Sunny stared at the paper laid down on the table, her eyes moving slightly as she carefully checked each word written therein. She already did so before printing it but she had to be absolutely certain that each word she wrote was the correct one to use. It was important.

It was her contract termination notice.

Everything was in order, she made no mistakes. All that was left to do was to sign it. One small signature and Girls' Generation would be no more, its last member would have left. Sunny reached for the pen but noticed that her hand shakes and stopped. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. She wished she could take some more anti-depressants but her doctor warned her not to give in to such temptation.

Resisting the impulse, Sunny grabbed her pen and quickly signed the notice.

“There,” she whispered, “it's done.”

All that was left was to give the paper to her manager but that could wait. Sunny had promised herself that she would wait at least one day before handing the notice in and crossing the point of no return. After putting the paper in a folder with all her legal documents, she stood up from her chair and slowly walked to the window of her apartment.

The day was nice, even if a bit hot; she could see people taking a walk in a nearby park, clearly excited about a break in the rain season. Wondering if any other former Girls' Generation members enjoy the weather in such manner, Sunny closed her eyes and reflected on the past several months.

“How could have everything ended so quickly?” she thought to herself.

They were once such a popular and harmonious group, a symbol of everything that made k-pop great. They knew that the group would have to disband one day but they lived believing in a dream that their end would be a beautiful one. That it would be sad but without any regrets. They hoped for a future that would never come.

It all started with Jessica. Her departure was like a slap to the face or like a cold shower. It woke them up, proved that life is not a fairy tale. However, they still were Girls' Generation. They had the strength to move on and so did their fans. Things got better.

Until tragedy struck.

Sunny opened her eyes, turned from the window and went to her closet. As she put on her jacket, hat and face mask, she kept thinking thinking about events that led her to that moment.

The second incident happened shortly after Sooyoung's father had passed away and her mother committed suicide. These events had put all members on edge. So when a guy that Hyoyeon was secretly dating at the time made a tactless remark about how little time he gets to spend with his girlfriend, Hyoyeon punched him. The punch resulted in a fight after which they both landed in a hospital. Trying to distance itself from the scandal, SM decided to kick Hyoyeon out.

Taking an elevator down to the garage, Sunny realised that she no longer cries when thinking about the painful past. Back then, she had used to cry all the time. She had tried to hold it in, she had tried to contain the despair that took root in her mind but she couldn't. However since then she was exposed to so much sadness, so much pain, that she eventually stopped crying. Her heart froze.

“Stop,” Sunny muttered to herself while looking into the elevator's mirror. “Stop thinking about it. It's no use. Move on.”

She couldn't.

The remaining Girls' Generation members did everything they could to deal with the situation. They did their best to regain control, deal with the scandal and have Hyoyeon and SM reunite. They reached out to the fans that still supported them and tried to calm them down. In short, they worked even harder than usual, despite the immense amount of stress they themselves were dealing with.

Some members couldn't handle it. They started drinking. And when that proved ineffective, some reached for other, more efficient ways to relieve stress. Ways that were not always legal.

Yoona was caught red-handed and arrested, Sooyoung barely dodged the bullet. Regardless, SM got rid of them both.

Climbing onto the driver's seat of her inconspicuous car, Sunny reached for her cellphone and quickly checked for any unread messages. There were none, despite the numerous texts she had sent. Sighing, she put her seatbelt on, fired the ignition and left her parking lot. Dark thoughts continued to cloud her mind, as she slowly drove down the street.

She stopped briefly at a nearby convenience store to buy some things she thought might be necessary. Some music that she didn't recognise was playing from a radio behind the shop assistant's back. It was bubbly and cute, contrary to Sunny's mood. She paid for her items without saying a word, left the store and got back to the car. Only a good few minutes later she realised that the song she had heard at the store was one of her own.

After several internal disputes it became clear, that the old Girls' Generation is gone and can never rise again, at least not under SM. Yuri and Seohyun did their best to convince other members to leave the company, reunite and continue promotions on their own. Sunny herself was tempted to try out their idea but eventually gave in to her own doubts. She and Taeyeon argued that the group needs to avoid making any hasty decisions and instead go on a longer hiatus that would give all members the time they needed to regain their old selves.

However they could not reach an agreement and after a few unfortunate word choices and heated discussions, Tiffany, Yuri and Seohyun left the group.

The Sun was setting when Sunny reached the Anseong suburbs. She parked by a small, seemingly deserted building. She got her bag, locked her car and took a step towards the front door when she hesitated. Her anti-depressants had already began to wear off and Sunny felt a nearly overwhelming wave of anxiety. She dropped her bag and squatted on the ground, her face hidden in her hands, waiting for her heart to calm down.

“It's okay,” she reassured herself. “It's going to be all right. Soon... Soon everything will get better. It has to.”

Minutes passed in silence as Sunny tried to suppress her emotions.

The last two remaining Girls' Generation members didn't get to spend much time together. They were both busy fighting their inner daemons and coming to terms with the new reality they found themselves in. By that point, they represented their band in name only; all media outlets have already moved on from the scandalous story of the former queens. As juicy as it once was, people were quick to forget.

One night Sunny came back to the dorm and found a note on the ground. It was short and the words were scribbled in a hasty manner. It read: “I can't do this. I failed everybody. I'm sorry.” There was no signature but the handwriting was Taeyeon's.

Nobody had ever seen her after that night.

Eventually Sunny managed to lift herself up, despite emotions tearing her heart to pieces. She looked at the setting sun and clenched her fists. Her resolve was firm, unwavering.

“You have never failed us, Taeyeon,” she whispered to the wind. “And if there's something you cannot do alone, then we will do it together. Just like old times,” she added in her thoughts. For no amount of despair was enough to stop her. Even if Girls' Generation could never rise back from the ashes of its former glory, Sunny just wanted to see all the members again. She wanted to see them together and she wanted to see them smile.

With a newly strengthened resolve, Sunny picked up her bag, took the keys out of her pocket and opened the door to the small building.

The inside was dark and smelly. Empty bottles lied everywhere and the entire place was a mess. On the other side of the room, a dark silhouette was resting against the wall, asleep. Sunny quietly stepped forwards, careful not to trip on any of the bottles. After a few moments she turned from the sleeping girl and began cleaning the apartment.

For her, the greatest challenge came when Jessica departed. Everybody always assumed that, despite the tears she shed, Sunny had the strength to endure the pain and move on. But the reality wasn't as bright. She couldn't move on. She didn't even want to try.

One night, when she was alone in her room, Sunny's thoughts grew darker than ever. It's not as if she had not experienced hardship before Jessica's departure. On the contrary, she has faced it plenty of times. But that one event was what finally managed to break her.

Or so she thought, until someone knocked on the door and came into her room.

It was Sooyoung.

She didn't say anything, she just sat next to Sunny, hugged her and then stayed next to her until sunrise. Sunny never learned if Sooyoung came to her to cheer her up and support her or if it was because Sooyoung herself was struggling. It didn't matter. The fact that she had come is what mattered. The fact that she had kept Sunny company during that difficult time. Her presence alone had given her strength.

Once she was done cleaning, Sunny unpacked the items she bought at the store; they were simple cooking ingredients, things that she could quickly turn into a simple but healthy meal. Once she was done, she carried the food to the sleeping figure.

“Sooyoung,” she whispered, smiling gently. “Wake up.”

Sooyoung slowly opened her eyes, blinked twice and eventually responded with a weak, quiet voice.

“Sunny? Is that you?”

“Sure it is,” she replied, her smile widening and her expression as care-free as it was possible in such circumstances. “But it gets better!” she continued. “Look, I brought you food!”

“Food?” Sooyoung's eyes lit up when she noticed what Sunny had brought her. “Food!” she repeated happily. Sunny laughed at her innocent response as she set the plates and bowls on a small table.

The meal the two girls shared that evening may have been nothing special. It was simple and cheap. But Sunny knew that it was not the food that Sooyoung really needed. Rather, it was the same thing that she herself had come for.

It was the sight of a smile on a friend's face.