The address I was sent belonged to a building located in one of the industrial parks in the outskirts of Seoul. When I told MinSeo about what had happened and that I had agreed to work with Sehun, she immediately offered herself to take me to the venue, despite my complaints and insistence to simply hire a taxi. I had definitely hit the jackpot with her, she was even more excited than me about the chance I had been given without even looking for it, and she also wanted to make sure I was able to get there safely. She was lucky enough to have a free morning on the day the photoshoot was due, but I had to ask Mr. Park for permission; in exchange, I would have to double my shift on the next Monday.

Mr. Park wasn’t the only one I had to inform about what was going on. Grandpa made sure to call me regularly to check on me, tell me how they were doing and just maintain the relationship that had been on a halt for so long, so it was only fair for me to call back and give them the news, even if it wasn’t exactly what they longed to hear.

“Gracie!” It was my grandfather who picked up the phone; id callers had been invented for a reason. “So good to hear you! How are you doing?”

“I’m very fine, Grandpa. In fact, there’s something good I wanted to tell you both,” I stopped for a moment, thinking. “Does your phone have a speaker option? It would be easier for me if I could tell you both at the same time, if you’re not too busy right now.” Which was in part true, but mainly, I did not want to have to go through the awkwardness of telling my grandmother in a one to one conversation.

“I think it does have that thing, but you will have to wait for a moment, because I’ve never used it.” Then, I spent a good five minutes waiting for them to press the right button, hearing them fidgeting around with the phone and their bickering in Korean.

“Grace? Grace? Is this working?” I heard my grandfather.

“It is, Grandpa, you don’t need to yell,” I laughed. “Hello, Grandma. Are you feeling well?”

“I am, Grace. What is it you wanted to tell us?” Always straight to the point.

“I got a job as a model.”

I was practically able to hear the startled glances they exchanged before my grandmother spoke again.

“What?”

“A friend of mine here in Seoul recommended me as a model to a magazine that was in need of one,” I explained. “Tomorrow morning is the photoshoot.”

Silence again.

“I can’t give you many details about it because I don’t even know exactly what I’m going to be doing until I get there tomorrow, but it’s something related to a Korean music group,” I went on, trying to make it easier for them, so they wouldn’t have to ask. “If you want and I am able to, I could get you a copy so you can see my work.”

“That’s so formidable, Gracie!” My grandfather was the first one to speak; meanwhile, grandma kept a silence that was screaming disappointment. “How are you going to get to the place?”

“MinSeo, my co-worker and friend, has offered to take me there by car.”

“Is she going to going to go inside with as well, to make sure they don’t take advantage of you?” That was my grandmother speaking, being blunt and wary at the same time.

“I’m a grown woman and don’t need nobody to watch over me,” I blurted out. “But the friend that recommended me is going to be there too and that person has my complete trust,” I tried to put them at ease without giving away much information, especially not the tiny insignificant detail that the person I so much trusted was a man.

“You know what we think about your decisions, Grace, but we’re not able to keep you from doing you any longer. Just promise to be careful.” Grandma was surprisingly not putting much of a fight, which made me wonder if maybe they had had some kind of argument about their attitude towards this matter.

“I promise I will be very careful, Grandma. I know this is going to go well. I’m very excited about it.”

“I’m sure you are, sweetie, and we want you to know we’re both happy you’re being able to find your way,” Grandpa said.

The three of us spent some more time chatting and enjoying the fact that none of us were on the defensive in that occasion. Some time later I hung up, after both of them wished me luck and asked me to visit them soon. With the next day’s prospective and the nice chat with my grandparents on my mind, I went to bed feeling more optimistic than I had been in a long time.

The next morning I woke up earlier than usual, but I wasn’t tired at all. I took a shower and made sure to shave thoroughly. I pulled my clean hair up into a ponytail and, as I didn’t know how the wardrobe was going to be, wore a pair of sweatpants and a loose t-shirt, the kind of clothes that would not leave marks on my skin. MinSeo wouldn’t be around up until half an hour later, so that gave me plenty of time to make myself a cup of tea and enjoy some still not fully understood TV. I did not want to eat anything because I didn’t know whether I would be able to keep it inside my body. Besides, I preferred not to look too bloated. My attempts to relax in order to calm my nerves were completely useless, as when MinSeo rang the bell of my door, I jumped in my seat, let the remote control fall out of my hands and both the batteries rolled away to a different corner of the room. I didn’t want to lose time  looking for them, so I just  turned off the TV directly through the device’s button, then I put on my coat and left the apartment in the blink of an eye.

MinSeo examined my face when I got into the car.

“Your eye bags don’t look too bad today. How did you sleep?” she asked.

“I slept well, but I have been feeling more and more nervous and clumsy after I hopped off the shower this morning,” I sighed.

“That’s normal, today’s your big day. But you’ll do well, I’m sure of it!” She smiled at me, trying to be encouraging.

I gave her the exact direction, but we ended up having to use the GPS, which led to endless mocking about her not knowing her own city, which worked better in helping me relax than the cup of tea and all the breathing exercises I had been doing sitting on the sofa. Still, even with the GPS on, MinSeo was able to get lost a couple of times before we arrived at the industrial park she quickly identified as where all the TV sets and recording studios of Seoul where at, as almost all the buildings were marked with the logos of the big entertainment enterprises of Korea. After checking the GPS had made us stop in front of the right building, MinSeo shifted in her seat to face me and grabbed my hand.

“You are going to do very well. I know this must feel overwhelming, because you’re going to pass from 0 to 100 in almost no time, but you’re capable of doing it. Besides, if Sehun has gone to such point to get you in, he must trust you, don’t you think so?” She was full on encouraging mode, which I was grateful for, as I hadn’t got any of those pep talks since it was my own mother who gave them to me.

“I guess,” I shrugged. “Actually, it feels nice to know I’m going to have at least one familiar face inside there. Thank you so much for driving me here and being so supportive, Min, I couldn’t ask for anyone better than you to be my friend.”

She nodded, smiled and hugged me the way she was able to, considering we we’re both still inside the car. After that, we said goodbye and she drove away, leaving me alone in the front door of the building.

******

The SM building had a very aseptic feeling to it; part of ground floor was divided in a few lounges with glass filled with uncomfortable looking but modern pieces of furniture in black, grey and varying shades of creamy white. Despite the enclosed appearance it offered from the outside with its dark tinted windows, the interior was actually very luminous, as there was a very carefully arranged courtyard just in the centre the building which also served as a skylight and provided the different floors enclosing it with natural lightning.

As I looked around me, I noticed the reception counter was located just besides the front door, but I had been too distracted by the rest of the room to see it. Nonetheless, it was quite obvious the receptionist, a middle aged woman with her hair up in a too tight bun, had seen me, as she was staring at me with a smile on her lips that didn’t quite reach his eyes and seemed to be waiting for me to acknowledge her before talking.

“Excuse me, miss, but I’m afraid you can’t be here,” she said, obviously getting the wrong idea.

“I’m sorry, I should have introduced myself. I have an appointment with Mr. Rhee. He told me the reception would be aware of me coming. I’m Grace Jeong,” I said, making a bow at the end.

“Oh, so you’re the model for the photoshoot,” she answered with a bored tone, as her eyes inspected me. “Okay, wait in that room over there for your agent to come and then I will take you both to the set.”

“Actually, I’m here alone.” She looked at me as if she did not understand. “I don’t have an agent. Mr. Rhee is informed about that.”

“Okay then, I guess I will take you there now.” She stood up from the swivel chair and started walking towards the opposite side of the floor. “Follow me.”

The lift, which was in concordance with the rest of the building took us both to the last floor, which was completely different from the ground floor; all I could see were three different corridors, one leading to the stairway and the other two, which I could not see the end of, were full of doors marked with numbers and Korean words. People who were obviously staff came and went from one door to another and across the hall we were in, carrying various stuff, lights, cables, hangers full of clothing, etc.

Reception woman put her hand on my lower back and led me to one of the corners of the small hall.

“Wait here. Mr. Rhee will come for you.”

“Thank you,” I said, but got no answer, as she turned around, got into the lift and disappeared behind its closing doors.

As she had told me to do, I stood there, waiting, which made for a good opportunity to observe a bit more. Most of the people around me were wearing the same dark clothing, some of them stopped in their tracks to talk to each other in the middle of the room or to redirect them. None of them acknowledge me, despite sometimes taking a quick glance at my direction. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to wait too long; a man who didn’t look much older than me came towards me. He was wearing the same kind of attire as the rest of the crew and I was surprised when he introduced himself as Iseul Rhee. His voice was definitely the one I had been talking to over the phone, but his appearance was far from what I had imagined a producer in one of the top entertainment business in Korea would look like. Just as Reception Lady had done before, Rhee started walking and I followed him through a door which led to another smaller corridor, and then another, until we got to a big room which had vanity tables, chairs, clothe hangers, some sofas and a bathroom.

“Ok, so Sehun told me about it and said you were kind of new to all of this, so I will explain it to you,” he started talking, smiling as he saw me roam over the room looking through the stuff. “Usually, this is the room all the side models share, but today you’re the only one participating at the photoshoot, so you have it just for yourself.”

“All the hustle from outside is just for one photoshoot?” I asked startled.

“Not just one photoshoot, SM’s Exo photoshoot. Sehun also said you don’t know much about kpop,” he chuckled. “Which can be good in your position, but I get the impression you don’t realize how big this is. This business moves millions just in Korea, but it branches out to the rest of Asia and to many other countries. Those guys have a fanbase of thousands of people around the world. Many of those people and others trying to get a place for themselves in the entertainment business would pay to be in your position. But no pressure.”

I swallowed hard and started questioning what I had gotten myself into. Or rather, where had Sehun taken me into. Seeing my discomfort, Rhee laughed and patted my shoulder.

“But listen, don’t you worry. I’ve seen your photo book and you have a way with the camera, which is weird, because you seem so much more shy in person than what those photos transmit. And I have to say, Sehun’s suggestion came just in time. I had been pondering with the other producers of the possibility of having the only model in the photoshoot to be a westerner, as it would be easier for western readers to feel attracted to the publication if there’s familiar features in it, rather than just a bunch of "Asian guys”,“ he air quoted, as if to joke about the steretypes in other, mostly white, countries. "Anyway, Sehun has faith in you and I’m sure you will do just fine. And if you do, you can be sure you’re going to have lots of doors open for you.”

I just managed to nod.

“I will try.”

“Okay, so at 10:30, you have clothes fitting session. The styling department already has the measures you sent me, so I think that will go smoothly,” he said, checking a timetable full of colours in his phone. “Then, at 12:00 lunch will be served. If there were any more people here, you would be able to have it here, but today you’ll have to go to room 3-C, that’s where the rest of the boys are at. Have you met any of them apart from Sehun?”

“I served Chanyeol a piece of cake, but I don’t think he remembers that…”

“Anyway, if he or anybody else asks you, you are here selected by me from an agency, but have no idea who you were going to star with. Improvise a little,” he shrugged. “Then, makeup and styling crew will be here at 15:00 to get you ready for your photoshoot, which starts at 16:00. Time’s always relative in this kind of situations, you may start later. None of us are going anywhere until the shooting’s over, so make yourself comfortable. You can have naps, roam around the floor if you want to nose around.” He put an identification card around my neck. “Just make sure you’re here for the times I’ve told you. Also, you have Wi-Fi connection here, but you’re not allowed to take pictures or videos of what you see, publish on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or anything like so. Questions?”

I shook my head.

“Good. Someone will bring you the contract in a moment. It’s in English, read it and sign it, and if you have any problem, send that same person to look for me.” He stopped right when he was about to go out of the room. “And relax, woman. None of us are going to bite you.”