"You don't have classes at the moment?"

"Uhh... None..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Eonni you're creeping me out with that smile of yours"

"Wh-- I was smiling?" She snaps out only to find out Soojung was still standing beside her while she was busy texting Henry

"Yes you were. And eonni, the library isn't the place for texting you know? And you don't even have a single book on your table!"

"Hmm? Yeah yeah..."

"So preoccupied... Who are you texting?"

"No one."

"Right. You think I would believe that?"

Soojung sits in front of her this time. Determined for Amber to spit out that it is Henry she's texting

"Just tell me it's Henry and I'll get going." She props her head on her hand, setting aside the bunch of old school papers she collected on the table

"Yeah it's Henry. Now run along."

"..."

"..."

"What?"

"You guys hooked up, haven't you?"

"... What?? What makes you think that?"

Amber lays her phone on the table, gradually sweating

"Oh please. Your smile says it all."

"Shh keep your voice down"

A knowing smile spreads across Soojung's face and now Amber was contemplating if she'd tell Soojung the truth or carry on hiding it.

"No we haven't. Satisfied?" She looks at her dead in the eye hoping she can't see through her

"In case you didn't know I was the one who sent Henry to your house the night of the prom" she leans forward determined to get the juice out of her defendant

"O-oh... So it was you."

"Yeah and you don't go telling me nothing of interest happened that night."

"Nothing."

"What??"

"I sent him home."

"You what???"

"You heard me. So you were his accomplice in pursuing me, huh?"

"Well someone had to help him. He's on the verge of going nuts for you and you only sent him home??"

Amber leans back, feeling victorious

"Sure did."

Ah, I'm such a liar....

Soojung sighs, defeated

She picks up the newspapers, stands up and shakes her head. She feels bad for Henry.

Poor guy

"By the way, Sunyoung and Onew were prom king and queen the other night."

"Really? That's great!"

"We really wished you were there, though."

"I'm sorry, you guys."

"Yeah. We understand." Soojung shrugs then walks away leaving Amber a bit bothered. Ahh, if only telling them what she and Henry have was as easy as telling Soojung that lie

Henry walks in, coming across Soojung by the door. He greets her but she just eyes him with sympathetic eyes.

This poor guy... He got rejected yet he still keeps that bright smile on. Plus he has to meet Amber now. This here is a man with a smile and a broken heart.

Soojung walks away almost sobbing, leaving Henry with a hanging high-five and a bright smile

"Oookaaaay?"

He walks over to Amber's table and puts his notebooks and a bunch of papers on top of it

"I just realized. This week is the last week before the competition. And yesterday was our last review day." The sentence she greets him with

"Hey there." He winks at her, taking a seat across her

Flustered, Amber ruffles the back of her boycut hair "hi"

"And I was thinking the same thing. You think I'm ready?" He clasps his hands, smiling at her hoping for a positive answer

She nods with a smile. Henry gets a hold of himself before he could decide to dive in and kiss her as his thanks

"Thanks, Liu. Really."

"No problem, Lau."

He reaches over to hold her hand but she looks around and gives him a look

"Not around here" she whispers with a kick to his leg under the table

He pouts "killjoy"

"Oh shut up. I'm going home. Do your president-ey stuff" she gives his leg another kick before she stands up

"Hey that's not how you treat your b--"

"SHHHHH" the librarian shushes and the students look Henry's way

"your best student....?"

Amber facepalms and walks away covering her face

"Hey wait uuuup" he grabs his notebooks and catches up to his girlfriend who was walking at the speed of light

"Look the pres is still after her"

"Bet he left prom because of Amber"

"So this is still not overrrr?"

"Dude, they're still talking about us"

"So? We're a real deal now. Do you still feel awkward about being teased?"

"Uh... yes? I don't like the attention"

"Ah but this was what you wanted from the beginning~"

"No, I wanted my reputation clean... And why are you following me home? And where's your car?"

"Left it at home so I could walk with you"

She stops walking to smack Henry behind the head "Idiot, your house isn't even as close as mine from school!"

He looks around to make sure no one was around then takes her hand

"Hey, I wanna try holding your hand like what couples do in dramas"

She swipes her hand away, trying to look less flustered than she already is.

"So greasy."

"Hey, it's been a day and sixteen hours" he nudges her shoulder

"Of what?"

"Of us being together"

She gives him a weird look

"What's with that look?"

"Exactly my reaction deep inside"

"Aw come on, can't you at least smile?"

".."

"Don't give me a forced one"

"What, it's always gonna be forced if you ask someone to smile. Seriously, why are you still following me and let go of my hand!"

"I was supposed to go home..."

"Oh hush, as if you don't like what you're doing"

The two of them were at a playground. A few kids were playing in a sandbox with their toy tractors. Parents were chatting and Henry was pushing Amber on the swing while she was eating cotton candy

"Hmmm... I didn't say this was a bad idea"

He sits on the swing beside hers

"Hey... this is a date... right?"

She looks his way with a mischevious smile

"Oh yeaaaah... This is date. Which means no more date after the competition"

"Heeeey"

"Kidding. But I do like this kind of date. It's quiet here. We can even study--"

"Ah, studying shmudying... there you go again" he stands up and takes her by the hand, dragging her again

"Where are we going now?"

"I'm taking you home, dummy."

She sticks her tongue out at him

"I'm a smart-, you're the dummy"

"Right. A smart- who's a total dummy when it comes to my feelings towards you. I had to specifically tell you I liked you"

She rolls her eyes, concealing her blush by looking away. The fluttering sensation in her chest resurfaces. A sensation she's learned to adapt since that night when she wore a gown out of her blanket.

"And you're a dummy for not getting my signal eversince elementary. I didn't like you and still you insisted"

He laughs which worsened when he looked over his shoulder to find her face almost blending with the reddish orange glow of the sunset

"And yet here I am now. Holding the hand of the person who blasted me away with chemicals and shooed me countless times"

"Corny." She tsks but smiles anyway.

"Thank you for walking me home" she reaches over to mess his hair. He returns the favor by ruffling her hair

"No problemo. You know... I like walks like these. Why don't we do it more often until we finish high school"

I'd like that

Amber thinks

"You're crazy" she sassily says instead

They just smile at each other's faces, uncomfortably shifting for a few seconds

"Uh hey, you got your shift right? How about I wait for you to get ready and walk you to the shop afterwards?"

Amber nods "wait here. I'll be back after a minute"

She changes into more comfortable pair of long sleeved shirt and cargo shorts, rushing her way back outside

"Tadaaaa~ let's go"

Amber was babbling while they were walking their way to the shop but Henry was once more occupied. Lost in his own thoughts. He was thinking about the person talking beside him.
Again.

Right now all he's thinking is Amber being so talkative like this when after he moved to SM High all he saw was an Amber who was always in the shadows working her off to get a few good points into her tarnished image. An Amber who never talked to anyone other than the teachers and her small circle of friends. She always had her smile reserved for those close to her and for herself. She never opened up who she really was to anyone. But now he knew. He's this bubbly smart-. This person who hated his guts but actually learned to like him and give him a chance to see her true self. This smile he's currently marvelling, the last good look he saw of this smile was during chemistry time years ago before she put a few mixtures into his test tube in front of him and all he could see was blue smoke. He thinks he is looking at the sixth grade Amber he always idolized from afar. Except this time he gets to look at her even this close...

He steals a smack on her cheek once they arrive by the shop's door

Amber's eyes are wide her hand on her cheek

"See ya" he runs away smiling and satisfied

Amber's hand doesn't leave her cheek and her smile, she didn't notice, is still plastered on her face as she walks to the counter

"Hmm... So what was that about?"
Jackie's question wipes away the stupid smile on Amber's face

"You saw??" Her face was regretful and she wishes she is strangling Henry right now

"Sure did... You know" she walks over to the glass wall and knocks on it "this thing is hmm... kinda made of glass and it's pretty see-through and I can clearly see the front part of the door where I just saw Henry, that's your schoolmate and the guy who helps you out right? And my sister being stolen a kiss from the cheek... so, yeah" she smiles as she looks back to her sister who has a crimson face at the moment

Amber just sighs as she puts on her apron, rolling her eyes

"So, how long has it been?" Her older sister crosses her arms

"A while..."

"How long is 'a while'?"

"2 days... ish."

Jackie covers

"I KNEW THIS WAS GONNA HAPPEN!"

Amber assists her sister in covering her big mouth because the customers just looked their way

"Keep your trap shut!"

"Oh my goodness, you're all grown up submitting yourself into comittments like a relationship and finally falling in love~ I knew your hate for him was all a haze which was actually affection~" 
Jackie hugs her sister in a rib-breaking hug

"Stop-- Jack-- can't... Breathe..."

Jackie sighs as she lets her sister go

"Do your shift well~" she pats the younger's cheek as she skips away and through the door

To: Henry :)   
Jackie just found out, genius. Why did you have to steal a damn kiss outside the shop
I'm so gunna kill u

a/n: hi~ yep. this chapter has been collecting dust and all that jazz and i haven't been writing HenBer related stuff lately ;-; been real busy recently. hopefully i'll pick this story back up soon

i'll be right back :) ciao