52
Defence
- - - - -
Taecyeon was unsettled when he returned to work. The fact that he hadn’t had lunch didn’t bother him, but the fact that Victoria had decided to go out with Donghae made him worry. How would she fare along the way? What if she suddenly collapsed and he started questioning her about how she got shot?
As the hours went by he tried organizing his thoughts so he could lecture her when he returned to the apartment.
When he arrived back to the apartment he found Victoria sitting alone on the couch. What caught his attention was that the television wasn’t on and the lights were off. Even though the sunlight flew in through the window it still seemed pretty dark inside. There was an air of light tension and eerie sadness that floated about.
He stared at her to find that her consciousness wasn’t completely there. Even as she stared at the ground her eyes held a complexion of confusion. Closing the door and taking his shoes off, he stood there waiting for her to turn and look at him, but she didn’t turn.
“What’s with the face?” he asked turning the lights on.
Victoria turned to look at him and slowly stood up. What was it that was running through her mind? She thought for a moment that if he were to hug her she would gladly hold him back. That some comfort would work right then…but even if she was thinking about it her body wouldn’t move. She couldn’t go to him. He wasn’t a person she could freely turn to.
“Yah,” he started before his phone began ringing.
Victoria watched as he glanced at the caller ID on his phone but didn’t answer.
Something was wrong. Something was definitely bothering her. It was something she wasn’t about to tell him, he could tell. He didn’t want to answer the phone and delay her announcement.
“Who is it?” Victoria asked. “Is it Yoona?”
Taecyeon felt a small surprise hit him. How had she known?
“Answer it.”
Taecyeon glanced at her then moved his eyes toward the screen of his phone. What to do?
“Hello?” he finally answered.
“Are you free? You’re off from work, right?” Yoona asked.
Taecyeon glanced at Victoria, “Yea.”
“Can we meet up?” she questioned. “My treat.”
“I…” he started.
Of course he wanted to deny the offer because he was desperate to find out Victoria’s problem. But if she refused to tell him maybe he could get Yoona to find out instead. It seemed like a pretty good deal.
“Sure, where are you?”
After he departed from the apartment he found Yoona sitting inside a casual restaurant. Completing the order of a club sandwich, some fries, and a soda he joined her at the rectangular table. Yoona smiled at him when he sat down.
“I hope everything’s going fine for you if you haven’t had a busy day,” she greeted.
“Always the same,” he answered, “you look really relaxed. You enjoying yourself?”
“Obviously,” she replied. “How’s Victoria?”
The moment she asked about Victoria he felt his expression go stiff as he recalled that she had walked off with Donghae earlier.
“She must be doing pretty great,” he sarcastically remarked.
“What?” Yoona asked noticing the sarcasm in his voice. “Did something happen?”
He grabbed a few fries and tossed them into his mouth then sipped on the straw of his soda. “I don’t know.”
Yoona glanced at him hoping that he wasn’t showing signs of jealousy. As much as she wanted to refrain from that thought she still was sure of what she was seeing. A pang of disappointment disheartened her.
“She went out earlier,” Taecyeon finally said, “and came back troubled. She probably won’t tell me what’s bothering her, however, I’m sure she might confide in you. Can you try to figure out what’s bothering her?”
Yoona stared at him. Was he going to use her?
“I also have something to talk to you about,” Yoona started.
“What is it?”
“I don’t think it’s safe for you to stay at the apartment with Victoria. It’ll be better for the two of you if you live separately,” Yoona suggested.
Taecyeon felt his jaws tense up at hearing that again. “Why? Did Victoria ask you to tell me this by any chance?”
Yoona hesitated, “It’s really the best for now. It’ll be better than having the both of you in danger.”
“You think?” Taecyeon sounded a bit angry.
“They know where you are. If they find you again and hold you hostage you might not be so lucky as to survive,” Yoona started.
“So what?! As long as she doesn’t get hurt it’ll be fine if something were to happen to me instead,” Taecyeon said.
Yoona was taken aback. How dare he say that? Was he even aware of what he was saying? Did he have to express his feelings so freely?
Yoona bit her tongue in order to stay on track, “Look, think of it this way. Even if you’re dead they’re still going to be after Victoria. And that’s not going to prevent them from annihilating her. How are you going to help her if you’re dead?”
Taecyeon moved back in his seat and Yoona could tell that he had never thought of it that way. She was glad to have pointed that out. She didn’t want to lose him, either.
“My uncle owns an apartment just 20 minutes away from where your apartment is. That sounds good, doesn’t it?” Yoona questioned.
Taecyeon glanced at her. He didn’t want to take the offer nor did he want to leave his own apartment.
“It’s better for you both,” Yoona insisted. “I’m just as worried as you are. Victoria’s not well, but as I’ve said before, she’s not one to be weak.”
“A person can only tolerate so much pain, Yoona,” Taecyeon pointed out, “Victoria could be at her limit. What if she collapses and no one’s around?”
He had a point but then on the other hand it wasn’t a point.
Yoona went on, “We’re going to be stopping by to check on her a million times a day, aren’t we? I know you’re going to do that and I’m going to do it as well. If she were to collapse, we’d find her right away.”
Taecyeon turned away upset at her remark.
“Please,” Yoona begged, “I promise that if you do this, I’ll try to talk to her and find out what’s bothering her. That’s a deal between us, alright?”
He glanced at her again.
After a long moment of self debate he decided, “Ok. I’ll move out…but only after I’m sure that she’ll be alright alone.”
Yoona nodded. Was it hard for him to understand that she was just as worried as he was? It was like they were having a competition over protecting Victoria. And in that competition, Taecyeon was slowly exceeding her.
- - - - -
Too many thoughts vibrated through her mind. Maybe she was aware of what she actually wanted but it was hard to convey it in words. And for some reason she was beginning to feel bad if she hurt them one way or another. But how could she prevent that guilt from forming in the first place? She didn’t know how because she didn’t quite understand guilt in the first place.
She cleared the table of the food Taecyeon had prepared for her lunch but instead of eating it, she’d gone out with Donghae. After washing the dishes she found her spot on the couch and the TV. A few minutes of relaxation did it for her before she felt her eyes closing. As if on cue, the door opened and Taecyeon returned.
“Did you eat?” was the first thing he asked.
She nodded lazily with her head against the cushion of the pillow.
“Are you feeling any better?” he asked taking his shoes off.
“All good.” she replied.
He walked over to her and sat down by her casually as if they were old friends. She turned to look at him and without warning grabbed his arm pushing him forward. His back muscles tensed up and he let out a loud shout from the pain.
“Ah!! What are you doing?” he demanded unable to push himself back up because of the strength she possessed.
Victoria ran her hand over the back of his head to feel a high bump. She could imagine just how hard So Young must have hit him with the of her gun. Taecyeon let out another terrorizing scream and pushed her away. Sitting back up he stared at her putting a hand up to the back of his head to block it from her rough touch.
“What are you doing?!” he demanded scrunching his face up.
“Just wanted to see how hard your head is,” she lied.
“Why?” he wondered. “You obviously know the back of my head is bruised.”
“I don’t obviously know.” she stated.
“What do you mean? You saw her hit me.”
“Sure I did.” Victoria agreed. “It wasn’t an intent to kill but an intent to scare me. It didn’t seem that big of a deal. It was just a plain hit.”
“Plain hit.” he snorted. “You say it as if it’s nothing.”
“It’s nothing when you compare it to the gun that could have blown your brain to pieces,” Victoria pointed out. “Be glad you only garnered a bruise through the process.”
They were silent. Neither spoke a word. The only noise that drifted through the air currents were the voices coming from the television.
“Do you ever feel sorry that you know so much about me?” Victoria asked, her voice quiet.
Taecyeon glanced at her through the corner of his eyes to find that Victoria was leaning back into the couch with eyes slightly closed.
“I don’t blame you if you’re ever scared of me,” she went on, “to be honest, I’m scared of myself.”
“Do you feel sorry because I got hurt in the process? Would you be sorry if I suddenly feared you?” he wondered.
Silence. Just as he expected.
“If I suddenly killed her in front of you, you would be afraid of me.”
His heart stung from her comment. He knew, though, that Victoria had no intention of killing So Young. If so, she would have drawn her gun from the beginning to get rid of So Young exactly, but Victoria had waited until she was almost done for. And in the end Victoria was the one who had almost died.
“If it makes you feel better, in order for you not to be sorry that I would fear you, I’ll move out.” Taecyeon told.
Though it was a relief to hear that she didn’t show it. Instead she closed her eyes and listened to the voices coming from the television as it filled the room with happy chatter.
- - - - -
Yoona brushed a hand through her long hair as she sat at the desk inside her room. It wasn’t something to stress over but her stampeding disappointment in Taecyeon’s lack of attention toward her was always taking an unexpected toll on her. She didn’t resent Victoria, it was the only truth that the man she was fond of seemed to have feelings for Victoria that hurt her in their friendship.
Tucking her hand underneath her chin Yoona recalled Taecyeon’s favor of her. She recalled him saying something about Victoria going out earlier in the day. Victoria had no real reason to go out unless Donghae had taken her out for lunch. Or had something happened between the three of them that seemed to bother Victoria? Yoona didn’t know how to think of it. Her ex-fiancé and the present person in her life. Those two facts spun in her mind.
But then…Yoona suddenly thought, had Donghae said something to Victoria? A few days ago she remembered Donghae telling her that his mother would approve of a marriage for him and Victoria.
Yoona felt her lower jaw drop slowly.
***Woohoot!! I completed Defence on word with a total of 404 pages!!! =DD Now all I have left to do is copy and paste updates on here!!
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