"You waiting for somebody?" Gen asked, stepping onto the basketball court. He'd been heading up to their apartment when he'd spotted Henry sitting against a light pole and twirling a basketball between his palms.

"Yeah. New girl from America. It's been handed down to me as my job to make her feel welcome since most of the guys are busy right now."

"Wouldn't she feel more comfortable with the rest of the female trainees than a creeper like you?"

Henry laughed and threw the ball at his friend who was alert enough to catch it. 

"She said she wanted to play basketball. Most of the other girls aren't that good."

"And you're suddenly Michael Jordan?" Gen asked sarcastically, rolling the ball back.

Henry glared, a glare that held no weight in his baby face, but he tried it all the same. "Could you leave, please? She's supposed to show up any minute now."

"Damn," Gen said. "She must be hot if you're acting like this. Try not to get her pregnant before she even has a chance to debut," he chuckled, dodging the ball again.

"Oh my god! She's only fifteen. Don't be gross."

Gen blinked in surprise. "Seriously?! Then why are you hanging out with her?"

Henry rolled his eyes. "Because I remember what it was like when I first got here. All studying and training and new rules on how you're supposed to live." He shook his head. "She's got no family here and only a few friends so far. She needs more to be able to withstand it."

Gen nodded. "Cool, but I'm still going to stick around until she shows up. The girls in SM are no joke," he practically drooled.

Henry laughed but made no protest when his friend sat down across from him and they started rolling the ball back and forth to pass the time. They got a little absorbed in the game so were startled when they heard wheels against the pavement, the sound of the fence opening, then banging shut, then sneakers slapping toward them. 

Henry looked up and shook his head at Amber's habitually scruffy appearance. Every time he'd seen her she looked like she'd stepped out of the shower and put on anything comfortable left lying around the room.

Gen poked him in the side. "This is the girl you were waiting for?" he asked with a great measure of disbelief as the person in question propped a skateboard against the rattling fence. "She looks like a drowned rat...or some poor man's little brother..."

Henry smacked him upside the head and jumped to his feet. 

"You found me," he said, greeting her enthusiastically with a clasp of the hand and a half hug. "This is my friend Gen. He's heading out of the country for a bit soon so you won't have to put up with his face for too long."

Amber smiled and greeted him with a handshake, startling him with how shy her voice sounded. "Nice to meet you."

She gestured to the ball in Henry's arms. "Are you playing too?" 

Gen shook his head, still trying to take all of the girl in. "Urm, no. I usually practice guitar around this time. You guys can tear it up. I'll see you later, Henry."

Henry nodded and waved him off. "So, shirts or skins?" He asked with a playful wink.

Amber laughed, covering with her small hand, a habit she'd gotten into after she's knocked her teeth out skateboarding and continued even after replacing them. "Skins," she said, pretending to lift her sweatshirt.

Henry gaped and grabbed her wrist. "Woah woah woah. What if I were some bad guy, huh?"

She smirked, large eyes crinkling into a smile. "I could take you."

He stepped back, sizing her up. "What are you? Five four, ninety pounds?"

"Don't let the small size fool you." She stepped toward him, smacking the ball out of his grasp faster than he could blink. She dribbled it in triumph and sank a two-pointer from where she stood while Henry was still frozen in surprise.

"Whoa! Who taught you how to play?"

Amber chuckled. "My basketball coach." She ran over to the ball, dribbling it happily around him. "My track coach taught me how to run. And my sister taught me how to smack talk." She slid in a lay-up, picked up the ball and jogged toward him. 

"So. Horse? Loser pays for dinner?"

Henry grinned. "You're on."

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"Ideal type?"

"Urggghh!" Amber groaned and rolled her eyes up into her head. They were sharing a pizza in Henry's room since Gen he taken over the living room. 

"You have to answer these things once you debut you know? That way all your little fanboys will know what they need to do to make you fall for them."

Amber's eye's dropped down and she picked at her pepperoni. 

"What?" Henry asked, seeing her mood shift.

She shook her head. "Nothing. Someone unpredictable, I guess, with a different personality than you would expect by just looking at the outside."

"Yeah, and?" he prompted.

Amber put down her pizza and took a swig of water. She was supposed to be watching her weight, so instead of skipping the pizza, she'd decided on replacing the soda with water. "I don't know. Tall, I guess. Fit body." She ran a hand over her face, feeling shy. "Can we drop it. What are some other questions?"

"Errmmm," Henry thought. "Favorite music maybe, who some of your friends are. It's really not that interesting."

Amber nodded in agreement. "Why did it seem so much more interesting when I was trying to find subbed Super Junior videos back home?"

Henry shrugged. "Don't know." He looked at his clock then smacked his forehead. "Dude! It's almost midnight!" he exclaimed. "Damn it! I meant to have you back hours ago."

The Cinderella in question shrugged one bony shoulder carelessly. "I could just spend the night here and head straight to practice. No one needs to know I've been out so late."

"Why about clothes?!"

She looked down at what she was wearing. "Literally no one will notice if I wear yours."

Henry put his head in his hands, sensing that being friends with Amber would be trouble. "Okay, but you gotta be careful heading out in the morning. We don't want your career ruined before it even starts."

Amber scoffed. "Like anyone would even think we slept together."

He shook his head. "You don't know what it's like here. Especially for a girl."

Amber smiled a little sadly. "You don't get it."

"What?"

"Do you have a spare toothbrush?" She asked. "If I'm going to be up at five, I need to get my head on a pillow immediately. Like, right now."

Henry laughed. "In the bathroom, first drawer. Toothpaste in the medicine cabinet," he called after her as he gathered the spare bits of pizza into the box and carried it to the trash bin in the kitchen.

Gen had finally vacated the living room, so he placed a pillow and a blanket on the sofa.

When Amber emerged from the bathroom, he pointed over his shoulder. "I made up the couch for you. The pillow is brand new and I just washed the blanket yesterday."

Amber squinted at him as if to check if he were joking. When he continued to grin at her expectantly, she couldn't help but chuckle. "So classy. Such a gentleman," she murmured under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing. Thanks. I'm sure it'll be comfortable." She darted past him and scrunched into her makeshift bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. "Goodnight," she called.

Henry switched off the light in the living room. " 'night."