"Where were you last night? You promised to go hunting with me."
Sooyeon stood with crossed arms in front of Soojung. Her sister was quite a bit smaller than she was, so she had to look up. But even a giant would've its pants when they'd see the look on Sooyeon's face. But Soojung knew her sister. She wouldn't get hurt, but this conversation would defenitely not be nice.
"I was with Amber," she answered honestly. Soojung looked back to Sooyeon, who looked at her with such an icy glance that she could feel the cold creep up on her bones. It hurt her whole body and made a shiver run down her spine. Soojung swallowed audibly, but didn't look away. She had lived under her sister for so long that she felt she needed to step up. Her friendship with Amber was something that was only of her and Sooyeon had to keep her hands off of her.
"You know how I think about that human," Sooyeon hissed at her.
"Call her by her name," Soojung demanded.
"The only names I'll remember are Sooyeon and Soojung. She is a bad influence on you, Soojung. Do you remember how you used to be?"
Soojung sighed and ran with her hand through her hair, frustratedly. In the process she ended up pulling a few hairs out of her head because she had been too rough. In pain, she rubbed her scalp.
"Yes," she answered. "I was miserable."
Sooyeon blinked a couple of times. Her gaze softened for a moment, but turned back to the hard pieces of coal Soojung had known for so long. It was not often she saw Sooyeon soften up. This defenitely hit her in her heart. And it was meant to make her realize that Soojung really felt that way. It wasn't some way to turn over the conversation, and make Soojung in control. She didn't want to prove herself. She just wanted to explain herself.
"I was a monster, Sooyeon. I fed off people because I liked it, not because I had to. We have to hide our lives. And even though it's disgusting that we've been brought back after dying, it's not too late to live. To feel alive. And I can do that with Amber. She makes me feel alive. And I want you to find someone like that too. I want you to feel the same way."
Sooyeon's lower lip quivered. Her eyes were fixed hard upon hers, almost pierced through her head. Soojung didn't look away. Only her breathing speeded up.
"You are not realizing that Amber will be your undoing, Soojung. Vampires and humans aren't supposed to live side by side, just like the wolves and the sheep aren't supposed to live next to each other. I know I can't prevent you from going to her, but don't forget my words."

For the next few weeks it went like this; Amber would go down to meet Krystal; they'd do their usual round; and afterwards, Amber would be questioned by her friends. Ever since that she accidentally dropped that she was seeing Krystal, they immeidately thought the wrong things. Their ideas ran from cute dates to heavy meet ups, where Amber was the one being tied up, and Krystal the y mistress in a tight latex suit. Amber couldn't make them think anything else, so she just let them. Hopefully they would stop with teasing her soon. That day sadly hadn't come yet.

They started to watch more movies together. Amber noticed that Krystal actually hadn't watched any movie — except Twilight now — simply because the film had only been invented after she was turned. From that moment, she and her sister hadn't cared for new revolutionary inventions anymore. Sure, she had heard of it, but to really watch a movie to its fullest, she had never been able to do that. So Amber collected tons of material that she wanted to show her. Movies like Jurassic Park, Titanic, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jaws, Rambo and more. She wanted Krystal to experience the world she liked to dive into when she was bored. It was a good way to spend time together and get close more. They got more and more comfertable around each other. Krystal now laid her head on Amber's shoulder before she was fully adjusted yet. Amber often laid her arm around Krystal to pull her closer. They snuggled up against each other, with no awkwardness between them anymore.
Krystal stayed over more too. Of course, that caused Victoria, Luna and Sulli to joke around more too. Jokes like 'How many times have you already done it? She came over trice this week. I'm surprised your not sore yet!' or 'I think I heard Krystal yell yesterday evening!' were made every night. Amber would reply with a grunt or something like 'Yes, of course, we were watching a horror movie', but they would never believe that. It was honestly very disturbing for their relationship. Krystal was well aware of it now, that Amber's friends liked to see them together. Luckily she didn't mind much, and just laughed shyly at the jokes they made, but Amber was ashamed that her friends acted like this to her. It's a good thing that Krystal didn't mind it. Hopefully it wouldn't change anything between them.

It was one night, when they were watching Romeo and Juliet, that Krystal suddenly paused the movie. It was rare that she paused a movie they were watching. She would normally ask something that she didn't understand. Like, for example, she didn't get what zombies were supposed to be when they watched Zombieland — a personal guilty pleasure of Amber's. Usually Amber would give her a short summary before they started something, but she already knew Romeo and Juliet, because she had read the book.
So the redhead looked up in surprisement when Krystal stopped the movie, exactly at the scene where they kissed and had proclaimed their love for each other.
"What's wrong?" Amber asked her. She looked up to her friend, who looked with a troubled expression to the screen. Her eyebrows were deeply furrowed into a frown that wrinkled her whole forehead. Her jaws were clenched, and her lips pressed together until they formed a thin line on her face.
"What does it mean, exactly, to fall in love?" she asked. Her voice was softer than it normally was. It sounded troubled, as if she was forcing it out of . Was she ashamed that she didn't know?
"You don't know?" Amber asked. Krystal looked up from the screen, slowly turning her head to Amber. When they met each other's gazes, Krystal slowly looked down. She shook her head, and Amber placed her hand upon her friend's. The muscles underneath her thin white skin were tensed up, and her fingers refused to intertwine with Amber's. Nevertheless, she kept her hand on Krystal's, since she felt a strong need to reassure her.
"I used to know, I guess..." the brunette said softly, almost inaudible. "I lost all memories when I.. changed. I don't know if I was in love or have ever been in love. I have only read about it."
Amber pursed her lips and sighed. She scratched with her free hand at the back of her head
"Well, it's diffecult to explain, you know. Feelings always are, especially love," she said. Krystal looked back up to her, and snuggled a little bit closer. She gripped at Amber's hand to keep it there.
"Describe it then," she said. Amber frowned her eyebrows. For a moment she thought about what to say. Then she opened and sighed.
"It's... wanting to be with someone, no matter what, " she started eventually. "As friends, or as lovers. As anything, really. You just want to be with them, and make them happy. You want to take their pain away, whatever they're suffering from, and make them feel loved. You wouldn't care about their weird habits, or whether they have a weird nose or many pimples. You're completely blinded. Even when you get mad at them, your heart will forgive them anyway.
Your heart aches when they say good bye and your heart longs for them when they're not with you. You try to hang out as much as you can but it's not enough; it needs to be more even when that's impossible. You'd prefer to spend every hour of the day with them, even when you normally don't like to hang around other people much.
Your mind starts to make up crazy fantasies; how it would be like to have her as your girlfriend. How would kissing her be? Supporting her when she feels sad? It breaks your heart when she is, but you would be the happiest person in the world when you see that smile on her face after you cheered her up. Your heart would flutter when you'd play with her hair, so casually. You long for her, to cuddle in bed with her. Making breakfast for her when she emerges from your room, still sleepy, in your shirt. You find yourself thinking that you want that, that you need that to feel alive. And if you can't get it, because she likes someone else, or you're just a friend to her, then you just agree upon that. You still want to make her happy and get that beautiful smile on her face even if that means she kisses another person at night. Her happiness is everything. Everything you get on top of that is just a bonus. Even the most selfish person becomes selfless when they're with their lover..."
Krystal had listened with an open mouth to her. Her two dark eyes fixed only upon Amber's, sometimes dwelling down to her lips, who spoke so truly and honestly about love. The redhead couldn't look at her. Her thoughts were something private, and it was hard to share them, even with Krystal, so she had to look away. Then it almost became bearable. She didn't catch the admiring look in Krystal's eyes, but just stared at the ground.
After Amber was done, it stayed silent for a while. Krystal was too baffled to say something, and Amber had said enough. hurt of the raw emotions that come out in words.
"So.." Krystal started eventually. "-it's a little like us?"
This made Amber look up confusedly.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well... we also hang out all the time. You played with my hair. We neither want to say good bye. We hugged, and I liked it for the first time. We see each other every night, and despite what your friends say, keep doing that because it feels good."
This silenced Amber. Her eyes widened a little bit at Krystal's words. She knew it was crazy, but what she said was true. But that didn't immediately meant that they were dating, right? She wasn't in love with Krystal. Amber knew that she was interested in girls, but she didn't know whether Krystal was that girl. She had only once been really in love with someone, and that was a while ago. Even though she just explained to Krystal what being in love was like, she hadn't felt these feelings in a long time. To distinguish platonic feelings from romantic feelings would be hard... But then again, she wouldn't need that, because she wasn't in love with her friend.
"We-we are not dating," she blurted out in response. She was able to hit herself, really. It was such a bad answer.
"I know," Krystal replied. Her big puppy eyes were feeding on Amber's gaze again, and the redhead couldn't stand to look at them now. They were too beautiful and it hit her too hard at the moment that she thought of Krystal's eyes as beautiful right now.
"I-I mean, would you, eh, would you want to be? Dating, I mean," she said, whilst turning her gaze. She felt Krystal shrug against her body.
"I don't know what that's supposed to mean. What else would we do differently if we'd date?" she asked. Amber chuckled at her innocence displayed at her face.
"Nothing, we'd only kiss, I guess," she replied.
"Then we're almost dating."
Amber frowned her eyebrows.
"I.. well, almost, I think."
"Is that a bad thing? You seem worried," Krystal remarked.
Amber shook her head. Well, she was worried. But not about dating. It were her feelings she was worried about.
"It isn't a bad thing," she said.
"Are you afraid?"
"Of what?"
"Of me?"
"No. Never."

In the past few weeks, Amber couldn't put Krystal's words out of her mind. Then we're almost dating... Were they?
She started to think more about her feelings, and whether Krystal had a point or not. She tried to decide in simple steps whether her feelings for Krystal were more than platonic. Step one: was there attraction? That was easy. Amber was interested in girls, and she knew the kind of girls she liked. She was attracted to a lot of women, and could acknowledge someones beauty too. She thought that Luna was beautiful. Sulli and Victoria were beautiful too. Taeyeon from Girls' Generation was beautiful, Solar from MAMAMOO, Seulgi from Red Velvet. And so was Krystal. Her friend was almost gifted with beauty and she wouldn't blame anyone for looking over their shoulder when she walked down the street. She would probably have too, if she wouldn't have known any better.
Now comes the hard part. Part two: how do you feel about her? And Amber was stuck at part two, because she had no idea whether her feelings were platonic or romantic. She tried to decide with simple tests which one it was. She compared Krystal to Luna in different scenarios. For example; would you rather spend a movie night with Krystal or Luna? She had spent a lot of time watching movies with both of her friends, but she found herself choosing Krystal. And with the upcoming tests, she also chose Krystal. Amber found herself choosing Krystal with every test she did, and it honestly terrified her that she chose Krystal over her best friend time after time. Whom would you rather cuddle with? Krystal. Whom would you rather live with? Krystal. Whom would you rather go out with? Krystal. Whom would you rather kiss on the mouth? Krystal...
She was afraid of her feelings, and didn't want to acknowledge them. Because what if.. what if it was true? Then what?
Amber didn't want to think of all the things that could happen. Bad concequences started to pile up in her head. What if she confessed to Krystal? Would she laugh? Be confused? Or simply get mad? She would turn her down. But if she would tell her she felt the same, that didn't mean they'd have a good relationship. Of course there was this big part of Amber that was worried about Krystal's lifestyle. She never talked about it, but Amber knew she had to hunt people to continue and live on. On top of that was Amber's career. The promotions of their new album, Red Light, had started. She'd get busy, really busy. Her life consists of business trips all the time. Could Krystal handle her not being home all the time? Could she handle the fans? Could she handle the life style that Amber brought with her? All those cameras, all that attention. Krystal liked to live in the shadows, and Amber liked their relationship to be in the shadows. But would that be enough? She wanted to hold her hand in public, like a normal couple would, but she wouldn't be able to.
And when they'd break up, Amber would be devasated. Her heart would be broken, because not only had she lost her lover, she had also lost her friend. A person whom she had gotten so close to her, would hate her. She wouldn't be able to get through that.

And whilst she tried to pretend not to be interested in Krystal as her girlfriend, she noticed that she became closer and closer with the girl. Their meetings started to become more intimate, up 'til the point where Amber really felt like kissing her. That feeling terrified her, but it felt so good at that moment.
They cuddled more, and not just on the couch. Krystal stayed over most of the times now, since she had admitted into being in some sort of fight with her sister. Amber hoped she would be fine, but also kind of wished that her sister would throw a scene a little while longer. Then at least Krystal would stay over more. Cuddling with her in bed felt amazing. Krystal's head leaning on her shoulder, her arms hugged around her body, her legs intertwined with hers. Every night, when they were about to fall asleep, Amber had to keep herself from kissing Krystal's forehead.
And not just cuddling. They laughed more too. Krystal had completely eased up, also around the other members. They held hands openly in the dorm, and it had gotten normal for Victoria, Luna and Sulli that the two of them were always together. It felt good to hold her hand, and Amber would always reach for it when they weren't holding hands.
The most nerve wrecking times were when they faces were really close. When they woke up in the morning — or, at least Amber would — they would be so close after spooning. Or when Krystal suddenly turned her head in Amber's direction when she stopped the movie. Their noses were almost able to touch, so close they were. And it took all of Amber's self control not to close those gaps. She felt horrible even thinking about kissing her.

Amber didn't know how Krystal felt. Every hint or signal she seemed to pass to Amber was completely innocent, and seemed not to be on purpose. Krystal seemed to be aware that Amber often got shy and speechless whenever their faces were together, but she either didn't get the obvious hints that the redhead was flustered or inteprented it as something different.
Amber didn't want Krystal to know that her mind was thinking about kissing her constantly, but a small part of her wanted it as well. She didn't want to ruin their friendship, but if there was only a small chance of them getting together and Amber actually being able to kiss her, she wanted Krystal to pick up those signals. Sadly, her friend had no experience in love, relationships and kissing, so Krystal probably didn't even have a clue how Amber must feel. That was as much as a relievement as a burden to her.
She literally didn't know what to do. It became harder every day to just ignore her upcoming feelings for her friend, and she was too love drunk to try to move on yet. At the same time it hurt that Krystal was so close every time without her being able to kiss her, to lock her in her embrace and to never let her go.
Life in general just for Amber. And now that she was busy performing too, she saw Krystal less and less. It hurt her heart to not being able to contact her. Luna often remarked that the redhead finally had some time for her again, but Amber couldn't laugh at the jokes. It made her nauseous. Victoria eventually pushed her to stop and tease Amber, because she obviously started to feel worse and worse.

Eventually, the members were granted a break that lasted a few days. After their performances and the trouble with the fans that made Sulli feel even worse than Amber, their manager had sceduled a resting period for the girls. The past few weeks had been full of promotions. Live performances, interviews, fan signs, photoshoots. Every day something new that caused the members to arrive late at their dorm, tired out, with only the want to sleep on their minds. There was no time for Krystal. Once or twice she came to lay in bed with Amber once she got home, but it was very little fun since she had to get out early in the morning and she usually was too tired to do anything but sleep. But the cuddles indeed were nice at the end of a tiring day and Krystal's soft, sweet voice in her ear, telling her she is doing a good job and that it's all going to be okay. It reassured her. But it didn't lessen her feelings. Instead, it made them stronger.
The first night, Amber and Krystal immediately sought each other's company. Having missed each other for so long had been almost inbearable, for both girls. They were each other's addiction, each other's story.
Watching a movie wasn't intimate enough for the both of them, so they just laid in Amber's bed. Krystal had bound her hair back in a ponytail again, and let her head rest upon Amber's shoulder. The blankets were pulled up to their waists. Around this time of the year, it was a relief to have Krystal's cold body next to her to cool her down. It was warm, even with the airco running, but maybe Amber felt warmer than she actually was because Krystal was so close to her again. With her arm draped over her body and their legs intertwined, they laid in bed like lovers did. Once more, Amber's heart was in pain. She sighed.
"I missed you," Krystal blurted out, at a random moment. Amber looked down to her, one eyebrow risen.
"I missed you too," she replied.
"You really did?" 
Amber frowned and nodded.
"Of course, I missed you. We haven't seen each other in almost two weeks. Why would you think like that?"
Krystal shrugged, and turned her head away. Amber kept looking at her for a few more moments, then did the same.
"I don't know," she muttered.
"Well, you better get used to it though."
"To you being away?" the brunette asked. Amber chuckled.
"No, to me missing you," she explained. Krystal chuckled softly now too.
"Oh, okay. I don't think that I mind. I haven't been missed ever before," she said. Amber placed her hand upon Krystal's cheek and charassed it by slowly letting her thumb rub circles over the soft skin. Krystal leaned into her touch.
"Your sister must've missed you at least once. Don't you worry," she reassured her. Krystal 'hmm'-ed in response, and just closed her eyes. Amber didn't spoke for a long while. None of them did. The conversation had ended, in a somewhat awful way that left Amber with a worried feeling in her body. She knew that Krystal and her sister weren't on good terms anymore, and she had a bad feeling that it was because of her. She used to be so in awe of her, as if she was the best person on the earth. Nowadays, her sister only entered the conversation when Krystal spoke bad of herself. One time, she casually mentioned that no one loved her. Amber's heart had clenched, and she had forced out of that her sister would love her. The sisters have been together for decennia, they must love each other. But Krystal's reaction was cool, as if she didn't care at all. Or at least, didn't want to hear.
"Do you truly think she loves me?" 
Amber woke up from her thoughts, missing the question completely. She had been thinking too much to even realize that Krystal had looked back up to her again. She cleared .
"What?" 
Krystal repeated the question. The redhead looked back at her and nodded solemnly.
"Of course she does."
"If she loves me, then how do you feel about me? If my sister treats me like that because she loves me, then there must be a stronger connection between us."
Amber blinked in confusement for a moment. She opened to say something, but could get nothing out of , so she just stared at Krystal with an open mouth, and widened eyes. A part of her wondered if the brunette was playing with her, basically inviting her to confess, but Krystal's beautiful brown eyes showed nothing but innocence. It was almost child-like, because she really didn't know.
"Love exists in many forms. Your sister loves you in another way than I do," she said, only realizing afterwards that she might've said too much. Amber hoped that Krystal wouldn't pick up on her small mistake, but of course the brunette noticed it. She might not know a lot of nowadays world, but she had proved herseld countless of times very intelligent.
"Then you love me? Like in the movies?" she asked. Amber bit down upon her lip and looked away, back to their intertwined hands.
"Yeah, like in the movies," she forced out of . Okay, it was now or never, she thought. She basically confessed right now, so she had to go through with it, how awkward it may be. To turn back now would only leave Krystal with a more ed up idea of love, and Amber would be lying. Her only chance at confessing to her would be gone.
"Romeo and Juliet?"
"Well, I wouldn't take poison for you and die, I'm sorry," Amber replied laughing. Krystal looked up to her and pouted her lips.
"You wouldn't? I am offended," she said. Amber wiggled her eyebrows and shook her head.
"I like living too much, sorry."
Both girls chuckled for a moment, gazing into each other's eyes. The laughter slowly faded out, and Krystal cuddled up with her body against Amber's again. She let out a sigh. Krystal took Amber's hand in hers, and played with her fingers, slowly bending them, and straightening them again. The redhead let her. It felt good and reassuring, it took a few of the nerves away.
"But you love me like they do in the movies?" she eventually asked. "Is that a good thing?"
"Well, usually it is," Amber said. "-if things work out, of course."
"Why wouldn't it work out?" Krystal asked. She pointed her beautiful eyes at Amber again, looking up at her. She looked back.
"Because there are different kinds of love. And I could feel a different kind of love towards you than you do towards me. If they don't match, then there could be awkwardness. And our friendship could be ruined, if we think of each other differently, and confess if so," Amber explained. She was getting more and more nervous every moment, despite the fact that her friend was still playing with her fingers — she was now turning slow circles on the back of Amber's hand. Krystal was on the edge of understanding that Amber fell in love with her.
The brunette frowned.
"But I love you too like in the movies, then it's okay, right?"
Amber frowned deeply.
"What do you mean?" she asked. Her voice had dropped lower, a lot more serious. Joking about loving someone were not funny jokes, and she would feel really bad if Krystal was joking right now. She wondered if Krystal had enough knowledge of love to joke around with it. But her eyes looked as serious as Amber's.
"Well, hopefully the same as you. Like you said, things won't work out if two people share two different kinds of love,"Krystal replied. Amber's mouth fell open again. The only thing she could so was just stare at her, and Krystal stared back. Her eyes fluttered down to Amber's lips, but the redhead was too transfixed and occupied by her racing mind that she barely noticed.
In a flutter of courage, Amber brought her hand up to cup Krystal's cheek. Before she would loose her bravery, she bowed down, closing her eyes in the process. Just before their lips would touch, she felt Krystal's hand press slightly on her chest. She could feel Krystal's breath on her lips — a sweet smell of mint and something sweet, like candy — and reckoned they were only a few inches away. But again, she was not able to kiss them. Her heart sank in her chest, her eyebrows furrowed together. Amber opened her eyes, and had to force herself not to lean down those past few inches anyway when she saw how close Krystal was. Her lips looked better than ever, her dark eyes — which were fixed upon hers — looked at her with sorrow. The redhead swallowed audibly when she saw her friend bite her lip. Had she ever been as attracted to her as she had been now, even after she had been turned down?
"Are you going to kiss me?" the brunette muttered. Krystal's voice was soft, almost breakable. Fragile, like her body.
"I was planning to..." Amber admitted. She looked away, not being able to look into those eyes without wanting her. Her heart was beating fast, her blood still rushed through her veins. Krystal hadn't bowed back yet. Amber had not taken her hand back from her cheek. Krystal's smell clouded her mind.
"Don't," was her reply. "I don't know if it's safe."
Amber couldn't believe her ears. Even after months spending time with her, even after reassuring her countless of times that she trusted her, Krystal still managed to get something of that out of . It's hard to unlearn habits, especially those who are self-destructive, but to Amber, it sounded like foolishness. Maybe it's because she was in love with her, and Krystal is currently the person she wants to spend every day, every hour with, but she couldn't imagine that Krystal would harm her. And she didn't understand that because of that small fear, Krystal would stop the kiss. If this was everything that stopped Krystal, Amber wouldn't hold back anymore.
"I don't trust myself, Amber. And I wouldn't forgive myself if I harmed you."
"But I trust you," the redhead mumbled. Krystal looked up and bit her lip once more. Their eyes met for a moment. Krystal looked at her in utter fright. She was scared to death, Amber noticed. Her hand shook when she placed it upon Amber's, which had slided from her cheek to her neck, to the back of her head. But Amber's was steady, and she was confident. She didn't doubt her friend; she knew she was safe in her hands.
So she leaned in those last few inches, and slowly, tenderly pressed her lips upon the brunette's. Krystal shivered under the touch, and shakily gasped for air. Her lower lip shook against Amber's. Their lips had only touched for a few seconds, before Amber pulled back. She understood that it was hard for Krystal, and even though that she'd love to kiss her more, she wanted the brunette to take the other step.
At the moment she wanted to open her eyes again, she felt her friend's lips crash upon hers again. Needily; wanting; they brushed over Amber's. Whilst the first kiss had been tender and sweet, with their skin only touching so little that it was like they were kissing clouds, this one was filled with passion. Krystal's arms slid around Amber's waist, desperately pulling her closer. Amber had been taken back by the sudden change of air when the second kiss happened. She hadn't been ready for Krystal to be so wanting, so intense. She had expected another tender peck on the lips, something small. Not a kiss that fuelled the fire in her heart, to let her body feel like it was electrocuted. Her fingers were tingling, every place Krystal touched was tingling.
They broke up too soon to Amber's liking, when the need for oxygen became too big. Amber was panting, and so was Krystal, but they kept close to each other. It felt like this had been the last step to complete their bonding. This act of utter trust was something Krystal needed, and Amber craved for. Their foreheards rested against each other's, their exhausted breaths mixing. Her heart was pounding so hard that she reckoned Krystal must hear it too and her head was empty, whilst she had expected her thoughts to be running like race cars. Her body was almost numb, except one emotion; lust.
She wanted Krystal. And Krystal wanted her.
Amber couldn't be happier.