Amid her hectic schedule in promoting her solo album, there was only one thing Amber kept thinking about whenever the day ends. 

Actually, make that "one person."

Amber hasn't seen Krystal for weeks, the last time being their lunch with Luna at Apgujeong. And when her solo promotions took off, Amber hasn't heard from Krystal.

"Still backreading our KakaoTalk group, Amber unnie?" Luna asked as they waited for their turn to perform Shake That Brass on stage.

"You know me too well, puppy," Amber answered as she tried to wear a nonchalant smile.

"I know you miss her, unnie, but she won't come back here just by looking at our group chat," Luna said as she let Amber lean her head on her shoulder. "She needs this break and you know it. And if she misses us, she'll give us a word."

Amber nodded, lost in her thoughts until the floor director told them to get ready for their performance.

******

Amber was in a company van taking her home when she saw her phone ringing. It was the editor-in-chief of W Korea.

"Yo, author-nim!" Amber exclaimed as she answered the call. She always called W's boss author-nim who is technically not an author, and the nickname stuck.

"Yo Amber!" the editor barked back. "Ready for our photoshoot tomorrow?"

"I really don't know how to pull off an emo-Amber, to be really honest."

"Ha, trust me Amber-llama, you can," Amber's caller said as the editor grunted on the other line. "And I've got surprises to help you with that."

"Will you be there?"

"Nope, but I'm sending someone you sure would like to see. Bye!" And the call was cut.

Amber was bewildered by the call. She asked bear manager about the photoshoot, but he too refused to tell her the secret. Too tired to overthink, Amber closed her eyes and dozed off.

******

The next day, Amber got more weirded out when she saw the venue of the photoshoot.

Actually, make that "photoshoots." There were two sets in the warehouse that made it look like two simultaneous photoshoots will be done.

"Omigosh, a marathon photoshoot!" Amber thought. "And author-nim thinks I'll enjoy this?"

Amber didn't let anyone know about her thoughts and just let people do her makeup. She could hear noises of another set of people busy doing makeup with another star, but Amber couldn't see who the celebrity was. She was too shy to ask her makeup artists about the other photoshoot, so she just took the time to take a nap.

"Hey sleeping handsome," Krystal whispered to her ear and walked away smiling.

Amber thought she was only dreaming when she heard those words, but when she opened her eyes, everything made sense. That was a real moment, and there was Krystal already doing poses for the photoshoot.

Amber wanted to be near her, hug her and kiss her so badly, but she knows all too well to contain her feelings. She went to her own photoshoot set instead, just right across Krystal's.

"You're beautiful Krystal-shi, but I need something more seductive," the photographer exclaimed. "Think you can do that kind of pose?"

"With pleasure," Kryber replied as she fixed her eyes on the blond tomboy sitting meters away from the photographer.

Amber gulped as she heard Krystal's seductive answer. She knew exactly who that answer was for.

Krystal shifted her legs and placed her right hand closer to the wall, not breaking away from Amber's stare.

"PERFECT!" the photographer shouted with glee as he clicked away. "I think we can call it a wrap with Krystal so we can start with Amber already, yeah?"

The team members working on the double photoshoot applauded and cheered at their mini-accomplishment as they quickly fixed Amber's set. Amid the chaos, Amber and Krystal stood from their sets, not breaking away their intense staredown.

"Ready to start, Amber?" the photographer nudged her, thinking she was staring into space.

"With pleasure," Amber replied, still staring at her woman.

"All right then," the photographer exclaimed. "I want you to sit down and play with your hands in the most emo way possible while staring at the camera. Ready?"

Amber nodded and did just as she was told, still staring at Krystal who was just behind the camera.

"Good job," the photographer said. "But, again, I want something more seductive yet emo. Think you can pull it off?"

Amber closed her eyes and remembered Krystal's seductive pose just minutes earlier. When she opened her eyes, she looked back at the camera and her fingers.

"WOW!" the photographer was ecstatically clicking away again. "I think we got it. IT'S A WRAP!"

The whole venue erupted in cheers and high-fives for what turned out to be a quick photoshoot. Krystal and Amber thanked everyone on the set, before they left the venue together, their eyes still glued to each other.

******

Sunday morning.

Amber didn't want to wake Krystal after a whole night of a well-deserved tryst with her woman. But she couldn't go back to sleep either with an angel sleeping soundly beside her. Knowing that Krystal could wake up with just the slightest of movements, Amber killed time by backreading her Twitter timeline as they came in real-time.

"Morning," Krystal whispered as she leaned her head on Amber's chest. "What are you doing?"

"Morning princess," Amber replied as she kissed Krystal's hair. "My notifications are going crazy. Our pictures from the photoshoot have already been released and our shippers are going nuts with their edits!"

Krystal giggled. She still finds it bittersweet that there are fans rooting for her and Amber to be together, yet she knows fully well that they have to keep what they have a secret.

"Let me see how they edited our photos," Krystal said as she shifted her head next to Amber's so they could look at the fan-edited photos together.

As Amber scrolled, a black-and-white photo with a triangle and dove caught Krystal's eye. The photo also showed Amber sitting behind her in an edit that looked very Gothic.

"I like that one," Krystal said.

"Yeah, I think that one's good too," Amber nodded.

Krystal gave Amber a sweet, enduring kiss on the lips before leaving the tomboy's bed. "I'm gonna go take a bath," Krystal said.

Amber playfully pulled Krystal's hand as if to stop her from leaving, but the long-haired girl laughed and slapped Amber's arm away. "Don't be dramatic! We have all day."

"All right, all right!" Amber said as she let Krystal go. "I just missed you so much, you know." 

As Krystal walked away towards the shower, Amber had a lightbulb moment.

"Hey Krystal!"

"Yeah?"

"Mind if I tweet to the fans that you liked that fan photo?"

Krystal looked back at Amber with a smile and gave her a wink. "Princess doesn't mind."

****************************

PS I've had this story in my head since the W Korea photos were released --- waaay before Amber tweeted "Krystal said she likes this." --- but it's only today that I had the time, confidence and inspiration to put it into words. Thanks for all your encouraging words with Chapter 1! :)