~_____~

That explosion from Lay had been uncalled for. Victoria was perpetuated. Once the door shut she and Donghae were crammed into mild tension and awkwardness. The utmost truth were all encoded in Lay's lecture. It was uncanny that she had been told off by someone she'd once gone to school with. Under her mature code she couldn't disregard all that had been said as much as she wanted to pay no heed to it. If Donghae couldn't be the bigger person, it was she who had to be it and she would always be the bigger person.

"You heard him," Victoria shattered the noiselessness atmosphere. "The fault lies in both of us."

"So what do you want?" 

"I think I've repeated myself enough," Victoria stated, "but if you still can't remember it, we can talk things over again. My team and I need your respect. You stop your immature act of threatening to remove us from the job. In order to put an end to all of this, you stop hiding information from me. We got along just fine in Daegu, so why can't we do it again?" 

Narrowing his eyes he tilted his head back to observe her.

"If you can do just that I'll return the favor and we can make a truce," Victoria continued. She waited for Donghae to comply, yet he didn't speak anything. "You can't do it, can you?"

Was he so stubborn? Victoria couldn't understand why his lips were always shut tight. She wanted them to work, she was willing to make teamwork happen, and she really hoped to get along with him. Donghae wasn't a horrible person, she was sure of that, and was always ready to forgive him if only he could admit he was doing otherwise. 

"We're adding harm to the team," Victoria convinced, "Lay said we're causing the team to war against each other. The bigger the rift, the small the chance to close in on the ring. You will never find Eunhyuk this way. At least take that consideration into thought. As someone who leads the team, think it over Donghae. I want to make this work. No more injuries, no more putting lives in danger, no more me versus you. Let change things, huh? We've raked in more loss than we have victory so far. Lets do it different this time." 

Another moment of deflating air popped among the calm ambience populating the room. Donghae's eyes, alternating between thought and consideration to selfishness, flopped against the cleanly scrubbed floor. 

"Let me have some time to think it over." 

Victoria, who'd been holding her breath, felt disappointment hammer her chest. She'd expected too much...

His face, still creased with debate remained until he spun on his heels to walk out. A breath with heavy weight dropped out of her lips. Leaning back into the pillow Lay had propped up for her, she stared about the empty room. There was nothing to do, but pray Donghae would come around. The information withheld from her might be crucial to figuring out who exactly Hyukjae was before taking steps to track him down. Donghae's team held majority of the information needed to make sense of everything. If he talked, she'd share her part about the mysterious loans Eunhyuk had been paying for Lee Hyun; Hyukjae's possible alias Jae; and how Lee Hyun's profile was strangely similar to Eunhyuk's.

The longer she remained cooped up inside the room, the more congested her thoughts became. Everything nowadays seemed to revolve around tight-lipped Donghae and their fight with each other. The case stood there like a wall in-between them as they continuously punched at it to see who would first go through. Other than that, Victoria couldn't remember focusing on anything else. 

Why did this sound so ridiculously stupid? 

She'd been so immersed in it that she'd completely dismissed all else. Being upset about Donghae's behavior had turned her into a childish rogue, degrading her from SWAT team leader. From a different light, Victoria was finally realizing how stupendously childish she'd been thus far. Sure she'd discovered some information along the way, but none of it had helped the team progress with the case. They were clearly standing five steps from where they started. Majority of the girls saved were done by their underlings without her or Donghae's help. 

Victoria wanted to sink into a mud pit. She couldn't see her contribution anywhere. All had been misses, no hits. 

Unable to sit around anymore she stood to her feet, exiting the room. 

~_____~

It was true, at first Donghae wanted everyone to work in harmony; get along with each other. Sure he saw some tension among the members at the beginning, but he couldn't see much of that anywhere nowadays. Suho, Namjoo, Kris, Chorong, Lay, and even Tao were starting to find their roles within the group. 

Yet, Victoria...something about her prodded him to be cautious after plunging deeper into the case. The fact was that Eunhyuk made him scared with his participation in the ring. These criminal acts weren't and couldn't be simply dismissed under law. Families would be driven to anger about how their children had been treated so cruelly for labor. And even though the death penalty did not exist in their country, Eunhyuk's life would be condemned. 

Donghae didn't want to see that. 

It wasn't as if he was seeking a way to help Eunhyuk escape. Criminals were criminals after all and they deserved to be punished for crimes committed. Donghae...just wanted to be the only one to catch him and he didn't want anyone else to know of the things Eunhyuk had done. 

That was all. 

These little things put him on edge. Under the SWAT team, Victoria as leader would have developed a strong sense of loathing toward people like Hyukjae, giving him no mercy upon time of arrest. Donghae didn't want to give his friend up like that. And he wanted to know why he'd done it before he was thrown behind bars. Once in jail, Donghae would lose all permissible contact with him; he couldn't bear that.    

If Victoria wanted to work things out, Donghae had to be careful about what kind of information he lent out. He wasn't confident about telling Victoria Eunhyuk had a twin. That picture Namjoo had discovered and handed him was personal to him. 

The sun wasn't out, but he knew Lay and the others were on the move. He hoped they wouldn't get caught up in anything dangerous. 

Getting up from where he'd been sitting he strutted back inside to find Victoria missing from her room. Asking around for a while had him climbing up the stairs to the rooftop. He recalled receiving Victoria's scorn on the hospital rooftop once.  

A couple of doctors were sitting about drinking some afternoon coffee for the wake of their long shifts. They shot him a glance before jumping back into conversation. Victoria was over looking the tall city businesses at the far end. Loose ends of her hospital attire flapped amongst the wind, her long hair flinging back and forth like a loosened brush. She had the image of a lone woman simply injured from working too hard, yet strong enough to perspire through the worst. Getting hurt just meant a break from the world and the busy life. 

Turning around to lean against the high wall Donghae stared back toward the door he'd come from. Victoria turned to look at him, those stitches on her face suddenly more visible than they'd been in the room.   

The whole team was always getting injured or suffering from exhaustion.  

"All right," Donghae began. "Lets work this out."  

He caught that glint in her eyes, shining from surprise and anxiety. 

"In Daegu, I fought with Hyukjae after we split up," he admitted. "You wanted to know about that, didn't you."  

"Yes," Victoria simply confessed. "You've met him on several occassions, haven't you?" 

Donghae sent her a long quiet stare, asking why ask when she possibly knew. Turning away he knocked his elbows into the gray brick stones. 

"He's after Namjoo and Suho, it's a threat because he wants us to stop," Donghae went on. "He'll go so far as to terminate your team too." 

"I think we've all realized that by now." Victoria stated the obvious and patiently waited for him to continue. 

"Suho and Namjoo have been doing backhand work for me, looking for clues or trails leading to Hyukjae. So far, there's nothing. I can't expect much since they have to work night time."

A breath of surging laughter bemused seeped through her lips. 

"I should've guessed. What else?"

"That's all." 

This time she slightly shifted her body to face him, her eyes testing him for the truth.

"I get stingy when it comes to Eunhyuk, so I tend to make this matter mine," Donghae backed himself up persuasively. "Since the case concerns my friend, it's personal to me. You've to understand that." 

Victoria's blank expression spoke of no agreement whatsoever, but at least she didn't prod him. 

"Lee Hyun is the account holder of the debts Eunhyuk has been paying off," she naturally flowed along with the line of their conversation. "Jae is the alias either Lee Hyun or Hyukjae has been using when meeting with loansharks. This isn't just a few thousands one can pay off, it's millions. This money could possibly be supporting slave labor, forced ion, or even be aiding drug accumulation." 

Exactly the crimes Donghae was fearing Eunhyuk was committing. Victoria and the law wouldn't go easy on him. 

"I know you have a hard time with what's going on, but it's not something you can do anything about, because he's chosen to do this," Victoria pointed out. "Instead of fighting over Hyukjae, we need to track the flow of money in order to find where he is.We're not two teams, but one." 

As if taking initiation for the job, Victoria held her hand out.   

"No more fighting," Victoria proposed. "From now on, we're working together for real." 

Even though majority of him still wanted this case to himself, he'd already forfeited information. From now on, Victoria would have her eyes on Suho and Namjoo. They wouldn't be conducting work without her knowledge and to pass over information to him would need to be discreetly done. Donghae was in a difficult place now.

He would try to make this work for the benefit of the team. 

Grasping her hand he gripped it, "Then lets get you discharged first. The others are already on the move." 

Turning to walk away he listened to her quickly follow, "What?!" 

"Chorong is missing, they're all probably after her right this minute if they're not doing anything else."

"Chorong?!" Victoria raised her voice, holding the door open as she followed him downstairs.  

~_____~

Stepping out of the car they'd been cramped in Suho lifted his head up to stare the building over. For some reason it felt like he was finally really looking at this business for the first time. 

The sound of the doors closing erupted behind him before others stepped up beside him.  

Lay, on his right, started, "Business doesn't begin till evening, if I recall; perhaps, around six or later. But all of us should be on standby."

"What do we do?" Tao asked. 

"Tactic number two," Lay explained, "intimidate." 

"What?" Tao raised his brow, confused. 

"Ignoring small talk, we're going to straightforwardly ask about girls who've been sold or have gone missing or any children they've hidden," Suho turned to look at Tao. "Get it?" 

Knitting his brows together like the confused child he was, he said no more. 

There was an impatience lingering within Suho's chest. He knew immediately where he wanted to go, who to talk to. 

"We're splitting up, correct?" Namjoo questioned. 

"The building is ours until opening," Lay nodded. "I don't care about abuse of authoritiy right now. We're not playing fair in this situation. What we want is Chorong's location. Understood?" 

"Lets get a move on," Kris called. 

A surmountable amount of determination crossed through Suho before he stepped forward to follow the others inside. Lay was holding out his I.D. to the woman at the cashier upon surprise entrance. While everyone else took care of their own matters, he had his own plan. Still disadvantaged from the others with the use of arms and luck, the smallest thing he could do right now was being able to lead them to where Chorong was being held captive. 

Past the reception desk, he paused to look around. He hadn't been able to go with Chorong to the headmistress's office the last time he was here, so he had no idea where it was. 

"Where are you going?" Lay came up from behind. 

"To meet with the headmistress." 

Moving his head to the right, he nodded toward the hallway, "Over there."

Following his gaze Suho started forward. The hallway eventually came to an end a few doors down with a window in the wall, but the closest doors available to him were all closed.  

"We met Hyukjae here last time," Lay remarked while walking toward a door.  

A wide office came into view when he pulled the door open.  

"Who's there?" A voice broke out upon their intrusion.  

Without holding back, Suho stepped in holding his I.D. out. "From the Military Intelligence Unit, Kim Joonmyun."  

The woman's brow twitched as if irritated that the government was pushing their way in her legal business.  

Glancing at her name plate he read, "Mrs. Park Eun Young, I hope you'll cooperate with me, because I'm short on time and hope to get this over with."  

That brow seemed to twitch again, chafed by his words, but still set down the pen in her hand. Leaning back into her fat back chair as if to ooze out her authority in the room, she stared him down. 

"Go ahead," she prompted as if with nothing to fear. "I've had some peculiar police investigations here recently, so I'm not new to the process. This is, after all, a business title I own under law." 

"I respect that, Mrs. Park," Suho gave her a smitten smile, "that you respect the law and perform under it."  

He let a moment of resolute peace extend between them before going on, "But I'm not here to praise you." Twisting his head to the right where Lay stood adjacent to him, he asked, "Mind closing the door, Lay?"  

"Sure."  

Suho watched Lay close the door before turning back to the headmistress. Without worrying about anything, he pulled out the Glock 27 Namjoo had handed out to everyone earlier. Slamming it onto the desk he took notice of how her eyes widened. 

"What are you doing?!" She seemed to scream, bewildered.  

"Suho." Lay called almost quietly.  

Without replying, Suho pulled out the cartridge and resumed to pushing out the metal bullets, dropping each one onto the wooden desk. As each one clattered against the solid, he listened closely to the slight knocking sound each one made. Sparing three golden bullets, he slid it back into his Glock and looked at the woman eye to eye.  

This was intimidation at its best for him; the furthest he'd be able to go.  

"You like to play games, Mrs. Park?" Suho asked, swirling the metal bullets around the desk into a circle.  

The woman snorted appalled.  

"I'm not much of a gamer either," Suho commented before lifting his eyes back up to meet with hers. "But lets play a game right now, right here." 

The woman stared at him, her lips quivering. 

Holding three fingers up Suho explained, "So here are the rules. You have three chances to make the right move. I'm going to give you three questions. If I don't get the answer I want, one shot goes down each time you give the wrong answer."

"Suho," Lay called again, this time with a depth to his voice. 

Suho only turned to glance at him before returning his attention back to the headmistress. 

"So lets start, shall we?" Turning, Suho started to pace in front of the shiny desk.

He'd come up with this route just ten minutes beyond the brothel. He hadn't known what to ask until Lay directed this mission with tactic two: intimidation. Suho wasn't very good with looking scary or making others fear him. He didn't possess the air of arrogance like Namjoo nor did he have the quick witted brain to start arguing on spot. Suho was just a simple thinker who moved on impulse. 

Right now, he was unleashing everything from impulse.  

"Question one," Suho began as if reading from a book, "have you been in contact with someone named Hyukjae lately?" 

Proceeding his pacing, he waited. The headmistress' face was now white, the only color decorating her expression was that of her red lips. He almost wondered if she was scared enough to whimper a few cries.

"N...no. I..."  

Stopping in his tracks, he held his hand out toward the wall and, even though he was nervous, still pulled the trigger. The sound of the bullet penetrating the wall was loud enough to deafen them all. His ears almost hurt and started ringing at once.  

"There was certainly a man named Hyukjae here before," Suho stared at the woman and started pacing again. "Now lets do that again. Moving on, question two. As of late, have you been keeping in touch with Hyukjae?"  

He heard her heavy breathing echoing in the room. Lay, behind him, stood in spot without movement. He'd wondered for a split second if Lay would make a move to stop him, but upon figuring that he wasn't going to make harm probably decided to just watch.  

Her breath shuddered and she shook her head, "No, I haven't."  

Another shot fired into the wall. A cry swept out of as she jumped in her seat. Indeed, she was only human after all. All humans had pent up fears. The biggest fear was of dying. If he could provoke her some more.  

"I think you know I expected to hear that," Suho barely leaned over the desk toward her, "and it's not what I want to hear from you."  

Taking a step back, he peered around the room.  

"After the third bullet, I'm going to be too lazy to reload," Suho went on coolly, yet took to sounding as liable as his words. "Who knows what will happen to you then. But before you might die, I should probably tell you why we visited. You'd want to know, right?"

Turning toward her again he smiled friendlily.  

"Lets just say, a friend of mine is missing," Suho told with a slight nod of his head. "Hyukjae has her and I want her back before they put a scratch on her." Waving his hand about he went on, "You get what I'm saying? So your last chance to give me the answer I want is crucial, for both you and me. Not only you will get hurt in the process, but I'm going to be emotionally injured if I have to give up this last bullet. You understand, right? We're both caught up in a dirty situation, all because of Hyukjae."  

Suho's heart was pounding. Actually, he had no idea what he'd do after the third bullet. He could only pray she'd leak some information.  

"So," maintaining his composure, "the third question."  

***About time, HaeToria makes a truce! But Donghae's still hiding the fact that Eunhyuk has a twin! Victoria could have figured everything out if only he'd told her!!!

***Have I said before how Suho just keeps getting cooler and cooler?? He's totally my favorite in here. He can get right down to work, but be such a fool.

***OMG next chapter marks 100!! Dammit, this story needs to end asap -.-