Chapter 67 - On Our Way to a Sexy Photoshoot… (Part 3)

Click. Click.

“Nice.”

Click click.

Click click click.

“Nice, very nice.”

The photographer took endless photos of me, singing praises the whole time.

“Hey Sian, can you stick out your tongue a bit?” she asked.

“My tongue? Why?”

“Just a little bit.”

“Okay.”

I stuck out my tongue a bit, like she asked. The camera clicked away like mad and once again, the photographer began to repeat the compliments from before.

“Wow, very nice. You’re the best I’ve ever seen. Could you turn your hips just a bit?”

“Okay.”

I turned my hips and head towards the back, placing one hand on my hip and the other one near my pelvis. I bent my legs and spread them apart just slightly enough to be enticing. The photographer straightened up and began to clap.

“Wow! You’re unbelievable!”

At that, the rest of the staff began to nod and clap along. Then again, I’m not really sure if what I’m doing is applause-worthy.

“Sian, if you could look at the lens.”

I turned my body towards the camera and gave a wink. The photographer looked pleased.

“Now this is what I’m talking about. I’ve been doing this for twenty years but I’ve never seen anyone as gorgeous as you. You’re a full package. You’re the type that turns heads!”

The photographer just continued to praise me. And I must say, it felt quite nice. I slightly lowered my upper body while I bent and gathered my knees. I poked my head out a bit and slightly pouted my lips. Then, I winked with a smile.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The photographer went wild.

“Wow! Sian! Yes, hold that pose! Hang on.”

She grabbed the camera and took at least a dozen more pictures. All the while complimenting me.

“No need to fix or correct anything! You’re beautiful!”

At that, I stuck my tongue out again. The shutters just went crazy.

‘Fuck…what am I doing…’

I allowed myself to get sucked in by all of the compliments. I quickly regained myself and reminded myself that I’m a guy. I was determined to not follow the photographer’s orders anymore, but she was already done.

“Nice! Very nice! Good job!”

The photographer clapped and the staff followed along. Was I really that good? Well, since the professional said I was, I guess I did. I stepped off the set and the staff immediately ran over to help me down.

“Oh, it’s okay.”

“Sian, you were amazing,” a female staff member said as she placed a straw into a water bottle and handed it to me afterwards. I took the bottle from her and began to sip from it. This was a complete 180 from the reception I had received before. Then again, these people think very highly of the photographer. If I was good enough to accept compliments from her, then I was good enough for the staff too. But was I really that good? All I did was hold some poses and smiled. Then again, maybe that’s my talent. Being amazing without showing effort.

“Sian, you did great!”

The members all began to praise me one by one. They all went onto the set to take their photos and I headed over to the break room. Not to rest – it was because I was worried about Yoo-jin.

I walked into the break room and saw Yoo-jin sitting in the corner, crying her eyes out.

“Hey Yoo-jin,” I said.

I took a blanket and placed it over her. Yoo-jin looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

“Sian! Sniff…sniff…sniff sniff…”

“Hey, come on now…”

I sat next to her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. Yoo-jin immediately buried her face into my shoulder, bawling. Where was the girl who was oozing with self-confidence earlier? This girl in front of me had completely lost all of that confidence and charm, but this was all part of being a celebrity. I knew she would have to get over this.

“Yoo-jin.”

“Sniff…Sian…”

“It’s okay. I thought you were the sexiest overall,” I said, caressing her hair. The girl who was so confident to the point of being cocky. I missed that girl.

“I…I wasn’t sexy at all, Sian…sniff sniff…”

“The photographer is wrong. You’re hot. You’re totally sexy. You’re just a bit airheaded, that’s all.”

“Aah...aaah...aaah...waaaah!”

That made Yoo-jin cry harder.

“Remember what the photographer said?” Yoo-jin added. “That…that men will just see me as an easy skank…sniff…sniff sniff…”

“I mean, that’s true,” I replied honestly.

If you’re sexy but empty-headed, then being seen as easy is inevitable. If you’re like that, people will only see you as an object. To be honest, Yoo-jin’s public image was sort of like that. And it was because of that image that the photographer hadn’t expected more from her. It was even worse today, to be honest. Hehehe…

“Why are you laughing?”

“Oh, nothing,” I said, quickly wiping the smile off my face.

Then I added, “You should try a bit harder to be taken more seriously. That way, you’ll look sophisticated and sexy at the same time.”

“More seriously? How?”

“Hmm…just…think a bit more before you act.”

“Sniff…sniff sniff! Waaaah!”

My words only made Yoo-jin cry even harder. Comforting someone is hard. I stayed like that for a while, trying to make Yoo-jin feel better. I don’t know if it actually worked, but I hope that my presence made her feel better, at the very least. Soon after, Yoo-jin returned to the set. This time, her poses and expressions were much more natural and the shooting went smoothly.

***

We were eating after the shoot when the photographer came looking for me. She held out a business card. The name on it read Sukja Kim.

“What’s this?”

“Keep it. I have a feeling that we’re going to see more of each other in the future.”

Sukja patted me on the head and then walked away.

“More of each other…I’m not wearing more of those slutty clothes, am I?”

I glanced over at the costumes that the staff was cleaning up. The short mini skirt that gave people a peek of my ass and the top with the deep V-neck. I never wanted to see those clothes again. Unless of course, they were on another girl’s body.

After finishing my food, I stood up and went outside, not to smoke though. It just felt like something that I should do. How do I put this? My sixth sense was tingling.

But when I went outside, I didn’t see anything strange.

“Oh, it’s Sian! Hi! I’m a huge fan!” A man called out when he saw me. I gave him a big smile and took a photo with him. After taking photos with a few more people, a man suddenly appeared in front of me. He looked to be in his early 30’s and had a rather arrogant vibe about him. The moment he saw me, he smiled and stuck his hand out for a handshake.

“Good evening. My name is Gap-chan Lee and I’m the Head Manager from Han Entertainment. It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Lee.”

“Oh, hello.”

I shook his hand. The Head Manager? Everyone was calling themselves the head these days.

“I see you’re done with your photoshoot.”

“Um, yeah. How did you know?” I asked warily.

Seriously, how did this guy know? Did Jinwoo tell him? Didn’t I see him when we did that concert? The president of Han Entertainment was Hansoo Kim and I remember Jinwoo doing his best to look good in front of the guy. Of course, Mr. Kim himself wasn’t there, but the youngest member of Ladies’ Generation, Hye-jin had been there. Jinwoo had treated her like royalty, which had really pleased Mr. Kim.

“I have my ways.”

“Oh, do you?”

“Anyways, I’m honored to meet you in person, Ms. Lee.”

“Right.”

Once again, he expressed his enthusiasm at meeting me. Dude, you need to chill.

“So are you here looking for someone? Mr. Park isn’t here. He’s at the agency.”

“Oh, no. I’m here to see you,” Gap-chan said with a gentlemanly smile.

“Me? Do you want a photo or something?”

“Haha. We can do that later. I’m actually here about the, uh…bungee jumping incident.”

At the mention of that, I scowled. That employee still hadn’t been held responsible for his actions, but you never know. He might someday. The public already knew what kind of person he was and weren’t afraid to voice their anger. You know what... maybe I’ll go and punish him myself.

“Oh. What about it?”

“I saw the video.”

“Oh, right.”

So what?

“The comments are raving about you.”

“It was pretty cool.”

I mean, I did just jump down without any safety equipment and saved Jia’s life. If that’s not cool, then what is?

“But you know, there aren’t any comments asking about how you managed to survive a jump like that.”

“There are.”

There really are. On the news as well. People are calling it a miracle.

“There is, but it’s mostly just people saying that it’s a miracle.”

“I mean, that’s what it is, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes. Hahaha.” the manager chuckled. But all of a sudden, his face became serious.

“I know everything, Sian.”

“Know everything about what?”

“I know you’re not normal.”

***

At the man’s words, I stared at him. Was he telling the truth? Or is he just fishing?

“What’s not normal?” I asked. I wonder if he’s the one who had triggered my sixth sense earlier.

“That’s why I’m here, to ask you that. Who are you? Where are you from? What is that you can do exactly?”

My heart began to beat faster at his questions. This guy was clearly suspicious of me, but whether he was friend or foe remained to be seen. What should I do? In the end, I decided to get defensive.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, really? Seems like you’re getting defensive. I guess I can’t blame you. But you’ll see me again. Here.”

The man handed me his card.

[Gap-chan Lee, Head Manager at Han Entertainment.]

Then he added, “Since you’ll see me again, let me just say this. I can see into the future, and I saw yours. Tonight, Yoo-jin is going to leave the dorms. You guys will be searching for her until the early morning, but you won’t find her because she’ll already be on the train for Busan. The departure time will be ten minutes after midnight. If I’m right, give me a call. It’s not just me that is curious about you, I have other friends as well.”

This whole time, he had a bright smile on his face. But he still wasn’t finished.

“I hope to see you again. Oh, I saw you threw your stained panties into the trash can. The cleaning lady won’t like that very much.”

And with that, he walked away.

“That wasn’t me, asshole,” I muttered behind his back. Really, it wasn’t me. Those panties had just been hanging on the edge, so I placed them properly into the waste bin. But how did he know that?

“We’ll see tonight if Yoo-jin actually runs away or not.”

If what the man said was true, then we will see each other again. It’s really strange, isn’t it? I was also curious as to know how he knew that I wasn’t normal.