enrage
to make someone very angry

"I'm Woo Bin."

Ga Eul gently drew her hand away. "I don't think I know you," she said quietly.

"Well, you do now." He grinned. "I saw your performance awhile ago and wanted to meet you."

Ga Eul buried her face in her hands.

"You did well, Miss Chu. Ad libbing is much harder than most people think." Woo Bin frowned. "However, you should check for injuries."

"I-injuries?" Ga Eul blurted.

Woo Bin nodded, stepping closer. "Yi Jeong was rather... rough."

Only to the piano, Ga Eul thought, shifting uncomfortably as Woo Bin perused her face and examined her wrists. When he looked up, she noticed their faces were very, very close together.

CRACK!

Ga Eul shrieked, leaping back as Woo Bin was tossed to the ground, a cry of pain torn from his lips. She looked at the offender, who stood before her, chest heaving, eyes blazing, hand still clenched in a tight fist.

"Y-Y-Yi Jeong s-sunbae!" she cried.

Yi Jeong slid to the ground, grasping Woo Bin by the collar. He pulled back his fist for another hit, but Ga Eul quickly held onto his arm.

"No, sunbae!"

"Just what do you think you're doing?!" This to Woo Bin; the words came from Yi Jeong's lips in a twist of spit and hate. "Forcing yourself on an innocent freshman... Can you possibly get any lower?!"

Ga Eul felt her face flare. "I-it wasn't like that, sunbae! He wasn't—he never—he didn't—"

Woo Bin was clearly offended. "For the record, Mr. So, I was not forcing myself on her! I was checking to make sure she didn't have any injuries that you might have caused!"

"ME?!" Ga Eul winced as the hall shook. "I would never hurt her! What are you insinuating?!"

"This!" Woo Bin snatched Ga Eul's wrist, holding it towards Yi Jeong. Ga Eul yelped at the aching pain that shot through it. "See these bruises? They're from you! During the beginning of the improv, you took her wrist too roughly!" He winced as he spoke, no doubt from the pain that Yi Jeong's punch had caused.

Yi Jeong pried Woo Bin's fingers off of Ga Eul and gently took her wrist. He said nothing.

"Sunbae," Ga Eul said weakly, "he really wasn't doing anything."

"It didn't look like it."

"Sunbae!"

"Fine." Yi Jeong let go of her and turned to Woo Bin. "I admit I was wrong to punch you. However, every doctor knows that you have to monitor a patient's comfort level while you're examining them." He gestured to Ga Eul. "She was obviously uncomfortable."

Woo Bin's gaze was dark. "I'm not a doctor."

"But your father is, Mr. Song," Yi Jeong said.

Ga Eul's gasp filled the tension between them. "S-S-Song? The owner of... of the Song Hospitals?"

"Not just the Song Hospitals," Yi Jeong said, "but also the Han Music Academy."

The Han Music Academy.

Pabo.

Ga Eul stepped toward Woo Bin and took his shoulders. "Woo Bin sunbae! Do you... Do you have any siblings?"

"Huh? What?" Woo Bin gingerly rubbed his jaw. "Uh... Why?"

"N-never mind," she said, dropping her hands by her sides. "We should... we should get that jaw fixed."

Yi Jeong frowned. "Ga Eul."

Ga Eul whirled on him, a little ball of fury. "No, sunbae! You should be glad neither he nor I am making you pay for this! This should teach you to jump to conclusions!"

"What if he WAS forcing himself on you?" Yi Jeong protested.

"Well, he wasn't, and that's all that matters," Ga Eul said finally. She softened. "Thank you, sunbae, for looking out for me, but I can take care of myself." And she and Woo Bin left him.

"Ga Eul-ah! I'm back! Sorry, girl emergency! Did that guy do anyth—wha? Yi Jeong?"

Yi Jeong looked up, only to stare straight into Jan Di's face.

"Hi," he said glumly.

"Hi," Jan Di replied. She peered around him. "Where's Ga Eul?"

Yi Jeong shrugged. "Out with some guy."

Jan Di's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "Out what?!"

Yi Jeong considered siccing Jan Di on Woo Bin, but remembered that, no matter how much he may dislike Woo Bin, he had already unrightfully given him one heck of a jawache. "Nothing."

"I don't believe you." Jan Di peered around. "Tell me where Ga Eul went."

After the initial burst of rage, a sense of shame was beginning to settle in Yi Jeong's stomach. "I don't think I should," he said warily, gauging her reaction. Jan Di was a ticking time bomb. One that he didn't exactly fancy being around.

Jan Di scowled at him. "So, what? You're just gonna let her run off with another man? And here I was, thinking that you actually had a spine."

Yi Jeong bit his tongue to keep from lashing out. "If you're so concerned about her wellbeing, look for her yourself," he said.

Jan Di rolled her eyes. "I'm not saying this because I'm concerned for her, Yi Jeong, but because I'm concerned for you," she said cryptically. "Do a little soul-searching. See what you find."

She strode away, the picture of confidence and self-realization. Yi Jeong didn't have to do any soul-searching to know what she meant. He knew he was in love with Ga Eul. She knew he was in love with Ga Eul.

Yi Jeong palmed his cell phone nervously, finger hovering over Ga Eul's number. Cursing his cowardice, he squeezed his eyes shut and punched the call, then brought the phone to his ear.

She did not answer.

(It's been over a year? Sorry. I .)