Chapter 7

Amber found herself waking up on an unfamiliar couch the next morning. She sat up, causing the quilt on her to fall down to the ground. She ruffled her hair and massaged the back of her sore neck before sighing heavily.

So I did fell asleep.

"Morning Amber. Sorry about that. I can't carry you so I just brought the blanket."

"Morning, Vic-unnie. I'm alright, thanks for the blanket."

"Freshen up and have breakfast," Victoria told her as she headed for the kitchen.

Amber followed her to the kitchen and washed her face thoroughly before facing Victoria who had the plates of bacon and toasts ready on the table.

"As much as I want, I can't stay for breakfast. I need to pick up Sulli and from the text, I need to go ASAP," Amber passed up the offer as she looked on her phone's screen.

"Too bad, but at least have a cup of coffee."

Not wanting to be rude, Amber sat down and gulped down the lukewarm coffee and stood right back up. She went back to the living room, unplugged her laptop from the charger and packed up her things into her backpack. Victoria didn't mind her and continued to eat her breakfast but waved her a good bye when Amber excused herself.

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

As soon as she got up, she realized that her company was nowhere on the bed. She extended her hand to stop annoying buzz of her alarm clock, only to be forced to sit up when it was out of her reach. When she finally managed to shut up the contraption, she lied back down on the bed and snuggled into her blanket. The door swung open to reveal her best friend, fresh and prepared to go out. She ignored her still-sleeping best friend and unlocked her phone to send a text to her sister.

[ Hyung, pick me up? We'll have breakfast together at the usual café. Call me if you can't make it ]

She waited a few minutes before she got a reply from Amber.

[ Wait for me. I'm heading home for a quick shower then pick you up. Be patient ]

Only then did she decide to wake up the mini ice princess. Indeed, she didn't even budge with all the noises the Sulli made in her futile attempt to wake her up. Jessica peeked into the room and entered when Sulli gave an exasperated sigh.

"I'll handle her, Sulli-ah. If you don't mind, watch over my toasts."

"I'll be in the kitchen then," Sulli said with a bright smile.

Sulli went to the kitchen just in time to see the toasts popping up from the toaster. She carefully put them onto a plate and placed it on the dining table together with the spread. Feeling slightly hungry, she took a slice of toast and ate it plainly. In replacement, she put two slices of the white bread into the toaster and waited for it to be ready. She stared blankly into the space, not realizing that someone had sneaked around behind her.

"Sulli!"

She jumped at the sudden call of her name and turned around to see who had surprised her this early in the morning. She pouted angrily at her best friend and crossed her arms together.

"Soojung!" Don't scare me like that," Sulli scolded.

"Your fault for spacing out. Merong!"

Jessica laughed at their childish banter that showed their affection for each other. She ignored the two of them and fetched the newly toasted bread onto her plate.

"Let's have breakfast, kids."

"I'll pass. Amber-unnie's picking me up for breakfast," Sulli explained.

"Alright then. Jung Soojung, wash your face and sit here with me. The toast is getting cold."

"Yes, unnie."

Fifteen minutes later, Sulli got a text from Amber saying that she's already at the apartment's entrance. Sulli bade her good bye to the Jung sisters and took the stairs down just because she's in a good mood. When she entered Amber's car, she was even jollier.

"Our giant baby is very happy," Amber commented.

"Of course! It's been awhile since we had breakfast out," Sulli chirped.

"Alright, fasten your belt. Pancakes, here we go!"

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

Victoria decided to clock in early to work and prepared everything for her 'trip' with Amber. She went to the gun vault and took two firearms before locking it back to avoid any unauthorized use of the weapon. She made a stop at the IT department for radio earpieces and made sure they were in the same frequency before leaving for her office. While waiting for Amber to finish her breakfast, she booted up her laptop and played some games to kill the time. When she got bored doing that, she disassemble the guns and took her time putting it back together, making sure it won't get jammed during emergency. By the time she received a text from Amber, the office was gleaming clean with everything spotless.

[ I'm heading to the HQ now ]

Victoria heaved a relieved sigh and packed her things. She headed out of the HQ, not forgetting the equipment, and waited in her car. She revved up the engine and stretched her sore limbs to get ready to drive.

Or perhaps, I can make her drive, Victoria thought deviously.

Speaking of the devil, Amber's car just passed the HQ gate and was heading towards Victoria's parked car. She scrolled down the car window and prompted Victoria to copy her action.

"Your car or mine?"

"Mine!" Victoria shouted over the car engine's noise.

Amber gave her a thumbs-up and reversed her car to park right next to Victoria's. She switched off the engine and locked it before slipping into the passenger's seat next to the driver's. Victoria handed her the firearm together with the earpiece. Amber accepted them wordlessly and tucked the gun on the back of her jeans and wore the earpiece.

"Just as a precaution. Won't hurt to be careful," Victoria said anyways.

Turning a left at the road junction, they had one destination in mind. Jeonju. Since the journey would take around two and a half hour, Amber had taken the liberty to bring with her a thermos of hot tea and some snacks in her backpack while Victoria had a lunch box of rice balls prepared at the back seat. One would have thought they were travelling to Jeonju for leisure and picnic but they sure aren't. At the passenger seat, Amber was on her laptop browsing the HQ database and typing up any updates on the 'Han Daewan' case. She had called the Jeonju local police for the brother's address and asked a favor for them to keep watch on his residence, in which the department co-operated readily. When the journey became quiet and dull, she searched thorough her music library for some music and clicked on a file named 'Self-composed #5'. As soon as the music was played, Victoria found herself awe-struck yet again at her junior's melodic voice and the guitar play at the background.

"You never cease to amaze me, Amber. Maybe you should sell your songs and quit being a detective," Victoria mentioned.

"Nah, it's just a hobby. I'll only let close friends and family to listen to me singing. My song is exclusive for me only."

"If that's what you want.. What a waste of talent."

"That aside, how are you with Zhoumi? Any progress?" Amber teased.

"Aish, this kid. Never learn. I told you nothing will happen between us. We're just best friends."

"I dunno, give the man a chance at least. It's obvious he had some feelings for you."

"It just won't work out, trust me. Rather than risking what we have right now, it would be better to stay the way things are."

"Alright, alright. I give up."

"How long do you think this case will go on?"

"I'm not sure but I do hope nothing goes wrong while we're at it."

[I'm sure you already know of this, just reminding. No update nxt week for this story. Enjoy the chapter and I'll see you in two weeks time]