Author's Notes
Whew, done literally just before the start of this year's Worlds! Excited for this year's action and hope you guys tune in as well. Again, I'm pleasantly surprised at how big this one got...I personally had fun adding in some Heesica and some friendship Jeti into this chapter as well. Usual rules apply - reviews welcome, but no flaming just because you're not a fan of the pairings, Girls' Generation or Cloud 9. (PS: I do feel a bit weird writing a chapter where we're trying to beat Impact when he's quickly become one of my favorites since joining C9, so I hope to God I don't jinx him somehow since he's got the Destined Battle against SKT tomorrow night!)

Following the return flight to Seoul, we did our best to shut out a lot of the Korean netizen chatter knowing that we were returning to face a home team - and not just any home team, but the reigning world champions, who only the previous year had taken on and beaten all comers in Los Angeles, compiling a 15-3 overall record on the way to becoming the first Korean team to win the Summoner's Cup and thus earning the admiration of a nation. They hadn't been their usual selves since, but they still had the same team that had won it all - Piglet, Impact, Bengi, PoohManDu and of course Faker, who was still loved, feared and revered as the best mid-laner in the world and the face of competitive League, espcially in Korea.

We did also get the news that Jessica had been held out of Girls' Generation's trip to Guangzhou, citing differences and discussion over creative direction and her future. We were perturbed, but mainly thankful the nuclear option (as Aurora and I had called it) had not been taken - or so we thought.

In the days between the end of our group stage and the quarterfinal, our preparation consisted mainly of scrims, but we still made time to watch the second week of the group stage in Singapore. We were having fun after watching some good upsets when Aurora, who had been browing Reddit, gasped and beckoned us over.

We went over and saw what had caused that reaction - and quite a few of us gasped ourselves. Jessica had publicly picked Cloud 9 to beat SK Telecom T1 K, and it had quickly trended on both the League of Legends and K-Pop subreddits. As we looked up the details and the reactions both from Korean netizens and from back home, Aurora called Jessica.

"Unnie, that's amazing...but what the heck do you think you're doing?" She asked.

"One, being a fan and friend, and two, taking some of the heat off you. I know how fans here can get, remember, so I didn't want you experiencing the worst of it alone." Jessica replied coolly but cincerely.

"Thanks a lot once again, Sica unnie, but you shouldn't be doing it that publicly. At least not yet - you've got too much to lose." Aurora pleaded.

There was a pause where I could feel the tension thicken. Then Jessica said meaningfully, "Believe me, compared to what I and the rest of us had to deal with over the past few weeks, this is nothing."

There was another moment of silence. Then she asked,

"Is it okay if I come over tonight? I think it's about time I told you what's going on like I promised."

"I've decided to leave the group."

She had come up, and all seven of us were gathered around and rocked by those words.

Balls and Hai looked grim, while Sneaky, Lemon and Meteos looked at her sympathetically and Aurora and I looked like we'd just been told a relative was dead.

"But..." Aurora said. "You said that the others came to a consensus and told the people upstairs that you shouldn't have to leave! Is it something involving one of them?

"It's not that I hate or even dislike any of the members. I sometimes have disagreements with them, yes, but I'm not leaving because I can't stand someone. There's more that I want to do...sometimes, I wonder if I've found everything I want to do...and I'm not sure if I can while I'm with them. But also...I do know I've unintentionally caused them pain and I feel like me being away at least temporarily would be healthy for them too."

She looked as if she was reaching deep into herself as she said that. We recognized she was at least talking about fashion, possibly more, and nodded at the mention of that. The last sentence struck a chord with us, and I could see a teardrop going down Aurora's face.

"Anyway, that's another reason I've been benched, if you will, from the Guangzhou trip. It'll give the others a chance to prepare for life without me there - at least there all the time." Jessica finished.

We nodded understandingly, but none of us were able to find our voices until Aurora managed to say, "I'm so sorry, unnie." She already sounded like she was fighting back tears, and none of us could blame her.

"Thank you, but don't worry." Jessica said consolingly. "I also found out that there were people who were thinking of just kicking me outright before the Guangzhou trip, but when the other members decided to submit a consensus recommendation against that, they reconsidered. At least this way, it was my choice about whether or not to step down and I'll have a chance to say goodbye."

"'A chance to say goodbye' - what do you mean by that? One more performance?" Balls asked.

"Yes." Jessica answered wistfully. "We're yet to figure out when it will be...but it'll be before you guys leave Korea, because Jack tells me you're staying through the final, win or lose."

"We are." Hai said. Then, it looked like a light bulb went off in his head, and he asked, "Can I make a request? I have an idea..."

Jessica nodded at him. Hai then asked,

"If we beat SKT, could you not schedule it before the finals?"

"Wait a minute. You mean you want them to see if they can..." I started asking.

"Yes." Hai answered. We looked at him and understood what he meant - he wanted to see if it was possible for us to win the Summoner's Cup while their original roster was still intact.

We continued to meet his eyes and nodded almost simultaneously, gathering our resolve. Let's do it, we conveyed to him.

"I know the idea is a bit silly, honestly. But if we can win this World Championship while you girls are still together..." Hai said.

"No, it's not silly...I'm touched, really." Jessica answered. Then, looking each of us in the eyes in turn, she said, "Hai, Aurora, Carlo, Sneaky, Meteos, Balls, Lemon...please know that even if you don't win this thing, that means so much to me."

She was already starting to break down as she finished. Aurora was the first one over to her, hugging her, fighting back her own tears and saying, "Don't cry, Sica unnie, we're here for you," and the rest of us were right behind her. Hai quickly and quietly asked Meteos if we could give her something to drink, and Meteos came back a couple of minutes later with a bottle of soju and poured Jessica a glass. She gladly drank it and then drank a second before stopping.

"You know..." She said, "I did tell them they were also right about another thing..."

"What's that?" Meteos asked.

"I am indeed dating someone and hoping to spend a little more time with him." Jessica replied, now with a grin that looked more like herself.

"Oooh! Who's the lucky guy, if you don't mind us asking?" Aurora asked. Then she realized what she had said and quickly added, "I know this is a tough day for you, so only if you feel comfortable, Sica unnie."

"Don't worry, Aurora. Since I'm here, I'll give you the chance to figure it out. I'll tell you a little bit and then I'll allow you and the others to ask away." Jessica replied.

Aurora smiled gratefully and then listened intently along with the rest of us.

"My boyfriend is a very old friend of mine, and we've been secretly dating for the last six months. I wasn't always good to him after he did his military time, but..." Right here, Jessica looked like this had once been a big regret of hers, before she finished, "Thankfully, we reconnected and he hasn't held it against me much anymore, except when he playfully teases me."

Aurora returned her grin and nodded, then asked, "Is he older than you?"

"Yes." She replied.

"Is he also an idol?" I asked this time.

"Yes."

"Is he also signed to SM?" Aurora asked.

"Yes."

"Wait a minute..." Aurora said, thinking hard. Then her eyes and mouth widened as it dawned on her.

"No." She said in disbelief, although her face let us all know it was happy disbelief.

"Yes." I said with a smile, not far behind.

"No." Aurora repeated, turning to me.

"Yes!" I repeated back, my smile growing. I then turned back to Jessica and asked, "Heechul hyung?"

"Oh, s**t, from Super Junior?" Balls asked. I nodded at him before turning back to Jessica.

In answer, Jessica smiled at us, got up and did her version of Heechul's signature finger-to-mouth pose from Sorry, Sorry that she'd done in covers.

"Oh, yes!" Aurora finally said, clapping her hands and giving Aurora another big hug, this time in congratulations.

"Oh, ho ho. Whoo! Yo, that's Heesica right there." I said, making her laugh.

"Let's f**king go!" Balls shouted, jumping up and giving her a high-five.

"Yeah." Aurora said. "I tell you what, there's a ton of fans who'll be very happy about that. I know we are."

"Guilty as charged." I said, before turning to the others. "Fun fact - aside from being an idol, the man's also Platinum/Diamond on the Korean server playing bottom lane primarily."

Jessica nodded and smiled affectionately. Then she said, "Bringing it back to your quarterfinal, the other thing is...I made a bet with Heechul oppa." She said, with a further grin that was a bit sheepish. "He's friends with a bunch of the SKT players, so he's obviously picking them. The loser has to buy the winner and the winning team dinner the next day."

"Oh, s**t, it's on now." Sneaky said, standing up.

"Heechul hyung, you may be awesome and a heartthrob, but now you done did it, boi!" Meteos said, finishing in something of a Southern accent, making us all smile and laugh.

Sneaky stepped closer and said, "Tell you what, Jessica noona - if for some f**ked up reason we lose...which we shouldn't...I'll give you the money."

"Thanks, Sneaky." Jessica replied, smiling at him.

"It won't be easy, but...At least we're really in this together now." Aurora said, holding out her hand again.

"To the end, Aurora." Jessica said, grasping it firmly. They shared a sisterly smile.

"Hang on...how about the rest of the group?" Lemon asked. "I know they've been great supporting us, but this is freaking SKT, after all. That's nothing against them - it's just that that's like asking Imagine Dragons to pick against a North American team."

"I can't say for sure." Jessica replied anxiously, before the light came back to her face and voice. "That said, I can categorically say that we'd all be thrilled if you won it all."

At that moment, my iPhone went off with another text alert. I quickly looked, saw it was from Tiffany and opened and read it.

I silently mouthed, "Whoa..." and then said out loud, "Speaking of that..."

I then laid my phone down on a table near the center so that they could see. Then, sheepish because of what was at the end, I turned and walked a few steps away before turning around.

The others read,

Dear Carlo,

I'm still trying to gauge whether the other seven members are picking you or SK Telecom, but don't you worry about me. I'm in! #C9WIN

I know you guys will work great with Sica unnie. You guys look after each other - I would want nothing less since I'm still close to her and that's not changing when she steps down.

-Fany

PS: I'd like to see you again before we leave for Guangzhou. I'm hoping for a meeting with the team...and a meeting with you alone.

"Good old Tiff, God bless her..." Jessica said fondly, before turning to me.

"She really is awesome...wait, why the hell is she asking to see you alone?" Hai asked, raising an eyebrow at me and smiling cheekily.

"He did ask if he could see her again when we got back...but he didn't say it had to be alone!" Aurora said. I nodded and smiled at her grafetully.

"That really was considerate of you." Jessica said, turning to me. "It also means that she's the one who wants to meet alone."

It was here that I managed to find my voice again and ask, "I'm darn sure glad to hear all that...but what could she want with just me?"

Jessica smiled and laid a hand on my shoulder encouragingly before saying, "You need to be the one to find out, Carlo...but even as the Ice Princess, I'm telling you not to be afraid to open yourself up to her. I know she thinks very highly of you. Keep in mind she liked you even before you and Aurora found and returned her wallet at KCON."

Words failed me. I simply nodded slowly but sincerely and mouthed, "I'll be brave. I promise."

Jessica gave my shoulder a quick squeeze and then turned back to us as a group. "Can I ask for a favor?"

"Go right ahead." Hai replied.

After a moment, she asked, "I'd rather not stay at the dorm at a time like this, especially with everyone else leaving for China soon. Is it okay if I stay here for the time being? I have my bags ready outside - they're the ones I had packed for Guangzhou. I've already talked to the front desk regarding compensation and they say they'll allow it so long as you do."

We all looked at each other in surprise, and Sneaky, Meteos and Balls all mouthed, "Whoa..." within moments of each other. It had been one thing to meet Girls' Generation and find them watching us and cheering for us. To have a member staying with us, though, was unquestionably something very different for so many reasons.

Quickly, though, we all nodded. Hai then said, "We'd be glad to help you there. We just need to figure out where you'll sleep..."

"Take my bed." I offered. "It's next to Aurora's - I think you and she would like that. I'll just sleep on the couch." Both of them smiled appreciatively.

"Hang on, I've got a better idea." Sneaky said. "Jessica, you take my bed and I'll just get a spare cushion and comforter and sleep in the closet."

Every one of us apart from Sneaky and Jessica burst out laughing, with Hai, Meteos, Balls and LemonNation being the loudest.

"Holy s**t, Sneaky, that's dank as hell!" Meteos exclaimed, almost unable to speak.

Jessica was evidently but understandably puzzled, and she asked, "Why? What's funny? I think that's kind of him! I do wonder about why he said the closet, though!"

"Oh, don't get us wrong, it's real kind of him!" Hai said, managing to compose himself enough. "It's just that...Sneaky actually slept in a closet in the very first team house we had when we got into the LCS."

"No way!" Jessica almost squealed, now laughing too. "Did you really...?"

"It's true." Sneaky said, chuckling now too. "It's even on video."

We quickly led her over to his station, and he pulled up the YouTube video of Cloud 9's first-ever League of Legends team house tour for HyperX back during the 2013 Summer Split (just under a year before Aurora and I joined.) And sure enough, Jessica saw that Sneaky had been sleeping in Lemon and Alex Penn (our old analyst)'s bathroom closet, which was literally big enough just to put the mattress in.

"Oh, my God." Jessica said, laughing again. "That's funny, but that must have been no fun!"

"Don't worry, at least I had the mattress." Sneaky said sheepishly. "And don't worry, I do have a real bed at our current house."