[Chapter 1 7]

- Present Day -

It took them the rest of the afternoon to drive to Jeju do, taking roughly three hours from when they finally left Henry and Seohyun’s house. Donghae volunteered to drive, which the twins agreed was a given for Donghae had been the one who rented the van. Seohyun sat in the front with Donghae as all the guys agreed that the lady should be given a seat at the front of the vehicle. The twins sat in the middle row, fighting over which  DVD to put on whilst Henry sat right at the back, staring out the window lost in thought. Seohyun constantly glanced at Henry’s distant expression through her vanity mirror, slightly worried. Donghae noticed her expression and he glanced up at the rear-view mirror, seeing the cause of her look.

“This place has too many memories for him,” he said quietly to Seohyun as he returned to concentrate on the road before him. “I don’t know if we did the right thing in dragging him along with us.”

Seohyun snapped her eyes away from Henry in the mirror, turning to stare out her window at the urban scenery. “He has to forget about her someday,” said Seohyun in a small voice.

Donghae let out a sigh, glancing once more at Henry in the mirror. “I don’t think he’ll ever forget. It’s already been ten years since that day but her shadow still hangs around him.”

Seohyun continued to stare out her window, absently chewing her bottom lip. “He will forget. He will.”

Taking his eyes off the road once more, Donghae glanced at Seohyun with a heavy heart. ‘Isn’t ten years more than enough for a normal person to get over a death?’ he thought defiantly.

Meanwhile, the subject of their conversation remained silent in the back seat, a mixture of feelings coursing through his mind. He hadn’t set foot in Jeju do for a couple of years now and as they entered the district, familiar sights rushed to meet and remind him of Josephine. But as thoughts of Josephine entered his mind, he was also reminded of Amber. Their conversation the other night at the party returned to him and he couldn’t help but realise how much Amber reminded him of Josephine. As he thought about it more, his brow creased in suspicion. Not only were their mannerisms similar, but Amber looked a lot like Josephine, much like how he imagined Josephine would look like now. But that was preposterous. He had seen Josephine die before his eyes. There was no way Amber could be Josephine. No way at all.

They drove past a familiar old building and the twins suddenly jumped to crouch behind the driver’s seat, tugging on Donghae’s sleeves. “Hyung, Donghae! That’s our old orphanage! Pull over for a sec!” exclaimed Chanyeol, & Baekhyun nodding his head vigorously.

Donghae glanced over at the building and let out a small smile. “Fine,” he said and they pulled into the driveway. The twins practically jumped out of the van when it came to a stop.

“We haven’t been here in ages!” said Chanyeol as he glanced around at the familiar grounds. “It still looks the same, huh, Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun nodded his head with a small nostalgic smile. “Yeah, the same… Hey, Chanyeol? Why don’t we go and see if Sister Emily is still around? I wonder how she’ll react when she sees us!” laughed Baekhyun before both the twins disappeared into the building.

“Hey, you two! Don’t go pestering the Sisters for too long! We have to get to the resort before it gets too late!” shouted Donghae after the twins as he stepped out of the car.

Seohyun stepped out of the van, turning around to see Henry still in his seat. “Aren’t you coming, Oppa?” she asked, even though she felt that she knew what his answer would be.

Henry shook his head, still staring out the window towards the distant mountain range. “No, I’ll be fine here. You go for a walk with Donghae, okay? ”

A small sad smile crept onto Seohyun’s face as she nodded her head. “If that’s what you want, Oppa.” She walked over to Donghae’s side, trying her best to hide her disappointment. “Oppa wants to stay in the car and he told us to go keep an eye on the twins.”

Donghae nodded in understanding and together they headed over into the orphanage in silence. A dull ache at the bottom of his heart refused to go away, and Donghae caught himself glancing at Seohyun every few seconds to see that a distracted look troubled her features, which only served to make the ache worse. They soon arrived outside the dining hall where they spotted the twins engaged in a round of arm wrestling with some of the older orphans, the onlookers cheering loudly at the current pair of competitors.

As they approached, Baekhyun’s hand was suddenly twisted back in defeat. “Hah! I beat ya, Baekhyun!” shouted the other boy in glee.

Baekhyun stood up from his spot, glaring at the boy. “Yeah, yeah, don’t get too excited over it. You just got lucky, kid.”

“What is all this commotion in here?” asked an authoritative woman’s voice from behind Donghae and Seohyun in the hall’s entrance.

Everyone glanced over to the owner of the voice and all the kids in the hall, including the twins, grimaced slightly. “Shoot, Sister Emily is here!” exclaimed one of the other orphans in a low voice.

Sister Emily made her way past Donghae and Seohyun, nodding politely with a small smile at them as she walked by. Her face resumed its stern disapproving look as she finally arrived next to the twins. “I should have known it would be you two, Chanyeol and Baekhyun. You two never seem to grow up, do you?” she sighed as she shook her head slightly.

The twins suddenly smiled brightly, rushing to stand either side of the elderly sister. “Oh, Sister; we miss you too,” said Chanyeol in a sweet voice.

Baekhyun nodded his head vigorously. “If you weren’t a Sister, we’d have already given you a nice warm hug!”

Sister Emily frowned slightly, a small smile curving the edge of as she stepped away from the twins. “You two are just as foolish as always. What brings you three and the young lady here?”

“Baekhyun here won a week’s stay at the Heavenly Hot Springs Resort in the mountains near here. We were driving by when we recognised our old home,” smiled Chanyeol.

“I see.” Her gaze then shifted over to Donghae. “And how have you been, Donghae? everything going along well?”

“Hey! Why didn’t you ask us how we’re doing?” pouted Baekhyun as he crossed his arms.

Sister Emily gave an absent shrug as she avoided their accusing stares. Donghae grinned as he shook his head. “I’m doing fine, Sister Emily. Another two years and I’ll be done with my degree once and for all. I really want to start practicing soon.”

“That’s nice to hear,” said Sister Emily. She then began glancing around the hall, as if searching for someone. “Is Henry not here with you?”

“No, he opted to stay in the van,” answered Donghae.

Sister Emily then gave a small understanding nod. “I see… It seems it takes a long time for old wounds to heal.” She then looked up, smiling warmly towards the four. “Well, please give him my kind regards and tell him that he will always be welcome here. Now, as for myself, I think I have spent enough time with you children conversing. There are other tasks I must attend to and you children had better keep the volume low if you wish to play in such a big hall. Your voices echo horribly in here.” She then shook her head and strolled out of the hall.

“Sister Emily was pretty lenient today,” commented Chanyeol as the four of them stepped out of the orphanage after going to see the other Sisters.

“Well, maybe it was because she was happy to see the three of you,” suggested Seohyun with a smile.

Chanyeol nodded his head as he pretended to be deep in thought. “Of course she was happy to see us; who wouldn’t be?”

Seohyun rolled her eyes then, shaking her head. “You two are just so full of yourselves.”

Baekhyun turned to look at Seohyun with a hurt expression on his face. “But I didn’t even say anything!”

They finally arrived at the van, spotting Henry still seated in the back seat but his eyes were now closed. Quietly, they entered the vehicle, continuing on with their conversation. “One of the kids told us that we weren’t the only ones to visit them today,” said Chanyeol as they slid the van door closed.

“Isn’t that normal?” asked Donghae as he started the engine.

“I guess, but the kid said the woman only stood at the gate, staring in. But when he tried to go and see what she wanted, she just stared at him blankly before walking off.”

“And you’re telling us this because…?” asked Baekhyun, waving his hand in the air for his twin to continue.

Chanyeol just shrugged. “I dunno, thought it might be interesting.”

Fifteen minutes later, the van pulled up into the gravel car park of the resort, small dust clouds stirring in their wake. Henry slowly opened his eyes as the vehicle came to a stop, stretching a little as he took in their surroundings. He hadn’t exactly been asleep since they left the orphanage, but instead remained in a half-awake state where he was aware of his surroundings yet also resting. The twins eagerly jumped out of the van, leaving Henry to slide the seat forward by himself, so that he could get out. Seohyun saw him and came to help.

“Here, Oppa; let me help you,” she said as she helped Henry slide the chair forward.

“Thanks,” smiled Henry as he finally stepped out of the van. He stood there, looking at the surrounding green vegetation with a small smile. “It’s actually not too bad up here.”

A grin spread across Seohyun’s face. “That’s a relief, Oppa. You didn’t really talk much on the way here and I was beginning to think that you didn’t want to come.”

Henry smiled down at his little sister, giving her a little pat on the head. “You worry too much, my Dongseang. The five of us haven’t been anywhere together for a long time; why would I throw away the chance to come along with you guys?”

Seohyun smiled back up at Henry shyly. Donghae, who had been busy removing the bags from the back of the van, watched the exchange with a heavy heart. As Donghae returned to his task with a small sigh, the twins suddenly appeared by his side, mischievous twinkles in their eyes.

“Feeling heartbroken again, are we Donghae?” asked Baekhyun with a knowing grin.

“Why don’t you just confess to her properly Hyung? After all, everyone knows how you feel about her,” added Chanyeol, nodding his head sagely.

Donghae shoved the twins their bags. “Until you two end up with steady girlfriends, don’t go meddling in other people’s love affairs,” he snapped as he closed the boot. He picked up the rest of the bags and headed over to the reception, Henry walking over to help him. The twins continued to grin after their friend as they followed behind.

The receptionist at the counter bowed slightly in greeting, smiling brightly. “Welcome, esteemed guests, to Heavenly Hot Springs Resort. Do you have a reservation or would you like to open a new room?”

Baekhyun strolled up to the front of the group, grinning widely as he pulled out a letter. “Well, actually, I’m the winner of that competition you recently held on the radio and I’m here to claim my prize.” He handed the letter over to the receptionist.

The woman took the letter, reading through it quickly before turning to type on her computer. “Ah yes… The four night group package prize. You should have contacted us earlier to confirm the room but luckily for you, it has not been booked for the next four nights. If you care to wait a moment while I type in your details…”

Baekhyun continued to wait by the counter, giving details whenever he was asked. Henry stood to the back of the group, glancing around him aimlessly. The resort seemed like a nice, classy vacation getaway, something he wouldn’t be able to afford very often. He felt bad that he didn’t invite Lay along, for he knew he could do with a break too. He hadn’t sounded too happy either over the phone when he told him he would be absent for the next few days.

The receptionist finally finished checking them in and she handed over the set of keys, one for each person staying in the room. They were told to leave their bags there in the lobby as a bell boy would then take their bags for them, before they made their way over to their rooms. Their feet echoed softly over the wooden boardwalk path as they made their way to their rooms in the Orchid Wing, passing through the majority of the resort’s facilities. As they neared their room, one particular sight caught their eyes.

A small distance away, two people were engaged in a sparring match, their movements controlled as they aimed only to practice rather than to severely injure the other. Several other people were watching them discreetly, and from where Henry and his friends were standing, it was too hard to see the faces of the combatants. The two continued to execute chains of movements that flowed together harmoniously, creating a breathtaking display of martial arts.

Chanyeol gave out a low whistle. “Now those two know how to fight. Man, I’d like to go down and watch them closely.”

“Same here,” said Baekhyun as he continued to watch in awe.

Henry was the first to tear his gaze away from the delicate fighters. “Are we going to our rooms yet or not? I want to start relaxing already, instead of gawking at some fight.”

The others began to shuffle away reluctantly, continuously glancing back at the spectacle in the distance. Henry shook his head with a smile as he watched them, also throwing a curious glance back at the pair. ‘Those two definitely know how to fight. They’re no amateurs; they’re professionals.’

tbc.

Ahh... this chapter seems a little boring but at least there was an insight into some of Henry's thoughts.