Chapter 38
You Said Remember Me II
/ / / / /
Nana turned her head when Eunhyuk turned off the faucet. Had Yuri forgotten that she’d stepped outside, but hadn’t closed the door all the way? Everything from earlier, she’d heard it all.
Eunhyuk would most likely choose Yuri, wouldn’t he? She was so well off that Nana couldn’t imagine anyone backing away from her.
And it all just happened when she felt ready to open herself up to someone. Maybe she should have closed the door all the way that morning…
/ / / / /
“Isn’t it sweet?” Donghae asked feeding her a tangerine the ahjumma had let him have.
“Oh…aren’t you two cute?” the ahjumma squealed from behind the stall. “Here have some more.”
“It’s alright, ahjumma. He’s just going to pig out some more if you keep offering,” Victoria shook her hands. “Come on lets go.”
Donghae waved to the ahjumma before Victoria dragged him away.
They’d somehow come across an outside market on the way and being insistent as Donghae was that they make a visit there Victoria followed him. It was bustling with people, but mostly middle aged men and women who were married with kids tailing behind. As she’d thought, no teenage would want to appear in such an old area. They’d more likely be in the more modern part of town hanging around in cafes or arcades.
“Don’t you think it’d be nice to come here again when we’re older?” asked Donghae. “Then you can be someone kind like that ahjumma back there.”
Victoria to him with an arched brow.
“I’m not very amused with that idea,” Victoria responded, “but we’ll see.”
“Tsh…” he smiled before nudging her.
Turning around the corner they passed an information building completely unaware of their surroundings. Perfect green lettuce and cabbage were set out neatly on a draped table ready to be bought. Red chili peppers sat at the end of the table coolly under the hot sun and Victoria glanced around amazed by all the fresh food on sale. In between tables old men and women sat on short stools with dozens of sandals for sale, some offering massage services.
Victoria had never been to an open mart before. She’d always resorted to a nearby store where she had to pick up food from shelves and debate over what brand was cheaper and better.
“Sorry, excuse us,” Donghae’s voice brought her attention back.
She turned to see that they’d run into two men and that the small path was blocked. Either they had to move or the two men had to step aside. Donghae grasped her hand and stepped aside. As they did so, Donghae inched further out of the path and pulled her after him. Feeling that something was off Victoria turned around, but another tug of her hand pulled her attention back to Donghae.
“Lets get out of here,” he urgently whispered, “can you run?”
“Huh?”
“Excuse me!” a voice shouted from behind. “Don’t we know each other?”
Victoria turned around, but Donghae refused to let her do so.
“You’ve got the wrong people!” Donghae shouted back suddenly pulling her closer.
He’d suddenly started moving closer and this time Victoria couldn’t help but turn around to see who the men he was talking to were. She spotted two quick heads pushing their way through the crowd coming at them really quickly. Donghae pulled her forward again and she felt her body fly forward. Just how big was the market that they hadn’t reached the exit yet?
The honking of cars and traffic suddenly became very loud and Donghae suddenly quickened up his pace. He swerved around the corner and started with a run down the sidewalk. The streets were minimally packed with crowds and Victoria turned around finally able to get a clear look at the two following them. Of course, she recognized them. Her heart almost leapt out of her chest and she turned around tightly gripping his hand.
Why hadn’t she noticed earlier? Why had she been so busy looking around that she didn’t notice they were being followed?
The streetlights ahead suddenly turned green and they rushed pass the people who were taking their time crossing. Victoria turned back to see the buff man with thin legs push a woman aside before Donghae pulled her into a random restaurant. Customers busy dining away silenced and turned to stare at their abrupt entrance.
“Criminal Investigator,” Donghae flashed his ID, “if anyone asks about us, we were never here.”
Victoria stared at Donghae amazed by his scent of authority.
Donghae turned to a waiter nearest to them who had been pouring water for a couple, “Where’s your back door?”
/ / / / /
The restaurant door was kicked open again just a minute later and two big men stomped in dangerously. Yong Jo’s eyes glanced at every customer’s face quickly making everyone feel uncomfortable.
“Has a detective and a woman been here?” Eui Tae stepped forward.
Silence.
“I asked a question,” he growled.
Eui Tae turned to look at a waiter and quickly grabbed his collar intending to lift him into the air.
“A detective and a woman, where are they?” Eui Tae asked.
“I…no…I…I haven’t seen anyone…” the waiter stumbled over his words wondering why it was such a strange day.
Something clicked and the waiter felt something icy cold against the side of his forehead. The customers shrieked and screamed as they backed up in their seats.
“Now let me try again,” Eui Tae said, “the detective and a woman, where are they?”
/ / / / /
Whatever they were playing at, he couldn’t let them hurt Victoria. No matter what, he was going to protect her.
The two of them raced down the empty alley and he paused for a slight moment to look around. He couldn’t let it be like the last time when he was trying to find an escape route for him and Nana. Kikwang wouldn’t be there this time to save them.
Gulping he walked took a step forward and noticed a narrow path hidden to the side by a large dumpster. Rushing toward it he pulled Victoria after him.
“Go first,” Donghae urged.
“No…”
“Just go first,” Donghae urged again, “we need to hide for now.”
She glanced at him with a worry frown before abiding by his order. Luckily the two of them were able to squeeze their way in just fine. Though the space was very limited and however the walls tried to squeeze them, they were still able to breathe just fine. Too bad he wasn’t able to turn to face Victoria.
Slightly closing his eyes he reached for her hand and clung onto it. He didn’t want to lose her again.
She clasped his hand in return and hoped that he would be able to fight off the fear climbing through her. If he remained calm and brave he hoped Victoria would be able to do so as well.
The sound of a garbage bin being kicked down made him jump and he readjusted his hand around hers. Within moments the garbage bin came rolling down the alley and came to a slow halt when it reached the dumpster.
“We know you’re out here! Be good and come out, we’re not taking anyone today, we promise.”
Oh, the chill that was running up and down his spine was starting to kill him. He swallowed silently feeling sweat start to form on his forehead. What would he do if they were discovered?
/ / / / /
Victoria bit onto her bottom lip hoping that it would help calm down her nerves. She didn’t want to hear that Donghae was dead again and spend another useless week crying over it. Losing him once had already been enough. No matter how many times they fought, she still needed him the most.
“Don’t let them find us.” she prayed over and over again in her head.
A chuckle nearby cut off the oxygen in her lungs.
“So…are we going to play Tom and Jerry today?” one of the men questioned stepping onto the garbage bin with his feet and rolling it about.
How much longer were they going to continue taunting them?
“Victoria,” Donghae whispered, “I’m going to go, once we’re away, run.”
“You can’t!” Victoria refused. “Don’t go out there, please.”
“I’ll be ok, I promise,” Donghae told, “they won’t go away until confronted, and most important, I need to get them away from you.”
“So?” Victoria refuted. “It doesn’t mean you need to go out there. If you’re going, I’m going too!”
“No,” he shook his head squeezing her hand, “don’t, please. You can’t get hurt.”
Victoria stared at him feeling her pulse race so fast she was about to lose it.
“You can’t show yourself,” Donghae said, “promise?”
“No,” Victoria shook her head, “I’m not promising you.”
“Be good,” he went on, “I’ll come back to you.”
She opened to retort again, but Donghae leaned forward and gave her a quick peck on the lips. He released her hand and disappeared out of sight just like that. Victoria was ready to cry and run after him, but he’d wanted her to remain hidden. What was she going to do?
Her hand landed against her pocket and that was when she remembered that Changmin had handed her his phone before leaving for work. Slipping it out of her pocket she unlocked it and started through his contact list still fumbling in her mind who to contact. Victoria suddenly felt a prayer of thanks float through her when she saw Eunhyuk’s name.
/ / / / /
They’d be fine. Donghae and Victoria would have to work things out and figure everything else out for themselves, and they could do it all without him. He’d already thanked Yuri and Changmin, so he could leave without feeling guilty. He didn’t know if he should look for Nana and say goodbye because he barely knew her and they’d barely talked. It probably wouldn’t matter anyway. The two of them were mere strangers to the other.
He quietly folded up the rest of his clothes and stuffed them into his bag. It was so quiet for a Tuesday, but he assumed that it was because of the quiet neighborhood Changmin and Yuri lived in.
“It’s not because of Victoria, is it?”
“You don’t like Victoria, do you?” Yuri forced the question out.
Calming down she said, “I know I haven’t known you for long and we barely know each other, but I think I like you. So, don’t go back home just yet.”
Eunhyuk looked away from his clothes and cast his eyes toward the window.
Only one person had asked him if he’d liked Victoria, and that person had been Donghae. Actually, he, himself, never really confronted the question.
A beep of his phone made him turn away from the window. He hadn’t called home in days and without even asking he knew his mother must be worried about him. Maybe Hee Sun had contacted him.
Reaching for his phone he unlocked it to surprisingly discover a text message from Changmin. But Changmin didn’t have his phone. He’d clearly seen it when Changmin had given Victoria his phone just for safety reasons, so…was it Victoria who’d contacted him? But why?
“Eunhyuk, please help me.”
Something was wrong. Victoria never said such things.
“What’s going on?” he sent the question.
“Donghae’s gone, they found us.”
“Where are you?”
/ / / / /
Nana spun around from the couch when Eunhyuk raced down the stairs as if the devil were after him. Before she was able to ask him where he was going he fled out the door.
/ / / / /
Donghae found the two men staring at him with mischievous smiles on their faces. They looked creepy, however. He gulped nervously wondering what was going to happen next.
Chief Kang was perfect with handling these kind of situations and watching him do so made Donghae feel more admiration for his Chief. However, he couldn’t always rely on others, but even so, he didn’t know what to do. What could he say that would get these guys away from both himself and Victoria?
“What do you want?” Donghae started off.
“You don’t really look as fearless as we’ve heard,” Yong Jo commented, “or are you only fearless when Ren Gei is around?”
The name sent anger flying through Donghae, but he remained calm. If he easily got ticked off them he’d be playing their game, not his.
“Why are you alone?” Eui Tae cocked his head to the side not amused by anything.
Donghae refused to glance back at his hiding spot. Victoria was still there and he couldn’t let them walk any further than they already were.
“Interesting,” Yong Jo smiled. “Then I guess you will do for today.”
Donghae’s eyebrow arched when Eui Tae took him by surprise. As his fist dug into his guts Donghae could feel his mind spin. It was exactly the same spot where they’d first hit him. He slid to the ground feeling his legs become useless to the orders of his brain. He was supposed to get up and fight with them, but he felt so weak.
Before he knew it he had been flung over Yong Jo’s shoulder and off they were.
***Doesn't look like Eunhyuk's able to leave now
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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