Seven

A week passed in which Amber had spent most afternoons with the group.  Sometimes Krystal or Sulli would tag along, but mostly it was just her.  Come Sunday afternoon she had rushed through her school work in order to meet up with them once more.  This time there was no meeting at TomnTom cafe, or a club, though and instead they crowded around the twins’ living room.  The pair lived with their parents in a fairly roomy apartment about half an hour away from the school and having found Joongmin already there waiting, Amber assumed that the cafe marked a half-way point.   Despite knowing that school was imminent – though the others didn’t include Amber – the afternoon was progressing pleasantly enough, the teens happy to spend the time lazing in front of the television.

“If you had to choose between being stuck on an endless loop of Rain’s Hip Song performances, or that really annoying noodle ad, what would you pick?” Kibum questioned as the idol star ed his way around the stage of Inkigayo and the others turned to him quizzically before falling into thought.

“Noodle ad,” Changhee answered after a few moments and the others let out a laugh, Amber shaking her head in disagreement with his choice.

“Nah, I reckon Rain.  You’d get immune to all the hip ing after a while... unless it turns you gay,” she reasoned as she reached for a handful of chips from the bowl that sat in the middle of them.  “You just can’t handle all that man, Changhee.”

The boy let out a strangled kind of screech at the accusation as he tried not to choke on the mouthful of drink he had taken, failing miserably as Joongmin reached to thump him on the back.  When he finally caught his breath he turned to an amused Amber, pointing a threatening finger her way.

“Yah, I can too!”

“Now, now children let’s not start an argument,” Kitae said calmly, trying not to smile as she attempted jokingly to chide them both and Amber rolled her eyes, stretching her arms and legs out in front of her.  “I will get us some more food though.”

“Here, I’ll help,” Amber offered as the girl moved to collect the bowls, but she turned her down defiantly, grasping them all in her arms and giving the tomboy a look through narrowed eyes.

“You’re a guest here, you relax with the boys,” she urged before turning on her heel and disappearing into the kitchen.  Amber watched her leave, a pout forming subconsciously on her lips and it wasn’t until Changhee nudged her in the side that she came out of it.

“Aiden, do you like Kitae?” he asked almost innocently and it was Amber’s turn to choke, snapping her head to take the boy in.  He was sitting beside her, his brown eyes wide and a sparkle evident that she knew meant trouble.

“Dude, you’re blushing,” Joongmin mentioned and she let out another gasp, trying to hide her face as if it could erase the fact.  Changhee’s happiness grew with the action though and he was practically bouncing where he sat on the floor.

“I knew it!  That’s the reason why you kept leaving those first few days wasn’t it? You were too shy!”  

“Ah... no...I mean...”

“Changhee shut up, unless you want my sister hearing,” Kibum growled, cutting over Amber’s stammering and she snapped shut, looking at the boy with slight panic in her eyes.  She had momentarily forgotten that he was Kitae’s twin and would probably meet the accusation with disapproving anger.  Desperately she tried to catch his gaze, but it was a few moments before he turned from Changhee.

“Sorry Kibum, it really isn’t-”

“Actions speak louder than words Aiden; denying won’t get anywhere,” Joongmin warned, looking down at her from the couch and she could do nothing but open and close like a dying fish.  The eldest boy smiled down at her warmly.  “It’s ok, Kibum won’t kill you.”

“Not yet anyway,” the twin murmured with a smirk and Amber was saved from not knowing how to reply by the kitchen door swinging open and Kitae reappearing, the bowls in her hands once more filled with snacks. 

Amber tried to focus elsewhere, attempting to stare up at the television screen where Lee Hyori was strutting across a stage.  She couldn’t stop herself from glancing up however as the girl took a seat next to her, their legs brushing together as she placed the bowls on the ground.  Amber didn’t know how to convince the guys otherwise; she couldn’t tell them that the reason she watched Kitae so closely was for any sign that the girl was about to betray her, that she ran those first few days because she was living a lie.  A lie that Kitae could turn her in on at any time with four simple words.  That was what she told herself anyway and that was why she stuck around, why she listened to Kitae’s word like it was the only way to help friends.  Because she liked sitting around here on a Sunday afternoon, she liked Changhee’s wide grin, Joongmin’s sly remarks and Kibum’s bark like laughter.  And of course she like Kitae’s…well Kitae in general.  But general meant nothing… or everything.

Reaching out to grab a handful of chips, Amber steeled herself as she shoved them into .  She was here to help Krystal and Sulli with a chance to shine for the boys that had their hearts and it had absolutely nothing to do with the girl that sat laughing next to her.  Nothing at all.