But as the conversation between her unnies continued, her mind drifted to other things. She laid eyes on Jessica, and again Seohyun frowned.
Jessica has always been the sleepyhead and quiet one in SNSD, a fact known to everyone. But to Seohyun, it seemed like since last year, Jessica has become even more quiet and aloof. Sure, she would still perform and practise and attend all event with the girls. But something subtle seemed to have changed.
She would now be sleeping half the time, and during any breaks or rest, she would be fiddling with her phone, or be found in a corner or another room chatting in whispers. She was suspected to be dating, but she adamantly insisted she is not. And the group and company believes her, since they had made a pact long ago that should any one of them be dating seriously, the other girls should at least be informed.
She would half-heartedly participate in their banter, and would not discuss her personal schedules or her plans for her designer brand. She now keeps away from the other girls, even Yoona and Tiffany, the two girls most close to her, now finds that she is more quiet and distant. Their managers have also spoken to Jessica several times, since she seemed to be distracted half the time and always sleepy and tired often, showing up late for practice and other schedules. The higher-ups were concerned with her performance.
At least for their concerts, she has been performing satisfactorily. Behind the scenes however, Seohyun is worried that she might be facing some personal problems. But any attempt to ask her is met with her assurance, 'Don't worry about me, girls. I am fine, just tired from the busy schedules."
And everyone looked on and silently worried. But there is nothing they could do but trust that Jessica can take care of herself.
- - -
The next moment, her thoughts were interrupted as a smiling Taeyeon sat down on her left, followed by Sunny, who was carrying bags of food and drinks.
Tiffany again was the first to speak, 'You too, Taeyeon?" The smiling baby-faced leader shrugged and replied, "I needed some warming up for my throat, there is a lot of singing later. The Oppas were more than glad to help me warm up anyway."
Sooyoung and Hyoyeon both giggled and Taeyeon ignored them, turning to Sunny, who was distributing the food and laying them out on the table.
No more conversations were had as they all started munching and drinking all the snacks and beverages Sunny brought. But as Seohyun snacked on a piece of bread, she again smelled that similar odour as before, except this time, it seemed to come from Taeyeon as she swallowed a hot-dog next to her.
"Just what is that smell... ?? I am sure I smelled it somewhere before …. hmmm......."
And throughout all this, Jessica Jung was sleeping away.
- - -
Their concert soon began, and the rest of the day passed quickly in excitement and a whirlwind of action and sweat and non-stop dancing and singing. It was a great concert, for the girls and for the fans as well.
It was many hours later that they returned to their dorm in Japan. They all settled down after a big dinner of take-away food from a local diner, and everyone rested from their busy day; either lounging around watching TV, or eating snacks, or reading or washing up. Jessica is snoring away in her bed as usual, and Sunny is playing games with Yuri.
Watching her unnies moving around in the dorm reminded her of their rookie days, and Seohyun found a strange sense of comfort and familiarity in all this. She smiled and returned to her room, and continue her book on the balcony.