Amber's POV

 

 

 

When morning came, at least I assumed it was morning, I woke with a familiar pounding in my head. Disoriented, I got up and noticed that I was in the usual guest room that Taeyeon dumps me in when I pass out after one of her parties.

 

I got up and didn't feel my head spin as much, probably having gotten over the worst of my hangover already. What time is it anyway?

 

2.49, the clock mocked me in disapproval. 

 

Groaning, I flipped the clock off as if it was its fault I was feeling awful and dragged myself to the bathroom. Maybe wash all of my sins away while I’m at it.

 

I took about twenty minutes before heading downstairs to see if the shorty was home.

 

The sound of an old lady that distinctively sounded like Taeyeon laughing was what led me to the kitchen and I walked in to see her sitting by the counter next to my cousin.

 

"Yuri? What're you doing here?" I asked, my voice scratchy from all the toxic lining my throat.

 

"Giving your hungover a ride back is what I'm doing." She said, giving me a pointed look.

 

"Why? Where's my car?" And that was when I realized that I didn't come to the party alone, "Oh, ....... Krystal." Everything from last night suddenly came hurdling into the forefront of my memory and I blanched.

 

 

I kissed her.

 

 

I bloody well should have just tattooed '' over my face instead.

 

 

But why can't I remember anything past that? Did she say anything after? Did she leave with my car because she wanted to get away from me? Did she kiss me back?

 

The thought of her being disgusted with what I did registered with me and I groaned, roughly rubbing my face in hopes of wiping my embarrassment away. 

 

"She remembers. Told you it happened." Taeyeon said and Yuri looked surprised at the information.

 

"Can't believe you actually kissed her. You're unfailing stubbornness usually defeats any external forces, even if it is liquid courage." She said with a smirk, "Then again your princess is an exception to all your rules innit?

 

I let my hands drop and glared at Taeyeon, "Why did you tell her? I'll be harassed relentlessly from now on you know that right?"

 

"Duh. That's why I told her." Yuri snickered and they high-five'd each other.

 

"Since when did you two become friends?" I grumbled and sat next to Yuri, picking at the leftover snacks from last night.

 

"It's your fault. I had to uber here to drive you back home in your own car." Yuri shrugged.

 

I looked at her confusedly, "Didn't Krystal drive back in my car? I don't have my car keys. Or my phone." I mumbled the last one as an afterthought, patting down my jeans.

 

"Ah, right my bad." Taeyeon hopped off the stool and grabbed my belongings from the dining table, "Krystal told me to keep these safe for you because you kept taking them out. She said something about you wanting to flush them down the toilet because Jackson dared you to."

 

"Thanks." I mumbled and took them from her. 

 

"No problemo. Yeah and Kai took Krystal home so don't worry about it."

 

A potato chip cracked under my fingers and I stared hard at her, "What? You let her go back home with a stranger?" I asked her, raising my voice.

 

"Chill out llama pants Kai's our classmate not a random stranger. Besides, he's a nice guy and she wasn't up for staying the night here." Taeyeon explained, holding her hands up as if she were tying to placate an actuall angry llama.

 

"We don't know him that well! For all we know he could secretly be a serialr wanting to take advantage of her!" I exclaimed, crushing several more chips in my palm.

 

"She's safe Amber. Who do you think called me this morning to come fetch you?" Yuri said, patting my shoulder to calm me down, "Now, put the cheesy goodness out of its misery before you ruin a perfectly good batch of Pringles. Atta girl." She said when I relaxed a little and retracted my hand from the chip bowl.

 

I was thoroughly bothered by the fact that I was too drunk that Kai had to send Krystal home. What if he wasn't as nice as he portrays himself to be? If something happened to Krystal while she was under my care I will never forgive myself. 

 

But she wasn't. She was safe, like Yuri confirmed. Why then, do I still not like the idea of Kai and Krystal together? 

 

"Jeez, Ambro stop looking so butthurt. I'm starting to second guess Yuri telling me that you guys aren't really an item."

 

I whipped my head up, "Yuri, you told her that?" I wasn't really angry this time because by the looks of it, Krystal was already halfway to getting what she wanted. At this rate, I could see them getting together by the end of the week. 

 

“Sorry cuz, it just slipped out. I thought you already told all of your friends about it.”

 

“Yeah, what’s up with that? Don’t I fall in that friend category or did I not let you sleepover last night?” Taeyeon pouted and crossed her arms. 

 

I threw a chip at her and it landed in her hair, “Who stuck a funnel down my throat and poured a ton of Black Label in my mouth? You deserve not knowing.” 

 

She didn’t look offended by the chip and instead took it into , “Yeah, well at least I’m not the one who kissed my best friend who I’m supposedly pretending to date but actually do have real feelings for.” She retorted.

 

My cheeks immediately heated up, “I do not have feelings for her. I kissed her because I was pressured from everyone else to do it.”

 

“Right. From what I saw it took less than a minute of shouting from everybody before you laid one on her. You guys didn’t pull away for two minutes.” The shorty sniggered, her byun smile making an appearance.

 

 

The new information stunned me.

 

 

She didn’t stop me for two whole minutes? 

 

 

God, why can’t I bloody remember what it felt like.

 

 

 

NOT THAT I’M CURIOUS OR ANYTHING. 

 

 

 

Ugh. My hangover feels like it's coming back.

 

 

"Alright, let's get you home llama. You're late for your interrogation from the royal highness as it is." My heart started palpating at the thought of seeing Krystal after that.... incident. I knew I would have to answer to that sooner or later but for now, I was blank. 

 

How could you explain why you kissed your best friend when you aren't fully sure yourself?

 

 

Yep. My hangover's definitely back.

 

 

"Taengoo, we'll hang soon aite?" Yuri hollered as we were walking out of the house.

 

"Yeah, I'm counting on it Yul!" Taeyeon yelled back from the kitchen.

 

I narrowed my eyes into slits, looking between the two suspiciously. 

 

"You two stay away from each other. I don't like this friendship........." I warned, pointing between the two of them, ".........It's too dangerous." I warned and grabbed my laughing cousin by the arm, dragging her out of the house before they could further establish their 'Make-Fun-of-Amber' alliance.

 

 

---

 

 

'It’s just Krystal……. It’s just Krystal….… It’s just Krystal…..'

 

I puffed out the air that I had been holding in my cheeks and opened the door to the Jung household.

 

What do I find other than two lumps on the couch watching TV looking like they were glued to it for hours now. They probably had been, knowing those two. It wouldn’t be the first time.

 

“Hi Noona!” One of the lump greeted me with a smile then turned back to the TV. I worry for Jonghyun. Sometimes he shows signs of being as lazy as his oldest sister. If he didn’t like playing football with me so much I would think he’d be as allergic to excercise as her.

 

“Yah! You have to start knocking or I’m gonna have to put a security lock on our door.” Jessica said to me, her eyes staying fixed on the flat screen.

 

I chuckled, “Sica, the day that you actually get up and do something is the day that I grow a beard.”

 

“Well you better buy a razor because Imma bout to shove this peanut up your nose.” She said, grabbing a nut from her bowl. She thought about it for a bit before eating it instead, “After this episode.”

 

“Right, of course. Email me when you do, I’ll need a reminder after so many years,” I said. At remembering why I was here in the first place, I suddenly felt nervous, “Krys home?”

 

“Yeah, no thanks to you. I’m telling aunty Liu about you getting drunk and leaving my sister stranded at a party. She’ll give you a nice whoop for being bad to her ‘Sweet Soojung.” She smirked at that.

 

“I’ll gladly accept the punishment. It was definitely a bad call on my part and I won’t ever do that again.” I said and looked up in the direction of Krystal’s room, feeling utterly guilty about getting so drunk last night when I was her ride. Not to mention that, had I been sober enough, I wouldn’t have stupidly kissed her and have all these weird thoughts because of it.

 

Jessica turned to look at me for the first time since our banter started, eyeing me with slight intrigue. 

 

“You’re talking funny. What happened between you two?” She raised a brow in curiosity.

 

“Nothing. Why would you say that? I’m not talking funny. Your ears are hearing funny.” I quickly retorted, seeing her lips quirk at my odd response. Even Jonghyun’s attention was on me, “Stop looking at me like that. You two look like the twins from The Shining.” I spat out and turned around to speed up the stairs. 

 

Nice one, Amber. Now we have to explain to them about Krystal’s plan that was giving me more stress than I thought it would.

 

I paused in front of Krystal's bedroom door, my clammy hand raised in mid-air. 

 

Usually I would just barge in like I do the Jung's main door (she would have it locked if she wanted her privacy) but now I wasn't too sure of what she thought about me right now after last night.

 

I shook my head, feeling ridiculous. She probably isn't breaking a sweat over this and it's just me being a weird.

 

Twisting the door knob, I slowly pushed the door open and walked inside.

 

There was no one in the room but I could hear a faint humming from her bathroom.

 

I walked towards her bathroom door and knocked gently, "Krys? Just letting you know I'm outside." 

 

For a minute there I was apprehensive about her response but fortunately she didn't outright kick me out or sound mad at all, "Ok! Just wait awhile I'm gonna head into the shower real quick," She called back, sounding rather cheerful much to my relief.

 

Plopping down onto her bed, I sighed and listened contentedly to her beautiful voice singing. I couldn't contain the smile on my face. She wasn't mad. Our conversation wouldn't be awkward at all, maybe we'd even joke about it a little and that would be it.

 

I hadn't noticed that I was dozing off when I felt trickles of water droplets land on my face.

 

My eyes blinked open tiredly to see a curtain of wet hair in my direct view.

 

"Y-yah!!!" I squeaked at the scary sight, noting that I couldn't move very far because Krystal's weight was on top of me. A brief flashback of her straddling me on the couch at the party entered my mind and I gulped. This was way too familiar for my liking.

 

She was smiling on top of me, biting her her lip in a way sent a gush of warmth to my gut. 

 

'It's just Krystal.... It's just Krystal..... It's just Krystal.....' I repeated the mantra in my head lest I wanted my weird thoughts to resurface.

 

"Hi drunkber. Or maybe it's hungoverber now. You look kind of drunk still with that dopey look on your face." She said amusedly, poking me on the nose.

 

Her face was mere inches from mine and anytime before this past week, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. Now I just felt like dunking my head in a bucket full of ice and staying there until my thoughts are numb and void of anything and everything Krystal. 

 

 

 

Because my mantra had backfired and now all I could think about was her. 

 

 

 

'It's just Krystal..... It's Krystal..... Krystal..... Krystal..... Krystal.......'

 

 

 

She poked my face again when I still hadn't said a word, "Stupid, are you still drunk?" She teased me and when I remained silent her smile dimmed, "Hey, if you think I'm mad at you or something you can chill out, because I'm not. I was just more worried about you that's all." She patted my cheeks and got off of me. Instantly, I let out a breath of air that sounded more like a wheeze. 

 

The absence of her body anywhere on me allowed me to regain my composure. 

 

What is WITH me? 

 

Am I losing my mind so drastically that I can't even be normal with my best friend? This is the girl that I've shared practically everything with. There is nothing about her that I don't know about and vice versa. Why would all of this change because of one stupid kiss?

 

I gathered my wits and answered her, "I'm sorry, I might be coming down with something. Been feeling weird since I woke up." I lied and applauded myself for managing to get a grip.

 

She moved close to me and cupped my cheeks, a concerned frown on her face, "You are pretty warm. Do you feel a fever coming on?"

 

 

NO AND STOP TOUCHING ME.

 

 

"Nah, it's probably just my the last bits of my hangover wearing off. False alarm." I chuckled and looked away, trying to not seem to obvious that I wanted her hands off of my face. If she keeps it on me I might actually start to come down with a fever. 

 

"You sure? There's something a little off of about you today,"' She observed, thankfully keeping her hands to herself. I shrugged, playing with my fingers to avoid her eyes. I heard her sigh and she hesitated before speaking, "Is it because of what happened at the party? Are you thinking about that kiss?"

 

 

My heart sped into overdrive and I became nervous again at the mention of our little lip-locking action. 

 

 

Amber, chill the out. Play it cool man. 

 

 

"No, why would I? I'm sorry for intruding your personal space but I did it on a whim to avoid suspicion. I assure you it was just a one time thing and I'll never do it again." I whipped out the most casual excuse I could find and surprisingly it turned out quite genuine sounding. 

 

So I was a little baffled when she didn't combat me with a witty remark but instead, stayed silent and pensive. Then as if it didn't happen at all, she met my eyes with a smirk and flicked me on the forehead.

 

"You could've fooled me. My lips were basically trapped between yours, and who knew you get so handsy when making out." She giggled, jumping off the bed to sit by her desk. 

 

I blushed an embarrassing bright red at her brazen description of our kiss. To hide my face I pulled the covers up to my nose.

 

"That's not fair, I could barely remember it. You could be lying to me for all I know." I said from under the covers.

 

Her grin faltered for a fraction of a second and I would have missed it if I wasn't watching her so intently.

 

 

Was her hair always this radiant looking?

 

 

'Of course it's radiant looking idiot, it's still wet from the shower.’

 

 

“You were a terrible kisser anyway.” She mumbled, busying herself with her phone.

 

“Is that why you couldn’t pull away for two whole minutes?” I smirked cockily, because that's what we did, Krystal and I. She’s my best friend. This is our relationship and I wanted it so much for it to stay that way. Not this constant whirlwind of confusion that is my emotions right now.

 

Krystal looked surprised that I remembered, “Only because my mind shut down from how bad it was. I’m trying to block it out of my memories as we speak.” She deadpanned and her hair shielded her face from my view.

 

“Yeah, you go ahead and try. My kisses are pretty hard to forget from what I’ve been told.” I sighed and folded my arms behind my head. 

 

She didn't respond because she was occupied with texting on her phone.

 

"Who you talking to?" I mumbled.

 

"Kai." She said simply with no further explanation. 

 

My mood fell at that. Her lack of an elaboration caused a ton of questions to invade my brain space. 

 

So what, now they're on texting terms already? Was it it him who asked for her number first or did she initiate it? Why is she not paying attention to me? 

 

I don't like this feeling, whatever the hell it was.

 

Finally, after a few minutes of her nonstop typing and me seething from under her sheets like a complete psycho, she put her phone down and turned to me. 

 

I quickly changed my expression from looking like the grinch on Christmas to a normal one before she faced me.

 

"I asked him out to dinner tonight. He's picking me up in an hour."

 

The face I made in my head did not match the face I had on the outside.

 

"Oh yeah? That's great. Did he accept out of fear?" I joked half-heartedly.

 

“No!” She stuck her tongue out at me, “I’m returning the favor for offering to send me home last night when somebody drank too much to be able to do so.” She huffed in mock irritation.

 

“Sorry, princess. It wont happen again,” I said earnestly, “Put it this way, if I hadn’t passed out then you wouldn’t have had the chance to ask him out.” 

 

“So, you’re okay with this?” She asked me rather timidly.

 

“You’re not my real girlfriend, princess. It’s not like I’ll accuse you of cheating or anything. And God knows you’ve been waiting for this day since forever now.” I forced a smile for her. It was true. This was probably a big thing for her and I didn't want to ruin it with my weird mood.

 

She returned my smile but it didn’t reach her eyes.

 

“Good. Wouldn’t want you to get jealous or anything.” She winked at me before walking over to her closet, “And babe can I trust you to feed my siblings while I’m out? If I leave it to them they’d be sitting there for the rest of the night with the entire snack cupboard emptied out.” She said as as she examined her reflection in the mirror with a dress placed over her front.

 

“Sure princess.” I said softly, watching her move about with a quiet intensity. 

 

 

 

 

“You can trust me.”

 

---

 

A/N : Jeez, sorry guys I didn't mean for this to take long. Whatever it is, I'm determined to finish this and all my other fics even if it takes months. I just got lost for a bit but my groove is back and I'm ready to write. Hope it lasts! :S 

 

Also, Amber needs like a Xanax or something. Girl's got some serious denial issues......