- - - - -

Taecyeon stared down at the dishes on the kitchen table satisfactorily and smiled. Walking out of the kitchen he headed toward the large window behind the TV and glanced outside. There was no sign of Victoria. He had called her a few minutes ago but no one had picked up. Taking another sigh he turned around and walked into the kitchen hoping that the food wouldn’t go cold before she got back.

When his phone rang he answered almost immediately, “Ah…Yoona.”

“Is Victoria there?”

“No, she said she had somewhere to go and hasn’t returned yet.”

“Do you know…if by any chance Donghae is with her?”

“Lee Donghae?” Taecyeon repeated the name. “Are you looking for him?”

“Yea,” she replied, “I feel like I want to talk to him. His mother was over earlier, I’m afraid I may have gotten him into trouble.”

For a moment Yoona wondered why she had gone into detail about it.

“I’ll go see. If I see them I’ll let him know.” Taecyeon said and paused then went on, “Is everything ok?”

“I’m fine.” Yoona paused and hesitated as if she wanted to say something. “That’s all. Thanks.”

Taecyeon hung up and headed down the stairs. He guessed he had no choice but to go look for the two. By saying she had somewhere to go, did she mean that she had to go see him?

He walked down the street and stopped when he saw a black car parked by the sidewalk. Glancing into the car he turned to search around the area hoping to find them near. When he turned around he saw the two of them emerge from beyond the thicket of trees. A feeling of curiosity overwhelmed him when he noticed that Donghae was treating Victoria to a piggyback ride. And as if Donghae had sensed him he looked straight toward him coming to a stop.

“Yah,” Taecyeon called, “get off.”

Victoria looked up and Donghae gently let her down. Taecyeon made his way over and glanced at her before turning to Donghae.

“Yoona’s looking for you,” he told. “I think you should go see her.”

Donghae stared back then turned to Victoria calmly.

“I’ll see you again.” he said to her.

Victoria nodded with a smile and watched as he walked off. With one last glance toward her Donghae got into his car and drove down the road. When the car disappeared she turned back to look at Taecyeon.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he replied.

Victoria walked pass him and stopped when she heard, “Don’t you think you should say thanks in person?”

She turned around with an eyebrow raised, “What?”

“That stupid note you left the other day,” Taecyeon went on, “don’t you think it’s more meaningful if you say it in person?”

Victoria glanced down the empty road before turning back to him, “Why do you even bother to let me stay? Do you feel sorry? Is it sympathy or pity?”

“Yah,” he called seriously.

Victoria stared at him blankly.

“Do you like him? That guy, you like him, don’t you?”

Victoria swallowed the saliva in . The earth spun underneath her as the wind howled in silence.  

“Stop holding yourself back, it gets harder to look at you when you try to hide. Don’t run either. You keep thinking that you can’t return to normal so you think you don’t belong here, but I can tell you that you most certainly belong here. Sometimes, I wonder why I had to run into you that night, but now I know that if I hadn’t run you over I would probably still be lonely right now. In a way you really did help fill that gap I’d been feeling. It’s the truth, about why I let you stay. So don’t think of going anywhere else.” he honestly said. “If you like him, stay here so you can like him until the end. Along with the others, I don’t want to see you go.”

“Did you decide not to report me because of that, too?” she asked.

“Consider yourself lucky that in this short period I trust you,” he replied.

Victoria smiled and glanced at her feet joking, “Did you happen to see all that written on my face?”

“It’s what I sense from you.”

Victoria laughed and walked pass him.

- - - - -

Yoona was sitting on the doorsteps to the foyer when Donghae arrived. He looked as charming as always. His long strides covering a large amount of ground with his hands tucked inside the pockets of his black Burberry coat.

“What are you doing outside? It’s cold,” the first part of his greeting sounded more like a statement rather than a question of worry.

“Unless you can’t take it, we can go sit inside,” Yoona suggested.

He exhaled loudly sitting down beside her.

“I was told that you were looking for me,” he started.

“Did I interrupt your date by any chance?” she teased.

“Date?” he looked at her questionably then admitted, “No, we were done anyway. So what’s going on?”

“Your mother came by earlier,” Yoona explained, “she’s persistent with the wedding, but I told her we already broke off. She didn’t take it too well. I’m afraid she’s not giving up on it.”

Donghae smiled staring ahead at the setting sun, “She’s like that. Give her some time and she’ll be completely over it.”

“Lets hope that’s the case,” Yoona said picking at her nails.

The air around them emerged in silence.

Donghae finally spoke up, “I don’t feel that this is what you wanted to say. I’ll listen, so don’t hold back.”

Yoona brushed her hair aside and tried not to look at him, “I know I was hard on you but I have to agree that you were more sincere about our relationship. I lose to you on that. And you’re right, I never really turned to look at you. I should have chosen you over work, but I never did. I was wrong. I do always end up chasing idiots on the street.

“I’m not done yet, in fact I’m having the hardest time accepting what I see. I try to be cool about the fact that the wedding was really cancelled but it pains me more than I can show. My pride gets in the way a lot. I think you know that.

After Victoria appeared…honestly, I wanted to resent her, but I was overwhelmed with all these emotions.”

Of course, Donghae was clear that Yoona wasn’t aware he knew about her and Victoria. It had been something her dad had told him behind her back.

“I…just want to apologize for not being there when you needed me. Sorry, Hae.” Yoona apologized.

“I don’t need you to say that,” he told. “I’m glad that we’re here. Still together, on a part.”

Yoona smiled lightly at the glowing pink sun outlining the sky in a series of yellow to orange.

“And I wonder, is there a reason why you’re suddenly apologizing?”

“It’s just…I realize how cowardly I’ve become after returning from Kwangju. When I see someone do their best for another person it makes me feel like I should pay more attention to the world than just my own empty space. From a certain person, I feel like I should move forward courageously.”

“Who’s that? This certain person that you’re talking about?” Donghae wondered. “Ok Taecyeon?”

Yoona managed a little laugh feeling embarrassed and shy for some reason.

“I didn’t know you two were on close terms.” Donghae voiced his thoughts.

“We’re just friends.” she explained. “Actually…he’s a really nice guy. He can adjust himself to make anyone comfortable. I think one of his strongest points is he never turns away from a person no matter what they say to him. His ears are always open.”

Yoona was silent then said so quietly that he thought she was whispering, “What if he likes someone?”

Donghae turned to look at her feeling surprised by her sudden expression of emotions. The Yoona he knew before didn’t express her hurt nor disappointment, but he was sure that right then Yoona sounded a bit sad.

“What do I do?” Yoona worried with a frown on her face as she turned to look at him. “What do I do…if I like him too?”

An utter surprise overwhelmed him. It had been a thought he’d never thought about.

- - - - -

“Honey,” Donghae’s elegant mother came to a stop with pacing back and forth in front of the roaring fireplace and turned to her husband silently relaxing in his recliner, “do we have a famous Estate Owner in Seoul?”

“An Estate Owner?” he repeated looking up from the gray build of newspaper between his fingers. “Ah…Chairman Song? He retired some 10, 12 years ago. What’s the matter? Why are you suddenly bringing him up?”

“He already retired? Is he old?” Donghae’s mother glanced at her husband curiously with eyebrows raised.

“He should be in his late 50’s or early 60’s.”

“That young? And he’s retired?”

“Don’t you remember?” Donghae’s dad asked.

“Remember what?”

“It was all over the news 14 years ago.” he started. “His daughter disappeared before he retired from the business circle.”

“Really? They never found her?”

“She was never found.” he sympathized. “If it was our Donghae, I would have done the same.”

“Then…the Song family…they must have a lot of land.”

“Of course,” her husband agreed, “their home is even bigger than ours. We can’t even compare our fortune.”

Donghae’s mother was left in awe.

After her husband had climbed up the stairs to get some sleep she was left alone in the gathering room. While listening to the fire flicker she recalled Yoona’s words from earlier.

“What if this street girl miraculously turns out to be the daughter of a famous Estate owner?”

Was it definitely true? Or was it just a coincidence that she’d said those words? Donghae’s mother couldn’t stop her curiosity from growing. When the door opened and closed she shot up from the couch and poked her head into the hallway to see Donghae making his way in.