She honestly couldn't remember the last time she even set foot in the library.  Sometimes she even forgot that libraries existed.  You can borrow and read books?  For free?  Without torrents?  The concept was totally mind blowing.

That was why when Krystal asked Sulli to accompany her to the library, the much taller girl had responded with a strange look; as if she was contemplating the concept of such a system.

The shorter girl responded with a strange look of her own.  For a second she was worried her friend may have taken off on that endless road inside her mind.  Acting quickly Krystal shifted the books in her arms and waved a hand over Sulli's face, “Ssul!”

The waving immediately broke Sulli from her trance, and the tall girl smiled at her best friend, “Oh.  Sorry Jjung.  What were you saying?”

Krystal gave a wary glance at her friend before repeating, “Do you want to come to the library with me today?” she repeated it a little slower this time to make sure she held the other girl's attention.

Sulli pouted and shifted her backpack, “I don't think that's a good idea.  The library...is a scary place.”

Krystal furrowed her eyebrows and considered whether she wanted to hear the answer or not. 

Once her mind was made up, she slowly ventured, “And...why is it scary Ssul?”

Sulli leaned in closer, as if telling a secret, and whispered, “I think a ghost lives there.  It was super pale, had a funny white hat on its head, and hobbled around mumbling to itself.  One time it even tried to talk to me.  I ran out as fast as I could.”

Krystal's brows furrowed even more.  What in the world could Sulli be talk-oh.  Krystal sighed and put a hand up to her forehead, “Ssul.  That's the librarian.  She works there.” she deadpanned.

Sulli's eyes grew wide, “You can see her too?!” Krystal rolled her eyes and sighed again.  Asking Sulli to go to the library was probably a bad idea.

Before Krystal could explain to Sulli about the old woman who had been hobbling around the library for what she was sure was centuries, Luna approached the two and greeted them with her usually bubbly smile and hug, “Hey Krystal!  Sulli!  How are my two favorite Juniors?”

Both girls returned the smile and hug before chirping “fine.” and “great!” respectively.  Krystal eyed the older girl's arm-full of cd's and quirked an eyebrow.  She picked one up and read it aloud, “Vivaldi: Seasons...Luna unnie, what are you doing with a bunch of instrumental music cd's?”

Luna shrugged and gestured to the pile with her chin, “Oh, my older sister is really into instrumental music as well as vocal music.  She asked me to pick these up from an old teacher here.”

Sulli looked on with an amused smile as Luna struggled to balance the rather large pile in her arms and adjust her backpack.  Finally the tallest of the girls let out a giggle and reached out to take half of Luna's stack, “I'll help you unnie.  Your car's nearby right?”

Luna looked at the other girl with relief and nodded.  Krystal set the cd on top of the pile Sulli carried and pouted at Sulli, “So you really won't go to the library with me?”

Sulli gave a small smile and gestured to the pile in her arms, “Why don't you ask hyung?  I'm sure she'd love to accompany you.”

Luna glanced at Krystal and added, “Oh the library?  Isn't it right up there?” she gestured up the hallway.

Krystal shook her head, “I need to go to the public library.  I've already been to ours and one of the TA's told me that they'd have what I was looking for there.”

“And what are you looking for?”

She sighed, “Just some books for this huge paper due by the end of the year.  It's the last assignment, so I guess I really want to do a good job on it.”

Sulli nudged the other girl, “And hyung promised her a surprise if she got good marks.” Krystal flushed at the teasing and nudged Sulli back.

Luna flashed a bright smile at her and nodded, “That sounds great!  Well do you need a ride then?”

Krystal pulled out her cell phone and shook her head, “Ssul's right.  I'll just ask Amber to come with me.  She had a morning shift today so she should be off.”

Luna nodded and began walking with Sulli, “Okay.  Don't hesitate to call if she doesn't answer okay?”

Krystal smiled at her and nodded back, “Yeah.  Drive safe!”

“I will!”

The young girl turned from her friends and sighed.  She knew Amber was probably tired from her early shift this morning, but she somehow felt worse for asking sweet Luna for a favor.  She didn't like taking the bus all the way to the library by herself.  There were some interesting people on that particular bus.

So instead she it up and dialed the all too familiar number.  She waited for a few rings before there was a click and a very groggy voice answered, “Hello?”

She could feel the guilt kick in, “Hey, it's me.” she heard rustling on the other line and waited as Amber probably readjusted herself from wherever she was sitting or napping.

“Krystal?  Hey.  What's going on?  Something up?”

She sighed, “No. ...but I need to go to the library in town today and ever since my unnies have gotten into that detective show about the rapists and murderers I really don't want to take the bus all the way there alone...” she pouted.

There was a soft laugh on the other line, “Okay.  Do you want me to come pick you up then?”

Although the other girl couldn't see her she nodded meekly, “Yes, please.”

“Okay.  Just let me get dressed and I'll be right over.  Are you still at school?”

She kicked a pebble with her foot and replied, “Yeah.  I'm sorry about this...” she was so embarrassed.  She was originally going to get a ride home from a friend, but she'd forgotten all about the paper that was due soon and made a last minute decision to work on it after school.

There was more rustling as Krystal imagined Amber was getting redressed-she flushed-before she answered, “Don't worry about it.  Anything for you.”

She could feel the cheesy grin etched on the older girl's face all the way through the phone.  She couldn't stop a gentle roll of her eyes and happy sigh, “Okay.  Still, I'll make it up to you, okay?”

“Are you trying to seduce me?”

Krystal smirked and shifted the books in her arms, “I don't know, is it working?”

“Yes.” A chuckle followed the answer, “I'll think about the ways you can make it up to me on the way there.  You better hope your wallet isn't empty.” she teased.

Krystal laughed, “Well it isn't, but I'm not using it to fill you up with junk food.”

“We'll see about that.  I'll be over in 10.  See you there.”

“Okay.  Thank you!”

“Welcome.”

With that she ended the call and put her phone back in her skirt pocket.  It had been a relatively quiet week.  After the talk she and Amber had in the bathroom of the karaoke room it was like their relationship was brought into a whole new light.  Nothing was off topic for them now.

The girl felt like her heart weighed like nothing.  She couldn't help the stretch of her smile as she thought about her relationship.  There was no explaining how she felt about the blonde.

She felt like she was gliding on Cloud 9.  While the two were still “unofficial”, she rolled her eyes, she counted them as being together ever since that first “unofficial” date back at the coffee shop nearly a year ago.

But as she recollected just how the week had gone, she realized that it'd been quiet.  The girl furrowed her brows.  Too quiet.  Her unnies had gone about their business as usual.  No one had even about Amber since the karaoke bar.

Well half of that was she hardly every saw any of them at one given time.  And when she did see them they were always cooped up either working from home or building their social networks for work or school.  She sighed.  She may have technically lived in a house full of people she loved, but it always felt like she was alone.

But thank God she had Amber and her friends.  She would probably go mad.  The unnies were supporting her anyway.  She should be grateful.

But for some reason, although they hardly had time to have a chat, they somehow always found time to prank or embarrass her.  Thus, the young girl was confused as to why nothing had happened this week yet.  

She shrugged off that itchy feeling forming on her neck and instead focused on how bright the sky was.    She could also feel a thin layer of sweat start to form on her skin.  Summer was unreasonably hot, she figured.  She pulled on the collar of her uniform and pushed her hair back over her head before sighing.  Too hot.

Heat was something that put her in a less than favorable mood.  Well, the bad kind of heat anyway.  She smirked to herself before pouting again at the heat pounding on her fair skin.  At this rate she'd burn.  What she would give to be at the beach with Amber, a bottle of suntan, and her friends right now.  She groaned.

Time passed by excruciatingly slowly.  She literally stood there watching cars drive through the parking lot.  She waved and said hello to some classmates she knew once in a while, but in general she was standing doing nothing.

Ten minutes felt like forever in this heat.  She was about to check the time for what seemed like the umpteenth time when a figure approached her.  The moment she looked up she fought the urge to, no wait, she didn't fight it.  She rolled her eyes dramatically and crossed her arms over her books and chest.

This boy had been blatantly flirting with her for God knows how long.  She'd always brushed off his advances with terse and relatively cold answers, but it seemed that he didn't know how to take a hint.  Frankly, he thought he was God's gift to women and had the greasy smirk to go along with the ego.

“Hey.  Why're you standing all by yourself?” he grinned at her.

She gave what her friends liked to call her patented ' smile' and replied, “Oh you know, just baking in the sun.  I'm trying to see if my skin will end up like Paula Abdul's if I stand here long enough.” sarcasm dripped from every word she uttered.

He nodded slowly, but furrowed his eyebrows, “Paula Abdul...?”

She sighed, “Nothing.  Never mind.” Oh but he was not to be deterred so easily.

He leaned on the railing she was standing next to and tilted his head to the side, “I saw you on the track today.” he grinned lasciviously, “Looking good.” he sniffed, “Your form I mean.”

Krystal wanted to gag where she stood but her mother did raise her with some manners.  Instead she pursed her lips and nodded, “Right.” 

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and continued speaking, unfortunately, “Maybe we could get together and work on our form together some time?  I mean...I'd really like you to show me how you get yours so perfectly.”

Okay.  Her mother may have taught her manners.  But his obviously didn't.  She had been perfectly civil to him up to this point but she didn't know if she could stop her inner from fighting back this time.

She rubbed the bridge of her nose out of frustration and thought of the one thing that could calm her down.  The goofy grin and mop of blonde hair appeared in her mind and she instantly felt some of the annoyance clear out of her body, “Look, I know you're interested in me.” she began.  

“What?  Krystal.  I had no idea you felt that way about me.” he moved in closer.

She fought the urge to scream, throw her books at him, scream some more, pick up her books to throw them at him again, and walk away.  Who the hell did this guy think he was?

“I only asked you from one track member to another, but...is there something you want to tell me?” he grinned.  By the look on his face it was like he'd been waiting for this day since his mother popped him out, dropped him, and dusted the top of his head before thanking God for the five second rule.

The young girl took a deep breath in order to somewhat calm herself.  She then noticed a familiar Range Rover pulling up in the parking lot.  She smirked.  Maybe she could have twice the fun.  She immediately flashed him the same smile she'd given him earlier and fixed her books.  He looked taken aback at the sudden change in emotion, not that he was complaining.

“Well, oppa,” he was in the same grade she was, but what guy didn't want to be called that by her?  She continued, “this 30 second conversation has been totally grand but I have to get going.  My ride's here.” he furrowed his brows.

“Ride?”

As if on cue, her phone rang.  She picked up and stressed what she was saying, “Hey baby.  You're here?  Okay.  You see me right?  Okay.  I'm coming down.” she ended the call but kept smiling at the now confused boy.  She then pointed over to the black Range Rover with the tinted windows, “There's my ride.”

He raised a brow, “So your...boyfriend's?  In there?” he asked slowly.  As far as he heard Krystal was boyfriend-less.  And that was 100% true.

She shrugged, “No.” she said flatly.

“...girlfriend?” he asked apprehensively.

She shook her head.  This was also technically true.  The blonde refused to label them as such until she got “permission” from her unnies.  She inwardly rolled her eyes.

“But you just said...” his brows furrowed even more.

She tilted her head to the side innocently, “I always say that that car is such a douche bag car.  I mean, what kind of tool would drive a black range rover with tinted windows in Korea?  Gives people the wrong idea about them you know?  Even if they do spend all their free time at the gym.” that wasn't a total lie.  Amber did spend a lot of time at the gym.  She would just leave out the fact that the girl spent more time on cardio and could bench no more than 65 pounds*.  Details.

He stared the menacing looking car down and couldn't help but gulp.  She was right.  If he squinted the car looked like it could be driven by a protein inhaling tool.  Of course he didn't have to know that he was totally being played.

He at least shifted uncomfortably where he stood.  Krystal may have said that that wasn't her boyfriend.  But she wouldn't just call anyone “baby” right?  He glanced at the still smiling girl and at the looming black vehicle before an image of getting his face smashed into the pavement by some 220 pound protein shake wielding monster appeared in his mind.

He immediately took a step back and cleared his throat, trying to reclaim what was left of his dignity.  He stuffed his hands in his pocket, “Well I won't keep you then.  You should probably get going.” before he comes out and kills me.  But that was added in his mind.

She tilted her head to the side, “Okay.  It was nice talking to you.” she smiled.

“Uh, yeah,” he started walking backwards, “Nice.  Right.”

“See you at practice!” she waved and yelled to his quickly retreating back.  He didn't reply.  She waited until he turned the corner to burst into laughter.  

She had been laughing so hard and for so long that she didn't even notice when a familiar figure appeared next to her.  The blonde quirked an eyebrow as she approached the madly laughing girl.  She pulled up her aviators and put her hands on her hips, “You okay?”

Krystal turned to face Amber and burst into another fit of giggles after seeing the rather skinny girl.  The blonde had just unknowingly sent one of the top competitors in men's track and field running with his tail between his legs.  

Amber furrowed her brows and looked down, “Did I forget to zip my fly or something?” she rechecked herself.

Krystal wiped her eyes of the tears that had appeared due to her fit of laughter and took hold of the other girl's hand before leading them back towards the car.  She rolled her eyes as the blonde continued to check herself over on the way, “Let's go Hulk Hogan, the library's waiting.” she couldn't help the wide smile on her face.

--00--

The blonde could now honestly say that she was bored out of her mind.  She had tried everything to keep herself occupied, including paper football, MASH, and the various games littering both her and Krystal's phones.

Eventually, some time after the 2nd hour, she'd ran out of things to do and was now sitting there dumbly watching Krystal pore over a pile of books she'd acquired during their stay.

She was idly scratching at the table until Krystal's voice had her head snapping up faster than Husain Bolt down a 100m lane, and that was pretty damn fast, “I told you you didn't have to wait for me.” she said it without looking up from where she was typing on the laptop the blonde had luckily left in the backseat of her car.

She sighed and slouched forward until her chin was on the table, “I wanted to.” honestly, now that she was awake she had no other plans since she had a later shift tomorrow.  Besides, what activity was better than sitting there and watching the beautiful girl for a couple hours?

The younger girl sighed and glanced up, “Really.” it was a statement, not a question.  She went back to her work.

Amber bit her bottom lip and drummed her fingers on the table.  Well, she did have an ulterior motive too.  Amidst all the apps, paper airplanes and footballs, word lists, and other such mindless activities she'd been trying to work up the nerve to ask Krystal what she was meant to ask the girl that night at the karaoke bar, “Well, there was something else...”

The girl slowly stopped typing and looked up to give the blonde her undivided attention, “What is it?” when the blonde got apprehensive it was a sign of conversation.

The blonde ran a hand through her hair and shook her leg; nervous habits she'd picked up somewhere along the way.  Krystal noticed the sudden nervousness and reached across the table to take the older girl's hand.  Amber looked down at their hands and squeezed before sighing.  She stopped shaking her leg and made eye contact with the younger girl, “Well...I've been thinking about this for a long time.  You know we've sort of been dating for almost a year, even though we're not 'official' or whatever...but you know, if you don't think we have then I understand, I must've just thought the wron-”

Krystal squeezed the hand in hers, “We've been pretty much dating for that long, yeah, go on.” she smiled.

She returned the smile weakly and fixed herself on the chair before continuing, “Well, I know Summer is coming up and all, and well, I also know how you really like the beach and all-”

“So you want to go to the beach with me?” she grinned, “Are you shy about seeing me in a bikini?  Is that it?” she couldn't help but tease the older girl.

Amber spluttered where she sat, “No!  No, that's not it!” she flushed despite herself.

“Well then come on already!  Why are you so fidgety?  It's making me nervous.” she pouted.

The blonde took a deep breath and reached for the younger girl's free hand with her other one, “Well I asked Jonghyun oppa to check out some places for me...”

“Places...” she urged.

“Yeah.  Places in...Hawaii.”

The younger girl's eyebrows shot up to her hairline, “Hawaii?  What for?”

She smiled and squeezed the hands in hers, “For a vacation.  I wanted...to go.”

Krystal tilted her head to the side and smiled, “Are you worried I'll miss you too much while you're gone?  Aww.  How cute.” she smirked, “But don't flatter yourself so much.” In reality Krystal knew she'd miss the blonde to death if she left for a long time during the Summer.

Amber shook her head and furrowed her brows, “No!” the loud no caused hushes to be whispered in her direction by others who were occupying the library.  She immediately ducked her head and said in a softer tone now, “No...”

Krystal furrowed her brows, “No?  I don't get it.  What do you mean no?”

“I mean...I want-” she was cut off as a hand slapped her on the back and Yoona slipped into the seat next to her.  The slightly older woman grinned at her.

“Hey you two!  Fancy meeting you here.” although her voice was hushed there was still that playful lilt that accompanied Yoona's company.  Amber immediately released Krystal's hands.

Krystal looked genuinely surprised to find the older girl there.  She looked around for a while before asking, “Yoona unnie.  Where did you come from?  More importantly,” she squinted her eyes, “Why are you here?”

Yoona pouted at the younger girl, “What are you talking about?  This is a library.  People come here to...”she looked around and peered over at Krystal's side of the table, “read and stuff.” if Amber had known any better the older woman was hesitant about her answer.

Krystal rolled her eyes and deadpanned, “Really, what are you doing here though?  I thought you hated the library.”

Before Yoona could answer another voice answered for her, “She does.  I still don't know why she wanted to tag along.” the much more mature sounding girl answered.

Krystal smiled, “Seohyun unnie.  Hi.”

She smiled and took a seat next to Krystal, “Hi.  Working on schoolwork?”

Krystal pouted and nodded, “It's this big paper due by the end of the school year.” she complained.

Seohyun smiled at the other girl and shook her head, “Don't tell me you've been putting it off all this time?”

Krystal coughed and flushed a little, “'course not...”

Seohyun sighed knowingly and looked over the materials before nodding, “Well it looks like you're off to quite a roll.  Have you been citing information properly?”

Krystal nodded and proceeded to show Seohyun exactly what she had been doing and explaining the gory details of her paper.  The older woman seemed genuinely interested and interrupted at times to either commend her for the work or correct the direction she was going.

Yoona groaned aloud and leaned back in her seat, “Oh God.  Well this wasn't fun at all.”

Amber looked over to the older woman and gave a weak smile, “Well...is there a reason you accompanied Seohyun unnie here?”

Yonna quirked an eyebrow at her and shook her head, “Honestly?  No.  My schedule suddenly freed up today and nobody was home.  I was waiting around for Soojung to come back and play with me,” she glanced at the girl consumed in her conversation with Seohyun, “but she never showed.  So when Hyunnie showed up and said she was going to the library, what other option did I have?  But now I'm just bored at the library instead of at home.”

Amber shook her head at the older woman's antics and replied, “Well, that makes two of us then.”

Yoona leaned into her palm as Seohyun leaned over Krystal to correct some work, “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Accompanying Krystal.”

“Ahh, she dragged you here kicking and screaming?”

“What?  No.  I came here willingly.” she furrowed her brows.

Krystal raised her eyes and responded, “You know we're sitting right here right?  We can still hear you.”

Yoona gave a smile to the pair across from them and received what seemed like a choreographed simultaneous roll of their eyes.  She turned back to Amber, “Well, you win some you lose some.”

“But I just sai-”

“Hey!” she half shouted half whispered.  They were in a library after all, “I know what we could do to un-bore ourselves.  Hyunnie!”

Seohyun didn't lift her eyes from the books around her and responded, “Yes?” the tone was neither annoyed nor aggravated.  It was that same gentle lilt she used with everyone.

“Guess who still needs to get her Amber testing cherry popped?”

Krystal snapped her head up, “Jeez unnie, could you have said that any cruder?”

She shrugged, “Well yeah, but we're in a library and that's a little in appropriate don't you think?”

Krystal rubbed her temples and sighed, “Whatever.”

Seohyun looked up tentatively from her work and quickly glanced at Amber before returning her gaze back to Yoona, “Well...”

Yoona grinned, “Come on!  You're here.  She's here.  More importantly, I'm here.  What better a time?”

Amber gulped in her seat.  She'd forgotten all about the tests since the past week had been relatively quiet.  Now that she thought about it, she'd gotten through seven of the unnies already.  That only left Jessica and, she glanced at the woman next to Krystal, Seohyun.

Her hands immediately went to her thighs and she squeezed at the fabric there.

Seohyun put down the book she was reading and looked up at the two sitting across from her.  She was silent for a moment until she finally met Amber's eyes and said, “Well...to be honest I wasn't planning on ever testing you.” she put her hands in her lap, “You seem like a good person with a good head on your shoulders.  I was just going to give you a pa-”

Yoona practically leaped across the table and put her hand over Seohyun's mouth, “This is an outrage!” she whisper-yelled once again, “You can't just let her off like that!  Where's the sense of sportsmanship?”

Krystal leaned her head on the palm of her hand and stated dully, “This isn't a sport.  In fact, this is really stupid.”

She was completely ignored by Yoona who removed her hand from Seohyun's face and looked at her fiercely, “Hyunnie you can't do this.  You have to do something!  If not, then what will be left of our moral integrity?”

“You have no morals, unnie.”

Yoona yet again ignored the sarcasm dripping from the youngest Jung and turned to Amber, “Am I right?  You wouldn't just want to be handed it like a charity case right?”

Amber bit her bottom lip and was about to respond but was effectively cut off.

“Right.  She agrees with me Hyunnie.” Yoona immediately turned back to Seohyun, “So test her!”

Seohyun sighed and tried to reason with the overly excited woman, “I didn't even plan for one, Yoong.  What do you expect me to do?” 

Yoona ruffled her hair in frustration, “I don't know, you're really smart Hyun!” then it clicked, “That's it!  You're really smart!” she grinned.

Seohyun furrowed her brows as her cheeks reddened at the compliment.  Krystal rolled her eyes as this nonsense was distracting her from her work, “What are you trying to get at Unnie?”

Yoona turned to Krystal, “Quiz!”

Krystal frowned, “Quiz?”

“Quiz!  Hyunnie you're smart, so we should have a competition to test Amber's knowledge.  Gather up a bunch of questions and see how many she gets right!  You can even throw in trivia.” she finally sat back in her seat and crossed her arms, looking very smug with herself.

Seohyun sighed, “Yoong, that doesnt seem very fair considering we just sprung this on her.  I wouldn't even know where to start quizzing her-”

“Test her on things Soojung would know.”

Seohyun raised a brow, “Well, I guess judging a person on their common knowledge is a good gauge of their personality...”

“Good!  I'll start off with a sample question.” before Seohyun could protest Yoona had turned to Amber and fired off her first trivia question, “Team Edward or Team Jacob?”

Seohyun fired a disapproving glance, “Yoong, why is that even relevant to anything?  Besides, you can't ask a question that has an opinionated answer.”

Yoona looked appalled, “Of course it's relevant!  You can find out a lot about a person through which team they pick.”

Amber shuffled uncomfortably in her seat before responding hesitantly, “Well I've never read the books, but from what I've heard, Team Edward?”

Yoona fixed her with a scrutinizing glance and nodded slowly, “I see.” it felt as if the older woman was looking into her soul.

She sat back in her seat and cleared .  Seohyun shook her head and looked down at her books before smiling, “Well let's start off with something easy?”

The blonde smiled nervously back.

“So, since you were educated in America, we'll stick to things you should have learned there.  Here's an easy one.  There was a president who only served for 31 days (1).  Who was he?”

Amber wracked her brains for this answer.  She'd learned about this her last year in High School, but God knows she couldn't remember a single thing from it.  She started to get nervous.

Yoona rubbed her chin in thought before slapping her hand down on the table, “President?  America?  George Clooney.”

Both Seohyun and Krystal shook her head at the older woman.  Krystal murmured to herself, “God help her...”

Amber looked absolutely lost.  History had never been too interesting for her.  Seohyun looked on in pity and cleared , “Well that's okay.  I'll just ask another question then.  I'm sure you'll get this one.  Someone challenged Alexander Hamilton to a duel and subsequently killed him.  Who was this person (2)?”

Amber groaned inwardly.  More history?  If things kept going this way she should just ask for the fail straight up in order to save them all time.

She fiddled with the hem of her shirt and glanced at Krystal.  Oh God.  She was so embarrassed.  Now Krystal would think she was an idiot and leave her for some braniac in expensive braces and chrome plated suspenders.  Krystal looked pitifully at the other girl.  She knew History wasn't the other girl's strongest point.  

Seohyun cleared at the following silence and tried to smile, “Well, we'll skip that one too.  How about this one.  I know you'll get it.” She sounded so optimistic Amber thought the girl could probably cure cancer with her optimism.

She nodded meekly and awaited the next question.  But of course, Yoona had to interrupt the session and quipped, “A guy with a gun.” she snorted to herself.

Seohyun sighed and ignored the older woman's antics before smiling gently at the blonde again, “Okay, so how about this one?  We'll try a different topic.  Conceptual physics.  Newton had 3 basic laws of motion.  Imagine that book A is stacked on top of book B.  There is a force on book B so that both book B and book A are moving with a constant velocity to the right.  Is B exerting a horizontal force on A?  If so, in which direction is it exerting it (3)?”

The blonde furrowed her brows.  Physics she knew a little better.  And Newton.  Newton was like baby stuff.  She quickly wracked her brains for any answer.  Newton.  What did Newton say about motion? 

She tried to force her brain to think faster, but it was difficult under Seohyun's and Krystal's watchful eyes.  She closed her eyes and thought.  

Wait.  Newton's first law.  

She quickly snapped her head up, “It doesn't.” she glanced at Krystal, who smiled at her, “Book B doesn't exert a horizontal force on A because they're moving with a constant velocity...right?”

Seohyun was quick to smile and nod, “Good!  Glad you're able to remember conceptual physics.”

Yoona scoffed, “How is that more relevant than Jacob and Edward?  Here's some physics for you.  If a giant wolf and a scrawny pixy man collide, who gets the brunt of the force?  I'll tell you who-”

“Anyway.” Seohyun interrupted, “That's good.  Let's see...you've taken up to calculus?” The blonde nodded.

“I went all the way through linear algebra...”

Seohyun nodded, “So here's a question-”

“Hyun!  These questions are so boring.  Physics?  History?  Math?  What type of quiz is this?”

Seohyun sighed, “You told me to give her a quiz in order to gauge her intelligence.  So I am.”

Yoona rolled her eyes, “Her intelligence, not her inner geek.” she turned to Amber, “Here's a useful question, what is Lady Gaga's real name (4)?”

Seohyun couldn't help the roll of her eyes this time, “Oh please, why would anyone know that, and why would that ever be relevant to anything?”

Amber surprised them all when she murmured quietly, “Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta...”

All eyes were trained on her and Yoona couldn't help the sh%t eating grin on her face.  She tsked loudly a few times before saying, “Never doubt the power of social intelligence Hyun.”

Seohyun sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time, “I don't know why I'm even bothering with this since you're so adamant in holding the quiz yourself.” she replied simply before going back to her work.

Amber glanced at Krystal nervously and she just smiled and gave her a glance that said that this happened all the time.  Yoona  pouted and leaned forward, “Because it's your test!  Just because I'm meddling in it doesn't mean it's mine.  Hence the word meddling!”

Seohyun nodded absently without looking up from her work, “Well what type of questions would you like to ask her then?”

Yoona immediately turned back to Amber and asked, “Well!  Since you asked.” Krystal rolled her eyes, “You may have known about Mama monster, but this one will be harder.” Amber righted herself on the chair and nodded, “How many kids do BrAngelina have and what are their names (5)?  You don't have to tell me their ethnicity because heck, even I get confused sometimes...” she furrowed her brows.

Amber crossed her arms and thought.  Krystal and Sulli were always reading those trashy teen magazines.  She would sometimes flip through them when she was bored.  She could have sworn that she saw...Amber gulped and replied meekly, “...6?”

Yoona grinned, “Correct!  But that was only half the question.  What are their names?”

Amber looked flustered.  Hell if she knew!  Krystal would sometimes gush about celebrity babies, so maybe she should just start spouting off names she remembered?  That was better than nothing.  So she hesitantly started spouting off names, “Pax, uhh Knox, Shiloh, Vivienne, Zahara and...Apple?”

The blonde was startled when a “deng!” sounded from Yoona's mouth, “Ooh, no!  Close, but no dice.  Apple is Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter's name.”

Krystal furrowed her brows.  Even she didn't know the answer to that one, “Unnie why do you know so much about American celebrities?”

Yoona cleared , “This isn't about me.  This is about Amber.  Now, if Hyunnie would continue her test...”

Seohyun looked up warily from her work, “But you were asking questions.” she sounded hesitant.

Yoona waved her off, “Nonsense.  Remember, I'm just meddling.”

Seohyun sighed and gave an apologetic glance at the blonde, “Um, okay then.  This is a more general knowledge question.” Amber nodded, “Who was the artist who painted the farmer with a pitchfork standing next to his daughter (6)?  If it helps, the painting was called 'American Gothic'.”

Yoona crossed her arms, “You mean the bald farmer?  The creepy one with the farmhouse in the background?” Yoona shivered, “That painting gives me the heeby jeebies.”

Amber knew which one she was talking about.  Krystal met her eyes and was trying to mouth something to her.  She couldn't read lips that well though.  Thank God Yoona hadn't noticed.

Seohyun sat there patiently smiling at her.  Amber shivered.  Forget the painting.  For some reason Seohyun made her nervous as hell.

She glanced at Krystal again and found that the girl was still mouthing something to her.  She tried to process what she was mouthing but she could only decipher the second half, “...Wo-Wood?” she squinted.

Seohyun's smile brightened, “Correct!  Grant Wood was the artist of that specific piece.  I'm impressed.  You know physics and art.”

Yoona squinted her eyes at the brightly smiling and smug looking Krystal.  Something suspicious had happened while she was trying to shake the shivers the image of that particular painting gave her.

“Do you know any Greek mythology?”

Amber looked up at the older woman.  In fact, she'd taken a Summer course in Greek mythology over one Summer since she was a little interested in it.  She nodded her head slowly, “Yes.”

Seohyun kept giving her that gentle smile and continued, “Well, there was a titan named Prometheus.  He was sentenced to an eternity of suffering.  Zeus chained him to a boulder and every day he had to suffer his liver being eaten by a great eagle.  It grew back overnight.  For what reason was he punished (7)?”

Before Amber could answer Yoona gagged in disgust, “That's horrifying.  What sort of sick twisted-”

Krystal set her pen down, “Hence the Greek 'Mythology',” she emphasized the last word, “I think it's sort of interesting...in the morbid sort of way.” she shrugged and Amber had to smile at the other girl.

The blonde turned to Seohyun and thanked God that she actually paid attention in that class.  She cleared before replying, “I think...he gave mortals fire against Zeus' will.” she was 90% sure.

Seohyun's smile brightened and the older woman smiled, “That's correct!  You have quite a wide range of general knowledge.  I think that's enough, right?” she chanced a hopeful glance at Yoona.

The other woman crossed her arms and stared Amber down, “Hyun is letting you off too easy.  You may have answered 4 out of 7 questions correctly, but this one will end it all.  It'll be worth like...1000 points.” she leaned towards Amber, who instinctively leaned back.  The blonde gulped.

Seohyun sighed, “Come on, Yoong, it's not that big of a deal.” the slightly older woman put a hand up to silence her.

Seohyun shrugged and gave an apologetic smile at Amber.  Yoona usually got her way.

Amber gulped and nodded, “W-What's the question then?” her leg started shaking again.  Noticing the nervous habit Krystal subtly brushed her foot along the blonde's leg in a comforting gesture.  The blonde looked over and gave a weak smile.  This would make it or break it.  If she passed this she was home-free.  

Yoona made straight eye contact with the blonde.  Suddenly her expression turned deadly serious.

There was silence all around the table for almost a good minute.  Everyone waited with baited breath as Yoona, who was usually all smiles, stared down Amber with the most serious face. 

Krystal even seemed a little worried.  Eventually Seohyun moved uncomfortably in the awkward and tense silence before saying, “Um...Unn-”

Yoona, without moving any other part of her body, began speaking, “Place yourself in London 1888.” she started quietly, “More specifically, the Whitechapel district.” she paused for a moment, “Someone has been going around mutilating and murdering es.”

Amber gulped and gripped at the fabric of her jeans.  Both Seohyun and Krystal were shocked at the turn the quiz/trivia round had gone.  She went from Brangelina to murderers?

The older woman sat up straight in her seat but did not lose eye contact with the blonde, “Several of these women have similar causes of deaths and injuries; namely a slash to the throat and...well, let's just say it wasn't pretty.” her eyes darkened.

The blonde felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.  What the hell was going on?  Her heart began beating at a rapid pace, and not in the good way that Krystal made it.

“There is a story about one perpetrator being linked to five of the murders.” she leaned forward again and narrowed her eyes.  She paused again and stared the blonde down for a while before continuing, “Jack the Ripper.”

A flash of recognition went through the blonde's eyes and she was able to murmur out, “The Whitechapel murders...” she knew the district name sounded familiar.  

Yoona nodded, “So you're familiar with it.”

The blonde nodded mutely and pursed her lips.

Yoona leaned back in her seat before crossing her arms and legs, “You know the name is speculated to be made up by some janky reporter.”  She smiled a little, “But that aside, there is an interesting fact about the string of murders.  Do you know what that is?”

Amber shook her head slowly.

“They got consecutively worse.” she deadpanned.

Amber could feel the sweat trickle down her forehead.

Yoona smirked, “In fact, the final murder was the most gruesome of them all.” she looked at her nails for a moment.  Krystal and Seohyun watched on in silence, waiting for the oldest woman to continue.  Safe to say everyone at the table was now extremely curious about the tale.

The pause was pretty much killing, no pun intended, everyone at the table.  Krystal was so interested in what had happened that she had subconsciously leaned forward in her seat, as if leaning closer would get Yoona to continue more quickly.

The second youngest Unnie smirked again and finally stopped looking at her nails, “The scene of the final 'Canonical'” she used air quotes, “murder was in the apartment of a Miss Mary Jane Kelly.  Miss Kelly was found on her bed mutilated and murdered in the same fashion as the other four murders.  But this time the damage done was much worse than ever seen before.”

Amber wracked her brains.  She'd remembered discussing these murders in a past class...or something.  She couldn't pinpoint it, but she knew she'd discussed this case in detail at one point or another in her life.  Honestly she was too distracted at the serious atmosphere to really think.

“Previous victims had certain parts removed.  But Miss Kelly had something quite interesting removed, which led to more speculation about the murderer themselves.  So,” she held Amber's eyes, “what was missing from her body when they found her (8)?”

Krystal managed to get out, “Wow.  That's a pretty intense background story and question from someone who was grossed out about Prometheus.”

Yoona was instantly back to her childish ways.  She pouted, “That's totally different!  An eagle.  And it grew back overnight, that's like...crazy torture.  Besides, murder mysteries are interesting!  Did you know that the case was never solved?  Talk about Smooth Criminal.  You know, I think Michael Jackson may have been on to something when he wrote that song in 1987, 99 years later.  You know how he says 'Annie are you Okay'?  Well one of the Canonical Five was named Annie and-”

Yoona's nonsensical tangent was cut off by Krystal rolling her eyes and putting a hand up, “Never mind.  Forget I even said anything.”

Seohyun played with her pen and looked curiously up at Amber.  Even she didn't know this one.

The blonde looked deep in thought.  She had a feeling as to what it may have been.  She began slowly, “I...”

Everyone waited in silence as Amber's brows furrowed in thought.  Her concentration was surreal.  Yoona tilted her head to the side as she waited for the answer.

The blonde clenched at the fabric of her jeans even tighter as she thought.

The silence felt like it lasted forever.  Her eyes darted nervously toward Krystal, then to Seohyun, and then to Yoona, who's mood had changed back and was currently sporting the same sh%t eating grin she had given Seohyun earlier.

It hit her.  The back-story and serious mood was to psych her out about any knowledge she happened to have about the murder series; which she knew was stored somewhere in her mind.

She inwardly cursed Yoona's hidden genius and bit her lip.  Was it...?

Well, she honestly didn't have another answer.  She knew Yoona would only wait for so long, and honestly, she knew that if she didn't remember now there was no way she was gonna remember in the next couple of minutes anyway.

So she took a deep breath, chanced a glance at Krystal, and looked Yoona right in the eye before replying hesitantly, “Was it...her...liver?” she remembered something about the murderer removing the stomach organs.

Yoona was silent for a while.  The oldest woman smiled widely and stared for a while before sighing in defeat.  She stood from her seat and looked down at the blonde before saying with a lilt in her voice, “Be sure to dress well when you meet up with Sica unnie.  She doesn't like people who look sloppy.” she smirked.

Amber's face fell and her eyes darted to Seohyun, who sighed deeply.  The youngest unnie tried to reason, “Come on...that was a hard one.  Can't I just give it to-”

Yoona tutted and wagged a finger at Seohyun, “That's not how it works!”

She retorted, “But that was your question anyway.  She answered a sufficient amount of my quest-”

“No.” All eyes turned to the blonde, “It's okay.  A test is a test and...I failed.  So,” she took a deep breath, “I'll meet up with Jessica unnie for the final judgment.” her eyes looked determined.

Seohyun glanced at the blonde apprehensively, “...are you sure about that?” the youngest unnie knew how abrasive her unnie could get.

Amber nodded resolutely, “Yes.  I've got to honor the deal right?” she smiled weakly.

Krystal had to smile at the persistence that was part of Amber's personality.  Surely the girl didn't like giving up easily.  Which, she found was an admirable quality...and pretty hot too.

Seohyun nodded slowly and Yoona practically hopped in excitement where she stood, “Awesome!” she whisper-yelled once more, “Gonna go call Sooyoung and Yuri unnie, be back in a minute!” she scurried out of the room.

Seohyun rolled her eyes and glanced at the blonde, “I'm sorry about her.  She gets really excited about things like this...” the blonde let out a laugh and nodded in understanding.  Honestly, the trivia quiz was a little fun.  A little.  She smiled, “So...while I actually don't want to give you a fail...I guess I'll have to.” she gave a lopsided smile.

Amber nodded and met Krystal's adoring eyes, “Okay.”

Seohyun had to smile at the two making eye contact.  She had to admit, it was a good thing she gave the grade before she saw the scene.  Because, she continued watching them as their smiles grew, as hard as it was to fail her before, she knew it would be damn near impossible to do it now.

--00--

Amber: 4
Unnies: 4

--00--

Trivia Answers:

(1) William Harrison
(2) Aaron Burr
(3) No horizontal force is exerted on A from B
(4) Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
(5) 6.  Pax, Knox, Vivienne, Zahara, Maddox, and Shiloh
(6) Grant Wood
(7) Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and gave it to the mortals
(8) Her heart 

A/N And so, with that brain muddling note, Amber and the unnies are now even.   The questions used are sort of considered “General Knowledge”(whothehellknowsthat?) trivia I suppose.  and Yoona.. in a very Yoona-like manner.. tsk tsk.. so last is THE ICE PRINCESS..