A sea of fluorescing purple wands shook in unison to the rocking beat. People started headbanging to the thumping of the bass guitar as the cymbals and the drums joined in sync. The wail of the electric guitars crashed into the melody. Laser lights shot from below the stage and danced like lightning rods into the air. The concert hall was filled with tens of thousands of fans cheering and chanting for one bright star. The concert had just started. 

The music continued to play and the entire stage dimmed except for one very luminous spotlight at the center. From the base of the stairs, a figure slowly ascended to the top. Finally, it was Kim Taeyeon. Donning a long vest of black feathers that accentuated her fierceness amidst a small body, she watched as the crowd waited for her to raise her mic. She stared distantly into the spread of people with zealous eyes that would make anyone tremble. The crowd cried as the first howl of the music's lyrics echoed around the stadium. The hallyu star lifted her hand and her voice bounced from the speakers, feeding eargasm to every individual in the audience.

"RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!"

Like a sea nymph, the star's voice sirened into the floating air and fused with the mourning reverberations of the guitars. She banged her head in rhythm with the music and shook her small body into the beat, her short blonde highlights swinging gracefully everytime. Her deep but piercing dark eyes on her pale face appeared on the giant screens beside the concert stage. It was mesmerizing, almost hypnotizing to the ones watching. She forcefully shot her right arm up into the air and started singing.

"gin teoneol sog-eseo isungan eul gidalyeowass-eo night and day"

 She brought her hand down slowly and bent her body, screaming out the lyrics in descant. 

"Naean-e teojilgeoman gat-a poliyoga deullyeo ijen meomchul suga-eobs-eo...Run devil run! Run devil run. Jabido-eobs-eo nunmuldo eobs-eo modeun geol naega da meog-eochiulkkeoya. Run devil run! Run devil run! Sarang doe obseo ugiji maraijen neol naega jibalb-abeolikkeoya~"

She shook her body wildly into the music as male dancers joined her in a human body expression of angst. The audience was  tantalized with Taeyeon's amazing vocal prowess and her stage domination. The background voice wailed again into the evening air.

"RUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

She crouched her body as she exhausted her lungs.

"RUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

She bent her back and cocked her head. Bursts of flames erupted from the base of the stage as she prepared to scream into her microphone.

"My devil's CRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!"

She snapped her head in sychrony to the ending note of her introductory music and everything suddenly went dark inside the stadium.

After three long hours of performing, the crowd cheered loudly as the concert came to an end. Credits rolled down the humongous screens and the crowd shouted encore to the stage. Another video came up and it played a clip of Taeyeon talking to the fans and thanking them. She looked dead though, as if the words she relayed were severely scripted. It didn't dismay her fans though, as they continued to chant and cheer. Rock music played again in the background as the short tribute ended and the fans started to move slowly out of the concert arena.

-xxx-

"Everyone good job tonight! Everything went smoothly and we were fully packed, as expected!"

The producer of the concert cheerfully exclaimed at the backstage. He bowed and thanked everybody who were involved as staff for their hard work. 

Taeyeon arrived at the backstage with a bottle of water in one hand and a small white towel in the other. She wiped her neck from sweat that trailed from her performance as she walked through the crowd. Everybody's eyes were on her, waiting. 

"Congratulations Taeyeon-ssi!!!" They clapped in unison to congratulate the young singer which broke the rather silenced atmosphere after she arrived.

Taeyeon let out a small smile and bowed slightly to everyone as she continued to walk through. She had no intention of staying amidst the crowd but before she fully left the mob, she paused and thanked everyone. Her greetings silenced the folks once more, like a small rock crashing into the surface of a calm pond.

"It was an alright run tonight. I noticed a bit of a problem with my audio but managed somehow. I hope that doesn't happen again. It's annoying to adjust to the speakers and the crowd. Anyway, you guys have fun after the concert. Don't bother me. I want to rest."

Although she had bowed and felt grateful, everyone noticed that there was a hint of coldness in her actions. Taeyeon heared the others on the side whispering and murmuring bitter words, however, she just deafened her ears and continued to walk to her waiting room. Everyone was still silent as Taeyeon disappeared into the small room backstage.

Once the door was closed, Taeyeon heard the cheers and merriment outside. She consumed the last volume of water in her bottle and threw the container in a bin. She missed her shot but didn't bother picking the bottle up. She then slumped herself on the red couch and propped her feet up on top of the glass coffee table. Exhausted, she sloppily tossed the small towel she had been using into the spare chair oppposite the couch.

Another concert done. Completed. Finished. What number is it now? How many performances have I made since my training days?15? No. 32? I should probably have reached over a hundred now. I lost count last year.

Taeyeon thoughts faded as her eyes wandered into the long table and her dresser. Both were filled with flowers and cakes from fans and fellow artists. She stood up from her seat and caressed the petals of some of the bouquets that were lined up. She could open up a flower shop with all these floral arrangements in her room. She scoffed at the idea in her head.

She scanned through the other items: the usual stuff, fan made letters and artworks, plushies, flowers, and even packets of red ginseng extracts. She was amused with the same gifts that were given to her over and over again but she was searching for something in particular. From her peripheral vision, something caught her eye. A bunch of purple flowers was wrapped in simple ivory creme floral paper.

 Ignoring all the other items, she approached the small bouquet of larkspurs. She picked up the tiny envelope that was stuck between the blossoms and inspected it. On the flap of the envelope was a wax seal which Taeyeon broke as she opened the letter. On a small card bedecked with a line of gold borders were these words.

"You will always be my first love."

                                               -S

Memories kicked in. It was past 11 that evening. Everyone was packing up and yet two figures inside the dressing room were arguing. Sobs could be heard from a frail lady before the star.

"Why are you doing this?" Taeyeon screamed in disgust.

The other turned around, eyes glaring directly into Taeyeon's own pair.

"It's all too hard Taeyeon. It's frickin hard."

"No, don't do this. Please, I beg you". Taeyeon fell on her knees and pleaded but the other person remained unmoved.

"Tell me why. Give me a f---- reason for this?!" she started to cry, confused from the mixture of emotions filling up her chest. She was still in her concert clothes and make-up yet her eyes already trailed a waterfall mark of tears.

"You're a star...you're a hallyu star  Kim Taeyeon." she said, turning around to evade any more confrontation.

Taeyeon's forehead scrunched up, folding as her eyebrows raised. She threw over some of her bracelets on the sides and pulled up her sleeves.

"Bull! So what? I don't give a tiny damn!" Taeyeon stood up and rushed to the other person. She grabbed the person's arm and swung the body before her so that they came face to face.

"That's enough Taeyeon. This is goodbye." The other backed off a step and started to walk out.

The hallyu star flung her arms outward and crashed her lips into the other. She felt the other kiss back but suddenly a throbbing pain welted unto Taeyeon's right cheek. The shocked idol reached up to her face and felt the mark of disbelief from the slap.

"I'm sorry"

The last word was whispered by the other girl as she took another step and tears welled into Taeyeon's eyes as she saw the other person leave. 

"Yo. Taeyeon."

"HEY!"

"Hello? Yo! Earth to the hallyu star?"

Taeyeon's manager came into the waiting room and found her standing in front of the long table of flowers. Taeyeon came to her senses as she heard the word hallyu.

"What?" Taeyeon responded sternly, almost like a robot which only had aggravated emotions programmed inside.

"I moved your flight in the afternoon at 3 pm instead of the 7 am that was reserved. We'll be leaving for the airport from the hotel after lunch. We're going to back to Seoul by the evening." the tall but built older guy reported to Taeyeon softly.

"What's up with the change?" Taeyeon bent her head and asked.

"Ughmmm...the counterpart producers from here in Bangkok wants to have a celebratory party for your successful concert." he said, inspecting the other gifts in the room. "They'd like to-----"

"You go." Taeyeon cut in, not letting her manager expound further.

"Taeyeon. You know this is protocol. It's good manners to at least appear for a while in the party." The manager reprimanded.

"I already told you oppa, I don't like parties. I go, I sing, I perform. Done deal. I don't have to rub elbows and up to them in any way." Taeyeon brushed past her manager, intentionally hitting him by the shoulder.

Fed up with the hallyu star's obnoxious attitude, the manager reached in and grabbed Taeyeon by the wrist, pulling Taeyeon back to where she stood initially. "Will you stop and listen Taeyeon? This is for your own good!"

"Let my hand go and I'll forget that this happened." Taeyeon hissed between gritted teeth.

"What's wrong with just showing up and disappearing afterwards. Even for just 5 minutes." The manager pleaded, this time seeing he had mistakenly awoken wrath from the hallyu star. 

"I said let go." she hissed coldly. Taeyeon's eyes pierced through her manager, who had served her for not more than 3 months.

It was then that the manager realized why Taeyeon was called a devil.  Men of different ages had applied for the position of handling and managing the hallyu star. Yet, nobody lasted. Nobody could control her.

Taeyeon twisted her arm and pulled off the hand with the card still tucked in her palm. She stepped up to her manager.

Even though the well-built guy was taller and could very well clobber Taeyeon, he only cowered and shrunk as Taeyeon overpowered him with a deadly glare.

Taeyeon crumpled the small card in her hands and walked over to the table. She grabbed the bouquet of purple larkspurs from the top and  trudged back up to her manager. Without a blink, she threw the flowers in the thrash bin behind him.

The manager, who was slightly trembling from Taeyeon's intimidating stare, jolted. He meekly asked Taeyeon.

"Why'd you do that?"

"None of your business."

"What? How can you disregard all these gifts from your fans?" he asked, shocked from the disregarding attitude.

"It's just because I'm a hallyu star.", Taeyeon replied bitterly to her manager and turned around to pick up her bag to leave.

"Hallyu?" the man asked once more, baffled. "But those are gifts!"

Taeyeon kicked the door open and flipped her short hair. Nothing was stopping her in any way. " it oppa! I said I'm a ing hallyu star! I can do whatever I want!"

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(Translation)

I have waited in this long tunnel for this moment, night and day,
I can feel it about to explode from within, I can hear the roar.
There is no stopping it now.

Run devil run, run devil run,
There's not even mercy, there's not even tears,
I will consume everything.
Run devil run, run devil run,
There's no such thing as love, don't make me laugh
I will stamp you to the ground.

Run! Run!
My devil's cry!