31
Their Kingdom Panorama
Of all moments her eyes suddenly landed on Donghae who’d walked out from the back door. She watched as he stopped in his steps as if victorious that he had been right about the engagement, that Kyuhyun was to wed her. But she hadn’t forgotten that he’d been previously engaged to So Rae.
She could hear others cheer around her and congratulate them, but she had yet to wonder if it was all that great. When she turned to glance at So Rae she found her sister glancing toward Kyuhyun who was now being surrounded by aunts and uncles proud of his finally becoming a groom.
Victoria found herself turning away. The light heartedness she’d felt earlier had now suddenly disappeared when she recalled So Rae’s depressing anger over the fact that her father had switched Kyuhyun’s future bride from So Rae over to her. How much longer was it that So Rae would continue to hate her?
“Make yourself at home, ok?” her father turned to her before walking off.
Watching him walk off Victoria finally realized that there was a gap between her and So Rae. Turning to her left she spotted So Rae still glued to her spot.
“So Rae unnie,” Victoria tried.
“Are you happy?” So Rae asked without looking at her. “That he’d still choose someone he doesn’t know over someone he’s known his entire life?”
The question made Victoria feel a bit of guilt for something she hadn’t caused. For So Rae to be hurt, she hadn’t meant any of it to happen.
“I don’t get it. Why everyone seems to favor you, who doesn’t even fit in.”
She glanced around to look at the high class people around her all dressed in custom made suits and dresses. Jewelries and expensive watches dangling from every end of their bodies. Expensive shoes decorated their feet and their hair neatly done by professionals in the early morning.
“It’s unfair that I’m suddenly pushed into the position of an outcast, which should belong to you.”
Victoria stared at her sister unsure of how to respond.
“Do you want me to apologize and become the outcast then?” Victoria questioned, not with the intention of falling toward So Rae’s plead but it was a question of retort, an argument.
“If you offer it then why don’t you return to where you belong?” So Rae turned to look at her.
Before Victoria could say anything else, So Rae turned and trotted back toward the house. Victoria glanced around wondering if anybody had overheard them, but it seemed like no one had taken notice of their bickering just yet. Rushing forward Victoria chased So Rae into the house and down the hall toward the stairs.
No, she couldn’t let things go just like this. So Rae…she wanted So Rae to know that she hadn’t known for any of this to take place. If she had known, then staying back at her grandmother’s place believing that her parents had abandoned her would have been much better than being discovered by her own father at the office. Life would still be so much more quiet and peaceful. Victoria could have gone somewhere with her life instead of being secluded inside this house where So Rae’s anger tormented her.
Victoria suddenly felt that urge to let So Rae know that none of it was her fault.
“How far are you willing to go?” Victoria questioned herself as well as So Rae.
Reaching the top of the stairs Victoria asked, “Would you not hate me if I don’t like Kyuhyun at all?”
Victoria was surprised that her question had actually stopped So Rae in her steps. Of all things, that question had stopped her. Of all things! Victoria wanted to laugh bitterly at herself.
“I,” Victoria started, “always wanted a sibling because I grew up so lonesome that I even did things out of desperation. Now that I have one, she won’t even pay attention to me. So, I’m doing every little thing hoping that she’d respond to me but she doesn’t give me any response at all. It makes me wonder what I’ve done wrong every time. Do you need to make me feel this bad, unnie? All because I’ve been told to do something I never knew about in the first place?”
So Rae didn’t turn around but left Victoria staring at her back.
“Then why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Victoria went on. “If I beg dad to drop the engagement, would you not hate me then?”
So Rae still refused to budge.
“What are you two arguing about?”
Both girls spun around to see their father’s right hand man, Park Mung Soo, standing just below Victoria but was now climbing up toward them. They nearly froze wondering how much of their conversation had been caught in the act.
He smiled suspiciously at them, “Your father was looking for you two. Why don’t we go down and join the party rather than hold our own two-man party up here?”
Victoria gulped nervously and turned to head down the stairs.
/\_____/\
So Rae stared at Mung Soo with a short frown before walking forward. She stopped when he turned his face to the side.
“A while ago, didn’t someone return to you a necklace?” he questioned.
So Rae turned to look at him.
“You know it belongs to Victoria’s dead mother, don’t you?” he asked as if accusing her of a wrongdoing.
So Rae only stared at him.
“Your quietness is really scary as they say,” he commented.
So Rae turned away.
“So, where’d you put it?” he asked.
So Rae shifted her whole body as if to closely observe him, “As as child, I’ve been taught never to take cookies from strangers.”
Mung Soo laughed it off as a joke.
“I gave it to my father,” So Rae replied with a smile before walking down the stairs.
She’d never liked him even if he’d tried pleasing her with things her dad had never given her. For some reason she always found him intimidating and unlikely. He always had this mean aura around him and she’d always feared him as a child. However, as she’d grown up she’d realized he wasn’t just mean but cunning. He was scary as a person and to see how much her father trusted the man so easily made her think twice about trusting anyone else.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs she saw Kyuhyun grab Victoria from around the corner and snorted to herself about how bad he was at being discreet. Combing her hand through her hair she headed down the hallway and toward the back door to find Donghae silently drinking a cup of champagne.
“Where’d you go?” he asked. “I was too occupied eating back there so I didn’t see you leave.”
“You ate?” she asked.
He nodded, “You must be hungry. Lets go get something to eat as well.”
He wheeled her around in a friendly manner toward the table.
“Everything looks so delicious,” he commented.
She turned to look at him with a silly smile and reached for a plate.
Setting down his cup he took the plate from her, “I’ll hold it so put down anything you’d like.”
“Why? I can do it myself,” she told.
“I’ll treat the woman of honor tonight,” he smiled holding out the plate.
So Rae looked at him and snorted before turning toward the food.
/\_____/\
A small shout escaped her when Kyuhyun suddenly grabbed her from around the corner.
“Shh!” he uttered with a finger to his lips.
She frowned hysterically at him before following him down another hallway that surprisingly led them to the front yard. He walked over to a swinging bench and sat down on it. Standing from afar she watched him motion for her to take the empty spot next to him.
When she sat down he asked, “Were you surprised?”
Victoria hesitantly turned to look at him, “No.”
He seemed surprised by her response.
“Actually, I found out beforehand,” Victoria explained, “so I’m not surprised.”
“Sorry,” he apologized, “for making it seem as if I was your brother in law for a moment.”
Victoria laughed a little.
“Does it make you feel awkward?” he asked.
Victoria tilted her head toward the ground a bit, “I don’t know, but you don’t seem that bad of a guy after all.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
He smiled and turned to look at her. After a second Victoria became numb when he suddenly kissed her.
/\_____/\
Donghae watched So Rae eat hungrily next to him at the white draped table.
“Do you want some more water?” Donghae questioned.
She shook her head after swallowing with a loud exhale and wiped with a napkin.
“Is it spicy?” Donghae wondered.
So Rae shook her head. “No.”
“Really? When I ate it, it was spicy,” he commented.
So Rae laughed at him before finishing the rest of the food on her dish. When she put down her fork he handed her a napkin.
“You have something right here,” he pointed to the corner of his mouth.
Grabbing the napkin from him he watched her wipe quickly and smiled falling into a quick daze. She was so cute. His perfect definition of a perfect girl.
“Everyone seems to be having fun,” Donghae stated, “shouldn’t you also be chatting with your relatives?”
“I’m not the center of attention tonight,” So Rae stared into her glass cup before taking a sip of it.
Donghae watched her neatly gulp it down wondering if something had happened between her and Victoria.
“I think even though you’re not the center of attention tonight,” he started, “you shine the most out of everyone.”
So Rae turned to glance at him and he smiled.
“And even if they’re celebrating your becoming head of the investment team kind of late I think I’m the most happy for you,” he told, “to climb so high and stand so tall in the company. I think you should hold a lot of pride in yourself, Bang So Rae.”
Her stare became soft.
“Congratulations on becoming the head, boss,” he held out a hand for her to shake playfully. “Come on, shake my hand.”
So Rae’s stare became a laugh before she shook his hand in return.
/\_____/\
Victoria backed up in her seat wide eyed and got up to her feet feeling at a lost. What to do in this kind of sudden situation? Again, this was not the kind of reality she was used to.
“Uh…I…” she stumbled over her own words almost tripping over her own feet.
“Victoria,” he called standing up alarmed as well.
“I should go back,” Victoria excused before quickly walking away feeling her lungs become shortened of air.
Comments