“Yeah, unnie?”

“Soojung-ah, where are you?”

“I have practice now, why?”

“Nah, just bored…”

Krystal chuckled. “Isn’t your BF with you now?”

“He has business to attend to. I’m alone at home now… Come home quickly…”

“Okay, I’ll be right back after my practice. Bye, love you.”

“Bye, take care!”

Jessica puts down the phone and sighs. This is going to be the first time in 26 years that she has to spend her birthday by herself. Her parents are back in the US visiting relatives, her boyfriend is off somewhere on a business trip, while her sister is busy with her group’s upcoming comeback. Her mind automatically jumps to her other group of sisters, but she immediately stops it from going there. “Don’t look back…” she mumbles to remind herself.

The brunette makes her way to the kitchen, deciding to prepare dinner to get her mind off things. It only makes things worse. The gourd in the fridge looks like a ‘ma’, and it reminds her instantly of a certain black pearl that drank them, drinks them every day. The half-finished biscuits remind her of how Sooyoung and Yoona actually finished dog biscuits for Prince when they were hungry. The tub of ice cream in the freezer reminds her of how Taeyeon loves ice cream, and how Tiffany would fight with the former for the strawberry flavored one (just because it’s pink). Groaning, she gives up the idea of cooking and takes out a pack of beer instead (which reminds her of Hyoyeon and her drunken antics), trudging back to the couch.

--

Jessica knows she doesn’t have a high alcohol tolerance, but she’s glad that she’s at least a good drunk, in the sense that she is still able to have rational thoughts and not make a fool out of herself like Hyoyeon. (Or Yuri. Or Yoona. Or Sooyoung.) She suddenly misses the said girl a lot, and she knows this is not going to end well because she’s scrolling through her phone and after a moment of dizziness, she realizes the call is already made and worse still, the call is engaged. Well . So much for being a good drunk.

She picks the phone up to hear Hyoyeon’s concerned but cautious, “Hello?”

Jessica laughs and god she sounds drunk even to her own ears, and slurs, “Is a ‘Hello’ all you can say after what, 8 months?”

Hyoyeon usually sounds like she is going to say the funniest joke on Earth, but all the playfulness in her voice is replaced with a concerned tone now, and Jessica swears she can see the frown probably on the other girl’s face now. “Where are you now?”

It takes Jessica awhile to realize she is talking to Hyoyeon on the phone, and it takes her alcohol filled brain a while to put the words together, even if it’s only two words. “At home.”

“Okay, I will be over as soon as I can. Don’t go anywhere.” Jessica hears the line going dead and lets the phone slip out of her hands and onto the couch. She laughs at Hyoyeon’s words. She doesn’t even think she can make it to the bathroom 5 meters away in her drunken state, let alone out of the house.

--

The doorbell rings and it wakes Jessica up from her small slumber. She didn’t even know when she had fallen asleep and stretches gingerly while making her way to the door, expecting Krystal or her boyfriend so imagine her surprise when she opens the door only to see Kim Taeyeon outside her doorstep. She immediately sobers up and the memory of her calling Hyoyeon on the phone comes running back to her at full force like a rugby player. She is quite sure the person she talked to on the phone was Hyoyeon, but then again, she might have mistaken ‘Kim Hyoyeon’ for ‘Kim Taeyeon’ in her drunken stupor.

Her confusion must be evident because Taeyeon stands outside and scratches her head awkwardly while holding up a plastic bag, which gives off twinkling sounds when lifted. “Erm, alcohol refill?”

Jessica opens the door a little wider, and Taeyeon slips in easily with her small frame. Taeyeon walks ahead to the living room while Jessica shuts the door, swiftly following behind the shorter girl after the deal is done. Sitting back on the couch, the brunette is embarrassed at the messy state her living room is in after her drinking session. She begins to pick up the empty cans, but stops immediately after Taeyeon speaks out. “Oh don’t bother. The rest of the girls are coming over too, so it’s going to be a real mess later.”

Jessica raises her eyebrows incredulously. “What?!”

Taeyeon only shrugs as if this is supposed to happen, and begins to take out the soju bottles from the plastic bag. Man, she really needs one of those right now.

Being alone with Taeyeon is rare, but it isn’t as awkward as many people would have thought it would be. The both of them are just people with little words, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t close. They had known each other for 15 years, so there isn’t really a need for communication anymore to understand each other. It is the same even with the other girls. Sometimes, all it needs is a simple glance and they will know what each other need. With Taeyeon, it is even more comfortable to be honest, because the slightly older girl understands and doesn’t pry (unlike Tiffany, who will most probably bug her to death to reveal her secrets), but is always there to lend a listening ear if she is willing to talk. But today, Jessica doesn’t feel like talking, just wanting to relish in the company that Taeyeon is providing, and as usual Taeyeon just sits, sipping on a beer, waiting, but never probing.

After 15 minutes of comfortable silence, the doorbell rings again and Taeyeon volunteers to get it, with no objection from the lazy house owner. Jessica hears the next guest before she even sees her, hearing the hushed conversation between Taeyeon and her at the door. She makes her way into the living room, face expectant, small smile on her face. Before Jessica knows it, the girl has already launched into her arms, wrapping her in a really, really tight hug. She chuckles and hugs the other girl back just as tightly.

“Long time no see.” She says, face burrowing deeper into Jessica’s bosom. Jessica immediately pulls away, smacking the other girl on the arm. It’s been 8 months and this ert’s is still going strong.

“Glad to see you again too byuntae Soonkyu.”

Sunny laughs out loud (which she doesn’t often), and proceeds to pinch the skin behind Jessica’s elbows. “Am I the ert queen among us now?”

Taeyeon makes her way into the living room, slightly late but Jessica doesn’t question and plops down on the couch adjacent to them. “Yes, you are. Now I can finally clear my reputation as a byuntae.”

“Er fun fact, you didn’t. You are still a byuntae, and will be one for as long as you live.” Sunny says.

Taeyeon rolls her eyes and the three just sit there in silence for a while, with Sunny still pinching Jessica’s elbow skin. Jessica pulls her arm back, covering her elbows only to receive a pout from Sunny. The latter turns to look at Taeyeon with her eyes big and her lips in a frown, but her aegyo doesn’t work on Taeyeon (or any of the soshi members), as the oldest girl in the room covers her elbows with ironclad defense and shakes her head at Sunny.

“Nope. My skin is getting all saggy because of all your pinching.”

“Tsk. Touche.” Sunny replies, turning her attention back to Jessica. The former gives a playful shove to Jessica, and the latter reciprocates it with a shove back. The shoving continues and increases in strength, until the two bursts out laughing and Jessica plops her head down on Sunny’s shoulder, never mind that it was uncomfortable because she is shorter.

“How have you been?” Jessica asks carefully. She doesn’t touch on the fact that Sunny seems more solemn, less ‘sunny’ these days. “You seem… really tired these days.”

“Yeah, I had to be a DJ while filming Roommate at the same time so it was really draining. But now that Roommate has ended, I can finally get some rest.”

“I’m glad.” Jessica nods, but she wonders if that is the whole truth.

--

Yuri is the next guest, barging into the house and engulfing Jessica in a suffocating (in a good way) hug. Usually, the ice princess would have pushed the black pearl in her gym outfit away, but this time, she lets her get away with it, holding her breath to return the hug. Pulling away, Jessica crinkles her nose. “Gosh Yuri you smell so bad.”

“But you still love me!” She replies cheekily, and Jessica only chuckles and shakes her head but she doesn’t refute the claim.

--

Tiffany and Sooyoung arrives next, the former immediately rushing in for a hug and fussing about her in English. The latter puts down the 4 boxes of pizza which she was holding onto on the table, and unlike Tiffany, only gives a small smile to Jessica as acknowledgment before slipping beside Yuri on the couch.

--

When the maknaes arrive, Jessica gets a little teary eyed. She is close to all the members, but maybe it was her sisterly instinct to take care of her younger members, but she has always treasured the two maknaes more. With Yoona on her left and Seohyun on her right, Jessica pats them on the back, resisting the urge to cry as she squeezes her eyes tight.

Her efforts goes down the drain once she sees the tears rolling down Seohyun’s face, and as she wipes it off Seohyun’s face, she could feel her own tears flowing down her face. Yoona buries herself in the crook of Jessica’s neck, and the latter could feel the doe eyed girl shuddering and her tears soaking her shirt. She pats Yoona and looks up to see the other members with teary eyes, and she thinks, this is it, the confrontation after 8 months when Hyoyeon comes in through the front door (which Taeyeon has just kept open after getting up the third time to open it) and shouts while spreading her arms and legs apart, “Sorry for waiting guys the star of the party is finally here!”

She takes a look at the other 8 girls in the room and scratches her head. “Oops… not a good time huh…”

Everyone bursts out laughing and Jessica can only shake her head in disbelief. As expected of Kim Choding.

--

Everyone was settled around the table, digging into the pizza and fried chicken on the table, which surprisingly, the maknae had no protests when they dialed for fried chicken delivery. They sit and talk, and Jessica finds out that things haven’t changed much, Taeyeon is still the one who listens quietly and patiently, only letting go of a very loud ahjumma laugh occasionally, Sunny still talks like a 1000 year old sage, Tiffany is still as loud as ever, Hyoyeon is as funny as ever, Yuri is still as goofy, Sooyoung and Yoona still eat like hungry ghosts, and Seohyun is still their prim and proper maknae. She misses their chatter, friendly banter, playful fights and deep conversations.

The pizza boxes are empty, and the soju and beer bottles are now being cleared as they listen intently to Tiffany talk about her new fashion show. Jessica looks around the room and sees that most of them had already zoned out from what Tiffany is saying, but she makes an effort to pay attention to what the mushroom is saying because it’s been too long and she misses this loud voice that is surprisingly, not jarring but comforting.

“Yep so I was thinking if I could actually you know feature some of your products on my show, Sica-ah.” Tiffany voiced out and everyone turned to look at her as if she had just shot someone with a gun.

“What? Do you guys think we can really just ignore this?” She gestured in the air, but everyone knows what she's referring to. They all turn to look at Jessica expectantly, waiting for an answer as she shifts uncomfortably in her seat. She could only shrug as a response. “Why not.”

“So how’s B&E coming along?” Sooyoung asks.

“It’s not hitting the targets we have set, but it’s doing enough to stay afloat for now I guess.”

“Well, you know who to look for if you need a loan.” Hyoyeon jokes, secretly side eyeing Sooyoung, and Jessica laughs.

“Or you can just look for us even if you don’t have a problem, you know, you are always welcome.” Yoona says with a genuine smile, hand clasping onto Jessica’s gently. The latter bites her lips and closes her eyes.

“Why are you guys still so nice to me, when I had been so mean to you guys?” Jessica whimpers, voice shaking.

“Because we had been mean to you too. Let’s be honest, we all had our own personal interests in mind when we kicked you out of the group. We may not be colleagues anymore, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, sisters.” Taeyeon looks at her, and Jessica can see that she has her leader vibe on now. The silence is deafening, and Jessica takes a look at the solemn and sincere faces in the room when she frowns as she counts mentally in her head. There is only 6 faces staring back at her, where is… it only takes her a second to register the two missing members as Tiffany and Hyoyeon.

A click is heard and the lights in the room are shut off, and the two enters with party hats and Hyoyeon holding onto a cake. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Sica, happy birthday to you!” The two are now in front of her, and the rest of the members are crowded around them as they smile at her.

“Make a wish!” Tiffany nudges her as she places a party hat on Jessica’s head.

She clasps her hands together and closes her eyes. I wish, we can be together for a very, very long time. She opens her eyes and blows out the candle as the rest clap and cheer. Everyone picks up a fork and starts to attack the cake together, and it is just like any other day before September 30^th, and Jessica feels that she likes those days the best.

Hyoyeon pulls out another bag of alcohol, filled with vodka, whiskey and tequila. Everyone stares at her in shock and the dancing queen just pops open a bottle of vodka nonchalantly. Go hard or go home, she hollers and pours everyone a drink in their plastic cups which were used to hold coke.

Cups of unknown alcohol later, Jessica struggles to keep her alcohol laden eye lids open as she focuses on Seohyun trying to stop Hyoyeon from drinking more, only to get hit on the head by the older girl. The others are not doing any better, with Yoona, Sooyoung and Yuri sprawled on the floor and Sunny laying on Tiffany’s lap, and Taeyeon sitting in the armchair, knees tucked to her chest, looking very dazed. The last thing she sees before she succumbs to the alcohol is Hyoyeon wiping the floor with a cushion, and she smiles before falling against Tiffany’s shoulders, dead like a log.

--

“Unnie, I’m…” Krystal announces, but stops short when she sees the many pairs of shoes around the door. She chuckles as she realizes her sister must have invited some guests over to celebrate her birthday with her as she makes her way into the living room, expecting to see Minyoung unnie, Hara unnie and her sister’s other close friends. Stepping into the living room, she is surprised to see 8 bodies sprawled all over, with Seohyun towering over them, placing blankets over her unnies. She acknowledges Krystal with a nod, before stepping closer to her.

“Sorry, the unnies are such messy pigs some times.”

Krystal shakes her head and smiles as she looks at her own sister, who had fallen asleep against Tiffany’s shoulders with a smile on her face. “Thank you for coming to celebrate my unnie’s birthday, I haven’t seen her smile so sincerely in so long.”

Seohyun smiles and doesn’t reply and the two just stand there, looking at the pile of bodies with a fond smile on their face. Krystal breaks the moment with the clearing of as she looks at Seohyun. “Well, then Seohyun-unnie, I’m going off first. I’ll be back later. Take care of my sister for me!”

Seohyun only smiles and nods as Krystal take her leave. Looking at her unnie and her members, she gathers the courage to call Sulli. The younger Jung had been angry with her fellow member for messing up their promotion cycle the other time, and had been ignoring her same aged friend to show her annoyance. Maybe, it’s time to stop acting like a 5 year old and make up with her best friend, like what her unnie did.

The dial tone stops and Sulli’s hesitant voice can be heard. “Hello…?”

“Yah Choi Sulli where are you?” 

A/N: so this was supposed to be up on Jessica's birthday but procrastination happened...

i hope you guys like it :) 

ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind.