They waited until they were given permission to see Heechul. He was still unconscious when they walked into the asylum-like room. An air respirator tube was tucked over his mouth to help him breathe. Heechul must have been through a lot of pain before falling unconcious. The stabbing incident…he felt sorry Victoria had to witness it but it was a good thing she didn’t discover his dead body. Putting an arm around her shoulder he led her out of the room and turned to thank Eunhyuk for keeping her company.

“I made sure Hee Sun was at home before coming,” Donghae informed.

Eunhyuk nodded, “I’ll see you later.” Then he turned to Victoria, "Don't feel too upset, things will be fine now that Hae is here."

Donghae watched him go before he turned to Victoria who returned his glance. A mix of emotions and questions aroused on her face.

“Where were you? I couldn’t contact you,” she said.

Donghae brushed her hair aside then bit his bottom lip before saying, “Sorry. I was on a job.”

She just stared at him and he knew she didn't quite believe him.

“I found some unpleasant things I need to talk about.”

“What.” she didn’t sound excited.

“Lets go somewhere else.” he suggested predicting an argument.

They stopped by the riverside and got out to feel the fresh wind coming from the large dark waves about half an hour later. The dark clouds overhead were nowhere to be seen and the waves crashed against the shore endlessly. They were silent as if they were meeting up for the first time in years.

“You once told me you went to China,” Donghae started turning to her while leaning against the bumper of his car. “In high school, correct?”

Victoria slowly nodded after almost hesitating. Donghae eyed her with a strong desire to hear the utmost truth from her. She had never been honest with him from the start and because of that he ended up digging deeper and deeper into her life. And because of that she would always end up angry with him. Was it his fault for finding out things he shouldn't have found or was it her fault for not telling him the truth?

“What did you go there for?”

Victoria was quiet as if she were searching into the depths of her memory for the correct answer. The truth...he just wanted to hear it. He only wanted her to tell him that she'd been to rehab, that she had a hard time growing up and being alone-he didn't need to hear about her misery in Hangzhou, he just wanted her to tell him that she'd been admitted to rehab and that was all he needed from her. The desire to end the case silently and to make sure she was safe, that was his desire for now and after all ended he'd want to do more for her later.

“School.” she replied.

He knew she’d lie. The disappointment he felt hit him hard. He hadn’t expected her to tell him the truth because she never did.

“Are you lying? Or will you tell me the truth?” he asked still keeping his eyes on her.

Victoria’s face expression hardened, “Why do you want to know?”

Bad memories. He felt sorry to talk about it but it couldn’t be avoided. Turning to face her he reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out the picture handing it to her.

“Take it back with you and look at it.” he told.

Victoria reached for it and stuck it into the pocket of her sweater without looking at it. He watched her gesture feeling even more disappointed. He had some amount of trust he'd given to her, but she wasn't looking at his trust.

“Are you angry?” he asked.

“Where have you been?” she turned to him with her hair flowing in the air.

“China.” he slowly answered.

The expression on her face became that of surprise then transitioned into anger and suspicion.

“What were you doing there?” her voice was still calm as if she were holding back all of her anger.

“At 18 you went to a rehabilitation center, did you or did you not?” he asked.

She eyed him, yet she didn't say anything.

“Is it so hard for you to say you were having a hard time so you went for help?” Donghae questioned slightly turning his head. “Is it so hard for you to lay down your pride, your stubbornness to tell me you had a hard time growing up? I’m not just someone, I’ll be here for you.”

Victoria allowed his words to sink in and he hoped she'd change her story.

“Why did you go there?” was all he got from her.

Donghae just stared at her almost completely lost.

“Why!” she shouted. “You don’t need to know anything!”

He stood there and felt her push him.

“If I asked you, would you have told me?” he questioned leaving her to stare at him silently. “You wouldn’t.” he told. “You would never tell me so I went to find the answer myself. Don’t get angry at me.”

“You didn’t need to know.”

“Even if I don’t need to know I will find this out sooner or later. How long do you intend to keep everything from me?” he asked after a sigh. “Forever?”

Victoria could only focus on the anger burning in her. Why didn’t he understand her? Why couldn’t she understand him?

“He hurt you. You were young, you were scared,” Donghae stated, “it’s your life, it’s your business. I know that. But can’t you trust me? I won’t get you hurt, I won’t leave you. If you hope for something I’ll do my best to make it happen. So, can’t you tell me just a little bit about yourself instead of letting me find it all out by myself? I trust you, I believe in you, and I really hope you can tell me your past and your feelings. So I want you to trust in me too, I'll do everything to the best of my ability to ensure your safety and happiness. I'm not perfect, neither are you, it's a part of us humans that we should have flaws. I know you've done things, people have wronged you, but I don't care because you're you.”

He reached for her hand but she took a step back and he felt his heart break.

“Leave me alone. Just being with you…hurts me too.” she said before turning around to walk away.

Donghae watched her go helplessly. If he ran after her now she’d never have time to think things through. He still believed that in the end she’d eventually turn back to him.

/////

Headache. Headache. Headache. Why, of all things, did he have to discover about her rehab? Even if she wanted to tell him the words would never come from . She didn’t want him to know about anything that had happened to her. She wanted him to see her as a good person. She didn’t want him to know any part of her horrible past.

When she got home she took Melodix out and returned back inside turning the lights off and found some candles. Lighting them she sat like that for a few hours and finally felt the picture in her pocket. She was tired. All these events of those around her disappearing made her exhausted. Was she really killing off everyone around her? Had it been the right decision to come to Seoul? She’d thought of it before but then had decided she wanted to stay, but now…she wasn’t so sure anymore.

Finally pulling out the picture she saw the rehab she’d dreamt of many times after leaving. It gave her goosebumps and nothing from the place was worth remembering. Suddenly feeling chills Victoria looked up and around. A second after she heard Melodix barking furiously and that was when she noticed him.

Memories blurred her mind of 4 years ago during her second year there that he jumped on her. Squirming under him hearing her own heart in her ears while he had tried to undress her. The memory made her want to puke.

He slowly stepped out from the shadows and Victoria stood up from where she was sitting taking a step back. His face…had aged, but he literally looked the same. She would have never forgotten the look in his eyes when he attacked her that evening. Her heart reached her ears and she knew she had no where to run. He was coming for her from the corner next to the front door. She would never make it to the door without him reaching for her first.

Running back toward the kitchen to possibly grab something to hit him she heard his steps coming after her. He grabbed the hood of her sweater pulling her back and just as he pulled her back she grabbed his arms biting him. Melodix’s shriek filled her ears when he gave a loud shout. When he released her she felt her back hit the window and recalling that she didn’t have a lock on the window she could just push it up and climb through to escape. Pulling the curtain away while he regained himself she tore the curtain to the side and began to push the window when she felt something hard crash against her head.

/////

“These, and these, and these,” Chief Kang tossed the pictures down before him. “Kim Heechul shot all these. All the evidence we need to know that he’s been keeping an eye on her 24/7.”

Donghae stared at the pictures of the pictures of Victoria. Her stalker was crazy.

“This is far beyond obsession,” Chief Kang said.

Worried filled his mind. Victoria could be in danger.

“She’s in danger,” Chief Kang read his mind, “and you could be in danger as well. You, Eunhyuk, and Kim Heechul are his targets." He paused a bit. "No, Eunhyuk has already been his target, but it was an unsuccessful attempt. Now he may want you all to disappear because he doesn’t like you being around her. There’s a big possibility that he was the one that tried to kill Kim Heechul.”

Donghae glanced at the chief.

“If I talk to her she wouldn’t listen to me right now.” Donghae told.

“I’ll call her.” he offered grabbing the phone on his desk.

The phone rang and rang and rang.

“She’s not picking up.” Chief Kang told hanging up. “What happened?”

“We just had an argument,” Donghae replied. “I’ll call her in the morning.”

And when he called in the morning she didn’t answer. The chief had gone to the hospital and reported that Kim Heechul was still out cold. He called her late afternoon but only reached her voicemail. Chief Kang had asked for a search warrant by then and by evening Kim Heechul had awoken.