I couldn't sleep at all that night. All the thoughts that ran through my head were typical "what if she doesn't like my back" and "what if she rejects me." I needed to distract myself. This is what led me to call an emergency practice.
 

"Amber it's 1 o'clock in the morning, please tell us why you called us all here." Kai whined as he sat on the pavement.

"Yeah, Ty and I were kinda in the middle of something." Chanyeol said as he rolled on the floor having a mini temper tantrum.

"Playoffs are in one week and we need to be the best." I lied, well it wasn't like I could tell them "I can't sleep because I'm going to confess to my best friend tomorrow and I needed a distraction."

"I had to sneak out of my house, if my parents see through that pillow under the covers thing I'm dead! There will be no playoffs for me" Mark chimed as he moved his arms around for emphasis.

"We ARE the best, we can't get any better." Kris smirked.

"That's beautiful Yifan, really I almost cried. Now all of you drop and give me 20."

"Here's 20$ I'm out." Xiumin laughed as he handed me the 20.

"Okay Xiumin can watch you guys do push-ups, I need to ask you something anyway." I mumbled as we walked away from the stinkin animals that are my team.

"What's up Amber."

"How did you confess to Ali?" I asked making him laugh.

"This is like my favourite story. Everything that could go wrong that day did! The night before I had stayed up all night trying to gather the right words to say to her, and when I finally did fall asleep it was around 3 and I overslept because of it. I got a ticket for speeding in a school zone, when I got to school it was time for lunch and I saw her leaving her class with ty. All of the other students were looking at me as a pushed through the sea of people. When I caught up to them Ali turned and looked at me and I heard Ty laughing. "Ali! Hi!" I beamed. "Hey Xiu." She giggle "I didn't know today was pajama day." She continued. When I looked down I still had on my cat onesie. I was rushing okay don't judge me! I'm just happy I didn't sleep in just my boxers that night." He sighed "I was so done with myself I thought I messed up any chance with her, but then she called me cute. And I promised her that if she went out for coffee with me I'd look manlier. When Saturday came I picked her up at her house and took her to a nearby cafe. I fell more in love with her as we talked. I told her I was happy that she let me redeem myself, and that I liked her ever since she transferred to our school. And I asked her to date me and she said "Of course! I like you too but oppa I'm curious, why did you come to school in your pajamas?". And I told her I was nervous about telling her About my feelings and I overslept and rushed out of my house. She laughed at me and called me cute again and told me to  buy a panda onesie because pandas are better than cats."

"Ugh, you're so cute I could kill myself, Xiuminseok." I chuckled as I pinched his cheek.

"Yah! I’m two years older than you, anyway why did you ask me that? Are you planing on confessing to someone?" He questioned when the team finished their push-ups.

"Now what captain?" Kyungsoo asked.

"Well I think you should all work on your weak points; Yoongi, you should practice getting the ball in the basket. Kyungsoo and taeyoung you should practice your three pointers; Sehun, Leo, and Ravi you three should practice practice your free throws; Vernon, Mark, and Ten you all should play 1 on 1 with Xiumin, Chanyeol, and Kai. I'll be captain of the XiuKaiYeol team And  here will be captain of the VerTenMark team." I announced as I clapped my hands together happily silently thanking Kyungsoo for Saving me from Xiumin's question.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

I didn't get home until 3 in the morning, I was exhausted and happily welcomed the sleep that slowly started to take over my body.

I woke up to f(X)'s new song four walls. It's Krystal's ringtone because I love her and I feel like I'm stuck inside of a box of Love, a love box. Love is four walls.

"Hello?"

"Where are you stupid!"

"I'm -" before I could even get my words out she cut me off.

"You better now be late stupid or I'll never forgive you." She shouted before hanging up. I looked at my phone and it was noon her competition started at 12:30. I ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth and shower. I styled my hair just like Krystal liked it and I wore one of the outfits I bought with her. I looked at the clock on my dresser 12:15.. I should be able to make it.

With the speed of all the horsepower my car had to offer I made it In time with 5 minutes to spare. I sat in the front row next to Hyoyeon she was staring lovingly at someone. When I looked up to follow her gaze she was looking at Eunkyung who was talking to sulli about the rules of the competition since this was her first time.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the 2016 Math-a-lon! Against the students from SM academy  and YG Highschool  I'll be your announcer this afternoon my name is Kim Heechul!" Heechul greeted with a bow "can the captains from each school come forward please"

Everything about Krystal is amazing even the way she walks. Walking; it's such a simple action putting one foot in front of another but she wasn't walking. No that's what normal people do. She's a princess. What should I call it? A strut? Either way she looked amazing doing it. Heechul flipped a coin and Krystal called tails against Suzy Bae of the opposite team, allowing SM to get the first  question.

As expected we won, how could we not with Krystal leading our school to victory! She's amazing! When she was walking down from the stage I picked her up in a hug and spun her around congratulating her on her win.

"Put me down stupid!." She laughed.

And I don't know what came over me, was it her beautiful smile? Her laugh? I don't know what caused me to lean down and kiss her but it was amazing. Feeling her soft lips against mine. I finally understood all of those cheesy movies that would display fireworks when the main couple finally kissed. The kiss ended too quickly.

"What. What was that Amber?" She asked with disbelief written all over her face.

"I- I don't know. I -" I couldn't even think of what to say to defend myself. "I love you... And it's not like how I love kris because he's my best friend, I love you as more than that... I don't want you to date anyone else... I- I "

"Amber I don't feel that for you." "Amber wake up okay we can only be friends. Amber wake up".

"Amber wake up!"

I felt someone shaking me back into consciousness. I groaned, but I was thankful that Kris woke me up. That was the worst dream ever. "How'd you get in my house?" I asked him.

"Your mom let me in! Come on get ready Krystal's thing is in an hour." He smiled.

 

“Aish, get the hell out!” I covered my body. He laughed and left. My hands were shaken, my fingers were numb and I wanted to cry slightly. I was second guessing about my plan but I had to do it, I couldn’t hold back anymore, any more of this and I was going to beat myself up. As I fluffed up my hair and put on my earrings, my ringtone started going off, I picked it up.

 

“Hell-”

 

“AMBER JOSEPHINE WU.”

 

“Krystal Soo Jung?”

 

“Do you remember what today is?”

 

“Yea yea yea.. I got your poster, your flowers and I think Kris is going to drop me off at your Math-a-lon. Quit worrying.”

 

“Good!” She laughed, I sighed softly in relief, she sounded really happy, “It’s empty here. No one is here yet, just me and my dad, I’m so excited.” She sound giddily and happy. I love that. I love the anticipation of her voice.

 

“Do you want me to come over now?”

 

“Are you ready now?”

 

“Uh..” I looked at myself. I was wearing one of the outfits that Krystal picked out and I combed my hair down. I think I looked nice. I hoped I looked nice, if I was going to do this right. “Krystal, I also-”

 

“Hold on, Sulli just came.” Krystal was talking to her and they were laughing and talking, and I waited by the phone. Then I heard Sulli talking, on the phone.

 

“Amber! Amber! Hi!” She was squealing as they were both giggling. “Have you left the house yet, are you almost here? I can’t wait to see you!” Krystal took back the phone, I didn’t even get time to answer.

 

“See, she’s excited to see you, so bring your stupid head over here, we’ll be waiting. Don’t forget my flowers.” She hung up. ..Okay? That was so weird but that was great. They both seemed excited and sound like they are having fun. Kris came in, he had his hand over his eyes.

 

“Are you decent looking?”

 

“No,” He bumped into a wall. “FU-”

 

“Language, head.” I laughed and took his hand and walked out. He uncovered his eyes and saw we were outside.

 

“Are you nervous?”

 

“Nervous? I feel like I’m about to die. How am I supposed to do this?” I walked with him. He sighed softly. I know this was probably hurting him. He likes me so for me to be talking about my crush to him seems like it was hurting him. I kept quiet.

 

“Just be yourself.” He said after we got into the car and put on our seatbelts. He put the key into the ignition and then drove off to the college that the Math-a-lon was being held. “Yourself is the most wonderful thing in the world, and despite how mean she can be, she’s a genuinely caring and supportive person.” He stopped at a stop sign. I thought about what he said. He was right, she was an sometimes but she was a caring . That’s why I loved her. Also why I cared for her. I held onto the bouquet of flowers.

 

“How did you guys started dating?”

 

“Well.. as you know it was in middle school, and all I did was compliment her everyday. From there, she asked me if I liked her something, I told her yes and she asked me if I was interested in dating her, and I told her sure. I didn’t mean to say yes actually but since then, she’s made me happy.” He nodded. “She’s still my good friend but, I wanted her to stay my good friend.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I was still in love.. With you.”

 

“Even in my boy-ish stage?”

 

“You were incredibly cool. You’re the only girl I knew that could be one of the guys and your basketball skills are great when you’re not angry. You’re also the only person I know who was better than me... but eh, it’s whatever.”

 

“Did.. you and Krystal... had” I whispered, “ too?”

 

“Uh.. not all the way.. No. Only up to like . Like all the other girls I’ve dated.. And something like that.” I gasped and covered my mouth. I no longer wanted to have this conversation with him. It was sick. We stayed quiet until I touched his car radio, then car music was playing. Our favourite song, One Shot by BAP was playing and we started jamming into full out singing the song until we got there.

 

Inside, a lot of people showed up. Groups from different schools were at different tables, and there were seats for the guests and visitors. I looked around for Krystal right away, holding my flowers for her. My heart was beating out of my chest. I looked over at the table and she was having a meeting with her team of math dorks. Henry, Sulli, Eunkyung, Hakyeon and Chen were listening to Krystal explain any issues they would’ve had as they were working on these math sheets. Their advisor, Professor Jonghyun Kim, held onto the paper envelope, waiting for the cue in which he can give them out to his students.

 

I held up the sign for Krystal in hope that when she looked over, she’d see me supporting her, along with her other friends. She looked so serious but it was so cute. When the professor handed out the papers, as soon as Heechul the announcer told them to proceed, she feverently started writing onto the paper, doing calculations. It’s crazy how, she’s been preparing all this time for this moment. It only reminded me of how I need to work just as hard to get to nationals with my team. I looked up to Kris, he was on his phone. I leaned and whispered in his ear.

 

“They are so inspiration, when we get back, we’re hitting the gym.” He sighed softly and crossed his arms, slumping in the chair. He hated working out and I loved to see the sadness on his face. I nudged him and smiled. He looked down at me and smiled back. We continued sitting around, and I waved the banner. After a while, everyone was finishing up, the professors collected the papers and handed it to the judge to analyze and check over.

 

Krystal and Sulli and the rest of the team started talking about their answers. Krystal was as confident as ever, and her smile glowed. She made my heart fluttered. Sulli pointed over to my direction and waved. I waved at everyone and I looked at Henry, he started to wave but he noticed Kris and stopped, looking down. I looked up at Kris, he was just on his phone playing some dumb game. I wanted to get up and go over to them but it wasn’t allowed yet. They couldn’t even use their phones so I couldn’t text any of them.

 

The results were in. There were 4 categories, Easy, Medium, Hard and Group score. A lot of people won the easy award, Henry and Chen won that, while Sulli, Eunkyung and Hakyeon won the medium one. The only person who won the Hard award was Krystal. Everyone else either got medium, easy, or didn’t get an award at all. I cheered for her and everyone clapped as she sat down with a certificate in her hands. As she went to sit down, the group award was being announced. Everyone was on their toes.

 

“And the winner for the group award with all 10 questions answered correctly, is SM Academy.” Kris and I and the rest of the SM Academy supporters cheered as all 6 of them stood up and accepted their trophy, and went to sit back down. Professor Jonghyun seemed very satisfied of the people he trained really hard to get there today. They won the Math-a-lon. I was so proud. I ran up to them and Sulli interjected my impact with Krystal and gave me a hug.

 

“You made it, look we won!”

 

“Yea! Congrats.” I said confused, I wanted to push her off so I can talk to Krystal, but she wouldn’t let go. She looked me in the eyes and blushed lightly, kissing me. Everyone saw, my face turned red. What the hell was happening? I just wanted to talk to Krystal. As I turned to her she was clapping as well. I was shocked and embarrassed. Kris saw and covered his mouth. Henry saw and was so confused as well.

 

“You two hit it off? I’m glad.” Krystal smiled. “Told you I’d find someone for you. Sulli loves math.” No, No, No Krystal you sweet , I wanted to yell at her. I don’t like Sulli, I like you. I turned to Sulli and she was smiling. I looked back at Krystal and took her by the arm. We ran into a more quieter corridor, so I can talk to her, there was a lot of indistinctive talking in the background so I was sure no one would hear us talk. I pushed the bouquet of flowers into her chest and she looked at me shocked.

 

“Ow, stupid that hurts.” She pouted, but then looked at the flowers. I know it was her favourite, but I was too overwhelmed to tell her these things.

 

“Princess, why would you do that?”

 

“Do what?”

 

“Try to set me up with Sulli?”

 

She scoffed and put her hands on her hips. “What’s wrong, I thought you said you liked girls.”

 

“I do, but-”

 

“You told me you liked girls who liked math, I was thinking who would match the criteria, Eunkyung already had Hyoyeon, which by the way her mother invited us to go celebrate at her new restaurant so I thought, who else but Sulli. She’s cute, and she’s very spunky and she has a loveable personality.”

 

“That’s all true. But Krystal, I don’t have feelings for Sulli.” I took a deep breath and I let it out softly. “I.. I love you.”

 

Krystal blinked. Then she laughed. “Well yea, dummy I love you too that’s why I’m putting all this hard work on-”

 

“Geez, for a mathematician, you’d think you’d be able to put 1 + 1 together, no Krystal. I love you. I want to be with you. You make me happy. All this time, since middle school, I’ve liked you, And I wanted to let you know.” I crossed my arms. She bit her lip and looked down.

 

“Amber, I love you and all but you know I’m not..”

 

“I know and this.. This has really been tough as balls, I just wanted to let you know this. Now you can easily put me down and reject me because you probably like Kai more, that’s why you called him baby on the phone the other night.” I sighed softly, and as I turned my back, she turned me over and she hugged me.

 

“I love you Amber.. I love you too. I knew this, I’ve always knew this.. I’m smart but.. I think you can do so much better... you’ll always be my girl crush but, honey, I’m not.. Anything. You’re way better and you deserve better.“

 

“I don’t want better, Krystal. I just want you. You stupid nerd.” I hugged her tightly and pulled her close. She looked directly at me and smiled. I smiled back. This was the moment, the moment we’ve been waiting for. I was about to press my lips onto hers and kiss her. We were finally going to touch, sparks were going to fly. I leaned but then Sulli came to the corridor.

 

“Hey, Hyo’s mom is going to drive us all there, so we should hurry.” Sulli took my hand and smiled, then she looked over to Krystal and smiled at her as well. Sulli kissed my cheek and swinged my arm, pulling me into the crowd of people, towards Hyoyeon’s mom, separating me and my one true love.

 

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Credits to Pandieali who wrote half of this chapter, as I wrote the second half. (#4EverXiulexz)