Blindspot

Chapter 37

Freen went into hiding for past week with very little contact to Rebecca or the outside world. Moreover, she started getting anxiety and panic attacks each time she turned on her phone and look at her emails, text messages, or her social media accounts. Freen had to look at her email for work and sometimes, really disgusting and scary threatening emails would sneak through into her account. She wished that she could wash her eyes or have a very forgetful memory so that it doesn't stick and live rent free in her brain. Rebecca always sent words of encouragement and initiates calls, facetime, and even meetups, but Freen declined on multiple accounts. Everything felt too much for Freen, too much stimulation for someone who has lived a secluded isolated life for majority of her life. 

The first time Rebecca saw Freen again was almost two weeks since she left Idol Factory with Assistant Fai, and she regretted ever since. Rebecca felt like Freen was slowly drifting away from her and all she could do was watch helplessly. It was the first promotion event for their production series and Rebecca gasped when she saw Freen walk into the building. Freen was pale and gaunt, she had dropped a drastic amount of weight where her healthy round cheeks were now sharp and angular. 

Rebecca approached Freen and grasped her shoulders gently, "P'Freen...how are you?" 

"Fine. And you?" Freen replied tersely but wouldn't hold Rebecca's gaze. She briskly walked towards their makeup artist so that Rebecca wouldn't ask too many probing questions. Freen wasn't trying to hide anything, she just didn't want to talk about herself at all even though she knew Rebecca as asking because she cared and not because she wanted to probe but Freen was feeling too raw and exposed. Freen's face was so dry that her makeup needed double the usual amount, and Tipsky grumbled under his breath that Freen needed to eat and take better care of herself. 

The promotion event setup was to introduce the series characters as well as a fan meet for all other artists such as Noey, Heng, Irin, Rebecca, and Nam. The first portion was showing small clips of the characters and their background, followed by some interactive games with a few randomly selected lucky fans, and lastly a photo shoot with the fan. 

"FREEEN!!" 

"BECKY!!"

"FREENBECKY!" 

"NAM!" 

"IRIN!!" The auditorium was filled with their chants for their favourite artists, where 60 percent of the seats were filled with Freen, Becky and FreenBecky fans while the remainder was split between the other artists. Freen's eyes bugged out when she saw how the auditorium was filled to the brim with the amount of support even amidst her scandal. 

"How? What the?"

"I'm surprised too, but I'm glad to see how many people still love and support you Freen." Nam said as they were waiting backstage to be introduced one by one on stage. 

"Why?" Freen whispered. 

Nam questioned her back, "Why not?" Freen was saved from answering that question when the MC introduced Nam on stage. The first portion of the fan meet went on smoothly and as they proceeded to the second portion of games, there was a bit of tension between the fans prior to them stepping up to the stage. It was suppose to be a simple game of guessing the word based on the drawing. The keyword was 'Porche' and Rebecca was up first as she tried her best to depict her interpretation of a car. 

"Bridge"

"A dragon"

"Ghost!" 

Rebecca simply shook her head and smiled. 

"A car." Freen spoke softly in to the microphone.  Rebecca nodded enthusiastically and moved her hand for Freen to keep guessing as she was on the right path.