Irene woke up to an empty bed and incessant vibration from her phone. She did not even know when she had climbed into her own bed and fallen asleep. She must have indulged a little too much in her red wine. Her head felt heavy and she remembered the last thing she did was to exchange some texts with Wendy. Irene could not recall all the details but she vaguely remembered they even spoke on phone for a while. Irene had been hiccoughing as she complained to Wendy about how she had suffered through another humiliating day and that it was almost too much for her to bear. Wendy had said something to her but Irene could not remember exactly what she said.

Her phone had vibrated again but she could not care less and took her time to pick it up. It was Yeri and she wondered why her young manager was calling her when she had already reported that she was unwell the day before.

She picked up on the fifth set of vibration and was greeted by an almost hysterical Yeri.  

“Thank god, I finally got through to you. Irene, do not pick up any calls from the tabloid and do not open any social media pages. Do you understand? I am on the way to your place now.”

Still feeling groggy, Irene groaned in acknowledgement of Yeri’s warnings and went back to bed, oblivious to all the malicious content targeting her that was circulating madly online. 

**

Wendy was working furiously on her laptop as alerts came in perpetually. She had phoned Yeri in the morning to be at Irene’s side at once and that she had booked the earliest flight from Frankfurt back to Seoul but it would take another day before she would arrive. Once she got off the call, she had phoned several other contacts which included Joy to deal with this situation.

These filthy tabloid writers. It has barely been a day and they have already gotten hold of ‘evidences’ and used it to tarnish Irene’s reputation. She gritted her teeth at the thought of them. Those evidences ranged from an unnamed Director’s account of how Irene had showed poor attitude on set and insisted on modifying scripts against advices to rumours of how Irene was unable to work with her fellow labelmate. However, the most mutilating piece of evidence was a video of Irene threatening a ‘junior’ in the industry using a harsh phrase “I will make you regret your existence in the industry”.

Wendy ground her jaws in frustration. She should have taken better precautions and prevented Irene from suffering such backlashes especially when she was a victim herself. Now all Wendy could do was to scour for counter evidences and implore for tabloid writers to stop writing reputation-damaging articles.

Upon receiving a text from Yeri, a nervous smile stretched across her face and she plugged her airpods into her ears, carefully listening to its contents. Finally, she found what she needed and a relieved smile was replaced on her face.

**

Irene found her hands trembling uncontrollably as she scrolled down the pages. Even though Yeri was with her, she did not feel the least bit consoled. Each time Yeri had to excuse herself to pick up a call, she knew that the young manager was trying to do some form of damage control from her end.

Irene reckoned that this scandal of hers had costed her at least a dozen commercial deals and there were perhaps compensation to be made. Whenever Yeri returned to Irene’s side, Irene felt like apologising to the young manager for the mess she had created but those words of apologies were always stuck at the tip of her tongue and she could not vocalise them.

It has only been a day and a half since Wendy had gone to Frankfurt but Irene felt as if she had lost her soul. Once upon a time, Irene had experienced something similar, but back then, she did not have so much to lose and the criticisms against her were less venomous. Now, she felt as if she was suffocating, as if a hand was pushing her head underwater and a dozen other arms were dragging her limbs down. No matter, how hard she struggled, she could not break the surface and take in the breath she had needed so much. Perhaps she should have taken Wendy’s cautions seriously. That the entertainment industry was a harsh and unforgiving one.

“Yeri, tell me when all of this is over. My head is splitting, I want some rest.”

Yeri nodded urgently and attempted to follow Irene back into her room but Irene had stopped her.

“It’s okay, I will be fine by myself. I will leave my phone with you in the meantime. Wake me up only if its from Wendy.”

With worry in her eyes, Yeri could only acquiesce.  

Irene took some sleeping pills from her drawer and slept well for eight hours or so before she was being jolted awake. All the difficult moments that she had endured came back to her in a flurry and Irene could not get back to sleep for fear of bad dreams. She had huddled herself in the corner of her bed and that was how Wendy found her. Without saying another word, Irene had immediately lunged into Wendy’s embrace.

“Hush I am here now. I am sorry I was not with you,” Wendy cooed as she Irene’s limp hair.

She had only left her lover for three days and Irene had already become a different person from when she had left. Perhaps Irene had been suppressing herself all these times and that the emotions she kept hidden was just below a thin sheet of ice, vulnerable of surfacing once this barrier was broken through and it did. It pained Wendy, pained her to see Irene in such a state.

“I didn’t even mean it. What did I do that was so wrong? Who was that director who accused me of my poor behaviour? Why did that video vilify me? I don’t want to return to work anymore.” Irene said as she sobbed uncontrollably, breaking Wendy’s heart into smithereens.

“You did nothing wrong,” Wendy said firmly. “You were being you, you were being human. Irene, my love. Calm down. There are ways to settle this issue. I assure you.”

Irene shook her head. “And then what? More of such things will come up. You told me yourself, artistes like me are under the watchful eyes of the public, we are always under scrutiny and not spared of any criticisms. I thought I was already used to the harsh realities of this industry but all these things happened within a day and I realised I was not. I felt like the lowest lifeform on this planet, constantly being criticised and degraded.”

The crushing feeling in Wendy’s chest intensified as she listened to those words from Irene. She did not want to instil false positivism in her lover, not at this instant. Irene needed validity right at this moment.

“Irene, do you trust me?” Wendy asked hopefully.

Irene sniffled, withdrew from their tight embrace and looked into Wendy’s eyes. Wendy did not know what Irene had interpreted of the look in her eyes but she hoped that it reflected as much genuineness as possible because that was truly how Wendy felt.

Finally, Irene nodded. “Of course, why would you even ask.”

“Then come somewhere with me,” Wendy said. “We will leave all of this behind and you will trust me enough to follow where I will bring you to.”

There was some hesitation in Irene’s eyes this time round but not for long before she nodded. “I will trust you.”

A warm smile stretched across Wendy’s face as she replied, “let’s go.”

**

The next day, the melancholic feeling that Irene had felt earlier was not fully abated but with Wendy by her side, as least she felt that she could finally breathe. Wendy had not revealed her plans to Irene but as they rode in the four-seater sports car that Wendy had borrowed from her elder sister, enjoying the wind that whipped past them, Irene felt more liberated with each passing moment.

It did not even matter if her face was exposed because they were now outside of the city and heading towards… god-knows-where. Irene was never good with routes but judging by Wendy’s GPS. Wendy had also skilfully prevented Irene from seeing her phone screen and it worked. After a while, Irene gave up stealing quick peeps at the GPS.

Wendy was a skilful driver. One time, she was driving with just a hand on the steering wheel for an hour or so, the other hand intertwined with Irene’s. Another time, she could be conversing with Irene for another hour without getting distracted from the roads. What awed Irene most was that Wendy did not seem to be tired at all.

Finally, they had arrived, after approximately three and a half hour on the road, at a place that was most familiar to Irene. It was her hometown, Daegu.    

The last time Irene returned was during Lunar new year but only for half a day. Wendy had come back with her as well and they dined at her parent’s humble little restaurant that they had started just two years ago.

It was a Monday, and the restaurant was closed but as if anticipating their arrival, the doors to the restaurant swung open and Irene did not know why she felt so overwhelmed at the sight of her younger sister, Jimin, beaming at her. Then, without a word, her sister engulfed her in a hug.  

Jimin, was five years younger than Irene and was very much taller. They both shared a same trait; divinely good looks. However, unlike Irene whose good looks were refreshing looking, Jimin features were a lot more striking, including a smaller face and sharper chin, a more angular nose and almond shaped eyes.

“You’re finally here. Mother made me go out to check every car that passed or stopped by since morning to welcome both of you. She is still busy making your favourite spicy rice cakes.”

Then turning to Wendy, Jimin’s smile widened as she gave her the same embrace and addressed Wendy by her Korean name. “Seungwan! You look so tired from your flight! Mother say I must get you some herbal tea once you are here! Hurry, hurry get in, both of you!”

Wendy gave an embarrassed smile. “Jimin, you don’t have to… Just a bit of rest will do!”