"It's almost like how it was before you debuted," Henry said, twirling a bit of Amber's hair around his finger. They were backstage at SMTown and Amber hadn't gotten her hair done yet. "You used to be so cute back then," he sighed. 

Amber smiled a little and pushed his hand away. "I'm still cute." 

"Nah, you're old now. What are you, fifty? Sixty?" 

"Gah!" Shindong said, stepping into the room, then backing out, dragging at least two other Super Junior members with him. "Henry's in here flirting with his girl. Let's give them some privacy."

Five years and the jokes still refused to die. 

"Sixty," Amber retorted, messing with her hair and staring critically at her reflection. She'd said she was going to grow her hair and now it was past her chin, the bangs sweeping into her eyes, the ends still slightly dyed from the Electric Shock promotions. She swept it from one side to the other but still couldn't get comfortable with it. 

"Leave it alone. You look pretty." 

Amber bit the inside of her cheek. He'd never called her pretty when her hair was shorter. No one did. Was it really just all in the hair? 

"The stylists are ready for you," Krystal, her group member from f(x) said, sweeping into the room. 

Now if someone were pretty, it was Krystal. She had the perfect figure, unblemished skin, and a shy disposition that seemed to make all the guys go crazy. Her nose wasn't slightly too big for her face, like Amber's. Her eyes didn't protrude a bit. Her forehead didn't budge.

"Yah, did you hear me?" Krystal shook Amber's shoulder slightly. "The stylists are ready for you, Amber." 

Amber blushed, getting to her feet. She tried not to look awkward when she walked, but she was never that graceful and ended up tripping on nothing. She stumbled a bit, her face even redder as she rushed out the door. 

Henry frowned after his friend. "Did I say something?" he asked.

Krystal shook her head. "Stop telling her that she looks pretty now that she's growing her hair, that might help." 

"What? What's wrong with giving my friend a compliment?" 

The younger girl sighed. "You really don't know?" 

"What?" 

"She doesn't really want to grow her hair. What she wants is for people to stop freaking out every time she goes to the bathroom or demanding her to confess that she's actually a boy. Do you know that she clings onto my hand everytime she has to go to the bathroom because it's not as bad when she's not alone? Sometimes she'll even hold it until we're back at the dorm or the hotel before she'll go just so she can avoid people yelling at her. Can't you tell that she's not comfortable with her hair? She's always messing with it every few seconds." 

Henry swallowed hard. He'd thought she looked cute with her hair longer, not that she wasn't adorable with it short either, but he'd never considered any deeper reasons for it. He thought about how unsure Amber always looked whenever she did something with her hair and how confident she'd been a few years ago with the short strands tucked under a cap or pushed back with a headband. 

"Well, uh, what should I do then?" 

Krystal shrugged. "Just don't talk about it. Make it not seem like it's such an important part of her. That you like hanging out with her for how she is and not what she looks like." 

Henry's eyebrows rose as the young girl continued speaking. "Wow. Woah. When did you get so smart?" 

She cocked a brow and smirked. "I've always been smart." 

Henry chuckled and nodded. "Alright. The only thing it's doing is making her head look smaller anyway." 

"What?" 

Amber stepped into the room, her hair pulled back into a many-pinned ponytail.

"Your hats," Henry said quickly while Krystal rolled her eyes and laughed. "They make your head look small." 

Amber's shoulder's wriggled uncomfortably. She'd always been a bit self-conscious about how the width of her shoulders made her head look so tiny. "Oh?" 

Krystal kicked Henry in the shin and shot him a glare on her way to wrapping her arms around Amber. "Come on. Let's go get our mics put on. And I think I saw some of the EXO guys roaming around without their shirts." 

Amber crinkled her nose. 

"And that camera operator-" 

Amber suddenly perked up and darted into the hall. Krystal laughed, speeding after her. 

"Women only want us for our bodies," Ryeowook said sadly, slumping into the chair Krystal had emptied. He flexed his thin arms in the mirror. 

"My body maybe," Henry said. "You...not so much." 

"Yah!" 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You don't have to watch out for her all night," Eric said, draping an arm over Henry's shoulder. "Kevin's got her. Plus, she won't drink too much more than she can handle anyway."

Amber rarely got drunk, but tonight seemed like one of those times when she pushed her limit. She didn't particularly like alcohol, but she could be convinced to take a few sips here or there and it seemed like everyone was on a mission to get Amber drunk. And for once, she didn't seem inclined to stop them. 

"Dude, Kevin's already wobbling all over the place." He shrugged Eric off. "I'm just going to make sure she's not drinking anything too strong." 

"She's an adult already. Stop treating her like the little kid you first met five years ago." 

Henry pinched the bridge of his nose. It was so hard to remember that Amber aged each year with her baby face and energetic personality. That didn't stop him wanting to look out for her though. If his little sister were in a foreign place all by herself, he'd definitely want a Henry to look out for her. 

"Woooahhhh!!!!!" 

Henry jerked at the loud noise from the other side of the room and the crowd facing toward two figures against the wall. He gritted his teeth and stormed toward the pair making out like it was their last day on earth. He wasn't going to be responsible for someone getting pregnant at his party. He didn't need that kind of publicity. 

"Wha-" he stopped in surprise, realizing that one of his hands was wrapped around Amber's upper arm and another wrapped around the arm of some girl from a group he didn't know. He quickly made eyes at his manager, gesturing to the girl, then hauled Amber off with him to one of the back rooms for some privacy. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" 

Amber scrunched into the couch he'd placed her on, hiding her face behind her palms. 

"Amber!" 

She shook her head, her shoulder's shaking. Laughing or crying, Henry didn't know. 

He let out a frustrated breath, then pulled Amber by her shoulder until she was resting against his side, her head on his chest. 

"I-" 

Henry her hair. "We can talk about it tomorrow. When you're sober, okay?" 

She nodded, blowing out a breath. "Do you think people will say anything?" 

Most of the guests were his close friends, so he was sure if he asked them not to talk about it, they wouldn't. But there were a few wild cards in the mix. "If there aren't enough people to confirm what a few people say, then you have nothing to worry about." 

"Oh my god..." she squeezed her eyes shut. 

"You have nothing to worry about, okay?" 

She clenched her jaw. She didn't really believe him, but she finally nodded anyway. There was nothing to be done about it now, so she would just have to accept her fate in the weeks to come. 

"I got your back." 

After a bit, she smiled a little. "I know."