Amber's head snapped up. 

"What?" 

"Just answer the question, Ms. Liu."

"I-"

"Don't lie," a man off to the side warned, his bald head gleaming in the dim, fluorescent light. 

Tears choked her. Why did they need to know this? Would she get sent home if she told them that she was? She felt like her skin was too tight and the air too heavy. 

"Ms. Liu?" 

She started crying. Big fat tears like a child unsure of why they were being punished. 

She heard one of the men scoff and the only woman at the table tsked. 

The paper was pushed more firmly toward her, she could hear it scrape against the table top. 

"Some people have shown some concern about your being in the group, but CEO is determined we go forward with this lineup. So everyone came to a compromise." 

Her shoulders quaked as she sniffed, feeling cornered by this ring of adults. 

She felt her translator placing a pen in her hands and turning her attention toward the document on the table. 

"You are not to disclose your uality to anyone nor expose anyone else to your uality. You are not to corrupt any of the other girls you come in contact with." 

"What?!" she exhaled in disbelief. 

"We can't have you ruining any chances the group has, nor spreading this American ual freedom to the rest of Korea." 

Amber's head ached. What?! She couldn't understand nor believe what she was hearing. 

"This contract lasts as long as your group contract, and you can only be in the group if you sign it." 

Her eyes widened and dropped open. She tried to read the paper, but it was all in Korean. The translator whispered a bit to her as quickly as he could, but he wasn't well versed in legalese and it's not like Amber would've understood it anyway. She was only sixteen. 

"If you don't sign it, we've already got your ticket purchased back to California." 

Feeling like a lead weight were in her stomach, she scrawled her name across the bottom of the document. The group of suits all nodded in satisfaction and the man who'd lead her there peeled away from them and headed to her side. 

She didn't think she could stand, but he pulled her to her feet anyway and kept one hand on her shoulder as he led her to room 438 since she couldn't seem to get any strength in her knees.

What did I just sign?

She was still in a haze when her members showed up, asking her in voices full of concern what had happened. All she could do was shake her head. Krystal settled next to her side and put her head on her shoulder, whispering that everything would be okay and they could talk about it later. 

Some men and women came in, giving them new schedules, taking photos of them from all angles, as well as full body shots. Amber felt like a show cow. Is this all going to be worth it? She couldn't help but wonder. 

Krystal held her hand all the way back to their room and offered to sleep next to her, but Amber was feeling unclean after the meeting with the suits. She gave her friend a brief hug and closed her bedroom door, thankful that Sun Young had hopped right into bed and gone to sleep. She couldn't imagine talking to anyone right now. Or looking at anyone. Except...

She raced to her closet and dug under the neat stacks of basketball shorts and tank tops, searching desperately for the phone she knew Krystal had shoved under there. 

Nothing. 

 She wanted to ask Krystal if she knew anything about its disappearance, but she strongly suspected it was one of the suits that had taken it while they were all in that meeting in room 428. Krystal would've told her. Krystal would've left it for her to use. 

Amber felt her knees finally give up on holding her up and sank down in the corner of her closet. She crouched there and wept. She'd gotten what she wanted, but she was afraid of the price she'd have to pay for it. 

She felt something warm against her side. 

"You shouldn't be in here."

"I wanted to check on you," Krystal whispered so she wouldn't wake Sun Young.

"We need to wake up early tomorrow." 

The younger girl wrapped her arms around Amber's waist, her face in her neck. "Please, tell me what's wrong." 

"They took the phone." 

"Oh god! Will they punish us for it? What would they do? I'm so stupid. I should've-"

Amber grabbed her hand in the darkness. "I don't think it matters. They've probably known about it all along. I wonder how often they've checked our rooms for stuff we're not supposed to have?" she asked aloud, her skin crawling. 

She felt Krystal stiffen. "I knew I wasn't going crazy. There were things in my room shifted around. I thought I was just too tired to remember what I did with things, but it happened so often..." 

Amber turned and pulled Krystal into a tight hug, both of them clinging to each other in sudden fear. 

"I wanted this so bad, but I'm getting so scared, Soo Jung," Amber gasped. 

"I'll be so glad when we can move out of these dorms. I hate it. I hate the people. I hate the stupid brown walls. I hate this place!"

Amber pulled away slightly so she could brush Krystal's hair from her tear streaked face. The younger girl stared into the darkness where she was sure Amber's face should be. 

"I especially hate how they look at you and treat you...and how they take your smile away."

"Krys..." 

She felt the fleshy tip of a nose brush against hers, then lips graze softly against her own. 

Amber jerked away and held Krystal at arm's length. "What are you doing?!" 

The girl burst into tears, but Amber's own emotions were used up. So many things had happened today. Too many things. She pulled Krystal into an automatic hug and patted her back robotically. She couldn't think. She couldn't feel. One thing after another. Wave after wave. Blow by blow. She didn't feel like the same person anymore. 

She didn't feel...

She hoped that when she fell asleep and woke up the next day this entire day would be erased. Scrubbed fresh and presented whole and new. 

"I'm sorry," Krystal was whispering. "I'm so stupid. I'm sorry. I thought... I don't know what I thought...I'm so sorry, Amber. Don't tell anyone? Please? Please don't tell anyone. It was an accident. It was stupid." 

Amber let her ramble on as she continued to hold her close while feeling that her mind and soul were adrift. 

"Please don't tell anyone. I got confused. I was just confused, that's all. I promise. It didn't...it wasn't anything. Don't tell. Please, don't tell. Please. Please."