- - - - -

“Anything new? Any progress about the case?” Donghae asked sitting down behind his desk.

“No, sir. The Director hasn’t showed up anywhere. He’s really gone into hiding.” his secretary explained. “I fear he’s really sold the imported wine.”

“Keep following his bank account. He’ll have to withdraw money sooner or later.” Donghae ordered. “Did Ok Taecyeon come in for work?”

“Yes, he did sir. He’s down by the reception right now,” Secretary Jung started. “Do you want to call him up?”

Donghae thought about it for a minute, “No. I’m heading out.”

“But you just got in, sir.”

“Does it matter? There’s nothing to do.”

“What about this afternoon’s meeting?”

“It’s been cancelled.”

“It has?” his secretary seemed clueless.

“Have you checked your phone calls, Secretary Jung?” Donghae asked.

“Sorry, sir.”

Donghae pressed his lips together and walked out. He rode the elevator down with a blank mind thoughtlessly. As he exited the elevator and walked out of the short hallway he easily spotted Taecyeon standing by the desk out on the lookout for the people entering and exiting the building. Taecyeon looked very concentrated until the moment he turned see Donghae walk down the hall. They stared at each other until Donghae smiled and exited out the doors.

“Now where to go?” Donghae wondered as he unlocked his car.

- - - - -

After Taecyeon left Victoria sat around feeling suffocated in the tiny apartment. After staring at the television screen for some 10 minutes she turned the TV off and headed out the door. Down the white staircase she opened the white door and stepped out. Before turning onto the road she stared at the gymnasium door ahead of her. Twisting the doorknob she found that the door had been securely locked. For what reason did nobody ever use it? She peeked in to find an empty gym with some mats and a punching bag sitting in the corner and two basketball hoops at the opposite ends of the gym.

“It’d be a good workout,” she told herself thinking of breaking down the door but paused. “How many times are you going to give yourself away?”

She let go of the doorknob feeling her hands itch to hit something or to grab her gun and shoot at a tree. Victoria shook her head to calm the rushing of her blood. She wasn’t used to this silent, still kind of life. It had taken a while for her to come accustomed to the life of everyday fighting competitions and now that she was finally away from it, it was hard to adjust to the life of a normal citizen.  

Minutes later she found herself walking down the long empty road where only a few cars passed her every few other minutes. She paused once to glance at the thick trees she’d come running out from before Taecyeon crashed into her. Turning away from the memory she continued down the road and soon found herself in the heart of Seoul traveling just like a commoner. Instead of the people and the buildings passing by like swirls of colors, the cars raced by in blurs. They were utterly fast.

Shops stood nearby and foot stalls everywhere on the side roads. Victoria was tempted once or twice to steal and run but had stopped herself when she saw two young girls feeding on fish cakes nearby. The view made close up and her heart throbbed meaninglessly.

“I don’t want to eat too much. What if I get fat and don’t get in at the audition?”

“Just use makeup. Makeup covers everything up.”

“Are you sure? Then next week I’ll be counting on you.”

“Of course, and if you make it big make me your stylist.”

But that next week Victoria had disappeared…

Someone rushed passed her and she heard an old woman shrieking behind her.

“Someone help! Help!! Thief!!”

Everyone gasped and started snickering but no one made a move whatsoever. Victoria stared down through the small pathway that the others had paved for the thief.

“My purse! All my cash!!”

Victoria stared, blinked, but no thought crossed her mind. A second later her feet moved as if on instinct and she whizzed pass the others. She’d been running everyday since she’d been thrown into that dungeon that scarred her mind. And she was sure she was moving fast because she wasn’t able to see anyone beside her but only spinning circles of colorful heads. Just a few feet before the intersection she grabbed the thief’s shoulder with a sharp intent to kill, however, she felt herself freeze as their eyes met.

“Jung Mo,” the name escaped .

He stared with a cold face then smiled pushing the bag into her arms, “You better watch out. This is only a warning. Jung Min and So Young will be returning from Kwangju soon. It’d be a shame if you let your guard down so fast. Beat them and come back because I sure hate those two as much as you do.”

Victoria bit onto her tongue and watched as he ran down the street disappearing into the dark crowd ahead. Her feet didn’t move after him even when her brain screamed for her to do so. Feet scurried behind her and a voice broke into her head.

“Thank goodness! Young lady, you’re so fast! Thank you!” the old woman huffed as she grabbed her bag from Victoria.

Without turning to the woman to listen to the rest of her thanks Victoria turned around the corner dazed.

She didn’t know, now, what to do. For the first time in her life someone had told her to come back. Even as much as she wanted to return to the hell hole the only reason she had was to get her revenge on those idiots who’d betrayed her. There was no heartfelt desire to go back and live there. So did that mean she wanted to stay as a commoner in that city? She didn’t know. It’d be impossible to return and live a normal life after all that had already happened. So…what would happen next?

- - - - -

Donghae found himself cruising the streets in a bored manner after a short lunch at a café nearby. His drive had been mind settling until at a red light he’d heard “Thief, thief” and watched someone familiar bolt after the man. The way she’d ran made her look so concentrated and lost to everything else around her as if she’d been running all her life. He drove around the corner and followed her. She didn’t stop to sit or to eat but continued walking.

To where, he wondered.

Cars behind him honked at him to drive faster but even with the noise Victoria seemed oblivious to it all. Finally stopping his car alongside the road he stepped out and followed her making sure to stay a few feet back.

They walked more than just a few blocks. It seemed more like ten to him. At last Victoria came to a stop at a food stall where two teenage girls were eating and talking amongst themselves as they flipped through the pages of a celebrity gossip magazine. He listened to them chat about the models within the covers of the magazine and he wondered if Victoria was eavesdropping or staring at the food.

“Hungry?” he asked from behind.

Victoria didn’t seem surprised by his voice. Instead she replied as if she’d known he’d been following her all along, “I thought you were hungry.”

He stared at her and laughed as if astounded by her answer. A few blocks ahead was an ice skating center open all year long for everyone. Deciding that it was a good idea to stop for a warm drink he invited her along after explaining that he’d left his car behind.

“Sure, lets go.” she’d said.

It was just as cold inside as it was outside because of the skating rink. There was a food corner just as he expected. Victoria sat down by a round table nearest to the skating rink and watched the people inside go round and round the rink while he bought two cups of hot chocolate for them both.

“You’re out alone today?” he questioned.

“Just to wander around,” she told taking a hold of the warm cup.

He watched expecting her to at least take a sip of it but she only stared.

“You seem off, is something wrong?” he wondered.

Victoria didn’t seem to hear him as she turned to look at the skaters within the rink. The look in her eyes became dull at once.

Feeling bored just sitting there Donghae got up, “Lets go.”

Victoria looked up and found herself following him to the counter. After the man behind the counter grabbed two pairs of skates Donghae turned to her.

“You should’ve worn a jacket at least. It’s cold, you know?” he told.

“Does it matter?” Victoria asked. “It kind of feels good when you can feel your face freeze from the cold.”

“Really?” he tilted his head as if observing her. “How often have you lived in the cold?”

Victoria didn’t reply as she became concentrated on tying her skates. After finishing his he turned to look at her fussing with the long laces.

“Here,” he offered getting off the bench and took the laces from her, “one thing to know about skating is that you have to tie your skates on tightly. Have you done this before?”

“Obviously not.” she replied as he looked up at her but found that her eyes were staring hard at the skates.

He smiled feeling kind of foolish and finished tying her skates for her.

“Boy, are you in for some fun,” he commented as they made their way to the rink.

Donghae stepped into the rink and started moving as if it were all a natural touch. When he turned around he found her sitting on the ice. He tried to contain his laughter as he walked over to her.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

“Fine.” she replied pulling herself up by holding onto the wall of the rink.

“Here,” he outstretched his hand.

Victoria stared at it a long time. In front of her she imagined seeing the young boy, Jung Mo, offering to help her aim the gun and shoot.

“I’ll help teach you,” Donghae and Jung Mo’s voice merged together in her ears.

Victoria felt her mind spin once as the gun shot rang in her ears.

“Is something wrong?” Donghae’s voice broke into her mind shattering all memories.

Victoria took his hand and felt her skates glide above the ice.

“Bend your knees a little. Wow, you’ve got good balance,” she heard him say, “then move your feet. In and out, in and out…”

His voice disappeared as she turned to glance at the others in pairs, or with friends, or families skate together. Each chatting comfortably in groups. Something screamed at the back of her mind but she didn’t let it escape because she wasn’t going to tolerate it.

“I’m going to let you go,” she heard him say but his voice sounded distant, dim.

She felt his hand disappear from her grasp. For a moment she recalled holding hands with her young friend as they ran along the beach, the sand getting in-between their toes and staying there. She closed her hand to feel nothingness and slipped after a moment feeling cold reality hit her.

“What are you doing?” she questioned herself silently.

The light sounds of the skates going by passing her with laughter remained invisible to her ears. It was a world where skates didn’t belong. There was a world where holding hands didn’t belong. There was a world where helping each other didn’t exist. That was her world.

“Are you ok? Get up,” a voice broke her thoughts this time.

Victoria turned to look up to see a reality, the world where someone would help and ask at all times if she were ok. Was she really able to return to that world after all that killing?

“You better watch out. This is only a warning. Jung Min and So Young will be returning from Kwangju soon. It’d be a shame if you let your guard down so fast. Beat them and come back because I sure hate those two as much as you do.” Jung Mo’s voice beeped in her mind clearly.

Donghae gripped her arm and pulled her up. She found her mind spinning again and after a second only realized that her mind wasn’t spinning but they were spinning in a circle unsteadily. It was only a second glance at his face before they fell back down onto the ice. Donghae found himself sitting with legs sprawled out staring at her eyes, his mind glued with a blank thought. Victoria removed her arms from around his sides and quickly looked elsewhere. After struggling to get up he also helped pull her up before skating away.

“What are you doing, Donghae?” he questioned himself stepping out of the rink.

For a moment, he swore, his heart was pounding faster than it usually would.