Yoona’s POV

            Even though I had been imagining this day since Jessica departed from the group a few years ago, I had to admit that it felt absolutely weird to have all of us together again in our dorm.  The nine of us were crammed in the living room.  Tiffany and Sooyoung had stopped at a convenience store to buy sleeping bags for us so that we could all sleep in the living room together.  Sooyoung also took the courtesy of buying a bunch of snacks—mostly chips, cookies, and ice cream.  We were all gathered watching Jessica’s favorite American movie while we spoke to each other.  Laughter filled the air, and there were smiles on our faces. 

            It truly felt like we were teenagers again.  The last time we did this was the day before our debut.  We were nervous, and we found comfort in each other.  I knew that SM Entertainment was not a perfect company, but they did well on putting us together.  I could not picture the group without any of them, and that was why it hurt so much when Jessica departed.

            “Look at the new designs for the coats this coming winter,” Jessica said as she showed us her phone. 

            She began to swipe through the photos, and on the sides, there was labeled names—Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun.  I felt the smile on my face grow wider as Jessica proudly showed off her work.

            “I took inspiration from you guys to make this winter line.  I just didn’t have the courage to release it until I returned to the group,” Jessica admitted.

            Taeyeon asked, “When did you make these designs?”

            “When I was told that I was no longer a part of the group,” Jessica revealed, “I mean…I already had these designs ready before I was asked to leave…but I was angry at all of you so I tore it up.  Then, I cried more because I tore it up, so I recreated them.  I guess I still cared about you guys even though I was so angry.”

            “Typical Jess,” Tiffany giggled.

            Our relationship was nowhere near perfect.  We argued a lot—in fact, Seunghyun always teased me that I was already in a marriage with my group.  Heck, I even argued with Sunny just last week because she didn’t tell me where she was going.  We argued about the smallest things, but most of the time, we never argued for more than a week.  I had to ask them for permission to do a big project that would take time out of SNSD, and the same went for the others.  We argued a lot, and Jessica’s argument with us lasted the longest obviously. 

            She wanted to have her own clothing line, and we understood that.  That woman loved fashion as if it was her blood, and I was not going to say that the members were saints during this whole feud.  We claimed that we were fine with her opening up her own line as long as it didn’t affect the group.  Yeah, she attended every schedule, but she was missing out on our practices.  We didn’t think too much of it until she began to blow us off on another level.  She missed Tiffany’s musical.  She missed my birthday party.  She missed the time when Seohyun needed all of us to help her get over her first heartbreak.  It began to feel that we were co-workers and not friends. 

            It was our fault, too.  We should have not complained.  We should have talked to her about it, but news traveled fast in SM Entertainment.  The officials found out that there was a little bad blood in the group, and after they talked to Jessica about her marketing for her brand, they came to a dispute.  SM basically threw us into the fire and told Jessica that we didn’t want her in the group anymore.  We never said that.  We said that we wanted her to prioritize us more, but I guess that was selfish of us.  That was her dream, and we should have not expected her to put us first.  We all had our own dreams, but we were grasping onto the group too much.  Jessica was the first to imagine a life after SNSD, and she should have not been punished for that.

            “I was so angry,” Jessica finally burst out in tears as Seohyun handed her a soft tissue, “I thought you guys didn’t want me anymore.”
            Sunny frowned, “We wanted you, Sica.  But let’s not point any fingers tonight.  SM Entertainment may sound like the easiest target to blame for this, but we have to remember that at the end of the day, they are the ones who put this group together.  When it comes down to it, money is what a company is mainly targeting for.  And besides…my uncle is the CEO.  I know he’s not in charge anymore, but he didn’t really decide for this to happen…”
            “We get it!” Hyoyeon laughed, “Your family’s legacy is important.”

            We laughed together until the laughter slowly faded.  I was almost sure that she didn’t know that Taeyeon was pregnant and that I was only marrying Seunghyun because it was the only way to distract the public from Taeyeon and her upcoming appearance as a pregnant woman. 

            We all didn’t have the courage to say anything, and I could tell that Jessica was growing suspicious.  She tried to meet eyes with us, but all of us dodged her eye contact.  Taeyeon, who was fairly quiet, coughed which caused Jessica to look at her.

            “What?” Jessica asked.

            “What did SM offer you for your return?” she inquired.

            Jessica answered, “I get to keep all of the profits from Blanc & Eclare, and I have to stay under SNSD for at least a year.  Anything after that is a freedom contract—just like Sunny’s.  It felt like it was too good to be true…like there was a catch that I was missing.  I must have reviewed the contract five times, but there was nothing that I could find that would bite me later.”

            “Have they told you about the plans for the upcoming year?” Taeyeon swallowed.

            “No…”

            I only hoped that she wouldn’t be angry with us.

            “Well, we reviewed the timeline for the whole year.  You will return to the music scene with Yuri and Yoona—a new subunit for SNSD.  They also have a list of modeling gigs lined up for you and others as well.  Sunny is going to release a track under SM station, and she’s going to be in charge of the upcoming boy group for SM Entertainment.  Hyoyeon will continue to work for her beauty show, and she will also participate in making the choreography for your new subunit.  Yuri is going to the do the subunit and act.  Same goes for Yoona…and as you know, she’s going to get married.  Seohyun will be in a new musical, and Tiffany will debut her new solo album,” I informed her.

            “Wait, what about a group promotion?  That’s why I came back, right?  And how about you?” Jessica asked.

            “There won’t be a group comeback for a year.  I’m going to be on full hiatus.” Taeyeon said in a low voice.
            Jessica stared at all of us as she nervously swallowed.  I didn’t know how she was going to react to all of this.  It took me weeks to absorb the fact that Taeyeon was pregnant the first time I heard about it.  I was even more bewildered when the board called me in a meeting without my members and asked me if I agreed to do a scandal to cover all of this up.  Seohyun rubbed Jessica’s back with a concerned look on her face.

            “Why?  Why isn’t there going to be a group comeback, and why are you going on hiatus?” Jessica asked in a defensive tone.

            “Sica, I’m pregnant.  Yoona is only getting married to cover it up and distract the public,” Taeyeon finally confessed.

            Jessica looked betrayed.  Her eyes began to water as her jaw tightened.  Her eyes were only locked on Taeyeon as Taeyeon inhaled slowly.  Wow, I hated the tension in the air.  No one said anything for about 30 seconds—the longest 30 seconds of my life.  Then Jessica’s eyes darted towards me.

            “Why did you agree to this?” Jessica snarled at me.

            “Unnie…”

            Jessica shook her head, “You dreamt of marrying the man of your dreams.  You had high hopes of starting your own family, but you agreed to play with the concept of marriage for work!”

            “Please don’t yell at her,” Taeyeon pleaded, “This is my fault—not Yoona’s.”

            “Yes, it is your fault!” Jessica yelled, “Why did you let Yoona do this?  You’re supposed to be the leader!  You’re supposed to be the one to protect your members, but you have Yoona covering up for your !”

“Jessica, that’s enough!” Hyoyeon scolded.

Jessica scoffed and then laughed.  She leaned back on the sofa and just shook her head while she stared at the wall in disbelief at what we had done.  Yes, I didn’t think this was a perfect situation for us, but we were just working for what we believed in.

            “I came back to SNSD not because I needed the money,” Jessica sighed, “I came back because I really needed you guys.  You guys needed me to come back, too, but you guys are using me to distract the public even more from what the real scandal is.  I…I have nothing else to say to you guys.”

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Taeyeon’s POV

            I only had a few weeks left until I started to show, and I would be put on full-time hiatus.  I had downed the prenatal pills Dr. Lee had given me to keep up with my busy schedule privately to avoid suspicion that I was pregnant from my fellow colleagues.  I had been lounging in the studio.  Ugh, I was going to miss recording.  I watched Tiffany sing a part of her song, which was going to be in her upcoming album, but she was getting frustrated.  She told me that she couldn’t sing it properly because she was not in love.  The song was about a woman falling deeply in love with a man, but Tiffany claimed that she was not able to resonate the feelings.

            “Ugh, I need to go on a date,” Tiffany grumbled.

            I laughed, “You have a lot of men lining up for you.”

            “I have standards,” Tiffany frowned, “How about you set me up on a blind d