Krystal heard her mom calling for her from downstairs. Her manager, Wongyun, had just arrived at her parents' home and was waiting outside in their van. Krystal wasn't exactly running late today, but she wasn't quite on time either.

"Don't keep your members waiting!" Mama Jung called up the stairs just as Krystal was rushing out of her room with her phone in hand.

"I know, I know," Krystal called back. She sprinted down the steps and gave her mom a quick kiss on the cheek as headed out the front door.

It was now the beginning of August and the beginning of a new era for f(x). The title track discussion was being held today and Krystal was looking forward to it. Choosing the title track was important since it dictated the direction of an album, like how "Rum Pum Pum Pum" had given their "Pink Tape" album a mysteric kind of feel, or how "Red Light" gave their previous album a darker, more rebellious kind of feel.

The members thought of these title track selection meetings as the true starting point of comeback preparations. Krystal was quite excited about the discussion and she knew her members felt the same. Even though Victoria was busy filming in China and was unable to attend today, the enthusiasm of the remaining four members would ensure that f(x) picked a good title track for this comeback.

"You're so slow! Hurry up, Princess-nim!" Krystal heard someone shout obnoxiously from the back seat of the van. Without a doubt, she knew the voice belonged to Amber and she shook her fist with playful anger in Amber's direction.

"I'm not even late," Krystal complained, climbing into the van. "You guys are early." But Krystal could tell that there was no malice in Amber's teasing. Just like Luna, who was all smiles in the backseat next to her, Amber was excited to kick off the comeback preparations in full swing. Luna patted Krystal warmly on the head as the younger girl settled into her seat.

"Don't worry Soojung-ah," Luna said with a playful glare at Amber, "she was honking the horn like a crazy person at my place to get me to hurry up." Krystal laughed and shook her head at her girlfriend in mock disapproval.

"I just checked with Sulli and she's already at the studio. Let's not keep her waiting!" Amber announced eagerly. She called out to their manager, who was driving. "Oppa! Let's go!"

The recording studio that they were meeting at was a 15 minute drive from Krystal's parents' home. Amber and Luna lived close to her so their manager picked them up together today, but Sulli lived in the opposite direction and their manager Hojoon picked her up alone.

Krystal thought about Sulli on the short drive to the studio, smiling at recent memories of meeting her friend for lunch and shopping. The friendship that had felt somewhat lukewarm as of late was starting to heat up again. They were quickly falling back into step with each others' hearts and Krystal felt comforted having Sulli back in her life on a more regular basis. And with this comeback, the chances to be with Sulli would increase further still. From the bottom of her heart, Krystal was grateful to have another opportunity to be with her members and to show the world how strong their f(x) was.

Upon arriving at the studio, Krystal, Amber, and Luna entered the building while Wongyun went to park the van. They were in high spirits and their laughter echoed off the walls as they headed up the stairs to the meeting room where Sulli was waiting. As Krystal stepped inside, she saw Sulli sitting at the table with her phone held in front of her in a video chat.

"Sulli-aaaaaaaah!" Krystal greeted cheerfully, rushing toward her friend and wrapping her arms around the taller girl playfully. Sulli patted Krystal on the arm and mumbled a greeting. Krystal's eyes fell upon the person that Sulli was conversing with on the phone, and Krystal was pleasantly surprised to find Victoria looking back at her.

"Oh! It's Vic-unnie!" Krystal cried, waving at Victoria. Her leader smiled weakly at her and waved back.

"Hi Soojung-ah," Victoria greeted warmly. Krystal noticed that the older girl looked quite sad despite the cheerfulness in her voice. It was very unusual to see Victoria without a genuine smile on her face, and Krystal questioned her instantly.

"Are you OK?" Krystal asked worriedly. "You look like you're about to cry... Are you shooting another sad scene for your drama?" Amber and Luna came over to the mankaes' side of the table and peeked into Sulli's screen. 

"Oh no..." Luna said sympathetically, looking at their leader. "Please take good care of yourself while you're filming. Don't get sick, OK?"

Victoria shook her head with a smile at the concerned members. "I'm fine, it's nothing."

"Are you OK, Sulli-ya?" Amber asked suddenly. Krystal and Luna turned to look at Sulli. For the first time since arriving, Krystal took notice of Sulli's subdued expression.

There was something odd about Victoria and Sulli both looking sad while conversing with each other and it made Krystal feel uneasy. Were they fighting? Had something sad happened? "What were you guys talking about?" Krystal asked nervously. "Is something wrong?"

The leader managed a watery smile and shook her head at the four girls on screen, at her four f(x) daughters. "I'm just happy to see everyone here today. It's been a while since the five of us were together. Although I guess we're not really all together today..."

Luna smiled at Victoria's digital presence among the group. "It's OK, this counts as being together. You're here with us, aren't you?" She put her finger up to the camera on Sulli's phone with a smile. "How about we do our group cheer?" Luna suggested. Victoria returned the gesture with a weak smile and the others joined in as well. For the first time since Krystal's 20th birthday party, the five f(x) members performed their cheer together.

"Something's up though, right?" Krystal asked softly after their cheer. She looked at each of her members, trying to gauge the situation. Victoria and Sulli remained silent and avoided her eyes. Luna looked at her curiously, somewhat oblivious to the danger that Krystal could sense. Amber seemed to have caught on to the weird atmosphere and looked as serious as Krystal felt. "I can see it all over Vic-unnie and Sulli-ah's faces. Something's wrong."

"What happened?" Amber asked Sulli and Victoria. She was curious, but not upset at the two tight-lipped members. "Today is supposed to be the first day of our comeback preparations and we shouldn't start it off with a bad memory. Let's talk about what's wrong and try to fix it as a team, OK?"

Sulli looked at her phone to where Victoria was staring back at her solemnly. "...I'm going to tell them."

"You should take some more time to think about it first," Victoria urged her gently. "Nothing needs to be decided immediately."

"Guys, you're scaring me," Krystal said, laughing nervously as she looked back and forth between Sulli and Victoria. The guilt and sadness on their faces sent chills of fear down her spine. "We don't keep secrets from each other, right? We tell each other everything, right? Just tell us, Sulli, it'll be fine."

"No," Sulli said with a soft chuckle of remorse, "it won't be fine." She looked at her three silent members in the room, each of whom focused their undivided attention upon her.

Sulli's expression was just as serious as the day she announced that she wanted to take a hiatus from the group last year, as sad as that very moment, and Krystal's instincts told her that the worst was coming. She wanted to throw out her hands and freeze time, to stop Sulli from saying what she was about to say and to keep their f(x) family whole for just a moment longer. But that kind of ability wasn't within Krystal's grasp. All she could do was stand silently and receive Sulli's confession. 

"I want to leave f(x)."

The words cut through Krystal's heart like a knife, real and yet somehow surreal at the same time. But this wasn't like Sulli's leaving rumors, which had come from an unknown source. Sulli had uttered these words herself, making it harder to pretend like the situation wasn't real. 

"Are you joking?" Amber laughed uneasily, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had followed Sulli's announcement. She smiled worriedly at Sulli, not wanting to believe her.

"Why?" Luna asked softly. "Why do you want to leave?"

Krystal simply stood in silence in a state of mental shock. She could hear Sulli explain to the others about not wanting to ruin f(x)'s image, not wanting her tarnished reputation to bring down their group. She said it was unfair to the members to have their potential dragged down just because the public hated her, and so Sulli wanted to leave rather than selfishly continue with f(x).

Luna was crying now. The tears streamed gently down her face as she hugged Sulli and begged her to stay in spite of the hate that she was receiving. Amber, too, insisted that the public opinion didn't matter and that being together was the key, but Sulli was steadfast in her decision.

"I know you guys will feel bad about me leaving, but I've made up my mind. I won't be able to find any happiness with f(x) knowing that I'm the one holding us back." Sulli smiled a painful smile at the group. "I'm not going to leave unless everyone gives me their blessing, but I really hope you'll respect my wishes."

"I already accepted," Victoria said from the video chat on Sulli's phone. Sulli had been holding her phone at her side, forgetting that Victoria was still on the line, but the eldest member had heard the entire conversation. Sulli held Victoria up for everyone to see again, and the f(x) leader looked at everyone solemnly. "Sulli told me about wanting to leave the group just before everyone arrived and about wanting to pursue acting full time. I told her I would accept her leaving if she could tell me that she's thought through the consequences of her decision."

"I have thought it through, unnie," Sulli replied firmly, tu