In many ways, Krystal was grateful for Victoria's leaving rumors in late May. It helped to solidify Victoria's stance with SM so that there were no concerns about her leaving the company. It helped to renew Victoria's relationship with f(x), which had become a little distant with Victoria's activities in China. And it also helped to make Sulli's leaving rumors in late June easier for Krystal to stomach.

About a month after Victoria's rumors were laid to rest, a new rumor appeared claiming that Sulli was planning to halt her idol activities to pursue acting full-time. The idea that Sulli, Krystal's best friend and soul mate, would be leaving f(x) had caused a panic within f(x)'s youngest member.

But Krystal remembered the situation with Victoria and how easy it was for false news to be spread and for misunderstanding to occur. Krystal was able to keep calm (somewhat) and wait for Sulli's response. And upon hearing Sulli's assertion that the rumors were untrue and that she was still planning to return for the group's upcoming 4th album, which they had already begun to record in bits and pieces, Krystal felt reassured.

f(x) was able to overcome two crises in two months time. But as July and the upcoming SMTOWN Tokyo concerts loomed on the horizon, a new challenge appeared for f(x).

"Vic-unnie needs leg surgery?" Krystal asked, her eyes wide with concern. Seated next to her at the brief f(x) team meeting were Amber and Luna, whose expressions mirrored Krystal's concern upon hearing the news from their managers.

"It's not serious, but she'll be undergoing a procedure soon and she won't recover in time for the concerts," Lee Wongyun, their manager, told them.

"But Vic-unnie is scared of pain," Luna said, tearing up a little at the thought of their leader needing a medical procedure. "Will she be OK?"

"She'll be fine," Amber said confidently, patting Luna on the head. "Let's call her later and check up on her."

"She'd like that," manager Lee Hojoon agreed. "But regarding the concerts..."

"We're two people short," Krystal realized with a start. This was the first time in f(x)'s nearly six years of activity that the group was down two members at the same time. "Are we still going to be able to perform?"

f(x) had never performed a song intended for five people with only three members before. Missing members weren't as much of an issue for bigger groups like Super Junior, Girls' Generation, or EXO, but for a currently 4-member group like f(x), a missing member was cause for concern.

Luna dropped her head onto the table looking quite dejected. "We're becoming like TVXQ..." She looked at Krystal and Amber bitterly. "Which of you wants to sit out next?"

"Hey, hey," Amber said, shaking Luna's shoulders playfully and pulling the sullen girl back up. "This lineup change is only temporarily, we'll make it work."

"Maybe shadow dancers?" Krystal wondered, looking to their manager-oppas. SHINee had used shadow dancers in the past, like when EXO's Lay had filled in for an injured Jonghyun prior to Lay's debut. Perhaps the same could be done for f(x).

Wongyun nodded at Krystal's suggestion. "We've already lined up two dancers to join you for practice tomorrow."

"Two dancers?" Luna asked, perking up. Krystal was a little surprised as well since she had been expecting only one shadow dancer to fill in for Victoria.

Their managers smiled at the girls. "Of course. f(x) is a five member group, isn't it?"

With wide smiles, Amber, Luna, and Krystal nodded in agreement.

"You'll need to make a lot of choreography changes even though it'll be a five-person performance," Hojoon warned. "The three of you will need to be at the front of the dance formations more often instead of the shadow dancers.

"Will we have enough time to learn the changes?" Krystal worried. Today was July 1st and the SMTOWN Tokyo concerts were on July 5th and 6th. That didn't leave f(3) with much time to make the choreography changes and practice.

"We have to make it work," Amber told Krystal gently, full of determination. "We have to promote f(x) diligently so that Vic-unnie doesn't worry about us while she's away."

Krystal smiled at Amber, who seemed to be trying to look more confident now that she was the acting leader in Victoria's place. The maknae knew that Amber was right and that f(3) had no choice but to make the Tokyo performances shine. On top of being strong for Victoria's sake, f(x) was also planning to release a special CD/DVD in Japan later this month. The SMTOWN Tokyo concerts were f(x)'s first chances to promote themselves in Japan before the release, so they had to work hard.

Amber smiled at Krystal and then at Luna and held out her finger for their cheer. The two younger girls smiled and held out their fingers as well.

"Let's work hard," Luna agreed, and Krystal nodded.

"1-2-3," Amber counted, and then all three of them joined in. "f(x)!"

The following day, after many hours of choreography changes, practice performances, and repeated re-tweaking of the choreography changes, Krystal couldn't help but think of the days before f(x)'s debut. The five of them had worked so hard to prepare for their first LA chA TA stage that they would dance for 10 solid hours to complete 100 performances of the same song until they collapsed from exhaustion.

Without a word of complaint for their current practice, Krystal fell to the floor after what felt like their 100th run-through of the modified "Red Light" choreography. She was too drained to dance a