Defence

37

- - - - -

Taecyeon watched as she cried despairingly. Slow tears arrived in his eyes as he watched her cry her heart out. If it hadn't been for Yoona, he wondered if Victoria would be crying silently in the bathroom. He partially hoped that the cake would make up for the 14 years of life she'd lost celebrating the day she was brought down to earth. Even when he hoped that, he knew that it wasn't enough. It hurt him to know that Victoria had lost 14 years to those men who'd brought her up cruelly.

That night he watched from the doorway as she slept peacefully like a child curled up on the bed.

Soon, he thought, soon he would find out who those men were and what they'd done to her.

- - - - -

October 18th the president's son was assassinated in Kwangju by a female, Yoona read the headline of the old article dating two weeks back. Had it really been done by an insider who'd disguised herself as a maid, one of the servers? Yoona thought back to the hole she'd discovered in the window. What did that hole mean? A sniper could have possibly shot at the president's son through that clear window from the building across.

If Victoria had been that woman who was disguised and listed as the fugitive, but the shot had come from somewhere else...that meant Victoria was innocent. But who would want to frame her? Obviously, someone who'd want to bring her down.

Yoona ran the words down on paper. It was a good theory. Lee Jung Hwa absolutely hadn't thought her words over. Nor had he bothered to report it to custody. He would be annoyed with her as it is.

She wanted to call the Chief up but recalled she'd been told to lay low for a few weeks. But what mattered more than this right now?

No.

She couldn't do that to Victoria. If she told the Chief about Victoria she was afraid that they'd bring Victoria behind bars. If Victoria admitted to being there that night that was the end for her.

Yoona shook her head. If she just asked the Chief about the hole in the window that'd be enough. Yoona would take the rest from there.

Early in the morning, even on a Saturday, Yoona knew that she wouldn't be able to sit still in her home. As the first birds of the morning took their leap into the sky Yoona grabbed her keys and started her car. While it warmed up she stared at the garage door in front of her. As if she had a theater in front of her eyes she saw Taecyeon pulling Victoria into a hug. The composed breathing coming from her body came to a stop and her heart froze on spot.

What was this feeling?

Yoona turned away from the theater in front of her, set the gear in reverse, and drove out of the lot. She had the day set in her mind already. After talking with the Chief she'd want to go see Taecyeon...if that didn't seem like a smart move she'd call him out instead. She wasn't sure now...if it was right to see Victoria.

The Chief was in his office leaning forward in his chair arching his back. At the noise of the door opening he looked up and an unhappy expression grabbed his face.

"I thought I made myself clear that you are not to come here," his voice was solidly serious.

Yoona closed the door and sat down on the chair in front of his worn out desk. "I heard you, Chief. I'm not here to work."

"It doesn't matter whatever the case is. I said you are not to step one foot into the station."

"I wanted to talk about something," Yoona ignored him flatly. "When I was down in Kwangju. In the room where the president's son was murdered, I spotted a hole in the window. It looked like a shot from the outside...I'm wondering if Lee Jung Hwa put that down in the files."