When she climbed off the bus she found Siwon waiting for her in front of a café, a bag of goods in his hand. He smiled at her as soon as she approached him.

“Sorry for calling you out so early, I hope you weren’t busy,” Siwon greeted.

Victoria shook her head. “It’s alright.”

They were quiet.

“Here,” Siwon handed her the bag, “they’re for you and Luhan.”

Victoria glanced at the bag, “You didn’t have to…”

“Just take it,” he urged.

With no choice, Victoria took the bag from him and they stood, again, in complete silence.

“I’m sorry,” Siwon apologized.

Her eyes immediately shot up to look at him in confusion.

“I know we kind of started off on the wrong foot,” Siwon began, “and it’s become kind of awkward between us. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t need an apology if it’s like that,” Victoria said, “I, at some point, had feelings for you. It was fun and exciting to have felt that way.” She fastened her grip on the bag hoping she didn’t look ridiculous. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. If you like Seohyun, I’m happy, too because she seems like a happier person. I don’t have anything against you, if you’re thinking that. So, just continue caring for her.”

The smile that spread across his lips made Victoria feel all the more sadder with the fact that she didn’t have him. She gripped the bag even harder hoping that her feelings weren’t readable on her face.

“Thank you,” Siwon thanked, “I’m sincere.”

Victoria nodded. “Then…if that’s all, I’ll go.” 

“Oh, hold on,” Siwon started and reached into his pocket. Victoria watched as he handed her a phone, “Would you mind doing me a favor and return this to Donghae when you see him?”

Victoria’s heart sunk a little lower.

“He hasn’t come in to work for two days now. If you can get in contact with him, I’d appreciate it.”

Victoria, again, had no choice but to take the phone from him.

“I’ll try.”

And on the way back to the apartment Victoria, for the first time since her father’s death and after sending her mother off to the airport, felt like bawling. The amount of disappointment soaring through her was indescribable.

\ \ \ \ \

Luhan had fallen into deep thought with a hand under his chin. Besides Yun Man, who he could trust wholeheartedly, there was also Lee Sook Chin. Even though he was close to his father and might be keeping secrets about his father hidden, Luhan could still partially rely on him. After the first visit, Luhan hadn’t gone back to see him. What if he knew something regarding his father or An Kor?

Getting to his feet he walked into the kitchen to find Seohyun still busy cleaning, “Is Victoria in her room?” 

“Why?” Seohyun turned to look at him.

Luhan almost hesitated, “I have…to ask her about something.”

Seohyun glanced at him for a long time before shaking her head, “She went out.”

Pressing his lips together he turned to start for the door and just in time it opened. He found Victoria standing on the other side looking at him surprised.

“Why do you look so shocked?” Victoria asked.

Luhan shook his head, “Nuh-uh, you look surprised.” He glanced at the bag in her hand and grabbed them throwing them onto the couch. “Lets go, I need to talk to you.”

He pushed her back out the door and down the stairs.

“What? What is it?” Victoria asked turning her head back to look at him.

With hands still on her shoulder he urged her to quicken her pace, “I need to see someone.”

“What!”

“I’ll explain on the way.” 

\ \ \ \ \

With her body crookedly leaning to the side, Seohyune tried to eavesdrop on Luhan and Victoria, but they were already out the door the moment she tried. Dropping the rag onto the stove she walked down the hall to see that she was the only one left in the apartment again. Too curious and irritated about being kept from whatever they were hiding from her, Seohyun slipped on her shoes, and followed.

Running all the way down the stairs made her feel a little jittery, but she felt more energetic than usual. Once she popped out of the building, she found the two starting down the walk. Seohyun eased her pace and followed them being careful about her distance from them. Still, from where she was she couldn’t hear whatever it was they were saying to each other. They looked awfully close, though, and it made her wonder how their relationship got so good so fast when before Victoria was yelling about why she’d brought in a baby-faced adult.

Seohyun was brought to a quick stop when she realized that someone had cut in front of her. A skinny man with a shaved head donned in a plain black t-shirt and jeans was walking at a stunningly slow pace. When Victoria and Luhan turned the corner, he followed, Seohyun as well. She frowned. Was this stranger following them as well?

He abruptly paused when Luhan and Victoria started toward the bus which had arrived at the bus stop. The stranger flagged down a taxi and no matter how Seohyun looked at it, her gut instincts told her he was on their tail. There was no way in the world she’d allow it when she should be the only one after them.

Once a taxi pulled over to the curb for the man Seohyun hurried forward, and pulled him back by the collar of his shirt.

“Hey! Wha…” the man started when Seohyun pulled him behind a large garbage disposal.

Pinning him helplessly against the wall she inched her lower arm up against his throat threateningly.

“Ugh…woman!” he choked on his breath from underneath her hold. 

Seohyun arched a foot back to help her put more pressure into her arm, “Why are you following them?”

He squirmed and twisted his head from side to side, “What are you talking about?”

“You know very well what I’m going on about,” Seohyun hissed under her breath, “who are you?”

“Get of me.” he breathlessly demanded.

“Are you going to spill it or not?” Seohyun forced her eyes into a deep glare.

“I can’t breathe!” he begged.

Concerned that she might kill him unintentionally, she flipped him around, and twisted his arm behind his back.

“Is this better?” Seohyun asked sarcastically.

“What do you want!?”

“The reason why you’re following my friends.”   

The stranger didn’t reply so Seohyun ended up twisting his arm some more.

“Alright, alright!” he begged, his legs shaking from the pain his arms couldn’t express. “I work for Noh Ki Young. Please, don’t break my arm. I’m just doing my job.”

“Noh…Noh Ki Young?” Seohyun tripped over the name. “Why?”

“To find out what Luhan’s doing, please I swear I wasn’t going to hurt them!”

One of her eyebrows arched, “Why? What are they doing?”

She gripped onto his arm with much more strength.

“Because they’re finding out where that god damn key is!” he roared struggling against her hold. “I don’t know! All these people are looking for this friggin key! I don’t even know what that damn thing does that they’re desperately fighting each other for it! Let me go! I’m innocent! I’ve got a family to feed!”

“Key?” Seohyun repeated, her mind releasing the memory of the why the man in front of her was tailing Luhan and Victoria. “What key?”

“Ugh! I don’t know! I don’t know any ! Just let me go!”

Seohyun released her hold on him and didn’t even care to watch him run away, grabbing his arm and rubbing it like a baby as he disappeared down the street. It was dawning on Seohyun how far off the course she’d fallen from her job. There were many gaps she’d left without care. That night when Victoria interrogated Luhan, Seohyun realized she hadn’t been paying attention at all. Why hadn’t she questioned about why Victoria had so easily allowed him to stay under their protection? Why hadn’t she suspected Luhan about hiding anything from her? It was clear that something was going on when his step-father was after his life. Why hadn’t she seen anything!? 

Shutting her eyes she banged her fist against the building in front of her. She was too much of a failure. She couldn’t do anything for Victoria and now she finally knew that she really didn’t know Luhan at all.

\ \ \ \ \

“What? Lee Sook Chin?” Victoria repeated on the bus. “Why would you go there?”

“I want to see if he’s found out anything regarding my father,” Luhan told.

“He clearly didn’t know anything from the start, why would he know now?” Victoria asked. “He’s your father’s best friend, isn’t he? There’s a possibility he may be keeping things from you.”

“But he’s a good guy, I know it,” Luhan emphasized it.

“What if you don’t learn anything?”

“I’m not just going to ask anything.” Luhan pointed out. “I’m going to find out if he knows if my father owns any shares in Jeju.”

“You sound completely obsessed with that island at this point.”

“I might as well try at this point,” Luhan pointed out. “Anyway, where did you go out this morning? You left pretty early.”

“Oh…just some business I had to take care of.” Victoria muttered.

And when she looked out the window, she sighed.

\ \ \ \ \

Luhan walked into Lee Sook Chin’s large home and was immediately greeted by the old man. After a quick introduction about who Victoria was they went to the guest room and sat down to talk. 

“Regarding that,” Sook Chin started, “I don’t know if your father has any share there. I am sure, though, that he’s gone there for work a few times. Has your father not yet returned from the states?”

“I thought you would know.”

“I haven’t heard anything either.” Sook Chin replied. “But how are you doing, Luhan? Are you staying somewhere safe?”

“Ah…” Luhan nodded his head, “I’m well. I’m staying with good friends.”

In the end, the both of them trailed out of the house without much excitement.

“The trip here was really for nothing, huh?” Victoria assumed nonchalantly.

“Sorry.” Luhan muttered.

“Well, I guess we better be heading to Jeju soon anyway.”

Luhan paused before turning to look at her.

“Seohyun’s going to find out soon,” Victoria assumed, “she won’t be playing dumb much longer. Besides, her injuries aren’t so bad, she’s going to make a point of that. She’s going to blow, you readying yourself for it?” 

Luhan didn’t know whether he should take her words sarcastically as a light joke.

“For now, I might make a last check into Yoo Yong Sun’s home.” Victoria told. “One last break might ease Seohyun’s suspicions. So, you wanna tell me about that man’s house?”

\ \ \ \ \

Siwon opened the door and glanced into the shop. Business was brewing and a smoke of steam was floating up into the air venders. The smell of grilled pork and alcohol meshed together into something sweet. There were a bundle of alcohol locked away into a fridge and clashes of dishes echoing from the open kitchen at the left side of the restaurant. Silver spoons and forks clattered against white plates when the door shut behind him.

In the middle of the room at the far left he saw Seohyun sitting alone at a grill with a glass of soju beside her and a plate of fresh lettuce by the side. A few pork pieces were being cooked on the grill in the middle of the table. He wasn’t used to seeing Seohyun in that kind of condition.

Walking over, he took the seat next to her.

“It’s broad daylight, why are you drinking?”

Seohyun lightly gripped the shot glass in front of her with eyes hung low.

“I suddenly understand now, how far off I’ve been daydreaming,” Seohyun said in a quiet voice. “I should be tired of playing myself like a fool by now.”

“Why are you saying that? What’s wrong?” Siwon angled his head to look at her. “Seohyun, stop drinking.” 

He snatched the shot glass away from her.

“It’s nothing, I’m just stressed.” Seohyun turned to look at him with a smile. “Isn’t it normal to take out your stress with alcohol?”

“It’s not healthy.” Siwon added.

“I didn’t have much,” Seohyun said leaning her head into her hand. “I don’t think I can give you up for my job.”

Siwon raised his head, eyes still on her. He wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to sacrifice anything for him, that she didn’t have to do anything at all, and it didn’t matter. It didn’t feel good to see her struggling with her inner self and try to juggle her job with her personal life. Just what kind of job did she have that made her feel so conflicted?

He couldn’t say anything and he wasn’t sure what he said would comfort her enough. In the end, he just put an arm around her and rubbed her head comfortingly.

\ \ \ \ \

Seohyun had gone out without a word again. Not that Victoria had anything against it, but she just felt worried about her. The sky had darkened and cars had stopped appearing down the road. Victoria waited in the kitchen with eyes glued to the window until she heard the door open and shut. From down the hall she could hear Luhan asking Seohyun if she’d been drinking. Getting up from where she was sitting she started toward the hallway and ran into Seohyun just in time.

“Where’ve you been?” Victoria wondered, her nostrils flinching from the stench of alcohol and pork.

Seohyun’s red eyes made her look all the more tired.

“Lets talk.” Seohyun said opening the door to her room.

“Oh…I wanted to talk to you too.” Victoria said. 

Before walking in she turned to look at Luhan who was watching and waved to him that everything was alright before entering Seohyun’s room. Victoria turned around after closing the door and walked over to sit down by Seohyun’s desk. Seohyun sat at the edge of her bed, proper and still.

“Do you want go first?” Victoria asked.

“No, you.”

“Wanna get back on the job? I know you’re still able and you probably want to get moving again,” Victoria told. “If you’re feeling ok, how about we go for Yoo Yong Sun at the end of this week?”

Seohyun slowly glanced up from the ground and their eyes met a few seconds later.

“Mmm…” she nodded.

“And…you had something to say?”

Seohyun kept to herself for a few minutes before finally saying, “I can’t divide the line between work and my life. Victoria, I like Siwon. I really like him. Sometimes, I can’t even focus on the ‘Golden Mary’.”

Victoria felt her lips fall apart. A short arrow shot at her heart. 

“I’ll help you find the ‘Golden Mary’, I’ll find it with you because this is my job from the beginning too, but until then…after this I don’t want to work anymore.”

There was an unsettling feeling inside Victoria’s heart and all emotions joined up again. Everything felt blurry and she couldn’t tell whether she sided with Seohyun or if she didn’t.

“Why don’t you just stop now?” Victoria asked.

Seohyun’s stare became hard.

“If you can’t care about this anymore, just stop. I’ll take care of it.” Victoria stood up.

“Why?” Seohyun tilted her head to look up at her. “Why should you take this on all by yourself? This job wasn’t handed to you alone.”

“You’re already losing heart, Seohyun,” Victoria pointed out, “you don’t want a part in this job now. That’s what I’m getting from you. Just call it quits now. I’m not going to hold you back or stop you from what you want.”

“No,” Seohyun stubbornly shook her head. “I’m not going to let you complete this job alone.”

“Seohyun,” Victoria called loudly, “you don’t want to, but you will.”

Seohyun bit her lip hard, “I’m not going to abandon you halfway, Victoria, that’s not what I’m saying.”

“I’m not saying you are,” Victoria shook her head. “You want your life back, I get that. Forget about the end of this week. Just…do what you want to do.”

Victoria walked out of the room, too many emotions flushed through her. She didn’t even know where she stood now. Of course, she wanted Seohyun to return to her normal life but having her do that now, in the most crucial moment of their job, might be the hardest decision Victoria would have to accept. Getting the ‘Golden Mary’ alone with Luhan might be the most difficult process she’d have to go through without the strong partner she’d had since the beginning. 

\ \ \ \ \

Seohyun dropped back onto her bed and curled up into a fetal position. She was guilty and she knew she was a horrible person. She was ditching Victoria in the middle of a difficult mission. What Seohyun wanted to do the most at the moment was let go of all her feelings. She knew she was wrong and that by doing it she was only getting further and further away from the road she should be stepping on. As the phone rang in her ears she could only think of the voice belonging to the person that would soothe her. If she didn’t have him, who would be there for her at the end of the day when everyone else returned to their lives?

“Hello?” Siwon answered.

“I miss you.” Seohyun cried.