[C h a p t e r 1 9]

Amber woke up early that morning, meditating quietly in the garden to her villa while the morning sun finally made its way over the mountains. As the warm rays touched her face, she slowly opened her eyes, taking in the peaceful sight around her. She hadn’t felt a peace like this for some time now and it was a sort of refreshing feeling. But at times she felt her memories overwhelm her and it was at those times when Amber would call Kris out for a match.

She stood up slowly, beginning her ritual of early morning exercises. Once she felt that her body had loosened up nicely, she returned to her room, freshening up before changing into a new set of clothes. She stepped out of the house, running into Kris as she made her way towards the restaurant for the morning’s breakfast buffet.

“Morning, Amber,” greeted Kris as he fell into step behind Amber. Amber remained silent.

They finally arrived at the restaurant, a rather large wooden building that was built at the edge of a cliff, looking out into the valley below. Amber and Kris went to sit at their usual table, situated in a quiet corner away from all the other guests.

“Do you want the same as usual, Amber?” asked Kris as he got ready to head over to the buffet table.

Amber nodded without looking as she stared out the window at the mountains. Kris let out a small sigh as he headed over to the buffet table. Amber had spoken even less than usual lately since they arrived at the resort. He wondered whether it had anything to do with running into that person from her past several days ago, especially since they shared so many memories with one another in this very district.

The mountains seemed to surround them, looking like a barrier yet also appearing as if they could go on forever. Amber’s eyes wandered over the forests covering the slopes, her eyes coming to rest on a familiar land mark. She had already paid a visit to her old orphanage and wandered through the streets like she had once done all those years ago. But there was one more thing she hadn’t done and that was the one thing she wanted to do most. Perhaps she would get around to it later today.

Kris finally arrived, carrying with him one plate full of bacon, ham, scrambled eggs, several pieces of toast and some butter, and a bowl filled with congee garnished with grilled fish and spring onions. He then walked off to return with a cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice.

As they proceeded to eat their breakfast in silence, a somewhat rowdy group suddenly entered, growing quiet as they realised how loud they were. Amber watched them take a seat at a table a small distance away through the reflection in the window. For some reason, she found the group somewhat familiar.

“Too bad Henry Hyung didn’t want to come out with us. He doesn’t know what he’s missing out on!” said one of the twins, whom Amber finally recognised as Changyeol.

“Ah, who cares about Hyung? He said so himself that he didn’t feel like eating breakfast here. Do you think maybe he’s sick?” asked the other twin, Baekhyun.

“Oppa’s not sick, you two. Stop spouting nonsense and go get your breakfast,” snapped Seohyun, who Amber faintly remembered as Henry’s sister.

Amber placed down her spoon, having eaten only half her bowl as she began to drink her orange juice. Kris peered up at Amber, taking a bite out of his piece of toast.

“Leaving already, Amber?” he asked through his full mouth.

Amber stood up, her chair sliding back noisily on the wooden floor. “Don’t bother me today, Kris.”

Kris watched as Amber walked out of the restaurant, chewing absently on his piece of toast. He then peered over at the table where the twins, Donghae and Seohyun sat, noticing that Donghae was staring at Amber as she walked by. Dropping his piece of toast, he turned away and picked up his coffee, starring out the window with an expressionless face.

Lay stood at the corner of the stage, scanning the crowd as he kept a hand on his earpiece, listening to the reports from his fellow police officers and Oh’s bodyguards. He stifled the urge to yawn widely, completely bored by the task. This wasn’t what he had put up with all the years in the police academy for. Yet here he was, stuck as a lookout all because of that arrogant jerk.

He glanced towards where he was seated on the stage, watching his father give one of his trademark election speeches. His face wore a plastic smile, but one could tell from his eyes that he was completely bored. As Sehun turned Lay’s way, their eyes connected and Sehun’s smile turned into a little grin. Lay looked away, feeling both flustered and annoyed.

The speech soon came to an end and everyone in the party stood, waving as the crowd cheered. Lay and all the bodyguards then moved into position, following the leaders of the party closely as they made their way off the stage and into the crowd, greeting their supporters with big smiles. The crowd seemed quite eager to get close to the politicians and at one point someone fell forward onto Lay, pushing him into Sehun. Sehun held onto Lay tightly, helping him back.

“Thanks,” said Lay curtly as he proceeded to adjust his suit, smoothing out the creases while he avoided Sehun’s gaze.

Sehun smiled humorously. “Feel free to fall against me whenever you want; I’ll always be there to support you.”

Lay glared back up at Sehun before snapping his gaze away angrily. ‘What is up with this jerk? And why does he keep saying all these weird things?’ thought Lay. He decided to turn all his attention to the task at hand, ignoring the slight quickening of his heart.

As both father and son were preparing to leave the event, an egg suddenly flew from over the crowd, landing fair and square into the side of Sehun’s face. Lay turned to the crowd to scan for the perpetrator, yelling orders into his earpiece at the others. They finally found the man and they swiftly apprehended him.

“We all know you’re not as clean as you claim to be,! To hell with all your promises! How do you even expect to keep half of them? Don’t listen to their lies!” shouted the man as he was dragged forcefully from the venue.

Lay turned to glance at Sehun, who had his eyes downcast as strings of raw egg dangled from his chin. Feeling a little sorry for him, he reached into his jacket, pulling out a kerchief, assuring that everything was all right and not to pay any attention to the extremist. Sehun noticed the kerchief, glancing up at Lay with a blank look before a small smile broke on his face.

“Thanks,” he said quietly as he took the kerchief from him.

Lay smiled slightly as he watched him wipe himself clean. “No worries,” he replied as they proceeded to leave the place.

Krystal slowly stirred awake, kicking her sheets back as she began to grow hot in her stuffy room. She raised a hand to her face, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she sat up on her matter. Her room was tiny, barely big enough to fit a single bed and a closet into it. At one stage she had had a fan in there but had to relinquish it to a pawn shop nearly a year ago.

Glancing up at the clock on her wall, she saw that it was just past 2 PM. It was earlier than she was used to waking up but because it was such a hot afternoon, Krystal found she could not get back to sleep. Yawning slightly, she stepped out of bed and opened her door, coming to a stop as she stared at the small group sitting on the floor of her lounge room.

The group suddenly burst into a string of cheers and curses, mostly the latter. One lady jumped up and down on the spot in her seat on the mat as she held up several cards. “Hah! I won! Now pay up everyone!” she laughed as the others grumbled while they dug in their pockets. Among those who had lost sat Krystal’s mother.

“Yeah, yeah, quit your boasting. I just got a nice payout this morning so it’s not over yet,” said Krystal’s mother as she grudgingly handed over several bills to the woman who had won.

Krystal had been about to walk over to the fridge when she heard what her mother had just said. “What was that, Ma?” she asked, in a quiet angry voice.

Everyone in the group turned around at the sound of her voice and Krystal’s mother smiled brightly. She stood up, hopping over to hug her daughter as she kissed her on her cheeks. Krystal just stared back at her mother with a shocked puzzled expression.

“Oh, Krystal dear; you’re awake early today! Now hurry and get ready to go to work early, okay, darling?” said her mother sweetly as she began to shove her back into her room.

Krystal stuck out her hands, barring herself from entering her room. “What are you up to, omma? Something’s not right here.” Her mother suddenly released her hold on Krystal, taking a nervous step back. Krystal turned around to face her mother, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. “Where did you get the money, omma?”

Her mother let out a nervous laugh, waving her hands in the air. “Oh, that… Don’t worry about that, Krystal dear. Just go get ready for work and you’ll soon find out. You don’t want to make your boss angry, now do you?”

“My… boss?” repeated Krystal as her mother finally managed to shove her into her room. Then she realised where that money must have come from. “No… it can’t be!”

= Flashback =

“Tell me more about yourself, Krystal. I’m really curious to know why a girl like you is working in a place like this,” said Luhan, staring at her with those mesmerising eyes of his as he sipped a glass of brandy while he leaned back in his chair.

Krystal averted her eyes, reminding herself that Luhan was a womaniser and if she wanted his help, she had to play her cards properly. However, the way he stared at her seemed to awaken a part of her self that had died quite a long time ago. Quietly, she began her tale.

“My mother has a gambling problem, which was the main reason for my parent’s divorce. As my father has cut all ties with her, she has no one left to depend on but me.”

“And so all responsibility for her debts fall to you, her only source of money,” finished Luhan as he drained the last of his glass. A waiter appeared by his side, refilling the glass.

Krystal nodded. “My younger brother helps out where he can but he is still studying and I don’t want him to lose more time from his studies to work.” She looked up, glancing at her surroundings with a bitter smile. “This job has not a bad payout, and we aren’t forced to do things we don’t really want to. But it’s still not enough. Mother has amassed a really large debt this time round and I think working as just a plain bargirl won’t be enough to cover it.”

Luhan continued to study Krystal, and she felt his eyes travel the length of her body. She felt her skin prickle slightly under his intense gaze and she saw the corner of his mouth curve in a small mocking smile. He placed his glass on the table, leaning forward on his knees.

“You’re pretty smart, acting all innocent yet suggesting such a thing.” He traced a finger on the rim of his glass, smiling crookedly. “I’m the one your mother owes money to, am I correct?” Luhan glanced up at Krystal, smiling in a knowing manner.

Krystal turned to stare at Luhan, a mild look of shock on her face. Luhan let out a small laugh as he moved to sit next to Krystal, placing an arm around her shoulders. Krystal shrugged off his arm, moving away from him a little as she glared at him indignantly. Again, Luhan chuckled.

“You don’t have to play hard to get, Krystal; I come across girls like you all the time. They all have a sad story of their own, pretty much the same as yours. But in the end, there is no ‘mother’ that is in dire need of money; all they really want is to sell their bodies to me for some petty cash for themselves.” He leaned in close to Krystal, studying her as he reached out to caress her cheeks. “But I haven’t had a girl as pretty as you come to see me before. How about it, Krystal? Let’s go find somewhere quieter so we can spend some quality time together and then I can give your ‘mother’ the nice reward.”

Krystal suddenly slapped him across the face. Luhan remained motionless, his hand slowly rising to feel his bruised check. Krystal stood up, glaring down at him.

“My mother really is in debt. How dare you suggest that I want to sell myself just to satisfy my own greed? I wouldn’t even be doing this job if it wasn’t because of my mother! Do you think this was the kind of life I wanted? Of course not.” Krystal glared down at Luhan, who stared back at her blankly. “At first I was thinking of selling myself to help my mother but now I realise that it was just a stupid idea. Thank you very much for your time, Mr Luhan and do not worry; I will find a way to repay you.”

As she said the last sentence, Krystal the spot and stormed out of the bar. All the while, she felt his eyes burn into her back and she couldn’t help but wonder whether she had overreacted a little. She then threw her doubts aside. There was no point regretting what had been done.

= End Flashback =

“Why would he?” whispered Krystal as she leaned against the door, sliding to the floor with a confused look on her face. “He can’t of… What is he playing at? He should have fired me for that!” After the way she had treated him last night, could Luhan have still cleared her mother’s debt? Why?

tbc.

Now, there are three words that can sum up this chapter: breakfast, egg and flashback  Ah, I'm being lame here. I hope Krystal's reason for slapping Luhan makes sense. I kinda get the feeling that her reaction is kind of awkward seeing as he was suggesting the very thing she was planning anyway. Oh well...

Next chapter: The one most of you have probably been waiting for, the Henry meeting amber...in the mountain ^^

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