“Life is never fair. If they teach anything in school, that should be it.”

1 여보세요 Yeboseyo: Hello (on the phone).

 

I saw L again a few days after he was discharged from the hospital. We had dinner at Le Rêve with Pierre, Martin, and Hyun Ah. L and Amber’s relationship wasn’t a secret anymore and the boys were so happy and intrigued about it. Martin commented, "I thought L was gay", and he earned an explosion of laughter from me.   During the dinner, Hyun Ah was very pleasant towards Amber. She was persistent that Amber would be out of the picture one day. I could only sigh at her foolishness. After dinner, as everyone was having dessert, I retreated to the back of the café for a smoke. A moment later, I heard movements and discovered that it was Amber. I stubbed my cigarette on the wooden fence and decided to take this chance to relay Appa’s message to her. She was leaning towards the edge of the fence of the porch, while I was at the dark side, to the side of the café. I made my move, but immediately backed away when I spotted L’s figure exiting the door. I hid at the corner and watched them.   L crept up to Amber in silence and encircled his arms around her waist. She jumped slightly at the sudden warmth, but soon relaxed, knowing who it was, and leaned her back against his chest. They look like a newlywed couple, I mused.   “What are you doing here?”   She smiled. For the first time, I noticed that she has a smile that could light up this whole town. “Just taking in the view.”   “Don’t you see this every time you’re at work?”   She clucked her tongue. “We’re always busy. I hardly find time to take in all this beautiful night view of Paris from here.”   I saw his eye roll as he laid his chin on her shoulder. A second later, I heard Amber’s gasp.   “Myung Soo, not here!”   “What?” His tone waw innocent, but his grin wasn’t. He leaned down to do something on her exposed neck. I wondered where she had left her scarf. I swear she had a scarf earlier.   Amber moaned helplessly and he whirled her around before capturing her lips. Their lips molded perfectly with each other as their tongues swept in and explored each other’s mouth, for only they and God knew how many times already since they got together.   ! I never expected L to be a good kisser.   When they finally pulled away, they gasped in exertion for air. L placed her gently on the fence and started nibbling on her neck. Amber whimpered as her body slanted back limply, with her hand caressing his hair. He held her steady and continued to latch on her soft skin.   A puff of her breath lingered in the air as her breathing became erratic. She then grabbed him up and recaptured his lips as they resumed their passionate make out session. The way they poured their love for each other into every action they emitted made my heart squeeze. I witnessed how much they love each other, but fate kept trying to break them apart. I really wanted everyone to give them a break, for Pete’s sake!   At the same time, I also noticed how the previously chilly weather had become somewhat more humid with the fire burning over on that side. I was getting by the second and I stepped out to yell at them, not caring whether they would get embarrassed or not. The er throne I was about to grasp was stolen by Woo Hyun hyung whose yell echoed from inside. The two lovers immediately broke away from each other and I halted on my track.   “Amber! L! Are you guys out there?”   When they went inside to join the others, I stayed back to take everything in.   I had never seen L in bliss like whenever he was with Amber. There was a vibrant and lively feelings around his laughter and smile these days.   I realised I couldn’t take that away from him. I didn’t have the right to.

 

∞∞∞

 

I was initially surprised, but managed to stay very calm when L told me about his plan to escape to Toulouse “for a while” with Amber. I sort of expected it. I mean with all that had been happening, pretty sure escaping would be one of the options available. They were at a dead end.   Though, I was irked with the fact that they were taking refuge at that bloody cops’ house in Toulouse. Out of all people, it had to be my nemesis. Min Ho Choi’s father arrested Appa when I was in Junior High School for drug dealing. Although I knew Appa should not be doing his job, I had already developed a strong disdain towards the Choi family. Umma fell sick following Appa’s three years' sentence in prison. She had an infection and we had to take her to the hospital, but the doctor did not have the chance to give the correct antibiotic in time when she passed away before us effortlessly. This incident further reminded me of how fragile life is, but I had always thought that if Appa wasn’t caught, Umma would still be around.   Still, I’m not L’s wife, so I cannot force him to break his friendship with that Min Ho Choi.   On the other hand, I was worried because I didn’t know how the lovers were going to pull through. As a friend and brother, the least I could do was help right? If the outcome wasn’t a happy ending, at least we had tried. Though, I was dreading for what L was capable of doing just to preserve their relationship. It was like he couldn’t live without her and kept seeing his future with her.   I wondered if I should knock some sense into him?   Unfortunately, I didn’t have the heart to do so because it was his life. I couldn’t make him do what I thought he should do because in the end, he was the one who will be living with the choices that he made. And I, as a friend and brother, could only support and protect him.

 

∞∞∞

 

I saw L on the day before New Year. Woo Hyun hyung and I initially wanted to organise a New Year party, but it had to be cancelled since Pierre was going on a business trip to Switzerland, Martin was going to Belgium for a family gathering at his grandparents’, and L was taking Amber that night to see the fireworks. That prick! I never saw him that happy just to see the fireworks.   That day, he told me that he needed my help with transporting them when they had decided on a date. If it was an emergency and they had to drop everything, then I would have to help them with their luggage. He gave me his copy of the key to keep.   “Okay. That’s fine by me, but are you fine with that?” I had asked.   His forehead creased in confusion. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”   “Well, if you have to drop everything, then that means you guys haven’t packed. You wouldn’t mind me going through Amber’s luggage and washing?” I arched my eyebrows with an amused smirk.   Realising what I was implying, his eyes burned with fury and his face contorted in anger. “I’ll make sure she packs bit by bit okay!”   Unfortunately, I failed to hold my laughter and was practically rolling around my bed clutching my stomach. I had to thank him for giving me the opportunity to make abs there and then.   “It’s not funny!” he snarled, his voice rising.   As much as I wished they could leave in a nicely planned situation, it turned out that they had to leave without preparation. I received a text from L on New Year, but it wasn’t to wish me a ‘Happy New Year’ like I was expecting. It was to tell me to send their luggage to Toulouse. I realised that something must have happened and he briefly told me that they were kidnapped by Uncle last night. I told him that I would send their stuffs, though I couldn’t help n