Chapter 3
You Said Remember Me II
/ / / / /
Time was ticking by fast when Nana finally reached her home. The neighborhood was silent and still as if it were just a set on a stage. Not even a light flickered on when the roaring taxi stopped in front of her house. Starting down the short walk toward her house, she paused, and turned to look around. When the silence answered her uneasy conscience she took the two steps up toward the front door.
When the door croaked open, her heart began pounding inside her ears. The couch had been tossed over, Junsu’s game systems were strewn messily on the ground, and the TV had been knocked down. The thought of the bedrooms quickly entered her mind and she dashed forward throwing open the door of Junsu’s bedroom. His bed was still neatly in place, but his desk drawers had been pulled out and had been left like that. She wondered if they did it on purpose.
Her eyes averted toward the ground where books, magazines, and documents lay about in an untimely manner. Even Junsu’s small closet had been ransacked. Racing forward she searched the room for any missing item, but discovered that nothing had been taken.
Opening the door to her room, she also discovered that her room had been searched as well. Taking three steps forward toward her tall, thin bookshelf, she started tossing the books sitting in it aside. She’d forgotten where she’d hidden it. Desperately tossing the next shelf’s books aside her eyes glimmered when that black treasure caught her attention. Reaching for it she lifted up her bed and immediately the few ammunition Junsu had given her appeared. Tucking them inside her tote bag along with her gun she ran back toward Junsu’s room and lifted up his bed to discover more ammunition.
Their house had been robbed once and after that incident Junsu had started keeping guns inside the house. Worried about her safety when she was home alone while he was out on his missions, he’d taught her how to shoot a gun along with some basic defense skills.
Pulling the door close after her, she turned around to gaze at the lonely house. The fact that her brother had been murdered was starting to piss her off even more. Who had possibly stolen into her house? Who had decided to ransack it for fun? Or were Junsu’s killers making fun of her? Had they really gotten into her house? If so, how in the world did the know about her? About where they lived when Kikwang swore that he didn’t know who his murderers were? Or was Kikwang lying to her?
/ / / / /
Donghae had dropped Victoria off at work and had made sure she’d gotten into her office safely. His worry about her never ceased and he was being more cautious than ever. Paranoid with the fact that someone may be watching Victoria, he stood by her work building for half an hour before finally leaving.
The drive to Incheon was uncomfortable and made him very uneasy. However, when he reached the parking lot to their office he discovered another car there that morning. Curious and worried about who it was he walked into the building.
“Whose car is that outside?” Donghae asked Sasha.
“Chief Kang wants you in his office asap,” she replied monotonously.
He took another glimpse at her and debated if he should pry her for an answer or not, in the end he just walked toward Chief Kang’s office. As soon as he pushed the door open, the two heads inside the office turned to look at him.
“You’re here?” Chief Kang greeted, however the face beside him caught Donghae’s attention.
Kim Heechul smiled back. The last time he’d seen his seemingly cute rival was at his wedding.
“Why are you here?” Donghae asked.
“Is that how you greet people?” Heechul questioned. “It’s really a shame, is Victoria embarrassed of you?”
“Enough, sit down, lets begin,” Chief Kang who’d been staring at Donghae the whole time ordered.
“He started it,” Donghae mumbled taking a seat across from Heechul, who smiled at him.
“Ren Gei’s been spotted.”
Donghae’s attention span widened, “Already? I thought he’d be hiding out.”
Chief Kang laid 2 pictures out onto the table before him. They were blurry, in fact, but his figure was recognizable. Donghae would never forget how he looked like.
Donghae grabbed the picture and held it close to his eyes observing it. Ren Gei was wearing a black jacket, his long hair stood in the way of his eyes, and he was standing on a rooftop balcony looking as if he were searching for something.
“Did you take these?” Donghae turned to Heechul.
“Do you think I’m that bad at shooting pictures?” Heechul retaliated. “Someone anonymously sent it in.”
Donghae frowned.
“There was no name on the envelope, nor was there an address.” Heechul explained.
“This might be a setup, Ren Gei would never appear this easily, plus the photos were sent in anonymously, someone could be pulling a joke here,” Chief Kang suggested. “Don’t get heated up, Donghae.”
However, Donghae wasn’t listening. The rooftop Ren Gei was standing on looked familiar. It was one of those long winding alleys that existed behind restaurants in Seoul. Ren Gei was in Seoul.
Donghae shot up from his seat, “I’m going out.”
Heechul and the Chief got up after him.
“Don’t do anything rash, Donghae.” Chief Kang tried. “I know I can’t stop you, but if you get hurt who’s going to take care of your wife?”
“You get heated up quite fast,” Heechul remarked. “If you leave Victoria alone, you’re going to be sorry.”
Donghae snorted, “Because you’ll be the first to take her away? In your dreams.”
/ / / / /
Nana stepped out of the kimchi restaurant and started down the walk. Pausing by the corner of the block she pulled out the newspaper she’d bought yesterday night and stared at the picture of Ren Gei on the front page. He didn’t look that great, his face was glum, and his eyes held a stare of hate. If she could find him, or find a group of Chinese people then maybe she’d get closer to getting down to business.
The rolling of an aluminum can caught her attention and she turned to her right to see it rolling toward her. The can stopped by her feet and she looked down the alley to see that no one was there. Kicking the can away she started to walk away, but a shout stopped her.
“Hey!”
Nana turned again to see that no one was in the alley. Suddenly, looking up she saw a shadow disappear from the rooftop. Was someone watching her?
Curious, she started down the dirty alley full of graffiti art, garbage bins that stunk of old food with flies buzzing around it hungrily, and old paper stuck onto the cement because of an earlier rainfall.
Cautious glancing around she wondered if someone would burst out one of the doors and lunge at her, or were they planning to throw something from above at her? Nana gripped onto the string of her bag and paused when she spotted a shadow around the corner. Quickly reaching her hand into her bag, she readied herself for whatever was going to happen next. She loosened up when a woman with long wavy hair appeared.
She looked casually dressed. Jeans, t-shirt, new jump shoes, and a light black jacket.
“Hello there.” she greeted.
Nana started at the space in between them and wondered why she’d gotten so close. Her eyes skimmed the rooftops of the buildings on either side of her and wondered who she’d seen up there.
“Did you toss that can at me?” Nana questioned.
“What can?” the woman seemed confused. “I heard some boys laughing out here so I came out to see.”
Liar.
She wouldn’t have been hiding so discreetly just a second ago. Nana immediately sensed something suspicious about her, but if anything were to happen and she was to shoot her gun she knew this was the place to do it. If the cops caught her, Nana would lose her chance of chasing after Junsu’s murderers.
“If it’s not safe around here, I should go,” Nana started to turn around but the woman clutched her arm abruptly.
“Leo! I got her!”
Nana’s eyes shot up toward the men who suddenly appeared through the shadows. Tugging the woman’s arm she flipped her to the ground.
“Stop right there!” a man with a Mohawk shouted pulling a gun out of his back pocket.
Who were they?! Reaching for a trash bag at the side she tossed it at them and turned around to make a run for it, but the sound of the gun going off surprised her. As soon as her feet got tangled up she fell forward onto the ground.
“Leo! Hurry!” the woman crawled over grabbing a hold of her ankle.
Nana kicked and shouted, but the woman never let go. As she struggled against the chick she reached into her bag and pulled out the gun Junsu had given her to protect herself. Though she had never really killed anyone, not even an ant, she thought she felt ready at that second. Pulling the trigger, the bullet shot out at top speed with a loud screech and she partially threw herself back from the impact.
“Ah…ahh!!” a moan turned into a scream.
Within seconds a trail of blood had spilt onto the ground and as soon as Nana saw it her eyes went wide in fear. She’d never shot anything before. Her eyes switched over from the scene toward the woman who was staring at her shocked. With no time to waste Nana kicked her in the face with her free foot and shot up from the ground.
Screams, shouts, and swears followed her.
/ / / / /
Hopping out of his car, Donghae glanced at the busy restaurants. The smoke, the scent of foods, and the people inside caught his eyes, ears, and nose as he passed by. It’d be great if he could bring Victoria back here so they could spend some time alone. Recently, she’d always been adding his uncle into their activities and it was never fun nor exciting.
Taking the picture out of his pocket he glanced up at the rooftops for a familiar one. He started down the corner and paused when he spotted the alley, however, before he could even start down it desperate shouts caught him by surprise. In a split second he went was thrown back to the ground.
“Ah!” he shouted at from the impact.
Someone got up from beside him and as soon as she got up to her feet, the gun in her hand caught his attention.
Grabbing her wrist he asked, “What are you doing?”
She turned around to look at him surprised by his sudden intrusion. Her face was slender, her eyes small, and her nose long. Her dyed blonde hair fell over her face neatly as she continued to stare at him.
“Let me go!” she shouted turning to start off again, but Donghae refused to let go.
“Give me that!” he reached for her gun.
“Im Jin Ah!” the man’s scream made her eyes go wide.
Donghae turned around just in time to see a gang of 5 men charging toward them. Turning back to the young lady he still had a hold of he found her eyes staring at him with a look of frustration.
“Are you in trouble?” he wondered.
She didn’t answer. Donghae had a hard time debating whether he should run or head back to the car, in the end he pulled her after him toward the car. Right after a car passed by in front of him, he started down the road dodging car after car. As soon as they got into his cars he started the engine and sped off down the road. Glancing back into the rearview mirror he spotted the gang trapped in early afternoon’s traffic.
“Let me off,” she demanded.
“Put your seatbelt on.” he reversed the demand.
A click of the gun made him turn and a few seconds later Donghae pulled over to the side of the busy road. He calmly watched as she pulled the door handle only to discover that the door didn’t open. Donghae had just recalled that he’d set the child lock on after a fight he’d had with Victoria.
When she turned back to him he fished his wallet out of his pocket. He was still so proud of showing his Investigator I.D.
“I’m bringing you to the station for carrying a gun out into public,” he started.
However, she didn’t seem to be listening to him. A frown grew over her face before her eyes met his again.
“You’re that detective who sent Ren Gei behind bars, aren’t you?” she questioned.
Donghae’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and confusion.
“There was a bank robbery the other day,” she started, “by some Chinese guys and right afterward Ren Gei broke out of jail. Do you know about it?”
Bank robbery? Donghae hadn’t heard of it, but he’d definitely have to fill Chief Kang in with the information he’d just gained.
“Who are you?” he asked.
She stared back at him, “I asked you a question.”
“You aren’t one to be ordering me around.”
She stared at him for a long time before grabbing a piece of paper from inside her bag, scribbling on it with a pen, and shoved it at him.
“I’m looking for those asses he teamed up with,” Nana told. “When you find them, I should be the first to know.”
She scrolled down the window and pulled the door handle from the outside.
“Wait,” he called then quickly reached into his wallet, “I’ll be tracking you down, but keep this with you.”
Handing her the card he watched as she slammed the door shut and started down the road. There were suddenly so much more to look for on his list of to do’s.
/ / / / /
Right after she’d finished her classes she went back to her office to grab a few things, check her mailbox, before she stepped outside to call Donghae. However, he wasn’t answering.
“Sheesh!” she growled. “If you don’t want to pick me up, don’t drop me off in the first place.”
Taking a step forward, she paused when a car sped up toward her.
Donghae scrolled down the window, “What did I say about waiting for me?”
Victoria glared at him, “Why should I have to wait for you? It’s annoying when you’re being overprotective.”
She walked around the car and pulled the door open.
“I’m hungry, buy me lunch.” she ordered.
“Seatbelt first,” he leaned over and pulled the seatbelt over her.
Victoria rolled her eyes at him still irritated with the fact that he didn’t allow her to do one thing outside of the boundaries he’d set for her.
After lunch, instead of heading back home he drove down the long roads elsewhere. Parking the car in front of the outlet he got out first. Victoria pulled at the door handle and discovered that it wouldn’t open. The door suddenly opened and she glared at him.
“What’d you do?” she questioned.
“Sorry,” he dismantled the child lock, “if you hadn’t been trying to get off the car while I was still driving then I wouldn’t have done it, but it served a good purpose today.”
She frowned at him confused about the ‘today’ part, “What?”
Ignoring her, he grabbed her hand leading her toward the store. Victoria didn’t even know what store they’d crept into until the door had closed behind her. Racks, shelves, and lines of colorful baby clothes, toys, bibs, bottles, and everything else a baby needs seemed to be in the store. She turned to look at him lost.
“What are we doing here?” she whispered so as not to seem rude in front of the sales woman behind the counter watching them.
Putting an arm around her waist he hurried her forward.
“To look around cause we never did before,” he whispered back.
Victoria was about to retaliate that they didn’t need to, but Donghae pulled her in front of a shelf and grabbed a pair of baby blue shoes meant for newborns.
“Isn’t it cute?” he asked with a smile. “I want a boy.”
She grabbed the shoes from him and replaced it. Before she could speak they were interrupted.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” the woman in a light blue dress questioned.
“No.” Victoria started.
“We’re just looking around.” Donghae told smiling.
“How old is your baby? I can help you look for an outfit, we’re having a 75% discount sale this week,” she explained.
“Ah…” Donghae said, “we don’t have one yet, but we’re working on it.”
Victoria laughed embarrassedly, “Sorry to bother you.”
Taking his arm she dragged him out of the store after her. When the door closed she turned to him.
“What are you doing?!”
“What?” he asked confused. “I just wanted to look around.”
“We don’t need to yet.”
“Why? Haven’t you been hoping for one, too?”
Victoria stared at him. Honestly, yes she had but the thought of having another miscarriage frightened her and she hadn’t yet spoken about it with him.
“I’m going to drop you off at Eunhyuk’s, ok? Uncle’s not home, and I don’t want you to stay by yourself.”
“Why? What is it that I can’t stay alone or even go outside alone?” Victoria questioned. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
He opened the car door for her, “I’ll talk to you about it when I can. Lets go.”
***Eunhyuk, Jung Hee Sun, and Melodix in the next chapter :D
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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