[C h a p t e r 3 4]

- Present Day -

Henry Lau sat up breathing heavily in bed, a cold sweat plastering his hair and clothes to his face and body. He turned to glance at his clock, which said that it was just past 3 am. Calming down his breathing, Henry ran a hand through his hair with a shuddering sigh. It had been years since he’d last dreamt of Josephine’s death. He figured it must have been triggered by seeing the necklace again unexpectedly. Throwing back the covers, he made his way outside and into the kitchen.

He the light and proceeded to fill himself a glass of water, swallowing it down thirstily as he went to sit at the kitchen table. Once the glass was empty, he then held it before his face, studying it closely as he thought back over what he had found out the other day:

Josephine’s necklace had reappeared.

Dawn was wearing Josephine’s necklace.

Dawn was female.

Dawn could be Josephine.

Josephine would then be alive.

That last thought circled through his head, the possibility of it being true seeming absurd. He had clearly seen that Josephine was dead. She wasn’t breathing when she was wheeled past him in the hospital. They even buried her and occasionally, Henry would go to visit her grave in the cemetery. How was it possible then, that Josephine could return from the dead? It just couldn’t be.

Henry placed the glass back down onto the table roughly, moving to rub his face as he let out a frustrated sigh. Just when he thought the case was going to get simpler, it had suddenly become even more complicated than before. He stood up and left the kitchen, heading over to his office.

He went to sit down behind his desk, turning on his laptop as he turned to peer at Dino who had been startled awake by his sudden entrance. “Hey there, boy… didn’t mean to wake you up in the middle of the night. Go back to sleep,” he said quietly as he then turned to watch his laptop load.

After several minutes, Henry was finally able to click on Josephine’s profile which he had long since saved to his desktop. Her fourteen year old face peered back at him and he could feel that familiar ache in his heart that he had every time he saw her face. He then scrolled through her details, scanning over the words. He had never bothered to read too much into her profile before, only ever having the heart to glance over it briefly. He took this chance to do just that now.

His finger paused in the middle of scrolling his mouse when he saw Josephine’s birth date and he frowned. Normally, the date was etched into the back of his mind but it seemed to have slipped his mind over the past few months, ever since he had become engrossed in the Dawn case. Feeling guilty that he had forgotten the date, he then scrolled further down away from it to try and chase the feeling away. Yet he couldn’t chase the nagging feeling that there was something wrong with the date. Scrolling back up, he read Josephine’s profile from the top.

Name:  Josephine Liu

Date of Birth: 18 September 1992

Date of Death: 25 August 2003

Nationality: Taiwanese

Occupation: Student

Henry’s eyes flicked back up to Josephine’s birthday. Something about that date just wasn’t right. It was as if he had seen it somewhere else… Henry suddenly gripped his mouse tightly as he suddenly remembered. It couldn’t be… could it?

He hurriedly went to click on Amber’s profile and it promptly opened up on his screen, her stern face looking back at him. As he peered at the picture, he had to admit that the similarities in their appearances were uncannily similar. He also noticed now that they both had the same surname. Turning his attention back to what he had originally intended to look at, he spotted Amber’s birth date and his breath caught in his chest.

They were the same.

Jessica pounded on the door to her mother’s apartment furiously early in the morning, continuously beating it without a stop. After several minutes, her mother finally came to open the door, yawning widely as she scratched her head tiredly.

“What do you want?” she snapped without even looking up at her daughter.

“I’m wondering where my dongseng has disappeared off to. She hasn’t come to visit me for a couple of days now,” she said, frowning at her mother. She had never liked coming to visit the woman, even though she had grown to accept the fact that she was her mother. Jessica often wondered how Krystal had managed to live with her all this time.

Her mother peered up confusedly at Jessica and her eyes flew wide when she recognised her. “Is… that you, Jessica?”

Jessica rolled her eyes, crossing his arms over her chest. “You don’t even remember your own daughter anymore?”

Her mother frowned at her daughter’s retort. “Of course I do!” She then moved to close the door as she retreated back inside. “But it seems like you don’t even remember your own mother!”

Jessica placed a hand out to stop her from closing the door. “Who wants to remember a mother who gambles and tries to sell her daughter into ion?”

At Jessica’s last statement, her mother froze on the spot. Jessica frowned in suspicion at her mother’s strange reaction. “What is it, omma?” Then the colour drained from her face. “You didn’t, OMMa! Where’s she gone? Tell me!” she shouted.

Her mother cowered slightly under her frightful daughter’s anger. She should have known that she would eventually come looking for her sister. Peering back up at her daughter nervously, she began patting her arm with a small uncertain smile. “Jessica… sweetie… Krystal has, er… gone on a… little ‘business trip’. Yeah, a business trip!” she laughed nervously.

Jessica nodded her head sceptically as she looked away, not believing what her mother was saying. She then suddenly slammed the door and glared down at her. “You sold her, didn’t you, omma? You sold her to that bastard of a loan shark, didn’t you? How could you, Ma?”

Her mother cringed slightly at the strength of Jessica’s anger. She never knew her youngest child could be so fearsome. Suddenly, she broke down into tears. “I’m sorry, Jessica! There was nothing I could do! Do you even know how much I owed them? KRW$700,000! How in the world could I ever afford to pay them back? And they even came threatening to kill me unless I handed Krystal over to them in exchange. So of course I had no choice but to sell her! Krystal also agreed to it and she went with him willingly.”

“You’re lying,” snapped Jessica as she glared at her mother. Yet what she had said seemed to make sense but she refused to believe it.

Her mother then shrugged. “Suit yourself. But that’s the truth.” She smiled up at her nervously once more before proceeding to close the door only to be stopped again by her daughter.

“Then tell me; where does this loan shark live?”

“Like I would tell you and bring the man’s wrath on me,” snapped her mother, trying to forcefully close the door but to no avail.

Jessica put her weight into the door, reaching into her backpack to pull out her wallet and remove two KRW$1000 bills. “Will this be enough for you to tell me?”

His mother’s eyes grew wide as she saw the bills and she immediately snatched them from her daughter’s hand. “Alright, seeing as you’re being nice to your omma for once, I’ll tell you. Just let me go grab his business card.” She disappeared back into the house only to return a few minutes later with the card. “Here. Now go and find your sister.”

Jessica walked off, no longer paying any attention to her mother. Her eyes glued to the business card, he read out loud the name written on it. “Luhan, CEO of Hans Distributions. Didn’t think some business man would be a loan shark for gamblers,” She mumbled. She then looked back up, her eyes hardening. “Don’t worry, dongseang; I’m coming to save you.”

Krystal peered out past her bedroom door at the empty corridor before her. It was her third day living in Luhan’s house and she had to say that it wasn’t as bad as she had originally thought it would be. True to his word, Luhan treated her as his sister and had given her her own room next to his. She felt nervous every night knowing that he was sleeping in the room next door, but when she woke up in the mornings he wouldn’t be found anywhere in the house. She came to realise that he was in fact a really busy man despite how laid back he always appeared to be at his bar. This morning however, Krystal was determined to at least get a glance of the man.

Quietly, Krystal crept out of her room and made her way over to Luhan’s, leaning her ear against the door. She frowned sightly as she didn’t hear anything and stood up straight, her hands on her hips. Maybe he had already left? She suddenly spun around on the spot as she heard the faint sound of laughter emanating from the study at the other end of the corridor. Silently, she made her way quickly over to the room and leant in to listen at the door.

“That old bastard’s pet finally messed up horribly, did it?” laughed Luhan menacingly from behind his desk.

“Yes, Master ,” replied a man’s voice respectfully. “Apparently one of her team members did not know that the security cameras in the mansion were on two different circuits and she was detected a little earlier than was perhaps planned. She also left alive two witnesses, the wife and daughter of her target. The kid also managed to steal her necklace.”

“Really?” Luhan’s voice seemed surprised at this piece of info. “Why would Dawn be so careless as to leave two witnesses and allow them to steal something of hers?” He then let out another round of laughter. “Perhaps she has grown weak! What do you think, Jay?”

“Perhaps so, Master ,” agreed Jay solemnly. “Dawn has always been known to never spare anyone, never to leave a clue behind.”

Silence stretched out between the two as Luhan’s laughter eventually died down. Finally, after a few minutes, Luhan spoke. “Yes… Dawn has never left a single clue behind as to who her true identity is. No one even knew her gender till yesterday. It has been six years since she first appeared and not once has she left Lee Soo Mans side, if those rumours about her being raised by Lee Soo Man are to be believed – and I do believe them. There were even those seeking her out, trying to persuade her to join their gangs but she never appeared before them. If that isn’t loyalty, then I don’t know what is.” There was another pause before Luhan said in an awed voice, “Lee Soo Man’s most loyal servant! I think I have an idea of who Dawn may be now.”

“You don’t mean to say…?” asked Jay, not wanting to finish his sentence.

“That’s exactly right, Jay. Dawn has been under everyone’s noses all this time. She is definitely his most loyal servant, to be working for him day and night.” He let out a small sigh. “What a shame such a pretty woman is an assassin.”

“What do you intend to do with this information, Master ?” asked Jay after a minute.

Luhan paused before answering. “Nothing for now. We shall sit back and watch how the old bastard will manage to get the heat off his favourite weapon. I might enjoy seeing him struggle for a bit.”

The room went quiet once more and Krystal strained her ear to see if she could hear anymore. Suddenly, the door opened and Krystal fell forward into a tall man who glared back down at her disapprovingly. Luhan suddenly stood up from his position behind the desk, a small look of surprise on his face.

“Krystal… How long have you been standing there?” he asked, frowning slightly.

Krystal hurriedly pushed her self off the man, whom she realised must be Jay. She cringed slightly as she saw the accusing way Luhan was staring at her and she realised that he already suspected at how much she had heard. “Er… for a while?” she said, shrugging slightly.

Luhan frowned even more as he strolled over to grab her by the arm. “Then come with me. Don’t you know it’s rude to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations?”

Krystal tried to pry his fingers from her arm but it was to no avail. “I know it’s rude but I wanted to know what you were up to! I haven’t seen you since you brought me to this house!”

Luhan suddenly stopped pulling Krystal along, turning to peer suspiciously into her eyes. Krystal felt nervous under his scrutinising gaze, averting her eyes elsewhere. But out of the corner of her eye she noticed his lips curve up into a smile.

“Do you miss me, my dear Krystal?” he asked as he suddenly backed her against the wall, her hair softly.

Krystal blushed as she tried to move away from his ever-nearing face. “Who-who said anything about missing you! I-I only said t-that I haven’t seen you for a while!”

Luhan chuckled quietly. “Isn’t that the same as missing me?”

“No!” she shouted as she tried to shove him away unsuccessfully. “You said you wouldn’t do anything to me without my permission and I never gave you the permission to hold me against the wall like this!”

Suddenly, Luhan cupped Krystal’s face and turned it towards his, bringing his lips to meet hers. Krystal pounded against his chest furiously, trying to shove him off but he wouldn’t budge. Eventually, she gave up pounding against him and let him finish kissing her.

After several more minutes, Luhan finally removed his lips from Krystal’s and he peered down at her with a strange, deadly look, her hair carefully. “Let that be a warning to you, Krystal my younger sister. Do not ever into my affairs again if you value your life.”

With that he turned and walked off, leaving Krystal still standing with her back against the wall. Her hand slowly went to her lips as she then turned to glare in the direction he had walked off. “You swore never to touch me until I was willing,” she snapped, before turning to storm back to her room. A small chill ran down her back as she thought back over the threat he had just made and the conversation she had overheard. Just what was Luhan involved in?

Tbc.

Well, thought it was probably time to post an update, lol. Anywhoo, wondering why there was such a stupid mistake in Amber's profile? A little hint: it was intentional. And now Luhan is back in the game with little Krystal eavesdropping. Still wondering what Jessica and Krystal have to do with the whole story? That's still a while away but should be coming up soon... ^^

Next Chapter: What will Henry do, now that he realises Josephine's birthday is the same as Amber's?