Chapter 15.

Can I have a medium sized blueberry sundae, a strawberry ice-cream single cone and an iced coffee, thanks?” asked a rather large lady with two kids pulling on her arms trying to gain her attention.

Jessica smiled up at the lady as she typed the order into the cash register. “So that’s one medium blueberry sundae, one strawberry single cone and one iced coffee? That all comes to KRW$420, ma’am.”

The woman scolded one of her children as she reached into her handbag for her wallet and handed over the cash. Jessica took the money and then handed over a small metal stand with the number 42 on it. “Please take this and take a seat, ma’am. Your order will be taken over to your table soon.” The woman took the sign as she nodded and took her noisy children over to sit at a table by the window. Jessica then set about getting the order ready.

“Boy, those kids sure are noisy,” complained Eunhyuk as he sidled over to Jessica’s side. “I’ll never get used to that noise.”

Jessica let out a small laugh. “You’ve been working here longer than I have, Eunhyuk. You should be used to it by now.”

“Perhaps, but not everyone is as easy-going as you are, Jessica. And besides,” he said with a small smile as he turned to peer at a table in a secluded corner. “You’re the only one with a frequent customer. And what a babe she is, too.”

Jessica followed his gaze to where a small woman sat, gazing out the window of the ice-cream parlour with a distant look on her face. Her long, brown dyed hair was tied up in a ponytail at the top of her head, her face heavily caked with makeup. She was dressed rather skimpily, a white tight-fitting strapless top and short shorts, the straps of her white heels criss-crossing half-way up to her knees. She wore little jewellery, only a pair of large silver hoop earrings and a plain silver bangle on her right arm.

Eunhyuk began poking Jessica in the arm. “Do you think you could introduce us later?”

Jessica turned to give Eunhyuk a nudge in the ribs. “That’s my Dongsaeng you’re talking about. Donghae some respect.”

“I know! I know!” laughed Eunhyuk as he held his hands up. “No one is allowed to touch your precious Dongsaeng!”

Jessica lifted his arm as if to throw the ice-cream scoop at Eunhyuk’s head. Eunhyuk raised his arms in defence as he laughed out loud before running off to serve the new customer waiting at the counter. Shaking his head with a smile, Jessica returned to finishing off the order as he glanced over to his sister, Krystal.She let out a sigh as she saw her sad face. Since their parents’ divorce she had never been the same, always keeping to herself and staying out late, which eventually led to her taking up a job as a hostess at a bar. Even her appearance had undergone a drastic change and Jessica often wondered why their mother never said anything to her, for Krystal lived with their mother whilst Jessica lived with their father. However, their father wasn’t so happy over the matter and he never relinquished the chance to criticise his daughter, often resulting in a nasty argument.

The order was done and Jessica picked up the tray, walking out from behind the counter to carry it all the way over to the customer’s table, the children now somewhat settled in their seats. As she turned to walk back towards the counter, he glanced once more over at Krystal and decided to make her way over to her. She could tell something was troubling her once again.

“Hey. What’s up?” asked Jessica casually as she took the seat opposite.

Krystal turned to face her Sister, a faint smile on her lips. “Nothing much… just wanted to come see my Sister.”

Jessica eyed her sister suspiciously. “Right…” She said, not believing her.

The smile on Krystal’s lips widened slightly. “Nothing escapes your notice, I see.” She turned away, looking back out the window with a tired look. “Mother’s in debt again.”

“Again?” exclaimed Jessica as she rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair. “How many times is she going to do this? Doesn’t she know by now that no matter how much you gamble, it’s never going to pay out? And she’s only got us to rely on when she’s in trouble after Dad severed all ties with her. Geez…”

The pair sat in silence for a while, Jessica fuming slightly in her seat as Krystal continued to stare out the window forlornly. Krystal soon broke the silence. “Apparently, the owner of the casino is also the owner of the bar I work at,” she said quietly.

Jessica gazed at her , a puzzled expression on her face. “What’s that got to do with Mum’s debt?”

“I don’t know…” Krystal then turned to look down into her lap, staring at her hands. “I’ve never seen him before but I’ve heard rumours. They say he’s a powerful man, a womaniser. Maybe if I can speak with him-”

“No!” shouted Jessica as she slammed her fist on the table. “There is no way I will let my you trade herself with some despicable man just to clear Mum’s debt. No matter how much it is, I’m sure that we’ll be able to pay it off eventually.”

Krystal gave a twisted smile as she looked up at jessica. “Do you even know how much it is this time, Jessica? KRW$700,000. There’s no way we’d be able to pay that off in the space of two months. No way at all…”

Jessica stared back at his sister in disbelief. “KRW$700,000? How could she…? And in two months? That loan shark is just what he is: a shark.”

Silence once again ensued between the two before Jessica finally stood up. “Don’t do anything rash, . I’ll figure out a way to find the money.” She then walked off, her brow creased in thought as she tried to come up with a way out of this new predicament. Krystal watched her sister, regretting that she had come to relieve her stress on her. She still have a long way to go, only in her sophomore year of university yet she worked every spare moment of her time just so she could help her in their mission to alleviate their mother’s constantly occurring debts. Krystal let out a tired sigh as she turned away. She wasn’t going to let her sister do all the work.

Henry continued to stare at his laptop screen as he absently fed the cockatoo that was sitting on his desk. The cockatoo constantly hopped around as it tried to follow Henry’s hand which drifted around, never feeding the bird in the same spot. Getting frustrated, the bird suddenly let out a loud squawk, startling Henry as it fluttered to land on his laptop.

“Dino! What are you doing? Get off! Get off!” Henry picked up the bird, placing him back in his original spot. “Now you stay put unless you want to return to your cage.”

Dino cocked his head to one side, eyeing Henry for a few seconds before he turned away in boredom. Henry shook his head with a smile before returning to his laptop. He had taken the bird into his care after the original owner had passed away. Thinking of Josephine, the smile on his face slowly disappeared as he remembered the day he saw her die…

Henry shook his head, snapping himself away from that train of thought. Going down that direction would only open old wounds, wounds that had taken a long time to heal. He sighed, minimising all the windows on his screen before clicking on a link which opened a new window. Selina’s picture stared back at him, her profile written beside and below it.

Name: Amber Liu

Date of Birth: 18 September 1992

Nationality: LOS Angelas /California

Occupation: Secretary to Lee Soo Man, chairman of Lee Corporations /Sm Town.

Her profile then continued on to detail her education, family background and regular activities. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the profile, yet Henry couldn’t shake the feeling that there was. He clicked the close button and then moved his mouse to hover over the link to another profile: Josephine’s. He stared at the link for some time, pondering whether he should click on it. As he was about to, a knock suddenly sounded at the door to his study.

“Come in,” said Henry as he proceeded to call up all the other windows that were minimised. Data and photos related to the ‘Dawn’ case were now displayed on his screen.

Donghae and the twins entered, Seohyun following in behind them with a tray of afternoon snacks. Henry peered over at the tray with a small frown. “Be sure to keep those brownies and chips away from Dino. Those things don’t sit well with a bird’s stomach.”

Baekhyun smiled as he picked up a piece, gobbling it down eagerly. “Don’t be such a worry wort, Henry Hyung. You treat that bird too well in my opinion.”

As if Dino understood what Baekhyun had said, he flew over to him where he began swooping at his face. “Idiot! Idiot!” he cried as his wings flapped wildly.

“Argh! Get it off me, Hyung!” shouted Baekhyun as he raised his arms to defend himself from Dino’s attacks.

Henry smiled before he stood, remembering his first meeting with Dino. “Dino, come here,” he commanded, holding his arm out. The bird responded and came to land on his arm.

“Jeez, Hyung! Why do you keep such a beast? It’s never taken kindly to anyone but you!” complained Baekhyun as he glared at the bird.

Henry smiled sadly as he turned around to the bird cage behind him, placing Dino onto his perch.

“Well, maybe if you hadn’t said anything, Dino might not have attacked you,” suggested Donghae as he tried to hold back his laughter. “Chanyeol, Seohyun and I didn’t say a word and we seem to be safe.”

“But you have to agree that the thing attacks everyone but Hyung, right?” snapped Baekhyun back.

They all fell silent and turned to look at Henry, who was busying himself with filling Dino’s plate with bird seed. He felt their stares on his back and let out a sigh as he turned around to look at them. “You guys know already that Dino can’t help it. He doesn’t trust humans that easily after all the abuse he went through from his first owner. I was just lucky as I had someone help me…” His voice trailed off and they all knew why.

Seohyun was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. “Anyway; this isn’t why we decided to barge in on you, Oppa.” She then turned to look at Donghae, indicating that he should continue.

Donghae smiled shyly before turning to look at Henry. “Er, yeah… The twins and I finally have a break from our studies and Chanyeol here just won a trip to Heavenly Hot Springs Resort in Jeju Do. We thought we’d invite you along to relax seeing as Seohyun told us you’ve been stressing over your latest case so much.”

Henry peered at his friends, thinking it over. “It would be nice to go with you guys but you never know when the killer will strike once more.” He took his seat up behind his desk, turning back to his laptop. “I think I’ll stay here.”

Seohyun frowned, making her way over to Henry’s desk and shutting the screen of his laptop. “I’m worried for you, Oppa. You’ve been locking yourself up in this room whenever you get home for the past month. I want you to take a break for once and forget about this case just for a couple of days. Go with them, alright, Oppa?”

She peered into his eyes, pleading with him silently. Henry stared back, finally conceding. “Alright,” he said with a sigh. “I’ll go. If it’ll make you feel better then I’ll go.”

Seohyun smiled brightly as she stood up straight, clapping her hands together. “Great! Then you can go pack your bags this instant. We’ll be leaving in half an hour.” She walked around the desk and proceeded to pull Henry out of his seat.

Henry stared back at her stunned. “Now?” he asked, confused.

The twins stood up and came to push their friend out of the room. “That’s right, Hyung! We hired a van to drive there with and we’re all ready to leave now. So let’s get going!”

Seohyun released Henry, smiling as she watched the twins drag him away. Donghae stood up, walking over to stand by her side. “You’re… coming too, right Seohyun?” he asked with a shy smile.

She turned to look at Donghae, rolling her eyes. “Of course I’m going, Donghae. I wouldn’t miss this trip with you guys for the world! It’ll be the first time in nearly five years since we all went anywhere together.” She smiled at him brightly before stepping out the room and Donghae watched her leave, his heart swelling slightly with happiness.

tbc.

it looks like Henry is going on a trip to the same place as Amber. What will happened there?

Next Chapter: Ten years and two months ago, when everything was still a little peaceful...