Chapter 11 (bonus) - Shine Again

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Now, 2 years later (March, 2027)

Yujin's officially lost it. She just got fired 5 days ago from her job as executive director at Fearless Music because she defended an innocent idol of hers from a bullying scandal. How fucked up is that? If there's one thing Yujin will never let go of, it's her protective, motherly instincts she's had so many years to hone. Wonyoung is traveling the world doing her actress things, her friends are all scattered, and she's never felt more alone than now.

Her eyes flutter open and immediately lock on to the clock; 7 PM. Oh my god! Her nap took a little bit longer than she'd expected. She'd been moping around the house all day, silently complaining to herself about the miracle of aging, how at 33 she's already looking like an aged fossil. Maybe it's the alcohol doing its thing.

She walks into the kitchen and absentmindedly grabs yet another shot of vodka to try and drink away all the pain. Before she can, though, she spots the pictures on their wall. Classic relics, memories all frozen in time; her wedding, her moments with Wonyoung, with Le Sserafim, with herself before this whole mess.

She decides she's had enough being alone. Wonyoung will always be hers, but she's off in France (again) shooting her latest project, so she won't be home until August. She grabs a beer, plays the vinyl of Endings on her record player, and lets the memories come flooding back.

--

She passes out, again, until 3 in the morning. She's depressed, yes, but somehow also full of motivation. She just wants to curse all the gods up there who are making her life miserable.

With renewed vigor, she grabs her blueprints. Operation Rock Out is all engines fire.

First, she rings up Wonyoung. It's 8 PM in France right now, so she's just about to wrap up her film schedule.

"Yuj, babe, what's up? Why are you up so late?"

"Just missing you, Wony. How's filming going?"

"It's going fine, but I miss staying local. It's hard being so far from you."

"Yeah, my life's not much better. But you know, I was looking at all the pictures up on our wall. I kinda wanna sing, do music again. There's only so long I can go without it, you know? It gets so tiring just doing management. I wanna get my hands dirty again." Yujin said with a hint of sadness.

"Babe, but your condition! I don't want you getting sick again..."

"Eh, fuck it, Wony. I'm not getting younger, I should just live life how I want it, right?"

"Yuj, are you going crazy or something?" Wonyoung practically scolded her from the phone.

"I may have been slightly, veeeeery slightly inebriated when I made that decision."

"Oh my fucking god babe, please for the love of God, lay off the alcohol! You're only making things worse!"

"Wait babe, but here's the thing. I don't want to do it alone. I miss the old life too much. I just wanna know whether you'll still support me."

"Of course hon, when would I ever not support you? Ok, fine. I'll let you do your whole music gig thing, but you can't start until I get back in August. And someone else has to do the singing, not you. We good?"

"Can you just please let me start already?"  Yujin said pleadingly. "For my sake. I want to have purpose, to do something I actually love again."

"Fine, fine. But at least promise me when I get back, you're gonna stop going crazy and fuck me like you've never fucked me before. Now, are we good, baby girl?"

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