71
Their Kingdom Panorama
Victoria walked up to her bedroom feeling uneasy. So Rae’s stupid words were getting to her so easily. When she reached her room her phone beeped. A few seconds later she was slowly making her way outside where Donghae was waiting for her outside.
“Are you ok?” he first asked.
Did the question matter? Did the question really matter? Victoria felt so annoyed for some reason.
“Why haven’t you left?” was all Victoria had to say.
“Were you surprised?” he asked.
Victoria looked away exasperated. She wanted to sigh, leave things be, and just hug him but her feelings weren’t working for her right now. Walking down to her left she stopped behind some shadows and turned around to look at him.
“Why did you come? Why!”
He stared at her as if lost and confused by her anger.
“I didn’t know about it either,” he defended himself. “How am I supposed to know that I was being set up for something that I had no clue about?”
She stared at him flustered.
“You shouldn’t come into the house with So Rae. You should have known better.”
He snorted, “Don’t you have a slight bit of trust in me?”
They had a stare-off.
“You don’t.” he declared.
Victoria swallowed hard, “How do I trust a man who’s treated me like dirt, assumed things about me when he knew me before hearing all those things, and who’s come after me when I decided to leave it all behind. What have you done to gain my trust?!”
Donghae bit his bottom lip.
“Because now, you’re not my friend, you’re only known as So Rae unnie’s boyfriend!” Victoria couldn’t help but scream the words out. “You don’t know how it feels when your girlfriend’s father believes her boyfriend’s her older sister’s lover.”
“What about you! What about you!” Donghae retorted. “Would you know how difficult it is to face the truth that your girlfriend is actually someone else’s fiancée and they’re preparing for a wedding that’s bound to happen now or later?”
Victoria gritted her teeth. So now he was pushing all the blame onto her? Sure, they were on the same stance, but it was different. Hers had been decided long before.
“If you knew that, then why’d you even tell me you like me?” Victoria asked. “Why’d you come after me if you knew?!!!”
Victoria’s gaze suddenly changed and her expression became angrier.
“You knew,” she blamed, “you knew that the wedding was going to happen sooner or later, but I didn’t know anything of it until a few days ago. You knew and you still came after me?”
A snort left her.
“What are you getting at?” he asked frowning.
A laugh full of sarcasm escaped her as she turned her face to the side then ran a hand up her face and through her hair.
“Why are you doing this to me?!” Victoria screamed. “You just want to see me run to the edges of the earth, don’t you?”
His eyes widened when he finally understood what she was getting at.
“Yah!” he shouted.
“Leave me alone.”
Donghae pulled her back before she could reach the gate door.
“What do you want me to do to prove that I’m just not playing around with you? Why can’t you believe me?!” Donghae questioned.
“Because I saw it that you liked her.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, “You shouldn’t have said yes to me if you don’t believe me. It makes me look none other than a fool.”
Victoria’s mind spun and suddenly she was starting to feel sorry for having been so rash.
“Go in,” he urged, “it’s late.”
Without a word she watched him walk toward his car and drive off.
The next day, she didn’t see Donghae at work.
/\_____/\
“Like this?” Donghae questioned plucking the chords clumsily.
“No, no,” Kyuhyun shook his head before showing Donghae again.
After a moment Donghae nodded with mouth opened wide.
“Ah…like this,” he said.
Setting his guitar aside, Kyuhyun turned to Donghae.
“Are you going to steal my skills to charm her?” Kyuhyun questioned.
“I don’t need your skills,” Donghae smiled, “cause I’ve already charmed her.”
Kyuhyun snorted and leaned back. They were in his office, actually. He’d ordered his secretary to forbid anyone from entering his office, even his father. As they sat there Kyuhyun actually found that the atmosphere didn’t have the slightest amount of tension at all. Instead, it actually felt very friendly, like the first time he’d talked with Donghae carelessly after walking in on his and Victoria’s fight.
“How well do you know Victoria?”
Donghae turned to look at him for a long time. “Why?”
“Because I realized that I don’t know her that well,” Kyuhyun told.
Donghae frowned, “Haven’t you two gone out a lot…like to eat and stuff?”
Kyuhyun shrugged, “We small talk, but small talk doesn’t allow me to know her any better. Why don’t you tell me some things about her, you can think of it as paying me back for giving you some lessons.”
Turning away from Kyuhyun he stared at the office building opposite of them, “I don’t know, how do you describe her?”
Kyuhyun waited patiently while he tried to think up of some things.
“She has an impulsive nature, but it doesn’t make her anything near mean. Victoria does have a lot of reasons for doing the things she does,” Donghae nodded, “she’s hardheaded and manly. That’s all I can think of right now.”
He had lied. It wasn’t everything he had wanted to say about her, but who would want to tell his own love rival everything about the woman he loved? That would have been such a foolish move right there.
Victoria didn’t have everything he wanted, but it was ok, because she had everything he needed right now and it was all good enough to satisfy him.
Right now, he wanted nothing more than to return to the suite and practice his song. He wanted to surprise Victoria and make up with her.
/\_____/\
Mi Sun hesitated as she walked through the hallway and passed by Victoria’s empty desk. She couldn’t help but wonder if she was eating her meal with Donghae somewhere or if she was with Kyuhyun. The folder she had in her hand was gripped tightly by both her hands.
Without knocking on So Rae’s door she walked in freely.
“I’m not going to say anything,” Mi Sun told, “but that you’re my friend and I trust that you put these to good use. I hope you make the right decision.”
So Rae looked at her without a word. Mi Sun turned around and walked out with a heavy sigh. She needed to believe in So Rae who would be running a rage soon. She hoped that her strong belief in her friend would help bring some of her goodness back.
/\_____/\
So Rae’s jaw tightened as she went from page to page. She was sure during those few minutes that if she showed it to her father, her father would definitely throw Victoria out of the house. Everything would then come piling atop of Victoria’s shoulder forcing her out.
As she trailed through the hallway all she could think of was how amazed she was that Victoria had hidden such things from everyone else. The thoughts thrilled her, honestly. Just what would happen to Victoria then? No one would see her the same.
A smile came onto So Rae’s smile before she pushed her father’s office door open. He looked up surprised then scowled.
“What are you doing here? Don’t you have work to do?”
“This, have a look at this.” So Rae tossed the folder onto her father’s desk.
He glanced at it and opened it. As he flipped through the pages a smile of expectation crossed her face. Bang Dae Jung, the President of the company, would certainly be enraged.
“What is this!” he shouted shoving the folder away from him.
So Rae’s eyes grew wide.
“Dad!”
“You! What do you think you’re doing! Are you investigating your own sister?!”
So Rae gritted her teeth in furious mode, “You knew?! Dad, you knew?!”
Her dad glared at her.
“You knew Victoria had a criminal record, yet you still brought her into the family?!” So Rae shouted at the top of her lungs. “What about that makes her greater than me?! How could you?! Do you know what she can do to our family?! What if we have killers at the back of our doors?! How can you trust a criminal?!”
“Bang So Rae!” her father screamed.
The whole room went silent, even all the molecules that made up every inch of the air.
“Victoria is my daughter, you have absolutely no say in this,” Bang Dae Jung clarified.
So Rae inhaled in the frozen air painfully, “What is she that you love her so much? Maybe it’s not as bad as a murder trial, but it was drug trafficking! Drugs, dad! How could you have hid this?!”
“Don’t you dare open your mouth!” her father threatened. “I will fire you the second you open your mouth about this. Do you hear me, Bang So Rae? And when I fire you, don’t you dare say that you are Bang Dae Jung’s daughter.”
So Rae let out an exasperated sigh, “How could you…you’d even go to this extent.”
She recollected her feelings.
“Fine. Do it and I will find out who Man Shik is. No matter what, I know that his identity will bring down your company,” So Rae retorted.
/\_____/\
Kyuhyun’s mother was with them at dinner that night. Victoria had been told to come alone because her father hadn’t been able to make it. She couldn’t help but feel somewhat uncomfortable. Especially, because she knew nothing other than the wedding would be talked about.
“I’m so glad you made it for dinner,” Kyuhyun’s mother made a reach for Victoria’s hand.
Her touch was so motherly and Victoria couldn’t refuse it either. All she could do was smile on reply.
“You must be ready for tonight’s main topic,” Kyuhyun’s father said with a smile.
“We can talk about that after dinner,” his mother suggested.
“How was your day today?”
“The usual.”
“The usual? And what’s that?”
“Ah…”
“Mom, I think you’re making her feel nervous.” Kyuhyun intervened.
“Am I? I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok, don’t worry.” Victoria told.
Halfway through the meal Chairman Cho brought up the unbearable subject again.
“Have you made your decision yet? It’ll be good if we can start on wedding preparations soon. Kyuhyun’s mother has been waiting for this day for years,” Chairman Cho said. “You won’t have to worry about a thing this time around, I’ve promised your father that. So how about it? Are you ready to join us as a family?”
All eyes, she could feel, landed on her. No matter what had happened between her and Donghae last night, she wasn’t ready to just let it go yet. So Rae couldn’t win this way and she couldn’t cave in to the pressures around her. Because she knew that no matter what she said some trouble would stir up and someone people would get mad. However, all in all Kyuhyun would support her. He would understand her.
“I’m sorry,” Victoria apologized, “it seems, I want some more time.”
Silence.
Then Chairman Cho started laughing, “But it’ll definitely be a yes, no? I’ll wait till you’re more prepared. When you feel ready, remember that we’re still waiting.”
It was an indirect reminder that she would have to say yes a day from now, maybe two weeks from now or maybe a month. But she would have to say “Yes” no matter the circumstance. Chairman Cho was slightly upset, Victoria could sense it.
Kyuhyun walked her out the door a few minutes later.
“Sorry, my dad’s so impulsive sometimes that even my mother can’t control him.” he apologize.
“You don’t have to say sorry,” Victoria assured. “It’s fine.”
“I heard quite some things about you today,” he told.
“From who?” she asked.
“Lee Donghae,” Kyuhyun replied, “he stopped by today.”
“What!” Victoria turned around to face Kyuhyun. “He came to your office today? For what? Why? What did he say?”
“Uh…” Kyuhyun seemed surprise with her reaction. “Was it something I wasn’t supposed to talk about?”
Victoria frowned at him.
“Uh…well, anyway, your ride’s here. Hurry on home,” Kyuhyun smiled pushing her toward the car.
When Victoria got in, she fished her phone out. She hadn’t received a single call or message from Donghae all day, yet he’d gone to see Kyuhyun? Of all people, why?
However, she could sense that something unpleasant had come up when the driver passed by the front gate.
“Stop the car,” Victoria told.
When the car stopped she stepped out and told the driver to head on in without her. Walking up to the smiling Mi Sun she could only wonder what news there was to talk about.
“What are you doing here?” Victoria asked.
“Lets talk,” Mi Sun told. “I’m up for some coffee, how about you?”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep if I intake coffee,” Victoria explained, “but I’ll keep you company.”
When they stopped at the small coffee shop Victoria watched Mi Sun sip at her cup as if it was the most precious thing to her. How much better it would have been if Mi Sun was really her older sister.
“Is there a reason why you’re not asleep at this time?” Victoria asked awkwardly leaning back in her chair.
“Sorry,” Mi Sun said.
Victoria’s eyebrows perked up and she shifted her position in her chair.
“I’m going to side with So Rae this time. I can’t help you this time around.”
“What do you mean? Did something happen to unnie?”
“No,” Mi Sun answered, “she knows you went to jail for drug trafficking and will be looking for anything to throw you down.”
Victoria’s heart sank immediately.
“You’ve had it hard,” Mi Sun told, “I can empathize, but So Rae has been living under a lie her 26 years of life. She loves her dad dearly even if she’s always putting up a front. Her dream ever since she’s been a little girl was always to become daddy’s little girl, but we all know she’s only ever been his shadow. So Rae is pitiful. Imagine how she’ll break when she finds out that President Bang isn’t her real father.”
Victoria looked at Mi Sun.
“I know.” Victoria confessed. “I know…that her real father is dead.”
Mi Sun’s face became a distorted surprised expression.
“How does it make her anymore pitiful than me?” Victoria asked. “Unnie isn’t thinking of herself, she’s only thinking of her anger, and you’re only helping her support her anger by telling me to give way for her troublesome nature?”
“So Rae will do it anyway,” Mi Sun started, “give in and marry Cho Kyuhyun. She’ll simply give it all up if you do.”
“Why? Didn’t she hate the fact that I was marrying Cho Kyuhyun from the beginning? How can So Rae unnie suddenly support the decision?”
“Because she saw him hurt when you disappeared at the engagement ceremony,” Mi Sun told with a heavy amount of burden in her voice, “have you thought about So Rae’s feelings? Her feelings for Cho Kyuhyun are just like yours for Lee Donghae.”
Victoria’s eyes shot open. Lee Donghae?
Mi Sun pressed her eyes closed as if she hadn’t meant to say it that way, but Victoria knew better.
***Ahh...a midnight update. I'm so tired and my leg muscles are cramping up. It's awful ~____~
***But anyway, a heated argument between our main leads, HaeToria. Lets see how he makes it up to her in the next chapter :) and I'll spoil it to you that it's something sweet :D
***Mi Sun is darting toward So Rae's side now. And So Rae's side of the story keeps getting darker. Secrets about Vic are out and she's determiend to destroy her.
***And the wedding is still such a burden :/
***I'll update again in the afternoon :D
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