Chapter Text
The Seoul winter was unforgiving, but the interior of the Olympic Gymnastics Arena was a furnace of artificial light and screaming fans.
Kim Taeyeon sat in the back of her black van, eyes closed, listening to the muffled roar of the crowd outside. This was the "Golden Era." To the public, she was the untouchable vocal queen, a woman whose voice could move a nation to tears. But to Taeyeon, she was just a girl who hadn't slept more than four hours a night in three years.
"Five minutes, Taeyeon-ah," her manager whispered, sliding the door open.
She stepped out, the cold air hitting her like a slap. She was greeted immediately by a flurry of stylists, one dabbing at her t-zone, another tugging at the hem of her lace gown.
As she walked toward the backstage entrance, she saw the source of the commotion currently happening on stage.
Jessica Jung.
Jessica was mid-performance. She was the "Ice Princess"—a title she wore like armor. She didn't have Taeyeon’s warmth or her "girl next door" accessibility. Jessica was high fashion, sharp angles, and a voice that cut through the air like a silver wire.
Taeyeon stopped by the monitor. She watched Jessica hit a high note, her face perfectly composed, not a single bead of sweat ruining the porcelain finish of her makeup. It was irritating. Everything about Jessica Jung was a calculated masterpiece of effortlessness.
Jessica finished her set with a sharp, dismissive tilt of her head. As she walked off the stage, the transition was seamless—Taeyeon was called up.
They crossed paths in the narrow, dimly lit corridor that led to the stage stairs.
Jessica was surrounded by a sea of assistants holding water bottles and towels. She looked exhausted, her chest heaving under the sequins of her corset, but as soon as her eyes landed on Taeyeon, her expression hardened into a mask of bored indifference.
Taeyeon didn't move out of the way. She stood her ground, forcing Jessica’s entourage to slow down.
"Good job," Taeyeon said. Her voice was flat, devoid of any real praise. "The pitch was a little sharp on the bridge, but I doubt the fans noticed over the backing track."
Jessica stopped dead. Her stylists hovered nervously, sensing the sudden drop in temperature. Slowly, Jessica pulled the crystal-encrusted in-ears from her ears, letting them dangle against her collarbone.
"And here I thought you were too busy practicing your 'humble leader' smile in the mirror to actually listen to my set," Jessica replied. Her voice was silk over sandpaper. She stepped closer, invading Taeyeon’s personal space. "Don't worry about my pitch, Taeyeon. Worry about your own. You look like you’re about to faint. It would be such a shame if the 'Nation’s Voice' cracked on the first note."
"I’m fine," Taeyeon snapped, her jaw tightening.
"You look gray," Jessica countered, her eyes scanning Taeyeon’s face with a clinical, cruel precision. "Maybe you should stop trying so hard to be everything to everyone. It’s pathetic."
"Pathetic?" Taeyeon let out a dry, humorless laugh. "I’m the one topping the physical sales this quarter, Sica. If being liked by the public is pathetic, then what does that make you? The girl everyone loves to watch but nobody actually wants to know?"
The air between them hissed. Jessica’s eyes flashed with a momentary hurt that she immediately buried under a layer of frost. She leaned in, whispering so only Taeyeon could hear.
"They don't want to know me because I don't let them. You? You give them everything until there’s nothing left. And when you’re empty, they’ll move on to the next girl with a pretty vibrato. Enjoy the view from the top while it lasts. It’s a long way down."
Jessica brushed past her, her shoulder hitting Taeyeon’s with a jarring force that sent a shiver down Taeyeon’s spine.
Taeyeon stood there for a moment, her heart racing not from the upcoming performance, but from the sheer venom in that interaction. She hated Jessica Jung. She hated how Jessica could see the exhaustion she tried so hard to hide. She hated that they were the only two people in this entire building who were truly alone.
"Taeyeon-ssi! You're on!"
Taeyeon took a deep breath, plastered on the "humble leader" smile, and stepped into the light.
But as she sang her heart out to ten thousand people, all she could think about was the coldness in Jessica’s eyes—and how badly she wanted to break it.