Victoria slightly turned her head back in case Namjoo and Luhan had stepped out from the sitting room.

“Ma’am,” the officer called again.

“Oh,” Victoria quickly turned around, “lets talk outside.”

She ushered the officer aside before stepping out after him.

“I don’t really know him,” Victoria explained outside. “We went to high school together, but he seemed pretty cool with everyone. We only traded a few words here and there.” She held her hands together a little nervous. She’d never spoken to the police before and she wondered if she was making herself look suspicious.

“You don’t know if he did drugs or any kind of illegal hallucinogens?” Changmin kept his sharp eyes locked on her, which caused her to have a cold sweat.

“No,” she shook her head.

“Thank you,” he said, “I’d like to inform you that everyone who went to school with him will be contacted for further questioning sometime this week. We would be grateful for your cooperation in this investigation.”

“But why…” Victoria stopped herself. “I don’t know what kind of information I can help you with…” she stopped midway in her sentence when she realized she was making herself seem weird, “I’ll wait for the call.”

“Have a good day,” he nodded to her before walking off.

Victoria watched him walk to the patrol car parked across the street and turned as Chorong drove into their driveway. She turned her head to watch Changmin drive off when she stepped out of the car and hurried up the stairs toward Victoria.

“Did something happen?” Chorong sounded alarmed.

Victoria turned to see her poofy eyes and decided not to say anything about them. “Ma Ho Jun died and he wants all his high school classmates to participate in an investigation.”

“Oh my god, are you serious?” Chorong s her head forward surprised. Victoria nodded before walking back into the house with Chorong following. “But that doesn’t make sense unless they suspect it was one of you guys.”

“I didn’t hear about his death,” Victoria said as she walked down the hallway.

“Obviously, with grandma’s funeral and moving back here, who’d have the time to stay in check with the world?” Chorong asked before she suddenly paused to glance into the sitting room. “Who’s Namjoo with? New boyfriend?”

Victoria put her arm around Chorong’s shoulder before hustling her along, “Guardian angel.”

Chorong turned to look at her with a lost frown, “Wha…wha…what?”

“Yea,” Victoria muttered before spinning her finger by Chorong’s ear, “weird, long story. His name’s Luhan or something and apparently he was in her room without her knowing when I went up. Guess how she met him?”

“How?”

Victoria withdrew her arm from around Chorong before sitting at the table in the kitchen and turned the laptop on, “She was about to attempt suicide and he came to the rescue.”

“She what!?” Chorong slightly raised her voice.

“Shh! Keep it down,” Victoria whispered before talking with her indoor voice, “but I don’t think we should mention anything about it to her just yet. I think there’s something going on with her and Chanyeol we don’t know about.”

“Like what?” Chorong asked. “Is he cheating on her?”

Victoria snorted, “I highly doubt that when he came all the way back to our house just to look for her.”

“Then why do you think that?”

“Well obviously yesterday when I mentioned something about him being her boyfriend she blew up at me, didn’t she?” Victoria asked. “He must have this really high importance to her so that she started my shirt on fire. He must be the trigger to everything.”

Chorong frowned, “That doesn’t explain anything about what you just said earlier. I’m confused now.”

“I mean, he looked for her all day yesterday, she said they don’t have anything going on anymore, but she still stayed with him overnight. Don’t think there’s something about that?”

“She stayed at his place?” Chorong’s eyes widened.

Victoria eyed her before typing the password into the laptop and settled her hands on her lap. “I think they’re in the process of breaking up and he’s not letting her go, or something like that.”

“No, no,” Chorong disagreed, “they practically got like this,” she crossed her fingers together and over each other, “when you moved out. They were together 24/7, trust me on this. They must have had an argument and they’re having trouble making up. Must be something like that.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Victoria shook her head in disagreement.

“Yea-huh,” Chorong nodded, “they’ve probably done everything a married couple would do together. Why break up now?”

“Hello, earth to Chorong,” Victoria leaned over, “she’s acting all distant and cool when he’s being clingy, chasing her from apartment to house. Don’t you see something about that that talks about a breakup?”

“Nope,” Chorong slowly shook her head from side to side slowly. “I’ll bet you twenty bucks that they aren’t breaking up. That will never happen. Not in this whole lifetime.”

She narrowed her eyes at Chorong still determined that her part of the story was right. “You’re on.”

>_____<;;

“Do you appear whenever you want?” Namjoo started off.

He only smiled in reply. Namjoo felt somewhat irritated that he never answered her questions directly, but shoved back her anger.

“Did you burn this?” he grabbed the curtain Victoria had left on one of the chairs and held it up.

“How did you know?” she asked walking into the sitting room.

Luhan kind of laughed as if it was a silly question. “I’ll show you something.”

He folded the damaged part of the curtain into his hand and ran his free hand over it. Namjoo heard a quiet tremor and saw a gold glow outline the hand he used to do it with. And when he opened up his hand the black scorch marks the fire had left behind disappeared along with the hole that was there seconds ago. She gasped amazed and looked up into his proud face before she reached for the curtain, turned it here and there, and twisted it around. Namjoo wasn’t just seeing things; the curtain was as good as new.

“Wow, you’re really something,” she exclaimed. “But just because you saved us some money doesn’t mean my sister’s going to stop being suspicious with you.”

“I know.” He didn’t sound any bit let down at all.

“That still doesn’t explain why you came into my room without me knowing,” she slightly eyed him, “you’re not really stalking me, are you?” They stared at each other before she laughed. “I’m just kidding, but what are you really doing here?”

“I was just making sure you were ok.”

“Really?”

He nodded. Luhan gave her an odd feeling she couldn’t explain. It was as if she knew he was telling the truth, but there was something else he was holding back. It made her even more curious and a little suspicious.

“Why wouldn’t I be ok?”  Luhan couldn’t answer her so she asked again, “Do you know something I don’t? I mean, about all these magic things.”

“I’m on your side. Just know that,” he said, “I can’t tell you any more than that.”

“You don’t want to or you’re not allowed to?” Namjoo restated his options.

Luhan slightly lowered his eyes before looking at her again, “A little bit of both.”

Namjoo frowned. “Why?”

His stare slowly intensified calmly and his eyes sparkled upon smiling, “Don’t ask. Trust me, ok?”

“I trust you.”

What reason would she have not to trust him? He was her guardian angel and he’d stopped her from dying. Although she wanted to know more about him, but he wasn’t letting her on. There was nothing that could be helped about that. Namjoo was sure that she would find out in due time. Luhan seemed genuine and all she could do in order to find out more was trust him first.

Namjoo expected Luhan to speak next, but he didn’t say anything. He just stood there looking at her while she held onto the curtain. His eyes were sad, yet a little hopeful and happy. A lot of emotions fluctuated through his eyes and she thought she’d seen them before.

She was suddenly reminded of Chanyeol and how broken he’d been when she first left him then went back. There were deep emotions of longing, sadness, despair, and gloom swarming through his pupils. Everything about him had been nothing, but forlorn. And Luhan’s eyes were somewhat similar to that; dejected and full of loss, but his face expressed gratefulness.

Her emotions wired up and suddenly, she wasn’t sure of the signals she was getting from him. Confused she asked, “What?”

He smiled, laughed a little, and turned to look away caught off guard. Namjoo frowned a little as she watched him do so. She couldn’t understand what just happened.

“Nothing,” he smiled again, “I’m just glad I chose the right time to appear.” He quieted for another second then said, “I’m really happy to see you again. I’m going to go now.”

Before Namjoo could speak he already vanished. She quickly turned to look around the empty sitting room and found herself alone. Turning to see the fixed curtain in her arms told her she hadn’t just been dreaming.

“Again…” she repeated the word, “he said again.”

Was he speaking about seeing her again as in again after the bridge accident, or was there some other meaning behind it?

Namjoo stood in the sitting room for a long time.

>_____<;;

Victoria scrolled through the website and skimmed over the article before she said somewhat scared and surprised, “Oh my god, Chorong…look…”

Victoria turned the laptop so that Chorong could see it from where she was sitting. As Chorong’s face transitioned from blank to shock Victoria could feel her heartbeat quicken, her breaths shorten. Shivers s up and down her spine before spreading throughout her whole body forcing sweat to form on her skin.

“That’s…no way…” Chorong shook her head at a loss for words.  

She raised a hand up to cover from the horror of it. Victoria couldn’t even gasp or say anything as her eyes scarily hovered around in the kitchen travelling from counter to shelf. constricted, sharp pain stabbed her guts, and her mind turned black and white suddenly reminded of that fateful day.   

“What are you going to do?” Chorong asked.

Victoria first shook her head before whispering, “I don’t know.”

“So you’re going to participate in this investigation,” Chorong spoke.

Victoria turned abruptly to stare at her younger sister. “It’s not what you’re thinking, Chorong.”

“Well I think it is what I’m thinking,” Chorong grounded her voice. “How many people do you think kill themselves by slitting their throat? Most would attempt by their wrists, hang themselves, or overdose on drugs or alcohol. Mom’s case was the only one like it, but Ma Ho Jun? No. This is too much of a coincidence that his body ended up the same way mom’s did.”

“Whatever is happening, this has nothing to do with us, or mom. Don’t be delusional, Chorong.”

“Victoria, I am talking about evidence. This,” she raised her voice, “is what the cops found! Maybe someone did kill mom, and you and grandma only thought wrong about it.”

Victoria rolled her eyes and slightly turned away from Chorong.

“I’ve always wondered why a person like mom, who dedicated her life to her children, could do that to herself,” Chorong said, “haven’t you?” Victoria didn’t reply. “No? Victoria, I know you hated her for a long time, but maybe it’s time we think there’s something else we didn’t know about.”

“Like what, like what!” Victoria couldn’t help, but yell. “That she was depressed, dissatisfied, and went from one man to another? She could have done it because there were secrets grandma kept from her, even us! Grandma said it herself!”

“You’re only pissed off because you found out you were a mistake she didn’t want! And when the police listed her death as suicide, you and grandma turned your back on her, but now the cops are pursuing Ma Ho Jun’s death, which is exactly the same as mom’s, and you can bring yourself to participate in an investigation that could be linked to mom’s death? I think there’s something wrong with that picture. Don’t you think it’s strange that they never looked into mom’s death, but they’re looking into Ma Ho Jun’s?”

Victoria felt anger soar through her veins and could feel her blood rushing to her head. She shot up from her chair and screamed, “Because she did kill herself!”

Chorong’s shoulders shot up in fear when the ceramic plates sitting on the kitchen counter flew up against the wall. Too angry to even feel sorry or apologize she walked out of the kitchen, through the dining room, and out the front door.

>_____<;;

Chorong sat there stumped by what just happened before she finally brought herself to follow Victoria. Namjoo poked her head out of the sitting room confused when she walked by. They listened as the front door slammed shut and Chorong heaved a really loud sigh.

“What happened?” Namjoo asked wide eyed while Chorong her irritatingly dry lips.

She turned to look at Namjoo uncertain about what to do or say. Mom died when she was 8 and they never clarified to her the reason behind it. Namjoo didn’t know they believed she attempted suicide, but now that the case seemed to have turned around Chorong wasn’t so sure about anything anymore. Namjoo had been a lost case since she turned 10; she had been always moody, bratty, and depressed. If Chorong decided to talk about mom now, how would she react?

Her eyes took a glimpse into the sitting room and didn’t see the man that had been with Namjoo earlier. “Where’s that person?”

“Huh?” Namjoo turned around to follow her stare before turning back to look at her. “He left. Oh, look! He fixed the curtain! Cool, huh? Saved us some twenty dollars.”

But Chorong couldn’t be amazed right now, not even when Namjoo was in a chirpy mood.

“What?” Namjoo asked when Chorong didn’t react to her.

“What are we going to do, Namjoo?” Chorong asked reaching her hand out and cupped the side of her sister’s head.

Namjoo stared back at her confused and she drew her hand back.

“Come on, I need to talk to you,” Chorong walked pass Namjoo and into the sitting room.

She plopped down onto one of the several couches in the room and felt herself sink into the seat just as she was sinking lower and lower into life. Namjoo followed and took a seat across from her after setting the curtain down.

“So?” Namjoo asked clasping her hands together and leaned forward attentively.

Chorong hesitated and exhaled loudly before saying, “You know when mom died, and no one ever told you what happened to her.” Namjoo slowly nodded. “The cops said she killed herself, Victoria and grandma believed it. That’s why they don’t like to see pictures of mom in the house.”

“Wha…what?” the words stumbled out of an exasperated Namjoo.

“But listen,” Chorong persuaded, “a high school classmate of Victoria’s died the same way and the police are investigating the cause of his death. I don’t know whether they think someone did this to him, so what I’m saying is…if they think someone did do this to him, then someone did this to mom too.”

“Wha…” Namjoo felt her lips quiver as she became speechless and she cupped a hand over . A frown arched her face and her eyes watered when she looked up at to stare at the ceiling.

She was upset, Chorong could see it.

“So you’re saying…mom’s killer is still out there,” Namjoo’s voice shook.

Chorong nodded her head and felt tears rise in her eyes at the thought that the person who loved them so much had her life taken away so unfairly.