Chapter 2

Suzy is resting her head against the window of the plane.

The view beside was dazzling, white fluffy clouds swiped at the surface beneath and yellow sunray hit them; reflecting with the glass in a soft glow.

Wow. Suzy can't but swoon.

They are flying off to Kora to take part in the survival reality show, "Who's Your Idol?" The show had requested Suzy's CEO to let their rising star, Choi Suzy to take part in the show. They had also offered a huge chunk of cash, in the intention of bringing more spotlight to the competition. An idol like Choi Suzy meant big exposure, many streamers and a large amount of money.

Suzy smirks sinisterly. An idol like Choi Suzy. They will never get an idol like Choi Suzy. Not now, not ever.

The real Suzy would never take part in the show-even if the CEO had given her a big check and promise of bonus, which fake Suzy had gladly accepted.

Suzy-or dare I say, Rita, sighs and looks at the window, thinking how did all these started again, her own personal nightmare which she welcomed willingly.

Remember the accident Suzy had? Yeah, that was the start line.

What RFW said was true-they had saved Suzy from the accident. What they didn't say was that Suzy was not in a very normal condition. She had gone into a coma-a deep, deep coma in the hospital. And she was still in the coma. No sign of waking up.

So, who's the Suzy we are seeing till now?

Meet Kang Rita. 19, graduated, and has a knack for singing. She was also recruited in RFW entertainment, but much later, after Suzy. What is the most shocking thing-is their striking resemblance. At first glance, anybody could've misunderstood Rita as Suzy.

When doctors said that Suzy was in a riveted coma and had fewer chances of waking up, Their CEO had a crucial yet brilliant idea-replace Suzy with Rita.

And they did it in a gangsta way.

At first, when Rita listened she was going to take place of a globally famous idol, she thought it was crazy. Hilarious, even, if you ask her.

She tried to reason with the CEO and maybe pass him some senses-but immediately shut up when they shoved money in her face.

See, Rita needs money. An ill cancer infected mother's health care expanses was not something a young student like her could achieve-even if she had five different jobs.

That's why she accepted it. She took the money and spent it on her mother's latest chemotherapy; then she laid down under the knifes and scissors of plastic surgeons, in order to look like a copycat of Choi Suzy.

The shining blades danced in her vision, flashes and slashes, agony shot across her veins when she stood in front of the mirror after the surgery.

The girl standing ahead wasn't her. It wasn't Kang Rita, or Rita, or her mother's precious 'kitty rity'.

It was Suzy. The world famous Global star who had millions of fans, luxurious cars, apartments, who is loved by all-Choi Suzy.

Her idol.

Now she had become her. Rita just stared at the mirror, void of any emotion. What could she say? She was just a doll of fate, not wanting to accept what destiny would give her in the end.

Then the vocal sessions. Those torturous vocal lessons day and night-to make her voice sound like Suzy's. The instructor told her to strain it as Rita had a husky voice instead of Suzy's high nasal one.

"But won't it effect vocal tissues?" Rita had asked.

"It would," they answered. "Just do it until she wakes up from coma and resumes to work. "

The instructors knew it all. Every person inside of RFW building knew-but the CEO Shut them up with money and threat of going to jail if they expose anything.

Back to it. Rita also took dance and rap sessions, but it wasn't much hassle aside from sprained ankles, scratches and a sour back. Not a big deal.

A tremendous challenge was to make 'the character like Suzy'. Now this was tricky. Suzy wasn't someone who would open up easily, which matched with Rita's personality. The star was known to be 'edgy' and 'fierce'.

But the biggest obstacle was that Suzy always, always stood up for herself. Rita wasn't like that. She never stepped up on the game herself unless someone dragged her in. And that happened almost all the time.

So, Rita had to practice to gain these features, and had to remind herself this all the time-"You're not Kang Rita, you're Choi Suzy."

A baleful smirk plays in Rita's lips as the memories swarmed in her mind. Welp, they succeeded in turning her into Suzy.

Partly.

Cuz the body could be Choi Suzy's, but the mind was always Kang Rita's.

**

Rita finally arrives at the destination. As informed, first she goes to hotel (dressed in masks and caps because of the paparazzi). The show opted to air in next week, and the shooting will start two days later. So she had quite some time to rest and figure out about the competition.

Rita stands on the balcony after taking a hot shower. It was not exactly winter, but the chilly wind enveloping her body was declaring its arrival. The view in front is very... civic, at least. Skyscrapers dominated the azure and from the 13th floor, ant-like cars moved slowly in traffic.

Rita sighs. She is feeling blank again. It is that kind of feeling, when a meteor can come crashing down and she would've cared less. Rita decides there's no point in inhaling carbon dioxide and watching buildings, so she shall just go back in the room and prepare for the competition.

Rita comes back to her room. She takes her phone out and searches 'who's your idol.' In goggle.

Millions of result pops up on the screen, her picture at the very top. She scrolls. The news of famous rookie soloist Choi Suzy taking part in the competition had spread like a wildfire, making her a top pick contestant. Some even claimed that the company who sponsored the show has their stocks skyrocketing after the news published. CEO has really caught a big fish this time.

Rita logs in the official website. Registration has closed a few days ago, so only the first shows rules were written there. 60 contestants, 30 male and 30 female, gathered from Korea, Japan, China, America, Taiwan, and many other countries. All of their profiles and bios are given there. Rita sees some familiar faces. There is Ashuka , a soloist currently going very strong in japan. She also saw Jayjay, a Japanese-American soloist known as 'cute heartthrob boy.'

There were many fairly popular rookie artists, more trainees, and then her eyes reached at HIM.

Kang Terry. The bane of Rita's existence.

Kang Terry is under a label named WSW entertainment, which was always the rival of Rita's RFW entertainment. But that didn't mean both of them were bound to be rivals.

When real Suzy disappeared, WSW sought this as their chance and debuted a soloist named Kang Terry.

Terry had released a single named losing you in this dark night or dumping you on this dumpster something like that. He rose quickly at top and kept dominating the charts and breaking guitars in concerts. Rita kind of wished he broke his bones, too.

But then the fake Suzy returned and 'Pinefresh' rose at charts once again, breaking Terry's record in YouTube views, Spotify, Apple music, you name it. It was as if Terry was jealous of her achievements. He released an album which was almost similar to the previous single, maybe burning you in candlelight or something.

RFW took prompt action and released a single of Suzy's (but actually Rita's). Rita was anxious because of the slight strain in the audio's voice, but it became a blessing in the curse, actually. People loved the 'Suzy raspy voice' a bit much, and it snatched a handful of awards, including the best rookie soloist award, much less in Kang Terry's dismay.

Rita and Terry had been rivals since then. The two always were invisibly at each other's throats, trying to tackle the other with music and dance. Their company very much fueling that.

Although they never saw each other in person. Both knew they had a mutual sense of competitiveness and hatred towards each other, not understanding which came first.

Rita huffs and tears her eyes from Terry's profile. Looks like this little pank is also going to the show. She doesn't care though, she will see how far he can go.

She proceeds to look for what she intended to. A minute later, her eyes zoomed at the wanted information. What will be the trainees' first task-was written in there.

'Evaluation test? Seriously?' Rita mumbles to herself. She really didn't hate evaluation test in particular, but a debuted idol going through this test in front of 59 contestants and judges seemed ridicules.

Rita checks it further. 2 minutes and 15 seconds is the maximum time for performance. A frown etches her eyebrows, and she sits still for a second.

Then she smirks.

''I know just the perfect song for this."