Flashback 

2008

“Hey, I heard they will be separating normal trainees and soon-to-debut trainees in the upcoming batches, do you think by then, we will still be eating tteokbokki here?” 

“Seul, we will all get to debut, no matter what.” He was determined, and at the same time, confident of his skills. 

“That’s just a possible scenario. I’m not like Soojung who had great visuals or Sunyoung unnie who is a crazily talented vocalist and dancer.”

“And... there might be a possibility that I won't debut as well.” Her eyes dimmed slightly, as she was still in the mood of disappointment at not making the cut for the latest girl group debut team, just months ago. 

“Seul!” He shook her violently from the shoulder, a gesture to make her more alert. 

“Don’t think much… there will be a chance for us, we… just had to strive on…” His voice came down softer, as he thought of the possibility as well. Just a few months ago, his other best friend had already made his debut as part of the SHINee members. They had a great debut that caught the heart of the older sisters (Noonas), especially Taemin, who is the nation’s baby. 

“And even if I make it to the debut team, I’ll still be eating tteokbokki here with you, Chingu yah.” He put up his fist, inviting her to fist bump him as well. 

“Oh ho, our dancing maniac is confident.” She raised her eyebrow to friend

“But next month will be the final test before any of us get cut off. Let’s do our best and survive this!” She made the same gesture and connected the fist bump, making a promise between both of them.

That they will still be the same.

2011

“Oh Jongin, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in another practice room at this hour?” 

Seulgi was utterly surprised to see Jongin, the mildly famous trainee, and at the same time, her male best friend here. 

“Hey Seul, I came to pass you this.” He handed over a plastic bag, the tteokbokki from their favorite stall. 

“Do you have some time? We can sit down and have a short chit-chat before I go back to the practice room.” 

“Sure, I’m just having my self-practice. And, it has been a long time since we saw each other. You liar.” 

She joked, as a reference to how he always makes promises to meet up with her. But she doesn't mind, because she knows how important his time is right now. Especially when the next boys’ group is coming up next year, 4 years apart from the last group, f(x). 

“Sorry my bad, I’ve been staying in practice rooms till late at night, and I have good news to share.” His boyish smile naturally turned up as they sat down on the warm wooden floor of the familiar room, just like 3 years ago. 

“Looks like you got into the final debut lineup?” She guessed, knowing that that could only be the answer for his elated mood. The corner of her lips unknowingly went up as she observed his facial expression. 

He looked slightly astonished, as he didn’t know that his feelings were all written on his face. 

“Am I that obvious? Yeah, I got picked for the final team, Junmyeon hyung will be our leader for the Korean unit, while Kris Hyung will be the leader for the Chinese unit. We’ll be debuting next year.”

“That’s great! You and Junmyeon oppa can finally debut…” Seulgi tried to hide her sadness, but she felt delighted for her best friend. They all had worked hard in their skills, be it dancing, singing, or even variety hostings to get to their goal - Debut as an idol. Jongin noticed her sadness right away but he understands. 

Debuting the boy group next year will mean that it will take a longer time for the next girls’ lineup. They had seen many of their old friends who gave up on their idol dreams. Seungyeon, one of the oldest trainees together with Seulgi and him, had been thinking of leaving once her trainee contract ends. Seungyeon had opened up to them, and this made her waver on whether the next girl group will be worth the wait. Right now, she is 17 and by industry-standard, 15 to 19 years old are the range that companies usually debut their idols at , or even younger. 

Jongin was afraid and worried about her condition. 

“Seul, don’t think too much, you will get your chance next. SM Ent. always debut by gender, it wouldn’t be too long, just like SHINee and F(x), only a year apart.” Jongin consoled, as he could always look right through her. 

“I know that’s what we've been saying, but… I can’t help but think pessimistically. Maybe my vocals weren't good enough to make it into the debut team. Maybe my dance…” 

“Yah Kang Seulgi!” He flicked onto her wide forehead as she made an ‘ouch’, covering her head. 

“You will become the brightest star one day. Kang Ace.” 

“And my vocal isn’t as good as Baekhyun hyung who only came in a few months, and Kyungsoo hyung, or even Junmyeon hyung. Believe in yourself, you’re going to be the ace for the next girl group.” He encouraged the girl in front of him. 

“Hey, but you’re the best dancer out of our current trainee batch, nobody can deny. I came in as a vocalist, but yet…” 

“And now you’re part of the dancing line.”

“Hm, that’s true… God, I think I’m getting carried up here. But anyway, we should celebrate it! With proper food like Jjampong.” Seulgi tries to change the topic as she should be glad for her friend, who finally gets to debut officially. 

“Isn’t tteokbokki our tradition? Remember 3 years ago?” Jongin referenced the times whereby they had a similar conversation, regarding the future towards their dream. 

“Of course, it looks like whenever anybody from our company debuts, we’re having this little tteokbokki party here, at the same practice room.” 

“Look, that’s our promise. When you debut, we’ll do the same yah.” He popped in a slice of fish cake dipped in the sauce. 

Promise.

---End of Flashback--- 

Why am I having this dream again? How long have I been sleeping? 

Seulgi’s eyes slowly flipped open, she was taking into the reality of her environment inside the huge celebrity van. Alright, now she has really debuted as a member of Red Velvet and this is their 12th year in the industry. She was drowsy from too much sleep as she usually takes a quick power nap amid her schedule from one place to another. 

Yes, alone. 

While their group never really disbanded, most of the members had begun their solo acts, venturing out as solo artists, actresses. Just a few months before, her same-aged best friend, the main vocalist of the group, announced her marriage. To her long-time boyfriend, and at the same time, one of the popular members in EXO among fans and public, Do Kyung Soo. 

This news truly breaks the heart of many fans, especially EXO’s crazy fangirls (AKA Sasaengs), who refuse their idol to getting married like many past examples. From old boys like HOT’s Moon Heejun, Shinhwa’s Eric, to second-generation groups TVXQ’s Changmin, Super Junior’s Sungmin, and even Kyungsoo's member, Jongdae who got married before he went to the military. 

The initial reception of the news would not be that good, even if there were some blessing words among the hateful comments. Moreover, when his wife is a member of their label’s junior girl group, and at the same time, one of the legendary girl groups in the third generation. This had caused some ‘controversy’, and she was forced out of the group.

After all, girl groups tend to get more backlash than boy groups. Very unfortunate. 

From there onward, the remaining four members truly began their solo acts, while they promised their fans to come back as 5-members. Right now, Seulgi is promoting her latest 3rd solo album, and fortunate for her, she has become one of the promising solo artists, rivaling the other idol groups. 

She was lost in the thought as many past memories went back to her, upon dreaming of that conversation with someone, she thought she had locked away in her mind. 

A loud ‘bang’ could be felt as her whole body was immediately crushed to the side of the car, she hardly had time to react as the airbag in the car was activated. Her head was knocked by a foreign item, as she could feel the blood dripping off her head. Her legs were under the weight of the seats, as she could not gather any strength to pull out her leg from it. 

Her consciousness was slowly getting out and she felt helpless with her limbs grounded. She side-glanced at her manager oppa, who was at the driver’s seat, completely knocked out. 

Feeling like an eternity, she could not think of anything, as her vision slowly went black. 

Jongin stood in front of her ward, feeling nervous to see her condition. Her brother was inside the room with her sister-in-law, while her parents were unreachable at the moment. Their other friends were outside the ward, waiting anxiously for what the doctor had said to her family members. 

Wendy had her head down as she tried to hide her tears from everybody else, while Kyungsoo silently put his arms around her. Irene sat down at the opposite bench, looking drained and her eyes getting redder. But her tears just remained there, as she tried her best to hold back the tears. Junmyeon was standing there leaning on the wall, looking distressed. 

Yerim came from the entrance, as she brought Baekhyun and Chanyeol with her. She just came back from escorting Sooyoung, who had a little panic attack earlier on, as soon as she heard that their manager oppa had been announced dead upon arriving in the hospital. This scares the girls, as one of their close colleagues who had been with them for many years all the while, was dead and Seulgi’s condition wasn’t exactly looking pleasant. 

Baekhyun had just arrived in the hospital when he saw Yerim and Chanyeol walking out of another room. He got the rough picture when they explained to him the situation. 

“Jongin, why… are you here?” 

Baekhyun was slightly skeptical to see him here, as he almost doesn’t interact openly with the girls all these years, especially his former friend, Kang Seulgi. Baekhyun had become one of the close friends and brothers for Seulgi, as they usually had the same promotion schedules during their solo acts period. He seemed to know what had happened with both of them before, and never said anything. After all, it’s their personal issue, no outsiders can solve it for them.

Jongin didn’t speak up, very unlike him. He remained silent, while Junmyeon stepped in to explain that everybody had heard about the accident and immediately came down. Jongdae, Xiumin, and other labelmates are also coming once their schedules have ended. 

“Yerim, how’s Sooyoung?” Irene spoke up coarsely as she was equally worried for her dongsaeng, whose mental health wasn’t that great for these few years. This news had greatly affected her, as their friend/sister is in critical condition and their long-time manager oppa had passed away due to the accident just a few hours ago. 

“Sehun oppa’s with her, I called up Mama Park, she’s coming to the hospital to see her and Seulgi unnie as well.” Over the years, the maknae had really grown up to be the most reliable out of girls. However, she wasn’t coping well as her eyes were very red, just that she had to be strong for her older sisters. 

The ward door opened up as Seulgi’s family members walked out. All the attention went to them as if they were waiting for the verdict. Seulgi’s brother took a glance at the people who were outside the ward, and he laid his eyes on Jongin, astonished to see him here. Before their debut, Jongin frequently hung out with her and their family members knew each other. It was no surprise that he knew Jongin at a personal level. 

“Jongin... Sshi.” Jongin gave a nod to him as a greeting, while Seulgi’s brother blurted out his name before adding a suffix, probably shocked to see him here, when Jongin had seldom interacted with Seulgi for 10 and more years. 

Seulgi’s brother cleared his throat and began to let everybody know of her condition. 

“Right now, Seulgi is out of the critical condition, but she’s still in a comatose state. We don’t know when she will wake up… And even if