m.o.n.s.t.e.r

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Twelve years ago, a woman committed suicide. Her body was found two weeks later in a condition that can’t be recognized again. Based on her belongings that the police found earlier, her name is Jang Mari.

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Bae Suzy, 27 years old. She is the nation’s sweetheart. No one in South Korea that didn’t know about her. Her angelic voice made her one of the big five singers in South Korea. Not just in music, she also earns the title actress. Almost all of her drama and movies ends with good rating. One of them even became the nation’s drama. She’s also a model, her beauty and supermodel figure awe people. Everything she wears becomes a hot item. Every clothing brand, cosmetic brand wants her to be their model. In other word, she’s perfect from top to bottom.

Suzy walks out from her agency office, JYP building. She just extended her contract there. JYP said that it was his biggest contract that he ever did in his agency life. She smiled, remembering her earlier conversation with JYP.

“Congratulations on your award Suzy. I recall that this was your 3^rd victory in a row?”

“Thank you sir and yes it is. I’m just lucky.”

“Ah…I wonder what you can’t do. Music, acting, model, you nailed everything. Last time I hear that you join a property business?”

Suzy smiled.

“It just happened that I like the house. The price suited me so I bought it. A reward for myself.”

“Hahaha…ok..ok…I won’t hold you again. What’s your schedule now?”

“Umm…I’m preparing my fan meeting tomorrow before I have my vacation in Maladewa.”

“Well…have fun on your holiday. Your phone will still be on right?”

Suzy laughed.

“I don’t accept job on my vacation sir…you know that.”

“I know..I know….See you later then.”

Suzy puts on her glasses. She nods when her junior greets her. She had a courteous conversation with some director. Give signature to her fans that had waited outside the building and wave to the peers that wants to take a picture of her.

“Miss Suzy…you always looks pretty…can you tell us what’s your secret?”

Suzy smiled.

“Eat well, rest well, and exercise.”

Her driver, Mr. Ok, was already waiting for her. He opened the door for her to enter the limousine.

“Where do we go now Miss?” ask the driver once he sees Suzy is comfortable in her seat.

“Straight home please…I have my massage appointment at 1pm.”

“Alright Miss…and by the way, my daughter said that she loved your new drama. She cried and cursed when you’ve been tortured there.”

Suzy smiled and look at him from rearview mirror.

“Thank you; give my greetings to her and your wife.”

“I will Miss…thank you.”

Suzy takes her coffee cup that Mr. Ok had prepared before. She likes it black without any cream or sugar. When she looks outside the window, she saw an ice cream café across the road. She read their special menu board and lost in her thought for a second:

(It’s been a long time since I had an ice cream.)

Mr. Ok noticed his boss sudden change, he follow her direction and ask, “Do you want to stop by Miss?”

The question makes Suzy comeback to reality. She shakes her head.

“No Mr. Ok…just keep going.”

“Alright Miss.”

Suzy sip her coffee and start reading the magazines that Mr. Ok also prepared. Elle, Vogue, Cosmo, Zin, all had articles about her inside. She always becomes their most wanted public figure. Countless time they had her as their cover. She read one of the articles, “Love Suzy”, the article tells about her and her love life. She had a lot of gossip with handsome actors, producers, singers but none of them were true. Her fanboys are everywhere. From young to old age. Everyone loves her. She smiled again, her life is perfect. All she ever dreamed of now becomes reality.

Suddenly Mr. Ok step on the brakes. Suzy got surprised and make her coffee spill a little in her dress.

“Ouch…What are you doing Mr. Ok?!”

“I’m sorry Miss…there’s a crowd in KKS building. Seems a lot of peers had gather there.”

Suzy looks outside. It’s true. So many reporters and cameras there. Suddenly she saw a woman figure comes out the building with bodyguards around her. The woman was wearing a scarf and big glasses to cover up herself from reporters and their camera.

“Isn’t that actress Yeon Seo? What happened to her? Why she got surrounded by the peers?”

Mr. Ok looks at Suzy from rearview mirror.

“I think it’s because her recent scandal Miss.”

Suzy becomes curious.

“Scandal? What kind of scandal?”

“Apparently the peers figure out that Miss Yeon Seo had done some plastic surgery before she’s become an actress.”

Suzy got silent for a moment before speaking, “Ah, what a shame. She was a talented actress.”

Mr. Ok smiled at Suzy.

“I think you’ll never know why she did it Miss. Natural beauty like you didn’t need any surgery. My wife always complain how she jealous of me, because I can see you almost every day.”

Suzy’s gaze is still focus in the crowd that surrounds Yeon Seo. She looks like she was crying and exhausted avoiding the entire camera blitz. Her bodyguards are busy to protect her way on her car. With a plain voice, Suzy tell Mr. Ok to find another way home

“Can you look for another way? I don’t want to be here any longer.”

“Yes Miss, I’ll try to turn over the car.”

The rest of their way home goes on in silence. Suzy looks like she’s thinking something. Mr. Ok try to reduce the quiet situation by playing classic music, Suzy’s favorite. Suzy close her eyes and enjoy the music until they got home.

After making sure that no belongings was left in the car, Mr. Ok greet Suzy and ask her what time he has to pick her up for the fan meeting tomorrow.

“At 8 A.M. will be fine Mr. Ok.”

“Ok Miss, is there anything I can do now?”

“There’s nothing for the moment. You can go home. Don’t forget to give my regards to Mrs. Ok and Jiyoung.”

“I will Miss.”

Mr/\. Ok bow again before leaving Suzy alone. Suzy entered her house. It was 2 floor luxury house with modern style. There are10 rooms in it, one of them as the main bedroom. Suzy only use the high quality furniture in her house. There’s also a swimming pool and a rooftop garden. She lives with her dog Damon in that big house. Every day, the caterer and house cleaning services comes three times in a day. When she’s come in, Damon is already waiting for her. She jumps and all over her face. Suzy laugh because of amused.

“Good girl Damon…Good girl!!”

She then plays a while with Damon. After that, she changes her clothes and prepared herself to accept the massager in her house. She needs to be perfect for tomorrow.

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The next morning, Mr. Ok picks her up at precisely 8 A.M. He compliments her beauty when he sees her. Suzy smiled to hear the compliment. Today, she’s wearing her peach dress that fall right in her knees and show off her beautiful shoulder blade. She arranged her long black silky hair into simple ponytail. She puts on a little make up, just mascara and lip gloss. But the truth is she doesn’t even need those make up. She wears open toe shoes and clutch bag that matched her dress.

Thirty minutes later she arrived at the site. Even though the show is going to start at 9 A.M., the queue is very long. Everyone can’t wait to meet her. Especially because after three days of the fan meeting, she’ll take her holiday in Maladewa for three weeks. Her fan screamed when they see her limo’s coming. They wave at her with all the strength they got. Some even start to cry. She opened her limo’s window and wave at them. The committee greets her and let her prepare herself.

At 9 A.M., Suzy open the fan meeting. She gave 1000 signatures and chat with them. She also took photos and sing together with them. Everyone is happy. She gives 100 lucky fans her newest album. But others didn’t come home empty handed, they received her posters completed with her signature on it.

After the fan meeting is over, Suzy massages her arm one by one. She feels exhausted but happy. She received many gifts from her fans. She already told the committee to send the gifts to her home. They promised to deliver it as soon as possible. Mr. Ok smiled when he saw Suzy massaging her arm.

“Exhausted Miss?”

Suzy smiled.

“Yes Mr. Ok…I hope my fans are happy with this fan meeting.”

“I’m sure they are Miss. I didn’t hear any complain from them from the start to the end of the show.”

“I hope so…now I’ll just wait for the gifts to be send in my house.”

“I really admired you Miss.”

“Why so Mr. Ok?”

“On my career as a celebrity driver, I never saw a star loving their fans like you Miss. Bae. Sometimes they just look great outside but inside they’re a mess. They didn’t reply their fans letter and tell their assistant to reply it, pretending to be them.”

Suzy blushed. Mr. Ok continued his story, “They hate when their fans greet them in the street. But you Miss Bae, you always reply those fan letters and always had that beautiful smile on your face. You really deserve the title Nation’s Sweetheart.”

“Stop it Mr. Ok, I’m blushing like crazy right now. Without fans, I’m nothing. And for the title, I owned it because my drama was a big hit at that time.”

“You’re just being modest Miss. I remember that was your first drama and they straightly chose you as lead role. I remember the street become empty at 7 P.M. because they choose to stay at home and watch you on T.V. than go out. ”

Suzy smiled.

“Yes, it was my first time acting and since that drama, they offer me a lot of drama and movies.”

“I’m so happy that I’m able to work for you Miss. Bae.”

“Thank you Mr. Ok.”

Suddenly Mr/ Ok turns off the engine. Apparently they already got home. Mr. Ok got out from the limo and opened the door for Suzy. After making sure that she didn’t need him anymore, he bid her goodbye.

At 3 P.M., the gifts came. Suzy told the courier to put them near the living room. She took some of it in her arm and put it on the couch. She’s planning to open them one by one while watching T.V. She search for the remote control and turn on the T.V. It seems that Yeon Seo’s scandal had been the headline news in all channels. Every time she switches the channel, there’s news about her. She watches one entertainment new where the anchor was discussing about Yeon Seo.

Female anchor: “I can’t believe that she did all those plastic surgery and just recently caught.”

Male anchor: “Yes, she could pass as my neighbor with her real face.”

Both: “Hahahahaha.”

Male anchor: “You’re getting prettier day by day…are you doing some plastic surgery too?”

Female anchor: (quickly shake her head) “Of course not! An excellent make up is all I need to maintain my beauty.”

Suzy scoffed to hear her explanation.

“Yeah right…even if you do it, you wouldn’t dare to confess it on the national T.V.”

“I don’t know that you’re into this news Miss. Bae.”

Suzy look at the person who just speaking with her. It’s Mrs. Kim, the cleaning lady. She puts a cup of black coffee in front of Suzy.

“Thank you Mrs. Kim” she smiled, “I feel sorry for Yeon Seo. Her career is going to drop real fast. She was a good artist.”

Mrs. Kim nods with agreement.

“I agree Miss. Bae. Poor woman.”

After saying that, Mrs. Kim went back to her work. Suzy was still watching the news but her mind is now wandering. There’s one thing she hate in this entertainment world at South Korea. Beauty is everything here. Even though you’re a talented person, you can’t reach higher position if you’re not pretty or handsome as their standard. The situation gets worse if you got plastic surgery and the netizens know about it. Fake, phony, ugly, , even monster is what they called you. She heard that most of her celebrity friends doing plastic surgery secretly in their trusted doctor. She knows some of them, and she could swear that not a day in their life they’re not feeling worried.

Suzy let out a big sigh, and then she drinks her coffee. It’s a little bit hotter than she ask for. So she quickly put it back on the table. She stuck out her tongue to try to reduce the heat. She turn over to her pile of gifts. One gift caught her attention. It’s a medium black box covered with glossy black paper. Her fans never gave gifts with black paper as a cover. Usually they wrap their gifts with colorful paper and decorated it with spirited notes. But this gift, it was wrap by glossy black paper only. Curious, she took the gift and feel that it’s light. She wonders what could be inside, so she shakes it a little but hear nothing. Just the sound like paper inside. She considered opening it now or later, and she decided to open it now.

She carefully opens the wrapping paper. One thing she like from opening gifts are their wrapping. She tries not to ruin it. Finally she opened it, and found a cardboard box in it. She opened it, and found a lot of paper cut that’s cover up an envelope.

(No wonder it’s light)

She took out the envelope, no name or address in it. Hesitantly, she opens the envelope and took out what is inside. A picture came out from the envelope, a woman picture. But the picture had great effect on Suzy. Her eyes popped out, her heart beating fast, her hands tremble that she accidently nudged her coffee cup. It fell on her feet and the heat start to burn.

“Kyaahh!!”

Hearing her scream, Mrs. Kim hurriedly came. She saw Suzy winced in pain while holding her feet. Mrs. Kim went straight to take care of the mess. She looks at Suzy’s feet. It’s now burning red. Worriedly, she ask, “Are you okay, Miss? You look so pale.”

Suzy tried to smile.

“It’s okay Mrs. Kim. I just need to put running water on it. Could you clean the mess? And if you’re done, you can go straight home, no need to greet me.”

Suzy rises from the couch and try to walk. Her step become cripple because of the pain. She winced in pain every time she walks. Mrs. Kim took a hold of her arm.

“Are you okay Miss? Where do you want to go? I can take you there.”

Suzy let go of Mrs. Kim’s hand. She waves her hand, gesturing that she is ok. She gives her a slight smile.

“I’m okay Mrs. Kim. I’m going to my bedroom. I don’t want to be disturb by now.”

“Alright, Miss Bae.”

Mrs. Kim looks at Suzy from behind until she enters her bedroom. After Suzy close the room, she is back to clean the mess. Luckily, the cup fall into the carpet, so it wasn’t break. She took a cleaning for carpet and let it there for a while before scrubbing it. After a while, the stain started to vanished. Mrs. Kim is smiling proudly with her job.

Suzy soaked her feet in her bathtub. She opened the tap and let the water run to her feet. She was still holding the picture in her hand. The picture now became crumpled because Suzy squeeze it so hard. She looks at it again fearfully.

After feeling the heat started to vanished. She turns off the tap and wash her face in the wasteful. She looks at her reflection in the mirror in front of her. She saw a scared face looking at her. Her hands tremble again. She washed her face again and again to reduce the shock, but the feeling became worse.

She got out from her bathroom and sit at the edge of her bed. She looks at the picture again, hoping that this was only a dream, a bad dream. She turns over the picture and found a number is written behind it. Hesitantly, she took her phone and start dialing the number. She bit her nail while hearing the waiting sound. Her heart stop beating for a second when finally someone answer the phone. It was a man voice, “Halo…”

“H..Halo..”

The man on the other side is laughing when he hear Suzy’s voice.

“Hahahahahaha! I see that my gift is in your hand now Miss. Bae Suzy.”

Suzy grip her phone hard.

“Who’s this?”

The man laughs again.

“Let’s just say, that I’m an old friend of yours.”

“You jerk! How did you get that picture? As far as I know, the one who’s responsible for it is no longer alive.”

“Tsk..tsk..tsk…watch your words Miss. Bae. You wouldn’t want me to get angry right?”

Suzy become silent when she hears the threat.

“What do you want?”

The man laughs again.

“Now, that’s more like it. I think you know what I want.”

“Is it money? How much do you want?”

“Smart girl….humm, I think 25 million will do it.”

“25 million?!! That’s a lot of money!”

The man’s voice becomes threatening again, “But don’t you think it’s a small price for the secret that you’ve been keeping for all this time? I wonder what your fans will do when they…”

Suzy cut it before he managed to finished his words

“Okay…Okay! You won! Just tell me how you want to take the money.”

“Hahahahaha….good girl…I’ll text you the details. Don’t try to call the police…oops…Wait, I think you wouldn’t dare to call them.”

And then he hangs up the phone. Suzy throw her phone in her bed. Fear is now control herself. Her hands can’t stop shaking. She clenched her fist to reduce it, but it failed. She covers up her face. Try to think how she can get out from this trouble.

“I need a way out….and fast.”