Bright lights. The cheer of hundreds and thousands of people. Her name falls from their lips, chanting it like a prayer. It was rhythmic and her heartbeat matched each word.

         Jung Soojung.

         Krystal.

         To many, she was an angel. She was Korea’s Gem.  From the covers of international and worldwide magazines to billboards all spread out across Seoul, Her face was everywhere. Everyone knew who she was. It would be a crime not too. The fact that she wasn’t that good in singing in singing didn’t matter. Or that her acting needed so much polishing that it was almost unbearable. All that mattered was that she was beautiful. She possessed a charm that was only blessed to a select few.

         Human beings were so shallow.

         “When will our sponsors send me those bags they promised me?” Krystal asked as she walked, heels echoing in the studio for today’s photoshoot for Vogue Korea. Make-up artists followed her, retouching her make-up for the shoot they were about to do for a new clothing line. Who better to advertise them than her?

         Her manager looked at her, bewildered. “But they just sent you three full outfits, Krystal. Isn’t that—“

         She stopped in her tracks, eyeing her manager with her ice cold glare. “I will have those bags. Call them and tell them I want to use it. They’ll be the ones to profit from this anyways. Not me.”

         She turned her attention to the make-up artists who continued to poke and pinch her face with concealer and irritably tsk-ed at them. She didn’t need make-up. Even bare-faced she was flawless, gifted with baby soft porcelain skin. Noticing her bad mood, they stopped and just stood there. Krystal sighed heavily, whispering underneath her breath. “So incompetent.”

         She left the both of them staring at her back as she walked to her chair, checking herself in the mirror. The two make-up artists were joined by her manager who bowed at them apologetically. “I apologize for her behavior. She’s usually not like this,” she heard him say.

         They smiled a little at him and bowed back, saying it was okay though she knew they were lying. Even her manager could hear them whispering amongst themselves as they walked outside of the studio to take a break.

         Wonbin walked towards Krystal, looking at her with concern in his eyes. With the way she is continuing to act, people will continue to spread the truth about her behavior. The company had tried to shut down various articles, tone down the so-called rumors but it did not prevent people from talking about it.

         The more people talked about it, the more people will start to believe. No one wanted to hire an ill-mannered star no matter how famous they were. If it weren’t for him talking things through with most people, she wouldn’t have anything in her schedule. But Krystal didn’t realize that.

         “Soojung ah…” He started, voice gentle. He rarely used her real name.

         “Hm?” She asked, tilting her head to the side, admiring her features reflected on the mirror.

         He stepped closer to her, lowering his voice. “You know… About what we talked about yesterday…”

         Krystal turned in her seat, looking at him blankly. “Oh? You telling me I’m a disrespectful that is hard to work with and I need to work on that or else my career will be at stake?”

         Nodding, he opened his mouth to say something more but was stopped when the girl raised a hand in front of his face. “Do you know how much I’m worth?” When he nodded, opening his mouth to speak again, she shook her head. “Of course you do. But you seem to forget that sometimes. Every single part of this body,” she said, gesturing at her frame, “Is worth a fortune. My face is worth a fortune. These people won’t have a successful ad when they release it if it weren’t for the fact that I was the model they picked. The same goes with all of the other people who hired me. Never forget that.”

         She stood up from her seat, walking towards the rack of clothes, the coordinators picking out the next outfit she was to wear. Her manager shook his head, sitting on the chair she just sat on and watched as she entered the dressing room to change.

         How could he argue with that? She was right. No matter how much people disliked her attitude, she was in demand. The public didn’t care whether she was rude or not so long as she projected an image that was believable enough.

         This was the reason why the staff simply tolerated her. Krystal was nice enough to the directors since she was good at taking orders. She was good at doing her job. Sure, her acting needed polishing but there really was something special with Krystal. How Woobin wished she was good at treating the staff with respect as well.

         Silently, he watched as she stepped out of the dressing room, looking every bit as a high class socialite in a sleek suit that made her curves stand out, the royal blue contrasting with her blood red hair. She looked great in everything.

         The photographer was shouting out orders for the staff to get to their places. Wonbin saw it. Her whole aura changed. Gone was the bratty and spoiled girl she spoke with earlier. This one was a top star.

         “Jung Soojung…you really are impossible,” he whispered, sighing.

---

         “Hyung, I really, really need a job or else my Mom will send my back to America,” pleaded the girl on the other side of the phone.

         “Yah, you rascal. It’s your fault for running away in the first place. Why are you dragging me into this?”

         “Woobin hyuuuung.” 

         The older male sighed, tapping his foot against the asphalt as he waited for Krystal to finish signing autographs for the fans that stormed the front of the agency just after they arrived from her shoot. The whine in the girl's voice really got to him. He was weak against this girl. Much like how she was weak in front of Krystal. It seemed that he was only this weak around girls.

         She was smiling and bowing, thanking them and asking them what they wanted her to write. They weren’t that many and she was accompanied by the security guards that usually guarded the front entrance of the building. He was waiting by the van so they can drive off immediately.

         He let his childhood friend talk, not really following what she was saying as his eyes stayed on Krystal. An idea popped inside his mind and he leaned back from the car just as the fans left. “Say, you did learn karate when you were a kid up until high school right?”

         There was a pause from the other line. He guessed that she was rather confused so he went on, talking quickly. They couldn’t waste any more time. “I’ll send you an address via text. Hop on a cab and I’ll pay for the fare when you get here.”

         “But hyung—“

         “Trust me, Amber. Now get dressed before I change my mind.” After he said that, Woobin ended the call, walking beside Krystal who didn’t even bother to wait for him. She always had that habit and he scolded her for it more times than he could count but today, he just let it pass.

         He was grinning from ear to ear as they walked towards the elevator. They were to meet up with the CEO to discuss Krystal’s contract renewal.

         The younger girl seemed to notice his unusual behavior. “Why are you smiling like you just won the lottery?” She asked, raising a brow.

         Instead of answering, he shrugged, stepping out first when the elevator doors opened, waiting for her to walk ahead of him. Krystal gave him a look of curiosity but deciding that it wasn’t that important, she simply didn’t ask any more questions. Oh if only she knew what he had planned.

         They were greeted by Sooyoung, the CEO’s secretary. She smiled at Woobin, and when she looked at Krystal, her smile disappeared. “He’s waiting for you,” she said, walking in front of them to open the door to the boss’ office.

         Nodding once, Krystal and Wonbin entered the office. It was decorated in a slightly…unique manner. Their boss loved his leopard prints. Everywhere you could see either a leopard or the print itself: a figurine stood on desk, there was a few leopards in porcelain behind his desk and one beside his couch. It was rather tacky and Krystal never understood his tastes.

         Right now he was sitting on top of his desk, wearing leopard-printed Doc Martens. She let out a rather audible sigh. Her manager shot her a look of disapproval and she could only shrug.

         “Soojung. It’s nice to see that you're still your usual self,” he commented, gesturing for them to take a seat on the sleek leather sofa.

         Krystal slipped her hands inside her pockets, crossing her leg over the other. She sat down comfortably while Wonbin sat upright, clearly tense. Krystal might not like this meeting.

         “It’s nice to see your taste hasn’t changed, uncle.”

         Heechul laughed, shaking his head. He pushed himself off of his desk, turning around to grab the contract. He sat down on the armchair and they began their discussion about necessary changes, plans for the next five years and projects Krystal wanted to take part in. There was also talk of her salary which has incre