~_____~

Suho and Kris boarded their plane an hour after Donghae handed them their tickets. Kris was slightly taken aback with how fast everything seemed to be going. Unlike him, Suho seemed to adapt well and pretty quick to Donghae’s ways. It was obvious; he’d worked with Donghae for five years.

“Might as well relax now,” Suho muttered leaning back into his seat after making sure his seat belt was on. “Who knows what might happen later.”

Kris turned to look at him and saw that Suho was as carefree as ever. Either he’d gotten used to attracting trouble and dealing with it repetitively that he felt no worry about anything at all. Kris thought he was lucky, because he wasn’t used to moving around so much; at least not from city to city without a moment’s rest. Everything with Donghae’s team seemed tense at all moments and it was a little stressing as he wasn’t allowed a private life. No wonder outside of work Suho and Namjoo barely had any other friends.

He zoned out as an announcement came on overhead and stared out at the window. There was another plane beside them. Which one was Tao and Namjoo boarding? If he knew they had the jurisdiction to choose teams, he would have surely spoken up sooner.

Namjoo, in his eyes, was an ignorant person who only cared about completing the objective of the mission regardless whether she broke a bone along the way or not. Kris couldn’t forget how she’d left him and Tao at the hotel without a word and ran toward those men and guns all by herself. It just felt that if he didn’t do anything, she’d be just as reckless. But Tao, he would let her do as she liked. What if she got injured in Busan? How could someone like Tao be able to support her?

These thoughts left him uneasy. Even if he approached her, she’d get irritated and angry with him. How could he talk to her so that she wouldn’t get pissed off at him like always? Kris honestly didn’t know what he was doing wrong. He just wanted to protect her from getting hurt, not lock up her freedom, but it seemed that whatever he said always got on her nerves.

Suho turned in his seat with crossed arms to look at Kris. “Not excited for this trip?”

“Ah…no,” Kris turned to glance at Suho then ran over his thoughts then asked, “how long have you known Namjoo? You two seem to be on good terms.”

“About five years,” Suho responded. “Why?”

Kris fiddled with his fingers before allowing himself to look at Suho again. “Could you tell me some more about her?” Suho shot him a confused stare which forced Kris to explain why, “I mean I…” he silenced and wondered what he was even doing. It wasn’t his place to be nosey, but he kept wanting more. Namjoo wouldn’t talk to him, he knew that, so to get her attention he was always on her neck. How could someone like him get someone like Namjoo to turn and respond?

“I just like her,” Kris shot the words out. “Namjoo…she thinks I’m annoying, if…you could help me understand her a little…”

“Ah…” Suho opened his mouth widely to make the noise before nodding with a somewhat happy and shy smile held between his laughter.

“Th…this is between us only,” Kris muttered the words really quickly, embarrassed.

Suho smirked before nodding.

~_____~

“Here,” Lay dug a bag of crackers from his backpack.

Chorong turned to look at it and looked at him before accepting it. “Thanks.”

He smiled and turned to look at the empty counter just beside the door that would lead them to the plane.

“We still have over an hour before our plane departs,” Lay checked his watch then turned to her again, “are you nervous?”

He watched her stare at the snack he’d handed her. Chorong shrugged, “There’s no turning back.”

“I think, we’re each going to have to look out for ourselves no matter the circumstances. This is getting more serious and dangerous with each mission,” Lay told.

“I know,” Chorong spoke, “I won’t make us fall behind the others. I’ll work hard.”

She seemed more reserved than he remembered her to be. Did the interrogation at the brothel really leave such an impact on her?

“Chorong,” he called and waited for her to look at him before he smiled, “don’t worry about us. We’re all on the same team, aren’t we? We only have to learn to adjust to each other. If you have trouble, I’ll help you, and if I need help, you can back me up. Team mates work like that, don’t they?”

There was a faint smile on her lips, “I haven’t worked in a team before, but I guess that’s how it goes.”

“Lets work well and make the best out of this,” Lay encouraged.

Chorong, again, only nodded. He couldn’t tell what was running through her mind. Whether she was glad to be there or not, but he would definitely make something out of their team.

~_____~

Tao and Namjoo’s plane was the first to take flight. They weren’t even spared ten minutes of break before they had to run down the long confusing hallways that loomed on for minutes before discovering their gate. Namjoo was currently staring out the window with her gaze set on the tiny buildings that now looked like game board pieces. Tao pulled his backpack onto his lap and glanced at her before ping his bag and taking out the container of food he’d packed just earlier.

Namjoo turned when she felt something hit her neck. “Agh…what?”

Tao quickly glanced at her before looking away, “Lunch.”

She raised a brow, “Lunch?”

He swallowed nervously, “Isn’t that what I said?”

Tao felt the weight in his hand lessen when Namjoo took the container and opened it. “What is it?”

“Stir fried noodles.”

“Did you make it?”

Tao thought he felt sweat trickle down the side of his neck and felt his eyelids flutter. “D…D…Donghae had to help me.”

He heard Namjoo laugh before he tightened his hands around the backpack Donghae had lent him.

“What’s with you? Making lunch?” Namjoo questioned observing the noodles as she tilted the container. “It’s not like you. It’s edible, right? This isn’t a trick?”

Tao cleared his throat, “If you don’t want it…”

“I’ll eat it.”

He thought he felt his heart jump before a tiny smile crawled onto his lips. Tao had wanted to be discreet about it before he felt Namjoo lean forward to look at him. To hide it he cupped his hand over his chin and turned away.

“Tsh…” Namjoo snorted. “Why, thanks Tao. I’ll eat it well.”

He remained frozen in his seat for quite a few minutes before he secretly glanced over to see Namjoo chewing on the food somewhat cheerily. As expected, Tao felt proud and happy.  

~_____~

Why did Kris’ confession seem so amusing to him? Suho couldn’t quite grasp the reason why. He should have seen it coming. Suho thought he felt it was quite obvious, and the other part of him was a little surprised. Anyway, Kris was always around Namjoo and was always unhappy with her dangerous decisions. Perhaps it was someone who had a stronghold like Kris who would be able to ground Namjoo in place.

“Well…” Suho began, “Namjoo’s a very independent person, so she won’t like you telling her what to do. She’s not a simple person to understand. She’s like a droplet of water from a faucet. You don’t know when it’ll fall, so you can’t estimate the time when she will actually want to have you around. I can’t tell you everything, but I’ll let you in on a few things.”

Kris eagerly nodded.

“Namjoo can act like she doesn’t care about how her family views her right now, but she thinks about it a lot, and she will cry in secret. She’s a very serious and judgmental person and once she’s decided on something, she’ll become very determined about it, which makes her, of course, stubborn. But Namjoo is a reasonable person; you just have to find a way to compromise with her. But usually, if Namjoo dislikes something or someone she’ll dislike them for a long time, which means she’ll ignore them and not talk to them. I think…..” Suho droned on, “she talks to you, doesn’t she? That must means she likes you somewhat.”

This kind of relief and excitement sprang onto his face, “Are you sure? Even if it’s not just work?”

Suho slowly nodded. “I’m sure.” Then added, “Namjoo just hides a lot. It takes time for her to warm up to a person.” He paused to run his eyes over Kris’ attentive expression. “She’s a very lonely person, I hope your feelings are sincere.”

~_____~

There was no time to wish for some rest in a nice village hotel surrounded by a hot spring and tourist attractions. Victoria was envious of all the foreigners that had come there with heavy loads of bags prepared for a long relaxing vacation. She also wished she could stay to enjoy the scenery and the historical features of Jeonju. Obviously there was no chance. Donghae was far ahead of her when they stepped out of the airport.

The idea of a small break didn’t linger in his mind at all. Donghae was totally focused on their mission. It was so tiring to be with him sometime. Victoria should have suggested herself to go with someone smart like Lay, who knew a real time break would better her concentration.

“You’re lagging behind,” Donghae called out to her when he flagged a taxi.

Victoria held the urge to roll her eyes and dragged her slow legs after him.

“Where are you planning to go?” Victoria questioned glancing at her watch. “It’s already late in the evening.”

“We’ll get some place to stay in the city first,” Donghae explained. Victoria knew it. They weren’t going to stay in the village. She twisted back despairingly in her seat as if to say goodbye to the hot spring she had wanted to visit.

“Get something to eat first and look around a little bit before calling it a day,” Donghae finished.

Food. Victoria’s thoughts brightened. She wanted bibimbap especially since it came from Jeonju.

Donghae snorted from beside her, “It takes only that to satisfy you?”

“What are you talking about?” Victoria turned to him.

“Food,” he heavily emphasized the word. “Only one word like that simply makes your gloomy face disappear.”

“So what!?” Victoria questioned. “At least I know something about leisure time that someone doesn’t. You lack common sense, Donghae.”

“Look who’s talking.” He muttered underneath his breath.

Victoria bit onto her bottom lip and shifted away from him. “I should have gone to Namwon.”

“Namwon?” Donghae repeated. “I guess you don’t want that bibambap after all.”

Victoria felt water and Donghae snorted at her.

“I knew it,” he uttered. “It’s not like I don’t know how to have fun, Miss Song.” Donghae turned to eye her. “There’s no time for a vacation right now. Maybe when this case is over you can ask your superior for a six month long break, because surely, nothing’s near finished yet.”

Victoria half glared at him. “What are you…lecturing me? Do you think I don’t even know that? I would have left if wanted a measly vacation. I’m talking about a day’s break, Donghae, a day’s break. Do you have any idea how tired the others are going to be from all this continuous chasing? You aren’t even sparing them any time for themselves, no time to see their families or friends, or any time for themselves. It’s only been a span of one week and it feels like a whole month has gone by. I’d as much like some time to myself; at least a day would freshen my drained brain up. That’s not much, is it?”

Donghae slightly narrowed at her. “I think, you’re the one lecturing me this time around. Haven’t I said that there’s no time to waste? Han Dan Bi could be dying right now, and you want a day to yourself?”

“I didn’t specify the time to be right now, did I?” Victoria deepened her tone unhappy with his sudden accusation.

“It surely sounded like it,” Donghae’s expression became stern as they stared at each other.

“We’re here,” the taxi driver stopped the car, “I hope you two lovers can make up. Listening to you argue wasn’t a pretty thing. My wife and I used to argue all the time.”

“We’re not lovers!” the two suddenly shouted in unison.

Annoyed with what had just happened Victoria pushed the door open and stepped out leaving Donghae to take charge of the bill.

“Smooth, that was very smooth, Victoria,” Donghae seemed to scold her when he closed the door to the taxi.

She turned to him with a slight glare.

“One who acts up in such a situation without an apology is rude,” Donghae told before walking toward the entrance of the small hotel.

Victoria let out a breath of exasperation as she stared after him before suddenly charging through the doors.

“It’s not like you did any better,” Victoria purposely brushed passed him, shoving him aside before making way to the front counter to get her room.

~_____~

Donghae watched Victoria shrug him off and after obtaining her room key walk toward the elevator. After getting his room key he lunged after her. He wasn’t about to just take a mental backhand slap from her.

Right before the elevator doors closed he jutted his hand out to prevent them from doing so. Victoria stared back at him with heated eyes full of oncoming glares before she turned to look away.

When the doors closed Donghae started, “If you feel that the days are longer and you and your team want some private time to yourselves, feel free to do so. But Suho and Namjoo have worked with me long enough to understand that I like to get things over with in one go.” He then turned to look at her sore expression. “There’s a restaurant at the corner of the street. Lets meet up there for dinner then head to the police station to get our weapons. Or if not, lets just meet at the police station.”

The elevator opened and he first stepped out. Donghae was about a quarter away from the elevator when Victoria’s voice made him stop. “And so?”

He turned around to see her just in front of the elevator with her bag strapped over her shoulder.

“Is that all? You only care about your people? Suho and Namjoo?” Victoria questioned with a face as if full of disgust. “What about the fact that your chief advisor even wanted us to work with you? We’re supposed to be one team, but there’s no feeling of us being one at all. No, in all this, where’s that criminal you brought in? Do you consider him a part of your team? How are we all supposed to work together when you’re so biased? Saying things like, ‘Suho and Namjoo will know what to do.’ Do they? Are those two the only ones you see in this case? Where’s Kris, Lay, and Chorong? What role do I play other than following you around?”

Donghae shifted in position to better face her. He slightly tilted his head and bit his lower lip. “Don’t twist words from my mouth, Victoria.”

“Really?” Victoria tried with a small shake of her head. “But that’s what I heard. There’s nothing about Tao or my teammates. What are they? Are they just supposed to be men in the bureau who run around for information?”

“I never said they were. I don’t understand what you’re upset about, but if you have a problem, talk about it when we meet up in Daegu.”

“No!” Victoria raised he voice when Donghae started to turn. “Because I want your respect!”

“What do you want me to say?!” Donghae spun around to raise his voice uncertain about what had gotten onto Victoria’s nerves that she wanted to start an argument with him. “We’re all here on a job, Victoria! It’s not safe for any of us to go on our own. We’re working in teams with the same privileges; did I make anyone stand above the other? I know Namjoo and Suho, so I can speak about them like that. But I don’t know Tao, or you, or your teammates. Don’t you think it would be rude of me if I just go around saying this or that about them? Don’t you think I’m letting you in on playing the leader in all this? Are you so impatient? Perhaps, Victoria, you’ve accommodated yourself to working with others, but throughout my whole career this is the first time I had to share this role. If you give me some time, some space, I promise you I’ll give you the chance too. Because I am impatient and rude. Isn’t that how you see me? Do you think a thief can turn his life around in one night?”

Donghae sent her a hard stare before turning around to trudge off. 

***Wowie~ Donghae and Victoria have some time to go before they totally get along. 

***Seems like Lay and Chorong will be somewhat forever awkward lolololol. And 0_0 a confession from Kris xD Lets hope his feelings are real and not just an illusion from his attraction. TaoJoo still have some way to go. Ah~ Lets hope everyone gets a bit closer during this mission ^^

***Ok, my update for the week! I hope you enjoyed it!