65
Defence
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“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Yoona said over the phone before hanging up.
Victoria turned around just as the door unlocked and Taecyeon walked through. Maybe it was just her eyesight but she thought he had put some extra effort into looking nice. She didn’t compliment him but turned away and turned off the TV.
“Not even going to say hi?” he asked.
Victoria shrugged feeling her face flush, “Morning.”
She could feel him laugh at her from behind because he knew the reason why she was trying to act cool.
“Did you eat?” he questioned looking into the kitchen.
“You mean, are you ready?” Victoria rephrased finally turning around.
Their eyes met and Victoria felt embarrassed for a moment before he smiled comfortably.
“Then why are you stalling?” he wondered opening the door.
Victoria looked at him and walked through the door and down the stairs. When she got outside she turned around and waited for him to come out. Once he did, Victoria found herself walking toward him and linked arms with him.
“What are you doing?” he wondered surprised.
“Etiquette.” Victoria replied.
“Etiquette?” he repeated as if he didn’t understand.
Victoria nodded. “Why? You don’t like it?”
She began removing her arm but he quickly took a hold of her and smiled.
“Did I say I didn’t like it?” he smiled. “If you get lost I won’t come looking for you, that’s for sure, so hold on tight.”
Victoria snorted in reply and they continued walking down the street. It was just a basic small talk at first but Victoria found herself enjoying it. Glancing around in the early morning she discovered that they were the only couple walking through a crowd of people hurrying off to their jobs or others walking to grab breakfast in a small shop.
“Do you have anything planned for today?” asked Taecyeon.
“No.”
“But you’re the one who asked for a date. You should have at least something planned.”
“I never thought about it.” Victoria replied.
“Then lets just walk while you decide,” he suggested.
“Ok.”
Victoria glanced across the street to see a ticket booth and recalled the theater she’d gone to on her first date with Donghae. She turned to look at the small smile on Taecyeon’s face while he browsed the streets. No, she didn’t want to do something with Taecyeon that she’d done with Donghae before. So, the theater and the arcade were off the list. What else was there? She didn’t know. She had no clue about what couples did on dates, where they went, and how they had fun. Victoria had already decided that just walking beside him made her feel relaxed.
“Dogs!!!” he surprised her with his shout.
He pulled her into the pet store and in a few minutes she was browsing the aisles of dog toys and food. She stared at the rawhide on the shelves as they walked pass. Even the sight of fish tanks made her jaw drop in awe. She’d never seen such things before. They passed cages of hamsters, rats, gerbils, and plenty of other supplies for pets. At the back they finally came across more dogs and cats locked in their respective areas.
“Why are they locked up? Will they get in trouble if they come out? How do we let them out?” Victoria wondered practically pressing her face against the glass while the puppy behind tried to claw at her.
“It’s not a bad thing,” he explained, “do you want to touch one of them? We can ask to see it.”
“Really?!” she gasped. “But it’s ok. Just looking at it is fine.”
“I always wanted a dog,” Taecyeon told staring at the toy poodle in front of them. “Do you know that a lot of dogs are abandoned by their owners when they get older?”
Victoria finally turned to glance at him. He had a forlorn expression on his face. He looked so sorry yet passionate about the dog.
“People only buy them when they’re puppies because they’re cute and adorable but when they get older they get thrown away because they’re not cute anymore. It’s a cruel act,” he went on.
Victoria turned away from him and stared at the dogs before her. To be loved for the first half of one’s life then be tossed into an unknown world without protection was a hard thing to cope with.
“Where are you going?” Taecyeon’s voice followed her out.
She came to a stop only when she realized that she’d stepped out of the shop, “Because you look sad in there.”
“What?”
Victoria glanced at him then turned but before taking the lead, he took a hold of her hand.
“Before we do anything else, lets talk.”
A few minutes later they were sitting on a red bench facing an empty playground with the sun behind them. The low whistling of the wind gently hit her ears as she wondered what it was that he wanted to talk about.
“I just want to apologize if I did anything that hurt you the other night,” he began.
“Oh,” Victoria said understanding what he wanted to say. “You surprised me but it’s ok. Just don’t come over when you’re drunk again.”
Victoria looked down at the ground then turned to him again.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“What?” he turned to look at her surprised.
“That you grew up like that. I didn’t know and I thought everybody who had parents grew up well and happy,” Victoria explained, “so I never thought…”
“It’s fine,” he cut her off. “It’s not a lot to talk about so I never said anything.”
Looking at him Victoria felt that Taecyeon would do perfectly fine by himself again. It would give her no guilt to leave him. The only thing she felt sorry about was that she was unable to show him the feelings she wanted to show. But it relieved her to know that Taecyeon would be able to move on after she disappeared.
“But what’s peculiar, is why you wanted a date today.” Taecyeon commented. “Isn’t it suspicious? You’re really out of the ordinary.”
“Just…I wanted to spend the day with you.” she replied.
Taecyeon laughed and turned away to look at the playground. She would certainly miss him when she left. But she would never forget his smile nor his kindness. Just once, just once she wanted to show him that she cared. Some affection for herself and for him. A second later Victoria leaned over and gave him a slow peck on the lips. When she opened her eyes she saw that he had his eyes held wide open in shock. She began go move back but his hand gripped her arm holding her in spot. Leaning forward he gave her another kiss. In a moment Victoria found her hand sliding over his.
After the park they grabbed some lunch at a sandwich shop then went window shopping but bought nothing. They stopped by the mart on the way home and made dinner together back at the apartment. When they finished washing dishes together they finally realized that it was late into the night. Grabbing his jacket Victoria followed him outside. She wanted to watch him drive his car off. It wasn’t a farewell if she had just stayed in the apartment and watched him leave.
“Why are you coming out? Go back in,” Taecyeon told, “it’s cold.”
“Is sending you off wrong?” Victoria questioned.
Taecyeon eyed her then smiled. Sticking a hand in his pocket he waved at her and wished her goodnight before walking off with both hands inside the pockets of his jacket. Victoria watched him walk toward his car feeling disappointed that it’d be the last time she would see him but she didn’t regret it because she’d had him to herself for the whole day. Was this what it felt like losing a first love?
Her mind kicked off in wonder when Taecyeon wheeled around and walked back toward her.
“I forgot something,” he told.
Victoria was about to ask what when he suddenly leaned forward and kissed her.
“I’ll see you again,” he said before walking off.
Victoria felt her heart jump out of her chest excitedly. Taecyeon’s car lights shone in the dark and she noticed snow falling down from the sky. They looked like flour being poured down from the sky…white rain marking the end of a lover’s meeting.
Her feet moved forward. She wanted to chase after him. She didn’t want to let him go yet. Her heart raced in a momentary pattern. As his car began toward the street she started at a slow jog after him then her slow jog transitioned into a run. She watched her breath freeze in the air before she finally stopped realizing that she couldn’t chase him. It was a selfish move to try and hold him back for herself.
“Don’t go…” the words escaped before she bent over with hands on her knees.
Her eyes opened when she saw a bright light shining on the ground. Standing back up she heard the car door close and someone walk over. The headlights were blinding her from where she was standing and she couldn’t make out who it was that had come.
“Why are you chasing after my car? Are you crazy? You could get hurt!” Taecyeon’s voice rushed through her ears.
It was so shocking, so touching, so great that he had come back. She wanted time to freeze as her heart paused. Under the swirling white rain she couldn’t move. Victoria wanted to cry and she wanted to cry in front of him. She could feel him waiting for her answer as he stood in front of her. Taecyeon suddenly reached out to grab her arm and pulled her into a tight hug locking her within his arms.
“You’re making me feel scared for some reason,” he told burying his head into her shoulder.
Victoria couldn’t mutter anything for the fear that she’d start bawling like a baby so she just silently leaned against him with the desire to not let go.
***As to who Victoria really loves, I have no opinon and no answer to that. It's your opinion who she really loves. But as fayeluccie143 says maybe Victoria possibly fell in love with both men at the same time, just at different levels.
***And Victoria chasing after Taec's car. It's going to be something that'll stay in his mind for a long, long time. It's something as we know she wouldn't do
***"People only buy them when they’re puppies because they’re cute and adorable but when they get older they get thrown away because they’re not cute anymore." <---- this is something I learned from my brother who's currently studying in South Korea right now. It's a fact
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