As all of you may know and as I've said it a thousand times, I hate being alone.  I don't like being alone. I hate feeling left behind or feeling isolated in a situation. I don't know why I feel like this but I had been like this as far as I remember. I had phases. I remember when we moved here from somewhere with my mother, she had to go to work and leave me since I wasn't yet in school. It was vacation then. She'd always think about me and worry but there was nothing we can do. She can't bring me to work. And if I remember correctly, I would stay in the living room, lock all the doors and windows and hug this teddy bear ,that I don't know where is anymore, to make myself feel as if I'm not alone anymore. It worked but eventually I had to deal with the anxiety without it. I think I named him Gino? I am not sure.

Alas, here I am, stuck to do an activity for a class. We were asked to go out of the university. Go somewhere near and look at the places and find influences or an influence and design a dress, yes a dress, that would complement the influence we chose. It was a plate that was due until next week but  we were required to submit a draft that the professor would sign to make sure we wouldn't change it. She says as designers we had to stick to our decisions and not be swayed so easily.

It was almost noon on the subway clock. It was the first place that went to mind when the professor asked us to go and I felt going there. It was also a lame excuse to not be alone though I technically am. The sketch book was in front of me, still empty and I have about 25 minutes left before I need to head back to university. It was still a 10 minute bus ride. I don't want to be marked cutting class by the professor. Ms. Hwang is young and pretty but she can get pretty particular. She's not my favorite but I don't hate her either.

Another ten minutes passed, I decided to leave. If I had to stay one more bit, I'd be wasting precious time I can use to look for another influence in the remaining 15 minutes I have to spare. I can't come up with something spectacular but at least I have something. I can do major edits when I need to. However, as if it was planned, as I was about to leave, someone called unto me. Call it unexpected because it really was. I turned around and there she was.

"Amber? Is that really you, Amber?"

I squinted my eyes to carefully see who it was. "Jia?"

"Amber? It is you!! Kyaah?!"

She ran towards me, scrambling through the last few steps of the stairs and hugged me once she got on the platform. It was a little awkward to be honest. We haven't seen each other, what 5-6 years? We were in high school then. She was a classmate. We weren't particularly close but I did consider her as a friend. It was just that we drifted apart when we entered university. I lost contact with them and never got the chance to meet them and keep in touch. I felt kind of sorry it happened that way, but hey.

"How have you been? You haven't aged a bit since high school Amber? Still got that spunk, don't we?" She said as I giggled in response. How was I supposed to reply to that? "What are you doing here in the subway? Heading somewhere?"

"Not really. We have a class for today and we were assigned to go somewhere and be inspired to come up with a dress or something."

"Ohh, you're studying? Wow. Design, I suppose?" I only nodded in response. "How about you?"

"Well, remember when I said I always wanted to be a singer? After several years after high school in trying to audition I finally got in about 11 months ago. I've been training non-stop and we finally get to debut two weeks from now." She said as she clapped her hands. Jia had always been the active type. She was part of the student council and was even in the dance squad of the school. She's got the talents to boot and the looks to do it. She was in a rush and I was as well, we exchanged numbers and bid ourselves goodbye and headed off.

It was nice meeting an old friend like her. She was passionate and determined. I admired that from her. I know it had been years since we last met but I still had a clear picture of how Jia was when we were younger. She was not the smartest but she did fairly well. An all-rounder, you can say. And the next thing I knew, I was sketching on my pad, finally decided on what I was supposed to come up with.

---

It was a busy day for me. After the activity we had during class, I had to head to the company. Today was the deadline of the list of prospect companies we can bring into the Korean market that was on the commercial side of the industry. Several names came up in my head after I did my research and I was finally able to come up with a top 20 list. It was a little difficult since not most of them were willing to give up information on the profit of the label. It was tedious but manageable. After that, Jonghyun invited me for dinner. It was nothing unusual but it surprising as well. We were steady? Which I did find surprising to be honest. The way our relationship started was a polar opposite to what he have right now. I am not one to complain but...

"Amber-ssi, Mr. Choi is still a little busy but he'll be out in a bit. He apologizes and hopes you can wait since he is still at the conference room. He ordered me to bring you straight to his office." Hara said. I followed her in her usual long strides and we reached his office. What surprised me however was that through the window of his office was someone inside. A silhouette was clearly seen outside.

"Is Minho expecting anyone else?"

"Ohh. Don't worry. She's just a family friend. She's been around since this morning. She said she won't bother with the work dynamic so Mr. Choi let her stay and do as she pleases. She's been going around the company since she came here." Hara then opened the door and I was more than surprised to realize who the person was.

"Krystal?" I said with such a high tone. She turned around and smiled at me. I haven't seen her around the university ever since what happened to her parents. They were still in the hospital and still in the ICU. It appears that the doctor can't pinpoint what happened exactly so they are having a hard time looking for a cure. Krystal decided to file leave since she doesn't know how long her parents would be out like that. We sat on one of the couches of Minho's office.

"How have you been?"

"It's.. It's been a little difficult. Surprisingly, I miss school and having a regular life. All I do is go to and fro the hospital from home since I have paperwork to arrange around and about the hospital. When I'm not busy, I go here and cause a little trouble. This place is the only source of fun for me nowadays." Later on, Minho came in and he ordered Krystal to head out. The latter pouted but obliged anyway. 

"I was able to finish the list you asked me to do. I apologize