02 | puissant

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02

puissant

( powerful, strong and capable of
influencing)

20th December, 2019

KO YEO MIN could feel the nervousness build up inside her. She tried to distract herself, shifting her eyes towards the stage infront of her. Ha Joon seemed oddly calm, his back relaxing on his chair, clearly enjoying the jokes that were being cracked by the hosts on the stage.

Time was running unusually slow. Her category was coming some time soon. There were a couple of performances and other categories before that. She had her speech ready too in case she bagged the award. She tried to go through the lines again in her head.

"Calm down, Yeo Min-ssi." Ha Joon whispered, noticing how she was shifting nervously. "The cameras are rolling. You might be filmed at times."

"Oh, yeah." Yeo Min realised, taking slow deep breaths to pacify her tensed nerves. It was unprofessional of her to act that way.

A large screen was put on the extreme right side of the stage. Sometimes, the happy and smiling faces of known celebrities were being shown there, most of which were of Mun Yeong. Obviously, she was having the most screen time considering how she was the uncrowned queen.

"So ladies and gentlemen, one of the most important categories of today. The 'best female lead'. Here are the nominations."

The screen immediately changed into a  series of short clips of the nominees of their films. Three out of eight were of Mun Yeong.

"Here, we have our senior artist, Go Ha min. Please announce our winner." Lilac clapped as an elderly man walked onto the stage.

Go Ha Min was indeed old. His back was hunched and his face was full of wrinkles. The once celebrated actor had a pair of round glasses pushed back on the bridge of his nose. He had a black envelope in his hand which he opened and pulled out a shiny card.

"Han Mun Yeong for 'Hidden Desires'." a small smile bloomed on his lips as he announced the name while holding the microphone.

The hall erupted into cheers and chaos. The audience and the other celebrities clapped and congratulated Mun Yeong. She rose from her seat, elegantly. Tae Joon immediately pulled her in for a hug, which she gladly accepted. Of course, a total show.

Min Cecelia was eyeing everything, clapping herself. Well, not the typical villainess that tries to barge into a smooth relationship. She was being nice. Yeo Min found herself wondering about how she would have felt if she was in Mun Yeong's shoes.

It was just Mun Yeong's world. She was the main character. Yeo Min couldn't help but succumb to her outwardly charms.

She just watched her in awe. Would she be able to reach those heights oneday? Would she be a shining star of the film industry?

Mun Yeong had proceeded to get up on stage and take the microphone from Go Ha Min, by then.

Her eyes twinkled as she thanked her fans first. There was laudation from the audience's side.

Yeo Min listened to her thank you speech. Well written and heart touching. Mun Yeong shed a few drops of tears earning herself the heart of her fans.

"She's so down to earth. Look at her, placing her fans as the ones who won the award actually. She's definitely a gem of the Hallyu wave." gushed Yeo Min.

"You wish. Those tears are fake. Trust me, you would get to understand everything with time. Fans are just getting emotional about some mere dedications. Do you actually feel that she is so well connected to her fans from the core of her heart?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Yeo Min was not ready to come out of the built up universe that the celebrities had knitted for their fans. Well, she was a fan herself. Mun Yeong had been an idol she had worshipped since the beginning of her struggling days.

Mun Yeong had completed her speech by then. She had kept it short but impactful. She had moved a few to tears. That's how it was whenever someone talked about genuine struggle. One mistake and you're out of this glamourous world.

"Moving on next, we have our 'Best Female Lead Debut'. This year had seen many great rises of female leads. From box-office to people's review, we saw future promises for the film industry."

Yeo Min grabbed the handle of her seat tightly. Excitement and tension bubbled within her. She tried to mull Ha Joon's words around her head. She was expecting too much for her first time. She tried to relax, feeling the complete opposite of confident.

The nominations were being displayed on the screen. She felt her cheeks flush as she was showed on the screen too. The audience clapped. Were they acknowledging her work? A warm feeling of gratitude bloomed in her chest.

Another senior actor was called on stage to announce the winner. Na Min Hyuk, the veteran actor.

"I gladly announce Lee Min Ji as the winner of this category." he spoke.

A sharp pang of disappointment hit her. After all, she wasn't going to win that easily.

Ha Joon was quick to place his hand on hers and hold it to console her. He smiled at her, tenderly. Yeo Min returned the smile. Tears pricked her eyes but she wasn't going to let them drop.

It was okay. It was okay not to win. She was going to work harder next time. She had the love of the audience and an amazing co-star like Ha Joon. A mere piece of metal couldn't affect her that much. Eventually, with time she would get her hand on a couple of those.

"Excuse me. I gotta go to the bathroom." she excused herself.

"You want to go now? I mean, they are filming."

"They can always adjust. It's not like the camera would be focused on me."

She slowly rose and walked towards the exit. She needed to fix her makeup and take some time to console herself.

She noticed that Mun Yeong was nowhere to be seen. Tae Joon was sitting alone.

That was weird. Why would an influential actress go out in the middle of the filming?

"She might have her reasons." Yeo Min brushed away the thoughts from her mind.

She ambled over to the female bathroom, which was a few steps away from the main hall room. The loud music and voices was still audible in the corridors.

The corridors had no staff. She was expecting to meet a couple on her way. The security seemed to be a little less for an award show.

She pulled open the door and stood infront of the big mirror. The bathroom was brightly lit, her reflection seeming quite radiant in the mirror. She hopped out of her heels.

Well, wearing stilletos were a pain of its own kind. She took deep breaths and pulled out a lipstick from her bag and touched it's tip on her lips.

Her feet suddenly felt wet. The floor wasn't wet when she had entered. She looked down to see if it was water.

A pool of thick crimson liquid was emanating from the bottom of the door leading to a lavatory. Yeo Min's hands felt jittery. What was happening behind the door? She tried to pacify her racing heart.

It seemed like blood. Where would blood come from in a bathroom like that? That too, such a huge amount?

The next thing she knew was her, pulling out her silver hairpin from her hair. She stared at the carved metal stick for a few seconds. The only weapon she had at that exact moment. It had a sharp end. A mediocre thing to protect herself.

She tip-toed her way towards the door. She was holding onto the metal hairpin in one hand and her gown with the other hand. Slowly, she touched the door knob.

"Is everything alright?" she asked, her voice low and shaky. Something within her gave her a red alert. Something was terribly wrong.

As expected, there was no response from the other side. She felt silent for a while, contemplating about what to do in such a situation.

"I'm opening the door." she took a deep breath, her eyebrows knitted together. She must prepare for the worst scenario.

The door was unlocked to her surprise. She held the door knob with shaky hands. She pulled open the door in one go.

Her heart stopped.

Han Mun Yeong sat on the toilet seat like a mannequin. Her lifeless eyes were staring at the ceiling and her long dark hair cascaded down her shoulders. Her mouth was open, her tongue sticking out, or rather, half of it. Blood was trickling down the freshly cut mass of flesh.

A knife was resting on her stomach, the red fabric of her dress, wet from the flow of blood.

A scream echoed in the bathroom. Ko Yeo Min fell on her knees, her white gown soaking in the blood that was disembouging from Mun Yeong, on the white marble floor.

Blood. Blood. Blood.

All she could see was red. Red on Mun Yeong. Red on the floor. Red everywhere.

Her eyes fell on the other half on the cut tongue that was lying on the right side of the commode.

She closed her eyes in horror. Tears streamed down her face, her body going numb and cold in shock. She released a few screams that floated down her throat, all raw.

Sweet Mun Yeong. The goddess, Mun Yeong. Who did this to her? The fall of such a great personality in a place that was unthinkable.

The door of the bathroom flung open suddenly. Lee So young, a budding side - actress walked in. She was about to go to a lavatory but stopped seeing Yeo Min.

The two women stared at each other for a while. Yeo Min probably looked like a raving lunatic, sitting on a pool of blood, smudged mascara and with tear stained face.

"What -" So Young stopped in the middle of her tracks."I heard a scream from the corridor. What in the world is going on?"

"I- I can explain." Yeo Min instinctively glanced towards the lavatory."Please don't scream."

"What's happening? Why is there so much blood -"

So Young was quick to walk over, her stilletos getting marked by the blood on the floor.

She gasped loudly, seeing Mun Yeong. Yeo Min couldn't meet her eyes.

"Did you murder her?" quivered So Young, seconds later, disbelief rolling off her tongue. Her palms were on her mouth, eyes momentarily shut.

"I did not. Trust me, I discovered her." Yeo Min spoke, raking her hair with her hands that had dried up blood on them.

So Young ran. She ran out of the bathroom. She did not buy her words, obviously. Yeo Min couldn't bring herself to get up.

The next few minutes were a blurry series of events for Yeo Min. Staff of the awarding ceremony started flooding the bathroom.

A pair of strong hands grabbed her by the shoulders. She was too blanked out to make out who it was. She gazed numbly into nothingness.

She was pulled up from the floor, almost forcefully. A female staff held her tightly and escorted her out of the bathroom. She was made to walk towards the hall.

When Yeo Min entered the hall, the entire hallroom was watching her. A few celebrities retched seeing her blood stained dress.

"Please calm down. We are trying to get a hold of the situation. The police has been informed. Do not panic and do not try to leave the scene." a supporting staff continuously announced it on the stage.

Yeo Min was made to sit down on a chair secluded from the rest. She caught Ha Joon staring at her, worry reigning on his face.

Fresh tears streamed down her face again. She tried to distract her mind by thinking of other things but still she ended up replaying how she had discovered Mun Yeong.

"Do you think that girl over there did it? What could have been her motive?" Yeo Min heard a whisper from nearby.

"Who knows? She could have been some stalker fan from the past. You know how these days we get chased."

"But isn't she an actress herself?"

"Literally a nobody. Must have been some revenge stuff. I just pity So Young for seeing that sight. She's drenched in blood. Of course, she's the killer."

Well, her identity was now at stake. It was about to be a very long night.


[WORD COUNT : 2108]


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