Chapter 4

At that time, Luna was still a rookie in her division. She was what most people would expect; b with passion and always enthusiastic. She held the best marksmanship in her class and was appointed to be a representative for her batch to compete in the annual shooting competition sponsored by the Academy. Overall, she was an overachieving rookie, but a rookie nonetheless. A month into her career, she made a grave mistake when her control over her power weakened and gone haywire. None of her seniors know of this as she kept it secret. She did a good job hiding it but her seniors got suspicious when she was caught spacing out more often than usual. That's where Amber comes in.

Amber was supervising for the case Luna worked on, so when she didn’t turn up for the investigation, she paid a visit to her house. She didn’t inform anyone of this and went by herself. Once she stepped at the doorway, she sensed a power spike. Without wasting any time, she broke down the front door to meet an odd scene.

Surrounding Luna was a dark maroon barrier and she seemed unstable. Her eyes were unfocused, her breath was labored and she was perspiring heavily, kneeling down to the ground. Amber acted fast and conjured her power to break through the barrier but she realized that it was not enough. She muttered a soft apology before she took off her left glove, effectively unleashing her second power reserve. Her power immensely increased and the barrier cracked under pressure. The wind picked up and they were circled by some kind of a small typhoon. Amber punched once with her fist and the barrier broke down. She didn’t expect that she had to exert herself so much just to break down the barrier that her knees buckled in exhaustion. She crawled to Luna and checked for her pulse: it was weak but it's there. Using her remaining energy, she put a seal on Luna and locked away majority of her power so she would never hurt anyone unintentionally -- or herself at that.

Victoria was full of anxiety when her juniors didn’t report back to work past their appointment time. She discovered the two of them unconscious when she tracked down their whereabouts. She carried Luna onto the couch and let her rest. She felt a little relief knowing Luna was in a stable condition and she's just passed out; she was afraid of the worse since she didn’t sense her energy line. Victoria was more concerned about Amber and positioned her so that her head rested on her lap. Using her ability, Victoria attempted to restore some of her internal energy. She strained herself slightly since she was still wearing her limiter but still it was enough for Amber to regain her consciousness.

"Thank god! How do you feel?"

"V-Vic-unnie? How'd you find us?"

"Fool, have you forgotten our connection? I can’t believe you're so reckless. You should have called me!"

"Sorry."

"Here, put it back on. Next time, I'm gonna use something else to limit your power," Victoria said as she handed Amber her fingerless glove.

"How's Luna?"

"Lights out. She's over at the couch."

Amber slowly got up but her balance was off so Victoria helped her walk to the couch where Amber kneeled on the ground beside it. She took Luna's hand in one and touched Luna's forehead with another. As expected, she only detected a faint amount of power reserve inside of her. Although, further inspection would prove that there were still indeed traces of strong power residing in her but all was sealed away for good. Amber doubled the strength of her seal before releasing her hold on Luna. She felt little difficulty tapping into her energy source because Victoria was there. They waited for Luna to wake up and explained what had happened to her. Luna found it hard to believe but she learned that they were telling the truth when she can barely use her ability.

"We will discuss the consequences of you hiding this from us. Until you hear a word from us, you are on a house arrest."

"We will be heading out now. Rest up, and don’t worry too much about your punishment. You'll not be harmed in any way," Victoria reassured her as they excuse themselves.

An announcement was made within the division, causing uproar when the excellent rookie was suspended from work for a whole year without any explanation from higher-ups; though they shouldn’t be surprised by the lack of details. Amber and Victoria have been sworn to secrecy about Luna's matter and warned not to mention it to anyone else. A letter was officially delivered to Luna to inform her of the head of division's decision. She surrendered her badge and firearms the next day solemnly. Additionally, she will be under constant observation by Amber as she was partly responsible for Luna's recklessness. It also benefits her as Amber will get to monitor her rapidly developing power and train Luna to have more control over her ability. Occasionally, Victoria will substitute for Amber for their weekly training as she had more experience handling her ability. This session continued over the duration of her suspension.

She had another month to go before she could return to her duties. Luna did her training earnestly so she won't be a burden to the team. She also studied courses online on criminology to further complement her resume and make up for her shortcomings. On the day she would be hanging out with a friend or do grocery shopping but by the night she would be in her basement, training. Her ability was more refined now and she was able to compress a significant amount of energy into a capsule. That way, whenever she depleted her reserve, she can ingest the tablet and replenish her energy within a short period of time. This proved to be very useful as Amber often drained her reserve after using her power excessively. Victoria appreciated Luna's ability more than anyone's because of this. Over the time Amber, Luna and Victoria spent together, they felt closer to each other and cherish each other deeply.

D E F L E ( x ) T I O N

As promised, they made sure to finish any shopping and errands before seven and called for Jessica to pick them up. The sun was setting and they basked under the yellow glow while waiting for their unnie to show up in their hands were full of clothes and accessories. One could tell that they enjoyed their day out to the fullest. It didn’t take too long before Jessica drove by the mall's entrance with someone in the passenger seat next to the driver's. Sulli and Krystal piled into the car with smiles on their faces.

"Taeyeon-unnie! It's been awhile," Sulli greeted as soon as she settled down.

"Oh, Jinri-ah. It's been far too long. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Amber-unnie has been treating me well," she mentioned.

"That's good. What about our Soojung?"

"I'm okay. Taeyeon-unnie, are we going to get dinner together or are you busy?"

"We're eating at home. Taeyeon here will be staying for dinner. Sulli, do you want to join?" Jessica asked, looking into the rear view window.

"Ah, I'll ask if Amber-unnie's fine with it," Sulli said as she took out her phone from her pocket.

Jessica nodded as she stopped by the road's side. She wanted to have a clear answer so she won’t have to do a U-turn if Sulli can't have dinner at their house.

"Amber-unnie! Are you going to be late today? ... Oh, I see. Then, can I stop by Soojung's house?... Really?... Be careful and don’t forget to eat your dinner. Bye!"

"So, dinner?" Krystal asked in anticipation.

"At your house!"

Jessica smiled and continued to drive to her house. Their journey was full of chatters and laughter as the day turned darker. Thanks to Taeyeon, they managed to cook a decent meal without having to call for delivery. In the whole cooking process, Krystal and Sulli helped cutting up the ingredients while Jessica was responsible for frying the vegetables. The main dish was done by the eldest unnie, Taeyeon, who confidently cooked omelet for them. Desserts will be waiting in the fridge after they finished eating.

It was just before half past nine when the doorbell rang and Jessica got up to open the door. Through the monitor, she saw the guest and quickly invited her in.

"Come on in. we were just having dessert," Jessica told her.

"I'll just step in and wait until Sulli's done. I've had dinner," she politely declined the dessert offer.

Knowing her stubborn personality, Jessica let her off the hook and they went inside to the living room. Sulli was scooping the last bits of her ice cream when she saw Amber. Her hand stopped before the spoon entered and extended it to Amber instead.

"Aah, hurry before it melts!" Her aegyo burst out.

Without much choice, she opened and the sweet confectionary melted pleasantly in . She allowed herself to enjoy the cold sensation blended with the chocolate flavor before speaking up.

"Thanks Ssul. Oh, hey there Krystal!"

"Hello, Amber-unnie," the younger girl smiled shyly as she continued to scoop for some more ice cream from the tub.

"Are you done Sulli-ah? Or a little longer?"

She seemed to be hesitant and bit her lower lip in a silent plead. She knew she was being selfish but she can't help it. Amber laughed at her put and nodded to her dongsaeng. She can never say no to her especially when she pulled a puppy face.

"Hyung, you're the best!"

"Omo, Amber? You've arrived," Taeyeon said as she entered the living room.

"Taeyeon-unnie! I came to pick up Sulli but she wanted to stay a little bit longer. How come you're here?"

"Jessica and I were out with the girls earlier and she decided to make me her chef of the day," Taeyeon joked.

"I see. Poor Taeyeon-unnie. It must be hard for you," Amber played along.

"Yah! The two of you there, stop badmouthing me!"

All of them laughed at Jessica's outburst as she glared at the two of them. They were disturbed by a ringtone coming from a phone. Amber checked hers and excused herself to the kitchen to take the call.

"Vic-unnie, what's the matter? ... Give me 20 minutes. I'll be right there," Amber informed her as she hung up.

Returning to the living room, she found herself being the centre of attention. She sighed before explaining that she had to go somewhere and that it's important. She felt very apologetic towards Sulli.

"I guess you'll just drop me off at home?"

"Nope, it'll be better if you sleepover here. Your backpack from last time is still in the car. I'll get it for you, just stay put."

"Sleepover? Is that okay Soojung-ah? Jessica-unnie?"

"Of course. You're welcomed anytime," Jessica answered with a nod.

Amber retrieved Sulli's backpack from her car and made sure that everything she needed will be inside the bag. She gave it to Sulli and hugged her tightly, apologizing into her ears. Her lips curved upwards as she heard sincerity in Amber's words.

"Enjoy the sleepover. Do not stay up too late. Good night our Ssul."

"Hyung also. Don’t overwork yourself and remember to sleep, okay?"

"Arasso. I'll be going now," Amber excused herself as she bid goodbye to everyone.