Two more days before their flight, Amber was already stuffing a bunch of shirts and pants into her small suitcase

It's like going on a honeymoon trip--

Shut up, Amber what the hell are you even thinking about

Sure it was only a week off to Jeju. With Henry. Psh. It's not like he isn't her boyfriend. Just the two of them. Yeah. Totally not honeymoon-like.

Not to mention I'm going to miss a week's worth of school! Gosh! And it's gonna be graduation soon!

It was late at night but she leaves Henry a text. Just in case he's as up and alert as her at the moment.

To: Henry :)   
Hey. I'm gonna miss a week's worth of lessons. Do I really need 2 go?

She didn't have to wait long. A few seconds after she sent the message, she immediately got a response

From: Henry :)  
I'm gonna miss it too u know. Don't worry. We'll both hav fun. I'll make sure ur not gonna regret coming with me :) r u studying? Y u still up?

Amber bites her lower lip, plopping herself on her bed which was covered in a bunch of clothes

Of course she can't let him know she's excited as hell to spend some time with him without hiding

To: Henry :)  
Uh, yeah. Gotta make the few more days before we leave count. Quizzes may come out u know

From: Henry :) 
Well, u got a point there. But it's late. Go get some sleep nerd

To: Henry :)  
Okay. You too dork

"Hey... Don't you guys think someone has been acting weird lately?" Qian whispers among her younger friends minus one person.

"Amber eonni still isn't joining us for lunch?"

"It's almost a full week now that she isn't spending time with us." Jinri has a worried look on her face

"Yeah. But I see her around. But we haven't even talked for days now" Sunyoung pouts, defining the puppy character she has

"Where is she anyway?"

"She's been spending a whole lot of time with Henry lately." Soojung says in an annoyed tone "I bet they've already hooked up"

Victoria gives her a look "now, now, we know they might like each other. But maybe she's spending time with him just because Henry's competition is just a few days away. Maybe they are just having the last stages of their reviews"

She looks at their faces and she can see that they were upset. Jinri has her chin on her hand. Sunyoung was fiddling with her food and Soojung was just staring at the table.

It definitely is pretty dull without Amber and her bossy, whiny self with us.

I hope she hasn't changed

Amber was at her usual spot infront of the student council office with her books and notebooks on the table. Henry arrives with two paper bags that have burgers and cups of drink in it.

"Hey. Here. This is for you" he hands her the other one and sits across her.

The sunlight has made the foliage more defined as the foliage splattered on their smiling faces while they were studying slash eating slash having the time of their lives under the almost-summer heat

Amber realizes when did she get this close to him and feel so happy beside him. Everything felt so natural as if she never despised him before.

Weird.

The other students were sighing at the sight. Some would think "ah they're finally friends now" but most would think "So they really are dating"

Most of them are correct, though. The two were never close to being friends. In fact, they skipped that step. From rivals to lovers in just a snap.

He pinches her nose but before she could even retaliate, he presents her her plane ticket

"Here you go, miss Liu. We're off the next day" he smiles and she swears she's so gonna punch those teeth off his mouth just so he'd stop being so charming

Tomboys and blushing don't match in her book

She grabs her ticket and sticks a tongue at him
"I'm off. Need to check on my friends" she stands up and slings her backpack then sprints away

"Song Qian didn't practice today. She went home early" Zhoumi informs her as she got to the gym looking for her dear Song Qian eonni

She goes to the publishing office only to be told by Soojung's lackeys that she also went home early
"Maybe she wasn't feeling so good. She wasn't talking much this week" "I see. Thanks."

"Jinri and Sunyoung? Oh yes. They practiced for their performance for you and Henry's welcome back performance but they just went home. Too bad you just missed them."

That's weird. This is the only time this week that I would finally get to spend time with them but they  aren't even around

Earlier...

"Hey, hey... Cheer up girls. How about we spend some time off by ourselves?" Qian pats each girl's back telling them to cheer up and not mind the dullness of the week

"But Amber eonni isn't around"

"Yeah, she'd miss the fun"

"Guys, she hasn't even thought of checking on us this week. Let's go have some fun like what eonni said" Soojung stands up slamming her hands on the table

"Let's hit the mall after Sunyoung and Jinri's practice"

"Ironically it's for her and Henry" Jinri grimly says

Sunyoung rubs her back "let's take a time off so when she returns from Jeju, she'd notice how great we'd do in our performance. Let's have some fun!!"

That's odd. None of them are answering my calls. I'll just send them messages then.

She notices the last time she sent them messages was over a week ago and she kinda figured they might not be feeling like bonding with her today.

"Ugh. I've been a real jerk."

She sends them messages telling them she's gonna leave early tomorrow and gonna return a week later. She also asks for Soojung to get one of her publishing minions to take notes for the time being.

One thing she forgets to tell them though is that she's sorry. Her friends have grown slightly unattached and can't help but feel abandoned by her over Henry. "Bros before hoes" as Soojung would always tell her whenever they got to the talk of Amber and the very big probability of dating Henry. They aren't even in a relationship... well, they think Henry and Amber aren't. They wanted to see her off the next day but they also needed to deliver the message that she has neglected them for a week now.

The next day comes, Amber was already downstairs kissing her family members goodbye as Henry hauls her suitcase from her bedroom

"You guys be careful and not spend too much, alright?"

"We will and we won't, mom"

"Hey Henry." Mr. Liu steps out of the house calling out the young man's attention who was loading stuff into the car and the said young man stiffens and stands up straight
"Sir?"

"You better take care of my daughter... or else..."

Jackie steps up beside her father and makes a ball of fist and punches her free hand

Henry gulps but laughs anyway. Before he could even speak the two members burst out laughing as Mr. Liu pulls him in a headlock and ruffles his hair "Just kidding! Good luck on your competition, kid. Hope my daughter taught you well!"

"On a serious note, though I'll hit your face if something bad happens to my sister"

"We'll only be away for a week. And I'll make sure to win first place and dedicate it to Amber"

"AND the school" Amber steps out of the house, fixing her cap
"Bye Jack, bye dad. See you next week" she gives them both tight hugs and pecks on their cheeks

It was Saturday and the sun hadn't come out yet. Amber's head was bobbing and she was gently snoring just a few minutes after leaving from her house. Poor girl was so worked up since none of her friends sent her a response, she didn't get much sleep. Henry doesn't know but he allows her to doze off anyway.
Minutes later she lifts her head and checks then wipes her chin and cheek for any possible salivation. Her thoughts bother her again as she unconsciously, noticeably and constantly checks her phone every now and then

"Is something the matter?" Henry finally inquires after he, himself felt uneasy

"O-oh... nothing."

"You seem bothered. It's the fifth time you've checked your phone within this minute."

"I'm just... checking the time"

Henry shrugs. Maybe she's just nervous.

Amber quickly changes the topic
"Where are you gonna leave your car for the week?"

"Kyuhyun-hyung's place. Well, his mom's place. Near the airport."

Well that conversation ended quickly.

Why aren't any of them responding?

she knew it was bad but she assumed they might be at the airport to surprise her and see her off.
Only to find out they weren't. They were already ready to board and she looks over her shoulder one last time, maybe they're just late.

"Amber?" Henry gently pushes her by the shoulder from behind "we're boarding..."

"A-ah, yeah" she fakes a smile

In the plane she checks her phone one last time for any messages before putting it on airplane mode.

7:58 am               
No new notifications
 

*sigh*

________________________________________________________
a/n: hello~ ( °^°)/ how long has it been? pardon the long absence. some things came up irl TT TT and i went to finish my bachelor's thesis~ now all i need is to be less lazy to finally get my stories moving along xD til the next update ^^; 

p.s. thanks for waiting, ya guys.