40
Their Kingdom Panorama
Donghae turned around walked pass her silently. She turned around to watch him go. Once the black door closed Victoria bit the inside of her cheek and exhaled loudly.
“If I go back in I’ll probably just get another punch from that jerk,” Victoria muttered.
/\_____/\
Donghae found So Rae standing in the middle of the hallway once he entered through the front door.
“Since we’re outside of work, we’re talking as friends,” So Rae said then turned around, “come in.”
She walked into a room and Donghae slowly trudged behind after pulling his shoes off. The house, he noticed, seemed to be modeled in a blinding white. Walking into the room So Rae motioned for him to take a seat and he sat on the chair nearest the door. The chimney in the room seemed to be the only thing decorating the plain room.
“Did you want to say something?” Donghae asked.
“What are you doing?” So Rae said.
“Uh…”
“Victoria, anyone but her.”
“Eh?”
Donghae didn’t quite get where So Rae was trying to talk about. Or maybe she thought he understood, but he wasn’t going along with the flow.
“You can’t like Victoria,” So Rae stated.
A million exclamation marks appeared all over his head.
“I want to let her suffer with Kyuhyun,” So Rae explained, “for one who believes she has everything in the world, I’m going to make her fall down so hard. Can’t you see that she’s just putting on an act of innocence?”
Donghae stared back at So Rae. Had she mistaken his actions?
“It’s not what I…” he started.
“Victoria…you know what she’s done to me, don’t you?” So Rae reminded. “Kyuhyun, my mother, father.”
Yes, of course he recalled. Whenever something had happened and whenever she was upset because Victoria had done something she’d always called him. However, it wasn’t like he had the power to really do anything about it. He wasn’t even part of the family for all he knew. If So Rae wanted to kick Victoria out of the house, Donghae couldn’t do anything. But blaming Victoria for her parents’ separation didn’t seem right.
“Then, what do you want me to do?”
“Don’t befriend her anymore.”
Donghae wanted to ask why, but the word never came out of his mouth.
“I want to see Victoria suffer silently. Until it all crushes her, until she realizes that she’s done wrong by coming into the family. If she won’t leave, I want to see her fall. In the end, even her dear father won’t be able to help her. Even Kyuhyun won’t be able to stand her,” So Rae told.
/\_____/\
“Victoria, you’re always free at night, aren’t you?” Yesung asked chewing on his grilled chicken.
It made Victoria’s mouth water from just watching him eat but she was already full. Full from the food and full from being annoyed.
“Say, how long have you known Donghae?” Victoria wondered.
“Donghae?” Eunhyuk repeated. “Why are you bringing him up?”
The three stooges in front of him stared at her.
“Ah…I was just curious,” Victoria laughed.
“12. We’ve known each other since we were 12,” Ryeowook replied, “Donghae’s a nobody. You should just pretend not to know him.”
“He’s really a nobody,” Yesung agreed.
“He comes back and goes out. He doesn’t really care much about anything, that kid practically acts as if he’s never seen money in his whole life,” Eunhyuk went deeper into the explanation.
“Really?” Victoria asked.
Eunhyuk nodded, “He said something about growing up in an orphanage. That kid has no family.”
Was that why he didn’t seem to care about anything at all?
“All in all, he really was an average guy. Pretty nice and funny. He was a good friend too.” Yesung added.
“He was ok,” Ryeowook shrugged too busy with his drumstick.
“Nice, funny, and a good friend?” Victoria repeated leaning her chin in her palm.
He didn’t seem to be as care free as he had been when she’d first met him. Donghae was so different now and even she didn’t know where he was currently residing. Probably a great hotel with a silver bathtub and gold plates to eat on. Where was the guy she had first met? The one who wholeheartedly talked to her instead of wholeheartedly accused her of this and that?
“But have you seen Donghae around at all?”
To tell the truth or not? What if they found out that Donghae had abandoned them? It was probably best to let them assume that he was still on his running away spree.
“No.” Victoria lied with a straight smile. “Why?”
“His birthday is coming up.”
“Birthday?”
Eunhyuk nodded, “He doesn’t know exactly what day he was born, but he considers the day he entered the orphanage his birthday.”
“When is that?” Victoria wondered.
“May 15.”
“The 15th of this month?” Victoria repeated.
“This Friday.”
“Is today Tuesday or Wednesday?”
“It’s Monday,” Victoria answered.
“Oh is it? My brain is in fast forward mode,” Yesung laughed.
Victoria smiled at his dorkiness and turned to look at the car lights in the dark street.
/\_____/\
The solemn So Rae he first met had now become even more solemn. It felt grave and scary, in a way. So Rae was a bit intimidating and too determined with what she wanted. Donghae had wanted to ask her if she was thinking right, but the question would perhaps have outraged her. Maybe he should really start worrying about So Rae now. It would be bad to see her get hurt in the future by her own doings. And he had an intuition that that would just happen.
In what way, though, could he get her to listen to him? So Rae who was still helplessly in love with Cho Kyuhyun? Who could only be influenced by Cho Kyuhyun. How could he get her to listen to him?
For a long time Donghae was unable to fall asleep.
/\_____/\
Breakfast was the usual, but her mother was absent again. No one had said a word to her. If her mother had left she didn’t know anything. The divorce was still flying around in her mind and no one had told her about how it was progressing. Her father wasn’t even bothering to talk to her. And if Victoria knew anything, that blunt girl was refusing to make eye contact as well.
“Where’s mother?” So Rae asked.
From the top of her eyes she could see Victoria stop eating and glance over. So Rae knew then that Victoria knew something. Everybody had known something, yet they’d kept it away from her. So Rae could feel her blood boil in rage.
“Where’s my mom?” So Rae questioned looking up at her father.
Her father didn’t bother to reply at first.
However, when she kept up with the stare he said, “Just eat.”
“Did you make her leave?” So Rae accused.
“So Rae.”
“Dad, did you make her leave? How could you?”
“She left when we weren’t here,” Victoria explained.
So Rae turned to her with a deep encased frown. Her mother had left on her own accord? So Rae couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to believe it. Her mother wouldn’t have left without a word. She wasn’t like that.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” So Rae’s voice went up a top notch.
Scooting her chair back she headed down the hallway. Her mother had left after filing for a divorce and if she really split up with her dad So Rae would have no one to call mother. It wouldn’t be right to call her a mother if she wasn’t with her father.
“Unnie!” a voice called from behind.
So Rae hated herself for pausing in the middle of the hallway. After deciding that it wasn’t worth it listening to an annoying girl she took another step forward, but footsteps persisted after her.
“Unnie,” Victoria called again.
So Rae spun around, “You dare call me that?”
“Yes!” Victoria told. “I’ll call you that until you get tired of it, so tired that you’ll have to finally accept it.”
So Rae stared back enraged at her ignorance.
“It’s not father’s fault,” Victoria started, “it’s not all his fault. You’re at fault too.”
So Rae felt her blood boil again. How dare this girl accuse her of something she didn’t understand.
“You’re an outsider, you have no right to criticize me.”
“You can’t always wait for them to come to you,” Victoria ignored, “do you think they would understand that? That’s why you have to go to them first. Unnie, I don’t know how you grew up but you lack trust in each other. Didn’t you want your mother to get out in the first place? So how can you blame father for not telling you that your mom left?”
“Who do you think you’re standing up for?” So Rae’s voice became deathly quiet. “I never lacked trust in them…they left me first. They stopped loving me first! You don’t understand family because you’ve never had one! You were an orphan since the beginning!! Who do you think you are to understand me?!!”
Victoria stared back at her stunned. So Rae felt taken aback even by her own words. She hadn’t meant to use the word ‘orphan’, it had just come up by itself. Biting onto her lower lip So Rae grabbed rushed up the stairs, grabbed her bag, and left the house.
***Oooh....So Rae went overboard this time. Calling her an orphan
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