It was 11:26 am the next day, and I was on my bed again. Staring up at the ceiling with an empty stomach became a daily routine for me. The noise that played through last night repeated itself today, but it wasn’t as loud as it was before. I still prayed that Seohyun would come knocking at my door to offer breakfast and maybe ask how I was, but I had this feeling that she was out with Yoona for brunch. Maybe in my desperate situation I would appreciate if any one of the girls would knock on my door… except for Taeyeon.

For the next two hours, my phone rang non-stop. I didn’t want to answer it the moment I knew that it was our manager Oppa. The fact that I wasn’t being submissive practically pissed him off. I wasn’t attending recording sessions, I missed joining a lot of radio broadcasts and television shows, and generally, I wasn't being a member of ‘So Nyuh Shi Dae.’

“Sicaaaaaaaaaa!” A member shouted at my door as she threw her fist at it. I felt my heart jumped out of nervousness.

“You gave me a heart attack!” I shouted back. I covered my whole body with the blanket as I feared that this “human” might kick my door open and jump on my bed.

“Sica! It’s me, Yuri-ah! Now open this stupid door, it’s obviously locked.” She complained.

Yuri was the only girl who expected me to be the normal "Jessica". I don’t blame her though; she’s been gone for three months to visit her girlfriend, Tiffany, at the States. Although she knows about my break up with Taeyeon, she has no idea that I’ve been keeping my distance with the girls since the incident.

I unlocked the door as I hopped back into bed, lying on my stomach.

“Sica! What the hell happened to your room?” She stood beside the door as the expression on her face was filled with disgust.

She was pertaining to the mess; my soiled clothes that were scattered on the floor, my disorganized books, papers, files, and albums on top of my nightstand, even the tray that Seohyun left last night was lying on the floor; not to mention the empty milk carton, water bottle, potato chip wrappers, and plates that went along with it.

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry about that.” I apologized, still looking uninterested to clean it up.

“Sica, are you okay? But Uhmmm, before that, can we talk about this outside, I can’t stand here surrounded by your filth.” She giggled along in her sentence to cheer me up.

“Is Taeyeon outside?” I asked in curiosity. My eyes opened wide as I changed my position to face her, waiting for her response.

“Hyoyeon just switched off the T.V when I arrived; she said she had dance practice, so it’s just you and me.” She answered back, still looking around the mess with a weird face.

“Okay, let’s go.” I peeled the blanket off my body as I stood on my feet to follow Yuri’s direction.

“So back to my question…” Yuri went along with our topic as we sat on the living room floor.

“Are you okay? I mean, I haven’t really heard anything since you know… the break up.”
 

“How is Taeyeon? Do you still talk to each other?”

“Tiffany and I heard a lot of rumors about you guys, so I had to come back to ask you the questions myself. We’ve been really worried.”

I faced my foot the whole time as I was pinching the skin of it, I didn’t answer any of her questions.

She sighed and stood up as she placed both of her hands on her waists, I could tell by her mood that she started to get frustrated with my lack of response.

“Jessica Jung, have you been this annoying since you two broke up?”

I kept silent.

“Duuuuude… Answer me!” She demanded.

I continued to pinch my own skin.

“Why isn’t my best friend answering me?!” She threw a tantrum to show her frustration.

I looked up in confusion.

“Best friend?” I asked with a smirk.

“Wow, we’ve been best friends for almost half of our lives and you realize it just now?” She complained.

“I mean, yeah, we’re close but we never really established the label.” I explained, looking like a smart 5^th grader.

“Well let’s establish it today, right now.” She kneeled down for a pinky promise.

“From now on, I, Kwon Yuri, will be labeled as Jessica Jung’s best friend forever… despite the fact that we’ve been acting like best friends for half of our lives.” She said enthusiastically with her right pinky finger exposed in front of me while raising her left hand like she was pledging to a sorority.

My cheeks returned to its original rosy color after two months of being pale and colorless. I couldn’t help but laugh over this little issue that seemed like a big deal to her. I raised my left hand and wrapped my right pinky finger with hers.

“From now on, I, Jessica Jung, will be labeled as Kwon Yuri’s best friend forever… Uhmmm, what was the thing you said after that?” I asked as I slightly tilted my head to the left.

She sighed heavily.

“Never mind about the next part, the important thing is we’re “officially” best friends now so you have to tell me everything.” She sat properly as she held my hands that were placed on my lap.

I slowly lost my smile but an idea popped into my head to change the topic.

“As my best friend, you shouldn’t force me to say things that would make me feel sad and uncomfortable.” I raised my left eyebrow and let out a toothless smile.

She started to bite her inner cheek, realizing that I had a point.

“Well, fine. I won't force you then. Since I’m such a good best friend, I’m taking you out today.” She stood up and fixed her denim jacket.

“Where are we going?” I asked cheerfully as I stood up to meet her eyes.

“To the carnival!” She jumped repeatedly like a little kid.

“But first, you gotta take a shower. I mean seriously, when was the last time you showered?” She added.

She went behind me and pushed my shoulders to the bathroom.

“Carnival? Wow, I didn’t notice that my best friend was this childish.” I responded with a face of a critic that looked unsatisfied.

She shoved me inside the shower and threw a towel at my face.

“Oh come on, I’m not this childish. I’m just trying to cheer you up.” She belted out with a wide smile and slammed the door shut leaving me alone to clean myself up.

“You did.” I happily whispered to myself.