Prologue
Toulouse: The City of Refuge
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“I love her. Even if she loves someone else, I'll always love her. All I want is for her to be by my side.”
French Vocabulary:
1 Les flics: policemen (slang).
Cold and numb. That is all that I can feel right now. My muscles stiffen slightly and my vision blurs as my breath catches in my throat and slowly, I take a measured breath to calm myself. We stand in the middle of the living room, Flic1’s words echoing relentlessly in my mind. She’s leaving. She’s leaving… “Where is she going?” I ask weakly, desperately in need of knowing where Amber is planning on running off to. Flic gives me a look and frowns slightly. “Paris,” he answers me. “She was offered a job there at some hospital.” Panic begins to envelope every inch of my body. “But she’d be putting her life in danger! Uncle hasn’t been coming after her because she’s under your wings! If she leaves, her bubble of protection will burst, they’ll track her immediately.” Flic sighs and raises his brows, knowing that I’m just making excuses. He knows that my Uncle has died. The news had already reached both Korea and France. However, Appa is still around. If he finds out about Amber and Paris, hell will break lose. “It’s her choice, Sung Yeol. Paris wants a change too; that’s why Amber decided to go in the first place,” Flic informs me. I cannot believe this. I don’t want to! I’ve stayed in Toulouse for the past ten years staying by Amber’s side and trying to break through the wall that she had built around herself while waiting for L. Now, she has decided to leave and all my hard work has gone to waste. It isn’t so much about my attempts going down the drain, but more upon the fact that I don’t want her to leave; to leave me. Besides, I know L very well. We are best friends for crying out loud. I know he is the jealous type of person, but I don’t think he would mind too much if Amber and I get together. In fact, I know he’d rather Amber choose me over Henry Lau. L doesn’t even know Henry. It would be like letting Amber get with a stranger, really. And with all due respect, unlike Henry, I wouldn’t ask her to rid her heart of him; not in a million years. I know how important he is to her and how much she loves him. He’s important to me as well. Hell, I’d even hold a memorial service for him every year! “But she’s going to be in the city all alone. Who would look after Paris while Amber’s at work?” Sure, I’m making another excuse, but this is real worry. I love Paris as if she is my own and I don’t want anything to happen to her. “Paris is ten and she’s very mature for her age. She understands the situation and Amber is fine with that.” Flic puts his hand on my shoulder and pats it reassuringly. “Have some faith. Amber knows what she’s doing.” How am I supposed to have faith? She’s a single mother with a ten-year-old daughter whom she’s willingly going to leave home alone while she works! Who wouldn’t be worried? (Leaving Flic out of the count…) “When are they leaving?” I hope it would take a month or two before they are gone. That way, I could pack up my things and go with them! “Next week.” “What?!” I exclaim loudly. “That’s way too soon!” Even if I decide to move to Paris, I’d have to give a month’s notice to my boss before quitting! Flic is unsympathetic and just shrugs his shoulders carelessly. “One of her colleague
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