Tiffany’s POV:

How long have I known Amber for? 12 years? Maybe even a little longer than that?

I’d been in vocal classes since the age of 7, after begging my parents to allow me to actively participate in one. I’d met Amber a few years later through the tricks and trades of my classes and found out she was a nearly the shining star of every instrumental class there was to offer there.  She’d only had been there for four months, yet she was the talk of all the music instructors. Assuming she was a cocky individual, I decided to confront the tomboy about her skills.

FLASHBACK

“Hey, you!”

The small tomboy looked around, confused as to whom I might’ve been shouting at.

I pointed directly at the dino looking nugget, “I’m talking to you!”

Her eyes widened, intimidated by my stern approach to her, as I marched directly towards her vicinity. I placed my hands on my hips and bent down to grab a clear view to the person’s facial features.

She was sitting down at her Casio piano set with her hands neatly placed on her lap. I might’ve interrupted her practice session, seeing as she ws the only one in the room behind a piano. I could see that she was nervous about my intent of confronting her, but didn’t back away from the situation.

I lightened my expression, “So is it true?”

It almost looked like a pale hade just smacked her in the head from the curiosity clouding her mind.

“U-Unnie, what do you mean…?”

Her timid response was so cute I couldn’t help, but smile at her.

“Are you really as good as they say you are?”

Her eyes shifted left and right, and then back at me. “I-I’m not sure.  Seonsaeng-nim says I play wonderfully. I just press keys, and lock in different combination patterns from the sound that resonates from them.”

Her answer was completely oblivious and dorky for an 11 year old. I flashed her the famous Hwang eye smile, “Play for me.”

A red tint appeared on her face and she quickly shifted her gaze back to the keys of the piano. “I-I’m not sure what to play for Unnie.” She began fidgeting her hands in lap before rasing her hands to reach a full octave against the keys.

“Unnie would like to hear something that you like. Something that resonates for you.”

I could tell from there she was motivated in playing for me afterwards, her body automatically pepped itself as her hands swiftly glided on the keys of the piano.

It was beautiful.

I was so entranced by the sound, I didn’t realize that she had finished the song a few beats ago and she was calling for me.

“O-Oh, I’m so sorry! I just…that was just…beautiful.”

She blushed again, “Thank you, Unnie.”

“Tiffany.”

She looked back up towards me, “Huh?”

“My name is Tiffany. Tiffany Hwang, nice to meet you.”

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips,  “Amber. Amber Liu.”

I could feel a flush of red flood my face from the sight of her smile. It wasn’t bright or big, but you can sense the passion and delight that filled it.

Since then, Amber and I’s friendship only grew. We attended different schools, but still managed to see each other everyday during our music classes after school. I would be lying if I were to say I never had some sort of infatuated admiration towards the tomboy. She was the teen heartthrob of our district high schools, not one person in our area that didn’t know who she was. Being three years older than her, I graduated before her and began attending Seoul National University. There I met Jessica, Taeyeon, Yuri, Yoona, and the rest of the girls.

During my Junior year, Amber had told me that she wasn’t going to be able to graduate in Korea for Senior year. She had been offered to undergo a program to continue on with some molecular science research overseas in the United States.

I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth when she broke the news to me, it was unavoidable that I was going to miss her.

Afterwards, we kept in touch from time to time. She told me about how much she had forgotten how bad LA traffic was and she forgot how diverse the States were. Apparently, she’d been top manager for the research team for a few months, and that she’d been offered a few rides to Universities there. Our talks would be short and sweet, and very few of them actually happen. We were in different time zones, under completely different agendas for different studies.

I’d been busy with my schedule, juggling college classes and work hours at a small café Jessica and I worked at, when I received a message from her.

Hey Tiffany!

            I know that it’s been a while since we last spoke. I think the last time we did we talked about the difference between prawn and shrimp. Keke. First and foremost, how are you? I hope you’re doing well with your studies and practices. I bet your voice sounds absolutely beautiful. I hope to collab a small piece with you when I see you! Which brings me to the main point of this message! I’m finally heading back to Korea! UCLA is all nice and dandy, but I finally got to convince my parents to let me go there for the rest of my college career. I even was able to get accepted, more asked, to attend Seoul National. Should be the same as you, right? Wow, and you’ll be a Senior when I get there too! Unfortunately, I’ll have to be starting with the Freshman rather than the Sophomores this year. T_T I should be there by the end of March, if not sooner! I hope you look forward to seeing me as much as I do you. And when you do see me, don’t be surprised in my change of appearance. I’ll see you soon!

A.J. Liu

I screamed with excitement after reading her message, alarming some of my classmates in the library. It had been nearly two years since I had last seen Amber, and her dorky smile.

“Pany, do you need help?” I heard Tae call from behind the kitchen counter. She rounded it, and came snaking her hands on my waist from behind.

“I’m okay, Tae.” I smiled at her and let out a small giggle.

She hummed in curiosity, “Hmm, you seem giddy.”

My head turned slightly to the left over my shoulder, allowing her to see the side profile of my face. My hands stopped chopping up the minced cilantro to ensure I wasn’t going to cause a small knife accident all over the ingredients.

“I was just thinking, ya know? About her.”

I could feel Taeyeon’s smile through the back of my shirt, “I bet she’d love the how great your burritos taste.”

“She would.”

We stayed quiet for a small moment, knowing that we were thinking back to memories Amber had left us with.

“Baby, you remember when you first met Amber? At the picnic table in the courtyard of the University? I waved my arms to catch her attention as she neared us. Yoona had been talking about her seconds before I got that phone call from her to meet me. The prodigy of Science and Music, Amber Liu.”

“I remember, Pany. The silence must’ve lasted nearly 10 minutes from the awe everyone shared.”

We both laughed, but it died down slowly. “I miss her, Tae.”

“I do too, Pany.”

FLASHBACK

(Continuing on from when everyone first met Amber from Tiffany’s POV)

“Amber! Oh my gosh, you’re really here!” I pulled her into a big hug before taking a step back to admire how she’s grown.

Her jaw line turned out be much more defined than it was when I last saw her, giving her a sense of masculinity in her appearance. Her hair was finely coiffed to the side of her face, falling just above her eyebrows. She’d grown a little taller than me, but it wasn’t more than a mere 3 centimeters. She’d also gotten more expressive about herself, sporting more piercings and forearm inked with tattoos. From the looks of it, I assumed she hadn’t given skateboarding as a hobby yet. Her knees were lightly scrapped, and bruised most likely from it.

There was no denying the fact, Amber had grown to be a handsome person.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Unnie.” she snickered.

Her voice brought me back to reality, “Yah! It’s your fault for being so handsome!”

“Hmm, has Tiff-Unnie fallen in love with me already?” Amber raised an eyebrow.

I huffed, “In your dreams, Llama.”

Before I continue on with my words, I heard someone clear their throat to the right of me. I was so engrossed into admiring Amber’s facial features that I nearly forgot the girls at the picnic table! I glanced to down to see a group of girls wide eyeing me to introduce themselves to the mysterious stranger.

Wait, Amber’s the prodigy Yoona was talking about?

I didn’t realize that until I began to piece together her description of the young tomboy.

I felt Jessica tug my cardigan, insisting that I start introducing Amber to everyone or I’d feel the wrath of her later. I slightly nodded to her, “Everyone, this is Amber Liu. A long time friend of mine.”

The girls sat there in silence, anticipating the latter’s voice and response.

“Err…Hello, everyone. As Tiffany said, I’m Amber Liu. I just recently transferred here from UCLA. I’d lived in Korea before when I was 11, and went back to the States before I was able to graduate as a Senior here in Seoul. I hope we can all get along.”

She gave a crooked dorky smile after her words, and shifted her gaze back at me. I felt the atmosphere grow warmer with each second she continued to smile.

“Well…?” I trailed on at the girls, expecting their response. The group remained silent, still locked in the same position as they were when Amber first approached us. The girl beside me was the first to break the very heavy atmosphere.

Jessica shook her head, “Ah, yes. I’m sorry. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Jessica Jung.”

What?! Two updates in one day? Sora must be crazy! keke