Watched: Florida Weather

      September 20th, 2011

September 20th, 2011

Seulgi and Echo have met every day at five o'clock for the past six days. Echo didn’t want to jinx anything due to only knowing the girl for such a short period of time, but Seulgi was swiftly progressing, much faster than Echo had anticipated.

However, it wasn’t because of her training schedule that she found herself at the office. Today she was called in by the higher ups and found herself in the elevator heading towards the top floor.

Her heart was racing in fear and anticipation. What on Earth could they have called her up for at this time? Did it have to do with their next comeback? They’ve been working on this one for the past six months and the original comeback date was already passed, to her knowledge there was no set date at this point. She didn’t know what she would do if she was told she can’t take part in it. Would it cause a domino effect? Would this lead to her leaving the group?

Ding

Echo shook her head as she walked off the elevator, those thoughts were just ridiculous and made absolutely no sense.

“Hi, I’m here to see the representatives,” Echo stated to the woman at the front desk, the idol nervously played with her nails as the woman briefly looked up from her computer. Her steely eyes looked up from underneath her thick framed glasses.

“They’ll be with you in four minutes, when your appointment is scheduled for,” the woman off-handedly said, paying the least possible attention to the idol in front of her. Echo could see in the reflection of her glasses she was playing solitaire and on her twenty-third minute of the game.

“Thank you,” Echo mentally rolled her eyes at the secretary’s attitude. It wasn’t new that this particular secretary was a subtle , now she’s also realizing that she’s a subtle who at solitaire.

The redhead sat down on the uncomfortably stiff seats, her eyes wandering around the open lobby. The walls were a light blue with grey trim and decorated with small TV’s that were simultaneously playing the labels artists music videos.

She found herself watching Super Junior until the y secretary called her in.

The second she walked into the meeting room Echo bowed from her waist before taking her seat. Her eyes momentarily widened in surprise when she saw Hajoon was sitting next to her. One of her managers is being involved too? What could they possibly want to discuss then?

The representatives began discussing the future of SNSD’s comeback together before addressing Echo. “Jung Allison, when are you getting the stitches in your forehead removed?”

“I’m having the consultation tomorrow with my doctor, if he approves they’re coming out tomorrow,” Echo kept her shoulders back and her eyes blank. The representatives smelt fear and if they caught even the smallest whiff, they would use that against her. There was no question in her mind now that this meeting is to discuss her involvement in the next comeback.

“How long are you keeping the cast on?” a different representative questioned.

“He’s going to check that as well tomorrow, however the cast is a precaution and could theoretically be taken off at any time.”

A murmur echoed through the representatives.

“Let’s just skip to the point,” one of the older looking representatives pushed himself up in his chair. “The music video is planned to begin filming on the twenty-eight, eight days from today. Your comeback is in October, we’re aiming for the fifth for release and the seventh for the performance. It’s preferable that all members take place in the comeback and the music video shooting, however if you are not physically well enough to take place in these activities you will not be a part of the next comeback.”

Echo felt her heart rise in her chest and tighten. There was no way these old geezers were going to stop her from promoting with her team. “The doctor said in my last checkup that I’m healing remarkably well, I’ve been singing everyday with my assigned trainee, we’ve been working on this comeback for so long that I already know the choreography by heart, I know I can participate in this comeback.”

A dead silence filled the room. The representatives shared looks with each other before the same one from before spoke up again, “We know that you have a herniated disk. How is that fairing with dancing?”

Her breath was stuck in ; she could open but no sound would come out. Why can’t she lie and tell them that she’s fine? That she can dance well even with the pain? She hadn’t danced once since the accident, and to be brutally honest with herself she was terrified of experiencing excruciating pain due to the exercise and proving she can’t take place in the comeback. Her heart would shatter if that were the case.

“Hajoon-ssi, what do you think about Echo participating in the next comeback?” the representative questioned the manager instead when it became clear Echo was too chocked up to answer.

Echo sent her manager a pleading look. Please be on my side, see where I’m coming from right now.

The lines on Hajoon’s face darkened considerably. After taking a deep breath he revealed his thoughts, “I believe Echo-ssi should take place in the music video recording, however she should not fully promote with the other members until she is entirely cleared by her doctor.”

Some representatives looked pleased with the manager’s suggestion, but not all.

“But what if she were to collapse due to her bad health during the shooting? It’s a two-and-a-half-day shooting and this girl not only has a cast on her arm but stitches in her forehead and a herniated disk!”

The idol had to literally bite the tip of her tongue to keep herself from lashing out. Any fighting words towards this particular group of people would only end in disaster. Her last hope was Hajoon. Her gaze slowly moved over to her manager, who was sitting too straight and too rigid in his chair.

“The song was already recorded, which means we would have to waste more time and money to cover her lines for the video and live performances until Echo returns,” Hajoon explained. Echo straightened in her seat, he was absolutely correct! “To add to that, one of Girl’s Generations bestselling points is their bond. Fans would revolt if we tried to have a music video without a member. They don’t care about how much money we would lose, they only care about seeing their girls on the screen, and on stage, together.”

A tense silence fell upon the meeting room.

Whatever the representatives were expecting from this meeting, Echo’s pretty damn sure they weren’t expecting Hajoon to brazenly state what he did. Before any of the idols health, money always came first in their eyes. These meetings are the first time an idol realizes that they are a product of their company and their company wants to squeeze out as much profit as possible from them.

Those on the outside would think such a popular group such as Girls’ Generation would be different in the eyes of the representatives. That’s half-right. No matter what, profit comes before everything else, however, due to Girls’ Generation raking in such a large profit for the company and keeping a nice image they are given a little slack here and there. The main reason the members’ health comes first is because if anything bad were to happen, the company would lose profit. They were well aware of what would happen to the Girls’ Generation brand if even one member were to leave and they would do anything to stop it, just to keep their own pockets full.

“Very well, Jung Allison will record the music video but she will not fully perform in any of the live performances and she will not attend anything else in the Girls’ Generation schedule until her health is perfect again.”

It wasn’t blatantly said but the meeting was adjourned, the representatives slowly, and loudly, trickled out of the meeting room, just leaving Echo and her manager.

The idol slowly turned to Hajoon. “Thank you,” she genuinely spoke, “for letting me take place in the video.”

Hajoon stared straight ahead, his lips still in the tight line he had when dealing with the representatives. Echo’s eyes didn’t leave his face once, even when they fell into silence.

After a few minutes the older man sighed, briefly closing his eyes. When he opened them he turned to the idol. “The members are practicing the choreography together now; we should get you down there so you can dance with them too.”

Without another word he pushed himself away from the table and began to walk out of the meeting room. Echo hurried to follow him, her brows furrowed in confusion from his actions. Did she do something wrong? She opened to ask that very question but she closed when she noticed the deeper stress lines on the man. It looked as if he aged a handful of years with the deeper lines running along his face. Or, did he always look like this?

No, Echo thought to herself, his skin is usually paler than this. And that’s when it hit her, Hajoon’s been wearing makeup every day. It’s not uncommon for males in Korea to wear makeup, but why did Hajoon wear it? She doubted he genuinely cared what the cameras picked up, he was just a manager not an idol that would be scrutinized for accidently getting lipstick on their teeth.

Her eyes traced the lines on his face, no one under the age of thirty should have that deep of age lines. Were they caused by stress? Was being a manager aging him faster? Echo’s heart dropped at the thought.

Before her thoughts could wander any further on her managers’ stress levels the two arrived at the extremely familiar SNSD training room.

Excitement fluttered in her heart as Echo opened the door. Finally, she would be able to do what she loves again and with the people she loves.

Music immediately flooded her senses, the rhythmic bounce gliding through the hard wood floor reached her feet, and her eyes were filled with familiarity. Just being in this room and hearing the music just felt right. The ache in her leg and back was miraculously forgotten as the young woman slowly followed her manager into the room, shutting the door behind them.

Jessica was the first to whip around, her eyes comically wide as her gaze met Echo’s glittering eyes.

“ECHO!” Jessica screamed, running away from her place in the choreography and instead throwing her thin arms around the laughing girl.

It was a domino effect after that. Some members were frozen in shock while others immediately jumped into the group hug.

The familiar sound of her member’s voices buzzed in Echo’s ears, she swore her grin couldn’t become wider without breaking her face. She missed this. Being constantly surrounded by her beloved members. Yes, they get on each other’s nerves from time to time due to constantly being around each other but she missed being surrounded with them. It was comforting and it felt like home.

“How have you been feeling?” Hyoyeon was the first to ask, her eyes darting towards the younger idols forearm cast before going back to her face.

“I’m definitely getting there,” the redhead grinned, a random members hand gently brushed itself though her hair.

“What are you doing here?” Yuri questioned, her voice tinged with curiosity.

“To practice,” she shrugged, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Questioning looks were shared amongst the members.

Sunny’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “But… you still have stitches in your forehead and a cast on your arm. How is your back feeling?”

“Echo will just be watching today,” Hajoon stepped in, his stern voice halting anymore questions the girls wanted to voice. “Sooyoung isn’t back yet, so there’s no point in putting more members in right now. Both of them are going to be a part of the music video and the label things it would be best that Echo at least watches for now, to get her back into the groove of things.”

“You’re dancing?” Tiffany’s slow enunciation caused Echo to have brief flashbacks of their trainee days when Tiffany could barely speak a word of Korean, and spoke extremely slow when she did.

The redhead happily nodded. “It’s just my back that’s stopping me from fully dancing, and I’m on painkillers. As long as I take it easy I’m totally fine.”

“Does this mean you’re moving back into the dorm?” Taeyeon asked with wide eyes.

Echo looked towards their manager, who seemed off in his own world, before meeting her member’s eyes. “I don’t know.”

“Echo-ah, sit down over there,” Hajoon pointed to the large couch that Hwan was already sitting on, working furiously on a small laptop that looked comical on his large lap.

The young idol reluctantly followed her managers orders, slowly letting herself drop onto the couch she’s barely ever touched.

Even though she was finally back in the room she dreamed of coming back to, Echo felt more like an outsider than ever.

      September 26th, 2011

September 26th, 2011

“Echo put that suitcase down right now!” Sunny yelled from the other side of the living room, which she quickly crossed, and grabbed the suitcase to bring it back to Echo’s room for her.

“Unnie, I’m fine!” Echo rolled her eyes, but secretly she felt her heart swell with joy at the care her member had for her.

“Tell that to the cast on your arm,” the shortest SNSD member chided, walking away with the heavy suitcase.

“Echo-ah, I’m cooking your favorite meal!” Seohyun called out from the kitchen.

“Really?!” the idol all but sprinted to the kitchen, her nose taking in the wonderful smell of food.

Seohyun briefly moved away from the stove to give her member a wide smile, but her eyes widened instead. “Unnie! Your hair!”

The elder girl gave her a confused look before remembering what she did earlier today. “Yeah, I had my teaser images done today along with my new hairstyle, do you like it?” She placed her hands underneath her chin, fluttering her dark lashes.

“It’s definitely… different,” Seohyun cautiously said, her eyes taking in the sight before her.

“You better like it, my scalp was on fire for hours for this,” she pouted.

“OMIGOD!’

Echo rolled her eyes, not bothering to turn around to see Jessica’s expression. She felt fingers running through her long locks.

“It’s so pretty!” the singer brightly smiled. “How long did it take them to do all of this?”

“I’ve been up since three in the morning, that’s all I’m saying.”

“Hyoyeon-ah! Come look at Echo’s hair!” Jessica called out into the dorm.

Soon all of the members were huddled around her, all having something to say about her new hairstyle.

“Did you pick this?” Yoona asked, gently tugging a long lock of hair.

“I had full control!” she grinned.

“I never thought you would look good as a platinum blonde,” Yuri admitted, “but it’s really pretty!”

“I just wanted extensions at first but then I realized how fun it would be if I could also clip in different colored extensions during performances to go with my outfits.”

Some of the girls went silent at her words.

“So, do you know yet when you’re going to be performing?” Jessica questioned, worry in her eyes.

She shrugged. “I think I’m going to be a surprise at Madison Square Garden, so not until then.”

“Enough talk about work,” Yoona cut in. “The food is almost done! Help the maknae and someone set the table!”

Dinner was wonderful.

Echo was able to have her full of the maknae’s delicious cooking and she was once more surrounded by her beloved members (even Sooyoung popped in half-way through when she got a text that Echo officially moved back in, she was out with her parents for dinner and moved back in the day prior).

It looked like everything was going just as it was supposed to until-

“Unnie! Do you want to cuddle?” Echo smiled up at a pajama clad Tiffany.

The older member didn’t make eye contact with her, instead grabbed her own comforter and curling up as far away as possible from Echo without falling off their pushed together beds.

“Unnie?”

“Not tonight, Allison.”

Echo frowned at her reaction. What did she do wrong?

Tiffany leaned over to her bedside table and clicked off the light, shrouding them in darkness.

Sooyoung was announced to be joining SNSD for their next comeback, is Echo too?

Where’s Echo?! TT.TT

If Echo doesn’t join the next comeback I will riot!

Originally I was just going to have the first day in this chapter, but I felt bad that I've been a horrible updater so I gave an extra little snippet out of the second day :D (Side note - Yes Echo had her forehead stitches taken out and her cast was hidden by being out of frame for her teaser photos).