“Morning Oppa,” Jessica entered the car and greeted brightly to her assistant, Benson.

“Did you have a good rest?” Benson asked.

“Neh,” she started her work while others are still asleep in the dawn.

“For you,” Benson smiled as he passed her sandwiches, her schedule and a bouquet of purple tulips.

“Tulips?”

“I saw it lay in front of your house so I picked it up for you,” Benson said.

There’s a mini card inserted between the tulips.

Jess, may you have a wonderful day ahead – J

With the initial, she knew it was from Jaejoong. His sweet gesture is giving her mixture of feelings. She is confused. What is he up to?

“A special flower choice, do you know what do purple tulips mean?” Benson voice interrupted her thoughts.

She shook her head and waited for his reply. “It means forever love.”

What does he means by giving me these tulips?

“Are you perhaps in a relationship?” Benson raised his brows.

“Of course not!” her voice slightly rose.

“Then it must be one of your admirer, did it have a card stating is from who?”

“No, there isn’t,” she lied.

“Could it be from Mr. Lee?” he made a guess.

“Is not,” her voice was certain because she knows who the sender is. “I need to check my schedule now Oppa,” putting a closure on the flower issue.

She placed the tulips aside and remembered last night Jaejoong had texted her. She texted him back with a short message, Received the tulips with thanks. It’s beautiful. 

Focus Jessica. You shall not let him affect you. She chanted in her mind.

Thereafter, she browsed through her schedule again while she munched deliciously on her bread which Benson had prepared it with love. Benson had worked for her ever since she debuted as a model and fret not, Benson have a girlfriend whom he love with all his heart and only treated Jessica like his sister likewise her treating him like her brother.

She had to film a commercial for facial products which her manager had clinched recently. Thereafter, she had to go for a photo shoot and in the evening, she had to go for a charity function.

“Charity function?” she questioned. It was not the initial schedule she had known so far. She still thought of getting some rest after everything had ended.

“Ah – About that, it was a last minute decision yesterday and it slipped off from my mind to inform you. I am really sorry,” he was apologetic.

She is an understanding woman. “It’s okay Oppa, So what kind of charity is this and what should I do?”

“This indoor charity is held annually by an organization where it gathered all influence people in Seoul. The past tradition was that they will auction their priceless item to bid and all biddings will be directly go to the orphanage and disabilities. However, this year they forgo the tradition and had invited idols, actress, actor and models like you to perform. They will place their bid during the performance.”

Jessica gaped with shocked, “I will have to perform?! It sounds like I am an auction to get bid for.”

“But it is for a good cause,” Benson emphasized.

“But I do not have any talents at all, what am I going to be performing?” she face palm.

“You do have talents, you can sing and play piano, I’ve heard you sing and your voice is heavenly angelic” he said.

She took a deep breath and mumbled. “I haven’t sung for a while and this is just too last minute.”

A minute of silence and she knows that he’s waiting for her reply, hoping she would not pull off suddenly. And she knows she couldn’t bear to reject it because it is for a good cause.

“Okay, but what song should I sing?” she agreed with a small smile. She grabbed her phone to search for a song to sing and decided to sing her all-time favorite – Almost.

“Oppa, how do you think if I sing ‘almost’?” asked Jessica.

“I think this song is great, it is filled with much emotion and I know it’s your favorite,” Benson totally supported her choice of song.

She played the song as she started humming and then slowly began to sing along with it. Benson, on the other hand, was enjoying her singing while driving her to her first destination.

The morning commercial film and afternoon photo shoot went pretty well and she earned praises. She heaved a relief as she had ended her schedule slightly earlier which gave her more time to prepare. She actually knows its lyrics very well so she is practicing piano now in the studio. It has been years since she last touched the piano and come to think about it, it was Jaejoong whom had taught her how to play.

She reminisced times back then when they sat side by side as he placed his finger on hers while he taught her how to play piano. Dismissing his image appeared on her mind, she diligently searched for a video to guide her on how to play the front small part of “Almost’. She mastered it within an hour and was pleased with herself.

“How do you think, Oppa?” Jessica asked for Benson opinion on her performance she displayed earlier.

Benson couldn’t hide his grin and applauded for her. “Sica! It was fantastic! I think you will pull off the performance easily.”

“I hope so too,” she is not confident enough. Thereafter, the stylists helped her with her overall appearances.

Arriving at the charity gala, Jessica was gowned in a long, beautiful and elegant piece of shimmery white tube dress which flaunted her proportionate body. Furthermore, her long brunette loose end curls falls perfectly over her shoulder. She strode in with her strapped heels together with her enchanted smile. She was stopped by at the entrance for a quick snap shot by the photographer as requested.

Entering the grand ballroom hall, she was surprised by its huge spacious area with many unfamiliar faces and felt a pang of loneliness without her best friends. She hoped Benson would be here soon. She glanced around quickly and spotted her colleagues, Yura and Bora, to her relief. She walked towards them and greeted them politely as they are her seniors.

“Oh! Jessica, you are here too?” Yura doesn’t seem surprised to see her.

“Yes, I am performing later, how about you?” she replied.

“We are here as guests,” Bora smugly told.  “I wondered what you will be performing in a while.”

“I – “

“Sica!” it was Benson and he gave a brief acknowledgement of both Yura and Bora presence.

“Oppa,” she turned back.

“We need to go now for preparation,” Benson informed.   

“Sorry, I need to go. Catch up later,” Jessica apologized.

“Get going. Good luck,” Yura gave a fake smile. Both Yura and Bora doesn’t like her that much because ever since she joined the agency, their value dropped. They are angry and jealous of her. It was supposed to be their performance but they rejected instead and pretended to give Jessica a chance. Jessica was kept in the dark.

“Isn’t that woman Jessica?” Minho pointed to a direction when he caught a glimpse of her ambled past in the crowd.

Donghae shifted his gaze to where he pointed but he didn’t see her. “Are you sure it’s her?”

“Of course, my eagle eyed won’t see wrong,” Minho was confident.

“What is she doing here?” Donghae wondered.

“I heard that there will be performance put up by idols, actor/actress and models. So maybe she’s here to perform?” Kibum replied as they settled down around the round table.

“Oppa, what if I perform badly later and there is no bid at all during my performance?” she voiced out her worries.

“Breathe in Sica, you are the almighty Jessica. You will do perfectly well, you must believe in yourself,” Benson squeezed her shoulder to boost her confidence.

In the meanwhile at the ballroom, the Emcees appeared on the stage for an opening. They welcomed the guests and thanked them for coming. They also informed the guests about the change of this year charity and that they had invited singers and all to perform and during the performance they can bid and all bids will be going to the fund.

“Also, we will reveal the highest bid based on each performance by the end of the show. The highest bidder will be able to interact and play a small game with our performer.” This was the highlight of the event which aroused everyone anticipation.

“What?!” Jessica expressed her shock upon listening to the announcement.

The lights dimmed and the first performance was from an acapella band. She was enjoying all the performances and worried that she won’t do as well. Very soon, it was Jessica cue. She walked in graciously when she was introduced by the Emcees.

“See! I told ya! It was really her!” Minho was pleased with his eagle eyes. Donghae eyes were on her and anticipating her performance.

Jessica bowed in front of the guests with a warm smile before stepping back to where the piano was. She breathed in and her fingers gently placed onto the board. She played an introduction of the song first before she stopped before continuing it with her angelic voices. She sang along while she played. She had put in so much emotion in it.

Donghae watched every step she made; he was impressed and mesmerized by her voice. He didn’t know she sings so well. She had made him admired her from the day they met.

He overheard Mr. Choi from the next table complimented Jessica beauty and stated he must win this bid to get a chance to know her. Surely, Donghae doesn’t felt comfortable with it and he wrote in a shocking amount onto the piece of paper that will hopefully win Mr. Choi bid and gave it to the assistant.

“Wow Hyung! You must have really taken interest in Jessica,” Kibum remarked with pleased.

“Ani, I was just supporting her. She is our friend, isn’t she?” Donghae said.

“She is our friend but definitely soon to be girl friend of yours,” Minho teased. He had recently seen some changes from Donghae ever since he met Jessica. He really hopes that they will end up together.

Donghae face slightly rose. “Stop your assumption.”