His brows twitched, but before he could speak he heard Chorong say, “Suho?”

“Oh…hey,” Suho greeted. “There you guys are.”

The three stared back at the two quietly before Tao hurried forward questioning, “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.”

“You couldn’t even stand earlier!” Tao’s voice blasted Kris’ worry.

Suho seemed to stare at Tao a little taken aback then apologized to Namjoo, “Sorry, I came a bit late.”

“You two split up?” Tao asked as if too surprised they’d done so. “Why? No, let me come scout with you two.”

“No,” Namjoo deepened her tone, “Suho and I have things to finish. Go back with Kris and Chorong.”

Pressing his lips together Kris finally walked forward and bent down to touch her ankle. Namjoo quickly withdrew her feet surprised. Tao lightly stared at him unhappily when he rose back up.

“Is it your ankle?” Kris worried.

Namjoo peered around her as if she were a student being interrogated in the principal’s office.

“I’m fine,” Namjoo insisted uncomfortably, “I felt a bit weak after they surprised me, that’s all.” Her eyes wavered over them silently again before she said, “Come on, Suho.”

Kris said nothing more, but when they began to turn he reached out to grab her shoulder.

“Answer my calls,” Kris forced the words out even though he knew that the others would hear, but he wasn’t afraid. Chorong and Suho knew he liked Namjoo and he believed that Tao felt it as well.

Namjoo’s eyes swayed up to look at him before she glanced around aware of the others’ eyes. She still felt her pockets for her phone only to realize she didn’t have it on her.

“We’ll catch you guys later,” Suho cut their meeting short deciding this wasn’t the atmosphere they needed. “You guys stay safe.”

And he watched unwillingly as Suho and Namjoo walked off closely with their couple hats on their heads.

~_____~

The pain was unbearable spinning in her eyes like a manipulated kaleidoscope. Victoria was no longer drifting in and out of her dreams. After the attack she was too conscious and this pain in her torso just worsened all else. As she lay thered almost lifeless on the hospital bed she tried all means to fixate her perpetrator’s face in her memory.

Nothing came up.

For a long time she lay there allowing the pain to spiral through her. It was almost difficult to breathe and she had nothing to stare at, but the ceiling and the cold room. Through the silent room all that accompanied her were the raindrops splattering against the window reminding her that there was so much to do outside of the room.

Victoria wouldn’t be able to handle anything personally. All plans of sabotaging Donghae had come to ruins at Eunhyuk’s apartment and between all of this she still couldn’t figure out where her attackers had come from.

Long moments spent trapped within her own cell she finally thought of an answer. If she couldn’t do anything on hand, she could at least trust it to someone who was out of the group. Yes, she still had many connections.

Yoona, friend and trustworthy secretary was someone she could believe in. What she needed most now was faith and a helping hand. After grabbing her phone she dialed for her friend.

“Ah…Yoona, it’s me,” Victoria started.

~_____~

Donghae had the back of his head leaning against the hard wall, his eyes floating up toward the overhead lights out of boredom, yet he couldn’t leave because of Victoria. When footsteps approached he expected a nurse, but instead spotted someone he’d never seen before. She was definitely not in a nurse’s uniform.

Straightening up surprised by the sudden visit Donghae glanced into Victoria’s room before glancing back at the woman who was trying to sidestep him to walk in.

“Excuse me,” Donghae shot his arm out to bar her way, “who are you? You’re going to have to show me your I.D. before I let you in as well as explain who you are and why you’re here.”

Happily complying with a calm smile the very slim and tall woman reached into her brown bag to pull out a leather card keeper. Donghae eyed her suspiciously before taking it from her. A split second later his eyes widened when he caught the same SWAT unit identification mark he’d seen on Victoria’s card before.

“May I have it back?” The woman kindly asked with a patient smile and snatched out of his hand slowly.

Donghae’s lips stuttered to make noise, but it was too late to talk. The woman, whoever she was, had already strutted into Victoria’s room. Immediately following Donghae came to a strict halt when he saw that Victoria was out of bed and moving around unstably, a large gray sweater draped around her. She looked ill and was definitely not supposed to be moving around.

The woman earlier hurried forward to aid Victoria before he could do so. She took Victoria’s arm as well as her belongings and helped Victoria into her shoes.

“What’s going on?” Donghae demanded.

Neither Victoria nor the woman bothered to explain anything to him. Donghae remained staring at them with disagreement. As they started around the bed he quickly moved to intercept them.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He stared at Victoria then to the woman. “Are you crazy!? She’s ill!!”

“Move it, Donghae,” Victoria’s weak voice barely resonated throughout the room. An arm was slung around her friend’s shoulder, but her body seemed to sag forward without strength. Donghae could only imagine the weight she was placing on her friend.

“No!” Donghae refused. “Where do you think you’re going?! You can’t leave this room! I will not let you leave this room!”

There was this long and slow hiss that Victoria breathed through her lips before swaying her eyes up to him. She stared at him, her eyes telling him she would leave and he couldn’t do anything about it. Victoria said nothing and turned to face the door before limping out with the help of her friend.

Stupified at how she’d just ignored him Donghae was left to stare at the empty wall ahead of him wracked with disbelief. Victoria had really undermined him.

Finally catching himself he spun around to go after them. Victoria couldn’t leave hospital grounds. Those people were going to kill her. In her state, how did she plan to defend herself? He couldn’t just let this be, he couldn’t.

When he reached the hallway, the elevator doors closed in front of him. Donghae barely slid into the closed doors when he rushed forward to press the buttons for the elevator, but it was a useless attempt. He would have to wait almost half a minute before it would come back for him. By then, Victoria would be gone.

Turning he hurried down another hallway in search of the staircase.

~_____~

After admitting the girl to a police station Lay rushed to the hospital to mend his wound. Those men had stolen into her apartment in an act to await him. He’d literally walked into an ambush, but what mattered most was that they knew their every move.

Lay still had to figure out how, but first he had to get rid of this blood sliding down his face like tears. A headache was quickly taking over further impaling his sense of concentration. Once he had himself bandaged he would meet with Donghae and try to figure things out.

He received first aid in the public ward where heart monitors, footsteps, and carts getting wheeled around were the music to the radio. While the nurse cleansed his wound so that he could avoid infection he peered around the room. There was a little girl sitting at the foot of a bed clutching onto a stuffed animal while her mother lay on the bed to await treatment. When their eyes met he offered a soft smile.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” The nurse asked after placing a bandage on the wound.

“I have a headache, is there aspirin here?”

“I’ll write something up for you; you can pick it up at the front desk on your way out.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

After receiving a white paper bag of his pills he hurried up the stairs to find Donghae. He walked into Victoria’s room with full anticipation of seeing the two in charge there, but instead came upon an empty and gloomy room. The bed was lonely and the raindrops were endlessly clapping the windows.

Lay was sent onto the edge of confusion upon what may have happened before hurrying out. Rushing toward the reception desk he asked, “Excuse me, where is the patient Victoria Song?”

“Hold on a moment,” one of the nurses replied before speaking into a phone for a conversation that lasted almost two minutes before she hung up. Turning to him she wondered, “Which patient are you visiting?”

Lay was almost irked by now. The moutning headache within his skull served of no help further eating on his patience.

“Victoria, Victoria Song. She was administered to the hospital yesterday, do you know where she is,” Lay asked emphasizing each word fully and slowly even easing into his tone rude impatience without holding back.

The nurse turned away from him shrugging off his swindling emotions before saying, “She should be in room 432.”

Lay barely rolled his eyes before suddenly slapping his hand onto the countertop and reached his hand up only to clasp it into a slight fist as if to restrain himself from blowing. This headache was really hurting him and the stinging pain from the wound on his temple made everything worse.

“They’re not in there,” Lay almost spoke through gritted teeth and suddenly everything started spinning around him almost furiously. Feeling off-balance he stepped to the side and clutched onto the counter before shaking his head.

“Sir, are you alright?” The nurse wondered.

Lay shook his head again at the headache suddenly drumming throughout his whole.

“Have they…have they…” Was the last of his words before he slunk toward the ground.

~_____~

“What are you doing?” Tao’s voice broke into her mid-thoughts after Suho and Namjoo walked off.

No, she wasn’t gawking after them. She had felt disappointed when Suho appeared and did nothing, but aid Namjoo. He’d only come to aid Namjoo and nothing more. It wasn’t like she could have expected him to look her way, but that hat on his head…why had they been wearing it? Weren’t those hats designated for couples?

Those were almost the last of her worries at the moment. Her eyes were glued to the road where the car had escaped. She’d caught the license plate, but if she saw well that car had driven over the curb in an attempt to kill. Tao and Kris may have missed it, but she hadn’t.

A car that had driven up on the curb was the irresponsible act of a driver. She’d seen how the car had been angled toward the area where Namjoo had been laying upon their arrival. That driver had meant to hurt Namjoo, which only led to one thing; they were linked to Hyukjae and perhaps more girls hidden throughout the city.

That was their answer; what would lead them to further discovery within the city.

“Hey, are you listening?” Tao questioned arrogantly again.

Chorong turned around to first see the blank Kris then to Tao who was ready to move on. He looked almost irritated; perhaps, he was upset at how Suho and Namjoo had left him behind, but that was not Chorong’s deal.

“We have other things to do,” Chorong stated.

“Other things?” Tao repeated with a raised brow seemingly showing that be was tired of them being there already. Obviously he wouldn’t invest interest in the job without his own team, but Chorong decided she’d let him see work from another angle.

“Kris,” Chorong called and watched him turn. “You and Tao need to look for a car. We’re going to split up.”

“What!?” Tao spat in disbelief at her sudden takeover of decision making.

Never minding him, she went on, “I’m going to head to the police station. We need to track a car down.”

“Why all of a sudden?” Kris wondered.

“Do as I say,” was all Chorong offered to say, “you and Tao have to move quick. It’s a blue car, its bumper and headlights are somewhat damaged. I’ll text you the number of the license plate.”

“Oh…ok,” Kris nodded.

Chorong shot Tao a glance, “I saw the car head toward the west side. See if you can spot in the districts there. I’ll call once I get its location.”

After splitting up she rushed down the walk in search of a police station. If she had things figured correctly, they might be able to free more girls from their cruel fate and send some more of those jerks behind bars.

The sun was casting a glow over the city when she finally reached her destination. The police station was a structure of cement with an old glass door framed in a dull gray. Once inside she spotted an arching counter connected to the wall with a police officer seated behind it. A large computer sat behidn it, its screen veiled from her sight.

Across from the counter was a door that led to another department in the building, but she needed to first find out where to go. The officer lifted his head up upon her approach and offered a fatherly smile.

“Hi,” Chorong greeted prepared with her I.D. “I’m Assistant Inspector, Park Chorong.”

At her introduction the police officer immediately stiffened with respect of her position and nodded.

“Yes, what can I do for you?” He kind of rose up from his comfy chair.

“Where can I find someone to track a car for?” Chorong questioned. “I need this information right away.”

“Ah…yes, yes,” the officer repeatedly nodded and gestured his arm out, “if you go through that door, someone at the desk will be able to help you.”

In the other room Chorong met with a young officer well trained for his position. His eyes sat very carefully on the screens in front of him while he clicked his mouse back and forth. The sound the keyboard made each time he typed something in tended to echo throughout the single room they were in.

Layers and layers of specialized computers had been set up against the wall, a large monitor underneath the table to power them all. It amazed her though that only four of these screens were in current use.

A suddenly picture of the car popped up onto the screen once he magically zoomed them in.

“That the car?” He asked.

“Yes, yes, that’s it,” Chorong excitedly nodded leaning forward to stare into the screen. “Can you give me the address?” 

***Oho! So much coming up! Lay gets hospital treatment this time! 

***More on HaeToria next! And some Suho - Namjoo and their lunch :) Tao - Kris - Chorong get some action this time. 

***I apologize for not focusing on relationships as of lately, as I assume many of you want, but I sometimes find all that romance boring (you can see why I drifted off toward the mystery genre and away from writing stories that are all romantic). But solving the case in this story is a first hand deal and of most importance to my characters, so that is indeed what I focus on most. Whatever happens along the way will bring in some times to relationships, but it will happen slowly in a logical order so that everything makes sense by the end of the story. 

***Sorry for late update, I'm really busy these days. Just wait till you're near the end of your college career and you'll know what I mean /sweats/ Anyhow I've been gaming lately so I've neglected this story somewhat; can't be helped cause it's some me time w/my brothers. Thanksgiving break is coming up and along with my project and my new niece who will be born around then, maybe I can squeeze in some updates for this story and my other ones!