IDOL
Click the audio below to hear the author (Stephanie Conti) give a one minute overview of “IDOL”!
Plot: An American photographer working in South Korea faces the terrifying and bizarre reality of their new world after photographing the dead body of a renowned K-Pop star, who took her own life through a publicly displayed suicide.
Warning the following short story is graphic as it revolves around the topic of suicide and sexual abuse.
Teaser
I could feel my brain perceiving the tone instantly as a sign of caution, the type of scream you never want to hear. It's not something that could ever be mimicked accurately through Tv shows, movies, or hell, even music. A bone-chilling siren that grabs every nerve you have, trying to brace you for something horrid. The young woman before me released that scream before dropping to her knees in the middle of the city street. Frozen, she kneels as if fearfully faced with god almighty. The middle-aged man at the cafe places my latte on the counter before running out to tend the lady, who now slouched over, imitates a lifeless puppet on the floor.
In Korean, he kindly consoles her and questions her. She trembles, a response from the man placing his hand on her back. I took a sip of my latte and looked around during the busy 7 am streets, burning my tongue in the process.
It's my 5th month living in South Korea, what was supposed to be a two month Coca Cola campaign ended up becoming an almost 6-month ordeal. Big business and their big ideas, wanting to bang it all out like its nothing, you know how it is. Executing a grand idea in the wrong location. About two months ago a nuclear power plant in Seoul was infiltrated by a North Korean spy. The spy became an employee for the plant several years prior, continued ranking up, and once he felt comfortable he threatened to rig the power plant to explode. They killed him immediately, but it took 2 days to figure out that he had messed with the reactor before his death and successfully released some radiation into the atmosphere. I don't know exactly how much, I'm not a nuclear scientist but I can definitely say that I will not be getting any x-rays done soon. I don't know what would have killed me first, excess radiation exposure, or staying another 34 days alone trapped in my rental.
Finally, as if on command, the woman drew her finger up to the sky. Birds flying and circling a lantern on the top of the apartment building in front of us. As the Korean sun came up quickly on us, I realized that it wasn't a lantern.
