[C h a p t e r 4 2]

A month flew by with no news of any new victims dying at the hands of the assassin named Dawn. Some speculated that after the legendary assassin’s failure at the mansion, the assassin’s master had promptly removed the assassin from the game. Others said that the assassin was now only in hiding, waiting for the right moment in which she can resume her ugly business once more. But Henry knew better than these rumours his colleagues had been able to glean from the streets, and every time he heard them he could not help but feel a pang of guilt for the information that he was hiding.

The day after his midnight rendezvous with Amber, Lay had cornered him as soon as he had set one foot into the building, demanding to know the secret he had promised to tell him. Vaguely, he managed to brush him off, saying that it was another one of his fanciful delusions that he had finally managed to uncover Dawn’s real identity, only to be proven wrong in the end when he found no further confirmation of this hunch. And although he had made a show of displaying how disappointed he was with this outcome before Lay, he had not bought one bit of it. Yet, he decided to remain silent. Since then, Lay’s observant eyes had been constantly watching him, finding that he was now speaking even less than before with him and his other comrades. He also noticed that whenever they were discussing the Dawn case he would grow agitated, seeming distracted and never really paying attention to what they were saying. This all puzzled Lay to no end, and to this day he had yet to figure it out.

Each day had passed by slowly for Henry as he waited for a sign that Amber would be able to come and meet him. He even took to hovering outside of the  Financial Corporation’s building, managing only fleeting glimpses of the woman as he either entered or exited the car that always came to pick her and Lee Soo Man up. Amber had not been lying when she said that she was on probation and unable to leave Lee Soo Man’s side, which had been confirmed with one unpleasant meeting with the man he had once searched for and never found. Kris had managed to seek him out, handing him a letter Amber had written personally for him, but not before Henry had managed to plant a nasty bruise on his nose. The contents of the letter was nothing substantial, only saying how much she longed to meet him once more and detailing the time she would be able to see him for the second time in that month. And that second time was the last he had seen her.

Restlessly, he spun around on his chair in his office at home, throwing a paper plane he had made from one of the scraps of paper that littered his desk. Since coming to terms with Amber’s identity as Dawn, he no longer had the enthusiasm for his job as a detective for being a detective meant that he was on opposing sides with Amber, leaving him in a very uncomfortable position.

The spinning of his chair was suddenly stopped and he was met by the smiling faces of the twins standing in the doorway before him. “Yoo-hoo! Henry Hyung! Lost in space again, are we?” laughed Chanyeol. Baekhyun stood next to him, his arm hanging around his brother’s shoulder lazily.

Henry threw them a look that said he was in no mood for jokes. This wiped the smiles from their faces. He then turned to look above him at who had stopped him spinning in his chair and found Donghae waving with a nervous grin on his face. “I suppose you’re not in a very good mood right now,” he said quietly before slinking over to take a seat on the chair opposite.

The twins came to follow suit, taking the remaining two chairs either side of Donghae. Henry eyed them warily as they peered back at him worryingly. He rolled his eyes before turning to stare at Dino’s cage beside him. “What are you guys doing here?”

It was Baekhyun who decided to speak first. “Well, Donghae here has been hearing Seohyun complaining about how strangely you’ve been acting for the past month. And, as in the nature of such things, he came to us to complain about Seohyun complaining about you.”

Henry shot them a glare out the corner of his eye. “And why would Seohyun go to complain to Donghae about me?”

This time, the twins stared at Henry shocked and even Donghae peered up at Henry in surprise after having apparently averting his gaze elsewhere. It was some time before any of the three spoke. “You really have been lost in space, Henry Hyung,” mumbled Baekhyun.

Henry frowned at this statement. “Why?”

“Why? You never noticed that your dear little sister, who has been clinging to your side for the past eleven years, has finally decided to leave you alone?” said Baekhyun as he shook his head, still in disbelief at Henry’s ignorance. “And you two are living under the same roof…”

Sitting up straight, he spun back around to peer at his friends with a confused look on his face. “Why? What has happened?”

Donghae began smiling uncontrollably in his seat opposite Henry and the twins, noticing this, gave their Hyung brother a little nudge each. “Donghae Hyung here has finally managed to capture Seohyun’s heart,” smirked Baekhyun.

Henry’s eyes flew wide at this news. “Then that means…?” he said as a small grin spread across his face. “Well done, Donghae! Finally, you managed to win her over.”

Donghae proceeded to scratch the back of his head shyly, laughing nervously. “It was only luck… she suddenly came up to me one day and said ‘Let’s go on a date’. I don’t know what suddenly changed her mind but-”

Baekhyun suddenly cut Donghae off, covering his mouth with his hand. “Yes, yes we all know she has now fallen head over heels for you after so many years. But this isn’t why we’re here to see Henry Hyung.”

Donghae finally managed to pull Baekhyun’s hand from his mouth, turning to give the boy a smart slap to the head. “Your hand is disgusting, Baekhyun! What the hell were you touching?” Receiving only a cheeky smile in return from Baekhyun, Donghae then turned to peer at Henry, his earlier bashfulness all gone. “But Baekhyun is right; this isn’t why were here and the fact that you never noticed me and Seohyun just proves what she has told me. You know what she said to me? That you’re behaving just like you did ten years ago.”

At that last remark, Henry’s blood ran cold. He had not realised that his behaviour had changed and that others were aware of it. And he did not realise that he was acting in a similar fashion to the way he had when Josephine was still ‘alive’.

Letting out a loud laugh, he stood up, putting his hands into his pockets as he strolled over to the venetian blind covered window. “Why, do you think, is my behaviour like it was ten years ago, Donghae?” He spun around on his heels, peering at the three with a small smile. “There is no reason for me to act so… impulsively, don’t you think? After all, it has been ten years since Josephine died. Maybe I’m behaving strangely because I really have no idea on how to progress further with my case.”

The twins exchanged a glance with one another and Donghae’s eyes narrowed even further as he peered at Henry with growing suspicion. “Lay also approached us on how strangely you’ve been behaving recently. He told us you were asking strange questions and disappeared for nearly a whole day, only to return less enthusiastic about the case. And just now… you mentioned Josephine’s name, something you haven’t done since her death.” Their eyes met and Henry could see that Donghae knew something. “Are you going to tell us anything, Henry?”

Silence fell in the room as Henry continued to stare at Donghae, the twins lost at what the silent stares were conveying to the other. After several minutes of this game, Henry finally tore his gaze away, turning to sit behind his desk where he proceeded to turn on his laptop.

“If what you guys are here for is to accuse me of nonsensical things, then I think it is best you leave me alone. There’s work I need to be catching up on, if I have been so out of it as everyone seems to be suggesting.” He then busied himself with his laptop, ignoring the presence of his friends altogether.

It was another minute of Donghae staring at Henry through narrowed suspicious eyes before he got up out of his seat and left the room, the twins peering in confusion between the two before following Donghae. Only when Baekhyun had closed the door behind him did Henry look up from his screen, his brow creased in worry. For some reason, the way Donghae had stared at him seemed to unnerve him, as if his friend knew that Josephine was no longer dead. Rubbing his hands over his face in frustration, he let out a tired sigh as he then rested his head on the table. He had to stop thinking about Amber and start finding a way to save her from Lee Soo Man. That would be the only way to help her.

Outside, Baekhyun and Chanyeol had to jog to catch up with Donghae. “Hey, Donghae Hyung! What was that all about just now?” shouted Chanyeol as he gripped Donghae by the shoulder.

Snapped out from his brooding thoughts, Donghae turned to peer up at the twins in surprise. “Oh… you guys followed me out.” He let out a sigh as the three of them turned out of the driveway and walked off in the direction of their houses. “Henry’s hiding something from us, just like what Lay said.”

“Henry Hyung is hiding something from us? But why?” wondered Baekhyun out loud.

“Perhaps for the same reasons as ten years ago,” replied Donghae mysteriously.

Krystal felt the car drive to a stop somewhere, unable to see where she was due to the blindfold Luhan had tied over her eyes. She thought it was a foolish idea of his but only decided to go along with it because he seemed so eager to pull a surprise on her. Reluctantly, she had allowed him to steer her into the car and drive her off to who-knows-where. But it wasn’t like she wasn’t used to these spur of the moment surprises he threw for her. After she had eavesdropped on that conversation, he seemed to pay more attention to her, bringing her out for perhaps a night in town or a stroll in a park. She had to admit, this side of him was very endearing and she couldn’t help but feel a growing fondness for the man.

After a minute slowly crawled by, Krystal began to wonder why Luhan had not yet moved to remove her blindfold. Unable to wait any longer, she went to pull it off herself only to find that Luhan had disappeared and that they were parked at the top of the cliff he had taken her nearly a month ago. Now that she thought about it, it was exactly one month since she had moved in to live with Luhan. Curious as to what game Luhan was playing at, Krystal stepped out of the car and made her way to the edge of the cliff where she began to slowly make her way down. Eventually, she arrived outside the mouth of the niche which he had showen her last time, finding him seated in there with a glass of champagne fizzing gently in the champagne flute he held in his hand. Next to him on a picnic mat he had spread on the floor was a picnic basket along with a metal bucket full of ice to chill the already open champagne bottle. As her eyes returned to him in surprise, he raised his glass as if saluting her arrival.

“I was wondering how much longer it would be before you finally made your way down here. I even considered climbing back up to drag you down here but that would obviously ruin the surprise.” He then patted a spot next to him on the mat. “Come have a seat and I’ll pour you a glass.”

Krystal did as she was told, still in awe of what Luhan had set up. A big grin spread across Luhan’s face as he went to pour Krystal a glass of champagne. “I suppose you have realised why I have brought you here with such a big feast waiting for you,” he said, holding the champagne flute out for Krystal.

She took the glass distractedly, opening the lid to the basket to see what had been packed. A small sarcastic smile then spread on her face. “A ‘big’ feast indeed, Luhan . I spy several gourmet sandwiches, perhaps just enough to feed two.”

Luhan couldn’t keep the sheepish grin from spreading across his face. “Well, you’ve caught me there. I couldn’t be bothered to bring too much to eat because it would be a hassle to bring it all down here. Just balancing the bucket and basket was more than enough trouble as it is.”

He placed his champagne flute down as he suddenly leaned in closer to Krystal, unnerving her slightly at his nearness. His eyes travelled up and down her face, still grinning sheepishly. As she was about to open to protest, he suddenly swerved away from her, moving to open the picnic basket and removing a sandwich from within. Krystal glared at him indignantly, annoyed by his little tease. He seemed to be doing little things like that more and more often lately, always on the brink of breaking his promise for a second time but never following through with the notion. And more often that not, it left Krystal feeling a little frustrated and disappointed. She would be happier if he just made up his mind already about how he wanted to treat her.

She watched as Luhan took a big bite out of the sandwich he had retrieved. He turned to peer at her, holding up his sandwich. “Aren’t you going to have some?” he asked through a mouthful. Swallowing, he then said more clearly, “The chef at my house has put in extra effort to make these tastier than usual.”

Krystal rolled her eyes at his childishness before retrieving a sandwich of her own from within the basket. Together, they ate in silence, watching the sun slowly drift down towards the horizon in the late afternoon. It wasn’t long before they had finished their food and were now on their second glass of champagne, lazily sipping as they thought of what to say to one another. It was Luhan who first broke the silence that had fallen between them.

“You didn’t answer my question earlier,” he said, turning to peer at Krystal as he leant against the back wall of the niche. Krystal was seated beside him in a similar manner, a faint smile on her lips.

“And what question was that?” she asked happily, the liquor obviously already helping her to relax even more in his company.

“Do you realise why I have brought you back here?”

Krystal turned to peer at him, her bright eyes staring back into his warmly. “Of course I do, Luhan…” She then turned back to stare at the setting sun, raising her glass into the air. “It has been exactly one month since you brought me here and told me I now belonged to you.” She drained the last of her champagne, bringing the empty glass back down to the ground beside her with a soft clink. “You know, I always knew my mother never really cared for me. I stuck by her side, hoping that she would reform but in the end that hope was futile. And I now realise she’ll never reform, judging from the latest news Jessica has told me about her.”

Luhan suddenly felt sorry that he had opened up the wound her mother had created in her heart. But that wound would always be opened, for her being by his side was tied to that one act. He then let out a sigh, turning to peer back out at the setting sun, thinking carefully over his next words. It was something that had been on his mind for some time now and he had brought her here just to say those words.

“Then from today onwards, you are free. You no longer belong to me and you are not obligated to stay by my side.” His words were met with silence, which he found unbearable as he awaited her reply.

Still receiving no answer from Krystal, he turned to peer at her and was shocked to see that she was no longer smiling. “So… this dinner is in fact a farewell dinner?” she asked quietly, turning to peer down at the empty glass in her hand. She then turned to study Luhan, who promptly averted his eyes elsewhere. “I really don’t get you, Luhan . You seem to be sending me mixed signals. At times it seems as if you want to devour me, then at others you just try to… push me away. What is it that you truly want with me?”

A troubled feeling began to gnaw away at Luhan’s insides. He realised that this was a feeling of guilt for hiding so many secrets from her. With a sigh, he resolved to tell her everything.

“I’m not a good man, Krystal. You may or may not have realised it, but I am in fact the leader of the  Group, the second largest gang in Korea. It’s no longer safe for you to remain by my side and I want you away as far as possible before anything major begins to happen.”

He slowly turned to peer at Krystal out the corner of his eye and was surprised to see her smiling at him. “Is that all? And I thought it was because you wanted to find some new mistress and needed to get me out of the way.” She leant forward, reaching across him for the champagne bottle. “You think I would never have figured it out after hearing you talk of assassins and watching different men run in and out of your house, whispering about recent fights between the Group and the Syndicate? Because if you did, you really underestimated my intelligence.” Krystal filled up her glass, moving to fill Luhan’s as well.

All Luhan could do was stare stupidly at Krystal. “You… you knew all along?” Krystal nodded in reply. “Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“Perhaps I didn’t think it was necessary to mention because it doesn’t really matter to me. After all, I knew you dealt with the underworld seeing as you were my mother’s loan shark but I would never have guessed that you were the leader of a gang,” explained Krystal with a shrug.

Luhan continued to stare at her in awe before suddenly pulling her in for a tight hug, spilling some of her champagne onto his clothes. “Hey, careful there, Luhan!” exclaimed Krystal as she struggled against his hold. “And who gave you permission to hold me?”

“I don’t care, Krystal. Now that you know about me, I truly cannot allow you to stay by my side. I never thought I’d say this to a woman but… I love you.”

Krystal’s eyes widened in shock as she twisted in his embrace to look at his face. “You what?”

“I love you,” repeated Luhan. “And that makes it a hundred times more dangerous for you to remain by my side.” He suddenly pulled away from her and stared into her eyes as a warm gentle smile touched his lips. “Tomorrow, I will send you away to England, where you can wait for me until I have sorted out this mess that is the korea gangs. I have several houses over there, but you don’t-”

Krystal suddenly placed a hand on his lips, silencing him. She then glared up at him, upset that he was trying to decide her fate. “Who said I will be letting you send me away? I don’t want to go overseas. Never have, never will.”

He pulled her hand away and began speaking frantically once more. “But, they already know-”

Again, Krystal silenced him. “I don’t care who knows about me. I won’t leave. And if you really love me, then you won’t send me away.”

She stared deep into his eyes, her eyes shining with confidence. Luhan became somewhat calmer as he stared into her eyes, but the fear he felt for her safety still remained. “Then tell me something… how do you feel about me? Do you love me too?”

He saw the confidence in her eyes flicker for a second before they returned to stare at him even brighter than before. “I think… maybe I do.”

Luhan chuckled quietly at her reply, raising his hands to cup her face as he her cheeks. “You think you do?” When she nodded he chuckled again. “Then why don’t we try to confirm what it is exactly that you feel for me?”

Krystal peered back up into his eyes with an inviting smile, slowly letting her eyes close as she felt him move his face down to reach hers, his lips covering hers lovingly.

tbc.

A nice long chapter :) So Donghae has begun to suspect something and Luhan-Krystal are a couple. Anyone can start to guess what may happen next?? I've finally gotten around to planning out the rest of this story so I know how it will end. But as to how many chapters are left, I don't know. Just got the major plot out.

Next Chapter: Lee Soo Man is upset