Donghae glanced over at Suho somewhat lost and confused. Impatient with him, she grabbed the collar of his shirt.

“Why did you bring Suho with you!?” she raised her voice. “Why did you let him hold a gun!?”

“Namjoo, enough,” Suho took a step forward.

Namjoo turned around to yell, “If I don’t speak for you, who will! I at least have to remind Donghae, who’s brain is dead at the mention of Eunhyuk, that he’s not the only one hurt.” Then she turned back to Donghae, “Didn’t I say before to leave Suho out of the battlefield? What is wrong with you!?”

Then he understood. Namjoo was more upset with the fact that Suho had come than the fact that he was there. Donghae suddenly realized what he’d done.

“I’m taking her back first. You clean up here,” Suho said before he pulled Namjoo by the shoulder.

“No, you let go of me. I’m not done here.” Namjoo pushed out of his hand.

“Namjoo!” Suho had to struggle to drag her away and when they were far off Donghae was confronted by the confusion that had erupted on everyone’s faces. Even Victoria was eying him suspiciously.

Donghae pursed his lips and slightly knitted his eyebrows only turning when a soldier jogged his way. The soldier saluted before reporting, “Sir, we’ve got them rounded up.”

“Bring them to the detention center.” Donghae ordered.

“Yes, sir!” the soldier saluted again before jogging away and called out to the others.

“Did Suho touch that gun?” Donghae turned to the others.

“Yes.” Chorong was the one who answered.

Donghae let out a sigh as if he was disappointed and frustrated. “Suho has a fear of guns. He hasn’t touched them for over five years.” Donghae blinked and focused on a green leaf by his foot. “Suho worked for the military operations before he started working under me. He had a good friend on the squad. During a bomb threat, there was a big shoot off, and the buildings had been set on fire. It became really chaotic. In the confusion, Suho accidentally shot her killing her on the spot. It traumatized him for a long time and he had to go through three years of therapy after joining the military intelligence unit.

“I’m also going to have to ask you to be patient with Namjoo. She gets defensive when it gets to the people close to her. She’s dealt with a lot of Suho’s problems for him and it’s also separated her from her family. If you’ve noticed, she doesn’t want to cooperate with anyone from the police department. Namjoo’s father was an officer before he died. After a homicide case had been cleared, he discovered he’d put the wrong guy behind bars and while trying to look for the right one; he was fired for doing what he’d been told not to. Her parents had raised her to get married early, but she wanted to overpower them by attending a Police Academy and climbing to a position higher than her father’s. They didn’t support her decision. Before graduation, her father died and the relationship with her mother instantly soured. Looking at it from her point of view, she sees the police as incompetent and weak.

“I don’t expect you all to get along right away, but since we need to work together, I don’t want us stepping on each other’s mines.” Donghae turned to look at Victoria as if warning her not to refute him.

~_____~

When Kris arrived toward the road where he’d left his car he didn’t see Namjoo anywhere. He only turned when Suho drove up in a handsome black car and spotted her sitting in the front seat. Kris suddenly wondered if Suho had been the fault that caused her to drift away from her family or if it was because her mother blamed her for her father’s death.

She didn’t turn to look at him when Suho stopped the car and set it into park. Turning away he walked toward his car and opened the door to grab the pocky sticks she had left behind that morning. Walking back toward the car he pulled open the passenger’s door before handing Namjoo the box.

“What?” she questioned when she looked up at him.

“You left it this morning.” He told before further sticking it into her face. “Take it.”

“Suho, do you want it?” Namjoo asked slightly turning to look at Suho.

Kris was irked. How dare she try to give something he’d gotten for her to someone else? Kris hated how someone like Namjoo who always seemed angry managed to pull him toward her mysteriously.

Half dropping, half shoving it into her he said, “When someone gives you something, you take it.”

She sent him a glare and they stared at each other both annoyed before Victoria interrupted, “Namjoo, can I have a word with you?”

He watched her set the pocky sticks aside and step out to walk away with Victoria. Suho and Kris both glanced at each other awkwardly before Suho eyed the pocky sticks.

“I’ll make sure she takes it,” Suho assured as if reading Kris’ mind.

~_____~

“What is it?” Namjoo asked when they finally stopped far from Suho’s car.

“Can you look up some areas in Yeongwol?”

“Yeongwol?” the sudden mention of the random city made Namjoo suspicious. “Why?”

“Check around the nightclubs. There should be some brothels nearby. I need you to do research on it quickly.”

“Excuse me?” Namjoo questioned taken aback by the sudden request.

“I want us to sneak into one of the brothels, beforehand; I want to make sure it’s the right one. Hyukjae’s ion camp is associated with one of the brothels there.”

The sudden information sent Namjoo’s mind spinning. “How’d you know?”

“There was a person I caught just now. I don’t have any choice, but to believe him,” Victoria confessed, “and it’s legit information since Hyukjae really isn’t in Wonju.”

~_____~

“What’s with your shirt?” Chorong questioned glancing over at Kris’ torn up shirt as he sped back to Seoul.

“Made a sacrifice.”

“Are you being sarcastic?”

He didn’t reply so Chorong found herself staring out the window and into the side mirror. Suho was driving cautiously slow in the empty lane behind them. It was suddenly bothering her more than she wanted it to. He shouldn’t have touched the gun if it left with him with such bad memories. In the end, he’d touched that gun anyway and it was all to save Namjoo.

She had no right, she knew, to have these feelings. It wasn’t right to feel possessive over someone she barely knew or someone who barely knew and had feelings for her. But Suho had been so kind to her and she couldn’t forget the day they went to Uijeongbu together. Suho swayed her easily.

“What’s with that look on your face?” Kris asked.

“It’s nothing.” Chorong lied.

Kris glanced into the rearview mirror to see Suho’s black car behind them.

“I guess it’s true that you do like easily.”

“It’s not that!” she turned to spout at him.

The corner of his lips sprung up and he shook his head before turning to the road.

~_____~

“What?” Lay asked. “Yeongwol? Why there?”

“I was told Hyukjae is hiding there.” Victoria turned to him. “Since you have a wide network of friends, do you know anyone from there?”

“Oh yea, I know a few people there.”

“Can you try to find out if there has been any crimes reported that are related to the brothels there?”

“Brothel!?” Lay raised his voice in shock.

“If not there, then where?” Victoria refuted. “The only ion camp that comes to mind is there.”

“Are you sure about this?” Lay questioned. “What if it’s just a waste of time. It’d be a useless risk for you guys to sneak in there. The men who go there are filthy and could be dangerous.”

“Who do you think I am?” Victoria turned to look at him. “So can you do what I’m asking of you, or not?”

When they arrived back at headquarters Victoria turned around when Suho’s black car entered the lot. She watched Donghae step out and they, for a split second, caught each other’s gaze. He didn’t look happy with her. There was this expression of restrained anguish before he turned away from her. Victoria couldn’t understand why he was having such an attitude with her. She felt like it had been an excuse when he’d yelled at her for not being better prepared. How in the world would she have known that they’d come across gunmen in Wonju? But now that the thought was crossing her mind, how did he know? And how did he know where to go in Wonju?

No, she wouldn’t just let him walk off. It would bother her that Donghae had so easily trodden on her. He had doubted them and had gone to Wonju when he’d told her he wouldn’t. Donghae was the dishonest one here. No matter what, Victoria wouldn’t take the blame in this case. Instead of shoving him off like he was doing to her, she stomped after him.

“I’m not done yet, lets talk,” Victoria blocked his path.

“I don’t want to talk with you right now,” Donghae stepped aside, but Victoria followed and blocked his path again.

“You’re not going anywhere until you finish listening to me!” she raised her voice.

The others who were making their way inside all stopped and turned to stare, but Victoria didn’t have the patience to turn and stare back at them. A dark glare advanced into Donghae’s eyes before he turned to the others.

“Go in.” he ordered.

Quietly turning away from them Victoria listened as the others walked into the building. When they disappeared from sight she finally started. “You haven’t made things clear yet, Lee Donghae. How did you know where to go?”

“Is that really important right now?” he grumbled. “I think what’s more important is waiting to hear what those gunmen have to say.”

“Don’t make excuses with me,” she told, “how did you know to go there?”

She stared right into his eyes and refused to back down. Why was he making it so difficult?

“I don’t think that’s your business, Victoria,” Donghae growled, “don’t pry into my personal matters. You’re only here to do your job, so you better do just that.”

Victoria bit into her bottom lip suddenly angered, “Personal? Isn’t this human trafficking case already made personal for you? The second you linked Eunhyuk with it, it already became personal. And this personal matter of yours is our job! So exactly what point are you trying to make with me?”

Donghae stared back at her distressed before he slightly pushed past her and walked away.

“Didn’t I tell you I would help you find him!?” Victoria shouted after him. “Can’t you hold yourself back and trust me!?”

He paused with a half step and continued walking on. Victoria watched him walk away and heaved an angry sigh with a groan before tilting her head up to look at the heavy clouds above.

~_____~

The atmosphere around the group was stiff when they made their way into the building. Not anyone spoke a word. Victoria seemed really angry earlier when she confronted Donghae. Chorong couldn’t imagine herself standing under the heat of Victoria or Donghae’s eyes. The two of them seemed really scary since they were both such high figures. She wondered if Victoria was still angry about Donghae suddenly appearing in Wonju. It suddenly seemed like a much bigger issue now than it had when he’d first arrived there.

Her eyes tilted over to Suho and Namjoo who were standing together just in front of the elevator doors waiting for it to open so they could first step out.

“What, does your arm hurt?” she heard Namjoo asked when Suho turned his arm around.

The white cast around his arms caused Chorong to feel guilty. Why had Suho decided to hurt himself?

“I won’t let you get hurt.”

Suho had repeated that to her continuously before he allowed Cho Chin Ho to drive into him. Chorong suddenly wanted to know if Suho had been thinking about the friend he had accidentally shot, and if that was why he was so adamant with only getting himself hurt. Even now, 6 years after that incident, did Suho still feel guilty and depressed? Misery s through her when she thought of how much he had to go through 6 years ago. If she had killed her own friend, she would have never gotten over it.

“No, I’m fine.” Suho denied.

“Does it hurt?” Namjoo continued then stated, “It hurts, doesn’t it?”

The elevator door opened, but no one stepped out.

“I’ll take you to the hospital. Tao, go wait for Donghae and keep an eye on him,” Namjoo almost pressed the button to close the doors before she turned. “Aren’t you guys getting out?”

“I have to ask, where’s your library? Never mind, what about the computer lab?” Lay asked.   

“Fifth door to the right,” Namjoo directed before she turned to glance at Chorong and Kris.

Chorong felt uneasy for some reason. Did Namjoo and Suho accompany each other everywhere?

“Chorong,” Kris turned to look at her.

She slightly glanced at him before walking out. They were a quarter of the way down the hallway when she turned to see the elevator doors close.

“What is it?” Kris broke into her silent thoughts.

Chorong turned around and found herself staring at the ground, “It’s just…Suho must have been so scared when Cho Chin Ho came after us. He must’ve made it his responsibility to not let anyone get hurt, but himself. It must have been such an awful experience when he shot her.”

“And?” Kris said. “You feel sorry for him?”

“Yes, I do.” She declared as if proud of it. “Do you think he felt bad when he held that gun today?”

“To sum it up, Donghae’s team has quite some problems, don’t you think?”

She glanced up at him. “Are you being sarcastic? Don’t wheel Suho into the same category as Namjoo.”

Kris slightly snorted, “What are you implying?”

Before Chorong could fight back Victoria cut in, “Chorong, can I speak with you?”

~_____~

With nothing else to do Kris returned home for lunch. However, the moment he stepped out of the building he felt himself stop and slightly tilt his head to see someone he’d seen somewhere before walk down the pavement toward the building. This person had a small structure, but Kris was sure he’d seen this person somewhere before. He backtracked within his memory as best he could and suddenly felt a loud bell ring above his head. Yes, this was Namjoo’s boyfriend.

“You looking for Namjoo?” Kris started.

The man paused after setting his foot atop the first step and looked up toward him, “Oh…yea.”

“Kyun….” Kris looked up before he remembered, “Kyungsoo, right?”

Kyungsoo looked surprised, “How do you know?”

“I’m Kris. I started working with Namjoo a few days ago,” Kris introduced himself.

Kyungsoo stared at him strangely before shaking his hand.

“She’s not here right now. She took Suho to the hospital, oh and you might want to look after your girlfriend later; she got herself injured in Wonju.”

Kyungsoo’s big eyes stared at Kris stupefied before he began laughing and threw his head back. Kris stared at him silently confused.

“Ah…girlfriend? No, no,” Kyungsoo waved his hand in front of him. “We would never date. I don’t know what you heard, but we’re just friends.”

Kris’ mind became distorted before it blanked. “Friends?”

There was this childish smile on his lips which tried to hold back more laughter, “Of course. She told me to come take Suho home…eesh…what a waste of my time.”

“You’re really just friends?” Kris leaned his head to the side to get a better look at Kyungsoo.

He nodded, “Yes. I’ve known her since she was 10. Why would I date her?”

A flustered laugh dropped out of his mouth when he turned to the side. Namjoo had played him like a fool. 

***Wah!! Donghae won't listen to anyone at all right now! Not even when Vic is trying to help him. He doesn't trust her and wants to do it all on his own. Lets see if he will take action against Vic later

***And there you have it. Suho accidentally killed his good friend. Namjoo has family problems. And Donghae also has problems. His whole team has problems OTL but this story is more about Donghae's team than Vic's

***Bwuagh! Chorong is starting to get infatuated with Suho xD And now Kris knows Namjoo lied to him xD