Chapter 25
You Said Remember Me II
/ / / / /
“Over there,” Eui Tae slightly pointed out Donghae and Nana. “They’ve really come.”
Young Ae snorted and crossed her arms, “Are we letting Victoria loose now or something?”
“Keep your eyes on them,” Eui Tae ordered, “Osan is going to be our eliminating ground. Ren Gei is almost here.”
Eui Tae checked his watch and glanced around discreetly from the alley they were standing in.
“Did you see where Victoria went?”
“Over there,” Young Ae nodded her head toward the crosswalk, “probably heading toward the mart again.”
The phone rung and Eui Tae turned around to answer it.
/ / / / /
Her heart was unsettled. It was difficult to concentrate on anything else and she was only following Eunhyuk blindly. Honestly, she wanted to run back out there and search through the mass crowd for Donghae. She was sure she’d seen him. It wasn’t any hallucination of any sort. He was really nearby as she’d thought he was.
Tears of joy wanted to spurt out of her eyes, but none of that came.
She turned when Eunhyuk touched her arm.
“You’re thinking about going out there, aren’t you?” he asked.
Victoria stared straight into his eyes and knew that he already knew her answer.
“I’ll go look for him, I promise,” Eunhyuk said, “but I’m not letting you go out there, you hear me?”
No. She wanted to go too.
“I’ll take you back to the apartment,” Eunhyuk offered.
/ / / / /
“Yong Jo and Leo’s almost here,” Eui Tae explained, “lets start moving.”
“Who are we after this time? You have to be clearer with me so I know!” Young Ae scolded loudly from behind.
Eui Tae stopped in his steps, “The detective and the girl.”
“Oh ho? So what’s the plan this time?”
“Ren Gei’s gonna get her.”
/ / / / /
Donghae took a quick glance behind him before pulling Nana after him and ducking into the crowd.
“What?” she whispered.
“They’re here.”
“What!” Nana spun around to take a look but Donghae pulled her back.
“Don’t look back. You’re going to slow us down if you do. Just keep moving ahead till we get somewhere safe,” he ushered.
Nana followed his lead through the mass of the crowd and followed the crowd into a large clothes outlet. Hiding inside a crowd in a store, Nana turned to look around.
“Are you sure you saw them?” she asked. “How could they get here so fast? How do they even know we’re here?”
Donghae looked beyond the crowd. Did the gang know more about him than he thought they did? Did they already know where he was intentionally headed?
“Lets just get out of Osan,” Nana pleaded, “we can’t wait for Kikwang. He’s probably making a trip somewhere else like he always does. He’s not going to help us by making us stay in Osan and wait.”
Donghae glanced at Nana, “We’ll wait for Kikwang.”
Nana frowned unable to agree with him, “No. I don’t want to. He only wants to do things his way.”
“Because he wants you somewhere safe,” Donghae pointed out once more before he turned. “Don’t argue with me here.”
“Because no one listens to me!”
He glanced at her while trying to think up of something to say.
“Then I’m not going with you,” Nana bit back, “you go by yourself. You said you saw them out there, right?”
His jaw almost dropped with her sudden change in attitude and without a word he grabbed her wrist pulling her after him.
“There’s always going to be a change of plans,” Donghae tried, “you can reschedule your revenge even if Kikwang is here. Have you ever thought, that he also wants to bring justice to your brother? You two are in the same boat.”
He turned back and shot her a quick glance before moving down the hall.
“Furthermore, I don’t like adults who act like kids. If you don’t want to cooperate, then serve yourself and leave.”
/ / / / /
“Just stay here ok?” Eunhyuk turned around from the doorway for the fifteenth time. “I’ll be back soon.”
Victoria stood in the middle of the room and hopelessly nodded. Well what else could she do if Eunhyuk was so reluctant to allow her to go outside?
The door closed shut and Victoria turned to take a glance around the tiny apartment. It felt nothing like home.
/ / / / /
“Mommy!”
The shout of a toddler made Changmin turn around from his spot. It was that time of day. The time when the zoo was the busiest with summer quickly approaching.
He was curious about how Eunhyuk and Victoria were doing. They’d come and left so quickly that he sort of regretted it. He’d wanted to get to know them better and be on better terms with the two of them.
The cries of the seals nearby caught his attention. He’d been meaning to give the treats out to the seals, but it’d left his mind.
“Here you go,” Changmin tossed a dead fish toward it.
The seal swallowed the fish deliciously.
“Oooh! Look at that!” a mother cooed toward the toddler in her arm.
Changmin turned back toward mother and son suddenly recalling Victoria. She’d been staring at the families passing by the day he’d brought her to get some air at the zoo. It made him wonder if she and her husband had been preparing to have a family. Victoria had looked so forlorn that it was a bit sad.
Turning back to throw some more fishes at the approaching seals he wondered if he’d see Victoria and her friend anytime soon.
/ / / / /
Reaching out for the magazine that had been left behind on the table in the middle of the room, Victoria turned around when the door opened.
“What’d you forget this time?” Victoria was about to say, but paused when she noticed that it wasn’t Eunhyuk at the door.
A breathless gasp escaped through her lips and she felt her legs become numb. Frozen in spot she could only feel her eyes grow wide in fear. The wailing scream she’d first let out at the rehab replayed in her memory as he stared back with a grin.
Chills raced up and down her body sending Goosebumps onto her flesh.
Ren Gei took a step forward, she took a step back appalled by the lump that had formed in .
As she bumped into the table her eyes swerved toward the door behind Ren Gei. It was just like when he’d secretly hid in her house back in Seoul before taking her out. He’d been blocking the door in the same manner. But this time there was no window nearby and also no back door in the tiny apartment. She was secluded. Surrounded by walls.
The thudding of her heart vibrated against the enclosed walls and she couldn’t hear anything but her own steps racing toward the next room. Ren Gei’s loud steps raced after her and grabbed her swinging arm attempting to pull her back. A scream left as she turned to force his hand off her.
Even as the color of the walls slurred in circles around her, Victoria couldn’t make sense of anything but the fact that she needed to fight for her life. After a long moment of tug of war she finally tilted back and felt herself fall against a wooden chair next to the couch. The screech of its legs sliding against the ground echoed in her ears when she felt herself fall onto the ground.
A shrill of pain moved through her abdomen and at that moment only a cry seeped through her. The pain numbed all her senses and ability to think. The pain was the only thing she could concentrate on.
Ren Gei grabbed her struggling arms. Thankful for the fact that she still had the will to fight Victoria tried to push him away from her.
/ / / / /
Eunhyuk turned back from halfway down the block. A sudden sixth sense told him that something was wrong. Maybe he should take Victoria along with him after all. Being able to protect her was better than leaving her behind alone. What if someone tried to hurt her anyhow? How would she protect herself?
Pressing his lips he hurried back.
The apartment door was closed. Seeing that sent a sigh of relief surging through him. If Victoria was resting he’d probably head out on his own, but he was pretty sure that she was restless. She’d want to search for Donghae.
When he grabbed the doorknob a sense of worry suddenly infiltrated him. It was unlocked. He was pretty damn sure he’d locked it before leaving.
Twisting the doorknob open he could hear Victoria’s helpless cry coming from the living room. That was when he saw her on the ground…
His eyes widened in shock, fear, anger, and resentment that before he could even think he rushed forward. Pulling the stranger off Victoria, he punched him across the face several times before Victoria’s wails suddenly became more visible to his ears. Spinning back toward her he saw her turning onto her side sniffling, crying.
Kneeling down he reached a hand toward her shoulder slightly lifting her up.
“It hurts…it hurts…Eunhyuk…” she cried while curling up.
Eunhyuk quickly turned to see that the perpetrator had disappeared.
What felt like hours later, he watched as the nurses disappeared into the ER with Victoria on a stroller. That was when he realized his heart was pounding in an absurd manner within his chest. Worry suddenly overwhelmed him. What if something happened to Victoria and her baby? What’d he do then? It’d be all his fault. The miracle Donghae and Victoria had been yearning for would disappear just like that and it’d be his fault, because he hadn’t looked after her well enough.
An hour later a nurse walked up to him, “You can go see her now. The doctor reported that she’s alright.”
Feeling slightly nervous he headed into the room Victoria was in and found her lying on the bed restlessly looking around. She quickly sat up when he neared and Eunhyuk felt immense guilt.
“Are you ok?” he asked.
Victoria quietly nodded, pressing her lips together tightly. The hidden pain scrunched up in her face hurt him. He felt so sorry for leaving her alone.
“I’m so scared…” Victoria’s voice came out weak and frail. It cracked in mid sentence and she lowered her head. “What if I lose the baby? What would I do? Eunhyuk, what would I do?”
Her shoulder started heaving and soon the noise of her sobbing was more noticeable. More guilt flooded through him. Victoria had lost her baby before…and if she lost her baby again…just the thought of the pain she’d have to endure once more wasn’t even imaginable.
If he hadn’t been so insistent on finding a place instead of staying with Yuri and Changmin, none of it would have happened. Yuri would have been able to keep Victoria safe from harm. They could have prevented this. He could have prevented it.
Biting his lower lip he reached an arm out and pulled Victoria toward him. There was no way he could comfort her, but a small hug was all he could offer.
spring semester ends this friday and i'm off for summer break :D i'll get back on track with YSRMII
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