“11:37”

That was the time on his clock when he finally dragged himself to bed and collapsed last night.  Any other normal person would sleep in, especially since it was a Saturday, but not him.  At 6:30, on the dot, his alarm clock beeped and a sleepy hand flopped onto the ‘Dismiss’ button.  Jason pushed himself on his elbows, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked blearily around his room.  Still dressed in yesterday’s clothes, shoes thrown off somewhere at the foot of his bed, he grimaced and flipped onto his back.  There was sleep encrusted in his eye, he was sure his feet would smell weird from wearing socks all night and overall he felt disgusting.

With great effort, he rolled out of bed and stumbled to his closet.  Working from memory more than using actual sight, he pulled out his white karate-gi and black belt.  He shucked yesterday’s clothes and slipped into his uniform.  The light fabric settled on his frame like a familiar blanket.  

In a few months, the Japanese Karate Open Tournament would begin and he had to start training again.  Out in his living room, he pushed all the sofas and seats and the coffee table up against the wall.  Leaving a huge space in the middle for him to practice.  He took a deep breath.  Then started his warm-up to wake him up.

Thud.

Seohyun bolted upright.  She looked around the room she shared with Hyoyeon.  Her unnie was still face down on her bed, sleeping like a log.  Seohyun threw her covers off and quietly padded out of her room. The lights in the main room were off.  Everyone was still asleep, exactly as she’d expected given how late they all got home after the photoshoot.  But she knew she had heard something…

Thud. Thud.

The youngest member jerked her head up.  Eyes trained on the ceiling, this time for sure, there was no mistake, something had landed hard on the floor above.  What if something had fallen…what if someone was hurt? Her big brown eyes grew wider.  There were no traces sleep in her.  Just panicked haste.  She rushed into the nearest, Sunny and Taeyeon’s and threw the door open.  It slammed open with a violent crash.

Two figures sat upright in their beds.  She flicked the light switch.

    “Yah! Seohyun-ah!” Taeyeon cried, her eyes watered as the bright light assaulted her.  She rubbed 'the tears away and looked at her dongsaeng, “What are you doing?”

    “It’s too earlyyyy~!” Sunny whined.  She fell back down, pulled the covers her head and snuggled out of sight.

    “Unnies! I heard a loud noise coming from upstairs! Like something hit the floor hard! I think something fell and someone might be hurt,” She ran in to the room and grabbed the older girl’s hand.

    “Woah!” Taeyeon felt her body jerk as the younger girl yanked her out of bed and pulled her into the hallway.  It was still dark out there. Together they stood in silence, ear straining for any sound.  Seohyun clutched onto Taeyeon’s hand tightly, while Taeyeo was still trying to fight off sleep.  Despite how tired she felt, her maknae was obviously distressed about something…

Thud.

Her eyes flew open.  Gone was the sleepiness she’d been trying to fend off.  Alarm flooded through her, there were only rooms upstairs! Actually…Jason's room was upstairs… “Wake up the others, we’ll go see if anyone’s hurt.”

    “What’s going on?” Sooyoung yawned.  Her tall frame was leaning on her doorway for support.  Eyes already drooping shut as she stood there. Taeyeon walked over, grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her awake.

    “You need to wake up, Soo.  There’s something going on upstairs and someone could be hurt.”

    “Wha–”

Seohyun rushed over to Yuri and Yoona’s room, opened the door and the lights.  As the brightness flooded the room, she bounded over to the two sleepers and pulled their covers down. Even as Yuri mumbled, “Turn the lights off…”

    “Yoona! Unnie! There was a loud noise upstairs and someone could possibly be hurt. You have to wake up.”

“What?”
“What’s happening?”

Both of them were instantly awake.  Those words not really registering, but the worried tone was crystal clear.  They scrambled out of bed, tripped over blankets that had wrapped around their legs, before stumbling out into the main room.  Hair ruffled, dressed in pyjamas, they met with Sooyoung, Sunny and Hyoyeon.  Each of them in varying degrees of sleep.  In the few short minutes, Taeyeon had rushed in and pulled them all out of bed.

    “Seobaby, you wake Fany.  Yuri, Yoona, Sooyoung, the four of us will go grab Sica,” their leader ordered.

The two youngest nodded and ran into Tiffany’s room.  While the other four marched to their heaviest sleeping member.  It was a struggle, Tiffany kept asking for a few more minutes.

    “Unnie! There was a loud noise and someone is hurt upstairs!” Yoona tried desperately to wake her tired unnie.  Seeing little to no change in her slumbering form, Yoona looked around the room.  Hoping to get some sort of inspiration from the extremely pink room, “Ummm… Jason-oppa is upstairs! He could be hurt!”

    “Huh? Jason…what?” Tiffany’s sleep clouded mind latched onto the few familiar words that made sense… Her eyes snapped open, “Wait! What? Jason's hurt? How?”

    “We don’t know if it’s oppa–” Seohyun tried to calm the panicked girl.

    “We don’t know. But there was a loud noise upstairs apparently,” Yoona cut in, shooting Seohyun a wink and proceeded to pull Tiffany right out of her pink room.

They rushed out and everyone was there. With Jessica being held up by Sooyoung and Yuri on either side.  Her head was on Yuri’s shoulder and it was clear she was still asleep. Everyone was dressed in pyjama pants and oversized t-shirts.  Messy hair, no make-up, they were nothing more than a ragtag bunch 20-something year old girls, not the polished and slick celebrities that they were.

Taeyeon clapped her hand. Everyone turned to her, “Okay. There was a loud noise upstairs, and we’re going to investigate in case someone got hu–”

THUD!

They all turned to each other. Then rushed out of their dorm.  Scrambling to put shoes on. Half of them had mismatched footwear as they ran down the hall and up the fire escape stairs.  Sunny made sure to lock the door behind her, key in hand, so that they wouldn’t be locked out.  All the jostling woke Jessica up, and even she was running… Then again that may have been because Yuri and Sooyoung had yet to release her, so she was forced to run lest she fall and injure herself.  Yoona reached the next floor first.  She threw the door open and held it ajar for all her unnies to file through.  

There was nothing out of place in the corridor.  Just the same brown carpet and plain wallpaper that had adorned their floor.  Senses on high alert, they all carefully crept past identical doors, straining to hear any sound or to catch any unusual sights.

    Thud… Thud. Thud.

As one their heads turned to the right.  ‘402’ the door read.

    “Th-that’s oppa’s room,” Seohyun whispered.

Taeyeon knocked frantically on the wooden door, “Jason! Are you okay?”

All nine of them held their breaths, praying that nothing had happened to their friend.  The sight that greeted them wasn’t what they had braced themselves for.  Jason opened the door wearing a white martial arts uniform.  Sweat covered his face, rivulets ran down his neck, onto his chest and disappeared below the collar of his top.  His hair was slicked back in ways that made him look hot.  And the black belt on his waist finished the image. The girls all blushed.  His gi had fallen a little open during his practise, leaving a part of the toned chest peeking out.

    “What’s wrong?” he asked. He wiped the sweat from his eyes with the sleeves of his top and looked at the group before him in confusion.

    “I heard a loud thump so I got worried and woke up Taeyeon-unnie,” Seohyun confessed.  Her cheeks were still bright red and she refused to look up from the floor.

    “I heard it too, and we thought something had fallen and someone might need help,” Taeyeon explained, “We woke everybody up and rushed here.”

    “Oh! Sorry! I was just training. Here, come in,” Jason moved aside and they all filed into his apartment.

It was similar to their own.  Smaller, but set up in the same way.  A main room in the centre with doors leading off to different rooms, and the kitchen being an open area to their right, just before the living room started.  Except, unlike theirs, everything had pushed up against the wall.  Bare carpet stood in the middle of the room.

    “Sorry, kind of a mess. I needed to move everything so that I could practise karate,” Jason came up from behind the group, picked up his water bottle from the floor and took a big gulp, “The loud noise you heard was me practising my katas. Sometimes I have to jump and when I land you guys must hear me downstairs.”

    “That’s fine! We’re just glad you aren’t hurt,” Sunny smiled at him and gazed curiously at the DVDs on his shelf.

    “Feel free to look around. I’ll just go change, I’ll be out in a minute,” Jason smiled and walked back into his room.  He unwound his belt, and removed his top.  Deciding that his pants could stay, he grabbed a black muscle tee that he usually used for going to the gym and threw it over his head.  It was sleeveless, and hugged his torso comfortably.

Outside, Sooyoung and Yoona were inspecting the fridge and cupboards in his kitchen.  Yuri sat on the couch with Jessica using her lap as a makeshift pillow.  Sunny was browsing through the films on the shelf.  Hyoyeon was looking at the pictures he had hung on his wall, all just photos of him with family and friends.  Taeyeon and Tiffany were checking out the CDs he had, discussing his tastes n music.  Which were pretty varied, he had music from Taylor Swift to Linkin Park. Seohyun was standing off to the side, one of his novels in her hands.

    “That’s one of my favourite books,” he walked towards her.

    “Why is it the only book in Korean on your shelf?”

    “Most of these books were ones I had when I lived in America, that was a joke gift from my friends,” he traced the embossed letters with a finger, “Harry Potter is my all-time favourite series. And at the time, I was obsessed with learning Korean. So they got me one of the books in Korean because it combined my two hobbies in one package."

Seohyun chuckled with him and slipped the book back in its place. His bookshelf was packed with books, all fantasy and adventure series that he had loved in his younger days. Everything was in pristine condition, but each novel was well read. He didn't really have much time to read these days, too caught up in working to give himself much time. And any time he had left was spent with the girls. Looking around his apartment, at the girls who had rushed to his aid in nothing more than pyjamas, he couldn't help but think they were worth it.

"Have you girls had breakfast?"

"Breakfast?" "Breakfast?" Yoona and Sooyoung perked up at the mention of food.

"No, we ran up here," Taeyeon chuckled.

"Well, then. Since I scared you all, why don't I make breakfast?" he walked into the kitchen and started pulling out flour, eggs, milk and sugar.

"Yay!!!" Yoona and Sooyoung high fived, both of them eagerly hovered around the little area.

"Oh no, out you two. Let him cook in peace."

The two shikshins whined as Sunny kicked them out of the kitchen area. Jason laughed, and just turned back to his mixing bowl. He whisked all the ingredients together in one smooth batter. Making sure to create a large serving size to accommodate for all ten of them.

"What'cha making?" sometimes when he was just the two of them, Tiffany chose to speak in English. Jason enjoyed it, you can never replace how naturally your mother tongue comes to you.

"Hmmm... Maybe it's a secret, noona," he winked.

The muscles in his arms flexed with every movement he made, Tiffany could see them rippling. Not overly muscular, but well toned. His wink, coupled with a sleeveless shirt, had her blushing again.  Luckily his back was turned, too busy searching for his pan.

"Awww... But I want to know~!" she whined cutely.

Jason chuckled, "I'm making pancakes. Hopefully, that's okay."

"That sounds good! " she clapped her hands in excitement, a bright eye smile adorning her face,"Can I help with anything?"

"Sica. Hey Sica," Hyoyeon nudged the sleeping Ice Princess – who turned over, cracked open one eye and glared at her.

"What?"

"They're talking in English. What are they saying?"

"Urrgh...Fany just asked if she could help with anything. Now, go away," she turned all the way around and nuzzled Yuri's stomach.

Sooyoung heard what was said and panicked, "Yah! FANY YOU LEAVE THE FOOD ALONE! DON'T TRY TO COOK!"

Tiffany and Jason jumped at Sooyoung's incredibly loud interjection. He raised a questioning eyebrow at the girl in pink.

She pouted, "Okay. I'm a really bad cook, but I wanted to help..."

Jason lifted a finger to his lips n the universal ‘shhh’ motion and raised his voice, “Don’t worry, Sooyoung! I’ll protect the food.”

He winked and motioned her closer.  He put the pan on the stove, took out a measuring cup and spatula, then turned the flames on.

    “Can you get me the butter from the fridge, please?”

Tiffany handed him the requested item, and stood back, watching curiously.  Jason looked over his shoulder, and waved her closer.  She shuffled over, stood by his side and watched as he spooned a healthy amount of butter on the hot pan.  It sizzled and left streaks on the surface as he turned the pan this way and that to coat the bottom.

Then he poured the some of the batter into the pan, a steady hand making sure to create a nice circular shape. He held out the spatula to her, handle first, with a big grin.  She took it, frowning at him, still not entirely sure what was going on.  Jason looked at the pancake meaningfully and then back at her.

formed an ‘O’ as realisation set in...she could be so slow sometimes.

    “No way!” she whisper yelled, “It’s going to be burnt and gross and ugly if I cook it.”

    “Don’t worry. All have you to do is flip it when I say so,” he smiled at her encouragingly.

    “I don’t how!”

Jason sniggered, “I’ll show you. C’mon. This one’s nearly ready.”

With great reluctance, Tiffany turned to the pan, standing so close to him that her shoulder brushed his, and raised the spatula uncertainly.  Keeping a firm grip on the handle of the pan, he reached in front of her and wrapped his hand around hers.

    “You flip it when most of the bubbles are gone and you can see a solid outline around the edges, that means that it’s cooked on that side,” he patiently explained as he slid the spatula smoothly under the pancake and flipped it with a quick flick of his wrist, “There! See.”

Sure enough, when he stepped back, Tiffany saw a perfectly cooked, golden brown pancake.  She wasn’t sure if the warmth on her face was from her blushing at his closeness and hold on her hand or from the heat of the stove. If anyone asked, she would swear it was the stove!

    “Wow! That’s perfect!” she clapped excitedly.

    “Your turn. Just slide the spatula underneath and lift it onto this plate,” he picked up a brown dinner plate and held it close to the pan.

Holding the spatula with two hands, Tiffany carefully slid it under the pancake, then slowly, ever so slowly, lifted it and slid onto the plate.

    “I did it!”

Jason bit his lip to keep himself from laughing.  Instead he put the plate down on the kitchen bench and scooped more batter on the hot pan.  The two of them stood watching the bubbles slowly disappear as the batter cooked.

    “Okay. Flip it now.” Jason stood to the side looked at Tiffany expectantly.

   “Umm… When you did it before, I couldn’t actually see over your shoulder...you’re too tall,” she fiddled with the cooking implement in her hand, looking like a child who was confessing something embarrassing.

It took all of his willpower not to snort with laughter at her display, “Come here then.”

With a hand on the small of her back, he stepped aside and gently pushed her to stand right in front of the pan.  This time when he held her hand, he came from behind.  His left hand still held the handle of the pan, his right hand guided hers to the pancake, and he stood behind her. If Tiffany thought her face warm before, it must’ve been absolutely on fire now.  His body brushed her back slightly whenever he moved and his arms circled her in a loose back hug.  

She bit her lip conscientiously, and tried her hardest to focus on the task at hand.  Ignoring the fact that his face was so close to hers as he peeked over her left shoulder.  Instead she watched every move he made closely as he expertly flipped the pancake. Another perfect pancake.  Another moment and it too was added to the plate.  

When there was another batter circle sizzling on the pan, he asked, “Do you want to do it this time?”

    “Okay,” she felt him step back, presumably to give her room, but a bolt of panic shot through her, “Wait! Stay. In case I mess up, this way you can help before I ruin it.”

She felt more than heard him laugh.  A low rumble in his chest that made her shiver.  But still he stayed, his warmth right behind her.

    “Flip it now.”

Tiffany slid the spatula slowly, under the pancake and lifted it.  It wobbled a little, her inexperienced hand still shaky.  Jason steadied her hand with his own, but otherwise left the control to her.  A careful turn of her wrist. Flop. The pancake fell back on the pan, right side up.

    “I did it!” she squealed.  Tiffany twisted and flung her arms around Jason , jumping up and down in glee.

This time his laugh was loud and contagious.  He hugged her, then patted her back, and she released her sudden hold on him.  Her eyes had disappeared in her signature eye smile, the giddiness she felt was almost palpable. Soon, her pancake was added to the stack.  

To speed up the process, Jason took over and cooked the majority of the pancakes.  Tiffany watched over his shoulder as he cooked 3 pancakes at a time, flipping them all expertly and putting them on the plate.  Soon there was a stack of 25 pancakes.  He handed the spatula back to Tiffany and stepped aside.

    “Want to do the last few?”

Emboldened by her success earlier and after having watched Jason do it repeatedly, Tiffany eagerly took the spatula and stepped up to the stove.  This time she did it on her own, with Jason just standing to the side, holding the handle of the pan.  Soon the American girl was looking proudly at the stack of pancakes, particular the top 5 that she had cooked on her own...Well, mostly on her own. Stom told her when to flip it, but she did the flipping.

They switched everything off and made their way out to the others in the living room. When they got there, Jason could see that they had re-arranged his living room back in order and were all lounging around watching one of his DVDs, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’.

    “FOOD’S READY!” Tiffany’s loud voice startled them all. It overpowered the sounds of the movie, even with the speakers he had added to them. Taeyeon paused the movie.

    “YAY!” Yoona and Sooyoung leapt from the couch and bounded towards them.  

    “It smells delicious, oppa,” Yoona clapped her hands excitedly.

    “Yah! Shikshins, hands off. Let him put it down first,” Hyoyeon scolded the two.

    “Is there anything you need, oppa?” Seohyun asked.

Jason smiled at the youngest in the room, “Yeah, actually. Could you please grab the fruits from the kitchen bench? I laid them out already.”

He put the plate of pancakes down on the coffee table in the centre of the living room and Tiffany placed the stack of empty plates beside it, along with the cutlery.  Seohyun nodded and went back to the kitchen, Hyoyeon following her to help out. Together they came back with arms filled with bananas, a bowl of strawberries and blueberries and a bottle of maple syrup. They laid them out on the coffee table.

Jason and Tiffany shared a knowing smile as he plated the top two pancakes in the stack and handed it to Sooyoung’s eager hands.  Once everyone was served, and they had chosen the fruits they wanted and drizzled everything with maple syrup, Jason said, “Dig in!”

All you could hear were the sounds of knives and forks clinking on the plates as everyone cut a piece and took a bite.  Jason ate slowly and just delighted in the reactions of his friends enjoying his cooking.

    “Mmm! This is delicious, senpai!” Sooyoung eagerly gobbled another mouthful of the fluffy pancakes covered in sweet maple syrup.

    “Don’t thank me. Tiffany-noona cooked the ones you’re eating.”

    “What-?” She almost choked.  Sooyoung coughed a little to dislodge the stuck food and took in a deep breath.

    “It’s true!”

The rest of the girls scrambled to take a look at the pancakes on Sooyoung’s plate.  Inspecting it as if it was some rare species they had yet to see.  It was golden, fluffy, circular and soft… All in all, just like everyone else’s pancake!  Jason took another bite of his pancake as he watched their curious antics.  Tiffany practically glowed as she sat on the couch smugly.  Her pancake had been cut up into smaller pieces, and now she was just picking up the pieces with her fork and eating the delicious breakfast.

    “But... It doesn’t look terrifying…” Yuri prodded the pancake with her fork, testing to see if there was some sort of illusion to explain it.

    “Yah!” Sooyoung slapped the offending fork away from her precious food.

    “Not everything I make is scary!” Tiffany protested.

    “You have to admit, usually it is, Mushroom,” Taeyeon sniggered from across the room.

Yoona’s alligator laugh joined in and soon they were all laughing.  Just relaxing, eating pancakes, most of them in pyjamas and enjoying a rare day-off.  They finished off their pancakes while watching the movie.  Afterwards, everyone helped clean up, and Yoona washed the dishes, much to Jason's protest.  By the time 10:30 had rolled around, SNSD went back to their dorm to shower and change, while Jason did the same, promising to meet them at their room to hang out.  They made plans to watch the video of their comeback together.

It was about 11:30 at their dorm room when they finally got around to watching the video.  Jason was captivated by their performance.  All their voices blended beautifully and their outfits suited them so well.  They were, beyond a doubt, attractive and talented.  Sitting with them, huddled around a laptop, just in his navy tee and casual jeans, watching their successful comeback, made him feel proud of them.  He was so proud of his noonas, and Seohyun, Sooyoung and Yoona of course!

    “Wow! Daebak! You girls are amazing,” he sat back, absolutely stunned.  Earnestly, he met each of their eyes, “Honestly, you’re all incredibly talented.”

    “Thanks,” Jessica smiled at him.

And the rest of them chorused their thanks.  Taeyeon scrolled down to the comments section, to see their fans reactions, as always.  There were a lot of positive comments.  All the SONEs were applauding and praising the song, the concept and their performance.  

[they are perfect!!!!  no one can beat them they are pure talent]

[snsd we love you take care]

[GG are so just like 9 most precious diamonds shining bright in the universe]

On and on it went.  Not a single comment failed to excite the girls.  There were loads of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhhs’ as they read the comments together, Jason swears that he could almost see their hearts swelling from the support of their fans.

Taeyeon froze.  Her eyes fixated on her screen.

    “What is it TaeTae?” Tiffany read over her shoulder and gasped.

    “What is it?” Yuri asked.

Jason huddled with the rest of the group and read the message on screen.  Right there, in bold letters were the words: [SNSD are the trash of the music industry!]

They grew quiet, a little upset that someone would be so harsh.  Logically, they all knew that they couldn’t please everyone, but that didn’t mean they were unfazed by anti-fan comments.

    “It’s one comment, guys.  Look how many more support us! We can’t let one hater on the net get us down,” Tiffany cried out.

    “Yeah! This is probably just some internet troll who comments bad things for the sake of it,” Jessica pitched in.

Soon they were all chiming in with encouragement. Lifting the mood.  Hyoyeon and Yoona cracked jokes about how it was probably some weirdo who lived in a basement.  That had them all in stitches, they all moved on to acting out random things that the basement weirdo did for a normal day.  It was ridiculous and Jason was in stitches.  Even Taeyeon was able to smile again.  Laptop forgotten for now, the group goofed around the living room.

Seohyun subtly closed the browser window and put the laptop safely out of harm’s way.  It went unnoticed by everyone, except for Yuri, who gave her a nod and smile.  Taeyeon excused herself to get water.  Jason got up and followed after her. Unaware of her follower, Taeyeon dropped the mask she had put up for the sake of the girls.  Jason could see it in the way her slim shoulders slumped, the way her walk changed to a dejected shuffle.  She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and took a small sip.

From the entrance to the kitchen, Jason heard her sigh tiredly as she stared listlessly at the bottle in her hand.  Without even thinking, he walked up behind her quietly and hugged her.

    “What the-” Taeyeon jumped when arms suddenly wrapped around her from behind, but she didn’t pull away.

    “Don’t let it get to you, noona.  There are thousands of fans all over the world who support you,” Jason murmured quietly.  Taeyeon didn’t answer, just melted further into the warm embrace.  Now, more than ever she needed the support, “You have friends, family and SONEs who admire you and love you and believe in you no matter what.  You can’t let one person on the internet get you down.”

Taeyeon sighed, “I know. But it still hurts when I read hate comments, don’t worry. I’ll be okay.”

She gave him a small smile and pulled away.  Without another word, she padded out of the kitchen and called out to the others that she would be taking a nap in her room.  It wasn’t over.  There was no way he could drop a subject that hurt someone who was like a an older sister to him, it wasn’t in his nature.  He had finally found the friends and family he needed in Seoul after all this time, he’ll be damned if he didn’t do anything to keep them happy.  

Mind working a mile a minute, he asked Yuri for their manager’s number and told them he had a report for work that needed finishing.  It wasn’t easy to leave them, they kept pouting and guilting him to stay, in the end he had to promise to be back for dinner. Hand on his heart, he promised them he would be back with dessert.  Once he was out of the door, he dialled manager-hyung’s number and rode the elevator down to the ground floor.

    “Hello?”

    “Hi hyung. It’s Jason, I got your number from Yuri-noona, I hope that’s okay,” he strode out of the building and headed over to the park.  

    “Ah! Hi Jason, that’s okay.  What can I do for you?”

    “I was just wondering if you were free right now? There’s something I’d like to discuss.”

    “Is it the girls? Are you all okay?”

    “The girls are fine.  Taeyeon-noona read some hate comments about their comeback and is feeling a bit down.  So, I have an idea and I wanted to ask for your help.”

    “Sure.  I’ll meet you at Cafe 13? It’s down the block from your apartment.”

    “That’s perfect. Thanks, hyung,” Jason changed course and headed for the familiar cafe not too far from him.

    “No problem.  Be there in 15 minutes.” Manager-hyung hung up and Jason jogged the rest of the way.

It was busy in the cafe, given the time and day, it was filled with workers and students meeting up for coffee or grabbing take away.  Jason was sheltered in one of the large red booths, nursing a mango a smoothie.  Glancing up every time the bell over the door tinkled, indicating a new customer.  He let the relaxed atmosphere and quiet babble of chatter wash over him.  Large windows let plenty of sunlight in, giving the impression of a light and warm feel.  

    “Sorry for the wait,” Jason hadn’t even noticed the bell that time, he was so caught up in his plans.  Manager-hyung slid into booth, sitting across from him, “So, what do you have in mind?”

They got down to business.  It was going to take some fast planning to get it ready and approved in time for the next SNSD concert.  They only had two weeks.

 

 

---

 

Giant white banner folded in his briefcase? Full business suit? Papers with the proposal? Sweaty palms?

Yep. Everything was exactly as he had checked it a minute ago. And the minute before that. And the minute before that.  Okay, he was being ridiculous.  Logically speaking, he knew that the possibility of him losing something he had a minute ago while riding an elevator with SNSD’s manager (Minjae-hyung!) was very very very very low. It wasn’t his fault though. It wasn’t everyday Jason rode the elevator up to the top level of SM Entertainment to meet with the CEO himself.

Minjae-hyung had pulled all the strings he could to get this meeting set up.  Now, it was up to Jason to convince the big boss to give them a green light on Operation: SONE Cheer.  He the manager’s backing, the event director’s backing, this was the final step.

The elevator ding went off and the silver doors slid open.  His polished dress shoes stepped into the plush office and the sight of a professional, no nonsense businessman greeted him.

    “Good morning, Director-nim,” he bowed low to the man, “Thank you for meeting me…”

Soon enough, he and Minjae-hyung were seated across from the CEO and detailing all their plans and reason for the operation.  It took the better part of an hour, but all the talking paid off.  With Jason's forward thinking and planning ahead, everything was already organised with very little complications or loss for the company.  Both of the employee’s bowed low when they were given the green light.

    “How do you plan to have other stars sign and leave messages on your banner without SNSD knowing?” CEO-nim asked.

    “Manager-hyung will be contacting the managers of the artists closest to the group and asking them to come see me whenever they had a few minutes to spare and were in the building during the day,” Jason explained, “I’ll have the banner set up in a private locked room in the Legal Sector, and will lead them to it when they come.”

    “Good luck to you gentlemen.”

Both men bowed once more, knowing a dismissal when they heard one.  And so, for the next week and a half, all the SNSD fans in the Legal Sector signed and left supporting messages on the banner Jason and Minjae-hyung set up in an empty locked storage room.  Famous celebrities, such as EXO, SHINee, Super Junior and many more dropped by the office everyday to sign and leave a comment  of support for SNSD. Every person swore to keep it a secret and were looking forward to the big reveal.

Before anyone realised it, it was the day of the concert and Jason had used one day of his paid vacation leave to attend.  The girls had no idea what was in store for them.  When they were in their dressing room, every fan was slowly allowed into the venue.  And each one was given a marker to leave a message for the group.  They had the banner set up along the hallway that led to the concert hall.  Some wrote long pieces addressing each member, other wrote one supportive sentence for the whole group.  Nevertheless, by the time the last of the fans had gone in, there was barely a free space on the large banner.

When the doors shut, crew members quickly rolled up the banner and set it up on stage.  Completely hidden until the big reveal.

As SNSD took their final bow amidst the roar of the fans, their manager stepped out onto the stage.

    “Hi everyone! My name is Kwon Minjae, and I’m SNSD’s manager. I hope you all enjoyed tonight!” All the fans screamed and cheered, “Now, there’s one last thing we have to do before the end of the night...Taeyeon-ah, come here.”

Wide eyed and obviously confused, Taeyeon stepped forward with an awkward smile.  Behind her, all her group members were whispering and wondering what was going on.

    “Now, I know you all love their comeback,” another roar of approval, “But...some netizens put up some hateful comments. How did you feel when you read those, Taeyeon-ah?”

A microphone was abruptly in her face. She gave an awkward laugh, “Umm… I obviously felt bad, but that's a natural reaction, right? So I just think of all the fans who support us and I feel better.”

Anyone could tell she was unsure what direction this conversation was taking.

Minjae-hyung chuckled good naturedly, “Well said, but…even when you try to show a brave face, we know some of these comments affect you very deeply.”

Another breathy laugh, “Umm… I guess so.”

“It's the burden of being the leader,” Sooyoung stepped forward, flashed the fans a smile, gave Taeyeon's shoulder a supportive squeeze and shot their manager a quizzical look, “It affects her more because she's always looking out for us and wanting the best for us all together.”

An adoring ‘awww…’ sounded from the audience. “We love you Taeyeon!” Someone shouted.  She gave have them a shy smile and an even shyer wave.

“Well, your fans and friends wanted to cheer you up. So, we've put together a gift for you all,” their manager swept a hand in a grand gesture towards the back of the stage. The massive banner unfurled from above. SNSD could see hundreds of messages of support and love decorating every available white surface, “These are messages from everyone.”

Tears sprung in every girl's eyes as they saw the heartfelt messages lit up. There were compliments, words of encouragement, words that spoke of their beauty, their kindness and their talent.  Words that showed how much they mean to their fans and friends.

Their manager covered his mic, leaned over and whispered in Taeyeon's ear, "This was all Jason's idea.  He didn't like seeing you so saddened."

Tearful brown eyes sought out the younger man.  Jason stood behind the curtains to the left hand side of the stage.  A broad grin was plastered on his face, as he lifted his arms above his head and formed a heart for her.  In that moment, she really did burst into tears.  Affection for this young lawyer welled up in her and spilled over as she took in the effort and lengths he must have gone to just to lift her spirits.

Her manager leaned in again, "We said that he should be the one presenting it, but he refused.  He didn't want to cause you guys trouble by having fans asking about his identity and starting rumours,  he asked me to do it so that no one would ask questions."

Tears of joy were flowing from every member's eye. One final bow and massive ‘thank you’ to their audience later, and they were able to go off stage. Once out of sight, Taeyeon ran to Jason and hugged him tight. She was crying and thanking him repeatedly, burying her face in his chest.

“You're family, noona. You girls are the family and friends that I've been missing, I would do anything for you.”

Taeyeon pulled back, tears still pooling in her eyes, “You're part of our family too. Don't ever forget that.”

A megawatt grin was his only response.

 

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Sorry Tae-shippers, but in this story she's the older sister Jason never had! In the pairing votes, it looks like Tiffany is leading with Jessica coming a close second, there's only one vote difference between them!

 

I hope you liked this chapter.