11
Their Kingdom Panorama
15 minutes later after dodging 2 random cars he finally made it back to his so-called home. Pushing open the gate he found the guys busy crowding around an intense game of chess that was currently being played by the two oldest men in the court.
“Oh! Donghae’s back!” one of them shouted.
Everyone turned and shouted. They walked toward him and guided him to the table. The second eldest got off his chair and the others sat him down on it.
“Why? Is something going on?” questioned Donghae. “What’s with this?”
One of the skinnier guys walked hurried toward him pulling something out of his hand and handed it to him with both hands attached to it. Donghae glanced down at the card.
“Where’d you get this?” he wondered.
“A lady…a lady in an expensive dress came by yesterday. She was looking for you,” another replied.
Donghae glanced at the card again and finally saw the name inscribed onto it.
“What?!” he immediately stood up.
“She says for you to go find her.”
“Really?” Donghae questioned grasping the card and staring at it hoping that if it was a dream he’d wake up right away.
“This is not a dream.” came out of his mouth after a few seconds. “Whoa!!” he laughed in joy and hugged the tiny card. “Oh my gosh!”
/\_____/\
The brown door opened and Park Mung Soo walked in.
“Sorry for my late entrance. I had an urgent phone call to take,” he apologized taking a seat with President Bang on the couch across from the two guests dressed in neat black suits.
“We were just finishing small talk,” President Bang replied with a smile.
The two men across from them, two well known detectives, had stopped by to share their reports on Bang’s missing daughter.
“After Song Tae In’s death we’re positive that she left your daughter with her mother, however, till now we haven’t found any trace of her mother.” the detective said before his face went grave. “Until recently we discovered that she died about 4 years ago, shortly after her daughter’s death anniversary. From hospital records its been said that she passed away from a series of illnesses.”
President Bang felt his throat tighten.
“Victoria Song hasn’t been sighted since a year ago,” the detective told then looked up, “but there is something else interesting that we discovered. Do you want to hear?”
“Do I want to hear? Why are you asking me? I said to tell me anything that you find.” President Bang half scolded.
The detective swallowed a piece of his saliva, “Victoria’s name is in prison records.”
“What…” President Bang asked feeling his heart stop.
“It may be just another woman with the same name,” the detective tried, “but I’ll look into it.”
/\_____/\
So Rae immediately bowed once she walked into the room. She hadn’t expected to see Kyuhyun’s father, a respective shareholder in their company, to be sitting in the visiting room along with his son.
“Good morning uncle,” she greeted. “I didn’t expect you to be here.”
“It’s quite a surprise. I just finished speaking with the director about some issues. I have to leave in a moment. Please introduce our Kyuhyun around. You do know that he’ll be participating in our upcoming project, don’t you?” her uncle said standing up.
“Uh…yea…” So Rae nodded avoiding eye contact with Kyuhyun.
“Then I’ll leave him in your care.” her uncle said patting her arm before walking out.
When the door opened and closed Kyuhyun got up and extended his arm out.
“Congratulations. I heard you’re the head of the investment team now,” Kyuhyun said.
So Rae turned around avoiding his handshake, “Well lets get going. I’m busier than usual now that all demands are on me. I didn’t know that even I had to show guests around.”
Kyuhyun smiled as he slipped his hand into his pocket.
“As the head, shouldn’t you be more patient?” he asked.
So Rae paused in her footsteps.
“Just teasing,” he said. “Shall I not address you by your name?”
So Rae swallowed her patience. “If you want to address me, please include my family name as well. I’m sure you don’t want others critiquing you on your first day, Cho Kyuhyun.”
When they reached the department Kyuhyun began to wonder how much longer So Rae would put up her cold front before finally retreating into her friendly state. Observing her stature and the way she greeted others he found that the childish So Rae had far matured into a professional woman in the field her father especially specialized in. However, he could see that she still had problems separating the personal life from the work.
On the way toward her office a loud voice caught Kyuhyun’s attention. So Rae paused before him and quickly turned around to walk around the corner to see a young man in a green jacket and her secretary arguing.
“What’s this? What’s going on?” she demanded.
The man in the green jacket turned around and a smile immediately lit his face. So Rae recognized him instantly.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop him,” her secretary whined.
So Rae felt all anger that should have been there recede. Kyuhyun glanced toward the man in the green jacket curiously wondering just what was going on.
“Lets speak in my office,” So Rae told Donghae then turned to her secretary, “can you please finish showing Cho Kyuhyun around?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she bowed before So Rae entered her office.
/\_____/\
“Really?!” Donghae exclaimed on the white piece of sofa he was sitting on.
Bang So Rae, currently sitting across him, nodded with a bright smile.
“Yes. I can give you a position.” she stated again.
Donghae’s eyes lit up the room. Was the whole world really revolving around him now? Would it be his time to shine at last?
“I’ll also sponsor the clothes you wear to work.” So Rae finished neatly. “How about it?”
“Of course!” Donghae shouted.
He couldn’t hold back his excitement.
/\_____/\
Victoria reached her home cautiously. Pulling the fenced door open she glanced around to see that she hadn’t been followed. Of course, her perpetrators wouldn’t have followed her so far out into the city from the shed. But if news traveled back to them would they come for her again? The thought sent chills through her and she immediately headed inside her home pulling every chair she could find under the door knob. If she heard any noise she swore she’d call the cops immediately.
Before she did anything Victoria decided to take a shower to rinse off the scent of hay off of her. It was so unwelcoming and stale that she wanted to vomit.
She sat around afterward feeling utterly bored before finally deciding to head out. She still needed to look for a job no matter what. Pressing her lips together she darted through the streets with paranoia. Every few minutes she had to keep looking behind her in order to make sure that those two beasts weren’t following her.
Snatching a newspaper from a bench she sat down and glanced through it circling every opening position with the marker in her mind. After a few moments she gave up and looked around. All those jobs required at least a university degree and she didn’t have any of that. Allowing the wind to rifle her hair she glanced down her right to find the street busy. The noise of a bus stopping behind her entered her ears and she squinted her eyes to keep the gas from burning her eyes.
So many people were walking to and fro and they all looked so content. Did they all have something to do with their lives? What was she doing with hers?
Victoria sighed. She’d been dwelling on her negatives ever since she left the prison.
Slapping her cheeks slightly she told herself, “Cheer up, Victoria. If you keep slumping like this you won’t get nowhere.”
Then turning to look down her left again she recalled Donghae pointing toward his so-called home.
“Then, Victoria, if you’re ever bored and you’re looking for trouble I’m just down that way,” he pointed down to the left where the fenced shelter resided.
Should she?
Feeling that there was nothing wrong with the decision Victoria stood up and headed down the street. After a slight moment she was walking down the dead of Seoul, the part of the city that homed more than hundreds of bums and homeless.
She turned every now and then to look at all the stinky blotched newspapers that had been rolling on the ground for ages. Litter was basically everywhere as well and it stunk. Swallowing her saliva and keeping closed she headed on and finally came toward the fenced shelter where she guessed Donghae had stayed. She had no question or whatsoever, now, that Donghae was a homeless himself. It was no wonder why he hadn’t been eager at all to leave the shed where they’d been kept.
Victoria took sidesteps and heard the shouts of men’s voices. Pausing where she stood she watched the guys cheer over a chess game wondering if they had nothing else to do. However, she didn’t recognize any one of them to be Lee Donghae.
Where would he have gone?
Turning around Victoria walked back toward her house unaware of the car across the street. Once she had the door unlocked she didn’t hear the footsteps but more like felt the presence of a person standing behind her. She felt her heart rate exceed 130 and bit her bottom lip. What to do now? She had forgotten about being followed?
Gulping she turned around throwing her hands up over her head with a scream.
“Please! Don’t hurt me! I don’t want to go back!” she shouted.
When she got nothing she opened her eyes and looked up to find a face she didn’t recognize staring at her. Slipping her hands down she looked him over to discover that it was a she and not a he. A shocked expression had taken over her face as well and she stared back in horror causing Victoria to feel even more stupid than stupid.
“Who are you?” Victoria asked.
Without speaking the woman with shoulder length hair extended out her hand and held out a business card.
“My name is Mi Sun,” she introduced, “Miss Bang So Rae is looking for you. It’d be best that you look for her as soon as possible.”
Victoria took the card and held it as if it were something fragile, “Why?”
“To reward you,” Mi Sun replied with a smile. “I shall excuse myself now.”
Victoria watched as the slender woman in a nice business suit walk down the driveway and toward her jet black car. A woman with such money shouldn’t have been walking down her driveway or be appearing before her house.
“Bang So Rae?” Victoria glanced at the card.
Why did the name sound so familiar?
/\_____/\
“What?!” So Rae spun around from the window in her office to look at Mi Sun who was calmly sitting in the recliner.
Mi Sun crossed her arms and leaned back into the fat chair, “While you were taking Kyuhyun around the detectives were in a meeting with your father.”
“Do you know what they talked about?” So Rae questioned almost leaning forward with her shady brown hair falling over her shoulders.
“Probably updating him on their search otherwise,” Mi Sun said.
So Rae felt her eyebrows fall into a frown, “But it’s been 5 years, don’t you think they would have found out her identity by now? Doesn’t it seem strange that if she should be in Seoul, why is it taking them 5 years to find her?”
“So Rae,” Mi Sun reminded, “your father didn’t dispatch the detectives until just a year ago. It took him a long time to think about it.”
So Rae snorted, “4 years to think about a daughter he never met? Why do you think he suddenly wants her back now after all this time? Do you think he plans to hand over the investment business to someone else other than me?”
Mi Sun shrugged, “I don’t know if that’s the case or if it’s just a father who wants to see his child. You know, he was never happy into marrying your mother.”
“Don’t even remind me,” So Rae muttered. “But why her? What’s so important about her?”
Mi Sun looked around. Obviously she didn’t have an answer to that question.
“You want to know what I think?” asked Mi Sun. “I think your family has some historical background that perhaps you don’t know about.”
“What do you mean?” So Rae asked sitting down in the chair meant for guests in front of her brandished desk.
“Some things must have occurred between your parents and your grandparents, especially if your father seemingly loved that woman so much.” Mi Sun stated. “Don’t you think?”
So Rae stared at her secretary with an immense frown on her face. If only she could find out the identity of her lost sister or find out who that woman her father loved was then maybe she’d be able to find things out for herself. But what she didn’t understand was why they were hiding so much from her. Now that she was taking Mi Sun’s words into consideration, things seemed to be more confusing.
***I'm BACK!!! And I'll be updating this story from now on now that I've finally completed 'Give Me 120 More Year' =DDD
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