Capítulo 25: A series of unfortunate events

~ OMG guys the names of the judges have been revealed!

~ Now the stupid sheep can stop bleating about partiality.

Three judges had been invited on short notice. Despite their busy schedules, all three had agreed.

Min Hyeyoon, a classical soprano singer from the Asia Philharmonic symphony who was taking a break to rest her voice since it had been strained after a long season of performing all over the continent. She had agreed to be a judge when Tae-Hyun had asked her.

Lee Joon-Young, a solo artist who had won several international awards for his music. He was a good friend of Tae-Hyun and had agreed to judge the competition.

Choi Hyo-Jung, an acclaimed music critic. One word from him could make or break the career of an upcoming artist.

With such a unique panel of judges coming from different sectors of the music industry, Lee Tae-Hyun had ensured that neither the participants nor the public could cry foul about the result when Sun Young-mi eventually ended up winning.

~ I don't know who the participants are but I'll watch the competition for Joon-Young oppa.

_____

'Everything is ready,' Ji-ho texted Iris. The latter had made elaborate arrangements to drug Jessica via a sealed water bottle that looked the same as every other bottle available for the staff and participants. Ji-ho wouldn't drink it of course, but she could pretend. Whatever proof she needed from Iris was already stored away and she didn't have to play with the twit anymore.

The concert was to begin in an hour and Ji-ho was already on the road, heading to the Obsidian Rose stadium where the competition would be held live in front of an audience of 60,000 people, it's maximum capacity.

A large portion of the tickets was bought by fans of FOX, followed by INO stans, then the other competitors. A total of five of them were left after Lee Tae-Hyun had declared they would be performing live. Social media was already awash with lively comments from the fans who were making bets, fighting, and creating a nuisance of themselves online.

Ji-ho checked the general trend of support and found that FOX was the clear winner by popularity. It was no surprise to her because the singer had established herself as one of the best technical singers of her generation. She wasn't the best but her name was out there. On the other hand, Iris was known for her pop style and lively stage presence. She was the lead vocal of INO but her skills weren't comparable to FOX. The third in popularity was Sun Young-mi because the audience had heard her rendition of Wildflowers and knew she had serious vocal skills.

~ FOX is the clear winner. I'm already calling it. Anyone who says otherwise hasn't heard her live performance of Cloudless during the winter gala at Luminary hall. Give us the same energy goddess!

~ I'm surprised that Iris is competing against FOX lol. As her junior doesn't she know how skilled her unni is?! Stay in your lane sis. This isn't a playground where pop singers are allowed entry.

~ I'm rooting for the underdog, Sun Young-mi <3 what cloudless? Have you heard of windflowers?

~ Can someone tell me why tickets are so expensive? Just one song and they're charging us like it's a whole concert. -_-

~ Hyeyoon is so pretty! Ah... What did producer Lee do to convince her to play judge? She doesn't normally come for such things.

Ji-ho was already very familiar with Hyeyoon's name and agreed with the commenter. The woman's beauty and elegance were like that of a snow-white swan gliding across a clear lake. She felt honoured to be part of a competition where Hyeyoon would be judging. As for the other two judges, Joon-Young was a very handsome man in his late twenties. He had plastic surgery done on his nose though he denied it. The small alteration had drastically changed his overall looks and he appeared more attractive and charming. He was much younger than both Hyeyoon and Hyo-Jung who were in their forties.

"Watch out!" Ji-ho screamed to the driver when a young boy suddenly came running onto the road to chase after his balloon which he'd accidentally let go. Reacting instantly, the driver swerved to the right and avoided hitting the child. At the same time, a motorcycle driver who had been right beside their car careened straight into the side of another vehicle as it tried to avoid the boy. The rider was thrown off and flopped onto the middle of the road like a rag doll.

"Oh my god," Ji-ho said in shock. She could suddenly feel the man's life counting down steadily. If someone didn't save him then the man would die there on the road, too late for an ambulance to get to him.

"Miss, please stay in the car," the driver pleaded with her when Ji-ho slammed the door shut. A crowd was forming around the man, taking pictures, but no one was trying to help him. "Miss Sun!"

Ji-ho ran past the gathering pedestrians and the crying child whose mother was shushing him.

"Someone call an ambulance," she shouted to the crowd. She would have done it herself but the man was dying. There was no time to waste.

"Hey, aren't you Jessica?" Someone in the crowd shouted as camera flashes began to erupt.

"It's Jessica."

"What is she doing?"

Ji-ho ignored the crowd and began checking the man's breathing and pulse. He had neither.

"Call an ambulance," she looked up at an older woman and singled her out. "Please."

The woman nodded and hurriedly took her phone out.

Ji-ho began CPR on the man, desperate to save his life because she was so rattled by the knowledge of his impending death. If this knowledge was a part of being employed by the Afterlife Facility then she didn't want it at all. At least without it, she could pretend that his life wasn't on the countdown.

"Does she know what she's doing?"

"How will a celebrity know anything about saving lives?"

A murmur began to spread through the crowd and Ji-ho realised that if the man died, people would find a way to blame her. It wouldn't matter that she was the only one who was even attempting to do something about it. They only cared that Jessica was pinned to the cross for condemnation.

"You're making it worse," someone unhelpfully commented.

"How?" Another one retorted angrily. "She's doing CPR correctly. Shut up if you don't have anything positive to contribute!"

"Who the hell are you? A doctor?!" The one being scolded shouted back.

"No, but I was trained while working as a lifeguard. Just fuck off from here."

An argument broke out between them as Ji-ho single-mindedly did compressions on the man's chest. It seemed to take forever but when her arms began to tire and become sore, the man's eye brows moved and his chest rose on it's own.

"He's coming to life!" Someone shouted. "He's alive!"

Ji-ho sat on the ground feeling such bone-deep relief as the countdown disappeared from her mind. The young woman was unfazed by the crowd who was pointing their phones at the accident victim and then towards her. Someone was even running a steady commentary about what had happened there.

She heard the sound of sirens and stood up thinking her job was done. Alas, a uniformed man came through the guard and identified himself as a policeman by his uniform.

"Excuse me miss, you'll have to wait here," he told her.

"Why?"

"We need your testimony for an accident eyewitness report so you can't leave till the traffic investigation staff arrives."

"I have somewhere to be," she told the officer. "Please-"

"Ma'am, your vehicle was involved in the accident. It's unfortunate but you'll be detained till-"

"No, no, a kid ran across the road and the bike swerved because of it. My car has nothing to do with the accident," she told the officer.

"I'm sorry ma'am but you'll have to wait here."

Ji-ho ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. She turned to look at the medics that had finally arrived and were loading the semi-conscious man onto a stretcher. She then looked at her watch and sighed. There were more people now crowding around her and taking videos.

Ji-ho took out her phone and dialled Tae-Hyun's number. His phone kept ringing and ringing but there was no answer.