Hello my wonderful readers, 

First a big thank you for subscribing and commenting. It means a lot to me. And an extra big thank you to:

summerwinter

Youngjae08

chipfanylee

wendj2208

for upvoting this story. I feel very touched♥

I'm sorry about the fact that this chapter is quite short and a bit strange. My idea for this chapter seemed really good when I thought about it but when I tried to type it out, it didn't turn out as good as I had expected. I'll try to improve on my next chapter. 

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The next week passed like a blur for Jessica, she had to go through countless singing lessons, dancing lessons, make-up lessons, etiquette lessons as well as lots of exercising sessions.

With the day’s lessons finally over, Jessica managed to drag herself up the stairs and collapsed onto the bed, shutting her eyes.

Yuri looked at her friend with a bemused expression, “Jessica, you still have a performance tonight.”

Jessica opened one eye and pulled a pillow over her head as she groaned.

“A performance? But I’m so exhausted.” she complained.

Yuri shrugged as she continued to dust the room, “I’m sorry but it’s the boss’s orders. You should probably have a shower and then go to the stylists.”

Jessica didn’t move from her position on the bed, “Can’t I sleep? Just for a little bit?”

Yuri immediately dropped her duster and yanked the pillow from Jessica’s head. She hurriedly pulled Jessica out of the bed and pushed her to the bathroom, “No, you can’t sleep, not even for a minute. Once you fall asleep, it’s almost impossible to wake you up in a nice way.”

Yuri the taps before walking out, calling out to Jessica, “A shower will help to wake you up a bit. And don’t fall asleep in the bathroom again!”

Jessica grumbled as she stepped into the shower, letting the warm water wash over her as she quickly bathed herself. She stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her body and began to dry her hair. I never knew that been an A Class performer would be so difficult. I wish I could sleep, only if it’s just for a minute…

Jessica stretched and opened her eyes. Where am I? Looking around, she saw that she was standing on a mountain covered with lush, green grass. Suddenly, she felt something soft against her ear. Reaching up with her hand, she realised there was now a flower tucked behind her ear. Who had put it there? She turned around and saw…

An angel walking towards her, her white dress swirling around her, dark brown hair cascading down in gentle waves.

She let the name slip out of , enjoying the way it rolled off her tongue, “Sooyoung…”

She smiled at Jessica and reached out her hands but before their hands met, Jessica fell down into darkness.

Jessica winced in pain as her head hit a hard surface. She kept her eyes closed until she felt the spinning in her head disappear. When she opened her eyes, she couldn’t see anything. Why can’t I see anything? Did I lose my sight?

She tried to stand up but her head hit something hard and smooth. Jessica slowly crawled forwards, hands tracing the walls so she wouldn’t hit anything again. This seems like an underground cave. It smells damp, it’s so small that I have to crawl my way about and there’s no light. I hope I’m going in the right direction.

After what seemed like an eternity crawling on her hands and knees which were now bruised and scratched, she saw a faint flicker of red. I wonder what the flicker of red is. Could it help me to get out of here?

As Jessica approached the flicker of red, she realised it was a flame burning within a hollowed skull. She gulped, beginning to dry. I wonder whose skull that belongs to.

Jessica came to a stop in front of the skull, seeing the bleached white of the skull, it’s mouth open in a silent, gaping grin, it’s eye sockets boring into her, as if it could tell what she was thinking. She felt a shiver go up her spine. On second thoughts, I’d rather not know whose skull it is.

As she hurriedly crawled away from the skull, she realised that she could now stand up in the cave. In the distance she heard a banging noise. Although she was reluctant to do so, something inside her compelled her to find the cause of the noise.

She wove her way through many pathways and twists until she came to a large wooden door. I think the banging is coming from behind this door. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she tentatively pushed the door open to reveal what looked like a room.

The room was lit with flames in skulls, similar to the one she had seen before and the shadows of the flames danced eerily upon the walls. But what caught Jessica’s attention the most was a black cage in the centre of the room.  Inside the cage was a tangled heap of hair, fabric and skin. She took several steps until she was at the cage and peered in. Suddenly, the mass lunged at her.

Jessica stumbled back, eyes wide with fright. As she looked at the person in front of her, something clicked inside her brain. This person, despite the fact that their face was covered in dirt and dried blood, that their hair was a mess of tangles and knots was recognisable, but only just.

“Sooyoung?” Jessica questioned.

The person stopped lunging violently towards Jessica once she spoke that word and sat down on the floor of the cage as tears began to make their way down her cheeks.

Jessica moved forward timidly and gazed with sympathy at Sooyoung. All of a sudden, the cage was lifted into the air. Jessica attempted to run forwards but was stopped by arms pulling her back.

“No!” shouted Jessica. Please Sooyoung. Don’t leave me again.

The incessant banging was now deafening. Jessica screwed her eyes shut, trying to block out that noise.

Sooyoung looked mournfully out of the cage, her voice sounding hoarse as she yelled,

“Jessica! Jessica!”

Jessica opened her eyes to see an extremely worried and fearful Yuri.

“Yuri? What happened? Where’s Sooyoung?” she sat up and flinched, she felt as if she had been hit over the head with a hammer and her back was aching.

Yuri looked at her with puzzlement, “Why would Sooyoung be here? I think you must have had a bad dream. I could hear you screaming and yelling and a lot of loud noises in the bathroom. Anyway, you must get up and hurry, your performance will start in 5 minutes.”

Jessica’s eyes bulged out in shock, “5 minutes?” Did I fall asleep for 25 minutes? Was that just a dream?

She gently shooed Yuri from the room and managed to get up from the bathroom floor.

“Looks like I must have slipped on the floor and hit my head which is why it hurts so much.” she mumbled.

By the time she had gotten her makeup done and put on her dress, more than 20 minutes had passed. As she prepared to go on stage, Mr Choi frowned at her, “After the performance, we need to have a chat, Jessica.”

Jessica nodded nervously. This doesn’t sound good.

As she stepped onto the stage, she searched for that familiar face, the face of the person who had haunted her dreams. But she couldn’t find Sooyoung even though she looked thoroughly through the crowd. Where could she be? Could the dream be real? Maybe Sooyoung got kidnapped.

After the performance, which was nowhere near as good as usual, Mr Choi led her to his room. Jessica sat down on one of the chairs in front of his desk and stared at the ground. She could feel her heart beating quickly from fear. What if he fires me? I won’t have enough money to buy my way back home. And I won’t get a chance to see Sooyoung smile at me during my performances. And I won’t be able to have another conversation with the Summer person. What am I going to do?

Mr Choi cleared his throat, “Could you please look at me, Jessica?”

Jessica reluctantly looked into his penetrating eyes and tried to hold her gaze. Be strong Jessica. Don't let him see that you are weak.

After giving her a long lecture on lateness, he heaved out a big sigh.

“I will usually give out a punishment for lateness but since you are new here and you are very popular with the customers, I will let you go this time. But if this happens again, you’ll be more than sorry.” he warned.

Jessica bowed and squeaked a thank you before bolting back to her room. Never in her stay here had she run up the stairs so quickly.

She paused before her door to catch her breath and just as she was about to open the door, she heard voices from inside. One was Yuri’s but she had never heard the voice of the other person’s before.

Pressing her ear to the door, she eavesdropped on their conversation.

“Thank you for been here with me” whispered Yuri.

The other person laughed, “I should probably be thanking you for been here for me. You’ve always been by my side to support me and I’m so grateful for that. Without you, I don’t know how I could have put up with all the things in my life. To me, you’re the rainbow after the storm.”

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows, that voice and that laugh sounded similar to that of the stranger called Summer who talked to her last week. They hadn’t talked since then but Summer had sent her a note asking her to come to the balcony tonight so they could talk again. But she couldn’t go into her room until the person Yuri was talking to went out from the room. Could Summer and the person Yuri was talking to be the same person? She listened to their conversation again.

“I love you Yul” said the person.

“I love you too.” Yuri replied.

Jessica could hear what sounded like a kiss and then footsteps approaching the door.

She looked around quickly, trying to find a place to hide but all she could see was a pot plant.