Chapter 02
Zero GravityHenry looked out from his seat in the VIP booth at the party goers who were dancing like there's no tomorrow on the dance floor when someone dropped their arm over his shoulder, nearly spilling the drink in his hand.
"Who drinks water when they're at a club?" Siwon sneered and pluck the glass out of his grip, setting it on the table before shoving Henry out of his seat, jabbing in the direction of the dance floor. "There are lots of hot girls out there. Get up and dance."
"That's why I don't drink alcohol," Henry muttered, watching his drunk friend make out with the stranger sitting on his lap. He turned to leave but a hand wrapped around his wrist, holding him back and he looked to its owner.
"Let's dance," the woman said with a wink and tugged him deeper into the crowd. Henry let her set his hands on her waist and studied her face under the flashing lights, failing to comprehend how people can just go up to strangers and get intimate with them like how the woman's lips was now ghosting his jaw. "Don't be shy."
Henry didn't respond and as if she had to prove something, she leaned into him and pressed her lips over his, her hands sliding further down his back to hold him flush against her.
"Why don't I get something for us?" Henry untangled himself from her and headed towards the bar before she could answer him. He walked around the bar towards the back exit, the taste of alcohol from the woman's kiss lingered on his lips and he wiped it away on the back of his hand. "That's why I don't drink alcohol."
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"I'm dead if I lost her," he mumbled, looking around the dark alley. Just as he was about to turn into the next lane, a swift kick at his legs from behind sent him crashing onto the wet ground, his arm was bent in an awkward angle.
"You're dead if you don't tell me why you've been following me." Amber pressed her knee into his back and twisted his arm higher above his shoulder when he refused to answer.
"Stop it!" he screamed. "I'll tell you." He felt her grip loosened as his mind raced for an excuse.
"I'm a talent scout and I'd like to-" He stopped mid-sentence when Amber fired a shot near his head.
"I wasn't kidding about you being dead." She tapped the tip of the gun on his temple. "Answer me or I'll fire a bullet through your head."
She looked behind at the sound of shuffling feet, and shoved the stalker aside to get behind a wall, blinking back her surprise when the man shot the stalker.
"Useless trash." He nudged the dead man aside with his foot and staggered back at the force of a bullet hitting his left chest, but Amber couldnt't react fast enough when he extracted a knife, slashing her left arm. "I'm not stupid to not wear a vest when facing you, am I?" He kicked her gun away and pushed her up against the wall, his thick fingers closing around her neck "You killed my father."
Her airways constricted at his tightening grip and shoved against him in alarm at the prick on her arm. "But I didn't have the evidence to convict you. I've already told my father many times that Matsuka isn't s law-abiding business counterpart, yet he still continued to form business alliances with him."
Amber gasped for air, her vision clouding as her senses began to fail her, crumpling to the ground when the grip on her released and her eyes fluttered close at a blurred figure peering down at her.
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"What a friend Siwon is," Henry mumbled, shoving his hand into his pocket. "Left me alone while he went off chasing girls." He flinched at the echo of a gun going off and stared in the direction of the sound, making his way through the dimly lit alley and came across a man attacking a boy.
Henry looked around for an object to function as a defense and a weapon and his eyes lay on the gun on the ground behind the man, approaching quietly to pick it up before sliding his leg under the man, effectively tripping him to release his grip on the choking boy.
The man stumbled to his feet and brandished another syringe, his attention now on Henry and noted the gun aimed at him. "Hey boy, do you even know how to use a gun?"
Some animal knocked over a garbage can and the man's attention wavered, creating a distraction that Henry needed and he seized the moment to snatch the syringe and jabbed it into the man's chest, releasing its content and not long after the man stopped struggling against him.
Henry returned to the boy and found him out cold. I should probably bring him home, Henry picked him up and stepped around the unconscious man, this place isn't safe.
Back at Henry's home he laid the boy down on the bed in the extra room and went to his own room to change, taking a clean set of clothes and safety kit on his way out. He came back from the bathroom with a basin of water and a towel and proceeded to rid the boy of his jacket to clean his bloodied arm.
Henry froze at the sight of the boy's chest as he was changing him into clean clothes, finally realising that the 'boy' was, in fact, a woman. He looked away, dressing her clumsily in a shirt that was too big for her and placed the shorts on the bedside table. Why didn't I realise she was a woman, Henry knocked the side of his head, and you thought she was a malnourished boy when you carried her.
~~
Her tired arms pushed herself up from the bed and Amber looked around the bare room, some of its furnitures were still under white covers, and it was definitely not her own room as she jogged through her memories."I was followed, the man gave me a shot then I felt sleepy," she recounted and threw the covers up, swinging her feet to touch the ground. "He didn't bring me back to his house, obviously, since he was ready to kill me."
She the material on her bandaged arm and noted the change of shirt and reached for the shorts set aside for her and changed out of her dirty jeans. Someone else must have helped me. She took another look around the room and nothing gave away the owner.
The door opened to a crack and she peered out, figuring that it was safe before allowing herself to wander into the living room when she heard cussing from the kitchen and found a man clutching his finger as blood dripped from it.
"Let me help you," she offered, startling the man with a jump and a look over his shoulder before he found the source of the voice. She ignored his staring, his mouth hung slightly open as he watched her come up to him, and took his finger, applying pressure to cease the bleeding then rinsing away the blood.
"Done." Amber secured the plaster over the wound and gave it a little pat.
"Thank you."
"I should thank you. You helped me."
A faint blush crept onto his cheeks and quickly extended his hand to her in an attempt to shift the focus away from his cheeks. "I'm Henry," he cleared his throat. "Please to meet you."
"I'm Amber." She released his hand with a curt shake and noted the messy kitchen she was standing in. "What are you doing in here?"
"I tried making dinner and failed," he admitted sheepishly. "I hope you don't mind ramen."
"Anything's fine." Amber took a seat and Henry brought over two steaming bowls of ramen and settled down in front of her.
"You know, I thought you were a boy at first," he said.
Everyone says that, Amber shrugged and focused on her food. "And I only found out when I saw your chest."
She choked, "You w-what?!"
"I didn't see anything more when I changed your shirt," Henry defended when she eyed him suspiciously and added, "I swear!"
She sighed, "Whatever." Amber slurped till there was no soup left and set down the bowl.
"That was fast."
She took the box of tissues from him took it and messily wiped , letting out a burp in the process. "Excuse me," she mumbled.
"Did you know the man that attacked you?"
"No. He followed me."
Henry gathered their dishes and set them in the sink. "Things like this happen. When it happens again, never go to an isolated place. You should go to a crowded place or a police station..."
He sounds like Victoria unni. Her eyes rolled to the ceiling, 'yes, mom' at the tip of her lips but bit back her tongue and answered him with occasional hmms and yeahs to appear invested in the conversation.
Amber saw her gun on the living room table and reached for it. "The man even carried a gun. Seriously, the society these days." She heard him from the kitchen and set it back down. I can't let him know it's mine.
~~
"You can drop me off here." Amber pointed at the bus stand where a car parked idle.
Henry wanted to send her home personally since it was late and the streets were almost empty at this hour, unsafe for a woman to return home, let alone what just happened.
"I can take care of myself," Amber refused.
"No." Henry got into his car and started the engine, patiently waiting for her to get in. "Look what happened to you in the alley."
"Fine, I'll get someone to fetch me," Amber finally agreed when he refused to listen to her.
"Thank you for your help." She bowed and shut the car door before he could reply. You're welcome.
"Who was that?" Victoria asked the moment she entered the car and paused, taking in her attire. "Those are not your clothes."
"Umma, that was the person who helped me." Amber rolled her eyes. "And this is his clothes."
"What happened to yours?" she asked, shifting gears.
"My clothes are in the paper bag," Amber rattled the bag on her lap. "It got dirty when the man attacked me."
Victoria nodded. "Who was the man?"
"He said I killed his father and he was a business partner of Matsuka's. Probably one of the men Matsuka executed."
"Krystal said you had your gun with you," Victoria accelerated down the highway. "That's the only reason I didn't come after you but looks like I should have."
"My gun isn't with me now." She explained the situation to Victoria and sighed. "I can't take the gun back or else he'll ask a whole lot of questions. Sooner or later, I'll have it back."
Victoria laughed at the loud grumble from the passenger seat. "Let's have something to eat before going home. What do you want?"
"Ddeokbukgi! Jajangmyun!"
Victoria pouted. "You eat like a pig yet you're as thin as a stick. That's not fair. I have to work to keep this figure."
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