~_____~

Kris had gone out to buy some snacks so it was just Namjoo and Tao in the room they’d rented for the night. Namjoo was sitting across from the three folded up futons at the end of the room trying to put the medicine on her cut. Tao let out a snort when Namjoo hesitated to touch the deep cut with the swab she’d already dipped into the medicine. As expected she turned to send him a glare.

“You put up an attitude with everything, but you’re afraid of tending to a cut?” Tao asked placing an arm over the knee he had up.

“Why don’t you go interest yourself with watching those cats outside,” Namjoo retorted.

“Tsh…” he snorted before getting up. He walked over to her and snatched the swab out of her hand. “I’ll show you how this is done, you amateur.”

Namjoo turned her head to the side with a small snort, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, you criminal.”

Tao tightly gripped onto her arm causing her to let out a shout before he pulled her arm toward him. He glanced at the deep cut and glanced at Namjoo before lightly dabbing the swab around the clotted blood around it.

“Ah…ah!” she screamed in an attempt to pull her arm away. “It hurts!”

But no matter how much she struggled he didn’t let go. “If you don’t clean it, you’re going to have to amputate your arm. I bet you he’s used that knife for countless things.”

“Liar! That much won’t lead me to losing an arm. You think I’d believe you?” Namjoo refuted.

“Uh-huh, keep talking,” he muttered.

“Yah, I bet I’ve done more schooling than you. Don’t think that I’ll…” Namjoo cut her own sentence off with her own deafened scream when Tao touched the cut again with the swab.

This time she lashed her arm out and knocked him in the face with her hand before she grabbed the swab from him.

“Forget it! You just go do whatever you want!” Namjoo began to move away from him.

“Ow…” he muttered rubbing his face suddenly irritated and somewhat angry with how she’d beat him for just trying to help.

Reaching forward he grabbed her hand to take the swab back, but Namjoo struggled and flung her free hand out. She placed it by the curve of his neck and shoulder in an act to push him away. They screamed and shouted at each other before he eventually grabbed her free hand tugging her toward him. Silence finally engulfed the entire room when Namjoo’s forehead stopped just inches under his eyes.

Tao could almost smell the rosey scent of the soap she used flowing from her skin. Her hands fit into his just right and he could feel himself heat up from embarrassment or from whatever it was that was getting to him. Slightly tilting his head down he looked down to see those wide surprised eyes before the door opened and Kris stared back at them. He finally let go of her and they pushed each other away before Namjoo’s phone went off. While he watched her move to answer the phone he thought he heard Kris clear his throat and turned away from Namjoo to glance over at him.

~_____~

“It’s me,” Victoria said.

“Oh. I know.”

“Where are you?”

Namjoo glanced up from the ground and glanced around. “Resting somewhere.”

“Go back to Seoul. Lay, Chorong, and I are going to be heading back, so lets go back together.”

“Why so soon?”

“Lets re-gather in Seoul and think about what to do next. Stalking around Wonju might just be a waste of time. Lets go talk to Donghae and come up with a new solution.”

Regroup with Donghae? Namjoo couldn’t argue with the suggestion, but she had other things on her mind. She wasn’t leaving until she found out exactly why those men had told her to call Donghae. Not until she cleared everything first, but she wasn’t about to tell Victoria anything. Not yet.

“Alright,” she easily agreed. “Lets meet back in Seoul. We’ll leave in a bit.”

Victoria seemed satisfied with her answer before she hung up.

“Who was that?” she turned when Kris spoke.

“No one,” she lied then she turned to glance at Tao who seemed like he had something to say, “what?”

“Nothing,” he turned away and held out a large band aid, “put it on yourself. I don’t want to get knocked in the face again.”  

She glanced up when a small box of pocky sticks was shoved in her face.

“Here, take it.” Kris said.

From the corner of her eye she saw Tao get up to walk away.

Slowly reaching her hand up for it she took it, “Thanks.”

She glanced away when a satisfactory smile climbed onto his face.

~_____~

Kris was the last to sleep that night. He suddenly felt worried about tomorrow For some reason he was anxious to return to Seoul. It felt better when they were in a large group than a small group of three.

They had decided to leave the curtains open to allow the moonlight to drift in. A glow of mysterious white dimly lit the room up as if it were a spotlight. When he to his side he spotted Namjoo sleeping on her side peacefully dreaming. He slightly reached his hand out to press down on the extra blanket she had folded up and used as a barrier to separate them from her.

Namjoo looked relaxed for once, he decided. So that was how she looked like when she wasn’t up and about or talking in that raised voice of hers. He raised his arm and settled it onto that barrier of a blanket and watched her continue to sleep.

~_____~

Tao turned his head when he heard Kris move in the middle of the night. At first he thought Kris was really asleep before he saw his hand move then his whole arm shifted. From over his high shoulder Tao spotted a quietly sleeping Namjoo and barely snorted before he turned around so that they were at his back.

~_____~

Suho had steadied himself overnight and arrived at the government hall early that morning. There was an oversized van in the parking lot and the soldiers he’d organized yesterday were starting to arrive on scene.

“Suho,” Donghae called out when he started toward the lot.

“You’re early.”

“Are you ready?” Donghae asked.

Suho slowly nodded his head.

Donghae patted his shoulder and they walked toward the van, “Lets go do this.”

~_____~

Lay woke up to the shuffling of feet and first opened his eyes to see the dim blue glow coming from the curtain of the window. Raising his head he spotted Chorong who was already up and about.

“What are you doing?” Lay muttered, his throat dry.

“Did I wake you?” Chorong stopped and turned his way.

He shook his head and pushed himself up. Lay stared at her for a moment before the scent of something delicious drifted up his nose.

“What’s that?” he asked nodding his head toward the bag on the table.

“Ah…breakfast, chicken,” Chorong replied with a smile.

Lay glanced over at the still sleeping Victoria before he quickly got up and walked over. He looked into the bag and saw a bucket of some fried chicken and a carton of rice. “Oh…looks good.”

“Right?” she asked with a smile.

“Lets have some before Victoria wakes up,” Lay lightly whispered.

Chorong looked surprised before she glanced back and half laughed, half smiled then nodded.

“I can hear you, you know,” Victoria muttered pulling an arm up over her eyes.

“Oh, we didn’t say anything,” Lay suddenly lied.

“So you’re saying you don’t want that chicken?” Victoria mumbled before sitting up. “What time is it?” She grabbed her phone and glanced at the time before getting up. “Lets eat before we head out.”

~_____~

When Namjoo awoke the next morning she spotted a sleeping Kris in front of her and found herself staring. She suddenly thought he looked a little better when he was asleep. He had a really fine looking face, but if it wasn’t for the fact that he was always biting back at her she might have found him likeable. Her hand moved out on its own and reached for a white string that had come off his pillow case in the middle of the night that was in his hair. The moment her fingers dug into his soft bristly hair his eyes slowly opened and she froze. For a long moment they stared at each other with her mind suddenly gone blank.

Namjoo abruptly turned away to sit up when Tao walked out of the bathroom. Sitting up she nervously cleared . Silence surrounded them awkwardly before she excused herself and went into the bathroom.

“Eesh…you fool,” Namjoo slightly slapped her cheek after splashing cold water over her face.

~_____~

“What?” Tao asked.

Kris sat up and ran his hand through the front of his hair repeatedly while replying, “Nothing.”

And he turned to focus his eyes on his lap nervously when the bathroom door opened and Namjoo stepped out.

“I’m going to head out to the front desk to ask for something,” Namjoo told before leaving the room and he finally turned to see the door close.

A moment later after washing up he stepped out to see Tao sitting on the ground yawning then glanced over at Namjoo’s empty futon.

“Where’s Namjoo?” he asked.

Tao shrugged, “I don’t know. Not back yet, obviously.”

Kris frowned and glanced at the door. She had been gone far too long for it to be just considered ‘asking for something’.

“Stay here,” Kris ordered before he exited the room.

When he arrived in the lobby Namjoo was nowhere to be seen.

At the front desk a young man had just finished taking a phone call before looking up, “Can I help you?”

Kris walked over and placed his hands on the counter, “Did a young woman with short hair come by? She said she needed to ask for something. Uh…she had a bandage on her arm.”

The young man slightly narrowed his eyes as if trying to remember something before he nodded, “Oh yea, she just walked out a moment ago.”

“Walked out?” Kris repeated confused before he quickly returned to the room.

Tao was still sitting lazily on the ground when he returned and Kris glanced over at the untouched box of pocky sticks he’d bought for Namjoo yesterday.

“Tao, get up,” he ordered impatiently. When he spun around he asked, “Where would Namjoo go?”

“What are you talking about?” Tao asked annoyed with the sudden question as if he knew Namjoo inside out.

“Where would Namjoo go?” he repeated again.

“What are you going on at?!” Tao slightly raised his voice. “I’m not her bodyguard. I don’t watch her 24/7 like…” then he quieted and Kris glared.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing. Never mind.” Tao turned away.

“Where would she go?” he asked himself when he turned away from Tao. Kris thought for a long time before his head shot up in alarm. He almost turned to walk out the door, but hesitated and turned around for the pocky sticks. “We’re leaving. If you don’t keep up with me, I’m leaving you behind.”

“Can I have those?” Tao questioned.

Kris shot him a stare, “They’re not yours.”

~_____~

Hyukjae…Namjoo would have to meet him first before she allowed Donghae to see him.

“I don’t think I can take you any farther than this, Miss,” the taxi driver said from the front after veering off the exit as she’d instructed.

“That’s fine,” Namjoo reached over to pay him before leaving the cab.

When it drove off she entered the woods exactly where the car yesterday had. Just to make sure, she reached back to feel the gun tucking into the back of her pants and made her way up. The only reason why she had chosen to go alone was because she wanted to information about Donghae and Hyukjae for herself. On the other hand, she knew for sure Kris was against it and would have stopped her from coming. He would have used stupid excuses and driven back to Seoul.

It was a long trek up, but she remembered the whole way there. And when she approached the shed from yesterday she peered inside to find it empty. No one was around. Then where…

Namjoo turned around and walked further on. After walking through a growth of wild ferns she spotted another shed up ahead and paused when she spotted a wide shed. Reminding herself to be cautious she glanced around before stepping out from the trees. To her luck she was brought to an immediate halt when the poor colored door opened and a man of lanky built walked out. It took her a long minute before she recognized him as the driver from yesterday.

“Oh…Lee Donghae’s little assistant. Perfect. We were about to come look for you.”

~_____~

“Where exactly are we going?” Lay asked looking around the roads. “It looks like we’re heading out of the city.”

Victoria peered out of the window as well. “Keep going. We’re not going to leave the city. Chorong, do you have your phone ready?”

“Oh yea,” Chorong nodded from the back. “I’m ready to make the call any time.”

It was a minute later when Lay veered off the exit that he spotted Kris’ car parked by the side of the road.

Lay frowned and turned to Victoria, “Didn’t you say they went back to Seoul yesterday?”

Victoria leaned forward in her seat confused, “I did.”

Once Lay had the car set onto park she exited the car like lightning. Lay watched her walk around the car surprised, shocked, and lost.

“I swear Namjoo said they went back yesterday…” Victoria’s voice suddenly quieted then she turned to Lay and Chorong, “we don’t have time to lose. Hurry!”

~_____~

They were still far from each other and Namjoo wasn’t willing to take any chance to move forward yet. Not until she was sure she wasn’t surrounded and that they were alone.

“What do you want from Donghae?” Namjoo interrogated.

“Ah…that’s our business,” the man crossed his arms. “Now why don’t you call him, little lady?”

“No. I won’t.” she took her stand. “Not until I get answers from you.”

The man laughed and tossed his head back. “You’re a tough one, aren’t you? Well, I’ll give you an answer then.” He paused then said, “Because he can’t meet Hyukjae.”

Namjoo’s lips fell apart. “Where is he?”

“Do you think I’ll tell you?” he asked with mock before his expression became dead set serious. “Donghae, first.”

“Over my dead body.” Namjoo grumbled.

The man nodded and bit his bottom lip before he reached for the gun tucked into the back of his belt. He held it in front of him and blew at the tip as if there were already smoke coming out of it. “This is the baby you tried to take yesterday. Remember her?”

Namjoo stared at him and watched him point the gun at her.

~_____~

“Jesus! Where is she!?” Kris mumbled underneath his breath when he slammed the door to the shed shut and turned to look around.

He walked around for a long time before he finally decided to go on further. Tao quietly followed and observed the area before running his hand over the wild ferns.

“There’s a building up ahead,” Tao quietly said.

Kris paused in his steps and narrowed his eyes. For sure Tao was right. He quickened his steps and paused when he heard a gunshot go off. The two of them sprinted forward in time to see Namjoo’s body hurl toward the ground. 

***HaeToria next!