“He dribbles past the defender. Shoots the ball into the far right of the net. The goalkeeper lunges to block it. But the attempt is fruitless. Choi Minho scores the winning goal in the dying minutes of the game!”

She sat on the edge of the sofa, eyes glued to the 51-inch LCD screen. For the past 90 minutes, Amber had not shifted even an inch from her seat. A small smile spread on her face as the commentator rattled on, “It’s not just the winning goal of the game, it’s the winning goal of the championship game! And FC Seoul have won the Korean League once more! They are the Champions. FC Seoul’s Number 10 and Flaming Charisma, Choi Minho has snatched the championship back for his team from Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. I can almost hear the fireworks being set off in the city!”

The camera now focused on the victors. The rest of the FC Seoul team who were on the bench, ran onto the field to join in the celebration. Minho was now being thrown into the air by his excited teammates. The camera man zoomed in once more, blowing up the handsome footballer’s face. He broke out into a grin ecstatically and for a second, he made eye contact with the camera and all the audience watching at home. Amber just stared at the screen, captivated.

It had been months since she had seen Minho so happy.

“Ding!” The aroma of vanilla wafted into the living room and jolted Amber from her daze. Jumping up, she sprinted to the kitchen, with the TV blasting in the background. She peered into the oven and grabbed the potholders. The tin was still hot when she took it out from the oven. Placing the cake gently on a wire rack before instinctively touching her fingers to her earlobes to cool them, Amber was pleased with the result.

The red velvet cake wasn’t the easiest to make. However, Amber had practice. It was her husband’s favourite dessert after all. She went to look for her mobile phone and returned to the kitchen to snap a picture of the cake sitting on the counter. “Congratulations on your win. You were awesome. I love you.” The text message was sent along with the cake’s photo. Now all she had to do was to wait.

She wasn’t interested in the rest of the soccer commentary; there was nothing else interesting on the rest of the channels. That was typical of a Saturday night when the TV stations expected people to be out on the streets instead of holed up at home. Feeling restless like she was prone to recently, Amber wandered through the apartment like a homeless ghost.

Framed pictures hung on either side of the walkway. She now examined every single picture now, as though she was a visitor. Minho’s smile here looks exactly like the one just on screen, she thought to herself, trying to recall what occasion it was. He was always so good looking, even when caught unaware on film. She longed to see his face light up like that in real life again.

The wall next to their bedroom was empty, a stark contrast. They had intended to fill it with pictures of their future children. The sudden pang of grief incapacitated Amber who sunk to her knees. Her hands her now flat stomach. Now wasn’t the time to have another breakdown, she bit her lip to stop herself from crying. Amazingly, she hadn’t run out of tears. She could cry a river but that wasn’t help a single thing. Nothing she could do would bring back what she had lost. When she lost the baby, she seemed to have lost Minho too.

Victory was indeed sweet. The FC Seoul members walked out of the press conference in a row, the flashes of light from the shutterbugs almost blinding the striker. The questions from the media had come fast and furious, especially for the man of the match. His fellow teammates had allowed him to bask in the limelight – he did earn it.

Hours later, in the wee hours of the morning, Minho stumbled through the main door. The team had headed into town for round two of merrymaking. The entire apartment was dark. But he had lived here long enough to feel his way around in pitch darkness, even semi-drunk. He was still cautious about knocking into any furniture; he didn’t want to wake Amber up.

Passing the open concept kitchen, he caught a glimpse of the cake in the moonlight that shone through the shutters. His favourite. Yet he was not confident of not making a din when helping himself to a slice.

Shuffling soundlessly, Minho stopped short of the master bedroom. The door was open and he could make out Amber asleep on her side of the bed. Since the accident, he found himself returning home, later and later. Of course, there was extra training for preparation for the final games but somehow, he had grown hesitant during those times when usually he would be dying to rush home to his wife.

Leaning against the frame of the door, he wondered what had happened to both of them. He had been expectedly excited when he knew that he was going to be a father. Far too excited, he reminded himself as he turned to face the other room that was now locked. Amber had wanted to keep the news low key, at least for the first three months, he agreed not to make an announcement. Instead, he surprised Amber with baby clothes, toys and even a crib. “How do you know it’s a boy?” Amber had asked when he came home with a pair of teensy weensy football boots.

“It doesn’t matter. Even if it’s a girl, she will be the best female footballer,” Minho had pulled her onto his lap and hugged her tight. “Because she’s my daughter.” She had just laughed at him and called him crazy.

Now those boots and everything else were put away, never to see the light. The loss had hit him hard and he knew that Amber was ultimately the one that suffered most. Unlike him who had to go straight back to normal life because keeping to a straight routine was important to stay on top of his game – and that was his job after all.

Amber, on the other hand, had become completely withdrawn. Minho had no idea how to deal and so escaped to the outside world. As he stared at his sleeping wife, who had become a stranger in the past months, he wondered what else he had lost.  

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Hello! I finally got down to starting a Minber. I think the problem with writing about them for me is they seem so real in real life that the only stories I seem to conjure up with them revolve around them in real life! And after writing "Sacrifice", it felt a little odd to write something else about them in real life that wasn't a continuation. Ah well, I hope you guys enjoy this! 

XiaoZhen: I miss Minber too! :( I loved your "The Truth Behind Amber Josephine Liu". Are you going to write another Minber soon?

anjel189: Hello! Thank you for your comment. Yes, it was real drama. I'm sorry Amber treated Henry that way. She couldn't resist loving Kyuhyun but in the end, she chose loyalty over following her heart. I'm happy you were so engrossed in the short story! Krisber will come up soon!

bibibe: Yes, this is my first sad ending fan fiction. I may not continue the story but I might just do another Kyuber with a happy ending! Thank you for reading!

Princess98: Thank you for your support! :)

AyeListen: I'm really touched that my story was capable of bringing out those emotions in you and I'm really happy that you have shared with me all this. It's comments like yours that spur me on to write better stories. Thank you. :)

jay4ella: Hello! Aww, I'm sorry it ended this way. I hope my next one doesn't disappoint you!