"Why don't you just tell Krystal what you're doing?" Henry asked as Amber put on her jacket and headed out the door. She'd been staying with him for two weeks now and he kind of wanted her out. His bachelor life was suffering.

Amber shrugged. "I think it's better if she figures it out on her own." 

"She's going to hate you." 

That little shoulder lift and a tilt of her head. "She's already a little annoyed" 

He chuckled. "You're evil, you know that? She doesn't deserve this." 

"I know."

"This is gorgeous. Thank you, Amber," Krystal said, asking Amber to place the necklace around her neck. "You know you didn't have to do anything special." 

Amber turned her in her arms and looked into her eyes. "This is the first Valentine's we've got to spend together. Of course, I'm doing something special. I've already talked to your manager and know you don't have any official events for today. Were you planning on meeting any friends?" 

Krystal shook her head. 

"Good," Amber grinned. "Then you're all mine." 

"There've been some rumors." 

The microphone in her face surprised her. Krystal took a step back and blinked at the reporter, then looked around to find that there were quite a few lining the entrance to the building. She'd been out to film another scene for her new drama. The area was supposed to be kept clear of paparazzi, but it seemed they'd invaded the space while most of the crew were on location. Now they were heading back to film the indoor scenes and around seven reporters and their crew were around. Not a lot, but still more than there should have been.

"What?"

Her manager came up and carefully moved the man out of Krystal's way. 

"Are you going to comment on the recent rumors, Ms. Jung?" 

"What are they talking about?" Krystal demanded of her manager. "What's going on?" 

He sighed and guided her into the building, taking her to a corner office where they could have some quiet while the filming crew set up cameras and lights. 

"I told you to be careful, and you have been all these years, but now with Amber around more..." He shrugged and pulled out his phone, showing a causal picture of her and Amber leaning on each other. It had been during a break in one of her photoshoots and Amber had visited her to bring her soup since the weather was so cold. They were pressed together in the cold sharing the warm bowl of soup. Krystal's heart had felt even warmer than the food. 

"That picture-" 

"There's another," her manager interrupted, showing one of Amber kissing her goodbye. It was on the cheek, but something about they'd tilted toward one another showed the intimacy of the moment. "People are starting to speculate." 

"So what?" Krystal asked. "Times are different now?" 

He looked skeptical. "When was the last same- relationship you heard about? Which actresses career has survived any sort of scandal like this?" 

She set her jaw. "I'm not some starting out actress anymore. Nor am I an idol. I am a veteran in this field. I've gained respect and connections and-" 

"And you could easily be replaced by another actress," he reminded her. 

"We've already filmed-" 

He cocked a brow at her and she clenched her fists. She'd seen wilder story-line changes just for the sake of the audience or the press. Pretending she'd gotten plastic surgery to look different or was killed to take her out of the show was extremely easy. 

"What should I do?" she asked quietly. 

He laid a hand on her forearm. He cared about her like a daughter. They'd known each other for so long. "I honestly don't know. I know how you feel about Amber and how long you two have waited to be together. But I also know that you could both possibly be torn apart by the media here. Companies could drop you for fear of how it would affect your image in the eye of the public and it would become a domino effect of one brand confirming the fears of another." 

She pressed her face into the palms of her hands. "Right now they're just rumors, right?" 

"Right." He patted her back. "They don't have any photos other than those. At least nothing they've released, but I know you two have been careful." 

She knew they'd been less careful the past few weeks. She hadn't thought anything of it because they didn't hold hands or anything like that. She'd hoped people would just see it as two old friends hanging out. 

"I'll talk to Amber," she said quietly. 

Her manager nodded, hoping everything would go well for the two. 

"Hey, Henry. Is Amber here?" 

He was going to joke around with her until he saw the expression on her face. He stepped away from the door and gestured toward his spare bedroom. 

She thanked him and breezed past him. She knocked on the door twice, then entered, catching Amber in the middle of a phone call. 

"Look, I have to go. I'll call you back later." She tossed the phone onto the bed and turned to her girlfriend. "What's up? You usually avoid coming to Henry's place." 

Krystal sat down on the edge of the mattress. "There are speculation articles starting to crop up about us," she said. "There were reporters at the filming site today." 

Amber's knees got a little weak. She collapsed next to Krystal. "What did they say?" 

"Nothing much. Just asking if it's true. There weren't many of them so the rumor isn't too big yet. I just..." 

Amber reached for her hand and held it between both of hers. "What do you want to do?" 

Krystal tilted her head. "What do you mean?" 

"About the rumor? About us?" Amber clarified.

Krystal looked at her incredulously. "What do I want to do? What about you? What do you want to do?"

The older woman was confused where the anger was coming from. "I barely work in Korea anymore," Amber said. "My career doesn't depend on what you choose." 

"Why are you putting it all on me?" 

"Why are you upset?!" 

Krystal huffed. "After all this time, it seems like we barely know each other." She stood up from the bed, but Amber pulled her back down by the hand she still held. 

"And after all this time, you still have that temper." Her eyes were firm on Krystal's. "You don't get to keep just walking away when you're mad, leaving me in the dust trying to figure out what I did wrong. We're different people now, Krys." 

Krystal flipped her hair and glared at her girlfriend. "Are we?"