And the most awaited night finally came.

The music festival finally showed itself to the well-composed Taeyeon.

She know to herself that she’ll do good tonight, regardless of the identity of her partner.

She’s Kim Taeyeon after all.

       “Good evening noona. What are you doing here tonight? Are you here to support us?”

The serious question of Tao and Lay shot confusion to the newly arrived Taeyeon.

      “Huh? Well I am--” Taeyeon’s correction was cut short when Baekyun suddenly arrived.

       “I’m sorry to interrupt guys, noona. Tao, Lay we should hurry now.

          Everyone’s waiting for us in the dressing room. We’re the opening performers.

         I hope you guys didn’t forget that. Hurry. The show will about to start.” The three boys bid their

         goodbyes to Taeyeon with a matching bow, and hurriedly head back to their dressing room.

The totally unexpected question got Taeyeon’s confidence and composure crack a little bit.

     What if I wasn’t listed to perform here tonight? Didn’t the management told the staff that I’ll be performing here?

       Or... Maybe only the two didn’t know about it? Oh well...

Taeyeon, almost immediately, prevented her own confusion to ruin her confidence.

She have practiced diligently, with all the efforts required, just to be able to deliver the song perfectly tonight.

And she’ll deliver this song tonight. No matter what.

Taeyeon walked positively along the hallway where the busy and noisy dressing rooms for the artists were located.

The shining and captivating costumes that the idols were wearing surely captured the attention of the passing Taeyeon.

And for a second out there, she remembered the equally shining and glamorous costumes that she wore with her

group members. A genuine smile was then molded from her pinkish lips.

      “Taeyeon-ssi. I told you to wait for me while I park the car. Aigoo, you don’t listen to me anymore huh?”

the panting yet smiling manager of Taeyeon appeared from her back.

     “Oh oppa, I’m sorry. It’s quite chilly outside and so I just let myself in.” 

Taeyeon reciprocated a sheepish smile to her manger.

     “By the way oppa, where’s my dressing room? Will I share dressing rooms with my partner?”

her curious inquiry made her manager flash a bright expression.

    “No taeyeon-ssi. You and your partner will be having the two biggest rooms in the building.

        Alone and separately. Come on now, we should get you dressed. Our staff’s already in there.”

Her manager started walking towards her assigned room. This was totally unexpected.

She’s having the biggest room all by herself? Her confidence level completely recovered

from the momentary shock it got earlier.

Stepping her right foot in the dressing room, she arrived just in time to see the two emcees

  open the event from her room’s flat screen monitor.

Kris:    Good evening everyone! It’s really nice to see so many people gather here to join

              and witness tonight’s event.

Luhan:  We have various artists come together to show everyone how great Korea’s pop culture is.

Kris:    We have EXO in collaboration with yours truly and Luhan, JYJ, f(x), Sistar, Shinee, A-pink,

          4-minute, Infinite, 2PM, PSY, Got 7, and Super Junior.

Loud chants from various fandoms emerge after every mention of the artists.

Luhan:    All of these artists will perform here, on the same stage,tonight!

A collective cheer from a diverse set of fans echoed through the thick-walled stadium,

  enough to give Taeyeon chills down her spine.

Kris:    But wait... There’s more.

Every living and hoping body inside the stadium went still. Hoping to hear another set of their favorite artists.

Luhan:  For the last act of tonight’s event, we have prepared a very special number for everyone.

            Two of the most respected and widely acknowledged talents from the K-pop industry will

            surely blow your mind. So stay tune everyone.

Luhan’s last words got everyone curious. The emcees surely delivered their speeches well, thanks to the prepping of their boss.

The announcement of Luhan, through the monitors, also got all the artist’s in their dressing rooms curious,

  including the now fidgeting Taeyeon.

       “Oppa, why didn’t they include me in their introduction?” Taeyeon asked her manager.

Worry and confusion flushed through her. Nerves are now rocking and shaking her composure.

      “They did Taeyeon-ssi. You’re a well respected talent after all.”

     “Huh? So I’m performing at the end of the show? Why didn’t you tell me?”

 The beating of Taeyeon’s heart got wilder and more erratic.

     “Well, you know now. That’s what matters right. And for the record, nobody knows about this.

        It will be a huge hit, hopefully.” The scene with Tao and Lay flashed back at the back of her mind.

Oh so that is why. The lack of response from Taeyeon made her manager continue.

     “Anyways, just perform well, okay? I know you can do it.”

By the time that her manager exited her room to arrange things for the event, Taeyeon was already

fully dressed in a one-piece navy blue dress with a matching white heels. She looked elegant in this

dress, not her usual attire for a performance though but nonetheless, she felt special and above the ordinary.

      “Who could be my duet partner? They said ‘a well respected and widely recognized talent’.

         Hmmm could it be J.Y. Park? Oh gosh. He could be. Right guys?”

And there was silence.

Only the soft gushing wind from the conditioning unit made noise for the spacious room.

She was alone. A vague recollection of the staff bidding their goodbyes earlier after the whole

prepping thing emerged at the back of her mind. It is really unusual. What an unusual day.

 Taeyeon let out a lung-full of carbon dioxide as resignation hit her. She was alone. Again.

She suddenly missed her members. All of them. Including her ice princess.

Meanwhile, Kris and Luhan were now introducing Super Junior, the last performers before

Taeyeon and her partner go to the stage. Their somewhat lengthy conversation gave Taeyeon

the time to sneak a peek into the other big room, located next to hers, to see who her partner

could be, before she goes backstage.

No name tags were placed to each of their rooms, to ensure secrecy perhaps?

This leftTaeyeon no other choice.

*Knock knock*

The door creaked open. The vanity mirror displayed all types of make-ups and

other essentials necessary for a performer.

Does J.Y. Park uses all these kinds of makeup when going on stage? I kinda doubt it.

The room was clearly void of any living creature. No one is busy prepping, no one is talking, and

no one is moving. The sudden intrusion from the back got Taeyeon’s heart almost bursting from shock.

    “Taeyeon-ssi, what are you doing here? This is not your room right? Anyways, you are on in 5 minutes.”

A female staff relayed the message to Taeyeon.

    “Ahh yeah. Well, I just want to see my partner before going on stage. But I see now that the room is empty.”

The disappointment in Taeyeon’s eyes were clearly perceived by the girl.

She flipped some papers, then fixed her eyes on Taeyeon’s.

     “You’re partner is already preparing at the backstage. Super Junior’s performance started moments ago,

            and they could end any minute now. Your presence is highly needed in there right now.

           Just trace that hallway. It will lead you to the backstage.” the female staff pointed her index finger to the right.

    How come my manager’s gone at times like this? Arrgh.

She bowed her head to the staff as her symbol of gratitude.

She traced the steps that the staff pointed earlier. Sure enough, she arrived at the backstage.

     “Taeyeon-ssi, come here. You’ll be entering the stage from the right corner.

         Meanwhile, your partner will come from the left. Okay? So find your place in

         there and do well later. The emcees will give you the cue when to enter. Good luck to you, dear.”

The stage manager instructed Taeyeon as soon as she displayed herself to everyone at the backstage.

Her partner must’ve already found it’s place on the left-most part of the stage.

A pang of disappointment resurfaced in her soul.

Taeyeon found her place at the right corner of the stage where she was instructed to go to from earlier.

She squinted her eyes straight through the left corner with the hope of getting even just a glimpse

of her partner’s figure. But the flashy lights broke the straight path of her vision.

And she finally gave up her quest. She then decided to just let the night take care of her.

Out of nowhere, while she was still waiting for her cue to go onstage, a memory flashed back to her,

a painful memory to be exact. The events from the night at the tower, Jessica and Yuri,

displayed actively in front of her. A loan tear then made its way out of Taeyeon’s glassy and fragile eyes.

Did I lose her completely?

And three more tears traced down her milky smooth skin.

Cheers and claps were all over the place, signifying that Super Junior already ended its performance.

Moreover, this also signifies that her most-awaited glorious moment is now only seconds away from happening.

   Kris & Luhan:   And now everyone, for the final act of the night, please help us welcome....

                         the REIGNING QUEENS OF KPOP!

This introduction got everyone in the audience wild. Aaaaaaahhs!!!! and Yeeeeeeeaaahhhs!!!!

dominated the heavily crowded stadium.

A good five seconds have passed, a loud BOOOM was heard. All the lights went out.

And gradually, all forms of noises died down. After a second of total darkness and silence,

a single straight bright light from the ceiling coursed its way down to the center of the stage.

And there she was, standing soulfully and elegantly in front of everyone, Taeyeon.

Her silky smooth navy blue dress and a braided blond hair made her even look like a goddess.

A queen, indeed. And her melodious and highly craved powerful voice started to wrap everyone’s beating heart.

Wiping her fallen tears away, she started to sing what her heart wanted to say out loud.