When they got in the car Victoria asked, “Say, how long have you known each other?”

“Ever since we were 12. We met when Donghae moved to Incheon with his uncle,” Eunhyuk explained.

“I take it you know each other pretty well then?” Victoria asked.

“Of course.”

“Then you should know why he came to Seoul.” Victoria said. “I’m sure you know that.”

“Uh…well…” Eunhyuk and Victoria turned to look at each other, “Hae should know the answer pretty well, it’s just he can’t face it.”

“Then why is he here in Seoul?”

“Maybe you can ask him yourself. Where do you live?” Eunhyuk asked coming to a red light.

/////

Immediately after they left Donghae decided whether it had been a good idea to send Eunhyuk off with her but then finally came to the conclusion that it hadn’t been a bad idea. If that shadow the other night really was someone he’d feel better if there were someone else with Victoria. Only if she didn’t have herself armed with the “I don’t need you” attitude it’d be a lot easier getting along with her. She was always so stubborn yet it was easy to get through to her because she wasn’t as mean as she put herself to be.

Donghae turned to see the comic book Victoria had bought sitting on the table stand next to the bed and reached for it wincing at the pain each movement brought him. But he didn’t stop until he got the book into his hands. Since no one was there to keep him company he might as well enjoy himself.

/////

“You have a dog!” Eunhyuk exclaimed as Melodix rushed toward him.

Victoria watched Eunhyuk rub her dog on both sides. What exactly did the two friends have that Melodix liked about them so much?

“Can I take her outside?” Eunhyuk questioned. “We used to have a dog back at home but Hee Sun was allergic we had to sell her.”

“Go ahead.”

Victoria watched as he ran with the dog by his side out the door into the front yard like a little excited child. Eunhyuk entered the house a little later and Victoria got up from where she’d been sitting.

“Since I’m already back now you can go,” Victoria said watching him unleash Melodix who jumped onto his lap.

“Aren’t you going back?”

“I never said I was that’s why I said I’d come back alone.”

“Oh…” Eunhyuk glanced around the house as if he’d be able to find something that would help him. “The only reason Hae wanted me to give you a ride was so that you’d go back with me. You didn’t know that?”

“What do you mean I didn’t know that?”

“Never mind,” Eunhyuk said rubbing Melodix behind her ears. “But you know my friend has started paying more attention to you than me.”

“Tell your friend to invest more time in you then.” Victoria retorted. “I never asked for anything from him.”

“Really?” Eunhyuk asked as if he didn’t believe her at all.

“What do you want?” Victoria asked still watching him.

“Go back with me to the hospital. You can go take a shower and change, I’ll wait cause I know Hae’s waiting too.” Eunhyuk told turning his attention to Melodix.

“You two are exactly alike.” Victoria commented getting up from where she was sitting. Eunhyuk turned to look up at her. “You never get off my back.”

Eunhyuk just smiled at her then she walked passed him. They were too alike. Their silence of waiting killed her, seriously.

After the door closed Eunhyuk turned to Melodix holding both her front paws, “I got her good, don’t you think?” Eunhyuk laughed and rubbed the toy poodle’s head then looked around the home.

When they got back in Hyuk’s car half an hour later he said, “You’ve lived alone for a long time?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Your apartment seems a bit plain,” Eunhyuk said.

“Thanks for you comment. I guess your friend just made it even more plain.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.” Victoria still recalled waking up to find all the strange things in her house as if someone had ransacked it, but not exactly. “Maybe I shouldn’t say this but you’re nosey just like your friend.”

Eunhyuk laughed at first, “What? No we’re too different on terms of being nosey. But if you say I’m more handsome than I guess you’re right about that.”

For some reason Victoria laughed at his remark and turned away to focus her attention on the window.

When they walked into the room they found Donghae with a book in his hands but what caught their attention was that he was laughing.

“What? Did something happen?” Eunhyuk questioned seeing that there was another chair in the room and pulled it over to sit down.

“This is the best comic I’ve read,” Donghae said pointing to the book, “Luffy is the funniest thing ever.”

“Oh…ok.” Eunhyuk stared at him and watched while Victoria frowned while she made her way to the chair against the wall. “What did you do while we were gone? You weren’t reading all the time were you?”

“The doctor came in for a short while,” Donghae replied setting the comic book down. “Did you two eat?”

“Not yet.” Eunhyuk replied. “Did you eat?”

“This is my food for the day until my ribs get better,” Donghae said raising up his arm and when he did so Victoria noticed the needle connected to the IV drip and smirked.

“When can you eat?” asked Eunhyuk fishing in the bag he’d brought earlier.

“Saturday, hopefully. Looks like all that milk I drunk when I was smaller did make some difference in my bones,” Donghae joked.

Eunhyuk laughed.

“Do you want some chips?” Eunhyuk asked looking over at Victoria.

“I’ll get something later,” Victoria replied.

“Why don’t you just eat it as a snack and get something later?” Donghae suggested.

“I don’t need you to tell me what to do,” she snapped turning to him.

“Catch,” Eunhyuk’s voice came and when she turned she found the bag of chip in mid air coming at her.

When Victoria caught the bag she gave Eunhyuk a hard stare then leaned back in her chair opening the bag. She could feel Donghae’s stare from the corner of her eye and noticed him smile before the door opened.

A familiar face poked his head into the room. His eyes ran over each of their faces then he finally smiled.

“I didn’t expect to see any visitors in here,” he said.

Donghae watched as Heechul walked in with a basket of fruits. He walked with that usual authority shining around him.

“What are you doing here?” Donghae questioned.

“Chief Kang told me to drop by in case you get lonely, but it doesn’t seem like you’re very lonely,” Heechul said glancing at Eunhyuk then smiled toward Victoria.

“Chief Kang?” Donghae repeated.

“Of course,” Heechul said standing beside the bed with his hands held behind his back as if he were some sort of body guard on duty. “We ran into each other at an investigation site. I guess you won’t be able to handle 5 things at once this time around eh?”

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” asked Donghae without any sound of sarcasm in his voice.

Heechul just smiled, “Looks like I can kill two birds with a stone today.”

The whole room remained in silence. Eunhyuk glanced back and forth between his friend and the stranger who had just walked in. Why wasn’t Donghae introducing them to each other?  

“Victoria,” Heechul suddenly called.

Victoria’s stare on him hardened a bit as both Donghae and Eunhyuk glanced at her then back to Heechul. Why had he addressed her by her first name so casually? It wasn’t as if she didn’t recognize him as the person who’d approached her at the funeral but had they been friends before? Victoria couldn’t recall.

“Can I talk to you?” Heechul asked.

“Y…yea.” she said getting up from where she was sitting.

“You two can talk in here. It’s the same as out there anyway,” Donghae said.

Eunhyuk glanced from Donghae to Victoria then to the stranger whose name he didn’t know. Was it just him or was there a feeling of awkwardness in the room?

“I’d like to talk privately, detective,” Heechul clarified mocking Donghae.

He could recall the time when Donghae had clearly ignored him and walked into Victoria’s apartment to speak to her and hadn’t bothered to tell him what he’d asked her. For a moment he wondered if he was annoying Donghae because he had no intention of doing so. However, Heechul was annoying Donghae.