>>Amber

He chuckled at my frustration.

"That's a secret,"

I rolled my eyes and turned around to leave. As I limped towards the cafe, I heard the people around me notice me.

"Oh, she's back."

Oh no,

I recognized the voice.

As I approached the entrance, a group of children playing nearby caught sight of me and erupted into giggles, their laughter echoing in the quiet morning air. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment because I knew they were laughing at my limp,

"Hey, look at her! She walks like a duck!" one of the children called out, his voice dripping with cruel amusement.

"Yeah, what's wrong with your leg, lady? Did you forget how to walk or something?" Another brat chimed in, his words punctuated by a chorus of snickers from his companions.

I felt a lump form in my throat as I clenched my fists, "You better shut up, you little brat."

"What are you gonna do?" Nim, the brattiest brat out of all of them stuck his tongue out at me, "Come after me?" He laughed, "You can't even run,"

He gave me a headache, "Wait, till I see your dad," He was only ten so this was the only thing I could do. My words made him freeze.

He was clearly scared, but he still chose to run his mouth, "As if my dad would listen to a cripple!" He stuck his tongue out to me and then ran away. The other kids followed him

I shook my head at him, then glanced back at Hael

He was staring at the kids with his hands behind his back, and a poker face.

>>Hael

Something tugged in my chest. I was having this irksome feeling I couldn't exactly define right.

Am I angry?

...

Ah,

It made me mad that she was being made fun of. I didn't like it. Not one bit. I can ignore anything pretty easily, but I can't seem to ignore this.

It's refusing to leave my mind.

The children have run off and yet still there is this weird sensation in me.

>>Amber

What the hell is going through his mind? He keeps staring off into space.

The kids aren't even there anymore, just what is he looking at?

"I'm leaving now," I grabbed the entrance door-handle, "You can go too."

His gaze traveled to me but before he could say anything, I heard the voice of another child.

"Miss Amber!!!"

Of course, I recognized this voice too. A smile appeared on my face when I turned and looked at her. This was that one kid I was really fond of.

"Rika,"

She came running over with something clutched in her hand. She didn't stop till the time she reached me, and when she did pull her breaks, she was out of breath.

"I'm here!" She panted, "I didn't-" She breathed out loudly, "Get to show you-" She was wheezing at this point, "Last time,"

Looking at that tiny grandma made me chuckle. "What did you want to show me?" My question made her eyes sparkle. It was like she was waiting for me to ask her that

"This!!" He raised her balled fist, "Look at this star, miss Amber!" She opened her hand and showed me a yellow-gold plush star, "It's my treasure!" It was the size of a tennis ball, maybe a little smaller.

"Really?" I crouched down, "It's very pretty!"

"I know!!" Hael watched us and Rika noticed him. Although Hael has a poker face on, his good looks work for him to get kids to ease around him, "See!" She showed it to him too excitedly.

"See what?" Hael replied crudely and I glared at him.

"It's my treasure," Rika replied.

"Okay," Hael replied, "And?"

Oh! This heartless person! For a kid, things like these are their world! I stood up and stepped towards him to tell him to be nice.

"Nothing," Rika brought the star near her chest and squeezed it between her hands, "I just wanted to show it to you."

"Why?" Hael asked and I elbowed his arm

"What are you doing!" I whispered.

Rika looked at him innocently, "Because it's my treasure."

Hael ignored me and crouched down, "It's just a stupid star, there's nothing good about it."

"Hael!" I called his name in anger but I wasn't the only one offended. Rika was too, in fact, she was furious.

"It's not a stupid star!" Her emotions showed on her face, "It's what my mama made!"

!!!

I got a gist of what was happening.

"So?" Hael folded his arms, the blank expression of unamusement refused to leave his face.

"It was the last thing she made for me before she died." She was fuming, "That's why it's my treasure!" She clutched it near her heart, "It's very important." She looked at him with tears in her eyes, "It's my last memory of her."

Oh...

My heart melted

I walked closer to her and crouched down again, "That's wonderful Rika," I patted her head, "Be sure to keep it safe then."

I had to step in. I doubt Hael would understand anything like that so I had to and thankfully, my actions calmed Rika down

"Yes!" She beamed, "I will,"

"Rika?" Ahin's voice made its way to us.

"Brotha!" Rika's eyes lit up when she turned around and saw her older brother. Ahin stood at the edge of the street and his little sister bolted towards him.

I stood up again and watched as Rika jumped into Ahin's arms and he picked her up.

"So they're siblings," Hael was not pleased.

I looked at him in annoyance, "Hael, she's a kid whose mother died not too long ago. Can't you try and be kind to her?"

"..." He didn't look back at me. Instead, he kept his eyes on the siblings.

"Hael!" I called out to him again, "I'm talking to you,"

He still refused to look at me, but he did answer, "The last gift from a mom is precious?" He raised his brows but it didn't look like he was asking me, it looked like he was questioning himself. Then he scoffed, "As if,"

I didn't know what to say in response to that. So I turned to look at the siblings as well. They both then waved at me and I smiled as I waved back at them.

Hael looked at me, "What do you even see in that idiot?"

!?!?!?

I didn't expect him to ask me something like that. I looked back at him awkwardly

"Um," I don't even know in which context he's asking me that, "He's sweet, and cute "

Hael's eyebrows twitched, his mood seemed to turn sour, "Hm," He turned around, "I'll pick you up in a day,"

"Wait, what?!" I shot my head at him, "You said, I could rest for days?!"

"Not anymore,"

"Hael!"

"One day," He said and then he disappeared into thin air

WHAT THE HELL!!?!?!? THIS JERK!?!?!?!?

***

I had the cafe open again and told my employees to keep it running even if I'm not here. The word was going to spread that this cafe was owned by a saint and people were going to crowd in here for no reason at all, so I told them to keep it open from 12 pm to 7 pm only.

"So," Ahin sat on the counter stool while Rika sat beside him, drinking her juice, "You know the Master?"

I had a rag in my hand with which I was cleaning the counter, "Uh," I let out an awkward chuckle, "Yea,"

"How?" He asked, "He's pretty famous for his unknown origins,"

I pursed my lips, then smacked them, "Well," Part of his unknown origin is because I was very possessive of him and didn't want people to see him, "We share some history," And the other half, it's something I'm not aware of as well.

I never asked him.

"Come to think of it, I don't think you told anyone where you came from either." He was curious. I glanced around subtly. And it seems many other people were as well.

"I would like to keep my past to myself." I said firmly.

All the faces in the cafe fell.

Sorry guys, but it's not happening.

"So, it seems that you and the master share something special," Ahin looked down.

Oh no!

"I don't mean it in any odd way," I replied, "It's just," He raised his face to look at me, "It's complicated and I don't want to go back to it." I managed to say something.

Ahin stared at me for a while, then he placed his arms on the counter and leaned forward, "Amber," He had a serious look on his face, "Is there something between you and Master Hael?"

My soul left my body

"W-what?" I was baffled, "No!" I shook my head at him, "What even made you assume that?!"

He stood up, "Are you sure?" I didn't realize it then but he seemed to have narrowed the distance between us then.

"Yes!" I replied firmly, "Why would there be anything between us! He's simply going to be my mentor!"

"Which is actually pretty odd." His face leaned in towards mine.

"Well," I could not argue with that. But it was at the moment I realized how close Ahin was to me, "Ahin?"

"Amber," He looked into my eyes as he whispered, "Can I kiss you?"

!!!?

My heart skipped a beat.

"Yes?" That was not an affirmation. It was a question, a confused question but it came out as something else. And once I said it, Ahin moved it to kiss me.