K.O. 17

In just an hour and a half, the group already reached the highway rest area. Soojung and Amber woke up at the same time as they heard the others’ shuffling inside the van as they prepared to step out and go to the bathroom or buy some snacks.

“Eherm…” It was Sooyeon, clearing to call the attention of her younger sister who seemed to be still disoriented. “We’re going to the bathroom and buy some snacks.” With that, both girls followed the rest of the group. After going to the bathroom, they bought some snacks to fill their hungry stomachs.

As soon as everyone settled down in the van, they continued their journey towards Amber’s hometown. Along the way, they were eating the snacks that they bought. The whole time, Jessica noticed how her younger sister shared her beloved bread to her seatmate, displaying facial expressions she doesn’t usually show to people except close friends and family. She heard their mumbling about the bread, the music playing in Soojung’s phone, and the places that Amber wanted to show her.

Jessica then lightly poked Yuri, who was sitting next to her to call her attention and whispered, “Were they always this close?” She asked, pertaining to the two youngsters sitting in front of them.

“I’m not really sure, Sica. Even I was surprised about their closeness.”

In just an hour, they already arrived in Amber’s hometown. They were welcomed by empty rice fields as the reaping has just finished a couple of weeks ago according to Amber. As the latter wanted to surprise her beloved grandma, she didn’t inform anyone that she’s coming for a visit. They went straight to the hospital, bringing with them a basket of fruits and a bouquet of flower to wish the old lady a successful operation.

Amber and the gang got into the floor where the old lady was staying, and stopped when they were already in front of the door. The tomboy took a peak first and saw her parents talking to her grandmother. She then asked Kris and the others to go in first while she hid behind them. Her parents and grandma saw Kris, Jeongyeon and Jooyoung first but they didn’t know the other five girls. After a while, Amber revealed herself, handing the bouquet of flowers to her grandmother, who suddenly began tearing up upon seeing her granddaughter.

“Omo, Josephine!” She exclaimed, causing the tomboy’s friends to chuckle.

“Grandma! It’s Amber.” She corrected. It was her grandmother’s way of teasing her, especially if they haven’t seen each other for so long. Truly, the old lady missed her so much.

“Hehehe… I’m just teasing you, Amber. That’s what you get for surprising me like this.”

“Didn’t you like it that I’m here to cheer you up? Look, I even brought backups!”

“Yah, we aren’t your backups, llama.” Kris retorted, followed by laughter from the old lady.

“Hahaha! Care to introduce us the beautiful ladies you brought with you this time? We already know your three besties.” Her grandma said as she looked at the beautiful strangers. However, there was one whose face seemed familiar. “Oh, her… She is familiar.” The old lady said, pointing her finger to Soojung. Amber was perplexed as she couldn’t remember introducing Soojung to her grandmother before. As she finally remembered something, her grandmother suddenly blurted out, “Oh, she’s that taekwondo girl in the poster in you room!”

…

“Grandma!” Amber suddenly couldn’t look at the younger girl who hid behind her older sister, too shy to show her flushed face.

That was one of the moments that Amber hated how her grandma has a sharp memory. She couldn’t hide her embarrassment as she got busted. She tried to look at the older sister and saw her with a raised eyebrow. Her three bestfriends and Yuri, Luna and Sulli, on the other hand, were laughing their as*es off.

After a while, the rest of the gang introduced themselves to Amber’s parents and grandmother. They wished the old lady a successful operation and had a little chitchat before the nurses came inside to prepare the former for her operation. Amber and her friends excused themselves to give the old lady some time to prepare before they wheel her into the operating room, and also to go the guesthouse that Kris and the rest rented overnight. Before leaving, Amber talked to her parents regarding having a meeting with Yuri and Jessica after lunch.

Meanwhile, while the group was on their way to the guesthouse, Amber couldn’t help but notice that the road they were taking seemed to be very familiar. As soon as she saw the house where her friends will be staying, she suddenly remembered an old friend’s name. And she saw her right after she stepped out of the van.

“Ellin Kim!” She yelled, calling the attention of the girl cleaning the front yard.

“Omo, Amber Liu!” The girl called Ellin then dropped the broom she’s holding and ran towards the friend whom she hasn’t seen for so long.

And just like in movies where two people saw each other after a very long time, the two both ran towards each other, met in the middle, and hugged tightly. Kris and rest of the group saw the reunion… and felt the sudden drop of temperature. A cold wind mysteriously blew suddenly as Ellin pulled from the hug and pinched both of Amber’s cheeks and played with it. When the two friends were finally done with their reunion ceremony and looked at Amber’s friends, they saw them shaking and feeling eerie, except three.

(A/N: Two ice princesses, the other one has already developed resistance)

“Uhh… Are you guys okay?” Amber asked.

“We’re fine, Amber.” It was Jessica, glaring at her as if she did something wrong. “Care to introduce your girl friend?” As soon as she said the last two words that she emphasized, the temperature further dropped and the cold wind then blew towards Amber’s direction.

Amber was about to introduce Ellin to them when the latter suddenly spoke, “Hi guys! My name is Ellin. I’m Amber’s girlfriend.”

…

Silence engulfed the town that even the birds seemed to halt. A cold gust of wind then blew to where Amber was standing.

Luna: brrrr… Hey, Kris. Is this usually this cold in Amber’s hometown?
Kris: N-no… brrr…
Sulli: Wow… Look at Amber unnie. She’s frozen.

…

Ellin finally felt the situation and smirked as she confirmed something. “Oh come on, I’m just kidding! Bwahahaha!” She cackled and tapped the frozen Amber’s shoulder. She then called out the tall boy and ushered the rest of  the gang inside the house.

“This was actually our house. But when my grandfather died and my grandmother became lonely and ill, my parents decided to move in to my grandparents’ house and look after grandma. It was just around the corner so if you guys need anything, you can just drop by and ask for me. We put this house for rent for extra income although there aren’t much tourists in this area.” Ellin explained. She then showed the group the rooms in the house, “There are three rooms and one bathroom. There are three futons in each room. The kitchen is also equipped with the basic tools that you’ll need if you guys want to cook something. The market is ten minutes away from here by car. Amber’s house, by the way, is five minutes away from here by foot.”

After Ellin explained the rest of the details of the house, the group settled down in each of their rooms and freshened up. While at it, Amber prepared their lunch, which they bought along the way, and was helped by Ellin.

“That’s the girl right? The one who’s shooting icy death glares to me earlier?” Ellin whispered as they were arranging the table outside, under a cherry blossom tree which is starting to shed its leaves.

“Huh?”

“Oh Amber, don’t tell me you didn’t notice it. You really are so dense.”

“H-hey, I’m not dense.” Amber retorted.

“Tch! If you are not, you could’ve already introduced the girl as your girlfriend. But the way I see it, you haven’t even asked her out.” Ellin said before leaving the tomboy for a while to get the pitcher of water from the kitchen. When she returned, she poured her friend a glass and gave it to her.

“You’ve been crushing on her