“You weren't kidding when you said you weren't going to sleep...” Sehun remarks, watching Bambi in awe as she concentrates on the bowls and pans in front of her. This is the first time he's ever witnessed her work actual magic in the kitchen and he has no idea whether to be entranced or frightened by it.

 

“Well, I did. For a bit. But got woken up by a grumbling stomach,” Bambi explains as she turns to him with an appreciative smile. “What about you? You should be resting more, I reckon.”

 

“Well...” His voice trails off and as if on cue, his stomach growls loudly.

 

“Right,” She laughs and reverts her focus back on the food.

 

He sits still by the kitchen counter and continues to watch her in silence.

 

A smile slowly forms on his mouth as he recalls last night's (or rather, this wee early morning's) events. He was sure he'd have to deal with his stupidity on his own, but was proven wrong when Poppy came up to him with the surprising news. He'd become completely sober by then, but he still wasn't sure if Bambi would actually show. When she did, he couldn't be more grateful. The last thing he needed was to call his brother, who'd probably be too bothered about the time difference to even register what's actually going on. Then, there was a worse candidate: his ex.

 

“Thanks again, by the way.” He beams warmly even if she couldn't see.

 

“We'll call it even.” Bambi shrugs as she wraps up her rigorous cooking.

 

After taking her nap a few hours ago, she prepared something to eat for herself and suddenly remembered that Sehun would probably be hungry too when he wakes up. Knowing well that he'd most likely take forever whipping up a meal of his own given his condition, she chose to do it instead. Besides, she'd be to blame if he dropped dead out of starvation.

 

She snorts at the thought and continues to dash about in the kitchen to fix the newly cooked food. “Which brings me to a rather grave matter. You entered my room several times, right?”

 

The memory of a once hungover and sick Bambi a couple of months ago flashes in Sehun's mind. He genuinely thought she was on the verge of dying at that time, because of how extreme her condition was. He had even planned on bringing her to the hospital after a day of alarmingly high fever, non-stop coughing, and snot dribbling. But thankfully, she woke up completely recovered the next day.

 

“It was either that or your death so...” He teases with a smirk. “You're welcome to ransack MY room anytime. Just know that there may be some unwanted items like--”

 

“No, no. I'm good.” She waves her hands frantically. “I KNOW what your room looks like. I've lived here longer, remember?”

 

“I've added a personal touch to it. Might surprise you,” He persists, wanting to rile her up a bit.

 

She an eyebrow his way and snaps, “I'd rather not.”

 

He pouts childishly. “How are you supposed to take care of me properly if you won't even enter my room?”

 

“I'd rather not break rule number one in this loft, thank you very much,” She reminds him with a knowing look as she sets the plates of food she prepared on the dining table.

 

“But we already did!” He points out, following right behind her.

 

“Well...” She pauses to think her way out of this. “That's an exception to the rule. I could've died.”

 

“Loving the sympathy,” He sarcastically remarks as he sits in front of the enticing meal. “Is this how you treat your friends?”

 

“Well, it's not like you can't function with one bad arm,” She argues, plopping on the kitchen counter.

 

“So, you're telling me to bust my other one?”

 

“What? No! Jesus Christ!”

 

An abrupt ring from her phone interrupts her train of thought. She immediately reads the text and it's from Amber, informing her that she'll be calling regarding an urgent matter. She replies an okay, already wondering what it could be.

 

“I'm Sehun,” He mocks, snapping Bambi back to reality.

 

“You--” She hisses through gritted teeth as her phone starts to ring. “SSHH!!!”

 

She runs to the other side of the room to answer Amber's call. “What could it possibly be, your Highness?”

 

“Have I mentioned that your sass will get you far in life?” Bambi could feel her best friend's sarcasm oozing through the phone.

 

“Several occasions.” She snorts as her eyes avert briefly to Sehun. He suddenly starts making faces at her and she can only grimace in response. If she's to have her way, she would stomp back to the kitchen and slap the life out of him. “Anyway, what is it?”

 

“Have you not been paying attention??? I LITERALLY just told you what I left in your loft and where I left it there.”

 

Bambi freezes in place as she glares daggers at Sehun. Stupid head with his douchebag facial ing expressions. “Sorry, the signal's pretty bad.”

 

WHAT???? She screams internally. WHAT ARE YOU--??? WHAT?????????

 

Amber's tone remains unconvinced, but she decides to repeat herself, not wanting to prolong the phone call. Enunciating slowly and loudly what she needs and where she left it, Bambi manages to take some of it in.

 

“And I need it by four. It's the only copy I've got. Please, Bambs. Get here as soon as you can. I'd pick it up myself, but I can't leave the people here hanging.”

 

“Got ya,” She hangs up and checks the time on her phone.

 

Forty-five minutes until four o'clock. It will take around thirty minutes to get to Amber, given that it isn't rush hour yet. So, she only has fifteen minutes to throw whatever outfit on, get the right CD, and shove only important things in her bag before leaving the pissface that is Sehun in the apartment.

 

She instantly sprints off to her room to dress up. If she spends zero time doing her makeup and allots it looking for Amber's CD, she might be able to arrive in the studio in time.

 

As she enters the living room again, she hurriedly inspects the little drawers under the coffee table.

 

“Whoa. What's the rush, little one?” Sehun asks, staring at her curiously.

 

“WELL, one of our friends stupidly left something important here in our apartment and now, I have to go all the way to her company's studio to drop it, because apparently, she has zero time to spare to pick it up herself,” Bambi manages to reply in one breath as her search continues. Amber told her the exact spot, but for some reason, her brain is feigning utmost ignorance.

 

“Studio?” Which one of us works in a studio again? He guesses out loud, “Amber?”

 

“Yeah, she left one of her demo CDs here and—Jesus Christ, where did she say she put it again??” She quickly checks her phone to see if Amber's badgering her to hurry up. Fortunately, she finds a text from her best friend repeating the location of her lost object. “Crap.”

 

“How long has Amber been producing music?” His eyes don't leave Bambi as she heads back to the kitchen. She tiptoes near the fridge and reaches her hand out on top of it.

 

“Aha!” Her eyes light up, finally picking up the cased object she's been looking for. She then answers his question, “Half her life, technically. But if you mean professionally, then a few years. So, she really doesn't want to screw it up. She's been an assistant for God only knows how long.”

 

He nods his head understanding.

 

Although he's known Amber a tad longer than Bambi, he hasn't gotten the chance to learn deeper into some facts about her. Not that he doesn't care; it's just that they never spend any time to sit down and properly talk about themselves. For example, he's aware that she produces music for a living, but doesn't know how she started out. He feels rather content now, recognizing that Amber's passion indeed is music, judging by how long she's been trying to make some of her own.

 

“As you can see, food's done. You only need to eat it. If you need more, there are snacks in the cupboard and refrigerator. Take your meds!” Bambi huffs as she gathers the essentials for her bag in a flash: Amber's demo CD, her keys, cellphone, wallet, and umbrella. “I'll be back in a couple of hours. Three hours tops if I manage to convince Amber to eat dinner with me.”

 

“Well, that's not fair. Leaving me all alone for dinner.” Sehun pouts, still watching his roommate with much amusement.

 

“Why? You want to tag along?” She questions in an annoyed tone as she hops around, trying to wear her sneakers one foot at a time.

 

“Never mind.” He waves at her dismissively and proceeds to eat the food in front of him with a happy heart. “With a busted arm and an annoying hangover, who knows what I can injure next?”

 

“Good head.” She pats his head with a triumphant smirk, but suddenly stares into nothing deep in thought. “I feel like I'm forgetting something.”

 

“A kiss, perhaps?” He puckers his lips teasingly.

 

She glowers at him, finally remembering what she needs to bring. “My coat!” She exclaims as she hits his good arm hard. “STRICTLY. PLATONIC!”

 

“Ow! I know!! Are you trying to cripple me?!” He yells at her defensively.

 

“Later!” She waves, grabbing her peacefully resting coat on a nearby couch before leaving the loft.

***

As soon as Bambi entered the company building, she made sure to greet the usual people she encountered whenever she visited.

 

When Amber first started working for Revival Records, Bambi frequented the place; mostly because Amber preferred her best friend's companionship as opposed to some of the backstabbing and snobby co-workers she had at the time. In a way, Revival Records' headquarters is kind of Bambi's playground in her spare time (or whenever Amber needs her to run errands for her, like bring an important demo CD she forgot in her apartment).

 

“Hey, llama lover. Missing something?” Bambi greets in a snarky tone, attempting to make a nonchalant entrance into the studio.

 

“ABOUT TIME,” Amber exclaims in relief and annoyance.

 

Bambi crosses her arms on her chest and an eyebrow. “Oh, I'm sorry. Did I leave YOUR CD in MY apartment like a careless idiot? And ON TOP of my fridge, may I remind you.”

 

“Just...give me that!” Amber snatches the thin cased circular object away from her hands and puts it in one of the numerous players in the studio.

 

“Have you eaten dinner yet?” Bambi plops on one of the black couches, not even acknowledging the existence of the staff in the room as well as the artist currently trying to record in the soundbooth.

 

Amber manages to instruct the guy in front of her with mere hand gestures while answering Bambi's question, “Nope. Want takeout in your place instead?”

 

“Sold!” Bambi throws her arms up in excitement and giggles. “My crippled roommate would love that.”

 

Amber looks back at her questioningly.

 

“I'll explain later.” Bambi gives her a dismissive wave.

 

Amber nods and focuses her attention on the important matter at hand. She doesn't want to pull an all-nighter and since Bambi actually got to the studio on time, she may be able to finish what she had scheduled.

 

The latter, on the other hand, only sits still and watches quietly as her best friend does her thing. It fascinates her that Amber, being the adorable snowflake and llama lover that she is, can actually take control when it comes to formal matters such as this; which is probably the fine line one can evidently prove that Amber's the older one, even if it's just by a year.

 

“Alright! We'll be done before Christmas at this rate! Good job, guys!” Amber cheers while clapping in victory.

 

After a couple of hours, she finally reaches her goal of tracks to record for the day. Her co-workers pat her on the back and voice words of encouragement before exiting the room.

 

The guy in the booth finally enters the studio all smiles and gives Amber a high-five.

 

“Oh um...Bobby, this is Bambi. Bambi, Bobby,” Amber introduces the two briefly.

 

“Nice to meet you,” Bobby grins, shaking her hand.

 

“You too.” Bambi shares a polite smile, but makes no effort to extend the conversation any further.

 

“Surprised we haven't been introduced earlier,” Bobby casually says.

 

“Well, she likes keeping me in her basement, so...” Bambi replies in a joking tone.

 

Bobby's eyes suddenly widen, shock written all over his face.

 

“It's a joke,” Bambi clarifies.

 

Bobby bursts into awkward laughter. “Right, o—of course!” He stutters and mumbles a little too loudly, “Funny AND pretty.”

 

“Thanks.” Bambi shrugs at the weird delivery of the compliment, even if it isn't meant to be heard.

 

“Guess I'll see you tomorrow, boss.” Bobby attempts to coolly wave at Amber. He then faces Bambi again and clears his throat nervously. “And I hope I'll be seeing you more often.”

 

Amber raises an eyebrow at the young man, but waves goodbye back anyway.

 

“Sure...” Bambi says, feeling the exact opposite.

 

Almost immediately, Bobby leaves the premises.

 

“He's fascinating,” She snorts at her best friend.

 

“He's a tad younger, so you're going to have to excuse his behavior.” Amber shakes her head in disbelief, realizing that Bobby is clearly having the hots for Bambi. “Plus, we've been recording non-stop since this morning.”

 

Bambi decides to shrug off the discussion regarding the young boy. Instead, she goads Amber to hurry up with her things. She can feel her stomach desperately calling for food and it's going to take another thirty minutes for them to get back to the loft. Although Amber did want to slow down her pace just to annoy Bambi, she concedes in the end, realizing that she hasn't had a proper meal since breakfast.

 

“Hey head,” Bambi nonchalantly greets as soon as she and Amber enter the apartment.

 

“Earlier than I expected,” Sehun retorts in monotone as he tears his eyes away from the TV to glance at her, “Dinner?”

 

“Takeout. You want anything in particular?” Bambi asks, although she's aware he still must be a little full from the meal she cooked for him a few hours ago.

 

He thinks about it for awhile and shakes his head. “Noodles would be nice though.”

 

Her eyes then avert to Amber as she shrugs. “Tokyo Tokyo then.”

 

It only takes a few minutes for them to organize their orders and soon enough, Bambi calls up the restaurant.

 

“You two made up?” Amber asks in utmost puzzlement.

 

“Yeah,” Bambi replies as she covers the receiver of the phone, “Long story that we don't want to bore you with.”

 

Sehun points at his splinted arm as a response.

 

“Dun looking boring to me, hun.” Amber snorts, raising an eyebrow at her best friend.

 

Bambi holds up one finger as she enumerates the order to the attendant on the other line.

 

When she finally has room to talk, she explains shortly, “He injured his arm and I picked him up from the hospital. No big deal.”

 

“How did you injure your arm in the first place??” Amber questions Sehun this time, leaving Bambi to focus on the phone call.

 

“Like she said, it's a long story. Just know that I was drunk,” He replies, not wanting to delve into the topic deeper either.

 

As if on cue, Bambi manages to wrap up ordering their food. “Now, can we please talk about something else?” She says, shooting a ominous look at Amber.

 

“Would you prefer talking about Bobby?” Amber teases while wiggling her eyebrows.

 

“What? The kid?” Bambi snaps, rolling her eyes.

 

Amber then glances at Sehun. “One of the artists I'm producing music for shamelessly hit on her right before my eyes,” She recalls as she looks back at Bambi, “You speak as if he's in kindergarten.”

 

“Well technically, yeah.” Bambi scrunches her nose in annoyance at the memory of the strange guy. “Were you there? He dresses like those prepubscent boys back in middle school who thought wearing pants as low as their dignity was cool.”

 

Amber suddenly guffaws at her remark. “That's funny, because it's true. But I'm also kind of hurt on his behalf.”

 

Bambi sends her an incredulous look, but offers no reply.

 

“Are you sure he's not your type? Not even a little bit?” Amber eggs her on.

 

“No,” Bambi assures, cringing at the thought of an actual date with Bobby. “Now, stop trying to set me up with him.”

 

“Why isn't he your type then?” Sehun inquires as coolly as possible.

 

Bambi focus shifts towards him. “Forgot you were there.” She snorts, raising an eyebrow and continues, “None of your business, so...” She proceeds to with a 'zip it' gesture.

 

The topic of Bambi's lost cause suitor is immediately dropped and manages to stay out of the rest of their conversation. This motivates Amber to get the two to talk about what exactly happened with Sehun's injured arm and how they made up. Bambi is, more or less, reluctant to go into detail. So, Sehun takes over, while she emphasizes on the sidelines that it was all due to his own idiocy. Which Amber finds all too amusing and unbelievable.

 

The two loftmates choose not to reveal the exact content of what occurred when they got back to the apartment from the hospital. Instead, they explain that they said their apologies and promised (sort of) to understand each other more as friends. In which Bambi swiftly clarifies before Amber can utter a single word, “Strictly platonic friends.” The latter, not wanting to drop the astonishing development between the two, still attempts to tease them only to be interrupted by the melodic ringing of the doorbell.

 

“I miss hanging out in the roof terrace. When's winter gonna be over?” Amber whines as she digs in her simmering ramen. As soon as the food delivery came, she forgot about the last thing they were talking about.

 

“You know, you can still hang out there. Just be perfectly aware that you WILL freeze your off.” Bambi smiles ironically her way.

 

“Always the optimist,” Amber remarks sarcastically and changes the topic, “Where're you spending the holidays by the way?”

 

“'Rents are in Switzerland until after Christmas and Bree's in Maldives 'til God only knows when. But she did tell me she's going to be here by New Year's Eve. So, I won't be going home until then.”

 

Amber nods understanding as her attention switches to their male companion. “What about you, Sehun?”

 

“I don't really celebrate Christmas or New Year so...” He shrugs while keeping a straight face.

 

“What? Are you kidding?!” She blurts out, giving him a look of disbelief.

 

Bambi instantly nudges her and sends her a knowing glance. Her instincts tell her that it has something to do with what he revealed to her the night before. If Amber pesters him about it, she's scared the atmosphere might turn ugly.

 

“Why??” Amber questions him further, ignoring her best friend's efforts.

 

He still offers no response while maintaining a stoic expression.

 

Bambi turns impatient and glowers at her, even going as far as trying to pinch the side of her stomach.

 

Amber shoots a glare right back at her, but opts to steer the topic elsewhere. “Well, no matter. Your roommate's gonna be around until Christmas, so try and get into the festive spirit!”

 

Sehun shrugs as he takes one of Bambi's gyozas.

 

Her fiery eyes avert from Amber to him faster than the speed of light.

 

“There's also that ginormous party of Sandara's we always look forward to,” Amber continues, barely noticing the short glare war between her two companions, “It's next weekend by the way.”

 

“What, the one that always goes wrong?” Bambi comments, remembering the last three parties of Sandara's they attended during the same time of the year.

 

“The one that always leaves a memorable mark in our brains before we go our own ways for the holidays,” Amber adds, feeling nostalgic already.

 

“I thought you didn't like parties?” Sehun inquires looking at Bambi as he takes another one of her gyozas.

 

“I don't,” She retorts through gritted teeth, trying to swat his fork away from getting another gyoza. “It's just that Sandara's is kind of a pre-Christmas tradition.”

 

“You'll see,” Amber remarks with a gleeful smile, still unaware of the childish roommate war happening right under her nose.

 

Sehun smirks as he manages to barge through Bambi's steady defense. Popping the dumpling goodness into his mouth, he wiggles his eyebrows at her teasingly.

 

“WILL YOU! Keep out of my food?!” She shouts, clearly having had enough.

 

He shakes his head with the same smirk on.

 

“Ugh. YOU. Are such a... dickface!”

 

They continue bickering over the last two pieces of gyozas left. While Sehun is obviously enjoying the petty conflict, Bambi is gradually growing even more irritated by the second.

 

Amber merely watches on the sidelines in fascination and curiousity. Although perplexed, she breaks the fight by questioning, “Is this like a new form of flirting?”

 

“No,” Bambi snaps in disgust as she grabs the last gyoza from Sehun's fork and shoves it in .

 

“Who knows, really?” He grins playfully.

 

“It's NOT,” Bambi insists while chewing on the gyoza in annoyance. Even if she did get the last piece, she feels like she lost in some way.

 

“Okay, alright, you weirdos. Whatever you say.” Amber shakes her head in amusement; even if in the back her mind, she knows something else entirely is going on.