Watched: Hey Arnold!

      August 10th, 2009

August 10th, 2009

"Every one of you have been written a letter before Jung Hyoju passed on," the man drawled on, pulling out multiple sealed envelopes from a manila folder after finished going over Echo's mothers written will. "I am very sorry for your lose, our meeting has come to an end. If you have any questions feel free to stay and ask me. However, Jung Allison, I need to speak to you for a private matter your mother had for you."

Echo shared a confused look with her sister, who just swiftly muttered she'll be waiting outside for her to finish, but waited until her family left the room.

The man's expression turned dark, wrinkly hands crossed over the desk calendar. "In your mothers will she expressed she wanted you to be the legal guardian of your sister, Jung Arianna." Echo stopped breathing, what? "However, I don't believe you are a fit choice for this. You just turned age of majority and I don’t believe that you have the proper assets to look after your younger sister."

Her eyes dangerously narrowed at the man's accusing words. "And what exactly is that? I have a solid income, I successfully finished my lower schooling, and I have a steady job. What else could be questioned?"

"You are just an idol!" the man growled. "You don't know how much longer that will last, and to boot you aren't even enrolled in high education, you don't own a home. You have nothing to help sustain a child!"

"That child is my sister! I would do anything for her! Sure, she might be a brat half the time, but she is my blood!" Echo jumped up from her chair, eyes livid. "And I will be her guardian whether you like it or not. Good day, sir."

With one final hard glance Echo beelined out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Ari, who was leaning against the opposite wall, jumped at the slam. "Everything go alright? What did he want to tell you?" the younger girl easily hid her jealously of her mother wanting to tell her sister something secretive, and not her.

"Everything's fine," she sent a warm smile to her sister, looping their arms together as they walked side-by-side out of the building. "How's training been?"

Ari barely held in a sarcastic chuckle. "You're asking about training right now?"

"Gotta keep everything normal right? Mom wouldn't like it if we let her… passing disrupt our lives."

"I missed today and yesterday," the girl mumbled, looking down. "I couldn't bring it in me to go."

"That's fine," Echo gently spoke. "That's natural."

"But you went to a recording today!" Ari pointed out. "You're able to stay strong and keep your head it in while I… I'm just holing myself up in my y dorm."

After quick moment of silence, Echo asked, "You want to stay with the girls and me tonight?"

"I'd really like that," Ari smiled, gently bumping her shoulder with her sisters.

"For now," Echo softly smiled as her gaze landed on her family waiting for her outside of their car in the parking lot, "let's just enjoy a nice meal with our family."

"If you weren't an idol, what would you be doing?" Ari asked, staring at the bone white ceiling of Tiffany, Echo and Seohyun's room from Echo's center bed.

"Probably actually going to college," she chuckled. "Do you have a backup?"

Ari furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Ya know, if this group doesn’t work out," the elder carefully left out the fact Ari had left/been dropped from multiple project groups in the past.

"Go back to being a trainee, I have a few years until I have to think about college," Ari shrugged, not thinking much of it.

Instead of questioning the girl further, not wanting to start one of their infamous arguments, the SNSD member asked, "So how's this group doing? Is there a debut date set?"

"Not an exact one, but Qian did overhear two board members say something about next month," the younger Jung grinned.

"Really? That's fantastic! Are you excited?"

"More scared than anything," she shrugged it off. "Plus, I don’t know how on earth I'm going to pretend to be close to Jinri. I really don’t understand how you two get along."

"Well, we were roommates for awhile," Echo pointed out. "I was the first unnie she met, so she clung to me a lot when we first met."

"Didn’t you hate her?"

"A bit," she admitted, with a sheepish grin.

Arianna laughed, trying to picture a young Jinri desperately clinging onto her annoyed elder sister. "Didn’t you say she didn't even call you 'unnie' at first?"

"Nope, took about a week for me to first hear it from her."

A comfortable silence fell over the sisters, just lounging in each other's presence, staring blankly at the ceiling, laying next to each other atop the thick comforter.

Slowly, Arianna grasped Echo's hand, gently curling her long fingers against her sisters. Echo twisted her neck towards the younger girl when she felt a tremble rack through the others body. Silent tears ran down Arianna's thin cheeks, her eyes filled with numerous emotions.

"I miss mom."

"Me too Ari," she pulled the young girl close, holding back her own tears as the girls tears turn into sobs. "Me too."

      August 11th, 2009

August 11th, 2009

The SM trainee hallway was shockingly silent. The only noise was Echo's light footsteps hitting the tiled floors. Her dark hair lazily swished behind her, the girl twisting her head back and forth to read the titles on every door she passed. Even though she was a trainee just two years ago, a lot has changed. The doors actually had plaques on them ever since another large influx of trainees. The titles saved a lot of headaches and wasted time for trainees and teachers.

When she reached her destination she knocked a couple times, entering before she received an answer.

"Unnie!"

Echo grinned at a happy Jinri, who bounced over to envelope the idol in a tight hug. "I didn’t know you were visiting today!"

"I got the day off, so I thought I'd see how you girls were doing," she smiled, gently patting the girls hand that rested in the crook of her elbow.

"Now we're taking a break since a sunbae decided to pop on by," the teacher smirked, her arms crossed.

"Lee-saem!" Echo smiled, bowing in greeting. "I didn't know you would be stuck with this bunch."

"They're better students than you were, they actually listen," Lee saem laughed, waving herself off and leaving the room to give the group some privacy.

"She's not as strict as she used to be," Sunyoung smiled. It was Echo's last year as a trainee when Sunyoung joined in her singing class. Since they were both talented singers, they only had a couple people in their class, including: Jessica, Tiffany, and Soyeon (who left in 2007).

"Have you guys been taken out of your trainee classes yet?"

"Just two weeks ago," Qian answered, a tired smile on her face.

"That's great then, I'm sure you'll debut in no time."

"How've you been?" Crystal softly asked, now standing on the opposite side of her project group mate.

"I've been fine thanks for asking, now, where's my sister?"

The other five members shared identical looks. "She left an hour ago for a class, she didn’t say what."

"I thought you said you were out of your classes," the idol slowly questioned.

Crystal hesitated. "She's in a class, but she won't tell us what it is. She insisted on not being taken out of it."

"I have to go, I have a meeting with the big boss. Just let my sister know I dropped by," without another word the Girls' Generation member was out the door, wondering what on earth her sister was doing. Was this her way of saying she wasn’t fully invested in the group? Did she really not want to be a part of the group? Was she only becoming an idol because she knew that’s what their mom spoke about in her will?

My brain hurts.

The idol quickly shook it off, not wanting her emotions to be so blatantly on her face as she entered the president's office.

"Lee seonsaengnim," the idol politely greeted the man with a deep bow before sitting.

"Ah, Echo-ah, nice to see you again," the deep wrinkles in his face molding around the comforting smile on his face. "How have you been doing lately?"

"I've been good," she pointedly said, she was getting a bit irritated with everyone questioning how she felt. Jonghyun for one wouldn’t even stop texting her, repeatedly expressing how sorry he was that he physically couldn’t be there for her.

"That's nice to hear," the founder leaned back in his chair, thick hands clasped against his chest. "I received your notice the other day, concerning your sister."

Echo tightly nodded in understanding, feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden in the office. "I just…  I don't know what to do." She nervously rung her hands together in her lap. "I want my sister to be in my custody, I think I'm the only one that would understand what she's going through and the last thing she needs right now is to be thrown into foster care. I debated talking about this with my family members here, but I don’t think it would be very appropriate."

"What makes you think the court won't give you custody?"

"The lawyer who was dealing with my mom's will told me the court wouldn’t few me as fit to be her legal guardian, even though it is in my mother's will."

The founder gravely nodded, a hard look on his face as he absorbed the information. "Do you have any copies of the paperwork concerning you becoming her legal guardian?"

The idol practically jumped up to grab a manila folder filled with the necessary papers from her backpack, eagerly placing them on the man's desk.

Slowly, the man pulled himself forward to shuffle through the half dozen papers.

Echo's heart pounded heavily in her chest, her brown eyes never leaving the founder's face. His face was dangerously blank, causing her to become even more unsettled. At this point in time there was no way she would be able to shove out the necessary money to pay for a lawyer, and she didn’t want to go to any family member to ask for money, or worse; they deciding they would be a better suit as Arianna's guardian. Her last, and only, chance to becoming her sisters guardian was Lee Sooman. It was a dangerous step, not many would risk their career's on going to the founder for something like this. But she was desperate, and she knew he had the proper ties to help her. She willfully was taking the blind leap of faith.

After what felt like an eternity, he neatly placed the papers back atop the desk. "What exactly is it you are asking from me?"

The Girls' Generation member gulped, carefully thinking over her choice of words instead of blurting out something too stupid. "For help. Help me become my sisters legal guardian."

A smile made its way onto the elder man's face. "I can tell you right now whatever that lawyer told you was just to scare you. Not only did your mother name her as your sisters legal guardian, but everything seems fine to me. All the courts would ask from you at this point are copies of your pay checks and taxes, Korea is more lenient than the States in these matters."

Echo felt her heart stop at the words that tumbled out . "There's no way they would think I make enough to support a sixteen-year-old."

Instead of receiving a bone chilling yell and harsh scolding, she received a light laugh. Her eyes comically widening in shock at the founders reaction.

"I believe we could work something out," Sooman smiled, pushing himself up from his chair, walking over to a large file cabinet. While calmly whistling an unknown tune the man rifled through the numerous papers, smiling once he found what he was looking for. He pulled a short stack of stapled papers together out and placed them in front of the idol.

Echo noticed her signature on the bottom of it right away. It was her contract.

"Just a few tweeks here and there, and I'll give you one of SM's lawyers free of charge as well."

"What is it you want from me?" she slowly asked, fear rising in her stomach.

"What is it that you want from me?" he questioned, calmly leaning against the wooden desk, waiting for the idols answer.

Echo scratched at her brain for what he was asking for. Was he asking her what she wanted to do? What she wanted to do outside of being a Girls' Generation member? Her mind flashed a picture of her mother. She knew what she wanted to do.

"Acting. I want to become an actual actress."

"That's more than doable," he smirked, retreating back to his plush chair. "Just a few tweeks to your contract and you'll be making over triple what you are now."

It took a few hours to finalize the differences in Echo's revised contract. Some of the thing she didn’t even understand, but she wordlessly agreed. She would agree to anything at this point, as long as it was for her sister.

"And that's that. Any questions?" Sooman asked once they finished with the revisions.

"No, sir."

"Good, good," he pushed the papers to the side of his desk, placing his hands where the papers were. "One more thing before you leave, I thought I should let you know that today is the day we're releasing a statement about your mother."

Soundlessly, she nodded. She knew they would either realize something today or tomorrow, notifying fans why she wouldn’t attend anything due to her mother's wake and funeral.

As she wandered through the winding SM hallways Echo couldn't help but think, that was a little too easy.

Omigod… Echo's mom RIP.

Now one of the least liked members is getting pity because she's going through a hard time… Wonder how SM will use this to their advantage.

THE POOR BABY. Echo's mommy please RIP wherever you are!