Things seemed to suddenly come in a rush as they girls were taken to salons for their debut hairstyles, rushed through changes and photoshoots and videomaking. They were so busy and stressed that Amber and Krystal could barely remember their awkwardness or what caused it.

But there were quiet times at night when Amber was lying in bed and winding down that she remembered Krystal had kissed her. More of an attempt really. It had been so brief a bumping of the lips that classifying it as a kiss felt like a reach. But it had been lips to lips, skin to skin. The last kiss she would have with a girl, at least for the next seven years. Unless she was found out. Then she would be broke and packed away home, drowning in breach of contract debt with the only perk of being able to kiss any girl she wanted. 

But her music? Amber would probably have to give that up if she were chased from Korea for being a lesbian. How far did female, Asian-American musicians ever get in the states anyway? 

Amber sighed. At least the kiss had been with her best friend. So while it had been a terrible and frightful time, it had been nice. She wondered how Krystal was coping these days but was scared to ask her for fear Krystal would pry once again into her uality. 

Crushes are weird, Krystal decided as she sat on the dorm room sofa munching on a rare bag of potato snacks. It made you want to be next to the person, talk to them, do silly things to get their attention to make them look at you. They were also hard to let go of when the person was around you all the time, being kind to you, and throwing warm side hugs around your shoulders whenever they were happy, or nervous, or tired. 

She tried not to show her awkwardness and remember what it felt like when her crush wasn't her crush, but she was pretty sure there was no going back. The feeling would just have to do its best to fade and disappear until friendship was all that was left or someone else took her place. 

"You're spacing out again." 

Krystal turned to find Amber watching her, brow scrunched in concern.

"You okay?" 

Their debut showcase was coming up and she'd not held back expressing to Amber how nervous she was. She wanted to hold Amber's hand and drop her face into her neck like she used to, but instead, she settled for patting a spot out for her on the sofa and placing her snacks on the table so both of them could reach them. 

"Yeah. I think so. I will be." She swept her long hair over her shoulder then smiled at Amber. "I wanted to tell you yesterday that your new haircut looks good." She wanted to shift the long strands behind Amber's ear. "You can't see much of your face though." 

"Well, I can't see much of anything. I almost broke my neck during practice trying to keep this stuff out of my eye." 

"A cute headband would do the trick or a hair clip." She laughed at the face Amber made. 

"Those things just don't suit me." She looked around the dorm. "Where's everyone else?" 

Krystal ticked off on her fingers, "Luna wanted to put in a few more vocal hours since she needs to sing an English song at the showcase, Victoria has a photo shoot, and Sulli is still asleep."

Amber herself had just woken up, so she could understand the desire to cling to her mattress, but she'd gotten bored just staring up at the ceiling. 

"So you were just in here eating snacks by yourself?" 

"Yup," Krystal said, pulling her legs up onto the couch and wrapping her arms around them. "I've been feeling so restless. I'll be glad when this showcase is over." 

"Our first real crowd." 

"Yeah. I hope they like us." 

"I really, really hope they like us," Amber said, almost like a prayer. 

Throwing caution and sense to the wind, Krystal reached out and cupped her cheek. Amber leaned into it like a puppy. "They'll like us. We'll make it impossible for them not to." 

"You've been just as nervous as me, why are you suddenly so confident?" 

"Because you need me to be," Krystal said simply. 

Amber smiled. Krystal could feel her jaw muscles flex against her palm. "You talk smart for a kid." 

"I'm not a kid. You're only two years older than me, so if I'm a kid, you are too." 

"Kid logic." 

Krystal pushed her face away and dropped her hands onto her own lap. "You didn't use to be so annoying." 

Amber reached for her head and mussed her hair. Krystal unfolded a leg and kicked at Amber lightly, causing her to retaliate with a pillow. 

"Hey!" Krystal snatched on up from behind her to defend herself. 

"Your arms are really weak," Amber taunted, before being smacked in the face hard with her opponent's pillow. "Ow!" She snatched Krystal's pillow and tossed it across the room so the younger girl was defenseless. She dived forward and started tickling her. 

"You're such a punk!" Krystal screamed. She wrapped her legs around Amber trying to wrestle her off the couch, but Amber refused to topple. 

Amber chuckled evilly and just redoubled her efforts. "Who talks like that?! I haven't even heard my grandma use that word." 

"Stop it~" Krystal whined. 

"Ah. Alright," Amber sighed, leaning back. But Krystal surprised her by jumping forward and attacking her waist with violent scrabbling fingers. Amber laughed so hard she fell off the couch, Krystal toppling on top of her since her legs were still wrapped around her. 

"Oof!" Amber gasped when Krystal landed hard on her stomach. 

"Oh, sorry." Krystal shifted to roll off of her, but the space was so small that she banged her shoulder on the coffee table. "Hold on." She tried to untangle their legs first. 

Amber reached up and put her hands on Krystal's waist, holding her still. Krystal's heart jumped a little as Amber sat them up. 

She should get off of her, she knew, but why couldn't she move. 

After a few minutes, Amber finally gave her a little push, getting her to shift back and get on the couch. 

Amber straightened her shirt. "These nerves are really making us a bit crazy, huh?" 

"Y-yeah." 

"I'm going to nap again. You should probably get some rest too. Cause we probably won't have any at all soon." 

"Yeah." 

Krystal watched Amber walk back to her room, then sighed and flopped down on the couch. "It'd be easier to get rid of this crush if you weren't so cute."