It burned as it flushed up. Maybe it was the food she’d had at Chorong’s house or maybe it was just the soup itself, but Namjoo felt like a lot more came out than she’d expected. She was feeling whoozy by the time she stumbled over to the sink to wash her hands and her face.  

Her chest was heavy and she felt sick as if her guts had twisted. Leaning forward desperately for some stability she could see stars in her eyes and she felt it come back up. Slamming the faucet off she dashed back into one of the stalls again.

When she finally stepped out of the bathroom the shuffling of feet surprised her. She turned to see Kris standing beside the door as if he’d been waiting anxiously.

“Are you ok?” He worried. “Are you sick?”

Feeling flustered Namjoo took a hold of her dress, “Sorry, I don’t think I can eat right now.”

“Are you feeling unwell?” He went on. “You should have said something.”

Namjoo glanced at the floor before looking up at him. Should she feel bad? Should she compromise him in some way? She wasn’t sure.

“It’s ok, I’ll just bother you another time,” he still seemed to be in a good mood. “I’ll drive you home.”

Clutching tightly onto the food Chorong’s mother packed for her, she dubiously stared out the window quietly. She could hear it at the back of her head. There was something knocking against the closed door at the back of her head telling her to pay more attention. The note hidden in the bathroom drawer reappeared in her mind before she quickly shoved it aside. She definitely was not going to believe the reality handed to her on a piece of paper.

It wasn’t right.

It was a mistake.

“It fits you well,” Kris’ voice entered her ears.

Namjoo turned to him wondering if she’d missed something he’d just said.

“The dress,” he glanced over at her before turning back to the road. “Thanks, for wearing it. It’s pretty.”

Namjoo felt her guts twist again and she saw that damn piece of paper flash its way back into her head. There was an urge to slam her head against the window. Why was it still so vivid inside her head?

When they turned into the parking lot Namjoo glanced at the building before turning to look at him.

“Do you,” she started, “want to come in for a bit?”

~_____~

He shot her a surprised glance, but Namjoo pulled the handle and stepped out. When they walked into her apartment she headed toward the kitchen to put the food away. Kris turned to watch her before sitting down. He didn’t mind that they couldn’t have dinner. It meant, for him, that there was another time. Maybe he’d make her promise him to have dinner again.

“Do you want something to drink?” She asked looking into the fridge.

“Do you have something special?” He asked jokingly.

Namjoo turned to shoot him a glance and grabbed him a glass of water instead. Kris watched her set the glass of water down on the table in front of him and thought he did well choosing that dress for her.

Namjoo seemed about to walk away, but quickly calling out to her he asked, “Can you sit down for a bit?”

Her eyes tended to roam over him as if to figure out whether he had something hidden up his sleeve. Slowly making her way around the table she sat down, but not close enough to him. Anyway, he didn’t think it mattered. Kris just wanted a small heart-to-heart talk…just for a little while. It was important for him to figure out what went through her mind, whether she liked him a little or not at all.

Namjoo sat very quietly with her eyes somewhat trained on the floor. Her shoulders were held up making her look tense yet, she was still able to maintan her calm demeanor. He wondered if she knew what he felt at all.

“I’m actually very thankful I was offered to be a part of the team,” Kris started, “I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m happy with just being a part of the team. This might be the most fun I’ve had of all times in my career. At first, there was this irritance that made me wonder why I’d chosen to come at all. I almost couldn’t stand coming to work everyday, because that irritance would be there and I’d have to see her.

“Then the more days I spent with her made me see otherwise. This irritance is pretty when she sleeps; she’s kind of foolish; she works too hard that she doesn’t take care of herself; she’s a brute on the outside, but soft inside; and I leanred she’s kind of lonely. I kind of want to look over her, but I think she’d hate me if I say so. I’m happier when I think about waking up everyday for work now, because I can see this irritance everyday.”

He snuck a glance at her only to see that she was still staring at the ground looking unfazed.

“You might think I try to irritate you on purpose when I try to stop you from doing something you want to. I know I’m a worry wart. I become like that when I care a lot about someone so don’t think that I’m annoying. I don’t do it with the intention of annoying you, so don’t hate me.”

Namjoo seemingly lifted her head up and continued staring ahead, “What are you going on about?”

Kris pressed his lips together for some courage, “Warming up before I ask you something.”

“I don’t hate you,” Namjoo quietly told. “What is it?”

His pulsed quickened. Namjoo didn’t hold anything against him, so it meant she must see him in a positive light. That simply brightened his mood up.  

“It’s just…I’ve been wondering…that night, why did you sleep with me?” His nerves burned up and the anxiety within him made his heart race even faster.

He quickly wondered if he should have never asked. What would Namjoo say? Would her perception of him quickly change just like that? Would she think weird of him? What if she said something to push him off? What if…what if…

There seemed to be a long moment of silence between them, which made him worry even more. What was she thinking? Kris really wanted to know what went through her head. If only he could read her thoughts.

If only…

“Who knows,” Namjoo told with her eyes floating off the floor, but her head tilted up. “I’ve been alone this whole time that I’ve lost a sense of comfort. Every time I come back, it’s kind of cold here. I felt warm that night, that’s all.”

Standing up she said, “Wait here a minute.”

Kris watched her walk away, his heart still beating quickly. Did her words mean he actually touched a part of her heart? Why couldn’t she just come out and say it? Then he wouldn’t be so scared holding back and fearing possible rejection.

There was a bag in her hand when she walked back toward him and he sensed that their evening together was over.

“What is it?” He asked standing up as she held it out to him.

“Your shirt.”

Hearing that word sent a smile spiraling across his face and he couldn’t help, but laugh because he was merely overjoyed.

“I was just teasing you about it,” he said looking inside the bag and pulled out the shirt inside. He was excited.

For the first time, he was receiving a gift from her.

“Wow,” he exclaimed loudly while observing the shirt, “I really like it. It’s one of my favorite colors. How do you know what I like and don’t like without me telling you?”

Namjoo quickly looked at him before glancing away, “I’m tired. You should go.”

He made a face, but was unable to hold back his smile the whole time.

“Rest up, don’t do anything tomorrow and just relax. You should stop looking so tired. It makes me feel bad, like I’m not working enough to lessen your workload,” he hoped his words were getting through to her.

Namjoo knew he was being sincere about it all, right? He really hoped so.

Kris hesitated before leaning in to give her a peck on the lips daringly and stole a glance at her close up before straightening up confidently.

“Lets reschedule dinner next time,” he suggested. “Good night.”

Brightly smiling he glanced at her one more time before walking out the door with his heart gushing. He didn’t think he’d been so happy all his life.

~_____~

Chorong was feeling slightly restless the next morning. Part of her felt obligated to call Lay and apologize for being a drunkard and calling him out for no reason. The other part of her didn’t want to do anything; throw away all responsibilities and not worry about it.

As she paced back and forth in front of her kitchen she clutched her phone tightly into the palm of her hand. She couldn’t take this anxiety. It felt like there was a devil and an angel on both her shoulders fiercely fighting each other.

What to do?

What if Lay wanted to know why she drank so much? Was talking to him about being rejected alright all at?

No.

No, no.

Chorong was already feeling too embarrassed about being rash about it. She felt even worse when she wondered what Suho thought of her now.

Would he think she went to work just to fall in love? Would he think of her weird now? Would he think any less of her than he already had?

She could imagine him not turning to look at her at all when they returned to work tomorrow. Seeing him at work was a total nightmare for her. She was to embarrassed to face him. Imagining all the awkwardness in the atmosphere literally killed her inside. Chorong wanted to pack her bags and dig a hole somewhere where she could bury herself.

She was too embarrassed.

Closing her eyes she hung her head back. What was she going to do about Lay? She feared what he had to say to her, but she definitely owed him an apology.

Raising her phone up she stared at it for a long time before forcing herself to turn it on and press the call button. Pressing the phone up to her ear she felt her heart collide within her chest. She hoped she wasn’t having a panic attack.

When he picked up she wanted to hang up right away, but it was too late. She couldn’t back out of it just like that. It’d make her look…cowardly.

“Hello?” Lay answered. “Chorong? Is that you?”

Clamping her eyes shut she felt even more anxious.

“Oh…it’s me,” Chorong answered nervously.

“Hey,” Lay sounded more chirpy, “are you ok? Do you feel better?”

“Yea…yes, I’m better,” Chorong nodded running her hand against the back of her neck. “Um…look, I just want to apologize about calling you out and being like that.”

He laughed friendlily, “Ah…that? It’s ok.”

There was an awkward silence and Chorong didn’t know whether she should end the call already or not. She’d never had such an awkward phone call before.

“Are you doing anything today?” Lay wondered.

“Huh? N…no.”

“You can buy me lunch as an apology. How about that?”

Chorong was honestly shocked by the sudden suggestion, but after a second assumed she had no choice. She should apologize to him face-to-face not over a phone call.

“Sure.”

~_____~

From the first moment Victoria woke up she was ready to tackle the day’s task. Grabbing a quick breakfast from a nearby vendor she immediately left the hotel she’d spent the night at. The police station was her next location. After showing her badge she immediately started browsing for electronic records regarding Eunhyuk including his family. Victoria was desperate for any kind of lead.

If she had to work out of Donghae’s sight, here and now was her best chance.

Like Donghae, Eunhyuk’s record was really clean. She supposed he had managed himself well. He was, after all, a CNA.

What slightly bothered her was that he was flawless. How could someone so perfect end up linked to a trafficking ring? Someone who trained and went to school in order to become a CNA had time to be involved with a trafficking ring…now how was that possible?

Victoria couldn’t figure the mystery out.

Eunhyuk would have needed 48 hours in a day in order to do both activities. So far as she knew, becoming a nursing assistant was hard work and a lot of studying. If Eunhyuk had studied as much for his exams, where would he have found the time for the ring in between his schedule and training?

Not unless…there was someone that looked like him out there. Someone that looked 99.9% just like him, but that was not possible. Eunhyuk didn’t have a brother… Even if someone had a similar face to his, it wasn’t possible to look so alike that anyone would mistake them for brothers.

What was the mystery behind this?

As Victoria bit her thumbnail her phone went off. She almost thought it was Donghae for a second before she noted Yoona’s name on the screen.

Immediate pressing the phone to her ear she waited for Yoona to speak.

“It didn’t take as long as I thought it would,” Yoona explained. “But there’s something weird. The debtor doesn’t go by Lee Hyun, Eunhyuk, or Hyukjae.”

“What?” Victoria exclaimd turning away from the screen confused.

“They call this person Jae,” Yoona went on.

“That doesn’t make sense. Are you sure you asked the right people?”

“Of course! Loansharks usually dwell in specific areas of the city. They have nothing to run from,” Yoona slightly raised her voice to prove herself. “I even brought a picture of Eunhyuk with me. They said it’s definitely him.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes, “It must be a code name.”

“You should talk to Donghae,” Yoona urged. “He might not know about this at all.”

“He’d never share anything with me.” Victoria doubted. “All this time he’s never been honest with me.”

“Gee…you sound like a hurt girlfriend.” Yoona sarcastically remarked.

“There may have been moments, but he’s already hidden so much from me and my team. I can’t trust him now.”

Yoona silently sighed from the other side of the phone, “If you open up first, put all your trust in him, then maybe he’ll be obligated to open up as well. It’s worth a try, isn’t it? All along haven’t you been doing what he’s been doing? You’re never going to be able to work together and put an end to this case. Do you want to be stuck here forever?”

“I’ll think about it,” Victoria said before hanging up.

She stared at the screen for a few seconds running the options she had through her mind. If this was Eunhyuk, she’d nail him. She’d take Yoona’s word for now and give talking to Donghae another shot.

Pressing the button to the screen she waited for the computer screen to darken before getting up. It was about time she return to Seoul, but she wouldn’t go see Donghae just yet. She’d leave that till tomorrow when the others would get to work as well. It would be better to confront Donghae when there were others apparent. If they ended up arguing, Suho and Namjoo would definitely try to stop him, but it would mean she was out to move on her own.

Right now she probably needed to take another risk.

She wanted to go back to Eunhyuk’s apartment and have another look around. This time she’d take more caution. 

***Sorry, I'd update more, but I'm sooo busy this semester and classes aren't letting me breathe i~i I can't wait till all this is over. I've had enough of this semester