Defence

59

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Donghae awoke at a time he had never expected to. When his eyes opened at seven in the morning he decided he didn't need sleep anymore. After taking a quick shower, he threw his formal shirt up, and shot glances at his reflection in the mirror every few seconds. Buttoning his shirt he ran his daily schedule over in his mind.

After a quick morning meeting he'd get out of work and get something healthy for Victoria. Maybe he should have consulted with Eun Chul about whether a walk would be fine for Victoria. With jacket in arm he was out the door.

Minutes later in the meeting lab Donghae stuffed his papers into a folder and stood up from the chair. Handing the folder to Secretary Jung he said as they walked out of the large doors, "I'll be out for the rest of the day. If there's anything that comes up, you deal with them for me."

Stepping into the elevator he pressed the first floor button and waited as the lift took him down. When the doors opened he stepped out and headed down the hall. While walking out he glanced down to the reception area curious to see if Taecyeon had come in for work and there he was in his usual formal wear. Seeing him standing there sort of secured his doubts about whether Victoria would be alone or not.

Picking up some soup along the way he drove over to the apartment. At the third ring of the doorbell he was beginning to wonder if Victoria would start ignoring him but the door opened a few seconds later. She didn't look one bit surprised or excited to see him or if she did then she didn't quite show it.

"I brought you some lunch in case you were hungry," he explained holding up a bag for her to see.

She glanced at the bag then gave him a small smile before allowing him in. For some reason the usual cheery vibe he always felt from her had disappeared. Actually, he hadn't seen her cheery self for a while now and he couldn't help but wonder that during the time he'd been there, why hadn't he ever noticed anything else that was going on with her? Had he really been so lost in his own fascination that he didn't care for her at all?

"Are you feeling better?" he asked. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked. It's only been a day or so since you've left the hospital."

"I'm fine, really." she assured walking into the kitchen.

He watched her grab two bowls and set them down on the table then took the bag from him pouring the soup into the bowls.

"Did you just buy it?" she asked. "It's still really warm."

"Yes," he replied looking around to find a cookbook open on the counter. "Have you been looking through that? It still looks pretty new, did you just buy it?"

Victoria seemed to stop at what she was doing and just stared at the table. "It was a gift."

"From Ok Taecyeon?" Donghae wondered.

Victoria set the soup container down and went to search for two spoons. "Did you eat already?"

Donghae watched her wondering if she was feeling uncomfortable. In the end he decided to dismiss it. After a quick lunch they watched some shows on the TV. It was surprising, yet, interesting at the same time that during that whole hour they were together Victoria didn't really speak to him at all. If he asked a question she'd reply with a short answer that ended the conversation right away. Why was that?

Running things over in his mind he realized that he knew nothing about her at all. Her name was Victoria Song, she was 26 years old, and she'd been missing for the past 14 years. And the only personal fact he knew, the only thing she'd ever told him herself, was that she'd been locked up in a cell - the most terrifying experience she'd had. Other than those few things he knew nothing else.