Krystal POV

"Stop!" I hear a male shout in the midst of the security guards trying to get rid of me. They stop and stare off in the direction of his voice and immediately release me. I shoot them a glare and spot L hurrying towards us. My eyes widen and I look down at the ground, afraid and embarrassed of the situation. Wait a second, why do I care? It's only L, a boy who constantly gets on my nerves and has an ego the size of Seoul. Though I remind myself that we are technically friends now or, as I consider it, at a truce. Then again, our 'truce' has caused a scandal to break out and I am the target of millions of fan girls. My life is so miserable. I keep my eyes lowered.

"Oh, L!" Tiffany's hard glare on me suddenly brightens to a flirty smile towards the boy who's now standing in front of me. "How may I help you? Is your stay comfortable enough? Do you need more complementaries for your room?" I narrow my eyes up at her. What a two-faced bit-

"Krystal," L says sternly, interrupting my thoughts. I look at him and meet his eyes. His cold gaze seems to pierce right through my body, intimidating me despite my attempts to keep calm. "We've been waiting for you. What took you so long?" I resist the urge to snap at him. Instead, I feign an innocent look.

"Oh you know, I just wanted to come back to a hotel I've been fired from working at," I drawl sarcastically, cutting my eyes to Tiffany, "before these big, mean security guards came out of nowhere and wouldn't let me in." My voice sounds genuinely hurt and scared. Why haven't I become an actress? The entertainment industry is so missing out. L's hard stare softens to that of an amused one. Uh oh. I mentally prepare myself for the upcoming teasing as I can tell he is going to play along with my not-meant-to-be-played-along-with act. 

"'Big, mean security guards?'" He mocks, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, you poor baby." My heart jumps at those words, but I ignore it as I am growing irritated at his wasting my time. Then I remember it's technically my fault, but that's not the point here. L waves everyone else away, including Tiffany who frowns at me then walks away, flipping her hair. He wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close as we walk to the elevators. I can't help but think that this gesture will only fuel our relationship rumors, but L just doesn't seem to care anymore. "You should really watch yourself, Krystal. Your actions can affect your image from now on." I stare at him in disbelief.

"My image? I'm not the celebrity here!" I exclaim, pushing his arm away. The elevator doors open and we step inside. L hits the 11th floor button and turns to face me.

"I mean now that we've been spotted together in public, you will have to be more cautious of how you handle issues like what happened in the lobby. Your behavior will most likely be monitored by INFINITE fans now and can ultimately affect those around you. Me, for example." I am trying to process his words when the doors open and the member I recognize to be Sungyeol appears before us, surprised.

"Nice, L! You just saved me a lot of walking. Manager Hyung asked me to look for you. He doesn't seem very happy these days...." He drifts off as his eyes shift over to me. "Oh even better, you found the scandal girl. We look forward to hiring you." He forces a smile and bows lightly. I return it with a heavy heart. Scandal girl. Is that all I am? I notice that L's hands have tightened into fists when Sungyeol addressed me that way. Shrugging it off and wanting to get this over with, I brush past Sungyeol and ask L where to go.

"This way," he instructs, stepping in front of me. Sungyeol bumps my shoulder as he hurries ahead. We reach room 1105, the room where it all started, and L inserts his key card. Opening the door, we are greeted by one of the managers. He looks directly at me, serious ex