The atmosphere soon returned to normal (the boys never kept quiet for long) and the other members started introducing themselves. Amber soon learnt, after 20 minutes, that the boys were fun-loving people, each with a warped sense of humor that strangely brought a smile to her face at more than one point.

Baekhyun noticed it the first time it appeared. He was genuinely surprised, in a good way, at how her entire face transformed as a result. The smiles were tiny, but they brought about such huge changes. It made her seem so much happier, so much brighter. I’ve made the right choice, bringing her here. I knew the boys would be able to cheer her up.

While Baekhyun was smug and proud of himself, Kris wasn’t. Sure, he notices how the girl’s lips curved upwards momentarily on rare occasions during the meal, but he wasn’t blind to them turning back downwards almost immediately. He sees how she was trying to not have fun, to not enjoy it. And Kris knew why. Amber didn’t think she deserved it, being happy. It was something taught to her at a young age, a scalding memory she had, and she was sure that happiness wasn’t her thing.

“Kris hyung? Hyung?”

“What?” snapped Kris, annoyed at having his train of thought interrupted.

“Uh, it’s your turn to introduce yourself! We’ve all gone, and you’re the only one left.”

“Oh. I’m Kris. The cool guy here. Nice to meet you.”

Amber’s body turned rigid at Kris’ curt introduction. Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to relax. So he doesn’t want their relationship exposed. Fine. It’ll make life so much easier for her anyway. And it is the only thing she could do for him, a little in return for all that he had done for her. She’ll keep mum about it. Hold her head high, and just pretend. Pretend she didn’t know him. It could only get easier. After all this was the “first” time she’d met him. Most probably the last. He doesn’t go to the school, doesn’t fetch the younger boys from school, the chances of them meeting again in front of these other boys were slim. They don’t have to know, if he doesn’t want them to.

The rest of the meal had been uneventful, save for when the boys got tired of behaving themselves and, forgetting Kris’ warning, decided to play “see-who-can-spit-their-beans-the-furthest”. Nobody noticed anything strange, and both Kris and Amber managed to calm down a bit more.  All too soon, dinner has come to an end. Amber stood up from her seat and started clearing the dishes, to the older boys’ horror and the younger ones’ pleasure. After the “no, it’s okay, leave them. You’re the guest.” and “Nah, let me help you!” bantering, the table was finally cleared. Amber grabbed her satchel, bowed and thanked the boys for having her, politely declining invitations to stay and play video games, mumbling something about how she really should leave.   

“Hey, Baek, walk her home!” Luhan nudged the petite boy, nodding encouragingly.

Baekhyun’s face lit up, for such an idea never popped occurred to him before. “Thanks, buddy!”

“You can always show your appreciation by bringing me to that new barbeque place!”

“Hey! Yo-”

“Haha, go on, Amber’s waiting!”

Meanwhile, Kris has already walked the girl to the door. Tension stagnated between them; neither knew what to say, or if anything should be said at all.

She had so many questions she didn’t know where to start. Why did Kris pretend not to know her? They had been so close, in fact, Kris is the only constant in her life. So why the sudden coldness? Sure, the older boy has always been quiet and introverted, but he never was all that cold towards her. She’d thought that she was special, not like the rest of them. Now she wasn’t so sure. Did she do something to upset him, or worse, to anger him? And what would it be?

As for Kris, well, he really wanted to know why she gave in to Baekhyun, how said boy managed to slice through all the walls Amber have built around herself. Having known the younger boy for a few years now, he was aware that the boy had a tendency to badger and cajole others into doing as he says, but so did many people, and Amber never fell for it. So why Baekhyun? What’s so special about him? Kris had seen the smiles Amber let slip when Baekhyun spoke. Smiles Kris haven’t seen in a long, long time. What has Baekhyun got that he didn’t, that he could make the girl forget her worries, albeit just for a little while?

Amber stood on one leg as she tried to put a shoe on. Occupied with her thoughts, her body tilted towards the left as her weight went off centre. Instinctively, she pulled her body back slightly, trying to regain her balance. Upon witnessing this, Kris subconsciously stretched his arms out to hold the girl still, but the unstable position Amber was in caused her to crash straight into his arms instead. The familiar strangers stayed in that position for two seconds, barely registering what had just happened.

Just then, Baekhyun came, all ready to walk Amber home.

Author’s Note: Hey guys! It’s been almost two weeks! (Keeping to the deadlines, yo!) I hope you’ve enjoyed this chapter although it is relatively shorter than the previous ones and not filled with the usual fluff and banter. I thought it would be useful to provide some insight to the issues Amber is facing. Yeah, you don’t know for sure what they are yet, but between the hints I’ve been dropping, perhaps some of you have got some idea. COMMENTCOMMENT~~ The answer will be revealed within the next two chappies! Till then, stay safe!