CHAPTER XXX

THAT OTHER LIFE PART II

“That was probably the only good memory we had with her in that life…” Jessica sighed as she stared into the distance.

“Really?” Her younger self stood up and walked around the vast green meadow. “I thought we had other good memories in that life…”

“True…” Jessica said as she stared at the young blonde girl. “… But we were never truly happy…”

“Never truly happy?” The little blonde girl stopped and turned to face her older self. A huge cloud drifted above their heads and casted a big shadow.

“Yes; never.” She said as she rested her chin on top of her joined knees. “Bad things always happened to us, or between us…”

“All because we were not ready…” Jessica said sadly as she played with a blade of grass. “… All because I was not ready…”

“Not ready for what?” Her younger self asked.

“For the consequences…” Jessica buried her face against her knees. “… For our relationship…”

And she closed her eyes once more and her mind took her back once again to her previous life. A life she desperately wanted to forget; but a life she knew she had to experience to become who she was today. And as her mind wondered and her younger self hummed to a slow and sad song; dark clouds slowly filled the sky and darkened their horizons.

Jessica and Stephanie were happy with their relationship for some time. They thought their feelings and affection toward each other were enough for them to overcome any problems or obstacles in their love. They were young and naïve, and filled with fiery passion that exploded every time they saw each other. Not that they hadn’t had love before, but it was the first time they had feelings so strong that turned them out of control.

They were careful at first, of course; not to reveal their relationship to anyone. Not even to their closest friends and families. Their love was their secret; and it was a beautiful and exciting secret for them. The excitement of trying to hide their relationship from everyone only added more fuel to their love. All the secrecy only made them yearn for each other affection even more.

Their friends invited them to hang out at the mall, and they used the opportunity to have a date. When their friends were checking out dresses they snuck into the dressing room and shared a fiery and passionate kiss. And when they went to the cinema they wrapped their arms around each other and stole kisses. And when it was late Jessica would pretend to offer Stephanie a ride home out of kindness, and the brunette rich woman used the opportunity to spend the night at her place.

And they thought it was easier for them to hide their love because they were both girls. They could hold hands and hug each other without making everyone suspicious. They could caress each other’s hairs and spoon feed and call each other honey and no one would think they were lovers. They just looked like the bestest best friends.

But it was harder than they thought. Stephanie would get jealous when their friends got too close to Jessica. The crescent eyed journalist knew Sooyoung was only being friendly to Jessica when she played with her brunette beautiful hair, but Stephanie couldn’t hold her jealousy. And the black haired woman didn’t like it when their friends called Jessica “Jess.” In Stephanie’s mind they were calling her with such passion that made her wanted to throw up. No one should call her Jessi “Jessi.”

And that silly notion was the cause of their first big fight. Jessica couldn’t understand what was wrong with their friends calling her Jessi. That was her name and it would be odd if they called her by other names. And she thought it was childish of Stephanie to think that way. But the crescent eyed journalist grew even angrier and shouted how the brunette woman didn’t care how special the nickname was. Jessica was not a woman who knew how to back down and she wasn’t going to start that time. So instead of calming the love of her life and try to comfort her; she shouted back saying how disgusting it was for her too to hear Taeyeon calling her Steph. And that fight led to their first break up.

It took Stephanie a week to calm herself down and realized how silly and childish her jealousy was. The journalist then went to Jessica’s apartment with flowers and sad puppy eyes. Jessica pretended to not care and still angry with the crescent eyed woman, even when she was feeling like a wreck the whole week and missing Stephanie like crazy. And when she saw the pretty journalist begged for another chance at their relationship; she couldn’t hide her smile and teary eyes. The brunette woman then forced Stephanie to stay in her apartment. And no one saw them out of the luxury apartment complex for two days. Not even the butler/bodyguard Alfred.

They then decided to call each other by their Korean names whenever they were alone; names that they rarely used among their friends. And Stephanie felt somehow satisfied that they had special pet names for each other once more. Even saying Sooyeon brought warmth to her heart and big smile on her face.

But another fight was coming to them. It was when Jessica’s college best friends Yoona and Yuri visited her in Korea for a vacation. When the idealist black haired woman saw how close they were, and how happy Jessica looked when she welcomed them; that her teary eyes shone and sparkled like the Arabian night sky, Stephanie was screaming and burning inside. No one was supposed to make the Ice Princess’ eyes sparkled like that time but her. No one.

And when Jessica offered her long-time friends to work for her in Seoul; Stephanie lost her patience and poured out all her jealousy. That was the second big fight they ever had. And again the brunette rich woman didn’t back down, and again she shouted back and threw her own fits about how jealous she felt every time Stephanie was with Taeyeon. How she felt sick every time the journalist chatted with her best friend, and how sickening it was hearing Stephanie talked about that short, slanted eyed woman. And that big fight led to their second break up.

And again, it took Stephanie one week to calm herself down and saw how silly and childish she was. And once again, she brought flowers and her sad puppy eyes to Jessica’s front door. And once again Jessica acted like she didn’t care. But it wasn’t for long, because when Stephanie started begging, her heart melted and she pulled the crescent puppy into her arms and showered her with kisses. And another two days passed without anyone seeing them out of the apartment.

They then promised each other to keep their distances to their best friends, so they wouldn’t draw jealousy from each other. A promise surprisingly well kept.

And it was probably that promise that Taeyeon grew suspicious of them. They were literally acting different with their friends, but showed too much affection towards each other. Even Seohyun was starting to feel something was not right when one time when they were shopping some clothes and she wanted to try on a cute one-piece light pink dress she caught Jessica went out of a dressing room with messy clothes and short breaths. And only seconds later Stephanie went out of the same dressing room. The young and devoted Seohyun shared what she saw with Taeyeon, and the short slanted eyed woman only grew more suspicious. There was definitely something wrong with the way her best friend Stephanie stared at the brunette rich woman. Like she just wanted to throw herself at Jessica.

One evening Taeyeon decided to confront the journalist. The short woman knew Stephanie wouldn’t lie to her. And even if she would; Taeyeon could immediately know she was lying. The slanted eyed woman had been her best friend for as long as she could remember, and they understood and knew about each other more than they wanted to admit.

And Taeyeon was right. Stephanie couldn’t lie about her special relationship with Jessica. The journalist silly excuses at first, but in the end she admitted it all. And although the slanted eyed woman had a feeling that Stephanie and Jessica were more than friends, she was still shocked to hear the confession. It was certainly not a common confession; not when both individuals involved in the relationship had the same . And even though she tried to have an open mind, she couldn’t truly accept their relationship. Not just because they were both girls, but also because the one her best friend fell in love with was Jessica Jung. The Jessica Jung, who was known not for her merits, but for her crazy lifestyle and dark personality. She could accept it when Stephanie introduced the hazel eyed rich woman as her friend, but not this. Not when she knew in her guts that their relationship would only bring them tears. So she tried to separate them.

But she knew she couldn’t do that alone, so she asked their friends to help her. Taeyeon told Sooyoung, Sunny and Seohyun about Jessica and Stephanie; and they agreed to help Taeyeon. They thought they were doing it for Stephanie’s sake; so that the naïve journalist wouldn’t get hurt. Together they confronted Stephanie and held an intervention for her. They shared how they thought Stephanie and Jessica’s relationship was wrong; that girls should love boys, and how society would never accept them. But Stephanie just smiled and said that she didn’t mind if no one would accept them for what they were, and she would never ask her friends to do the opposite. Their intervention failed.

Taeyeon didn’t give up, though, and came up with another plan. She approached Yuri and Yoona, Jessica’s best friends, that had just begun to live in Korea and worked for Jessica; and told them the situation. Both girls were surprised at first, as they thought Jessica was straight and was still in a relationship with Richard, and they hesitantly agreed to help Taeyeon as well. And both girls held another intervention just for Jessica. But the brunette rich woman gave the same answer as Stephanie during the intervention, and Yuri and Yoona had no chance to change Jessica’s mind, and they decided to give up.

But Taeyeon didn’t want to leave things like that. The slanted eyed woman came up with another idea, and it involved Richard Wong, the supposed fiancé of Jessica Jung. She gathered her courage and met with the bratty fiancé, and told him what had happened between Stephanie and Jessica. Richard didn’t look surprised hearing the information, and Taeyeon had her suspicions. The Chinese man just chuckled and said it was none of her business. But a moment later Taeyeon could see confusion in his face. She then bravely tried to get information from the cocky man; an easy feat to do since she had known how weak Richard was under alcohol and seduction. The short slanted eyed woman then discovered Jessica and Richard’s plans to seduce Stephanie and ruin her life from the inside. And all the while the hazel eyed woman was still in a relationship with Richard.

Taeyeon then confronted both Stephanie and Jessica, and relayed what she had learned from Richard. And all hell broke loose. Jessica’s lies had caught up with her, and Stephanie learned how every time Jessica was not with her, she was with her fiancé, Richard. The poor naïve journalist was devastated and told Jessica that she had accomplished her mission; Stephanie had been broken by her. The crescent eyed woman ended their relationship right at that moment, and there was nothing Jessica could have done.

It took Jessica a few of months to understand where her heart really belonged to. After the break-up she had returned to Richard’s side and resumed her life, trying to carry on like nothing ever happened between her and Stephanie. But little by little, bit by bit, she realized how much she had fallen in love with the idealist journalist, and she couldn’t live her life without Stephanie.

And one night she couldn’t hold her feelings anymore and broke her engagement with Richard. The Chinese man begged Jessica to think it over, but her decision was final. For once in her life, she knew what she really wanted. She knew what the word happy meant; and it meant Stephanie.

And so she ran. She ran as hard as she could to her car; still in her night gown. And she brought the same flowers Stephanie used to bring whenever they had a break up and the journalist wanted to beg her forgiveness. The same white roses that had been kept in her apartment, as a symbol for their love. And she raced her car to Stephanie’s small and white apartment, hoping she was not too late.

And when her sweaty hands rang the front door bell, she could feel her heart racing like it had been injected by an adrenaline shot. It took Stephanie three minutes to answer the door. Jessica knew the journalist must have peeked from her monitor who was standing outside her door, and she immediately knew there was still a chance. But before she could say how sorry she was, and how much she loved the naïve journalist, Stephanie pulled her into her arms and kissed her. A kiss filled with love and regret and tears and broken heart. A kiss that told her how much Stephanie had been missing her, how much she hated her, and how much she loved her. And Jessica returned the kiss with the same feelings, if not stronger. The brunette poured all her heart and soul into the kiss, letting Stephanie knows how much she was sorry, and how much she loves her. The white roses Jessica had been holding tightly were now scattered on the floor; somehow the petals were beautifully positioned around them, circling their joined bodies. One could swear the petals were forming a heart around the two passionately kissing girls.

And when they finally let go of each other’s lips, Jessica cried and swore to Stephanie that everything would change. She would never again lie to the pretty journalist; not even a harmful white lie. And Stephanie smiled, flashing her ever dazzling eye smile; a smile that was a thousand times more beautiful than Ibiza’s sunset, Venice’s canals, and Vatican’s Cathedrals combined, and held on to her promise. A promise both of them at the time didn’t know Jessica would eventually break.

And things were beautiful once more; for Jessica and Stephanie. And their friends were eventually touched by their sincerity; by Jessica’s sincerity. As the hazel eyed woman openly admitted her mistakes and lies, and promised that she would never hurt Stephanie again. And everyone little by little started to accept their love. Everyone, but Taeyeon. And Richard. And the latter really showed his hatred when one day he threatened the poor journalist and slapped her in the face. An act that was clearly a mistake, as Jessica was standing right next to Stephanie, and she literally mopped the floor with his face.

And much to Jessica’s surprise; Richard came by her office the next day and offered his apology. He confessed he was drunk, and their break up was too much for him, but he didn’t want to lose her friendship too. And the Chinese man promised he would stop getting in between her and Stephanie, as long as they could stay friends. The brunette was touched by his sudden change of attitude, and gave him her word that they would still be friends. And Jessica thought everything was going to be okay from that moment on.

But she was wrong. Taeyeon had another plan she kept in case all her previous plans failed; and they did. The slanted eyed woman visited Stephanie’s parents and told them everything. Taeyeon had known the journalist’s parents for as long as she could remember, and she knew how they were devout Christians, that considered same relationship as blasphemy. The news she brought to them broke their hearts, and they swore on the holy bible that they would do anything to “cure” their precious youngest daughter.

And Taeyeon didn’t stop there. She had another card in her sleeves, and it took her to Incheon International Airport with a two-way ticket to the US. Yes, she was headed to San Francisco, to meet with Jessica’s parents. And she did. Although Jessica’s parents were busy dignitaries that would not see just anyone without scheduled appointment, the minute Taeyeon mentioned Jessica’s name the parents agreed to grant her an audience. The first thing Jessica’s parents thought when they saw Taeyeon entering their office was what did Jessica do this time. And their guts were right.

Just one year into their relationship, and just one month after Richard gave them his blessing, Jessica and Stephanie found themselves at a crossroad once more. Stephanie’s parents, along with her older brother and sister, dragged her from her small apartment back to her parent’s house. They locked her in her old bedroom and barred the windows so she couldn’t escape. All the while lecturing her on how wrong and sinful her feelings for Jessica were. And although Stephanie fought back with all her heart, she couldn’t make her family to understand her love. Only her mother, who was always kind to her and had a soft spot for her youngest daughter, showed a little sympathy, and listened to what she had to say. After a few days the mother looked like she was ready to open her mind and see how pure and strong Stephanie’s feelings for Jessica was, but there was nothing she could do against her husband. The pretty journalist’s father was a stubborn man, and old fashioned, and everybody knew it was impossible to change his mind. And Stephanie could only hope for Jessica to come to her rescue.

But Jessica was in the same position as her. The hazel eyed woman’s parents flew to Korea and summoned their eldest daughter to their hotel. It was there that Jessica was given an ultimatum; either she ends her relationship with Stephanie and resume her engagement with Richard, or be disown and have her name crossed from the family’s heritage. It was an easy call for Jessica, as it took her less than a second to choose the latter option. She couldn’t care less about the Jungs’ big name, or the money and heritage that came with it. But her parents had another threat; one that would break Jessica’s resolve.

And so Jessica was back in her own apartment, sitting on her couch wondering what sin she had done in her previous life to deserve such a cruel fate. Just yesterday her parents had threatened not only to disown her, but to make sure she and her lover, Stephanie, wouldn’t be able to get a job anywhere on this planet. And Jessica knew they were not bluffing. Her parents had grown into the two most powerful people on earth, and they had the resources to make sure they get anything that they want. And as the brunette cursed her family’s power and connections, she heard her front door lock being opened.

She turned to her left and found a tall woman in her twenties; with long blonde hair and big round blue eyes. She had a long oval face and her forehead was quite big, and she made sure to cover them with her bangs. Her nose was long and her lips were thin and wide. She was the perfect spitting image of her mother. The mother she despised.

“What do you want?” She hissed at the beautiful blonde lady.

“I’m just checking up on you.” The blonde woman said calmly as she put a set of keys on the coffee table and sat on the couch across from Jessica. “I wanted to ring the bell but I know you wouldn’t open the door.”

“And so you decided to show yourself in?” Jessica scoffed. “How convenient.”

“Where did you get the keys anyway?”

“Oh, wait; don’t answer that.” She realized her parents must have given her the keys.

“I’m not here to start a fight with you, Jess.” The blonde girl said as she swept her bangs aside.

“Then why are you here, Krystal?” Jessica glared at her younger sister. “I don’t need another lecture.”

“Especially not from you.”

“Look, Jess…” Krystal took a deep breath before she continued. “… I know we haven’t been in best terms with each other—“

“—You got that right.” The brunette scoffed again.

“Look, what I’m trying to say is…” The blonde woman let out a sigh, she looked like she was trying hard to stay calm. “… You should really consider dad’s proposal—“

“—Proposal?” Jessica slammed the table in anger. “You think his threats are a proposal?”

“You think threatening to make my life and Stephanie’s a living hell a proposal?”

“ you, Krystal!”

And the younger Jung immediately hung her head low, and stayed quiet for some time.

“I’m sorry, Jess…” Krystal finally found her voice. “I shouldn’t have said that…”

But her older sister stayed quiet. Krystal knew Jessica was trying hard to think of ways to get out of their parents’ threats.

“Jess…” Krystal said softly. “… Please listen to what I have to say…”

“Just this once…”

And Jessica slowly turned her head to face her younger sister.

“You should do what dad told you,” Krystal continued carefully. “I mean you could just pretend to listen to him and end your relationship with Stephanie…”

“Are you nuts?” Jessica hissed again. “If it’s as simple as that I would’ve done so right away.”

“Dad got spies everywhere.” The brunette bit her nails as she said that. “Even if we kept our relationship a secret he would find out eventually…”

“But he didn’t know about your relationship until Taeyeon told him.” Krystal reasoned.

“That’s because he didn’t have his eyes on me all this time.” Jessica sighed and stared at her ceiling. “He didn’t care about me until that Taeyeon told him about me and Stephanie.”

“From now on he will not let his eyes off me; not even for a second…”

And Krystal knew what her older sister had just said was right.

“Then break up with her for real.” Even Krystal was surprised with herself when she said that.

“J-Just break up with her and do what dad wants you to do for a while!” The blonde added when she noticed Jessica’s glare.

“For a while?” The hazel eyed woman kept her glare. “How long is this while?”

“For the rest of our lives?”

“N-No; of course not!” Krystal quickly said. “I’ll help you with him!”

“I’ll help you pretend!”

“And how exactly are you going to do that?” Jessica raised her eyebrow.

“I-I don’t know yet!” The pretty blonde bit her lips. “But I’m going to help you no matter what!”

“I’ll help you convince mom that you won’t cause any trouble again!”

“Stop it, Krystal…” Jessica shook her head slowly. There were tears in her eyes now. “… It won’t work…”

“It will…” The sight of her older sister’s sad eyes brought tears in hers. “… It will, Jess…”

And both girls stayed quiet once more.

“If you don’t do what dad asks of you,” Krystal started to cry while saying that. “He will do bad things to you…”

“To the both of you…”

“But if you end your relationship now…” She continued. “… It will buy us time to think of new plans to escape him and for you to be with Stephanie…”

“Don’t you see?” Krystal said as she wiped her tears with her hand. “This is the best course of action for you to take!”

“This is the only way…”

"Krystal…” Jessica buried her face in her hands as she didn’t want to think of her life without Stephanie.

“This is the only way, Jess!” Krystal shouted. “This is the only way to protect Stephanie from dad!”

“Think of what he would do to her!”

Tears were falling from Jessica’s eyes now, as she slowly realized Krystal was right. Right now she had to think about Stephanie’s safety and happiness, not just hers. She must make sure that no harm would ever come to the beautiful journalist, and the only way to do so was to go with her father’s wishes.

“Jess, you need to protect Stephanie…” Her younger sister said again.

“I know that already!” She shouted with her face still buried in her hands.

“I-I’m sorry…” She could hear Krystal trembling apology; and once in her life, she felt sorry for having yelled at her innocent younger sister.

“Why are you doing this?” Jessica said after a while; after her tears were dried.

“W-What are you talking about?” Krystal still looked scared of her.

“Why are you helping me?” The older Jung lifted her face and turned to her right to find the blonde.

There was another moment of silence, and Krystal had a hurt look on her face. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“It’s what sisters do…”

The Jung sisters then met with their parents and told them Jessica’s decision; she would end her relationship with Stephanie. The father smiled victoriously, like he had just won another election. But then he told Jessica that the hazel eyed woman would have to come with him back to the US and took care one of their family’s company. The news struck like lighting and Jessica immediately refused the idea; saying that Krystal had been managing their company in San Francisco just fine, and besides; who would handle their company here in Seoul? The father though, had his mind set and calmly told her that Krystal would stay in Korea in her stead. So it was just a switch between the two sisters.

Krystal voiced her concerns that they would have to make the extra effort to adapt to their new positions, and it would be catastrophic for their employees to say the least. But again, the father brushed her words aside and simply told them that if they try hard enough their companies wouldn’t see that switch as a major problem.

And so without saying goodbye, without seeing Stephanie’s face for the last time; Jessica was forced to board the plane that would take her to her birthplace, a place she dreaded all her life. As she sat on the plane next to her mother, who kept comforting her these past few days; she kept telling herself to be strong, for herself, and for Stephanie. Especially for Stephanie. She didn’t know how long she would be away, or if she would return to Korea at all; but at least the pretty naïve journalist she was deeply in love with would be safe. And she promised herself that she would find a way back to Stephanie’s side. Back to her heart.

As the plane soared towards the sky, she could feel a sharp pain in her chest. She had never felt so heart-broken like that time, and she tried to find the reason why her life turned upside down. It was Taeyeon. The answer was Taeyeon. That midget was the reason she was on that plane heading for San Francisco; instead of in bed with Stephanie in her small and whitey apartment. Kim Taeyeon.

And she was sure the hatred she had for her was mutual, for the night before she had to leave Seoul she had called the short slanted eyed woman to let her have a piece of her mind. That and because she couldn’t contact Stephanie, and she was sure Taeyeon had to do something with it.

“Where is she?” The brunette woman quickly said when Taeyeon picked up her phone.

“Who?” By the sound of her voice Jessica could tell Taeyeon knew who was she speaking to.

“Don’t play dumb with me, you dumb ,” The hazel eyed woman clearly showed her anger. “You know who I’m talking about.”

“She’s where she’s supposed to,” Taeyeon hissed back. “Away from you.”

“Don’t think for a second I could not find her.” Jessica said as she clenched her fist. “There’s nowhere you could hide her from me.”

“Is that so?” She could sense a smirk on Taeyeon’s face. “And I heard that you’re going home to America.”

“Good luck with your parents there.”

“You…” Jessica bit her lips to hold her anger. “You’ll pay for this…”

“I’m going to kill you myself…”

“Go ahead,” Taeyeon’s voice raised. “Do what you want.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that I’m doing this for her sake.”

“Who are you kidding?” It was Jessica’s turn to laugh at the silly comment she made. “You’re doing this for her sake?”

“This is what’s best for her.” The slanted eyed woman sounded upset.

“Who are you to decide what’s best for her?” Jessica scoffed.

“I’m her best friend!” Taeyeon shouted in anger. “I’ve known her her entire life!”

“I know what’s good for her, and you’re definitely not it!”

“Can’t you see you’re just hurting her?”

“What makes you think I’m hurting her?” Jessica shouted back.

“Oh, stop lying to yourself!” Taeyeon’s words were trembling. “Ever since she knows you nothing good has ever happened to her!”

“Why don’t you let Stephanie decide that?” The hazel eyed woman wanted to crush her cell phone. “She’s a grown woman; she could decide what or who makes her happy!”

“She’s not herself right now!” Taeyeon screamed. “All because of you!”

“You’re the one who changed her, you evil dyke!”

“What did you just call me?” Jessica was furious now.

“You’re an evil dyke!” The slanted eyed woman shouted. “You’re the devil himself!”

“ you, you ing midget!”

“You can call me anything you want, Jessica,” Taeyeon forced a laugh. “I’m doing this for her sake.”

“And one day she would see how right I am.”

“One day she would thank me for what I’ve done.”

“And perhaps one day you will see this is the right thing to do.”

“For you to stay away from Stephanie.”

“Can’t you see it?” Taeyeon was crying now. “You’re only going to make her cry more…”

“You’re only going to hurt her…”

“Let’s see about that, Kim Taeyeon.” Jessica said with all her heart. “I’ll come back to her.”

“Nothing is ever going to keep us apart.”

“Our love is stronger than anything you could throw at us.”

“Fine…” Taeyeon said between her sobbing. “… And I’ll always be here to stop you going near her…”

“Fine…” Jessica replied, and there was silence in the air. Only the sound of Taeyeon’s crying could be heard.

“I love her, Taeyeon,” Jessica said after a while. “And she loves me.”

“Nothing you do would ever change that.”

“One day you will see how wrong you are for keeping us from each other…”

“And I hope when you realized that; it wouldn’t be too late…” And with that she hung up the phone.

The hazel eyed woman sighed as she looked outside the window next to her seat in the plane. As she saw the sea of clouds right outside her window, she couldn’t help but smile. Something had changed inside of her. Back then before she met Stephanie and if her path crossed with someone like Taeyeon who gives her troubles, she would’ve opted to kidnap the poor girl and do bad things to her. But this time it was different. This time she could see the short slanted eyed woman’s point of view. Taeyeon was just confused. The poor short woman was just blinded by what she had been taught her entire life; that no girls should love other girls, and that Jessica and Stephanie shouldn’t love each other more than friends. Yes, Taeyeon couldn’t possibly see beyond society’s rules and dogmas. Taeyeon couldn’t possibly understand what Jessica and Stephanie feel. Not yet, anyway. And the brunette woman swore in her heart that she would change Taeyeon’s mind. She would prove to her how her love was pure, and was the same like any other love. Their love was just special.

And not only Taeyeon. She swore to change everyone’s mind. Her parents’, Stephanie’s parents’, Yuri and Yoona, Sooyoung and Seohyun and Sunny, and her loyal secretary, Hyoyeon. Everyone’s.

Jessica giggled at her own thoughts. She wondered how much she had changed. All because a pretty, idealistic and naïve journalist. All because Stephanie. And as her eyes were getting heavy, she whispered to the clouds, hoping that her words would reach her love;

I love you, Miyoung… Please wait for me… I swear I’m coming back home soon…