"Take a break, Jess, you deserve it," my New York assistant assures me, saying they will take care of other stuff that needs ironing out at my store. 

Man, even saying those words feels a dream. New York assistant. My store.

See, I've been fighting jetlag with long walks around my favorite city, attending events and preparing for the grand store opening, but I guess my body had to give up at some point. 

I took the nearest chair I could find for a brief respite.

"You sure?"

"Jess, I'm sure. You've been running around like a headless chicken since you got here. At least get some rest before the Calvin Klein show tonight?"

There was no point in arguing. I hailed a cab to get back to the hotel. And when I took the elevator, that's when I realized how exhausted I was. Imagine that. You'd think I'd be used to stress after spending nearly a decade with a girl group constantly on a hectic schedule, but, well, here we are.

I made sure to walk slowly to my room since there was no rush anyway. But somewhere down the hallway I'm hearing...voices? In Korean? Arguing about wearing heels and skirts?

"But I'm not really comfortable in these."

"Hey, I'm your stylist for this trip. Can't you trust me on this?"

"I trust you, Irene the Great. But I hope you'll trust me when I say my fashion experiments have limits too."

"Fine, I won't force the skirt. But wear my green, shiny, silky top at least?"

"Stop it with the aegyo! You can't change my mind!"

"It'll look good on you, I promise!"

"Fine, I'll think about it!"

Laughter ensues. I know who the hell these guys are.

"Irene? Amber?"

Silence. Seconds later, I'm drowning in shrieks and hugs with a whirl of blue.

"Jess, I'm so glad to see you! How've you been? How's the store?" Irene asks me. Now I realize I haven't been seeing things; her hair is actually colored blue.

"Everything's great, everything's fine. There's a delay in the jeans shipment, my eyeglasses section is still not up to my standards, a lot of tops need ironing, I'm freaking the hell out about my store but I'll manage."

"Congratulations on the SoHo branch, Boss Jung. Well deserved!" Amber chimes in, extending her hand to shake mine.

"Oh stop it with the formalities!" I tell her. It's been a while since we've seen each other, let alone hearing her calling me her favorite nickname for me, and our handshake is making me blush inside. I hope she doesn't notice. Oh, that soft hand.

It's like a scene straight out of when we first met nearly a decade ago. I was already preparing for my debut with our still unnamed girl group then, while she was still the newbie, awkward trainee. 

At SM, trainees and those about to debut are almost always segregated, but I later found out Amber got lost somehow, with her Korean still poor and her still getting used to Seoul. Poor thing. 

One night, I headed to one of the training rooms doing a last-minute polishing on my dance. When I wrapped up two hours later, I finally noticed something at the corner of the room. It was rising and falling.

I walked closer to take a look. What I thought to be some package or trash all this time turned out to be human all along: a cute boy curled up in a corner, sleeping soundly.

"Excuse me?" I asked in Korean. Cute boy didn't budge.

"EXCUSE ME?" This time I had to ask loudly and finally he is awake.

"I sorry... I mean, sorry president, boss... Sorry, sorry ajusshi," was the response in broken Korean. By this time I realize I've been talking to a tomboy, not a boy.

"Are you alright?" I code-switched to English. My Chinese isn't up to par yet, and I can only assume this kid could speak either English or Chinese with that accent.

"Yeah, I was just practicing and I got exhausted so I thought I'd sneak in a power nap and... OH MY GOD I'M SORRY ARE YOU ONE OF THE TRAINERS HERE? I'M SO, SO, SORRY BOSS, THIS IS EMBARRASSING..."

The tone change was laughable, if only the tomboy didn't look so deathly serious.

"Relax, kid!" I reassured her. "But you do realize you have to go back to your dorm ASAP?"

"Right, right. Sorry about that," she conceded. "But gosh, you are right! I'm not supposed to be here this late."

"Tell you what, I'll take you back to your dorm and I'll tell them you got lost that's why you were home late," I suggested.

The walk to the dorms was quiet. Which was fine because I wasn't in the mood for talking. I was too exhausted. The kiddo, though, looked like she lost all will to live due to fear. 

"Are you sure you're alright, er..."

"Amber. I'm Amber Liu," she broke the silence, extending her hand to me quite formally. I took and shook it. God, are her hands soft.

"Nice to meet you Amber, but you're really looking like a pale dragon with its blood right out of it."

"I'm just really scared and nervous, that's all."

"Relax, leave it to me."

She fell silent again.

"How long have you been in Seoul anyway?" I asked.

"Three months. My Korean is still rusty, my Chinese unpolished, my dancing skills pretty underwhelming compared to the other trainees, I hardly have friends, I hardly even talk to people these days and I'm a people person! And here I am getting into trouble all because..."

"Stop!" I grabbed her by the arm and faced her. "Stop overthinking, stop overanalyzing. It's going to be fine!"

"If you insist."

"Good."

The walk in silence resumed.

"Can I say something, though?"

"Keep it short."

"I just realized it's been a while since I've talked to someone in straight English this long, and... I'm just really happy I've met you, that's all."

"Huh," was the only reply I could muster as we finally got to her dorm's entrance, with one of the big managers already at the door. I explained the situation to him and as the brows of the manager loosened, it was only when Amber became relaxed and calmer. 

"Are you sure, Ms. Jung?" the burly bear asked me in Korean.

"I'm sure. Please don't punish Amber for getting lost. Please."

"I'll let it slide this time, Ms. Jung. And I'm relieved Amber met a sunbaenim who speaks English to help her out."

"Thank you. You've worked well. Good night," I said as I bowed. 

I caught Amber about to bow to me too until she caught herself and hesitated.

"Goodbye, Amber. It was nice meeting you," I said, this time in English. I could tell she wanted to say something more but the bear guy was already escorting her inside.

"You never told me your name!" I heard her yell as she was entering the dorm.

"Oh you'll know soon enough!" I yelled back.

--------

"So Jess, are you going to be holed up in your room all night? Because I wouldn't be surprised," Irene's question thankfully waking me up from nostalgia.

"No, silly, it's fashion week! I'll take a power nap. I can manage. I'm going to Calvin Klein tonight," I tell them.

"Cool, we're headed there later, too!" Irene exclaimed.

"Great! We've got company! I've been getting sick of Irene's face already you know," Amber joked as Irene gave her a fake death stare.

"You're a meanie, Am," I tell her between chuckles.

"Let's go together then? A-all together, I mean?" she asked. I wish she didn't clarify, for she did not need ask; I flashed a smile instead for my answer.