"No, you keep making the same mistake with these sorts of equations." Embo tapped the back of her hand with his pencil and redirected Krystal to her error. "You have to do this part first." 

Krystal signed and plopped her head down on the table. The rain was still drumming on and it was honestly making her sleepy. "I can't do it anymore. I give up. I hate it." 

"Krys-" 

"No. You can't convince me." She pouted and pushed Amber's hands out of the book and slammed it closed, tossing it to the side of the room. She folded up the table and put it away too. She swept her hair off her face and let out a breath of relief. "That's better." 

Embo glared at her and stretched out on the floor, pulling one of the pillows from against the wall. He turned his back on her and tucked the pillow under his cheek. 

"Ah, come on!" 

"You force me to bring you to my house, now you won't even study." 

Krystal chewed on her lip, glancing around Embo's tiny room, thinking about his mother lying right beyond the door because the house had only one bedroom. The peeling paint and shaking walls. Was he...embarrassed?

"Um..." 

"What?" 

"Sorry," she said softly. "I didn't think. I just wanted to study and-" she fiddled with hemline of the shorts Embo had given her.

Embo turned to face her, curious. "And what?" he prompted. 

She couldn't look up to meet his eyes, so said to the floor, "And I missed hanging out with you." 

She didn't hear a response, so looked over to see what Embo thought about that, but he was just blinking at her.

"Did you not miss hanging out with me?" she asked nervously. Why am I so nervous? I'm just telling him I missed him, that's all. Can he stop staring at me like that with his pretty eyes?

"Why are you saying it like that?" Embo asked.

"Saying it like what?" 

Embo sat up, folding his legs and searching her face nervously in the darkness. "Like...like you like me?" 

Krystal tried to in a breath to answer, but the air got tangled up wrong and she ended up choking and coughing. "Wh-ow. What?" 

Embo stared at her a little longer before lying back down again, his arm under his head. "I would prefer it if you don't." 

Krystal felt her chin raise stubbornly and she said saucily," I can like whoever I want. I don't need your permission to do it. Besides, how can a person just help who they're attracted to?!" She slapped a hand over . 

"You're attracted to me?" 

She was going to quickly deny it, but there was something vulnerable and soft about Embo's face, his long, dark eyelashes low over his eyes. 

"The rain just won't stop will it?" Krystal huffed, angling her face toward the window. "I guess I won't be going home tonight." She folded her arms over her waist. A quick glance told her that Embo was still looking at her. She still didn't know how to respond to his question, so she fumbled around in her purse until she found her phone. The little fox crustal knocking against her knuckles made her blush. Why did I have to keep the stupid thing? Why did I have to start studying with you?

"I should let my mom know I won't be coming home tonight. I'll tell her I'm at Sulli's so she won't worry." 

"Is that your rich friend with the pretty legs?" 

Krystal glared at Embo, but some of the anger was back in his face again for some reason. "Yes!" she snapped. She quickly typed out the message to her housekeeper since she knew her mother was already asleep and probably thought she was at home in her own bed. 

"She must live in a big castle-like house like yours so you don't have to be embarrassed telling your parents where you really are." He rolled away from her again, shoulders stiff.

Why would I tell my mom I'm spending the night with a guy? It's not about your house, stupid. She rolled her eyes rather than saying it out loud. 

"Where am I supposed to sleep?" 

"It's either in here with me or out there with my mom," he said casually. 

Oh yeah. I've already seen the whole house. Where did I think I would sleep? Krystal looked around the tiny room and how much space there was on the floor matt for her. There was more space out in the living room, but she'd only just met Embo's mother. Her face flushed hotly. What would Embo's mother think they were up to in here spending the night together? 

A pillow smacked her in the face. "Blow out the candles and lie down somewhere. I need to be up early in the morning whether I can go to work or not. So just pick a room and stay there!" 

She grabbed onto the pillow and tried to make up her mind. She finally blew out the candles, shifted them to the side of the room, then laid down next to Embo, keeping as much distance between them as she could. It would be way more awkward and uncomfortable to sleep next to his mom than next to him. 

The wind kept howling, shaking the house and throwing rain and small debris against the window and roof. 

"It's so loud," Krystal complained. 

"I'm sorry I don't have five stories and insulation to keep the sound of the storm out," Embo snapped. 

She pinched her lips together and tried for calm and some sleep, but the storm just wouldn't let it happen. She let out an angry breath and rolled toward Embo. She tapped him on the shoulder. He ignored her, but she continued until he faced her. 

"I don't like you being mad at me." 

"I don't like people coming to my house uninvited." 

"I already apologized about that!" 

"Being mad doesn't just go away because you know someone is sorry," Embo's low voice said in the darkness. "We barely know each other and there are some things I just never planned to share," he continued. "I don't want people judging the way I live or the way my mother has to live. Sometimes no matter how much you do your best, things just don't get better." 

"But surely-" 

Embo cut her off. "When you've got nothing, it's really hard to get something, Krystal. I know you don't understand that, but that's just how it is. I've done my best and these days I'm doing better. So please, whatever you're thinking about me, my house, and my mother...just don't." 

Krystal bit back what she'd been about to say and just softly whispered her agreement. But she didn't understand why they couldn't afford a better place. Didn't Embo work all the time? And did they have no relatives to help them? She held her tongue on all of her questions and advice and desire to find a way to help. It probably wouldn't be appreciated judging from Embo's tone. 

She buried her face in Embo's pillow, really determined to fall asleep now, but she was distracted by the scent in the fabric. She tilted her nose further into it and in a giant lungful. 

"Why are you breathing like that?" the question was tinged with concern. 

Krystal was embarrassed so didn't answer. She just closed her eyes and faced away from the pillow a bit. 

"Krystal?" 

I really hope he thinks I've fallen asleep.  How can something smell so good? Wonder what the scent smells like right off his skin?

"Hello? Krystal? Are you asleep?" 

It was a real struggle not to answer. 

He surprised Krystal by saying softly, "It's kind of nice not to be alone in here for once."