Chapter 19
'Golden Mary'
“Seohyun says you’ve never spoken about your father to her,” Victoria started off, “why don’t we start off with you telling us who your father is and just what kind of business he conducts.”
She tilted her head to look at him straight in the eyes.
Luhan glanced down at the tabletop as if it’d help him and tapped his fingers on his thigh to help him calm down.
“Noh Ki Young.”
A loud gasp escaped from Seohyun before she ran over slamming her hands down upon the table. He could see Victoria close her eyes as if suddenly very disappointed about something he’d done. Luhan couldn’t make sense of Victoria’s gesture, but he very much understood Seohyun’s loud gasp full of shock and surprise. Would she hate him for hiding his father’s identity?
“Noh Ki Young!?” Seohyun bellowed in repeat. “The famous man of Samsung Designs!? Oh my god! He’s the most famous person in Korea who leads the most popular phone brand! Your father!?”
He remained still, unmoved. Victoria rolled her eyes away before turning back to him.
“Why did you come back to South Korea? What are you doing here?”
Victoria’s eyes seemed to be able to pry into the depths of his soul forcing him to let out his most dark secrets, but he couldn’t tell them no matter what. Luhan wouldn’t get them involved with the ‘Golden Mary’. He couldn’t let the existence of the key ruin them all.
“Ok, lets forget that,” Victoria said putting an arm on the table, “there’s been some very unsettling news about you that I heard today. Do you want to hear it?”
He stared back at her quietly. Whatever she’d heard, Luhan was sure that even if he didn’t want to bear with it, he’d be forced to. Seohyun, on the other hand, was staring at him as if she’d been betrayed. The surprise on her face still had yet to disappear. But how did Victoria suddenly know so much?
“There are quite a few people after you, I don’t know what for, but they’re currently searching for you,” Victoria dropped the news, “I heard one of them is Noh Ki Young.”
The beating of his heart suddenly roared louder and rammed harder inside his chest. Luhan was unsure he’d heard right.
“You heard me,” Victoria said icily, “Noh Ki Young. So, what have you done, Luhan, for such a man like your father to be after his own son?”
His stare landed on her eyes and he found himself unable to look away as her eyes penetrated him. They stared at each other for a long time, Victoria narrowed her eyes slightly as Seohyun watched them from the sidelines. He couldn’t read them, he couldn’t tell what her eyes were sending him. If she was telling him she’d help or if she was telling him he could no longer be there, he didn’t know. Luhan hadn’t expected to be overwhelmed with such anxiety and silence. She was making him nervous and forcing him to tense up. For a second Luhan didn’t know whether he could look away and continue to breathe. His first impression of Victoria being cold and mean seemed just about right right then.
Victoria suddenly stood up, “Don’t leave this apartment. Seohyun and I are certified human weapons. No one will hurt you if you’re here under this roof.”
“Victoria!” Seohyun gasped.
His stare disappeared into surprise, the tension growing inside suddenly gone.
She slightly turned to glance at Luhan, “I have a plan, though. You and I will worry about it in the morning.”
Luhan finally turned when Victoria disappeared down the hallway, Seohyun turning back to look at him before hurrying after Victoria loudly screaming her name.
What had just happened? Luhan still couldn’t get over the shock of what Victoria had just said. Just when he thought they would abandon him, they were going to continue keeping him there. A slow breath of relief released itself from his choked up lungs. The cold stare in Victoria’s eyes, had it just been a play then? He’d been so scared by her.
\ \ \ \ \
“What are you doing!?” Seohyun bounded in the room after her.
Victoria paused by her desk and placed a hand on her chair without turning around.
“Why? Should I have chased him out? Would you have liked that?” Victoria challenged.
Seohyun hesitated to reply. “N…no.”
“Then, what’s the problem?” Victoria questioned.
“It’s just…what’s going on? How did you find out who his father was? Did that man tell you? Did he say anything else about Luhan?”
“Luhan is looking for the key.” he explained, his small eyes barely visible. “We were…we were told to stop him.”
Victoria felt her eyes narrow.
“Key?” she questioned.
“Because…because everybody is looking for it…he can’t find it before we do…”
“Who’s we?”
She pressed her lower arm against his neck again.
“Do…don’t kill me,” he pleaded.
“Answer.”
“Gi Su, Cha Tae Sung, Yoo Yong Sun, and…and his father.”
“What?” Victoria asked as if she’d been unable to hear.
“Because…because everybody’s looking for it…” Park Cha Bo uttered. “No one’s died yet…b…but someone’s going to die soon. That’s all I know! I swear! Please let me go!”
To tell Seohyun that Luhan was looking for a key would be like giving Seohyun one of the worst hints. She’d understand it within no second. If Seohyun were to know that Luhan’s life was suddenly on the brink of death, there’d be no mercy and yet the engrossment of their job would be diverted. Seohyun who was too caring would be naïve and reckless in decision making. Victoria couldn’t risk that. They still needed to retrieve the ‘Golden Mary’ no matter at what cost.
“No.” she lied.
Seohyun sighed a little, “I wonder why he didn’t say anything to me at all. I feel like I’ve been such an awful friend to him.”
Victoria slightly turned to glance at Seohyun’s sullen face. She suddenly had one more responsibility on her list. If she were to rid Luhan of this danger as well as protect his friendship with Seohyun, she would have to pay more attention to everything.
“He must have had his reasons,” Victoria helped. “Don’t worry about it too much.”
\ \ \ \ \
Siwon paced back and forth inside his tiny apartment bringing a thumb up to his lips every few seconds and chewing on the tip of his nail. It was early morning, perhaps seven in the morning. The sun had been up since early dawn and Siwon had gotten up just an hour ago. Strange work schedules and having been called in numerous times at night and early morning had long ruined his daily life schedule. Siwon was a person who was always strict with his routine, but every since coming to Seoul from Gwangju that schedule had been long gone.
Just as the birds were chirping outside his window Siwon finally stopped having made his decision at last. Clearing his throat he nodded to himself. He’d finished gathering the courage and called Seohyun. The phone rung a few times and he worried if she was still asleep. A second before he decided to hang up someone answered.
“Hello?”
“Ah…hi.” he awkwardly greeted bringing a hand up to the back of his neck and rubbing his hair.
“Yes?” Seohyun asked wide awake.
“It’s me, Siwon. Sorry for calling so early.”
“Oh, hey! No, it’s fine. It’s not that early anyway,” surprised Seohyun said trying to make him feel better.
“Are you busy today?” he wondered.
“Not really.”
“I was planning to go buy some herbal medicine for my mother at the stores on the outskirts of the city, uh…I was just wondering if you’d like to come with me,” he finished while rubbing the back of his neck feeling flustered.
The throbbing of his heart isolated him from everything else in his tiny apartment while he waited for her to answer.
“Sure, I’d like to.”
A smile immediately climbed his lips.
“Then…I’ll see you in a bit.”
After he hung up for the first time in his life he felt like fist pumping the air. A quiet jolly laugh fell from his lips before he spun into the kitchen to grab a bowl of cereal before leaving.
\ \ \ \ \
When Victoria woke up, Seohyun was no where to be seen. She found Luhan on his iPad in the living room and retreated to making herself a cup of coffee in the kitchen. It was quite a silent morning, nothing she wasn’t used to, though. For quite a few years now, her mornings had been extremely silent. The silence of everything around her had slowly become music to her ears when she started her training for the government. Life before that was something Victoria rarely visited.
A few minutes later while holding her cup in hand and leaning against the small white table, she glanced outside for sight of any more strange men in those million buck suits. A few lone passersby walked down the sidewalk but Victoria still didn’t see anyone she would deem suspicious. Too focused on her street watch she didn’t hear Luhan walk in. Victoria only turned around when she heard the chair being pulled back. Without looking at her Luhan sat down and scooted his seat toward the table placing both of his arms onto the tabletop. Assuming he had something to say Victoria grabbed the chair opposite him and sat down.
Since it was just the two of them in the apartment it seemed like a good chance to get things cleared up. With Seohyun around Victoria couldn’t guarantee that things would go her way. There were also things she wanted to keep from Seohyun knowing Seohyun might get hurt or flustered and confused. And to have the ‘Golden Mary’ bring any more hassle to their job was something Victoria wanted to dodge. However, if they weren’t able to dodge it Victoria wanted to take the burden on herself rather than have Seohyun be troubled by it.
Victoria was slowly starting to realize that the longer they stayed in the city, the more they’d start thinking about what a real normal life was. It was a strange kind of danger creeping up on them.
“Why are you helping me?”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Victoria said, “I’m not doing this just for you. Your stay is also a benefit for me and Seohyun. You can say that it’s for the comfort of us all.”
Luhan seemed unmoved. “Then what did you mean when you said you and Seohyun are certified human weapons? If there are people after me, won’t you two get in trouble?”
A sly smile grew upon Victoria’s face, “Don’t worry about us. Just take it as we’re certified black belts.”
The surprise in Luhan’s eyes made Victoria want to laugh out loud, but she held back.
“You’ve shown no reason to be a danger to us,” Victoria said, “a person like you can’t do harm to others. I believe you’re a nice kid who’s got the smarts, so I’ll get to the point and I know you’ll understand. So, Luhan, I’ve got an important question for you. What exactly is that key you’re looking for, and why are you looking for it?”
The surprise from earlier quickly melted in Luhan’s eyes. A firm stare of comprehending the humorless position he was in filled his eyes.
“Then if I tell you, will you answer a question I’ve been wondering about for a while now?” he asked.
Victoria could hear her silent heart pounding in anxiety. If she could gain information in exchange for something else, she guessed it was a good exchange. There was nothing she could lose at this point, really. Since she’d learned something about Luhan, he might as well learn something about her too.
“Fine,” Victoria said.
“They key I’m looking for is called the ‘Golden Mary’. It’s currently being passed around and major powerhouses are all fighting each other for it, among them is my father. Why am I looking for it? Because he sent my mother so cruelly away after all she sacrificed for him, because I don’t want him to be the most powerful out there. I’m going to trample on his greed and his pride, and destroy that key.” he stared her in the eyes sternly. “That’s why I came back.”
Her ears were burning, she wasn’t sure if they were red or not. How could she categorize his sudden explanation? Victoria hadn’t expected it to be like this. If it was like this, would Luhan become an enemy in the process? If Seohyun ever knew about this, this apartment they were living in would definitely become a war zone. But what if this turned into a cooperation? And since Luhan knew those strong businessmen, he could bring them closer and they could find out the location of the ‘Golden Mary’. This might really be something Victoria had never dreamed of. What if luck was really on their side after all?
“Then,” Luhan’s voice interrupted her flash of thoughts, “you and Seohyun…aren’t reporters, are you?”
Victoria’s eyebrows flew up slowly suddenly becoming clueless with his question. Her mind flashed blank. This had been another one of Luhan’s hits that had been unexpected that morning.
A moment of silence swept between them. Luhan waited patiently while the hot cup of coffee from a few minutes ago had become cold during their talk. The steam drifting up from the surface of the milky brown fluid slowly disappearing.
“No.”
She felt her eyes fall toward the surface of the table her mind exploding in a kind of panic she hadn’t felt before. Had she given them away? Had Luhan found out who they really were and what they were after? What was he going to do? Did he know why they were in Hong Chong Il’s home that night?
Victoria slightly turned her head toward the window in effort not to give away the expression on her face before her eyes tilted toward the window. They were there. Two fine men dressed in those suits that cost thousands. And Victoria had a feeling she knew just who they were.
Forgetting the matter at hand and promising herself to deal with it later, she shot up to her feet. There were still things she wanted to get done and she’d take the chance on. Whether or not Luhan would side with them, only time would be able to tell.
“Get your things,” Victoria abruptly ordered Luhan.
“What?” he asked confused by the sudden switch of subject.
“I said get your things. We have things to do.” Victoria turned to him.
\ \ \ \ \
Seohyun leaned out of the window, her arm on the edge of the opened window, the wind blowing at her tied up hair calmly. There was a soft music playing on the radio and a singer she didn’t know was currently singing.
“It’s nice out today, isn’t it?” Siwon asked.
Seohyun watched a semi truck roar by before turning to glance at him with a boastful smile and nodded.
“I was kind of surprised with your call this morning, but I’m glad you called.”
An embarrassed laugh fell from his lips, “Sorry about it.”
“You don’t need to be sorry. I was actually wondering if you’d ever call.” Seohyun cheerily admitted.
He turned to look at her with a bright smile. That straight forward side of her was always something that captivated him.
“Really? Then I should be happy I called.”
“What kind of medicine are you buying for your mom?”
“My mom’s been having some back pain lately,” Siwon explained, “she grew up in the countryside so gardening is one of her forte.”
“That’s interesting. Are you going to go visit her too?” Seohyun asked.
“My mom lives in Gwangju. I actually grew up in the countryside where she lived.”
“Really?” Seohyun asked astounded. “In Gwangju?”
Siwon nodded and slightly turned to look at her. Seohyun glued her eyes onto the road ahead a flush of flashbacks running through her mind like an old movie in the theaters.
“Is something wrong?” Siwon asked a hint of worry in his voice.
“Oh,” Seohyun returned to quick reality and felt her eyes flicker toward her feet, “I grew up in Gwangju too.”
“You did?”
She slowly nodded and lifted her head up. “You sound like you’re close to your mother.”
“Because she took very good care of me while I was growing up. She and my father did, actually. I think it’s nice if I could do something for them,” Siwon went on, “especially since I live so far away from them now. What about you? Since you’re in Seoul for work you must not see them often.”
Seohyun turned to look at Siwon a little flustered. A debate about whether to let him in on her past passed on in her mind. Would it matter to him that she didn’t grow up so well?
“I haven’t seen them for quite a few years now,” Seohyun told, “perhaps, 7 years?”
Siwon’s eyes grew wide in surprise, even his eyebrows seemed to lift themselves up. Seohyun didn’t turn to look at him though. Emotions fluxed through her and she couldn’t even tell what she was feeling now.
“They divorced just before I graduated from high school,” Seohyun explained, “and since I was old enough to take care of myself, they just left. I haven’t heard from them since. I’m not sure whether or not they’re still in Gwangju, but I can say I’m kind of jealous of you. You’re so devoted to your parents and you care so much about them that they must feel the same for you too. I haven’t had that sense of devotion for quite some time now.”
“I’m sorry,” was all he could say feeling sympathetic for her. “I didn’t mean to bring it up.”
“It’s ok,” Seohyun shook her head, “I’ve been so busy these past few years that I haven’t had the time to stop and think about them at all. I should thank you for at least allowing me a few minutes to think about them.”
She turned to him with a smile and it melted his heart right then.
***And so, here we have the official start of Seohyun & Siwon's relationship
***On the other hand, Victoria has chosen to protect Luhan. Another job added onto her list
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