(Would comment of comment but I've been gone for so long that I can't even remember chapter 27 -.- thank you so, love you^^)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“I'm not going!” Amber threw dress at the door and rolled over on her side, all the while texting Kevin nonstop.

'this is so stupid, why do I even have to go to this stupid thing, it's not like anyone will even notice if I'm not there'

'I'm sure your Grandmother has a reason, she is pretty notorious for that~”

Amber chuckled, even if Kevin hadn't met her Grandmother yet he some how knew her already, 'you're probably right.'

“Amber if you're not ready in ten minutes I'm having Jonghyun take this door off it's hinges, do you want to be doorless for the rest of your high school career?”

She rolled her eyes then called out, “I'll be out in a second.” the typed quickly into her phone 'gotta go, she's threatening my door again~'

'Have fun Burry~ hope you feel better <3'

'Thanks Kev, hug Eel for me~”

She rolled off of her bed and picked up the yellow dress Myungsoo had helped her pick out and stared at it for a moment before setting it down and undressing from her Pjs. She hadn't really left the house since that night with GO, the only place she ever went was to the hospital to make sure Soyeon ate, other wise she stayed home or went to Dongwoo's, though he was rarely home since he was working two jobs during summer break.

She stared at her self for a moment, turning her body a bit to examine her self in her dress. She couldn't help remembering how happy she'd been that day when her and Myungsoo were shopping, she normally hated buying dresses but it'd been fun to be with him... she missed him... He hadn't called or showed his face since school let out, everytime she called it would go straight to message... Dongwoo wasn't much of a treasure trove of information about myungsoo either, every time Amber brought it up Dongwoo would find some way to change the subject.

Was he mad at her?

Myungsoo was such a strange guy, one moment he was the coolest guy on earth then the next he was Mr. Mystery, why couldn't he just be open and talkative like Dongwoo or blunt like GO? Alot of girls seemed to like that though, Myungsoo could probably have any girl if he wanted, he was just so quiet though...

“Are you done yet?” Grandmother growled as she pounded on the door.

“yeah yeah, I'm coming.” Amber rolled her eyes and quickly smoothed down her messy hair and grabbed her bag from her desk.

The event was at the hotel Seungho's family owned, something Amber dreaded since she knew he'd be there... not that he wouldn't of anyways, Soyeon had made it clear to her that since she was going to be there that he'd definitely be there as well. The ball room was elegant with spotless marble floors and light beige walls that were decorated with large paintings that Amber was sure were copies of originals by famous artists. People dresses in the most expensive materials mingled all around the room, most of them were older then Amber.

“Hey, glad you could make it.” Junsu beamed and quickly shook Jonghyun's hand, kissed Grandmother's knuckles and gathered Amber up in a bear hug, something that surprised Amber to no end.

“Wouldn't miss it for the world.” more like Grandmother wouldn't have allowed her to miss it, “i'm gonna go look around, is that alright?” She looked towards her Grandmother who waved her arm dismissively. Amber ducked into the crowd, no really sure what she was doing at a place like this. She felt out of place, everyone there looked older and seemed to know each other so well, not to mention this was the first time she'd ever seen her teachers outside of school, many of them joked and acted completely different then how they normally would.

If she had a choice she'd never go to a place like this, but then again, she wasn't really in the mood to be any where at the moment, all she wanted to do was go home to LA and cuddle with Kevin and Eli on Eli's couch and watch football or something car related. She desperately missed the smell of Car oil and Vanilla, everything lately smelled of hospitals.

“There you are!” Soyeon pulled Amber out of the crowd and into a more open area, “I've been looking for you everywhere.” Soyeon had on a short dark purple dress that fit her curves perfectly, you never would have guessed that she's been in the hospital for the past few weeks if you didn't already know it.

“ah, I was looking for you too unnie.” Amber lied and smiled at Soyeon- the truth was she'd been hoping to get lost in the crowd so Soyeon wouldn't be able to find her, but I guess that had been a stupid plan since she was wearing such bright colors. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Soyeon, she liked her well enough, it was just that where ever Soyeon was, Seungho was sure to- yep, there he was now, “Hey Seungho, you look good.”

“thanks- you shouldn't wander off so fast Soyeon, I almost lost you.”

Soyeon waved him away, “go get us something to eat Seungho, I'm feeling famished.” like a dog he quickly scurried off, leaving the girls alone, “You see that Amber, he'd do anything for you.” Soyeon sighed wistfully as she watched him walk away.

“I'm pretty sure he's only getting us food because you asked him unnie.” Amber stated and rolled her eyes. This whole “Seungho and you are meant to be” mantra was getting old fast.

Soyeon turned to Amber with a large grin on her face, “Seungho will learn to love you more, he does what ever I tell him to so if I tell him to love you he will,” then she let out a giggle, “You two have that in common, I mean the way you broke up with GO so quickly, you and Seungho really are meant for each other.”

And that's when something snapped in Amber's resolve, “I didn't break up with GO because you told me to- you have no influence on my actions.” but even she didn't buy that, she just didn't want to admit to her self that Soyeon's words had swayed her.

“Sure I do, I mean it's all for the greater good though, I mean if you'd gotten together with GO you'd be unhappy within a week dear, pretty soon you'll understand that what I'm asking of you is in your best interest.”

Amber stood there for a moment, frozen her by Soyeon's words. When had she sold her soul to Soyeon, when had she given up her ability to decide things for her self? She sighed and said, “I'm not a puppet Soyeon, you can't just expect me to go with what ever you say just because we're friends.”

Soyeon looked confused, “But I'm only trying to help, Seungho's obviously a better choice then GO.”

“but what makes you believe that I can't decide for my self, I'm a smart independent girl able to make up my mind with out someone else's input- And I'll have you know, GO is a great guy, he's been there for me more over the past few months then you or Seungho combined! That guy, he's my friend and I like him for his honesty and, and , yeah, I do find him to be pretty hot as well but that's not the only reason I care about him.”

Soyeon raised an eyebrow, “You can't seriously be considering GO, the guy has been with so many that he's bound to have AIDS or something.”

“Well I don't care if he's got as million diseases, he's my friend and I... I care about him...”

The sound of clapping startled the girls, looking back they found Seungho clapping his hands together, beside him stood GO who held a plate of food, “Congrats man, I didn't even know you guys knew each other.” Seungho patted GO on the back then took the plate of food, “Come on Soyeon, let's give these two some room.”

“Yah, I-”

“now now Soyeon, we gotta let these things happen on their own.” Seungho grinned and winked over at Amber who stood there in stunned silence.

When Soyeon and Seungho were gone Amber turned towards GO and stammered out, “how much of that did you hear?” With out saying a word GO pulled Amber along with him out of the ballroom and down a quiet hallway away from everyone else. He stopped and leaned her against a wall with both of his hands on either side of her head, “GO?”

God she looked so innocent, “Did you mean that... what you said?”

“That we're friends?”

“no you idiot, that... that you didn't care if I'd slept with a lot of girls... that you loved me anyways...”

“those weren't my exact words-”

“Stop playing about Liu, did you mean it?” He was inches from her, inches... If she just leaned slightly forward they wouldn't have any air between them and it made her nervous and self conscious about how loud her breathing might be.

“well uh, I mean, I do care about you, you've helped me a lot these past few months.” his eyebrow raised, “eh, honestly, I'm attracted to you.”

They stood there for a moment in silence, neither of them sure as to what to say to that now that it was out in the open. GO moved away from her and sat down on the opposite wall. Amber slid down and stared back at him, a melancholy swarm of butterflies beating the inside walls of her tummy.

“This is crazy...” GO finally said.

“It's unrealistic, I mean it's not like anything can happen... you're leaving and I'm... well I'm not even sure if I'm staying in Korea after I graduate.”

That caught GO's interest, “you're going back to California?”

“I've been thinking about it a lot lately... I mean what do I really have over here worth keeping... my friends aren't talking to me, my Grandmother is crazy, You're pretty incredible but with you over in Seoul most of the time... well, LA's looking better and better every day, if Grandmother would let me I'd probably be on the next plane.” she said it while looking GO straight in the eyes, not once turning away... He hated that it felt like she could take this so lightly, that this spark between them was no big deal.

“You're cruel Amber Liu.”

“You're the one hopping off to Seoul!”

“You're cruel because you... you don't seem to love me to the extent that I love you.”

Amber sat shocked at his confession- Love? Was that really what he felt? How could he possibly love her so early in their relationship... hell, they weren't even in a relationship, they were barely friends yet here he was saying he loved her.

What was his angle, why did he claim something that was so impossible?

They sat there, both with questions swarming in their minds that they were to chicken to let out, they weren't able to ask them though anyways for hushed voices interrupted their silence, “I can't believe you could do this to me! You're supposed to be the GOOD child!” Amber knew that voice as none other then her dear Grandmother. She looked over at GO who nodded his head, indicating he got to the same conclusion as well and motioned for Amber to fallow him to the edge of the hallway where they could get a better view.

Standing with Grandmother was Jonghyun who stared down at the ground, taking Grandmother's anger at full force, “eighteen years I spent molding you into the man you are today and THIS is how you repay me! You repay me by, by- I can't even say, it's just so disgusting!” Grandmother was sobbing now and shaking Jonghyun's shoulders, “How could you Jonghyun! How could you disappoint me like this?”

“Mother,” Jonghyun's stuttered out, “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... I tried to push it away but it just kept coming back... please forgive me...” Amber could see the tears threatening to spill from her uncles eyes, she didn't know what had happened but it had to be bad.

“You... you take after your father, just like your sister... how can you all excel at ruining my life so well? Do you enjoy it? Do you like making me the laughing stock of the business world.” Grandmother grip on Jonghyun's shoulder tightened, “But no, I won't allow it, not YOU! You are not going to leave me!”

Jonghyun looked up, meeting his mother's gaze, “I'm gay mom, it's not like I killed someone!” He pulled out of her hold and stepped back, “I'm an adult now, I can make my own decisions, I decide what I do and what I don't do... not you... If... If you're not going to support me I'll just have to leave.”

Amber had to hold back her sob- Jonghyun? Leaving? She turned towards GO who was looking down at her, a part of her didn't want to lead him on but at the moment she needed someone. She allowed him to wrap his arms around her and she in turn buried her face in his shoulder. She didn't watch Jonghyun run away or her Grandmother chase after him, she couldn't take anymore.

-

“I'm sorry.” Jonghyun sighed as he smoothed Amber's hair down. He held her, rocking her back and forth as she looked up at him, stubborn silence her only weapon, “I was going to have to tell her some time or another, you said it your self... I probably shouldn't have done it in such a public setting though...” He smiled and kissed her forehead, “I love you Amber, you're the only person I care about.”

“I just don't want you to leave me.” She whispered, tears pricking at the sides of her eyes, “I'm so proud of you for standing up to your mother... but I'm selfish, I don't want you to go Jjong... everyone keeps leaving...”

“I'm only going to be across town, Onew and I are sharing an apartment together... if you ever need me I'll be there.” Jonghyun grinned and hugged her tighter, “You gotta be strong, alright Amber... you have to keep being you no matter what anyone says... I love you Amber.”

“I love you too.” She wanted to ask him to stay for the hundredth time but she knew he couldn't be happy if he stayed in this house any longer, not when Grandmother was so angry. She kept her tears at bay as she helped him load his things into his truck, she was even able to hold them back as she watched him drive away but as soon as she was locked away in her room she couldn't hold back. She stayed in there, clutching her pillow, wishing she could go home.

(One more chapter until Part 1 is officially over 0.0 it feels like I've accomplished something!!)