Hello my wonderful readers, 

As promised, here is the second part. Things get more dramatic here and more is revealed. I do mention a suicide at the end, I didn't go into much detail, but if you do feel uncomfortable by it, just skip that part. It is purely for the sake of the story. Also, in this story, Yuri has a younger brother and an older brother. Please note that all the characters in this story are fictional although I base the SNSD members on some facts about them (like their favourite colour, interests etc.) 

Hope this chapter answers some of your questions. I think it is sort of obvious as to who is the mastermind but it might just be because the plot is all in my head:P I'll post the next chapter in around a week:)

And I would be very grateful if you could leave a comment after reading. Thank you to all my new subscribers, commenters and readers for your support♥

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Yuri looked fondly at Yoona and with gentle fingertips, she brushed away strands of hair from Yoona’s eyelids.

“I thought you were the one saying I shouldn’t fall asleep, but look at you now. Sleeping like a baby.” Yuri chuckled softly, careful not to wake the sleeping girl.

You are like an angel from heaven, a blessing in my life. It’s strange how I never noticed my feelings for you until a couple of days ago. If only I had known sooner.

*Flashback*

Yuri stepped into the small but cosy house, lit with vanilla scented candles and smelling faintly of cinnamon. She always enjoyed visiting her aunt’s house, it was a place for refuge after what had happened. Her aunt was the only person she could really trust.

“Yuri!” greeted a mellow voice.

Yuri smiled, “Aunt, how have you been?”

Her aunt smiled back at her, “Doing quite well, my darling. Make yourself at home, you’re just in time for the almond biscotti I was making this afternoon.”

Yuri took a seat on the upholstered couch and looked around, once again familiarising herself with the house. She hadn’t been here for a long time.

Soon her aunt came in holding a plate full of slices of almond biscotti and two cups of green tea.

Her aunt sat down and gestured for Yuri to take a slice. She needed no hesitation. Her aunt's baking was always the best. 

They made a small conversation, catching up on trivial matters that had happened in their lives since the last time they met. Once the tea was finished, her aunt refilled the cups and settled into the couch.

“I sense there’s something important you want to talk to me about.” she murmured.

Yuri nodded, “There is…”

She hesitated.

Her aunt smiled comfortingly, “Take your time. Tell me when you’re ready.”

Yuri took a deep breath, “I think I’m in love with a girl”

To her surprise, her aunt didn’t look shocked.

“You think?” she questioned.

Yuri shifted in her seat, “I’m not too sure”

“How does she make you feel?” asked her aunt.

Yuri smiled dreamily, “When I’m with her, I feel really nervous but I also get a very warm feeling, like my heart is melting. It feels like, nothing I’ve ever felt before. Even if there’s a whole room of people, I can only see her… With her by my side, I feel like I can do anything…”

Her aunt nodded wisely, “Don’t think that you are in love. You are in love with this girl. But the problem is your brother, right?”

Yuri sighed, “Yes, it is. I feel like a hypocrite.”

Her aunt laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, “Yuri, do not think so harshly of yourself. It will be hard, but find the courage to say the truth. Not only for yourself but for all those others out there. I know you can do it. I believe in you Yuri.”

Yuri nodded and smiled. If only it was so easy.

*End Flashback*

Beep!

Yuri jumped as her phone buzzed.

Seeing who the sender of the text was, her shoulders relaxed.

[Sunny]

Hi Yuri,

Just finished my dinner. I’m sorry it took so long, it was hard to find a good place to eat so early in the morning. Could you look after Yoona until 3pm?

Yuri quickly typed out a reply.

[Yuri]

I can only stay until 2pm. I have to go somewhere afterwards.

Beep!

[Sunny]

That’s fine. I’ll just come an hour earlier then. Thank you very much^_^ I really need to sleep in a proper bed.

[Yuri]

No problem. Have a good sleep then!

Beep!

[Sunny]

You too!

Yuri looked at Yoona again, smiling softly before turning her attention back to the movie.

*

Taeyeon opened one eye grumpily. 

What is that rustling noise? Please don’t tell me we have a rat in the dorm! Or maybe a whole swarm of them!

She unsteadily got out of bed and staggered to the source of the noise, the kitchen.

The rustling sound was much louder and more frequent.

Taeyeon saw the lights on in the kitchen and her suspicions were confirmed once she entered.

Leaning against the counter, she raised an eyebrow at Sooyoung who stopped mid-chew. “What do you think you are doing?” she asked.

The giant strawberry in Sooyoung’s mouth prevented her from saying anything understandable, “Mmmffff? Umfff ….ahhhhhh….mmmmm”

Taeyeon looked at her expectantly.

Sooyoung slowly finished chewing the strawberry and gave Taeyeon a guilty smile, “Just having a small midnight snack”

Taeyeon almost choked, “Small?”

She gestured to the assortment of biscuit wrappings, take away boxes and fruit peelings littering the kitchen, “If you call this small, Choi Sooyoung, I don’t know what to expect when you plan to have a big midnight snack” she huffed.

Sooyoung pouted slightly, “I didn’t eat this all by myself.”

Taeyeon looked at her questioningly, “Then, who with?”

“Sunny” answered Sooyoung.

“Sunny?” shouted Taeyeon.

Sooyoung frantically waved her arms to quieten Taeyeon.

“She’s sleeping” she whispered, “You might wake her up.”

Taeyeon glared at Sooyoung, “If she wasn’t first awakened by all those loud, rustling sounds! I thought it was a rat!”

Sooyoung argued back, “A rat! I’m not a rat! And those rustlings weren’t even loud. What is loud is your voice!”

Taeyeon put her hands on her hips and opened to give a retort when both of them heard light footsteps.

Sunny peered at them from the doorway with barely open eyes, “Children, children, please stop arguing. I was trying to sleep. Time for both of you to go to bed anyway instead of throwing insults at each other.”

The two in the kitchen looked fiercely at each other and turned away. The air between them was crackling with electricity.

“By the way, have any of you seen the ice princess or the mushroom princess?” Sunny asked, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere.

Both Sooyoung and Taeyeon turned to look at Sunny with a mix of shock, surprise and confusion on their faces.

“The ice princess and the mushroom princess…” they both mumbled.

Sunny let out a sigh, “Have both of you lost your minds? Do you know where the two Americans, Jessica and Tiffany are?”

Realisation dawned on Sooyoung’s and Taeyeon’s faces and they immediately ran to Sunny, squashing her in a hug.

Sooyoung turned to Taeyeon excitedly, “So that’s what the message meant by ice mushroom.”

Taeyeon nodded enthusiastically in reply, “Yes, one problem solved, two more to go!”

Sunny looked at them with puzzlement, “I don’t know what you two are talking about but it’s time for all of us to go to bed now, it’s 4am!”

The trio trooped back to their respective rooms.

*

Tiffany opened her eyes again. felt parched and she her flaking lips. She could see pale pink streaks creeping across the sky as the sun began to rise.

She let out a hoarse laugh at the irony. I’m able to see a beautiful sunrise in this filthy, cold, wet cage where it seems I will die of dehydration.

Jessica was still sleeping. Is it even possible for a person to sleep for so long in such a place? On second thoughts, sleep is the only way I can escape from this nightmare. In my sleep, I can dream about my Prince Charming, my TaeTae who will come and rescue me. But will that ever happen? Does she even know where I am? I just wish I could see you, just once…

*

Yuri opened her eyes and stretched. Fell asleep during the movie again. Guess I’m lucky Yoona was asleep too.

She looked back at Yoona, a peaceful expression upon her face. Then, she looked at her watch, 9 hours until 3pm. Can I do this? But I have no other choice.

*Flashback*

“Just do what I order you too” seethed the voice, dripping with anger.

“But I don’t want to! It’s wrong!” shouted Yuri in reply.

“Is it?” questioned the voice, “You must understand, I’m doing this for the best interest of society.”

“But!” Yuri protested.

“But what?” snapped the voice, “Why are you not being obedient and speaking back to me so much. Don’t tell me you’re one of them too”

The man took several steps closer, casting a menacing shadow over her slight figure.

Yuri swallowed her fear and crossed her arms, “I’m not…”

The man interrupted her, “Good, if you’re not one of them, just do as I say.”

He gave her a push to the door, “See you at 3pm dear. Don’t be late!”

*End Flashback*

Yuri frowned, she shouldn’t have given in so easily. Yet, she was powerless.

The phone rang. It was a private number calling.

She picked up.

“Hello?” she began.

“Hello, my dear” said the voice.

Yuri felt coldness creeping up her back.

“What do you want?” she questioned.

“Just reminding you to be there at 3pm. Not backing out are you?” taunted the voice.

“No, I’m not.” answered Yuri grudgingly.

“That’s good. See you there!” exclaimed the voice.

Yuri held the phone to her ear as he hung up the call.

She felt the knot of anxiety within her chest grow.

*

Taeyeon woke up to the smell of fried bacon and eggs.

Her stomach grumbled in response, she hadn’t realised how hungry she was.

Walking towards the kitchen, an overwhelming feeling of emptiness filled her as she realised that there were only three members in the dorm.

Sooyoung waved a spatula in greeting as she served two dishes of an American breakfast. The two of them sat down to eat. Sooyoung looked at the fried egg, slices of bacon and pancakes in maple syrup with sadness.

“I’m sure Jessica and Tiffany would have liked to be here with us.” sighed Sooyoung.

Taeyeon nodded sullenly in agreement.

“Is Sunny coming down for breakfast?” asked Taeyeon.

“No, she said she really needed a good, uninterrupted sleep so she’ll make her own breakfast when she wakes up.” replied Sooyoung.

“Morning!” shouted a certain, bright eyed girl.

Both Sooyoung and Taeyeon dropped their forks in shock.

“You’re awake already?” they chorused.

Sunny nodded and walked over to the saucepan, helping herself to the remaining slices of bacon and egg before pouring a glass of fruit juice.

“I had a wonderful sleep” she grinned.

Sooyoung and Taeyeon looked at each other in disbelief, then at the clock which said 8:15am.

Seeing their faces she laughed, “It was a wonderful sleep compared to the one to two hour naps I was taking at the hospital.”

Sooyoung and Taeyeon nodded in understanding and mechanically turned back to eating their food.

Sunny frowned at the two, “What’s wrong with both of you today? You’re behaving like robots that are almost out of power.”

“We’re thinking” came the monotonous reply.

“About what?” asked Sunny inquisitively.

“The message” they said.

“What message? You two are acting really strangely today.”

Taeyeon handed her the piece of paper.

Sunny read through it, lines furrowing in her forehead.

“So that was why you were talking about the ice mushroom earlier. It’s Jessica and Tiffany right?” said Sunny.

The two of them nodded, “Except we don’t know the answer to the riddle or what the ninth hour is supposed to mean.”

Sunny combed a hand through her hair as she thought, “Why don’t you ask Seohyun? She’s very knowledgeable about so many things. She would definitely know something.”

Sooyoung and Taeyeon stood up instantly, forgetting their half-eaten plates of food, “Good idea! We’ll go right now. Thanks again Sunny.”

Taeyeon took the piece of paper from Sunny and they both ran off.

Sunny looked at them disapprovingly as they dashed off like rabbits being pursued by a fox, “You two didn’t even finish breakfast. And visiting hours in the hospital don’t start until 9:30am unless you have a very good reason.”

She huffed and continued to eat her breakfast while reading the newspaper.

Her eyes flickered over the articles; the government’s new policy, the improving economy, a warning from authorities to stay away from the Han River. Finally, she came to the page she was looking for, the puzzles section. Sunny looked through this week’s riddles, nothing helpful. Just as she was about to turn the page, she saw at the bottom corner of the page:

Answers to last week’s puzzles:

1.Nothing

2.A clock

3.Silence

4.A secret

5.A river

Seems interesting.

Sunny rushed off to find last week’s newspaper. After rummaging through all the member’s rooms, she finally found it in the recycling bin. Dusting it off, she flipped to the puzzles section. Excitement bubbled within her when she looked through the riddles. Her eyes immediately focused on one.

Number 5: What runs but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?

It was the same riddle that was on the message Sooyoung and Taeyeon found. Sunny looked back at this week’s newspaper, the answer to number 5 was river.

Of course! It’s a river, how could I have not known? It seems so obvious now.

She opened her phone and was about to call them when she remembered the article about the Han River.

If the message says to go to a river, it would mean the Han River wouldn’t it? It’s the closest river around here, if you want to find another one, you would have to drive for at least an hour. But the article I saw before told people to stay away from the Han River. Sounds fishy.

Sunny turned the pages back and reread the article:

Authorities warn everybody to stay away from the Han River. In the past few days, there have been some strange occurrences at the river and the police are currently investigating. If a member of the public has any information about these occurrences, please contact your local police station.

She felt fear rising in , she hoped they hadn’t worked out the message yet. Sunny called Taeyeon first but heard a ringing sound in the house. Taeyeon must have left her phone in the house. She tried Sooyoung but it seemed that her mobile was switched off. Sunny was panicking, she had to warn Sooyoung and Taeyeon before they went to the Han River.

Grabbing her coat, she ran outside and hailed a cab.

*

While Sunny had been reading the newspaper, Sooyoung and Taeyeon had gone to the hospital and were refused entry by a stern looking nurse who had consistently repeated that they were not allowed to visit any patients until 9:30am since it was the hospital rules and that there were no exceptions for celebrities.

Taeyeon walked to the park in despair with Sooyoung following behind, grumbling a little incoherently about the unfairness of the visiting hour rules and how unfair it was for the nurse to not give them some leniency since it was an urgent matter. Sitting down on a park bench, they both subjected themselves to their pessimistic thoughts and worries.

Nearby, a group of small boys were playing a game of football. One of them kicked the ball a little too hard and in the wrong direction so that it landed on Sooyoung’s lap.

After being egged on by his playmates, the small boy nervously and shyly walked up to Sooyoung and asked, “Noona, could you return the ball to us?”

On second thoughts, he corrected himself, “Could you return the ball to us please?”

Sooyoung was about to hand the ball to him when she had an idea.

*

Yuri was having a difficult sleep. Her mind was tormented with images of the past, unpleasant events that she wished could have never happened.

She saw them in stills, flickering past her eyes.

Her younger brother as a kid, with an unruly mop of black hair, chubby cheeks and the dimples in his face when he smiled.

The three of them playing in the pool, splashing each other with water while their father watched them leisurely.

All of them walking to school together, looking neat and tidy in school uniforms and smiling widely in anticipation for the day at school.

The excitement and awe shining in her two brother’s eyes when she told them she was accepted into S.M. Entertainment and the celebratory dinner they held.

Her younger brother grew up quickly, losing the child-like features and becoming more manly and handsome.

One night, at dinner, there was a shocking revelation, her younger brother confessed he had a boyfriend and they were in love with each other.

Her younger brother grew gaunter and frailer as he was physically and emotionally abused by those in his school to the point where he felt there was no escape but he kept it a secret.

She could tell something was wrong but when she asked him about it, he pretended everything was alright.

Then that fateful day came. She saw a group of people standing on the rooftop and out of curiosity, she went up too. It was an act she regretted. Her brother was standing on the edge of the rooftop and everything from there happened in slow motion. He took a step forward, then another, and for a moment, it seemed that he was walking on air before he plummeted to the ground. And that was also the day her older brother changed completely.