Krystal and Sulli make their way toward one of the rooms in the gibang. When they got to the door, Krystal inhaled. She closed her eyes. Her mind wandered a bit. Then she opened them, exhaling. Sulli swung the door open. All of the men became silent as they turned their heads toward Krystal. At the end of the table sat Kai. Krystal’s eyes met his. He smiled. So did she. Krystal bowed and started walking toward Kai.

              Just then, Sulli gasped. Krystal stopped.

              “Krystal!”

              She recognized that familiar, firm voice. The voice she could fall asleep to… The men’s eyes shifted behind her. Then a hand grabbed her shoulder, turning her around. It was Amber.

              Kai furrowed his eyebrows. “What is HE doing here..?!”

Two Days Ago

              “Is it because… you’re a woman?”

              Amber’s heart skipped a beat. And not in a good way. He pulled his hands away from Krystal and fell backwards.

              “H-how…how did y-you know?” Amber asked, his hands trembling.

His chest ached, throat dry. Sweat formed on his temples.

“Amber,” Krystal said, inching toward him. “I’ve known since a week ago.” She sighed. “Remember when you hurt your hand?” She picked up his wounded hand and held it gently with her smaller hands. “When I was taking care of you… you were soaking wet, dirty. So I wanted to take your shirt off… but then I saw your chest.”

Amber pulled his hand away again and turned around, his back facing Krystal. A hundred thoughts, questions, and worries ran through his mind. He didn’t know what to say or do.

“Amber. Look at me. Please,” Krystal said. She reached over and gently tugged on his shoulder. He hesitantly looked up, a tear rolling down his face. Krystal softly smiled and wiped his tear. “You’re still the same man I fell in love with, Amber. I don’t care what’s underneath. Honestly, I was in a mess this whole week. But it all came down to this… saranghae.”

Amber locked eyes with Krystal. He slowly rested his hand on her hand. She smiled again. But he didn’t. He gently grabbed her hand and set it down. He stood up and sighed. He looked down at her for a short while.

              “I love you, too,” he thought.

              Instead of voicing his one thought that was glued to his mind throughout everything, he said the opposite.

              “I’m sorry, Krystal,” he said, looking away. “I can’t. It’s wrong. I just can’t…”

              Amber clenched his jaw and grabbed his materials, throwing them into his bag. He began walking out the door, but something stopped him. He looked down. Krystal grabbed the end of his pants.

              “Amber,” she said, holding back tears. “I know you love me, too, right? Who cares if it’s wrong. I don’t care… I know I’m just a lowly gisaeng, but I love you. I do. Please…please don’t go.”

              Amber too fought back his tears. Her words were like an arrow to his chest. Guilt swallowed him up. He inhaled and looked up. “Please don’t make me feel any worse about this… I love you for you, but I…I can’t,” he thought.

He turned to her, bent down, and gently pulled her hands away. “I’m sorry. I…I don’t. I don’t love you.”

              Amber turned to the door and quickly left.

              Krystal couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. A tear rolled down her face. Then another. Soon, she started crying. And then sobbing.

              Amber sat outside Krystal’s room. After hearing her cry, he too cried. Uncontrollably. “I did the right thing, right?” he thought. “Well, it doesn’t feel right.”

After a few minutes, he heard footsteps nearby, so he quickly wiped away his tears and got up to leave.

Kai peered into the hall and saw Amber running off. “Hm…”

Amber ran out the entrance. The gisaeng bowed at him, but he ignored them all. All he could see and think about was Krystal and what he had done to her. But it was the right thing to do, right? That question was the only thing he could think about.

              He stepped outside of the gate only to be grabbed by the shoulder and pushed against the wall. He flinched, closing his eyes for a quick second.

              “Relax,” the man said. “It’s just me.”

              The familiar voice drove Amber to open his eyes. “Hyung?”

              Henry pulled him in for a hug. “Come here, dongsaeng-ah!”

              “Wait,” Amber said, quickly pushing him off. “What are you doing here?”

              “You,” he replied. “You’re in big trouble…”

              “Huh?”

              “What are you doing, running around with a gisaeng, Amber?”

              Amber gulped. “I,” he hesitantly said. “I…”

              “You love her, don’t you?”

              “Ho—… what..?”

              “Brother’s intuition… you could say.”

              Amber raised an eyebrow in skepticism.

              “Okay, okay. I might’ve been following you around.”

              Amber opened his mouth to speak up, but Henry cut him off.

              “It was for your own good! Those drunk guys? Do you think they were on the ground only because of the powder you threw at them? And what about that one time you got yourself into some trouble at the marketplace? When we were doing an off-campus painting?”

FLASHBACK

              The three men ran past the fabric shop. Henry took a peek and saw Amber and another woman inside. He ran toward the three men.

              “Hey!” he shouted. The men turned his way. “Are you looking for a kid in a uniform?”

              “Yeah,” one of the men said. “Do you know where he went?”

              Henry pointed at the opposite direction and t