Gliding along the length of the kitchen, Amber checked whether the soup was boiling. Indeed, the bubbles on the surface of the liquid were building up fast and furious. She turned the stove’s knob so the fire became smaller and the soup simmered. Satisfied, she dashed back to give her full attention to the pork ribs that were grilling over a fire. It was a good thing that Victoria had decided that Amber needed a dry-run to prepare this meal and the f(x) rapper had cooked the exact same dishes back last week under her leader’s strict supervision. It also helped that some dishes like the soba salad and radish cube kimchi could be pre-prepared back in her dormitory.

The two FT Island members who were at home stood at the kitchen door, bemusedly watching the scene before them. Jaejin and Minhwan had never pegged the girl to be the domestic sort, however since their guitarist and Amber had started dating, they had seen so many different sides of her. For instance, once she had cleaned out the room that the maknae and her boyfriend shared so he could have a clean environment to sleep in, instead of the usual pig sty. The other guys approved of Amber, after all, they benefited too.

Like today. Part of the nine-dish meal that Amber had made to celebrate Seunghyun’s birthday was green tea cake. “Noona, do you need any help?” Minhwan asked.

“Yah, can we do anything for you?” Jaejin echoed.

Concentrating on the cooking meat, Amber shook her head. “No thank you. I want to do it all myself. But I made some cake for you guys too. It’s in the red square container,” She told them and Minhwan sped to the dining table where the food was. “Don’t polish them all, Minnie!” Amber called from the kitchen. “You have to share them with Jonghun and also Hongki when he comes home.”

“Yah!” Jaejin quickly slapped Minhwan’s hand that was reaching for a slice. “We have to share this.”

“Seungie hyung has his own large portion,” The youngest boy looked at the other container that probably held Seunghyun’s portion.

Quickly biting into a piece, Jaejin quipped, “Well, you can find a girlfriend too!”

“Not every girl is as great as Amber noona!” Minhwan declared as he snatched some.

Although she was standing over the stove, she heard everything the boys outside said and smiled to herself. Jonghun oppa always remarked that Seunghyun was lucky to have Amber as a girlfriend, but deep down, the girl knew that she was the lucky one to be loved by Seunghyun. She had never been happier than she had been in the past year. The pair acted like any couple in love. Seunghyun’s voice was the last she heard every night – they spoke on the phone before she went to bed, even if they were in separate countries – and without fail, she would receive a text from him first thing each morning. They had to keep their relationship under wraps due to their unusual status and only their band members and close friends in the industry knew that the FT Island guitarist and f(x) rapper were dating but this only made every moment they could spent with each other, be it a few minutes after a TV show recording they were both at or a dinner squeezed in between obligations, all the more precious.

Hours later, the spread of food laid on the dining room table, untouched. She sat on the sofa, watching the clock above the TV. The rest had gone into their bedrooms after dinner to leave the communal area private for Seunghyun and Amber to have some alone time – except that Seunghyun was still not home. There had been only one thing on his schedule today – it was his birthday after all – and even if it had overrun, there was no reason he would be late for three hours.

“Amber?” Jonghun peeked out from the hallway. “He’s not back yet?”

Shaking her head slowly, Amber sighed.

“Well, do you have a schedule tomorrow? If you do, maybe you should head home first. It’s getting late.” The leader of the band didn’t only look after his own members, he extended fatherly care to their girlfriends; they were family after all.

“It’s alright!” She jumped up to show that she wasn’t tired at all. “I want to celebrate Seungie’s birthday with him.”  Jonghun smiled at her thoughtfulness and headed back to his bedroom.

The door opened and footsteps pattered into the living room. The short-haired girl, who had fallen asleep on the sofa, woke with a start. Pulling herself to an upright position, the grin that spread on her face couldn’t be wider.

The guitarist, on the other hand, was expressionless. His eyes were downcast and his body appeared fatigued. A little taken aback at her boyfriend’s apparent lack of enthusiasm to see her, Amber still maintained the big smile as she skipped towards Seunghyun. “Honey, happy birthday! There’s still time before midnight, wait let me get the cake.”

“Amber, I’m really tired. All I want to do is to sleep. Go home.” The coldness in Seunghyun’s voice caught the girl by surprise and she paused, her back to Seunghyun.

He must be really exhausted, Amber thought to herself. “Even if you are tired, you have to eat. Look what I made for you.” She turned around, her earlier cheeriness had become a little forced, yet there was no way she was mad at her boyfriend. He probably had a long day in the recording studio and anyone who had to spend his 21st birthday working would probably be as grumpy as him.

“My progress was really slow today. I kept on making mistakes and the producer was not happy at all.” He muttered loud enough for Amber to hear. “And you know why I couldn’t concentrate? Because of these pictures!” Seunghyun glared at her and flung a magazine on the floor.

The publication opened to a page showing pictures of the SM artistes at the most recent concert and the anchor picture was of Minho hugging Amber from the back.

The girl stared at the photo, cursing herself – Seunghyun’s jealousy was rearing its head again.