42
Their Kingdom Panorama
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The car came to a slow park in front of a two storied glass building. Victoria tilted her head to look up from inside the car. Its windows were so neatly polished that it felt as if she could see all the art pieces inside from outside.
“You’re not getting out?” asked Kyuhyun.
“I was just looking,” Victoria replied before opening the door.
“Aunt spends most of her time here,” Kyuhyun explained leading her toward the two front doors, “a lot of famous artists have come here to sell and buy new arts.”
“Is it that amazing?” Victoria was curious.
Kyuhyun pulled the door open for her. A mild yellow hallway with yellow lights shone down on them warmly. It sure did feel different from the house she lived in. Victoria glanced around at all the masks and paintings alongside the walls.
“Wow,” she gasped.
“Pretty, right?” he asked.
Victoria nodded and turned around a sharp hallway before they reached a block of staircase stuck against the wall.
“Aunt uses part of the second floor as her office. You’ll never find her down here on the first floor except for when she’s preparing for an exhibition,” Kyuhyun continued to tell.
Victoria was pretty sure that the information was irrelevant to her, but listened anyway. On the second floor were larger paintings and drawings of miscellaneous colors brewed together. A portrait of a lone dog sitting alone in the middle of the streets stood out to her most.
“This way,” his voice came.
Victoria slowly turned away from the picture and followed him down the plain room toward a gray door at the back. On the way there the blinding sun outside flew in from the superior windows at the side nearly blinding her. It all disappeared when she walked into the room behind Kyuhyun.
“My! Kyuhyun! What are you doing here?” the familiar voice questioned excited.
When the woman spotted Victoria her act disappeared immediately.
“Hello there,” Victoria greeted.
“Mi Sun, go pour us some coffee,” Hee Young demanded.
That was when Victoria finally noticed a short haired woman sitting at the clear white table. Standing up obediently she walked out of the room pass Victoria and as she passed her Victoria could smell a stench of rich perfume flowing off of her. For some reason, the woman felt a bit similar to So Rae, yet a little different. Victoria couldn’t quite explain.
“Why are you here?” her stepmother questioned.
“You left the house so suddenly that So Rae’s quite upset,” Victoria began, “I think it would be a good idea if you go back to talk to her.”
The woman snorted, “And who do you think you are to be saying this?”
“Aunt,” Kyuhyun called.
The woman pressed her lips together as if in defeat but still said rudely, “Why should I? So Rae wanted me out.”
How childish. Victoria found her to be just like So Rae. Like mother, like daughter was it?
“If you console her some it’d perhaps help her understand your situation,” Victoria tried, “you’ve never really talked to each other when you were at home. I think it’d make So Rae’s heart feel at ease if you do talk to her.”
The woman sneered at Victoria with her eyes.
Victoria pressed her lips together trying to figure out how to best go around the problem.
“So Rae is angry and disappointed, aunt.” Kyuhyun helped.
Victoria turned to him hoping that maybe he could get through to her since she seemed to be in favor of him.
“She’s probably thinking you don’t want to be her mother,” a voice interrupted.
Victoria turned to see the woman from earlier walk into the room with a tray of cups filled to the brim with coffee.
Setting the tray down onto the table she said, “It would be good for you and So Rae if you make the trip back. Further more, it’ll assure you that So Rae will be a good daughter to the President at the same time as you’re assuring her that this is the life you want.”
Hee Young moved her eyes to the side as if tired of their persistence.
“I’ll go back to talk to So Rae,” Hee Young gave up, “but let me have a word with Kyuhyun.”
The door closed behind them and Victoria found herself standing in step with Mi Sun. She smiled softly, her short hair flying over her shoulder. Her face was small, she had a perfect pointy nose, big eyes, and pretty thin pink lips. She was pretty.
Victoria turned away when Mi Sun turned to look at her.
A smile decked her face, “You’re So Rae’s younger sister, correct?”
“Ah…yes,” Victoria nodded nervous.
“I’m Mi Sun,” she introduced herself, “I grew up alongside So Rae and also work as her personal assistant. I came to help with her mother’s gallery as well as to visit my family.”
Victoria nodded. Mi Sun took a step forward with hands at her back. Her pose was so neat, very feminine just like So Rae.
“I believe that Kyuhyun has gave you an introduction to the gallery,” Mi Sun said, “but it’s not as pretty as the yard. Shall we go out?”
Victoria later found herself sitting on a hand made bench beside Mi Sun. The woman seemed to be overflowing with that kind of charm that dominated Victoria. It made her feel uncomfortable, honestly. Words were hard to think of and a conversation was no where in sight as they sat there quietly.
A trace of wind brushed by breezily and the dirt underneath their feet felt soft and tender. Victoria stared at the sneakers she had slipped on that morning to walk off and compared them to the shiny heels that decorated Mi Sun’s feet.
“So Rae must not like you a lot,” Mi Sun’s voice trailed into Victoria’s ears.
She lifted her eyes up from the ground and she turned to look at Mi Sun curiously.
Mi Sun smiled in return, “I was the one who told her about you. Before that, she knew nothing about you.”
Victoria turned away.
“There’s nothing you can do about how she feels toward you and you can’t help it that she feels that way,” Mi Sun said, “it’s best that you just deal with it. So Rae can’t think from another’s point of view, she’s a very narrow minded person. No matter how hurt she makes you feel, you can’t do anything against her. So Rae will be So Rae, so in the end you’re going to have to be the older sister.”
Her eyes blinked as she focused on the tiny grains of dirt.
“It’ll be a lot of burden to carry along the way,” Mi Sun continued, “but I feel you’re a strong one.”
Flocks of words raced through Victoria’s mind.
“Why is So Rae like that?” Victoria questioned. “Is it really because of our dad and me?”
Mi Sun turned to look at her, “No one made her like that.”
/\_____/\
“Are you on a date? Why did you bring her here?” Hee Young questioned.
Kyuhyun glanced at her from his seat, “Aunt, I’m going to marry her. Please don’t talk about her like that.”
Hee Young turned away, “How’s So Rae? You haven’t forgotten about my child just because of your bride, have you?”
“So Rae is managing well,” Kyuhyun said, “her problem right now is not me nor Victoria.”
“Are you sure?” Hee Young doubted. “From the way I see it, So Rae is still hoping for you. You can’t ignore her feelings like this.”
“I haven’t ignored her,” Kyuhyun stated, “So Rae is the one who won’t let me talk it out with her.”
“Are you blaming my child for the fault in your relationship with her?”
“Please, don’t get too far ahead,” Kyuhyun tried.
“No matter what, So Rae will still need you,” Hee Young told, “you will probably get married to Victoria, but she’ll become nothing to you in the end.”
Kyuhyun couldn’t say anything against her hopeless words.
“Victoria doesn’t know a thing about you to start with, but So Rae knows everything about you,” Hee Young reminded, “she won’t understand your feelings the way So Rae does. In the end do you think Victoria can turn to you? She grew up under her grandmother, not with the rules written out for her. This engagement with her is as foolish as my marriage to Dae Jung.”
It was as if a shock of reality had slashed him in the head. And there it was, another angle of the world he needed to look through.
“Heed this as my warning.”
No matter what Kyuhyun was certain, no he was determined that So Rae was not the one for him.
“Victoria,” Kyuhyun began, “I will marry her. I assure you, though, that I won’t leave So Rae behind like you think I will.”
With that he got up and exited the office feeling frustrated for some reason. He walked around the gallery, but didn’t find Victoria nor Mi Sun anywhere. During that moment he could feel his heart race worried if Mi Sun had taken Victoria elsewhere.
The weak bird fallen to prey by a predator. Images shoved itself one after another in his mind.
He stepped out into the lot to find that the same cars he’d seen when they got there were still there. Spinning around he walked around the building and paused when he spotted Victoria sitting with Mi Sun at a bench under a pretty peach colored tree. A smile appeared on his face glad to know that she was still there, yet the expression on Victoria’s face caused his smile to slowly fade.
What were they talking about? Was Mi Sun talking about So Rae to Victoria? Why had such a troubled expression taken over Victoria’s beautiful smile?
The thought that Victoria was feeling insecure made him feel worse. There was no one to protect her from harm when she was alone at home and she probably had no one to talk to. However, he had urged her to come to him, she hadn’t. So, how much was she keeping to herself? The need to protect her from everything became so strong within him that he started walking forward.
“What are you gals talking about?” he interrupted.
Both of them looked up and the same smile Victoria always had on appeared on her face.
“Are you hungry?” he asked putting a hand on her shoulder. “It was a long drive here.”
“It’s late, why don’t the two of you have a meal at my place?” Mi Sun offered.
***This and the next will most likely be filled with Kyutoria! Enjoy!
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