Part 8

“Hey, are you sure it was a good idea to leave?”

“For the hundredth time, yes.”

“But you don’t look so well. Your face has been flushed since we left the hospital.” Amber hesitantly leans forward on the couch.

Yeah, thanks to you. Krystal punches the pillow in her lap. You can’t just go around calling people cute and act like that’s a normal thing to say.

Amber eyes the pillow hesitantly, “Um...Maybe we should go back and get you checked out. You know, just in case. Your manager will kill me if he finds out I let you get discharged so early.”

A couple of more squeezes before Krystal tosses the pillow to the side and proceeds to lie down on the couch. “There’s no need. I’m fine, really. Besides, resting at home is more comfortable than at the hospital.”

“True...” Amber purses her lips in thought but eventually gives up on the discussion.

Not long after Krystal’s manager left, the two lazed around the hospital room in boredom until Krystal eventually asked Amber if they could leave. At first Amber was reluctant to agree, worried Krystal would have no one home to help her since she lives by herself. But after much consideration and begging from the younger girl, she finally agrees under the condition that she stays over with the girl until she fully recovers. Hearing that, Krystal became the hesitant one, not really sure how she felt about spending alone time with Amber at her apartment. However, it was still better than being trapped in the hospital so she eventually accepts and the two snuck out of the hospital’s back entrance and took a taxi back to her gated apartment complex.

“By the way, you have a really nice place,” Amber’s voice cuts through the silence.

Krystal feels the couch shift and opens her eyes a few seconds later to find Amber observing the pictures hanging on the wall next to the television. She quietly studies the older girl’s back until a shift from Amber makes her look away.

A laugh. “Wow, you were pretty even as a kid. That’s not fair.”

“Huh? O-oh... thank you,” Krystal shyly replies. Even though this was her home, for the first time in the five years that she’s lived here, she felt uncomfortable and tense. Not in a bad way but not exactly in a good way either. It was a weird feeling.

“Aw, look how cute you are in this one,” Amber says, completely absorbed in looking at pictures of the younger girl.

At this point, Krystal had sat up and was awkwardly fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She didn’t know what to do with herself so she just sat there stiffly until Amber eventually turns around.

“You hungry?” the older girl asks as she strolls back over and plops down on the couch. “Want me to get you something?”

Krystal’s face lights up and she immediately forgets her awkwardness from earlier. “Meat! Beef!” she says excitedly to which Amber chuckles.

“I don’t think I will ever understand your excessive love for meat.”

“That’s okay because I don’t think I will ever understand your excessive love for bubble tea.”

Amber chuckles. “Touché.”

~~~

Amber blinks and watches quietly in amazement. Never has she seen someone devour meat in such a manner and still look pretty doing it.

“Aigoo, slow down...there’s plenty. The food’s not going to run away.”

Krystal swallows and smiles bashfully. “I guess I was a lot hungrier than I thought.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” Amber chuckles as she grabs a clean napkin and leans forward to wipe the side of Krystal’s mouth. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were starved for the past few weeks.”

“Thanks...” the younger girl mutters.

Amber sits back down. “Although you probably haven’t had a proper meal in a while so I don’t really blame you. Not to mention you were sick too...” Amber sighs and picks up her chopstick. She then proceeds to put a couple more pieces of grilled meat on Krystal’s plate. “You know, you really need to take better care of yourself. You don’t want to always worry your friends and family, do you?”

“You sound just like Yunho oppa.” Krystal swallows and puts another piece of meat in .

Amber groans at the mention of the man’s name. “Ugh, can he never come back? I’m gonna get an earful from him when he finds out about what happened.”

“He already knows.”

“W-what?!” Amber stares at the girl with wide eyes. “When?”

“Why are you acting like this is news?” Krystal takes another bite. “I’m a celebrity who fainted on stage. Of course it’s going to make headlines.”

“Yeah, I know...” Amber slumps back in her seat after placing more meat on Krystal’s plate. “I just assumed it would take longer for him to find out since he’s out of the country and isn’t returning for another three weeks.”

“Well, he’s coming back at the end of this week so...”

Amber sinks deeper in her seat “...So that means I should start packing my bags and change my name.”

Krystal laughs, “Stop being so dramatic. You make it sound like he’s going to kill you or something.”

“Tell my friends and family that I love them.”

“Stop it. You’re not going to die.”

“You are severely underestimating Yunho,” Amber says then gets up.

Krystal curiously watches Amber move about the kitchen before coming back to the dining table with a plate in hand.

“What’s that?” she asks as the older girl places the plate down on the table near her. Her eyes immediately light up at the sight of one of her favorite fruits. “Mangos!” she happily exclaims.

Amber grins at the excited face. “Yeah, I saw some people selling them on my way back and thought you might like some.”

“I love mangos!”

“I know,” Amber says but Krystal was too happy to hear that last statement.

“Thank you! I’ve been craving mangos for a while now!” She takes a piece and starts munching on the fruit happily, temporarily forgetting the plate of meat sitting in front of her.

“I’m glad you like it. It’s not much but consider it my last gift to you before I’m forcefully made to depart from this wonderful world.”

The chewing stops. “...”

“What?”

A throw of the chair cushion. “Way to ruin the moment, Amber.”

~~~

“Are you sure you don’t need anything else?”

“Yes,” Krystal laughs. “Are you forgetting that this is my apartment?”

“I’m just making sure,” Amber smiles and walks back towards the door. “I’ll be right outside if you need anything.”

“Are you sure you don’t need anything else?” Krystal asks before Amber closes the door. For some reason, she didn’t want the older girl to leave just yet.

“Yep, all I need is a pillow and blanket and I’m good to go.”

“Sorry about the guest bedroom being a storage room. Never needed to have one...”

“Don’t worry about it.” Amber dismisses the younger girl. “You’re couch is huge and super comfy. I won’t even miss my bed.” She then proceeds to switch off the light. “It’s late, get some rest. You’ve had a tough past couple of days.”

Those caring words sent a ray of warmth throughout Krystal’s body and she smiles to herself in the dark. Lately, she seems to be a er for Amber’s kind words and it makes her mushy inside. She’s not the expressive type herself but always appreciates and loves when people quietly care for her, especially when it came from Amber.

Why is that? Krystal thinks to herself but didn’t have time to ponder when Amber bids her goodnight.

“Goodnight... Soojung-ah. Sleep well.”

The amount of tenderness emitting from Amber’s voice when she called Krystal’s name made the younger girl’s insides melt into a puddle of goo. Never has she heard Amber call her in such a manner. There must be something wrong with her ears. Maybe the drowsiness is catching up so she’s hearing things.

Krystal pulls the bed cover up to her nose. “G-Goodnight...Amber,” she manages to say before completing pulling the cover over her head to hide herself.

She hears Amber chuckle followed by the click of the door closing and then complete silence. Krystal peeks out from under the cover and takes a few seconds to bask in the stillness of the room before crazily throwing her limbs around in an internal spazz session.

OMG, WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?! WHAT’RE THESE FEELINGS?!

One hour later...

I DON’T UNDERSTAND THESE FEELINGS!

“Ugh!” Krystal finally tosses the cover aside and sits up. It was obvious she wasn’t going to be sleeping anytime soon. How can she when her brain is flooded with Amber. Of all things and people.

“This isn’t going to work,” Krystal mutters to herself and hops off the bed. Why should she be losing sleep over this. It’s all Amber’s fault and the older girl needs to take responsibility.

Even though Krystal didn’t know what that responsibility would be, she marches out of her room and straight into the living room to give Amber a piece of her mind.

“Am—“ Krystal starts to say but stops when she sees the sleeping girl on the couch. She forgets her initial purpose for coming to find Amber and instead slowly inches her way towards the couch like a burglar.

Krystal crouches down quietly next to Amber’s sleeping face. The close proximity reminded her of what happened earlier that morning on the hospital bed and she immediately blushes.

D-did I always have a habit of studying someone’s face this closely...?

She holds her breath. I-is this weird?

I really can count all of her eyelashes if I wanted to... she has a lot...and they’re really long...

Her eyes gradually travel down to Amber’s parted lips and linger there. Her lips are really... – wait, OMO.

Krystal blinks and shakes her head before her thoughts could continue. She could feel her face and body burning up and quickly waddles backwards a couple of inches to give herself some breathing room, not that it made much of a difference.

After eventually steadying herself, Krystal readjusts her position and ends up sitting with her knees to her chest and arms folded across on top of it. She lays her chin on her arm and quietly resumes studying Amber, occasionally sighing to herself as her thoughts continue to jump around.

Why do I like looking at you so much...? Why do I like it when you care for me? Why do I like it when you look at me with your warm eyes? Your kind words and gentle touch always finds a way to heal me mentally, physically, and emotionally.

I don’t think I’ve felt like this with anyone else...?

Krystal’s thoughts were momentarily disrupted when Amber slightly wrinkles her nose and lets out a soft snore. Krystal smiles to herself and sighs.

You know... I think I would be more of a morning person if I woke up to this every morning. And I’d sleep better too if I went to bed next to you every night...

...Ok, it’s definitely time for bed now...

~~~

“Here, put this on.”

Krystal gratefully accepts the jacket and pulls it tighter around her shoulders. Two weeks have passed since the stage incident and Krystal sorely misses her bed after being able to stay home and rest until now. “Thanks, Oppa,” she says, but the man doesn’t hear her as a staff member comes up to speak with him.

A few minutes later, Krystal is led into the waiting room area and lets out a welcoming sigh as she enters the heated room. Her stylist who was behind her chuckles as she stops at the table. “Too cold, huh?”

“Freezing.”

“Sorry about the outfit. I’ll find something more suitable for tomorrow’s performance.”

“Oh, that’s okay. It’s not your fault. This outfit was a part of the music video anyway.” Krystal gestures to her clothes before taking a seat on one of the swiveling chairs.

“Tell that to Amber,” the stylist pouts and sets her bag in front of the mirror.

“What do you mean?” Krystal turns to face her.

“She gave me a whole lecture before she left after the performance earlier.”

“A lecture? About what?”

“She lectured me about how I should dress you in more appropriate clothing, weather-wise as well as TV friendly-wise. Says your outfit is way too revealing for family television and not suitable for the current weather. I mean, you have a ier concept this time so of course some skin will be shown but it’s not even that revealing compared to what other female idols are wearing nowadays.”

“Ah...” Krystal quietly nods her head. If she was cold earlier, she was very far from that right now.

“I’m older than her too! But I bet you people would think she was older by the way she was lecturing me,” the stylist continues to rant away, oblivious to the smile quickly spreading across Krystal’s face. “I mean, by what she was saying, you might as well go with a sushi roll concept on your next album and I’ll wrap you up in a giant blanket.”

Krystal laughs at that. “You know she loves you, Unnie.”

“Yeah, but obviously not as much as she loves you,” the stylist chuckles and shakes her head as she walks away.

That last statement caught Krystal off guard and her heartbeat shoots up tenfold. She was far from freezing now. As a matter of fact, she was burning up.

Krystal quickly stands up and takes off her manager’s jacket. She needed to distract herself.

“M-manager oppa,” the younger girl calls out to the man who seems to have finally finished his conversation with the staff member. She walks up to him and hands the jacket over. “Here’s your jacket back, Oppa.”

“Huh?” The man looks puzzled for a brief second. “Oh, that’s not mine,” he says.

Now Krystal was the puzzled one. “What do you mean? Whose jacket is it then?”

“Ah, that’s Amber’s jacket.”

“Oh? This is Amber’s jacket?”

“Yeah. She gave it to me after the performance earlier. Said to give it to you immediately after you come off the stage.”

“She did?”

“Yep. Even made me promise that I would put it over you as soon as you stepped off the stage or else,” the manager explains. “By the look on her face, I didn’t really want to know what ‘or else’ meant.”

“I see...” Krystal stares down at the jacket she was holding. Her heart was pounding so fast she felt light headed. She suddenly had an extreme urge to see Amber.