"Have you looked enough?" 

Krystal jumped up when she heard a voice in the what she thought was an empty room. She turned around to search for the owner of the familiar voice and the lights were flicked on. "Why are you still awake?" Krystal asked, nervously and she had no idea of why. 

"I could not sleep. Because I am worried." Jonghyun said. 

"why?" Krystal asked, walking to the sofa and then she sat down, patting on the space beside her to ask Jonghyun to join her. Jonghyun sat down beside Krystal gently and knocked his knee with hers. "You." He said. Krystal furrowed her eyebrows and gave a quick glance out of the window, Amber was still there. "You saw her?" Jonghyun asked. 

Krystal looked at him with her eyebrows knitted closely. "Her?" 

Jonghyun nodded. "Amber." 

"you know that she's here?" Krystal asked, sounding surprise. 

To tell the truth, or not? Jonghyun heaved a deep sigh and nodded. "I even spoke with her."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Krystal asked in exasperation. "When was she here?" 

"In the evening? When you were bathing." 

"She has been waiting since then?" 

Jonghyun nodded. "Noona said that she will wait till you are willing to go back with her." He paused then looked at Krystal. "Will you?" 

Krystal broke her gaze away from Jonghyun and looked to the front. "I don't know..." She played with her fingers and Jonghyun watched her quietly for a moment. She was beautiful, even the way she frowned. 

"What are you going to do, then?" Jonghyun asked, his voice was quiet and calm. 

"I... don't know." Krystal mumbled. She felt stupid for repeating the same three words. "What should I do?" 

Jonghyun shrugged. "it is up to you. If you want to go back, you will. If you don't want to, nobody can force you."

"Going back means another fight." Krystal sighed. Jonghyun nodded along. "But she looks like she wants me to go back." 

"Just because she is there waiting for you?" Jonghyun questioned. 

He rolled his eyes when Krystal nodded. "So if someone is waiting for you, you will go with him?" He asked, referring to himself a little. 

Krystal did not get it and she thought Jonghyun was referring to Amber so she nodded. "But unnie will not be happy." 

"You're right." Jonghyun said. 

For the next few minutes, the two did not speak a word. They listen to their own breathing and the sound of soft thundering. "Why are you guys up?" They turned their heads to the person standing by the door frame and Krystal got up. "I was about to go back to sleep." she said to Jessica. 

Jessica looked at Jonghyun and Jonghyun looked out of the window. She knew that Krystal already found out that Amber was waiting for her. And knowing her sister, she would probably go with Amber the next day if Amber asked her to. "You know?" She asked Krystal. Krystal nodded slowly when she saw that her sister was looking out of the window, too. 

"You're not leaving with her." Jessica stated firmly. 

"Why?" Krystal asked. "She is waiting for me. She has been waiting since evening!" 

"So? Krystal Jung. Are you that stupid? Some people wait a life time but they still can't get what they want! what makes her think that by waiting for a night, you will fall back to her arms and scram back to her?" Jessica spat spitefully. Krystal could feel tears b her eyes and she looked down. Jessica's heart softened at the sight and Jonghyun got up from the sofa. 

"I didn't mean to be so harsh, Krys. It is... It is just... she needs to learn her lesson." Jessica said, softly, her sister's hair 

"Noona is right. If you keep forgiving her, she will think that whatever that she does in the future will be forgiven easily." Jonghyun chimed in. 

Krystal did not speak. Jessica her dry lips and sighed. "Go back to sleep now. We'll talk about it tomorrow morning." Jonghyun waited for the two sisters to go back to their room before he went into Krystal's room. But before that, he looked at the window, he felt himself choke at the thought that the one Krystal was in love with was outside, waiting for her to fall back into her arms. 

Amber did not sleep a wink and lasted through the night till the next morning. She watched the curtain from inside being drawn up and tied to the sides. It was Jonghyun. Her heart fell at the sight and she thought that Krystal was still ignoring her. Light snoring sounds coming from her side and Lay was still sleeping soundly. 

She saw the door swing open and Jonghyun walking out of the house, with his bag slung over his shoulder. Krystal was there. She lowered herself down to her seat so that she was not visible from the window. She watched Jonghyun getting onto his bike and waving at Krystal. He was leaving already, Amber could not help but smiled. She listened as the motorcycle speed away then she gave Krystal a few seconds to walk back inside so that she could finally get up. 

However, when she did, she saw Krystal standing by her car. She knew that she had to face it sooner or later. Nervously, she opened the car door and got out of the car. "h-hey." Her voice trembled a little. 

Krystal looked at her with unwavering stare and Amber could not read her. But she could sense that Krystal wanted to tell her something. "Is there... anything?" 

"I should be the one asking you that." Krystal said flatly. 

Amber nodded. "Right... I-I... was just... waiting." 

"For?"

"Er... y-you." Amber scratched her head and she shuffled from her left foot to her right. 

Krystal stood there quietly and then turned around, leaving Amber dumbfounded. "Come in. Unnie wants to speak with you." 

Amber looked behind her at Lay and thought that it should be fine to leave him inside. She scurried to trail behind Krystal and entered the house fully prepared of what might come to her. She had been thinking throughout the entire night. She would do anything, even if it's kneeling down in front of Jessica, to bring Krystal back. Because she just found out about something last night. She did not only care for Krystal, she circled out the possibility that she could be in love with her. The more she thought, the more certain she was. 

"Have a sit." Jessica said, pointing to the empty chair opposite her. Krystal was seated beside her sister and she did not bother looking at Amber, did what as her sister told her to. She buttered the toast and put it in , not caring about whether Amber was looking at her or not. Amber took the tea cup from Jessica when she poured her a cup as well. She sipped on the hot tea and it kind of freshened her mind. 

"So you have waited all night?" Jessica asked. Amber placed down the cup in front of her and she nodded. She waited, she wanted to let them know that she did so because of Krystal, the girl she was in love with. "How was it? Did the thunder strike you and knock some sense into your salad-filled head?" 

Krystal raised her brows as she chewed on her toast. Her sister was good with words but it was kind of mean to call Amber that. "I took a night to figure out my feeling. The question that... that everyone has been asking me." Amber said. Krystal wanted to look at Amber's expression but she could not, her sister told her not to. Amber threw a quick glance at Krystal and felt her heart drop when Krystal was not looking at her. "I think- I could be- I realise that... I realise that I am in love with her." 

Jessica kept her stoned face and she continue to stare at Amber. Krystal's heart fluttered upon hearing the words from Amber's lips. She eyes wandered off to glimpse at Amber and Amber caught it, it gave her an extra strength to carry on. "I realised that, I hit her," Amber stopped to swallow the lump in . "I hit her because I was jealous. But it was wrong. I know it's wrong. I was jealous because I l-love her. I looked forward to sleeping by her side on the weekends because it makes me... happy. I wanted to see her the most when I got back from work. Everything is linked to her."

"then? Why is she still there?" Jessica questioned, referring to Suzy. 

Amber bit her lip, she looked down. She saw it coming. "Because she's my girlfriend-"

"What about my sister?"

"She's my fiancee-"

"It is either her or my sister, Amber. You can't have both. You can't be so greedy." 

"I know." 

"And?"

"I am giving up." 

Krystal's heart stopped beating when she heard Amber saying that. She could not pretend anymore, she looked at Amber and Amber returned her gaze on her. "I choose you." Amber said, looking at Krystal. "I want you to be in my life." 

Amber had asked Lay to drive her car back to Seoul and leave her backpack in the house, as Amber had taken up Jessica's challenge. She would stay with the two sister for about a week then Jessica would see if Krystal is ready to go with her. But Jessica was not making it easy for Amber. That afternoon, after their talk in the morning, Jessica made Amber repaint the whole house and it was a tiring work even though the house was not big. 

By evening, Amber was almost done and only left with a piece of wall. Krystal fetched her a glass of water which Amber took it gratefully and she wanted to thank Krystal but the girl walked away without even having eye contact with her. It made her sad but she told herself to endure it. Maybe it was Jessica's challenge for her too. 

Finally, a little past 7pm, Amber was done and she collapsed onto the ground with her limbs sprawled over it. Krystal saw how tired Amber was and she felt her heart soften. "You better not help her." Jessica warned her again for the umpteen times when she saw that her sister was looking at Amber with that look. 

When Jessica gave a few cough, Amber jumped up immediately and told Jessica that she was done. Then, Jessica told Amber to run down to the restaurant a street away to buy dinner for them. Amber almost whined but she kept it within herself. She did as what Jessica told her to. She thought that she still had her car so it would be easy but then she realised that she had asked Lay to drive her car back to Seoul. Stupid decision. 

She could not ask for the car key from Jessica as Jessica just wanted to see her suffer. So she ended up walking all the way to the restaurant which was not a street away but three. Jessica lied. It made her angry a little but it simmered as she remembered Krystal. She didn't want to take long because Krystal was pregnant and she could not starve her baby. It only took her half an hour to get back and it impressed Jessica slightly. 

Krystal's heart wavered at how hard Amber was trying. She had never touch a paint brush before, let alone paiting the entire house. She had never walked more than a hundred metres from one place to another before, let alone two miles of distance. She saw that Amber was already worn out and when Amber went for a shower, Krystal told Jessica to let her rest for the day already. Jessica said that she knew what she was doing. 

After she was done showering, she felt as though she had washed away all the fatigue and she went to the dining table, waiting for people to serve food up but then she remembered she was not at home. Jessica told her to heat up the food by herself as it had turned cold because she took so long to shower. Seriously, Amber had no idea of how to use the microwave. Krystal wanted to help but Jessica pressed down her laps, making her not able to move. 

It took a few trial and error for Amber to get the timing right and the food to warm. It was not that difficult, she thought. She savoured her dinner hungrily and when she was done, she just left the dish in the sink. Jessica told her to clean it up herself and she would check if the dishes were clean. When Amber looked at the dishes in the sink, she almost fainted because there was pile of dishes. 

Nonetheless, she put on the washing gloves and started soaping the dishes first before running them under the water. It took her nearly an hour to do everything. She was just a starter. When she was done, she walked to the living room and saw the two sisters watching a drama. Jessica was munching on the potato chips while Krystal was just looking at the screen. She didn't like how Krystal stare at the male lead actor. 

"I am done." Amber announced. Krystal wanted to turn to look at her then she fought back to thought. Instead, she pretended to be focused on the show. Jessica gave a mere hum as a reply and Amber sighed. She sat down on the floor as she didn't want to squeeze with Jessica. She bet Jessica did it on purpose. Krystal was in between the arm rest and Jessica. The only available space left on the sofa was between Jessica and the other armrest. 

"You should sleep now. You still have tonnes of work to do tomorrow, servant Liu." Jessica mocked without turning to look at Amber. 

Amber pressed her lips together and asked, "where will I be sleeping at?"

"Krystal's room of course." Jessica replied. 

For a moment, Amber was happy and she could not help but grinned. She was finally going to sleep beside Krystal but what came next made her hope crash. "Krystal, come on. Let's sleep too." 

Amber watched as Jessica turn off the television and pulled Krystal's hand to lead her to her room. Amber moved to look at Krystal as Jessica slowly shut the door behind her. Then, gone. Krystal was not in her view anymore. Amber slouched in disappointment and  got up as well. She dragged her feet to the room beside Jessica's and switched on the light. She could smell Krystal's scent in the room and... an unfamiliar smell. A cologne smell. Did Jonghyun sleep there too? So did it mean that Jonghyun and Krystal did not sleep together? Amber gave a fist pump into the air as she figured things out. She jumped onto the bed and pulled up the cover to smell Krystal's scent but she smelt Jonghyun's cologne instead. She coughed and spat then pulled the blanket down to cover her body. 

She still had long way to go. It was just the beginning of Jessica's slow torture.