"Kris? Why are you here?" Her words came out slurred.
"Amber, you're drunk."
Amber chuckled and slapped Kris on the lap, hard. Kris gritted his teeth and hissed, "Ow..."
Without warning, she scooted in close to him and pressed her lips on his. Kris'...
Back in South Korea, Amber was preparing for her first 'Beautiful' performance. She had just finished the rehearsals where she almost broke down, but then this song gave her strength to move on, like it always did. As she walked down the stage through the corridor to get to her waiting room, the staff of the music show kept giving her compliments on her angelic voice. She smiled and thanked them, returning meek and humble words.
Amber plonked herself down on the couch, a thousand things on her mind at the same time. Her manager passed her a bubble tea, "Your boba."
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"Tank yaw," she said as she stuck out her tongue and rolled it around the thick straw. She took a big gulp and chewed happily. It was her favourite drink whenever she had a lot on her mind because her focus would then be switched onto the boba or tapioca seeds when they arrive in her mouth through the straw, like an army of miniature fat round goblins. It was satisfying and also relaxing.
"Manager oppa, this is good!" Amber exclaimed, with her mouth full of chewy boba. Only then did Amber notice that the bubble tea is pale orange at the bottom and a gorgeous shade of periwinkle on top – her favourite colour.
"The colour's nice too!" Amber said, admiring the endearing colour of the f(x) fandom. "What's it called?"
"It's a new flavour. It's called the-" he thought for a bit. "The Blue Galaxy, that's it."
"Oh," Amber nodded, the twinkle in her eyes seemed to dim a little. Galaxy. Kris.
It was only two years back before her Rum Pum Pum Pum stage rehearsal with her f(x) members when Kris had said something she couldn't remember. She wasn't feeling well that day. Because of her insistence, her members and managers finally agreed to let her go on stage. Her head was really aching and her legs are somewhat wobbly. She played it tough and walked on her own holding Victoria's and Luna's arms.
They rounded a bend and walked into EXO, who had just returned from their Wolf rehearsal. Her EXO juniors greeted them warmly and Kris who was walking at the end of the line immediately noticed that Amber was not in good shape.
"Amber, are you alright?" He didn't even bother to do the formal greeting.
Sehun who was just in front of Kris heard that and stopped walking. He took Amber's hand very naturally and was shocked that it was cold.
"Noona, your hand is very cold!" said Sehun, taking her hands in hers and rubbing them. Kris looked concerned. He placed his palm on Amber's neck to check her temperature.
"Amber's feeling under the weather," Victoria told them. "But she doesn't want to miss the performance, so we will make sure she gets enough rest."
Amber squinted her eyes as her headache was getting worse. Kris' hand was still on her neck. He bent down like he always did when they talked. He said something that sounded very important to her, but she couldn't concentrate. She felt blood rushing to her head and her surroundings became whiter and whiter. The world started to spin. Her knees buckled and she fell into Kris' arms, unconscious.
When she had woken up, she was in this very same room on this very same couch. Kris was holding her hand.
Amber had tried to sit up but Kris stopped her. She looked around and realised that they were alone in the room.
"Your members are at the rehearsal, they'll be back soon. And your manager is outside making a call."
"What about your members?" she asked.
"They just went out for dinner," he replied.
"What about you?"
"I told them to go ahead. Suho said he will bring me something to eat."
"You don't have to wait here, it's nothing-" she started to cough.
Kris quickly gave her a bottle of water and helped her sit up. She hated to feel like a weak person! What more being in that condition in front of Kris!
Kris was still holding her hand, which was probably cold and sweaty and gross to hold. His thumb was rubbing back and forth gently on the back of her hand, which felt very good. She drank the water while looking at Kris telling her an exaggerated version of how she fainted. If only he had known how she felt for him. If only she had told him there and then.
Amber tried to shove him off her mind, but he wouldn't go away. She guessed it was true, that people don't learn to appreciate certain things until they lose them. She checked her messages. Still no reply to those from one year back.
"Ambeo-ya..." her manager said. Amber looked up from her phone, trying to hide her sadness. But there was no use hiding; it was as though his eyes could see right through her soul. He gave her a cheerful smile and said, "Come on, get ready; I'll ask the stylists to come in."
***
Amber talked to her stylists while having her makeup done. They decided to let her wear a hat, which she liked very much.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in please," Amber was always very polite.
"Amber!" Kevin from UKISS strode in.
"Hey Kevin!" Amber stood up to give him a hug. "What took you so long?"
"I was gonna come after the rehearsal, but the director had something to discuss with me so we kinda had a short meeting," he said, blushing from the hug. They had been hugging for ages but Kevin still felt a bit uneasy every time. After all, Amber was the only female friend he had.
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They had not seen each other for quite some time, so they sat down and had a nice long chat. They joked and laughed until it was time to go.
Amber and Kevin went to meet up with 4Minute and Niel from Teen Top at another waiting room. They greeted each other formally and caught up with each other. Later on, Eli from UKISS joined them and they got ready for the recording session.
The 4Minute members introduced their new song 'Crazy' enthusiastically to the camera. Then Kevin as the MC gave a brief intro and told Amber to tell the audience about her new song as well.
Amber said in Korean, "f(x)'s Amber has e-e-e-eej-euh-shi-oh," which gained fanatic screams from the audience.
She continued, "Ne, so now, SHAKE THAT BRASS with me!"
The camera moved to focus on Niel. Kevin mouthed to Amber, "That was really good."
