Part 1: Medicine

Sooyoung crouched behind the heavy blue curtains, hugging her knees. She stared at the wooden platform beneath her, listening to the roar of the crowd and the vibrating, steady crash of the bass. There was a boy group performing before them. Three more songs - just ten minutes - until she would be on that stage. In front of thousands of fans, in front of cameras that would show her performance to a million others online. She wrestled with a wave of nausea. Vomit, hot and burning, filled , and she was only able to fight it back with a gulp of water. She should’ve brought her medication today. It made her sluggish on stage sometimes, but it prevented things like this from happening. She tried a meditation technique that her therapist had taught her. She inhaled deeply through her nose, keeping her eyes shut tight, focusing only on the sensation of air filling her lungs. Then, she exhaled, a long puff that made her lips feel pleasantly cold. She repeated this over and over, feeling her muscles relax, her pulse slowing, her stomach-

    The crash of fireworks marked the end of the boy group’s performance. The sound seized every bit of her attention, and her heart leapt into . She let out a sharp cry and flew to her feet. She moved like a woman in a trance, blurring past crew workers and managers, stumbling as she tried to run in her heels. She had no idea where she was going, but she needed to get away. The fireworks continued, beating against the inside of her head like death drums. She had to get out of there, get as far away from this place as