[C h a p t e r 3 8]

Krystal had just emerged from the shower, drying her hair with a blow-dryer when she heard the faint sound of knocking at the door. Switching the blow-dryer off, she turned to glance at the door, wondering who it could be. Putting on her satin dressing gown, she went over to the door and opened it.

Luhan stood leaning against the doorway, his hand poised ready to knock once more. When he saw Krystal standing before him he stood up straight, abruptly averting his eyes elsewhere when he realised she was in her nightgown. Krystal pulled her dressing gown tighter around her when she suspected that he must be having impure thoughts about her.

“Is this… a bad time for you, Krystal?” he asked quietly, still keeping his eyes averted. He felt his cheeks redden when he suddenly had an image of her reclining seductively on the bed behind her, slowly taking off the satin dressing gown she was wearing. “Perhaps it’s a bad time for me.” He abruptly the spot and was about to march off.

“Wait,” said Krystal as she took a step out of her room. Luhan stopped walking, refusing to turn around and face her. “If you have something to say, then say it.” She glared at his back, her earlier indignation at having him forcefully kiss and threaten her returning.

Slowly, Luhan turned back around. “I… I just… wanted to… apologise for this morning. I… I didn’t mean… to break my promise with you. Sorry.” He continued to stare at the ground, not feeling game enough to meet her gaze.

Krystal stood there, stunned into silence. This was the last thing she had ever expected him to do and she was touched. But she wasn’t going to let him off that easily. “Is that all you wanted to say to me?” she asked quietly, crossing her arms over her chest.

He chanced a glance up at Krystal, heaving a sigh of frustration at the angry look she still wore on her face. He had already put his pride out of the way just to apologise to her. But she was still upset at him. He had to admit that the feeling of guilt over what he had done to her in this morning had bothered him all day, the memory of that kiss lingering on the back of his mind as an unforgiving reminder. It was the first time he had ever felt so uncomfortable for doing something like that and he didn’t enjoy the feeling one bit.

“What else should I say, Krystal?” he asked tiredly. He just wanted to get this embarrassing moment over with.

Krystal took a step towards him, looking him up and down, the hint of a smile barely visible on her face. She was enjoying how agitated she was making him but decided maybe he had suffered long enough. “How about… asking me how my meeting with my noona went?”

Luhan peered up at her, surprised at the sudden change in topic. He then noticed her trying to hide the smile on her face and smiled. “You’re cruel, Krystal…” he said, taking a step towards her. He stood before her, reaching out a hand to cup her face. “You’ve already forgiven me for this morning, haven’t you?”

Krystal smiled back up at him briefly, slapping his hand away as she frowned. “I may have forgiven you for this morning’s blunder but that does not mean I have decided to become more than your ‘sister’.” She the spot and began returning towards her room.

“How did your meeting with your Noona go?” he suddenly asked, not wanting Krystal to return to her room so soon.

She paused before her door. “It was good. But she did ask me to pass this one message on to you.” She turned around to face him, a dangerous smile on her face. “If anything ever happens to me, she will see to it that the culprit will suffer far more than I did. Good night, Luhan.” With a slight nod of her head, she opened the door and disappeared back into her room.

A small smile curved Luhan’s lips as he remained standing in the same spot, staring at her door. “I’m sure she would.”

“Stop fidgeting so much already, Lay. You’re attracting the attention of the other patrons,” whispered Sehun over the table as Lay sent him a glare.

“If you hadn’t forced me to wear this cursed Tuxedo then you wouldn’t have to be worrying about me fidgeting so much!” he whispered fiercely back, glancing around him , Snapping his head back at Sehun angrily, he said quietly, “And why’d you have to bring to such an expensive restaurant?”

Sehun chuckled quietly, taking a sip of champagne. He was enjoying the little tease he was putting him through. But it was all worth it, if he could only see him look handsome for this night.

He studied him now as he glanced around at his surroundings, truly uncomfortable. Maybe he was being a little too cruel with him, taking him out of her comfort zone so suddenly like this. But he had to admit, he had not felt so excited to be having dinner with another man in a very long time.

Lay turned back to stare at Sehun, frowning slightly when he noticed him smiling at him strangely. “What are you smiling at?” he ask,

Sehun, snapped out of his little reverie, softly put his glass back down. “Nothing in particular… Just reminsce how we first met...''

He then stared deep into his eyes, his own eyes softening. “You really do look handsome tonight.”

A blush crept onto Lay’s cheeks as he averted his eyes.  Growing uncomfortable under Sehun’s gaze, he was saved from having to say anything as their food arrived. The waiter gently placed his plate , before placing Sehun’s before him. He then bowed, leaving the two to begin their meal.

Lay leaned forward to study his plate, wondering what it was. As they were at an Italian restaurant, he had had no idea what to order so he had let Sehun order for him. Sehun, noticing how lost he was, decided to explain to him what his dish was.

“That is chicken fettuccine alfredo. Basically, it’s a type of pasta dish that is very common.”

“I know what fettuccine is,” he retort, picking up his fork to twirl a little of the pasta around it. In a quieter voice, he mumbled, “I’ve just never eaten it before.”

Sehun just smiled as he began to eat his meal. They dined together in silence, with Lay trying to hide how much he was enjoying his pasta. After they had finished, they sat back, allowing the waiter to clear their table.

“Did you enjoy that meal, Lay?” asked Sehun, sipping from his champagne glass as he turned to peer at the small orchestra located in a far corner.

Lay turned to peer at the same orchestra, glancing at Sehun out of the corner of his eye. “It was okay,” he said simply, turning his eyes back onto the musicians. Truth was he had loved the meal.

Sehun grinned. “Then I’ll take that to mean you are satisfied with it all.” He paused, listening to the music for a while before saying, “I’m glad I managed to help you relax tonight.”

Lay’s eyes suddenly fell from the orchestra as he peered down at his glass. Sehun noticed this and turned to peer at him, waiting for him to speak. Finally, after a few minutes, Lay spoke. “I feel so tired, Sehun. Henry… my partner… is keeping secrets about the ‘Dawn’ case from me. He’s never been this way before in our other cases. But… with this case… it’s been so difficult. Even after we managed to finally find some witnesses to one of the murders, they turned up no more useful pieces of information besides the assassin’s gender and the necklace she wore.” he paused, turning the champagne flute around in his fingers. “I feel so useless, now that Henry seems to want to work alone.”

The way he looked so forlorn seemed to fill Sehun with pity and he suddenly waved the waiter over. “You shouldn’t stress too much over things you cannot solve, Lay. If your partner is keeping secrets from you, then either wait for him to reveal it himself or find out what they are yourself. I’m sure it’s not beyond your abilities.” He told the waiter to bring the bill before returning to look at Lay. “Let me take you somewhere else now, Lay.”

Lay peered back at him, confused. “Where?” he asked as the waiter returned with the bill.

“Somewhere just as interesting as you are,” Sehun replied mysteriously as he pulled out his credit card to pay the bill.

Kris pulled the car up to a stop outside a small townhouse in the outskirts of gyeongbok, abruptly removing the key from the ignition and stepping out. Amber continued to stare out her window at the townhouse, refusing to step out of the car. Rolling his eyes in frustration, Kris came to open her door.

“What’s the point of staying in the car, Amber, when you’re finally here to visit the boy?” Seeing that Amber was still refusing to move, he went to undo her seatbelt and dragged her out of the car, which she stumbled out of reluctantly. A small smile crept onto Kris’s face as he smiled, shaking his head. “Who’d have thought you’d be so nervous to see the kid?”

“I am not nervous – I think it is foolish and dangerous to bring me to Jinwoo,” snapped Amber, her gaze averted elsewhere.

He grinned in return before turning around to walk up to the metal gate, banging on it loudly. “Ommoni; it’s me, Kris!” he shouted.

After a few minutes, a short middle aged woman appeared to slightly open the gate, peering past the narrow opening to affirm that it was indeed her nephew knocking on the door. With a big smile, she threw the gate wide open and embraced Kris in a big hug. “Kris! So you finally decided to pay your old omoni a visit!” squealed the old lady in delight.

Kris fought against the older woman’s embrace, pushing her away in embarrassment as he peered over at Amber. The small mocking smile on her face didn’t escape his notice. “oh! I only just came to visit you last week. And how many times do I have to tell you not to hug me like that!” he whined after he had turned back to face his aunt. “I’ve brought someone over to visit  Jinwoo.”

Amber bowed in greeting when Kris’s aunt turned in her direction, noticing her presence for the first time that night. “Good evening, Aunty.”

“ommoni, this is Amber, a friend of mine. Amber, this is my Aunt, seowoo,” introduced Kris.

Seowoo smiled warmly at Amber as she took several steps forward to peer closely at her face. “My… you are far prettier than what both my nephew and  Jinwoo have described you as being.” Amber stared back in surprise before turning to glare at Kris angrily. Kris shrugged in return with a small smile, slipping into the house. seowoo suddenly came to stand behind Amber and began steering her by the shoulders into the house. “Well, it’s no use loitering outside in the dark here, Amber. Why don’t we go in? I’m sure  Jinwoo would be really glad to see you again. He has been complaining that his heroic sister must have forgotten about him since you saved him.”

Amber peered back over her shoulder in surprise at the old aunt, her warm words catching her off-guard. She turned to look at the front door of the house when Jinwoo suddenly appeared, grinning widely from ear to ear. He was about to rush forward to greet Amber when he remembered how fearsome she was and began to act calm and reserved.

“Good evening, Amber noona. I never thought that you would come to visit me, seeing how busy you always seem to be according to what Kris tells us,” he said, trying to hide the note of excitement in his voice.

A warm smile spread across Amber’s face as she went to kneel before the boy. “I see you’re doing fine here, Jinwoo,” she said kindly, patting the boy on the head. Leaning in close to his ear, she whispered. “And don’t listen to Kris too much. Tell me; what has he been saying about me behind my back?”

Jinwoo grinned back at Amber, glancing at Seowoo as she walked past them and into the house. “He says a lot of things to his aunt. I overheard him the last time he came over telling his aunt how worried he was about you taking a holiday in jeju. Did something happen over there?” he asked, peering worriedly into Amber’s face.

Amber glanced over Jinwoo’s shoulders into the open doorway behind where she saw Kris being fussed over by ommoni. A small smile lit her face as she then peered at the ground. “That idiot…” she mumbled. Looking back up at Jinwoo, she ruffled his hair once more. “Nothing happened at Jeju Do. Kris was just being stupid.” She stood up and shoved his head playfully out of the way as she walked inside. “Come on, we’re gonna freeze to death if we hang out here any longer.”

As Amber made her way into the house, Seowoo found her and began ushering her towards the kitchen where she saw Kris sitting at a table enjoying a bowl of noodles. “Take a seat, Amber dear. I’ve made quite a bit of ramen today so just sit tightly until I fix you a bowl, dear.”

Amber was about to refuse but the old lady had already busily begun preparing the bowl. Kris looked up from behind his bowl, slurping up the long strands of noodles noisily. “She’s always like this. When I bring someone over she’ll immediately begin fussing over the person.” He turned to peer at his aunt with a warm look in his eyes.

“Is she the one who brought you up after your parents died?” asked Amber quietly.

Kris turned back to peer at her before focusing on eating the rest of his ramen. “Yeah…” He returned to slurping noisily and Amber was about to ask more when Seowoo came to place a bowl before her.

“Here you go, Amber. A steaming hot bowl of ramen for you,” she said kindly.

Amber bowed her head in thanks. “Sorry to trouble you, ahjumma.”

Seowoo waved her hand to brush off the apology. “Nonsense, Amber. And just refer to me as ommoni like Kris does. After hearing the way my nephew talks about you, it’s the least I can do for his girl.” Kris literally choked on his noodles, spraying a little of the soup. Seowoo went to grab some tissues and handed them over to Kris.

“Ommoni! How can you say something like that? Amber is not my – my – She’s just a co-worker of mine!” sighed Kris as he wiped his mouth.

Seowo smiled in a knowing way, nodding her head slyly. “Right… I’ll play along with your game, Kris.” Turning to peer back at Amber, she gave the younger girl a wink which Amber responded to blankly. “You know, he always likes to complain to me about how rash you can be sometimes in the middle of a mission or how withdrawn you seem to be from everything. And now I think I know why he does.”

“Ommoni!” shouted Kris in embarrassment. But Amber wasn’t paying any attention to his reaction.

“You know what I do?” she asked in a quiet, deadly tone. Her eyes narrowed slightly and the change in Amber’s mood seemed to unnerve Seowoo a little. Kris glanced at Amber, slightly worried.

Jinwoo suddenly appeared at the door to the kitchen. “Of course we do, Amber Noona. Kris told us you help him bodyguard the leader of your gang. I didn’t really believe it at first but then I remembered the way you fought that night and realised it must be true. It’s such a cool job!”

Amber turned to peer at Kris, staring angrily into his eyes. He turned away, drinking water out of his cup. Jinwoo suddenly came to hold something out before Amber, looking down at the ground nervously. “This is a picture I drew a couple days ago. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get the chance to give it to you, but… well, here you are.”

Amber took the picture from Jinwoo, peering down at it carefully. It was a very realistic drawing of a cockatoo, drawn in pencil. She glanced back up at Jinwoo in surprise.

“Don’t… don’t you like it, Amber? Aunt seowoo told me that Kris had told her about you liking cockatoos,” said Jinwoo, feeling sad that Amber didn’t seem to like his picture.

Quickly throwing an angry glance over at Kris, Amber then turned to peer at Jinwoo with a smile. “It’s a great drawing, Jinwoo. I love it.” She suddenly pulled the boy in for a hug. “Thank you.”

Jinwoo seemed surprised that Amber was hugging him but nevertheless returned her hug. She then drew away from him, turning to look back at the picture. “I never knew you could draw so well. It looks so real.”

Jinwoo peered at the floor in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head shyly. “It’s… it’s always been a small talent of mine.” He then peered up at the roof, his eyes glowing slightly. “If… if I have the chance… I would like to study art. I want to be an artist.”

Amber smiled, suddenly feeling a little depressed. Jinwoo already had a new goal in his life, a brighter future than before. She then found herself wondering what she would have done if fate had not sent her down this road. Reaching out a hand, she patted the boy on the head. “You’ll definitely become a great artist, Jinwoo. And I will help you in anyway I can.”

Jinwoo smiled back up at Amber before bowing deeply. “You really are a kind person, Amber Noona.”

“… Perhaps,” whispered Amber quietly as she pulled Jinwoo in for another hug, peering back down at the drawing in her hand.

Tbc.

Hmm... I am taking forever to reach Amber and Henry's confrontation, aren't I? But don't worry - it'll be in the next chapter. Kris's affection for Amber does appear quite ambiguious at times, but you can just say he worries deeply for Amber. Jinwoo will probably not appear again in this story, so yeah...

Next Chapter: The end of Sehun-Lay's date and Amber finally goes to meet Henry.

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