Silence.

Darkness.

Then slowly … warmth.

Not heat, not fire.  Just warmth.

And light.

Sounds of the sea crept through as Jessica opened her eyes, shielding them from the sunlight overhead.  She felt water lapping at her feet as she came to.  She gathered her strength and sat up.

Sunrise.  Or was it sunset?  She really didn’t know.  She looked around and took in what she could see.  It looked like a beach.  Just a regular California beach.  It was quiet, almost empty.  Maybe a few teenagers frolicking about some few hundred yards away,  but aside from that, it was entirely empty.  She stood up and brushed the sand from her body and looked out to the sea.

“You missed a spot.”

She spun around and stepped back.  Sitting on the hood of the car was a familiar blonde haired young woman, her ankles resting on the car’s buffer.  A white t-shirt accompanied her tight denim shorts and sandals, her hair adorned with plaits.

“Is this … is this Hell?”

“Hell?”  She chuckled.  “No.  It’s California.  Just as you left it.”

“But … what happened?  To the fire … and the …” she spun around, looking for what was missing.

“Just some special effects.  Kind of the Universal Studios tour of Evil.  Usually it works, but clearly, you weren’t going for it.”  She gently patted the space on the hood next to her.  “That last wish of yours was a dealbreaker.”

“Huh?” she asked, walking closer, very hesitantly.

She sighed and rolled her eyes  “Nobody ever reads the contract!  Article 208, section F, subsection 13, ‘Selfless Acts of Redemption’?”

Jessica looked at her, even more confused.

“If you commit one truly benevolent, entirely selfless act, it voids the contract.”

She felt her chest tighten a little.  “That means … I get to keep my soul?”

She smiled and shook her head in defeat.  Despite the loss, she wasn’t annoyed.  “Yes,” she conceded, “you get to keep your soul.”

Excitement washed over Jessica as she squealed in delight.  She didn’t care who saw her jumping around and screaming.

Taeyeon chuckled and watched her, waiting for her to come down.

“You know,” she intoned, “on August 3^rd, I’ll have been doing this for three thousand years.  Daddy’s been doing it for much longer than me.  You are the first person to give away one of their wishes for either of us.”  A slight look of panic came over her face.  “I hope this isn’t a trend.  You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?”

“Wha-?  No!  I mean …”

Taeyeon smiled and chuckled a little more, before patting the hood again.

She relented and walked towards the car, hopping up to the proffered seat.  Silence passed between them for a few seconds.

“Want to know something?” Taeyeon asked, looking ahead.

Jessica turned to look at her but said nothing.

“This whole thing?  Good and Evil, Her and Me? It really comes down to you.  You don’t have to look too hard to find Heaven and Hell.  They’re right here on Earth.”

“So … that’s it?  I can go?  I’m free?”

She smiled brightly.  “Unless you want another four wishes.”

“Uh … no.  Thank you.”

“Didn’t think so.”

They sat, watching as the ocean waves crashed on the beach in front of them.  The cool breeze flowed around them, gently whipping at their locks.

“I was scared of you.”

Jessica looked at Taeyeon.  “Come again?”

“You asked me why I turned against you, when you were one of us,” Taeyeon kept her eyes ahead of her, not once looking towards Jessica.  “I was scared of you.  You were incredibly professional.  And talented.  You were better than me, you were so much better than me.  I wanted to be popular, to be famous, to be a star.  Then SM brought in this girl who was everything I wanted to be, and it came to her as naturally as breathing.  She was a skilled singer, an amazing dancer … she was born to be a performer.  I was scared.  Scared you’d be better than me, and you would never even have to try.”

She didn’t know how to respond to that.  How could someone with the power Taeyeon had be so threatened by her?  Meek, little, insignificant Jessica Jung?

“You worked harder than any of the girls did,” she continued.  “You wanted to be something, you wanted us to be something.  We became the Nation’s Girl Group.”  She turned to her companion.  “We wouldn’t have got that title if it wasn’t for you.”

“But … it was all of us.”

“And you.  You were part of us.  Without you, we might not have had that title.”

Jessica returned to taking in the sea.

“Did you know I own most of SM?” Taeyeon asked.  “Not the company, but the artists?  Almost all of them signed the same contract you did, within twelve months of joining.”

“What?”

She smiled to herself.  “Yep.  Yoona and Sooyoung too.  Yuri’s too spaced out to think about failing, Seohyun’s far too moral, Sunny’s too bright, Hyoyeon’s … Hyoyeon and Tiff’s … well …”  She shrugged.  “I own almost all of TWICE, half of Red Velvet, and don’t even get me started on EXO.”

“What?”

“Let’s just say they all sold out quicker than you can say ‘I wish’.”

Jessica sighed and shook her head.  “Why do you do that?”

“What?”

“Offer them the contract.  Why do you do it?”

She shrugged.  “I’m the Devil’s daughter.  It’s what we do.”

“Yeah, but … why?”

She smiled.  “When it all comes down to it, it’s you that makes the final choice.  I made them an offer and they jumped at it.  They wanted it to be easy for them, instant fame and no work.  Very few wanted to really work for their fame.  You only signed when there was nothing left.”  She shook her head.  “I pushed you to sign.  You signed, you signed on your own, but I still pushed you.  I was so determined to make sure you failed.  Then it came to me … I could make you fail and get your soul.  I’d have it all.”

For the first time since she had come back into her life, a tear fell down Taeyeon’s cheek.

“Tae …”

She wiped her eye and smiled.  “It’s ok.”  She took a deep breath and looked at her.  “I really liked you, Jess.  If I wasn’t so threatened by you … we could be friends.  Maybe even more.”

“M-more?”

A slight smirk appeared.  “You never know.  Add in a few benefits here and there …”

The erted glisten in her eye, something familiar to Jessica.

“Do you ever stop?” she sighed, exasperated.  Although, if the truth were told, it was a relief to see little had changed.

“But I did like you.  I do like you.  I was just scared.”

“Tae … do you know how excited I was to see you got your solo contract first?  Do you know how much I wanted to stay in the band?  I was desperate to stay there, but you all … well …”

“I told them to get rid of you.”

“You?”

She gave her a look.  “If I was threatened by your artistic talent, how freaked out do you think I’d get at you running a business as well?  Singer, actress, dancer, successful businesswoman.  You think I could compete with that?”

“I guess …”

“I couldn’t chance it.  But … that’s it now.  You’re free to sign with whoever you want.”

Jessica scoffed.  “Like they’ll sign with me now.”

“Course they will.  None of that stuff ever happened.”

“What?”

“As far as people are concerned, it’s the same time we met last week, but nothing happened.  In fact, you haven’t even met them yet.  You head back home, Tyler will be there wondering what happened to you, he’ll be the same guy you knew before.”

“And the maid?”

“She’ll be on her way home now, as she usually is.  Undefiled, heading back to look after her son.  Labels will want to see you, investors, too.  They’ll all be calling you up.”

“Promise?”

She nodded.  “I promise.  And …” she took a deep breath.  “And I’ll be out of your way.  Completely.  I won’t interfere.  You won’t ever see me again.”

“Never?”

She shook her head and jumped off the hood.

Jessica thought for a moment.  “You think I’ll still make it?”

“You?  In LA?  This place is made for people like you.”

She smiled.  “Then come and see me when I finally go on tour.  Come backstage.”

Taeyeon raised an eyebrow.

“We spent years together, training, performing.  Yeah, you tried to take my soul and condemn me to eternal damnation and torture … but that’s your thing.  It’s what you do.  We were still friends until I left.”

“You sure want me there?”

She nodded.  “I’d love you to be there.”

Taeyeon smiled.  “You got yourself a deal then.”

Jessica smiled and jumped up.  “You need a ride somewhere?”

She shook her head.  “Rain check.  Got an earthquake to deal with in the South Pacific.”

She got into the car and put her fingers on the key in the ignition.  “This car won’t break down, will it?”

Taeyeon held her hands up, pleading her innocence.  “If it does, that’s all on you.”

She turned the key, then reached into the glove compartment, took out her shades, and put them over her eyes, before fastening her seatbelt and pulling out of the parking lot.  Taeyeon watched as the car left her behind.

“Told you,” a familiar voice chided her.

“Ugh,” her shoulders collapsed in defeat.  “Fine.  You win.  Jessica’s too good for me.”  She turned around and caught the bright smile of her favourite valley girl and smirked back at her.  “Happy?”

She nodded, her trademark eye-smile brighter than any jewel on Earth.

“You really are insufferable, you know that?” she slipped off her sandals and walked past her companion and along the beach.

The white fabric of Tiffany’s summer dress flowed in the wind behind her.  “You say that every day.”

“That’s because you’re insufferable every day.”

The pair walked slowly, the sand pressing between their toes, the waves washing along the shore.

“You did right by her, you know?”

“I know.  So did you.”

“I guess.”

She looked at her companion.  “Want to grab a coffee?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” she beamed as the pair linked arms.  “But this time, you’re buying.”

“Seriously?”

“I paid last time!”

“You did not!”

“I did too!”

“No, that was me!”

“Nuh-uh, I’ve paid twice now!  It’s your turn!”

The sun dropped over the horizon as the pair bickered, leaving the city to roll on as it always did.  Souls walking, without a care in the world.