Watched: E! News

      August 12th, 2009

August 12th, 2009

Funeral homes always smelt funny. It wasn't the smell of death, nor was it the smell of cleaning instruments. It was just weird and unsettling. The aura of the building didn’t help either, the heavy feeling of sadness hanging in the air.

The quiet sounds of snuffles flew through the beige colored room, a couple kneeled in front of the generously proportioned headshot of her mother with flowers decorating either side of the frame, giving their final prayers, more sat down on the numerous pews, half of them with their faces down trying to control their ever growing emotions.

Echo was numb to all these feelings flying left and right. Her words at this point were robotic, as people she barely knew would tell her how sorry they were for her loss, moving onto the casket to say their final goodbyes. Arianna, who stood closely next to her sister, bit her lip so hard to keep sobs back she was bleeding, on the appendage so she didn’t have the red liquid drip down her chin.

"I'm so sorry for your lost Allison-ah," Echo nearly jumped at the familiar voice. Giving the man a confused look.

"That's the first time you've ever said my real name," she said, trying to lighten the dreary mood.

Donghae managed to crack a smile, gently tugging the shorter idol into a loose hug. "If any of those so called fans give you a hard time let oppa know, oppa will take care of them."

Echo lightly giggled, hiding her face in his broad shoulder once she noticed the stern look her grandmother sent her from the other side of the room. Excuse her for having a split second of joy today.

"I definitely will," she smiled, Donghae giving her hand a final pat on the hand before moving onto her aunt and uncle.

To her beautiful surprise, Echo ended up becoming wide-eyed at all the familiar faces who began pouring into the funeral space. It seemed endless to the idol, fluttering her eyes to hold back any tears attempting to come forth, her co-workers and fellow celebrities giving her, her family and her mother the respect and comfort they needed.

"I'm sorry this is what had to of brought us together in so long," Echo softly spoke, smiling at the Kara member who refused to let go of her thin hands.

"Don't be, we can find this as an excuse to get together for coffee or karaoke," Hara attempted a light hearted grin, but it came out awkward. "You need to text me more, just because we're not trainees together anymore and we're idols now doesn't give you the right to ignore me."

"I couldn’t ignore you even if I tried."

"That's what I thought," Hara smiled, gently patting Echo's hands. "Why isn't Tiffany here today?"

"She's actually on a plane home," Echo lowered her voice, "for her grandfathers funeral."

The Kara member's eyes already large eyes widened. "Seriously? Omigod…" the girl trailed off, her emotions clear through her eyes. It was a horrible time for more than one of her friends. "If there's anything I can do, or if you just want a short escapade from the mess that is idol life, I'm a phone call away."

"Thank you, Hara-ah," Echo gave the girl a final hug, briefly flicking her eyes to notice how long the line was getting. How long did she have to stand here and greet people and listen to their condolences? Yes, she understands it was etiquette but it was stupid. They came, shouldn’t that be enough? She knew her mom would agree with her, whining about how her feet hurt since she wasn’t used to standing in heels for such a long period of time.

"I'm very sorry for your lose."

Echo's dark eyes fluttered up, to unsurprisingly be met with yet another unfamiliar face. She put a light smile on her face, robotically thanking the man for coming.

When the man went to shake her hand she noticed something familiar for once, a small detail no female her age would ever forget. Her eyes narrowed on the Patek Philippe watch, eyes hardening. Before her brain could even come up with a  proper question for the man he moved on to her aunt, who gave the man a surprised look.

Immediately, her attention was stolen away by another unfamiliar man, he said something about being a classmate of her mother. Echo tried to - politely as possible - usher the man on. But when she looked back, the man with the Patek Philippe watch was gone.

As the line began to disperse, the ceremony was starting. Echo sat down next to Jonghyun, who gently took her hand in his calloused one. There were no reporters nearby (the building itself was far into the fenced in property, they would only get pictures of who attended and who left early) and those in the room were aware of their relationship, so for once they could be open. It was rather disconcerting that it took her mother's passing for them to be able to show some sort of affection for each other in public.

The words were lost on the idol, her eyes fixated on her mother's portrait adjacent from the priest. Her grandmother asserted they have a Catholic priest perform the ceremony, even though Echo's mother never took part in the religion. At least it wasn't taking part in a church, the incense always irritated Echo's nose.

It was thanks to Hannah's numerous friends that a few laughs were able to ripple themselves through the grieving mass, sharing stories of Echo's mother from high school and college that had even her smiling at such a time. Even her aunt revealed a hysterical story about how the two sisters stole alcohol from their parents cabinet in high school out of curiosity, saying how it was almost impossible for Hannah to pull her up the stairs when their parents unexpectedly came home two hours before they said they would. The best part was when her grandfather revealed the cherry vodka was actually old flavored water, developing a burning taste due to the fact it was expired.

The funeral lasted a few hours, the sun still in the sky when it let out. Some of the occupants gave a few parting words to the grieving families, others left without looking back. Echo was just relieved the whole thing was over. Finally, her mother could be put to rest. It was in an hour when the immediate family would be there when her urn would be placed in her final resting place.

"I'm going to walk Jonghyun out and I'll be back," Echo explained to her sister, wrapping her arms around Jonghyun's muscular one, the couple swiftly leaving the room and going through the winding hallways to the sun.

"It's so stuffy in there," the Girls' Generation member wrinkled her nose.

"It's a funeral home, what did you expect?" Jonghyun chuckled.

"Some weird bleach smell," she shrugged. "Thanks a lot for coming today. I know it was hard with your schedule, it meant a lot to me."

"Don’t downplay it like that, this was something serious, how could I not come?" the male idol shook his head in exasperation.

"Half of my members couldn't make it, I would have understood," she softly said.

"But I had no excuse," he pointed out, gently flicking a piece of Echo's loose hair back into place. "I'm just surprised how well you're taking this."

She cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well… you had one or two breakdowns. I'm surprised you’re not a mess on the floor."

"Because I was in denial, we all grieve in different ways oppa."

The SHINee member gave her a fixed look. "If you're trying to be stronger than you are you can be honest with me. If you ever need someone to talk to at any weird time, I'm here for you, you know that."

Echo got a weird feeling in her stomach at the male idols last sentence. It was as if he was implying she didn’t trust him, or didn’t want to trust him. She was relieved when the familiar SHINee van pulled in front of the two. Only a quick parting kiss was shared before Jonghyun was ushered into the van, SHINee's manager giving Echo his typical glare before leaving.

The brunette let out a sigh, her eyes softening as she took in her surroundings. The light breeze tickling the still green tree leaves, a pleasant light scent that is undeniably the end of summer in the air, lushes green grass expanding in front of her very feet. It was calming and beautiful. Her mother would have loved being outside today, she could picture her mother's bright smile at the beautiful day, happy that she was being put to rest on such a peaceful day.

With a final glance she twisted on her heel to meet back up with her family. She barely suppressed a scream when she saw a man standing behind her. Her heart slowing down it's racing speed when she noticed it was just one of the numerous men from the funeral. Her eyes slithered down his arm to his wrist, landing on the now familiar watch adorning the appendage. Could she question him?

"I'm sorry ahjussi, I didn't notice you," she apologized for her reaction, eyes calculating (for once in her life).

The man lifted a large hand to wave her concerns off, a light smile dancing on his thin lips. "It's my fault, I didn’t mean to startle you like that."

"Why were you at Girls' Generations fan meeting?" she blurted out, mentally cursing herself for impertinence.

The man's eyes widened, clearly taken aback at her brashness. But just as quickly as his face showed shock, his facial features softened. "Did you like the gift?"

"Are you some creepy stalker ahjussi fan? Cause if you are, leave right now and I won't call the cops," Echo hoped her voice was as steady as she thought it was.

"I'm very sorry for your loss Allison-ah, I never wanted something like this to happen," he gently said, his eyes soft, hands hanging limply at his sides.

The back of her neck bristled, why was he speaking to her in such a familiar tone? "Who are you?" her voice was beginning to strain, slowly taking a step back. Who is this guy?

"And look at you, you're so grown up now," he tried to let out a light hearted chuckle. "Last time I saw you, you were no bigger than my forearm. I never expected you to come back to Korea, especially not as a singer. Has SM been treating you right?"

Dread filled Echo's stomach, tightening, her mind whirling as numerous thoughts jumbled inside her head for possible reasons for this man's words. She didn't want to admit it, but there was one main thought going through her head as he spoke. And she didn’t like it.

"Who are you?" her fingers began to twitch, she felt light tremors run through her body.

Shakily, the man brushed a hand through his perfectly groomed hair. "It took so long to find you. You and your sister. To think, you've been right under my nose the past five years. And your mother temporarily moved back."

"You need to leave, the service is over," on wobbly legs, Echo twisted her body towards the glass door entrance. Her body felt like led as it felt like she dragged her body towards the door.

"Allison!" the man called, gravel crunching under his hurrying footsteps.

"Leave me alone!" she cried out, refusing to turn around to even glance at the man.

"Just give me a second more of your time, please."

"How dare you enter my life right now!" she wished her tone sounded more threatening, but it came out shaky and thick.

"It wasn't my fault!"

Those four words were enough of an answer for Echo's mind to click the final pieces together. She felt sick. She wanted to throw up. No, she needed to throw up. She couldn't do this. Where's Arianna? I need to find Arianna, we need to leave. Mom can wait a bit, but we need to go now.

"Just give me a chance."

Her pale hands were on the cool metal of the doors handles, ready to push the doors open.

"I don't give second chances," was all she said, pushing the double doors open, messily walking into the building, happy when she didn’t hear footsteps behind her.

"Ari?" she softly called, furiously blinking her eyes as she stumbled through the hallways. "Arianna…. Ari?"

The idol took a deep breath, laying a shaky hand on her clammy forehead, why was she so cold? Her blood was rushing through her at incredible speeds, how did she feel so cold?

"Arianna?"

The air getting into her air pipes was thinning, her legs feeling like they would give out any second. The idol heavily leaned on the wall, not sure if she could get any further.

"Ar-" her voice was soft, her eyes fluttered close. Her body tumbled to the ground.

So is Echo the member we all feel bad for even five years from now?

I only like Echo when I'm half-asleep, and that's probably because I only look at her and don't listen.

I wonder how many idol friends Echo has. I feel like we know nothing about her other than the image she has.