It had been three days since Amber moved into Kris’s house, he never got a chance to talk to her or even greeted her in the morning. She kept hiding from him, she was avoiding him and he didn’t get why she treated him just like this.

When class ended, he wanted to talk to her very badly when he saw her going out from her class which was across his, her friends had already hit on her, so, he just stepped away and walked to his office room. He kept trying to find a way to talk to her, he kept thinking about it in his room because he couldn’t reach her even though he was her Professor and they both were living under one roof right now.

“Amber, I got this beef from my wife. She just got back from China yesterday.” Her basketball coach approached her at the front gate of University as he brought a pack of beefs for her, she only looked at it without expression then, looked up at his face again. Her coach tilted his head so that he could reach her right ear and whispered her something.

“Don’t forget to share this with Kris in the house.” He grinned widely and winked his left eye to the young girl

“Kris? I-I mean Professor Li?” Amber was confused because this man seemed to know everything that was going on right now, her eyes grew wide because of her coach’s statement before. “Professor Hwang, what do you—“

“Ssshhh…” Chansung put his naughty index finger on Amber’s lips, making her stop talking and just let him speak his assumption. “I know everything, I support you with Kris. I know you have a lot of troubles right now and I’m only able to help you with this. Take care of yourself.”

He gave Amber a fast smile before going into the building again, leaving Amber stood right there and saw him with questioning eyes. Quickly, he ran to Kris’s office room and started to again just like usual.

“Handsome, you really never talked to her in the house?”

Kris hurriedly could notice the owner of the voice even though he was busy with his report, they actually became best friends because unexpectedly, Kris always talked about his feeling to Chansung about Amber. “She sleeps when I come home and when I go to work, she’s still sleeping. Any idea?” 

“I can’t believe you can’t handle her by yourself.”

“She’s different from my women.”

Chansung inhaled deeply and tilted his head back as he thought about something sweet that Kris should do in order that Amber could move on from her depression. He got many experiences about this because he was a married man and his love life was going really well

“I got an idea..”

~~~0~~~~0~~~~~~0~~~~~~0~~~~~0~~~~~0~~~~0~~~

Kris stopped his engine in the garage, Chansung had told him before that he gave Amber beef from his wife. He thought maybe Amber had finished it up all by herself without giving him any, he opened the door and his mind told him to go to the dining room.

His eyes couldn’t believe about what he saw, Amber made supper for him on the table and it was a very right time because his stomach had been growling since he drove home. He took a seat, wore his napkin and started to eat the beef.

He was glad that actually it could be eaten by human, Amber wasn’t that careless he thought. She cared about him too even though she was still feeling down, but Kris only hoped that she could be here with him, having supper together, talking to each other, making jokes just like usual.

He washed the dishes before going into his bedroom that he shared with Amber. Yes, his house was simple and it only got one bedroom for himself before, but right now, he had to share it with another person whom he really loved. He twirled the knob and took a peep if Amber had slept yet or still been awake, his eyes didn’t find her on the bed so he opened the door widely right now.

He saw her figure on the chair, resting her head on desk. His feet moved forward so that he could check her out, “Am… You’re still awake?”

He approached her slowly and then, his lips made a curve. His smile was soft when he saw her angelic face as she was sleeping on the desk. He could tell that she just finished her assignment from her laptop which still , showing its screensaver of her pictures with her sister and the papers on the printer. He tidied up her papers and turned off her laptop, he slowly carried her in order that he didn’t bother her slumber.

He checked out her face and his heart raced a bit when his eyes directed to her exposed neck. He gulped and told his hormones to calm down, he wanted to land his kisses on her neck so badly but he kept telling in his mind ‘not today, not this time’.

Nicely, he placed her on the bed, putting the blanket to cover her body and he found her very cute as she snuggled to find some warmth in her sleep. He was watching her for a good minute before going to the bathroom to wash up his body.  

After 15 minutes or more, he got out of the bathroom and his eyes directed to her figure on his bed again. He approached the bed slowly, placing his body on the bed caused a little bump on it. He tried to share the blanket for both of them because he easily felt cold these days. Kris snuggled a bit and ended up facing Amber’s back, his mind didn’t think twice anymore to embrace her body as he tried to find the warmth that he had been searching for.

His nose accidentally touched her nape and her scent slowly moved as he could smell it. He cursed under his breath because of his uncontrolled hormones, the palm of his hand could rub Amber’s nice abs on her tummy and his arm could feel Amber’s respective S-line too on her waist, it didn’t help him at all. It got worse and worse, he wanted to get off but this was the only place for him to stay warm.

Amber stirred to her left side because she started to feel uncomfortable on the bed, she felt a heavy thing around her waist but it could make her warmer than before. Her fingers moved a bit on the white sheet until they could touch something soft in front of her, Amber slowly opened her eyes, seeing someone who checked her then, she realized that her hand caressed Kris’s plump lips.

Amber’s eyes grew wide a bit, she was shocked and shy in front of his eyes. Immediately, she pulled her hand and wrapped it with her free hand, bringing them closer to her chest. Kris, himself, he tightened his hug onto Amber’s body and pulled her closer into his embrace to keep him warm. “I can’t sleep…” He closed his eyes, their nose touched and Amber flinched because of it, she wanted to push him by placing her hands on his chest but he stopped her by saying, “I’m cold… Please, stay like this.”

Amber looked down at Kris’s chest, she slowly snuggled onto his chest, enjoying the rhythm of his heartbeat. “When will you talk to me?” Suddenly, Kris’s voice came interrupting her craving.

She stayed quite for while, it has been a few days and she even didn’t want to tell Kris about what actually happened. Deep inside her heart, she really needed someone to talk to but she didn’t know how to start it.

“Are you still depressed?” Kris guessed it right, he got the answer by feeling her nodding in front of his chest. “Don’t be…” His hand began to caress her head, trying to give her some comfort around him

“…..I’m so tired…” Kris never knew that she could be like this fragile, she was shaking and he could feel what she was feeling right now.

“Ssshhh… Please, don’t say that…” He tightened his embrace towards her. “I’m always with you, everything’s gonna be okay.”

He released the hug between them two, cupping her face with one hand as he looked down at her and she looked up at him. “Remember when we were kids, I fell from my bike and you piggybacked me from school until my house?” Kris tried to remind her of their childhood when they were still in Canada. “No matter how heavy I was, you kept insisting to carry me, you just laughed and smiled. You have to be strong just like you used to be and that was my Amber whom I knew. You are still my Amber.”

“Kris….” Amber’s lips looked shaking when she was calling his name but Kris could catch it, it signaled him that she got what he meant. He just wanted to bring back her happiness by loving her although in his mind kept telling him that it was completely unrequited love because she still had a feeling for Siwon but he just couldn’t stop this feeling for her.

Kris didn’t know that slowly, Amber recognized his presence as a man not as a brother or best friend but more than that. When she needed someone, he was always by her side, he was always there for her unlike Siwon who was busy with his job and it was very far from her.

“What about dating me for today?” Kris suddenly asked her for going out with him, spending some time with him to forget about all of the stuff that happened around this time

“Great idea.” Without even thinking about it, Amber answered him immediately. She would love to have a date with him, her Professor, her best friend and her love.

“Where will we go?” Kris asked her about her favorites because he admitted it that he didn’t know what Amber liked in this era because he was too busy with his job as a Professor and researcher at the same. Well, he just got a big project from the sponsor because they were interested in his proposal.

“Just go to random places.” Amber just blurted out because after all this time, she studied his expression. He looked fatigue, his eyes could tell all of it and she could catch what he felt right now. “C’mon, have some sleep first. Close your eyes.” She fixed the blanket for both of them, hugging his head and making it bury on her chest. She rested her chin on his head as her hand patted Kris’s hair very gently until Kris could fall asleep in her embrace…

==

It had been already a month, Kris finally could bring back her smile and her laugh every single day. Watching movies, strolling in the park or on the beach sometimes, Amber tried to make breakfast and even dinner for both of them in the house. Although, she had checked the recipe from internet, the result was never good enough but Kris really appreciated what she had done.

There was one time when Kris was really tired with his job, he somewhat forgot about Amber’s existence in his simple house. His head was dizzy and heavy, he couldn’t think anymore but grabbing alcohol from refrigerator. He opened the bottle by his teeth and just threw the cap to God-knows-where, without hesitation he drank the alcohol until he creased his own forehead because of the hot and bitter feeling of it in his throat.

He took off his jacket and ed his white shirt after throwing away his tie that circled around his collar. His hand reached the doorknob of the bathroom’s, he leaned his head on the door as he opened it lazily but he got splashed by the water with foam on his face, plus, there was a girl’s voice coming towards his ears.

“KRRRRRRRREEEEEEEAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!”

The voice snapped him back into reality, his eyes grew wide when he caught a nice woman’s figure bathing in his bathtub. “Oh, !” He cursed without a sound and hurriedly closed the door again. His heart raced very fast, his breath started to be heavy as he leaned his head on the door after seeing Amber without any fabric covering her body but only foam.

“I’m sorry!!!!” He apologized from the outside of the bathroom, “I didn’t see anything!!”

“LIAR!!!!!!”  Her voice was coming again, this time Kris knew she was very mad at him by her retorting tone of her voice’s

He groaned as his hand hit his own head, the scene of Am