Amber (Part 5): Second Warning
Paris: The City of My Heart
1 Bon soir, Demoiselle: Good evening, Young Lady.
I heard the thud sound made by the car colliding against a body. My eyes were shut expecting myself to fall down with Myung Soo.
But I didn’t. He was still hugging me in his embrace.
Except it didn’t feel like his hug. The body heat, the scent, and the body size against me did not match his.
Suddenly, a stranger’s voice was heard close to my head. “L!”
My eyes shot open and saw a wide-eyed guy hugging me. He had fair white skin and his pair of eyes was staring in fright at the middle of the road. I could see it from the corner of my eye—what he was looking at. A crowd started to form and the guy holding me finally turned his attention to me.
“Amber? Are you alright?”
He knew my name. But I didn’t know his. My breathing became uneven, my body shook.
“Amber, we have to get L to the hospital.”
That brought me back to the present. I ran out of his embrace to the unconscious body lying on the road.
I patted the side of Myung Soo's face to see if he was conscious. “Myung Soo, can you hear me?”
I saw the blood on the side of his face and found the source: his head. I felt my body going numb.
No! Please, no!
I leaned down to find out whether he was still breathing. He was.
I grabbed his wrist and started checking his pulse. Present, but it was fast.
He was losing blood rapidly and his pulse quickened to compensate for the loss. Things I learned in my Med class started coming back to me and I tried to get myself into the doctor mode. The strange guy was on his phone calling the ambulance and an old man came out from the car. He was apologising for not stepping on the break.
It didn’t make sense. It thought he was sent by Myung Soo’s dad.
It was then that I looked up to the other side of the street and saw a man at the back seat of a black car. He was wearing sunglasses. The same man I met a few weeks ago. He stared back at me as the window slowly slid up and he was seen no more. The car left as soon as it happened.
Soon, we were already outside the operation theatre. I was sitting on the chair as the guy I just met paced around anxiously. I could tell he was worried. Sung Yeol Lee—preferred to be called Yeol. He told me his name on the ambulance during our trip to the hospital. The ambulance finally came after what felt like forever. I never felt as anxious and impatient as I was. I was usually calm and composed. Sung Yeol is Myung Soo’s best friend and that boyfriend—or should I say fiancé now?—of mine had apparently told him all about me. Which made me wonder why he stayed at my place if he has a best friend like Sung Yeol.
“Amber,” Sung Yeol called, taking me out of my reverie. “Are you alright?” Reluctantly, I nodded. “You haven’t said a word since the accident,” he stated the obvious. “What the hell was that man doing?! He should have stepped on the in’ brake!” he groaned in frustration and fury.
Now, that man was with the police explaining what happened half-an-hour ago. I couldn’t bring myself to listen to him, but he was speaking in fast-speed French anyway and my head was already too muddled up.
“It’s not your fault, Amber,” Sung Yeol spoke up again, now looking at me in remorse. “L saw you in danger, so we ran to get you off the road and the next thing I knew he threw you to me and he took the hit, that fool!”
I wanted to tell him about Myung Soo’s dad, but then I thought better of it. Not that he could do anything about it. It was odd the way Mr Kim didn’t move seeing his son on the ground like that, bleeding like there was no tomorrow.
What is happening?!
Finally, the surgeon came out and I stopped myself from jumping out of my seat. Sung Yeol spoke to him, in French of course. I listened attentively, although I didn’t really understand some French medical terms. I would have to look them up on my French-English dictionary. But basically, he was saying that Myung Soo lost a significant amount of blood and they had to do a blood transfusion. He did some stitches on Myung Soo’s head, but it wasn’t much and he was alright. However, they still had to monitor him closely. Sung Yeol breathed out a sigh of relief, but I was still in my trance state. Don’t get me wrong, I was relieved Myung Soo was okay. It was just that I couldn’t get this lump in my throat out or the tangled threads in my mind untangled.
~*~*~
Myung Soo was taken to the ward with IV infusion attached to him to increase his fluid. He looked pale, but he was sleeping peacefully. I excused myself to Sung Yeol to get some clothes for Myung Soo and he agreed to stay until my return.
Once I reached the refuge of my warm apartment, I went on Google Earth to find the café Mr Kim’s men took me to and grabbed my map of Paris with me before leaving, carrying a bag filled with Myung Soo’s necessities for the next few days. I sent Sung Yeol home when I got back to the hospital, promising that I would contact him tomorrow once Myung Soo was up. We exchanged phone numbers. As soon as Sung Yeol left, I followed and went on my way to find him.
To my luck, I found him there inside the café sitting on the same seat, with his two men by his sides. The café was, again, empty with Édith Piaf’s La Vie en Rose playing. The lady boss was at the back, probably making food for her only guest for the night. The Parisian gangster’s lips pulled into a slight smile at my arrival. He took his sunglasses off and inserted the hook into his chest pocket.
“Bon soir, Demoiselle1,” he greeted me. His cold voice made the hair on the back of my neck to rise.
I didn’t like the way he called me Demoiselle. It made me feel small. But at the time, it didn’t matter how scary he was and the fact that his two men had guns with them. All I knew was that I needed to ask what had happened and ensure him that Myung Soo was fine.
To my surprise, he chuckled following my review on Myung Soo’s condition. When I creased my brows at his reaction, he said, “How unfortunate. He survived.”
My eyes widened at his declaration and I found myself holding my breath. It was the first time I showed a real emotion before this man in front of me. He must have realised it too as I could see the amusement in his eyes.
“I warned you, but you didn’t listen,” he went on. “Was that enough to make you leave?”
I took a breath before speaking up, still bemused. “What… what do you mean? I thought…”
He smirked. “You don’t care about your life, but what about L’s?”
“What?” I cried out, my voice came out soft and breathy. “He... he’s your son! How… why would you hurt your own son?” I lifted my eyebrows incredulously.
He shrugged and smiled wryly. “Even if he’s down, there are still my others.”
I nearly choked on air. Myung Soo said he was an only child—
“Sons L knew nothing about,” the old man continued wryly.
I tried to keep my jaw closed so as to not reveal any more to this man. I could not believe this. Myung Soo had been growing up in this environment with blood, weapons, and cries of victims being parts of his daily life. He saw, heard, and smelled them all his life that he wanted out. And his only family betrayed him. I suddenly considered myself lucky for although my parents were divorced, they still poured their love onto me and Jjong without fail. Whenever we wanted a family get-together, my parents conceded to make us happy.
“Of course I love L, he is perfect, but meeting you was his flaw. Usually when he leaves home, I could get him back home. But this time, he wouldn’t. Then I found out you were the cause. You’re a very naive girl who has no idea what you’re in for. I assure you that I'll get what I want. You two are to separate and lead your own life or one of you has to die.” He smiled before whispering merrily, “And if it’s L, it’s on you.”
Just like last time, he made me leave the place in a daze and deep thoughts. I managed to refuse his offer to get his men to send me back to the hospital. I told him I knew what to do. I returned to the hospital and stared at the sleeping Myung Soo for hours. A tear fell at the corner of my eyes and I quickly wiped it off, gulping down the next ones that wanted to follow. I played with the Claddagh ring on my finger before taking it out to observe it again closely. I felt the surface and the inside of the ring with my finger, sensing some carving around the inner circle. Curious, I went to the bathroom to get some light. I saw a writing I didn’t see before.
Myung Soo ∞ Amber
It hit me like a smack on the head. I couldn’t leave him. I couldn’t. I want to be with him, but why does it have to be so hard? Why does his dad have to be against us? Why does he have to be the son of Paris’ elite gangster?
I felt locked, confined, and restrained. It was like a rubber being stretched out, but no matter how far it was stretched, it would return to its initial state. It was like going around and around in a circle.
But I knew the answer was right in front of me.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
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