>_____<;;

Chorong moaned and rubbed her chest before rolling her shoulders out.

“My shoulder blade and my poor chest,” Chorong gently massaged herself.

“Oh shut up,” Victoria muttered from where she was standing.

“Why’d you wake up so early anyway?” Chorong asked leaning against the kitchen table.

“Nevermind,” Victoria mumbled. “I’m going to be late for class.”

“You have an hour and a half left.”

“Half an hour to get ready, 20 minutes to drive there if there’s traffic,” Victoria pointed out.

“Wow…aren’t you…really scheduled,” Chorong sarcastically stated.

“Did you see that white thing?” Victoria asked.

“White thing?” Chorong repeated a little confused. “That was Luhan.”

“He must be pretty powerful if he can attack the minion.”

“He’s always been powerful,” Chorong turned to look out the kitchen door.

“Why would the minion be after Namjoo?”

“I think I understand,” Chorong said almost quietly before turning to look at Victoria, “Officer Park said he’s after the most vulnerable. Namjoo is head over heels for Luhan, she’s too caught up with her feelings to worry about anything else. Plus, he’s leaving her soon. Wouldn’t she be deep down in the pits? All in all, she’ll be the easiest to waver.”

Victoria stared at Chorong before saying, “Then we can’t leave Namjoo on her own. If he gets to her again, she won’t be able to help herself.”

Chorong stared back at her sister without word.

“Someone’s going to have to follow Officer Park around.”

“You want us to do that today?” Chorong’s face scrunched up in disbelief.

“Whenever,” Victoria corrected. “We can’t find everything out in one day. It’s not like he can just go berserk and show his true self. He needs to make a living too.”

Chorong slightly frowned at Victoria before crossing her arms, “You just don’t want to go to the police station to keep watch cause of you know who.”

“Please, I didn’t even say that.” Victoria shook her head before turning around to open the fridge and look for something to eat.

“Oh ho! You turned away! That means something!” Chorong falsely accused.

Victoria turned back to her with a snort, “I don’t know what you’re getting at; I’m not playing this game with you.”

“What game?” Chorong questioned. “The game of ignoring your crush and playing hard to get?”

Victoria rolled her eyes and bit her tongue to remain silent. If she let Chorong get on her nerves she’d lose, and she definitely did not want to be in last place.

Chorong chuckled from behind, “Look at that. Ignoring me just after a few words I said.”

Victoria turned around to shoot Chorong a small glare. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“What?” Chorong said. “You want me to go out there and watch our sister be lovey-dovey with her guardian angel? I’d rather not.”

“Then you go be lovey-dovey with your man,” Victoria shot at her.

Chorong snorted in reply. “You’re just purposely bringing him up cause I spoke about the one who cannot be named.”

Chorong was annoying to a point and Victoria almost wished Chorong would return to being reserved and by herself again. Everyone had transformed somewhat after moving back into the house. Chorong’s talkative nature was perking up into the light and Namjoo was more helpful and somewhat more mature. Victoria guessed that was all good, but if only Chorong would stop yapping.

“If you’re cooking an egg, cook me one too.” Chorong yawned and stretched her arms out. “I feel like a morning shower.”

Victoria turned to watch Chorong walk out and wondered how Namjoo was faring, and how Luhan felt about all this.

>_____<;;

“… your guardian angel to stay?”

It was all a vague memory even though he’d just appeared to her a few minutes ago. She couldn’t remember who she was talking to or what he looked like. It was because of Chorong and Victoria that she knew someone had been there. What did he want from her? Why had he mentioned Luhan? Was he trying to bribe her?

The only way to complete the sentence was with, “Don’t you want your guardian angel to stay?”

Had he asked her that?

“Give me your hand,” Luhan said before reaching over to look for any other possible injuries on her hand.

While concentrated on her hand, Namjoo felt her eyes roll over him. Of course she wanted Luhan to stay with her. He was everything and he was still everything to her. How could she forget someone when her feelings for him had traveled with her through time? Everything still resided so deeply in her heart that it vividly hurt her chest. How was it possible to let him go after all he went through for her and after all she’d dealt with?

It was unfair the more she thought about it. The gods were unfair. Everything, everything was unfair.

“Namjoo?” Luhan leaned over to look her in the face.

Returning to reality she smiled at him, “Where’d you go this morning?”

“Oh…just…I went to check up on some things,” Luhan generally answered her. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

Namjoo’s eyes roamed over his face. What if she ever forgot how he looked like? She didn’t think she could withstand the thought.

“I’m going to go wash up first,” she excused before getting up to run up the stairs.

Her heart was weary and heavy. Namjoo couldn’t stand this. The desire to be with him and the fact that she had no choice, but to let him go against her will was killing her. What could she do? What could she do?

Closing the door shut after her she slid against the wall and sat down. Tears would drop and she would cry again.

>_____<;;

Luhan watched Namjoo disappear up the stairs and quietly sighed. He slightly drew his fingers into his palm to keep the warmth of her hand trapped within his hand for a moment. When he heard footsteps he quickly looked up to see Victoria walking out of the dining room headed for the stairs.

“Oh? You’re alone?” she seemed surprised.

Luhan slowly got to his feet and said, “You wouldn’t mind if I ask a favor from you, would you?”

And a few seconds later he found himself sitting outside on the front doorstep with Victoria.

“I can’t stay much longer,” Luhan started, “they’re calling for me. So…after I go…can you lead Namjoo back to Chanyeol?”

Victoria looked surprised by the request.

“Namjoo will refuse to move on, but she needs to forget me,” Luhan glanced at the staircase feeling down himself. “I know she told herself a long time ago that she doesn’t deserve to be happy, but she needs to forget that and make peace with herself. Since Namjoo has a family this time around, I know she can lean on you.”

“And what about you?” Victoria asked concerned for his well-being.

“It’s been a long time, I’ve quite gotten used to being alone.”

“If you came back for her, it means you’ve never been able to forget her,” Victoria pointed out, “don’t you want to stay? I’d like it if Namjoo could stop being in pain for once.”

“I already committed a crime and broke our contract,” Luhan told, “there’s no way we could ever be together. I can no longer reincarnate.”

The corner of Victoria’s lips curbed up in almost disbelief before it became a straight line. “What do you mean by that? You’re saying it’s the last time you’ll see each other?”

Luhan couldn’t push the answer through his lips. It suddenly felt like his heart was sitting within his throat.

“If you want to stay, Chorong and I will fight for your right,” Victoria tried to convince him. “You both have the right to be happy. Why are you leaving my sister like this?”

“Thank you,” Luhan withheld his tears.

He was really thankful Victoria had said that, but he had no right to stay. He had no right to disrupt Namjoo’s destiny as much as he wanted to.  

“About returning Namjoo to him, you can help me with that, won’t you?”

When he returned inside Luhan hesitated about approaching Namjoo. How much was she hurting? How much was she withholding from him? Was she waiting for him or crying by herself?

It hurt him when he thought about how much her heart ached and how much his heart cried about the fact that he couldn’t be with her. If everything…could only go his way…

But even if time turned back to the Joseon Dynasty, he would still have chosen to die in her place. He loved her too much to see life leave Namjoo. No matter how heavy his heart would become, no matter how painful it was for him he had to believe that the better was waiting for Namjoo without him there. He would hinder her and he would only hurt her. And he didn’t want to see her cry anymore.

Luhan felt the tears sting his eyes. And no matter what, he still wanted to remain by her side so much. It was really painful being by himself as he watched her smile at others. He’d really wanted that smile to belong only to him as it once had. Luhan really wanted his fate to be restored. He really didn’t want to have to leave.

It was unfair…

Reaching a hand out he gently pressed his palm against the door and pressed his shaking lips together. And no matter what happened, he couldn’t lose it in front of Namjoo.

Curling his fingers into a fist he gently pressed his forehead against the door and waited for his emotions to gather themselves before he’d allow himself to see her.

>_____<;;

Victoria was depressed. She was suddenly beginning to understand why Chorong paid so much attention to Luhan and Namjoo and why she was so emotionally involved. They were a pitiful pair; having gone through the worst, but having ended up in two different worlds.

Luhan could no longer reincarnate to become human. He’d forever remain in his state and be forever trapped into watching over Namjoo. Victoria could only imagine how it was to watch a lover love someone else. And she was sure Luhan hadn’t meant it when he said he’d gotten used to be alone. No one ever got used to being alone. It was a dreary word.

How did he ever fare through all these lifetimes?

Victoria sat in the kitchen before leaning her head into her palm. How was Namjoo ever going to heal from such emotional trauma? It wasn’t just the first, but the second time she’d be left behind by the same man again. Namjoo had been left behind far too many times in this lifetime already. Victoria worried for her sister’s sake.

Why…was this happening to her family?

And for the first time in her life, she cut class. What harm could it do to her? In a sense, it was like taking sick leave. Victoria also knew well about what was going on in class, so missing one day wouldn’t cause too much harm to her record.

Her first priority was to find Lee Shin Il and get that minion of his that had tried harming Namjoo. But to get to Lee Shin Il, she’d have to go to Officer Park. And perhaps she could dismiss the plan of stalking Officer Park. Victoria had changed her mind after some thinking. Why not go to him and be upfront? What harm could Officer Park do to them when he needed them?

Skipping around Officer Park would only make them work much harder than needed. Not that she was lazy about working hard, but this was working smart.

When Victoria stepped out of her car she hesitated in front of the police department. Changmin would be inside and she knew it was inevitable to avoid it. They’d meet. She’d see him and he’d see her. Whatever happened next would happen, but what mattered now was that she wasn’t there for him. There was business to conduct.

Victoria walked toward the doors confidently, but stopped when the door opened as she reached for it and a tall man with short hair nearly bumped into her. His shoes skidded against the floor when he stopped. She turned to look up at him and saw a flash of recognition in his eyes before he stepped back and pulled on a smile as if he knew her.

“Hi,” he greeted, “I didn’t think I’d see you around here.”

“Excuse me?” Victoria slightly narrowed her eyes confused.

Who was he? Did he know her? Did she know him?

He extended his hand out in greeting, “I’m Lee Dongsun. And…Victoria Song, right?”

Victoria’s ears twitched. How in the world did he know her? Did she need to start cautioning herself even at the police station?

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Victoria said anxious to get out of his sight, but as she stepped to the side he quickly blocked her.

“Your sisters aren’t with you today?”

She frowned. Just who was he?

Spotting a rack of newspapers at the side she made it tilt toward him before crashing to the ground. Lee Dongsun jumped out of surprise.

“Wonder how that happened,” Victoria looked up at him before squeezing by and walked into the building.

Neverminding him she quickly walked down into the hall and poked her head into the office half a minute later. She heard busied voices and movements of hands as they searched through the drawers for forms and papers. This time she saw a small family putting up a complaint to an officer before she turned to look at Changmin’s empty desk.

For a few seconds her eyes sat on the fat envelope sitting on his desktop. It was a white envelope; the size just perfect to hold pictures. She wondered what the pictures were of and wondered why Changmin might need so many.

Thankful that she hadn’t yet run into him she turned around and decided to ask for Officer Park. After receiving the answer that he was in a meeting Victoria decided to sit in the corner and grabbed a magazine. It wasn’t until almost five minutes later when she spotted a pair of legs from underneath the magazine she was holding over her face.

A wave of groans washed over her when she knew who it was. Continuing to keep covering her face with the magazine she started at the cup of hot chocolate displayed in front of her. Suddenly she felt like getting a cup of iced coffee for herself. Chocolate sounded good at the moment.

She almost drooled if it were not for the fact that she saw those pair of legs still there. Finally putting the magazine down she crossed her legs and tossed her head back to look up at him.

“Was starting to wonder if you were ignoring me or engrossed in reading,” Changmin had his hands held behind his back.

“Could have been both.” She slyly told.

A smile cocked itself on his face, “What are you doing here? Your family’s life seems to be circled around…the police station.”

“I think it’s more like the police department is drawn to us,” Victoria stated her part of the story.

“Ok, if you say so,” he nodded his head. “But what are you doing here? Looking up something related to your mom?”

“Business.”

Changmin slightly raised his brow and Victoria’s eyes darted to the side when she saw Officer Park walk in followed by some other officers.

“Looks like fun time is up,” Victoria stood.

“Still thinking about my offer of being a friend?” Changmin turned around to catch her before she could walk by.

“No decision on that yet.” Victoria told before walking away. 

***Luhan can no longer stay. ;A; And he can no longer reincarnate to be with Namjoo ;A; ;A; Victoria is starting to feel the pain of his story at last. She's closer to tapping into her secondary powers

***Ok, now I know where I'm going to bring Changmin into more of the story now, but it's happening after Luhan leaves. For now you'll see him popping up every now and then. Still gotta focus on developing SuRong. Then it's back to relooping ChanJoo's relationship. 

***Oh by the way, I've started a short story called The Silent Tale for ChanJoo and once again it takes place in the past, the 1200's to be exact. And if you haven't seen it yet, I made a oneshot for them from where Chanyeol and Namjoo meets after Luhan dies: Still A Match