29 August 2015

Jessica was furious. She didn’t know what happened exactly but she surely had certain people in her mind she would like to blame. Why did bad things keep happening to the people she cared about?

The older Jung broke her favourite mug last October when she learnt that her baby sister fainted after her last stage on SMTOWN concert in Shanghai. She was mad because the company didn’t pay enough attention to their artists. She was worried because that stubborn little sister of her always pushed herself beyond her limit. Mostly, she was upset at herself because she knew that she was partially responsible for what happened to Krystal and that she couldn’t be there for her, protecting her.

First it was Krystal, and now Klaire.

-

Jessica was just leaving Lotte Department Store in Myeongdong after her appearance at J.Estina Red Store Event. She did a quick check on the news and had a double take at the entertainment news headline.

“Girls’ Generation’s Klaire fainted at the backstage of Music Core!”

She stared at the headline, eyes wide opened. She then skimmed through the article with a lightning speed, trying to find answers to her many questions.

'What happened?'

'Is she alright?'

'What the was she doing at a music show?'

She quickly found out that Klaire went to Music Core today to support her members. Even at the state of panicking, Jessica managed to actually rolled her eyes at some parts of the article. The news reported that Girls’ Generation won first place at the music show today so Klaire joined them on stage for the speech and encore. It was revealed later that the girl passed out backstage when leaving the stage in the middle of the encore. Ambulance could be seen at the scene, rushing to the hospital not long after the show ended.

-

There was no other way, she had to call that person. Jessica sat at the living room, staring hesitantly at her wireless telephone. Her left hand grabbed her cellphone and unlocked it. She went to her contacts, finding a certain name before pressing a series of number on her landline phone. She heard the ringing tone, indicating that the call went through but her frustration hit the roof when this person, too, didn’t pick up the phone. Jessica clenched her fists, feeling the perfectly manicured nails bit into her palms.

Helpless.

The same feeling she had when she knew her sister needed her but there was nothing she could do about it.

And that feeling .

-

Klaire woke up feeling strange. The first thing she saw was a mannequin placed beside the couch she was apparently laying on. She was at the artist’s waiting room, the one the girls used to prepare themselves for the performance.

“Klaire, you’re awake?” She heard someone asked from a distance followed by the sound of footsteps walking towards her. Park Jungmin was a fine looking man who has been working for the girls as their manager since their 'Gee' days.

“Why am I here?” Klaire asked, rubbing her eyes.

“You fainted after the encore stage, sweating a lot and looking really pale. They even called the ambulance, but I stopped them from taking you to the hospital since the medics said that there should be nothing serious and you probably just passed out due to exhaustion.” He knew that Klaire didn’t like the hospital, and she thanked him for that with an appreciative smile.

“Where are the girls?” She asked looking around trying to spot their belongings in the room.

“They have left for another schedule.” Jungmin said while typing on his phone, informing one of the other managers that Klaire has woken up so they could relay the information the her group members. “They wanted to stay with you but you know that’s impossible right?” He added.

Klaire nodded understandingly.

“The doctor is here, I’ll call him to check on you, just to make sure everything’s fine. Okay?”

Klaire gave him a thumb up.

-

It all went by so fast, and blurry. Klaire remembered her manager picking her up from the dorm around two in the afternoon. When they reached MBC Dream Center, she could see some fans outside who didn't manage to get themselves in. A lot of them must have come from overseas, and the thought saddened her. They were just teenagers and they spent so much time, money and energy to come all the way to Seoul just to catch a glimpse of their idols. She hoped those unfortunate fans outside could get into other upcoming music shows.

She remembered going in MBC by side entrance, bumped into some acquaintances, bowing her head right and left. Giving the best smiles she could muster up, some were genuine but most were fakes.

The atmosphere at the waiting room was suffocating as usual. Everyone was busy doing their own things. Most of the girls were sitting in front of the mirrors getting their hair and make up done. Hyoyeon and Tiffany were situated at the side revising the choreography for ‘Lion Heart’. Taeyeon, who still had hair rollers curled here and there on her head was sitting on the couch, checking her phone while warming up .

Yuri was the first one to see her through the reflection of her mirror. “Hi, Klaire!” She shouted while gesturing for the girl to come to her side, giving her a hug. “Long time no see.” She said wrapping her right arm on Klaire’s waist for a side hug.

Klaire then went around making small talks to the rest of the girls and the stylists, spending more time with those she didn’t get to meet often while totally ignoring Tiffany in the process. She also remembered Yoona came to her after they were done pre-recording their performance.

“How’s unnie doing?” She asked cautiously.

Klaire knew exactly which 'unnie' Yoona was talking about. She was glad somebody actually gave a damn because that meant she was one step closer to bringing peace back to the gang. One the other hand, she was also irritated, because if you actually cared you should figure a way to find it out yourself.

No one knew what kind of struggle she went through to gain back Jessica’s trust. She was the only one who had the privilege to contact the unreachable Princess Jung. It wasn’t an easy mission. In fact, it took months for Jessica to finally give Klaire her new number and for them to meet again regularly. She was not going to just serve the fish she fought so hard to catch. She wouldn’t mind lending the rod and the bait, but they had to catch the fish on their own.

“She’s doing great. Flying here and there for schedules these past few days.” Klaire replied, her fingers started touching the beauty products sprawled all over the desk. She took a picture of some of the nail lacquers, admiring the colours and making mental notes to buy them the next time she goes shopping.

“Really? That’s good.” Yoona said sincerely, joining Klaire to inspect the nail products, probably to avoid the awkwardness.

Klaire took a quick glance at the girl who seemed to be hesitating. She counted.

'One Mississippi.'