November 2017

Ice Princess.

Was a nickname Klaire knew very well. Although in this case, the title had already been transferred to one SM idol to another.

Red Velvet's Irene.

The release of her first solo album overlapped with Red Velvet's latest comeback, and she had been having interviews and going to a few variety shows with them, jokingly claiming herself as the 6th member of the group.

It felt really awkward at first as she didn't know them very well, but it turned out great for she was extremely nervous promoting alone for the very first time and her juniors had been nothing but friendly and welcoming to her.

It was in one of the shows that an MC mentioned the nickname 'Ice Princess', which almost gave Klaire a heart attack before realizing that he was talking about the leader of that group. She was pretty sure the camera caught her reaction and she would probably made headlines when the show later aired.

She had already created buzz last August when Girls' Generation were promoting their 6th album; in which Klaire was a part of and gave her 200% as promised, for her awkward and abnormal behaviours on camera. She really did try her best acting normal, but being on stage again after so long and having a large amount of lenses shoved in her face almost gave her anxiety attack.

This time round, Klaire was sharing waiting room with Red Velvet and it gave her the opportunity to discreetly observing the lady in question. She never really noticed this before, but it was eerie how Irene looked like a mix of Taeyeon and Tiffany, with a personality of a blend between Taeyeon and Jessica. What kind of sorcery was this?

Spending so much time with her these past few days has truly cemented the 'Ice Princess' title. Not only that Irene looked cold on the outside, but also because the girl was secretly warm-hearted when one got to know her better. Exactly like Jessica.

Their relationship was tricky at first. They shared the same age, in fact, Irene was a few months older than Klaire. However, the slightly younger girl was the senior, by seven years. With Klaire entering her eleventh year into her career, she had gotten used to people left and right addressing her as 'unnie' and 'noona', while those older yet more junior than her called her 'sunbaenim' - senior.

And when this one person just simply greeted her by 'Klaire-ssi', it didn't quite sit well with her,  for an undescribable reason. It felt like there was a sense of pride being robbed from her, but she had to admit that this Ice Princess was just as intimidating as her other Ice Princess friend, so she reluctantly allowed it. And in no time, the reluctance effortlessly ed to total willingness once she sensed some kind of familiarity when being around Irene.

Klaire jolted when her phone buzzed unusually loud caused by the friction against the plastic container of her accessories. 'Speaking of the devil.'

"Unnie!" she greeted.

"Hey you! Are you busy?" Jessica asked from the end of the line.

"Not at the moment. Just chilling at the waiting room." Klaire answered, sitting herself down on her chair.

"I see. I received your album." Jessica announced. "Was just listening to it while flipping through the photobook."

"You're only listening to my songs now?" Klaire tsked. "The album's been out for days. As your best friend, I expect you to buy the digital album at midnight sharp on the release date."

"Best friend your . I didn't even make it to your 'Thanks to'. " Jessica complained cutely.

"But you did! Read it again carefully!" She commanded.

"My parents didn't name me Juliet Hussey." Jessica sneered.

"What, do you expect me to write Jessica Jung?" She asked with a scoff.

The next second, Klaire realized she wasn't alone in the waiting room. The Red Velvet girls were here and there behind her. She took a quick glance through the mirror and saw both Irene and Seulgi, who were sitting on the sofa nearest to her, looked to her direction. Her conversation with Jessica was in English and she knew they didn't speak English well, but you didn't need to be fluent to know what 'Jessica Jung' meant. She cursed internally.

"I dare you! For your next album." Jessica replied jokingly, unaware of Klaire's situation. "Do any of the girls know who Juliet Hussey is?" She asked with a genuine curiousity in her voice.

Klaire had to think about if for a moment, "I actually don't know. They must have seen that name popped up on my phone once or twice, but they probably think it's just one of my childhood friends from New York." She explained, lowering her volume now to prevent further eavesdropping.

"Tiffany could have easily figured that out, I think." Jessica assumed.

"Right. Although I don't often leave my phone unattended outside my bedroom. Who cares anyway." She shrugged. "I still can't believe you wrote my name as 'Nobody' on your album. How insulting." Now, it was her turn to complain.

She could hear Jessica laughed heartily. "Oh, that reminds of something. Have you gotten my gifts?"

"What gifts?"

"You haven't? I had it delivered to MBC. You're doing Music Core today, right?"

"Give me a sec." Klaire turned to her manager. "Unnie, did you receive any packages for me?"

Her manager pointed at the corner of the room where a small mountain of things were stacked neatly. "I told you about it earlier."

Klaire got up from her chair, still speaking to her phone, "What is it? There are so many things here."

"Look for a medium-sized white box. It's a cake." Jessica instructed.

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