He found them a quiet place to sit - that being in the corner of one of the cheaper coffee shops that littered the area. Woo Bin would have dragged her to a pricier place he knew; a measly five-minute ride away from where they were, one that actually served real coffee in china cups with side orders of bonbons and french bread with butter. But one look at Ga Eul and how upset she still was and he'd immediately scrapped the idea. The very thought of moving might be taxing to her at the moment, and if there was one thing Woo Bin was familiar with, it was how to un-tax a woman.

So, being the resourceful person that he was, he looked around them, spotted the shop across the bench she was on, and quietly asked her if she wanted to talk with him over there.

She hesitated for the briefest of moments then nodded sagely, drying her eyes with her fists even before he got the chance to offer her his handkerchief, and getting to her feet to follow him even before he'd offered her his hand.

Now here they were, with him holding a Styrofoam cup filled with yesterday's brewed coffee and she with a plastic cup filled with un-natural mango juice, and he crossed his legs, stared at her without a word, and waited for her to speak.

He didn't rush her even if technically he only had twenty minutes to spare this afternoon, because he knew women like the back of his thumbs. He knew rushing an upset woman was a very, very bad idea, something only uncouth men (Jun Pyo) would do, and he was no Shinhwa Group heir, thank you (thank god).

Woo Bin brought the coffee to his lips and cautiously sipped. To his eternal surprise, he didn't feel like spitting out his drink - it was actually acceptable. For a fraction of what he usually paid for, this coffee was indeed drinkable.

Ga Eul, on the other hand, stirred her drink with a straw and sighed aloud. Then, "Woo Bin-Sunbae, I'm sorry."

He blinked. "For what?" he asked, feigning innocence. "Didn't you already apologize to me the last time we spoke?"

She lifted her eyes off her drink, glanced at him, then looked away. "Well-yes. But-"

"If you're apologizing to me now for running out on me without warning that morning, then consider everything forgiven." He placed his cup down and smiled benignly at her. "The porridge you brought me was good. You remembered how I usually prepared mine, didn't you? I'm pleased."

Ga Eul said nothing.

"Which reminds me- I haven't visited your place in a while, have I?"

It was a diversionary tactic - one meant to make her talk without dwelling on what was upsetting her. He always found it very effective in calming women down.

Seemed like it was working on Ga Eul, too. She quirked her lips, as if remembering something amusing. "Well... yes. Master's actually been looking for you these past few days. The shop's become... abnormally quiet. Without you around, we don't have that much problem with women hanging around just to get a glimpse of you, after all." Cheekily she added, "We haven't had problems with broken chairs and bowls, too."

Woo Bin took a sip of his coffee again. "Don't be too complacent. I'm planning on dropping by some time this week. I'd hate to disappoint South Korea's women - especially if they have been expecting me." His smile widened, and to his pleasure, he actually earned a laugh from her.

"You're awful," she chided him playfully, as she picked up an extra straw and threw it at him.

"I think you mean 'dashing' and 'chivalrous'," he corrected, dimpling. "I did make time in the middle of my very busy day just to stop by and talk to you. I even bought you a drink, Ga Eul-yang." Never mind that juice was hardly a drink he usually get his ladies, and never mind that, in five minutes, he'd be pretty much bailing out of an important activity for today. But his spot checks could always be rescheduled (the beauty of it being unplanned and unannounced) and besides, he was allowed to be a bit lax every now and then, wasn't he?

She blinked, and he could see his words made her fluster a bit. Ga Eul was spared from commenting further when the shop attendant brought them their cakes. Woo Bin eyed his piece carefully, trying to discern if it was edible or not. Was the cherry and strawberry topping even real?

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Ga Eul laughed unexpectedly. "It's not going to bite you," she said, picking up her fork. "The cake, I mean. I can vouch for the fact that it's good." As if to prove her point, she cut into her own cake and shoved a piece into .

"You're a frequent visitor here, then?" he asked, picking up his own fork and digging into the dessert. The cake, like the coffee, was a pleasant surprise to his own practiced tongue.

"Jan Di and I used to come here a lot," she replied, after a moment's silence. "After our shift, we'll drop by here and just... talk." Ga Eul began playing with the icing before setting her fork down, a frown now marring her features.

He could tell, even without her saying anything, that she was missing her friend. It was a feeling he could relate with pretty damn well.

"When was the last time you talked?" he found himself asking.

She shrugged. "Three days ago," Ga Eul replied softly. "She's doing quite well - although she said one of the instructors there was an absolute beast to her. Seemed like the teacher had something against outspoken students." She smiled, then shook her head. "I just- I don't know. I'm happy she seems to be making something of herself, but at the same time-" Here she stopped, bit her lip, and refused to say something else.

"You miss her," Woo Bin said, after a lengthy pause from her end. "I think it's just natural that you do."

She grabbed her drink, refused to meet his eyes.

He tried again. "Though I suppose missing Jan Di isn't a good enough reason for you to be crying in the middle of the street, in the middle of the day - is it?"

Ga Eul stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights. It was a question that he had been itching to ask her ever since he ushered her in this shop; he'd like to think he did a good job in suppressing it, at first. The scene had somehow burned its way into his retina; a quietly but deeply disturbing thing to witness, if he were honest with himself.

When she didn't answer immediately, Woo Bin took his time in studying her face. The reluctance there was so very easy to read, and it bothered him. Why was it so difficult for her to tell him what had upset her in the first place? Unless-

-unless it was something embarrassing, even shameful. Unless it was something she'd rather not talk about, if she could get away with it.

Except that wasn't an option. "Ga Eul, did something happen to you? Did someone... hurt you?"

Yi Jung would have had a field day with this knowledge, if he were here. His friend might have the face of a saint, but he had the temper of the devil at his very worst - and Woo Bin could easily imagine how provoking it would be for Yi Jung to learn that Ga Eul was anywhere within the general vicinity of danger.

At her look of horror, Woo Bin felt a sudden clenching in his gut. Without Yi Jung here, the responsibility to protect his girl fell on him. Naturally. It wasn't something Yi Jung explicitly asked him to, but some things didn't need to be said between them, anyway.

The urge to do terrific violent acts was immense, surprising even himself. Except it really shouldn't, because Song Woo Bin had strong protective urges and really, only idiots would mess with F4 and any of their friends, and Chu Ga Eul easily fell into that category.

"Tell me," he said, and he was clenching his fists and-

But she was fervently shaking her head. "Sunbae, you're mistaken. It's- it's not like that at all," Ga Eul said emphatically. "There's no specific person, really. It's just- I-I mean-" She bit her lip, then looked away.

Woo Bin leaned forward, resisting the urge to shake her senseless. It would be very ungentlemanly of him to do so and he wasn't one to touch a woman like that, anyway. But really, even his patience has its limits and how could he help her if she wouldn't let him? "It's just...?"

Ga Eul looked at him again, and there was a resolute setting to her jaw that he'd find cute if he weren't so damned annoyed by her stubbornness. "Woo Bin-Sunbae - promise me you won't think I'm asking you for anything, because I'm not. Really, I'm not. I can handle it."

...what. What was she even saying. "I don't doubt it."

"You promise?"

"Yes!" God.

"It's just-" With great reluctance, she sighed and continued, "-remember my plans of entering university next semester? I- I found out that I only have until this week to enroll. If-if I don't make it, I'll have to wait until next year and by then I'll be too late and too old and-" Ga Eul clenched her fists. "I just... I have to get the money by Friday so I can go to school, and I guess the thought just overwhelmed me a bit and-" Here she seemingly wilted against her chair. "-that's how you found me. I didn't think anyone would." She glared at him. "You have an odd habit of popping up unexpectedly, Sunbae. It's annoying."

Ga Eul was opening and speaking, but somehow her words weren't registering in Woo Bin's brain.

...except for one little thing. "So... your problem is that you don't have enough money to go to school?" ...how. How was this even something worth crying about?

Ga Eul was looking positively scandalized, making him think she must have read his thoughts, somehow. "Don't say it like that! Coming from you, my problem sounds... I don't know, petty. But trust me, for commoners like me, it's huge." Ga Eul wilted even further, then added morosely, "Why am I even telling you this? You're not someone who can understand something like this, anyway."

Wait, that sounded like an insult to his person. Woo Bin shook his head. "I wasn't- I just thought-" He laced his fingers together, cleared his throat. Think! "I thought you were bothered by something more-" He gestured helplessly, "-sinister." Or dangerous. Whatever.

By the way she was pursing her lips and glaring at him, Woo Bin had a sinking feeling he actually said a stupid, idiotic thing - though for the life of him, he couldn't tell what, exactly, was wrong with what he'd told her. "You don't think not being able to study and make something more of myself isn't a sinister fate enough?"

. "Ga Eul, that's not what I-"

But she'd already gotten to her feet and was walking away from him and he didn't think, just reacted by grabbing hold of her wrist to stop her in her tracks. Dimly, he wondered how, exactly, their pleasant conversation turned into something like this. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

She wasn't looking at him when she pried her arm off his hold - and he let her. "I'm sorry, too," she said, before moving towards the door.

A few minutes more, and he was already en route to the construction site. He'd called his secretary, told him he was running late, and stared quietly at the passing sights just beyond his window as his driver brought him there.

Woo Bin scratched his head. He'd wanted to help Ga Eul, but ended up angering her even further. Odd. For someone with considerable knowledge when it came to women, he'd surely found himself wrong-footed when it came to her.

He didn't mean to make her problem seem... well, petty. True, money was and never would be an issue for him or any of the F4, so perhaps that was the reason why he couldn't bring himself to look at the issue the way she did. Perhaps that's where his fault lay.

Still, he was never one to sit still when a friend was in need, and this time, Chu Ga Eul was in definite need of help. Money was her problem - it was most definitely not for him.

Woo Bin stared at his phone. What if...?

"-what?"

"Yo, my bro!" Woo Bin grinned at the irritation lacing Jun Pyo's tone. "What's up, my man?"

"What makes you think I'm going to talk to you after you hung up on me earlier? I'll beat your up, aish-"

"Keep your cool, bro," he said soothingly. Really, the F4 leader was the very definition of suave, only so very not. "I'm sorry. I just had to talk to a pretty lady, that's all. Can't really converse with two people at once, can I?"

"Why not?" Jun Pyo still sounded annoyed. "Don Juan can't hit two pigs with one rock?"

Woo Bin rolled his eyes. "Something like that."

"You and your ladies," Jun Pyo said. "Anyway, I bet she can't hold a candlestick to Jan Di. Who is she?"

"You don't know her." The lie was out of his mouth even before he thought about it. Woo Bin frowned, but wasn't in any hurry to fix it. "Anyway, she's not the reason I called." Another lie! Damn.

"What is it, then?"

Right, onto business. "Song Construction, Inc. is very interested in donating a sizable sum to further improve the quality of education over at Shinhwa University," he said casually. "What can you say about that?"

Jun Pyo was quiet on the other end for a few moments. "What's in it for you?"

Woo Bin brushed off invisible lint from his suit, then smiled as the looming figure of the building came into view. "Oh, there's just this one little thing..."

5/?