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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#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.

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

“Deductions of a Bartender” by Michael Martin

Submitted to Contest #201

“I think that’s a good idea, Tommy, hurry on home to Betty and the kids. It’d be better to face up to her now.” Tommy sighed. “Yeah, you right man. It’s gon’ be a couple nights on the couch, but I’ll get past it.” He took the credit card from Shawn’s outstretched hand, returning it to the empty slot in his wallet and turned to leave. “Thanks again for all your help, man. You real easy to talk to, man. S’good to meet you.” Shawn smiled. Success. “It was good to meet you too. Hopefully next time we see you in...

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“The letter ” by Lyle Closs

Submitted to Contest #201

Other people’s garbage. That’s what I deal with every day. They come into the Job Center and offload their personal share of the pitiful detritus of a creaking society into my brain-pan and leave feeling a little bit better. I, on the other hand, feel worse. There isn’t a single uplifting thing that floats past my eyes and ears in any working day. I get abused at least once a day, but the security guy Hamid is huge, so problems usually disappear quickly. Stamp, arrange, re-arrange, stamp. Next! A few nights a week I help clean the Roundh...

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“Slowly Dying Night” by Ella Akin

Submitted to Contest #201

“Mom, I just- just need a ride, ok? ….No. No, it’s not like that, Mom, please can you just take me h-”The phone beeps twice and goes silent. Holy fucking shit. This cannot“-be happening.” You hear your mom yell at your dad, muffled by the door to your room. It’s seven in the evening. “She cannot go on thinking this is normal-” Lying sideways on your messy bed, you clutch your phone like a lifeline, scrolling through K-pop Instagram until your mind goes blissfully numb. You’re trying not to cry. Something small hits your window, clinking...

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“Swansong” by Barbra Golub

Submitted to Contest #201

Amanda walked over to the stage and sat on the edge. Her legs were like jelly and she could feel the sweat dripping down the back of her tight, cropped t-shirt. Her armor she called it. It was a great show tonight. The crowd was amped up. That electricity always traveled from them into her as she stood on stage behind the microphone. It always took her a little while to come down from the high. For the energy to fade, like mist evaporating from the asphalt after a summer storm. As the tingles dissolved from her fingertips, she looked out ...

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“After Parté” by John Jenkins

Submitted to Contest #201

It was over. The moon shone through, looking like the eye of a scared giant. There was nothing else that could be done about it. The Rabies had performed, making a case for the ultimate value of Rock and Roll. But there was something else afoot here, something that a few thousand plastic cups and loogies couldn’t change. Purple Pendergrass was alone. Of course, in a sense, we are all alone in our own ways. We come into this world alone – except for the twins - and we leave it alone. But Purple’s aloneness was something more, something diffe...

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“Curtain Call of a Statesman” by Kenneth Ohlson

Submitted to Contest #201

Under the dim lights of the deserted Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Philip Ackerman stood alone, his tall silhouette casting a long shadow across the wide stage. The once raucous and vibrant hall was now still and silent, save for the echoing remnants of the election night rally that had unfolded here just hours ago. He looked out across the vast expanse, taking in the view of discarded plastic cups, deflated balloons, torn banners and multicolored confetti scattered across the floor. Each piece was a stark reminder of the night's ...

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“And then there were two” by Madison Olczak

Submitted to Contest #201

Years and years of rigorous training couldn’t have prepared them for the sheer euphoria of after-show bliss. The girls, celebrating their year anniversary as K-pop’s newest sensation, sprinted down the stage, now littered with confetti, flowers and deflated balloons. Ji-hye, the eldest of the group, halted while the others continued to run. She took a deep breath in at the sight. Around an hour ago, this place was booming with passion and love from the fans who waited patiently to see their favorite girl group.The helium from the balloons wa...

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“Redolent ” by Sam Sak

Submitted to Contest #201

Angie curls her nose at the smell of old velvet and dust. Perhaps, also, the faint scent of cigarettes. She doesn’t think she saw anyone smoke at the show, but no one had to. The cigarette scent isn’t truly a smell—just the ghost of a bygone era when seeing the newest show at the small-town theatre was the next best thing to do. When the poorer families dressed up in their Sunday best and the wealthier boosted their prestige by proving their love of the arts. From an era before the internet and public health concerns. Where everyone from tow...

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“Maybe All This is Life” by Awen Kerr

Submitted to Contest #201

A haze still hangs in the air but my light stick has gone dark. My body is practically vibrating with excitement, and I cling tightly to it because I know in a few hours my limbs will hang like lead and my mind will replay everything that happened here tonight, already memory. Before the inevitable crash back to reality, I close my eyes and listen to muffled voices, dampened by overworked eardrums. I’m alive. Right now, I’m alive. I didn’t know that I’d find life during a late night scroll through YouTube, but that’s what happened. I’d bee...

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“Almost Famous” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #201

It was probably going to be my last day working for Green Associates. The employees in the union who worked directly for the stadium had nothing to worry about. They worked for the stadium in jobs that some of them had been doing for decades. I wasn’t one of those lucky individuals.You could tell who worked for the Mean Green and who didn’t. It was in how they moved. Garbage glided down garbage chutes for union employees with smooth enveloping strokes, a side comment or sly observation often accompanying their light loads.Mean Green dirtbags...

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“K-POP-Brunch” by Scott Taylor

Submitted to Contest #201

Contains strong language. I never expected to feel used after a fling with my assistant Valerie. Still, as our professional relationship grew and distance separated us, our friendship morphed in ways I never imagined. The last thing we spoke of was a call from a client in California. “Sylvia, I don’t understand your connection to a Korean band,” I said. Sylvia was to promote a K-POP band in the US. But her efforts were undermined by another K-POP band allegedly stealing the group’s intellectual property. I watched the tape. A sinking...

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“When The Lights Go Down” by Lynda Baker

Submitted to Contest #201

It was still dark when Mella pulled her wooly hat over her ears and pushed gloved hands into deep coat pockets. "I can't believe you're doing this," Jenny said from under the duvet. "I can't believe you're not!" "Why on earth would I want to see him? When he was famous he didn't want to know us. Now he's hoping half a dozen fans remember him and we get invites." "Because he's our Daddy," Mella said. "It's the first time he's been home in fifteen years, and I want to see him." "So let him come ...

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“Marriage Cans Dangling From the Bounty” by Holden Burkholder

Submitted to Contest #201

The sky shone more and more a deeper and deeper red. It shined, it glistened, it danced across the entirety of North America. It was one in the morning, yet was bright as though the sun were just setting. It was growing brighter. The deeper the red the brighter the shine. The more distorted the shine the closer the star seemed to get. It was no star. No, just a rock of ice. A rock th...

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“Under a Glitter Moon” by Lex Laine

Submitted to Contest #201

Empty venues are a peculiar thing, you know. The applause and adulation echo in a melancholy after all the cheering crowds have gone. But, like a child told it's bedtime, these large entertainment venues can’t seem to stay quiet. They’ve got their own nocturnal life, their own encores that they can't help but perform. Let me take you to an enormous stadium in South Korea, recently graced by a hot-shot K-pop band. Their energy could make even the most stoic guards and dozing ticket-takers shake a leg. But now, the show's over. Confetti, once ...

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“Detritus” by Aidan Kelley

Submitted to Contest #201

NOTE: Sensitive content. Sexual violence, physical violence, gore, or abuse, mental health It begins as a whisper. The familiar tingling along the length of your spring, rattling up past your shoulders to coalesce in the basin of your skull as an unearthly rattle. The sensation, they say, is at once ethereal and unreal. I feel nothing. Where they sense the world and become, I am lost and unsure. The uncertain and unfamiliar tone they say should call to me has never once reached out, has never once found its home in my mind. ...

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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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