It's the weekend! What's better than Saturday and an update? Enjoy! ^^

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Through Muddy Water
Chapter 19:

He was having trouble sleeping again, his body confused by the random hours of his residency.

 JiHoo stared at the ceiling, eyes tracing the smooth white surface that stretched above him and brain not quite ready to settle for the night. Sighing, he tried to clear his mind and concentrate on the slow steadiness of his relaxed breathing.

Everything was quiet except for a soft banging noise that he couldn’t get out of his head. It almost sounded like something being tossed against the house by the wind but the night was clear and free of even a small breeze. Giving up on sleeping, he rolled from his bed, donned his slippers and padded down the hallway. Squinting through the dark, he peered into his courtyard curiously.

There was a shadowy figure visible just beyond the glass. Breath catching in his throat, he watched whoever it was intently. Strangers never wandered to his residence, the gate was locked and only he and his staff knew the code- well the staff and his friends. Approaching the front door, he could see the intruder more clearly in the moonlight and his heart skipped a beat.

He yanked the door open, stumbling into the cold autumn air. “WooBin-ah?”

The prince stopped, lifting his head.

 JiHoo’s eyes widened when he saw his friend’s face and he swore loudly. He felt the need to pinch himself to make sure what he was seeing was real. “What happened to you?”

“They were waiting… on the way to YiJung-ah’s. I couldn’t s-s-stop them.” The prince shivered, hunched over in an awful way.

JiHoo quickly grabbed hold of his jacket, afraid WooBin would collapse right in front of him. “We have to go to the hospital,” he murmured.

“Anyo, I’m fine,” WooBin protested, resisting the hold rather defiantly despite his obviously fragile state.

JiHoo’s mind was racing as he took in the situation. If WooBin had been attacked on the way to YiJung’s, then he would have had to walk at least a mile to end up standing before him. It was a miracle he hadn’t collapsed already, yet here he was refusing to go to the hospital.

WooBin drew a shaky breath, gripping JiHoo’s t-shirt and trying to stand a bit straighter. In the moonlight JiHoo could the sickening glint of blood.

“You’re not fine. How the hell is this fine? Aish! Let’s get you inside.” He pulled the injured man’s arm over his shoulders, deciding to at least get him cleaned up and his injuries assessed before pushing the idea of the hospital again.

This idea, WooBin was compliant for and as JiHoo lowered him onto the chair in the kitchen he looked rather relieved to be off his feet.

 “Stay put,” he commanded.

The prince nodded soundlessly. Thankfully, it seemed as if now that he’d been brought inside he was coming around to the idea of being helped.

Hands shaking, JiHoo filled a bowl with warm water and took out a few clean cloths. He’d treated plenty of fight victims before, but this time it was WooBin and they weren’t at a hospital where there was a feeling of security.

He put the bowl on the table. WooBin was still there, slightly bent over and holding his side. Of all the F4, he was the last one that JiHoo could have imagined to need his help. The sight came in second on his list of unsettling events of the past month.

From the bathroom he pulled assorted bandages and tape, mentally making a checklist of all the things he would need to check for. There were a million and one things that could make WooBin’s condition critical but he was trying not to worry about that just yet.

Sitting beside his friend, still in his pajamas, he decided to work his way down beginning with the prince’s face. Carefully he wiped away the first streaks of dried blood and dirt. There were no open wounds but plenty of already formed bruises and- dear god, shoeprints? He swore again, gently palpating the skin for any deformities.

WooBin was incredibly cooperative until he reached the left cheek. As soon as he touched the area, the prince winced and immediately pulled away.

JiHoo put his hands down and bit his lip. “You probably broke your zygomatic arch. We really should take you to the hospital.”

“Ani… Jebal. I came here because I didn’t want to go,” he insisted rather stubbornly shaking his head and then wincing at the movement.

“I’ve already found a fracture and I haven’t even checked past your face.”

“Andwae. That’s what they want.” He squirmed in the seat as JiHoo dabbed at his neck.

“What who wants?” JiHoo asked, pushing him gently back into the chair and continuing to clean his dirtied face. His blood boiled at the thought of anyone daring to inflict such pain on his friend.

Leaning back in the chair WooBin mumbled an incoherent answer, his eyes fluttering closed. Looking at him, JiHoo swore yet another time.

“Ya, you have to stay awake for now.” He gave him a small shake which jolted the injured man awake.

“Hajima,” he groaned while rubbing his side.

“You’re going to have to put up with me for just a bit longer. Follow my finger,” he ordered while moving his hand from side to side.

WooBin tracked it easily with no abnormalities- a good sign. With a sigh, the young doctor relaxed a bit; it looked like the worst of his head injuries was a mild concussion.  As he continued cleaning the caked blood that undoubtedly was the result of a blow to the nose, the prince grabbed his hand and looked at him quite seriously. “I’m not like my appa.”

“I know that.” JiHoo confirmed, taking his hand and gently cleaning that too. There wasn’t a single wound across the knuckles and he wondered when and why WooBin had decided not to fight back.

“They didn’t listen, they didn’t believe me,” he continued as JiHoo lifted his chin to inspect his bruised jaw. “I told them I’m not involved. I’m not like him. They didn’t believe me.”

“Well I do, I believe you. I know you’re not like him.”

He stopped talking after that, letting JiHoo check his collarbone and arms without a peep. Everything else seemed alright. Pressing an icepack to the prince’s jaw he sat back and frowned again. He wanted to go to the hospital but he knew that WooBin was probably right. Whoever he had gotten mixed up with was probably dangerous enough to warrant caution.

“Araso, you need new clothes,” he decided, trying not to second guess his decision. “Think you can make it to the bedroom?”

With help, the two successfully reached the next room. Rifling through his drawers JiHoo found a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, handing them over.

“These should fit.”

Nodding, WooBin began to slowly his shirt. JiHoo saw him flinch as he moved too suddenly.

“Gwaenchana?” Obviously not, but he knew WooBin understood the question.

“It hurts.”

“Let me see.” ing the rest of the shirt, he felt along his ribs and the prince gave a sharp intake of breath. They weren’t broken, but probably cracked and definitely bruised. There wasn’t any sign of internal bleeding however.

“I’m going to get you some painkillers, change out of those clothes and lie down, araso?”

“Araso.”

Gathering the prince’s jacket, shirt, and shoes he took them into the bathroom. Inspecting the jacket first, he determined it wasn’t worth trying to save. It’s not like it was an issue to buy a new one. That fact was true for the rest of the clothes as well. Sighing, he rummaged through the pockets to gather WooBin’s personal items before tossing them into the trash.

Something fell to the floor with a thunk.

Picking up the cell phone, he saw that the screen was slightly cracked, although not enough to stop him from reading the display. There were seventeen missed calls- five from him earlier and another twelve from YiJung.

Yijung. He realized suddenly. YiJung’s been alone this whole time.

JiHoo tried not to panic. Usually he was quite level headed but today seemed had proved to be quite ridiculous. Rationally, if there was an emergency YiJung would call someone else, right?

Flipping open the phone again he checked the inbox. There was one new message.

I can’t hurt GaEul any more. Unless you talk me out of it I’m going to end things for good.

His blood froze, unsure of what to make of the words. Confused, he went back to the bedroom to talk to WooBin. Knocking lightly on the door, he entered when there was no reply. The prince was already asleep, curled around his injured side with the ice tucked under his jaw. He looked halfway comfortable and JiHoo certainly wasn’t about to wake him after all he’d been through that night.

He stood unsure of himself, suddenly between a rock and a hard place. He couldn’t leave WooBin in such a condition but he also couldn’t dismiss the text he had just read. Trembling he fished his own phone out of his pocket, holding down the first speed dial and praying for an answer on the other end.

***

An obnoxious buzzing noise was harassing him in his sleep. JunPyo whimpered, rolling about trying to get away from the sound. He hated buzzing insects with a passion potentially surpassed even his love for JanDi. The buzzing didn’t stop and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at the thought of them being in his room.

“Aish!” he shouted, sitting up and swinging a pillow around his head to keep the bugs away. It took him a few minutes to realize that it was actually his phone that was supplying the noise. Snatching it from the bedside table he sincerely hoped for the person on the other end’s sake that there was a reason for calling in the middle of the night.

“WAE?” He shouted unhappily.

There was a pause and then, “Ya, JunPyo.”

“JiHoo-ah… waeee?” he whined, flopping back against the pillows.

“I need you to go to YiJung’s.” There was an unusual hesitation to his words that made JunPyo sit upright once again.

“Bwoh? What’s going on?” He was fully awake now.

“WooBin was attacked.”

“Attacked? Ya, you’re messing with me aren’t you.” He figured it had to be a joke because none of what JiHoo was saying made any sense.

“Ani. He’s here, with me now. He’s hurt, but he’ll be alright. I took care of it and he’s resting… But I need you to go to YiJung’s now.”

“Wae?” He asked, fumbling around for a pair of pants and trying to balance the phone in his ear.

“He tried to call WooBin twelve times. He left a message and I don’t know what it means but I’m worried about him alone over there. He hasn’t tried to call you?”

“Ani, he hasn’t called.” JunPyo replied, struggling his way into a long sleeved shirt.

“I’d go but- WooBin. Are you-“

“I’m on my way out the door already,” WooBin interrupted, jamming his feet into the first pair of shoes he saw. “I’ll call you when I get there.”

“Gomawo.”

“Ne.”

He was glad that there weren’t any police on the road because he for sure would have been pulled over for speeding. Practically skidding his way into the curb, he parked and strode swiftly to the gate. Ignoring the lock, he kicked it open. He could pay for it to be fixed later.

“YiJung!” he bellowed, working his way through the studio. “YiJung!”

The house seemed eerily quiet but nothing was out of place. For a moment he thought maybe everything was one big overreaction. JiHoo must have read the text wrong. YiJung’s probably just sleeping. He yawned, looking around the darkened room.

In his periphery, he spied piece of paper sitting on the table. Picking it up, he read it with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Angrily crushing it in his fist, he headed straight for the bedroom, shouting YiJung’s name again.

 “Ya, YiJung,” JunPyo shook the sleeping potter rather roughly trying to wake him up. “YiJung-ah, wake up!”

With a shudder, YiJung opened his eyes and looked around quite confusedly.

“JunPyo…”

“What did you do?” he asked frantically, throwing about the bedcovers and grabbing YiJung’s small wrists.

The potter pulled away from him, looking somewhat frightened at his outburst. “What are you-“

“What the hell is this about?” JunPyo half-shouted, shoving the piece of paper before him, scared completely out of his mind of the answer he was going to receive.

YiJungs face crumpled almost immediately and he turned away, pulling the covers back over his head. “I couldn’t do it,” he admitted softly from beneath his hiding place.

For a moment JunPyo was at a complete loss for words. He sank into a seated position at the side of the bed putting his head in his hands. “Ya, you’re going to get better. You can’t just-“ he began, unsure of what to say.

“I couldn’t break up with her.”

“Bwoh?” He jerked upright, practically snapping his neck.

“I couldn’t tell her it was over. I wrote it down and everything so I could just get through it but in the end I just couldn’t. I didn’t even dial her number… I just couldn’t,” came the miserable explanation from beneath the sheets.

JunPyo exhaled, a wave of relief washing over him. He felt so silly for overreacting but he really had expected the worst and he unfortunately because of the situation, his fears were justified. “So this note… this is about GaEul.”

“Ne.”

“Aish!” He kicked the floor angrily. “Pabo!”

YiJung rolled over and peeked out from under the blankets. “You thought I was going to hurt myself? I’m not that out of my mind.”

JunPyo stopped his tantrum to look at the potter apologetically. “Mianhe, I just- with everything going on… and then JiHoo-ah got me all worried.”

“JiHoo?”

“Ah, ne. Woobin called him.”

YiJung looked upset at this piece of news. “Oh jeongmal, he called JiHoo...”

“Ne, it was late and he didn’t want to wake you. He’s not feeling well and that’s why he didn’t come back and missed your calls. He’s been sleeping all day.” It was only a partial lie he supposed, but he had no choice but to lie. It wouldn’t do YiJung any good to know the truth.

“Oh.” He sat up slowly, checking his phone again. “You think I’m crazy.”

“Anyo,” JunPyo playfully swung at him. “If it was me and JanDi…” he trailed off realizing that it was impossible for him to even fathom such a tragedy. He wanted to have something comforting and note-worthy to say but the words just weren’t there. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do.”

“It’s okay. It’s a weird situation.”

JunPyo nodded, looking down at the floor. “Don’t let her go YiJung-ah. She’ll come around, you have to hold on. If you let her go you’ll regret it.”

“Did you ever want to give up, when you were so far away?”

“Ne. But I was stubborn and I kept remembering that look in her eyes when she said she loved me. Even when she tried to make me believe that it was over and ran away to that fishing village I knew it was a lie. My heart knew it was a lie, her eyes showed it was a lie.”

He could feel YiJung looking at him intently and he turned with a smile.

“She loves you. She might be frightened and unable to be next to you for now but she will come around. When you love someone you can’t let them go.”

YiJung yawned, nodding and looking melancholy.

“Aish, it’s three in the morning. Go back to sleep.” He felt weird realizing that he had just poured some of his soul out in front of the potter. It wasn’t a bad feeling, really just strange. He felt a hand on his arm.

“Stay? It’s lonely here alone.”

He wanted to cry at how pitiful the request was. The whole dynamic of their friendship was foreign anf turned upside-down. It didn’t seem fair that this once confident Casanova was now heartbroken, sick, and lonely. He was not used to comforting friends, especially other guys. The only time he’s done it before was when JiHoo’s grandfather had passed the year previous and even that had been incredibly awkward. But if staying was what was needed of him then, then stay he would.

“Araso, I’ll stay. I’ll stay.”

***

Her friend slept curled into a ball, tightly hugging the comforters to her chest like a little girl. Even in the moonlight she could see the tracks where tears had slipped down the young teacher’s cheeks.

JanDi sighed, shrugging off her hospital clothes and watching GaEul from across the room. She wished so badly for time to reverse itself so that none of this mess would had ever happened. When will they get their happy ending? she wondered silently.

Pulling on her pajamas, she jumped as her phone rang loudly. Immediately silencing it she slipped into the bathroom of the tiny apartment.

“JunPyo?”

“Jagiya… you got out on time.” It still sounded so magical the way he called her that. Of all the things she missed while he was away, his voice was at the top.

“Ne, why are you still awake?”

“I just wanted to hear your voice.”

“You waited up just for that? It’s almost four.” It was endearing the way he was always waiting for time with her, but it seemed overboard if he had waited into the night like this.

“Ani… It’s been a crazy night.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Anyo… well not now, I will tomorrow I promise. I’m just at YiJung’s for the night, he’s… lonely.” She could hear the stress in his voice and she knew he was uncomfortable.

“Chincha? Do you need me to come.”

“Ani, stay with GaEul- she needs you. I’ll be home tomorrow.”

“JanDi-ah…” he said rather vaguely.

“Mmm?”

“He really loves her.”

JanDi sighed, thinking about poor, broken GaEul in the other room. “She really loves him too JunPyo.”

There was a break in the conversation, neither knowing what to say or do. It was the worst place to be in, a position of helplessness and inability to make things right.

“JanDi-ah?” she heard him whisper softly through the phone.

“Ne.”

“I’m glad we were so stubborn. I’m glad that I held on.”

“Me too,” she whispered back, a tear leaking from her eye. “Saranghaeyo.”

“Na-do saranghae, get some sleep Jagiya.”

“You too,” she yawned.

“Araso,” he laughed quietly. And JanDi-ah…”

“Mmm?”

“They’ll figure it out… Love always works things out.”
 

***

Sorry about the lack of SoEul again. But there was a JanDi/JunPyo moment!!!
Bad news first (like GaEul would want, ne?)... Probably the only update this weekend because I have a 10-20 page paper that is due Monday >.<
Good news... Within the next 2 chapters or so we will have some SoEul action, will things get better or worse for our favorite couple? Can love really always work things out?

Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Stay tuned!