~_____~

It was just momentary shock, the doctor had explained, that had caused Namjoo to black out. But even so, she still hadn’t woken up from it. She had slept through the whole procedure while the doctor stitched up the cut on the side of her head. It would scar, the doctor had said. Kris wondered then if Namjoo cared about the scar it would leave her and whether if she every time she saw it, if it would remind her of what had happened at the brothel.

Namjoo was sleeping on her side again. He assumed she slept better when she was leaning one way than on her back. Slowly reaching his hand forward he gently ran it over the stitches on the side of her forehead. If Namjoo was feeling any pain, she wasn’t waking from it. She was sleeping really well.

~_____~

Chorong ran her hand over the bandage on her face in the lobby and felt remorseful for the scar it might leave her. Though the cut wasn’t deep, it was a cut on the face after all. She worried if it would destroy the beauty in her face. What if no one found her attractive? Would Suho date a girl with a scar on her face?

“Here,” Suho’s voice broke into her head and she looked up to find him handing her a warm cup of water.

“Thanks,” she lightly smiled and took it to warm up her hands.

They were quiet even when he took the seat beside her. The tingly feelings of being shy and embarrassed swarmed over her. He seemed so chill compared to her.

“Are you ok?” he questioned.

Chorong nodded.

“It must have been scary,” he comforted, “but you did well.”

She felt warmed by his encouragement. “Namjoo must have been more scared…”

Suho only smiled in reply and Chorong felt a little jealous when she realized he was worried about Namjoo. If it had happened to her, would Suho be as worried?

“It’s a good thing you found her in time,” Suho said.

The picture of finding Namjoo sprawled on the floor stayed inside Chorong’s mind for a long time. Chorong almost accidentally crushed the cup filled with water at the thought of it. “It gets me angry the more I think about it. Men who hurt women and take advantage of them like that, I really want to hurt them all.”

She turned when she felt his hand on his hand on her shoulder. “I guess you do have a tough side to you. I thought you might always be quiet.”

Chorong immediately turned away shyly.

“We kind of match now,” Suho joked. Chorong’s heart pounced inside her chest. “That cut on your cheek will match the stitches on my face.”

Chorong’s face flushed and she was unable to find the will to look at him.

~_____~

Victoria followed Hyukjae into a tiny inn where they settled into a tiny square room. He immediately switched the lights off when they got in and peered out the window as if someone had been following them. Each of his unexplained movements made her suspicious.

“Why are you in Yeongwol? Why are you looking for me?” Hyukjae dropped to sit down.

She stared straight at his sharp features and narrowed her eyes, “Are you really Hyukjae?”

“You don’t need to know that.”

“Or is that a code name?”

“Look here,” he started, “you shouldn’t be here.”

“I don’t think you should be either,” Victoria quickly hissed. “Where are they?”

“Who are you talking about?”

Victoria almost grinded her teeth together, “You know very well who I’m talking about.” Then she paused for a second, “What were you doing at the brothel?”

“I think you owe me an explanation first.”

They stared at each other for a long time. Why was he very much like Donghae? It seemed like there was no chance in the world she would ever see with them eye to eye.

“I was doing a job,” Victoria grumbled. “Are you involved with those missing girls?”

His face became very stern, but he didn’t give anything away.

“Then lets try this,” Victoria said, “Donghae is looking everywhere madly for you. You remember your friend, Donghae, don’t you?”

Uneasiness flashed through his face, Victoria took note. Hyukjae darted his eyes to the side.

“He shouldn’t be looking for me,” Donghae’s friend muttered.

Victoria narrowed her eyes at him, “Are you with them?” Silence. “The gang that’s taking little girls from the streets? Or is there some other situation going on?”

Hyukjae only meekly stared at her and they both turned when there was a knock at the door. Hyukjae discreetly got up and pulled the curtain aside carefully before glancing outside. Deeming that it was safe he unlocked the door and brought in two cups of warm water. He offered her one and drank his calmly.

“You haven’t told me who you are.” He said.

“Victoria Song, I unfortunately work with Donghae,” Victoria answered.

Hyukjae looked amused before drinking more water. “He’s a stubborn one.”

Victoria raised her eyebrow.

Hyukjae lie down and turned his back to her, “Tell him to lie off my case or there’s never going to be an end to this.”

What did he mean by that? Victoria watched him curl up before turning to glance out the window. She stared at the cup of water before taking a sip and passed out.

~_____~

A victim of ual assault. Didn’t Namjoo boast to him before that she was a black belt and to never mess with her? To hear that she had fallen weak at the hands of a man didn’t quite suit the feisty image she often wore. When he turned around the corner he found that the door to Namjoo’s room had been left open and wondered if anyone had walked in, or if Namjoo had walked out on her own. He wouldn’t be surprised if she’d done so, but when he took two steps further into the room he found her sitting with her legs dangling over the side of the bed. Namjoo had her back to him so she hadn’t seen him come in.

For a few seconds his eyes drifted off her lone back. Tao kind of felt sorry for her. Namjoo had a small frame which would make it easy for anyone to try to jump her. Since he had been told to come see her, he guessed he had no choice.

“Hey,” he greeted from the foot of the bed and watched Namjoo deliriously jump from where she was sitting before her hand landed on her chest where her heart was thumping hard. “S…sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Namjoo took a breath of relief and Tao found himself looking around the room embarrassed. He cleared his throat before walking toward her and hesitantly sat somewhat beside her. His eyes caught the six stitches on the side of her forehead.

“You look like Suho now,” Tao commented. He meant for it to be a joke, but Namjoo wasn’t reacting.

Tao felt even more pressured to act nice when Namjoo hung her head low and quickly wiped the tears that were falling. He only understood then, that Namjoo was also a woman who had been a victim at the hands of a man. For some reason he shameful and could only utter noises of silence. Tao hesitated at first, but slowly raised his arm up to set it around her tiny shoulders and patted her arm.

“Aish…this is embarrassing,” Namjoo mumbled sniffing.

“A…are you hungry?” Tao couldn’t look at her. “Lets go eat something. I’m…I’m hungry.”

Namjoo turned to look at him surprised.

“I’ll buy,” he quickly said stealing a quick glance at her before looking away again.

She snorted at him, “You don’t even have money.”

“I do!” he declared. “Donghae gives me allowance!”

“We eat the food of my choice,” Namjoo said with a teeny smile.

~_____~

Kris had gone to get a bottle of water just in case if Namjoo woke up and was thirsty, but when he took a step into the room Namjoo was already awake and Tao was accompanying her. His grip tightened around the water bottle. He had waited two hours for her, and in the end she had chosen to wake up when he wasn’t there. His brows slightly curved together before he quickly backed out when they got up to leave. They didn’t even turn to look his way when they left.

Was Namjoo so dense that she had forgotten about him?

~_____~

Suho immediately stood up from his seat when Tao and Namjoo entered the lobby. He quickened his steps toward her.

“You’re up?” he questioned. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Of course, I’m fine,” Namjoo nodded. “Why are you still here?”

“I was waiting for you to wake up,” Suho glanced from her to Tao before asking, “where’s Kris?”

“Kris?” Namjoo repeated.

“He was upstairs with you.” Suho told. “He was really cool when he was beating that guy up.” Suho laughed haughtily before he realized Namjoo wasn’t enjoying it. He cleared his face of the laugh and asked, “But where are you going?”

“To eat,” Namjoo replied.

“I can take you,” Suho offered.

“It’s ok. I have Tao with me.” Namjoo jutted her thumb toward him.

Suho glanced at Tao who quickly turned his attention away and smirked when he realized Namjoo had made him shy. “Be careful then and turn in early.”

Namjoo nodded, “If anything happens, I’ll leave it to Tao to deal with it.”

“Sounds good,” Suho nodded. “You guys go ahead, I’m going to wait for Chorong.”

Namjoo smiled and he watched the two walk out before he yawned and tossed his arms back for a long stretch. When he turned around he spotted Kris walking toward him.

Shifting around to face him, Suho asked, “Oh? Where did you come from? Namjoo and Tao just left.”

“Ah…well…” he glanced at the ground before looking at Suho, “I’m gonna go now.”

Suho smiled at Kris, “You must be tired. Don’t worry, Namjoo seems alright. Have a good night.”

And when Kris walked out Chorong finally appeared from the bathroom looking dazed.

“Y…you’re s…still here?” she stuttered.

“Do you want a ride? I can give you a ride back to your place,” Suho smiled, “I saw that you left your car at headquarters.”

Chorong glanced at him timidly before slowly nodding. Suho shot her another smile before they both finally exited the quiet hospital.

~_____~

“Aish!” Donghae hit his steering wheel. “Where are you, Victoria!”

It had already darkened and he was still in Yeongwol. There was still no sign of Victoria. Obviously at this time of night she wouldn’t be lurking the streets, but he hoped he would spot her at one of the night marts. He couldn’t leave Yeongwol without her. Donghae was desperate to know why she had run off leaving Namjoo and Chorong behind. What had she found out that had sent her running? He still had to get at her and ask her why she had abandoned her two mates. Donghae wasn’t going to let her go easily.

~_____~

“You must be tired,” Suho sympathized, “it’s been a long day, huh? Do you want to listen to some music?”

He glanced over at Chorong who was staring out of her window.

“It’s fine,” she told.

“Do you live alone?” Suho questioned.

Chorong felt like sinking in her seat forever. “Yes.”

“You don’t live to far away from Namjoo or me,” Suho told. “If you ever need anything, you could call either of us up. Namjoo and I live pretty near each other.”

Chorong glanced at him with a shy smile and chewed on her bottom lip. “Could I…really?”

“Oh, yea, sure!” Suho nodded. “Why not?”

Chorong’s heart started racing. So they did really live near each other. Going home alone might not seem so lonely anymore. She might even be able to bring him food if he ever got hungry.

“H…how’s your arm?” she asked.

“Ah…it’s fine. Donghae’s been letting me do the light work, so I’ll be able to take it off soon,” Suho sent her another smile before pulling over to the side of the curb. “Is it here?” he peered out of the window to glance at the apartment complex.

“Yes.” She nodded.

“It looks secure here,” Suho glanced at the bodyguard in the lobby. “Have a good night then.”

“Thanks a lot, Suho,” Chorong glanced him really quickly hoping that her face wasn’t red. “I really appreciate it, really.”

“Oh, it’s ok, anytime,” he waved at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Chorong nodded before getting of the car.

“I’ll see you in before I go,” he promised.

A chirpy smile crossed her lips before she took a step toward the building and quickly turned around to take a last look at him. With a wave and a smile she quickly turned to walk inside. When Suho made sure that she’d gone in he finally drove off anxious for a warm shower before he would drop into bed.

~_____~

“You have quite an appetite,” Tao murmured glancing at his wallet while they walked down the hall toward her apartment.

Namjoo silently burped beside him and patted him freely on the back, “Thanks to you, I’m really full now. I don’t know if I can sleep.”

He snorted at her before they finally stopped at a white door and he waited while she unlocked it. Namjoo seemed to glance at him quickly before she opened the door. The two of them stood there for a few seconds almost awkwardly. Tao suddenly remembered that band-aid on her neck and couldn’t help but wonder if she’d let Kris in the same way. He mentally slapped himself when he recognized the unsettled fear in her eyes before she glanced up at him.

“I’m ok,” she lied through her teeth, “you can go now.”

On a part he felt like he’d been kind enough. Going past this point wasn’t really him. It had never been in his agenda to look after anybody or to worry about them, but Namjoo was silently pulling his strings with those mirrored lies in her eyes. They continued to stand there for another minute and Namjoo never made an attempt to go inside at all. Tao wondered then about how bad that man at the brothel had tried to hurt her and why Namjoo had taken a step down from her fierce self. She seemed so much smaller personality-wise, like a lost lamb.

In the end he finally mustered up the courage and asked, “Do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?”

There was a sudden spark of relief in her eyes when she looked up at him, “Can you?”

Tao’s eyes immediately landed on the visible stitches at the side of her head. That man must have hurt her bad from the look of the scar he had left her, and the stains of alcohol he’d poured onto her shirt. Namjoo was pitiful.

He nodded.

Namjoo’s home was almost barren, cold. Unlike the family atmosphere that Donghae’s apartment gave off, Namjoo didn’t have anything at all. No family picture. Everything was plain. Tao glanced around while Namjoo left for her bedroom to sleep. It was like a picture taken out of a magazine that lacked the feel of existence. How did Namjoo live there? 

***So question is: Who is Hyukjae really?

***Agh..and Suho, really, he doesn't even know what he's doing to Chorong kekekekeke~

***Aww...too bad Kris lost his chance here. Looks like Tao's picking up a new side to him ^^ And from here on, he'll play the bigger role.