Constant and Changing (kryber)

Chapter 3: Vacance

The remainder of the week leading up to the SMTown concerts in Tokyo were brutal for Krystal Jung. Although she enjoyed filming "My Lovely Girl" and working with the cast and crew, her filming schedule was accelerated for the week since she would lose time in order to fly to Tokyo and perform during the two day concert. The seemingly endless hours were taking their toll on her body and she felt fatigued throughout the day.

The biggest news of the week following her sister's removal from Girls' Generation was that the company had cancelled the debut of the Jungsis unit featuring Jessica and Krystal. Although no formal announcement had been made about Jungsis to begin with and therefore no formal cancellation announcement was needed, the internal news was just another blow to an already beaten-down Jessica and Krystal. The months that they had already spent recording their debut album were now wasted. Their hope for a season 2 of "Jessica & Krystal" was destroyed as well.

"I'm always on unnie's side. Let's stop crying!" Those were the words Krystal had written to her sister months ago for their last episode of "Jessica & Krystal", knowing that tough times would were in store for them. Those tough times were now upon them, and Krystal found it hard not to cry lately. Still, she couldn't give up yet. The company had taken the Jungsis debut away from her, but they hadn't taken f(x) away. Jessica had already encouraged Krystal to smile and to do her best at this weekend's concerts in her place, and Krystal didn't want to let her sister down. For both Jessica and for f(x), Krystal would work hard today.

Because of her filming schedule, Krystal was the last to arrive at f(x)'s hotel rooms in Tokyo on the day of the concert. As she entered her room, she was immediately bombarded by a tangle of arms and bodies all trying to hug her at once. There were too many voices talking too loudly on top of each other, but the message was clear: her unnies had missed her and they were here to support her. Smiling more genuinely that she had smiled all week, Krystal hugged the three-headed mass before her and joined into the jumbled mess of voices. "I missed you guys, too!"

The group separated and Krystal gave each unnie an individual hug. First was Victoria, who she hadn't seen in the longest time out of the group. Her Vic-omma had been texting and sending words of encouragement all week. She hugged her leader unnie tightly and greeted her warmly.

Next was her Luna-unnie, who had called her and video-chatted with her during the week. "Thanks for last night," she whispered into Luna's ear, referring to the video chat they had very late last night before Luna went to bed. The chat kept Krystal motivated for filming her final drama scene of the evening, and she was grateful for Luna's support. Luna winked and patted her on the cheek with a smile.

And finally, Amber. After the pizza date on Monday, there had been no opportunities for an in-person encounter until now. She opened her arms to Amber for a hug and Amber did not disappoint. Krystal was lifted off the ground and spun in circles much to her delight. Her giggly landing was met by feigned opposition by Luna.

"How come I didn't get a greeting like that? Am I not as cute as Soojungie? Aren't I worth spinning around, too?"

The four of them laughed at Luna's joke, happy to be playing around with each other again. It had been too long since they were last together, not since the last SMTown concert in mid August.

Victoria went over to Luna and gave her a heavy back hug, playfully leaning her full weight on Luna's back, causing the younger girl to collapse a bit. "It's too early in the morning for that much aegyo," Victoria teased her. "Save it for the concert."

"Welcome to Tokyo!" Amber abruptly declared in Japanese, eliciting another wave of laughter from the group. She was planning to greet the audience in Japanese later although she only knew a handful of phrases. "How much does this cost?" she asked, still speaking in Japanese.

The members dissolved into a fit of giggles and Krystal fell onto the empty bed that she assumed was hers. "So who am I rooming with this weekend?" she asked, looking to the other bed that already had an open suitcase on it.

"Amber-unnie. I get to bother Vic-omma this time!" Luna cheerful announced. She quickly followed it up by a pained cry as Victoria put her chin on Luna's head and pressed her down. "Owwwww, stoppppp. I'm already shorter than everyone else."

Amber leapt onto Krystal's bed and started bouncing up and down on her knees. "Hurry up and unpack! Let's play before rehearsal! Let's go to the pool! 'Hey buddy, we're on vacation!'" she sang cheerfully, using lyrics from a song they would be performing later.

"Hey, hey," Victoria said, coming over to slap Amber's butt. "There's no time for the pool, we're leaving here in an hour. Let Soo Jung rest before we have to go." She started to pull Amber off the bed by her collar, but Krystal raised a hand to stop Victoria.

"It's OK, you can leave her. I'll have her unpack for me while I take a nap," Krystal joked, leaning back on the bed with her hands folded behind her head.

"OK, but then I get her tomorrow night to pack my suitcase for me," Victoria countered, holding out her hand to Krystal.

"Deal," Krystal agreed, reaching out toward Victoria's outstretched hand. They shook on the deal.

"Uh, am I a tool to be passed around?" Amber asked jokingly.

"Yes," Victoria and Krystal chorused sweetly, as though they had practiced their response. They shared a smile at Amber's expense.

"Well if there's no pool, I'm going back to my room to relax a bit. I'll see you guys in an hour," Luna said, waving cheerfully at them.

"Me too," Victoria agreed, following Luna out the door.

As soon as the door shut, Amber turned and gave Krystal a mischievious sideways glance.

"What...?" Krystal asked her, trying to mimic the sideways look that Amber was giving her. Then, without warning, Amber pounced on Krystal with a huge bear hug. Krystal wondered if Luna and Victoria heard her high-pitched squeal just now at Amber's unexpected actions. She giggled her way out of Amber's hold and slapped Amber on the stomach.

"Get off of me, stupid! Is this how you let me rest before rehersal?" Krystal asked jokingly.

"Yes," Amber responded. "Because we both know you like it."

They smiled at each other but said nothing else, letting the grins on their faces speak for themselves. After a few moments, Krystal broke the gaze first, as she always did. She could never win against Amber's playful stares.

"This is going to be a good weekend, isn't it?" Krystal wondered aloud as she started to unpack her clothes. Amber poked her had into Krystal's opened suitcase and nosily rummaged around the items.

"Things always seem a little better when we're together, don't they?" observed Amber with a smile.

"A lot better," she corrected Amber. Today was her first SMTown concert without Jessica, but it seemed brighter than it did on Monday when she thought about performing without her sister. It was the power of f(x). With Victoria, Amber, and Luna at her side, Krystal had the strength to do anything. She wanted to be with the three of them all weekend.

"Hey, nice underwear," Amber joked, poking at the clothes in Krystal's suitcase.

Krystal slapped the back of Amber's head in embarrassment, not at all guilty by Amber's roar of pain. Perhaps Amber was the one member she didn't want to be with all weekend. At least, not while she was unpacking.