Never let it be said that Jung Jessica is not a good friend.

Why else would she be at the SM building on one of her precious days off just because Tiffany called and asked if she could borrow that one dress she wore to that one thing and could she please bring it over pretty, pretty please, Jessi?

Not only had Jessica (reluctantly) agreed, she’d even brought food along with her because she knows how hungry her friends get during practice.

God, she’s such a good friend.

She’ll count this as her good deed for the week and spend the rest in bed, ignoring the rest of the world.

Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.

Her feet take her through the building, towards the TTS practice room while her mind is elsewhere, wondering who she should call to have dinner with her since Krystal was still in the middle of filming for her drama.

A quiet sob interrupts her serious deliberation and she stops in her tracks. Despite the stories that Kim Heechul had told her and the rest of the girls in their trainee days, she had never once believed the SM building was haunted with the ghost of a crying trainee.

There’s another sob and Jessica moves towards where it’s coming from, the stairwell. She’s deathly scared of ghosts but she’s not afraid of the source of the crying. She knows more than most people that if there’s someone crying at SM, then it’s likely a living person. More often than not, working under SM was more miserable than being a ghost.

It’s a girl. Pale and curled up into herself with dark hair and pink tips. From the rookie group, Red Velvet, Jessica realizes. She only remembers the name because she’d rolled her eyes at how ridiculous it was and Krystal had demanded they get cupcakes right after it was announced.

“Hey,” she says quietly, almost hesitantly. She doesn’t really know how to deal with crying girls aside from hugging them but she doesn’t know if this girl would appreciate a hug from a virtual stranger.

The girl’s head shoots up in surprise, revealing tear-tracked cheeks, and when she realizes who Jessica is, she shoots to her feet.

“Jessica sunbaenim!” she practically shouts, executing a deep bow.

Jessica gives her a strained smile. She’d once complained about the rookie groups not being all that respectful anymore but this is a bit too much. “Hello. You’re... Irene, right?”

The girl - Irene - nods and hastily wipes at her eyes and cheeks but keeps her eyes cast downwards. “Sorry, I didn’t want anybody to see me like this.”

Sympathy does not come easily to Jessica. She’s not like Sooyoung and Tiffany who are naturally warm and kind-hearted but strangely enough, a part of her goes out to this girl. Seven years ago, she hadn’t been all that different from Irene.

“It’s okay,” she reassures her, her hand naturally reaching out to rub Irene’s arm, surprising both of them. “I was in your shoes once, too, you know?”

Irene swallows and nods but doesn’t say anything.

Jessica hesitates for a moment. “Do you want to talk about it?” Words that she never thought would come out of in front of a stranger.

Irene shakes her head, head still bowed. One awkward minute passes into two and Jessica wonders if maybe she should leave. But something keeps her rooted to where she is. There’s something about this girl drawing her in but Jessica can’t quite put her finger on what it is yet.

“I… I’m supposed to be the leader,” Irene finally whispers. “I’m supposed to be the leader but I don’t think I’m very good at it. I think I’m gonna fail them.”

And everything clicks into place. What it is about Irene that calls to her. Why she stayed instead of calling for her manager to take care of the distraught girl in the stairwell. Taeyeon. Irene reminds her so much of Taeyeon.

It knocks the breath out of her and something squeezes tight in her chest. She sets aside the bags she's carrying and takes another step closer. “Why do you think that?” she asks.

Irene shakes her head again. "I just don't think I'll do a very good job. I don't talk much and I'm not outgoing like the others and..." Her voice hitches and her shoulders shake.

For a second, it's not Irene standing in front of her, it's Taeyeon and Jessica just acts. Another step and her arms go around the other girl and pulls her close. A beat and the hug is returned, hands settling hesitantly on her back. As soon it happens, she remembers that this isn’t actually Taeyeon. Taeyeon would have never let this happen. She would never hugged her back. 

Jessica smiles but there’s nothing happy about it. It’s a good thing Irene can’t see her face. “I can’t say I know what you’re going through because I’m not the leader but there’s something I’ve always wanted to say to Taeyeon.” She never got the chance to because her and Taeyeon don't discuss their feelings with each other. It was a dangerous thing to talk about. She pulls away and brushes Irene’s hair back like she would do for her younger sister. “‘You don’t have to put everything on your shoulders. You have members who will gladly help you carry the load. Let them.’”

“I don’t want to burden them,” Irene says quietly, eyes trained on the floor.

She’s so much like Taeyeon, it’s eerie and her heart hurts a little bit more. Jessica places her hands on the other girl’s shoulders and waits until she finally meets her eyes. “Irene, trust me. They’ll be more burdened if they see that you’re suffering on your own.”

Irene’s brows furrow, as if she’s considering her words and Jessica presses her advantage.

“You guys have your five minute talks, right?” A nod and she continues. “Have one when you get back to the dorm. Tell them what you’re feeling. They’ll help you carry your burdens, Irene. That’s what members are for.”

Irene nods but still doesn’t look too convinced but Jessica knows she’s getting to her and this time, her smile is more genuine.

“I haven’t really been around so I wasn’t there to meet you and cheer for you during your debut,” she says breezily, picking at imaginary lint on Irene's shirt. “I should do something to make up for that. Have you eaten?”

It’s cute, Jessica thinks, how shyly Irene shakes her head. It reminds her a little bit of Seohyun not long after their own debut and maybe all these reminders of people she loves are why she feels so familiar with Irene.

“I need to go drop something off at a practice room but why don’t I treat you to dinner? Let’s talk more.”

Irene looks awed that she would offer and Jessica can't really blame her. She's probably heard all the horror stories about her from the trainers and the managers, not to mention all those rumors. “Sunbaenim…”

“Unnie,” Jessica says, taking a step back. She picks up the bags she’d set aside and smiles at Irene who looks confused. “Call me unnie.”

“Jessica unnie…” Irene fidgets and glances away. “Thank you.”

Really too cute, she thinks with a wide smile. “Go ahead and wait for me in the lobby, okay? I’ll be down soon.” With a small wave and one last glance to make sure Irene would be okay, Jessica leaves the stairwell, footsteps lighter.

It’s one more good deed than she’d planned for this week but Jessica finds she doesn’t mind all that much.

*

“Listener #9912 wants to know which of your SM seniors would Red Velvet like to sing with? Oh, that’s a good question. BoA, Kangta, TVXQ, Super Junior, SNSD, SHINee, f(x). They’re all very impressive. If you could have a duet with any of your seniors, who would you pick? Irene-ssi?”

“SNSD’s… Jessica unnie.”

“Jessica-ssi? Really? Not Taeyeon-ssi, who’s the leader like you, Irene-ssi?”

“Irene unnie really likes Jessica unnie. She won’t stop talking about her. At the dorm, at practice, in the car, backstage...”

“Yah! Seulgi! Don't embarrass your leader like this!”

“Ahhh, you like Jessica-ssi that much, Irene-ssi?”

“Um, yeah… I was having a hard time recently and Sica unnie helped me. She gave me advice and she even treated me to dinner. That’s why I really admire her and would like to sing with her just once.”

“Wendy-ssi? You have something to say?”

“Unlike Irene unnie, I haven’t been fortunate enough to meet Jessica unnie yet but I’m very grateful to her. Her advice… I think it helped all four of us to become closer. So, Jessica unnie, if you’re listening, thank you very much!”

“And thank you for buying us food!”