"Has Yoona arrived yet?" I asked as I entered the living room. Sunny, Hyoyeon, Tiffany, and Joohyun were there playing a board game.

"No, Taeyeon-unnie. It's two hours and forty minutes of flight time. And she still has to travel by land here." Studious Joohyun said.

"Oh. I see." I responded and chuckled. I messed her hair as I sat beside her. "You could have just said no and not explain in detail."

She giggled, "Unnie, I've always been like this. You can't change who I am."

And it sure is a nice start to our happy special day...

Tiffany then uttered as she breathed deeply, "This feels so great."

"Yeah. It is." we all said.

She then opened up a topic, "I could not believe this is our eleventh year as a group."

"Yeah, but you, Joohyun, and Sooyoung decided to leave last year." Hyoyeon rebutted.

"Hey. No one really left! We are always GG 4 EVA!" Tiffany defended.

"So, we're still nine?" Sunny suddenly said and had the room in dead silence afterward. "I mean... Jessica. She's still our member, right?"

I answered, "That depends on her if she still considers us a part of her life."

And that had led the room to die in silence. They seemed to have become uneasy because of my response. Yes, Taeyeon. It's the same as always. They always misunderstand what you're trying to say.

"Anyway, where's Sooyoung?" I asked to redirect the topic.

"She's on her way," Hyoyeon answered. "She said they're already on the highway."

"I see. Good."

The board game continued, and I just merely watched them laugh and talk about incoherent things. Sunny was still a bit distracted, though. A few moments later, she finally spilled it up. "Should we invite Jessica?"

Joohyun chuckled bitterly, "I doubt she'll come. I saw on her Instagram feed she's in the middle of her Caribbean trip."

"You're following her on Instagram?" Tiffany asked.

"In my secret account, yes."

"Oh. I guess we all do have our secret accounts." Tiffany said, and they all shared chuckles. Well, that's in exception of me, though. I don't have a secret account or something.

Hyoyeon suggested, "We could at least tell her we're celebrating our eleventh year."

"Like a message?" Tiffany asked.

"A video call would be fine too," Sunny said.

"And do you think she'll answer?" I asked. Great. Now, they're all staring at me with total worriment and uneasiness on their faces. "It is a genuine question," I said. "I just want to know if you all believe she'll answer."

"Taeyeon," Tiffany called. "Can we talk?"

I was about to answer when Yuri suddenly barged in. "Nope! Taeyeon's busy!" she said. She went near me and strongly tapped my back. "Come on. Help me marinate the meat for the barbecue."

She went ahead to the kitchen, and I followed. "I know what that is," I said as I started helping her out.

"What what?" she asked back innocently.

"You're trying to avoid another heated talk about Jessica again."

"No." She smiled at me. "I'm trying to save you from getting misunderstood again."

I forced out a laugh, "Do you even understand what I was trying to say?"

"Yeah. And that is for us to accept the reality that Jessica is no longer part of us anymore, like ever. Like never ever getting back together forever."

"Yur--"

"Isn't that it, Taeng?"

I looked away. "No."

"We both know that's what you think. Ever since she was out of the group, she never bothered to call or contact any one of us. So now, you're shielding your heart for any possible hope she's coming back."

"Let's just stop talking about Jessica, please."

"Taeng. Let me at least tell you this... We can't avoid having these kinds of conversations, especially when it's our anniversary as a group. Jessica has always been a part of our family. Most of us sure miss her a lot."

"I know that..." I sighed. "But there should always be a limit. We cannot hope for something impossible."

"Nothing's impossible in this world."

"Humans cannot fly."

"Humans are smart enough to invent something to be able to fly. Paragliders, air balloons, airplanes... See?"

"Immortality."

"Movies were invented. That is something we can already call immortality. Immortality is the same way as being always remembered forever, you know. Same as history."

I looked at her and smiled, "Yuri. Let me ask."

"Shoot."

"Why are you in a girl group?"

She squinted her eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, you're supposed to be a philosopher or something."

She laughed loudly, "I bet you a thousand bucks Sooyoung, Yoona, and Hyoyeon will mock you with what you just said. Definitely, Sones too."

Yuri has always been dubbed as one of the silly members of the group. Silly and a bit stupid as what they all say. Like the class clown, as what they all say. And that is because that's what she wanted to paint herself in public... even to us. But deep inside, she's nothing like that. She's a very deep person—a great person to talk to, as to how Tiffany always described.

I teased, "You are quite philosophical with the things you always say, and yet you also at studies."

"Academics isn't the only measurement of intelligence in this world."

"So, you're saying you're intelligent?"

"No. Let's just say it's more of I understand life, my meaning. And don't ever tell me I am the only one who does because that's not what I am trying to say. What I meant is, the meaning of your life and the things happening will always depend on what you believe in. And if you believe this is your purpose, no one can ever say it's wrong because that's your life."

"Whoa. That's some great escalation of conversation we got there. We were talking about Jessica, and suddenly we're talking about the meaning of life?"

"It's because you always ask yourself why all of these are happening to you... to us." She smiled at me. "There's no right and wrong answer, Taeyeon. The answer is only within yourself."

"Okay, Nostradamus."

"Nostradamus isn't even a philosopher."

"And I am surprised that you know that." We both shared a laugh.

"Say, is Sooyoung's boyfriend going to join us?" she asked.

"No. He's just going to drop her off, and then he'll leave. Why?"

"Good." She took the tray of marinated meat and continued as she headed out, "Because I don't want any boys in here. Girls only!"

"Or do you just wanted to be the only boy here, Mister Yuri?" I teased.

"Shut up, Taeng."