Defence

27

- - - - -

Donghae laughed and looked up as Victoria sat down.

"What?" she wondered. "What's so funny?"

"I'll feed you until you're full. Since you're here you might as well not eat when you head back." Donghae insisted.

Victoria frowned without question and ate the food in front of her. She was highly concentrated on her food that she barely looked up.

"I'm curious," Donghae started, "why do you always eat your food so fast? No one's going to take it away."

Victoria swallowed, sipped some water, then wiped her mouth. "It's become a habit over the past 14 years."

Donghae stared at her as if he didn't catch what she just said.

"It's just...how things came to be." Victoria replied. "Why aren't you eating?"

"Are you hungry? You can have my share," he offered.

Victoria took his plate without feeling embarrassed. He watched her eat with a kind of satisfied smile on his face.

"Have you always lived in Seoul?" he asked.

"No. I've been here and there." her simple half truth - half lie.

"What about your family?"

"I'm on my own, remember?" Victoria paused. "I don't know where my parents are now." another half truth - half lie.

Donghae didn't bother her anymore. He sent her back and before she got out he told her he'd saved his number in her phone. After the first door closed he turned back and drove home.

At the door he was greeted by the glare of his mother, something he'd been missing the last few days after coming back from work but he hadn't literally missed it.

"Mom," he greeted, "evening."

"Where were you?" she questioned.

"Out. Work, you know. Stuff." he finished walking into the expensive home.

"You've been out to see her, haven't you?"

"Who's 'her'?" he asked.

"You're still playing stupid with me?"

"Don't slap me." Donghae turned around abruptly half surprising her.

She took half a step back and looked up at him, "Tomorrow, don't go out. You don't need to go to work."

"Why?"

"We're meeting with your in-laws tomorrow. I've set up the date with them and we aren't missing it."

"What!" Donghae's voice bellowed.

"Don't scream at me, you runt." his mother scolded. "You half killed my ears."

"Mom! I told you the wedding is off, I thought I made it clear that she's no longer my fiancée."

"Is it so hard to say her name?" his mother protested.

"Fine, I already repeated myself millions of times. Yoona's no longer my fiancée. Please, mom."

"Are you afraid your second girlfriend will get a shock over this? But doesn't she already know you're set to marry someone else?"

"Mom!"

"Tomorrow. You're not leaving the house."

With that the woman walked away.

- - - - -

"Who was that?" Yoona's mother backed away from the slit in the window curtains as she walked in through the door.