Henry was looking for a particular person, holding his phone, waiting for any evidence or sign, confirming that f(x) members were there at the building like he was.

 

He checked the time shown on his phone – 1:15 PM, forty-five minutes before the meeting needed to be attended today. “Please Amber, reply,” he walked back and forth in the hallway where the practice rooms were located.

 

“Snoopy!” He heard his nickname, looked around and saw Amber calling him again, “Snoopy!” smiling and waving at him. “What’s up?” She asked the moment Henry was standing right in front of her.

 

“So…” He didn’t finish what he was saying, couldn’t figure out how to say it to her. “So…” She mimicked the way Henry said it.

 

“Here’s the thing, uhm…”  Henry wasn’t sure if Amber would agree. “I now have the chance to suggest whoever will be joining me in promoting a new single”

 

“So the rumor is true. You’ll be promoting again. Is it a repackaged mini album?” She wiped the sweat on her face with the sleeve of her shirt.

 

“No. Digital single. More like an EP.” He answered and checked the time on his phone again.

 

“Am I gonna here some new songs?”

“No. Just releasing new versions”

 

“Of all of them?” She reached for her backpack that Sulli was giving to her. And the rest were waving at him, exiting the practice room. “Hi Henry!” He greeted them back.

 

“1-4-3 and Trap”

 

“Cool” Her gaze followed to which direction the rest of f(x) walked towards to. “Don’t wait up” She then pointed at Henry meaning she would just hang-out with Henry, and he smiled at them.

 

“That is why I am here, to ask to be the featured artist in the new version of 1-4-3.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah. If you are not busy” He wasn’t aware that he was already biting his lower lip, anticipating Amber’s answer.

 

“Sure. I can squeeze that into my schedule. It will be so fun working together again.”

 

“For sure! Just like the old times. And you look bored lately so I thought of asking you.” Henry casually rested his arm over her shoulders. It wasn’t awkward for them to stand that close from one another.

 

“Glad you did”

 

“So we actually have around 25 minutes before the meeting.” Without Amber noticing it, Henry already guided her towards the female restroom.

 

“What?”

 

“Meeting, two o’clock. Tick tock.”

 

“You just told me. Let the news sink in first. Do I really need to be there?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Okay, give me fifteen minutes, tops. Next time tell me sooner,” Amber entered the restroom to freshen up and change.

 

 

-x-

 

 

“So where to?” Amber exited the restroom, all freshened up; hair’s up, wearing tucked in white long-sleeve polo shirt, khaki shorts, and her usual black shoes.

 

“Wow, someone isn’t that obvious that she came prepared. Girl scout is always ready.”

 

“What? This is my usual get up.” Amber stretched out her arms in front of Henry. “And did you just compared to a girl scout?

 

“Who are you kidding, Amber?” Henry folded the sleeves of her polo for her.

 

“I could dress up like this once in a while.” Amber got the neck tie from her bag.

 

“As long as you are comfortable”

 

“This suits you better.” Amber fixed the neck tie that matches the color of his pink long-sleeve polo.

 

“I trust your fashion sense, Amber. I really do.” Henry watched Amber tying the necktie for him, making him look more presentable for the one they would be meeting. Amber could sense a bit of sarcasm on his voice.

 

“Well, I am not a fashion terrorist anymore.” She bragged that her fashion sense improved.

 

“I can’t tell for sure.” He kid.

 

-x-

 

They arrived just in time for the meeting, with a minute and a half to spare.

 

“How’s my hair?” Amber asked.

 

“Good. How’s mine?” Henry straightened up his polo shirt and pants, Amber did that as well with her outfit.

 

“Good.” Amber replied as she wiped Henry’s forehead and then hers with her handkerchief.

 

“Ready?”

 

“Ready when you are.”

 

-x-

 

They bowed at the staff waiting for them at the recording studio. “Hello” They greeted.

 

“Sit.” The Korean producer supervising the making of the EP told them.

 

“I have listened to the demo of 1-4-3 submitted few days ago. I like it. I like it a lot. I have listened as well again to the released version of the song and now you four wanted to add Amber. Clearly, since she is present now, she agreed to participate.”

 

“Among the four of us, I was the one who suggested Amber after it was decided again that there should be a featured artist for 1-4-3” Henry spoke and Amber smiled at the producer.

 

“Like I have told you in our last conversation, I want to hear the whole song with Amber singing and rapping with you.”

 

“Excuse us, Sir. May I talk to Henry? It won’t take that long.”

 

“Go ahead.”

 

“Henry,” She turned her back at the producer, pulling Henry closer to her. “I don’t know my part. You just told me about this today.”

 

“Don’t worry. I know you can do it without any practice. Trust me.”

 

“Still. You texted me out of the blue and you didn’t have the time to even mention that we are going to record the song now.”

 

“Just follow my lead. I’ll guide you.”

 

“If I make mistakes today, I will blame you.”

 

“Only recording for another demo, so chill”

 

They both faced their swivel chairs towards the Korean producer.

 

“Shall we?” The producer asked.

 

The two stood up and entered the recording booth, Henry giving Amber a paper where the lyrics were written.

 

 

-x-

 

 

The two went out of the recording booth after the fourth recording.

 

“Amber’s definitely a great choice to be featured in the new version. Both of your voices blend so well, complimenting each other’s voices. So I think we are done for today. Great job, you two” He shook their hands and bowed.

 

“Good day, Sir.” They bowed and let him exit the recording studio first together with his staff.

 

The older gentleman suddenly turned around, “Before I forget, I am open for changes, just notify in advance, okay? Like for instance, Amber will be singing the backing vocals of the song, something like that. And tell the rest of Noizebank that I am giving this new version with Amber the green light. We are good to go with this collaboration, together with the other approved versions.”

 

“Thank you.” Henry shook the producer’s hand.

 

“No prob. See you around.”

 

-x-

 

“I pulled that off without any practice.” Amber ed the first and topmost button of her polo, relieved that she didn’t made that much mistakes.

 

“Amber Josephine Liu wasn’t that confident, huh.” He pointed out, nudging her.

 

“What do you expect? You just told me about this today. I only had like fifteen minutes to dress up, and rap and sang with you without any practice. Impossible not to be nervous”

 

“What happened to cool and confident Amber?”

 

“She ran like a scared little and took a day off.”

 

 

-x-

 

 

Henry watched Amber rap as the camera focused on her for her solo shots.

 

“And scene! Good take! Now Amber rapping and Henry is there with her. Henry,”  

 

Henry heard his name being called and both he and Amber were told about the plan.

 

He mimicked the way she acted and rapped. “That is how you look,” as they waited for the scene to start.

 

“I look cool then”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe” He teased.

 

“Ready? Action!”

 

They stood close as Amber rapped, both smiling at the camera, enjoying every second of it.

 

“Good take! Let’s go for a …twenty minute break then film the three other remaining scenes.”

 

“Admit that you stopped yourself from laughing” Amber told Henry as they search for somewhere to rest.

 

“You are the one who wanted to laugh, not me.” Henry got sandwiches from the craft service table as Amber got the two bottles of orange juice.

 

“What’s yours?” Amber looked at Henry’s food.

 

“Chicken sandwich, yours?”

 

“Beef”

 

The two exchanged the other half of their sandwiches since they decided to share their lunch. Henry then opened Amber’s bottle of orange juice for her.

 

-x-

 

 

“See you tomorrow, guys. Don’t be late.” Henry told the dancers after rehearsals, his phone already near his ear.

 

He sat inside his car, dialing Amber for the third time and ended up deciding to call her when he reached his apartment.

 

 Amber checked her phone and noticed the missed calls. “Oh crap!” She realized she promised to Henry that she would drop by the rehearsal. She called him, “Hello, Henry, let me explain.”

 

“It’s okay. You’re busy so didn’t make it. Don’t worry, I am not mad. I am just tired. See you tomorrow” Henry assured her that everything was fine.

 

“Are you sure, everything’s okay?”

 

“I am absolutely sure.”

 

“See you tomorrow, Henry.”

 

 

-x-

 

 

“Look who you finally decided to show up” Henry noticed Amber arriving at his dressing room.

 

Amber smiled at him, knowing he was just joking. “Teach me the choreography. We don’t have that much time left”

 

Henry gathered his dancers so they could practice somewhere around the studio while the staff of the show set up the stage, and letting fans in.

 

They were rehearsing backstage, half of the time, just the two of them.

 

“Hopefully people won’t notice that I just practiced today.”

 

“Don’t let that bother you. I am here. Don’t worry too much.” He was standing right in front of her, hands on her shoulders, giving her advice to calm her nerves down.

 

“Don’t deny you don’t notice it”

 

“I do but I chose to look pass it, and not let be bothered me by it. And you should too. Just think about fans hearing you sing. That is big surprise since it wasn’t on the MV. For sure, they will like it as much as we do. There will be more time for you to practice for tomorrow’s performance.”

 

The camera caught them practicing.

 

“Did you already remember the steps?”

 

“One more time just to make sure”

 

“Sure”

 

One of the staff at the studio told them that they would be interviewed as they waited for their turn.

 

“Hi!” They greeted the interviewer.

 

“I heard you two are close friends. Tell me, do you two really match well?”

 

“Me and Amber, no”

 

“So you two aren’t even close and don’t match well, huh? You sounded like you hate her?”

 

“I am just joking.” He answered, smiling. “I really enjoy performing with her since we are close.”

 

“I heard that there is something wrong with your outfit.” The stylist told Henry.

 

“Yeah, about that, there is this…” He replied and then asked the interviewer, “Can we continue the interview later? This will only take a few minutes.”

 

The interviewer agreed and told him that she would just interview Amber for a while.

 

“Oh, it’s my turn already.” She approached the interviewer.

 

“Amber, you and Henry are close and match well, right?”

 

“I don’t like him one bit. I hate him because, just look at his face,” she pointed at him wherever he was, “he looks like Snoopy. Hate him and his face”

 

“So you two aren’t really even close, don’t match well and you hate him?” She was asking similar questions to confirm if they were telling the truth and noticed that Henry and Amber were giving her similar answers to her.

 

Amber grinned. “It is an honor to be with him on stage, promoting his new single. This is definitely a fun experience for the both of us.”

 

“The two of you will be recording anytime soon.” The interviewer heard one of the staff telling Henry and Amber to get ready for their performance. “Thanks for the interview”

 

“Anytime,” Amber smiled at the interviewer. And just in time, Henry was walking towards the two.

 

“Sorry about earlier, the interview was cut short.”

 

“It’s okay. I already have sufficient footage. I don’t have any more questions for you.”

 

“Okay.” He shook the interviewer’s hand.

 

“You ready?” He then asked Amber, minutes before recording

 

“I was born ready, Snoopy”

 

“Fighting!” He was excited.

 

“Snoopy!” She cheered.

 

“Snoopy!” He pulled Amber into a friendly hug.

 

“Snoopy!” She reached for his hand, took a step closer to him.

 

“Stitch!”

 

This moment between really close label mates was caught on camera as well.

 

-x-

 

 

Before they recorded, greeted the fans, “Hello, thanks for coming today. Amber and I will be performing today for you guys. You will definitely going to enjoy our performance.”

 

In between recordings, Amber and Henry goofed around, showing how close they were to the staff and the fans.

 

 

-x-