6 months later

Jessica wasn’t quite the same since that day at the Blueridge Café. It had been a little over six months since she last saw Yuri at the club that night. Every day since the day Yuri left, Jessica tried to contact her. She called, she sent text messages…she even sent letters to Yuri’s parents’ house in Los Angeles.

Despite Jessica’s best efforts, Yuri ignored every call, every text, and returned each and every letter, unopened. She even changed her cell number. If anyone else associated with Jessica managed to get a hold of Yuri, she would immediately cut off communication if Jessica’s name was mentioned, even if it was Amber. Yuri made it very clear that Jessica was no longer a part of her life.

Jessica tried her best to move on. She and Taecyeon staged a public break-up soon after Yuri left, and she continued with her usual day to day activities. She attended practice, concerts, and other scheduled events with Girls’ Generation, but her less than enthusiastic attitude became quite apparent to those closest to her and was starting to be noticed by fans as well. Her parents tried their best to console her and knew that Yuri was the only person that could bring happiness back into their daughter’s life. It seemed to be a hopeless situation.

The final straw came when Jessica was asked to perform in a showcase featuring popular OST songs. She was asked to perform her song from Dating Agency: Cyrano. At the very first dress rehearsal, Jessica stepped up on stage and readied herself to sing.

At the end of the song, Jessica’s eyes were filled with tears. All she pictured in her mind was Yuri walking away from her that fateful night at Déjà Vu. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest and had difficulty catching her breath. Within minutes, she collapsed on stage and was immediately rushed to the hospital with Mr. Goh by her side the entire time.

Seoul University Hospital

Mr. Goh paced in the waiting room as he waited for Mr. and Mrs. Jung to arrive. Before long, the Jungs showed up anxious to hear news about their daughter’s condition. Krystal and Amber arrived a few minutes later, followed by Tiffany and Taeyeon.

“Mommy…daddy, how is Jessica unnie?”

“We don’t know yet, Soo Jung,” Mrs. Jung answered. “We’re still waiting to speak with the doctor.”

Just then a very attractive woman with a stethoscope around her neck approached the Jungs. “Excuse me, are you Miss Jung’s parents? I’m Dr. Lee Hyori, the ER attending on call.”

The Jungs nodded in acknowledgment. “Dr. Lee, how is my little girl? What’s wrong? Is she going to be okay?” asked a tearful Mr. Jung.

“She’s doing fine. We gave her some pain medication so she’s resting comfortably. We also have her on a little bit of oxygen and IV fluids. Her EKG and chest x-ray were normal and her labs were fine except for some evidence of dehydration.”

“Thank God!” said Mrs. Jung as she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Excuse me, Dr. Lee, what exactly happened to my sister?” asked Krystal. “Someone at the rehearsal said it looked like she was having a heart attack.”

“Has your sister undergone some major stress lately? More stress than normal?”

“Yes, she has. She went through a really bad break-up about six months ago. I don’t think she’s completely over it,” answered Krystal.

“Well, it definitely wasn’t a heart attack given that her tests were all normal, plus she’s young and healthy. There is actually a phenomenon known as Broken Heart Syndrome. It’s brought on by stress and can mimic a heart attack. You sister may be showing early signs of the syndrome given that her labs were normal. Something at the rehearsal must have triggered the elevation of her stress hormone levels. She should be better in a week or so after some rest and avoidance of any kind of stressors. We’ll just keep her overnight for observation and follow-up testing. As long as she remains stable and the repeat labs and EKG are normal, she should be able to go home tomorrow. If she has another episode, we'll need to run further tests."

Mr. Jung reached out and shook the doctor’s hand. “Thank you, Dr. Lee.”

As everyone waited to find out what room Jessica was going to be transferred to, the same thought filled each of their heads. The only cure for Jessica’s broken heart is Yuri…