It was a fine autumn day. Leaves piled up under the trees that shed them, leaving the branches and trunks.The breeze gave off that scent after a long rainy season.  Just in time for four little bright grade-schoolers  to play and wander at the park. Two of them were busy playing in the sandboxes, while the others were playing in the slides, taking turns and laughing at each other’s falls. Their parents were outside the playground. They sat on the benches somewhere in the park, dawdling their time away with talk.

“Hey Sue, watch me make it out of that slide head first!” The short-haired girl proclaimed, atop the slides, waving and smiling gleefully at someone below.

“Hey! Be careful. We’re not supposed to do those kinds of things. Mom said...”

“Oh let her be. She thinks she’s grown up.”

The girl with the pigtails stared at the oldest of the bunch who was busy making  castles inside one of the sandboxes.

“But Jess unnie-“

“Let her learn her lesson.” Jess looked at her sternly, as if she gained the wisdom of a 60 year old miser.

“Hmmph!“ She turned around and placed her hands on her waist out of frustration.

“Haha! Stop bickering you two. I’m bigboned. When I grow up, I’m gonna be in an action movie!” The young girl standing on the top of the slide pulled her sleeves back and swept  her fringes aside. Good thing she had short hair so it wouldn’t get in the way. “Here I come!”

She swooped down the highest slide lying down with her head first. She hit the ground, doing a roll and ended with her right knee on the ground and the other knee bended forward, pretending it was some kind of performance.

Suddenly something collided hard on the back of her head. She felt a throbbing sensation.

“Stupid! Didn’t I tell you to cut that silly stunt thing! Unnie had had it with you but I’m not!”

“YAH! You didn’t have to hit me, Krys!”

”I have to. Because you never learn.”

She smiled mischievously at her. The other girl just stared  angrily and crossed her arms.

“Hey, give me a hug.” She hugged the angry schoolgirl tightly despite her futile attempts at escaping. When it was a no-go, she just let her hug her and said, “You never learn Amber. You never learn.”

“You never learn...” The voice echoed repeatedly thoughout the park.

Then, the scene  faltered away as if it was muddled up by ripples of water. A burning lodge came into view. The window panes were shattered and all around the house were burning wood. Under one of the tables, a young lady with pigtails was crouching, wide-eyed and frightened. When one of the wood from the ceiling fell, she screamed and started crying. The door bursted open. She turned her head to the door and gasped at the sight of her friend.

“I came to save you—“ She said to her, shielding her face with her arms and hands.

“Amber! Go away! Save yourself! I’m not worth—“ She coughed out and fainted.

She shook her hard and shouted, “Sue! Sue! Wake up!”

“Miss Liu, wake up.”

Amber jolted up and realized she slept with her arms crossed over her office desk. She stared at Suzy and blinked continuously.

“What? What’s wrong with my face?” Suzy asked. She cupped her face feeling for some kind of defect.

“N-no no. You just remind me of someone,” Amber looked down feeling embarassed.

The day started as bleakly as possible. Suzy turned cold towards her and dismissive inside the office . She only reported when Amber had papers to sign while the rest of the time, she was ordered to read books and take down notes. In conclusion, Amber had fallen asleep just in the middle of basic statistics.

“It’s already 5 in the afternoon, Miss Liu. I am here to take my leave.”

“Oh, okay. You should. Thank you for your hard wo-wo-work.” She yawned at the end of the sentence and gave a smile at her secretary. Suzy bowed and left the office.

“Hmmm, she needs to relax, that girl.” Amber stretched her arms and carried her books  back to the shelf. When she raced to the door, almost half of her staff was waiting outside.

“Wha-what?”

“ Umm,  sorry for intruding , but we like to ask you if you could go out with us for some fun dinner somewhere in Seoul?” Sulli said, who started to blush.

“REALLY? I mean you want to invite me?”

“Ye-yes, if you don’t mind. We are sorry for invading your personal time.” Sully bowed apologetically, and the rest of the staff bowed alongside her.

“Hey! There’s no need to apologize.  I really want to be with you guys too, and get to know each other. So my answer is, which way do we go?”

The crowd cheered and enveloped Amber. They chatted her and asked her about life in Liu Advertising. She was quite happy with all the company that she couldn’t help but feel sad that Krystal wasn’t around. She asked Sulli about this while they were about to leave the building.

“Where does Krystal go on her off days by the way?”

“She spends it mostly at home. Sometimes she visits this little orphanage in Busan, but as far as I know, she goes there once every two weeks.” She said to  her shyly.

“Oh. I guess, she needs off days like that.”

“Yes, it calms her down when she goes there.”  Amber turned the revolving door for her, in which she mouthed a small “thank you”.

Amber looked intently at Suzy who was walking with some colleagues. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how is Suzy to you? Is she cold or passive-aggressive? Does she even smile?”

“Ummm...”

“I think we need to eat, Miss Liu.” Someone cut in between them and gave Sulli a piercing glance. Sulli agreed and told her, “Um I think so too, Su-Yeon unnie. How about that family restaurant in Jung-gu?”

“Great ,where do we go?”

“Just follow my lead, okay? It’s just a walking distance from here...”

And Sulli went off, ahead of the pack.

Amber stared at this Su-Yeon person and was about to open .

“Yes, Miss Liu. I am Soojung’s sister.”

“You are?”

“Yes. My name’s Jessica. Korean name Su-Yeon.”

She scratched her head and looked at Jessica closely. Jessica felt strangely related to Krystal although she didn’t know how she felt it. But she knew who she was.

________________________________________

The dinner they shared had been a fiasco. Some were jeering others to a contest of who finishes the spiciest chicken ribs first. There were also calls for couples to serve each other with cabbages and stuff.  Suzy ate her meal, quietly observing and laughing warily at the others. Sunny was singing something unintellegible at the top of her voice.  Nonetheless, it was an entertaining night for Amber. She was used to eating instant ramen every supper back at her apartment.

When they all had their stomachs full, Sulli invited everyone for Ktv. Half of them wanted to go while the others wanted to call it a night since they had their spouses and children to think of. Jessica and Suzy was monotonous but Sulli dragged them to go. Sunny was as cheery as ever and raised her hand, while the rest of the unmarried ones joined in.

“How about you boss?”

“Sure, and dont worry. My treat.”

_______________________________________

Amber drank her heart out with soju. She felt, after a long long period of time, free and voluble. Sulli was singing something about love at first sight, and she knew that she was looking at her. Sulli might have still thought that she was a guy. She didn’t care, honestly. She raised her soju at her and smiled. She stared at Jessica who was sleeping in the corner of the couch, and at Sunny who was hanging upside down snoring like the end of the world. Suzy was not at least drunk and looked obsessively at the song book without even singing a song. Suzy stared back and Amber felt something warm inside of her. She felt like family. She beamed at her and for the second time, Suzy smiled back.

_______________________________________

The night grew longer than expected.

After a couple more hours, she caught sight of Krystal. Was it Krystal? Yes, it was. The way her hair looked so glassy from the back. Her eyes that crunched up every time she was mad at something. And that worried look. You knew then that she cared for you.

 She was carrying her sister by the arm and was asking her to stand up. Amber got to her feet and took the other arm. Amber and Krystal shared the briefest of glances while they carried Jessica to the taxi outside.

“Hey Krys. You’re being secretary during off days too?”

“Shut it. I’m helping my sister get home.” She tugged at her sister’s arm, which caused Amber to be slightly off-balance.

“Hey, I’m drunk too, you know?”

“You can take care of yourself.” She said . They got Jessica into the taxi and closed it with a shut. Amber was feeling dizzy, so she steadied herself. She felt her head getting lighter and lighter. Krystal looked worriedly at her. She held her to one side and let her sit on the sidewalk.

“Do you want me to contact L for you? Since I know stupid people like you can’t go back home on your own.” She dialled L’s number on her phone, when Amber stopped her. “Tell L to get the others back home. I’m fine here, for now.”

“And leave you here alone? In the streets?”

“You should. Leave me alone, I mean. I think I’m better off that way.” She steeled herself away from her and looked forlornly at the street lights.

“You’re drunk, stupid. I can’t leave you here. And who says you’re better off alone? I promised your uncle I’ll take care of you, didn’t I?” She lifted Amber up and caught her by the waist.

Amber took her stand by leaning on the car with Krystal in the middle. Their faces were just a few spaces away. “Tell me, if I told you you’re free from that promise, would you still care for me like you do now?”

Krystal was stuck at Amber’s mesmerizing gaze. Her hands were still on her waist and it was giving her those butterflies in her stomach again. She couldn’t hide the loud beating of her heart. It pounded ever so desperately in her chest. She gulped and said a little breathlessly, “Yes.”

That was when Amber lost her grip and out, her lips falling completely on Krystal’s.

Amber had kissed Krystal squarely on the lips.

_____________________________________

 On the other side of the door, someone was watching them closely and futilely. She gripped the door handle with shaking hands and had let go eventually after a couple of minutes. She turned her back at the door and sat down. She placed her hands on her face and sobbed relentlessly.

Suzy realized Amber would never know about how she was suffering.

 And right now, she felt disgusted with herself.

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

Hi guys. Sorry for the loooooooong wait. I had my shifts in the hospital plus the holidays were slowly eating me away so I kept delaying this. But here’s my late christmas gift for you! 

So before you curse my absences, I promise I’m going to update frequently now, since I lost my job (it’s contractual so it’s going to end eventually) and I am officially a bum at home. *sniff sniff* But that means more chapters to come!

Please sub and comment guys. Do you think it's a bit lacking? Still a bit short?

Cheers to all of you guys and to 2013! I hope I find a new job. Haha~ And more Kryber for 2013! I'm thinking about Amber's new concept. Hmmm... What do you guys think?

I'll update next week. See ya! Out~