Krystal soon discovered she’d been making a big deal all by herself. The first few days she was tense going to the bookshop thinking Embo would hit on her, but the guy just waved at her as usual and occasionally asked if she needed anything. He gave every other guest the same courtesy and seemed focused on something else entirely when the shop wasn’t busy, which was most days. She decided to finally just take the crystal fox as it had been given and started wearing it on her phone. It was cute so she didn’t want it to go to waste, and it was actually a good shade of pink. 

Once she’d gotten her mind calmed down, she could actually focus on her studies again. Her grades were tanking in two of her business classes. The math was one of her biggest problems. 

She wanted to ask for a tutor, but didn’t want anyone else in her classes to find out she was having a hard time. Another pretty rich girl who got somewhere on her looks and her parents money. She didn’t want to hear that. She also didn’t want to deal with greasy boys who thought a damsel in distress was looking for any prince, and girls who would use it as a chance to lord over her. The snooty girls were often worse than the boys. 

Krystal sighed and spun her little fox, watching it glitter in the light. She wondered if maybe the bookshop would have a Math for Dummies lying around. 

“Ooh, that’s pretty. Where’d you get it?” Sulli asked, popping out of thin air. The girl’s long legs carried her around campus faster than the other students on bikes. 

“Someone gave it to me,” Krystal said with a little smile. They’d agreed to meet at a little bistro right outside of their campus. They’d taken the short walk there and were now sitting at one of the empty tables outside. 

“Oh?” Sulli queried, intrigued. “And who would that be?” 

Krystal smiled, liking to have her secrets, even if they weren’t as juicy as they appeared. “Just someone.” She felt like a heroine in a romance gossiping with her friend, even though she never read romance novels. She just wasn’t into them. 

“Fine, but tell whoever it is to spend a little more next time. Looks like the little guy’s gonna fall off that cheap chain if the wind catches him wrong.” 

Krystal looked at the little fox and pouted. The jumper ring indeed looked a bit loose. She would take it to her family’s jeweler and get them to put the fox on something nice so she wouldn’t lose it. She liked that it reminded her she’d inspired someone. It was pretty much her only accomplishment since attending college. That shot her mood right back down to the depths of Hades as she remembered her math grades. 

“Using the lower class for is fine, but don’t think about marrying them or having children with them. You don’t want to suffer and you don’t want your children to suffer,” Sulli’s eyes were shadowed when she said softly. “Trust me.” 

Krystal’s cheeks reddened at the word even though she was familiar with the concept. Romance novels were rife with descriptions of it, though she never read them. She certainly didn’t go around talking to everyone about what could happen in a bedroom. Besides, she wasn’t looking for entanglements of any kind. “Yeah, whatever. Do you know where I can get a math tutor who isn’t some creep or one of those stuck up brains in university? All of the advertisements around campus are just other students and I don’t want anyone to know I’m having a hard time.” She suddenly narrowed her eyes. “And promise me you won’t tell anyone.” 

Sulli laughed. “Of course I won’t. And I know exactly what you mean. I had my dad hire a private tutor for me from the States. I know what everyone thinks of me already.” 

Krystal patted her back in pretty, rich girl solidarity. 

“Maybe my dad can suggest someone to your father-“ 

Krystal had started shaking her head even before she could finish that horrifying thought. “Nope. My father will not learn about how bad I’m doing in university. I put my dignity on the line begging him to pay for my education. I am not going to sink any further by letting him know his money is going down the drain with my grades.” 

The slim, pretty girl sighed, crossing her long pale legs.  She tapped her finger nail on the wrought iron table, thinking. “Well, maybe you can find someone online. There are a lot of those out there.” 

“How will I know if they’re the best?” 

“Try to find a website with reviews.” Something seemed to catch Sulli’s eye across the street. “Oh, I wonder if that’s his girlfriend?” 

Krystal turned to look at who she might be talking about and was surprised to see Embo there with a tiny tan girl who had to crane her neck to look up at him. Embo’s face was animated as he talked and laughed with her, touching her hands, arms, and face often as they made their way down the street after Embo had bought her an ice cream from a street vender. 

“Wow, thought he’d be with someone more beautiful than that. And why was she wearing a hanbok?” She shook her head. “Poor people make no sense. She’s probably good at cooking or something. She seems like the type who does everything her great great grandmother does and doesn’t question if there’s any other life.” She shivered at the thought. “I’ll see you later, Krystal. I need to go wash my eyes.” 

They kissed each other on the cheek goodbye and Krystal looked at the tiny fox dangling on her keychain, wondering how Embo’s girlfriend might feel knowing he’d bought someone else a present. 

The bookstore was so uneventful, Amber felt like she was dying inside some days. At least the café was often so busy she wasn’t able to think, but at the bookstore she was left to stare at book spines or wipe them down of dust then greet two to three customers a day. She’d taken to bringing her idea book to work to write down snippets of melodies or lyrics that came to her, but the stale atmosphere of the bookstore seemed to drain her of all creativity. At least doodling in the margins allieved some of her boredom, but not much. Sometimes she wondered if she should just quit and go back to her convenience store job in Seoul, but would again think about the proximity to her mother. 

“Hi.” 

Amber breathed a sigh of relief when Krystal entered the store and stopped at her counter. “Hi, you’re the first person I’ve seen all day,” she said. “I almost forgot how to talk for a minute. Does my voice sound strange? It sounds strange to me.” 

Krystal laughed. “Why is this place always so empty?” 

Amber shrugged one shoulder. “Internet cafes are more fun. Lots of online books. You’re pretty much the only one who comes in here and actually flips through books. Lots of people pass by the window scrolling through books on their phone.” 

“I was going to buy all of my books online since it would be lighter to carry around, then I realized I wouldn’t need every book every day so I still get to have my cute bag and my books too. I just can’t take in the information the same if I’m not getting it off of a real page, you know?”  

“Sure. I don’t really like reading, though. You sound like you do.” 

“Yeah!” Krystal said enthusiastically. “Especially Roma-…Roman Mythologies…and Greek…and…” Her face was bright red for some reason. 

“There’s an ancient histories section in the back. A few books on the myths too.” 

Krystal waved her hand in denial of the offer. She already had too much factual information to take in. She wanted a good fiction novel in her hands. When she’d been in high school, studying hard always made her want to lose her head in romance novels every night (though, really, she never did read any, she had no idea why she kept thinking of them…), and during summers she would read more thoughtful and informative novels, sometimes biographies so she wouldn’t feel like she was losing intelligence to the relaxed, summer heat. She’d taken most of her education in America just for those break months, though she’d spent time in England and France as well. 

A finger snapping in her face pulled her mind back. “What?” 

“Are you okay? You got a little lost in thought.” 

“Umm, just wondering if you know anything about math tutors. I’m not doing so great in one of my classes.” What was the harm of telling Embo? They didn’t run in the same circles. 

Seeing an opportunity to alleviate some of her boredom in the bookshop, Amber raised her hand. “I can tutor you.” 

Oh no, Krystal thought. , know-it-all-boy alert. Never a good experience having a male tutor. “Umm-“ 

“I never went to university, but I do math to calm down sometimes. It’s a great brain exercise that my mom and I bond over. It’ll be fun. You don’t even have to pay me since I’m already paid to be here.” 

That was a little music to Krystal’s ears. Her dad only gave her a certain allowance for each day and she didn’t want to exceed it trying to pay for her own tutor or having her father ask what her certain spending increases were. And Embo had already claimed not to be interested in her. Besides he’d never been creepy, even when he’d given her the little fox. And he never managed to sound like he was being superior when he gave her information. 

She pinched her lips together and nodded. “Fine.” 

“Your lips are gonna disappear you keep doing that.” Embo mimicked her expression and Krystal found herself smiling. 

“Fine. But you better be good or else I’m going to end up married with a nanny raising my baby in two years.” 

“Wow. Weird and specific,” Embo responded. “I’ll do my best to make sure that doesn’t happen.” 

Krystal arched an eyebrow and said cooly, “You’d better.”