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#201: K-popular

South Korean girl group Blackpink recently made history by becoming the first Asian act to headline Coachella, performing in front of over 125,000 people (and millions more tuning in via live stream). This isn’t the first “Korean Wave” (or Hallyu) to reach foreign shores; before Blackpink and BTS there was PSY with “Gangnam Style” and groups like BIGBANG and SHINee, to name just a few. Now we’re on to a 4th generation of idols taking over social media with dance challenges and catchy tunes.

K-pop is a fascinating universe with some of the most dedicated (and at times overbearing) fans in the world. Like all things, it comes with the good and the bad. Behind the uplifting messages, the discipline, and the talent also lies a high-pressure industry, one which has sparked debates about artist exploitation and the price people are willing to pay for fame. This week's prompts are inspired by K-pop, its fans, and the dizzying highs and lows of megastardom.

🥇 Winner

“The Bequest ” by Chris Miller

🏆 Winner of Contest #201

“I’ve always said it was a great big rat. You know the ones. Big as a puppy. A Parisian tourist terrifier. But any rat looks big when you find it lying dead in a box on your doorstep. It makes an impression.”I picked up the block of Perspex from my desk and leaned back in my creaking leather chair.“As you can see, it’s probably only about average size, if that. Although it looks much smaller stripped of flesh and fur.”The shearing jaws were set in a perfect pincer. The thin spine and the ribs so fine, they wouldn’t have looked out of place l...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Neptune's Lair” by Mike Panasitti

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #201

When I met her, word on the street was that Esmay was beyond help.Her friends called her “crazy” and “borderline.” By the religiously-inclined of former times, she might’ve been thought of as demon-possessed.During drunken fits she’d get into fist fights or threaten to throw herself from freeway overpasses.She walked a thin line and repeatedly upset rumors of her demise, taking immense pride in being what she called “stronger than dirt.”She had a breathalyzer in her car. Two years ago, she’d overturned her Hyundai in an incident where s...

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“There, Now I Can Breathe” by Hazel Ide

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #201

Content warning: Depictions of anxiety.It feels like the walls are closing in; the stench of linseed oil, body odor, sweat, and rusted metal permeates the air around me. Closing my eyes, I attempt to ignore all the unfinished projects, but I can't keep my eyes from darting around all the tiny parts littering the table.It was the bezel that did me in. Whatever tenuous hold I have on my sanity slips as my hands shake, and I wipe my sweaty palm on my denim apron and try once more to smooth out the bezeled piece, rounding the edge of the pocket ...

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“Graduation, Dreams, and Ospreys” by Lee Disco

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #201

TW: LanguageThe living room smells of smoke, cloying ash lodging into my sinuses. The misty heat from outside wafts down the chimney and creates a palpable shift in the temperature around the fireplace—I sit in front of it and press my hands against the wooden floors, noting how the humidity seems to make them dip under my fingertips, makes them soft and waxy.The heat eases the shiver under my skin, cold from the drenched suit, the source of the dripping that rings into the quiet, empty home. I tap a pattern out on the floor, but with my wan...

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“The Chevelle” by C. Charles

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #201

The white lines flashed by in the headlights of the Chevelle as it rolled along the highway. The clock on the dash read a little after three; the road was empty. The morning commuters wouldn’t hit the road for another hour or so and the late shifters were already gone. The car was a ‘70, fully factory restored. Cole had done all the work he could himself and sent away for the work he couldn’t. Rewelded, repainted, rewired, and rebuilt. It even had the original radio. After the ranch, it was the first thing he had bought himself once the...

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“Garbage at Communication” by Mortimer Ridgewood

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #201

Looking out across the sea of plastic chairs, I can already feel an impending ache in my arms. The Innovation Concert Hall is absolutely covered in confetti. Small, star-shaped pieces of shiny, colorful plastic gleam underneath the harsh venue lights, clinging to every surface. Of everything it could be, I think to myself, Why did it have to be confetti? It's not even paper. If it was paper, we could just dissolve it with water, but nope. That would be too convenient. My gaze shifts to the corner of the room, all the way on the other side ...

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“The Price of Devotion” by Olivia Lake

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #201

Warning: mentions of self harm, physical violence, and abuse. So, you’re my lawyer? Hmm. Considering how much my father is paying you, you’d better be good. I’ll be level with you: everyone has their price. From the taxi drivers who will chase idols across Seoul, to the airline agents who will leak the flight details for different groups, to the apartment building residents who will sell the addresses of their famous neighbors - any information and any favor is just a matter of money. Of course, I don’t expect you to be surprised. You’...

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This week's prompts

Set your story at a large entertainment venue, after the show has ended, amongst the discarded plastic cups and confetti.

Adults – 53 stories

Write a story from the point of view of a “sasaeng” (an obsessive fan).

Character – 34 stories

Write a story about someone who has put “Blood Sweat & Tears” into getting where they are — only to question whether it was worth it.

Angst – 47 stories

Write a story inspired by SHINee’s “Ring Ding Dong”, where someone can’t get a song out of their head no matter how hard they try.

Funny – 16 stories

Write about someone who has always done something as part of a group, and is now starting to set out solo, or vice versa.

Character – 20 stories

Stories

“The Bequest ” by Chris Miller

🏆 Winner of Contest #201

“I’ve always said it was a great big rat. You know the ones. Big as a puppy. A Parisian tourist terrifier. But any rat looks big when you find it lying dead in a box on your doorstep. It makes an impression.”I picked up the block of Perspex from my desk and leaned back in my creaking leather chair.“As you can see, it’s probably only about average size, if that. Although it looks much smaller stripped of flesh and fur.”The shearing jaws were set in a perfect pincer. The thin spine and the ribs so fine, they wouldn’t have looked out of place l...

Read story

“Neptune's Lair” by Mike Panasitti

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #201

When I met her, word on the street was that Esmay was beyond help.Her friends called her “crazy” and “borderline.” By the religiously-inclined of former times, she might’ve been thought of as demon-possessed.During drunken fits she’d get into fist fights or threaten to throw herself from freeway overpasses.She walked a thin line and repeatedly upset rumors of her demise, taking immense pride in being what she called “stronger than dirt.”She had a breathalyzer in her car. Two years ago, she’d overturned her Hyundai in an incident where s...

Read story

“Fans” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #201

Neal Rowden hoisted himself over the bleached fifteen foot wall, dropped into a shrubbery, and rolled across the manicured lawn. He grunted, stood up, and dusted off his tuxedo. And then he pulled out his phone and turned off the mansion’s alarm system with the app. Of course it required a password, but of course – TK had provided it for him, as they were the very best of friends. If he was honest, he found this way of getting into the mansion a little annoying, but he knew there was no other way. Paparazzi camped at the front entrance 24/7,...

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“Maximum Pump” by Daniel R. Hayes

Submitted to Contest #201

(Content Warning: Blood, Gore, Violence, Crude Humor, Language.) Tom Lawry slowly wrapped his fingers around a cold black iron bar loaded with five-hundred pounds of solid steel plates and took a deep breath. His heart was pounding, but it wasn’t from the thousands of onlookers in the arena waiting for him to make an appearance. No, it was an overwhelming fear of failing and what that would mean to his illustrious bodybuilding career. In the solemn words of his late father—failure was something only losers did, and Tom Lawry was not ...

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“Where Do We Go Now?” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #201

Trisha watched the tail lights pull away, her smile pasted on her face, arm waving with encouragement as her daughter, Izzy, drove away with a fully laden car and trailer. Izzy and her partner Kate had finally, after saving for most of the year, put a deposit down on a unit, and today was handover. They couldn’t wait to move into their new home. In the darkest corner of her heart, Trisha was a bit old-fashioned. She would have loved to have seen Izzy settle down with a nice boy, have the big wedding and maybe, at som...

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“The Baby Shark Killer” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #201

Baby shark Doo doo doo doo doo doo Momma shark Doo doo doo doo doo doo Daddy shark Doo doo doo doo Let’s go play.” “Phil…” “I can’t get Doo doo doo doo doo doo This dumb song Doo doo doo doo doo doo Out of my Doo doo doo doo Stupid head.” “Aargh!!! Phil, please stop, please! You’re doin’ my head in.” “I can’t stop Doo doo doo doo doo doo From the top Doo doo doo doo doo doo Till I drop Doo doo doo doo I can’t stop.” “Keep this up sweetheart and I swear I will do something that you’ll regret.” “Please don’t leave Doo doo doo doo doo...

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“Arthas Needs a Hand” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #201

TW: Fu**ing swe@ring.“We have to remove the leg, probably the arm as well.” The droid doctor said it to newly reinstated Detective Arthas Jacques in a calm New Delhi accent.The detective fought back sobs, body trembling as his blue eyes scanned from his functional black metal right hand to the mangled leg in a cast, held tightly in place above the bed. His prosthetic left leg was right as rain, unlike his crushed left hand.“Save my hand, please.” Tears rolled down the stubble on his papyrus coloured cheeks. His accent was the Arab-French ble...

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“How the Whale Freed his Throat” by Rebecca Miles

Submitted to Contest #201

Who knows of what a whale sings when he opens his throat and releases that deep, sonorous sound. If you hear it, then feel it, shivering over your skin as you stand on a windswept shore, you will be struck by its resonance: a force which passes all human understanding. But this is not a story of whales in the general: behemoths of the ocean; symbols for salt-shriven sailors everywhere. No, this tale is about a very particular whale and one mariner who had been, for a while, this giant’s lunch. The swallowing and regurgitating of the mar...

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“BS&T” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #201

“You know you are beautiful when you smile,” Max assured his wife as he draped his arm over her shoulder to pull her toward him in a side hug and kissed the top of her salt and peppered head arrayed with a wide, stretchy headband. He waved to the departing helicopter.“So I am not so beautiful now as I scowl at this mess?” Miriam knitted her brows together as she gazed out over acres and acres of trash-strewn devastation now simmering under the once shy summer sun. Gone were the lush green pastures, now only muddy manure pits remained dotted ...

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“There, Now I Can Breathe” by Hazel Ide

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #201

Content warning: Depictions of anxiety.It feels like the walls are closing in; the stench of linseed oil, body odor, sweat, and rusted metal permeates the air around me. Closing my eyes, I attempt to ignore all the unfinished projects, but I can't keep my eyes from darting around all the tiny parts littering the table.It was the bezel that did me in. Whatever tenuous hold I have on my sanity slips as my hands shake, and I wipe my sweaty palm on my denim apron and try once more to smooth out the bezeled piece, rounding the edge of the pocket ...

Read story

“The Dawn Stadium” by Anne Shillingsburg

Submitted to Contest #201

CW: police aggression, bad language “Where are you from?” is Jason’s favorite question at these business functions. With his height and his perfect charcoal suit, the dust of gray at the temples of his fifty-dollar haircut, “Mississippi” always catches them off guard and produces just the effect he wants. Now he’s not just a commanding presence. He has also overcome. He was never ashamed of where he was from, but when he said it on family vacations, people loved to answer “oh, do you guys wear shoes there?” which he found annoying. App...

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“The Swatter” by Tommy Goround

Submitted to Contest #201

One would not normally use a fly swatter to remove a pizza from an oven. It doesn't matter that they are the same basic shape.I'm trying to explain this to Bedo who looks forlorn. His yellow plastic flyswatter is the only item he brought through customs besides the necessary change of clothing and one toothbrush. It's less than satisfying because most people get wonderful gifts when they host a child.My neighbor Henry points to his Hyundai in the yard."Come on Bedo." We walk right past the green bedazzled Hyundai as my neighbor is trying to ...

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“I Wrote This Song for You” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #201

Dear Sereva, I wanted you to listen To this song I wrote I’ve never written A song in my life Or anything, really In my life Not a poem Not a short story Not unless it was in school And a teacher Was making me do it The thought of paragraphs Terrifies me to this day And so even now I have to break down the lines As I’m typing this out to you I also have to be careful Because the nurses here Love to keep an eye on us As though we’re prisoners Instead of residents here At Farmington Pond My daughter dropped me here On my sixty-nint...

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“Let's Get Lost” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #201

It’s funny how your priorities change as you move through life. In many respects, you learn to become self-reliant and choose your companions with greater care. I never regarded myself as a doggy person, but if not for my new best friend, I’d be lost in a field near Shepton Mallet. #My weekend at the festival started off in high spirits when a group of us from H.R. arrived at the main gates early on Saturday morning. We found our allocated parking space with ease and negotiated our way on foot to the Sticklinch campsite. We’d all read f...

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“Her Signature” by Shana Fox

Submitted to Contest #201

[CW: Kidnapping, Non-consensual Behavior, Gore]“Welcome to Episode 603 of ‘That’s My Signature.’ Where we cover all the latest news, gossip, and more for the world’s greatest group ever! Signature~.Today I have a very special guest in the studio with me. Can you guess who it is?” I paused momentarily, making a note of the recording time in a notebook; 18.37 seconds, slice in a clip of my beloved’s voice singing a solo from ‘Moments in Moments’. It was one of the group’s least popular songs, but I couldn’t make it too easy for those so-called...

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$250

Prize money

170

Contest entries

94

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 09, 2023 EST

Won by Chris Miller 🏆

Title: The Bequest

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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