06.
UNCHANGEABLE (KRYBER)"amber!"
amber turns at the call and sees katrien dashing towards her. the kid's parents, along with jiwon, are entering the waterski entrance.
"wow. someone looks excited to see you, huh?" says suzy. "you know, if she wasn't a kid i'd feel jealous."
"she's just a kid. and don't deny you find her too cute too," says amber. she bends down to receive katrien jumping into her arms. "hey, sweetie. you're here to ski too?"
katrien nods. "daddy promised..."
"hello, baby. looks like you're already prepared, huh?" says suzy, noticing the purple rash guard the kid is wearing.
"hello..." katrien gives suzy a kind smile before her curious eyes catches amber's already damp hair. "you've already skied?"
"yeah. with some friends." amber nods at the direction of taeyeon and some of their previous sau comrades.
"whaddup, amber?" says jiwon who comes after katrien. "hello, miss suzy. i'm jiwon, amber's friend."
"no need for formality..." suzy offers a hand. "it's a pleasure to meet you. i've heard a lot of things about you from amber."
jiwon raises an eyebrow, shaking suzy's hand back. "didn't know amber talks about me."
"course i do. i'm proud of my doctor friend," says amber. "will you be joining us?"
"hmm. well..." jiwon's eyes scans the area until she spots eunji talking to taeyeon and tiffany. "yeah... i'm here to try waterskiing..."
amber sends her friend a knowing smirk. "that's good. you can join eunji and the others now."
"oh. i surely will. catch you later..."
"... the water seems deep..." amber hears krystal's voice as the woman approaches them along with her husband.
"it's fine. they have life vests," says jihoon.
krystal clasps her hands on her chest, coming closer to tidy her daughter's hair. "is it safe here?"
amber isn't sure if krystal intends the question for her. but since she's carrying the kid in her arms, she answers, "yeah. a lot of kids are even doing it on their own." she gestures towards the water.
krystal's eyes wanders to observe the kids up on the waterskis and her anxiousness increases. she turns to her husband. "i can't allow katie there. it's too deep, and it looks dangerous."
"hey, relax." he puts his hands on her shoulder. "let's watch first so you can calm down, okay?"
"captain! it's your turn again!" shouts eunji. "come join jiwon here!"
"coming!" amber shouts back. she puts the kid down. "you stay with your mom for now and be a good girl, okay? don't come near the water unless your mom allows you. you hear me?"
"okay." the kid nods and smiles.
amber looks up at krystal who's still pouting. she secretly smiles knowing that's how the woman looks when she's worried.
"i'll go for another round. catch you later," she tells suzy.
"go ahead. enjoy!"
the next thing happening is jiwon's screams echoing through the island and far off in the distance.
---
amber is drying her face with a towel when she hears footsteps approaching.
"hey..."
she looks up and sees krystal. "oh. hey..."
"um..." krystal fiddles with her fingers nervously.
amber knows there's no way krystal would approach her first in this situation so she shifts her eyes to where krystal's family is and sees katrien crying, throwing tantrums while her dad tries to calm her down.
"what happened?" she asks.
"they... um... they went for it but jihoon had cramps... the instructors brought them back..."
"oh. and katrien still wants to go back into the water?"
krystal nods with a pout. "she's persistent, and she's using the promise card against her dad."
amber pulls the towel from her hair and stands up. "i can go with her..."
krystal's face lightens up. "only if... if that's okay with you...?"
"yeah. sure."
"y-you sure? if we're interrupting something, just let me know. i mean, i know you went here with someone. we'll just head back to the room if ever."
"ahh. no. suzy's having a mini-meeting with the management of this resort to discuss a project."
"oh. that's nice." krystal scans amber until her eyes zooms on something on the taller woman's head. "you got something here," she says, reaching out to pluck two leaves from amber's hair and dropping it after.
"oh. thanks."
"i'm sorry for bothering you. it's just that i don't want to entrust katie to other people."
amber feels something warm inside her chest. "don't worry. i got her."
"thank you." krystal finally smiles. "we initially planned to go back, but she's being stubborn. it's hard to handle her when she's like that."
amber hums. "sounds like someone i know."
krystal smirks, the smirk amber always finds seductive. "aren't you tired yet? you've gone around for like ten times now..."
"it's fine. really." amber shrugs. "it's katie. you know how she's got me wrapped in her palm."
krystal rolls her eyes. "that's the reason my daughter likes you now more than she likes me. she sees you as her playmate. while me, i'm someone who always tells her 'no'."
amber raises her palms up. "not my fault. not my problem."
there was a slight smack on her arm after.
---
"mommy! daddy!"
the kid run towards her parents after amber puts her down.
krystal immediately wraps the kid in a towel. "how was it?"
katrien jumps. "fun!"
"thanks for going with her," says jihoon. "i dunno if it's because of my lack of exercise or if i'm really getting old. but yeah, cramps got me. i hope we didn't bother you that much."
"you're not old." amber taps his arm. "you just need to stretch out a bit."
he chuckles. "guess you're right."
amber couldn't believe how she can talk to jihoon like they have been long-time friends now.
"amber is really cool, mom!" says katrien.
"oh, is she?" krystal smiles as she dries her daughter's hair with the towel.
katrien hums. "she taught me how to ski properly."
"that's good."
"and she's dashing on the water like an action star in the movies!"
"mmm-mmm."
the kid turns to her dad. "daddy, why do many people want to sleep with amber?"
katrien's parents blink, and amber massages her temples in embarrassment.
"hmm? what do you mean, baby?" jihoon asks.
"while we were skiing, some women were shouting, saying, 'hey, amber, sleep with me tonight...'" says the kid, putting her fingers around to mimic the women from earlier.
"oh... that kind of sleeping, huh..." jihoon looks at amber, sniggering.
amber's face turns beet red.
"and what did amber say to them?" krystal asks, raising an eyebrow.
"she laughed and continued teaching me how to ski," says katrien innocently. she tugs her mom's sleeve. "mommy, can i sleep with amber too?"
this time amber already wants to disappear from the surface of the earth.
"no, you can't, baby. you're too young for that," says jihoon with a cackle. "besides, amber's sleeping with her roommate tonight. you can't just barge in there like that."
"jihoon!"
jihoon laughs. "she doesn't understand it, babe. don't worry."
"what is it mommy?" katrien asks.
krystal stands up, glaring at her husband. "nothing, baby. as what your dad said, amber's already got a roommate. you can't stay there."
"but i still want to play with amber..."
krystal rolls her eyes at amber. "look at what you've done to my daughter."
"hey. i got nothing to do with that. i'm just being cool. right, katrien?" amber fist-bumps the kid. "anyway, i need to go back and change."
"you're leaving already?" katrien pouts.
jihoon crouches on the floor to level his daughter's eyes. "amber needs to rest, baby. you can play some other time, okay? and we need to go back now too to rest and ready ourselves for the jungle adventure tomorrow. we'll be seeing some baboons along the way."
"yes! and i want to eat banana roti!" katrien claps.
"yes. we'll buy you that banana roti you've been craving, okay?"
katrien turns to amber. "will you join us tomorrow?"
amber bites the inside of her cheek, thinking. "we'll see about that, kiddo. but i'll be around. i'm sure we'll bump into each other."
katrien turns to her daddy. "can we invite amber for dinner instead?"
"sure we can," says jihoon, and krystal looks at him. "it would be a pleasure and honour if you would join us for dinner tonight. feel free to bring suzy if you feel like."
a small crease forms on amber's forehead. she's not sure why, of all the people, jihoon would invite her for dinner.
isn't he and krystal having problems lately, which according to jiwon may be amber-related?
does that mean it's fixed now?
but why does krystal looks uncomfortable?
"c'mon. consider that as our gratitude for skiing with katrien today," jihoon insists. "we'd love to have you around. i owe you a lot from two years ago. my family and i owe you a lot."
the expression on krystal's face doesn't seem like she's agreeing with her husband's invitation. amber was about to decline but little katrien came over to hug her around her waist.
"dinner with me, please?" katrien looks up at amber with hopeful eyes.
and how can amber not melt into that? krystal couldn't stop a smile from forming on her face either.
since it now feels right, amber agrees.
---
"amber, here..."
"ah..." amber lowers her head for katrien to scoop the food into . she chews and smiles at the kid, humming. "no need to keep feeding me, i have my food here. you need to eat too, katrien."
"it's okay. i want to feed you." the kid smiles brightly before taking a bite of her food.
"awe. she's really fond of you, isn't she?" says jiwon across the table.
"try sleeping over with us one night and you'll get tired of hearing her talk about amber," says krystal's mom, shaking her head. "especially now that amber's endorsements are everywhere. she even brags about it in school."
"wow. if she ain't a kid i'd really think of her as a competition, amber," suzy jokes. "for some reasons, she's so attached to you."
krystal clears . her mom looks down at her food. jihoon stays silent.
"it's just a typical reaction," says jiwon. "these two shared a traumatic experience two years ago--which they survived together--causing a bond to form between them. it has a stronger effect on katrien because she was still little and helpless. it was only amber, taeyeon, yuri, and tiffany who comforted her. won't blame her if she looks up at them as heroes."
"aside from that, katrien has been admiring sau even before that accident," krystal's mom adds. "so, after what happened, she can't get enough of them, particularly amber."
"wow. how did katrien get to know about sau at a very young age?" suzy asks.
"tv," says jihoon, looking at his wife. "her mom was a big sau follower. they watched together for updates."
krystal has a stoic expression. she continues eating her food in silence.
"wow. that's cool," says suzy. "i mean, no offence to amber here, but i haven't been following sau or aef updates before."
"none taken," says amber. "i understand. we don't expect everyone to follow the updates. the government created that channel for the families and loved ones of the people involved in the operation, and for anyone who wants to get updates."
suzy nods. "ah. that makes sense. i never had a relative, or a loved one involved in aef, a reason i wasn't interested. were any of your family members part of aef before?"
there was a brief silence after that. krystal's mom eyes her daughter.
"uh... well... krystal and i were close friends with amber and yuri way back college," says jiwon. "we all studied in aef university. i and krystal were focused more on the medical side while yuri and amber were on the military side."
"oh, really? you never mentioned that to me." suzy looks at amber. "i only know yuri is a long-time friend. i didn't know you shared a lot with her and these gals way back before."
"yeah. we got a lot of history together," jiwon adds.
katrien turns to krystal. "mommy, is it true that you and amber were roommates?"
"mmm? who told you that, baby?" krystal asks, fixing her daughter's hair.
"grandma told me. she said when you were a student you used to share a room with amber."
"yes, we did. but that was a long time ago now, baby. and you'll get the chance to do that too once you enter college."
"ahh." katrien nods, taking it all in. "so, does that mean you slept with amber too?"
amber coughs and krystal blushes profusely.
"what did she say?" krystal's mom asks.
"i'm sorry, it's my fault." jihoon chuckles. "while they were skiing earlier, katrien heard some women asking amber to sleep with them and i didn't give her the proper explanation about it."
"look at what you're teaching your daughter." krystal glares at her husband.
"c'mon. you know katrien won't understand stuff like that."
"daddy also said suzy and amber are roommates now so they are sleeping together too," katrien adds, much to amber's horror. jiwon and suzy both laugh.
"bright kid!" says suzy.
"amber seems to sleep around with a lot of women, huh?" jiwon adds.
"can i go home now?" amber says in a very little voice, covering her ears.
"baby, stop saying things like that, okay? it's not proper," says krystal.
"why is it not proper?" katrien asks. "you and daddy always say sleeping a lot is healthy."
"yes, sleeping is healthy especially for growing kids like you," says krystal, trying to divert the topic into the more wholesome side.
"if you slept with amber before and suzy sleeps with her now, i want to sleep with amber too, mommy."
this made jiwon and suzy laugh harder.
"okay, kiddo. let's stop talking about that sleeping thingy, shall we?" says amber, making the kid turn to her. "you better finish your food now so you can rest tonight and be ready for your adventure tomorrow, okay?"
katrien smiles. "okay!"
krystal lets out a relieved sigh.
"that was fun," says jiwon. "it's awkward hearing it from your own kid, right?" she asks krystal.
krystal smiles. "yeah."
"it's even more awkward when your daughter made it sound like you actually slept with a former roommate," suzy butts in, chuckling.
the other four adults join in the laughter, pretending nothing like that happened before.
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