“Amber really bagged a winner this time, eh, Hae?” The stocky assistant chef mentioned happily as he wiped down the kitchen counter. Kim Ramyeon had closed for the day and the staff bustled around the restaurant cleaning and clearing up. He may have been wary of the stranger at first, however Shindong was generally a jolly man and never failed to be excited and wish others well in the love department, especially dear Amber, who was a good friend and always spoke up for him whenever his boss was in one of his funks.

Krystal, the part-time waitress, agreed with his observation, handling the mop dreamily. “Kim Myungsoo is such a cutie. My friend goes to L all the time – she says the coffee tastes so much better with eye candy!”

At a loss to what his response should be, Donghae simply nodded. No one could deny that this man pursuing Amber was indeed good looking. He knew he should be happy for his best friend – it had been a while since she had been in a relationship and now there was someone so fabulous was interested her. Myungsoo had definitely seemed eager to please, a tad too aggressive if you asked Donghae, and totally out of character for a pretty boy like him. It wasn’t as though Amber never had a boyfriend but in the same way he had recently come to terms with how the girl was a grown up and could handle real life issues, he was having trouble adjusting to the idea that she could be in love – if Myungsoo managed to reach his goal that was. The gnawing that he felt when he saw Myungsoo gaze at Amber intently while she was engrossed in her noodles was reminiscent of that tug at his heart whenever she mentioned Henry’s name in the past. He knew it was his overprotectiveness acting up – would he rather Amber stay single and alone forever? Recalling how heartbroken she was when Henry and her split up, Donghae would have rather he be the one that miserable. The chef couldn’t fathom why it was so difficult for him to just let her grow up and have her own life. Why was he so afraid that she would leave him behind?

Luhan cleared his throat loudly. His girlfriend got the hint and changed the subject. “Love seems to be blooming here. Donghae and Miss Jung, Amber and Myungsoo …”

“And Luhan and you too right!” Kai added from the sink, only to receive dagger stares from the young couple.

“Speaking of Miss Jung, are two of you official?” Shindong asked the question on everyone’s minds.

This Jessica Jung wasn’t someone who was easily deterred to. During the week, she had come for dinner with her friends. Luckily it was peak hour at the restaurant, yet he was still obliged to entertain his customers for few minutes before running back to the kitchen. Donghae had certainly met his match this time. He was no stranger to admirers but usually they just were content to stay in the background. The pretty ballerina wasn’t one who was easily dissuaded by a single no – she was determined to change his mind and had asked Donghae out for breakfast the following week. He had not replied her text message, the restaurant didn’t serve breakfast so he couldn’t think of a good reason to decline her.

What was so wrong with Jessica? She was attractive, attentive to him and didn’t look down on his occupation. Despite the rise of celebrity chefs in recent times, the social status of ordinary chefs was still lacking. He wasn’t ashamed of what he did although somehow he felt the effects of his lesser education occasionally.

“I don’t have time for this kind of things.” Taking stock of the ingredients, Donghae attempted to stop his staff from gossiping. “Don’t you guys have places to go? It’s Saturday. Hurry so we can all leave.”

Love. What was this? How could he even ponder about such frivolous matters when Ramyeon Go Go’s first day of business was next Monday? Donghae recognised he needed to summon all his wits and energy to go into battle with Heechul – the bank appointment about the mortgage had been arranged – yet somehow, he couldn’t help worrying about Amber.

_______________________________________________

[Four years ago]

Rubbing her eyes, Amber was roused by Henry’s audible snoring. Pinching his nose with her fingers, she watched the sleeping boy struggle to take a breath. He woke with a start. “Jesus, do you want to kill me, Ambie?” Henry exclaimed, sitting straight up, his mane of hair sticking up in all different angles.

Giggling, the girl reached to tame his unruly locks with her hand only to have them bounce back stubborn. “You were snoring, I couldn’t sleep.”

Her boyfriend had spent the night. These occurrences were becoming more frequent. As much as she enjoyed the intimacy, a good night’s sleep eluded her whenever he was sharing her dormitory bed. She didn’t want to kick him out – it seemed cruel to do so after such good - and ended up suffering when she tried to count sheep to the rhythm of Henry’s snores.

Lying down again, the Canadian boy cuddled up to her. “It’s still early, let’s just go back to sleep.”

She turned so she was face to face with Henry. “I told you, I can’t sleep.”

They had been dating for a year. She couldn’t believe her luck – despite being an exchange student and all, Henry turned out to be one of the more popular guys on campus, and he only had eyes for her. On their fifth date, he had revealed that he had first taken notice of her in the very first week he had arrived in Korea. The way she walked through the quad full of students totally focused on getting to her destination was unlike any other and when a classmate had called out to her, her whip of the head and rapid change in expression from steely to friendly had him hooked.

At first, what he had said made her slightly uncomfortable, after all, she didn’t know how to behave when she realised someone was watching her. Yet Henry managed to break through her resistance and convince her that she was able to juggle a boyfriend along with school and work, and she found herself looking forward to spending any other free time she had with her newfound boyfriend. And it wasn’t like they only went for dinner and to the movies, the good thing about having a musician as a boyfriend was he never failed to serenade her and he played a mean electric organ too, besides the violin.

Henry gave her a kiss on the lips that she returned. “I’ve to get up though and try to complete my assignment. It’s due in two days.” Pulling off the blanket, she swung her legs onto the ground.

“Aww, you are such a party pooper, Ambie.”

“Hen, you want me to do well in school right?” Amber asked, switching on her laptop.

“Of course. Anyway, it’s going to be the holidays soon. We can relax then. Speaking of which, have you booked your flight to Toronto?”

The screen started up. “Hen, about that …”

“I thought I told you, it’s my Christmas present to you. Come home with me for the holiday. And besides, you can also check out the universities there.”

Henry had transferred to Seoul University after his first semester here, even though he had never put it into words, a big reason why he did so was because of Amber – he wanted to stay in Korea with her. However, he was currently in the midst of his final year now. During one of their serious discussions about the future, somehow Amber had allowed him to talk her into applying to do an exchange program with a Canadian university and eventually find work there when she graduated herself – so they would not need to part even for a short period.

This plan seemed like the most logical, except Amber wasn’t keen on the idea. Just like years ago when Nara wanted her to move to the States, she did not want to leave Korea. Except this time round, she didn’t know how to break the news to her enthusiastic boyfriend, one who had been so sweet to her all this while.

Realising that his girlfriend had stayed silent for the past few seconds, Henry grew worried. “You don’t want to go to Toronto for Christmas?”

She double-clicked the word document. “It’s not that.”

He put his hands on her chair and turned it around so she was facing him now. “What is the issue then, Amber? Everytime we talk about this, you clam up.” Yes, her tendency to change the subject whenever Canada was brought up had not escaped him, yet he had chose to believe she was shy about meeting his family and friends.

Looking straight at her boyfriend, Amber reckoned it was time to face the music. “I want to stay in Korea.”

Confused, he asked, “For Christmas?”

She gulped but continued with what she needed to tell him. “No. I don’t want to move to Toronto.”

His eyes glazed over at the gravity of matter. “So that means, you want to live apart from me when I graduate.”

“Henry,” She reached to take his hand only to have him brush her away.

“You never factored me in your future. You are perfectly fine with me leaving Korea after the summer. Amber, you don’t care about me, you don’t care about us.”

Those were hard hitting words that hurt because there was some kind of truth in them but Amber just sat there, absorbing what he had just said.

“You don’t love me. You never once told me you loved me. And I’ve tried to ignore this because I thought as long as I tried my best to love you, one day, your heart will be moved and you will love me back. And I know that you have someone else in your heart that you do love but yet I was stupid enough to think that as long as I got you here with me physically, eventually you will be able to forget him but of course you will never be able to stop loving him and start loving someone else.”

The girl now sat dazed on her chair, wondering what Henry meant. Who did she love? What was he talking about? He had never let on that he had such insight on her. “What are you talking about, Hen?” 

“Amber, can’t you see? You love Donghae.”

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Donghae is jealous but he doesn't know it yet. And everyone around Amber seems to be able to tell who is the person she loves. Topber moment in the next chapter (I think :) )

YuuYuu: Hello! Don't worry, something exciting will happen next for Haeber. :)

Taiyou: Yes, Myungsoo shed his cool demeanor here. He likes her and knows that she isn't completely ready for love but he just can't help but want to be with her and make her happy. Thank you for reading! :)

AsianFae: I wanted to make Myungsoo seem so adorable and I guess it worked! Haha, yes, I love Amber and I love her different interactions with various boys and can see why like in my story and real life, it's so easy for guys to have a crush on her ... in a way. :) Donghae's the love of her life but Myungsoo is the eager beaver and willing to do just about anything to make her happy, T.O.P finds her amusing and plays the cool card in my story, and poor Henry did love her alot.