"Woah!" Amber exclaimed when Krystal burst through the front door of the bookstore and launched herself into her arms. "What's going on?" 

She glanced up and saw two men look through the large glass window, then continue down the street. 

She put her arms around Krystal a petted her nervously. "Who were they?" 

"I don't know. Some guys followed me from campus. At first, I thought they were just going in the same direction as me, but they took too many of the same turns. I heard a girl got assaulted last week." She buried her face in Amber's neck and Amber could feel that she was shaking. 

"You shouldn't walk from class alone anymore." 

"Usually there are more people on the street, so I'm not worried about anything, but today since they announced the big storm, everyone sort of disappeared." 

"Then what are you doing walking around?" Amber asked, a little angry, mostly because she was worried and a little on edge. Who knows if those guys actually continued on their way or were just hiding in an alley until one or both of them left the bookstore. 

"I'm failing one of my classes again. I've been going to these stupid endless dinner parties and I need you." 

Krystal suddenly jerked away, her face red. "I mean. I don't mean...I mean you know. I need you to help me study." 

Amber gazed at her bemusedly. "Umm, if the storm hits, we'll both be trapped in this bookstore because all the cabs and buses will have stopped running because the rain will be so heavy it'll make it difficult to see. I'm actually supposed to be closing up the store and heading home." 

She pointed to the sign on the door that said the bookstore would be closing early because of the weather and would probably not be opened the next day. 

"I can't fail," Krystal said desperately. 

Amber looked around the store and wrung her hands. "I can't teach you much in only half an hour and get the store shut down. I'm sorry." 

"We can study at your house!" Krystal exclaimed suddenly, anxiety in her eyes. "My driver can just pick me up after." 

"Y-" 

A crack of thunder could be heard in the distance. Amber glared at the insistent girl in front of her. She hated bringing people to her home. It was so small, and cramped...and smelled of sickness. Besides, Krystal probably came from some immaculate mansion on the outskirts of Seoul. What would she think of Amber's home?

"You should call him now. I doubt he'll be allowed on the streets once the rain starts." She turned around and begin her closing duties, checking for spare customers in the bathrooms, cleaning, organizing, inputting sales information into the computer. All the time Krystal sat and pouted at her as she tried to connect with her driver. 

When Amber was finally ready to go, Krystal was looking at her a tad anxiously. 

"What?" Amber snapped. 

"They've already issued an alert that everyone who's out should get home and everyone who's home should stay there." She chewed nervously on her lip while Amber shot eye daggers at her. 

A smattering of rain against the glass finally broke their staring contest. 

Amber groaned and slung her bag over her shoulder. heading toward the front door. "Fine. My house is in walking distance. We're going to have to book it to beat the rain. I hope those creeps who were following you aren't still around," she muttered. "Would be just my luck to die and have my body washed away on the rainiest night of the year so I could never be found." 

"Urm...okay. Now I'm scared," Krystal said, looping her hand through Amber's elbow as she locked the door and pocketed the keys. "Do you really think they're still out here?" 

Amber sighed. "Who knows? We'll know if we get mugged, , or murdered. So let's stick to the lamp posts and keep our hands on something useful. I've got pepper spray. You?" 

Krystal riffled through her coat pockets, then her purse. "Um, my books..."

"Do you have any pens?" 

Krystal held up her Apple Pen. 

"Okay. Grip it in your fist, point out and jab at anything you can reach if someone grabs you, okay?" 

Krystal clung closer to her and nodded. "Okay. Is your house much further?" 

Rain began to fall more heavily. 

"Do you have an umbrella?" 

Amber shook her head. "No. I was in a hurry this morning and forgot to bring it." She glanced to her side. "Why don't you have one?" 

Krystal grimaced. "I left it in the car. I was freaking out about meeting my professor and just," she waved her hand around, "forgot it." 

"One more block." 

They leaned into the wind and rain and sped up a bit, each already completely drenched, their hair slicked to their faces and dripping into their eyes. 

"My mom's going to be pissed we come in dripping water," Amber murmured. 

Krystal kept glancing at Embo's side profile under the subdued street lights. His mouth was pinched in concentration as well as anger. 

"Umm, I'm sorry about springing this on you so late." 

A jerky shrug was all she got and a little push to her side to get her to turn up a narrow walkway pressed between two buildings. It was a bit of a battle uphill, especially with the rain trying to wash them back down. There were only two streetlamps here and spaced extremely far apart. Embo was starting to feel like a stranger to her in the darkness, especially with his silence. She really barely knew anything about him and now she was going to his house. 

She shivered. 

Embo must've thought it was because of the rain, because he said a little more gently, "We'll be there soon. Two more doors down." 

They passed a house with a broken window, rain gusting inside. What was more shocking was that she could see a family of three huddled off to the side. 

Someone lives there?!

She glanced over at Embo and noted his tightened jaw. Did he live in a place like that? 

"Here we go," he said, pushing open a wooden door and ducking inside. There was a little front yard, then another door. 

Embo turned to her like he wanted to say something, but lightning striking near ushered them inside. They kicked their shoes off right behind the door. Krystal could hear her socks squelching on their wooden floor so took those off too, looking at Embo uncertainly. 

He took her hand to guide her inside as it seemed the latest lightning strike had taken the power, peeking around the short hall's corner. 

"Embo?!"

"Mom! I'm going to light some candles." 

His mother said something else in a language she couldn't understand. It sounded a bit like Chinese and Embo responded the same way. They scuttled into the living room and Embo carefully sat her down, pulling out his phone to start the flashlight and headed into a second room. 

"What's your name, sweetheart?" 

Krystal startled at the voice, then said softly. "Jung Soo Jung." 

"Pretty name for a pretty girl." 

Krystal laughed as it reminded her of what Embo had said when they first met. 

"How can you even see me when it's dark like this?" 

"You're the one in some of the pictures you sent my Embo, right?" 

Krystal blushed. "Yeah." 

"See. Pretty." 

Embo returned and thunked something down next to them. Light flickered then a candle illuminated the room with a gentle glow. Krystal couldn't help but look around with a little bit of shock. The room was so small, parts of the wall looked badly in need of repair and the wooden floor was warped. She realized she sat right next to what appeared to be Embo's mother's bed. Right in what she'd assumed was the living room. 

Embo seemed to notice the look on her face and his face pinched in embarrassment. Krystal tried to clear her thoughts, but she couldn't help it. How could someone live like this?

Rain beat at the walls, shaking the thin house. 

"My mom needs to rest. If you need to study, we might as well get to it."

"I-" 

"My room's this way." He got to his feet and stalked to his room. "I have some dry clothes you can change into so you won't get sick," he called over his shoulder. 

Krystal bowed goodnight to his mom and hurried after Embo who was in the process of lighting two candles in the middle of a floor no bigger than eight by eight. When he finished the task, he reached into the bottom level of a temporary closet and pulled out a t-shirt, basketball shorts, and a towel. "The bathroom is the only other door. I'll change in here." 

Krystal knew Embo was angry, but she didn't know what to do about it, so she just quietly changed into the clothing in the tiny bathroom, then hung her clothes on what she assumed was the drying rack right outside the door. She glanced over at Embo's mother before she headed back to Embo's room.

"You're mother's asleep. Should I go and blow out the candle?" 

Embo nodded. Krystal quickly did the task, then returned. 

Embo had set out a little fold out table and was already setting out pen and paper. He looked handsome with his wet hair mussed from the rough towel. He wore a baggy t-shirt and jogging pants. How could someone look so cute in such a simple outfit? Not that she thought he was cute or anything. It was just a fact. A fact and a thought were different, right?

She nervously pulled out her books and sat them on the table trying to figure out if she should sit next to or across from Embo. There wasn't really space next to him though so she sat opposite him. Her folded knees ended up brushing his beneath the table in the small space. 

"Those pictures look really good there," she said, gesturing to the photos over his shoulder. 

"Yeah," he mumbled. "It's nice having something to look at other than the peeling wallpaper."

Rain rattled the only window in Embo's room. It was raining so heavily that rather than a series of raindrops, it sounded like a steady tide bashing against the panes. 

"Your mom seems nice." 

"She is," Embo answered shortly. 

Krystal frowned. She didn't like Embo being mad at her. "We're on page 38," she snapped. "And I'll be out of your stupid room and your stupid house the minute cars are allowed out again." 

"Good," Embo growled. 

"Good!"