On a Friday morning in early May, Krystal experienced the joy and bitterness of reuniting with f(x) on the set of their Baskin Robbins CF shoot. The joy came from being together with her members, whom she loved and cherished. But the bitterness came from the fact that only four of their five members had gathered for the shoot.

Sulli was not with them today. It was not by her choice, but because SM wouldn't allow Sulli to join them. The message had come down from their managers a few days before the shoot, confirming SM's stance on Sulli's participation: the contract had been signed while Sulli was on hiatus, and therefore she was not allowed to be in the CF. On top of that, SM still wanted to wait for f(x)'s comeback before showcasing Sulli with the group again.

And just like that, the controversial, decision was made one-sidedly by the company. Despite the active members' protests that this would only further isolate Sulli and bring even more hate and attention upon her, the girls were powerless to change the terms of the contract and change the minds of their management company.

"I'm really fine," Sulli claimed when Krystal went to visit her soon after SM's decision was handed down. Krystal pulled Sulli into a hug immediately after stepping into Sulli's apartment, and she still clung to the taller girl now. 

"This doesn't mean that we've forgotten you or that you're not a part of us anymore," Krystal said firmly. "f(x) is a family whether we're together or not, and you're still a part of this family." The words that Krystal spoke were similar to words that Victoria always told the group whenever they performed on stage without their full team. They were words that reminded Krystal of the unity of their group, like when Amber was on hiatus for her sprained ankle, and Krystal hoped that Sulli would be comforted by her words now.

"Thanks Soojung-ah," Sulli said, returning the hug. "But I really am fine. It's not a big deal."

"It's not?" Krystal wondered. She pulled back and examined Sulli's face and found that that her friend did seem fine as she nodded in response to Krystal's question with a smile. There were no traces of disappointment in Sulli's expression, and Krystal wasn't sure if she was supposed to feel happy or troubled by this. Of course Krystal didn't want Sulli to be upset by having to sit out yet another f(x) event, but Krystal felt somewhat uneasy by Sulli's carefree attitude. 

"Well, um, do you mind if I stop by after the CF shoot on Friday?" Krystal asked, trying to put Sulli's lack of disappointment aside. "They said we'll get to take home ice bingsoo samples, so I'll bring some by. Luna-unnie and Amber might come along too." 

"Ah..." Sulli said, looking apologetically at her friend. "I'll be out with Choiza-oppa that day. His schedule's free so we're going on a date."

"Ah..." Krystal responded, not sure what else to say. She hoped her disappointment was well hidden. "Ah, well, no problem."

"Actually, I'm meeting him today too. He's picking me up soon," Sulli said, looking at the time on her phone. "Do you want to stick around and say 'hi'?"

Krystal shook her head, feeling more disappointed by the minute. Her other reason for stopping by today, aside from needlessly trying to cheer up Sulli about the CF, was to tell Sulli about her relationship with Amber. Now that Victoria, Luna, and finally Jessica were in the loop, Sulli was one of the last people close to both her and Amber who didn't know the secret. Krystal thought today would be a good opportunity to tell Sulli, who she had not seen much lately, but apparently Krystal was mistaken.

"I'm gonna get going," Krystal said with a weak smile. 

"Sure, no problem," Sulli replied. They looked at each other for a moment, and Krystal felt slightly awkward in Sulli's presence. Perhaps because it had been a while since they spent some quality time together, Krystal felt that they were a bit out of sync with each other. It was nothing that an afternoon sharing snacks or shopping wouldn't fix, but there was no time for that now. Krystal headed for the door and they said their brief goodbyes before parting ways.

Days later, Krystal was on set with Victoria, Luna, and Amber, still feeling sad about Sulli not being able to join them. She watched her group members taking pictures with each other, happy and carefree. It annoyed Krystal a little to see them having so much fun when a member of their team was missing.

"I miss Sulli," Krystal said at last. "Don't you guys even care that she's not here?" Her members turned to her, surprised by her words.

"Soojung-ah," Luna said softly, coming to her side. "Of course we miss, Sulli. I miss her a lot."

"Then how can you guys be so happy when she's not here?" Krystal asked sulkily, not quite returning the hug that Luna gave her.

"Because being sad isn't going to bring Sulli here," Amber responded gently, giving Krystal an apologetic smile. 

"I know," Krystal said quietly. She looked down at her feet, one hand gently clutching Luna's arm, which was wrapped across her chest. "I'm just scared that Sulli's going to leave us for good."

Victoria walked over to Krystal and placed a hand gently on each side of the maknae's face. She lifted Krystal's head so that the younger girl looked into her eyes, and then Victoria placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Sometimes I worry about Sulli leaving us too," Victoria said softly, looking solemnly into Krystal's eyes. "But we can't live our lives imagining the worst. Sulli said that she'll come back to us, so we have to believe in her and do what we can for her."

"What can we do?" Krystal wondered, feeling quite helpless.

"We can promote f(x) diligently so that Sulli has a good home to come back to when she's ready to return," Victoria said, smiling gently as she Krystal's hair. "And we can smile and have fun, so that Sulli doesn't have to worry about troubling us while she's away."

Krystal smiled faintly at the kindness of Victoria's heart. Her unnie had a gentle aura to her that was considerate and infinitely positive. The younger girl always felt better in the presence of her Vic-omma. Krystal wrapped her arms around Victoria's waist and pressed herself into her unnie's shoulder.

"But what if Sulli is never ready?" Krystal asked softly. "What if she wants to quit f(x)?"

"Did she say that?" Victoria asked calmly.

Krystal shook her head. "No, but I just have a feeling..."

Luna came up and hugged Krystal from behind, creating a Soojung sandwich with Victoria. "IF that ever happens," Luna said, stressing the "if" as she referred to Sulli's theoretical departure from f(x), "then we'll deal with it as a group. But for now, let's just think positively, Soojung-ah," Luna suggested. "Sulli will return during our comeback, just like Amber-unnie did when she was on hiatus, too."

The two