Suho, Lay, and Tao turned when Chorong opened the door abruptly. She stared back at them a second before finally telling, “Suho, Namjoo’s mom is here.”

“What?” he sounded shocked before he stood up. “Did she say what she came here for?”

His reaction left her a little baffled, “No.”

Suho immediately walked pass her. Chorong’s first instinct was to follow.

~_____~

“What!” Namjoo shrieked. “He already came here?!”

“Yes,” Officer Park nodded, “but the gunmen hasn’t leaked anything yet, so he left.”

“Ah…thank goodness,” Namjoo heaved a sigh of relief before turning around to walk out.

“That was good news, right?” Kris asked as he followed her out.

Namjoo slightly turned her head to hesitantly glance at him. She was suddenly nervous and uneasy. Her heart started to race when she thought about how close they had been earlier and sped up with her footsteps. Neither talked on the way back to headquarters.

It was feeling just like any other day when she stepped out of the elevator. From in front of her she spotted Donghae walking toward her, but stopped when someone called out her name. The second she turned she felt a slap fly across her face. It stung for an unbelievably long time before Donghae started running; his footsteps were loud and rushed. Namjoo turned stunned to see her mother’s furious eyes staring back at her.

“This,” her mother held up a white envelope, “how dare you send your dirty money home!”

Then she tossed it against Namjoo’s face as if slapping her again. Namjoo’s eyes grew wide.

“What?” her mother questioned detestably. “You think I can’t support myself and my son!? The moment you set your foot outside of the house was the moment you cut your ties with us! How dare you!”

“Aunt!” Suho suddenly screamed and picked up the white envelope by Namjoo’s feet before putting his hands on Namjoo’s mother’s shoulders.

“Namjoo, go wash up,” Donghae ordered.

Bitter tears emerged in Namjoo’s eyes before she glanced at her mother once more and finally turned to walk away.

~_____~

“What do you think you’re doing!?” Namjoo’s mother scolded Suho. “Let go of me this instant!”

“I’ll walk you out, lets go,” Suho struggled against her weight to push her back toward the elevator.

He finally let go of her when the elevator doors closed and huffed angrily.

“Don’t think that you can persuade me to take that back,” she held her head up high and stared straight at the doors.

Suho glanced at the envelope of money, “She was only thinking of you.”

“Thinking of me!?” Namjoo’s mother repeated disgusted. “I will never take any money she makes from this job here! And you, better not appear before me again!”

The elevator doors opened and she stomped out. Suho’s lips fell apart disappointed and he glanced at the money in his hand before the elevator doors closed.

~_____~

Chorong had never seen a mother hit her child before. Having been raised and pampered with much comfort, her parents had never raised their hands to her at all. But seeing this left her feeling shocked and devastated. She was only beginning to understand how far apart Namjoo was from her mother. What Donghae had meant by ‘soured’ about Namjoo and her mother’s relationship was finally hitting her. And Chorong was finally comprehending the fact that Namjoo probably didn’t have anyone else, but Suho.

When soft footsteps lit up in her ears she turned to see Suho walking back toward them. She first spotted that white envelope in Suho’s hand before he forced a smile onto his face.

“She walked out,” Suho stated.

“Tell Namjoo to go home. You all can take a break today. We’re not going anywhere anytime soon,” Donghae declared.

“No,” Victoria cut in, “Lay and Chorong, follow me.”

Donghae turned to stare at them and Chorong caught his unhappy glance before she turned to follow Lay and Victoria.

~_____~

A tear dropped down from her face before she turned the faucet on and splashed her face with cold water. When she looked up to see herself in the mirror she saw the blood dripping from the corner of her lip and washed her face once more before breathing angrily. Very slowly, she raised a hand up to the side of her face and touched it. Her cheek had reddened.

Namjoo quietly let out an angry cry and splashed her face with more cold water.

~_____~

Tao had watched Namjoo quietly walk off and followed. He knew that look of angry despair in her eyes. That look had also once resided in his eyes a long time ago. Even though Namjoo always seemed arrogant and annoying, he didn’t think that she might suffer from things like this. What he suddenly worried about were her feelings. He, too, had once been abused by his parents. 

When Namjoo walked out of the washroom he suddenly turned. Namjoo halted in her footsteps surprised by him and looked up at him with eyes full of contempt. He took in that her face was wet and knew that she had cried.

“A…are you ok?” he hesitantly asked.

Tao wasn’t used to being kind. It embarrassed him and made him feel weak on a part, but it felt like that was all he could be right now. Namjoo straightened her posture and walked passed him. He followed her and watched her walk slowly. She seemed muted, different from her usual pouting self. Namjoo would have turned around to yell at him, but she didn’t.

Suho walked toward Namjoo when she entered the hallway, “Namjoo, are you ok?”

“I’m fine.” She replied brushing his worry off.

Tao watched Namjoo answer Suho when she hadn’t bothered to talk to him and wondered if she had a thing for Suho.

“Go home, ok?” Suho said. “I’m going to look for your brother so I can give him the money. There’s nothing to do here anyway and everyone’s going to leave in a bit. You leave first.”

Namjoo stared at Suho before looking away.

Suho patted her on the back, “Don’t think too much. I’ll call you later.”

Tao turned when Namjoo walked away and turned to his right to see Kris watching her.

~_____~

Lay and Chorong followed Victoria into an empty room. She closed the door before turning to look at Lay.

“Did you find out anything?” Victoria questioned.

Lay looked a little confused before he replied, “Yea…there’s a small brothel home near a strip club. It’s the only one there, but from what I got it seems to run good business and it seems pretty clean.”

Chorong’s ears perked up and she turned to look at Lay.

“Then that’s the only choice we’ve got,” Victoria concluded. “Is there anything else?”

Lay shook his head.

“How do you feel about moving out tomorrow?” Victoria turned to Chorong who heard a loud bell deep inside her mind.

“T…tomorrow?”

“We should make a move as soon as we can.” Victoria urged then turned to Lay, “Schedule a meeting for tomorrow. I’m going to draw up a plan in the meantime. And Chorong, you can do investigations, right?”

Chorong nodded.

“Can you try to find out more about Eunhyuk? What kind of person he was, who his colleagues were, and anything about his possible relationships. We should at least know what kind of person he is.”

“Why don’t we just ask Donghae?”

Victoria turned away at the suggestion, “I think he still needs some time to cool down. I’ll talk with him later.”  

~_____~

After Namjoo walked away Suho turned to Tao with a light smile on his face, “Wanna come with me or stay here with Donghae?”

“Why would I come with you?”

“Because Donghae always stays even when there isn’t anything to do,” Suho explained, “I can drop you off after I drop off the money.”

And with that suggestion Tao followed Suho out. Tao had immersed himself into silence after Suho the engine to the car he’d gotten back from the garage. The wind immediately slapped his face when Suho scrolled his window down with a button on his side.

“It’s nice out today,” Suho commented and turned down the radio. He glanced over at Tao, “You look like you have some things on your mind. I saw you following Namjoo earlier.”

Tao turned his face away from Suho even more abashed. It was embarrassing to admit it. He didn’t like it when others praised him for any sign of kindness, and that was why he rarely expressed it. Tao wasn’t a person who fared well with emotions.

“It’s alright,” Suho comforted, “Namjoo doesn’t dwell over her mother’s temper for long. Her mom’s just still grieving over her father’s death. Namjoo knows it.”

“Why are you even bothering to give the money back.” Tao muttered.

“Her mother just runs a small shop at the market. It won’t fully cover her brother’s tuition,” Suho explained, “they barely even live off noodles.”

Tao slightly snorted only because he didn’t know what else to say. Suho didn’t reprimand him though.

“Why does her mom hate her?”

A smile crawled onto Suho’s lips when Tao finally opened up with his curiosity, “She says the stress Namjoo’s father experienced was because she enrolled into the Police Academy and caused his heart attack.”

“That’s just an excuse.”

“Is it?” Suho asked. “I’m sure her mom has her own reasons. Everyone has different circumstances.”

Tao glanced at Suho through the corner of his eye, “Donghae said you don’t touch guns. You seemed to touch it yesterday just fine.”

Suho lightly chuckled. “Did I look cool?”

“Did you like her?”

“Sorry?”

“The friend that died.”

Suho quieted for a long moment before he rolled Tao’s side window up. “I met her in high school. When you know someone for a long time, but accidentally raised a gun to their head…it doesn’t disappear easily from your heart.” Then he turned into a parking lot before turning the engine off, “Lets go.”

Tao’s eyes fondled the neatly structured buildings that made up the school’s campus. Students were leaving and entering buildings and scattering across the yards like little ants all in their own worlds. He saw friends walking and laughing together, and other students plugging their ears with their music. It was so different here compared to the world full of every day struggles he had come from. If he had been able to go to school, perhaps his world might have been happier.

Suho stopped beside him to make a phone call before leading him toward a large building with wide windows extending across each floor. He watched students and some professors walk out of the building with food in their hands. Their legs were quickly moving them toward wherever they were going as if they didn’t have even a second to waste.

“Junho!” Suho shouted with an arm raised in the air when the door opened.

Tao turned to see a tall boy in a casual jacket and jeans walk out. His hair was well trimmed and his face structure was slightly similar to Namjoo’s, but had more of a masculine feel to it. That smile on his face was one he’d seen on Namjoo’s face before. He suddenly envied the fact that Namjoo especially took care of her younger brother. Tao wondered if Namjoo would scold her brother and talk to him the say way she did with him and Kris.

“It’s from Namjoo,” Suho held out the white envelope to him.

Junho glanced at the envelope. “It’s ok. Mom and I have enough for this month.”

“Take it,” Suho gently slid it into his hand, “don’t feel bad. Namjoo still thinks about you two, that’s why she worries.”

Junho smiled and said, “Tell noona to come visit by the end of the month. Mom will be out of town, so she doesn’t have to worry about seeing her.”

“I will. Study hard,” Suho waved to him before he walked back into the building.

~_____~

Victoria had papers spread out on the table in front of her with diagrams and scribbles. After a complete hour she trashed them all into the garbage and rubbed her head. How could she articulate this next mission so that she could leave out any gap?

She turned when the door swung open and saw Donghae look into the room. “What are you still doing here?”

If he knew about her plan ahead of time, he might do all he could to sabotage it. As evil a thought as it seemed, she didn’t feel sorry for taking precaution by lying, “Nothing. What are you still doing here?”

“I’m always here,” he simply replied. “I’m going to have dinner; do you want to join me?”

Victoria raised an eyebrow at the sudden suggestion and later found herself sitting at a casual restaurant with some loud radio music blasting through the speakers overhead. Their food had just arrived fresh and hot. Her stomach was just beginning to growl before she cut into her steak.

“Did you go back to the detention center?” Victoria questioned without looking up.

“Nothing’s been found out yet,” Dognhae explained.

“I would have expected something by now. Is Officer Choi easy going or what?”

“He’s dealt with them before and always gets something out of them,” Donghae replied without looking at her, “he just needs time.”

Victoria looked up from her plate at last and said, “From the estimated amount of time, Eunhyuk has been missing almost 4 years, right?”

Donghae seemed almost uncomfortable at the question. “Yea.”

“You never explained how he went missing,” Victoria stated.

She watched Donghae stab his fork into a shrimp before he looked up, “Is that really important?”

“I’m not asking to get on your nerves or to make you think of horrible memories,” Victoria clarified, “I just want to know some details. Why do you have to act like I’m the bad guy?”

Donghae stared at her a long time before sticking the shrimp into his mouth and chewed. He frustrated her.

“They hijacked his car,” Donghae said bitterly. “Took everything he had and left.”

“And there weren’t any witnesses?” Victoria wondered.

“There was,” Donghae answered, “he was shot while trying to help and died in a coma a week later.”

Victoria’s pursed lips fell apart.

“The CCTV’s didn’t help identify those men either. Bad angle,” Donghae told, “the only lead is from what I have so far. That picture, Cho Chin Ho, and those gunmen. I’m not going to apologize for being greedy in this case. My friend’s life is at stake and I’d like it if you could back off.”

Victoria’s eyebrow twitched. “What?”

“I don’t want you or your team intervening in this case anymore,” Donghae said, “there’s too much of us. Suho, Namjoo, and I will handle these matters without you and your team from now on.” 

***Aww...Tao tried to be nice for the first time ever LOL and if you're wondering Namjoo is attracted to Kris too xDD

***And now Donghae wants Vic's team out. We'll see if things go his way.