D—“:

Namjoo slipped into Kris’ sweater and walked over to the bed before she thought one of the pockets felt heavy. Pausing in her steps she reached her hand into the pocket and pulled out a small bottle of some vitamins and a lollipop along with a piece of chocolate. She stared at them for a long time before a baffled laugh fell from her lips. For the first time since she’d been brought out there, she’d laughed. Walking over to the side of the bed she sat on it and stared out the window while eating the lollipop he’d given her.

D—“:

Once Luhan left the cafeteria Kris felt obligated to follow him. So from a distance Kris walked behind Luhan. Luhan didn’t look as small as he had seemed from the first time Kris had seen him. Kris realized now that he had a broad back and lean, toned arms. He was quite tall too. Of course, Kris realized, if Luhan had played sports he had to be fit. Then he wondered if Luhan had been popular in high school.

He slowed his pace and stopped. Kris thought he could see that silver necklace around his neck even from the back. Why had he and Namjoo no longer gotten along? What really caused them to walk away from each other? If he still loved her, did it mean she still loved him as well? Or were her feelings a different kind of love?

Luhan gradually stopped too and he turned his head back to look at Kris. “Why are you following me?”

Kris looked over at Luhan and imagined how furious he might get if he ever discovered that he’d been keeping Namjoo a secret, just because seeing her and going to the cabin set him free from Organization One even if it was for a moment. At that moment Kris suddenly realized something he hadn’t before. He finally wanted to leave Organization One.

“I was thinking,” Kris said, “how you’re a lucky person.”

Luhan blinked his eyes as if waiting for him to explain himself.

“I mean,” Kris tried, “because you’ve been able to do things I haven’t before, and you’ve had a life outside of this place.”

That was the partial truth. The other was that he envied Luhan for having met someone like Namjoo before he did. In the first place, the world seemed a little colorless, but he and Luhan were strong minded people who were able to fare through obstacles head on. And everything just seemed alright from then on, but there was no spark to life. He didn’t mean that people like Namjoo were weak or anything like that, but people like her who ran on emotion were able to teach people like him and Luhan a lot more about the world. They were able to open up a new dimension before them and gave them a different side of the world to face. It was a kind of world that told people like him and Luhan that the heart did matter.

“What is it?” Luhan asked.

Namjoo was a secret because she let him realize from the second she started crying before him, from that time when he rescued her and watched her cry herself to sleep, that he had his own will too. Kris hadn’t meant to get near her. She had been an obligation, a life he felt he had to preserve because he didn’t kill her when he should have. Each time he went back though, he was always seeing her at her weakest point and he saw it on her face even when she chose not to say anything. The more he saw her at her weakest point; there was more need for him to keep her up in the air. Now he had other things to see, he had other things he wanted to do. This was the new dimension Namjoo was opening up for him.   

“Just…you’re lucky.”

D—“:

Baekhyun hoped today he might be able to convince Namjoo to go back with him. She was depressed and he could tell she wasn’t doing well by herself, and hearing what had happened to Man Sook was making the matter worse. Namjoo wasn’t forgetting it and it was taking a heavier toll on her.

When he opened the door that morning he dropped the bag from his hand the moment he saw Namjoo crying on the bed. No she wasn’t crying crying. It was the painful kind of cry a person had to let out of their guts when they were in immense pain and she was just that that morning. She was slouched over on the bed straddling the bed sheet into her fist with her face buried in the bed itself.

“Namjoo!” he shouted while hurrying toward her. “Are you ok?”

He was scared to pull her up in the case that he might worsen the situation. Namjoo didn’t answer or maybe it was that she couldn’t answer. She struggled to quiet herself and when she managed to suppress her cries she slowly pushed herself up. Her hair was damp, glued to her face by sweat. Pushing her hair away he looked at her wide eyed.

“Are you hurting somewhere? Where are you hurting?”

She squinted her eyes as if she couldn’t see him.

“Wait for a moment, ok?” he said before turning around to run back to the bag he’d brought with him.

Krystal had cooked some warm soup and had packed it into some container that had come with peaches in it before handing it to him. He brought other goods for Namjoo too and hoped it might last her until she came back. When he turned around Namjoo had gotten to her feet, but seemed to lose her balance and fell back to sit. For a long time he found himself staring at her. An alarm was setting itself off at the back of his head. This was abnormal. He’d never seen a person like this before. It worried him all the more about what else she might have been experiencing after they separated.

Calmly hiding his worry he walked over to her and set the bag down onto the bedside table before he finally noticed the sweater she was wearing. Had he seen her wear it yesterday? No, he was sure she hadn’t had it yesterday.

“Are you cold?” he asked. “Where did you get that?”

“What?” she asked.

“The sweater,” he gestured toward it with his head.

“Ah…a friend.”

There was more alarm going off inside his head. “Friend?”

She slowly nodded, “Kris.”

The name was unfamiliar. “Where is he from?”

Namjoo looked up at him like she was a child under investigation, “He said some village around here.”

More alarm. “Namjoo,” Baekhyun calmly called, “think about it. What kind of village would be around here when all you see are the woods and more woods?”

She blinked her eyes slowly.

“Who is he? How did you meet him? What does he do? How many times has he come here?” Baekhyun continued interrogating.

Who was this Kris? Why had Namjoo met him? Why wasn’t she being careful!? This…this was even more reason to bring her back with him. Namjoo wasn’t thinking straight. What was going on in her head that she wasn’t taking any precaution at all? How could she trust anyone who just approached her?

“He saved me when I was attacked,” Namjoo answered, “he’s helped me a few times. Kris isn’t a bad person.”

Baekhyun felt like giving her a piece of his mind, but held himself back. How could he in any right mind start yelling at her when she was like this? When she was like this because he had told her to go off alone. He hesitantly reached a hand forward and placed it on her shoulder before lightly squeezing it. He hoped she could understand his worry for her.

“Do you want to come back with me today? Go back with me, huh, Namjoo?”

She sat there and remained still for a long, long time without a word. He took it as her answer.

“There’s some warm food for you inside.” Baekhyun gestured toward the bag. “Do you want to eat?”

“I’ll have it later,” Namjoo replied without looking at him. “Can you leave me alone?”

Baekhyun felt his eyebrow lightly furrow a little hurt but he knew he had to comply.

“Will you be alright?”

“Yea.”

Baekhyun didn’t make any move to turn around but pulled his hand back. “Namjoo, you should be more careful.” Then he glanced at the gun in her gun belt. “Are you out of ammunition? I’ll bring you some more tomorrow.”

Namjoo didn’t look at him but set her monotone eyes on the wall ahead of her.

D—“:

Half the cops were missing from camp again that morning. Wherever it was that they left to, Victoria didn’t know. She knew though that they were probably on the search for more bodies. So far only 3 more had been recovered. One of them was a stranger she didn’t recognize as either from the government coup or from Organization One, one of them was from the government coup, and the other found with him was definitely from Organization One. This was slowly making Victoria more agitated.

She hoped the cops were being careful for if they weren’t Organization One would be at their heads first. Victoria feared her chance of losing the chance to having her life back if the cops messed it up. Maybe it was impossible and no one would want to be with her even if she returned to Seoul, but Victoria would rather want a new start than stay with Organization One. She was almost desperate for that new life.

“Tory, right?”

Victoria turned around from outside of the white tent to see Sergeant Park walking toward her.

“Yes, sir.” Victoria nodded politely.

“Sorry to say we haven’t found anything about your sister yet,” he apologized, “do you want to make a call home to your family? They should be worried by now.”

Victoria felt a sense of alarm penetrate her. She lied, “My parents are out of the city right now.”

“Why don’t you call a relative then?” he suggested. “We have a phone over here you can use.”

He gestured for her to follow and Victoria had no choice but to follow. Sergeant Park was going to make her call and he’d stand by to watch. Was he suspicious of her already? Was that why he was making sure that she called someone?

Sergeant Park led her into a navy green tent and handed her a phone and he stepped back to watch her stare at the phone. Victoria tried to recall any phone numbers. There was none, so she did the only thing she could. She dialed a random number.

“Hi Auntie,” Victoria greeted cheerily, “it’s me, Tory.”

“Who? Who is this?” a man asked from the other side of the line.

Victoria slightly glanced back at Sergeant Park who was obviously watching.

“It’s Tory, I just called to tell you that I’m ok. Susannah and I are out at a friend’s. We’ll be back shortly. We can’t reach mom and dad so would you mind e-mailing them for us?” Victoria asked.

“Who is this!? Is this a prank call!? Get a life, you shameful girl!” then the man slammed the phone down.

The beep signaling the end of the phone call was all that replied back to Victoria, “Yes, we’ll be careful. Thank you, Auntie.”

Then she hung up and turned to hand the phone to Sergeant Park.

“Why didn’t you tell her your sister is missing?”

“Ah…” Victoria managed, “my aunt has a weak heart. I’m afraid it’ll be too much shock for her. I believe we can find her soon, so…can I stay here until then?”

“How are your wounds coming along? Are they getting better?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“I’ll have the doctor come check them for you in a while. It might be boring for a girl like you around here,” Sergeant Park sounded kind for once, “I have a daughter myself. If you want something, feel free to ask.”

Victoria nodded, “Thank you.”

Then she watched him walk off. She walked around for a bit before discovering that Changmin had probably left with the other half of the cops. When she realized no one would be looking for her she trekked back to Organization One.

D—“:

That was right. Baekhyun was right. In such a heavily wooded area, where would a village be? A city village would be far from here. Namjoo searched the tree tops and could find nothing that made sense with what Kris had told her. Who was he? What did he do? Where did he keep coming from?

Namjoo looked around. Even if she thought about it, all she remembered was when he’d saved her from her attacker, when he told her that if she didn’t want to see lightning it was ok to cover herself with a blanket, and she remembered when he cleaned the cut on her stomach for her. Would he have wanted to kill her if he helped her? Was that what a killer was?

She knew then that she couldn’t be upset with him. She could only resent herself for being foolish in the first place because she hadn’t been careful when she should have. And now that he was already there, since he kept coming back, Namjoo couldn’t do anything about it.  

D—“:

When Kris got to the cabin later in the day Namjoo wasn’t in so he walked to the back of the cabin to find her walking around. She looked up at him when he appeared around the corner and he couldn’t help but smile at her. Namjoo replied back with a smile.

“You’re cheeky,” she commented, “for hiding treats in the sweater.” She paused then said, “Thanks. I enjoyed eating them.”

“Are you feeling well today?” he asked.

“Yea,” Namjoo replied, “my friend came this morning.”

“Friend?” he repeated.

Friend meant someone from the government coup. Had she told her friend about him? Did he need to finally start being cautious now?

Namjoo nodded, “He probably wants to apologize. I think I made him feel bad about something that’s already gone by. I’m bad, aren’t I?”

“There are different kinds of bad.”

She pressed her lips together before saying, “Should we go inside?”

“Sure.”

“You go first.” Namjoo said.

Kris eyed her and wondered if something was on her mind again before he started for the opened door. He could hear her following him and wanted to turn around to wait for her. Kris was tempted to, but found himself hesitating. When he heard something thud against the ground he turned around to see Namjoo lying on the ground. The sight froze his mind before he finally got himself to get down and pull her up.

“Namjoo, Namjoo!” he called grabbing onto her shoulders.

She barely opened her eyes and her head almost lolled forward.

“Hey, stay with me, do you hear me? Namjoo!”

Confused about what was happening he lifted her up and brought her to the bed where he lie her down. Namjoo had out by the time he had set her down. She remained like that for a few minutes before she eventually awoke and looked around confused. Managing to pull herself up she looked around before her eyes landed on him.

“What’s going on?”

Kris was taken aback and didn’t know what to say before he spotted the soup sitting on the bedside table. “Have you eaten at all?”

“I had some,” she answered leaning her back against the wall then set her eyes elsewhere.

He took a seat by the side of the bed before reaching for the soup to feel that it was still warm. “Have some more. I don’t think you’ve been eating enough.”

He stirred the contents with the spoon before leaning over to feed her but Namjoo only stared at him.

“It’s embarrassing,” Namjoo remarked, “I’ll eat it myself.”

Quietly, he held it out for her and waited for her to take it. The strangest thing happened though, and he felt something ring from the back of his head. Namjoo reached her hands out for the container, but she missed it completely. A momentary silence passed between them and Kris didn’t know if it was awkward or if both of them were stunned by what had just happened. This wasn’t normal. She should have been able to take it from him…