Chapter 14
'Golden Mary'
\ \ \ \ \
After clearing away the dishes, Seohyun walked into Victoria’s room to find her sitting on her back, her back angled toward Seohyun.
“Was that what you meant by ‘he knows his way around’?” Seohyun questioned walking in.
Victoria turned to look at her.
“You used Donghae to go around Park Side?” asked Seohyun sitting in Victoria’s chair.
Victoria glanced at the ground before nodding.
“Did you get far?”
“It was a limited glance,” Victoria explained. “Seohyun, get ready and pray.”
Seohyun stared at her blankly.
“We’re going tomorrow.”
“Really?”
“There are security guards,” Victoria said looking Seohyun right in the eyes, “we’re going to oust them and steal our way in. Lets hope that this is going to be a clear round.”
Victoria couldn’t allow her feelings to intrude on the mission. No matter what went on in her personal life she would always be dedicated to work. Worrying about Choi Siwon would have to come last.
\ \ \ \ \
“Luhan, I heard An Kor’s been investigating around about something your father wired money out for,” Sook Chin said over the phone the very next morning, “he paid in millions for it. From a few close sources, I heard that at Ha Dong Ju’s presentation by the harbor was supposed to be a rendezvous for An Kor to receive that component. I don’t know what it is, but it might have been the ‘Golden Mary’. He’s about to head out to Jeju to ready your father’s place there. His flight is in an hour. You might catch him if you head there now. I’m sorry this is all I can do for you.”
“Lu…” Seohyun started when she walked by the living room.
Without a word, Luhan soared to his feet holding a hand out to her gesturing that he wasn’t able to speak at the moment. Grabbing his phone after him he rushed out the door, down the stairs, and crazily hailed a taxi right off the street.
“Ahjusshi, to the airport! Quickly!”
The heart pounding inside his chest was hammering his ribs so hard he couldn’t concentrate on anything else. Luhan stared at all the cars ahead and urged the driver to speed up again and again. He was running out of time. It felt like everything was trying to oppose him, test him.
What would his father have paid millions for? Why was he going to Jeju when his father had a grand mansion in Seoul!? None of it made sense and no matter how hard Luhan tried to conjure up an answer, he couldn’t think of anything logical. In the end he was sent back to the very question he first needed to answer. What was his father doing?
“I ran so many red lights for you, boy. I even sped, young kids these days aren’t grateful at all. What are you chasing? Your girlfriend or something?” the driver blabbered on as Luhan handed him cash.
“Keep the change!” was all Luhan screamed before slamming the car door behind him.
His long legs hardly tripped over the curb but he collided into a few people by the automatic doors. Why was the airport so crowded today? Luhan’s loud footsteps stopped when he entered and he glanced around the large arena. Lights, bright lights, people, crowds, chatter. There was an announcement being made overhead but with all the loud chatter he couldn’t quite decipher what it had been about.
Shaking his head he tried to calm himself down. Luhan only realized then that he had been panting way harder than he should have.
“The schedule, schedule board,” he talked to himself before looking around for it.
Luhan walked through a crowd of snickering girls before he turned around a large fat pole and found it. Quickly running his eyes over the leaving destinations he found the flight for Jeju. He had approximately only 20 or so minutes to find An Kor.
Swerving around he felt himself stop. His eyes swam over the second floor where people were walking calmly with suitcases, purses, bags, or shopping bags. Then he stared at the escalators, there were many and many of them all around. Suddenly the airport seemed to be swimming around him, the many people walking back and forth. Flight attendants talking to each other as they trailed by with their suitcases in hand preparing for their next flight. His mind was spinning.
How would he find An Kor in the midst of all these people!? Would he still be walking around? Luhan ran back toward the schedule board suddenly forgetting the flight information he’d obtained from it just a few minutes earlier. Running his eyes over the schedule again repeating it under his breath he started toward Gate 8.
A flurry of self created wind ruffled his hair as he scurried down the halls. Finally around the corner he spotted the large black letters imprinted onto the back wall Gate 8. Luhan ran his eyes over the people sitting in the seats offered for people while waiting for their scheduled flight. None of them were the An Kor he was looking for.
He began to doubt himself. Did he really have the right place? What if he’d forgotten the gate number and found the wrong one? Shaking his head in absolute misery he started toward the desk ahead, a man in a flight attendant suit was looking through a binder.
“Excuse me,” Luhan said breathlessly, “this is the flight for Jeju Island, right?”
“Ah…Jeju Island? The one scheduled to leave at 9?” he asked.
Luhan immediately nodded pressed on time. He couldn’t help but glance around behind him. What if An Kor walked pass without him knowing? Oh, the paranoia was slowly killing him inside. Pressing his nervous lips together he turned back to the flight attendant to see him discussing with someone else.
“The flight has been switched to Gate 14.”
Without a thank you Luhan dashed back down the hallway skidding around the corner. Gate 5 had suddenly appeared in front of him. If that was so, that meant Gate 14 was on the other side of the airport.
He stared down the hall dreadfully. Would he even make it there on time? He’d used up 15 minutes already. Luhan gulped miserably before dashing down the hallway dodging every person he almost hit or ran into.
“Whoa, hey!”
“Watch it kiddo!”
Ignoring the screams at him Luhan ran from corner to corner, down each connected hall, pass each food restaurant packed with hungry customers, and long lines.
“Flight 104 to Jeju Island…” the woman at the front desk started speaking into the microphone.
Luhan’s heart almost exploded when the large crowd stood up immediately packing the place up. Bewildered, his eyes widened before he ran forward. People were already starting to board the plane, the line was decreasing slowly. He ran down the line grabbing one person after another and apologized when they stared at him offended.
The worst scenario built itself in his head. An Kor had already boarded the plane.
He was breathless, mortified, disappointed, baffled, disheartened until he heard a commotion coming from up front. Lifting his head up from the ground he saw people turn around to stare at him with frowns. Luhan turned to look around confused before he spotted the person in front of the woman who was checking their passports. That face, that face, the person he’d been looking for.
An Kor smiled at him, a smirk of victory before he bowed toward the woman in thanks and turned around the corner walking down the hall toward the plane. Luhan’s mouth dropped open.
His 20 minutes were up and not a word in the world could describe how let down he felt.
\ \ \ \ \
Donghae felt frustrated and annoyed. He’d been called up in the morning to partner up with Siwon to go around downtown. Why Siwon was searching so hard, Donghae couldn’t make himself understand. No matter what, he’d never find the person on that piece of the paper. Why they were making Donghae even search with Siwon baffled him speechless.
In fact the person Siwon was currently seeking was no one else but Donghae, but how would he ever find that thief when that thief was right under his nose working with him? And that fact could only ever make things worse. Donghae was beginning to wonder how much longer he would have to feign his identity as a cop. Hadn’t the headquarters checked out his record from the police school yet? If they had, they’d find that a Lee Donghae there didn’t exist at all! Or were they really too lazy to even look?
“Aish!” Donghae felt himself whine, eyes clamped shot, hands on the counter.
“Sorry for the wait, sir.”
Donghae grabbed the bag of food and two drinks before walking out.
It was afternoon now. They had been searching for him that whole morning and Donghae was starting to tire of acting.
\ \ \ \ \
“Have you seen this man around in this area?” Siwon asked the pitiful looking old woman standing between the creaking gate.
The area was so run down he felt almost sorry to see such an old granny living there. Her home was in an even worse condition than the house he’d just come from. There was a rusty yard with olden soil unable to grow any more plants. Her home was pale in color, the screen door, broken as it was, looked like it was hanging on for life as it rammed against the side of the house with every wind that came. The stained windows looked like they could no longer be cleaned and the clothes she wore seemed to be of a few centuries old.
“No. No one looks like that.” the old woman shook her head, a hand on her aching hip.
“Ah…really? Thanks anyway,” Siwon tried to sound as cheery as possible to not let the obvious disappointment he’d been expecting show in his voice. “Let me help you in.”
After he helped the granny into her home he headed back out making his way down the paths between the houses. For some reason, he’d expected the search to concluded unsuccessfully. Who in the world would know such an ugly looking thief anyway? And with such a sketch Siwon would get no where.
He ran a hand over his forehead and through his hair before turning around the corner.
“I got the food!” Donghae called when he looked up.
A few minutes later they sat on the green steps behind a random building and ate away hungrily at the burgers and fries Siwon had paid for. He glanced at Donghae who chewed continuously on the food in his mouth and sipped on his drink before a smile overcame his lips. Donghae froze a little from beside him and stared at him.
“What?” he asked mouth still full of food.
“It’s just…you look so hungry,” Siwon said swallowing his share. “Sorry.”
Donghae raised an eyebrow before taking another bite of his burger.
Siwon exhaled loudly and leaned his elbows back on the stairs glancing back at Donghae who was sitting at the top, his back to the sealed door by the wall.
“I’m glad I’m not alone,” Siwon started, “I often have to scout these areas by myself and during breaks I’m always by myself. When I see people eating with friends I feel a bit lonely and jealous. I feel happier knowing that I have someone with me.”
Donghae stared at him as if he’d spoken something insane, “We’re not friends.”
“We aren’t?” Siwon asked.
“No.” Donghae shook his head.
“But we work together.”
“Ai….” Donghae gently nudged him on the shoulder with a wrist, “that’s partners, not friends. Work is work.”
“Tsh…” Siwon snorted with a smile that said he didn’t believe Donghae’s words. “Then lets have drinks later. It’s on me.”
“Really?” Donghae asked interested.
Siwon nodded patting his chest to conclude that they had a date set.
\ \ \ \ \
A bright sun loomed overhead. It would have blinded them if not for the shade they’d found. Before a big night Seohyun had suggested a relaxing outing. That was how she found herself lying on a blanket underneath the shade of a large tree beside Victoria. Victoria had been against it at first but Seohyun had won in dragging her along in the end.
“Isn’t it nice?” Seohyun asked resting her head on one arm. “I like it.”
“It’s fine,” Victoria replied from beside her with an arm extended over her eyes.
Seohyun glanced at Victoria with a triumphant smirk.
“If you think about it, we don’t really know about each other at all,” Seohyun picked a random topic.
“Why does it even matter?” Victoria wondered monotonously. “After this we’ll return to the government and probably won’t see each other.”
“We should at least get to know each other a little since we’re here together anyway,” Seohyun suggested.
“There’s been a rift between Seohyun and I in the past,” Luhan started, “so I can’t really look after her as well as I used to. I have a feeling she might do some foolish things, can you look after her for me too?”
Victoria glanced at Seohyun. Maybe she could dig into Seohyun’s life and figure out why Luhan seemed worried.
“Ok,” Victoria agreed.
Seohyun turned to her surprised, “Wow, you’re surprising.”
Victoria pressed her lips together.
“I’ll go first,” she offered crossing both arms over each other before using them as a pillow, “there’s not much about to know. I have a plain history. My parents are immigrants from China who happened to come here with some relatives in the blah blah century. They worked hard for a living then I was worn and shortly after I turned 15, he passed away. Once I started tending to the government, my mother moved back to China and so it’s just me. And about my attitude, I’m sure you know from our training together. And work still comes first no matter what.”
“Ah…” Seohyun nodded a little open before copying Victoria’s position. “I kind of thought you’d have a much cooler past. Like your dad was a bodyguard or something.”
Victoria glanced at her with a frown.
“My parents divorced in high school, it didn’t turn out well,” Seohyun said. “I was really stiff and sensitive about it especially since my friends were all leaving to attend different schools.” Seohyun’s voice turned soft as if she were reminiscing precious memories, “Luhan had been a best friend, but after a rumor we sort of drifted. And then he left without a word, he left behind a note of apology and it’s really the first time seeing him again when we ran into each other at Hong Chong Il’s. You know.”
Victoria glanced at her face expression from the corner of her eyes. Seohyun seemed a little mesmerized by talking about it. Yet, there was something that seemed a little sad about her smile.
“Both my parents wanted their own lives and I was old enough to fare on my own,” Seohyun explained, “neither asked for my opinion. I had no friend after graduation. Luhan was gone, so was everyone else. So, I tried for the bodyguard position and ended up with the training in the government. I had no regrets and I don’t regret leaving the most normal of my life behind. It’s like a whole new world now, you know?”
Seohyun turned to look at Victoria with an excited smile.
“Oh, you know, Luhan’s mother is also from China,” Seohyun said, “she married his father, his step-father, that’s why he grew up in Korea instead of China. It’s kind of interesting, right?”
“Really?” Victoria asked surprised.
Seohyun nodded.
Then, if Luhan’s Korean father really had the ‘Golden Mary’ would it matter to him at all if they stole it?
“Are they close?”
Seohyun shrugged, “Luhan never spoke about him so I don’t know.”
Victoria felt her eyebrows crease before turning to look at Seohyun. Had her decision to become an agent been a foolish one made from the desperation of wanting to start her own life over? Was Seohyun aware of her own stature at all? She was kind and frail looking. Victoria would have taken her for a floral shop owner if she hadn’t known her at all. Maybe her looks was what gave her a plus in being an agent. But Victoria felt like Seohyun’s normal life would have been less stressful, less burdening.
“Seohyun,” Victoria said, “do you know what a normal life is?”
“Going home every night, being able to marry with a guarantee that a bullet wouldn’t fly at you through a window, having children, having friends,” Seohyun answered, “isn’t that the most normal kind of life you can get without being an agent?”
“The ability to be a housewife, huh?” Victoria asked.
Seohyun raised an eyebrow.
“One more question,” Victoria uttered curious, “did you ever like Luhan?”
“What!?” Seohyun sat up shocked.
“Answer me,” Victoria pressed on calmly.
Seohyun stared at her for a long time with a small frown before saying with a completely calm face, “No.”
***Looks like things aren't going so well for Luhan either. His luck is just as bad as Victoria's and Seohyun's.
***And a little insight of both their pasts. Seohyun's past wasn't a very happy one and you can decide whether she forced herself to get into this 'agent' job or not. There's going to be regrets later about throwing away their normal lives.
***And I decided I to focus on the relationship between Siwon and Donghae. Bromance, bromance! Siwon's so nice wanting to become friends with Donghae, who doesn't even care about it xD Sounds like Siwon's had a bit of a lonely past too. This will only further difficult things when Siwon finds out Donghae has lied to him all along.
***And Seohyun has never liked Luhan, poor Luhan
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