The world tour in Hong Kong and the Fan Sign event had just ended. They traveled back to Seoul and the ride back home was quiet. The eight other members of a nine-membered group were on their way home. Most of them had frowns on their faces but not every single one of them was upset of the same thing.

“Guys…” One of them tried but no one seemed to hear her. They were confused, upset, indifferent, and sad. They were worried but they masked every expression they could possibly muster.

“Guys.” She tried again, this time louder.

“Not now, Tiffany.” The leader said. Tiffany looked at their leader, torn between confusion and disbelief. The minute the vehicle stopped in front of their building, Tiffany sprinted immediately to their dorm room.

“Tiffany, wait!” Manager Oppa called but somehow, she didn’t care. Not at this moment. That girl lying in their dorm room right now was her best friend. Even when she was updated about the fact that it was only a bruise, it didn’t lessen the anxiety she had. She boarded the elevator quickly, not caring about her member and manager’s voice.

She took out her keys and opened the door to the dorm. All the adrenaline she just exhibited was contained to give silence to the girl possibly resting in the dorm. She walked inside, straight to this girl’s room. But she wasn’t there…

“Jessi?” She called out. There was no one there. She was the only one there in this empty dorm. Jessica was not there. She heard the door open and she went out to see her members.

“Oppa, where’s Jessi?” When she asked this, all the members turned to Manager Oppa who only shook his head.

“She’s not here?” Sooyoung asked.

“She stayed home.”

“But this is her home right?” Sunny asked this time.

“She told me and President Lee that she was staying with her sister in their own apartment. Her parents called in too. They were very worried.” Manager Oppa said, not exactly answering the question. He placed Tiffany’s bag inside the room.

“You guys have the rest of the night off. You’ve worked hard. I’ll call you guys if any schedules come up.” With that he left.

It was late at night so the members washed up and went to their respective rooms. That night, the dorm was silent. The air was dead.

Hours passed and still no change in the environment. Most of them couldn’t sleep for their minds were trouble while others didn’t even bother to look for sleep, knowing they won’t be able to.

Morning came and one by one, they went to their living room. Were they shocked when they saw the girl that had troubled their minds for the whole night, sitting in the living room couch, drinking some water.

“Jessica…” Yuri was the first to notice.

“Morning. How was your flight back?” Yuri didn’t answer but sat next to Jessica on the couch. She hugged Jessica suddenly, making Jessica almost spill her drink.

“Yul! Be careful, I almost spilled water all over the couch.”

“Yah! How could you be like this when we were worried about you? We got home and you weren’t here! I barely got some sleep last night.” Yuri said, frowning.

Yoona and Sooyoung came to the living room and when they saw Jessica, they made a bolt for it, hitting Jessica and Yuri down on the floor. Miraculously, the glass of water still hasn’t spilled.

“Ah! Get off me!” Jessica said loudly. This was a familiar voice to the other members and they emerged from their rooms to the living room. Seohyun had a smile on her face while Hyoyeon was more surprised and worried because Jessica is at the bottom with three of their members. She immediately tried prying the three of Jessica.

“Guys, get off Jessica right now. She just got hit by the guard yesterday remember.” Upon this, the three members who were all over Jessica got off quickly and sat quietly.

“Thanks, Hyo.” Jessica said to which Hyoyeon replied with a smile.

“I’ll take this from you. We have two more members that are not here yet. It’s a miracle that your water has not spilled yet.” Hyoyeon offered but Jessica shook her head.

“No. Tiffany and Taeyeon won’t jump at me like Sooyoung and Yoona did. I-” Before Jessica could finish the sentence, another body tackled her on the floor. She didn’t have to turn to recognize who it was because of the loud voice.

“Jessi!” Tiffany cried out happily.

“Tiff, don’t jump on me like that! I-” It was then did Jessica noticed two things: One, her glass of water is now empty, and two, there was someone standing in front of her. She closed her eyes not wishing for it to happen but sooner or later, she knew she had to look up. Surely enough, when she did look up, she was met with Taeyeon who looked like she had just washed her face.

“Morning…” Jessica didn’t know what to say. She saw Taeyeon open her eyes and look down at her. Tiffany got off of Jessica immediately, allowing Jessica to stand up.

“I- I’m sorry.” Jessica said, about to wipe Taeyeon’s face with a towel when Taeyeon stopped her by holding her hand.

“I can do it.” Taeyeon said as she wiped her face dry. Tiffany was starting to feel guilty but Jessica didn’t notice since she was more focused on Taeyeon.

Ring! Ring!

“Yeoboseyo, Manager Oppa?” Sooyoung answered. She walked away from the group as she took the call.

“So… are you feeling better?” Taeyeon asked.

“I’m okay. I was able to rest well last night…” Jessica said, not knowing whether she should continue.

“Any reason why you didn’t come home last night?” Taeyeon asked, her irritation slightly showing in her voice and face.

“I told Manager Oppa that I was going home to my sister-”

“Aren’t we your family too?” Taeyeon suddenly said, now sporting a frown on her face.

“Taeyeon…” Tiffany noticed that an argument was about to start but she was ignored by the two.

“We are your family right? We are your home. Don’t you know how worried everyone was when Tiffany asked Manager Oppa where you were because you weren’t here? Don’t you think that we should be the first ones to know that?” At this time, Hyoyeon was trying to stop Taeyeon by a grip on her forearm.

“Well, you haven’t exactly been a family to me, Taeyeon. I can’t even remember the last time you were family to me!” Jessica shouted, her frustration showing. Yuri held her by the shoulders.

“Oh, so now it’s my fault? Don’t try and turn this ba-”

“Guys!” Sooyoung broke it off. When all the members looked at her, she proceeded and standing between Taeyeon and Jessica.

“Here are our schedules: Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun, you guys have to practice for TTS performance since that is first when it’s our turn to present in SMTOWN Week. Yoona and I, we have a photo shoot with Elle today. Hyoyeon, you have a photo shoot with Siwon today. Sunny, Yuri, and Jessica. You guys are free today. Manager Oppa told me that you have to watch over Jessica today.” When Sooyoung finished, Jessica slowly removed Yuri’s hands on her shoulder.

“You know, I thought you were really worried. When I saw that the fans thought you were crying because of me, I was happy because I thought, ‘Taeyeon is actually worried about me.’ But when I saw that video, I knew you weren’t crying. I know you, Taeyeon.”

“…” Taeyeon didn’t say anything or looked at her.

“You knew didn’t you? If something were to happen to me, because of how we are on-screen with the fans right now, they would certainly look at your reaction. Because TaengSic is seemingly breaking to them, they think these things and write about things. You kept your face hidden because you didn’t want the fans to see your expression. Your expression, Taeyeon, is what keeps you from keeping secrets from us. Would I have liked what I could’ve seen Taeyeon?” Jessica let out a deep breath, in frustration. She has so much more to say but she didn’t know if she could take it.

“I’m tired. You guys have schedules, right? I’ll just go back to my apartment for now.” Jessica said as she went away from the group.

“Wait, Jessica!” Sunny and Yuri went out with Jessica. Silent once again overtook the room.

“What is wrong with you, Taeyeon?” Sooyoung suddenly asked.

“Me?” Taeyeon asked in disbelief.

“What is exactly going on between the both of you? This has been going on for so long that I can’t just stay quiet about it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know, I would’ve stayed quiet about it today as well but what you did right now, it’s so unlike you.”

“Weren’t you the one who said you didn’t know me?” Taeyeon asked, her voice getting louder.

“It would’ve been better if you had just ignored her, you know? That’s better than making another argument. You guys started the conversation properly. What happened?” Sooyoung asked, shaking her head. She walked away while Yoona followed her to get ready. Hyoyeon walked away as well.

“Unnie, I think Sooyoung Unnie was right.”

“So you think I’m wrong as well, Seo?”

“Don’t twist my words, Unnie. The way things are right now, if you don’t tell us what really happened, we won’t know why you are acting like this. And not that I think that ignoring Jessica Unnie is a good decision, but starting up another argument isn’t exactly trying to solve the problem either.”

“Let’s just go. We have to prepare for the SMTOWN Week.” With that, Taeyeon left the living room so she could prepare herself. Seohyun and Tiffany looked at each other sadly before going to their own rooms.

Jessica was back into her apartment with Krystal. She lay down on the couch while Sunny and Yuri kept her company, making sure that she was fine.

“How about this? Why don’t we go out today and see that nice guy at the airport?” Sunny recommended.

“Nice guy?” Jessica asked.

“You don’t remember him? He was the one who helped you up.” Yuri asked.

“Wasn’t it Manager Oppa?”

“No, he helped you to Manager Oppa and asked him to take care of you.”

“Really? I thought it was Manager Oppa that helped me…”

“Well, why don’t we go and meet him today? I have his number.”

“… Why?”

“So you could meet him, of course.”

“No, I meant, why did you get his number?”

“It’s not every day that a fan won’t act crazy if he had the chance to be close to one of us. He looked like he was genuinely worried.” Yuri said.

“Maybe he planned for it to be like that.” Jessica said, denying the possibility of his good intentions.

“Are you sure you don’t want to meet him? Just thank him then.” Sunny said, trying to make sure that Jessica gets her mind off of things.

“Then I’ll just send him a message.”

“Nope. You’re going to meet him and properly thank him for helping you. Come on. It’s just one time. And so far, I haven’t had any weird messages or calls. He didn’t give my number to anyone.” Yuri explained, trying to convince Jessica. She watched Jessica think about it for a while before smiling as Jessica nodded reluctantly.

“Alright. I’ll call him.” Yuri took out her phone and dialed a number.

Somewhere in Hong Kong, a young man was cleaning tables in a restaurant. He was wearing his work uniform, black shirt, three-quarters sleeve, pants, and black shoes. He was wearing a white apron over his uniform as he made his way toward each table. Business was just about to start when his phone rang.

“Wei?” He answered.

“Yeoboseyo? This is SNSD’s Kwon Yuri.”

“Ah, Yuri-ssi. Annyeonghaseyo.” The young man said, immediately speaking in Korean.

“Hey, where are you right now?”

“I am currently in Hong Kong, working. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Oh, I thought you were coming to Korea since we met you at the airport.”

“I just came back from Korea. Oh, is Jessica-ssi feeling better? I read the news and SM said that it was only a bruise-”

“She would like to meet you so can you come?”

“Ah, of course. What time do you need me there?”

“As soon as you can. See you.” With that, the call ended and the young man placed his phone in his pocket.

“Ge! Can I go to Korea for a bit?” He called out. An older voice replied.

“Wei shen me? Didn’t you just come back from there?”

“Some friends want me to visit.”

“All right. But you can’t stay for too long. You know that.” The older guy said. The young man nodded.

“I’ll be back when I’m no longer needed.” He said, removing the apron from his waist. He took his phone out.

“Tell Ba that I’ll just go down to Korea.”

“Yeah. See you, Jin.”

Back to Seoul, the call had just ended.

“He said he’ll come.”

“Are you sure you didn’t bother him? He must’ve been working right now.”

“Well, he was, but he said that he would come.”

“Ha… maybe this is not a good idea.” Jessica said, thinking that doing so was a mistake. Yuri shook her head.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’m sure he didn’t mind. Besides, you’re going to like him.”

A/N: Hey guys. PJShin, here. Nothing of this is true okay? I’m just venting my frustration out. I’m just upset about the news, and praying that Jessica-ssi is okay, and my mind just morphed this story within me. I don’t know where this is going but we’ll see. Updates are not certain yet as well. I don’t think this will be long either since I can’t be constantly frustrated. I’ll also do some adjustments later on as well.

I would like to thank the subscribers. I appreciate you all reading the story. Hope you enjoy. ^-^v