[C h a p t e r 1 3]

- Ten Years and Four Months Ago -

“So… Josephine is still sneaking out, huh?” asked Henry in an off-handed manner as he looked up from the cards in his hand at his friends. They all exchanged a small knowing smile with one another before looking at him.

“What?” he snapped, a little annoyed that they were looking at him as if they sympathised with his predicament.

“Nothing in particular…” said Chanyeol as he returned to look at his cards. “I just wouldn’t call it ‘sneaking out’ anymore. It’s more like, ‘walking out’. No one bothers to try and stop her anymore.”

“But why?” asked Henry, surprised. “The Sisters have never let any bad behaviour go unnoticed before. They have to be the strictest people I’ve ever come across.”

baekhyun shrugged his shoulders as he put down his card on the middle pile. “I guess Josephine’s the exception. She seems to be in an okay mood lately and it’s a little nicer here when she isn’t around.”

Donghae nodded his agreement. “baekhyun ’s right; you don’t know how gloomy it got when she always stayed in the orphanage. We couldn’t step into the library without shivers running down our backs; playing outside was uncomfortable with her staring out the window at us; and meals were always bland when we had to see at that depressed face all the time. I’m kind of glad she goes out of the orphanage.”

The twins nodded their agreement and Henry glared at them contemptuously. “Then you guys don’t understand her at all.”

baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Right… That’s probably because our parents were never touched by murder and yours were. Okay; now can we get back to our game ’?”

Henry angrily looked down at his cards as he placed the next one on the pile. They would never understand what it’s like to see someone die before their eyes. All the blood and the lifeless eyes… Only Josephine would understand. Although he had to admit that it was probably harder on her as she had seen her own mother kill someone before her eyes. She never talked about it to him but he knew that it must be so much more painful. Josephine gave off the appearance that she was strong and aloof but deep down he could tell that she was a frightened little girl who yearned for someone to comfort her.

Hands suddenly covered Henry’s eyes as he was about to pick another card from his hand. The fingers were warm and familiar to the touch, and he couldn’t help but smile a little. He heard a tiny stifled giggle as he tried to pry the hands away.

“I know it’s you, Seohyun. Do you want something?” he asked as Seohyun finally pulled her hands away with a big grin on her face.

She hopped around to sit on the floor next to Henry. “I was growing bored watching you guys play cards all day. Don’t you do anything more interesting around here?”

“Nope. This is about as interesting as it gets,” replied Henry as he finally placed his card on the pile.

Seohyun frowned. “Then why do you come here so often? Why don’t you invite them over to our house instead? We have plenty of room at home for all four of you. Then maybe we could play with the new Playstation our Dad got for us.”

“You have a Playstation? Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” shouted the twins as they stood up on their knees, messing up the game.

“That’s because I know you guys will mess up the place. Besides,” said Henry as he looked off elsewhere. “I… I want to…” He then looked back at his friends with a guilty expression. “I, er… can’t exactly invite my friends over so soon after being adopted , right?”

The twins peered at him with a suspicious glare. “You were about to say that you wanted to see Josephine, weren’t you?”

“I was not!” retorted Henry indignantly.

Seohyun peered up at Henry, a curious look on her face. “Who’s this Josephine you keep talking about, Oppa?”

Donghae was the one who answered for Henry, deciding to give his friend a little break. “Josephine is a girl who came to this orphanage around seven months ago. Henry was the only one who was able to stand her cold looks and silence and so he’s somewhat close to her. Her mother murdered her stepfather and then she was killed in prison, just before Josephine was transferred here.”

Seohyun looked down at the ground, her eyes full of sympathy. “What a sad story… I feel so sorry for her.” She then looked up at Henry with a smile. “No wonder you’re so worried about her, Oppa. You feel sorry for her too.” She suddenly threw her arms around Henry, hugging him. “Oppa is such a nice person!”

The twins glanced at one another trying to hold back their laughter. Chanyeol suddenly leapt into his brother’s arms, bringing him in for a hug. “Oppa is such a nice person!” he cried as they both hugged each other tightly.

“Shut up!” snapped Henry as he threw his shoe at the pair. They dodged it and continued to laugh as Donghae joined them. Seohyun blushed as she realised what she had done and immediately released Henry. Henry, meanwhile, was looking away with a small scowl on his face and he did not notice the way Seohyun looked up at him with admiration. But the look on her face did not go unnoticed by Donghae.

Henry stood posted outside the orphanage early the next morning, watching the front entrance carefully. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was only 7:35 AM. Although it was still early, Donghae had insisted that Josephine left the orphanage at around this time everyday. Sure enough, Josephine suddenly appeared at the entrance, closing the door carefully behind her as she made her way down the front steps. Henry quickly went to hide behind the trash can, peering out from behind to see her walk off in the opposite direction towards the mountains. He then began to tail her, careful not to let his presence be known.

He followed, wondering where she could be headed. After not being able to catch her at the orphanage since he had come back from Gangnam do three months ago, Henry had come to the decision that he was going to follow her and find out why she was always going out. That and also the fact that he just wanted to see her again. It surprised him how much he had missed their talks, even if it was only him talking.

The Gyeonggi Province Mountains loomed before them and Henry began to wonder why Josephine would be here. He continued to follow her closely and became even more surprised when he saw her disappear off the trail and into the forest. He ran up to the edge of the trees and watched her weave her way along an unseen path. Taking a deep breath, he followed her in, determined in his mission to find out what Josephine was up to.

The vegetation grew dense around them but Henry soon saw that there was a faint little path that wound through the trees, created by Josephine as she made her way along it everyday. Branches scraped his sleeveless arms as he had only worn a t-shirt. The leaves underfoot crunched loudly and Henry had to tread extra carefully so as not to alert Josephine to his presence. Before long, Henry spotted the edge of a clearing ahead and the outline of a building. He waited for Josephine to enter the clearing before he made his way over to the trunk of a large tree, crouching behind its wide base as peered around it.

A small hut stood in the middle of the clearing and Henry saw Josephine make her way up the steps and into the dwelling. She soon emerged with a cage, which she carried over to the edge of the porch and sat down with. His eyes then grew wide as he saw Josephine remove a handsome looking cockatoo from the cage, which hopped obediently onto her arm. A smile touched his lips as he watched her the bird’s yellow crest, a serene look on her face.

He began to grow uncomfortable crouching on the spot and so he shifted his weight a little, only to step on a twig with a loud snap. Josephine turned her head at the sound and the cockatoo suddenly let out a loud squawk as it flapped into the air, making its way over to where Henry was hiding. Realising that this was not a good sign, Henry stood up on the spot just as the bird began swooping at him. He raised his arms up to protect his face, stumbling out from his hiding spot.

“Ah! Stop it, bird! I don’t mean you any harm!” shouted Henry in a panicked voice as he tried to swat the bird away.

Josephine stared at him, feeling angry that Henry had managed to follow her all the way to her safe hideout. She let the bird continue to attack him as she took a couple steps forward, before calling him off. “Dino, come here.” Dino left Henry and flew back to land on Josephine’s shoulder.

Henry glared at the bird first, and then turned to glare at Josephine. “Why didn’t you call him off sooner? Any longer and I would have lost my pretty face for sure!”

Ambercontinued to glare at him, before turning away to return Dino to his cage. “Who gave you the right to follow me here, anyway?”

At that, Henry suddenly felt ashamed and he looked away. “I… er…” He struggled to come up with an excuse but found none. Sighing, he told her the truth. “I just missed you so I followed you, that’s all,” he said quietly.

Amberturned to look at Henry, somewhat surprised. He missed her? Why would he miss someone like her, who hardly ever said a word to him?

Henry peeked at her from the corner of his eyes, quickly looking away again as he saw her stare at him coldly. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so forward. He then began walking over to her side, kicking up the sand a little as he made his way over. “I haven’t seen you since I went to Gangnam do three months ago.” He suddenly reached into his pocket, pulling out a small necklace. “H-here… I got this for you there.” He shoved the gift towards her.

Amber eyed the thing warily, glancing between the necklace and Henry, who was still looking away. She then took it slowly, looking at it closely. It was a necklace, a silver stirling chain with a small heart pendant that seemed to be a combination of two hearts joined together. Amber couldn’t help but smile a little. It was the first time anyone besides her mother had given her a gift.

Seeing that Josephine had remained quiet for some time now, Henry chanced a glance. He felt his heart soar as he saw the little smile touch Josephine’s lips, a sincere happiness in her eyes. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen you smile, Josephine,” he grinned, taking a step closer.

Amber suddenly pulled herself together, the smile on her face disappearing as she returned to glare at Henry. “This still doesn’t mean that I forgive you for following me.” She turned around and picked up Dino’s cage, walking around Henry to proceed up the stairs. “When I come back out in five minutes, I hope I won’t see your face here anymore.” The door slammed shut behind her and Henry frowned.

“Who does she think she’s kidding? Like that kind of threat is going to make me walk off.” He turned to glance around at the clearing, taking it in properly for the first time. ‘It actually is quite nice up here,’ he thought with a smile.

Amber glanced out through the window of the hut, scowling a little as she saw that Henry was still standing outside. She turned away from the window, annoyed. Her only retreat was now found out. Amber was about to throw the necklace in her hand to the ground but she stopped herself in time. She loosened her hand a little to peer at the peculiar heart pendant, a small warm feeling in her heart. To think that he had gone out of his way to buy her such a thing…

She closed her fist around it once more, walking over to retrieve the silver tin she had brought with her from that night. Opening it, she placed the necklace within. Her eyes drifted over to the other objects in the box and her heart wrenched with sorrow. Among the objects was a small ceramic bird water whistle her mother had bought, a small teddy bear her mother had stitched for her when she was a baby and the one photo she had of her and her mother. Cash also sat in the box, the coins she had saved up over the years from not buying any snacks. She had not once touched the money, for it was the money which she had wanted to give her mother. Amber suddenly closed the lid. It was full of painful memories, but now she had one happy one to add to it. She stood up and walked over to the door, opening it.

Henry turned at the sound, glancing at his watch. “It hasn’t been five minutes yet, Josephine.”

Amber continued to glare at him. “You can stay but promise me one thing: never tell anyone about this place.” She waited for his answer, watching him intensely.

A huge grin erupted on Henry’s face as he bounded over to the hut. “I swear I’ll never tell a soul,” he replied, now climbing the stairs. As he was about to reach the door, Josephine closed it in his face.

“However, you can only stay on the porch. Inside the hut is off limits,” said Josephine from behind the door.

Henry let out a little laugh as he then turned his back to lean against the door. “Great,” he said as he slid to the ground. “And here I thought you’d invite me inside.” Henry then began to tell Josephine of his trip to Gangnam Do and everything else that he had wanted to say to her since they last met. Amber listened to him silently from the other side of the door, feeding Dino pieces of apple with a small smile.

Tbc

ANDDD the necklace I got the inspiration from Henry Trap mv.

Next Chapter: Back to the present. A meeting and a trip =).