'Golden Mary'

Part 23

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Siwon rose early in the morning with a light heart and a bright smile. Before turning in for work he stopped by a pharmacy and purchased some ointment, pain killers, and more bandages. Returning to his car on the street he turned on the radio and immediately started humming to that morning's music.

He pondered over the thought of whether he should call first or not. At last he decided it'd be nice if he surprised her. Siwon really wanted to see that happy, grateful smile light up her face the moment she saw him. Just the thought of him made him somewhat more excited.

Parking on the empty street that morning he cheerily started toward the apartment building and up the stairs. Siwon randomly greeted an old couple leaving their apartment and quickened his pace. Once in front of the apartment door he recognized he paused to clear his throat and looked over his outfit just in case it was dirty. Finally satisfied with himself he cleared his throat once more before raising his hand up stiffly to knock on the door. A wave of nervousness was suddenly overcoming him.

It'd been a long while since he dated. All women currently in his life were mere acquaintances and he had a feeling that he didn't want Seohyun to be another boring acquaintance. He was also positive that his parents would like her the moment they saw her. Siwon, though, wanted to wait for the perfect timing in order to talk to her about his feelings. Surely, his feelings had been cloudy from the start but he was becoming more and more confident that he wouldn't brood over Victoria. Whether he had backed off because of Donghae or because of himself, Siwon was sure he wouldn't be able to find the answer just then.

The door opened and Siwon readied himself to speak, but all else in him ceased to function the way he'd wanted them to when Victoria stared back at him. A small ounce of unexplainable guilt flushed through him when he saw a flare of expectation in her eyes.

"Hi," she greeted with a warm smile.

"Oh...hi." he awkwardly nodded.

"Do you want to come in?" she wondered.

"No," he impulsively refused the kind offer startling her. "I...just came to give Seohyun this."

Victoria stared down at the bag he urged toward her."

"She got hurt on our trip yesterday," Siwon told.

"Sure," Victoria reluctantly replied taking the bag from him, "I'll give it to her."

Siwon glanced toward the brown door uncertain if he should say anything else. Whether he should ask if she was doing fine, if she'd been busy lately. However, nothing else trailed out from his mouth. It felt unkind and unjust of him to ask her when he didn't come for her, but Seohyun.

The slight drift of romantic tension and ambiguity he's experienced with her slightly wavered between them. He realized he couldn't stand still and let emotions run free when he was already confident of his feelings. Betraying his own words would make him seem like a coward if he decided to sway from Seohyun. Not to mention he was already rooting for Donghae.

Siwon smiled, "I'll be off now. Tell Seohyun I hope she gets better."

Victoria nodded quietly before he turned around and headed back down.

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Unable to force herself to close the door she watched Siwon's back disappear before turning around. Quietly closing the door behind her and walking pass the sleeping Luhan in the living room she glanced into the bag to see bandages, pain killers, and a bottle of ointment. Without asking she suddenly realized who Seohyun had been with yesterday while she was busy running with Luhan. Whether she felt a bit of disappointment and sadness Victoria didn't feel like dwelling on it. She wanted as much focus as she could on getting the 'Golden Mary'.