Another week had passed. More visits to the hospital, and to Taeyeon happened for Jessica. She was beginning to lose hope. It started showing in her performance, in her mood, in her face. She showed apathy to what was going on around her. She never smiled anymore; her eyes were always zoned out, as if she was far far away in some other place. Tears were quick to form in her eyes when something didn’t go right, or at the mention of Taeyeon. The other members of SNSD tried to support her, and comfort her, telling her that everything would be okay. They didn’t know that Jessica cried for hours every night, sobs racking her slender frame, until her tired body gave up and surrendered to sleep.

                Thunder cracked and lightning shot across the sky once more in the mountains. Taeyeon was holding Jessica once more, the girl’s hair, comforting her in the unrelenting storm. Despite how scared Jessica was, being close to Taeyeon calmed her down. Jessica was able to relax when she was close to Taeyeon. She even enjoyed the sound of the rain against the cabin a little bit when she was being held. The rain began to dull to a slow drizzle, the cloudy night sky creating a land entirely black. Darkness surrounded the silent cabin; the only sound that aded the darkness was the deep, even breathing of the two girls slumber.

                Jessica had to be taken off performances. Her presence, although important, was dragging the group down. And so, Jessica went out on leave due to stress. “It’s better this way.” Jessica thought, her face wet with tears. “I can spend more time at the hospital waiting for Taeyeon.” Jessica cried herself to sleep again that night, her body once more surrendering to the fitful sleep that had become her waking nightmare. The next day she journeyed to the hospital. The nurses greeted her as she walked to Taeyeon’s room, the path so familiar that she could walk it blindfolded. She sat in the same chair, the same way, leaning forward, holding Taeyeon’s hand in both of hers. She said the same things, as if they had become a ritual that, if repeated enough times, would break the curse over Taeyeon’s sleeping body.