“Tae! Watch where you’re going!”

“Huh? Oh…” Taeyeon looked down and saw a mud puddle inches below her feet. “Thanks, Tiff.” She walked around the puddle and continued on her way.

“Geez, what’s wrong with you?” Tiffany caught up to Taeyeon. Though she had only met Taeyeon recently, Tiffany had become one of her closest friends. “I didn’t want to say anything, but you look a little pale. And lately you’ve been such a space-case. You’ve dropped your books and almost walked into walls all week.”

“I know. It’s really nothing. I’m-“

“’-Busy a lot at nights.’ Yeah yeah, I’ve heard it all before.”

Taeyeon stopped walking. “I’m sorry."

“Don’t be. I worry about you tough.” Tiffany gave Taeyeon a pat on the back. “Besides, today is not a day to be a downer. We have to find Sunny and the guys she wanted us to meet in a few minutes!” Before Taeyeon could protest, Tiffany grabbed her hand and dragged her to the entrance of a local amusement park. “Sunny!”

Near the entrance to a large open area stood a short girl with long straight hair that framed her eternally child-like face. With her were four guys.

Sunny turned and opened her arms for a hug. “Tae! Tiff-tiff! You guys made it.”

“I told you to stop calling me that. And no, I will not pay for your food if you keep doing that.” Tiffany said in reply. She did hug Sunny though.

Behind Sunny, the four guys stared at the three beautiful girls. After the girls greeted, giggled, and hugged, Sunny proceeded to introduce her friends to the boys.

“Tae, Tiff, these are Wooyoung, Onew, Donghae,” Sunny started as she pointed to the boys behind her, “And this is Jiyoung. He’s a year older than us, so he is now G-oppa. We all have the same music teacher.”

Again, the girls repeated their greetings. The guys awkwardly replied. Their gazing was less than subtle and their immediate interest in Tiffany and Taeyeon was evident.

Tiffany didn’t need to do much to garner attention from the boys. From birth, she had a signature eye-smile that would make a crying baby stop. Her eye-smile was also enough to make the boys melt into a pile of lovesick goo. Taeyeon, on the other hand, had recently chopped the lower half of her hair and bleached the tips. This caught the eye of everyone around her, and drew attention to her y smile.

“Uh, guys?” Sunny waved her hands in front of everyone’s faces. “Not to break the awkward gawking, but we have tickets and I want to go on some rides.” With that, the group walked into SM Park.

~~~~

At about noon, a small red car pulled into a large parking lot that occupied nearly an entire block. A slender girl with light brown hair stepped out of the drivers seat and awed at the fresh air and sounds of excitement surrounding her. As she turned her back to the roller coasters and rides, she tipped her sunglasses down from her forehead to hide her eyes from the sun.

“Sica, I love you and all, but can you try not to kill us when you drive?” said a girl from the front passenger seat. She, too, wore sunglasses.

A third girl poked her head out of the back window. Her short hair came down to her chin and slightly covered her face as the wind blew past her. “Sooyoung is right. Slow down on those turns! You’ll flip the car or something if you aren’t careful.”

“Loosen up!” Jessica exclaimed. “We finally have a chance to relax. I know I’m excited to be on a mini-vacation, and I know for a fact that Yoona is even more excited than I am.” Jessica reached into the car and opened up the glove compartment. “By the way, here are my spare sunglasses. Put them on before someone sees you, Yoona.”

Although Yoona, Sooyoung and Jessica looked like normal college girls, they were really one of the top singing groups in Korea: ZoNE. None of them regretted working in the entertainment industry, but they rarely got to go out on their own. Every detail of their lives was documented somewhere online: newspapers were covered with their faces, and blogs dedicated to following their lives decorated the Internet. Videos of their performances were constantly on the top-watched lists no matter where you looked.

“Jessica, are you serious? Sunglasses? If we don’t want anyone to notice us, we would need to change our faces. No one will mistake this face for someone else.” Yoona pointed to Jessica. As the lead singer, she was often in the spotlight and appeared on a few more shows and interview than her fellow group mates.

Sooyoung hopped out of the car with a sigh. “Let’s just make the most of this. Yoona, put the glasses on.” Sooyoung took the glasses from Jessica and pushed them into Yoona’s hands. “And Sica,” Sooyoung added as she pointed to Jessica’s upper arm, “Roll down your sleeves.” Yoona complied with Sooyoung’s instructions without hesitation.

Jessica looked at her right arm where she got a cut after falling and hitting a sharp edge during a dance practice. “No one would notice something small like this.”

“Really? Do I have to show you your section of the ZoNE-ified site? The page with almost 100 pages of people showering you with concern over “something small” like that?”

“Ugh. You have got to be kidding me. You follow those sites religiously. And I do not mean that in a good way.” Reluctantly, Jessica pulled down her sleeves. In a heartbeat, any signs of such unwillingness were replaced by elation as the girls ran towards the entrance gates with a bit of dance in their stride.

~~~~

Taeyeon and her group had just got off one of the roller coasters for the third time (she wasn’t sure which it was, but she knew they had already been on it once or twice before). Tiffany and Sunny were talking with the boys and said something along the lines of “let’s go to the one over there!”.

“Tiffany. Sunny. You guys go ahead,” Taeyeon said to her friends. “I’m not feeling too well. I think I’m just going to the waiting area and sit for a while.” Taeyeon did look noticeably paler, with a red tint creeping onto her cheeks.

“Do you need us to take you there? We can wait with you so you aren’t alone…” said Sunny with concern. Suddenly, Taeyeon’s phone went off.

“Hello…?” Neither Tiffany nor Sunny noticed that Taeyeon suddenly gasped. Nor did they notice her eyes temporarily grew sullen. Taeyeon nodded a few times before putting the caller on hold. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be at the waiting area down there.” Taeyeon pointed somewhere down hill where a large crowd had gathered. “I’ll see you guys later. If I need anything, I’ll call.”

“Okay. If you insist.” Sunny replied. She didn’t want to leave Taeyeon alone, but at the same time she knew that Taeyeon was responsible enough to take care of herself. “tJust be careful, okay? We’ll try and call or stop by in a little while.” Taeyeon smiled at her friends as they walked towards another ride. With that, Taeyeon went her own way and resumed her phone call.

“What do you want?” Scowled Taeyeon. She gripped the phone tightly in anger.

“Is that really any way to talk to us?” said a woman’s voice. There were sinister giggles in the background.

“I’m not feeling well. I think I’m coming down with something and I want to go home. I still don’t know even what I’m supposed to do here other than shoot someone. You’re lucky no one actually noticed the gun when they checked my bag. I thought they would catch me at the gates!”

“Don’t worry,” said a second voice, “We have our ways of making sure things happen the way we want.” Taeyeon found the voice to be irritably calm.

“You mean like taking my “sister” away from me until I do this…this mission?”

“Yes. Now speaking of the mission, you’re target in also here. You’ll have to find her, but she doesn’t seem to have any of her bodyguards like normal. At least, we did our best to keep them away from her.”

“Just tell me who I have to shoot so I can get over with it. I want to see my “sister”!” Taeyeon said under her breath.

A third voice answered Taeyeon’s plea. “Kill ZoNE’s Jessica.”

Taeyeon stopped in her tracks. She couldn’t believe her ears. Taeyeon was an avid fan of ZoNE, and now she was expected to kill her idol Jessica? “Say that again?”

“You heard me. If you don’t kill her, you can say goodbye to your precious “little sister” forever.” With that, the strangers hung up.

“Wait! Hello? Hello?!” Taeyeon looked at the phone. The screen flashed once before displaying “The Call Has Ended.” This has got to be a dream. No, a nightmare! There is no way that I have to kill Jessica! She thought. Taeyeon continued to walk towards a flight of stairs. However, she was too preoccupied to notice that her breathing had started to turn to gasps and that her forehead was burning up.

Of all people…Jessica. She’s her favorite. Our favorite… Taeyeon thought. She thought of her “sister” and Jessica. She was torn. Her “sister” wasn’t really her sister. They grew up together, but they had different parents. Regardless, they were each other’s best friends. They did so many things together, and both thought Jessica was the greatest person ever. On the other hand, Jessica was the country’s idol, and Taeyeon had always had a crush on her. Her “sister” always joked about Taeyeon’s infatuation with Jessica, but Taeyeon was quite serious about it. What in the world am I supposed to do…how did this all happen, and why did it have to happen to me?!

As Taeyeon walked down the stairs, her vision blurred momentarily and she almost fell. She barely caught herself on the handrail. After recovering from the fall, Taeyeon tried to walk more carefully down the stairs. Unfortunately, her vision continued to hinder her steps and the blinding sun only added to her difficulties. She bumped into someone on the way down and lost her balance. Taeyeon felt her hand slip from the railing as her body collapsed underneath her. Before passing out completely, Taeyeon thought she saw someone try to catch her.

~~~~

ZoNE didn’t get too far before being bombarded by fans. They were lucky that the fans understood they were on a vacation, so the fans did not pester them for more than some pictures and autographs.

“I told you the sunglasses wouldn’t work.” Yoona said. She made a face at her friends when the fans weren’t looking.  Yoona reached up to pull the shades from her face.

Jessica quickly reached for Yoona’s arm and stopped her. “Keep them on. It’s really bright out today. Plus, it does make it harder to see that it’s really us.” Jessica pulled Yoona and Sooyoung with her towards the rides.

Yoona and Sooyoung were a bit worried. Not because they were scared of the rides – they were a bit nervous, however, because neither had been to SM Park’s more recently installed attractions – but because Jessica had a habit of screaming like a dolphin and blowing out their ears when she was surprised. It already happened a few times on stage when the special effects went off.

The process of getting on rides, getting off, asked for photos and autographs repeated for a good two hours before the girls needed to take a break. They walked down to the lower waiting area and grabbed some food while they were at it. Jessica reached into her front right pocket. She jerked her hand out and started to pat the rest of her pockets and search her bag.

“What’s up, Sica?” Sooyoung asked.

“I think I dropped my phone!” Jessica frantically looked around herself. “What am I going to do? There are really important numbers that I can’t let out, like the company’s numbers or some of the other company members’ numbers. Where is it?!”

Yoona and Sooyoung looked at each other before helping Jessica. “Oh!” Sooyoung suddenly said from below their table, “I remember! You checked your phone when we were coming down the stairs. It must have slipped out of your pocket on the way down.”

Jessica perked up at Sooyoung’s remark. “You think? I’ll be right back!” She ran off towards the steps. Though she wasn’t quite looking where she was going, Jessica managed to avoid bumping into most tables and poles. The few times she did get hit by a low branch or chair, Jessica made sure to hit back and put them in their places.

As she reached the stairs, Jessica started to search every possible place the phone could have fallen to. There weren’t many people on the stairs at the moment, though Jessica began to worry that someone already picked it up. Jessica decided to give the stairs one final look-through before giving up and returning to her friends. In the corner of her eye, Jessica saw something that didn’t seem to fit.

“What do we have here…” Jessica said to herself. She bent down and reached past the handrail into some slightly overgrown grass. Her hand laid on something cool – something metallic. With excitement and relief, Jessica grabbed the object. “My phone! Yes!” Jessica jumped up to her feet and checked the phone for any damages. There were some scratch marks on the corner where the phone hit the pavement, but other than that the phone was unharmed. Jessica heaved a sigh of relief. She turned to walk back down the stairs, making sure her phone did not fall out again.

“Oof!” Someone bumped into Jessica. Normally Jessica would have yelled at the offender – how dare someone crash into her so carelessly? – but as Jessica turned to the wrongdoer, she realized the person was falling. Before she could think, Jessica reached out and grabbed the girl. Jessica almost fell with the stranger. Luckily, Jessica was able to catch the handrail and steady herself. She hesitated for a few second as the moment’s events started to sink in: she just saved a girl’s life.

“What’s wrong with you!” Jessica said as she came to her senses. Clearly, she also returned to her normal personality. “Yah!” Jessica shook the girl once or twice, but she wouldn’t move. It took a minute for Jessica to adjust her position to something more comfortable. She continued to cradle the girl.

Who is she…she’s kinda cute though. Wait, what am I thinking?! Jessica looked at the girl again and brushed the hair out of her face. Wow. She’s really cute! Jessica noticed the red tint on the girl’s cheeks and felt her forehead. A fever. Jessica called her friends to meet her at the stairs. She didn’t really explain the situation over the phone. After all, the situation would almost explain itself when her friends saw the predicament Jessica was in.

While waiting, Jessica tried to find some sort of identification of the girl. Her pockets were empty, save for a lollipop and a cellphone with a lock on it. That didn’t help her. Jessica opened the girl’s bag and quickly found a wallet. She opened it up. It was surprisingly empty. There were a few small bills tucked inside. Only one of the card pockets was occupied. Jessica carefully wiggled the identification card out of the wallet. It was evident that the card had rarely been taken out of its leathery case. When Jessica finally got the card out, a slip of paper also fell out.

“Kim Taeyeon. 22 years old.” Jessica read aloud, “Wow, she’s only a month older than I am. You’d think she’d know how to take better care of herself.” Jessica carefully took the paper that fell to the ground. On one side, someone had written “To my dear “sister” Taeng, thank you” followed by a heart and an illegible signature. It was dated about 4 years ago. Jessica turned the paper over. Holy-?! No...that’s not me…her hair is different. There was a picture of two girls posing. The one on the left was clearly Taeyeon. On the right, was another girl. For a moment, Jessica was caught off guard as the girl looked exactly like a 12-year old version of herself. Well, the hair was different, but that was about it.

Before Jessica could look at the contents of Taeyeon’s bag again, Yoona and Sooyoung caught up. They both stared at the sight. It was almost laughable had the stranger not been passed out. Jessica filled in her friends with more exact details, but refrained from showing them the picture. No one was quite sure what to do.

After a few silent moments, Jessica spoke up. “Let’s take her to the dorm.”

Yoona gave Jessica a look of utter disbelief. “Are you insane? We can’t do that. Why don’t we just take her to the hospital. That sounds pretty normal. Don’t you want to be normal?”

Jessica didn’t reply right away. Something about the girl lying helplessly in her hands kept Jessica from agreeing with Yoona. Jessica needed to know more about the girl in the picture.  “Let’s just take her back. She doesn’t seem to have any other identification other than this. Plus, I want to ask her some things.”

Yoona and Sooyoung knew that Jessica was hardheaded at times. This was one of those times. They accepted defeat before Jessica had a chance to rampage. Sooyoung helped Jessica support Taeyeon down to the parking lot. It was a much longer walk now that there was an unconscious person to deal with, but Yoona used her charms to sweet-talk the male employees into giving the girls a ride in a golf cart.

As the girls reached Jessica’s car, they thanked their driver and gracelessly shoved Taeyeon into the back seat. Sooyoung opened the front passenger door so she could sit in her normal seat, when Yoona seized Sooyoung. “Switch seats with me! I don’t want to sit next to her.” Yoona pointed at Taeyeon. “It’s like sitting next to a dead person!”

“ it up and get in the car, Yoona.” Said Jessica. She was still adjusting Taeyeon’s legs into a more comfortable position.

“No…it’s creepy!”

“Fine. I’ll take the back seat. Yoona, take the front passenger seat. Sooyoung,” Jessica pulled the car keys from her bag and tossed them over the car. “You drive. Be careful, though. If you scratch my car you better lock your bedroom door tonight.” Sooyoung caught the keys by the key ring and walked around the driver’s seat.

“Yeah, says the one who almost hit a tree this morning.”

With that, Sooyoung revved up the car and sped off to their home.