something that brings a good future. They thought that it wasn’t easy to be a fashion designer and that it didn’t have a future. However fashion has always been what Chaerin wanted to learn. After consulting me, that’s when she decided to separate from her family, coming all the way to Korea just to pick up fashion design despite her family being in France, the country of fashion. Another reason why she chooses Korea was that she’s Korean.”

“That is why you decided to leave the Lee family? So that you can protect Chaerin?”

“You could say that. Besides the Lee Family didn’t need me anymore so when Chaerin told me she was going to leave her family and start anew in Korea doing what she wants without her family binding her down. There wasn’t a need for me to follow her actually since Chaerin has been a very independent child growing up in that environment, but I too wanted to be return to Korea as well, settle down and maybe look for a new job so I came back with her. Unless she needed to talk or ask me for my advice, I’ll just call on her from time to time just to check if she is doing fine.”

“So she tells you everything?”

“Well only things she thought she could confide with me.”

“And I guess I’m part of what she could confide with you?” Jiyong said making the older male nod.

“Well although I might be like a fatherly figure to her but maybe because I’m not that’s why she talks to be about you. She is always saying how you seem like the right man for her if only…”

“If only?” Jiyong asked looking straight into the eyes of Kim, desperate to know what Chaerin have told him.

“Young man did you do something to my baby Chaerin?” Kim asked, startling the younger male.

“N-neh?”

“Don’t need to be nervous young man. If you treat her right, there is nothing bad she can talk about you, isn’t it?”

“What about the ‘if only’?” Jiyong asked making Kim chuckles.

“She says you’re the right man for her if only she did better. You would be the best for her if only she too was the best. When I asked her if she is there yet, and whether you can be considered the right man to her, all she could say is that she could do better. You’re one lucky man Jiyong. This is the very first time I’ve seen Chaerin working so hard for a guy that ain’t her father. After talking to you I knew why she’s trying so hard. Take good care of my Chaerin when I can’t be by her side and if you ever do something sorry to her I wouldn’t hesitate to bring you down son~” Kim said, giving Jiyong a few pats on his back before he excuse himself, saying that he would have to leave to settle Minzy’s father and that they ought to inform him when both girls wake up.

“Hyung? Are you with Chaerin?” Seungri’s voice rang in his ears when Jiyong picked up his phone.

“What’s wrong?”

“Minzy…she’s awake.”