The End of the Nation's biggest stars.

The seniors were laughing at him, they'd tossed the food he'd bought with what little money he had on the ground. He'd purchased the steaming bag with big smiles from the granny down the street. It was his favourite store, one that he had to get up and queue for from the crack of dawn. It was famous for tasting like cotton candy clouds that melted on the tongue.

His seniors would love that.

JieMi had watched those donuts roll across the cement, and then a heavy boot crushed the rings of frosted sugary goodness. His cheeks had burned, embarrassed and he didn't know what to say, his lips trembling. Tears burning at the back of his throat at the way they'd shoved his donuts aside. He was young then, just fifteen, and he didn't quite understand the world.

'Which dumbass bought all this for us?'

'Why would we eat this sugary crap?'

They'd laughed then, shaking their heads as they blew rings of smoke from their lips.

'Newbies, they still can eat sugar?'

'Idiot, he will never debut like this. Another wasted 'talent'.'

He had squirmed, words choked in his throats, his eyes wide and shivering. He didn't know they wouldn't like donuts. And maybe…Maybe, he should have known that they wouldn't like it. He should have bought salads and water. He should have known—And then Ha-Eun stepped in with anger hot in her eyes, an angel from the heavens. His saviour.

'What are you talking about? Why are you so mean to the newbie? He bought them for you!' She'd knelt to the ground, picked a donut and took a vicious bite out of the broken, dirtied frost. 'It's delicious! It's from that super famous store down the street.'

They'd stammered out words of apology, then agreed that it was a waste. He watched as they took bites out of the dirty donuts from trembling hands, admitting that they had made a mistake and the food had slipped from their fingers.

She'd turned and smiled at him sweetly, and that had been an arrow straight to his fleshy heart. She was everything he wanted to be, tall, beautiful and kind. She was ridiculously famous then, a child actress turned super model. And she was trending and rising in fame, so much more experienced than him as a senior in the industry. She was his goddess in everything.

She'd dragged him to a corner after the shoot, and had asked for his number with a coy smile that made his heart flutter in his chest. Maybe, it had all been adoration, but he accepted because she was his idol. He accepted because he was floored by her actions. He accepted because he truly, truly liked her. He believed in fate, and what she'd done had been something he'd only seen in the like of fairy tales and soulmate romance.

He considered that she might be his soulmate.

'I'll help you out. I know you'll be a big star.'

He should have known what she was doing, but she was nice and she was kind. She listened to him, and she treated him like an actual person, so different from the others in his industry. So while the words of that trainee buzzed in his head, he shook the feelings of unease off when she asked to take his virginity just two weeks later.

She'd gifted him a few thousand dollars just before that. It paid for better diet food, iron pills for the team, vitamins and things. It paid for rental for a better home that didn't make Sieon's sinuses clog up, and wasn't just beside the train. They needed the money for better things that would make a world of a difference, and he promised to pay it back. But she waved it off saying that it was just something she would do for a friend.

Then she asked to take his virginity, and the rejection had caught in his throat. He was afraid then, nervous and scared but he couldn't say no, right? It would be wrong to say no after she'd helped him out. She just liked him…Right?

'You're so lucky you know? I'm not like the old ones.'

The old ones?

'My first was a 60-year-old man. It stopped the bullies so I don't regret it, and he gave me the deal that changed my life.'

Oh. His brows knotted, lips twisted as his head spun with thousands of excuses. She couldn't mean what she was saying right? It was all just in his head, right? This…This was real, right? He bit on his lips.

'But I really, really like you.'

JieMi had blushed and stuttered, his eyes were once again clouded by pink dust and rose quartz. He was over-reacting, over-thinking. She loved him, just as how he loved her. 'I like you too. W-we could be together?'

'Maybe. We'll see. The industry doesn't like it, but I'll continue helping you out little boy.'

She did help him. It was easier for the tiny group from a tiny department to slip into the crevices and enter the place where the monopoly thrived. His brothers had cheered, and declared that their hard work was paying off. They'd celebrated with alcohol, even gave him a little sip for fun.

JieMi agreed to their words, but inside the guilt burned and ate at his throat.

And then he worked really, really hard. He wanted to prove to himself that he didn't climb up the ranks just because he was pretty. That it wasn't just because of Ha-Eun that he'd debuted. JieMi was a beautiful dancer with a strong voice that could shake hearts and wrench out tears. The determination to succeed must have translated to something because they were soaring before they knew it.

And they climbed up the steep cliff, each step a painful tug to their sore muscles. They'd imagined that the scenery would be much more beautiful high up in the sky, imagined that it would be so much better up above the trees that blocked their way.

But it was hot up there, and the air was thin and difficult to breathe. The path was steep, and rocks tumbled when they tripped, threatening to slide and cave. They turned back, looking for a way out, but going back was harder and the moment they took a step they would fall to their deaths. So all they could do was climb.

But the higher they climbed the hotter it got, and the spotlight became overbearing. It began at first, as kind words from genuine hearts. It began at first with their first pay check after two years of work. A black premium credit card, a car, a house for his parents, a penthouse for himself.

He had alcohol and good food. It was amazing, it was incredible. He'd lifted his chin when he saw the seniors that once belittled him and he'd laughed behind their backs. They were assholes that now begged for him to be on their show.

They started to run up the steep rock at the sight of blue sky. Their laughter echoed as they cheered. They would finally be free from the darkness of the trees that shielded their path. They would finally go to the heavens.

But then those kind hands changed into sharp thorns over his skin. The soft gentle light that made his stage into something magical, transformed into heat that seared his pale skin. His fans were no longer supporting his body and he was tossed high up into the sky with wings that didn't quite work. He prayed and he cried, he begged them to not let go.

But they did when he needed them the most, they did even when they swore they loved him. Stardom was lonely, so lonely, and he tried to explain it to Ha-Eun, but even she had festered into something he didn't recognise. Her jealousy transforming into hatred, and later obsession. He fended for himself, he tried to stop the attacks, tried to not let the words of fans get to his head. He tried to distance himself. He tried to run from reality. And then he plunged.

They burst forth into the clouds and they stared wide eyed at what they perceived as freedom. It was an endless abyss of blue, a never-ending stretch that led to nowhere. There was no further path, no platform to stand only the colour blue above the clouds. There was no heaven, only the sky. It had been a futile chase. And their knees buckled as they collapsed to the ground, the next step over the tip resulted in a lost of footing. And they plunged.

It was times like this when he wished that he weren't a singer. And it was then when he wished he didn't say those words when he was seven, and maybe, maybe things would be different. Maybe, he wouldn't crash and dip. Maybe, he would be happier if he experienced a normal education and a normal childhood. He would cry over his school results and laugh with his friends; his world wouldn't revolve over the burdens of an idol but that of a young boy and his grades.

Maybe he would have been happier if he didn't chase stardom and fame. But the money wasn't what he'd been after, nor was the fame or the lust, all JieMi ever wanted in life was to entertain. He wanted to bring joy to hearts and sadness to those who needed it. He wanted to inspire, he wanted to help, he wanted…He wanted, he wanted to perform. That was all.

He just wanted to sing.

He shouldn't have made these wings.

Tied together with hot glue and bundled by rope, they were once strong in the air.

They let him glide over the seas and the forests, they brought him to where he wanted to go.

But they grew weaker under the sun when heat blazed, and his body melted and dripped.

His wings were dropping, tearing apart, liquifying.

And then he was falling down and down and down.

The meeting ended, and JieMi sat numbly in his wheelchair, his mind blank and his lips parted. His members were talking, but their words washed over his head a soft buzz of sound. He didn't know what they were talking about…But they left him on the bed after a kiss to his forehead, and promised to get him some apple juice and his soulmate. The two came hand in hand in his life, the best of medicine to his broken heart.

Mechanically, he'd taken his phone out then, turned on the app and switched on the livestream. It was a routine to set up, it was easy for him to click on the settings and fiddle with the filters so that his skin would be pore less like oodles of hot fudge and sticky marzipan.

He'd smiled at the camera, watched as the numbers climbed to 20million then 30million, and then he sighed. The people here were curious, the people here were vicious and his eyes darted to the comments that streamed in a hundred different languages. He caught sight of some in his language, and his heart was pricked by their words.

Betrayer.

He gulped, eyes watering, face crumpling, as he read.

Betrayer.

His heart was aching, and it hurt so much that he pressed a hand to his chest, fingers digging into skin.

Betrayer

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry," he whimpered, looking down at his hands, and he gave his fans a watery smile. The tears blurred his vision and then they were warm trickles down his cheeks. "Goodbye, my STARs."

And then he ended the last livestream he would ever give as a member of IDOL.

Breaking: IDOL disbands, removed from AirSound Entertainment. The End of the Nation's biggest stars.