I tightened the shoelaces before grabbing my helmet and stood up. I was about to walk out from my apartment when my handphone rang. Looking at the name on my screen, I smiled and answered the call.

"Good morning, Princess."

"Morning. Are you already out of your house?" It was obvious from Krystal's groggy voice that she had just woken up.

"I was just about to step out. Wae? Why are you awake so early anyway?" 

"I had a change of mind. Can I follow you to the game instead?"

I frowned a litte before smiling as I replied to her that I would come by to pick her up at her Jessica's apartment in 30mins time. Krystal quickly agreed and ended the conversation. While making my way to my bike, I typed a message to Amber, informing her that I'll be a bit late. As I rode out of the carpark, I was reminded of the incident at the mall yesterday between me and Krystal.

(Flashback yesterday)

"Should I be the one feeling jealous now since you seem to be afraid that she would find out about us?" I asked as Krystal shook her head. 

"That was not my intention. I panicked when she asked. Furthermore, I didn't want her to know so much about us since I'm not that close to her." Krystal explained.

"When you pulled me away, I managed to catch a glimpse of Amber making her way out from the Ladies. Did you happen to see her too?" My question caused Krystal to bite her lips as she looked down. "Just tell me the truth."

Krystal nodded her head slowly and apologised. Before I could say anything, she quickly explained herself. "Honestly, I'm not ready to let Amber know about us. It is true that I've not seen Amber since I rejected her but I've been receiving messages from her, asking me to give her another chance. I kept telling her that I can only be friends with her and would like to concentrate on my studies since it's my final year. But here I am, going out with you instead. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing or I'm regretting my decision. I just didn't want to hurt her feelings further."

The silence between us was interrupted by an incoming message from my handphone as I took it out to read. 

"I think you need to see this." I said as I showed the message to Krystal.

Eunjin-unnie, will you be free for a game tomorrow? - Amber

"What should I reply?" I asked Krystal who seemed to be in a deep thought. "Do you want me to decline her invite or should I just go and act like normal?"

"I... I'm not sure. I'm just suspicious about her messaging you, right after we've met Ailee. Maybe she had told Amber about seeing us earlier." Krystal was half mumbling to herself while just looking straight ahead and sighed. "Should I just let her know that we're seeing each other at the moment? But what if she thinks you are the reason as to why I rejected her?"

"Isn't that one of the reasons anyway?" I asked as Krystal turned to look at me before nodding her head absentmindedly. Looking at her stressing out, I patted on her head and smiled. "Don't think too much. It's not the first time that Amber will invite me for a game. Maybe it's just a random invite. Maybe Ailee didn't even say anything to her. But if you think I shouldn't go, I could always decline her."

"Anni, anni.. you should just go. Furthermore, you've never declined her invites for a game before as far as I know. You're not working tomorrow as it's a Sunday. Amber might find it suspicious if you decline" Krystal placed her hand on my arms and kept nodding her head.

"Arraseo. I'll meet her up tomorrow then. After the game, I'll give you a call to fetch you and sent you back to the dorm, okay." I suggested to which Krystal agreed.

(End of flashback)

Krystal was already waiting at the parking lot when I arrived as I lifted up my visor. As she walked up to my bike, I removed the spare helmet which had been hanging on my arm.

"That was fast. Did you even bathe?" I  as I put on the helmet for her and locked the strap. My remarks caused Krystal to pout before she pinched my hand lightly. "You should have waited upstairs until I arrived. It's cold outside."

"I just reached here 5 mins before you arrived. And I showered. Quickly." Krystal meronged at me before climbing on the bike and wrapping her arms around my waist. "By the way, can we drop by the convenience store to get some kimbap for breakfast? I'm hungry."

I nodded my head and rode off to the nearest convenience store. By the time we reached the basketball court, it was already 10am as I parked my bike at the side of the road.

"Before we proceed to the court and meet up with Amber, can I ask the reason as to why you wanted to tag along?" I asked Krystal while removing the things that we had bought at the convenience store earlier from my topbox and also taking out my snapback from my bag.

"I had a long talk with Sica-unnie last night and after thinking about it, I decided that it's for the best if Amber knows about us dating."

Krystal's explanation caused me to frown but just before I could ask her further, I heard my name being called out. Turning around, I saw Amber waving her hands at me.

************************

Krystal's POV

"Eunjin-unnie!!"

I tilted my head to the side at the direction where I heard Amber's voice and saw her waving her hand but it stopped abruptly when she made a quick eye contact with me. I believed she was shocked to see me there since Eunjin-unnie was standing directly in front of me and blocking me out of her view. I followed Eunjin-unnie when she made her way towards Amber, walking slightly slower with my head down,

"Hi, Am. Sorry for the slight delay. But, where's everyone?" I heard Eunjin-unnie asking when we reached the place where Amber was standing.

"It's just the two of us playing today. I didn't expect Krystal to be around though." Amber replied as she looked at me with a questionable stare.

"Let's get started then, before the sun gets to hot for us to play." Eunjin-unnie said before she placed her hand softly on my back and gestured me to take a sit on the bench. "Here. Wear this so that you won't get too much sun on you. And eat the kimbap while it's still hot."

Eunjin-unnie removed her snapback and placed it on my head as she smiled before patting my head. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Amber observing our actions and there was a clear indication of a frown on her face. Both of them walked towards the court and started to pass the ball to each other before they concentrated on doing some warming-up exercises.

'Why was there no one else invited today? I've never seen them playing, just the two of them. What was Amber up to actually?'

Those thoughts came to my mind as I was reminded of my conversation with Jessica-unnie last night.

(Flashback last night)

"Why are you staring at the TV without switching it on?"

I was surprised by the voice that suddenly interrupted my train of thoughts. Looking up, I saw Sica-unnie taking a seat beside me and placing her handbag on the table.

I had returned home an hour ago from the mall with Eunjin-unnie. No one was home when I came back but I was expecting that since Fany-unnie and Sica-unnie had went out with their respective partners. I was thinking of watching the TV after my shower but I ended up just sitting down at the couch and thinking back about my conversation with Eunjin-unnie earlier.

That was until Sica-unnie came home.

"What's bothering you? Didn't you tell me that you're going out with Eunjin today?"

I turned to look at my older sister who seemed to be able to read me like a book. I let out a heavy sigh before leaning back against the couch.

"We met Ailee at the mall just now. It seems that she was there with Amber." I started off before explaining the whole situation to Sica-unnie. "I think Eunjin-unnie was a little upset with me earlier even though she doesn't show it."

"I think she's the type that hides her feelings well. I'm guessing that it's due to how she had to grow up on her own. With no one to express her feelings to, she's already accustomed to keeping it all inside. But I myself disagree with what you did. I can understand that you are trying not to hurt Amber's feelings but what about Eunjin's feelings? So what if you are going out with Eunjin after rejecting Amber? There's nothing wrong in that." 

I bite my lips and listened to everything that Unnie had said. I guessed I had really made a wrong move by running away from Amber and Ailee. 

"If I was Eunjin, I would have been so upset with you for even trying to hide the fact that you're going out with me. You're lucky Eunjin is someone who is able to control her emotions well. Furthermore, she's 4yrs older than you so obviously she'll be more matured in handling such situation. I can't believe that you're even jealous when Eunjin was just conversing normally to Ailee." Sica-unnie poke my forehead lightly as I pouted.

"Unnie, don't tell me that you're not the jealous type?" I asked Sica-unnie who rolled her eyes at me before I meronged at her. "I panicked when Ailee suddenly asked about us since I was not sure of what to answer and I grew more nervous when I noticed Amber coming out from the Ladies from a distance. That was why I pulled Eunjin-unnie away. Furthermore, I didn't want to prolong our conversation with Ailee."

"What's with you and Ailee anyway? Were you jealous of her because she was there with Amber or because she was being nice to Eunjin?" 

Sica-unnie's question caused me to blink my eyes at her as I started to wonder as to why I reacted that way to Ailee. Before I could show any reaction, my train of thoughts were interrupted by Sica-unnie's piercing questions.

"Yah, Jung Soo Jung. What's with the blank expression? Get your head together, will you? Who do you want actually? Amber or Eunjin?" 

I felt a slap on my shoulders as Unnie glared hard at me. "Eunjin-unnie." My reply put a smile on Sica-unnie face as I told her about the message that Eunjin-unnie had received from Amber while we were at the mall.

"Why would Amber suddenly messaged her out of the blue and coincidentally, right after both of you had met Ailee?"

"That was what I was suspicious too, Unnie. But Eunjin-unnie told me not to think too much about it and said that maybe it was really a random invite to play basketball together." I replied as Sica-unnie frowned as if she was in deep thoughts.

"Does Eunjin know that Amber had been messaging you and asking for a second chance?" 

I nodded my head and explained that I had just informed Eunjin-unnie earlier when we were talking about Amber. When Sica-unnie started to nag at me for keeping such details from Eunjin-unnie, I started to get upset.

"But Unnie, today was only our 2nd time going out together. I wanted to tell her directly but I had no chance to tell her about it so far. Even though we talk and message to each other almost every night, I couldn't find the right time to tell her about it." I pouted again and folded my arms.

"Arraseo, arraseo. I'm sorry for being naggy at you. But if you ask me on my opinion, I think it's better if Amber knows about the both of you. Think it through tonight." 

(End of flashback)

Sica-unnie was right. I should let Amber know that I'm going out with Eunjin-unnie at the moment so that she would stop asking me for a second chance. I didn't reject her because of Eunjin-unnie. Well, maybe not totally. But I really didn't see us being more than just friends. The crush that I had for her 3yrs ago seemed to have gone away over the years and what I feel for Eunjin-unnie was totally different from what I felt for Amber. 

As I watched the two of them finishing their warm-up session, I started to notice a change in Amber's expression every time she looked at Eunjin-unnie. I grabbed the kimbap from the plastic bag as the nervousness in me was making me feel hungry. 

Hopefully, everything goes smoothly today.

************************

Amber's POV

I had spotted Eunjin-unnie from a distance and recognised her bike immediately. She was not facing me and was closing her topbox while putting on her snapback. I shouted her name and waved my hand to grab her attention.

"Eunjin-unnie!!"

I was smiling and waving my hands excitedly but my smile disappeared when I saw someone's head popping out from the side of Eunjin-unnie's back view. I was totally shocked as I watched Krystal slowly appearing and standing beside Eunjin-unnie before the two of them made their way towards me. Krystal seemed to be walking slower as she avoided eye-contact with me by looking down to the floor.

Eunjin-unnie apologised for being slightly late even though she had messaged me earlier to inform that she would be 30mins late. She asked about the other girls and Krystal seemed surprised when I replied to Eunjin-unnie that it'll just be the two of us.

"I didn't expect Krystal to be around though." I added on to my remark as I stared at Krystal.

I continued to observe on how Eunjin-unnie was casually placing her hand on Krystal's back and gesturing her to sit down at the bench. I saw how she removed her snapback and placed it on Krystal's head before patting her head.

"Let's go." I heard Eunjin-unnie said as she made her way towards the court and I followed suit.

We started passing the ball to each other before we started to do some stretching and warming-up exercises. My mind kept replying the conversation that I had with Ailee yesterday.

(Flashback yesterday at the mall)

"What are you looking at?" I asked Ailee after I saw her staring out in a distance after I had returned from the Ladies.

"Did you see them?" Ailee pointed out as I tried to look at where her finger was frantically moving around. 

All I saw was two figures moving away before they disappeared behind a corner. Straining my eyes before shaking my head, I received a light slap on my shoulder from Ailee as I turned to face her.

"It was Krystal and Eunjin." 

Ailee's remark caused me to widen my eyes before I turned back to where I last saw the two figures but obviously there was nothing by now.

"Are you sure it's them?" I asked as Ailee confidently nodded her head and told me that they actually greeted each other earlier. "Why didn't they wait for me to come back from the Ladies?"

"Krystal said that they were late for a movie." Ailee's answer caused me to frown.

"They're watching a movie together? Just the two of them? Or is the other girls waiting for them at the cinema?" I was shooting questions after questions without waiting for a reply from Ailee.

"I'm not sure if there was other girls since Krystal did mention that there was only the two of them when I asked about the other girls. Do you think they're dating?" Ailee was being cautious with her question as she looked at me with a worried expression.

"Dating? But she had just rejected me a few weeks back. How can she....?" I felt a sudden surge of anger in me as I bite my lips before I took a deep breathe. "Maybe they're just hanging out together. Krystal told me that she had wanted to concentrate on her studies since it's our final year when I asked for a second chance."

"You asked for a second chance?" Ailee had a surprised look on her face when she repeated my sentence. "All this while, you were complainig about having difficulties trying to cope with spending time with your friends and spending time with Krystal and now that she had rejected you, you're asking for a second chance? I don't understand you at all."

"It's true that I did complained. It's difficult when Krystal always choose not to hang out with my friends so I have to separate my time with them and her. You know that I have a lot of friends, right?" I asked as Ailee nodded her head.

'You have too many friends, Am. High-school friends, campus friends, skate-boarding friends, basketball friends... All sorts of friends." Ailee rattled on as I just pouted. "But you can't force Krystal to tag along everytime you are meeting them. She's not as sociable as you."

"Why can't she be more like you? When you were still studying together with us, you will always tag along with me everytime I ask you to." I expressed my thoughts as Ailee shook her head.

"I'm not her, Am and she's not me. You shouldn't be comparing us." Ailee started to turn naggy as I walked away from her. "Yah!! Where do you think you are going?"

"I'm going off to look for them. I need to know if they're really dating each other. How can they do this to me?" I was about to continue walking when Ailee pulled me back.

"Are you trying to create a scene at a public place? Don't be stupid. Furthermore, there's nothing wrong if Krystal was seeing Eunjin now. She had rejected you which means there's nothing between the two of you anymore." Ailee tried to explain things to me.

"What if they're were already seeing each other when I was still going out with Krystal?" I knew I was just trying to vent my anger as Ailee finally let out a disappointed look and walked away from me.

"Where are you going?" I ended up going after Ailee as I grabbed her wrist. "Are you angry with me, right now?"

"Yes, I am. You're just venting your anger at me and spurting out nonsense. I don't think Krystal is such a person for you to accuse her of doing that. Even Eunjin doesn't seem like someone of that manner. Word of advise from me. Seek the truth from them and settled it amicably."

(End of Flashback)

"Am.... Amber. Watch out!!"

I barely managed to dodge the flying ball as Eunjin-unnie ran up to me. After checking that I was okay, she ran off to pick up the ball that had flown towards Krystal. What happened next affirmed me to find out about their relationship status when I saw Krystal, feeding Eunjin with the kimbap that she was holding.

Eunjin-unnie was smiling as she jogged back to where I was. Passing the ball to me, I caught it and glared at her.

"You and Krystal seemed to be getting closer to each other. Sharing food and all. I've never sen Krystal feeding anyone before." I commented.

"Oh, that. I asked her to feed me since the kimbap looks nice. I only ate two piece of bread when I left home earlier." Eunjin-unnie answered as I passed the ball to her with all my strength which hit her slightly on the chest.

"Did you know that I proposed to Krystal at the club that day?" I asked as we began to play against each other.

Eunjin-unnie was dribbling the ball well while anger was slowly consuming me. She took a shot and scored a 3-pointer. "I wasn't around when you proposed since I had to leave for the hospital but I was informed about it."

I grabbed the ball and saw Eunjin-unnie smiling. Even though she was smiling like normal, I felt as if her smile was teasing me. "So you must have heard about the rejection?"

I tried to shoot but the ball rebound out from the rim as Eunjin-unnie caught the ball and faced me.

"I heard about that too." She answered as I tried to steal the ball from her but failed.

"By any chance, are the both of you dating each other?"

My question caused Eunjin-unnie to pause her actions as she was about to throw the ball towards me. She nodded her head finally and passed the ball. After catching it, I tried to control my anger by taking a deep breathe but th thought of Krystal cheating behind my back, made my anger flared up.

"Really? And you didn't even have the decency to tell me about this? You knew I was dating her before. You knew I was rejected by her. But this.... I can't believe that I treated you like a friend." I couldn't control my anger as I continued shouting at Eunjin-unnie who just stood there motionless.

************************

"This will hurt a little."

I winced when Krystal pressed the cold towel on the corner of my lips. Hissing out to express the pain, I saw Krystal looking at me with a worried look before I broke into a smile.

"Don't worry. I'm fine. You're going to get a lot of wrinkles if you continue frowning like that." I said before Krystal rolled her eyes at me. "Wae?"

"Is this funny for you? Being hit by a ball and then punched by Amber until your lips bleed?" Krystal asked with an upset tone.

I tried to grab her hand but Krystal pulled away, folding her arms instead. I knew she was upset with what happened earlier at the court. After my confession to Amber about me and Krystal dating, Amber started to shout questions after questions at me. She said that I betrayed her trust as her friend. Amber said that I should have helped her to get back with Krystal instead of going after her.

Krystal must have heard all the shoutings as she called out my name. When I saw Krystal walking up towards us, I turned away to tell her not to come nearer without expecting Amber to throw the ball at my head. After it hit me, I turned to face Amber only to be punched by her in the face. 

The shout by Krystal shocked Amber as she walked away while Krystal came over to tend to me. The both of us ended up coming back to Jessica's apartment as Krystal said that she wanted to treat my bleeding lips.

"I know you're upset. I'm not trying to be funny. You were frowning a lot just now and I didn't want you to be so worried." I explained myself as Krystal continued to glare at me.

"I'm not allowed to be worried for you, is it? Let me ask you something. If I had not followed you earlier and things ended up this way, you are just going to go home and tend to this injury all by yourself, without telling me. Am I right?" Krystal asked as I pouted and sighed. "You don't have to answer me. From your reaction, I know that I was right."

She continued to press the cold towel on my lips before I grabbed her wrist lightly. "I'm sorry. For not being careful earlier. I didn't expect Amber to react violently when I admitted to her that we're dating."

Finally, Krystal sighed and placed the towel on the table. She shook her head and leaned back against the couch. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have continued going out with her when I knew that we couldn't be more than friends. If I had stopped earlier, she won't have proposed and I wouldn't have to reject her."

"Oh my god!! What happened to you, Eunjin?"

Tiffany's loud voice interrupted my intention to talk as she and Jessica came back from their shopping.