The sun.  Oh the sun.  It was beautiful, warm, yellow, and most of all, up.  Amber cursed its existence to the deepest parts of hell.  Why was such a horridly bright and painful ball of fire allowed to torture innocent souls like her?  What made it so special?  The short haired blonde immediately rolled over so that she was facing the pillow.

But wait.  She blinked a few times.  This was not how her pillow smelled.  That's weird, 'cause it sure looked like her pillow.  She checked the sheets.  Yep.  They were her sheets.  The blanket she was wrapped in was her blanket.  So...what was with the smell?  Not that it was bad.  It actually smelled...good.

Amber groaned when she tried too think too much at a time.  It felt like giant rabbits were hopping around in her head with goofy one toothed grins.  The smell was moved to the back of her mind.  But then, sounds of cooking could be heard.

Her eyes snapped open.  The last time she checked she lived alone.  Alone as in, she was the only occupant of her one bedroom, one bathroom apartment.  So then how was it possible that she could hear sounds coming from her kitchen?  She lazily looked up and saw that her bedroom door was slightly ajar.

Now hold on.  While she wasn't a wuss, Amber always slept with her door tightly closed.  It gave her some reassurance.  So this was also strange.  Her hungover mind took quite some time to process it all, but she concluded that for all these happenings to be...well, happening, there must be someone else in her home.

Now slightly more alert than she had been when she first woke up, though still with the throbbing headache, Amber gently climbed out of her bed.  She crept towards her door and failed to notice the familiar dress hanging from the door of her closet.

The blonde poked her head out and looked down the short hallway.  It was relatively dark except for the light coming from the living room and kitchen at the end.  She quietly made her way down the hallway, picking up her fly swatter from a nearby end desk.

She stopped right at the corner that separated the hallway from the kitchen and took a deep breath.  Utensils were clicking just a few feet away from her and she could hear the intruder yawn.  Ignoring the horrible throbbing in her head Amber jumped from behind the corner and screamed at her intruder, “Who are you?!” the fly swatter was held above her head, ready for some violent action.

The familiar looking intruder immediately jumped where she was standing, cooking eggs, and turned to face Amber.  The pan in her hands immediately flung itself upward and the hot, semi cooked eggs became air born.

Amber had no time to react as the flying substance came right towards her face.  The fly swatter dropped to the ground and the blonde immediately removed the burning substance from her face, “Ah!    Ah!  Hot!  Hot!  Ah!”

Amber heard a gasp and suddenly heard the sink running.  Soft hands grabbed her frantic ones and soon she felt a cool and wet towel wiping away the excess yolk and egg like substance off of her face.  Along with these actions she heard an all too familiar voice scold her, “What the hell are you doing?!  You scared me!”

Amber tried to open her eyes and talk as the towel rubbed her face vigorously, “Krystal?  What are you doing here?  I thought you were a burglar or somethi-Ah!  My head...” she whimpered.

Krystal sighed and led the slightly taller girl to sit on the couch across from the kitchen island, “Do you remember anything from last night?” her wiping became gentler, and she moved to clean the mess from the rest of her body as well.

Amber thought for a second before holding her head, “Well...we were at the party...I met some girl, you came back, gave me something to drink, we...we kissed and then...” Amber pouted at her, “I can't remember past that.  I don't even remember coming home!”

Krystal sighed again and returned to the kitchen to turn off the stove and clean the egg from the floor, “Let me get you some pain killers.” After a while the younger girl returned with a glass of water and some pills.  She forced Amber to take them and then tucked her legs under herself.

Amber groaned after taking the pills and held her head, “What happened...” she looked up at Krystal, who was wearing one of her old basketball jerseys and...no pants, “And why don't you have pants on?!” She panicked, “Oh god!  Did I...?  Did we?!  I'm so sorry!  Was I gentle at least?  Oh man!  Your sister's gonna kill me!” she ruffled her hair in frustration.

Krytsal rolled her eyes and grabbed Amber's hands, “Stop.  Nothing happened last night.” she grumbled, “Although would it be so bad if it did?”

Amber didn't catch the latter part of her phrase and sighed in relief, “Oh good.  But that doesn't explain why you have no pants on and why you're here in the first place.  How did I even get home?”

Krystal sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time that day and looked into Amber's eyes, “Well...”

After her explanation of everything that went on last night Amber was in a daze.  The throbbing in her head had worsened after Krystal finished the tales from the night before, “So...you're telling me you gave me alcohol, we made out, we danced, then I got kidnapped by your Tiffany unnie, taken to a church where she interrogated you about our  life-”

“nonexistent  life.” Krystal piped back.

“-and then we went to your house, played a crazy drinking game, and let your unnies get drunk before you drove me home and slept over because you wanted to make sure I didn't do anything stupid while I was drunk?”

Krystal looked like a child who did something very wrong and twiddled her thumbs, “Uhm...yeah.  That's basically what happened.  Oh, by the way Tiffany unnie was saying something about you passing?” she tried to lighten the mood.

Amber sighed and leaned back in her seat, “Well that explains this horrible hangover I have.” She glanced at Krystal, “I have terrible alcohol tolerance.”

“I've noticed.” Krystal offered a small smile, which was returned by the slightly older girl.

Amber then looked the other girl up and down, “Wait, that doesn't explain why you have no pants on.”
Krystal's smile grew, “It was hot last night and I didn't have any comfortable clothes to sleep in.  I borrowed your jersey, hope that's okay.”

Amber nodded and pulled the jersey down more so that it covered a little more of her soon-to-be-girlfriend.  Krystal swatted her hands away.

“God, I swear you're more like my mother than my girlfriend.”

Amber gave a sheepish smile back and held the other girl's hand, “I just don't want to be tempted more than I already am.”

Krystal looked into the other girl's eyes and flared so red it reached all the way to her ears.  Amber burst out into laughter and pulled the other girl close, so, the temptress could blush, “Do your unnies know where you are?”

Krystal nodded and burrowed herself into Amber's embrace, “I called them last night.”

“And they were okay with it?”

“Well...I got Yuri unnie on the phone so...” she giggled nervously.

Amber sighed but shrugged it off.  She'd deal with it when the time came, “Don't you have school today?  It's Monday.”

“I called in sick.”

Amber looked at the younger girl incredulously, “And they let you?”

Krystal cleared , “Jessica unnie and I sound a lot alike...”

“Such a bad girl.”

“You love it.”

Amber grinned and pressed a kiss to her temple, “Well I'm free today as well.  What would you like to do?”

Krystal played with the hem of Amber's t-shirt and hummed in response, “Well...” the younger girl thought long and hard about it, “I do need to buy new underwear...”

Amber turned red, “Uh, is that necessary?  Don't you already have a lot of underwear?” Amber recalled  one conversation she had with the girl regarding her mountainous collection of underwear.

Krystal looked shocked and immediately raised her head at the other girl, “Are you kidding?!  The Summer collection at Victoria Secret just came out!  They have select limited editions that I need to get my hands on.” She pouted at Amber, “Besides, you can never have too much underwear.*”

Amber grinned at the girl's sudden outburst, “Ohh, now I see why your unnies tease you about 'y underpants' so much.”

Krystal lightly smacked the other girl's arm, “Whose side are you on anyway?”

Amber pressed another kiss, this time on the girl's lips, “Always yours.”

--00--

After the pair spent some time lazying around and eating breakfast Krystal announced that she would be taking a shower before they left to go shopping, “Did you wash those clothes I left here after we went shopping that one time?”

Amber nodded, “Yeah.  The ones you left here are on the left side of my closet.  Towels are in the cupboard by the bathroom.”

Krystal nodded and stood to take her shower, “Okay.  Are you gonna take one?”

Amber smiled at her, “Yeah, after you.”

Krystal smiled coyly, “Are you sure you don't just wanna take one with me?  It'll be faster that way...” she approached Amber.

The older girl gulped and made an X shape with her hands, “Nope.  Sorry Krys.  You're on your own.”

Krystal rolled her eyes and sighed before stepping into the hallway, “You're gonna regret it!” she called out before the bathroom door closed.

Amber sighed herself before plopping down on the couch again and rubbing her hair, “I already do.” She laid down and put an arm over her eyes, “How can a 16 year old be so hor-” her cell phone's ring tone cut off what she was about to say.  Amber searched around for the device and found it charging by her bedside.

“Hello?”

'Amber!  How are you?'

Amber winced at the naturally loud and resonating voice tone before smling, “Oppa.  I'm okay, what's up?”

'I have good news for you!  You said you didn't like the last one I chose right?  Well I got the perfect one this time!  It's a good deal too!'

Amber's expression brightened a little at Jonghyun's enthusiasm, “Oh yeah?  Will she love it?  Is it a good place?”

She could hear Jonghyun laugh over the line, 'she'd be crazy not to!  Anyway, I'm gonna e-mail you all the info, so make sure you check it okay?  Also, the confirmation needs to be soon!  The deal'll expire if you wait too long, okay?'

Amber checked her calendar and gulped, “Yeah Oppa.  I got it.”

'Good!  Don't be so nervous.  She's crazy about you, okay?  Good luck little sis!'
Amber smiled, thankful to have such supportive friends, “Thanks a lot Oppa.  I really appreciate your help, you know?”

'I'd help you in any way I can, you know that.  But look, I don't have a lot of time right now, I just called to let you know really quickly.  I wanna see you soon though!  Don't be a stranger okay?”

“Yes Oppa.  Bye.”

'Bye!'

At the dial tone Amber smiled again.  Maybe some things were looking up.  She looked toward the direction of the bathroom and sighed.  Now all she had to do was gather up the courage to do it.  She lay back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.  She was crazy.  This girl was only 16.  Well, she'd be turning 17 in a few months, but still.  She was practically a child.

Amber fought her mind.  She wasn't that old herself.  Maybe she needed to release herself from all this guilt and worry, although she felt like quite the cradle snatcher.  But her unnies was the biggest obstacle.  Not only did she have to win Krystal's love, she had to win the unnies' love as well.

The short haired girl sighed yet again and closed her eyes.  Her head was still killing her, and she knew Krystal would be in the bathroom for quite a while.  Maybe a little nap would help her out.

--00--

She was awoken a little later on when she heard a blow dryer running.  The blonde rubbed her eyes and slightly sat up on her bed.  The sight before her nearly made her pass out again.  Krystal Jung was standing in front of her mirror blow drying her hair.  She was also only wearing a towel.

The blonde's jaw unhinged itself.  No matter how much she told herself that it was wrong, that Krystal was still so young, her eyes were throwing a coup and raked the young, lithe girl's form like some erted old man.

She hadn't known how long she was sitting there staring, but eventually the blow dryer came to a halt and Krystal was shaking out her now dry hair.  The younger girl turned and raised an eyebrow when she found Amber staring at her like a deer caught in headlights, “What are you doing?  The shower's free.” though she looked cool on the outside, her inner temptress was grinning evilly.

Amber immediately picked up her slack jaw and stuttered, “Uh-I was-a nap.  Yeah.” Shaking her head free of her sinful thoughts Amber got up from the bed and headed towards her closet.  She quickly retrieved some clothes and headed towards her bedroom door, “I'll go take a shower now.”

When the blonde disappeared from the doorway Krystal let her smirk be outwardly visible.  The young girl tossed her hair behind her back and went off to search for her clothes, “Told you you'd regret it.”

--00--

Although it was mid afternoon on a Monday, the department store was still more packed than both girls expected it to be.  The would be couple held hands as they passed through the automatic doors and released sighs when the cool air conditioning hit their warm faces.

Krystal immediately pulled Amber in one direction.  The older girl could've sworn the dark haired girl had the blueprints of the place memorized by heart.  Although they were indoors, both girls failed to remove their sunglasses in lack of will to separate their latched hands.  Krystal held a small sling bag over her left shoulder and Amber, feeling awkward with nothing to hold, stuffed her right hand into her pocket.

On their way Amber saw that the pockets on Krystal's jean shorts were flipped upside down and showing below the shorts.  Being the good soon-to-be-girlfriend she was she moved to fix them.  Krystal noticed the other girl fumbling with the hem of her shorts while they were walking and blushed, “What are you doing?!” she hissed.  People were looking at them strangely.

Amber tilted her head to the side and pointed to her shorts, “Your pockets.  Look.”

Krystal sighed and explained, “That's the fashion these days.  Haven't you ever seen people wear jean shorts before?”

Amber rubbed the back of her head with her free hand, “Oh.  I didn't realize.” She laughed nervously.

Krystal only shook her head at the other girl's antics and the two moved along.  The more Amber thought about it the more she pondered.

“Hey Krys.”

“Hm.” the two entered an elevator.

“Is there even a Victoria's Secret here?”

Krystal smiled, “No.  I buy my Victoria's Secret stuff online, duh.”

Amber furrowed her eyebrows, “Then what are we doing here at the department store?” they exited the elevator.

Krystal stopped walking and turned around to face the older girl, “Oh Amber.  You have much to learn about the fashion world.  Victoria's Secret shipping takes like 15 days or something.  Besides, there's this really nice French lingerie place I've been dying to go to.”

Amber let herself be dragged again, “French lingerie?  You're 16!  What could you possibly need French Lingerie for?  Also, isn't it expensive?” Amber could practically feel her wallet against her back pocket itching to run away at the thought.

Krystal ignored Amber's ranting and instead kept pulling the girl until they reached their destination.  The department store's lingerie section was vast and overwhelming to the small minded Amber.  Krystal squealed in glee and practically dashed in.  The other women in the store were eying the couple with strange glances.

Needless to say Amber looked very embarrassed to be in the store with the younger girl.  Krystal finally let go of her hand and began browsing the wares.  Amber gawked at the things Krystal was contemplating on buying.  The worst part was the girl would hold the pieces up to her own body and ask for Amber's opinion.

Then, after much stuttering, she would answer that it looked good on her, which they did, and Krystal would proceed to pile them into the awkward girl's arms.  While Krystal browsed through what seemed like endless amounts of y underpants Amber took a glance at one of the price tags for just the bra half.  Her eyes nearly jumped out of her sockets and she pat the back of her pants soothingly, already pitying her poor wallet.

While waiting on Krystal with the pile of underwear in her hands Amber caught the disapproving glances of some older women in the store and what she assumed to be naughty glances from the younger ones.  She nervously offered a smile at them all and frantically shook her head, as if trying to dispel whatever thoughts they were thinking.

It didn't help that Krystal kept asking for her opinion and then complaining that either her  was too small or her chest wasn't quite big enough for the “good stuff”.  Amber was there to console the other girl and assure her that anything she wore would look great on her.

It felt like hours that they were circling the store and Amber thought her arms were going to give out.  She shifted the pile in her arms and finally asked, “Hey Krys, maybe you should try some on before you get some more?  I mean, then you'll know what you like a little better...right?” she prayed to God that Krystal would buy it.

The younger girl thought for a second before nodding, “You're right.  Come on, the changing rooms are over there.”  Amber sighed in relief and followed the shorter girl towards the back of the store.  A saleswoman directed the duo to a changing room in the far back and shortly took her leave.  Amber stood awkwardly outside the door and shuffled her feet.  Krystal turned and put her hands on her hips, “Well?  Are you coming or what?” Krystal's teasing smirk was not lost on Amber.

Amber coughed and shook her head frantically, “Why don't you take half the pile, and I'll wait out here with the other half?” she motioned to the chairs situated by the changing rooms.

Krystal laughed to herself on the inside and grabbed half the pile before turning into the dressing room, “Suit yourself.”

Amber sighed and shook her head.  Krystal was probably the worst tease she'd ever encountered in her entire life.  No one could be as bad as her, she reasoned.  When the blonde approached the chairs set aside for waiting, Amber awkwardly greeted the older man who occupied the seat next to the only other empty one.

The girl slumped in her seat and shifted the pile in her arms, feeling uncomfortable at all the stares she and her pile of y underpants was getting.  The man suddenly greeted her, “Hey.”

Amber turned her head and nodded, “Hi.”

“Tough life isn't it?” he mentioned to the piles in her arms.

She blushed and nodded slightly, “A little embarrassing too...”

He nodded in understanding and showed off the few he had in his hands as well, “We're like pack mules.” he sighed, “I try to avoid shopping days as much as possible.”

Amber sat up in her seat and nodded, finding she had something in common with this stranger, “Yeah.  More so for my wallet's sake than my own...although sometimes it's both.” she laughed.

He laughed with her and reached a free hand to shake one of hers, “I'm-” before Amber was given a chance to answer her newly found friend she was suddenly dragged off of the chair and into a dark corner.

The hand over  muffled her cries for help.  The short haired blonde thrashed around, of course making sure she didn't drop any of Krystal's wares in fear of the younger girl's wrath.  The young blonde was then turned to face her attacker.  Imagine the look on her face when she was met with none other than Im Yoona.

Amber immediately stopped her struggle and instead talked against the hand on .  Yoona immediately pulled her hand back and looked at it in disgust, “Ew.”

Amber disregarded the previous action and asked again, “Yoona unnie?  What are you doing here?”

Yoona rolled her eyes, “Hunting for elephants.” she deadpanned, “What do you think I'm doing at a lingerie store my dear friend?”

At this the blonde flushed and shuffled the load in her arms awkwardly, “Err, buying underwear?”

Yoona sighed and pat Amber on the shoulder, “Rhetorical question Amber.  Rhetorical question.”

Amber cautiously peeked out of the corner they were hiding in.

“If you're worried about the others spoiling your y underpants time with Soojung you have nothing to worry about.  It's just me and Hyunnie.  Oh, Taeyeon unnie sometimes frequents this place, but that's a story for another time.”

Amber nodded slowly at the explanation and checked again.

“Oh stop it.  The worst thing Hyunnie will do is tell you that hamburgers will kill you and that  makes way for STDs.” Yoona scoffed, “Obviously, Hyunnie.  But, not like that's stopped her before.  Hehehe.”

The erted grin on Yoona's face was enough for Amber's level of discomfort to reach its maximum height, “Uhm, not like it's not good to see you, which it is, why did you pull me away so suddenly like that?” Amber could feel fear grip her heart.

Yoona's grin grew wider and she put both hands on Amber's shoulders, “Well, since the other unnies got to have their fun, I figured it was my turn.”

Amber gulped, “I..I was sort of hoping you wouldn't say that.”

Yoona shook her head and tsked, “We don't always get what we hope for.  Now, how's about we have some fun?” a malicious look appeared on the older woman's face.

--00--

Krystal sighed as she stripped off her last set.  None seemed to fit her the way she wanted them to.  In her eyes she was always too skinny, not curvy enough, not filled out enough, not yet a woman.  She pouted.  Her sister always seemed perfect to her.  It seemed that no matter what angle she looked at her she was beautiful.**

Although countless people, especially Amber, had told her time and time again she was beautiful and that they were envious of both her body and her looks, she still found herself inadequate in so many ways.  But, for some reason, whenever that certain dorky blonde told her she looked pretty, that she looked nice, or that she liked what she was wearing, somehow a smile would work its way on her face and everything would be okay.  For that moment she, with no shame, thought that she must be the most beautiful girl on Earth.

flashback...

Although she and Amber had gone on a few dates they, for some strange reason, were not yet official.  And so, more out of frustration other than out of anything else, she angrily accepted a date with  a “popular” boy at school.  She, of course, had no interest whatsoever in the boy, but after dropping so many hints and having them ignored, she decided that maybe she should try moving on.  Clearly the blonde wasn't interested in having her as more than a casual date.

Huffing, the young teenager threw her backpack carelessly aside and lay back on her mattress.  She was absolutely exhausted.  Now that she thought about it, she knew absolutely nothing about what's  his face.  She'd only heard rumors that he had secretly been pining after her for some time.  Nothing new.  She groaned and flopped on her stomach.

Amber had texted her a while ago and asked about her plans for that night.  At the time she had been frustrated with thoughts of the timid blonde and had rapidly, and angrily, texted back that she had a date with someone from school.  That was nearly an hour ago.  She forced her phone awake every few seconds, but no new messages were waiting for her.

Sighing in even more frustration she screamed into her bedsheets and kicked her feet.  So much for trying to move on.  She inhaled deeply and sat up.  No.  She had more self respect than this.  She was not going to sit around pitifully waiting for a text from some girl who obviously was not interested in her.

And so, after summoning every last ounce of her willpower, the young girl left her phone on her bed and left to go take a shower, not forgetting to mutter, “Stupid...”.  She had a date later on tonight, after all.

–

Hyoyeon was muttering down the hall, wondering where she'd put her cell phone.  She needed to contact a friend urgently and couldn't remember her number.  The others were all out working or at school and she had to leave soon herself.  When passing by Krystal's room she noticed a phone on the girl's bed.  Knowing that her friend was also a “family” friend she immediately dashed into Krystal's room and picked up the phone, frantically searching through the girl's contacts.

When she found her friend's name she thanked the heavens that she'd found it.  She quickly pressed the call button and waited as it rang, tapping her foot impatiently.  Meanwhile she tutted at the sweaters Krystal had left lying around.  She idly went around and started folding the sweaters as the phone rang. 

“Hey!” Finally.  They picked up.  Her folding pace quickened as she listened to the other line.

“Right.  Sorry I called so late.  We can start discussing that now.” She listened on and set the sweaters neatly in a pile on the girl's bed before settling on it herself.

“Yeah, this is Krystal's phone.  I sort of lost mine.” she scratched the back of her head.  She smiled at something the person on the other line said and nodded.

“Yeah.  That sounds good.  I was thinking tha-” suddenly the little device beeped at her.  Hyoyeon cursed inwardly and pulled the phone away from the ear.  The “New Text” box appeared an in her rush she tapped 'reply' instead of 'close' and cursed again.  Not wanting to intrude in Krystal's privacy she quickly exited out of the text application and put the phone back to her ear.

“Sorry about that.  Like I was saying...”

–

Krystal sighed, refreshed, as she stepped back into her room.  The shower had done wonders for her.  Unfortunately, at the sight of her phone, all those steps forward were for naught.  She hesitated as she held her towel in place with one hand and reached out for the device with the other.  She closed her eyes and quickly picked up the device before awakening it.  She was met with the usual sight of her blank home screen.  The young girl sighed and tossed it back on her bed.

She moved towards her closet and  the new black halter dress she had bought for her next date with a certain oblivious blonde.  She frowned and was about to move past it, but thought again.  Who cares?  She probably wouldn't be hearing from the blonde anymore.  She roughly pulled the dress out of her closet and began getting ready, “Stupid Amber and that stupid phone...stupid...”

By the time she had cursed and damned Amber to all of hell she was dressed and made up.  She put in the extra effort to make herself look especially appealing.  When her phone beeped she all but jumped towards her bed, but groaned when she didn't see the name she was expecting.  He said that he'd just left for her house.  Great.

Krystal rolled her eyes and were it not for her dolled up presentation she would have thrown herself on her bed and rolled and screamed until  hurt.  Instead, she  it up and headed downstairs after fixing her hair to one side.  As she took each step of the stairs she was determined to make this date better than any dates she and Amber had had.  Ever.

Waiting for her date became tiresome after 20 minutes.  The girl had finally decided to just sit back on the couch after the initial 15 had passed.  What the hell was taking him so long?

As if on cue, her doorbell rang, and Krystal nearly groaned aloud.  After composing herself she stood to approach the door with a forced smile on her face.  He greeted her politely and handed her a bouquet of flowers.

“For you.” He smiled; pearly whites nearly blinding her.

Krystal took the offered flowers and nodded, “Thanks.” she quickly went to the kitchen to put them in water before returning.

“Ready?” he offered her his arm.  

She hesitated for just a fraction of a second before looping hers in his.  She smiled up at him.  He was a complete gentleman and opened the door for her before getting in his own side.  The young girl sighed before he entered the vehicle.

“I thought we could have dinner together at that nice American restaurant Sulli told me you wanted to try.  How does that sound?” he grinned boyishly.

Krystal suddenly felt uncomfortable.  She tried to smile back as best as she could, “Yeah.  That sounds fine.”  She fiddled with the small clutch in her lap.

The drive was...awkward to say the least.  The boy seemed awfully nervous and Krystal had no interest in making conversation.  Small exchanges about the weather or school were made, but nothing substantial.

She almost audibly breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived.  It was suffocating being in that car.  Again, he opened the door for her and smiled gently as she stepped out.  Krystal shrugged off the uncomfortable feeling followed him to the entrance.  

As she was walking she stepped into a small hole in the pavement, causing her to stumble forward into her date's arms.  He held her steadily as she winced in pain.  Well that was just dandy.

She gasped in shock and he mistook it for pain, “What?  Are you okay?  Should we get you to a hospital?”

Instead the girl immediately bent down and took off her now ruined heel.  Dammit.  These were expensive as hell too.  After seeing what she was inspecting he chuckled and tilted his head to the side, “That's all right.  Hope it wasn't too expensive.  As long as you're not hurt.”

She blushed.  Now she had to walk around with a broken heel.  Great.  Safe to say she received many judgmental looks as she walked in the restaurant, heels in hand, one mangled.  When they finally sat down he tried to console her.

“Look, don't worry about them.  You still look great.” she smiled weakly.  Although she appreciated it, that didn't help at all. 

They managed to order without a hitch and she found that her date spoke English almost as well as she did.  Although her English wasn't perfect, she got by.

He started opening up as they waited for their meals and she found that he was a rather likeable person.  He had a sweet personality and was actually very shy regardless of his social status at school.  She put in an effort to make this date as enjoyable as possible and returned any flirting, banter, or joking offered.  That stupid blonde was missing out.

Her broken heel was forgotten.

The waiter soon returned with their orders, but Krystal watched him warily as he shook with the weight of the plates on his tray.  He must've been new.  Somehow she had a bad feeling about this.  

As usual, her instincts were proven correct when he lost balance of the tray of food and drinks and she watched in high definition slow motion as both food and drink came tumbling towards her expensive black dress and perfectly done hair.  She could cry.

By the time the impact had been made the waiter was visibly shaking and begging for forgiveness.  Her date had stood and frantically tried to gather as many napkins as possible.  He was hit on the shirt a little, but nothing to the level she was.  From her face down she was covered in mashed potatoes, gravy, steak sauce, lemonade, and other things people shouldn't wear.

She immediately stood and froze in place,  in an 'O' shape and her hands spread to her side.  Eventually she moved to brush the piece of...whatever that was, out of her bangs.  She took a napkin and wiped her face to the best of her ability, all the while ignoring both her date's cries and the waiter's pleas for forgiveness.  

It took a moment for her growing temper to calm, but she took a deep breath and started nodding, finally acknowledging the apologies.  She raised her hand up and started assuring the waiter, “It...It's okay.  Just...it's fine.  It was an accident.  No harm done, okay?” she was mortified.

Her date handed her more napkins and a waitress appeared with a wet towel, which she gratefully took.  She felt horrible.  

She got dressed up as best as she could tonight, and all she felt was shame and humiliation.  She was so embarrassed she didn't know if she could look up from her stained dress.  Her date tried consoling her as best as possible and even offered to go buy her some new clothes for the evening.  She shook her head and politely refused the offer.  She excused herself to the bathroom, heel-less, to clean the mess out of her dress and face.

Suffice to say when she returned not much had changed and she felt horrible as she could feel the stares of the customers in the restaurant.  Still, she was determined to finish this evening.  They were brought a second meal with a much more experienced waiter and the manager personally came out to apologize, “I'm very sorry, Miss.  I'm so so sorry.  If you need anything else please don't hesitate to ask.  Your meal is on the house.  I'm very sorry.”

Krystal nodded and tried to smile, “It...It was an accident, please.  Thank you for your kindness.”

He nodded and bowed several more times before retreating.

“How are you feeling?”

She tried to smile at him, “It's all right.  Let's...Let's try to enjoy the evening.”  dinner was relatively quiet and Krystal almost wanted to cry.  This was not how she had foreseen her evening being.

They forewent dessert and tried to keep the atmosphere lighthearted with jokes and small laughter.  She didn't feel any better, but she tried to appease her date.  The meal was on the house as promised and eventually the two decided to leave.  She rejected the offer of his jacket and instead walked, heels in hand, out the door.

Her cheeks were blazing crimson from embarrassment.  She was, however, surprised when she saw a familiar figure leaning against an equally familiar vehicle shivering.  Peering a little closer she let her date walk ahead before whispering, “Amber?”

Somehow her quiet whisper got the figure to look up.  The figure uncrossed their arms and stood straight, not once moving from their spot.

She was about to take a step forward when her date called out to her, “Krystal?  Is something the matter?” he glanced towards the figure in the parking lot she was looking at, “Do you know that person?”

No.  She wanted to say.  She had nothing to do with that person.  But even with the humiliation of the night and her aching and angry heart she manged to croak out, “...Yes.” she was more surprised when her body turned to face him and say, “I think I'll get a ride home from them.”

He looked surprised for a second and looked between the two, “Uh, are you sure?  It's not a problem for me to take you home.”

She took a step back from him and shook her head, “It's okay.  I've imposed on you too much already tonight.” he looked confused.  She smiled, “You're a nice guy.  Really.  Tonight...was interesting and I'm glad you're interested in me.” he brightened, “But I don't think we should meet again.  I'm sorry.” his face fell and he took a step back.

“...I see.” he glanced at the still motionless figure a ways away.  He nodded, “Well...I'm sorry that tonight went so terribly.”

She shook her head, “It wasn't your fault.”

He nodded, “Well good night then.” without a further word he stepped away from her and towards his car.

Krystal took a deep breath and approached the figure standing by the sleek black Range Rover she had gotten so accustomed to.

As she drew near she could make out the contours of a faint smile on the blonde's face.  She stopped once she was a few feet away.  The blonde kept smiling at her until she sighed and said, “You came.” she glanced at the car pulling out of the lot, “...for a second I thought you wouldn't show.”

Krystal furrowed her brows and frowned.  What the hell was she talking about?  She was fighting the two emotions of anger and exhaustion.  She was covered in food, her heels were broken, and she was dateless.  She was in no mood to decipher the other girl's cryptic message.  She put a palm to her forehead, “What are you talking about?  What are you doing here?”

The blonde tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brows, “...did you not get my message?”

“Message?  What message?  I never got a text from you after...after I told you I had a date.” she huffed.

Amber scratched the back of her head, “Are you sure...?  It says it sent it.”

Krystal sighed, “I told you it-” she checked the application under Amber's name.  The last message read: 'I'll be waiting for you at that American Restaurant you've wanted to go to.  I've been planning to take you there all week. ...I know you said you had a date tonight, but I want to be selfish and tell you not to go.  I want you all to myself.  I'll wait for you from 7:00pm at the parking lot.  ...I know you'll show up.  So I'll wait as long as it takes.  See you soon. ♥'

After reading it she was quiet.  The blonde approached her and smiled, “So you got it.  That's a relief.  Shall we go in?”

Krystal confusedly looked up at the other girl, “But...” Krystal looked towards the entrance of the parking lot, “I went on the date instead of going to you...aren't you mad?” The younger girl felt even worse.  And she suddenly felt self conscious about her state of disarray.

The blonde hummed for a second and put her hands in her pockets, “Well...a date isn't a date until one takes the other home and says good night.  Otherwise that's not a proper date; to me at least.” she grinned.  That stupid, innocent, clueless, and simple grin.

“I...” she blushed.  All those things she'd said about Amber.  Then she remembered the text.  'I want you all to myself'.  Was she confessing?  She was startled when a hand gently grasped hers.  She looked up into soft brown eyes and was speechless.

She was even more startled when she was pulled into a warm hug.  The blonde squeezed her close and let out a sigh, “I don't know what I'd do if you'd have left with him.”

Krystal slowly returned the embrace.  She could feel the tears almost spill.  But she had never been someone who cried easily, so instead she felt a strong surge of emotion.  She buried her face into the slightly taller girl's shoulder and sighed as well.

“Soojung, are you hungry?” Her heart fluttered.  Amber hardly ever called her by her Korean name.  She found it endearing.

But despite that she shook her head.  She had been humiliated enough in that restaurant.  She also let out a small sound of disapproval which proved to be cute to the blonde.  

She chuckled and pulled away a little to look the girl up and down.  Her grin grew.

Krystal flushed in annoyance.  Now was not the time to make fun of her appearance.  As she was about to completely pull away, angry at Amber for ruining the mood, the blonde's grip grew stronger.

“How is it that you always look beautiful even when...” she pulled a stray but small piece of vegetable out of her hair, “You have vegetables in your hair.”

She flushed.  That was not the teasing remark she had expected.

Amber gently took the broken heels from her hand, “You shouldn't wear these anyway.  At least not while I'm not wearing my insoles.” she laughed, “It's much easier for me to do this.” she moved her lips to the younger girl's forehead and placed a light kiss there.

Krystal was still speechless.  Her mind couldn't formulate a proper response no matter how hard she tried.

“Hm.  Since you don't wanna go back in there, how about I buy you ice cream?  Ice cream always makes you feel better, right?” Krystal responded by throwing her arms around the older girl's neck, almost sending her flying back towards the car.

The blonde let out an “oomph!” as she held the other girl, “Why did you take so long to respond to my text!  I thought you were just gonna let me go out on a date with that guy!” she quickly pulled away and smacked the blonde on the arm.

Amber winced and held her arm, “I...I had to think about what to say!  I'm sorry!”

Krystal growled and poked her chest repeatedly, “You stupid, stupid, stupid...stupid!”

“O-Ow!  Princess stop!  It hurts!”

With one last hard poke Krystal put her hands on her hips and glared, “Well?”

“...well what?” Amber crossed her arms across her torso in hopes of protecting herself from more physical violence.

“Ugh!  You are so...!”

Amber widened her eyes and caught the girl by the waist, “Oh!” Krystal, arms still crossed, still glared at the slightly taller girl who held her.  The blonde leaned forward and caught the younger girl's lips in a chaste kiss.  It was their first kiss.  Krystal blushed, but kept the glare, “I'm sorry Princess.”

Krystal kept glaring.  Although that was nice, that was not what she was looking for.  Amber pouted.  Guess that's not what she wanted.  Oops.  Losing confidence and mortified at her action Amber was about to pull away, but Krystal was faster.  The younger girl grabbed her face forcefully and practically smashed their lips together.  Startled at first the blonde didn't know how to react and let the younger girl lead.

Eventually she gained the state of mind to respond vigorously.  Krystal suddenly pulled back, causing Amber's head to follow in search of more of her lips' caress.  The younger girl, face flushed with heat, looked straight into the blonde's eyes, “You're mine, Amber.  You're not allowed to date anyone else.  Okay?”

The blonde blinked.  Then smiled.  She put their foreheads together and said with a smile, “Of course Princess.  I've always been yours.  But now...after tonight, you're mine too.  Like I said, I want to be selfish and have you all to myself.”

Krystal smiled back and responded, “Stupid...I've always been yours too.”

“You're so beautiful Krystal.  So unbelievably beautiful.”

The younger girl flushed and instead of responding pressed their lips together again – ruined dress, hair, and heels forgotten -  


end of flashback..


--00--

Just thinking about the blonde put a smile on Krystal's pouting face and the girl sighed happily.  Speaking of Amber, it'd been a while since she'd left the older girl to her own devices.  Plus, she had the other pile the younger girl wanted to try.

With a bounce in her step Krystal exited the changing room and dumped her unwanted pile into the young worker's unlucky hands.

After peering around the changing rooms Krystal had found no Amber.  That was strange.  Amber was usually very easy to find, especially if you were Krystal Jung.  The 16 year old looked around and only found the same slightly older man napping on the seats designated for those who were waiting.

The young girl furrowed her brows and began scouring the department for the older girl.  She looked high and low but found no Amber.  What she didn't notice was someone snickering at her from a corner nearby.

Finally tired of looking, Krystal decided to just call the blonde and ask her where the hell she was.  The young girl approached a rectangular bin filled with on sale items with the intention of leaning on it while she made her phone call.

What she was not expecting was someone to pop out of the pile of underwear and scare 20 years off her life.

“BOO!”

Krystal's initial reaction was unlike most girls her age.  The young girl shrieked but proceeded to smack whatever it was as hard she could with her purse.  A loud “oof!” was heard and then a groan.  Krystal opened her previously closed eyes and was shocked to find Amber in a pile of french underwear.  The girl looked incredulous, “Amber?!  What-Why-Get out of there!” she finally settled on the emotion of anger instead of curiosity.

Amber struggled to regain her senses and held her throbbing head, “Ugh, Krys...what are you carrying in there, a rock?”

Krystal growled to herself and yanked the older girl's arm, “Get out of there!” she looked around, “What do you think you're doing?!”

Amber clumsily clambered out of the bin and looked around.  When she spotted a group of angry women and, presumably, the department manager heading their way she immediately took Krystal's hand and pulled the girl away, avoiding the woman yelling, “There he is!  That's him!”

The pair bolted out of the department and towards the elevator.  Amber pressed the close button on the elevator as if her life depended on it.  The group of women were quickly approaching and she didn't have much time.  When the doors finally closed moments before the angry mob arrived Amber slumped against the back wall and sighed in relief.

What she saw on the ground was an angry looking tapping foot.  She looked up and saw Krystal's face.  Yep.  Definitely angry.

She cleared  and backed as far away from the other girl as she could, “I can explain.”

“Explain what?  That you were being chased by a mob of middle aged women out of a lingerie store after you scared the living daylights out of me by popping out of an underwear bin?”

Amber blinked, “Yeah.  That.  I can explain that.”

Krystal crossed her arms, “Then please.  Do.”

They exited the elevator and Amber led the other girl by the small of her back, “I'll treat you to your favorite while I explain, come on.” Amber knew the other girl's weak spot.

One table and a bag of mangoes later Krystal looked Amber in the eye and glared, “Okay.  Now spill.”

Amber sighed, “Well...I sort of met up with Yoona unnie...”

--00--

The tall woman cackling in one corner of the lingerie store would have been strange to all normal people, but Seo Juhyun knew better.  It was worse than strange.  Yoona was completely up to no good.  The youngest of the unnies approached the slightly taller girl and pulled her away from the corner, “I leave you for 20 minutes and find you cackling in the corner of a lingerie department?  What have you done now?”

“I met Amber here.” she grinned.

Seohyun sighed, “That poor girl.  What did you do to her?”

“Whaaaat?  I didn't do anything.” she shrugged and followed the other girl out of the department, “and Sica unnie told us to test her anyway!  So even if I did it should be fine, right?” she reasoned.

Seohyun shook her head, “Not if it entails something illegal or unbecoming of a human being.”

Yoona chuckled, “Lighten up Hyunnie!  I just told her to pull some pranks.  That's all.  Easy pass.  I get entertainment, she gets to live a little.  It was a win-win situation!”

Seohyun rubbed her temple, “What exactly did you tell her to do?”

Yoona grinned, “Well-”

--00--

“-and she made me jump into that bin and scare people.”

Krystal had stopped eating her mango in the middle of that explanation and raised an eyebrow at the other girl, “Let me get this straight.  Yoona unnie's test was for you to jump into a bin of french underpants and scare innocent shoppers?”

Amber nodded slowly, “...she said if I did it to 10 people I'd pass.”

Krystal put down her mangoes and rubbed her temples.

Amber shuffled her feet like a child, “...you were the 10th person?”

The younger girl sighed and started eating her mango again, her expression unreadable.

Amber leaned in closer and kissed her cheek innocently, “...uh, Krys?”

Krystal sighed again and without looking at the other girl said, “if I were you, I'd be filling another bag full of mangoes.”

It didn't take much else for Amber to go sprinting off in search of mangoes.

--00--

Amber: 3
Unnies: 3

A/N It's a tie now!!