[C h a p t e r 2 0]

Lay sat quietly in the back seat of one of Sehun’s black Mercedes, staring out the window as he thought back over the day’s events. Sehun himself was seated next to him, still in a quiet mood. Earlier, when they had reached the car park, sehun dad had faced his son with a frown, telling him in an aloof manner to go get cleaned up quickly while he went back to the office. Lay could remember the way he looked at Sehun, as if just seeing his own son’s face reminded him of that day’s shame. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for Sehun then and since they had entered the car, the trip had been spent in silence.

They pulled into the driveway of an upper class apartment complex, coming to a stop before the glass double doors of the building. Lay turned to glance at Sehun, who still sat motionless, the raw egg that remained on his head having gone dry and clumping his hair together. The concierge came to open his door and he proceeded to step out, leaving Lay to step out of the car by himself and hurry after him.

“Wait up, Sehun!” he shouted after him as he came to a stop before the elevator doors.

He continued to remain silent as they waited for the lift to arrive. After several minutes, the elevator doors slid open and Sehun stepped inside, holding the open button down while Lay stepped in after him. The rest of the police soon arrived and they all crammed into the tight space, Lay finding himself shoved even closer to Sehun. He peered up at him but he did not seem to take any notice.

They soon arrived on the twelfth floor and the doors slid open with a chime. Sehun was the first to step out of the elevator, strolling at a brisk pace all the way to his penthouse apartment. When they reached the door, Sehun paused with his hand on the door knob.

“I don’t think I need protection from anything within my own room. If you want, you guys can call it a day and head back home.” He then opened the door but was pulled to a stop when Lay grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him to face him.

“Do you expect to get rid of us that easily, Sehun? You were the one who asked us to be your guard for the day and the day isn’t over yet. You still have a charity dinner to go to later, don’t you? Even if I hate doing this job for you, my orders were to accompany you for the whole day. So don’t think you’ll get rid of us that easily.” He stared up at Sehun angrily, breathing a little heavily from his small outburst.

Sehun met his gaze then burst out into laughter. “You really are an interesting person, Detective.”

Lay stared back at him confused. “What do you mean by that?” he snapped.

Sehun just shook his head. “Never mind. If you still want to accompany me then I won’t stop you. You and your crew can go take a seat inside while I take a Donghaeer. I hate the way my hair feels with dry egg in it.” He shook his head with a smile, leaving Lay to stand in the doorway with a puzzled look on his face.

After twenty minutes, Sehun finally emerged from his bedroom with his hair damp, dressed in a new pair of black suit pants and a white shirt that was yet to be tucked in neatly. He carried folded over his left arm his jacket, as he made his way over to where Lay was standing, studying the shelf of trophies and photos that adorned one of his walls. The other officers of his contingent were spread throughout the room, idly monitoring their surroundings with bored expressions on their faces.

Sehun came to stand just behind Lay, who was now looking at a photo of his high school basketball team after they won the national championship. “That was close to ten years ago,” he said quietly, startling Lay out of his thoughts.

He turned to glance at him, before walking away from the wall. “Like I care.” he paused on his way to the door, spotting a basketball hidden under a wall table. Lay crouched down on the spot, pulling the ball out to juggle in his hands. “I guess you miss being a basketball player,” he said, attempting to spin the ball on his index finger but failing miserably.

A smile came onto Sehun’s face as he came to catch the falling ball. “Yeah, I miss it. But what choice do I have? As Senator son, it is my ‘duty’ to follow in his footsteps.” He then easily mounted the ball on his index finger, spinning and balancing it with ease. “It’s not like I exactly enjoy getting eggs thrown at me or people kissing up to me so they can get closer to my father. It gets really tiring after a while.” With a shove of his arm, Sehun threw the ball into the air, catching it with both his hands.

Lay peered at Sehun, as if seeing him for the first time. “So this isn’t the first time you’ve had eggs thrown at you?”

Sehun let out a laugh. “Well, actually, this is the first time I’ve had an egg thrown at me. I can’t exactly say that the experience has increased my interest in this job, though.”

Lay couldn’t help but laugh a little, finding his laughter infectious. Their eyes connected momentarily and their smiles were wiped off within a second as they averted their gaze, feeling somewhat nervous with their newfound attitude towards one another. Silence ensued between the two before Lay spoke.

“There’s still another two hours before the charity dinner. Do you think that will be long enough for a quick game?”

Sehun turned to peer at Lay, raising an eyebrow in surprise. “You know how to play?”

Lay turned to glare at him, his eyebrows knitted into a frown . “Are you trying to suggest that I, Detective Lay zhang yixing, don’t even know how to play basketball?” he snatched the ball from Sehun, taking it to dribble a little. “Then you really underestimate me,boy .”

A look of amused shock came onto Sehun’s face as he tried to suppress a huge grin. “Boy? Are you trying to challenge me here?” He made to grab the ball from Lay, stealing it with ease as he then bounded for the door. “Then let’s see how you really fair on the courts, Detective. Fifth floor,” he said before closing the door behind him.

Lay stared at the door, grinning widely before he turned to face the rest of his comrades. “Who wants to go Donghae that ‘prince’ his place?”

The other three smiled back at him nervously as Lay then turned back around. ‘…At least he isn’t so depressed anymore…’ was the last thought that entered her mind as he led the way out of the room.

The trek through the forest was still the same as ever, apart from the fact that the vegetation had become somewhat overgrown, hiding the trail Amber had once created with Henry. Thinking of Henry, Amber remembered back to the morning, after she had left the restaurant. She had never expected to see Donghae and the twins here at the resort, much less finding out that Henry had come with them. To make sure she had heard correctly, Amber had gone to the reception, finding out that he was indeed staying in the resort. She made her way over to his room, watching from a distance as he exited and made his way towards the public hot springs. Amber saw him enter the men’s pools, mixed feelings flowing through her mind. She wondered why fate was conspiring to bring him back into her life, after that same fate had forcefully taken her away from the small peace his presence had brought to her. Steeling herself, she had walked away, coming to the decision that she would leave that night, but not before she did one last thing.

The hut loomed before her and Amber parted the fronds of a large fern as she finally emerged into the familiar clearing. She peered at the sight through nostalgic eyes, taking in the weathered dwelling; wooden boards were falling out of place and patches could be seen in the grass thatched roof. Her gaze then travelled over to the aviary, horribly broken down as the bamboo posts were broken, the birds which had once occupied it long gone.

She slowly made her way over to the aviary, picking up one of the bamboo poles as she came to a stop before it. Amber slowly twirled the pole in her hands, smiling a little as she remembered how Henry had constantly forgotten pieces of equipment when they were building the structure. The pole began to twirl faster in her hands as her smile soon faded from her face. She suddenly spun around, throwing the pole into the ground behind her where it stuck, wobbling slightly on the spot. Amber watched the pole oscillate, the size of its swings steadily decreasing before it was so small, the pole appeared to have gone still. She walked over to it, giving it a lazy turning kick and knocking it to the ground.

A bitter laugh then emanated from , steadily growing louder as she felt her eyes grow warm. She fell to her knees, attempting to pull herself together. Being in Jeju Do was really taking its toll on Amber, constantly reminding her of the very things she missed in her miserable life. On the day Lee soo man had told her to take her holiday here at the resort, Amber had realised just what he meant by improving her discipline. This was all just a cruel test, a test to see whether she could face her past, to beat back her weaker self and become the soulless assassin Lee soo man wanted her to be. But Amber knew that it was only a matter of time before she would meet her end. Just like the pole had oscillated to a standstill, there will be a point when everything in her own life will come to a stop, only to be knocked down as she met her end.

The trees behind Amber rustled and she stiffened, paying close attention to the sound of footsteps crunching the sparse grass. However, she wasn’t prepared for the silent whisper that slipped from the mouth of the owner of the footsteps.

“Josephine…”

After his quick dip in the hot springs, Henry had wandered around the resort, glancing with little interest at the other tourists gathered there to enjoy one of the finest resorts in Jeju do. He had run into the others earlier and had refused their invitation to join them in a round of tennis, much to Seohyun’s disappointment. Instead, Henry had decided that he would leave the resort, heading off towards a familiar place close to his heart. But when he had arrived there, he wasn’t prepared for the ghost he saw.

“Josephine…” he whispered, the name slipping from his mouth as he stared at the back of the figure kneeling on the grass.

The figure turned around and that was when Henry had realised his mistake. Amber stood up, brushing the debris from her knees. “Detective Xianhua… I never thought I’d see you here, let alone this far from the trail.” She smiled up at him before turning to look at the hut. “But then again, I suppose it’s not unusual for people to wander from the trail if a hut like this has been built here.”

Henry continued to stare at Amber, wondering how he could have believed for a second that she was Josephine. He took several steps towards her, turning to look at the hut and he felt a pang of sorrow as he saw the poor state it was in. “It used to be in better shape,” he said quietly.

Amber turned to look at him, her eyebrows raised slightly in question. “You have been here before?”

Henry turned to look at Amber, before averting his eyes. “Yes… but it has been nearly ten years since I’ve set foot in this clearing.” He smiled sadly, looking at the ground. “I used to have a very close friend who often came to hide up here. She was always so… sad, but in the time we spent up here, I believe she was happy for once.”

Amber remained silent next to Henry, closing her eyes as she tried to steel her mind. It hurt so much to hear him talk like this. Opening her eyes, she said quietly, “You must miss her a lot.”

“Everyday.”

That one word threatened to weaken Amber’s resolve so much, that she found herself taking a subconscious step away from Henry. “I think I’d better head back towards the resort.” She turned to walk away but was pulled up short as Henry grabbed her arm.

“Wait,” he said quietly, wondering why he wasn’t willing to let Amber return.

She continued to have her face turned away from him and he had to turn her around to look at him. Their eyes connected and the pair found that they could not tear their gaze from the other. Henry finally found himself slowly nearing Amber, the distance between them growing ever smaller until he softly brought his lips to meet hers. Amber closed her eyes, throwing away all her earlier misgivings to the wind as she savoured Henry’s lips on hers. The pair continued to stay that way for nearly a minute, before Amber finally brought herself to break the kiss.

“I’m sorry,” apologised Henry as he took a step back. “I don’t know… what came over me.”

Amber didn’t reply back, instead turning on the spot to leave the clearing. Henry watched her disappear under the trees, mentally kicking himself. He truly had no idea what had possessed him to something that was so out of character for him. Turning around to stare at the hut with guilt, he felt as if he had just betrayed Josephine. He made his way over to sit on the porch, hanging his head in defeat with a sigh.

“Forgive me… Josephine…”

tbc.

Henry kissed Amber  Unfortunately, that'll be the only bit of henber interaction on this trip. The others are getting more limelight in this arc of events. Man... this story is going to be really long. I'm only getting started.