Those pair of eyes were staring at him calmly, showing no guilt, or any sign of bad news. Key didn’t understand which part of this whole situation had a good side of it. None, he thought. None of it was worth a smile.

But Lee Jieun was still smiling at him.

“You and your people are crazy. YOU- -“ Key stopped. He had no more words to describe how he felt.

IU opened the door of the sedan for him, “Park Jin Young-nim is waiting for you inside.” she said, with the same calm and polite expression she had been using for the past few minutes.

They were standing in front of the Louis Vuitton store as written on the memo, but of course thinking that the meeting place would be inside the store was a huge mistake.

Entering the black Hyundai limousine, Key carefully sat on the stretched leather sofa. It was spacious  inside, but there was no one there. So the question for him was, “Where is this Park Jin Young guy?”

“Ah, Kim Kibum-ssi, thank you for coming.”

A little hole near the sun roof clicked and an image of Park Jin Young in a sleek black tuxedo was projected toward the sofa across where Key was sitting. The holographic man sat comfortably at the sofa, as if he was really there, -he even crossed his leg- anyone would be fooled by the quality of this realistic hologram.

Key then waited for the man to speak. He knew this guy was the one paying for his father’s charges at the hospital, and he couldn’t wait to hear what the man has to say about it.

“About your father’s accident- -“

“You meant the failed attempted murder?” Key couldn’t hold back his sarcasm.

JYP only nodded in silence. He no longer crossed his legs, and Key caught a moment when his hologram glitch. “Kim Daegu is a friend of mine, Key.”

The laid back and cheerful hologram in front of him somehow changed in a blink of an eye. JYP’s attempt to appear calm and everything just crumbled a few moments ago. But that didn’t grow any sympathy inside Key.

“I care about him, about you and your mom. Something like this should’ve never happened to your family.”

“Abeoji doesn’t seem to like you that much. What makes you think he’ll receive help from you?”

 JYP only cringed, “He doesn’t want his family to get involved. Kim Daegu has kept his distance from me ever since he married and had a family.”

The man pulled something out of his inside pocket, and showed him a holographic photograph. “This was our last time together, at his wedding.” he said, pointing at the younger version of Kim Daegu and himself, as the groom and his best man at the day of the happy wedding. There were no sign of burden in that picture, and everything inside that photo seemed like a fairytale, compared to what Key sees now. He had never seen his father with a smile so wide before.

“But what I’m going to do after this, will go against his will.” he continued, slipping the photo back inside his jacket. “Did you know that, the real target of tonight’s shooting was not your father?”

Key scoffed, “Ah. Of course. Of course it’s me. I knew it. Abeoji doesn’t have any enemy. It’s me. They want me, so they could get Amber. “

JYP nodded, “I’m glad you’ve learnt the situation. But the real deal is, once you get off from this car tonight, I hope you would do exactly as I say, and you would move only on the path that I think is safe. Do you understand?”

“What do you mean? And why would I do that?”

“Because Amber’s life could be in danger. She just unlocked the Profiler, and Hero was finally located. My girls got there and found Amber’s been shot, unfortunately, after the culprit managed to escape.”

“Shot..?!” that was the only thing grabbing his attention. Seeing his dad collapsed and bleed on their balcony a few hours ago had made him suffered enough. He didn’t need to suffer twice. But the picture of Amber lying helplessly on the ground, with blood and a bullet inside her chest was unbearable. He could see her pale face, and her eyelids slowly closing down..

“Calm down. She’s alright and I believe is being treated at the hospital as we’re speaking. Key? Are you listening?”

“Key?”

“Just tell me what I need to do.”

***

Two guards outside the door, Jia was making a call at the sofa stretched at the corner of the room, and one camera bug at the ceiling. Amber had been observing everything from her bed and so far, it was impossible for her to talk to Jia without spilling anything. Heechul was watching her, and she bet those guards were hired to make sure she stay in bed for the rest of the day.

A few hours ago, the doctor got the bullet out of her shoulder, and since then agents have been put to guard her 24/7. A search for the killer of Dr. Noh has been conducted, and both Suzy and Jia suspected nothing out of Heechul. The traitor himself had gone to find the Hero with the false information Amber gave. She just hoped it would buy her enough time until he realized the real Profiler hadn’t been unlocked.

“Hoy...” that was the only way she could think of to attract Jia’s attention. She needed to keep in mind all the time that Heechul’s bug was eyeing her every move.

“Ah, I’ll call you back later! Neh. Tell Fei eonnie to get some rest!” Jia said before hanging up her phone. She moved next to her bed, asking if she needed anything. Amber wanted to shout it out loud, going a-z about how Heechul kill Dr. Noh and that the bullet in her shoulder was all thanks to him, but that little camera was watching. That little black dot sticking at the ceiling like a mere dirt.

“Want me to call the doctor?” she asked again, worried.

Amber shook her head, while trying to figure out a way out of this. Out of here. But first, she needed to get away from the bug.

“No, I’m okay.. ” she said, trying to come up with something, “..eh, but I need to sit, my back hurts.”

“Wait, let me find the buttons.” Jia said quickly, and soon adjusting her bed to a more comfortable position. The tomboy winced in pain, letting out a little fake cry as she moved herself to a sitting position. Jia looked worried and once again offering her to get the doctor, but of course the tomboy refused. From the corner of her eyes, she checked on the two guards outside her door. They seemed not to be bothered by any sounds from the room. They just stood still, being a well-trained guard dogs.

She leaned back to her bed, and waited until Jia returned to her sofa on the far corner of the room, which was fortunately, the blind spot of the camera. Straightening up her position, making sure that the camera couldn’t catch her face, she began her code.

At first Jia wasn’t paying attention to her -she was still busy reporting to base with her laptop and making calls- but after a few minutes of desperate attempt, Jia finally turned her head.

Slowly the agent moved her attention to the girl on the bed.

Amber was just there, sitting. Staring at her. Not even mouthing words or making hand signals. But Jia knew the tomboy was trying to tell her something. And so the next few minutes felt like a staring contest between the two. That was until Jia finally saw it. The code.

H.E.E.C.H.U.L

Jia stayed in silence, watching Amber’s eyes blinked over and over in a counted manner.

S.H.O.T

Amber knew Jia had read her code, but just to make sure, she blinked her eyes again in the morse code, repeating those words a couple more times until Jia finally nodded to her. She could see how Jia wanted to know more by the way she was looking at her.

M.E

Heechul shot me.

Without words, Jia swiftly left the room. Amber thought she was handling the guards outside, but instead when she returned, a nurse was following her from behind, pushing a wheel chair into her room. Jia pulled her arm, making her sit at the wheel chair and before she could ask, she had been wheeled out of the room by the nurse. The guards looked surprised, one of them stepped forward, blocking the hallway, but Jia simply pushed him to the side. “Can’t you see? We’re in a hurry! Make sure no one goes into the room!” she barked, shutting them off before the nurse pushed Amber further through the hallway.

“Thank you!” Jia grinned at the nurse, before they were finally left alone in the empty corridor. Without guards peeking, without cameras watching this time.

“Heechul shot you? What do you mean?”

Jia knelt in front of her wheel chair. It was as if she pleaded her not to tell the truth, but simply to say no. Amber only sighed. “Didn’t you guys check the bullet?” she asked the agent back, and Jia nodded weakly.

“It could be a coincidence. The bullet came from a very typical glock, anyone can get that gun. It can’t be him.” she insisted.

Amber couldn’t wait any longer, and so she told her everything. Jia tried to cut her between her sentences, but she kept on talking until the part where Heechul forced her to unlock the Profiler.

“I was wrong.” she scoffed, “G-Dragon was with him. Heechul paid him to get me to Japan. To unlock the Profiler.” a bitterness sank deep within her voice. It was too late when she realized how ‘nice’ G-Dragon was to her. Popping up suddenly, being a hope for her. She didn’t realize how fake everything was, until he betrayed her.

“But.. Heechul oppa..” the cat-eyed girl was still kneeling in front of her, piercing her eyes, hoping to find any flaws in it. But Amber didn’t lie and she could tell easily. She just refused to believe it.

“JYP trusts him!” Jia said, deciding it was time to get back to the room as she wheeled Amber to the opposite direction. “There must be a reason..”

Amber stretched one leg to the floor, braking her wheel chair manually, “Yah! Listen to me!” she said, and Jia finally stopped her wheel chair. “If he really wanted to help finding this Hero guy, he would’ve told you girls about me unlocking the Profiler. He wouldn’t have shot me, Jia. He wouldn’t.”

The agent stayed still, not giving any respond. Lifelessly she fished out her phone, pressing the last caller id on her phone. Amber moved her own wheel chair, spinning it carefully to face the agent.

“Heechul oppa? When are you coming back?”

. . .

“Ani, aniyo. It’s just, we need you to describe the man who shot Amber.”

. . .

“Alright. Thank you oppa. Take care!”

Amber waited. Jia slipped her phone back and took a long deep breath.

“He said he didn’t see the shooter.”

“Now you believe me?”

“I’ll.. give Suzy a call.” said Jia as she wheeled Amber back to her room. Without even seeing her face, Amber could tell the girl behind her was severely hurt. Her voice sounded so hollow while she was telling Suzy everything.

***

The woman took her time, sipping her tea gracefully. Her black and golden kimono complimented her beautiful figure. A pair of golden wings was placed to knot her simple hair bun, shining under the dim lighting of the room. Yunho was watching in silence as she put her glass down and greeted him with her charismatic glance.

“Tea?” she asked while pouring herself another portion of tea.

Sitting impatiently across the table, Yunho shook his head. “I don’t have much time.”

The woman gently put her glass down, before touching one of the golden wings on her hair. With the press of a button, the traditional japanese atmosphere melted away as the sliding paper door behind her automatically clicked, slowly parting the wall, revealing a sleek, moden room equipped with high definition screens and monitors. Even though this wasn’t the first time Yunho saw this part of the house, a glimpse of amazement was caught on his face.

“Definitely not Kwon Boa if it’s other than extraordinary.” he stood up, speading his view around the monitors surrounding both of them. Each of them displayed a different person, a different location, and a different time.

BoA chuckled casually, “Thank you.” as she moved toward the main monitor across the room, displaying a satellite view of Japan. “Fukuoka, huh? So what are you doing here in Tokyo then?”

Ignoring her little question, Yunho traced the monitor, as if trying to reveal a secret out of the screen. The woman next to him only smiled, “I haven’t sent my men anywhere. Don’t get your hopes up- -”

But as soon as she said that, a spot on Fukuoka blinked, opening up a new window. Yunho scoffed as soon as the face of Max popped on the screen.

“Thank you, but I’ve got my own men.” he smirked before continuing, “But I do need your help on one more thing.”

“Anything.” BoA smiled, returning to her table for another cup of tea.

“I need you to keep an eye on Kim Heechul, he’s up to something.”

“I thought he was one of the JYP kids?” she said, pouring her green tea half-full.

But Yunho had slid the door open, “Apparently not anymore. He betrayed them.” he said, and nodded politely to her before vanishing behind the sliding door. “I’m going to greet my brother now.”

***

“No one is allowed to enter, sir.”

Max seemed to be surprised. “Why? Agent Suzy gave me a permission.” he confidently squeezed himself between the two bodyguard, only to be caught and shoved away. The bodyguards completely blocked the door. He sighed. “Call her. Call Suzy if you don’t believe me. Or Jia. Or Fei, or Min. Call them all.” he challenged the bodyguards.

One of them hesitated, but eventually took his cellphone and reached one of the Miss A. “Excuse me ma’am. There’s a guy insisting to enter the room.”

“Who?”

The guard held the phone with one hand, “Sir, your name?”

“Max.”

“Ma’am, he claimed to be Max.”

“Check his legs.” Suzy said from the other line.

The guard felt the order was somewhat weird, but he did it anyway. He lifted both of his pants, and was quite shocked when he found his left leg was a prosthetic one.

“Prosthetic leg on the left, ma’am.”

“That’s Max. Let him in. He had called me earlier.”

“Yes ma’am.” the guard replied, before turning his attention back to Max. “Sorry for the inconvenience, sir. Please.” he said, opening the door for him.

***

Once again Amber was facing the Profiler. Though this time, without any threats or camera bug to spy on her. Jia gave her laptop back to her, and until both she and Suzy found out the truth about Heechul, she was asked to stay in the hospital.

For some reasons, she liked the idea.

Alone with her laptop, having all the fresh air to herself, this was always better than running away. From the cold nights full of doubts and fears. A time alone was all she needed.

“How was Detective Kim?” that was what she asked Jia two hours ago.

“He’s alright, don’t worry. His wife is there, his relatives were also there.” Jia said, and for the first time she sounded like a mother to her. Usually she was way more hiperactive, and not to mention, annoying. But it seemed that Heechul’s investigation had been stressing her out, bringing up her serious side to the surface.

“What about Key? He must be devastated..”

Jia only gave her a grin instead of an answer. Only until a few seconds later she responded, “Key is fine. He’s taking care of everything.”

She wanted to ask further, but she held it back. Maybe knowing that Key’s alive and alright was enough for her. Maybe she didn’t want any explanations.

“Miss Liu, you have a guest.”

One of her guards outside called her, popping her little daydream. A figure so familiar walked in, with a bouquet of white roses in his hand.

The tomboy expected a cool, proudful greeting out of him, but all she got was a hug. A big comforting hug she had almost forgotten. She could feel his arm wrapping her cold back, and the scent of cookies and chocolate milk dancing in her head.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” he said behind her back with a hoarse yet husky voice. Shen was no longer a child. The scent of cookies was slowly replaced by a masculine fragrance. He is Max, not Shen anymore, Amber reminded herself.

She was still inside his endless hug, glancing at the white roses at the end of her bed. A soft chuckle escaped her lips, “Those flowers gave me the creeps. Throw it away dude~”

Max sniffed, finally released her from his hug. “I just brought it with me coz it suits me.” he said jokingly, moving the bouquet to her bedside. Then he sat by the side of the bed, watching her watching him.

His eyes then moved toward her shot shoulder. “Is it hurt?”

“Yah. Of course it is! A bullet tore my muscle, of course it hurts.”  

Max couldn’t hide his concerns as he smiled awkwardly to her.

Trying to come up with a conversation, Amber broke the ice, “Suzy said you’re helping JYP now..?”

Max quickly smiled, “Well, you can put it that way.”

“Actually, there’s something I want to-  -“

Max took out an envelope from his inside pocket. Amber opened a folder on her laptop.

Both of them stopped, waiting for each other to speak.

“What’s that?” she asked first, seeing the yellowish worn out envelope.

The guy simply handed her the envelope, “Read it.”

‘1 2 4 7 3 1 7’

Amber, you still remember what I taught you, right?

You’ll need it someday.

Appa is going somewhere far far away.

You’re going to be on your own. But you won’t be alone. Appa has friends that are going to look after you. Be good to them, okay?

Don’t eat ramen, don’t hack into the school’s computer.

Just be good okay? Be good and make me proud.

-L.M.H-

“Mwo..mwoya..” Amber could recognize his father’s handwriting right away. “What is this, Max?”

“Remember the one I gave you before? I made that one. This one is the real letter.” he said, and quickly added, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Amber still remembered a piece of note he gave her on the night he gave her a ride on a motorcycle. She kept it well in her backpack and never pick it out, afraid that the worn out paper might get torn or wet. Still staring confusedly at the guy before her, she dug into her backpack that she kept behind her pillow, and opened a few zippers until finally she got the little note out.

It was the exact same type of paper and handwriting.

‘1 2 4 7 3 1 7’

My little Amber cracked it, I’m so proud of her!

Changmin, if you read this, you’ll know that I trust my daughter to you.

Take good care of her...

P.S : She doesn’t like wearing skirts, just go with it, arasseo?

-L.M.H-

“So you mean.. this one is not my father’s letter?” she waved the note to him, “You forged my father’s letter? But why..?”

The guy fixed his sitting position on her bed before taking the note in her hand and ripped it into two. “At that time, it was the only way to make you trust me. I’m sorry. There’s a lot of things I need to tell you..”

“But that can wait, Max.”

Another voice entered the room as they were speaking. Max stiffened at the sight of him and Amber quickly shoved her laptop into her backpack, throwing it under her bed. Jung Yunho stride in and took a seat on one of the sofas. The first thing caught her attention were those splatter of blood on his leather coat. She quickly peeked outside, her guards were already lying on the floor.

“Found you.” he said it cheerfully as he grinded his smile towards Max. Amber could feel Max silently clasping her hand between his fingers.

“You know Max, I went to a fortune-teller the other day. The lady said I was going to see two very important people before me.” he continued with a wicked chuckle, “I didn’t know the other one would be our dear Raven...” he said, smirking like a victor.

***

to be continued...

Hi guys :D

Sorry for the super-late-update TvT~

Been struggling with life and got a massive writer block too OTL

Happy Belated New Year~^o^!

One of my resolution for 2013 is to finish Day X Night, so thank you for those who had been staying with DXN since 2011 //sobs sobs// TTvTT

Thanks for reading and subscribing!

And guys, don't forget to leave your comment below, let me know what you think~ OTL I'm sounded so desperate. XDD

Anyways, good day!