Growing up my mother told me stories of the times she shared with the eight girls who were like her sisters, she told me about the amazing year they had after separating for a long time and having fate bring them together again. There were times when she thought she would die from sadness, that one day she would cry and there would be no more tears to shed but there were also days when she never wanted to leave their sides. Looking back now, I believe…no I know…. that my mother and her eight best friends are the strongest women that I know and one day I want to experience friendship just like that. So now I am here to tell their story to everyone who wants to know what happened to the members of the legendary girl group Girls’ Generation before they become one again.

January 2022

            “What?” Taeyeon questions with a shocked and confused expression, “you want Girls’ Generation to reunite”.

            “Yes it's an idea”, her manager explains with a smile, “it would make history for the legendary girl group to make their comeback after 5 years”.

            "Are you crazy”, Taeyeon asks with a serious expression, “Girls’ Generation has been over since that day in 2017 when each of us ended our contracts with SME and moved on with her our lives”.

            Her manager sighs, “Just give it a thought Taeyeon, I can see the tickets being sold out immediately and the sales for the comeback album, wow”.

            Now Taeyeon was really angry, “Comeback album?” she asks, “look Unnie, there is no way the other girls would be up for this, I am sorry I don't think we will stand on stage as…. nine…ever again”.

            Taeyeon couldn’t stop her voice from cracking during the last part of her reply and she hated herself for showing such weakness when it came to the topic of Girls’ Generation. She didn’t want her manager to know that the truth was she missed her best friends so much that she had to listen to at least one of their songs before she could perform on stage. No matter how much she wished that everything that happened in 2017 was only a dream, it was still a nightmare that would continue to haunt her.

            After completely blowing up at her manager Taeyeon took her leave to attend the next thing on her schedule for the day; a variety show appearance at KBS. Walking into the building, the only thing on her mind was going home, taking a nice hot bathe and then going to sleep.

            “Taeyeon?” she hears an all too familiar voice call making her tense up before turning to see Yuri looking back at her with a faint smile.

            “Yuri”, she says unable to hide her shock.

            “Yeah I know”, Yuri laughs, “and this would be the first time that we have talked to each other in five years right?” Yuri knew that doing this all of a sudden would take Taeyeon by surprise but something inside her screamed for her to call out to her, “do you maybe what to have some coffee together”.

            “I…I..” Taeyeon starts stuttering.

            “It is okay if you don’t want to”, Yuri quickly reassures her before turning to leave but is stopped by Taeyeon’s voice.

            “No, I have to film for a variety show appearance”, Taeyeon explains, “but after…we can have coffee after”.

            Yuri’s smiles even though she knew it didn’t reach her eyes, “Then let’s meet back here at lunch time then”, Taeyeon nods before the two part.

_______________

            A couple minutes after Taeyeon and Yuri’s sudden encounter, Yoona runs into the entrance of the building with her manager, running towards the elevator before it closes.

            “Ah made it”, Yoona says in a sigh of relief before turning and bowing to a familiar comedian in the elevator, “sorry oppa, we are really late”.

            “No problem Yoona-shi”, he reassures her before Yoona turns back to her manager.

            “I am really excited about this new drama”, Yoona whispers to her manager with a glimmer of excitement in her eyes.

            “The male lead is Jo In sung, so you should be excited”, her manager comments with a smirk.

            “Yah oppa, you know that is not the only reason I am doing this”, Yoona insists with a serious expression before it turned into a smile, “okay maybe it is sixty percent why I am doing this but the other forty percent is because the synopsis of the drama is really touching”.

            Hurrying out of the elevator, Yoona failed to look where she was going and ended up bumping into someone sending both of them crashing to the floor.

            “Ahh it hurts”, Yoona says rubbing her before gathering the things that fell from her hands, “I am so sorry, I am a real klutz”.

            “Yoona”, she hears a familiar voice call and so she looks up to see Sunny smiling down at her, “it has been so long”, she continues before wrapping her arms around her tightly, “I know this is sudden but let’s just stay like this for a while".

            Yoona  stilled, surprised by the sudden body contact, but after a couple of seconds, her body relaxes and she wraps her arms around Sunny tightly, breaking into a sob there on the ground in front of the elevator much to the surprise of both Sunny and her manager.

            After a couple minutes, Yoona calmed down and both her and Sunny found a bench to sit on while her manager went ahead.

            “I am here for a meeting about a new drama”, Yoona informed her wiping away the last of her tears, “what is unnie doing here?”

            Sunny smiles, “I am the manager for the new girl group Baby Pop and they are making their very first variety show appearance today and well you know how it is, I have to make sure they don’t say anything that ends their careers”.

            Yoona laughs remembering when Taeyeon tripped and almost sent a comedian crashing to the floor during the recording for their first TV appearance, “Yeah I know how it can be”.

            “So…I heard you are married rnow and gave birth to a healthy baby girl”, Sunny confesses holding on tightly to her hands, “I have my own bundle of joy on the way and a husband I am crazy about”.

            “That's great unnie”, Yoona comments, “and yeah, her name is Hae-won, she is quite the handful sometimes, she reminds me of Seohyun too, she loves to read and doesn’t like fast food”.

            Sunny laughs, “Wow, sounds like her clone”, Yoona nods, “what about Seunggi oppa?”

            “Well he is shooting a movie right now in Jejudo but he will be back for her birthday coming up”, Yoona explains, the very thought making her happy, “he has been busy lately and I miss him a lot”.

            “You two are still so cute”, Sunny, insists patting her on the head, “my husband’s birthday is coming up soon too, it would be great if Seunggi, Hae- won and you could come, even though he doesn’t want to admit it, I know he is a big fan of you”.

            Yoona smiles before nodding in reply.

______________

            “But Principal Yoon”, Seohyun starts but is cut off.

            “I am sorry but you are the only teacher available to take the kids on this trip to KBS”, Principal shim insists.

            Knowing there really is no choice, there was no way she could turn down a request from the Principal, especially if it had to do with the students she loved but she wasn’t sure if she was ready to face her past.

            “I understand sir”, she agrees before bowing to him then turning to leave.

            “Teacher, will you really be taking Mrs. Shim’s place”, one of her students asked as soon as she walked into the classroom.

            She nods with a smile, “Yes, so please get all your belongings ready and head out to the bus”, she announces as everyone excitingly leaves the room talking with each other on the way out.

            Before long she was the only one except for one other female student in the classroom.

            “Ms. Seo, are you alright?” she asks taking Seohyun by surprise.

            Forcing a smile she answers, “I am alright, why do you ask that?”

            “Because I know despite the fact that you use to be an idol, you don’t like hearing when we talk about the entertainment industry”, she explains, “you always seem to get uncomfortable before telling us to quiet down or something”.

            “Yah, you’re pretty observant aren’t you”, she comments with a smile, “I am fine, it is just that the entertainment industry to me is something from my past that I want to keep in my past”.

            The student nods and shrugs before grabbing her bag and heading to the bus to the catch up with her friends. As soon as she was gone, Seohyun fell to her knees before a tear falls from her eyes.

            “Why am I like this, it's just doesn’t make any sense, I know I wouldn’t be able to forget about that day but  ….. I shouldn’t still be like this”.

_____________________

            Sooyoung reads a script she just received regarding making a cameo in a popular drama airing while her manager explains further about the synopsis of the drama and the actors involved. Busy as she is lately, she is sad that she hasn’t been able to act in a while and is happy that this opportunity came around.

            “I watched the episodes that have aired so far oppa, by the end of the ninth episode I was crying a river”, she confesses with a pout, “I am dying to know what will happen next with main character knowing she is going to die soon”.

            “Well your is really important”, her manager confesses, “playing her sister whom she hasn’t seen in years, more sad scenes are ahead so make sure to do your best”.

            Sooyoung smiles, “Of course, I am a little rusty but I will give it my all”.

            “Great, we will be at KBS soon so get ready to wow them”, her manager encourages.

________________

            “I can’t believe we are back in South Korea”, Tiffany says to Sarah who is sleeping in her arms.

            “Unnie I know you probably want to get back to the house and start unpacking”, Irene says, “but I need to make a quick stop at KBS, do you mind?”

            Tiffany smiles, “Of course not, we will wait for you, after all we plan on having a dinner together tonight”.

            When they reached KBS, Irene insisted on Tiffany waiting on her at a nearby café but instead Tiffany thought I would be a good time to greet the subae’s she hadn’t see in a while and introduce them to Sarah who was now wide awake and energetic after drinking her milk.

            “Are you excited Sarah”, she cooed at her, “you are about to meet some really famous people”, at that moment Tiffany looked up when she thought she saw someone familiar from the corner of her eye.

            “What’s wrong unnie?” Irene questions as she takes the baby bag out of the front seat.

            Tiffany doesn’t reply immediately as she is still looking at the people walking about, “Nothing”, she replies, “I just thought I saw Hyoyeon”, she adds under her breathe before following Irene and her manager into the building.

______________

            Her driver and assistant in Korea greet Jessica as soon as she exits the terminal with her luggage.

            “Welcome back Ms”, her driver greets with a bow.

            “Nice to see you again too”, Jessica replies with a smile.

            “Caroline, you know where we are heading now right?” Jessica inquires as they walk out to the car.

            Caroline nods as she opens her book and then check her phone, “Yes Unnie, everything has been arranged”.

            Jessica smiles as they both enter the car and Caroline shuts the door as Jessica pours herself a drink from the small bar in the car, then leans back into the seat.

            “To KBS Mr. Joong”.

____________

"So what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Taeyeon asks as she tightens her grip around her cup.

Yuri stares down at her hands before looking up at her, "I am sure you have heard about their idea, of bringing back Girls' Generation".

Taeyeon nods, "Yeah, my manager told me about it this morning, apparently our agencies have been quite busy behind our backs", she replies with a uncomfortable laugh, "it is pretty ridiculous right?"

"No, I don't t think so at all", Yuri says with a serious expression, taking Taeyeon by surprise.

Before Taeyeon could say anything, her eyes met Sooyoung who had just turned the corner and was now walking towards them. Following the direction her eyes were looking towards, Yuri turned to see Sooyoung looking back at them, both girls quickly stood to their feet.

"Taeyeon....Yuri...", Sooyoung said in a low whisper just loud enough for them and no one else to hear, "wow it has been a long time since I have met you guys face to face", she adds in a louder more voice.

"Wait Yoona, you are moving way too fast", Sunny insists as they both turn the corner.

"Sorry but I thought I heard....", both girls stopped when they caught sight of Taeyeon, Yuri and Sooyoung looking back at them, "Sooyoung's voice".

"This seems really weird", Taeyeon blurts out looking around, "this must be part of their plan or something, this must have been planned".

"What are you talking about?" Sooyoung asks confused.

"They want Girls' Generation to reunite", Yuri asnwers looking at each girl's reaction.

Yoona looks at Sunny then at the other girls, "Why all of a sudden?"

"They want to make money off of us", Taeyeon explains, "the big comeback millions have been waiting for".

"Ahh excuse me do you know...", before Hyoyeon could finish her question all five girls turned to look at her, "umm..".

"Hyoyeon?" Sunny questions out loud.

"Wow this day can't get any weirder", Yoona comments.

"What's going on?" Hyoyeon asks.

"We just find it weird we are all here at KBS today at the same time", Yuri explains, "I mean, we are lucky if we even catch glimpses of each other much less meet like this".

"Actually now that you mention it...I could of sworn I saw Tiffany in the parking lot", Hyoyeon confesses, "I think she was with Red Velvet's Irene".

Before anyone could say another word Yuri starts moving towards the elevator and the others follow behind without a word. During the ride down, no one said anything to each other as they checked their phones and just stayed in their own space until Yuri made a move when she reached the floor she wanted to go exit on. The people waiting for the elevator was flabergasted as they watched all six girls shuffle out in a hurry.

"Where are we going?" Sooyoung asks as they hurry down the hallway.

"To confirm what Hyoyeon saw", Yuri says before they stop in front of a room, "this is where Irene should be, she and I came to KBS today for the same reason".

After taking in a deep breathe then letting it out, Yuri opened the door to reveal a mother feeding her baby.

"You must be hungry, don't worry mommy has you convered", Tiffany says holding the bottle to the baby's mouth before looking up to see six familiar and surprised faces looking down at her, "ummmmm".

Yuri sags againat the door while still holding it's handle, "Just what is going on here".

Everyone just stood their looking at each other before they heard a loud cluck noise coming from the hallway. They all turned at the same time to see a wide eyed Seohyun looking back at them and folders at her feet.

"Seohyun?" Yoona said taking a step towards her.

"Unnie", Seohyun says looking at them.

Before the first tear could fall from her eyes, Yoona wrapped her arms around Seohyun who completely broke down in her arms, then soon after one by one each girl joined in on the hug silently, including Tiffany with Sarah still in her arms.

"Its okay Seohyun, don't cry", Yoona says trying to calm her down before handing her a piece of tissue.

"How come...you are...all together unnie?" she asked in between sniffles.

Yoona turns and looks at the others before turning back around to reply, "We don't know either, some how it just ended up this way, I don't think it was planned".

"Well we don't know for sure that it wasn't planned", Hyoyeon chimes in.

"I don't know if you guys have heard", Yuri starts to get everyone's attention, relaying the information to Hyoyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun, "but Taeyeon and I have been approached by our agency about Girls' Generation getting back together".

Seohyun's forehead creases in confusion, "Why all of sudden?"

Yuri shrugs, "Money of maybe".

"Let's head up to the office and see if this was planned or not", Sooyoung annonces before taking lead, "something about this just doesn't seem right".

The girls nod and follow behind with determined expressions. Of course on the way to the office, they couldn't help but to notice the attention they were getting from staff and idols they passed on the way. But they weren't surprised seeing that the first time they were all together like this was when they had their last concert five years ago before terminating their contracts.

"People are staring way too much", Sunny mutters loud enough for the other seven members to hear, "I know it is only natural but still".

"Have you guys ever thought about it?" Yuri asks without turning back to look at their reactions.

There was silence for about thirty seconds before someone decided to asnwer.

"Truthfuly, I think about it a lot", Taeyeon confesses.

Seohyun glanced at her before repling, "Me too, I was really nervous about coming here today too".

Before they could enter the elevator, Tiffany made her way in front of them then turned to face them, stopping each of them, "I have thought about it too, and I am sure everyone else has too....even though we decided to end Girls' Generation back then, I regret making that desicion even if it was the best at the time",

Everyone's eyes started to get red once again as they thought about Tiffany's sudden outburst.

"There is no way I can film that commercial today like this", Yoona blurted out, "my eyes must look so red and swollen by now".

Everyone laughed before they turned their attention back to the elevator that doors were now opening.

Everyone went silent as they stared at the one person they thought they would never see. Looking back at them with a surprised expression was Jessica with her manager talking beside her, too busy reading her schedule to her to see what was going on.

They all just looked at her and she at each of them as the elevator doors closed, the last thing they saw being Jessica's surprised expression turn hard and cold.