The moment I miss you

If my Prince Charming is not a boy, I’ll find a way to make others believe he is!

It had been a while since the kiss at the party had happened but Krystal was still thinking about it, even at school. Like the past week she was halfway lying on her desk, her cheek squeezed against the surface of it while she was whining in self-pity. Sulli had watched her every day and still, she couldn’t understand how Krystal was able to sulk about it even after more than a week had passed. Amber hadn’t contacted Krystal a single time after the party and it was the same the other way round. 

“Are you serious? Do you want to cry until you’re an old lady with nothing but cats to live with?“, Sulli criticized her, not willing to watch this any longer. “It’s pathetic, really. Pathetic. No more words to that.“ 

No matter how harsh her words where, the usually lively and especially quick-tempered Krystal had disappeared, the only thing left being that picture of misery on her table. The girl did not even look up when her friend provoked her on purpose. She just went on whining. “I know, right? …I’m pathetic… my life is pathetic.“, she muttered and let out a heavy sigh. “How am I supposed to live now? What am I gonna do?“

Sulli was on the verge of despair. She exhaled loudly and scratched the back of her head, not knowing how to help her friend at all. If critics didn’t work on Krystal which would have usually driven her mad to the extent that she would have run around and went berserk, there was nothing left to do. “… why don’t you just forget about it? If Amber doesn’t contact you anymore maybe that’s a sign to finally give up on that matter. You won the combat against Jongin anyway. There is no need to be like this anymore. And it’s not like you liked Amber for real, huh?“, she tried a last time, even worsening Krystal’s condition.

Krystal let out a louder whine since she was remembered of the fact that it was not just like that. If it had been just to win the stupid fight with Jongin, everything would have been alright. Amber was a woman after all and Krystal was a born straight girl. She liked men. That was the only reason why she had liked Amber for all these years. Because she had thought that Amber was a man. Not a woman. Yet, the confused female couldn’t help but go on admiring the woman who looked like a handsome man and after kissing Amber, she couldn’t forget about it anymore and was torn between the question how she was defining herself and how her feelings for Amber could be interpreted. She was stuck in denial. And she was suffering a serious heartbreak over it.

The door of the classroom was suddenly opened and Kim Jongin stepped inside, Krystal almost immediately rushing up, propping up her head with her hand and looking to the side as if she was directing her gaze somewhere outside the window. Even though she was bothered by her confusion about what had happened, she didn’t want to show it in front of her No. 1 enemy. Kim Jongin should never know what Krystal was feeling or why. It was none of his business and it would never be. Definitely. Luckily, he had stopped bothering Krystal after he had been embarrassed by her really bringing someone who was seemingly her boyfriend. Additionally to that he had also stopped bullying others as if he had sensed the prize Krystal wanted to claim.

But the peace and silence between the two shouldn’t last for too long. Krystal was pretty sure that Jongin wouldn’t dare to speak up for a while if it hadn’t been for their classmates to ignite the fire of anger in them again. “Hey Krystal, I heard you brought your boyfriend to Jongin’s party last week. Is it true that you’re dating the Lee heir?“, one of her classmates asked, the girl being obviously a bit too curious. Without paying any attention to Jongin, Krystal blinked at the girl who had talked to her and answered right away to prevent looking suspicious.

“I do, why?“, Krystal asked back and furrowed her eyebrows. The girl’s eyes started to sparkle in amazement. How could people get so excited about others’ partners?

“Omo, that sounds so great! Is he really as charming and handsome as everyone says? I heard from a few others that they saw you together and I’m curious. Do you have photos of him?“, she asked and Krystal immediately felt the pressure to show some. Which couple didn’t take photos together? Right… fake couples. Krystal didn’t have any photos of her and Amber but how weird must it look to her classmate if she admitted that there were none? Helplessly Krystal looked over to Sulli while she was getting her phone out of her bag and pretended to browse through her phone’s gallery.

Since her friend didn’t get her seeking for help, Krystal coughed shortly to make Sulli notice her. The younger one of the friends looked hectically from Krystal to her phone and then through the room as if she was looking for something helpful. Like startled deer she jumped up from her place and shouted loudly through the classroom. “Teach!“ The teacher who had just entered the room because break was over looked irritatedly at the student. 

“What’s the matter, Sulli?“, he wondered about her panic.

“Krystal is using her phone and the lesson is starting right now, right?! Shouldn’t she get punishment points for that?“, Sulli exclaimed and received a bunch of puzzled looks from every side. Nobody could understand why she was grassing on her best friend in front of everyone. Class did not even really start yet.

The teacher irritatedly looked from the standing student to the one with the phone in her hands and as his eyes were resting on her, Krystal’s suddenly widened and she quickly attempted to put the phone back into her bag. “Well…“, the teacher said and checked his watch to see what time it was, “Since the class officially started two minutes ago and everyone in here saw that you were holding a phone in your hands, I fear I really have to give you some punishment points for breaking the rules and I have to confiscate the phone as well.“ He walked over to Krystal and stopped in front of her, reaching out his hand so the student had to hand it over. Unwillingly she gave it to him and when he went back to the front desk, the girl threw a bewildered glance at her friend. 

“Why?!“, Krystal formed the silent word with her lips. Of all the things Sulli could have done, she had caused Krystal to gain punishment points and even get her phone taken away?! What the…?!

Sulli just shrugged her shoulders and gave Krystal an apologizing glance back.

To get her phone back Krystal had to stay longer after school was over. She had to pick it up at the teachers’ lounge where she was another time scolded by their teach and finally received the stupid gadget which was responsible for the embarrassment today. If they had just lived in another century in which there were no phones and no stupid couple photos.

Krystal was finally on her way when she was suddenly stopped by someone as she was about to reach the entrance hall. Behind one of the corners Jongin had waited for her and as soon as she had turned around, he had grabbed her and pinned her between himself and the wall. “WHAT THE HELL?!“, the girl blurted out in shock, needing a second to realize what had happened, just to grow seriously angry when she figured that Jongin had decided to go on pestering her again and in this freaking scaring manner. “Are you kidding me?! What is this supposed to mean?! Are you a stalker?!“, she barked immediately and glared at him.

“It stinks!“ 

His words silenced Krystal in an instant. She looked up at the tall grown guy with no idea what he was talking about. It stinks…? What?

“All of this stinks…it’s so fishy, I want to puke.“, he snarled, his eyes looking straight at her, piercing her like daggers, “You and that Lee heir… something’s not right with the two of you… and I’ll find out about it! Just wait for it…! And once I find out I’ll destroy that guy and make you crawl in front of me and beg forgiveness. I don’t know what it is yet, but there’s something foul about it!“ Jongin’s warning was sounding so serious that it gave Krystal the chills. He sounded extremely aggressive, it felt like playing with the fire, provoking him even more.

Krystal’s glimpse became stern. “…are you stupid?“, she asked and the anger in Jongin’s face faded for a second as he hadn’t expected such an answer to follow on his warning. “You really are, huh?“, Krytstal went on and pushed Jongin away from herself. “Can’t you just accept that I’m dating happily? That I’m dating someone who is mightier than you? You’re acting so pathetic, that’s what makes me want to puke!“ Her words must have hit Jongin hard because he was backing off easily, leaving her enough space to pass him by. The girl looked disparagingly at him and shook her head. “Kim Jongin, you disgust me.“, she said and started moving, leaving him behind and with every step she made, she prayed that he wouldn’t stop her.

“Hey!“, Jongin suddenly shouted after her but Krystal decided not to stop but just to go on walking. “We’ll see who’s the one disgusting! I’ll do some research on your boyfriend! Just wait for it!“

As good as possible Krystal ignored the her classmate’s yells and opened the entrance door, already feeling the fresh air from outside embracing her into freedom. Once the door was closed and Krystal was out of sight of the entrance way, she started running. Running quickly down the whole alley, so Jongin wouldn’t catch up with her by any chance. She felt threatened, even endangered. Everything had been a big, fat lie and if Jongin was really doing a research on Amber, he would sooner or later find out about everything.

When Krystal arrived at home, she was extremely exhausted and tired. She was in a panic - like state, Jongin’s words still echoing through her head like he was some kind of haunting ghost bothering her.  She prepared herself to suffer the whole afternoon but to her surprise something bigger than Jongin’s threat was awaiting her at home.

“Get ready, Krys!“, Jessica urged her the moment she went through the door. Her sister was already wearing one of her prettiest dresses, her hair being all styled up. Only her make- up was missing.

“Did I miss something?“, Krystal wondered after even noticing her mother being dressed up like the family was about to leave for some special event. “What’s happening?“

“We’re invited by our in-laws for dinner. Get ready, dear. We have to leave in about half an hour.“, their mother explained to the youngest whose mouth dropped open. Krystal’s mother eyed her daughter shortly and pushed her chin up to close again. “What are you waiting for, dress up!“

Dinner with the in-laws… did that include Amber as well? Or was it like always just Lee Sooman, his wife and Donghae? Whatever it would be, Krystal didn’t want to run into distress and quickly rushed to her room to get ready for the dinner. Just when Krystal closed the door behind her, her phone suddenly started vibrating and just a single glance at the display made her squeal like a crazy fangirl throwing her phone onto her bed. 

‚You’re coming tonight, right? Otherwise I’d be pretty lonely…‘

Why on earth did Amber text her stuff like this? Was she mistaking Krystal for her girlfriend Luna?! Whatever it was, Krystal was running in circles through her room like a headless chicken, unable to stop her squealing until she jumped onto her bed, hitting and kicking into any possible direction, several times winding round herself and finally slipping of her own bed, remaining on the ground, staring up at the ceiling. Krystal couldn’t believe that Amber texted her such a message and again grabbed her phone to check if she wasn’t imagining things. The message showed up another time, and Krystal squealed even louder.

“KRYYYYS?! GET READY! DAD JUST ARRIVED, WE’LL BE OFF SOON!“, Jessica shouted through the floor and Krystal eventually got up to get herself a skirt and matching blouse to wear.

Jessica and Krystal were probably the most excited siblings around. The moment their father parked the car in the parking space, it felt like Christmas and their birthdays had collided and today was the birth of their love child. The siblings both got out of the car in an instant and were impatiently waiting in front of the restaurant’s entrance, their parents just slowly following them, wondering why not only Jessica but also Krystal was starting to behave like a middle -aged woman who was crazy about a clearance sale. 

The restaurant was already pretty filled with people, the Lees nonetheless had reserved a single - room for the two families so they would be separated from the others guests. The interior of the restaurant was an elegant, yet very traditional Korean. It wasn’t the kind of restaurant Krystal had hoped for since there was not an inch of romance in there but yet she was just excited to meet Amber again. Lee Sooman, his wife and children had already arrived at the restaurant and were waiting inside of the private room, Jessica wanting to step in first but their father held her back and passed her by. The elder Jung sister was a bit disgruntled about it because she wanted the first thing Donghae would see to be her but she made sure that she was the number 2, though. Krystal stepped in the last, her eyes scanning the room for her crush right in the beginning. Amber was sitting at the edge of the table, wearing a white blouse that was ed at the top. The tomboy was one - handedly playing with her phone, the other arm swung around the back of her chair and when the Jung family lined up in front of them, Amber looked up, giving Krystal a slight smile which almost caused her a heart attack.

“Oh, you’re already here! Hopefully you didn’t have to wait for too long for us!“, the sisters’ father started a conversation while everyone was taking place at the table. Jessica immediately longed for the seat next to Donghae which was fine with Krystal as the last remaining seat was the one opposite of Amber. Since she was now sitting in front of the person she had missed over a whole week, the  desperate longing was replaced by fear. Fear of being rejected, admitting that Krystal was into a girl or the fear that everything was pure imagination and she somehow got it wrong. 

“Hey.“, Amber greeted the insecure student, shortly looked at her and then again paid more attention to her phone and freaking, stupid Angry Birds than to Krystal. This was exactly what Krystal had been afraid of. Being ignored by Amber even though they had their past story. Well… maybe it wasn’t that much of a special story. Amber had pretended to be her boyfriend, they accidentally made out… that was it. Feeling dumbfounded Krystal looked at the plate in front of her, pursing her lips as the disappointment was taking control over her face. The silence between the two women was depressing, all the more when even Jessica and Donghae started to discuss with the two other brothers about something and somehow everyone seemed to be in a conversation except for the two.

It didn’t take long until the appetizers were served and everyone started eating. The conversations still went on and Krystal was desperately looking for a topic to talk about with Amber, not finding any until she watched Amber’s poor attempts to eat with chopsticks. For some reason she was terribly bad at using them, leaving Krystal a bit surprised about it. Amber didn’t notice that Krystal was watching her the whole time until she couldn’t suppress a giggle and made the elder look up at her. The tomboy frowned and put the chopsticks aside, using her fingers to eat the fried dumplings in front of them.

“…Hey, you’re eating with your fingers again?“, Donghae immediately made fun of her once he saw her eating like a little child.

“Shut up, I’m the older one, why do you criticize my eating habits? You know that I don’t like chopsticks!“, Amber told him and looked up from her fingers in which she was still turning the hot dumpling. “Instead of that… didn’t you want to say something today?“, she reminded her twin brother and took another bite of her dumpling as if that certain declaration was nothing special. In contrast to her Donghae suddenly gulped and lost a bit of his face’s color. Whatever it was he had to say, it couldn’t be anything good if he was already reacting like this.

“Yeah… everybody, I’ve got some news I have to tell you about.“, Donghae raised his voice and also interrupted the parents in their conversation. His father gave him a short, disapproving glance, finding it inappropriate to disturb the elders during their talk but he didn’t say anything, wanting to hear what his eldest son had to share with them. Donghae was indecisively looking at the almost empty plate in front of him, his expression being a mixture of earnest and insecurity. “I wanted to tell you… that I received a job offer… from the US.“

The silence of anticipation which had spread between everyone at the table before Donghae had voiced out the matter dropped right after he had finished his sentence. It became awkward, even uncomfortable. Everyone was trying to read in the other ones’ faces what they were thinking. Krystal was scanning each of them, her own must have looked just as irritated as she felt. Her sister’s mouth had dropped open, the terror and shock being just too obvious, the two mothers almost looking the same. Kyuhyun and Henry were seemingly aware of what Donghae had wanted to say as they both looked rather unimpressed. The complete contrast to all of the expressions were the two fathers. While the sisters’ father looked surprised but even happy, yet worried, Lee Sooman looked as if he was about to slap his son in his face. He looked so angry, it was scaring Krystal.

“What do you mean ‚you received a job offer‘? You didn’t take it, right? You will marry Jessica after all in a while!“, his father blurted out, the anger vein on his forehead already pulsating. Poor Donghae started to argue with him and even with Krystal’s father who tried to convince Lee Sooman of Donghae being better off if he collected experiences abroad, the mighty politician couldn’t be appeased anymore. The conversation got all heated up but Krystal couldn’t follow, her brain was working on its own. If Donghae was leaving… and Jongin would research on Lee Sooman’s eldest son… Krystal could claim that Amber’s name was Donghae. Nobody would know, right? 

As the idea struck her mind and in her opinion was on the level of some genius, she grabbed her phone and started to text Amber so she didn’t need to say anything and accidentally gain attention during the discussion of the elders.

‚Need to talk to you. Can you come out for a sec?‘, she texted first. Amber immediately noticed her phone vibrating and looked the message up.

‚You really want to take me away from this? But it’s getting sooooo interesting right now!‘, Amber’s answer followed right away. 

She found their argument interesting? In disbelief the youngest looked up and faced the eldest of all the children grinning and shaking her head. Ah, good… she was just kidding. Krystal almost believed in what Amber had texted. The blonde woman got up first, the others not even noticing that she was slowly stealing away, taking Krystal with her.

Outside of the room the air was strangely fresher and not as thick as behind the door which prevented anyone outside to listen to what the families were fighting about.

“What do you want to talk about?“, Amber asked directly, placing her hands in her pockets. 

“Can we talk about it… where nobody can listen?“, Krystal demanded, nodding her head towards one of the waitresses who passed them by the next moment. She was glad that Amber simply nodded and walked ahead, the younger one following her like a chick would have followed its mother hen. The place Amber led Krystal to was nevertheless anything far from her expectations. Whatever Krystal had expected, this wasn’t it at all.

Amber had taken her straight to the girls’ room, dragging Krystal inside when she noticed the girl hesitatingly stopping in front of the lavatories. Inside she locked the door behind her after checking if anyone was inside or not. 

“Really? The restrooms?“, Krystal asked skeptically and gained a frown of Amber.

“Do you have a better idea?“, Amber asked back. 

No, she didn’t. This was probably the best place to talk undisturbed, hence Krystal remained silent about Amber’s choice of places. The tomboy noticed how the girl was giving in and looking aside in resignation, so she decided to take up the reason for their escape earlier again. “You wanted to talk, right? So what do you want to talk about?“

The elder was rushing so much that Krystal almost suffered a whiplash. She irritatedly looked at Amber and tried to find the right words to begin with but she had serious problems to find some. Luckily the blonde girl saw through the youngster immediately and crossed her arms, tilting her head and speaking what she thought would be the issue. “It’s about… that, right? The kiss?“

Every sound which could have come out of Krystal’s throat was blocked by an invisible barrier, her lips opening but yet nothing coming out of . The kiss wasn’t exactly what Krystal wanted to talk about, still Amber had mentioned it and recalled the memories. The younger girl’s face was becoming a slight tone of red. “N-Not exactly…“, Krystal finally found some words and gulped. felt dried out. “It’s more… Kim Jongin… that bully, you remember? He wants to do a research on you to attack you… I just wanted to warn you.“

Amber laughed about her worries, shaking her head and heaving a sigh in the manner of how parents sighed when their children were doing something stupid which was just too obvious so they had to laugh about their clumsiness. “Don’t worry, that kid won’t hurt me at all.“, she said convinced of herself.

“Maybe not you… but what about me?“, Krystal explained her worries further, “If he finds out about you being a woman… how would that look on me? I thought that maybe, since your brother is going abroad, you could take Donghae’s name and pretend to be him?“, she suggested and looked at the other one with big eyes.

Her hopes nonetheless didn’t seem to be considered by Amber at all as she was leaning against the wall, leading the conversation into a completely different direction. “You want me to go on with this play?“, she asked and crossed her arms, even furrowing her eyebrows. “Are you sure that saving yourself is the reason you’re asking me for that?“

Was she saying that Krystal wanted to achieve something else by asking her to pretend to be her boyfriend and even taking Donghae’s name to do so? Krystal didn’t! She would haver never asked Amber such a thing if the incident with Jongin hadn’t occurred. Yet, she had to admit that fate had its own very twisted ways to bring them together and it made her happy. Yet, the happiness collided with Krystal’s own stubbornness the moment she reminded herself that she was into boys and not girls. “What are you talking about, I like boys!“, she huffed and wanted to take a step back. Amber didn’t let her, though. The elder quickly grabbed the girl’s wrist and pulled her in, letting go of her wrist just to place her arm around Krystal’s wrist to lock her into Amber’s grip. 

“I don’t think so.“, she said and smirked.

“The heck?! … what are you doing?! Don’t you have a girlfriend?!“, Krystal complained and tried to stare Amber down. She didn’t try to free herself of the grip, any attempt would have been in vain. If Amber wanted to keep her like this, the younger could do whatever she wanted but would fail every time.

“I said she was kind of my girlfriend, not that she really was. Let’s call it ‚friends with benefits‘.“, Amber corrected, “Does that change anything for you?“

It unfortunately did. The girl’s heart started bumping so loudly that she was afraid Amber could hear it. Amber wasn’t taken. There was a chance to be with… Oh no! Not again! The alluring thoughts of being with her were crawling back into Krystal’s head and she had to get rid of them as soon as possible. She liked guys! “No!  Because I like guys!“, she still insisted and caused Amber to laugh.

Whatever the reason was for her laughing, the youngster didn’t get it. Amber tilted her head and looked directly at the other female, her eyes being two dark and deep seas in which Krystal could have drowned any moment. Her breath was stopping for a second when she and Amber were looking that deeply into each others’ eyes. “Then if you like guys… why don’t you go now? Nothing is holding you back anymore.“

With a short blink, Krystal lowered her gaze and noticed how Amber had really let go of Krystal’s body and was holding up her arms to clearly prove to her what she meant. The girl was standing so close to her crush, frozen and unable to move, not knowing what to do next. As if it was the answer to what Amber had just said, the elder slowly moved her head forwards.

It was weird. Just a while ago Amber had rejected Krystal so coldly when she had asked her to help and now she was like this… Krystal couldn’t tell where the sudden change of mind came from but she was too weak to say anything, the only thing left to do being closing her eyes.

New chap is up (and the chapters are getting loooonger and looonger ^^')! 

Who knows why Amber suddenly acts like this? Who’s sensing something? :D 

btw: Thanks for the 5 new votes and welcome to the 23 new subs!