December 19, 2010

Seohyun opened the back door of her parents silver Honda SUV and stepped outside. The cold December air nipped at her cheeks as she made her way to the passenger window where her mother sat. Her mother rolled down the window with the heat from the heater teasingly grazing Seohyun’s skin. 

“Good luck honey,” Her mom said with a wide smile on her face. “I’m so proud of you!”

Touched, Seohyun reached and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks mom. I’ll see you guys later. I’m not sure what time the shoot will end but I’ll text you.”

Her dad leaned over so that his face was shown and gave Seohyun a thumbs up. “Okay, call us if you need us!” 

Seohyun nodded and stepped back as her mom rolled the window back up. She waved at the two of them as they drove away. They were both excited to take Seohyun to her first official photo shoot but her mom was overly ecstatic. After hearing from SM Entertainment that they had already accepted CeCi magazine’s offer of a photo shoot and one on one interview with Seohyun and Yonghwa, her mother had whipped up a hearty breakfast at 5 a.m. and catered to every Seohyun’s needs. She had even packed Seohyun a lunch which she stored away in her baby blue backpack. 

With her hands buried deep in her pockets, Seohyun made her way to the entrance of CeCi magazine’s studio. The call time was 6 a.m. and Seohyun liked to arrive just fifteen minutes before. 

Suddenly, Seohyun felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She quickly took it out as the automatic doors opened for her and she stepped inside. It was a text from Eric. Since Seowoo was gone on her honeymoon Eric had volunteered to become her substitute manager. He told her he was to arrive in a couple of minutes and to wait for him in the front. 

Seohyun quickly texted back okay and stared out the glass window waiting for Eric. Soon enough the familiar black Mercedes pulled up and into a parking spot. Seohyun watched as he stepped out of the car wearing a sharp black suit and emerald green tie. His black hair was neatly put together as always. He caught eyes with Seohyun and instantly waved at her with a shiver. She couldn’t understand why Eric didn’t wear a jacket but he had insisted that it was for style. 

“Good morning,” Eric said as he walked through the automatic glass doors. 

“Morning,” Seohyun replied. “Someone should be meeting us soon.”

He nodded and looked past her. “Well while we wait I’m going to grab myself some coffee.”

Seohyun went to sit down on the couch. She played with her feet as she waited. The excitement was slowly brewing inside her, anxiously waiting for a representative to come down. The only photo shoot Seohyun had ever done was for the promotional ads for the music video. She had never done something like this. Her mind wandered to Yonghwa who had more experience than she did. But with the way they left things off yesterday, she wasn’t sure if he was in the mood to guide her.  

“Miss Seohyun?”

Seohyun and Eric both looked up at the sound of her name and found a man that looked to be Eric’s age, standing before them. 

The two stood up and instantly shook hands with the man.

“I’m Bae and I’ll be assisting you today.” He pointed towards the elevator. “I’ll bring you two up to the studio where the photo shoot will take place.”

While Seohyun and Eric followed Bae, she couldn’t help but wonder if Yonghwa had already arrived. “Excuse me, Bae?”

Bae looked at her with a nod as they waited for the elevator. 

“Is Jung Yonghwa here yet?”

He smiled as he answered, “Nope you’re the first one here.” 

Eric gave Seohyun a questioning look just as the elevator doors dinged open. She simply shrugged in response as they walked in. 

After the short elevator ride, Bae walked them into directly an open studio space. It was massive with dividing sections that had different themes set up. Bae began explaining the process and how the photo shoot was going to go. Seohyun was only half listening as her thoughts began to wander. It was so unlike her to be out of focus but Seohyun just was. Yonghwa kept penetrating her thoughts and the only way to resolve that was if they just talked. 

“So now, I’ll be sending you over there to makeup. Seohyun? Are you listening?” asked Bae.

Seohyun looked at Bae with an apologetic smile. “Yes of course. Lead the way.”

Eric lightly pulled her aside as they followed behind Bae. “Something on your mind?” He whispered into her ear.

“Lots of things,” She whispered back. 

Eric gave her a little squeeze on the shoulder.

Once they entered the makeup room, Bae introduced them to the makeup artists. There were four girls ready for Seohyun. She looked around the room and saw the different concepts taped to the wall. There were dozens and Seohyun felt the excitement warm all over her body. As they situated Seohyun onto a chair in front of all the makeup, Eric went off to the side and sat on the couch sipping on more coffee and reading a book. Seohyun set her backpack beside her and too pulled out a book titled, “Progress Of The World’s Women 2008 2009: Who Answers To Women?: Gender And Accountability” by her idol, Ban Ki Moon.

“This is the makeup room and you’ll be seated over there. Seohyun is already here and getting her makeup done. If you have any questions or need my assistance, feel free to call on the phone on the wall over there. I’ll be back when the photo shoot begins.”

“Okay, thanks Bae.”

Seohyun felt her heart skip a beat, knowing that it was Yonghwa who had just walked in the room. 

She heard whispers between the makeup artists as he sat down in the adjoining chair from her. Not one word was said. He must still be mad at her. For what? She wasn’t really sure but she knew it was about Eric. Maybe it was jealously?

As Seohyun turned the page of her book, she looked through her peripheral vision what Yonghwa was doing. He was sitting in his chair with his headphones in. He didn’t even look her way. Seohyun let out a little sigh and returned to reading her book. He was just being way too stubborn.

Seohyun walked out of the adjoining dressing room with Eric holding the train of her long pale mint green dress. Made of soft tulle fabric, Seohyun then adjusted the sweetheart neckline. Her brown hair flowed in soft waves down her back and her makeup was simple with smoked out romantic purples. Her lips and cheek had a tint of pink and her shoes were high and silver. 

The makeup artist had told her that the first concept was ‘Dreams In The Garden’. She had laughed at first but the flower wreathe around her head was the icing on the cake. She looked ahead and saw that a portion of the studio was already set with a garden wonderland completed with an assortment of flowers and a white bench in the middle. Yonghwa was already sitting on it, chatting with the photographer.

He was wearing a navy blue shirt tucked under black dress pants. His shoes were black loafers and his hair was waved. 

The photographer had looked towards Seohyun once he heard her approaching the set. He immediately let out a hand for her to shake. 

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Song Joon and I’m your photographer today,” He led her towards the set beside Yonghwa. “We have different concepts to do today so it’ll be a long shoot. Later on, you’ll have an individual interview with one of the Ceci Magazine writers and we’ll shoot some more after. It should be a fun day! Now, Seohyun I’d like you to sit on the floor and Yonghwa you can continue sitting on the bench. This is a ‘Dreams In The Garden’ concept. I want a fairytale love to emit from the both of you.” He bent down on his knees and readied his camera. “Okay, let’s go!”

Seohyun and Yonghwa barely looked at each other as Joon began clicking away on his camera. Seohyun wasn’t sure what to do as she simply stared into the camera. 

“Okay, stop.” Joon looked away from his camera. “I need interaction. This isn’t an individual shoot yet. You both look great alone but that isn’t the point. Seohyun lay your head on his lap and look into his eyes. Let’s start from there.” He picked up his camera once again and began clicking away. “Talk! Anything! Make it feel like you’ve loved each other your entire lives!”

Seohyun looked up into Yonghwa’s eyes, who were starring back right into hers. She pursed her lips wondering if she should say something first. 

“You’re really friendly with Eric all of a sudden.” said Yonghwa, breaking the silence. 

“He’s a lot easier to talk to,” replied Seohyun. “He doesn’t give me mixed signals.”

Yonghwa gave her a look. “I should be saying the same thing. You’re just as confusing.”

She scoffed. “Trust me, I’m not as confusing as you. You being mad at me right now proves my point.”

“What makes you think I’m mad at you? Our fight after the wedding?” With his hand, Yonghwa reached for a piece of Seohyun’s hair and tucked it away from her face. “I’m not mad at you,” He whispered as his fingers lingered on her face. “I’m not mad.”

Seohyun then reached for his hand and ever so gently pushed it away from her, letting her fingers play with his. “Then what are you feeling?”

“Yes, great! Stay like that! That’s excellent!” yelled the photographer in excitement. His words had interrupted their conversation and the only sound between them was the clicking of his camera. He then stood up from his position. “Alright, we’re good here. You two can go on ahead and get ready for the next concept.” He smiled as he looked at the shoots he had just taken. “Now this is what I’m talking about. Pure natural chemistry.”

Yonghwa helped Seohyun up and the two began walking back into the makeup room. 

He paused at the door for a moment before turning to look at Seohyun.

“What?” She asked.

He shook his head as he smirked. “Nothing.”

After another two hours of endless photo shooting and changing in and out of concepts, it was time for the individual shots. Yonghwa was up first and Seohyun would go off and be interviewed by one of the reporters from Ceci Magazine. Their individual shots were that of a rockstar couple, so Seohyun and Yonghwa both got ready. Her hair was no longer in soft waves rather it was big, frizzy and absolutely crazy. Her makeup became ten times heavier, especially around the eyes. She had on blood red lipstick and Seohyun absolutely loved this new look. 

Once they were both ready, Yonghwa made his way on set and Seohyun walked over to the reporter who was waiting for her with her back turned to her, sitting on a director type chair. She sat across from her and immediately introduced themselves. She liked this placement because Seohyun could see Yonghwa just about to start his shoot.

Her name was Chung Jolie. A pen name she said. She was everything that Seohyun thought a reporter should be. She was dressed in a very business like fashion, wearing a black blazer over a red top and black skinny dress pants with black heels. Her hair was up in a high bun and on her lap was a recorder and notepad. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Seohyun,” said Jolie as they shook hands. “You’ve been a media frenzy for us reporters. Thanks for choosing Ceci.”

Seohyun shook her head with a smile. “Trust me, I feel more honored.”

She laughed. “Alright, let’s get down to the nitty gritty.” She her tape recorder and flipped a page in her notebook. “First question, how are your feelings towards your “sort of” instant stardom even though the music video hasn’t even come out yet?”

“Definitely overwhelming,” replied Seohyun. “I went into the music video hoping to gain some recognition but I’ve gained more than that and I’m truly grateful. I’m slowly adjusting and it’s a bit weird when people point me out as the “girl from the teaser” but I like it.”

Jolie smiled as she wrote in her notepad. “I heard that you’ve recently signed with SM Entertainment.”

“Yes I have, everything was finalized yesterday.”

The interview continued on with some basic ‘get to know’ Seohyun type of questions.

 Then, the real questions began.

“Tell me some of your aspirations in this field. Some goals you want to achieve?” asked Jolie.

Seohyun looked up at the ceiling for a moment thinking. “I want to be successful. No mater how simple I put it, I just don’t want to fail. I want to prove to my parents that my love and passion for acting is real, that this isn’t a phase or fluke. I’m still in college studying very hard and I still have a lot to learn.”

“What got you into acting? And will you be staying with the university if your career advances?”

Seohyun nodded. “Of course, education is something very important to me and my family. Just in case this career doesn’t work out, I’ll always have a degree to fall back to.”

Jolie continued to talk on, asking her about Seowoo as her manager and whether she’ll keep her.

“That, I would need to talk to Seowoo herself. She recently got married and is on her honeymoon as we speak. But she is a professor at my school and I would never want to take that away from her. I’d love her to continue to be my manager but it is ultimately her decision.”

“Can you tell me about the first time you met Yonghwa?”

She laughed and began to explain the auditions and their match up that would eventually fate them together for the music video. “My first impression of him was that he seem experienced. Meaning, he has done this before which made me feel insecure about myself. But during the auditions, I felt we really connected and he is such a gentleman. He always cared for me on set and helped me out when I needed it. He is a great friend to know better. He’ll tell you his stories and he’ll listen to you well. Yonghwa is easily someone I can turn to.”

“It seems you guys are close?”

“I mean,” began Seohyun as she shifted in her chair. “He was the only person that I was constantly interacting with on set. It was just us two actors really. It’s hard not to become close in such conditions.”

“Stemming from there, fans have been blowing up on our message boards about your love life. They see your chemistry with Yonghwa in that one teaser and honestly I see it too and are wondering if there’s more to your friendship?”

She laughed as her eyes looked over to where Yonghwa was holding his individual photo shoot. As if he could feel her looking at him, his eyes caught hers. He gave her a little smile and nod. Seohyun immediately smiled back. She nodded her head to continue him on and he flashed her a thumbs up before going back to his shoot. 

Seohyun turned her attention back to the interviewer who only merely gave her a smile as if she knew their friendship wasn’t simply put just friends.

Seohyun shrugged. “You never know what’ll happen in the future, right?”

“Alright Seohyun,” said Jolie as she stopped the recorder. “I’m pretty sure I have enough  to construct a good article. I just need your partner now.” They shook hands. “Now I want to tell you something off the record. I observe people, it’s my job. I read emotions on faces pretty well and when you looked over at Yonghwa I saw a lot more than just co workers or friendship and I think you know that.”

Seohyun looked concerned. She didn’t want Jolie to start any rumors. “I don’t know what you mean?”

Jolie laughed. “It’s okay if you don’t want to say anything but it’s obvious.” She winked at her. “You can tell Yonghwa to come on over.”

Seohyun stood up from her chair and said goodbye to Jolie. As she made her way over to Yonghwa, Seohyun felt her hands shake. The nerves had finally hit her full on. 

Yonghwa must have seen her coming for he was now making his way towards her. He took one look at her and once seeing the displeasing look on her face, gently pulled her aside away from the photographer and Jolie’s eyes. 

They ended up having to walk further into the studio behind a wall. 

“What’s wrong with you?” asked Yonghwa as he made sure they were out of ear shot. 

She shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

“You can tell me.”

“Yonghwa, do you know what Jolie told me out there? That it’s obvious. But the thing is I don’t understand because you ignore me all morning, we get into senseless fights, and there’s no clear definition of what our relationship is. I don’t see what’s so obvious about us at all! I don’t understand what all these people see!”

“Is that so bad? Is that so bad that people assume we have a more than friends relationship?”

“Yes!” snapped Seohyun. “Because we’re not in a relationship. We’re not lovers. We’re not anything! I feel like I try so hard for you to be okay with me and my feelings. At the wedding, our argument it ended there. I know how you feel but you being mad at me is disregarding my own feelings. You can’t be upset at me for things that an actual boyfriend would.”

“I care so much,” began Yonghwa. “I try to respect your feelings, I really do but I can’t help it if I’m jealous when I see you and Eric together.”

“Jealous? Of Eric and I?” Seohyun couldn’t help but let out a little laugh. “He’s just my lawyer.”

“A lawyer that’s around you all the time?”

“That’s just because Seowoo isn’t here! As if you don’t remember that she got married just yesterday and is on her honeymoon trip today!”

They stared at each other with serious looks on their faces before bursting out in laughter. Seohyun gripped her stomach, laughing at how ridiculous they both sounded. What they were mad for at each other was irrelevant and petty. 

“Alright, let’s just forget this happened and move on from here,” said Yonghwa once he finished laughing. “But nothing will change between me and you. For now, we’re just good friends.”

Seohyun nodded. “Agreed.” 

They shook hands and together walked back to the shoot and interview. They high fived each other and Yonghwa went off to Jolie while Seohyun went to tackle the photo shoot. 

“Finally,” said Joon as Seohyun took her position. “Okay, I need you over there and just improvise for me. You can use whatever props are laid out for you.” He picked up his camera and began to take photos. 

As Seohyun was posing, her thoughts wandered off about the interview. She wondered if Jolie would be asking the same questions to Yonghwa. She wondered the most if any of those questions would involve her. She was worried. How could she not be? Right now, they were at an okay place and whatever they said to Jolie could easily be interpreted her way on the magazine. 

“Seohyun!”

Joon stopped taking pictures and Seohyun snapped out of her daze and found Eric walking towards her excitedly with his phone in his hands.

“What is it?” She asked.

While shaking his phone at her said, “Seowoo just called and you and Yonghwa landed a commercial deal! It starts filming tomorrow.”

“Really?” exclaimed Seohyun. “Really, really?!”

Eric nodded with a grin. “Yes, really!”

“That’s amazing!”

“I’m going to go tell Yonghwa’s manager, but she should be receiving a call from SM Entertainment soon.” said Eric before he went off.

Joon smiled. “Congratulations Seohyun, you’re on your way to the top.”

As they returned back to the photo shoot, Seohyun couldn’t help but think wow, she was on her way to the top.