Luhan stared at her blankly before throwing another smile into her face, “Ah…I came back early…I kinda got kicked out from the school. My parents aren’t aware yet, can I stay with you for a few days? Didn’t I house you for a few days when you ran away from home? Eh? Come on, Seohyun.”

 

He watched her glare at him and smiled back expectantly. 

 

\ \ \ \ \

 

Victoria shot her eyes toward the clock on the wall again. Why wasn’t Seohyun back yet? Surely Seohyun had had an easier escape route than she. Three big guys meant nothing to Seohyun as Victoria knew. 

 

Amidst the mass of silence, Victoria ran her rough fingers over the glass of water she was serving herself. If she allowed enough silence to penetrate her and Seohyun’s apartment, she could make out the sound of loud party, her annoying neighbors who were throwing a house party  in the depth of the night. Otherwise, everyone else in the apartment complex seemed to be enjoying their nights alone, with a mate, or just cooped up on the couch watching some drama reruns. 

 

She unknowingly chewed on her bottom lip and felt her eyebrows furrow down when she recalled that familiar face on the stairs. No matter how many reasons she’d thought of, she couldn’t find one persuading enough for him to be there. Unless Hong Chong Il had some relative in the house she wasn’t aware of. 

 

One of her eyes narrowed again. It didn’t make sense, though. He’d pulled her into the alley and played a trick on her, but the way he’d said that he wanted to ask her something didn’t seem like a joke. Just who was he? 

The door opened loudly and footsteps resounded through the air. Victoria turned to see Seohyun walk in with someone behind her. 

 

“What are you doing?” Victoria asked. 

 

Seohyun glanced out of the corner of her eyes to see the person behind, “Someone needed a place to stay.” 

 

Victoria narrowed her eyes, “Who’s someone?” 

 

Luhan nudged Seohyun’s arm, “How can you call me that? I’m practically your oppa!” 

 

“O…ppa?” Victoria repeated with a deep frown. “He looks…like a baby…”

 

“I don’t care, you can let him sleep in the kitchen or on the ground. I’m going to sleep,” Seohyun said before walking into her room closing the door after her. 

 

Victoria swore it was one of the most awkward moments she’d ever experienced in her life. How could Seohyun leave her with a man -  actually a man who looked like a baby? Someone Victoria had never known of? 

 

“Ah…hello, I’m Luhan,” he bowed to greet her. “I told Seohyun I needed a place to stay for a few days, I hope you don’t mind me barging in on you.” 

 

Of course Victoria minded. With him here how could she open talk to Seohyun about the ‘Golden Mary’ and their upcoming plans? Their days were just quickly worsening. It had been a week since they’ve been in Seoul and not a thing had been achieved. Victoria felt like someone was pressing her buttons on purpose. 

She crossed her arms and said, “Weren’t you the one back at the house? What were you doing there?” 

 

“Ah…that,” he reached a hand up to scratch the back of his neck, “actually I got kicked out from a school abroad and just recently returned. I was staying in my uncle’s house without him knowing and I was going to leave quietly but then I ran into you guys.” 

 

Was he really lending her information so easily? Victoria felt something bit at her from the back of her head. 

 

“Uncle?” Victoria repeated. “Hong Chong Il is your uncle?” 

 

“Yes,” he nodded, his wide eyes a mocking imitation of a pleading dog’s, “it’s a home my uncle rarely stays in so I got in easily. But I didn’t know he had people to come check up on the house besides the daily maid.” 

 

She felt her eyebrow twitch. Was he really taking them as bodyguards of the house or some sort? 

 

Victoria could only laugh awkwardly, “So that means you were the only one in the house?” 

 

He nodded. That explained it. So the other guy she’d seen wasn’t supposed to be there. Then just what was he doing there? 

 

\ \ \ \ \

 

The door silently closed on its own with a soft thud behind him. Without bothering to turn the lights on Donghae trudged through his large apartment and opened the door straight ahead. He walked into his large bedroom with a queen sized bed covered neatly in a blanket of green and fell onto it face first. There wasn’t anything else in particular that he kept in the room. The only thing that accompanied his sight was a large closet in front of the bed. 

He moaned and closed his eyes. He’d lost the perfect item for the next auctioning and that meant no money for him. A sigh escaped his lips when he recalled Victoria turning around to look around. 

 

A loud gurgling of the phone woke up him from a slight daze and he rolled over to sit up. Just who was calling him in the middle of the night? 

 

“Hello?” he picked up the phone. 

 

“Lee Donghae, this is Choi Siwon.” 

 

Donghae gulped. 

 

. 

 

“Yes.” 

 

“There’s been a break in at the Hong manor. Report there immediately. Do you need a ride?” 

 

“No!” Donghae shook his head unable to bear another moment with Siwon in his police car. “I’ll be there in 20!” 

 

Donghae arrived at the site approximately 15 minutes later. There seemed to be about 50 people on site, the red lights on the squad cars spun round and round making everyone’s faces glow red right after another. He gulped wondering how the hell he ever got himself into such a position and forced himself to walk through the gates. There were paramedics and other officials he didn’t know about. Everyone seemed to be absorbed in their own line of work when he slowly glanced around. 

 

“Lee Donghae!” an officer called his name. 

Turning around he trudged toward the team reluctantly. While he neared them he paused when people shouted and watched the paramedics wheel out two knocked out people on stretchers toward the car. When they passed by in front of him he recognized the big guy as the one Victoria had taken out with just a punch and a kick. There was another man reportedly found on the second floor who’d been wiped out with a surprise attack. Donghae frowned as he stared after them. Did that mean that Victoria hadn’t been the only one in the house? 

 

“Lee Donghae! Over here! Stop dazing off!” 

 

“Sheesh…like seriously…” Donghae muttered before forcing his feet to bring his body toward them. 

 

“You’re here late,” the skinny chief commented. “There was a break in less than half an hour ago. Try looking around with the others to see if there’s any clue left behind.”

 

“Yes, sir.” 

 

Donghae turned to look around and glanced inside the house. Actually wondering how the house would look like after the break in he freely walked in. Authorities were scouring the whole of the house with tape, brushes, and microscopes. The first room he entered was the living room stocked with two leather couches and a large TV. A very simple room, much more simpler than Donghae had imagined it would be. 

 

He prodded on and glanced at the area which he’d seen Victoria being held and glanced up at the stairs where he’d been standing when they saw each other. Donghae turned away when he heard a familiar voice and walked forward to see Siwon talking with one of the maids. 

“Yes…no, I mean, there were other people here than the men that suddenly appeared,” the woman shook her head as if she was so deeply confused, “there was a woman who appeared from upstairs.”

 

“A woman?” Siwon repeated. “Do you know her? What was she doing here?”

 

“I can’t…I don’t know. She just appeared out of nowhere,” the maid continued shaking her head. 

 

“Are you sure she wasn’t with the men who broke in?” Siwon raised his eyebrows. 

 

“Yes, I’m sure. She even fought him off and told me to run. I’m certain she wasn’t with them,” the maid said at least sounding a bit more confident in herself. 

 

Siwon stepped back as if to breathe some air and said, “Can you describe her?” 

 

The maid hopelessly shook her head, “It was too dark, I couldn’t see well.” 

 

Donghae raised an eyebrow. It hadn’t been that dark and he’d seen Victoria’s face perfectly fine. 

 

“This is going to make it difficult to track her down,” Siwon muttered to himself before turning to another officer recording everything down, “so we have two groups of different people who broke in. We know that for sure.” 

 

“Actually three,” Donghae silently added while watching them talk on. “Of course, I’d been here as well.”

He turned away to head out and wondered what the men had been there for. It was even stranger that he’d met Victoria. What did Hong Chong Il have that she would want?

 

\ \ \ \ \

 

Seohyun started walking toward the kitchen with arms outstretched, a loud yawn coming out of . 

 

“Morning.” 

 

Immediately allowing her arms to fall down to her sides she stared at Luhan who was already seated at the kitchen table, his face glowing with a broad grin. Seeing him didn’t help make her feel any better. 

 

“Victoria let me sleep on the couch last night, she seems really cool. How did you two meet?” Luhan asked. 

 

Seohyun ignored him and turned to walk back into her room. She wouldn’t be able to stand sitting and eating with him in the same room so she might as well head out for breakfast. After changing her clothes she stepped out to find Victoria sipping coffee from her mug in the kitchen, Luhan still there. 

 

“You going out?” Victoria asked already dressed up for the day. 

 

Seohyun glanced at Luhan who smiled brightly at her and wondered if he’d told Victoria anything. 

“I was planning to go out as well,” Victoria drank the rest of her coffee and tossed it into the sink. “Luhan says he wants to join us as well. You shouldn’t have any problem with that, right?” 

 

The way Victoria was staring at her meant that Seohyun had some explaining to do. Seohyun heaved a small sigh and turned to look away from them. 

 

\ \ \ \ \

 

Siwon turned away from the street light when he heard someone walking loudly toward him. He saw an exhausted Donghae with bags underneath his eyes trudging toward him. Siwon smiled and waved at Donghae before handing him a cup of mocha he’d bought from the coffee shop. 

 

“I didn’t see you last night,” Siwon greeted.

 

“I was there,” Donghae replied staring at the coffee in his hand. “I met up with the chief before leaving. There was nothing for me to do there.” 

 

“Oh yea? You heard what happened though?” Siwon questioned. 

 

Donghae silently snorted at him from within his head but decided to shrug. “Care to brief me? I didn’t stay long.” 

“A group of men broke into the house,” Siwon started, “but the maid who stopped by during the night reported that there was someone else there. A woman. This is going to be an interesting case. Hong Chong Il’s pure jade plate was found smashed on the ground. The forensics team is deciding whether it had been stolen and the thief had been stopped or whether it had been used as a mode of defense. Nothing’s been declared yet.” 

 

Hearing about the pure jade plate made Donghae’s blood boil. He should have gotten away with it. 

 

“Oh yea?” was all Donghae managed. 

 

“We’re going to scout around today.” Siwon explained. “There’s always something going on downtown. Finish your coffee and we’ll start scouting.” 

 

Donghae tried to be as modest as possible but couldn’t help but groan about the second job he’d picked up by accident.

 

“Oh yea,” Siwon dug into his pocket for and Donghae listened as he heard coins jingle inside them. “Here, look at this.” 

 

Donghae forced himself to grow interest in the mere piece of paper Siwon had handed him and stared at the ugly sketch wondering who the hell it was supposed to be. 

 

“A few weeks ago someone broke into the Song household and took a painting from the early 13th century,” Siwon explained. 

 

Donghae felt his eyebrow raise suddenly immersed in the story. He recalled taking a water color painting of a war from a home north of Seoul. Then did that mean…

 

“The family hired an amateur to do a sketch. These were the descriptions given to the amateur by a son in the family who’d seen the robber slip pass the gates,” Siwon went on.

 

Donghae felt his brows arc before he quickly handed it to Siwon. 

 

“He’s quite handsome,” Donghae smiled trying his best not to slip out a laugh while quickly sipping on his hot coffee. 

“Yea?” Siwon didn’t sound too excited. “I don’t think we’ll find a man like this anywhere.” 

 

Donghae felt a smirk climb onto his face. The man Siwon was currently looking for was just right in front of him.