Krystal sat on the bed of her Beijing hotel room and read articles about herself with a crestfallen expression. She rarely ever looked at her own articles, but various friends and family members had pointed out some particularly negative articles that were posted two days ago. The young girl gazed at the expressionless and "controversial" photos of herself from MAMA 2015 and sighed.

"Why are these stupid attitude controversies still popping up after all these years?" Krystal wondered to herself as she read through the hurtful comments. And more importantly she wondered, "Why does this kind of stuff still bother me?"

Krystal felt like she had become a stronger person than the innocent girl who debuted over six years ago. As a rookie Krystal had agonized over the criticism she constantly received for appearing cold, disinterested, or rude. She couldn't understand why people misjudged her as cold when her personality was quite warm, but the confidence that Krystal lacked as a teenager had developed slowly over time. Rather than fake a smile just to please others, Krystal had learned not to let a few hateful comments get to her.

At least, Krystal thought she had learned not to let hateful comments get to her. But as her heart throbbed with a dull ache of sadness from reading the pages of negative comments left on her articles, Krystal couldn't help but feel as weak as her 15-year-old self had felt.

Perhaps the reason why this latest wave of criticism seemed to hurt more than usual was because Krystal thought that the public had begun to accept her recently. She had made every effort to reveal her true personality during the "4 Walls" comeback. Krystal had attended all four of f(x)'s radio shows this promotion cycle, speaking earnestly and working diligently during each show. She had talked about her tears during the "4 Walls" first win, her desire to hold a solo concert with f(x), and her appreciation for her members and for their fans.

The most genuine aspects of Krystal's personality had been put on display and the response had been positive. The netizens finally noticed her loyalty to f(x), her strength and perseverance. She was no longer just Jessica's little sister or someone to compare against Sulli; Krystal was her own person and she had become someone that the netizens praised.

So why had the world her again?

Krystal slowly fell back onto her bed, looked up at the ceiling, and contemplated that very question. Her phone slipped out of her fingers and tumbled onto into the bedspread, offering no answers to her query. It was while in that dazed position that Amber entered the room and found Krystal lying on the bed in the middle of the day.

"Soojung-ah!" Amber called out in a singsong voice, bursting through the hotel room door with unrestrained excitement. "Guess wh--" The older girl took a look at Krystal's expression and her cheerfulness faltered. "What happened?"

Without even glancing at Amber, Krystal pointed at her phone in response. The older girl looked at the scathing comments still visible on the screen, all of which were directed at her girlfriend, and narrowed her eyes in disapproval.

"The worst of the netizens are at it again, I see," Amber observed icily. She cast a sympathetic smile at Krystal. "Well I hope that you're not buying any of this. Obviously Luna and I didn't notice anything unusual about you during MAMA. The people who actually know you understand you the best, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Krystal murmured back noncommittally.

Amber sat down gently on the bed and tried to focus Krystal's gaze with a wave of her hand. "Soojung, Earth to Soojung. You OK in there?"

"Amber, why do you love me?" The younger girl asked abruptly. It was a question that Krystal already knew the answer to since Amber wasn't shy about complimenting her princess. But with Krystal's vulnerable state of mind right now, she suddenly needed to hear why Amber found her attractive.

The older girl smiled at Krystal with affection, knowing exactly what kind of response her girlfriend wanted to hear. Still, she couldn't help but tease Krystal gently in order to lighten the mood. "You don't know the answer to that question, huh? I must not be doing a good job as your girlfriend."

"You always do a great job as my girlfriend," Krystal replied with a faint smirk, "but seriously, I could use some cheering up. Can you just say it clearly? Please?"

Amber smiled and gently pulled Krystal off the bed and towards her into a hug. "I love you because when I look at you, whether you're smiling or not, you're so beautiful that it takes my breath away."

"Yeah, say more stuff like that," Krystal nodded with a shy smile.

"I love how adorable you are," Amber whispered into Krystal's ear, nipping at it gently. "Even though you routinely free load off me, I know you have a generous personality. And I know how compassionate your heart is, and it's as beautiful as your y smile."

Amber looked down at the embarrassed girl in her arms, whose face was hidden behind her hands, and laughed. "I bet you regret asking me why I love you," Amber teased, knowing how shy Krystal could become when complimented.

"I regret it only a little bit," Krystal laughed gently. "Thank you for saying all those sweet things about me. But still... I can't stop feeling sad about those stupid comments."

"It's OK to feel sad when people hurt your feelings. Remember when you cheered me up after I felt sad about that fan who told me to stop acting like a guy?" Amber asked, reminding Krystal about the incident in Japan over the summer. "It took me a long time to get over those comments."

"Oh yeah..." Krystal said slowly, remembering the situation. "See what a hypocrite I am though? I told you to be strong and confident and to ignore the haters and stuff, but when the comments turn on me, I crumble too."

"You're not crumbling," Amber chastised Krystal gently. She cradled the younger girl in an all-encompassing hug and rested her chin comfortably in the crook of Krystal's neck. "You're just being human, an incredibly sensitive and sweet human... even though netizens apparently don't believe you're capable of emotion."

"So you don't think I was being colder than usual during MAMA?" Krystal wondered, to which Amber emphatically shook her head in the negative.

"I don't think you were being cold at all. People like to capture your worst moments and make a big deal out of them because, honestly, they're jealous of you and what you have. They wanna bring you down to make themselves feel better and to give themselves a sense of control over you because they're bullies and this is what bullies do."

Krystal turned and looked at Amber in surprise, taken aback by