Constant and Changing (kryber)

Chapter 45: My Style

Krystal was acting annoyed with Amber's antics, but in reality she was quite relieved to see that Amber was finally back to her normal self. The older girl had spent much of the last few weeks mourning the loss of her beloved dog, Gongju. Even though Amber had forced herself to continue on through the pain, Krystal could see that Amber struggled at times to move forward. It was only somewhat recently that Krystal could see a more genuine happiness return to Amber's eyes, and she knew that tonight's celebration was helping to increase Amber's good mood.

The cake that they were baking together was for f(x)'s low-key but meaningful 6th anniversary celebration. Victoria was flying back from China at this very moment especially for tonight. It was only naive Luna who was unaware of their anniversary plans, and who was therefore the target of their surprise party. Luna was performing in her musical tonight and the f(x) members hoped to surprise her with the cake after the show ended, bringing the four f(x) members back together for the first time since their successful performance in London.

"OK!" Krystal announced, whisking the extra chocolate into the dry ingredients. "Now we need some eggs."

Amber eagerly jumped to her feet and raised her hand. "I'll help!"

"Oh no you don't." Krystal shook her head and pointed a finger at Amber. "No more 'help' from you. Sit."

"Let me help," Amber whined, coming over to the younger girl and nudging shoulders with her. "I'm good at helping."

"Just keep your hands to yourself," Krystal laughed as she walked over to the refrigerator.

Amber responded by placing a kiss on Krystal's nose. "How about my lips?" she wondered cheekily. "You didn't say I had to keep my lips to myself."

"You're being quite bratty today, you know that?" Krystal observed as she opened the refrigerator. "What's gotten into you?"

"Today is f(x)'s 6th anniversary," Amber explained, placing another kiss on Krystal's cheek. "Six years ago, after we officially debuted, I finally let myself believe that I would get to see a lot more of you over the next few years. I imagined all the time we would spend practicing and performing together in the future and it felt like a dream come true. Today's a pretty meaningful day for me."

Krystal turned away from Amber with a smile and pulled two eggs out of their carton. "Did you imagine all the time you would spend teasing me and playing tricks on me, too?" she joked.

"Yeah, I did," Amber admitted, much to Krystal's surprise. "I imaged sitting in long car rides with you to get to our next schedules, I imagined filming music videos and recording songs with you... I even imagined what it would be like to have you fall in love with me and what it would be like to kiss you, Jung Soojung. And I'm grateful that I don't have to imagine any of that now."

Krystal closed the refrigerator and turned to find Amber standing extremely close to her with the most gentle of expressions on her face. The younger girl smiled warmly at her girlfriend, touched by the affection in Amber's words and in her gaze. "You're sweet, Am, you know that?"

"First you accuse me of being a sadist and now you call me sweet. Make up your mind, will you?" Amber joked. She stepped towards Krystal and reached out to pull her into a hug.

"Hey hey," Krystal chided playfully. She stepped back and leaned against the refrigerator. "You promised to keep your hands to yourself, remember? I'm trying to bake here."

"No problem, I don't need my hands for this," Amber whispered in a low voice, gazing at Krystal with a kind of hunger that didn't seem conducive to baking. The hands that had reached out for a hug now placed themselves gently against the wall on either side of Krystal's waist, trapping the younger girl in place without touching her. Amber held Krystal's gaze as she leaned in closer and kissed her softly so that only their mouths touched. With Krystal's eyes tightly closed as they kissed, all she could feel was the warmth and softness of Amber's lips against her own.