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      A youthful looking man lounges on a bench outside a booming arena in Jeju. His leg jitters up and down. "Joon-Woo!" He turns his head immediately at the sound of his name. A tall and lanky man stumbles out the door and onto the sidewalk. He looked out of breath. "We've been looking for you everywhere! You guys are on in 25."

 

      "I'll be there in a second." Joon-Woo fakes a smile. "I just needed some fresh air." He waits until his Manager re-enters the building and his smile quickly fades. "Damn." Before getting up, Joon-Woo shoves a small plastic bag in his jacket pocket. 

 

      Joon-Woo enters the small arena that was highly decorated with his band's promotional photo shoots; he stops to look at the pictures and scoffs before continuing on. Joon-Woo—who prefers his stage name Alec—is a third member of the K-Rock group A3 (pronounced Triple A). Alec is the Sub-Vocalist, Guitarist, Songwriter, and Face of the Group; Adonis was the Lead Vocalist and Visual; Ace was the Main Rapper and Drummer. They were on tour throughout Asia and Jeju Island was their second to last stop before ending in Seoul. 

 

    Their stage was brightly lit and his other band mates were in deep discussion on top of it. Adonis swiftly turned in Alex's direction as he walked down the aisle. His hands rested firmly on his hips. "Where have you been? Ace and I have been practicing non stop while you've been out doing god knows what."

 

      "I know this music like the back of my hand. I wrote it after all." Alec states.

 

      Ace scoffs and rolls his eyes. "You're one smug son of a ." Adonis places a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

 

      "Look, we've been a band for what? A year? And we're always at each other's throats." Adonis' features soften up a bit. "We know your condition, all we ask is that you give us one hundred percent—"

 

    "I need to use the bathroom." Without another word, Alec makes his way backstage. A familiar presence lurks behind him. "I don't need a babysitter."

 

      A3's personal bodyguard Kang-De follows close behind Alec. "They're only worried about you. You've been distant lately ever since she died. You have to let them help."

 

      "Stop analyzing me! You are NOT my therapist! I pay for one of those." Alec's hand rests on the door knob. "Now do your damn job and watch the door."

 

      Alec shuts the door behind him with a loud thud and locks it while he mentally curses. He hated that everyone always worried about him. Looking into the mirror, Alec turns on the faucet and splashes his face. The cool water was enough to remedy his overheating body. 

 

      He hated what he saw in the reflection.

 

      The concealer under his eyes wasn't enough to cover the purple bags that hid underneath it. His lips almost bled due to the lack of hydration and his skin was covered in a thin layer of sweat. 

 

      He hadn't realized he was crying.

 

      But he knew the real reason his appearance was sub-par. And that reason hid in his jacket pocket.

 

      Reaching his pocket felt like he was reaching into an never-ending abyss-dark and deep. Alec's fingers latched onto the small bag as he removed it from the deepest part of his leather jacket. Holding it up to the light, Alec glanced at the two pills, but he didn't know what he was feeling.

 

      Was it desire? Hunger? Was it deeper than that?

 

      But Alec knew that whatever happened, these pills would always be there for him. Not A3. Not Kang-De. Not even his fans.

 

      So Alec began to crush those pills to a powder. He snorted them and instantly felt a weight lift from his chest. Then there was a loud bang.

 

      "They need you on stage." Kang-De yelled from the other side of the door. "The fans just started piling in."

 

      "I'm coming." Alec made sure to hide the evidence and exited the bathroom. He came face to face with Kang-De. "Let's do this."

 

      The night swirled by and before they knew it, A3's concert was almost ending. They we're on their last song, dedicated to their fans. Alec had wrote it especially for them and also sang lead.

 

      "A3 would like to dedicate this song to our fans. You've been with us through everything. This song is called 'Start Again'." Alec stood in the middle and gripped his microphone tight. "This one is for you."

 

      The music began to start slowly and resonated throughout the arena. It was Alec's time to sing, but nothing came out. Suddenly, the room began to spin and Alec heard whispers as something dripped onto this micro-phoned hand. Looking down, his hand was stained scarlet and the music stopped. 

 

      "Alec?" Adonis sounded worried but he couldn't see what was going on. 

 

      Then Alec fell.

 

      Cries rang out from fans as the staff and A3 members rushed to Alec's side. Kang-De reaches for the skin under Alec's neck. 

 

      "There's no pulse."

 

Just as a reminder, this book will only include the first 5 chapters and the rest will only be available on Wattpad.com. You can find me at the same username.