Chapter 69
You Said Remember Me II
They left the store in a quick manner and arrived at the inn in no time. As they crossed the deck to room 1100, Donghae felt simple joy sweep his whole body. He was holding Victoria’s hand, they were happy, the sound of their feet walking in unison made his blood giggle. It felt so perfect being like that.
Sneakily walking closer to her, he leaned his head against hers sighing happily.
“What?” Victoria asked.
“Nothing.”
“Sure.”
“I just feel so completed right now.”
“Aren’t you already a whole person?”
Donghae moved his head away wondering how Victoria could be so blunt.
“We’re finally here,” Victoria said staring at the door and knocked on it.
No one answered.
“Eunhyuk?” she called and knocked again.
Still no one came to the door. Finally, she turned to him with a frown.
Stepping forward, Donghae knocked, “Eunhyuk! Open the door!”
Silence replied.
“Eunhyuk!”
“Who are you shouting at?”
The two spun around to see Eunhyuk standing to their side wearing a scowl on his face. He started toward the door and began to unlock it.
“Aren’t you two embarrassed? Just shouting like that,” Eunhyuk muttered.
“Well, excuse me,” Donghae told him off, “if you weren’t out in the first place, maybe we wouldn’t have made fools out of ourselves.”
“Do you want me to put up a sign on the door whenever I’m not here then?” Eunhyuk opened the door before his eyes caught the bag Donghae was carrying. “What’s that?”
“We were going to stop by the hospital to visit Changmin,” Victoria jumped in, “we were going to ask if you and Nana wanted to come along.”
Eunhyuk seemed to silence himself and thought for a moment. The scowl on his face disappeared for a slight second, Donghae took note of it.
“I’m not going,” he stepped into the room.
Donghae reached a hand out and grasped his arm, “Scratch what Victoria said. We weren’t going to ask if you and Nana wanted to come. We were going to bring you two to the hospital.”
Eunhyuk pressed his lips together. Donghae knew he was trying to find an excuse to not go.
Glancing into the room to find that it was clean and empty, he said, “Nana’s already there, huh? Then looks like you’re going to have to go as well.”
“I don’t feel like going anywhere,” Eunhyuk refused.
“Well, I do,” Donghae stated pulling him out. “We’re stopping by, even if it’s just for a few minutes.”
Eunhyuk glowered at him. Donghae just smiled victoriously.
/ / / / /
When the door to Changmin’s room opened, Eunhyuk hoped with all his might that Nana wouldn’t be in. To his luck, only Changmin’s parents were in the room with him. However, Eunhyuk still found his eyes sweeping the room nonstop.
“You’re finally here,” Changmin’s mother excitedly greeted. “Have some oranges. We bought some along the way.”
He listened as Victoria and his mother charged into a friendly conversation and moved over to the window. Down below was a view of the garden outside. Pretty and calm. It was perhaps a place where therapeutic patients went to calm down. Eunhyuk had heard from nurses who had taken care of Hee Sun after she’d given birth that flowers tend to make people feel at ease. That was why it was nice to have them at hospitals.
Was Nana outside staring at the flowers in hopes of easing her mind? Worried thoughts of how she was taking this whole thing ran over and over in his mind. He jerked back to reality when he heard Nana’s name.
“Where did Nana go?” Donghae asked.
“She left the room a while ago,” Changmin answered. “I’m not sure where she went.”
“How long has she been gone?” Victoria inquired.
“An hour, maybe,” Changmin said making it sound like a question.
“I’m pretty sure she’s still around,” Donghae told before turning to Eunhyuk.
Eunhyuk stared back at Donghae hard already aware of his intention.
Thankfully, Victoria spoke up, “I’ll go.”
“But…” Donghae began.
“She’s probably outside,” Victoria smiled.
Eunhyuk watched as Victoria left through the door and once she was gone, Donghae turned his stare back to him. Eunhyuk avoided his gaze and turned back to the window.
/ / / / /
A loud cheer exploded into the air when the blue team scored their victory. Nana opened her eyes and watch the boys join into a group hug. The smiles apparent on their face made Nana feel envious. She hadn’t smiled like that for a while now. Actually, for a long time, she hadn’t smiled like that. Before and even after Junsu’s death, she couldn’t smile like that.
“Lets play one more round!”
The boys shuffled off into their positions and made off into runs after the basketball bouncing from hand to hand. Each time the ball bounced off the ground, Nana felt her heart slowly beat with it to match its tempo.
Another helpless sigh escaped her and she hung her head low. She’d thought long and hard about it. Now she was pretty sure she had her answer, but she didn’t know what Eunhyuk would think. If he was thinking along the same wavelength as her, everything would be alright. However, if Eunhyuk thought otherwise…Nana wasn’t sure what would happen then.
She was smart enough to realize that she couldn’t count on Changmin in her current situation. There would be no choice, but to stop counting on him.
“There you are,” a voice made her pull her head up.
Nana glanced around before spotting Victoria.
“Everyone’s waiting for you,” Victoria approached her, “Changmin says you’ve been gone for a while. Have you been sitting here the whole time?”
For some unknown reason, Nana stared at the woman before her for a long time. She was beginning to wonder if Victoria would be able to help her through this. Certainly, Nana wasn’t able to decide anything for herself because she didn’t know anything. Would it help to talk to Victoria?
“Is something wrong?” Victoria asked kindly.
Was it really alright to lean on Lee Donghae’s wife?
Nana felt her lips fall apart and attempted to say something, but only a chilled note of silence sounded in the air.
She couldn’t after all.
Nana got up to her feet. “I was just watching them play.”
Victoria smiled soothingly before Nana followed her back into the hospital. When the door opened she could hear the chatter between Changmin’s parents. It was the only noise in the room.
She froze at the door when she saw Eunhyuk’s backside at the window. Nervousness and awkwardness sunk into her skin so deep that it felt like it had penetrated her bones.
“Are you feeling better?” Donghae asked. “You were kind of sick yesterday.”
“I’m…ok…” Nana walked the rest of the way in and closed the door behind her.
When the door shut, she heard Eunhyuk shift his feet a little. Maybe he was feeling nervous as well.
“Look what Donghae and I got you?” Victoria asked reaching for the bag.
Nana watched as she pulled out a sweater. Unsure of how to react, she just simply stared at it.
“Isn’t it cute?” Victoria tried.
Nana managed a weak smile, unable to portray her feelings correctly.
“You should say it’s cute,” Donghae reached a hand over to tap her on the arm.
“Oh…” Nana muttered.
Donghae frowned slightly at her before he pulled out another sweater.
“And Eunhyuk,” Donghae tossed the sweater over to him. “We got one for you too.”
Nana watched as he turned away from the window and catch the sweater surprised. He unfolded it and examined it.
“What’s this?” Eunhyuk asked.
“A sweater, duh.” Donghae replied.
Nana felt herself warm up when she realized that the sweater she was clutching had the exact same design as Eunhyuk’s sweater. What was this?
“We were offered a set of couple sweaters for one price,” Donghae mischievously grinned. “So I bought them both.”
“Aww…how cute…” Changmin’s mother cooed.
Couple…sweater? Nana felt her eyes draw itself over the sweater grateful for it. She’d never worn a couple sweater or anything like it with anyone else. Somehow, it felt special.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Eunhyuk glared at Donghae.
“It’s adorable,” Changmin’s mother commented. “You two should try it on. It’s certainly been a while since I’ve worn a couple sweater with my husband. Makes me miss the old days.”
“Mom…” Changmin whined.
Nana glanced up from the sweater to the eyes that were watching her. They were waiting for her to wear it and it felt creepy to know that they were following her every move with their eyes.
She managed another awkward smile before giving in. In less than a few seconds she pulled the sweater down over her head and fixed it properly so that it hid her shirt underneath. Nana also made sure to brush her hair forward so as to cover her neck and noticed that Changmin was keeping a weary eye on her.
It was hard to make eye contact with him now that she knew she couldn’t play dumb with him.
“Ok?” Nana asked.
“It looks nice!” Donghae complimented. “Victoria refuses to wear such things with me, but you and Eunhyuk certainly look well!”
Her eyes moved over to Eunhyuk to discover that he’d slipped on his sweater too. She quickly turned away when he turned to look her way.
Nana couldn’t do it. It felt suffocating to be near him this early. What should she say to him if she were to speak first? She didn’t know and that made her feel more nervous.
/ / / / /
Yuri jumped in her seat that morning when the phone started ringing.
Reaching for it she answered, “Sherriff Kwon Yuri, how can I help you?”
“Hello,” the man’s voice greeted.
Yuri furrowed her brows. Who was this that was calling? Usually, all calls were sent to the front desk and only those in the building called her to let her know of an emergency.
“Yes? How can I help you?” Yuri went on.
“Sherriff Kwon, this is Chief Kang,” the man introduced himself.
Her eyes inched wider and she straightened herself up in her chair.
“Yes, Chief, what can I do for you?”
“If I am correct, you are currently assigned to a homicidal case in Osan,” he started.
“Yes, I am.”
“If you are hesitating to call Eunhyuk’s family, do not worry,” Chief Kang said. “I am aware delaying the time of contact will get you in trouble at your place.”
“I don’t quite understand.”
“I’ve recently paid Eunhyuk’s mother a visit,” Chief Kang explained, “she understands the situation surrounding Eunhyuk, but I didn’t give her any information of the gang or any detail of the situation surrounding you all at this point.”
“I understand.” Yuri found herself nodding.
“One more thing,” Chief Kang said, “thank you for keeping them safe. Please let Donghae know, I’ll come find him soon.”
“Yes, Chief, and no problem. I’m glad I did it.” Yuri smiled into the phone before hanging up.
When she hung up the phone she couldn’t help but think of the glee she would see in Donghae’s face when she would tell him that Chief Kang had contacted her. He was alive somewhere and perhaps he would be able to save them all from turmoil.
Leaning back in her chair, she crossed her hands over the pit of her stomach letting her eyes roam about the small office of hers. Changmin would be out and mobile soon. It would be nice to have him resting at home before the busy summer days started and the zoo would start to be packed with little kids. During the past week it had felt like they’d drifted from their usual bickering.
Yuri felt somewhat disappointed in herself for locking herself up in her disappointed feelings about Changmin and Nana. That didn’t matter now though. It shouldn’t matter. She knew Changmin first above everyone else. What he is to her is more important.
Her thoughts fell. Now that she was suddenly thinking about Changmin she couldn’t help but think about how awkwardly silent Nana and Eunhyuk had been toward each other that morning. Wasn’t it just yesterday when Eunhyuk seemed so close to Nana?
What was it that happened between them?
***YES!! Spring break starts today!!! :DDD I'm going to get writing!!!
***I finally have more ideas now!!! Thanks to the awesome book I read by Jeffery Deaver! Finished it in like some 3-4 days! It's so good, left me hanging on the edge of my seat and seriously I could feel my heart thumping so loudly wondering what was going to happen next. I love his books, they keep me so excited xD
***I have a new poster! I told myself I wouldn't make anymore but when I saw Donghae's picture I was like "I need to make a new poster!" Well here's a HaeToria poster. I've been wanting to have them on one all by themselves :DD
spring semester ends this friday and i'm off for summer break :D i'll get back on track with YSRMII
Comments