Chapter 80
You Said Remember Me II
/ / / / /
Yuri glanced up from her tasteless plate of food. Eunhyuk, Victoria, and Donghae were too quiet. She watched them pick up their food from their plates and ate them silently. Why hadn’t Donghae let her go into the kitchen when she returned home? She still couldn’t find the answer. And it probably had to do with why the three of them seemed so out-casted from each other.
After dinner Yuri started on the dishes as usual and turned when Victoria set down some plates beside her.
“Is everything ok?” Yuri couldn’t help but ask.
“Oh yea, nothing’s wrong at all.” Victoria replied. “Should I help you?”
“No, it’s ok. I’ve got it under control.”
Victoria nodded and turned around to walk away. When she disappeared up the stairs Nana came in from the dining room in the pink dress Yuri had given her. She did look really pretty in it.
“You’re back already?” Yuri asked with a welcoming smile. “Where’s Changmin?”
“We decided to come back separately.”
Yuri’s happy face dropped worried, “Oh? Did something go wrong? What if something happens?”
Nana shook her head, “He’ll be back really soon. Do you have some leftovers? I’m feeling kind of hungry.”
“Oh yea, why don’t you sit down? I’ll have something up for you.” Yuri offered.
“Thanks.”
Yuri turned off the faucet, grabbed an empty plate, loaded it with food, and walked over to Nana along with a glass of water.
“Yuri,” Nana said looking up, “I’m going to leave tomorrow. Maybe in the afternoon while you’re at work.”
Yuri felt her heart lurch.
“What? So early? You can wait until I come back at least…”
Nana pulled on a relaxing smile and Yuri couldn’t tell if she was faking the smile anymore or not. Was she that happy to get rid of them so soon? But nothing had ended yet. Yuri hadn’t solved the homicide yet…
Nana shook her head, “I already checked in with the bus heading back to Seoul. It’s one of the time that’s available.”
So soon…everything was ending so soon. Yuri felt like she was at a lost. In the moment of silence Yuri hadn’t noticed that Nana had stood up from where she was sitting.
“Thank you, really, thank you for keeping me here,” Nana hugged her. “I’m gonna eat and head off to bed.”
Nana smiled one more time before sitting down.
Even after Nana had gone upstairs, Yuri found herself standing by the counter in front of the sink. The dishes she should’ve washed earlier had been sitting there untouched and still dirty. Yuri couldn’t tell what was flying through her mind. Honestly, she just felt like it was wrong to let Nana leave like that, but what could she do?
/ / / / /
Victoria stepped out of the bathroom closing the door quietly behind her. Donghae was already in bed under the sheets on his side, his back to her. That was peculiar. Usually he’d be lying on his back while he waited for her to come out of the shower. Without further thought Victoria turned off the light and climbed into bed beside him. Donghae still didn’t turn to her.
“Are you asleep?” Victoria turned her head to look at him.
Donghae didn’t reply. Assuming that he was asleep she remained in her spot and closed her eyes.
/ / / / /
Donghae slightly turned his head to look at Victoria whose eyes were already closed. Leaning his head back into his pillow he felt his heart ache. Victoria would snuggle up against him only when she’d had a nightmare or when she’d had a really good day. That kind of affection was shown by him most of the time.
Was something wrong with them? Was it his fault that things had never gone the way he’d wished it to? Did he limit Victoria too much? Was he too protective? Did he lose her trust when he decided not to let her know about Ren Gei’s escape? Had it been his fault he couldn’t look after her well enough?
He lie there allowing all thoughts to sink in. He wouldn’t be able to bear it if Victoria thought she’d made the wrong choice by deciding to come into his arms the moment of Seo In Ji’s death. After roughly 7 months of Han In Seol’s death, he’d rushed into Victoria’s life freely proclaiming his feelings for her. Had Victoria been burdened more heavily than he thought?
7 months…was it really enough time to let go of someone dear who’d passed away? Or had he rushed it all now causing Victoria to feel restless about everything?
He couldn’t. No matter what, he couldn’t let Victoria go. Donghae closed his eyes hoping it would all go away. The hopeless thoughts, the deep fear of losing her…
“What?” Donghae braked his car along the side of the road feeling his body fly forward, his seatbelt holding him back before he smashed himself into the steering wheel.
“Yes, I even double checked just for you, sonny,” Sasha’s voice came through the line. “It’s Victoria Song and Lee Hyukjae who’d gone into the room together. I don’t know what’s going on, but don’t get too panicked, girly.”
Donghae felt his heart pound rashly inside his chest. His breathing hoarse.
“Really?” he asked again as if dumbfounded.
“I said I double checked, didn’t I?” Sasha repeated herself, her wry voice echoed in his ear as he sped off.
Victoria was almost at the back of the neighboring city somewhere along the bustling highway. Donghae rashly jerked his car to a stop without pulling the keys out from the ignition and brushed pass the large trees surrounding the long yellow building.
“Hello there!” the receptionist behind the desk greeted loudly.
Donghae ignored him and pushed the side door open stepping out onto a clear green lawn. Underneath the heat of the day, he couldn’t feel anything else but his own burning anger.
“Excuse me! Sir! Sir!” the receptionist ran out after him and stopped behind him. “Who are you? You can’t just barge in like this! I’ll have to call the cops.”
“I am the cop,” Donghae muttered monotonously.
He dug into his jacket and pulled out his ID showing the receptionist his badge.
“Leave,” Donghae ordered staring at the small mini-building in front of him.
Of course it was a yellow dwelling with cute windows on both sides of the white door. He’d heard from Sasha that it was a small vacation home meant for young married couples. All that information was irrelevant to Donghae. But what the hell was Victoria doing in that place with Eunhyuk?
Without checking to see whether the receptionist had really left or not, Donghae walked toward the door and tried to doorknob to find that it was unlocked.
So Eunhyuk and Victoria really weren’t afraid of anything…
Donghae stepped in to discover a small kitchen, but without pausing to look around realizing that he’d just blow up after realizing what kind of environment the two were in he headed forward.
His feet came to a sudden stop when he came across an open room spotting Victoria and Eunhyuk sitting against the bed next to each other. He stared at them for a long time. Jealousy and mere anger were the only two feelings he could depict flowing through him.
After a long minute, Eunhyuk turned to see him. Shocked he stood up to his feet. Victoria turned and slowly rose up. Slowly? Why did it seem like she didn’t care at all?
Without further ado, Donghae started toward them, grabbed Victoria’s hand, and dragged her out after him.
“Donghae! What are you doing!?” Victoria questioned trying to stop and glanced back at Eunhyuk.
“You’re asking me what I’m doing? Are you kidding me? Or are you really that blunt?” Donghae raised his voice.
Victoria glared at him from behind, “Yah! Stop! Leave me alone! Donghae! Lee Donghae!”
He tightened his grip on her refusing to let go no matter what cost.
“No. Why should I stop?” Donghae questioned. “Why is my wife in that kind of place with a man? Her friend? My friend!”
Victoria pulled her hand out of his with a shout and stood in spot staring at him.
“Do you not know what you’re doing right now?” Donghae asked feeling a menacing anger flow through him.
Victoria bit her bottom lip, “Then why are you leaving your friend behind?”
“Fine,” Donghae nodded his head angrily as the dark clouds swirled overhead. “Then tell me, Victoria, you tell me why you’re here with him and where you’ve been the whole day.”
She stared back at him pressing her lips into a firm line.
“No? You won’t tell me?” Donghae asked disappointed.
Victoria couldn’t say anything. She hadn’t said anything even when Eunhyuk appeared from behind her. Donghae’s eyes landed upon him, but it was Eunhyuk that Donghae didn’t want to see most at the moment. Why would his good friend go off somewhere with his wife? He couldn’t make sense of it.
When the first rain drop fell he suddenly felt tired and emotionally exhausted with fighting the fact that Victoria always seemed to keep to herself. She wouldn’t share her innermost thoughts with him. Her personal thoughts, but never her innermost thoughts. Had he failed as a good husband? What had he done wrong? He never found the answer.
He took hold of her wrist and dragged her after him once the rain started to fall. opening the door he pushed her in and quickly got into the driver’s side. Locking the doors he stared out through the drenched windshield to see Eunhyuk staring back at him.
Eunhyuk’s solemn but understanding expression appeared in Donghae’s eyes.
Donghae sat up in bed. He hated thinking of it. He really hated that day. Thinking of it made his blood boil.
Getting out of bed he walked toward the window pulling the curtain aside and stared out at the empty street. Yuri’s neighborhood was too quiet that it didn’t help settle him.
“What? You can’t sleep?” Victoria’s voice reached him.
Donghae turned around to see her lifting her head up to look at him. What could he say to her? What could he tell her?
“No, it’s nothing. Go back to sleep,” Donghae told turning back to peer out the window.
He didn’t feel like he could face her the way he was. The thoughts flowing through him only made the way he was feeling worse. Donghae was beginning to speculate whether he and Victoria would be able to be honest with each other at all.
“What are you doing?” Victoria suddenly appeared behind him.
She took a hold of his hand and leaned her head on the back of his shoulder.
“Are you thinking about Eunhyuk?” she asked.
Eunhyuk…the name sent bitter resentment soaring through him, but he couldn’t show it. He couldn’t talk to her about anything. Victoria wrapped her arm around him and tilted her head to look at him.
“What’s wrong?” she continued.
He hurt. His heart pained. Donghae couldn’t get it out of his head. That the arm holding him had been the pair hugging Eunhyuk.
/ / / / /
Nana gently poked her fork at the food on her plate and glanced up at the solemn Yuri. For some reason she felt sorry for her. There hadn’t been a thing Nana had been able to do for Yuri. She could only hope that Yuri understood her appreciation even if she couldn’t show it.
She turned to look at Changmin without a word. He hadn’t spoken to her and she hadn’t stayed up to wait for him to come home. Nana wondered if Changmin and Yuri had met up after she went to sleep.
“I’ll come back to help you with the dishes,” Nana promised Victoria and ran after Yuri who was already outside.
Racing toward the door and pulling it open, Nana ran toward Yuri.
“Yuri, wait!” Nana called.
Yuri paused by her car and turned around.
“You were leaving so fast…” Nana commented.
“I’m not good with saying goodbye,” Yuri smiled.
“Ah…really?” Nana asked feeling a little embarrassed.
Yuri smiled at her after a moment of peace, “Honestly, I feel kind of sad seeing you go like this.”
“I’m sorry, for making everyone feel bad.”
“No,” Yuri shook her head and placed a hand on Nana’s head, “I wanted to spend more time with you and get to know you better. At least that’s what I planned at first, but it turns out I wasn’t a good host after all. Everything just happened so suddenly and during all this trouble too. I’m sorry I didn’t treat you better.”
Nana felt her heart melt and suddenly she almost felt like she didn’t want to go back home anymore.
“Take care. Bye, Nana.” Yuri patted her head before turning to get into her car.
Nana watched quietly as Yuri backed out of the driveway and waved before driving off.
/ / / / /
The hospital monitor beeped continuously. Its golden brown walls glowed underneath the yellow lights shining down upon the sleeping patient unable to wake up. Bandages still remained around her arms, legs, and neck. It beheld a pitiful and sad sight.
Chief Kang felt the worst of it. He hadn’t had a choice but to leave the defenseless woman behind like that. She could’ve died, thankfully she’d been saved in time. That old woman really did have some luck with her.
“I’m off now, Sasha,” Chief Kang said. “When you wake up, I’ll have a new desk for you.”
He headed out of the room and toward the elevator.
“Chief,” the person answered his phone call, “the squad is ready. We can move with your order.”
“I’m departing for Osan right now. Your squad should depart in 3 hours and we’ll all meet up at the designated spot near midnight.” Chief Kang explained.
“Yes sir!”
After hanging up, Chief Kang felt the cool air meet with his face.
“It’s not long now, Donghae. I’ll come for you soon.”
Chief Kang started toward his car pausing briefly when he spotted someone leaning against it. He narrowed his eyes with a frown when the man lifted his head up from the ground with a yawn.
“You quite know how to take your time,” Heechul greeted. “You were meeting with your secretary?”
“Why are you here?” Chief Kang asked shoving him aside to unlock his door.
“How is she?”
“Same,” Chief Kang replied. “You didn’t answer my question, Kim Heechul.”
“Why are you leaving me out of all the fun when I was the one who dug up all the information for you?” Heecul asked. “Unlock the door. I’m joining in on the fun.”
“Fun?” Chief Kang repeated.
“Well, that guy hunting down your employee like a deer is the same guy who killed me once.” Heechul reminded then smirked. “Don’t forget, I was once a criminal investigator long before Lee Donghae came along.”
/ / / / /
The atmosphere was kind of stiff that morning. The stares she received once she walked in through the door gave her the chills. Was something going to happen? Or had something already happened without her knowing so?
Yuri held her head up high until she reached her office. She swore she heard someone snickering about her. Just what was that?
The moment her met with the cushion of her chair, the office door flew open, and in came the lieutenant, her boss, and a few extra men. Her mind slurred in confusion.
“What’s going on?” Yuri questioned alarmed that her instincts had been warning her all along.
“No, you tell me what’s going on,” her Chief demanded tossing down a yellow package in front of her.
Yuri glanced at him deciding she had no choice but look at what was in the package. She took it and dug out its contents surprised to see a pack of pictures inside. Pulling them out she glanced at them wide eyed, her heart echoing off her ears. Pictures and pictures of Nana, Eunhyuk, Changmin exiting the house with Nana, and her sitting at the back with Eunhyuk lay in her hands.
What…
“This can’t be confidential,” Yuri shook her head. “It can’t be.”
“Someone named Young Ae sent the pictures in.”
“Young Ae?” Yuri repeated dumbstruck.
“The victim’s sister. She even wrote down their address.”
“But you can’t believe it if you haven’t confirmed it!” Yuri shot up from her desk.
“Officer Kwon, do you know who you’re speaking to?” asked her Chief. “From this moment on, you are restricted from participating in this case.”
“Sir! This is a mistake!” Yuri raised her voice hoping she could get him to listen to her.
“Do you understand my orders, Officer Kwon?” her Chief’s voice thickened. “I’ve requested a warrant and a squad is on their way right this moment as we speak to your house. Until I call you back, you are not to step one foot into this building. Under the premises that you’ve been lying and protecting the possible murderers, I can sentence you to court. Do you fully understand your position, Officer? One more word out of you and I’ll drop you in jail.”
Yuri gritted her teeth. Her heart was racing.
“Take her away.” her Chief ordered.
***A little more insight to the incident that occurred between Donghae - Victoria - Eunhyuk kkeke
***So there you go! The answer to why Young Ae had a camera and what Ren Gei wanted her to do with the pictures. Eunhyuk & Nana are in real trouble this time! Meanwhile during all this turmoil, Chief Kang & Heechul are finally coming to their rescue!
***And sorry, I didn't think it'd cause so much confusion. So I'll explain here: Yes, Victoria did have a feeling that Eunhyuk had a thing for her, but she never really confronted it herself. That's why she's confronting him now. And notice that when Eunhyuk finally admitted to it he said "Yes, I liked you..." liked is past tense. He did like her, but not anymore. And he did say he wanted to treasure the feelings for himself. Remember what he told Nana too? That Victoria would just be a friend because he cares too much for both Donghae and Victoria. He can't bear to tear them apart when they're so in love. And yes, Eunhyuk has finally come to peace with himself - that he has mutual feelings for Nana.
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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