[A/N So... the scenes I had planned for this chapter got pushed back... but I'm happy with how this turned out- Look forward to the next chapter- which with luck, will be posted tonight (since I'm alone the rest of the weekend, so why not update, right? lol) Enjoy! <3)

“Amber,” he said. “We need to talk.”

I couldn’t say anything and continued to just look up at him. He started pulling me towards the back room.

“We need to talk,” he said again. “I don’t want you…”

I shook my head- I did not want to hear him finish that thought. I could feel my face pale… could feel the tears start to well up. Not right now, please… I don’t want to cry in front of all these people. Don’t tell me again that you don’t want me to be your friend anymore… please…

I then felt someone take my hand and stopped Minho from pulling me further into the back room. “Minho… Amber… this is not the place to be doing this. There are press and others from SME present,” I heard Donghae whisper loud enough for Minho and I to hear.

Minho released his hold on my sweater, but continued to just look at me.

The three of us turned to look at Hyoyeon as she took a hold of Minho’s arm, smiled and whispered quickly, “Smile everyone. You’ve caught the attention of some cameras.” We all smiled, and Donghae suddenly laughed, which surprised us but managed to release some of the tension surrounding us.

What would I do without Donghae and Hyoyeon by my side?

“Ah, my handsome dongsaeng… how about escorting me to the press conference? You know… shall we make a million fangirls want to shoot me for holding onto your arm?” Hyoyeon asked Minho while winking at him.

Minho glanced at me- to the hand still held by Donghae and turned to smile slightly at Hyoyeon. “It would be a pleasure noona, to make a million fanboys want to shoot me,” he answered, which caused Hyoyeon to smack his arm and giggle. He grinned, gave Donghae and me one last glance, and led Hyoyeon towards the press conference.

I was still looking at them walk away when Donghae squeezed my hand. “Gwaenchanha, Amber-ah?” I looked at him, squeezed his hand back and nodded. “Gaja,” he said and led us to the press conference as well.

Minho POV

I had been barely living these past few days- walking around, and doing what needed to be done, but not once did I remember smiling or being happy. I couldn’t help but still feel upset and angry at Amber running away from me again. What was wrong with my wanting to be more than friends with her? Did she dislike me that much to not even want to let me hug her? I had run after her, wanting to hold on to her and pour out my feelings- to ask her to let me love her with all that I was… I wanted to promise to never let her down, and show her happiness- but she kept running. My heart nearly broke when she wouldn’t even turn back at my yelling her name. I gave up following her, when I saw Donghae walk out of the room designated for auditions and have him start running after her.

“Minho?” I heard Hyoyeon say. I shook my thoughts away and turned to her.

“Ne, noona?” I asked.

“Gwaenchanha, Minho?” she asked, her face full of concern.

I wanted to say no… wanted to pour out my frustrations to someone- but I pasted a smile on my face and nodded. “Ne, noona... gwaenchanha.” She made a face at my response but then smiled again.

“Araso, Minho… I know we aren’t the closest between SNSD and SHINee, but I want you to know you can always come and talk to me, ok?”

I nodded. “Ne, noona. I will remember that; gamsahabnida.”She patted my arm and left me to join the other SNSD members. I sighed and turned to find the other SHINee members.

I sat down in the top row barely listening to Key retell a joke one of the Super Junior hyungs had just told him when I saw Amber walk in with the f(x) members. I couldn’t help but stare- she was dressed up in comparison to her normal attire but looked stunningly beautiful; the black wedge-boots over tight-fitting black jeans, a red half-top sweater over the black top that would occasionally show glimpses of her flat tummy-that made me catch my breath. I waited to see if she would look up at the SHINee members… but she just sat down quietly, much to my disappointment.

The press conference went by quickly and uneventfully. It was times like this I was more than glad I was not the leader seeing as most of the questions were aimed at the leaders of each group- I doubted I would have been able to focus or answer as eloquently as each leader had done.

Before entering the amphitheater each group lined up for the media to take some quick photos. I stood to the side with the other SHINee members, since we were finished and watched everyone else take their turns. But I would be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that the whole time, my eyes followed only one particular person- I couldn’t help it…

I heard someone clear their throat and nudge me. I turned to see Donghae hyung, standing next to me; arms crossed. “Uh, annyeonghaseyo hyung,” I greeted nervously, while bowing.

“Annyeong Minho,” he greeted back. “Haven’t talked to you lately… how have you been?”

I glanced at him and felt a trace of worry, and I wasn’t sure why I was feeling that way. Donghae and I have always been close- we have more of a friend relationship then a hyung/dongsaeng or sunbae/hoobae relationship. We’ve always been able to talk about anything, but after everything that’s happened between Amber and me... knowing how close he and Amber were as well- I felt like I couldn’t go to him to talk about it.

“Busy preparing for the comeback?” he asked, since I had remained quiet.

“Ah, ne, hyung. Mianhe… my mind is distracted right now,” I apologized. I noticed the f(x) girls were next for the media to take pictures of; and looked up at them.

“They look beautiful tonight, don’t they?” Donghae asked, following where my eyes were focused on.

“Ne hyung… she looks beautiful tonight,” I absently answered. “Uh, they… they look beautiful tonight,” I blushed and attempted to correct myself.

I felt Donghae pat my arm and turned to look at him. “Minho… honestly now, you like one of the f(x) girls, don’t you?”

Ottoke? Do I lie? Do I tell him?This is making me crazier with each passing day- I haven’t felt like I could tell anyone. If I’m going to tell someone, it may as well be Donghae-hyung… maybe he’ll be able to help me make things right.

I sighed and nodded. “Ne, hyung, I do. But she doesn’t see me that way.”

He raised an eyebrow and asked, “You confessed to her?”

“Ne… I did.”

He blinked at me. “You did? What did she say?”

“She said she just wanted to stay friends… best friends… how could she say that and expect me to just accept it?” I sighed again. “Now she won’t talk to me, and I don’t know what to do.”

Donghae leaned in and asked, “Who did you confess to, Minho?”

I sighed and slowly answered, “Amber.”

I could feel myself blush, but cleared my throat and quickly added, “Now hyung… I know she is your favorite dongsaeng… but, I really do love her. I just wish she’d see more than a best friend.”

“Hmm…” was all that I heard from Donghae as a response.

The announcement to enter the amphitheater and take our seats was announced, and Donghae nudged me to follow and sit with him. “We’ll talk more about this later, Minho.”

I nodded and followed him in.

I ended up sitting between Donghae and Taemin, with Eunhyuk hyung beside Donghae and Jonghyun hyung beside Taemin; the SNSD noonas and f(x) members in the rows in front of us, with everyone else filling up the rest of the seats.

The DVD so far had been exciting- clips from the different SMTOWN concerts had been fun to watch, especially the ending with all the SME artists together singing, dancing, and playing around with one another and our fans. The candid shots of many of us in the makeup chair, sleeping on the plane, and just all of us interacting at meal times brought the most laughs, along with the interviews with the self-cams. The most anticipated part of the DVD was the different MVs- most with different concepts and costuming from the originals brought a lot of “Oohs and aahs!”

I quieted when I saw the black screen with “SHINee ~ Juliette” appear. A part of me was excited to see the finished product; the other curious as to the response of the others in the room.

Cheers rang through the amphitheater at our dancing which made each of us smile proudly… I grinned bashfully hearing a few compliments on how handsome we’d grown and matured from the original MV. Then the scene I’d been half-dreading came on… and I held my breath…

The close up of Amber in the red dress brought silence among the male SME artists… murmurs of “Who’s that?” “That’s not Krystal, is it?” “Wow, she’s so y!” were heard throughout the amphitheater. I smiled in agreement that indeed, Amber was very y looking like that- but my heart also ached in jealousy and anger hearing those words. Pabos… so many of you pass her over, but put her in a dress and you’re all a bunch of pabos…

My breath hitched, watching the scene of her running her fingers across the table and biting her lips; the memory of our brief kiss making my cheeks turn red… I glanced to where Amber was- she was slouched in her seat as if to hide from everyone; her cheeks flushed, eyes downcast. I wanted to stand and yell that the woman everyone was complimenting was none other than Amber, but held my tongue. The final scene appeared- I was walking closer to her… caressing her cheek and slowly leaning in to kiss her… when all faded to black.

Clapping and roars of approval rang through the crowd- I smiled and accepted the compliments of a job well-done, but my eyes searched only for Amber. Though I knew no one knew it was her on-screen, I wanted to see her reaction to our kiss- but she was nowhere to be found… again.

I grabbed the arms of the chair and was ready to stand and go find her, but Donghae stopped me. “Now is not the time, Minho. Just wait.”

I sighed and nodded. He was right; it wasn’t the right time. But I couldn’t help the thoughts that ran through my mind… Had she really been embarrassed by the kiss? Did she really not feel anything when we kissed? Is she really going to break my heart by wanting to only stay my friend?

I put a hand to my aching chest, closed my eyes, and counted down the minutes until the DVD was over…

[A/N Here comes super oppa/hyung to help save the day... lol  gotta <3 Donghae! ^^]

@rubyroo ~ thank you for your continuous support and commenting <3

@CassidyIsHere ~ Confession shared with Donghae, check... to Amber? we see... and you've already been warned it will be ending soon... just a few more chapters :(( And romantic scene? Maybe... no promises... but more than likely lol <3

@DayDreamer_ ~ apparently I can write angtsy.. and I normally dislike angtsy stories lol... but i realized that with the conviction of keeping it realistic, happiness as well as angst goes hand in hand when it pertains to love.. that's life :) Hope you enjoyed the update!

@clumsy_g ~ thank you for the comment and compliment- look forward to the next update! <3

@TwistedIllusions ~ thank you for the compliment- I try hard to write as well as I can ^^ Oh, and I'm just fulfilling my duties as a fan to pester you to update your story- take your time.. but hurry too! lol <3

@vip_love ~ ta da! updated! lol... keep looking forward to more to come.. <3

@blindstar ~ *huggies* you're silly, and i love it! hope you enjoyed this chapter! <3

@YuuYuu ~ I'm hoping that was a... good response you left? lol.. <3