Amber POV

This morning might be the noisiest morning I have ever experienced. I woke up with sunlight striking into my face and a lot of laughter surrounding me. I looked around, thinking that it must be Dara and Minzy…but I was wrong. Well, the ‘Dara’ part was right. But all I saw were Dara and Bom.

Wait, Bom ??

“Bom eonnie?” I felt my voice sounded a bit throaty. Morning syndrome.

The cute looking girl turned to me while eating her corn, “Aaaaah Amber !” then she jumped on me, pressed me until it suffocates me, “Ugh…eonnie…Let go of me!” and I could hear Dara eonnie’s laughing, “Yah! Don’t kill her ! YAH…”

The red-haired girl giggled and slowly stood up off me. I sat and and couldn’t help but smiling at them. This gang is always so cheerful, especially when Dara meets Bom, the two of them could go crazy, really crazy. Just like Luna and Vic omma who’s always love to laugh on their own ridiculous acts. Then Krystal would put up her cold face and Sulli would go blank… Ah that’s right, I haven’t meet those girls for… 3 days now? I really need to find a way to solve this thing. Whatever it is.

“Hey are you awake? Hello hello hello~~ ”Dara waved her hands at my face.

“Oh ! Hehehe…I am, I am…” I replied stupidly.

Dara jumped off the bed, “Then come on, Chae Rin is making us beef fried rice ! Uuuummmm…”

Aaaah…just like Vic omma. She usually makes rice balls for us whenever we have a sleepover…

“Ah okay, I’ll catch up with you later !” I said when Dara and Bom left the bedroom happily.

I immediately searched for that black patch under my pillow, but it wasn’t there anymore. I kicked my blanket and even flipped over my bed, but it still couldn’t be found. I went under Dara’s bed, just in case I accidentally pushed it over there in my sleep. But still, I couldn’t find it.

Great. That’s my only device to contact anyone now.

You see, Suzy came over last night and took away my cellphone. In return, Jia came later and gave me that little patch. Actually I found that patch really cool, since I could appear as a hologram. But what’s important now is I NEED to contact them. I hate to put myself in this kind of ‘I-need-you-MissA’ situation, but I really have no choice now.

I rushed down to the first floor and I could sniff a delicious smell from the kitchen. I almost forgot that I’m staying in the kinkiest house I’ve ever been in my life, seeing that rustic ceiling and how some old plushie toys are hanging down awkwardly from the attic.

“Uuuh maa !” I could hear the girls squealing over CL eonnie’s fried rice. Minzy’s there too, bugging around the small dining table. It’s actually not practically a ‘table’. I think it’s a part of a car body, that had been fixed with a square glass on top of it, because I can see the speedometer and the steering wheel right underneath the glass. Even the chairs are…no doubt, taken from the car seats, with black leather covering it. They got really cool stuffs here.

“Uwooo smells great !!” I came down faster and approached the amazing chef, “Chae Rin eonnie !”

CL wasn’t looked surprise to see me –the girls must have told her about my stay over- and told us to sit, “Amber!”, then she turned to Dara, “Yah eonnie you’re not helping…” she scolded herwho’s playing lazily on the sofa and Dara just grinned when she was scolded.

All five of us finally circling the table and started digging the fried rice right away. Chae Rin eonnie asked, “Amber ah, I heard you’re taking Performing Arts now?”

I was surprised,  while spooning fried rice into my mouth, “Ouff...Yeffs, iffs ffun !”

Minzy looked interested, “Really? I bet there are a lot of talented kids studying there... Do you guys compose music and danceeveryday, or something like that?”

I laughed, “Aaah...not everyday. We have another subjects too to attend. But when you’re a senior you can choose your major. Vocal, Dance, Theater, anything offered.”

I could see Minzy’s eyes shined brighter than before.She wondered,“Waah... Maybe I should really think about enrolling there. There must be plenty th...”

“Aaaiiish !” I cursed when my chopstick fell under the table. I bent under the table to grab it back and that’s when I saw my black patch on Dara’s knee. I took a breath and quickly peeled it off her knee. I could see Dara was a bit surprised and I was waiting for her to yell or something. But all she did was just scratching her knee –maybe thinking it was just an itch- and got right back to her eating.

Phew…

I exhaled deeply while sticking those patch safely behind my neck. If this little thing is the only way I could communicate with anybody, then I’ll keep it at any costs.

You sure are giving me a hard time, Miss A…

***

The sound of his breath echoed inside, as he lay on the grass field, catching up his breath. Max panted hard and wondered if those Miss A girls are still chasing him.

It doesn’t matter now, what’s important now is I need to find her.

He got up fast and jumped on his bike, ready to pull a thorough search of Raven.

What could possibly be the best place you’re hiding at now?

Meanwhile, Fei is watching him from afar, reporting his movements to Jia through her communicator. “He’s moving.”

***

Jonghyun cried a lot last night. Key could tell easily by looking at his swollen eyes. That playboy drove both of them to the campus with full confident though, ignoring Key’s glances at him. They both know they’re thinking the same issue, and they chose not to talk about it in this early morning.

Jonghyun parked his car at his favorite spot and grabbed his backpack at the back seat before locking up the car behind. Key’s walking side to side with him in silent.

“When will your morning class end? “ asked Key all of a sudden.

Jonghyun hummed, “Around…10, maybe. Wae?”

Key smirked, “When you’re done, meet me at the cafeteria. We’ll confront Suzy together. Are you in?”

The frown on Jonghyun’s face slowly disappeared, “YAH. Why wait till the class is over? Let’s find her now !”

“I’m already here..”

The boys turned around when a sweet college girl’s smiling at them. But that’s not what shocked them. Next to Suzy, is the thai boy (and Victoria’s admirer), Nichkhun.

Key stepped up and looked at Suzy in the eyes, “We need to talk.”

Nichkhun smiled awkwardly, “Oh..then I guess I’m going in first..” before he finally left the parking lot and entered the main building.

Jonghyun stormed, “Great. So is he related to any of this too? Who else?!”

Suzy shook her head, “Aniyo… Nichkhun-ssi knows nothing. He’s just helping Victoria tutoring me.”

The three of them threw glances to each other until Key said, “Let’s go somewhere else. Then we could talk properly.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have that much time. But don’t worry, I’ll text you the info later, arasseo? Bye now!”

Right when Suzy was about to pass them, Key held her arm tightly, “I said, we need to talk.”

Suzy turned around and managed to freed her arm from Key, and before he realized, she’s now already locking his arms behind his back. Key tried to free himself but he couldn’t. Jonghyun stepped in to help but Suzy easily tackled him, sent him to the cold cement.

“I said, I’ll text you later.” Suzy stressed out every words.

Key scoffed, “Cchh…how could I trust someone like you?”

“You don’t have to trust me if you don’t want to. I just want you to stay out of it for now. Is that so hard to do?” she let go of him and fixed her clothings.

Key trembled inside but he managed to hold it down. “Just… give me one perfect reason to trust Amber to you…”

Suzy gave him an assuring smile, “Because she’s precious. We won’t let anything happen to her. Is that enough for you?”

Jonghyun grabbed her shoulders, “HEY. Tell me what’s your intention.”

Suzy pushed him off, “I really don’t have time for explanations, okay? Just back off and leave her to us. We’ll take care of her.”

***

“What’s up people !” shouted CL to the little crowd surrounding them. While Minzy is setting up the boombox behind them and Bom is giving a final touch to Dara’s palm hair.

Amber is trapped between her anxiety and excitement at the same time. She didn’t know that there will be so many viewers when those girls stepped into the street. Well, their fierce make up and costumes are pretty attractive indeed, for a street performance. But still, she doesn’t really confident with it.

The tomboy walked awkwardly to CL, “Eonnie, is it really okay?”

CL laughed, “Wae? It is. It’s perfectly fine! Come on, prepare yourself !”

Amber didn’t have a choice but to let Bom do whatever she wants on her face, while she’s scanning the crowd and the passerby, staying alerted. Actually there’s a suspicious guy wearing a loose t-shirt while eating his donut, staring directly at her. But the one who caught her attention is an ahjeossi next to him, who’s keep mumbling to himself.

Oh my…don’t tell me…

She’s scanning more and found another similar weird-looking ahjeossi all over the place. There’s about 5 or 6 ahjeossi, blending with the crowd and passerby, even though they’re not staring sharply at her, it’s enough to tell that she’s their target. She looked up to check the building and found 2 more, silently observing her.

Arrrgh they’re fast.

Minzy the boombox and a familiar song burst into the air. CL clapped and dived into the beat, leading the rest of the girls to sing with her. Amber wore Minzy’s spiky cap and covered half of her face. She knew it’s stupid but it’s the least she could do. Who knows what those undercover cops might do to Minzy and the girls, just because they’re related to her?

Bom is singing now, and the crowd is getting bigger than before. Amber couldn’t focus to the lyrics so she’s just lip-syncing, while observing those men from under her cap. She just saw one of them mumbling again, talking through the communicator inside his ears. Without even looking, Amber knew that some agents have been added to the crowd, blocking every single point for her to run away now.

Dara dragged her along while singing, pushed her to sing her part too. She didn’t take her eyes off those agents though. Whenever she moves, one of them will scratch their nose, or brush their hair with fingers. They’re just keep exchanging codes to each other, the codes that only mean one thing for Amber : “She’s being hunted down.”

But then she saw her. Walking within the pedestrian, along the boutique and clothing store.

Nicole…?

***

Key POV

“…yeah…totally ! I love those cardigan. I always love their ideas !” I’m still lingering over the cardigan we just saw on the last shop.

Nicole couldn’t be more excited either, “Yeah, they have the cutest collections this season ! Don’t you think it’ll go well with my shoes ?” she kicked her feet to show her sneakers.

I smiled, “It goes well !  Anything goes well on you…”

After college, I tried to find Suzy again, but she was nowhere to be found. Taemin and the others are practicing their choreography while the girls are trying hard to not thinking about Amber. Me and Jonghyun have promised to not tell anything to the girls. Even the boys haven’t known about this ‘fake-Amber’ thing. But I’m afraid Minho will find out, you know, he’s the type that can’t be easily fooled.

Then Nicole dragged me for a little shopping spree, and I guess it’s a perfect way to cool down my head. She never fails in making me smile. I feel like I’m not alone when being with her… and as much as I hate my stress, I wanna enjoy my time with her as joyful as possible.

“Hmm…what’s that over there ?” she pointed at the crowd across the street. I could hear an upbeat song slightly within the traffic crowds.

“Street performance, I guess?” I said, and suddenly I’ve followed her going across the street.

***

Amber POV

YAH !

YAH !

What are you doing ?

I saw Nicole and Key coming this way and the agents are exchanging codes. Maybe they realized that Key has just got himself into this area. Oh my god, what should I do..

Suddenly Dara whispered in my ears, “It’s your part. Come on !”

I snapped out of it and confusedly sing,

“Deo meotjin sarang mannalgae

Neol huhwaehagae mandeuleo julgae

Seulpeumeun jigeum ppooniya, boy

Cause love is over, love, love is over tonight…”

Then I saw Key and Nicole squeezing themselves within the crowd… The agents are slowly moving behind him.

“ GO GO AWAY ! E - e - e - e !

Come on Key, read me !

GO AWAY ! E - e - e - e !

KEY ! GO AWAY, leave !

GO AWAY ! E - e - e - e !

Leave, you don’t have to get involved in this...

GO AWAY ! E - e - e. . . ”

I saw Key’s smiling while watching us sing and dance. Along with Nicole, they’re just one of the viewers who’s enjoying our performance. He didn’t seem to notice me, and I don’t know if I should feel glad about that or what. I just want him to leave immediately. This situation just doesn’t feel right.

VROOOOM !! VROOOM !!!

I turned around, well everybody’s turning around now, looking at the bike rider crushing over the scene. Minzy turned off the song and Dara is frozen at her spot, looking at the all-black motorcycle rider coming our way.

“Jump !” that rider screamed to me from inside his helmet, tapping the back seat of his motorcycle.

I could see the agents started moving all together, ready to block this rider. I don’t know why but I instinctively jumped to the back seat just as he said. The rider kicked off the gas and cut through the crowd as fast as he could. I quickly checked through the rear mirror, just to make sure that those agents didn’t approached Key or something.

CLANK !

I felt a huge thump on the back of this bike and when I turned to check, the back light is already broken into pieces. I heard more gunshots from behind and turn outs those agents are shooting their glocks (a type of gun) at us.

I saw CL, Dara, Bom, and Minzy are looking at me in shock, I bet they’re wondering what’s going on now. I’m sorry girls. I can’t stay any longer with you while I’m still a fugitive like this.

CLANK !

“Take off my helmet !!” suddenly he shouted.

“What ??”

“Take it off and wear my helmet !! Do you wanna die ?!” he drifted his bike to another street where cars are flooding the street.

I took it off and was surprised to see his face reflected on the rear mirror.

“YOU ?!  Why… aiiish jinjja…what are you doing ??” I put the helmet back on his head, once I knew his identity.

Max sounded mad, “Put on the helmet, idiot ! They’re shooting bullets at us !”

“Stop this bike NOW.” I pressed my words as I grabbed the back of the motorcycle tightly, because this mad guy is speeding like crazy.

He sped up and cut the street with its blazing tires. I could almost think that we’ll crash to another car anytime now, but we’re still pretty much alive though.

And then questions started to fill up my head…

Why is he helping me? Didn’t he the one who set up me up?

Why should I trust him?

“Pabo!! Did you intend to invite the whole Seoul to watch you sing or what? You were lucky that some of your viewers are COPS. Are you happy ?!!” he shouted between the roar of the bike’s engine.

“Please, stop the bike. I can handle myself.” I ordered him once again.

He kept speeding this bike when suddenly a black van followed us. And when I feel the wind surrounding us getting stronger, I finally realize that a unit of helicopter is also flying above us.

“.” he cursed to himself.

***

Minzy looked like she’s almost crying when she picked up the boombox. The crowd has disappeared and is replaced by a group of cops and field agents. CL is being questioned by the cops, while Dara noticed someone familiar among those men.

She approached the fashionable slim figure, “Kim Kibum…?”

Key turned to her with a strange look on his face, “Um…yes..? Who are you?”

Dara chuckled, “Ah seriously, you didn’t remember me? How about Minzy ?”

“Ooooh Dara noona ! I didn’t notice before !” Key hugged her warmly. Nicole gave her a friendly smile too.

Key’s face turned hard, “Wait if you’re here… so what they said is true…” he hinted to the busy agents.

Dara seemed a bit confused, “Eeeh …um sorry…?”

“Was that, the boy who jumped to the bike…was that Amber?” asked Key heavily. He almost sounded like he caught a flu or something.

Dara nodded. “Yeah…could you please tell me what’s going on? What’s wrong with her apartment ? Who was that motorcycle rider?”

Ket twitched, “Apartment ? What did she say to you?”

“She said for some reason, her apartment is sealed and she need money to win it back. That’s why today we hold this performance to raise money, desperately.” she explained it fast in panic.

“That’s a lie.” Key mumbled. “Did she say anything else?”

Minzy came along, “Key oppa !”

Key greeted her shortly, “Minzy-ah…” before getting back to Dara, “Anything else?”

Dara stared at him painfully, “She didn’t say much. But she’s been acting weird tho, I thought that’s just because we haven’t met each other in a long time. What is going on…?”

Key hugged her once again, “Thank you, and you too, Minzy, for taking care of her. Really.”

Right when he was about to call one of the agent, he just realized that Nicole has been standing beside him all along. “Nicole…I…”

“Maybe I should..just go home. I don’t know what’s happening right now but, looks like you want to handle it.” she said understandingly.

Key held her shoulders, “Could you keep is a secret? I mean, don’t let people in college know any of this. Please?”

Nicole chuckled, “Sure… Do you think I’m that kind of person? I understand okay, though I’m actually not..”

Key kissed her cheek sweetly, “You’re the best ! Becareful on your way home, okay?”

“O..okay…” Nicole touched her cheek numbly, frozen by the kiss.

***

“JIA EONNIE !!!” shouted Min from the driver’s seat.

“ARASSEO !” Jia yelled back in a rush.

“I swear I’ve told Detective Kim to stay out of it !!” said Suzy in defense.

“Then tell me, why are these cops after her?” Fei replied madly while handing her a bulletproof vest.

“Meollayo !!” Suzy replied in panic.

Fei sighed, “This time, you better reveal our identity to the cops. If they’re not afraid of NATA, then they HAVE TO be respectful to our boss.”

***

to be continued...

sorry it took me a while to write this chapter >.<

Hope you enjoy it~

Thanks for reading and subscribing !

Comments are very welcome !