54
Their Kingdom Panorama
/\_____/\
Victoria awoke early the next morning and immediately changed into something nice. Her father’s chauffeur was waiting for her outside when she stepped out. She first stopped by a snack store and headed over to Kyuhyun’s.
“Victoria!” the ahjumma greeted when she opened the door. “I didn’t think you’d visit so soon. Come in, come in!”
“I bought some whole wheat crackers,” Victoria held out the cookies for her to see, “I thought some healthy snacks would be good for Mrs. Cho.”
“You don’t need to be so formal,” the ahjumma said. “It’s so sweet of you, why don’t you go up?”
Victoria made her way up to the second floor and found herself lost before turning here and there finally discovering the two doors. Lightly knocking on it, Victoria waited for any reply then opened the door first poking her head in. Kyuhyun’s mother lifted her head up from her book and Victoria smiled.
“Good morning.”
“Oh? What are you doing here?”
Victoria walked further into the room and set the crackers on the desk. Sitting on the chair she turned face Kyuhyun’s mother who had already been propped up on her bed like the teddy bear on Victoria’s bed.
“I brought you some snacks, the healthy kind,” Victoria then muttered a nervous laugh.
“Thank you, that’s very thoughtful of you.”
She still looked so young.
“Did you meet with Kyuhyun this morning?”
“No, I came without telling him.”
“Are you planning to surprise him? He usually loves surprises.”
“Really?” Victoria asked. “What book are you reading?”
“Ah…Kyuhyun bought me this a few days ago but I haven’t had the chance to read it,” she explained kindly, “it’s about a private investigator who’s also a grim reaper, the good kind though.”
“It sounds interesting,” Victoria commented. “Then…I should get going. Have a good rest.”
When Victoria left the room she browsed the hallways for a few minutes before the scent of brownies and cookies wafted through the air. Following her nose like a dog she found the ahjumma in the kitchen wearing large cooking gloves. Watching from the doorway, Victoria observed as the woman took out a cooking tray from inside the oven and set it on the square counter in the middle of the kitchen.
“Oh! You surprised me!” the ahjumma half screamed.
“Did I? Sorry.” Victoria apologized. “What are you doing?”
“Baking some deserts,” the ahjumma explained glancing at her curiously.
“I’ve never baked before in my life.”
“Would you like to learn?” the ahjumma smiled at her.
During that hour Victoria found herself mixing, cracking eggs, and making dough.
“You’re really different from the ahjumma at our house,” Victoria commented creating flat pieces of flour and setting them onto the cooking tray.
“How am I different?”
Victoria quickly explained, “In many good ways, you’re different.”
If she’d explained to her about the treatment she received from the ahjumma at home, she wasn’t sure what would happen next. Would someone tell her father or would the ahjumma be fired without her knowing? She didn’t want to cause trouble for anyone…besides the ahjumma at their house wasn’t that bad…
“Ahjumma! Where did you put my…” Kyuhyun started as he stepped into the kitchen, but quieted when he spotted Victoria.
The nanny smirked, “What was that?”
Kyuhyun laughed and waved his hand, “Never mind. Victoria, what are you doing here?”
A few minutes later she found herself walking out the front steps beside Kyuhyun.
“If you’re feeling distressed I could talk to my father. He’d be understanding,” Kyuhyun explained.
“No,” Victoria rejected, “I just thought it’d be nice to stop by. I saw your mother this morning. She was reading the book you bought her a few days ago.”
“Oh yea?”
“Oh yea.”
Victoria smiled and they both laughed.
“If you don’t have any plans why don’t we go out for lunch? My father might make you stay the whole day if he sees you.”
/\_____/\
Donghae had gone for a long walk that morning. He had intended to clear his mind, but nothing had been cleared by the time he reached the starting point.
“I’m getting engaged to Kyuhyun.”
Donghae stopped as a few birds flew out of the large oak tree beside him. He’d really felt unsettled.
“What are you worrying about, fool?” he asked himself aloud before starting to pace around. “If she says she’s going to do it, then she’s going to do it.”
Heaving a sigh for an unknown reason he tilted his head up toward the sky.
/\_____/\
“I heard from Chauffeur Kim that you went out to Chairman Cho’s today,” her father said during dinner.
So Rae eyed Victoria, who was obviously not returning the stare. What reason would Victoria have to go over there?
“I just stopped by to visit them,” Victoria answered, all so coolly.
Visit them? For what purpose? So Rae felt her heart flutter uncertainly feeling upset.
“I met with Chairman Cho this afternoon,” her father continued, “we’ve figured out a plan and we’re already in the process of booking a hotel.”
So Rae’s glance moved over to her father. What were they talking about? What were they keeping from her this time?
“We’ve decided to set the date two weeks from now. How about it? Does it sound good?”
“What’s going on? What date have you set?” So Rae interrupted.
Her father glanced at her unsatisfactorily before leaning back in his chair.
“Kyuhyun and Victoria will be getting engaged two weeks from now,” her father explained simply, “we’ve already had dinner and talked it all out. You just get ready for then.”
“What?” So Rae, nearly enraged at such news, asked. “Dad, don’t you think you’re going overboard? Two weeks from now when they don’t even know each other?! That’s crazy!”
“It doesn’t matter, look at them! They’re getting along just fine!”
“That doesn’t mean that they’re ready to get engaged, dad!”
“Why? Do you have something to say against this?”
“This is unreasonable!” So Rae stood up. “Kyuhyun could change his mind at the last moment! You don’t know him!”
Her father sighed tiredly, “Go up to your room if that’s all you want to say.”
“Dad!” she shouted.
“Who do you think Kyuhyun is marrying? Your sister,” her dad finished. “Go up. I will not be tolerating anyone who doesn’t agree. Kyuhyun and Victoria will be engaged no matter what.”
Furious, So Rae turned her gaze upon Victoria who looked at her slowly. So Rae snorted.
“Playing daddy’s little girl now?”
Victoria returned the stare without a word.
“I hope you regret playing along with the engagement setup,” So Rae sneered before walking off.
Kyuhyun had really done it. She had half doubted that such a good guy like him would go along with something his dad had set up.
“Traitor,” So Rae muttered under her own breath. “You really do want to leave me behind in the dust.”
/\_____/\
Bang Dae Jung glanced up from his newspaper when a knock at the door intruded upon his attention. Taking his reading glasses off and setting them on the table next to him he smiled.
“Is something wrong?” he wondered.
Victoria closed the door to the study and took a seat on the couch by him.
“What are you reading?” Victoria asked.
“Just looking up news about the economy,” he explained, “but it wouldn’t interest you if I talk about it.”
“Why wouldn’t it?” Victoria said. “Father hasn’t really talked to me about anything.”
“Is that what you came here for? To interrogate me?” her father joked.
Victoria laughed a little. “I was curious about why you married So Rae’s mother.”
He wiped the smile off his face and readjusted himself in the fat chair he was occupying.
“Are you curious?”
Victoria nodded after a pause.
“Well…it was under your grandfather’s wishes. We just had no choice but to comply,” he explained, “under several circumstances, things just became the way they are. That’s why I want you to marry Cho Kyuhyun. He’s patient and he’ll do what’s better for you, so in the end you won’t become another old man like me.”
Victoria pressed her lips together.
“Is there something wrong?” her father noticed the sullen expression on her face.
Drawing deeper into her thoughts she asked, “What’ll happen after I get engaged?”
Her father took a long breath and leaned back further into his seat, “You can do whatever you want. When we have you engaged, we can take as much time as needed to plan out the wedding.” He paused then said, “I’m so happy and thankful that you agree to choose Cho Kyuhyun. You’re a great daughter.”
Victoria lay on her bed staring out at the dark vast sky outside her window. It was just within an arm’s reach, but why did it seem so far away?
/\_____/\
Donghae glanced up when someone set their tray down onto the table.
“Good afternoon to you,” Victoria greeted.
Seeing her happy face made him angry for some reason.
“What do you want?”
“Why? Don’t you want to have lunch together?”
“Tsh…” Donghae snorted.
“I think I’m getting zits on my forehead, do you have any idea of how to get rid of them?”
“Let me see,” Donghae leaned forward.
Victoria flipped up her bangs and Donghae hit her forehead with his and.
“There, they’re gone.”
“Ah! Seriously!” she screamed quickly brushing her bangs with her fingers. “You’re so mean!”
Donghae stuck his tongue out at her then grabbed his tray and walked away. Glancing at his watch he figured he had more than enough time to take a breather. Sitting outside upon the bricked shelter around the flower patch he swung his feet back and forth above the ground.
How was Victoria able to show such a happy face in front of him? What she crazy?! He thought he’d already engraved it in her mind that Kyuhyun was not to be hers, but So Rae’s? And here she was going about the engagement as if she were really happy. Hadn’t she said that she never asked for it in the first place? So now why was she acting all so happy?
Shaking his head desperately.
“Isn’t there anything else you have to worry about?” he asked himself aloud.
“You ok?” a voice made him toss his head up.
He found Mi Sun standing in front of him with a takeout lunch bag in her hand.
“Oh…yea…I’m fine.”
She laughed at him and he wondered if she was mocking him or not. He watched her walk into the company and turned back to focus on the taxi that had been on the street for the last 5 minutes.
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