It was the week after the story was leaked.

Taeyeon and Tiffany were still not on speaking terms. Sunny, who was understanding of both sides, did not know what to do or who to side with. Instead, she alienated herself so that she wouldn’t offend either friend.

Tiffany was still upset at Taeyeon. She refused to speak with Taeyeon completely.

And Taeyeon was angry at Tiffany. At first, Taeyeon tried to contact Tiffany, but she was so stubborn Taeyeon gave up and became mad, too.

Sunny tried her hardest to make things right between her friends. But she, too, grew tired and decided to leave her friends be.

On Jessica’s end, her company had managed to shut down the media gossip the second time. This time, for good. But the damage had been done and everyone was talking about ZoNE.

Sooyoung and Yoona both stood by Jessica. The three girls remained in their dorm during the following week. Company workers ran errands so that the girls wouldn’t have to face the paparazzi or anyone who could damage their reputation anymore than it already was.

There were only a handful of people who were happy at the moment. The two remaining cloaked figures were satisfied with what had come to be. Jessica was suffering and that was all that mattered.

Hyoyeon was fairly content, too. With ZoNE in a precarious situation, she was given time off. In other words, she had more time to practice dancing, and that’s all she really wanted.

~~~~

“Yes sir, we understand. Yes sir. Thank you.” Sooyoung hung up and placed the phone back on the reciver.

Jessica and Yoona had watcher her the whole time. They continued to stare at their friend until she sat down with them. “Well?”

“Manager wants us to stay on the down low.”

“We know that, but what else?” Jessica asked.

“You know how we were going to start prepping for the new single in a week?” Sooyoung looked down at her hands. “He said that if the news doesn’t die down before then, we will postpone everything.”

“What?” Jessica asked loudly. “Postpone it? Why? What does the incident have to do with our music?”

Sooyoung sighed heavily. “It’s not so much the music, but the support and investments. Companies aren’t going to want to work with us if it puts their label at risk to loose money.”

Yoona dropped her head into her hands. “No way…they can’t be serious.”

“Until the company can figure out a plan, we’re basically stuck in the house.” Jessica said. “Ugh, I’m going to hurt whoever it was that leaked the story.” Just then, Jessica’s cell phone went off. “Hello? Oh, hey.” Jessica stood and walked to a hallway for some privacy.

Withing a few minutes, Jessica returned with a jacket. “I’m going to go see Taeyeon.”

“Uh, weren’t you the one who just said we’re stuck at home?” Yoona asked.

“Taeyeon’s still upset over her friends. I should be there to help her through this. I’ll call if anything happens.” Jessica walked out the door and to her car. It was a long drive, because Jessica was slightly paranoid that someone would find her and make a mess of everything.

Jessica managed to make it to Taeyeon’s house without any trouble. Taeyeon greeted Jessica and led her to the living room.

“How are things with your friends?” Jessica asked as she gave Taeyeon a comforting hug.

Instead of answering, Taeyeon just buried her head into Jessica’s shoulder. She didn’t know what to say. Her world was crashing down on her and she didn’t know if she had the right to feel happy that Jessica was with her. If she had done things differently, maybe she wouldn’t have lost so many people who she treasured so dearly.

Jessica patted Taeyeon on the head. “Don’t worry, everything will be fine.” The girls sat quietly on the couch. Taeyeon laid her head on Jessica’s lap as Jessica continued to gently stoke Taeyeon’s hair.

“Jessica, what do I do…Tiffany is so mad at me, but I’m too scared to tell her the truth. What if she hates me even then?”

“Tae, listen to me.” Jessica started gently, “I know it looks bad. Everything will get better.”

“But Jessica!”

Before Taeyeon could continue, Jessica shushed her. “I think you need to tell Tiffany.” Jessica could feel Taeyeon tense up. “Look, if you tell her, she’ll know why you’ve been doing the things you have been. And if she can’t accept that, then it’s her loss.” Jessica kept stroking Taeyeon’s head.

Taeyeon didn’t readily respond to her girlfriend’s request. She sighed. “I’m scared.”

“Stop worrying! Just talk to them.”

“Fine…” Taeyeon pushed herself up and reached for her phone. She dialed Tiffany’s number, but was answered with the rejection message. “She wont even talk to me.” Taeyeon stared at her phone. Jessica promptly swiped the phone from Taeyeon’s hands. “Hey!”

Jessica pulled out her phone and started to dial a number.

“What are you-“ Jessica covered Taeyeon’s mouth as she put her own phone on speaker.

“Hello, is this Tiffany?”

“Yes, may ask who is calling?”

“Yeah, I’m Jessica. I think you and my girlfriend need to have a talk.”

“Girlfriend? I don’t even know you.”

“Trust me, you do. Just come to Taeyeon’s house. If you don’t, I can’t guarantee that Taeyeon will be okay. Oh, and bring Sunny.”

“What?! Who do you-“ beeep. Jessica hung up the phone before Tiffany could finish her sentence.

“What was that for?!”

“You’ll see. How far away does Tiffany live from here? And Sunny?”

Taeyeon looked at Jessica questioningly. “I don’t know, maybe twenty minutes from Sunny’s house by foot, and another 5 minutes to get to Tiffany’s?”

“Good.” Jessica pulled Taeyeon to her room. The just sat and talked about what Taeyeon should tell Tiffany. About twenty minutes had passed before Jessica started to act a little off. “Wait here. I need to find something.” Taeyeon sat on her bed, shocked and confused at Jessica’s sudden burst of energy.

In a few minutes, Jessica returned and stood by the door. “Sorry, Tae, but you’ll have to sit tight here.” Jessica quickly shut the door.

“Hey!” Taeyeon launched herself at the door and tried to open it from inside. She shook the knob but nothing happened. Something was keeping the knob from turning. “Jessica! Let me out!”

On the outside, Jessica stood across from the door. In the shot time she had disappeared, Jessia ran to the kitchen and grabbed a small knife. She jammed it into the door knob as she shut it, effectively locking Taeyeon inside. “Just wait inside for a little while. I want to talk to your friends first.” It was a neat trick Jessica saw in a movie once. Didn’t actually think that would work…but cool!

Jessica walked away from Taeyeon’s room and sat in the living room until the awaited pounding on the front door was heard. Jessica looked through the peephole and smiled to herself before opening up to her expected visitor.

“Where’s Tae- what the?!” Tiffany’s expression went from angry to shocked in the matter of a split second. “Why…but, you’re, huh?!” Sunny was equally shocked.

Jessica laughed lightly to herself. “Come in. I want to speak with you two.” She took charge of the house as if it was her own. Tiffany and Sunny both cautiously followed.

“Um, so, why exactly are you here?” Tiffany asked.

“I told you. You’re messing with my girlfriend’s head, and I need you two to make with the happy already.”

“Girlfriend?” Sunny said as she turned to Tiffany. “You didn’t mention that when you picked me up.”

Tiffany gave Sunny a sour look. It wasn’t a look that Tiffany often made often, but when she did make it her friends knew to becareful of what they did and said. “Look you,” Tiffany started, “Where is Taeyeon?”

Once again, Jessica laughed to herself. “I’ll tell you when I’m done talking with you.”

“Hmph.”

~~~~

Taeyeon quietly sat in her room. She was tired from pounding on the door and yelling for Jessica to let her out. I’m really going to hit her when I get out of here!

Since Taeyeon was locked up indefinitely, she decided to go onto her laptop and find something to do. In a few minutes, she went through her email and various networking sites. Back to being bored to death.

In the end, Taeyeon settled for laying down on her bed. She closed her eyes as her head hit the soft pillows. Taeyeon reached for her pocket to find her phone, but it wasn’t there. There was a moment of panic before Taeyeon remembered that Jessica probably still had her phone form earlier. Taeyeon shut her eyes to try and relax.

“Well then, if you had to pick one of us to save, who would it be?”

“Rawr!” Taeyeon still didn’t have an answer for her girlfriend. Well, she did, but she started to question if she would really go through with it. “Jessica…let me out!”

There was no answer. Taeyeon didn’t expect one, but she still wished that her door would swing open. Taeyeon actually thought she could feel herself go crazy. Crazy enough that she swore she could hear Jessica talking.

Holy…I’m not crazy, I can really hear her! Taeyeon perked up and looked around her room. Jessica was clearly not there, but she found the source of the voices: a vent at the base of her bed. Hmph, if she thinks she can trap me, I’ll just have to eves drop and see what’s going on.

Taeyeon got down on the floor and put her ear as close to the vent as possible. She could hear Jessica talking with two other girls. They were farther from the vent, so Taeyeon couldn’t readily figure out who Jessica could possibly be talking with. And then Taeyeon remembered Jessica’s earlier phone call, so Taeyeon concluded the guests were Tiffany and Sunny.

~~~~

“Sunny, Tiffany, I need you both to listen to me carefully.” Jessica said, “If you are going to be mad at someone, be mad at me.”

“I don’t need some Hallyu princess to tell me what to do.” Tiffany said angrily.

“Fany! Don’t be so mean.” Sunny said. “I know you’re mad, but just listen to her, will you?”

“Really, Sunny? You always take Tae’s side.”

Sunny pouted. “I just want things to be better between the two of you. So please, just listen. If not for Tae, for me. I hate seeing you guys like this.”

“Thank you.” Jessica said. “Tiffany, I can’t explain everything. I wish I could, but it’s not fair to Tae if I tell you something she doesn’t feel comfortable saying herself. I can see how hurt Tae is. She’s been crying because you refuse to speak with her.” Jessica pulled out Taeyeon’s phone. “Of her last 60 phone calls from the past week, over half of them have been to you. Not a single one lasted more than three minutes.”

Tiffany stared at the phone. Did I really ignore her that much?

Jessica put the phone away. “Just talk to her. Please. And if you still want to be mad, fine. But be mad at me.”

“Tiffany, please listen to her.” Sunny pleaded.

“Fine. But only because I want to hear the whole story. If Taeyeon doesn’t talk, I’m going to stay mad.” Tiffany got up and followed Jessica to Taeyeon’s room. Sunny followed, too. Jessica removed the knife from the knob and opened the door.

“I’m baaaack~!” Jessica cheerfully said. She pushed Tiffany and Sunny inside the room before shutting the door and replacing the knife. “Now make nice! Or else no one leaves the room!”

“What?!” Tiffany banged on the door. “I’ll get you for this!” Tiffany turned and saw Taeyeon on the floor. “What in the world are you doing?”

Taeyeon had gotten up but she looked a bit disheveled from lying on the floor for so long. “Nothing. Um, how are you?”

“Fine.”

“Want to sit?” Taeyeon got up and sat on her bed. She patted the area next to her. Sunny sat to Taeyeon’ s left while Tiffany just grabbed Taeyeon’s computer chair and sat across from Taeyeon. Sunny decided to remain quiet because the real issue was between her friends.

“Talk.”

“About what? How you’ve ignored me all week?”

“About why you’re suddenly with Jessica.”

“Do I have to tell you everything?”

“I would appreciate it.”

Taeyeon couldn’t help but notice the odd combination of eye-smile and anger. It didn’t suit Tiffany. “Well…you see Krystal was, um, and then these people…sorry. It’s a long story.”

“Well apparently, I have all the time in the world.”

“Right…” Taeyeon explained the situation to her friends. Tiffany and Sunny were both too shocked to say anything as Taeyeon’s story filled their heads. “And that’s why things are complicated. I really would have said something sooner, but I didn’t want you guys dragged into this. To be honest, I’m kind of paranoid you guys will be taken away from me, too.”

Sunny gave Taeyeon a hug. She knew she needed it. Sunny could hear it in Taeyeon’s voice and see it in Taeyeon’s eyes. “You can trust us, Tae. We love you, and we want to help you. We’ll be careful about what we do and who we approach.”

“Thanks, Sunny. Tiffany…?”

Tiffany was staring at Taeyeon. It was a blank stare. Taeyeon hardly saw that look in Tiffany’s eyes, so she wasn’t sure what to expect. There was a beat of silence before Tiffany spoke. “You’re so stupid…”

“Tiffany!” Sunny said in shock.

“If you told us in the first place, we wouldn’t have had to worry so much!” Tiffany started crying. “And then I wouldn’t have been so mad! You have no idea how much I worry about you. After Krystal disappeared, you were a different person and I was scared you were doing something crazy. And now that I know what’s going on, I can’t help but think that I should have been a better friend.”

Taeyeon leaned over to Tiffany. “Fanny, you’re one of my best friends. Don’t you ever forget that.”

“If I was a better friend, I would have seen more of what was happening. I wouldn’t have been so angry with you. I wouldn’t have been such a child.”

Tiffany crying made Taeyeon start crying. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I lied and didn’t tell you guys everything.”

Sunny started to cry, too. The girls shared one big hug before calming down.

“Can I come in?” Jessica said through the door.

“Yeah, we’re good now.” Taeyeon answered.

Jessica walked in. “So, we’re my methods effective in getting you all back together?”

Tiffany nodded. Sunny bowed her head slightly to thank Jessica.

Taeyeon stood and gave Jessica a hug, too. “Thank you!”

“No problem.” Jessica kissed Taeyeon on the cheek. “Now if only we could get more info on those people who want me dead. It would be awesome if Hyoyeon could just suddenly appear…”

“Ah! Wait,” Sunny started, “Is the Hyoyeon your talking about a tallish girl with light hair?”

Jessica nodded.

“We saw her before…she wants you dead?”

“Uh…” Jessica looked at Taeyeon for an answer.

“Actually,” Taeyeon said, “I don’t think she cares if I die. She just gets paid to do stuff for other people. I heard her talking once, and I remember her saying she’s only with those people because she gets a pretty nice pay.”

Everyone else nodded with understanding.

“Regardless, things are okay with you all now, correct?” Jessica asked as she pointed to the others.

There was another round of nodding as the girls smiled to each other.

“Good. Let’s all go to the kitchen and have a nice dinner. We can order out.”

Everyone walked out of Taeyeon’s room. Everyone but Taeyeon, that is. Taeyeon stood in her room for an extra minute. Something caught her eye from outside the window. She opened the window and reached out. There was a slip of paper.

..........I wonder if Boss Lady will like these pictures of your friends…

..........If you don’t want her to see them, then meet me at the park

..........across from the glasses shop and book store. Come alone.

......................................................................- Hyoyeon

“…if this is the game she wants to play, then she better be ready.”