Infamous

Juicy magazine never failed to bring their viewers the best celebrity gossips—for 10 years they have documented every celebrity in town, from their rise to their fall and they never left out the details. Although the pictures are authentic, some of the stories are cooked by their team of talented reporters. Like when singer The Son was photographed with another women (who was actually his agent) and with the right photo along with the headline reading "Is he cheating on his wife?" the magazine sold millions. A big gain for them but a loss for him since his wife filed for divorce and many of his fans abandoned him. Juicy magazine doesn't care about the damages they cause, they only care about the instant profits they make from it. Lately their main focus has been on the newest pop singer Nhu Loan. Her wild antics and private life has left them laughing to the bank. With their photographers constantly hiding out at her apartment and following her around, every image can be a story.
New photographs arrived at the editor's desk. He pulled them out and took a look at them.
"Perfect," he exclaimed, "Run it for tomorrow's issue, he marked a letter X on the corner of the photo he has chosen and hand it to a worker.

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(Nhu Loan)
It was almost noon and yet Nhu Loan is still in bed. She was so exhausted from last night, when she had to meet her tour crew to discuss her tour and they ended up spending the entire night just brainstorming ideas. The sun has finally come out and it peaked through her curtains aiming straight to her eyes. Feeling bothered by it, she tossed and turned to avoid the glare but it seemed to follow wherever she went. Giving up, she sat up and growled, then jumped off her bed. She headed to the shower, got dressed and decided to go see her friends.
She knew the paparazzi were going to be there to greet her the only thing she can see in front of her are flashing lights and it's not her life that's flashing before her eyes. She wanted to get away but blocked by them. Frustrated that they weren't giving her space to go, she took her tote bag and without even thinking, began whacking a photographer that was in front of her.
"GET THE **** OUT! OUTTA MY WAY!"
"AW! AW! OH! AW!"
"THAT'S RIGHT! TAKE THAT! AND THAT!"
"STOP! STOP! OK!"
"SHUT UP! YOU HOOLIGAN!"

Of course that was a big mistake for her because the other photographers were capturing this on film and even though she did managed to go through and get into her car, with the photographer lying on the ground rubbing his head, Nhu Loan has just voluntarily made it into the next issue of Juicy magazine.

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(Luong Tung Quang)
LTQ woke up late in the morning with a headache. He was lying on the sidewalk, his shirt unbuttoned and his jacket gone—along with the money he had inside it. At least his car was still there and the key's still inside his pants pocket.
These streets are a lot crowded at night than it is during the day. It wouldn’t be pretty if a fan saw him like this. But apparently, the sight of a drunken man lying on the ground is no big deal to the people around here. They just walked past him, not even noticing that he was there.
His phone rang. It was his agent.
“Quang! Finally! I’ve been trying to reach you for the last 3 hours! Are you at Franklin Theatre?"
“Heck, no! I’m…”
“I’m not taking a “no” for an answer. I don’t care if you’re bleeding or on fire, get your butt over there!”
“I don’t like the C.E.O. of that company. Besides, I’m in no mood to perform.”
“Well, then go over there and ask if you can come back some other day for the audition. I’ve got your paperwork ready. DO SOMETHING! I’m telling you, a lot of good singers are trying out. This production really knows how to promote people. If someone else get the spot, your career might as well be flushed down the toilet…”
There was a long pause before LTQ replied, “Okay, okay…I’ll come over there.”
He sighed and hung up. She was right. This could be one of his last chances, and he loved his career too much to let it go now, even though now may not be the best time to go to an audition.
He buttoned up his shirt and raced back to the apartment to change, trying not to think of what happened last night.

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(Bang Kieu)
Bang Kieu was the first one to arrive at Franklin’s Theatre. He was always one of the first to go to work. He put down his coffee and newspaper on the table where the judges were to sit at and gazed at the stage for a moment before sitting down, thinking about how most of his life was tied into this place. It was where his first performance ever was held, when he was 5, and it was also when he got his first ever contract with a major production, which was Thuy Nga. Since then, he had never sung for any other productions and had not plan to do so in the future.
Bang Kieu decided to put his past behind and focus onto the present by taking a look at today’s newspaper. Across the front page was the bold-printed letters “KIM GONE WILD! AGAIN!”, and right below was a picture of her—Kimberly, the queen of all bad publicities which made her known throughout Mason City—making out with an Asian boy in a nightclub.
Bang Kieu only shook his head in sadness and wondered just how far people like Kim can go just to steal the spotlight.

Corrupted

Episode 3:

(Luong Tung Quang)
LTQ stood in front of an elegant white mansion. He checked the address again just to make sure he was at the right place.
Last night, LTQ received a phone call from his agent. She said Thuy Nga had just changed C.E.O. and there are rumors that they're looking for new singers to improve their line-up. The company pays big cash and is currently one of the biggest productions on the market. The death of Mr. To, their old C.E.O., had made it to the front page of every newspaper in the area. A contract with Thuy Nga at the time meant instant fame, and he was confident that he will get it—it’s obvious that they were in desperate need of good-looking, younger male singers.
LTQ knocked on the door and in less time than he had expected, an old woman, probably a maid, came to open the door.
"I came to see Ms. Marie To." He said.
"Do you have an appointment?"
"Well, no..."
"I'm afraid that you'll have to come some other time..." She was interrupted as a younger lady came out of the door. LTQ recognized she was who he's looking for, the new Thuy Nga's C.E.O.
"We have an audition for singers tomorrow at the Franklin's Theatre." Marie said with a voice of authority.
"You don't understand..." LTQ said with a smile, thinking she had mistaken him with some other struggling singers on the street, but he never got to finish his sentence when Marie cut in,
"Yes I do. I've seen you on DVDs. I've heard you on CDs. And so far I'm not impressed. I hope you'll do better at the audition...after all, I haven't heard you singing live."
LTQ was startled at the words. He was so certain he would get the contract by just showing up here. It was disappointing and humiliating.
"Good day, Ms. To.” He said coldly after several minutes standing in silence and left.

LTQ climbed into his car and tried his best not to step hard on the gas. One ticket was enough especially when you’re jobless and living in a high-class apartment. He just drove on, not knowing where he was going. He cursed Ms. To, then himself. He couldn’t decide whether or not he would come to that audition. “If I get rejected… No, I won’t...” he couldn’t bare that thought. The flashbacks of his family and friends discouraging him from pursuing this career kept crawling back onto his mind. “I told you so!” they would say. Can Thuy Nga pick some amateurs over him? Probably.

After hours of driving and thinking, LTQ found himself in front of a nightclub. It had just opened and people were pouring in. Impulsively, he parked his car and stepped inside. He was used to the flashing lights and blasting music, but Mason City’s people is a lot wilder and dirtier than he thought. In an instant, a blond girl—certainly not the kind you’d bring home to your mama—approached him with a smirk and spoke into his ears, “Care to join?”

He only had time to smile his crooked smile before the girl pulled him into the dancing crowd who lost themselves to the music, and probably drugs. Definitely drugs. They found their way to a table with two empty seats. With so much people inside, you’d thought it’d take forever for someone to come and ask what you want to eat or drink, but it was only a few seconds before a tall white guy came to their table with menus in his arms.

“No need for that.” The girl said and turned to LTQ, “You’re new here. I know what to order.”

He wondered how she knew he was new at the town but asked no question. Wanting to play it cool, he slightly nodded his head and sat back. The girl said something to the white guy that was inaudible for LTQ. He left and came back within minutes, carrying some none-colored drinks with him. LTQ didn’t drink, so he had no idea what it was, not even when he sipped his first taste of it. He didn’t like it so much but at least it warmed him up. It was as if you could literally feel the burning liquid running through your body. The girl looked at him and seemed to be smiling through her eyes. She picked up her drink and finished it with one gulp. Not wanting to loose his reputation to a girl, LTQ tried to finish the rest of the glass. He felt dizzy right after that, but was floating in a dreamlike state in the next minute. Looking down at the empty glass, LTQ managed to make out some white stuff inside that he hadn’t notice before. But he couldn’t control himself after that. The last thing he could remember was the blond girl leaning over him and kissed him on the lips, then some white flashes in front of his eyes that not even the girl seemed to notice.

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(Minh Tuyet)
Minh Tuyet was an emotional wreck when she got home, there was a little note left at the kitchen table. It was from her crew stating that they had quit for personal reasons but she knew they left because they were afraid that she wouldn't pay them since she got fired. "I'm not fired, it's just Marie hasn't renewed my contract that's all, think of this as a break" she told herself. She was lying to herself and she knew it was the end. She wrote non-stop in her diary, pouring out her heart and emotions on paper. Tears streamed down her face as she wrote words of hate, sadness, humiliation. When she was too numb from the pain, she buried herself into her arms, papers strewn all over the floor while she wept.

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(Nhu Loan)

Nhu Loan wanted to continue being angry at her new boss but she couldn't when her stomach growled like crazy. She tried to ignore it but it's loud enough to have its own album. Rolling her eyes, she turned around the corner to a nearby fast food restaurant. There she ordered a value meal which included the burger, large fries and a large drink. She wanted to eat in but she didn't want to draw any attention nor meet fans. She was just not in the mood and wanted to be left alone. After she got her food, Nhu Loan decided to just drive into an alley where no one could find her. Frantically opening the bag and pulling out its contents, she jammed a handful of fries into her mouth and the hallelujah was playing through her head. She unwrapped the burger while chewing her fries; and ate like she hadn't eaten in days. Little did she know that someone had followed her into the alley. Using a long telephoto lens he was able to capture Nhu Loan pigging out from afar. "Perfect! This will be front page news tomorrow!" he exclaimed as he clicked a few more shots before leaving.