Taeyeon and Jessica were sitting on a couch in the ZoNE living room. It had become a normal occurrence for Taeyeon to spend ample amounts of time with Jessica, and the other ZoNE members had grown accustomed to her being around. Even Yuri, ZoNE’s junior, occasionally thought that Taeyeon may as well have been part of ZoNE from the start.

“So, what do you want to do today?” Taeyeon asked Jessica.

Jessica shrugged and gave Taeyeon one of her you-decide-because-I’m-too-lazy-to looks.

“We should go somewhere with the others.” Taeyeon suggested. “Just like…a restaurant or something for dinner. I’m around all the time, but I feel bad that I don’t know the others well. Plus, I want to get to know Yuri more, too. She seems nice.”

There was a moment of silence where Jessica mulled the idea over in her head. “Sounds good. But you’ll have to ask them yourself.”

“What? Why me?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be trying to win me over?”

“No. The bet was that if you fall for me, then I have to be your maid. Remember?”

“I do. But…” Jessica leaned in close to Taeyeon. “I know you want me. And if it’s you who asks, they’ll see how much you want to know them better.” Jessica leaned in even more. “And I just want them to approve of us.”

“Je-Jessica, they already...” Taeyeon tried to avert her gaze, but Jessica was looking particularly attractive at the moment.

Somehow, Jessica pinned Taeyeon between herself and the couch. “Please, won’t you ask them? For me?”

“I, uh, er, um…yeah…uh…Sooyoung!” Taeyeon pushed Jessica off so she could find Sooyoung, Yoona, and Yuri. In the mean time, Jessica sat back up and smiled to herself.

~~~~

Taeyeon found Sooyoung outside tending to a book she had recently picked up.

Sooyung looked up from her book as she heard footsteps approach her. “What’s up, Taeyeon.”

“Not much.”

“Really? You seem to be blushing quite a bit. Were you and Jessica doing something?”

“No!” Taeyeon didn’t realize she was still red from Jessica’s earlier actions. But she could feel the burning sensation of embarrassment across her cheeks. “Um, I mean, are you busy tonight?”

“Nope. I don’t think so. Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering if you would like to come to dinner with us – us being Jessica, myself, and hopefully Yoona and Yuri if they aren’t busy.”

“I see. Well, just tell me when and where, I guess.”

“Yay!” Taeyeon jumped and celebrated like a little girl does after getting that teddy bear she’s been wanting for her birthday. “Do you know where Yoona or Yuri are?” Taeyeon asked after calming down.

“Check Yoona’s room. Yuri was helping her go through her share of fanmail.” Sooyoung looked back at her book as Taeyeon went away. “She gets so much….” Sooyoung said under her breath.

On her way to Yoona’s room, Taeyeon saw Jessica sitting on the couch watching TV. Taeyeon quietly approached Jessica from behind.

“BOO!”

“Ahhh!!” Jessica jumped out of her seat and grabbed a pillow. Before she threw it, she saw Taeyeon laughing on the floor. “What was that for?!” Jessica was about throw a tantrum.

“Sorry, it was…just…” Taeyeon started to gather her composure. “It was just too tempting.”

Jessica lightly hit Taeyeon in the arm with the pillow. “Jerk…”

“You know you love me.” Taeyeon gave Jessica a hug. “You do love me, right?”

“I thought you wanted me to lose the bet?”

“Hmph.” Taeyeon let go. “I’m going to find Yoona and Yuri – Sooyoung already agreed to dinner.”

~~~~

Just like Sooyoung said, Yuri was helping Yoona go thru piles of letters.

“Knock knock.”

Yoona and Yuri looked up from their work. “Hey Tae. What’s up?” Yoona asked.

“Not much. You guys want to come to dinner with me, Jessica, and Sooyoung tonight?”

“Well…” Yoona started.

Yuri interrupted. “Yes! Please, yes. Anything but doing this all day.”

“Yuri!” Yoona stared at her junior.

“Sorry…but we’ve been doing this all morning, and the pile doesn’t look any smaller.” Yuri pointed at the very large “to-do” pile, and then at the very very tiny “done” pile.

Yoona took a look at the piles. “I guess when you put it that way…what time are we going?”

Yuri did a little dance of happiness in her seat.

“Let’s how does 6 sound?” Taeyeon asked.

Yoona and Yuri nodded their heads. Taeyeon smiled back before reporting back to Sooyoung and Jessica. Taeyeon planted herself on the couch the Jessica had been waiting on. “Now, we just have to think of where.”

The girls debated for a few minutes about where to go.  They settled on a restaurant located just outside of the city. It wasn’t a super fancy place, but Taeyeon had to go home and change into something nicer. Even though Yoona and Jessica both offered her something to wear, Taeyeon passed up the offer, saying that she didn’t want to keep borrowing clothes. Honestly, though, Taeyeon knew that the clothes were likely going to be too big for her.

~~~~

“This way, please.”

When ZoNE arrived at the restaurant with Yuri and Taeyeon, they were recognized right away and seated in a private area so they would not be disturbed. The waitress brought them some water and informed them that their server would be with them momentarily.

While waiting, the girls talked about anything and everything. However it wasn’t long until their server arrived.

“Hi, my name is Seohyeon, and I’ll be your server for the evening. Can I get you started on anything?” The server wasn’t looking at the girls. She seemed more interested in her order ticket.

Jessica stared at the server. Sooyoung and Yoona did, too.

“I said, can I…oh…” Seohyeon looked up. “Hi. What do you girls want?”

Yuri and Taeyeon ordered for their group. After Seohyeon took their menus and went to bring their order to the kitchen, Taeyeon and Yuri gave ZoNE the stare down. “What was that?”

“She used to be in our company.” Yoona said. “To be more specific, she was going to be a member of ZoNE.”

Jessica continued. “I ended up taking her place. ZoNE was originally Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyeon.” Jessica played with her glass. “I was added to the group as a second main vocalist – Seohyeon was the first.”

“I never heard about that.” Taeyeon said. “But…I have to admit. Her voice is sort of familiar.”

“We were going to be a 4-member group, but…” Yoona looked at Jessica. “Jessica nad Seohyeon…had some issues. The company chose Jessica, and then dropped her from the label soon after.”

“They dropped her?” Yuri asked in surprise. “Can the company really do that?”

“Apparently. The bought her out of her contract, I think.” Jessica said. “Gosh, I never thought we’d run into her here of all places…”

The table was quiet. Taeyeon and Yuri both were concerned due to the ZoNE member’s sudden change in mood, but neither had any idea how to fix it.

Seohyeon returned with their food. “Enjoy.”

“Wait!” Jessica said. “Um, are you busy?”

Seohyoen pointed at the other tables. “I have a break in about 20 minutes, though. Why?”

“Can we talk when you’re on break?”

“Uh, sure. Sounds good.” Seohyeon gave the group a smile before tending to the other tables.

“She seems nice.” Yuri said when Seohyeon left the table. “What in the world could she have been so mad about?”

“Jessica and Seohyeon were supposed to be the lead vocalists. Seohyeon didn’t like that, though, because Jessica was given more parts and the company started to neglect her.” Sooyoung said.

“Seohyeon didn’t say anything at first, but then she sort of snapped. We don’t know what pushed her over the edge, and none of us expected it to happen.” Yoona added. “She had been irked by us before, but she would always approach us calmly. Until the fight, that is.”

“That’s…intense…” Taeyeon said quietly before biting down on some food. “I still can’t shake the feeling that I’ve heard her voice before.”

The girls continued to eat and chat about other things. Yuri and Taeyeon were careful about bringing up anything that could be Seohyeon-related, while the ZoNE members tried to reassure them that they need not be so worried.

Seohyeon return. She was out of her server outfit and popped on a long but thin coat. “Jessica, is now a good time? We can go talk out back so we aren’t disturbed.” Seohyeon motioned Jessica to follow her.

“I’ll be right back.” Jessica followed Seohyeon out. “Call me if you need anything.” Taeyeon watched as Jessica walked out a back exit.

Everyone finished their food, and Jessica had yet to return. The girls looked at each other and contemplated checking up on Jessica. Sooyoung and Yoona felt obligated to talk with Seoyeon, too, but they knew the fight from years ago didn’t really involve them.

It was then, that Taeyeon shot from her seat. “Holy cra-“

“Tae! Quiet!” Sooyoung said. “What’s wrong?”

“Jessica! Sorry, I have to go.”

~~~~

Meanwhile, outside in the backstreet, Seohyeon and Jessica talked for the first time in years.

“So, how have you been?”

“Guess.”

“Look, Seohyeon, I know we didn’t exactly get along in the end, but I wanted to apologize.”

“Don’t worry about it. Is that all?” Seohyeon said in a timid voice.

Jessica approached Seohyeon to give her a hug. “I feel bad about everything. I wish I could make it up to you, I just don’t know how.”

“Well…” Seohyeon accepted the hug. “You could do something for me.”

“What is it? Anything, to make it up to you.”

Seohyeon gave Jessica one final tight squeeze before throwing her against the wall. “Die.”