CHAPTER 1: FALLEN ANGEL

“Joohyun-ah! It’s time for you to go on stage!”

Bae Joohyun, better known to the nation as Irene Bae, was seated comfortably in her waiting room scrolling through her SNS when the unpleasant shrill voice of her manager rang through her ears. Her eyes twitched in irritation as she put her phone down.

“Wendy, how many times must I tell you…it’s Irene for you. Nobody allowed you to call me by my real name, so don’t do that.” Irene strutted towards her manager as she took off her coat, getting ready to go on stage.

Glitz, glamour, fame.

You name it, Irene Bae has it all.

Shooting to instant fame last year after her successful drama, Irene Bae was a name known in almost every household in Korea. I guess you could say, fame did get to the girl after all the countless CF calls and contracts she got, which resulted in the current Bae Irene that her poor manager had to deal with.

“Yes sorry IRENE…” Wendy grumbled sarcastically, sick and tired of the spoiled star.

Irene glared at her manager while she got her make-up touched up and before she left the room, she called out to Wendy.

“Watch your tone, you know who holds your paycheck right…?”

With that, the superstar smirked as she let the door slam behind her.

-

After a tiring day of non-stop schedules, Irene was finally home. She threw herself on the couch as she dug through her purse for her phone.

The screen lit up when she pressed on the home screen button and she thumbed through all the irrelevant tweets that fans spammed her SNS with on the regular, stopping at one text message at the bottom, seemingly sent an hour ago.

From: Babe

Hey baby, let’s meet at the Han River at 3am? Usual spot?

Irene smiled at the text as she typed her reply hurriedly, glancing at her phone clock as it was already 2.30am in the morning. She went to freshen herself up slightly before heading out of the door in no time.

Drumming her fingers impatiently on her steering wheel, she glanced around the vicinity for the sight of the person she was meeting.

Nobody.

It was already 3.10am.

How dare he be late when he was the one who asked me out…I will teach him a lesson later! Hmph!

About five minutes later, a silver Mercedes Convertible rolled up beside her Purple Mini Cooper (I mean duh, everybody knows purple is my colour. Mine and mine only.) and rolled down its windows.

Inside it sat a man with his polished hair and perfectly sculpted face, with a pair of Ray-Bans resting comfortably on his shapely nose. He slowly lifted his shades up and winked.

“Hey baby, I’m sorry! I got caught up at filming my new drama today! Ugh took me awhile to be able to sneak out…don’t be mad at me?” Park Bogum, nation’s up and rising male actor, whined, albeit cutely at Irene.

Irene tried to conceal the curvature of her lips as she could not help but break into a small smile. Afterall, this adorable man who was wanted by so many girls in Korea, was hers. She stealthily pulled up her scarf and pulled down her jockey cap, equipping herself with her essential pair of sunglasses at the same time. She got out of her car as she walked inconspicuously towards the Mercedes, slowly opening the door to enter.

As soon as Irene was settled in the car, she was engulfed by a warm hug from none other than her boyfriend. He pinched her nose as he grinned at her.

“Baby do you know how much I missed you?” he said as he ruffled Irene’s hair. Normally, whoever who dared touch Irene Bae’s hair would have gotten their entire family chased out of Korea, but Bogum was different. He just was. Irene smiled blissfully as she reached out to caress her boyfriend’s cheeks. She slowly pulled him towards her and…

It was all blissful and happy, everything you would expect of a typical Romantic Comedy drama.

But as romantic dramas go…there would always be someone trying to destroy the protagonists’ happiness…

And our protagonist Miss Bae was no exception.

*snap*

*click*

Again.

The hooded figure hiding behind the tree smirked in satisfaction as he stealthily fled the scene.

-

“Baby, did you hear something?” Bogum said as he pulled back slowly. He glanced around the entire area, however not a single soul was found. Irene too, scanned her surroundings carefully.

In this industry, if you snooze, you lose.

They must always be on their feet and alert.

“It must be my imagination!” Bogum grinned as he pulled Irene back into his arms. Irene smiled as she snuggled deeper into her boyfriend’s protective arms. The night soon passed real quickly and the couple parted ways to get their well deserved rest.

-

*RINGGGGGGG*

*RINGGGGGGGGGGGGGG*

Irene tossed and turned in her bed as she tried to shut out the source of noise that was currently disturbing her beauty sleep. She cussed out loud as she finally flailed her arms around aimlessly, looking for her cursed phone. When she finally got hold of the darned object, she squinted at the bright screen and was surprised to see her manager, Wendy’s caller ID.

I don’t remember having any schedule today…it’s supposed to be my rest day…

Why is that nuisance calling me at….EIGHT IN THE MORNING???!!!

She is so going to get it from me.

With nothing but anger in her mind, she picked up the ever-ringing phone and yelled into it immediately. It surprised herself, her own voice.

That’s what you get for disrupting Irene Bae’s precious sleep.

Wendy put the phone away from her ear and allowed the spoiled princess to vent her morning angst before she started on her main objective of calling the Devil this early in the morning.

Even Wendy Son didn’t have a death wish, but she knew she had to.

“Okay, Irene. Now that you’re wide awake from all that yelling, I have bad news for you.” Wendy said as calmly as she could into the phone.

“But before that, let me ask you a question. Are you dating?”

On the other side of the line, Irene nearly dropped her phone but she held onto it, although barely.

“W..w..what nonsense a…are you spouting?! Don’t ask stupid questions like these Mina! Not at eight in the morning! Actually, not at any time of the day…” Irene stuttered slightly at first due to her nervousness of lying to her manager, in turn, her company.

Wendy sighed as she cleared .

“Irene…just tell me the truth. We need to know the truth to help you.”

“What help? I don’t need any help! What are you talking about Wendy, you are getting ridiculous here!” Irene was almost pulling her hair out in desperation at her conversation with her manager.

“Ok