Chapter 4
You Said Remember Me II
***This chapter may contain some dirty language, not much, but just a warning
/ / / / /
“That !” Leo stomped his foot against the carpet.
They were currently camping out inside the weak suburbs where trash littered the streets, homeless persons sat about, stray animals took scraps for food, and where a few dozens of the poor died from starvation or illnesses.
A tall thin man walked underneath the light bulb poorly hanging down from the ceiling.
“Jin Young’s arm is fine, that lady really did a trick back there,” the doctor, Song Yong Jo, of the gang explained while taking a seat at the four cornered table against the molded wall.
He reached his hand back for a cigarette which the watchman of the team, Yun Eui Tae, lit for him.
After exhaling out a steam of smoke he continued, “Where did the lady go?”
“Got away,” Leo replied angrily with his back turned to them, “if only Young Ae hadn’t done such a poor job of acting like a belittled neighbor.”
He glared at the woman.
“Why are you blaming me? Did I say I wanted to do it?” she questioned. “We should have just left Seoul after you friggin shot Junsu! I told you it was a stupid idea! So what if he ed your girlfriend? She went to him first!”
Leo turned around tossing his lighter at the woman who shrunk back in fear. She swallowed nervously.
“What in the world do you want with Im Jin Ah, anyway Leo?” questioned Eui Tae. “She’s just a girl.”
“She’s the last of their family line,” Leo told, “we can cut her up and sell her organs.”
“We’re not into that kind of business,” Yong Jo pointed out, “where’s the next location for the drugs?”
“We don’t have it, because those ty bastards got caught by the cops,” Young Ae muttered.
Leo let out a scream of frustration, grabbed his hair, and kicked the small garbage bin in the corner.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down,” a tall shadow appeared from the dark.
The only light in the room almost blinded him when he stopped before the others at the table. Tugging at the new shirt they’d stolen from a random store he smiled.
“You’re still looking for Im Jin Ah?”
“What the are you doing out here? I thought I told you to stay inside. What the hell are you going to do when the cops get at you again?”
“The cops aren’t my problem,” Ren Gei answered, “if you want Im Jin Ah, we should go look for an old friend of mine.”
Leo frowned with half a sneer written over his face.
“Lee Donghae.”
“What?” Young Ae asked.
“The detective?” the doctor added.
“What the hell can he do for us except drag us behind bars? Are you filthy crazy?” Leo doubted him.
Ren Gei laughed, “They were together a while ago. Didn’t you see, he was the one who helped her escape.”
“Why do the hell do you want to look for someone who sent you behind bars?”
“Because he has someone I want.”
“Give it up,” Eui Tae spoke up, “she would’ve been yours if you didn’t screw up at the rehabilitation center. Why are you still after someone who’s already married? Don’t you have any pride?”
“Pride?” Ren Gei repeated. “She’s always been my pride until he appeared. So now, I’m going to get that pride back.”
“So what are you going to do? You know where he is?” Leo questioned.
/ / / / /
The barking of Melodix’s voice entered her ears when she stepped out from the car. Donghae followed her into the house where they found the toy poodle lunging at them. S
“Whoa!!! Me first!” Donghae playfully pushed Victoria aside and picked up the toy poodle who jumped into his arms. “Did you miss me? You missed me, didn’t you?”
Victoria slightly slapped his arm.
“There’s a jealous woman here,” Donghae told giving the dog a kiss before passing her over to Victoria who made a face at him.
“Isn’t it a shame that someone’s uncle is allergic to you?” Victoria asked Melodix.
“Donghae! Victoria!” Eunhyuk’s mother shouted delighted to see them. “Why don’t you stay for dinner?”
“Sorry, I’m about to leave,” Donghae apologized then turned to Victoria, “my uncle will call you when he gets home. I won’t be back till late, so go on ahead without me.”
“Since when have you been on time anyway?” Victoria questioned sarcastically.
Donghae stared at her. Feeling quite regretful for having said that she gave him a peck on the cheek.
“Ok, I won’t wait up for you.”
He smiled brilliantly at her before walking away just as Eunhyuk’s car came into the driveway. The two greeted each other quietly with a wave of their hands.
Victoria turned around and set Melodix onto the ground.
“Has she been a good girl?” questioned Victoria to Eunhyuk’s mother.
“She’s just so cute! She loves the baby too.”
“Sorry, for having to leave her here.”
“Don’t worry about it at all, Eunhyuk’s the one who takes care of her the most. He leaves her in his room since Hee Sun is allergic to dogs, as long as she doesn’t get near the dog it’s fine. But he’s been with the dog an awful lot, you should ask him if he’ll ever start dating anyone else.”
Victoria smiled as the door closed behind her. She turned around to greet Eunhyuk, who looked just as good as ever.
“Hey, you, it’s been a while,” she smiled.
He reached a hand forward ruffling her hair, “Oh yea. Hold on, you haven’t seen how big Hyang Soon has grown have you?”
He led her down the hallway toward a bedroom. When he opened the door, Victoria discovered Jung Hee Sun sitting on the ground playing with the baby she’d given birth to a few months after her wedding.
“Oppa,” she called and turned to Victoria with a smile, “you’re here?”
Honestly, Victoria had recovered from her and Hee Sun’s scuffle, but she felt unsure sometimes if Hee Sun had really moved on or not. It felt like she was watching Donghae once in a while, or maybe it was just her being paranoid.
“I have to go get his bottle ready, want to watch him for me?” she asked Victoria as she got up with the baby in her arms. “How come I haven’t heard any news from you and Donghae oppa?”
Victoria smiled in reply, “We’ve been busy.”
Jung Hee Sun returned the smile before walking out.
“Want to hold him?” Eunhyuk questioned.
Victoria glanced at the chubby baby in his arms. How great it’d be if she could hold her own child. The feeling that came from it was unexplainable.
Eunhyuk handed Hyang Soon to her without waiting for her reply.
“Mom feeds him so much that even holding him for just 5 minutes hurts my arms,” he joked.
Victoria laughed along with him.
“How’ve you been? As Hee Sun said, we haven’t heard from you nor Donghae in a while,” he told.
“Oh…it’s just the usual,” she answered sitting down. “He’s busy, I’m busy. We only go out when we can and that’s usually on the weekends. You? Your mother’s been complaining about you and Melodix being a couple.”
Eunhyuk laughed.
“I’m not interested in anyone yet,” he replied. “Is there something wrong with Donghae? He seemed like he was really in a rush out there.”
Victoria turned toward the doorway as if she’d be able to spot Donghae, “I don’t know, he’s been acting strange. Sometimes, I don’t like his job. It’s scary, you know?”
/ / / / /
“Bank robbery?” Chief Kang repeated after him. “If the cops dealt with that there would be no reason to report the situation to us.”
“We should have been notified,” Donghae insisted, “a girl I met told me that Ren Gei has joined up with a gang.”
“Who?”
“Her name’s Im Jin Ah, someone she was running away from called her that,” Donghae explained. “Can you get her checked out and see if she has any crimes listed under her name? And check up on her background etc?”
“Ok, I know,” Chief Kang stopped him, “you don’t need to be so passionate about this.”
Donghae sighed.
“We’ll probably have to start questioning any Chinese gangs or any groups we see in particular,” Chief Kang suggested, “if we can get at least a little information about Ren Gei and why he’s allowing himself to be easily found, maybe we’ll find out what he’s really after.”
“He’s after Victoria.”
“Donghae,” Chief Kang said, “he may be after you too. Have you ever stopped to think of the grudges he might be holding toward you? He was after Victoria, but you stopped him from getting to her. Do you know how resentful he may be?”
Donghae stared at the Chief.
“No, I don’t understand why he’d come after me,” Donghae shook his head, “it’s been Victoria all along and it’s still probably Victoria. I can’t afford to have Victoria hurt.”
“What about you getting hurt?” Chief Kang questioned. “Ren Gei is a murderer and an extreme stalker, he’s the definition of dangerous. I absolutely won’t allow you to head to frontlines alone, and whoever that girl is that you met today, I’ll make sure that she steps away from all of this too.”
“Chief,” Donghae started.
“Go and check out the Chinese part of the suburbs, if anyone’s suspicious, get back to me right away. Return home before midnight,” Chief Kang told, “and don’t come in to work tomorrow.”
Donghae stared at him.
“Are you laying me off?”
Chief Kang opened the drawer beside him and pulled out two tickets, “My wife cancelled our plans for this weekend, and since this case has come up I’ll be working on it full time. Don’t worry, if I find Ren Gei, you’ll be first to know. Take Victoria out of the city and go have fun, just you two.”
Donghae stared at the tickets to Jeju Island.
“You didn’t really go on your honeymoon, did you?” Chief Kang questioned. “Go spend some time together with your wife, you’ve been too busy for a new groom.”
Donghae ran around the dirty parts of the suburbs that evening. He discovered a few Chinese immigrants, workers, and friends who were traveling in groups. No one suspicious. It disappointed him and reminded him of the first time he started searching for Ren Gei. The man, himself, had chosen to come to him. Would this time be the same?
He returned home by midnight, found the house dark, but his uncle had left the light in the kitchen on for him. As he climbed up the stairs he opened the bedroom door to find that Victoria was already asleep. Her back was facing him again.
After a quick shower he crawled into bed beside her and wrapped an arm around her. She was deep asleep, he could tell. Breathing in her deep scent he soon fell asleep after.
/ / / / /
Victoria awoke in the morning to find Donghae still locked in sleep beside her. Turning onto her side she stared at his face with a soft smile and pushed away his hair playing with his forehead by rubbing her finger against it. A frown creased over his face making her laugh.
“Stop it,” he muttered grabbing her hand.
“Oh? You’re awake?” she asked.
Opening his eyes he returned the smile.
“What?” she questioned.
“After class today, lets go out somewhere.”
“To where?”
“Jeju Island.”
“Why?”
“The Chief presented me with two tickets,” Donghae explained, “cut your classes short, I’ll pack your luggage and after I pick you up we’ll head for the airport.”
She stared at him.
“You’re acting weird, is something wrong?”
“Why do you always think something’s wrong?”
“You’re always telling me to cut my classes short recently,” she told getting up.
He pushed her back down and put an arm over her locking her down, “Answer me.”
She turned to look at him. “Ok, whatever. You always win anyway.”
Tossing his arm off, she got up, and headed downstairs.
After school, as promised, Donghae picked her up and they headed straight for the airport. They boarded the plane and were off after half an hour.
They checked into a resort when they reached the island and settled in nicely. Setting their luggage aside Victoria walked over to the large window spanning from wall to wall and glanced out at the large lake just outside. A biking trail was visible from the other side with a garden of flowers, some tall trees, and a couple of benches.
The kitchen was somewhat behind her and past that was the bedroom. A rectangular table sat near the wall and a warm den had been built to her right. It was fully furnished with comfy furniture, a large TV, and a fireplace. She began wondering how in the world Chief Kang had gotten such a nice place, but hadn’t come at the last minute.
Donghae surprised her when he threw his arms around her from behind. Leaning against her he swayed her back and forth gently.
“It’s nice here, isn’t it?” she asked.
“If we had a little boy with us it’d be nicer,” he told.
Victoria slightly turned to look at him.
“Just joking,” he apologized. “Want to go biking tomorrow? We can also go horseback riding and even go on a short cruise.”
Victoria placed her hand over his.
“I’m happy, just being here with you I’m happy.”
“Me too.”
***The story's starting off real nicely. There emerges the problems, our main leads and more problems after their sweet trip. We know where that all brings us, right? ;)
***So here are the members of the gang Ren Gei re-joined (I'll spoil it for you since it's not a biggie anyway, they were together before Ren Gei's mother admitted him to the rehabilitation center for being a drug addict, so now they're back together): Jin Young (the one that got shot), Song Yong Jo (the doctor), Yun Eui Tae, Young Ae (the gal), and Leo (the one that seems to be head of gang).
***So in all, that makes 5 + Ren Gei for Donghae to go up against ;D But they're not all going after just him. Remember Nana is their target as well, and soon within time everyone else will slowly get dragged in.
***I kinda want to re-emphasize how Eunhyuk ruffles Vic's hair. It shows their close relationship, which the two have maintained by far. And there's also the part about where Donghae hasn't contacted them for a while (which could mean month/s). Remember where Nana and Vic found out that Donghae had set the childlock on the door which he said he did it after Vic tried getting off the moving car after an argument? That argument is linked somewhere along the lines of EunToria's relationship.
***And do realize that Jung Hee Sun calls Eunhyuk "oppa" now, which signifies that their relationship is a lot better/closer :)
***I thought about the story a little more and decided that I left Eunhyuk feeling kind of empty in the first part of this story. I asked for some opinions about whether you guys (my readers) thought if Eunhyuk really had feelings for her or not and I got some replies saying that perhaps Eunhyuk was halfway in love with her, but not as deep as Donghae was, and some other readers hoped that he didn't have feelings for her.
***I went back and skimmed the YSRM and discovered that EunToria's interactions and relationship did have some sparks and moderate warmth to them (which touched my heart a bit LOL), so I'm going to continue their relationship some more in this second part of YSRM. So open your eyes, and watch out! Changmin is going to be along the lines as well :D Look at all these guys after Vic xD
***Sorry for the late updates and you should prepare yourself for some more late updates soon. School is just getting so busy and all these big assignments for Poli Sci are really kicking in :(
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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