“You said you were not going to hurt me” Krystal said while trying to regulate her breathing as she was still being held in Amber’s arms.

“I know, I behaved like a total ” The tomboy replied, lightly kissing the top of Krystal’s head.

“Congratulations Liu, you hurt me” The younger girl said and pulled her head off of Amber’s chest to make eye contact with her. Her eyes were puffy and red, just like her nose.

“I’m sorry” The older girl simply said. How many times is she going to say that she’s sorry in order for her to realize that the sentence had no effect on Krystal? Krystal heard her parents say sorry for a million times and still it didn’t mean they were really sorry. Saying sorry, for Krystal, was like an excuse to not accept the consequences of one’s acts. It is too easy to say sorry and move on, doing nothing to change the toxic behavior.

“You’ve said” Krystal said, breaking completely the hug with Amber, but the latter stopped her from leaving by grabbing her by her wrist.

“I’m not done” Amber said and pulled the shorter girl into her arms again. Amber connected her lips with Krystal’s in a rather sweet kiss, her hands traveled down to the latter’s waist and Krystal’s to Amber’s neck, they savoured the kiss until their lungs started asking for air.

“I’ll try to be more patient from now on” The tomboy said and went for Krystal’s lips again. This time the kiss deepened and was rougher, Amber pushed Krystal to the bed and crawled on top of her. Krystal wasn’t anywhere near the mood but still managed to go along with Amber as she ruffled her hair. The older girl traveled down Krystal’s neck, on her white porcelain skin, leaving love bites in the process.

“Amber… stop” Krystal supplicated, Amber stopped and looked at Krystal in the eye, searching for a reason to stop. “You really think I want to have after you just betrayed me? I mean, I don’t know about you but that’s a big turnoff for me” She explained, she moved away from Amber’s grip and adjusted her clothes.

“You’re right, I got carried away” Amber shook her head, she was blushing hard.

“I didn’t say we’re not doing it though, just now it’s not the right time” The younger girl reassured.

“Are you hungry?” The short-haired girl asked Krystal.

“Yeah, what are we eating?” Krystal asked with big, happy eyes.

“I saw a bulgogi restaurant nearby, you down for some?” Amber asked the younger girl and she nodded. “Alright. Please, please, don’t go anywhere” She pleaded as she grabbed her wallet and the hotel room key.

“Don’t worry, I won’t” The younger girl reassured and smiled to Amber as the latter exited the room.

Amber hopped her way to the restaurant, everything was flowers and pink for her, she was starting to fall in love with Krystal. The sarcasm she hated at first, was now being one of the majors turn ons for her, but she’s got to be careful. A part of Amber knew that Krystal wasn’t in the position of having a relationship just yet, first she needed to find out what was wrong with her. Maybe I can fix this, Amber thought.

While Krysta had a tendency to overthink everything, Amber was used to try to fix even the most insignificant problem of her life, she wasn’t very found of letting things go until they were perfect, and that, without them knowing, was just a time bomb.

“Did you lock the room?”

“OH, my God” Amber exclaimed as she jumped when Victoria popped her bubble.

“How long have you been following me? Wait. Aren’t you supposed to be watching over Krystal?” She asked the guardian as they walked to the restaurant’s doors.

“It’s my break time, I get hungry too” The blonde girl said.

“Sure, whatever” Amber replied.

She ordered her bulgogi and sat with Victoria while waiting for the food.

“Are you making sure you’re not being followed?” Victoria asked, munching on some banana bread she bought on a store.

“Who’s going to follow me? I moved here days ago; nobody knows me” Amber said, her tone suggested she was making fun of the guardian for being too much of a ‘paranoid’

“I wouldn’t be strolling around without precaution, just saying. Here, I’m giving you my number so you can contact me if anything happens” She adverted one last time and continued to eat the rest of her banana bread.

The friendly ajushi handed Amber and Victoria their orders. They exited the restaurant in silence and bid their goodbyes. Amber’s careless nature forbade her from being paranoid about people following her, she peacefully came into the hotel and made it to the room. she stepped inside of the room and saw Krystal sound asleep so she thought of letting her rest as she remembered the nightmare she experienced the night before.

The younger girl woke up until 3 pm, by that time, Amber was already heating the bulgogi in the room’s small kitchen, without saying a word they ate and after that they rested on the bed one next to the other.

“Am” Krystal called Amber, who was falling asleep.

“Hmm?” The tomboy hummed.

“What did Victoria tell you? About my parents” She asked, she changed her position and laid on her right side, looking at Amber.

“She told me they never really took good care of you and your sister” Amber yawned. “And that they locked you in the asylum without even talking about it with you… is that true?” She asked.

“Yeah, but I didn’t refuse” The ice-looking girl said.

“But why?” Amber asked, turning her head to face Krystal.

“Because I knew something was off, I thought I needed to be locked away… I didn’t want to hurt anyone else” Krystal said, her eyes not making contact with Amber’s.

“What did they do to you? Soojung” There was her again. Amber asked, sweetest voice than ever, almost melting Krystal’s ice walls. Krystal wanted to tell her, but the truth is that she didn’t remembered most of the stuff that happened there, she had a glimpse of events she remembers, from her being dragged to the red room, to useful stuff like what she ate, there was no in between.

“I don’t remember” The younger girl said, establishing now eye contact with the other.

“What do you mean you don’t remember? You have scars, Krystal” Amber said, what she thought came as an inoffensive question, was taken by Krystal as a big threat.

“Don’t push, Amber” She said and rolled over to her left side, giving her back to Amber. The latter mentally scolded herself and reached for the other, back hugging Krystal.

“I won’t rush you, take your time” Amber whispered on Krystal’s ear and planted a kiss on the back of her neck.

Krystal wanted to talk, she wanted to be able to tell Amber everything and also remember everything, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t sure where this confusion was coming from, and she doesn’t know how to deal with it.

“There were times when I was dragged to this room” Krystal tried to explain herself to Amber. “They called the red room, fancy name for torture chamber. They had this electric chair; they would tie you up to it and inject you some stuff for the electricity to run better in your body. My guards were chatty and overall nice, until we enter the room, then they turned into horrible, heartless creatures” She said, Amber could feel she was softly shaking so she held her tighter.

“You are safe now, nobody is going to hurt you” The tomboy said as she rubbed her thumb on the other’s hand.

“Sometimes I misbehaved, just to earn a trip to that room… even when I kept on promising myself I was not stepping foot in there ever again” The younger sobbed. “I wanted to feel something, even if it was pain, I just wanted to feel” She continued.

“Hey, hey. Don’t cry” Amber cooed as she tried to make Krystal turn to look at her. “Don’t be too hard on yourself” She added. It was incredible the fact that the ice-looking girl was spending most of the time crying now.

“Tell me about that clown that gave you nightmares” Krystal said.

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The day went by fast, the girls took trips to convenience stores and had short strolls on parks. When the cold night hit Seoul, they came back to the hotel to prepare to sleep. While Amber was driving, she caught Krystal sleeping, It must be tiring to bear with all the emotions she has, she thought. The light from the street lamps hit Krystal carefully on her face, Amber couldn’t get her eyes off of her, until she convinced herself to do so in order for her not to crash.

She couldn’t bother to wake Krystal up so she carried her bridal-style around the hotel and placed her carefully on the bed when they arrived to their room. Amber grabbed a pillow and a blanket and placed them on the floor, then she took her sneakers off.

“What are you doing?” Krystal asked, half awake, looking at Amber setting up her bed on the floor.

“Did I wake you up? It’s okay, I’m just setting up. Go back to sleep” The short-haired girl said while smiling at the other.

“You… don’t need to sleep on the floor. You can sleep with me” The younger girl said, inviting Amber to climb on the bed. The tomboy didn’t waste no time and proceeded to jump in the bed. Krystal was so tired that she didn’t say a word and just cuddled beside Amber, just like that they drifted away to dreamland.

Amber was woken up by her phone vibrating, she checked the electronic clock that sat on the nightstand and learned it was 2 in the morning. Who could it be? She asked to herself, careful of not waking Krystal up, she reached for her phone and saw a message from Victoria: “Shut your damn car’s alarm”

What? The alarm? Their room was seven floors above the parking lot and it was more than obvious that she wasn’t going to be able to hear it. She stood from the bed and looked for her keys.

“Where are you going?” Krystal asked while rubbing her eyes.

“I’m just gonna go turn off the Camaro’s alarm, I won’t be long” Amber replied as she found her keys.

“How do you know your alarm is on? And why does it matter?” The younger girl asked, confused by Amber’s rush.

“Victoria texted me” Amber said and walked out of the room.

“But why does it-“

“Matter”

Amber jogged her way to the parking lot and found that the alarm was off and that Victoria was soundly sleeping on a bench.

“What the ?” She said as she felt something hitting her head and then, she out.

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Amber woke up tied to a chair in some kind of warehouse. Ugh, when will I be not tied to something? She thought. She blinked as one blinding light was hitting her straight on the face, then a guy moved it. He was a skinny guy; his skin tone was whiter than the snow and he had delicate factions.

“Who- Who are you?” Amber stuttered. was so dry.

“Greetings miss, my name is Key” The skinny guy replied.

“Key? Like a ing Key? No way” Amber chuckled in disbelief.

“Well… that’s my codename” The guy said, getting shy.

“So, key. What are we doing today?” She asked and wiggled her hands on the ropes that were ‘restraining’ her. She learned the ropes weren’t even tied properly, whoever this guy was, he was doing an awful job.

“I’m supposed to torture you and make you tell me where are you keeping miss Soojung” The skinny guy said, looking down. “But I’m a pacifist, I don’t want to harm you… would you kindly tell me where she is being held?” He added.

“Oh bro” Amber exclaimed, she somehow felt sorry for the guy. “She’s not being held… who’s your boss?” She asked, but before the guy could answer her, the door opened and a man in his 50’s appeared.

“Get the out of here Key, you’re dismissed” He said and pushed the guy out of the room.

“And you are?” Amber asked, unimpressed by the man’s actions.

“I’m Soojung’s father” She sternly said. “Where are you keeping my daughter?” He asked while taking out a knuckle duster from his jacket.

“I didn’t kidnap her, if that’s what your thinking” Amber replied but gained a punch from Mr. Jung. She grunted and savoured the copper on her lower lip and laughed at the parent’s action.

“What are you laughing about? Motherer. What you did is illegal, did you know it? I can put you in jail right away” He said and grabbed Amber by her collar while he pulled her closer.

“I didn’t kidnap her, she ran away. It’s not my fault that you’re a terrible father” She sarcastically said. Jung didn’t waste her time and punched Amber multiple times on her face and abdomen. When he was satisfied, he pushed her chair causing her to fall on the floor grunting in even more pain.

“, they say crazy runs in the family” Amber joked and Mr. Jung approached to her, he squatted in front of her and wiped some sweat from his forehead.

“I’m not crazy, America. Welcome to Korea” He said and kicked Amber one final time before exiting the room. Immediately after Mr. Jung left, Key entered the room and helped Amber reincorporate.

“Why do you work for this ?” She asked while panting.

“I really have no other choice… I come from a very modest family, I kind of need the money” He said as he treated Amber’s wounds. She was almost untied from the chair but she didn’t have the strength to keep fighting.

“Big family?” She asked.

“Actually, it’s just my mom, brother and I” The skinny guy said, leaning on the table that was next to him.

“Is he younger or older than you?” Amber asked, she didn’t know why she was starting a conversation with the guy. He looked lonely and rather disturbed by the work he was doing so she wanted to give him a little break from reality.

“He’s younger… his name is Taemin” He answered, he was opening up a little bit.

“I have an older sister, her name’s Jack-“ The tomboy girl said but didn’t finish, they started hearing weird sounds outside of the room. Key looked at Amber and Amber looked back at Key, they weren’t sure of what to do. The sounds intensified and they heard a guy shouted “Here she comes!”

It must be Victoria, she thought.

“Don’t worry man, we’ll get you out of here”

As Amber finished her sentence, the door flew open to reveal a very pissed Krystal. From that moment, Amber saw everything on slow motion. Krystal grabbed Key by the shirt’s neck and pushed him to the wall.

“No! Krys wait!” Amber shouted but Krystal was way too far into her trance. “Don’t do it, Soojung!” She pleaded as she tried to free herself from the last faint grip of the rope.

“Who the are YOU?” Krystal yelled at the skinny boy who was pinned to the wall and tried to free himself from the younger girl’s grip.

“I’m- I’m just doing my job- I didn’t touch a single hair of hers… I swear!!” He shouted. “Please miss, I have a family” The guy cried, but Krystal wasn’t listening.

“Hey, Hey, Soojung. Look at me, baby” Amber rushed to where the two were fighting and tried to make Krystal turn to look at her, the latter responded by taking out her pocket knife and dangerously placed it inches away from Key’s abdomen. “NO” Amber shouted and Krystal flinched, the knife barely touched Key’s skin. “I mean, please. Soojung, don’t do it. You don’t want this” Amber softly said, she managed to take Krystal’s hands off of the guy but she was still looking at him in a menacing way.

Krystal was lost. Instead of seeing Key’s face she was looking at the burglar she killed five years ago, she felt endangered and she didn’t want to be a coward aver again. She tried to repress the urge to stab the guy to death, but then she saw Amber in the corner of her eye. She looked hurt, she was bleeding. She saw her sister laying on the ground, lifeless. She shook her head and concentrated on Amber’s voice.

“C’mon Soojung, they are coming. We need to get out of here” The short-haired girl said while dragging Krystal out of the room by her wrist. Krystal looked around and saw the men she knocked out; she was kind of relieved that she didn’t kill any of them for now. They ran to the exit of the big warehouse and stopped when they heard Mr. Jung ordering Key to catch Krystal.

Before they could push the door open, Key was already pulling Krystal away from Amber’s grip, they fought, but Amber’s sweaty hand made her lose her grip. Key held a fighting Krystal as Mr. Jung approached her.

“Get her in the car, we’re driving her back to the hospital” He said.

“NO” She yelled and stumped on Key’s foot, making him release her from his grip, she turned him around and pointed her pocket knife to his neck.

“No!! Soojung!!” Amber yelled but was held down by two other men, one in each arm.

“ing go ahead, Soojung. I don’t mind him” Mr. Jung challenged her.

Krystal was raging, she felt her sweat running down her temple and gripped tighter the knife on her hand. She’s just trying to scare her father and make him back off so Amber and her can leave peacefully and with no casualties. “You’re never going to be free, and you know it” Mr. Jung tried pushing Krystal buttons. “Don’t listen to him, look at me, Soojung” She heard Amber back fired trying to catch her attention, it was impossible to have Amber near her for the rest of her life, so she thought that she needed to do this without her. “Go ahead, kill him. Just like you killed your sister” The older man said, smirking. “You can’t even stand up for yourself, how can you be a Jung?” Her father talked nonstop. Krystal was getting more and more annoyed by the things her father said and by the way Amber was trying to ‘save’ her. She didn’t need no man nor woman to help her, she needed to do this herself. But I was able to open up to Amber, she thought. “Soojung, please! He has a family” She heard Amber said, but instead of making her change her mind she started to feel echoes of the conversation.

Her father wasn’t backing off and she was running out of options, she couldn’t fake it anymore, she had to kill the guy. She let out a deafening scream that shut everyone up and with teary eyes she glared at her father. Blood started running down Key’s neck, but it wasn’t his, it was Krystal’s. She got fed up of everyone’s and moved the knife’s blade into her palm, she then squeezed her hand tightly around it. Key sighed in relief as she pushed him to the floor and stealing one last glance of her father she walked away. The man understood, she saw the rage on her daughter’s face and he respected it, he made a sign to the men holding Amber down and they let her go.

“What now? Boss” One of the men said, upon seeing Krystal freely walking out of the warehouse.

“Keep an eye on her, she still needs professional help”