“You have everything I asked you for?”

“Here is the plane ticket, the credit card and the information about the game tragedy”

Victoria and Luna met at the park, one month has passed since the ‘Krystal incident’ and Amber was doing great with her recovery, she spent most of her time with Hwa-Young and accepted for the first time in her life to have therapy with Wendy. It was a big step for the family and Luna was more than proud of her, she accompanied her to every session and sheltered her in her apartment when they were over. Amber couldn’t bring herself to return to Busan and obviously she didn’t want to step inside the cursed mansion.

Luna, on the other hand, tried to talk Amber out of the whole ‘rescuing Krystal’ thing, but texted Victoria secretly to know if she knew where Soojung was. When the time came, she asked the guardian to help her get set up to travel herself to L.A and confront Krystal about leaving Amber. She planned on finding the girl and in some way reclaim Amber, she needed Soojung to know that it wasn’t fair for the tomboy to be risking her life this way if she didn’t want to be with her in the first place. Luna was fed up, she was tired of seeing Amber everyday feeling more and more guilty about Krystal leaving her, she was exhausted of hearing Amber cry herself to sleep in the room next door, so she needed to do something.

“You can’t let Amber know I’m going after Krystal” Luna said, looking at the landscape.

“She’s going to find out sooner or later, Luna” Victoria said, gazing carefully at the short girl.

“Better later than now” The tanned girl said, sighing.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” The guardian said, turning to admire the landscape too.

“I need to do this alone” The younger said.

“May I ask… why are you really doing this?” Victoria asked, intrigued. She couldn’t help but to think that Luna had other intentions.

“What do you mean?” Luna asked, turning to face Victoria. “I’ve told you that I need to let Krystal know that she can’t come back, not for Amber’s sake”

“Are you sure this isn’t about you… wanting to keep Amber to yourself?” The blonde girl asked, raising a brow.

“Why would you say that? I’m just trying to protect Amber” The shorter girl said, starting to walk away from Victoria.

“I just don’t get why you have to be so secretive about it” The older explained.

“Because I don’t want Amber to get hypnotized into Krystal’s game again” She said. “It’s dangerous for her”

“Is it really dangerous for her? Or for you?” The guardian backfired. “Because that would mean that Amber could get back together with Soojung”

“I really don’t know where are you getting these ideas from, but I’ve told you the truth. Bye Victoria” Luna finished and resumed her walk to her car.

She sat on the seat and put her hands on the wheel but didn’t turn the engine on yet. She stayed there for five minutes, thinking about her motives. Could Victoria be right? Was she doing this for Amber or for herself? It’s true that she missed Amber’s little attentions from when they were a couple and it was no secret that she still loved her, but what she thought was ‘sisterly love’ could’ve turned into the old love she had for the tomboy? Worse than that, she couldn’t even think about replacing Soojung in Hwa-Young’s life, and the girl was already troubled enough for her to understand that she would turn from the aunt to be the mom. She sighed, this was confusing, she thought that she was doing this for Amber’s security and that if Krystal didn’t come back she was going to be freed, but now she’s not sure and facing the short-haired girl in the apartment was going to be like hell, she was never good at keeping secrets from Amber, and now she had a big secret that can change her relationship with her for bad or for worse.

“There’s no turning back” Luna said, finally turning the Spark’s engine on and driving home.

When she arrived, Amber was sitting on the couch, munching on some chips and watching a llama documentary.

“Hey, how was the food?” The tomboy asked, turning to look at Luna.

“What?” The tanned girl asked, genuinely confused.

“The food… you told me you were having lunch with TWICE’s manager” The older reminded her, raising a brow.

“Oh yeah… it was yummy” Luna said, avoiding eye contact and speed walking to her room.

“Hey, wanna come to the park with me and Hwa-Young later?” Amber asked, following the short girl.

“I- I think I’m going to rest a little bit, Am” The ex-girlfriend said, still not wanting to look at Amber.

“But you just ate lunch…”

“Look, Amber” Luna sternly said, finally turning to face the older. “I need to rest because I’m going to be away tomorrow” She added, sighing.

“Where are you going?” Amber asked, confused.

“I need to check a few locations for TWICE’s new music video… you know they want to go to the beach or something” She answered, scratching the back of her neck.

“Cool” The tomboy uttered.

Luna sighed in relief, she thought it was going to be even more difficult to convince Amber that she was going to be ‘working’

“I bet Hwa-Young is going to love the beach” She continued.

“……excuse me?” Luna said, her voice almost cracking.

“Yeah, we can all go together, like family vacations!” Amber exclaimed, excited.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Am. I’m just going to be there for a day…” The younger said, trying to sound calm, giving her a cheeky smile.

“Oh well. Maybe another time” The tomboy sadly said, going back to the living room to resume watching her llama documentary.

“Gosh, that was close” Luna whispered, dropping her body on the bed.

She rolled on the bed, looking for her laptop. She pulled it to her side and opened it to search for hotels. She was staying just one night in L.A, that’s more than enough, she thought. The short girl couldn’t resist the urge to keep questioning herself about her true motives, Krystal was dangerous, she always was, and going to confront her like this was a little bit rushed… Soojung could do anything and Luna had it clear since she managed to stab Amber even though she loved her.

“I must be crazy” She said to herself while looking through the hotel catalog. She was afraid, afraid of what the future might hold, she was betraying Amber just by the fact that she is not telling her that she’s looking for Soojung and even has a clue to where she might be, she was afraid that Krystal would attack her, both mentally and physically, she was sure that this was a wrong move.

Not only she was keeping it from Amber, but she was neglecting her from the opportunity to deal with her problems once and for all by herself. She knew how important was for the tomboy to finally get over her messiah complex and bid goodbye to Krystal for good, but she couldn’t risk it, because she knew, she knew it was true love. One way or another they would find the way to be together, and she didn’t like that a bit.

“Is it because she hurt Amber…?” She asked herself. She didn’t know anymore what to expect from herself, she knew she got a little jealous when Amber introduced her to Soojung, but it was nothing to be worried of… it was something that happens when someone you love dates someone else… “No, stop it, brain” Luna scolded herself. “I’m doing this for Amber’s safety, that’s all”

After 30 mins of ‘looking’ for a hotel, she finally picked one and closed her laptop, eyes glued to the ceiling. “You gotta let go of the past, girl” She told herself and sighed.

🍂

Luna was sitting on Amber’s chair, in Amber’s office, arms crossed, legs crossed. They were dating for almost one year now and the tomboy was used to find her fun-size girlfriend in her office for lunch. The latter worked for a small business advisor company, the payment was okay, the office hours were fair and her boss was always happy with her thanks to her efficiency at work. Luna loved that small office, the smell of the cinnamon candle, the low dim of light coming from the lamp, windows covered as usual -and only during lunch time- Amber’s jacket on the little couch, everything was in its place. The young girl checked her watch, 5 o’clock, just ten more minutes for Amber to make her great entrance to the love office, just ten minutes for Luna to feast on the short-haired girl’s lips, just ten minutes to be in her warm embrace. Time went painfully slow and little miss Park was getting impatient, she needed Amber now. Being with the tomboy was one of the best experiences she ever had dating-wise, the girl made her feel like the only one in the world, the way she looked at Luna was hypnotizing, almost making the entire world disappear around her. The way she hugged Luna was ecstasy, her powerful almost manly-like perfume intoxicated the short girl to oblivion, savoring heaven in the process. Amber was really good on making a girl feel loved, her little attentions, text messages, notes on the mirror, everything was beyond romantic, it was perfect, meant to be.

“What are you thinking about?” The short-haired girl interrupted Luna’s daydreaming, closing the door as she rolled her shirt’s sleeves.

“About you, hot stuff” Luna purred, standing from the chair to come closer to her girlfriend.

“Missed me much?” Amber asked, placing her hands on the other’s waist.

“Like crazy” The younger said, pulling the tomboy by her black tie, closing the gap between them. Luna moved her arms from Amber’s waist to the back of her neck, her hands freely roaming the latter’s hair, ruffling it, caressing it. The older pulled the tanned girl closer to her body, Luna’s s pressing on Amber’s chest, they deepened the kiss and the shorter moaned softly, snapping Amber from her trance.

“What are you doing?” Luna asked upon Amber breaking the kiss.

“I forgot to lock the door” She replied, carefully locking the only entrance to the small office. She then walked back to where her lover was and grabbed her hand as she pulled her to the couch, Amber sat down and placed Luna on her lap.

“I brought strawberries…” The younger said, resuming the make out session.

“Oh really?” Amber played along, moving her hands up and down from Luna’s waist to her back.

“Yup. Strawberries and chocolate dip… how’s that sound?” Luna teased, slowly grinding on the other’s lap.

“Hmm, I’ve got a better one” The tomboy said, between kisses.

“Yeah? What?”

“Me dipping my tongue in you” The short-haired girl smirked, upon seeing her girlfriend blush.

“Amber Liu!” The tanned girl exclaimed, playfully hitting the other’s chest “I can’t wait for us to move to Korea and do this all the time” She continued.

“I told you I’m not ready yet, Luna” Amber uttered, stopping the girl from getting her make out session.

“What’s wrong? Baby, it was just a comment” Luna said, concerned. “We’re not doing it yet….”

“Well, we’re not doing this either” The older said, moving the younger off of her lap and getting up from the couch.

“Amber, c’mon” Luna exclaimed, dumbfounded by her lover’s actions.

“I’m just- I- need more time here in L.A” Amber stuttered.

“Hey, baby… look at me” The shorter said, walking to her lover, hugging her tight. “I know you’re still upset about your dad’s death… but you know I got this huge job offer…” She massaged Amber’s shoulders. “I want to be with you, but I just have one more year to accept the offer. Baby, you know if it were up to me I would shelter you and keep you from getting hurt…” She continued, placing butterfly kisses all over Amber’s cheeks.

“Let’s talk about this later… okay?” The tomboy said, placing her hands on Luna’s cheeks and kissing her passionately.

🍂

Luna blushed upon remembering the rest of that evening, she sighed, putting her hands on her face, trying to run away from reality. “This is the last time I protect you, dumb” She whispered, as she said to herself just minutes ago, she needs to let go of the past and admit that if Amber was happy being in a relationship with her before, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be happy now. She needed to accept that the tomboy was way too in love of Soojung, and that the world is not going to end if she decides to stay with her, after all Luna always tried to take care of Amber and protect her from the cruel world, causing their break up just a year after they had that conversation in the love office. The older was in a bad place, came from a rough past and tried to make her best on letting Luna know that she wanted a serious relationship, but the way the tanned girl overprotected the tomboy was too much for her to handle, she felt useless, a burden. Luna never understood why Amber broke up with her, not until today, she realized how toxic her ‘taking care’ of the older was, how that slowly ate up their relationship just like the short-haired girl’s overprotectiveness blew up her relationship with Soojung. The ex-lovers were just the same, but in different situations, Luna overprotected the love of her life: Amber, the other side of the story, well, we all know it, Luna painfully thought.

After almost four hours of pretending to pack, Luna finally managed to pack everything and placed her small luggage beside her bed, she walked to the kitchen to make dinner when she heard someone entered the apartment.

“You done resting?” Amber asked, placing some groceries on the dining room table.

“Hey, you bought groceries” Luna greeted her, walking to the table to check the bags.

“Yeah, you ran out of milk yesterday so here I am” The older said, taking out the groceries from the bags.

“But this isn’t just milk, Am” The shorter said, helping the other.

“C’mon, Park. Don’t look at me like that” The tomboy said, eyeing Luna as she grinned. “I’ve got this, I’m working online with Jackie, I’m not broke. I can handle it”

“That’s not it… it makes me look like a horrible host” Luna complained, playfully.

“Well, pretend we’re in college and we’re roommates, that means we divide the bills and stuff, so there you go” Amber said, placing the groceries in their place.

“You know I love you… right?” The tanned girl said, out of nowhere that it even surprised herself.

“…what’s that supposed to mean?” The taller asked, raising a brow as she put the cereal box in the cabinet.

“Nothing… it’s just… It’s been a while since I told you that” Luna said, turning to face a confused llama.

“Sure… I love you too”

“You know I would never do anything to hurt you, right?” The shorter kept on talking, her mind is trying to stop her, but moves by itself.

“Are you okay, Sonyoung?” Amber asked, walking closer to Luna.

“Yeah, just… you know, I’m weird sometimes” She chuckled.

“Here, weirdo. Drink some milk” The ex-girlfriend said, giving Luna the milk, smiling brightly.

“Thanks, jackass”

Amber and Luna enjoyed themselves just like the old times, telling jokes, teasing each other and talking about their worries in life. Just like the old times as to when they were friends, the tanned girl discovered that having time away from her former girlfriend wasn’t what she needed, she needed closure, and she was having it now. Amber wished Luna a good night and walked to the guest room to finally call it a day, the latter watched the tomboy walking to the room, memorizing each movement, treasuring every second.

Tomorrow will be judgement day, the apocalypse of their friendship, if someone were to tell Amber about Luna’s little secret. She sighed, caressed her long hair and walked to her room to get some sleep. She rolled and rolled on the bed, kicked the covers, wrapped them around her, adjusted her pillows, threw the pillows, nothing was working. She checked the clock on her night stand, her flight is in three hours and she couldn’t get any sleep. I guess I’m sleeping on the plane, then, she thought as she got up to take a quick shower. When she got out of the bathroom, Amber was sitting in the kitchen.

“Did I wake you?” Luna asked, drying her hair with a pink towel.

“You kinda did” Amber said, scratching her head.

“Sorry, you can go back to sleep, I’ll be quiet now” The younger said, walking back to her room.

“Can I at least drive you to the airport?” The older said, intensely looking at the other’s silhouette.

“No, Amber… TWICE’s manager is going to send someone to pick me up” Sonyoung said, giving Amber an apologetic smile.

“Oh… okay” The other said, uneasy.

“I won’t be long, don’t worry. Victoria is going to stay here to keep you company” Luna said, approaching the short-haired girl, putting a hand on her right shoulder.

“You better get ready, then” Amber said as she stood up and walked back to her room.

With an aching heart, Luna double-checked her luggage, passport and everything she needed for the flight. She received a text from Victoria telling her that her and Onew were outside of her apartment so she quietly dragged her feet and luggage to the front door without waking Amber up for a second time. She locked the door behind her and walked the last steps to the black Buick Regal, Onew got out of the car and helped her with her bags as she entered the car.

“What’s the story?” Victoria asked Luna.

“I’m going overseas to check some locations for TWICE’s new music video” She told the guardian, who was unpleased.

“You’re lucky you’re only leaving for one day, otherwise Amber would’ve found out” The blonde girl said.

“Can we just go?” The younger asked, already getting nervous.

“Sure thing” Onew said, stepping on the gas.