D—“:

Victoria’s eyes widened when she saw them approach.

“Do you want to trade?” Victoria asked. “I’ll go in your place and you can stay here with Namjoo. You’ll have less regret that way.”

“Why?” Luhan wondered. “Who is that cop? Why are you so determined to rescue him?”

Victoria quieted then spoke, “With him…I experienced the things I forgot I had the ability to feel.”

“You helped me a lot before,” Luhan compromised, “so…let me return you the debt.”

Exactly what kind of debt was this that Luhan was returning? Tears welled up in Victoria’s eyes before Namjoo’s wails eventually deafened her ears. She hadn’t told him to go off and get himself killed. She’d told him to let her go in his place…and this was how it had ended?!! Sadness swarmed through Victoria before the anger took over.

Stomping forward she grabbed Kris’ arm and pulled him after her. He looked broken when she let go of him when they were at the other side of the building away from sight, away from the others, but they hadn’t escaped Namjoo’s crying.

“Who…” Victoria felt her voice shake without meaning for it to, “who did it?”

The tears continued running down his face like an endless river and Victoria felt the depression start to overwhelm her.

“Who did it!” Victoria screamed. “Who pulled the trigger?”

She would get revenge. She would avenge Luhan, for him and for Namjoo and for herself. Victoria wouldn’t let Luhan’s death go by unnoticed without any justification, she could at least promise that to the person who had always fought so hard.

Kris continued crying and Victoria felt like slapping him. She had never seen him so useless before. In the end, she grabbed his arm and shook him.

“I asked you who did it!” she shrieked.

Kris tilted his head down, but the tears only came in much more of a rush. Sobs started escaping Victoria and she slapped his shoulder in frustration.

“The cop…the one you wanted to save…” she couldn’t hear through the slurs of his words and blinked her eyes lost.

“W…what?” her question was a low whisper, hoping that it wasn’t what she’d thought it was.

“The cop you wanted to save…” Kris cried.

Victoria stopped sobbing for a minute before a high pitched cry escaped her and she turned around to start kicking and punching the building out of anger and frustration. Kris didn’t take initiation to stop her. When she felt blood pouring out of her fists she fell against the building and slowly slid to the ground with harsh cries bellowing out of her.

And now…she could no longer keep her word about making sure that one of them made it home safe.

D—“:

“Can you…put this ring on for me?” Luhan asked while putting the ring into the palm of her hand.

Namjoo glanced at the silver ring and reached for his hand before sliding it over his ring finger.

“Five months ago, I started wearing this,” Luhan told, “because the best part of me was no longer there, so I was really lonely. The bed was cold and I had no warmth. There was no one to bother me. I missed you a lot.”

She watched the tears fall from his eyes.

“I’m selfish and I was mean. I’m sorry, Namjoo,” he apologized, “can you…carry my feelings with you along the way?”

The smile spreading across his face gave her so much pain. “When I married you, I thought we’d have kids, live in a nice home, raise those kids together, and grow old until we couldn’t walk anymore. I was ready to be with you forever. If we had kids, do you think they’d look like you or me?”

“I’ll find you and lets live together for a long time then.”

What the hell had they been talking about? What the hell had all that been just two nights ago? What the hell!? Namjoo clawed the grass and punched it with her fists in anger. Why had he gone before her? Why!?

She should have told him she loved him more. She should have told him how important he was to her. The angry tears of suppressed regret flowed through her endlessly. All she could do now was sob and continue to sob.

“Miss Nine.” Luhan would smile at her while teasing her.

She would never have any of that anymore. Namjoo reached a dirty hand up to touch the silver necklace around her neck and cried even more. It was really all she had left of him now and that fact hit her the hardest.

“Luhan! Luhan!” she cried.

D—“:

Empathetic tears arose in Baekhyun’s eyes when he saw Namjoo crying heartbreakingly by herself.

“Namjoo…” he called reaching an arm out to comfort her, but she continued crying oblivious to his presence.

“It’s ok, leave her alone, Baekhyun,” Eunhyuk suggested.

Baekhyun looked up at Eunhyuk and glanced back at Namjoo.

“What happened?” Chan Shik walked toward them and glanced at Krystal. “It looks like you got dissected alive.”

Krystal glared into his face, “Shut up.”

“Leave it,” Eunhyuk split them up, “everyone’s had it rough. Lets go cool ourselves down, ok?”

Eunhyuk turned to look at Namjoo and sighed. There wasn’t anything anyone could do at this point. Without a choice they went inside the building.

D—“:

“What did they do to you?”

“I don’t know. I’m confused.” Changmin answered.

They’d thrown him into a dark green interrogation tent after giving him a small cast around his ankle. They hadn’t allowed him any time to recover from the sudden rescue and Changmin’s brain was unable to function correctly.

“Do you know who they are?”

“I don’t know!” he answered frustrated. “I don’t know them. Suddenly I was just abducted and dragged here and there! I don’t know what they thought they could do with me!”

Luckily, he’d only escaped with some bruises here and there and nothing too serious. His examiner let out a deep sigh as if he was frustrated himself, but Changmin didn’t understand him. Shouldn’t he be more stressed?

“Have they identified the body?” Changmin questioned. “Can I go see him?”

“Alright, alright. Get out of here.”

Changmin hobbled out of the tent and started toward the tent beside it. He almost felt nervous before entering it. When he opened the flap of the door he limped in and saw two men standing in front of a long table where the body lay.

“Do you know who he is?” Changmin questioned.

One of the doctors turned to look at him, “Not until we run his DNA through our system. He might have to be transported back to the city for a more thorough examination.”

Changmin glanced into the doctor’s face covered by a mask and peeked over his shoulder to see the young man he’d shot lying on the table. With a small frown he hobbled back outside and toward his tent. He missed his sleeping bag and he wanted to sleep in it all day long. On his way there he spotted two men and two women in handcuffs being dragged toward a van. Changmin watched them confused and saw their dark faces before they were pushed into the van.

“Who are they?” Changmin asked.  

“The troop this morning that set out caught them shooting,” a random cop passing by informed. “Seems like you were caught at some kind of secret base. They’re planning to start investigating at dawn after keeping a watch on the people there.”

Changmin turned to look at the short man confused. “Secret base?”

“Looks like we’re getting nearer to the strange activity around here,” the man commented, “we’ll be able to go home soon.”

Changmin watched him walk pass and turned to watch the van drive off.

“Secret base?” he repeated to himself.

D—“:

It was near evening and Namjoo hadn’t yet gone inside. She hadn’t yet eaten anything either and Kris worried about whether she would last the day. Inside the building was as silent as it had been when they had discovered Namjoo was dying. There was so much despair being passed around and everyone had locked themselves up in their rooms. No one had expected this. No one had wanted this. Even Victoria had stopped trying to fight and resorted to a day of silence.

Nothing was right.

Kris walked toward the door and peered out the window. Namjoo was still where she’d kneeled down earlier. His heart hurt at imagining the pain her body was feeling, but she was ignoring. Yet, he found it hard to approach her. It had felt like a duty for him to make sure Luhan returned with them, but he hadn’t made it.

His eyes traveled toward the ground before he pushed the door open and started toward her. She was still crying. Kris could see her shoulders shaking from the pain that resonated deep within her heart. He wanted to do anything for her, but anything might not be what she wanted. He couldn’t bring Luhan back. He couldn’t turn back the time.

He put his hands on her shoulders from behind and tried to pull her up, “Namjoo…” but she didn’t want him.

Her head drooped forward and she continued crying.

“Namjoo,” he tried again before giving up. He couldn’t force her when she was in so much pain. Instead he wrapped both arms around her and pulled her toward him. Namjoo’s head landed against his shoulder and this time she didn’t move. “I’m so sorry…”

“He said he would come back,” Namjoo cried, “Luhan promised…Luhan…”

Closing his eyes he nodded. Crying had drained much more of his energy than he had expected and seeing Namjoo like this made him sadder than he was before. After a long time he finally succeeded in lifting her up and brought her inside. Namjoo refused to eat before she fell asleep in her room.

Giving up and deciding that he didn’t want anything to eat either, he resorted to his room. Lying down on his bed he realized that Luhan had had less time than Namjoo, and he’d lost a lot before he could gain any. Kris suddenly felt a sick pang of worry grow within him. How would he ever deal with it if Namjoo suddenly never woke up from sleeping? His heart would be crushed. He would cry just as hard as Namjoo cried over Luhan.

Kris shook his head to throw away the thoughts, but it was impossible. Luhan had just left his place on earth, and that only meant Namjoo was soon to go. Within seconds he could feel the tears sliding out his eyes even if he closed them as tightly as he could.  

D—“:

Namjoo awoke in the depth of darkness and the first thing that entered her mind was to find Luhan, but wherever she looked, he wasn’t there.

“Luhan!” she cried out in the darkness. “Luhan!”

She turned around in the darkness. Not even her shadow was apparent in this world.

“Luhan!”

A sick worry filled her and she almost started bawling. She was scared now. It was no longer funny. This game of hide and seek was no longer entertaining.

“Luhan!” she screamed with tears at the corner of her eyes and heard her voice echo back to her.

Namjoo’s lips fell apart and she spun around confused. He wasn’t coming…

“Miss Nine…”

When Namjoo’s eyes opened she felt a sick tear in her heart and started crying. She felt so alone and it was so scary. Suddenly throwing over the covers she opened her door and looked down the hallway. Namjoo gulped and slowly started walking down the dark and stopped in front of Luhan’s closed door. If she opened the door, she’d find him sleeping on his tummy inside, right? The hopes that sent her adrenaline flowing sparked her and she pulled the door open.

An empty cry left her lips when she saw the empty bed and realized that he was no longer there. Namjoo stood there crying for as long as she could remember before another door opened.

D—“:

Kris’ eyes shot open when he heard the door open and close before he felt someone climb onto the bed. He heard sniffing and sobbing before a pair of arms wrapped themselves around him. Namjoo leaned her head against his back and continued crying in silence. A sob shuddered through Kris and he almost let out a loud cry before he pressed a hand over his mouth. He didn’t want Namjoo to know he was crying too. He didn’t want her to know that he was sharing the pain too.

The tears slid out even more fiercely and Kris had to fight even harder not to shake. Why were they crying in the same room? Then he heard Namjoo’s heartbroken sob and cried even more.

D—“:

Victoria couldn’t shake the feeling off that she’d sent Luhan to his deathbed. If she’d had better control of herself when she’d seen Changmin, he wouldn’t have gone out to fight. Luhan didn’t know warfare, how could she forget that? Like Woo Jung, Luhan was innocent. How in the world had Victoria forgotten such facts? How could she be so foolish? How could this have happened?

She didn’t know whether she hated herself more or if she resented Changmin now. The tears dripped out from her eye and slid to the other side of her face before they landed on the floor. Victoria had chosen to lay on the dirty floorboards instead of on the bed. She wanted to be uncomfortable. She wanted to hurt herself somehow.

Even when her fists were bleeding, it didn’t quite feel like enough. The pain that Namjoo was going through, Victoria would never be able to make up for it and she knew she was most guilty for it. Namjoo wouldn’t be suffering if Victoria had had control over herself.

A small cry seeped through and her body shook from the momentum of her tiny sobs. Now Luhan was dead and no one could bring him back. Victoria didn’t know what to do now. If she did anything stupid again she’d just jeopardize everyone else’s lives.

What should she do? What should she do?

Victoria curled up on the ground and remained there throughout the whole night. She awoke the next morning when someone took her hand and started cleaning up the dried blood on her knuckles. In a few seconds, she realized that it was none other than Eunhyuk.

“I know you’re upset,” he started, “but you can’t go beating yourself up over it. Take a break today and decide what you really want to do by tomorrow morning. Whether to destroy Organization One or to avenge Luhan, it’s up to you.”

Victoria slowly blinked her eyes without a word for a long time. “How’s Namjoo?”

“Not eating, but alive.” Eunhyuk’s voice was very quiet now.

“Can I ask,” Victoria started, “if Changmin really shot Luhan?”

Eunhyuk raised his eyes up from her bloody hand to look at her before returning them back to concentrating on her hand. “Yea…”

Another sting hit Victoria’s heart and without meaning to she started crying again. She was embarrassed at first, but then she suddenly didn’t care anymore.

“I don’t want to do this anymore,” Victoria cried. “Why…did it have to happen?”

She closed her eyes and sobbed.

“Luhan wasn’t supposed to die,” she sobbed, “why did he shoot…it’s not fair.”

Eunhyuk never said a word the whole time he bandaged her hand up with a gauze. When he left Victoria still remained where she’d been lying the whole night. Her eyes were red-stressed from crying so much. She realized that even if she didn’t want to, she would have to make the decision; whether to revenge Luhan or destroy Organization One. What was more important to her? And she knew it would be the most difficult decision she would have to make in her 27 years of life.

To Luhan, who was like a younger brother, and who she had witnessed for a total month of how hard he tried to fight from the sidelines. Luhan had also touched her heart somewhere and she had always wanted to protect him. Changmin had made her seaweed soup, been there to carry her, give her a shoulder when she cried, and talked to her about righteousness and star crossed lovers. He’d also penetrated a side of her heart she had forgotten about.

Who did she want to fight for this time?

Her heart ached like it had never ached before. Victoria couldn’t choose…in the end, she couldn’t decide.

When she brought herself to get up, she walked down the hallway and opened the door to Namjoo’s bedroom. She was sitting silently on her bed while staring out the window. The image brought to Victoria the thought of a lonely person sitting inside some hospital isolated away from humanity. Where would Namjoo’s heart go after she died? Would she go off peacefully? How could Victoria make sure that she went off happily?

Victoria thought she made the decision then and closed the door. When she started downstairs she found Kris at the bottom of the stairs with a blank look on his face. Victoria ran her eyes over him a few times while deciding what to say.

“Kris,” Victoria spoke, “two days, I’m giving you two days to do what you want. Do what you want, make Namjoo happy, make yourself happy and if we survive, go back to the city with Namjoo.” 

***Victoria is sure in a bind. She'll have to make the hardest decision now, but at least Eunhyuk promises to let things go her way.

***And now, two days left before the final showdown! 

***Oh, and Merry Christmas!

***Oh! And I have a new Oneshot up! A Spark w/Namjoo & Luhan ^^