Chapter Text
The cameras flashing are blinding his eyes, as Sehun focuses on maintaining his balance on the runway. Donning clothes from Alexander McQueen’s fall collection as it hangs heavy on his body, his face puts on a serious look and gazing straight ahead.
Working in the industry for a solid five years, he had finally acquired a recognition for his hard work and talent.
Only until recently he was nominated as “Model of The Year” by a few famous fashion magazines, even Vogue. Ever since that, he always hears many girls giggling when he passes by on the runway.
Little did they know, Sehun’s found a liking to guys more than girls, but his manager thinks it’s better to keep quiet about it for another year than to have public fits thrown towards him.
His feet is now taking him backstage as the staff ushers him inside, and he carefully shimmies out of his clothes but making sure to be quick.
The backstage is a hustle right now with models fitting into their next outfit and the exasperated staffs rushing from here to there. Another staff comes up to him with another pair of clothes he’ll be walking in.
He eyes the fabric he’ll be wearing, a shirt with irregular black and white pattern, and as an outer, the suit is one of the simpler designs with black as the base color and a line of silver medals on its breast pocket.
The bottom wear is also black colored with subtle irregular lines running across the fabric and pristine white oxford shoes to complete the entire outfit.
The perks of having a broad shoulder are the clothes he walks in, always falls nicely on him. Not to mention, the shower of compliments of how good he looks in even atrocious clothing.
He walks straight into the line of models, waiting for his cue to walk the runway. This is the last round of walk before the finale where he’ll walk with the designer so he might as well make the best out of it and throws off his signature move.
In the end, he did it in front of the countless cameras ready to snap photos of him, and when he shows off his signature smirk, the showering flashing lights were too bright for his eyes, but it unfazed his balance and he walks back triumphantly.
Later backstage after they walked the finale, everyone’s cheering “Great show!” “A success!” around the packed room as a few other staffs shake hands with him, congratulating a big success on the show.
After a good half an hour or so, Sehun finally changes into his comfortable clothes and head out for an after party. He hadn’t quite taken off his subtle makeup, and his hair is styled messily, he thinks it’s definitely okay, not that he cares what other people thinks.
The fashion show is held in a huge warehouse where Sehun isn’t sure if it’s abandoned or owned by someone.
The warehouse is decorated with the theme of Alexander McQueen’s fall collection, so it’s mostly of a classical theme where the floors were plastered with a white marbled pattern on it, and empty black frames hung on the walls.
He gets into the crowd in the outdoor area where it’s decorated with black and white as they’re dominantly the color theme. A few eyes are glancing at him as they notice the model and he kindly smiles back.
Sehun usually doesn’t go to after parties if not for an important reason, and this time, he’s going to his brother, Junmyeon.
He roams around the garden, finding a hard time looking for his older brother between the crowd. His brother promises to meet him in the after party, and he secretly misses the older boy, since he’s busy these days, walking in shows season after season.
Junmyeon was the first person to support his dream to be a model, and he’s the one who helped him get into modeling schools.
His older brother is busy as well for he had just been promoted to Vice President in a well-known company, but somehow, he always makes time for nearly every show Sehun walked in.
Having Junmyeon by his side as he slowly aims towards being one of the top models feels great and familiar because he can still feel like home whenever his older brother is around.
But during these times, Sehun feels burdened by his brother for Junmyeon is shorter in height than him, he can easily drown in the sea of crowd.
As his focus is solely in searching Junmyeon, he fails to notice someone cutting past in front of him, and when he does, he’s too late as he trips on the person’s extended leg. He lets out a small scream as he braces for the impact onto the ground, but it never happened.
Sehun opens one of his eyes to see the person he got tripped on, is now holding his arm. The person has his droopy eyes on Sehun’s flustered face, and he pulls Sehun to stand up straight.
“Thank you for saving me from further embarrassment,” Sehun breathes out a sigh of relief. He's met with a familiar face, and it knocks his breath when he administers that in front of him right now, is the ever famous Kim Jongin, a well-known fashion journalist, one of the best in the field.
“You’re welcome,” there’s a thin smile on Jongin’s lips, and his brown eyes are hiding behind black-rimmed glasses which gives him off a cute look.
“Watch where you’re going, or you might end up falling anyways.”
He schools a cold look as he steps away immediately, and in a swift motion, he lines up in the queue for what the sign says, “Beef Cutlet,” without letting Sehun say anything more.
That was awkward, what the hell.
Sehun shrugs it off, his feet taking him to a less crowded area near the door to the warehouse. Intending to call for Junmyeon, his hand reaches into the pocket of his pants.
He dials the number, and the line rings a few times before the other picks it up, a cheery voice greeting him, “Sehun!”
“Damn it, Junmyeon, where are you?”
“Sorry, I was in the restroom. You’re in the after party already?”
In the corner of Sehun’s eyes, he sees his manager walking towards him. He gestures for Sehun to follow him and Sehun nods as he follows him inside the warehouse again.
“Yes, but I had something coming up. Can you just meet me inside in about half an hour?”
He closes the phone call, after hearing Junmyeon mutter, “See you there then.”
They’re walking to the backstage where he still sees a few staff around, and his manager stops his pace. He greets his manager in a friendly manner, “What’s up, Chen?”
Two people are walking towards them as Chen introduces them, “Sehun, let me introduce you to Xiumin, one of the senior PR.” Sehun shakes hand with Xiumin, muttering his name in return and how it’s a pleasure to be able to meet a senior PR.
He silently thinks of how young Xiumin looks for someone being called as a senior PR. He shifts his eyes to the other person, a startled expression present on Sehun’s face when he sees that the other person is Jongin.
Jongin gives him a small nod before Chen formally introduces him, “And this is Jongin, currently the most trending and renowned fashion journalist.”
Sehun shakes Jongin’s offered hand, formally greeting him. He had always said the same formal greetings when he meets a professional that Chen introduces just because it’s practical and he can change it a bit as time passes.
To his betrayal, Sehun’s eyes keep stealing a few glance at Jongin, who is paying attention at Xiumin. Like any other journalist, Jongin is sporting a formal attire, but Sehun recognizes that unlike any other journalist with their stereotypical black suits, Jongin puts a little edge of his style to his attire.
In a glance, Sehun knows that Jongin is wearing one of Alexander McQueen’s spring collection. He’s currently dressed in a long coat with gray undertones and a black collar of velvet material, and his dress pants are of similar tone as his coat.
There’s a journal tugged beneath his arm, and he’s wearing black rimmed glasses, making him look cute yet even more professional. For someone with a job as a fashion journalist, he’s way too good-looking, and he could get away with being a model.
Even his physique meets to the ideal requirements for a male model. Tall even though he’s a tad bit shorter than Sehun is, with a well-built lean figure.
Jongin’s pastel pink hair—an odd hair color indeed for a fashion journalist but who is Sehun to judge—styled neatly and the model material look on his face.
Heck, his jawline can cut a bitch, Sehun thinks as his gaze shift lower to the journalist’s sharp jawline. Focusing too much on Jongin’s features, his ear mutes the conversation that had been going on between Xiumin and Chen until he hears his name called out.
“Sehun, you’re a rising model at a young age, and you’ve been nominated for such a big award lately.”
Xiumin compliments him, and Sehun responds with a confident smile. Having someone as high rank as a senior PR praising him is such a great achievement on Sehun’s part.
“I wouldn’t get the recognition and nomination if it weren’t for my hard work, thank you.”
“Tell me, what’s your motivation or driving force that ables you to reach this far?”
“Other than hard work, the support I get from my family and friends also from the public. Not to mention the help I get from staffs behind the scene, they’re also a big part of it.”
“Well spoken, Sehun, and I personally agree that the staffs also take on a significant role in helping models especially behind the stage,” Xiumin nods his head approvingly, a satisfied smile on his lips.
“As there are countless of models competing with you, how do you manage to make other people recognize you in the runways?”
“I have a trademark,” Sehun then feels shy that he had to tell the PR what exactly his trademark is because he even thinks it’s quite cheesy, “A smirk, either along with a wink or just a smirk.”
Another voice chimes in, his voice slices the air sharply that Sehun could feel it, “That’s stupid.”
Sehun’s taken aback at the remark. He knows the voice as Jongin’s since the latter is now staring at him, his eyes piercing him.
“Excuse me?” Sehun scoffs, as he schooled his features, trying not to let his agitation evident on his face.
He knows he’s not supposed to be offended since critics are critics and he needs to be open-minded for those, but the way Jongin says irks him. He’s blunt with his remarks, his voice is brimming with his egotistic personality, and his face had contorted to a smug expression.
“You don’t need a particular move as your trademark. A trademark goes in many ways, and one truly becomes a top model when he or she has a trademark without it being too obvious,” Jongin snaps back, his gaze trained on Sehun's as one of his hand comes up to push back the bridge of his glasses.
Sehun is now very pissed, and he’s trying his best to be professional, he doesn’t want his reputation ruined over a harsh critic. He can feel his self-control crumbling slowly, and if Jongin doesn’t get out of his line of vision, he might punch the guy out of his emotions.
Next, to him, Chen is also taken aback, but as he is used to such remarks within the industry, he politely excuses Sehun and him. As they both walk away, Sehun hears Xiumin bidding a goodbye, there’s a hint of pity in his face, “We’ll be meeting again soon, Sehun.”
Sehun honestly wishes he won’t meet Jongin again, and if it means he won’t meet Xiumin anymore, then so be it, even though the senior PR is such a nice person and it’s good to know Sehun is on his good side.
He doesn’t hate being criticized, but if someone criticizes him in a smug manner because they acknowledge themselves for knowing better, then they’ll find their name in Sehun’s “who? Exactly” list.
Just as they’re far away from Jongin's and Xiumin’s hearing distance, Sehun lets out a groan before he exclaims in a loud voice in the already quiet stage venue, “What the hell was that?”
“Calm down, Sehun, take it easy,” Chen is rubbing his back, but Sehun just wants to punch someone if he can’t punch a punching bag. He’s on the verge of losing his temper, his attempt to relax by breathing in and breathing out isn’t working at all.
I can’t calm down, holy shit, he curses in the back of his mind.
He walks back and forth to take his mind off of it, in front of a sighing Chen. After a few minutes of walking back and forth mindlessly, Chen’s hand reaches Sehun’s arm, and he pulls Sehun down to sit on the nearby chair.
“Listen to me, Sehun. That was just one of the critics and critics build you up, remember? Don’t let it get to your mind, much more to your heart.”
But it was too late. Those words are starting to play in a loop with Jongin’s voice echoing in his mind.
“I know that, but that journalist’s attitude irks me.”
“You mean Jongin? Let me give you a heads up. Jongin became a well-known fashion journalist because his critics had always been blunt. Everyone appreciates him for being very honest.”
Sehun scoffs, crossing his arms as he imagines Jongin’s smug look in his mind again, and regrets it right away because it pisses him off more, “I honestly don’t fucking care. He has such an immense pride for his better knowledge in the industry, and he flaunts it.”
“He does, actually,” Chen mumbles softly, his eyes staring downwards to the floor as he avoids Sehun’s questioning gaze. Sehun seems as if he genuinely doesn’t know the slightest thing about Jongin other than he’s a well-known journalist.
Chen admits a little of him regrets he never told Sehun about Jongin’s remarkable journey in fashion and how he had managed to create his benchmark. As a manager, Chen cares about Sehun more than a manager should.
“Jongin was a model ever since he was a kid, and he had become a top model with the highest paying until he knew about the perks of being a fashion journalist. He likes challenging himself, that’s why he ended up as a fashion journalist.”
“Wait, how come I never knew?”
“He’s well known with his stage name, Kai. When he became a fashion journalist, he gave up the stage name and uses his real name instead.”
Sehun knew about a model named Kai, who always got positive criticisms in all of his walks and photo shoots. He didn’t know Kai was the highest paid top model back then and he was doting on another model, so he never actually kept track on about Kai at all.
But still, that doesn’t change the fact that he's a smug asshole.
Sehun stomps his feet grumpily while he’s still in his seat, his lips pursing. He stands up abruptly, his body language speaks of anger itself.
“There you are!” He hears Junmyeon exclaiming, as he rushes to Sehun and pulls him into a hug.
All Sehun needs that moment is a comfort, and Junmyeon’s hugs give off just that, so he succumbs to the warm embrace, propping his chin to Junmyeon’s shoulder.
After they pull back, Junmyeon notices the agitated look on Sehun’s face and is concerned, knowing something is going on with his little brother. Being close with Junmyeon has pros and cons, and Sehun’s not sure if Junmyeon being able to read him like an open book is a pro or a con.
“What happened? You look upset.”
“I’m alright, it’s nothing.”
“Oh Sehun,” Junmyeon’s tone turns hard, urging him to speak up and Sehun can’t help but groan in annoyance.
“Tell me what’s wrong. No one upsets my little brother.”
“I’m not little anymore, hyung. I’m turning 24 in 3 months.”
“You’re still younger than me by a few years. I can call you little, Sehun.”
“But in height, you’re shorter than me by a few inches. I can also call you little, hyung,” Sehun teases his older brother, and he knows he’s sensitive about his height. Junmyeon, therefore, tries punching Sehun, but to no avail, Sehun catches his fist right in time.
“I would try hitting you again, but you’re pissed already, and I’m a good brother, I’ll help you.”
“I don’t need your help,” Sehun’s voice trails hesitantly, eyes glancing elsewhere to avoid Junmyeon’s gaze towards him, “I just want a good sleep, I have a beach shoot tomorrow.”
“Sooner or later, you will tell me what happened,” Junmyeon presses on the word ‘will’ as he starts walking out of the venue, and Sehun hurriedly catches up to him after bidding Chen a goodbye and a “See you tomorrow, boss.”
“Leaning more to later,” Sehun answers him, a small smile on his lips as Junmyeon tries to flick his forehead but his little brother is way taller than him, and he fails again to no avail.
Sehun is up early because of Chen's endless phone calls, and he even called Junmyeon to wake Sehun up. So now, he’s in the car, on his way to the beach for his shoot and he feels like dozing off, but the car keeps shaking, preventing him from his quick nap.
He curses under his breath as he hears Chen’s joyous laugh, seeing a sleepy and grumpy Sehun, cursing when the car jolts suddenly. They get to the beach an hour later, after what it seems like an eternity of a rough journey. He’s greeted with staffs, the moment he steps out of the car, usher him into a tent.
Chen comes up behind him, when he sits on the chair, “Today will be a long day, and it’s sunny.”
“I know, and my fans said I need to get a tan for my skin is too pale.”
“Then it’s good for you to have a shoot out in the sun and you’ll probably get a burn since it’s too sunny, it’s practically like an oven out there,” Chen sighs exaggeratedly as he sits on a bench nearby, “I think I’m going to stay here.”
Sehun side-eyes him, and he sees Chen’s smug smirk because he knows Sehun doesn’t like sunny days and he hates it when his manager gets the benefit of resting underneath the tent. Meanwhile, he’ll be out there in the excruciating sunlight.
There’s a rustling sound from his left, and a familiar voice comes up, loud and clear, “There’s my super model!”
Sehun turns his head to the voice, a smile on his lips when he sees Luna walking, or more like skipping towards him. She looks gorgeous as per usual, and her long light brown hair braided messily.
“Hey, Luna. You look pretty as always.”
“Are you sweet talking me, honey? Just shut up and let me do my job, Sehun,” but she winks anyways to him.
“So the head director of today’s shoot wants it to be natural,” Sehun nods his head mindlessly, “But he also wants you to be slightly tanner.”
Sehun’s face perks up at that, eyebrows contorting in confusion as he stares at Luna, “But I’ll be tanner anyways.”
“You’ll be tanner after the shoot, not on the shoot,” he hears a snort coming from Chen.
After another hour of going through his makeup and getting a tan spray on his pale skin along with it, he feels slightly disgusted from the smell, and it looks more of an orange than a tan. He fits into his beach attire, sporting a white shirt with the buttons open, khaki pants, and he’s barefoot.
Not to forget a pair of black sunglasses since it's a Rayban shoot, then he’s all set for the shoot. He can’t help but take a few selfies for his stock of display pictures. At least Luna spares his face fewer sprays, so his face still looks okay.
He quickly takes a video and photo of the setting for his Snapchat before he heads to the photographer. The theme for the shoot is a ‘happy beach shoot’ so he’s left to interpret and he thinks he’ll probably put out a few smiles.
He’ll be working with another model, but he didn’t know he’ll be working with a friend when he sees Baekhyun waving his hand cheerily at Sehun, grinning ear to ear. He looks equally tan—or orange—so that’s comforting to him. Sehun waves back to him, equally in high spirit.
On set, he hears Baekhyun whining, glancing at his now orange arms, “These look so tacky and fake. We’re tan, and we’ll get a tan. This kind of shoot should be illegal.”
“It doesn’t even look like a tan. We look like cheese flavored Cheetos.”
“You don’t need to put a name for what we look like right now, Sehun. Now I can't unsee how we look like two human-sized Cheetos,” the older boy beside him is frowning, and Sehun snorts before the photographer tells them to get ready.
The blitz under the sunny day is hardly noticeable as the day is already bright enough. Even under the intense heat, everything goes by as per usual and they’re into the second session, having their solo shots.
Sehun is wearing another attire, a sleeveless ocean blue shirt with surfer pants. The disgust at his tan stays permanent, but he tries paying no mind to it.
He poses in front of the camera, his confidence overcoming his disgust. Showing off his smile a few times, the photographer exclaims a line of praises towards him, “Good good!” “Tilt your chin up a bit. Perfect!” “Stop right there and look into the camera. Perfect!” “Beautiful smile!”
Sehun is getting the hang of it, and he’s enjoying the shoot much more than he expected. In another session with Baekhyun, the photographer’s asking them to pose together. Baekhyun opts to stand straight as his hands tug onto his unbuttoned shirt, and Sehun leans his arm on Baekhyun's shoulder.
He hears a scoff from Baekhyun’s lips, “I know I’m shorter than you but don’t take it as an advantage.”
“For me to look cooler, I’ll take the advantage, thanks.”
Baekhyun playfully pinches Sehun’s side, causing Sehun to erupt in a peal of laughter, he’s ticklish, and it’s one of the things he hates about himself.
His laughter dies down when he notices someone familiar standing underneath the tent, staring at him before looking into the previews on the screen.
It turns out, the older boy beside him sees him as well, shaking his head before his hands go to the loopholes of his pants, “There goes the hot mess.”
“Is that who I think it is?”
“Yes, that’s the Kim Jongin. I hate how conflicted I am towards him, he’s hot, but he’s a douche.”
“Couldn’t agree more,” Sehun shrugs it off, as he picks up a ukulele near him, slinging it on his shoulder and gazing into the camera. He can feel the journalist’s stare, a stare so irking that he became so sensitive to it.
“Why is he our head director?” Baekhyun asks rhetorically, breaking Sehun’s focus. Hold the fuck up, what?
The photographer seems to notice the change of expression on Sehun's face, “Oh Sehun, what’s wrong?”
Sehun waves his hand in dismissal, sending a small reassuring smile to the photographer. In the corner of his eyes, he can see Jongin shaking his head slowly.
“He’s our head director?” Sehun asks discreetly, careful not to look too obvious.
“I thought you knew?” He changes his pose into slinging his arm around Baekhyun’s shoulder—for one or two reasons—. He lets Baekhyun take the ukulele away from him.
“I didn’t, why the fuck do we have him?”
“I don’t know, why would I know?” Baekhyun side-eyes him, “What’s up with you and him?”
“We’re not on good terms,” Sehun hesitates, it's more like he hates him instead of the other way, “Actually it's more like me to him.”
Baekhyun chuckles before muttering, “Don't we all?”
After tons of more shots, they’re finally on break, and the pictures taken are being shown to them. Sehun nods his head in approval and excuses himself to take a few pics from his phone. Just in case if he wants to give spoilers through Instagram.
He pockets his phone, just in time when Jongin comes near him, standing by his right side. As he looks through the previews flashing on the screen, he hums to a certain rhythm, his eyes scrutinizing to every shot.
“So what do you think?” the photographer asks.
“Good,” Jongin leaves the group crowding the screen, and Sehun has that urge to punch him in the face once again.
After Jongin is out of hearing distance, Baekhyun whispers to him, “What a prick,” and Sehun barks a laugh in response because that’s so true.
He walks inside his tent to change into another attire, when he comes face to face with Jongin, who’s leaning on the vanity, his arms crossed as if he’s waiting for Sehun.
Why is he here? But Sehun’s lips curve into a thin smile instead, what’s a nice excuse for fuck off?
“I’m changing, can you excuse me?”
“You’re too stiff.”
Sehun frowns, wondering if that was another critic from the man across him, “I’m sorry?”
“Your poses are too stiff,” Jongin pushes back his glasses as it starts to slide down the bridge of his nose, probably from the sweat forming by the heat, “And do you even have emotions? Your face lacks in that.”
Ouch, that was rude.
Sehun tries his best not to roll his eyes in front of the journalist, so in return, he throws a sarcastic remark, “Geez, thanks.”
“That’s a critic, and you should learn from it,” Jongin’s feet starts walking away out of the tent. If Jongin hadn’t snapped at him, Sehun would’ve admitted that the journalist is looking so hot with the sleeves of his patterned shirt rolled up to his elbows.
Jongin stops in his tracks when he hears, “And you, Kim Jongin, need to understand that there’s a thin line between criticism and plain rude.”
Sehun’s clenched fists are hidden behind his back. He smirks when he sees Jongin glancing at him, before walking out of the tent in silence. Damn, it feels nice to snap back at the journalist.
The next few days, his Twitter is buzzing with mentions about a particular article talking about his walk for the Alexander McQueen summer collection ’18.
He opens the link, and the bold letters of the article's headline are blaring back at him, “Oh Sehun for Alexander McQueen: magic or tragic?”
Eyes wide, he scrolls down the article to see the journalist behind the article. Without even a slight feeling of surprise, the culprit behind it is no other than Kim Jongin.
There’s a picture of him sporting the last outfit from the walk, and he’s winking at the camera. He reads the comment beneath it from the journalist, “A wink as a trademark move? Even more atrocious than the outfit itself.”
A minute later, he sees his manager and Junmyeon barging into his room, both talking frantically about the trending article. There’s a mix of panic and horror in Chen’s face, and Sehun swears it’s the first time he sees Chen so affected by a negative article.
“This is not good,” Chen voices out, taking in sharp breaths as if he had run to his house.
“I thought you said critics are critics,” Sehun raises his eyebrows, sitting on his bed.
“They are but with a headline like this? And from the Kim Jongin himself?” Chen is exasperated at this point. He looks like he could pass out any moment.
There’s another buzz from Chen’s phone and the manager opens it in a quick motion. His thumb is scrolling through it, then Chen drops onto the lounge chair as he groans loudly, catching Sehun surprised.
Junmyeon grabs his phone in time when Chen lets it go, and he curses when he sees what’s displayed on the phone, “Give him a fucking break.”
Finally, Sehun gets to see the other article, and it’s indeed about him. The headline reads, “Oh Sehun and Byun Baekhyun for Rayban.” So far, nothing wrong with the headline.
He skims the article, finding several words that include expressionless, stiff, and much more snarky remarks thrown across the article. He sighs, it’s honestly not the first time he gets a negative response in articles, but this is from Kim Jongin.
Someone who is reputable in what he does that even Chen, who usually shrugs off the negative commentaries, fears for the journalist’s impact on Sehun’s modeling career.
Unlike any other negative article who Sehun notices is biased, Jongin’s, in particular, doesn’t sound biased at all, and he’s just genuinely blunt and honest from his experience.
Apparently, he knows he’s good with what he’s doing, and he swells pride with it. An A class prick.
Oddly, Sehun's observant eye notices a small pattern in what Jongin wrote of him from his word choice to writing style. To make sure, he’ll need to compare it with Jongin’s other articles.
Sehun sighs, looking across to Chen who still has his palm covering his face, “So what do I do? There’s nothing I can do besides moving on and continue this career, Chen. You know that.”
Junmyeon chimes in as he sits next to Sehun, the bed dipping slightly, “Modelling had been your dream, and I don’t want you to lose that just because a famous journalist wrote two bad articles of you. You should keep following the schedule Chen planned and try steering clear off that journalist.”
Chen responds before Sehun could, there’s a hint of desperation in his voice, “I agree, we should totally move on and think of this as another critic. You, Sehun, try keeping your attitude around Jongin even though your attitude won’t entirely affect his words in articles.”
“I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything, Chen, he always puts me on edge. If one day, I’m triggered, I won’t hesitate to land my fist on his face.”
“Just don’t let that day come too soon because Sehun, the coming weeks even months of your career will be a bumpy one. Hold on and believe in yourself,” and Chen goes outside of his bedroom with a grim expression on his face.
But not before Sehun hears Chen mumble, “I hope Jongin doesn’t write any more bad articles of you.”
Let’s hope so, Chen.
Just as Chen predicted, the next few weeks was bumpy, and Sehun had to face brands turning him down and the list of booked photo shoots running dangerously low. He was even turned down to walk in a few brands’ collection.
Even though he still has Chen continuously cheering him up and Junmyeon, his support system, telling him to be positive and never lose hope, the fire inside Sehun is flickering, threatening to dim.
There are moments when he turns solemn at the mention of one or two high-end brands turning him down for a walk or becoming their brand ambassador. Sehun was only starting to rise, and now he’s struggling even to have a schedule.
He couldn’t believe two articles from Jongin could impact this much on his career. Sehun blames Jongin for what he did but a little of his insecurities points a blame to himself for being lazy to improve, and it isn’t completely Jongin’s fault.
When he spends his day off with Junmyeon, Sehun faintly confesses, “I guess I brought this upon myself.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s my fault that all the brands are turning me down, and the booked photo shoots are running low. I did this to myself.”
“No, it’s not your fault, Sehun. Why would you say that?”
“You can say I was becoming a rising model because of my popularity only, even though I’m still an amateur.”
“Oh Sehun, don’t talk like that,” Junmyeon’s face hardens, he even sounds uptight, “Even if your popularity plays a part in your career, you became a rising model because you have the potential, and everyone sees that. You’re only a step away from letting it show its best, and when that happens, I’ll be seeing you become one of the top models.”
Sehun smiles sincerely at Junmyeon, he’s thankful he has such a supportive brother, who knows how to comfort him and make him feel at least a tad bit better. There’s a momentary pause after Sehun mumbles a ‘thank you,' but then Junmyeon’s voice cuts the calm air.
“Also it’s mostly the journalist’s fault for having such big impact on you. He knows his reach is far and he takes advantage of that to criticize bluntly. What a fucking asshole.”
And that is the moment you know Junmyeon loathes someone, especially when he curses and calls you an asshole in particular.
Sehun boisterous laughter echoes in their apartment before Junmyeon smiles at him and joins laughing. At least he has this free time to spend it with someone who supports and appreciates him for what he is because he can’t wait for the judging glares—he’s been getting it a lot these days—in the photo shoot tomorrow.
In all honesty, Sehun tries his best to avoid Jongin at all cost in the past month, almost two because he doesn’t want to mess with him—and he isn’t sure if he can hold his punches—. Against all the odds in his favor and more like doom tailing behind his back, the head director for today’s shoot is Kim Jongin, again. Or at least what Sehun assumes him to be.
What made his mood shoot down to the deepest pit is he has to see Jongin right on his face. The notorious journalist brushes past in front of him, and Sehun swears he can feel the overpowering ego in the air around him.
Sehun wants to puke at the oozing pride from Jongin as he rushes to his dressing room and sees Chen typing on his phone. He tries to sound casual without any hint of anger, “Chen, when were you going to tell me our head director is the fucking jackass?”
Smooth, Sehun, smooth.
Chen looks up at him, and Sehun can’t believe he sees a surprise written all over Chen’s face because isn’t his manager supposed to know who the head director is?
“Wait, who? Kim Jongin?”
“Who else do I call a fucking jackass in this department, Chen?”
“Well there’s only Jongin left in that category, the rest you dismissed it,” Sehun glares at him in annoyance, “Calm down, Sehun, I wasn’t even notified Jongin is taking the place of the head director because I’m told the head director is Jung Soojung.”
“So he’s not the head director? Why is he here then?”
“I don’t know! Soojung had worked with Jongin a lot, and they’re best friends, or what the industry calls, ‘the conquerors of fashion,' but I never knew that he was going to come down and keep an eye on this shoot.”
The conquerors of fashion?
“Why are they called like that?”
“Soojung was and still is a well-known editor and head director of photo shoots, her reach is pretty far. Jongin at that time was the highest-paid model, and his reputation goes far beyond in the industry. One is famous behind the scene, and the other is famous on the scene. They make a perfect duo, and apparently, they’re best friends.”
“Well apparently, the other person is here, and he’s going to find something to shit on about me or even write another negative article.”
“Cut the negativity, Sehun. You can do this. Don’t take into account of his presence because he’s not your head director.”
Sehun sighs in retreat as he sits on his chair and leaves the makeup artist to do his face. He knows that what Chen says is right, but his guts aren’t being supportive as they keep flashing warnings in his mind.
Sure, he can definitely avoid Jongin’s presence but will he be able to prevent another of Jongin’s negative article?
Sehun comes out into the set half an hour later, and he can see in the corner of his eyes, Jongin is glancing at him, and he shrugs it off. He doesn’t want Jongin’s annoying gaze to ruin his mood.
Just as Chen said, a woman in her 20s comes up to him, and she looks gorgeous that Sehun could mistake her as another model if she weren’t wearing a casual preppy outfit. She smiles at him, and Sehun returns it, “Nice to meet you, Sehun. It’s an honor to be able to work with you, I’m Soojung.”
“Thank you for having me, Soojung. So what is the theme for today?”
“The theme is a grunge and rock ’n’ roll vibe because this shoot is sponsored by Saint Laurent’s newest collection that will be shown on the walk in Men’s Fashion Week in Paris.”
“Great, so will I be able to play with the props?”
“You’re welcomed to. It’s a rock ’n’ roll theme after all. Chen,” Soojung motions for Chen, as the mentioned boy scurries to her, “As I said, this is sponsored by Saint Laurent. So aside from this shoot, they requested to book Sehun for their show in Paris. Make sure to put it on his schedule.”
Sehun couldn’t believe his ears, Saint Laurent is booking him to walk in their show in Paris. This is a pretty huge milestone for him because he had always loved Saint Laurent’s men’s collection and had been dreaming of walking in one of the collections.
And now I can. If we weren’t going to have a shoot, I would’ve cried right here, right now.
Chen looks equally stunned as he is, as he averts his gaze quickly to his tablet. Soojung smiles at Sehun and her hand come up to squeeze his shoulder, “You’re a great model, Sehun. This is only the start of your career, don’t let anything discourage you.”
“Thank you, Soojung, it’s an honor to be able to walk for Saint Laurent.”
“No need to thank me, it’s time for your talent to shine. Oh and Chen,” Chen looks up expectantly, somehow silent against his usual demeanor, “I have a list of designers that wants to book Sehun for Paris Fashion Week, I’ll give it to you later.”
Before Sehun can even muster a shocked gasp, Soojung nudges him to go into the set and get ready for the shoot. He can see the guitar props and a few speakers around him, but he doesn’t pay too much mind to it because his mind focuses elsewhere.
A list of designers wanting to book me? Is this finally a blessing of a shower of rain in my drought? I hope this isn’t a dream because it’s Men's Fashion Week in Paris. It’s in Paris.
He needs to give his all for this shoot so he can assure Saint Laurent that he meets to their expectation. Sehun plans to play the guitar, and he aims to show his best fierce and boyish expression ever.
The first session goes well, and he’s satisfied that he earns a praise from the photographer that he's bringing out the youthful grunge look into a different light, and it's great. Chen offers him a cup of coffee, and he claps at him, grinning, “You were on fire, Sehun, holy shit.”
“Was I? I didn’t realize that. I just wanted to give my best.”
“You certainly did. That news about Saint Laurent indeed turned on your driving force, I’m glad.”
In the far end of the room, Soojung ushers Jongin to the side, earning a questioning look from him, “What do you think about Sehun? I told you, he’s good and with the right guidance, he can be a top model.”
“He did better than the Rayban shoot.”
“Come on, Jongin, warm up a bit. You’re too hard on him. He’s only starting to grow.”
“If he wants to be a top model, he has to go through a rough journey.”
“His journey is rough enough right now because of you, don’t make it any harder for him. It’s good that all my proposals to the designers are accepted.”
“See? He’s only getting to the fashion week with the help of your hand.”
Soojung shakes her head. She’s by far, already used to how close minded Jongin is and the only way she can get back is if she’s hard to him as well. Even though by now, Jongin is like family to her, he's always too wrapped up in his head, and she’s always there to shake Jongin off of it.
Out of the blue, Soojung smacks the back of Jongin’s head, something that only Soojung can do to him without earning an outburst.
Jongin lets out a surprised yelp, wincing at the throbbing pain, “What’s that for?”
“Designers won’t agree on booking a model if they think the model doesn’t have enough charisma to bring out their collection’s theme or if they can’t see enough potential that can live up to their expectations and the public’s as well.”
Jongin stares at her silently, like a kid finally realizing their mistake and is now facing a well-deserved lecture. Soojung continues, glaring at Jongin right in the eye.
“I know you’re especially harsh on him because you notice his potential and you can see yourself in him. If you want him to be like how you expect him to be, then help him instead of putting him down. Get out of your goddamn ego and for once, help someone who you think is finally worth your praise.”
He looks down at his feet as he notices Soojung turning on his heels and goes back to the set. She motions for everyone to get back from the break and continue the shoot, and Jongin doesn’t miss the encouraging pat she gives to Sehun.
It’s always Soojung who can make him feel sorry for what he had done, and now she’s doing it again.
What makes it even worse, his mind flashes a reminder that he had written another harsh commentary about Sehun. He silently hopes neither his manager nor Sehun will know about the article since Sehun’s name wasn’t on the headline.
But there lies Jongin’s flaw where he forgets that other people has connections and are as detailed as he is. An article by him always travels fast word by word and soon the word will go through Sehun.
After the shoot finishes, Sehun walks around the set, thanking the staffs and the photographer who once again, praised him for portraying a fierce grungy look and bringing out Saint Laurent's theme to its finest. The photographer smiles sincerely and shakes his hand as he looks forward to working with Sehun again.
Soojung comes up to him then, grinning at him and it blinds him momentarily, “As I expected, you live up to your charisma and exert that on your poses. I’m glad I chose you.”
“Thank you, Soojung, it’s an honor to have a sponsored shoot from a brand I love so much. And thank you also for getting me into Paris Fashion Week.”
“You’re welcome, Sehun, it’s a pleasure. You continue to surprise me, and I’ll look forward to working with you again, maybe soon.”
She walks away after giving Sehun a hug, and Sehun rushes into the dressing room, can’t wait to dress back in his usual clothes and tell Junmyeon about the news in person.
He’ll either have Junmyeon hugging him so tight he couldn’t breathe or Junmyeon walking outside to the balcony and screaming about him, and both ideas sound equally embarrassing. But then it is Junmyeon, and his trait is his awkward personality.
The first thing he sees when he steps into the dressing room is Chen walking back and forth across the dressing room, talking with who he assumes is the designer’s managers.
He can finally discern that Chen is persuading the person across the phone and Sehun is puzzled at why his manager needs to persuade him into the show when the designer is the one who wants to book him.
Chen gets off the phone call with a heavy sigh, and Sehun doesn’t know if that’s a sigh of relief or a sigh of disapproval. There’s uncertainty in Chen’s eyes when Sehun looks at him questioningly, and suddenly there's a troubled feeling building inside him.
“What’s with that look, Chen? What happened?”
“That was Kenzo. They nearly bailed on booking you, but I managed to convince them. I'm not sure you want to know why.”
“Why did they bailed? Do they have no space left for another model for their walk?”
“No, they have spare spots for a few more models, and they intentionally left one for you until they come up with something.”
“Something?” Chen has a nervous look sent to him, and Sehun’s curiosity is gnawing rapidly in every ticking of the clock, “Lord, what did they come up to, Chen?”
“Look through the email I sent to you a moment ago. Jongin wrote another article about you, but it doesn’t have your name on the headline. That’s why it didn’t get to us faster than they did.”
“What the fuck?” Sehun blurts, his eyes bulging in disbelief because how fucking dare he write another negative article about me? Does he want to bury my career into the deepest parts of hell?
He takes out his phone from the duffel bag he always brings to photo shoots and unlocks it. There’s indeed an unread email in his inbox, and he opens the link inside the email.
He sees the headline, “A Miss of Models In This Year’s Spring/Fall Season,” and he scrolls it down and there lies his name with a photo of him in the Alexander McQueen show attached to it.
As per usual, he skims through it and finds words and phrases such as “trademark to cringe at,” “his walk causes your heart to palpitate for how terrible it is.”
Chen walks to him in a hassle and grips his forearm when one of Sehun's fist smacks on the table, sending the things on it rattling unstable. He tries holding Sehun back from ever stepping out of the dressing room because he knows where Sehun will go.
“Don’t, Sehun, please don’t cause a trouble. I worked it out fine, and there’s nothing more to worry about.”
“There’s nothing to worry about now, but what if in the coming months, Chen? What if I have to face brands turning me down again, and no booked photo shoots?”
Chen dawns the realization, and there’s another worried look on his face, “What will you do if I were to let you go?”
“For your sake, I won’t punch him. I’ll ask him about it, but I don’t promise sweet words.”
He can see the regret in Chen’s face but he lets go his arm anyways, and Sehun brushes past him out of the dressing room. Sehun doesn’t quite know the place they’re in, but he knows exactly where a journalist would be if they’re in a photoshoot set.