She watched as he toed the ground with his shoe, his hands clasped behind his back, his body swayed from side to side – unable to stand still. He was nervous, but why was the question in her head. He bit his bottom lip and slowly lifted his gaze toward her and the moment their eyes met she knew the answer.

“Amber,” she was surprised by the absence of honorific. He always called her noona, but not today.

“Yes, Tae Hyung?”

“Would you …” he paused. “Would you please go out with me?”

She knew what the young boy was going to ask her the moment his eyes met hers, but she was still shocked. A mix of emotions spooled within her. She was elated, because in the deep dark pit of her heart these were the words she wanted to hear from him, but she also felt terrified. She was not ready for this type of relationship with him. She’d been hurt one too many times before and that scared, paranoid part of her would not allow her to say yes.

She was a coward and so she had chosen the next best thing.

“I do like you. I like you a lot, Tae Hyung.” She reached for his hand and clasped it in hers and he smiled at her, which caused her heart to skip a beat and gave her a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach for what she was about to do to him.

He saw the look on her face and the smile on his face fell, “There is a ‘but’ isn’t there?”

Her heart broke a little at that look on his face, but she held his gaze, “I’m sorry, but I’m not ready for that type of relationship right now. You are very important to me so please understand when I ask this of you.” She clasped his hand tighter in hers – hoping that he would understand, hoping that he wouldn’t be angry with her for long. “Give me a year and if you still have the same feelings for me then my answer will be yes.”

He was about to say something when they heard footsteps coming toward them. Amber let go of his hand as Soo Jung came around the corner.

“Here you are,” she looked between Tae Hyung and Amber. A knowing looked flashed in her eyes as she continued. “The manager oppa was looking for you. We’re ready to leave.”

Amber glanced back at Tae Hyung as Soo Jung took her arm and led her toward their awaiting vehicle. Soo Jung shoved Amber toward the very back seat, as far away from their managers as possible.

“Spill it,” Soo Jung whispered as she took the seat next to Amber.

Amber sighed. She knew the younger girl wouldn’t stop until Amber told her everything that had transpired. Amber took a deep breath and told the younger girl everything.

Soo Jung rolled her eyes at Amber as soon as she finished telling her, “You’re so stupid.”

“He’s so much younger than me,” Amber looked down at her hands that are clasped together on her lap. “What if it’s just a fancy of a young heart? I can’t - I don’t know what I’ll do if he breaks my heart.”

Soo Jung shook her head and sighed, “You’re using his age as an excuse, because you and I both know that it does not matter. You’re just scared to open up your heart to him. You didn’t give the boy a chance to prove himself to you. What happen a year from now when he change his feeling. Wouldn’t your heart be broken, then too? Because deep down you hope that he would still feel the same.”

Soo Jung didn’t say anything after that. She let the silence occupied Amber with her thoughts.

A year flew by. Her schedule was hectic to say the least. There were days when she didn’t sleep for more than an hour, but she liked it because it kept her from thinking about him. On the odd occasions that they met he would smile and greeted her like the conversation they had never happened. Her heart broke every single time, but she comforted herself with the fact that he looked happy and that was all that matter to her. She wanted the boy that she loved to be happy even if that happiness doesn’t involve her.

Amber, Soo Jung, Sun Young and Victoria were sitting in their waiting room. Soo Jung and Sun Young were still finishing up with hair and make-up. Victoria was on the phone talking in lighting speed Mandarin. Amber was playing with a game on her phone when a knocked sounded at their door. It was the first day of their comeback stage and none of the girls looked up from what they were doing.

“Come in,” said their manager as he got up to open the door.

“Oh!” Soo Jung exclaimed, “What are you doing here?”

Amber glanced up at Soo Jung and then slowly turned toward the door thinking that it was one of the boys from EXO, since they were promoting at the same time. However, Amber froze when her eyes landed on none other than Kim Tae Hyung.

There was cheeky grin on his face as his eyes met hers. He lifted his hands and in them was two large bags filled with large cups of bubble tea, “I brought this for everyone.”

He walked in and set the drinks on the table.

“Why?” Soo Jung asked as one of their stylists handed her a cup.

He glanced at Amber and under that cheeky grin was a hint of nervousness. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, I wanted to celebrate my girlfriend’s comeback by getting something for her members and her staffs.”

“What?” Everyone yelled out in unison as they all turned toward the boy, everything else was forgotten.

Amber was still frozen in place, unable to move when he walked closer to her, “It had been a year today and you promised me that you will say yes.”

It felt like there were butterflies in her stomach and the sound of her heart beating thundered over all the sound around her. He waited for her. Amber felt her cheeks flushed. A year didn’t change how he felt for her. Amber felt the wall that she had built slowly melting away.

A smile escaped her lips. She can't escaped this boy if she wanted to, “On behalf of my members and my staffs I would like to thank my boyfriend for this lovely gift.”

“Can you two please take these sweet eyes goggling somewhere else?” Soo Jung as she turned and shared a look with Sun Young and Victoria. The other two members nodded in agreement.

Amber stood from her seat as Tae Hyung offered her his hand. She took it and he entwined his fingers with hers. Her manager gave them a look of warning as they walked passed him, “You’ll have to answer to me if you hurt her.”

Amber couldn’t help, but be thankful to her manager and smiled at him.

“Be back in ten minutes,” Victoria yelled from the back of the room. “We want to go over things before the show starts in an hour.”

The door closed behind them and Amber followed Tae Hyung as he led her through the hallways of the broadcasting company. People eyes were on them as they walked passed, but Amber paid them no mind. She was concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Her heart was thundering against her chest when Tae Hyung stopped and Amber registered that they were in an abandoned room.

He s his free hand around her waist and pulled her against him. He let go of her hand and placed his index finger under her chin and lifted her face up toward his. She opened to say something, but his lips were against hers, soft, gentle and full of passion. Her eyes opened wide with shock, but they slowly fluttered closed. She gave herself to the kiss, the gentleness of it, the passion of it. When they pulled they were both breathless.

He laid his forehead against hers, “You know how long I’ve waited to do that.”

Amber lifted her hand up to her cheek and felt how warm it was and she said with a devilish smirk, “A year.”