“Krystal-sshi, I think it’s safe not to go after dark. It’s raining hard now,” Sooyoung brought in two blankets and gave it to her. “Stay here for the night. Then, when the rain clears up next morning, Amber can drive you home.”

“Thanks, unnie. But you sure we have to sleep in one room? She’s my boss and I don’t think it’s really professional for me—“

Sooyoung bit a chunk of her cookie while she wondered if Krystal thought she was that daft. It was a no-brainer that these two were together. She based this on the amount of skinship the two were giving each other. And how stupid was she not to see that look of concern in Krystal’s eyes when Amber almost broke down awhile ago? Amber looked like a hurt puppy and Krystal was Mother freaking Theresa. She thought she was watching a drama.

“--- I can sleep with you in your room, if that’s not too much.” Krystal suggested.

“Just go together, Krystal. Don’t you think it’s a bit unkind to let your boss sleep alone after what happened awhile ago? She needs someone with her.”

“I guess that’s right. I mean, what could possible go wrong...” she stuttered and put up a nervous smile.

“I see...” She giggled and laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’m off to bed. I’ll double check the children’s quarters before I nod off. You still need anything?”

“We’re settled, I think.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow Krystal-sshi!” She waved goodbye to her and fought fits of laughter from forming.

This was going to be one hell of a night.

Well, at least, for Krystal.

-----

“Hey, Krys.”

“What?”

“You look weird. What are you doing?”

“I’m not weird. I just feel comfortable sitting here.”

“Aren’t you sleepy?”

“No. I mean, I am. I’m sleepy. I’m going to sleep here.”

“Whatever,” Amber sprawled on her comforter on the floor, snuggling before placing her head on the pillow. They were both wearing overworn pyjamas that looked like 12 year old kids had grown out of them. “You sure?”

“I’m sure, dimwit,” Soojung had her blanket all over herself, and was in a fetal position, sitting on the corner of the room. She placed her pillow on her knees, crossed her arms and laid her head on it.

There was a momentary silence. Soojung peered to see what Amber was doing and saw her sleeping comfortably. It was serene seeing that calm expression on her face, as if she was dreaming of something so peaceful, she knew it would be a torment waking up. She slowly closed her eyes at this sight.

A few minutes after, she felt a weight on her shoulder. She opened an eye and found Amber sitting next to her, her head lying on her resting shoulder. Amber felt her move and lifted her head. They were now sitting in front of each other.

“I’m afraid I might dream something bad again,” Amber said.

She felt the fear in Amber’s voice. It had quaked with apprehension and dread. Seeing her like this, hugging her knees with those wide almond eyes and her lips parted in a way Soojung wanted to touch them with her fingers or her lips-- She cleared .

“You know what I do to keep away nightmares?” She decided to touch Amber’s hair instead. She it in repetitive motions.

“What?” Her eyes questioned her.

She smirked playfully, looked at her clothes and found a loose thread at the hem of her sleeve. She tugged it with gentle force and tied it around Amber’s pinkie finger.

 “When I was a kid, I used to have nightmares. It was getting horrible to the extent that I couldn’t sleep anymore. Eventually, your uncle taught me this trick. Before I go to sleep, Mr. Liu would tie this around my pinkie finger and tell me to imagine this in my dream. If the thread’s not there on my finger, then everything’s not true, and that I need to wake up or dream of something better. After some time, I was so used to this strategy. All the nightmares had gone and were replaced with dreams of my parents and my sister. But lately, I...”

Soojung stopped short. She bit her lip, then looked at Amber again with a smile, “Anyway, you should try and think hard while you’re in a dream. This will make you conscious while dreaming.”

Amber stared at her pinkie, and nodded in approval, “This can work, but I have another way of making my nightmares stop.”

“How?”

“Stay with me.”

“You’re really getting clingy, aren’t you?” Soojung straightened her legs and patted her lap for her to sleep on. Amber laid her head and grinned from ear-to-ear.

“You like this?” Soojung asked. Amber nodded fervently.

She laughed and Amber’s hair. “Amber, I stopped trying to dream about my parents to make my nightmares go away.”

“Hmmm...”

“But I’m still having nightmares. So I think about something else.”

“What do you think about when you dream now?”

She paused from her hair.

“You.”

Amber sat up from her position slowly and faced her. She cupped her cheek and traced her nose with her fingers. When she reached her eyelashes, her eyes fluttered along with that queasy feeling in that pit of her stomach; like a flock of seagulls would suddenly emerge out of when she opened it. Amber’s face was getting closer and closer and closer.

It always felt right when her lips reached hers. It was the same feeling she had felt after a long day’s work and she arrived home with her sister cooking their dinner. It felt like that warm feeling her favorite sweater gave her when she walked alone every cold dark winter’s night. It felt like the time when she used to watch that movie she had seen for a million times already because it was so damn good, it made her laugh and cry every single time. It felt like home.

They started moving to the comforters while Amber’s hands were wandering inside Soojung’s pyjama shirt. She laid her on the bed while she pressed her lips on Soojung’s neck, nibbling at it, which had caused Soojung to let out an inaudible moan. When her back reached the floor, Amber returned her lips back onto hers.

Amber’s hands started roaming further inside her shirt, until she found her soft mounds of flesh. Soojung lifted her back for her to gain access and she unhinged her bra with ease. She threw the bra aside. Her knee found its way between her legs and she pushed it against her making her moan softly.

Soojung found her voice and said, “How much do you love me?”

“Enough to melt all the ice in Antartica,” Amber nibbled just below her ear. Amber was cupping her s now and they were keeping a rhythm with her knee grinding into her spot. She let out a groan.

“Global warming? Really?” She took off Amber’s shirt and removed hers too. Amber tugged Soojung’s pants off and went back to pleasuring her s. She took one and popped it in while she kneaded the other with her fingers. Amber went down slowly until she reached the place between her legs. She looked at her first with so much longing.

“I love you so much that I’ll hold you until we both tumble down on the edge of forever. And even if you call me stupid, dimwit, prick, low-life for the rest of everyday, you’ll always be my princess.”

She kissed her full on the lips one last time before Amber dived into her ecstacy.

------

Amber woke up trying to feel the other person beside her.

She squinted her eyes and sat up, only to find out that she was alone in the room. “Soojung? Princess?”

She walked out of the room and started searching the quarters. Sooyoung noticed her while she was busy preparing food in the kitchen. She took hold of Amber’s arm and held her shoulders.

“Amber.“

“Sorry Sooyoung-sshi, I need to find Krystal. Have you seen her around?”

Sooyoung dropped her hands and cleared . “She left.”

“She what? She was with me last night. Why would she— She told me we’d go together—“

“She had some things she needed fixing Amber. She left early in the morning. You can go too after breakfast.”

She nodded and walked back to their room. She stared at the place where Soojung had slept. Maybe she found out that what happened that night was a mistake. It was hard to control her tears from falling. She sat beside the pillow and sniffed it. Soojung’s shampoo smell was still there. She felt something fall on her lap.

It was a letter.

Amber,

Sorry I had to leave you early. There were a lot of stuff going inside my head. I have a lot to think about and sort out. This is my business so I have to deal with this on my own. It has nothing to do with you, okay?  Eat breakfast before you leave.

                                                                                                                                                                                Krystal

***

a/n: And that is how it goes, folks.*cringes at all the cheesiness and very light * 5 more chapters and I may finally be able to finish this! Fighting! :) See you next update!