Amber and Yuri Liu were cousins. Their fathers were brothers whose families lived in the same West Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles so the girls grew up together. Although Yuri was 9 years older than Amber, they were very close and the tomboy looked up to her older cousin. She didn’t treat Amber like a little kid or give her a hard time about dressing like a boy like some of her other cousins did.

In fact, Yuri was a tomboy herself and found it amusing that her younger cousin dressed in a similar way. She often teased Amber, “You’re the little brother I always wanted.” Amber didn’t mind though since she felt Yuri was more like a big brother than a cousin anyway. Next to her parents and older sister Jackie, the older tomboy was the one other person she knew would always love and accept her for who she was. In fact, when Amber realized she was attracted to girls, Yuri was there to help her come to terms with her uality.

Flashback: Los Angeles, 2005

"What's up, Ambro? What’s with the long face?" Yuri asked concerned as she walked into Amber's room and sat next to her on the bed.

Amber shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing."

Yuri took off Amber’s cap and ruffled her hair. "What do you mean nothing? Jackie called me and told me something was bothering you. Come on. What's up?"

"Geez! I told Jackie not to say anything. She's so stupid!"

"Hey! Watch your mouth! Your sister is not stupid!" Yuri scolded. “She loves you and is just concerned about you."

"Sorry. It's just that I told her I didn't want anyone to know," replied Amber.

"Know what? Just tell me, Amber."

Amber suddenly burst into tears. "That I'm weird…I'm weird and I'm going to hell!"

"What? What are you talking about?" Yuri leaned over and hugged her younger cousin. "What do you mean you're going to hell?"

"I think I like girls," Amber said softly.

Yuri lifted Amber's face up by her chin."What? Speak up."

"I like girls, gēge. I'm going to hell because I like girls," Amber confessed with tears in her eyes. "People like me are bad. It's unnatural to like someone of the same ."

Yuri smiled at the tearful young girl. "Geez, Amber. You're not going to hell and people like us are not bad or unnatural."

"People like us?"

"Yes, Amber...us," Yuri clarified. "I like girls too. I realized it when I was a freshman in high school. I had a crush on this girl who was a senior. I know how you're feeling. You're not weird.  Things are going to be fine...you’ll see."

"Really? You like girls too?" Amber wiped the tears from her eyes feeling hopeful that she really wasn’t a bad person after all.

"Yes, I do. It was actually năinai (Grandma Liu) that I confessed to, believe it or not. I had to after she found the love letter in my jacket that I had written for…what was her name again? Oh yeah, it was Kahi. Man, she was hot…never had the courage to give her that letter…anyway, I thought năinai was going to beat my and disown me, but she was so great about it. She told me I am perfect the way I am and that God doesn't make mistakes. As long as I am not hurting anyone, why should it matter who I choose to love."

"Năinai really said that? She's so cool," the younger tomboy replied.

Yuri agreed. "Yup, the old lady is pretty damn cool. Since then I wasn't afraid to be myself. Just be yourself, Ambro. This might sound cheesy, but it’s true. If you’re happy with yourself, then who cares what other people think, especially people that are not important to you. It’s who you are inside that really matters.”

Amber threw her arms around her cousin and hugged her. "Thanks, Yuri. I feel better now."

Yuri gently pinched the tip of Amber’s nose. "You’re welcome, little bro. Just promise me something. Make sure you let me or Jackie know whenever you need to talk. Please don’t ever feel like you’re alone in this, because you’re not. We love you and only want the best for you, okay?"

Tears welled up in Amber's eyes again. She hugged Yuri even tighter. "Okay, I promise."

…end of flashback

The same year that Amber came out to Yuri and Jackie, Yuri left L.A. for medical school in New York. The cousins stayed in touch through phone calls and emails, and Yuri visited California whenever she could.

Two years later, Amber auditioned for SM Entertainment and was accepted as a trainee. Yuri had even collaborated with Jackie to help convince Amber and Jackie’s dad to let her go to Korea. They both knew that Amber deserved the chance because performing was something that she loved to do and she was really good at it. Before you know it, she was living in Korea training for her career as a future idol.

The year that f(x) debuted, Yuri moved back to L.A. for residency training which made it impossible for her to fly to Korea to support Amber at her debut performance. The cousins were able to reunite when Amber returned to L.A. to recover from an ankle injury in the summer of 2010, but they weren’t able to spend much quality time together. Yuri spent 80 hours a week working at the hospital and her girlfriend Gyuri, a nurse she had just started dating, would tag along whenever the cousins hung out. Amber soon recovered and returned to Korea to rejoin her group, but before she left, Yuri promised she would visit Amber soon. It would be four years before the cousins would see each other again.