Defence

9

- - - - -

“Anything new? Any progress about the case?” Donghae asked sitting down behind his desk.

“No, sir. The Director hasn’t showed up anywhere. He’s really gone into hiding.” his secretary explained. “I fear he’s really sold the imported wine.”

“Keep following his bank account. He’ll have to withdraw money sooner or later.” Donghae ordered. “Did Ok Taecyeon come in for work?”

“Yes, he did sir. He’s down by the reception right now,” Secretary Jung started. “Do you want to call him up?”

Donghae thought about it for a minute, “No. I’m heading out.”

“But you just got in, sir.”

“Does it matter? There’s nothing to do.”

“What about this afternoon’s meeting?”

“It’s been cancelled.”

“It has?” his secretary seemed clueless.

“Have you checked your phone calls, Secretary Jung?” Donghae asked.

“Sorry, sir.”

Donghae pressed his lips together and walked out. He rode the elevator down with a blank mind thoughtlessly. As he exited the elevator and walked out of the short hallway he easily spotted Taecyeon standing by the desk out on the lookout for the people entering and exiting the building. Taecyeon looked very concentrated until the moment he turned see Donghae walk down the hall. They stared at each other until Donghae smiled and exited out the doors.

“Now where to go?” Donghae wondered as he unlocked his car.

- - - - -

After Taecyeon left Victoria sat around feeling suffocated in the tiny apartment. After staring at the television screen for some 10 minutes she turned the TV off and headed out the door. Down the white staircase she opened the white door and stepped out. Before turning onto the road she stared at the gymnasium door ahead of her. Twisting the doorknob she found that the door had been securely locked. For what reason did nobody ever use it? She peeked in to find an empty gym with some mats and a punching bag sitting in the corner and two basketball hoops at the opposite ends of the gym.

“It’d be a good workout,” she told herself thinking of breaking down the door but paused. “How many times are you going to give yourself away?”

She let go of the doorknob feeling her hands itch to hit something or to grab her gun and shoot at a tree. Victoria shook her head to calm the rushing of her blood. She wasn’t used to this silent, still kind of life. It had taken a while for her to come accustomed to the life of everyday fighting competitions and now that she was finally away from it, it was hard to adjust to the life of a normal citizen.  

Minutes later she found herself walking down the long empty road where only a few cars passed her every few other minutes. She paused once to glance at the thick trees she’d come running out from before Taecyeon crashed into her. Turning away from the memory she continued down the road and soon found herself in the heart of Seoul traveling just like a commoner. Instead of the people and the buildings passing by like swirls of colors, the cars raced by in blurs. They were utterly fast.

Shops stood nearby and foot stalls everywhere on the side roads. Victoria was tempted once or twice to steal and run but had stopped herself when she saw two young girls feeding on fish cakes nearby. The view made her throat close up and her heart throbbed meaninglessly.

“I don’t want to eat too much. What if I get fat and don’t get in at the audition?”

“Just use makeup. Makeup covers everything up.”