“Ah….” Officer Park stood and took something off his belt. “Here.”

“Thanks.” Victoria took the handcuffs from him. “I’m going to have to ask you to help pull his hands to his back.”

“What do you think you’re doing?” Donghae hissed and tried to shake his way out of their hold.

Kris tightened his hold on Donghae’s shoulder and his upper arm, Chorong did the same to his other arm while Victoria worked his hands together behind him. A click sounded and they both released Donghae.

“Are you ok?” Lay asked Namjoo and steadied her away from the window.

She was rubbing her sore head when Kris turned around.

~_____~

With Officer Park’s help, they locked Donghae up into an empty office while they moved into the room next door to talk. All attention turned to her after they seated themselves at a round table.

“I think you have some explaining to do,” Victoria first started.

Namjoo glanced at her as if she was hiding something.

“Who’s this Eunhyuk?” Victoria asked staring straight at her.

“Eunhyuk is Hyukjae’s nickname,” Namjoo told. Victoria patiently waited for her to go on. “He’s Donghae’s friend. They went to high school together. He went missing four years ago.”

“Missing?” Victoria repeated caught off guard before straightening up in her seat. “Why? Did he also work at the military intelligence unit?”

Namjoo shook her head, “He was a CNA at Seoul Hospital. He often visited Donghae at work before he disappeared.”

Victoria suddenly thought of the sad gaze she’d seen on Donghae’s face when they were in Suwon.

“Does he have something to do with this human trafficking case?” Lay wondered.

Namjoo glanced at him, “Well…we had a spy among the drug traffickers. Eunhyuk appeared in one of the photos he took…” Namjoo raised her eyes up to meet with Victoria’s. “Donghae’s trying to find him through this case, but don’t misunderstand him. He’s not as reckless as to mix personal affairs with work. Really.”

“I didn’t say anything like that,” Victoria assured. “So Donghae has had two goals in his mind since the case started.”

Namjoo nodded. “I have a request.”

Victoria raised an eyebrow. “Name it.”

“I want to go to Wonju for the next mission,” Namjoo stated, “lets exclude Donghae and Suho.”

It was a strange request. “Why? Donghae’s your team leader.”

“He gets worked up whenever Eunhyuk is mentioned. I’m afraid if we run into Eunhyuk in Wonju, Donghae will go ballistic,” Namjoo explained, “and Suho’s already injured. He could have a few days’ vacation or something. There’s more than enough of us to go to Wonju.”

“And what exactly do you want to do in Wonju?”

“It’s their home base, isn’t it?” Namjoo asked. “Lets search for their home base, and if we’re lucky, bring someone back.”

Namjoo stood up from her seat. “Where are you going?”

“Headquarters.”

“What about Donghae?”

“After he’s decided he’s cooled down enough, he’ll call for Officer Park.” Namjoo told.

Victoria watched her pat her pockets for her keys before confusion drew itself onto her face.

“Here,” Kris said drawing her keys from his pocket. “You rushed out before I could give them to you.”

She snatched them from him without a thanks before turning to Tao, “Tao, you’re coming with me.”

“I’m hungry. Can I get some food first?” Tao asked.

Victoria wondered how much longer he would keep begging for food. He was such a child, a hassle.

Namjoo shot him a glare before Lay offered, “I can take him to go get something. Why don’t you go ahead?”

“It’s fine.”

“I’ll drop him off after.” Lay promised.

Tao rolled his eyes. “I’m not a child you two should be arguing over.”

“We’re not arguing over you.” Namjoo muttered through clenched teeth. “Sorry, Lay, for handing over this brat. I hope you don’t mind. And thanks a lot.”

Tao snorted at her back as she walked out.

Excluding Tao, Donghae’s team seemed close knit. They were more like close friends than colleagues. Even when they worked together, they took care of each other. And it seemed like they knew each other well. Victoria hadn’t worked like that with anyone before. She just led her team and did her job. There was no personal association among her and her soldiers. It made Donghae’s team sound admirable. The three of them were capable in their own ways. As Donghea made a good leader, Namjoo remained confident and headstrong, and Suho caught the bad guys.

“They sound fun,” Victoria commented when the door closed after Namjoo.

She turned to find a puzzled looking Chorong looking at her.

Victoria smiled, “I was thinking I might have taken on the wrong job, but Donghae’s team has a nice variety.” Then she glanced at Tao, “It might be a regret if you didn’t treat them better.” Victoria turned back to glance at Kris, Chorong, and Lay, “I hope we can have good teamwork as well. In the meantime, why don’t we do some research about possible hideouts in Wonju first?” Victoria stood to her feet, “And if we’re going to trespass on their territory, we’re going to need licensed firearms.”

~_____~

Donghae was angry. Really angry at the way Cho Chin Ho had talked about Eunhyuk. Eunhyuk would never participate in ion circles. Nor would he go after little girls or women. He wasn’t like that. His friend wasn’t that kind of person. How Cho Chin Ho could talk about Eunhyuk so horribly deeply stained his mind.

Donghae ran his hand over his face and leaned forward to bury his face into the table.

~_____~

Tao twisted his head back to look at Lay who had followed him closely down the street and into the restaurant.

While he remained in line for food he twisted his head around, “You don’t need to follow me everywhere. I’m not going to run off.”

“Oh, I didn’t think you were going to run off,” Lay shook his head in reply, “I’m hungry too.”

“You could have gone somewhere else.”

“Well, what if I want to eat where you eat?”

Tao frowned at him strangely before turning around.

“It’ll be nice if you order some food for Namjoo too,” Lay suggested. “She’s going to be staying overnight for work.”

“How would you know that? And why should I do that?”

“Instinct and you’re her team mate.”

Tao snorted.

“They’re all very tolerant of you. You’re lucky.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tao refuted. “All I get is them ordering me around.”

“They’re trying to show you how to work and it’s a form of friendship,” Lay explained, “it’s also a form of teaching. Since you’re going to be her only team mate going along with her in the next mission, it’ll be good if you try to work hard. Lessen some of her workload.”

“Are you lecturing me?” Tao turned to look at him with a lowered brow.

Lay smiled at him, “Advising.” Then he nudged Tao. “You’re up.”

~_____~

“That was scary,” Chorong commented in the taxi, “how he just threw her into the window.”

Kris glanced at her, “I think she knew it was coming or she would’ve backed away.”

Chorong turned to look at him. “I can’t believe Victoria thinks they have good teamwork.”

“Maybe they do. We just haven’t seen their full potential.”

“I can see it from Suho and Donghae. I don’t know about Namjoo. She has too much attitude.”

“Talk about it,” Kris muttered, “but she knows what she’s doing.”

“Are you actually talking bad about her with me or are you defending her?” Chorong asked.

He snorted, “Does it matter?”

Chorong turned away from him.

“We’ll probably warm up to each other sooner or later,” Kris rubbed his hands together.

“I can’t imagine getting close with her,” Chorong mumbled. “She looks down on us in the first place.”

“Maybe there’s a reason.”

Chorong snorted at him and turned to gaze out at the shops they were passing. “The only good thing about her is Suho.”

“What’d you say?” Kris asked.

“Nothing.”

~_____~

Victoria still hadn’t left the detention center. She’d seen everyone out before she paced back down the hallway. Finally pausing in front of Donghae’s door she almost hesitantly reached for the doorknob.

Eunhyuk…

She couldn’t imagine losing a friend. Sure, she’d lost grasp of people before and friends had drifted from over time, but none of her friends had gone missing. The worry would kill her daily and silently torment her. She could only think about Donghae beating himself up for not being able to find Eunhyuk when he worked at such a refined government branch. He must think about Eunhyuk a lot, she mused.

Victoria almost felt guilty for doubting Donghae at the beginning and for being greedy of the desire to take control of the case. Why had she been waiting for Donghae to falter when all he was doing was struggling and working hard to get his friend back? By now she would have wondered if her missing friend was dead or alive. She admired Donghae’s persistence.

Pushing the door open she found Donghae bent over with the side of his face planted against the table. The back of his head was facing her when she walked in.

“They’ve taken Cho Chin Ho back,” Victoria announced.

Donghae sat up and turned to look at her. She leaned against the door and crossed her arms.

“I heard about your friend from Namjoo,” Victoria explained.

He turned away from her and leaned back into his chair.

“I must say I should apologize,” Victoria began and watched him turn back to look at her, “I was waiting for you to show a weak spot so I could take over the case, but your team’s done well so far. You’ve done a good job at leading too, so I haven’t had a chance to interfere.”

He turned away to stare at the wall ahead of him. “Is Namjoo ok?”

“Oh yea,” Victoria nodded, “she didn’t seem too hurt or angry. You have some pretty good assistants.”

“Yea, they’re good.” He said it with pride.

“Namjoo suggested excluding you from the next mission,” Victoria started, “you and Suho.”

Donghae knitted his brows together.

“She doesn’t want you overreacting over the mention of your friend,” Victoria continued, “and since Suho’s injured the two of you should stay back together.”

Donghae looked amused, “I think Namjoo’s the one who secretly wants to take over.”

Victoria found herself smile at his calmness. “Why don’t you stay back?”

His face suddenly became serious.

“If you want to get your hands busy, why don’t you stay on the line with us while we go to Wonju?” Victoria suggested. “You can navigate for us if we need an escape route.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re going to trespass into their home base.”

“Are you crazy?” Donghae’s face scrunched up.

“It’s already planned,” Victoria stated. “I think it’d be nice if you cool down some.”

“No, it’s not alright.” Donghae stood to his feet. “Where’s Namjoo?”

“Already gone, so why don’t you chill?” Victoria asked.

“No!” Donghae raised his voice. “I’m not allowing you to find their home base, not without me.”

“Do you think we’re incapable of doing that much?” Victoria refuted. “Back down, Donghae. You’re being too hasty. You’re thinking of Eunhyuk, aren’t you? At this point, I’m afraid Namjoo’s only right about you going ballistic. If you lose control out there, there’s no point in going to Wonju at all. I’d suggest you take some chill pills.”

Donghae narrowed his eyes at her. “What’d you say?”

“You heard me,” Victoria spoke, “so I’m telling you to stay back.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Donghae argued.

“I am,” Victoria retaliated, “you’re not going. End of story.”

Donghae took a step forward, but Victoria shot her arm out to force him to a stop.

“Don’t start with me.” Victoria warned. “This is exactly why I can’t permit you out there. You’re too anxious. If we can infiltrate into their base or come back with someone and gather some information, I promise you I’ll let you know first. I’ll look for Eunhyuk for you. Promise to stay back.”

Donghae locked his eyes with hers for a long time before he finally stepped back.

“Fine.” 

~_____~

Because of traffic Tao had been dropped back off at headquarters late in the evening. The government hall seemed less empty than it was during broad daylight and while making his way to the elevator he heard anonymous things falling and echoing through the hallways. Spooked he ran all the way into the elevator and immediately started for the fourth floor.

When he got out of the hallway he impatiently paced back and forth down the lone hallways paranoid. Tao hated the fact that he continuously kept checking behind him to make sure he hadn’t been followed by anything. He finally spotted Namjoo sitting in a meeting room with a laptop in front of her. He grumbled underneath his breath at why she even dared to stay alone this late. It was her fault he had to be there too.

Namjoo didn’t even glance up when he entered the room. Suddenly embarrassed and shy about the food he’d bought for her, he quickly hid it behind his back. He didn’t know what to say to her when he approached her.

“You must have a hard head,” he commented.

“Yea? I think I do too,” she sarcastically said monotonously.

Tao glanced at the map she had on her laptop. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for areas around Wonju.”

“And it’s taken you this long?”

Namjoo turned to look up at him, “Don’t speak when you don’t know.”

He snorted before he pulled at his shirt, “Look, I wore it. You should be humorously amused.”

She ran her eyes up his shirt and sarcastically and monotonously commented, “Looks nice.”

Tao shot a frown at her, “You’re doing that on purpose.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She turned back to put all her attention on the map.

He heaved a breath of annoyance and slowly cleared his throat. While turning his head away he quickly muttered, “Thanks.”

Namjoo spun back to look up at him. “What?”

His face contorted into irritation with how pretentious she was being. “Forget it.”

A sleek smile climbed onto her face overjoyed and his whole body lurched forward when she grabbed his shirt.

Twisting it to turn him around she commented, “It looks nice. It fit well after all. Oh! What’s that?”

Tao pulled away from her abruptly because the comment had suddenly made him shy. A dark frown overcame her face and he tensed his fingers around the bag he was holding. For some reason he could feel himself heat up from the embarrassment of her discovering the food he’d gotten for her.

“Yah,” she started. “Give it.”

He pressed his lips together and debated about what to do before he quickly placed the food onto the table and lied, “They’re leftovers.”  

Namjoo snorted at him before reaching for the bag and opening it. While she peered at the food inside he darted his eyes around the room anxiously. Another snort left Namjoo’s mouth when she realized that the food hadn’t actually been touched at all and had been freshly packed.

“Looks like you’re not too bad after all,” Namjoo commented, “thanks.”

Tao thought his face flushed from embarrassment and he quickly locked his fingers behind him. Namjoo raised an eyebrow when she saw him do so.

“Tao,” she called, “you know you might look better if you smile some. It wouldn’t hurt to smile, you know. Like this.” Namjoo curved her lips and smiled for him to see. “Can you not do that?”

“Forget it,” he mumbled. “I’m going to the library.”

He spun around and left the room.

The air felt lighter outside of the meeting room. Tao escaped into the bathroom to make sure his face wasn’t growing red from embarrassment.

“Tsh…acting like all this and that,” Tao scorned and turned to walk away, but suddenly paused and turned around. Recalling Namjoo’s words he curved his lips up into a smile before pulling it off. “Aish! It doesn’t suit me.” Then he turned to walk out. 

***We'll see if Tao starts developing any sense of responsibility soon. And if Donghae will keep his promise to Victoria about staying out of the next mission. 

***And a lil TaoJoo moment here ^^