The year is 2029, crowds gather by the red carpet trying to get the actors to sign their autographs as the paparazzi push them aside in order to take pictures of the stars.

Walking down the carpet, 9 actresses appeared first wearing their designer dresses as they confidently strutted past the crowds. As the greatest release of the year, they knew their movie was bound to be a hit, a story that just had to be told. All of them looked beautiful just like the characters they were playing were supposed to be. A pair of male actors followed them, waving at the cameras and the fans. The directors and producers appeared next.

After the actors, 8 women got out of their vans, all of them in their mid-thirties, you could say some looked better than others. The first smiled brightly at the cameras, but even as her eyes disappeared into her smile, you could see a hint sadness. Next, two much shorter women, one of them with bleached blonde hair that looked so natural on her — even though the western public wasn’t used to seeing Asian women, especially at that age, with shiny white hair — and the other with a mischievous look on her face. The fourth woman was elegant to say the least, with her curled long brown hair and a stern look. Rumors had it that she was very wealthy in her country — Forbes confirmed these rumors. After her, followed three very tall women; the first was even more beautiful than the actress playing albeit the tall woman had 15 years of more experience, she bowed to the photographers gracefully and continued walking. The second had glowing tan skin and warm eyes that left the crowd in slight confusion because of how different she appeared from her character in the movie trailer. The third was the tallest of them all, with short brown hair and a frail appearance. The seventh woman had already reached the entrance of the theatre before the eight women began strutting down the carpet. Unlike the other seven girls, the look on her face could freeze everyone at the venue, not even bothering to look at the cameramen, the eight woman walked straight to her destination. The second to last woman had waited for her, greeting her with a small kiss in the cheek before they entered together, hand in hand.

“Flightless Butterfly” was one of the most anticipated movies of the season, the main actresses were all rising stars but the rest of the cast were well known. You could say it was a biographical movie but to some, it was more than that. Apart from the actors and the production team, no one else actually knew the content of the movie, the trailer only revealed what the public already knew. Although an expensive undertaking, the plot made this movie so compelling by highlighting the rise and fall of one of the most popular girl groups in history. Of course there was so much more to this story than that, especially after the sudden death of the leader, who had suffered from extreme depression for years.  For most, it didn’t come as a surprise when said singer had been announced dead — an overdose — the autopsy revealed.

The hardest part of the production, according to the producer himself, was getting the accounts of those close to the deceased artist. A difficult task since the people involved had an image to upkeep. Of those involved, some were more reluctant than others to disclose what happened behind closed doors. The producer revealed that Seo Ju Hyun even told the director that “If SM still existed, you [the production team] would have been sued even before the filming began.” A few years after president Lee Soo Man died at the age of 73, SM Entertainment closed its doors after most of its artists left. SM Entertainment had already been bankrupt and buried in law suits for several years before it's demise for their treatment of its artists.

Girls’ Generation was definitely one of the greatest girl groups in history, taking over Asia and getting a lot of westerners interested in Korean-pop in the first place. The group disbanded in 2022 after an internal disagreement that caused most of its members to refuse to re-sign with SM entertainment, a few years before that, one of the members had already left the group. The group originally consisted of 9 members:

Tae Yeon “Taeyeon” Kim, Leader and Main vocalist of the group. Died on December 23rd, 2021 of an overdose which subsequently led to the group’s disbandment the year after.

Stephanie “Tiffany” Hwang, who now resides in her home in San Fransisco, left Korea 2 months after her best-friend and bandmate, Taeyeon’s death and has remained there for the past 6 years.

Soon Kyu “Sunny” Lee, vocalist of the group. Has a popular radio show in South Korea called “Sunny Times” and lives in Seoul with her spouse and her 4 year old daughter Tae Yeon named after the deceased singer.

Hyo Yeon “Hyoyeon” Kim, the group’s main dancer who now owns “Studio Kim” one of Seoul’s biggest dance studios that specializes in hip hop and street dance. She and her boyfriend, famous actor, Joong Ki Song reside together in an apartment in Gangnam.

Yu Ri “Yuri” Kwon, quit the idol life after the disbandment and returned to her hometown in the city of Goyang where she has lived peacefully for the past few years.

Soo Young “Sooyoung” Choi, the popular Hollywood actress was once a girl group member. She gained attention for starring in the blockbuster film, “Insiders” as a secondary character. Her acting impressed producers so much that she later got casted as the leading actress for the thriller “The Man With The Cane” which helped her career to take off. She has appeared in over 6 movies in the past 5 years and is known for her work ethic and positive attitude.

Yoon Ah “Yoona” Im, While Choi built her career in America, Im has had quite the following in South Korea being one of the most successful “drama” [TV Series] actresses in both South Korea and China. Her Net Worth is estimated to be over several billion dollars.

Ju Hyun “Seohyun” Seo, Vocalist and "maknae" (youngest) of the group. Married multi-billionaire Gong Jae Bum. Now a famous writer, Seo resides with her husband in their mansion in Pyeongchang along with their two daughters and a son.

Soo Yeon "Jessica" Jung, Main Vocalist along with Taeyeon, known for having a few disagreements with some of the members which led to her leaving the group in September, 2014. Now one of the biggest fashion designers in the world, Jung was considered by the producers to be the hardest to convince to participate in this project.

The theater filled up with important guests, as well as the people that worked on the movie itself. Of the people in the audience, you can definitely see the excitement in their eyes since the plot remains a mystery to most of them. The lights begin to dim and the talking stops. Everyone's faced with the video of a woman, an interview it seems. The screen turns black and a single sentence appears.

"Who was Kim Tae Yeon to you?"

The first woman to appear smiles for a second, the name on the corner reads "Tiffany Hwang" and she answers with impeccable English.

"Tae yeon was more than just a friend to me. I guess you could say she and I were soulmates."

Tiffany's voice cracked.

"Sometimes, I can't believe she's gone. Things weren't always perfect for us and we had a few fallouts here and there but I always believed we would visit each other's houses and bake cookies together even as old ladies."

The scene changed. Kim Hyoyeon. A new question appeared:

"What kind of leader was Kim Tae Yeon?"

The woman spoke in Korean while English subtitles were added to the screen. Hyo Yeon chuckled, as if remembering something recent (as if it hadn't been 6 years already).

"Taeyeon was a true leader. She faced a lot of problems, dealing with all 7 — I mean — 8 of us but she definitely tried her hardest. I feel like people were too hard on Taeyeon, ignoring the fact that she was always harder on herself."

"Sunny" appeared next, her face was less cheerful than the other two, bags of sleepless nights were visible under her eyes, so dark that you could tell the woman wasn't excited to be there.

"What kind of friend was Kim Tae Yeon?"

English subtitles were added again.

"The other girls might lie to you but I won't, Kim Tae Yeon wasn't a perfect friend. I learned this a little too late into our friendship and although it wasn't me who had to, some of us learned that the hard way. Taeyeon had a certain immaturity, I feel, this was definitely something that impacted all of us as a group and her as a person and, in my opinion, was what eventually led to her...um, yeah..."

Sunny looked to her side awkwardly. Her face looked uneasy and you could easily tell she was still having a hard time coping with the truth, maybe still stuck in the denial phase.

"Why did you agree to help out in this project?"

Jessica appeared on screen, just like Tiffany, she didn't require subtitles, her english was perfect.

"I wouldn’t call this a project. Isn't it more like a docu-drama? I used to like those when I was younger. In a way, I find it amusing that I was asked to participate in one. Never imagined that it'd be this high end, though. Back to the question, I originally didn't want to accept but my sister, Soo Jung really wanted me to and I trust her judgement. She called me, saying I just had to, that this was my chance. I didn't understand at that moment what she meant but now that I'm here....I.... I can see what she meant. This is my chance to not only let go of my past but let go of Tae Yeon as well..."

Jessica Jung stared at herself on the big screen, Soo Young held her hand quietly, she smiled at herself. The one good thing about this whole thing was how it had reunited her with one of her best friends, her first friend. Jessica realized she was spacing out when Soo Young gave her hand a light squeeze and the screen went black. She sat up straight, time for the truth to be revealed...