Rays of sunlight sneaked behind the hastily drawn curtains, casting long shadows inside the bedroom that only served the purpose of reminding that it was late. Soft murmurs were heard outside of the locked door, her mother probably making worried comments about how the tray she had earlier brought with food had been left untouched. The soup had long gone cold. Footsteps sounded padding down the hallway, her mum deciding to let her daughter calm before trying to talk to her.

Her cell-phone rang, notifying her of yet another text message. Ignoring it, she pulled the duvet higher above her head to block any distractions. All she wanted was to disappear. She wanted to be able to stay hidden underneath the covers forever, not having to face the cold reality. She wondered how could everything have gone so wrong in a matter of a few hours. One minute she was video-chatting with Soojung, the next her company was informing her that she was no longer part of her group.

As of September 30, Jessica Jung was a member of Girls' Generation no more.

The previous day had been hectic: reporters were trying to reach her, her manager, her family for a statement, crazy rumors were fed to the public as facts, fans had gathered outside of SM's building in protest, her SNS accounts had flooded with comments... Angry fans, concerned fans, sad fans, nasty netizens... Jessica had read more comments in two hours that she had in the whole past month. And that unbearable silence from SM's side... She got one phone-call, and that was only to advice her to stay home. All the other members' phone numbers were unreachable, and Jessica was left alone to deal with a million thoughts running around her head.

The rumors, the pain... she had hoped to avoid everything. Had she asked for much? She didn't think so. All she wanted was to study something she loved, to do her own thing while the others did their own, then join the team for its next round of group promotions. Apparently, her education and interests were of no importance to the company. The obvious solution was to kick her out, to show who's the boss.

Who do you think you are, huh? You want to study abroad? To run your own business? No.

It's all about money first and people last with them. Sooyeon learned that the hard way.

She felt betrayed... back-stabbed... ridiculed.

The members who have promised to be there always, the ones she had shed sweat, blood and tears with, the girls she had come to call "family" during the past fifteen years... they abandoned her.

Jessica bit her lip to hold back hot tears from spilling down her tired face. Her eyes were already red and puffy - she had cried for hours.

Jessica...

She sobbed, tears soaking her pillow. It was painful how she still thought herself as "Jessica". Despite that being her birth name, that was how the world had come to know her through the group, but the group had turned its back to her. She was no longer Jessica, the ice-princess, for them. Just plain Sooyeon. Sooyeon, who had spent her whole life chasing her dream, only for a knife to be placed at when she tried to chase another.

She had tried to understand the other members, knowing it was difficult to go against their parents' wishes. Sooyeon's new business was being perceived as a threat to their daughters' success. Instead of congratulating Sooyeon and supporting her attempt to raise a business of her own, the scorned her. When they presented the ultimatum to her, Sooyeon was left speechless.

It's either Girls' Generation, or your fashion line. Having both is out of question.

The same people who were as close to her as her own parents, who have watched her grow up and mature, were now standing between her and her future, making her choose among her education and the group. Her explanations were in vain. Nothing went through their thick skulls. It didn't matter that an agreement had been made between Sooyeon and the company. They called her selfish, inconsiderate, arrogant and ungrateful. And their daughters stood there listening, their gazes casted on the floor and their mouths shut. She eyes had caught Taeyeon's for a fleeting moment, and she saw the agony in the other girl's orbs, how they silently begged for her to forgive all of them. But, of course, the parents' wishes come first. There was no point in them protesting against them. They knew Sooyeon was too stubborn to cooperate, her pride and ambition to succeed far exceeding the elders' expectations.

Their relationship had fallen out, their trust had forever been marred. Even if Sooyeon chose to stay, things would never be the same again between them. So she chose to go her own way. And she had started to prepare herself for the day that she'd go on stage and perform for the last time as Jessica of Girls' Generation. She had even prepared a small thank-you speech to console the fans with.

She never got the chance.

They had decided without her, wanting to get rid of her rather than let her humiliate the company by showing to the public how easy it was for her to get what she wanted. Months prior to the arranged date of her SNSD contract termination, she was informed through the telephone that she was fires... as if she were a nameless girl delivering coffee and not one of SM's major money-makers.

Anger, shame, bitterness, desperation...

All these feelings overcame her and Sooyeon felt like she would explode. Locking herself in her room and crying her self to sleep exhausted, she recalled the countless times the nine of them had declared confidently that their bond was what kept them going for so long. They had chanted along with the fans that, "Now, it's Girls' Generation, in the future will be Girls' Generation, always Girls' Generation".

All those words now felt empty... a bunch of lies. Thinking back to how rookie groups used to greet them with awe-filled expressions, wishing they'd last as long as them, Sooyeon knew she had let them down as a senior. They had become symbols of success, the ideal everyone was striving to achieve. Their fame was envied and admired, their name always on the lips of everyone praising K-Pop.

She realised now, that all had been nothing but a fragile dream. A piece of glass that shattered when a stone hard enough hit its surface. And what Sooyeon regretted the most is that everyone involved in that fragile system would get hurt by the sharp remains of it.

Hiding her face under the pillow to muffle her frustrated scream, the young woman thought of Soojung and how this issue could possibly affect her and her career. Her precious, dearest, sensitive, strong Soojung. She hated that her sister had to go through this trouble. Sooyeon wished she had the power to erase every single obstacle from Soojung's way... to prevent something like this from happening to her. She wanted to protect her, she had to. But she was only human. Doing her best was never enough - that had been proved.

Her phone rang again, then turned to voicemail after a few long moments.

"Unnie, it's Soojung! I just finished filming for today, and I'm on my way back home. I'm bringing chocolate ice-cream, so get off your bed and wait for me! Mum is getting worried... See ya!"

Hearing her sister's voice had Sooyeon smiling a bit. She considered what the younger girl said... Ice-cream... that sounded good. Using her sweater's sleeves to wipe her wet eyes and cheeks, Sooyeon then drew back the duvet and swung her legs off the bed. She remained still for a couple of seconds, enjoying the coolness of the floor-tiles against the warm flesh of her feet. Then, with decisive moves, she stood up and fixed her unkempt hair to a tight bun.

She was done crying. From now on, she had to be strong; for her sake and also her sister's. She would build her own business slowly but surely, with or without the company's help. Jung Sooyeon would prove to the whole world just how determined she was. They could call her selfish - she didn't care anymore. She had understood what was worth fighting for. If the world didn't like her for that, well... she was going to waste time trying to convince them no more. It was not them turning their backs to Sooyeon. It was Sooyeon turning her back to the world. And, damn, it felt good.

But for the time being, she would eat her ice-cream. No matter how hard life was being on her right now, there was always room for chocolate. The smile still on Sooyeon's lips, she quickly made her way downstairs, eager to she her sister.