~_____~

There was ray of bright sunlight filtering in through the rectangular glass in the center of the door when Lay approached. Once he pushed the door open soft music swirled into his ears from the above stereos. Acquaintances of the stranger types were scattered around the room with their friends enjoying their time out. His eyes zoomed past a few smiles while the scent of grilled cheese sandwiches touched his nose.

Chorong was sitting at the back with a glass of water in front of her. Firmly smiling he made his way through the gaps inbetween the tables toward her.

“Did you wait long?” He greeted.

“I just got here,” she replied.

After ordering he stared down at the food with his stomach grumbling.

“I didn’t have breakfast this morning,” he started. “This looks really good.”

“Why not?”

He glanced up at her while picking up the fork, “I finally slept in for once.” Then after slightly laughing asked, “You look slightly better today.”

Chorong’s eyes swept to the side from embarrassment.

After biting her lip she apologized, “About the other night. Sorry. I didn’t mean to call you out like that.”

“Oh…that,” Lay smiled brightly, “I wasn’t sure if I really met the Chorong we all know that night. Today I’m not meeting with another imposter, am I?”

Chorong glanced at him somewhat blankly. Afraid he’d taken the joke too far from her understanding he propped both elbows onto the tabletop. Usually when he did that, it meant his full attention was there and not unless the conversation ended would he then lean back into his seat for relaxation.

“If you’re uncomfortable, I’ll pretend it didn’t happen.” Lay offered.

“It’s not that. You don’t have to pretend either,” Chorong told. “I’m just embarrassed of myself; for showing that kind of side of me. I don’t really know why I called you out either. I was probably too out of it.”

Lay could see that she wished she’d never called him out that night. He could see that she wanted to keep her image clean and wanted to stand well in front of others. He realized that she always wanted to meet the expectations of others, but somehow felt like she failed to do so. It was like the story of her at the police academy. How others perceived her was really important to her.

“Alright,” he spoke softly hoping she would receive his sincerity, “that’s ok too. It’s ok, Chorong.”

Her eyes ran around the room somewhat before running onto his face, then away again.

“When you speak,” Lay started, “you should hold your head high. It’ll show that you’re serious and add strength to your aura. It makes you look strong and unbeatable. Don’t look nervous like you do now.”

She hadn’t touched her food at all, but she finally looked at him again. Lay pulled another smile onto his face to encourage her.

“It’s understanding that you feel embarrassed. I’d be too,” Lay tried. “don’t beat yourself over it. It’s really not as bad as you think it to be, believe me. Memories like that become fun later on.”

And he hoped she’d realize that no one thought of her as badly as she thought of herself; that his words meant more than what they were in the dictionary. He hoped that throughout this mission, she could grow out of herself and into someone braver.

His phone started ringing a second later and he saw Victoria’s name on the screen. Wondering if anything was going on he answered.

“I need you to come out,” Victoria started. “I’m going to Eunhyuk’s apartment; you come with me.”

“Why would you go back there?”

“Intuition,” Victoria replied, “feels like I missed something. I couldn’t start searching before I was attacked.”

“Ok, I understand.”

“Are you armed?”

“There should be something in my car,” Lay answered.

“Good. I’ll meet you there.”

Lay hung up and turned to Chorong who looked at him expecting an explanation about what the phonecall was about.

“It was Victoria,” Lay told. “I have to go.”

“Why? Did something happen?” Chorong’s eyes turned wide.

“I’ll have to go see,” Lay said before grabbing the bill on the table. “Lunch is on me.”

“I thought I was buying.”

“Treat me next time.” He smiled and got read to go. After taking a step forward he turend back, “Chorong.”

She turned to look up at him.

“Tomorrow, promise me that after work you’ll give yourself a pat on the back and say, ‘I did well.’”

Giving her a last smile he walked up to the counter and left.

~_____~

Suho just stuck something into the microwave before the doorbell rang. He was expecting anyone and he never expected anyone, but someone was behind the door. He crossed out Donghae and Tao from the list of people on his mind and upon nearing the door he hoped it wasn’t Chorong.

He was nervous for a second.

Relief flushed through him when he sighted Namjoo and smiled. “What are you doing here?”

“You come by without saying anything,” Namjoo said inviting herself in.

Suho’s head turned to watch her come in and closed the door.

“Did you eat?” Suho wondered. “I just popped something into the microwave.”

“No.”

“Should I get something for you then?”

“I feel nauseous, I don’t want to eat.”

“Well you shouldn’t starve either,” Suho told walking away from his kitchen to join her by the couch. “You’re going to need to store some energy for tomorrow.”

Namjoo glanced at him before leaning forward in her seat, propping her elbows onto her legs.

“Suho,” Namjoo began, “I heard what happened from Chorong.”

The brightness on his face dissipated and he pressed his lips together for silence.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Namjoo asked. “You should have answered her.”

Raising his eyes he said, “It’s not that I dislike her. I wasn’t ready.”

Namjoo’s eyes drove themselves into his face while waiting for him to continue.

Suho slightly peered at the ground, “It’s uncomfortable, don’t you think?”

“What is?”

“Having a relationship,” Suho said. “the thought of it is nice, but look at how far we’ve come with just one mission. One step and we’re surrounded with guns and bullets. Can you imagine that one day, if I were to have someone waiting, I might never come back and how they’d feel.”

He could feel the silence dampen the room with what he didn’t like; distress, sadness, and troubled conflicts.

“Don’t you think we have too much to handle already? That having a relationship is the last priority right now?” Raising his head up he glanced at her again. “I’m not fit for a relationship.”

Namjoo leaned back and clamped her hands together. “Are you uncomfortable then? Will being with her at work be ok for you?”

“Of course,” Suho nodded, “am I supposed to wear a mask?”

Namjoo laughed.

“I’ll talk with her when the time comes,” Suho assured. “You know, we have a lot to do.”

Namjoo nodded as well before she suddenly turned to him again, “Suho, can you see yourself as a father?”

He raised a brow at the sudden question and repeated, “Father?”

Namjoo nodded.

Suho tried to see himself with a family. It was difficult picturing himself with a little girl in his arms or chasing a little boy in his diaper around the house. Suho couldn’t imagine himself with anyone. All that remained solid clear in his head was a picture of his empty apartment with his belongings.

“It’s hard to see myself as one.”

“You can’t, can you?”

“Why?”

“Nothing. I’m going to go to the bathroom.”

Suho watched her get up and walk away. Without thinking much about the sudden question he started toward the microwave to pull out his food. He spent ten seconds sniffing the food and listened to his stomach gurgle before a phone started to go off.

Turnign to peer into the living room he caught sight of Namjoo’s jacket sitting on the arm of the chair she’d sat in. Without waiting he started toward her jacket to search for the phone. In case it was an emergency, he might as well check it out. However, when he pulled the phone out he saw that it was Kris calling.

Suho frowned at his name before answering, “Hello?”

There was a pause before Kris asked, “Hello? Who’s this?”

“Me,” Suho told proudly, “Suho.”

“Where’s Namjoo?” Kris wondered without  asking why he’d answered or wondering anything about him at all.

Suho felt shoved to the side.

“She went to the bathroom.”

“Is she ok?” Suho detected immediate worry in Kris’ tone. “Is she still sick?”

“Sick?” Suho repeated.

“Well…she was unwell when we met yesterday.”

Suho raised his brow at the bold confession from Kris.

“Tell her to call me back,” Kris told, “and…make sure she takes some medicine, but make sure she eats first. Don’t make her work today, I’m telling you.”

Why did he have so much to say? Suho grimaced at the phone before tucking it back into the pocket of the jacket. He turned when Namjoo stepped out of the bathroom and walked back into the kitchen. Opening his fridge he pulled out another carton of food before placing it into the microwave. Microwaved food was the most convenient for him considering his schedule nowadays, so that was all he had in the fridge. It couldn’t be helped.

“Are you sick?” Suho asked.

Namjoo paused in her steps and shook her head, “No.”

“Eat with me,” Suho sat down on a stool. “I stuffed your food into the microwave already, so you can’t leave now.”

“I don’t want to eat, Suho. I’m going to go.”

“Your food’s already in the microwave!” Suho repeated. “You can go after this. Now sit down.”

Namjoo heaved a deep sigh and walked over to plop down beside him on another stool. Suho’s curiosity was perked even more now. Since Namjoo knew about Chorong’s confession, Suho wanted to know about what had been going on between her and Kris.

“So,” Suho started, “Kris called earlier. I answered your phone.”

He watched his friend’s eyes still on the tabletop and a smile crawled onto his face. It wasn’t hard to tell that Namjoo was going to be stubborn about answering him.

“What’s going on between you two?”

~_____~

Victoria was waiting for Lay in front of the old building that consisted of Eunhyuk’s home. She looked determined and prepped to go. Without wasting a second Lay left his car.

“Lets go up,” Victoria turned toward the building when he approached her.

“What’s going on?” Lay wondered. “Shouldn’t you still be recuperating at home?”

“Plans changed,” Victoria replied, urgently walking in as if they were late for a meeting. “I’ll explain in detail tomorrow when we all meet.”

“Tomorrow?” Lay repeated astounded. “You’re returning to work already?”

“We don’t have much time to be resting.”

“Victoria, you were shot,” Lay reminded matter-of-factly, hurrying his steps so that they were walking at the same pace.

Victoria though, always seemed to be two or three steps ahead. What was she in such a hurry for?

“Is your body even functioning ok?” Lay went on. “What’s Donghae going to say about this?”

“Forget Donghae for now,” Victoria ordered before they turned down the hallway toward Eunhyuk’s apartment.

She pointed her finger out at every door they came across before she finally stopped.

“It’s this one, right?” Victoria asked.

Lay nodded, “Yes.”

Without hesitating Victoria reached for the doorknob expecting it to be unlocked, but luck didn’t seem to be on her side. The apartment was locked from inside. Lay watched her push agains the door and try to fiddle with the doorknob again.

She looked desperate, he realized, as if she knew something was inside or at least expected something to be there. Exactly what was their team leader up to?

In the middle of Victoria’s struggle Lay turned to glance around. He recalled that they had to be cautious. The last thing he wanted right now was to be attacked again.

“Do you have a bobby pin or something?” Victoria asked sounding breathless before the door suddenly opened from inside.

She almost fell forward, but caught herself and straightened up to see a round man in a dirty tanktop staring back at them. He looked haughty and tired and looked to be a bit on the rude side.

“What do you want?” He questioned with a dry throat as if he’d just woken up.

Lay peered over his shoulder to glance inside and saw that there were different items in the apartment.

“We need to take a look around. If you’d step out of the way, please.” Victoria started.

“Who are you people?!” He slightly raised his voice. “You can’t just barge in on other’s property! I’m going to call the cops on you.”

As if growing impatient without trying to explain herself or figure the situation out, Victoria pulled out her badge.

“I’m from the government,” she told. “Step aside, Sir.”

Lay almost felt sorry for the man, but had no time to express it as Victoria immediately walked in. Once inside he watched her walk around, dig through stacks of magazines, and open doors inviting herself into the other rooms. All the while there was this perplexed expression on her face of confusion and bewilderment.

“What’s going on?” Victoria pointed around to the furniture that was never there before, her eyes settled on the earlier man.

He stared at them somewhat angrily that his sleep had been deprived, “You barged into my place and you dare ask me that? Even if you’re from the government, do you think I’m scared of you?!”

“Your place?” Victoria repeated with her eyes turning into narrow slits.

His place…his apartment…

“Hold on a minute,” Lay called out stepping forward. “You bought this place?”

“Of course I did!” The man nodded his head heavily. “This place was up for lease! Now get out!”

Lay felt his eyes burn holes into the man’s face almost confused himself. He turned to glance at Victoria, who looked even angrier than the man. She stomped out while biting her tongue and Lay immediately followed with the door loudly slamming after them.

“They’re onto us,” Victoria muttered underneath her breath. “They knew we’d come back so they got rid of all Eunhyuk’s belongings!”

***Awwww...Lay's so nice. I'm glad I decide to opt for a more understanding character for him. He, like Chorong, is a pretty good observer too. He reads people well from how he knows them. It was sweet of him to try to encourage Chorong indirectly as he did

***I feel slightly pitiful for Suho. His reasons for not wanting a relationship are legit, but he and Namjoo will always be alone if they don't make changes in their lives now. Namjoo's going to let it out that she's pregnant soon, but only to one person. You guys keep guessing xD

***Victoria's turning into Donghae, do you see the pattern? She's starting to blame everything on Hyukjae and people, she's also becoming so determined and adamnant on getting to him just like Donghae that she's disregarding everything around her. She's not thinking things through thoroughly or strategically. It's becoming more of a race between her and Donghae of who will find Hyukjae first. Oh boy, there's still so much more to go before they make compromises.