The rest of the night went on peacefully.

At least, that’s what Ailee thought.

She didn’t know the torment and frustration her two dinner guests were having.

Amber, for one, had these certain ministrations for her secretary, like if she was going to catch a cold with what she was wearing, or if she even had the decency to bring a sweater. And just how long were Soojung’s legs for her dress to be just a tad bit short on the knees? Those wonderful flawless legs…

 Crap. Scratch that. Don’t think about her legs. Don’t think about her legs. Don’t think about her—

“Hey Amber, what do you think if we just take the whole performance concept? Like make her perform her songs on the CF?”

“Uhh, what?”

Ailee chuckled at Amber’s response. “It seems she’s a bit distracted.”

Soojung dropped her fork gracefully on her plate and held Amber’s wrist. “Are you okay?”

Just then, Amber felt a loud thump from her chest. She looked at Soojung and saw her worried face. She felt the loud thump again, only it was beating faster. What was with her today? She gulped and blurted out, “I’m- I’m okay.”

Soojung glanced at her one last time then continued with what she was saying. “I mean, I think that’s the best thing to do here. You perform quite spectacularly on stage.”

Ailee gazed dreamily at Amber. “What do you think?”

Amber cleared her head and sipped some of her wine. She wanted to think straight. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t erase Soojung out of her mind. She shook her head furiously.

“You don’t like it?” Soojung raised her eyebrows at her.

“No! No, I mean…”

“What do you think is better, Amber?” Ailee fluttered her eyelashes at her.

She sighed. “Soojung’s idea is great, but I think what the audience needs to see in Ailee is something out of the stage. They see her perform on every music show there is so I’m betting that adding up a CF will be something ordinary to them. What they don’t see is this: her private life. How she does her everyday chores, where she goes, what’s her lifestyle. We show these to them and accentuate how she always has beautiful hair even when she’s away from the lime light. Now that, I think, is a shampoo CF.”

“Wow,” Ailee started. “You really belong in the advertising business, Amber.”

Soojung grinned adorably at Amber’s direction and whispered to her, “That’s great.”

She felt an explosion in her heart. Soojung was mentally making her mind do a thousand cartwheels and she didn’t know why.

Did she like her? She didn’t know. It was a different feeling from what she had with Suzy. Her feelings for her were like out of curiosity. There was this need of knowing her because she felt like there was something familiar in her, that she was a part of. She knew there was a secret and the only way to reveal this is to be able to get closer.

But with Krystal, it was a fierce tug from her chest.  When she saw how Krystal was worried about her, she felt safe. When Krystal had her off days, Amber felt like she was estranged and unloved. Maybe that was why she clung on to Suzy. Because when she thought that Krystal hated her, she knew that she would never find the security she wanted.

Did Krystal hate her? If it wasn’t for her uncle, she wouldn’t be stuck with her in the first place. The feeling of being stuck with someone because of a vow was such a hard compromise. If she had the chance to know Krystal before this could have ever happened, she’d tell her to quit Liu Advertising so that she wouldn’t suffer in the future like she was now. She sighed at the thought.

“I’m sorry Krys.” She held her hand and gave it a squeeze as they were exiting the restaurant.

______________________

Soojung hated Ailee. She hated her so much that she wanted her to take off at some isolated island somewhere and just die in starvation. She despised her. And it didn’t help that she kept stealing glances at Amber every so often. Ailee would make this stupid impersonation of a seal flapping its fins when Amber said something funny. Or even the way she stared at her, with all those long eyelashes of hers, it felt like she was eating Amber up with her eyes.

 She also noticed that Ailee addressed her as a “she” now. Did that mean, while she was gone, they talked about her gender and Ailee was fine with it? Did she still want Amber as her lover? Did Amber say “Yes”?

She hoped to God, that she didn’t.

There was something wrong with Amber too. She kept staring into space, as if she was thinking something that was burdening her for a long time. She felt cold at her touch. “Are you okay?” Nevertheless, the touch had calmed her somewhat.

“Im- Im okay,” she stuttered. Oh, Amber. Stop worrying. I’ll make everything go away. Just stop worrying.

She wanted to take control of the situation so that Amber had the time to deal with her problems but Ailee still didn’t stop questioning her. She suddenly had the urge to choke the stupid singer on the neck with her hands.

But Amber did fine. Yes, that was her Amber.  

Her smart, comical and endearing boss.

The dinner was over and they had closed the deal with Ailee. She flitted her eyes one last time at Amber before saying goodbye to the two of them.  They watched the back of Ailee’s private vehicle as it drifted away and left the two of them on the sidewalk.

She wanted to congratulate her first but before she was about to say anything, Amber cut her off.

“I’m sorry Krys,” She said as she held Soojung’s free hand and squeezed it, sending shivers down her spine.

“What are you sorry for?” She responded shakily. What was wrong with her boss? She just closed a good deal for the company, and then she went off apologizing. “You just landed a deal with the most popular singer in Korea and you say sorry?”

Amber’s head hung low. Soojung held her chin with her other free hand and stared at Amber’s eyes. She was close to crying. Oh dear God, what have I done?

“What’s wrong, Amber? Please tell me…” She looked at her pleadingly.

“I’m sorry for letting you into this, for making you promise to take care of me; for my uncle’s demise, for everything.” She was close to sobbing. All the pain she went through. Her parents dying. Her sister still missing. Her only living relative dying in her hands.  And Krystal, for getting caught in this miserable black hole.

Soojung didn’t contain it any longer and embraced her. So this was what her mind went through awhile ago.

“I’m sorry for everything. Please, don’t hate me.”

Soojung was mildly struck at what the other was saying. She thought I hated her. If she only knew…

She took hold of Amber’s shoulders, letting go of the embrace. “Amber, I don’t hate you. In fact, that promise that I made with your uncle, I didn’t regret that. Seeing you now in spite of everything you have been through is the most fulfilling accomplishment I have ever felt. Amber, you have been a part of my life even before I ever met you. Your uncle spoke so highly of you, that I thought you were the coolest person in the world. And you really are.”

Soojung smiled brightly at her words. Amber just stared at her, dumbstruck. She wiped something from her eye and covered her face with her hands. She turned her back to Soojung and remarked, “I know. Am I not the coolest?”

Soojung giggled. “You are.”

When Amber smiled at her, it wasn’t a sad smile anymore. Her voice was animated as she said, “So does that mean you don’t hate me?”

She nodded and grinned. Foolish dork.

Amber smirked and said, “So you like me?”

_____________________________________

There was ringing coming from someone’s bag. The owner opened it and answered her phone.

“Hello?”

“Unnie, I think Amber knows. What do I do now?”

The voice was worried and sounded desperate.

“What do you mean Amber knows?” She asked, panic-stricken.

“I think she knows something about her past.”

She sighed. She knew this was coming in the long run.

“Calm down. We can’t hide the past forever, right?”

“Has your sister recovered yet?”

“I introduced her to the orphanage two months ago, willing for her to bring her memories back, but it didn’t. We leave her out of this, okay?”

“You know she plays a part in everything, right?”

“I know, but she’s not ready. I still have to protect her.”

The voice on the other line was skeptic. “Okay. Should I just let things fall into place?”

“Just let everything be, Suzy.”

“You’re right, Su-yeon unnie. But when that time comes, I’ll have a say, okay? It’s time to claim things that I should’ve done before this has ever happened. It’s time to get my Amber back. You’ll let me right?”

“Yes. Even if it hurts Soojung,” She made an angry fist with her free hand.

 “Thank you unnie,” and with that she hung up the phone.

********************

Hi guys! Sorry for the loooooooooong delay. So anyways, what do you think? Will there be a big confession in the next chapter? Their entangled lives will be revealed in one chapter, by the way, so just take a big guess before that happens, (it will be soon though). So just wait! :) 

I promise to update soon! Yes, I WILL finish this before anything else. So don't worry.

Thank you for subscribing! Oh and for not giving up on this fic. Kryber Love for you guys! :)

Out~