It was the last day of the shoot and every one was more than thankful for the successful three days worth of work they have accomplished. It would be Krystal's comeback photoshoot so a lot of effort has been put into the designer brands she modeled. She was and still is the most in demand model in the industry. She isn't the tallest model but a lot of people felt that the average height that she had matched with the western features she has works for the general public. It is always a guarantee that whatever item she wears for ad campaigns are flushed out of the racks in a matter of three days. That's how famous she is.

"Sulli-ya!"

"Eonni."

"Packing up, I see?"

"Yes. My roommate has been alone for the past three days or so. She is studying to be a police woman but somehow she is terribly afraid of lightning. I heard that a storm is coming up near hear. So I might as well leave before I get stalled."

"I understand. Thank you for the hard work for the past three days. I know dealing with the fashion teams of the fashion labels have been demanding and tiresome but thank you for putting up with it. But please, please.. Come with me first to the restaurant before you leave. Have a bite, even just a bit."

Sulli can no longer refuse the offer. She finished packing her belongings and eventually joined in to head to the restaurant. Krystal and her team would be there as well. The two of them have become friends. They were born on the same year and they can relate on so many levels toward each other. Sulli has learned that despite the glitz and glamour Krystal has experienced, she still wishes to go back to her childhood even just briefly. The limelight was great, she said but she misses the simple life at times.

By the time Sulli arrived, everyone was already there. The rest of the styling team and Krystal herself was already enjoying a serving of stir-fried noodles and a small bowl of pumpkin soup. Sulli offered her hello to everyone and sat just opposite Krystal.

"You have a lot of stuff with you?"

"Yeah.. I'll be leaving soon actually. I won't be staying long."

"That's unfortunate."

"My husband will be coming in a few. He agreed to fetch me.."

"That's really sweet of him."

Krystal smiled and nodded. She took a bite off of her noodles.  Sulli fixed herself a small serving as well. The food was more than tasty. Everyone in the room can testify to that. The restaurant that one of Krystal's staff reserved is actually one of the long standing restaurants in Ulsan. It has been owned by a family and passed on for over three generations. Their stir fried noodles is one of the best known in the country. Let alone, the pork belly buffet the restaurant had was a complete deal. In the presence of food and enjoyment, it wasn't long before time started to pass by. Bottles of soju was being passed around and nobody started to lose track of time, including Sulli. It was already past three in the afternoon. Sulli had to leave over an hour ago.

"Everyone is really great! The food was great.. I barely noticed that the sky has turned dark..."

Sulli paused and eventually realized what has happened. She has spent too much time in the restaurant. She recollected her bag, sweater and blazer. Krystal stood and started to run after Sulli. Upon catching up, Sulli was already hailing for a cab.

"Sulli! Why don't you go with us? We can drop you off somewhere in Seoul."

"I appreciate it Krystal but I really have to go." Sulli cursed under her breath. There were already thunder sounds resonating through the sky. Sulli is packing her bag into the trunk of the cab. Krystal approached her closer and said that her husband has arrived. The car was already parked outside. Sulli was thankful for the offer but preferred to head away with the cab. As Sulli left, Krystal waved her goodbye. As she did, lips soon landed on her cheeks. A wide smile crept on her face and turned around. She planted a kiss on the man's lips in reply to the sweet gesture.

"You came sooner than I expected?"

"I came in a rush. It came in the news that a storm surge will be attacking Ulsan and Seoul today which may cause heavy traffic."

"Let's stay for the night here at Ulsan to pass by the storm. That will be perfect."

Minho smiled and ruffled Krystal's hair. 

"Who was that you sent off in the cab?"

"Ohh.. She's a friend. She is the head stylist hired by the photographer to work with the fashion teams of the brands I modeled over the last few days. She's really nice. We match well and to actually think that we are the same age."

"Really now?"

"By the way, have you heard?" Minho asked with eager eyes. He wishes to spill the news to Krystal about making it to the top three candidates to be the male muse of Key's line. Minho is more than sure that Krystal hasn't heard anything. He received a call that morning regarding the potential casting.

"That you have been selected to be part of the top 3 of Key's line?" Krystal replied with a proud tone. Astounded, Minho stopped in his steps and asked Krystal how she knew. The girl was reluctant at first about spilling the details but dished that one of her female model friends told her. One of the male model candidates, Siwan-one of Minho's competitor, told the news and somehow it was passed onto Krystal.

"If you already knew, why didn't you even call to congratulate me?"

"I wanted for you to tell it to me personally. Those guys love to make pranks so I didn't buy it. I had to hear it from you."

Minho's ears ticked with what Krystal said. "A prank? Why would you think it was a prank? Did you think it was because I won't be able to do it?" 

"Minho, that's not what I mean.. Come on. You know how those guys love to tease.I was avoiding being too gullible." she explained. Minho sighed and just nodded. Krystal didn't say goodbye to her team. She and Minho just headed back into the car and drove off to the nearest hotel they can book a night. 

On the other hand, the sky has turned terribly dark and rain has started falling. What's worse? Sulli was barely at the expressway out of Ulsan. Traffic has turned heavy within less than thirty minutes. Seoul is most probably dark as well. She has turned uneasy. Amber was alone. Lightning is sure to strike.

Amber has been walking aimlessly around the living room of their apartment. She would constantly look at the wall clock and curse under her breath. It was almost five in the afternoon. Sulli has promised her that she would've been home by three. The view of the road just outside their place has turned dark. Amber is starting to panic. She's alone. What bothers her even more is that news reports have said once the storm surge strikes, electric companies will be shutting down electricity to prevent damage to the lines. 

".."

She went upstairs and locked herself in her room. Thunder was already heard from afar which made her curl up on the corner underneath her work desk. She reached for her phone and started to dial Sulli's number. With her already trembling hands, Amber tapped on her contacts and rang Sulli's phone. 

"Please, please, please.. Answer."

"Hello?"

"He--hello, Ssul? Where are you? What? I thought you would be home by 3pm. All right.."

She felt defeated. Sulli told her that she was stuck barely outside of Ulsan. The traffic was a killer and Amber was more than certain that entering Seoul itself would be difficult especially since the city will go dark. Very few buildings will retain electricity, the shimmering city will be reduced to a few lights flickering through the night. Desperate for company, Amber started dialling several other numbers. She dialled Meng Jia's number. She was a classmate back at Architecture school and became a good friend of hers since they both spoke Chinese. It was rather unfortunate that she was out of town, Busan. Failing, Amber called on Min. Min is a fellow student at the police academy. She lives not far from Amber's place which makes it convenient. Amber dialled her number but sadly it cannot be reached. The call was transferred to voice mail even after she called three times. 

As she started to dial a number of another friend, the lights flickered and finally went off. This was followed by a loud thunder that was no longer far from where she is. It made Amber scream. She put down her phone and curled herself even more. She was almost in tears. It may seem petty to other people but her fear of lightning and thunder is no joke. It was deep rooted. It was caused by the fact that when she was younger and lived back in the United States, as she was playing along in the fields near their home, lightning struck a pine tree that was no less than a hundred meters away from her. It shocked her. Ever since, she was scared. Always fearing that the lightning will strike her next.

Moments later and she checked her phone. It was already 6:30pm and the sky is completely dark. Her room was completely dark. It was pitch black. Soon, it has started raining. As they hit the roof and windows, the rain drops sounded like they were as big as pebbles. Amber was already crying. A bright flash then resonated in the sky and lightning striked. This made Amber scream. She scurried over just near her drawers, away from the window. She was alone and scared.

As the rain continued to pour and lightning continued to strike, Amber kept her eyes closed and cried. How she wished her family was there to be with her. "Please, make it go away." She chanted. As she kept on chanting, she barely heard the door of her room opening. Amber barely heard the footsteps walking in.

"Still scared I see?" The voice spoke. Amber stopped in surprise. It was a familiar voice. Hesitant to come to any conclusions, she fiddled through the dark looking for her phone, forgetting that she forgot it underneath the desk. The person lit his own face and to her surprise, it was Key. 

"What are you doing here?" 

"I called Sulli and she told me she was still at the expressway since traffic at Ulsan is dreadful. I figured you were alone, so I came over."

"I didn't ask for you to come."

"You didn't have to."

It was dark and for some odd reason, Key didn't keep his face lit. Amber had no idea what was going on but she felt that he sat at the foot of the bed not far from her. "You should leave. I know you're a busy person."

"Shut up. Look how..."

"Don't joke..." 

Before Amber was even able to retort Key's question, lightning striked and it scared the hell out of her. She went over to Key's side which made the man laugh to his heart's content.

"What's so funny?!"

"Nothing. It's just that you still haven't changed. You're still scared of the lightning."

"You know why I am scared. It a perfectly valid reason so don't mock me."

"Sorry.."

A moment of silence followed. They both knew that this has been the longest time they were together in the same room since who knows. It is not known to many but the two actually met way before Sulli met Key. Despite not seeing each other because of the dark, they both knew the air around them was extremely awkward.

"You..you uhh..You still have those miniature houses you designed?"

"Yeah.."

"That's nice. It that it's dark. I can't really turn on the flashlight of my phone since my battery is running out quick. I would've wanted to see them. They were really great."

"Thanks. Uhmm.. How is work?"

"Ohh.. Well, I'll be looking for a male muse to spearhead the next campaign. I already have the top 3 but I haven't decided yet. I'll make calls the day after tomorrow."

"I see.."

"By the way, why..." Right before Key was able to finish his question, the sky shined bright and it that brief moment he saw Amber's face with her eyes closed anticipating the sound of the strike. Once it did, he courageously put his arm around Amber and pulled the girl in closer. She didn't really complain but was utterly surprised by Key's actions. Slowly, she leaned her body into his, clenched on his shirt and rested her head just above his chest. It was more than obvious that they can't stand each other but Amber was deeply thankful that Key came.

"Why did you come?" Amber asked. She felt Key's chest rise to sigh.

"The moment I called Sulli and she told me that you were alone, I rushed to get here. I knew how scared you are. It surprised me a bit that it hasn't changed but I am glad to be able to keep you company even if you don't want to."

It was completely dark. Amber opted it that way. If there was light, Amber will be ashamed to show her foolish smile to Key. Let alone, she was holding on to him so tightly. It will be embarrasing if he saw her. 

"I still hate you but thank you, Kibum. Thank you."

 "Eonni! Eonni, I am here!" It was Sulli. It was almost nine in the evening. Her was sore after sitting in the cab for almost 6 hours through traffic. It was still raining outside but the lightning has stopped and electricity was back. She rushed to remove her shoes and went straight upstairs up on Amber who was most probably be still trembling in fear.

"Eonni.. eon..ni?"

She stopped in her steps when she opened the door. It was dark but the light coming from the hallway was more than enough to give a view of Amber's room. Sulli was surprised to find Amber and Key together in bed, with the latter arms around Amber. She walked a little bit further inside and felt relieved that there were no clothes lying on the floor. She was glad to know that Amber wasn't alone during the surge. But it did surprise her, what was Key doing in their apartment?

An hour or so after Sulli arrived, Amber walked down the stairs clueless that her roommate was back. She rubbed her eyes and made her way to the fridge to catch a glass of water.

"Eonni.."

"Holy!!" Amber shouted in surprise. She turned around and found Sulli unpacking her clothes on the couch. It wasn't before long that Amber realized that Sulli might have seen the scenario upstairs. She wanted to explain but before she was even able to, Key shouted from upstairs.

"Yeobo~~~!!!"

This made Sulli smile and Amber freak out. "Shut up! Shut up!"
Amber was about to rush upstairs but Key suddenly walked down. He then waved and smiled at Sulli innocently as if nothing was going on. The entire scene made Sulli giggle. Key walked down to where they were while Sulli went upstairs with her clothes,sporting a mocking face which Amber saw.

"Why did you have to shout like that?! She might think something is going on!"

Key just smiled. "I'll be going ahead. I am at ease now that Sulli is back. See you around, Ambs." and without warrant, Key planted a kiss on Amber's forehead and fled out the door not waiting for any complains from the girl. He went into his car and drove off, leaving Amber confused. 

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Update! Break is coming in two weeks tops so by then I will be able to update everyday. Hope you like this chapter! :"> Please stay tuned for the next one!