Grabbing a towel she steps out out of  the shower. Water drips from the ends of her wet black hair and onto the tiled floor. As she wraps the towel around herself she stares at her reflection intently analyzing her dull face looking back at her.

 

The wet hair clings to her skin and frames her face. The dark circles under her eyes are accentuated by the paleness of her skin and her eyes seem wary with tiredness. Staring at her eyes she constantly asks herself why she doesn't have the double eyelid surgery which seems so popular.

 

Slapping her cheeks lightly she attempts to recolor them with a light shade of pink that is supposedly pretty on one's cheeks. Pinching her nose hard she manages to regain some color in that area however fails to so the same with her cheeks.

 

Still dissatisfied with her reflection she chooses to move on. She gets changed into a pair on jeans, converse and white tee before she quickly dries her hair and places it into a neat pony tail. Hyemi running late for work runs out of her room only to collide with her younger sister, the latter falling to the floor with a thump.

 

"Aish, watch where you're going!" MinYoung screams from the floor. The eighteen year old is the exact opposite of Hyemi. She is everything Hyemi lacks and wants. Double eyelids, perfect skin, long wavy hair and beauty to die for in the model business.

 

"Mianhe, MinYoung-ah." Hyemi quickly apologizes as she offers her hand to help the younger girl up. MinYoung pushes her sister's hand away and gets up by herself, dusting herself as she does so.

 

"Whatever, you need to drop me at school, umma and appa already left for work."

 

"I'm already late for work" Hyemi began glancing at her watch, the only accessory she had chosen to wear.

 

"I don't care. I'll be waiting in the car."

Sighing Hyemi follows her younger sister to the car to drop her off at highschool.

 

Her and her sister don't speak in the car, the silence worries Hyemi as they once used to be close. As they arrive at school, MinYoung quickly dashes out of the car ignoring her older sister's small attempt at a goodbye.

 

***

 

"You're late!" The photographer states as Hyemi walks into the studio.

 

"Mianhe, I was held up."

 

"It doesn't matter, the other models aren't here yet either. Models, cant they tell time. Just get into makeup while we wait."

 

"Thankyou." Hyemi ran into her dressing room where she is greeted the makeup artist who had been waiting to begin. She grabbed Hyemi's chin and moved her head to analyse what work had to be done.

 

"We'll have to curl you're hair, it's too straight. Your face is so pale and tired looking. Have you been getting enough sleep?" She didn't even wait for an answer as she kept going, "We'll put some concealer to cover up those dark circles. Maybe some blush as well. Hyemi-ah?" She finally paused.

 

"Yes?"

 

"Are you sick?" Hyemi shook her head to indicate no. "You're nose is extremely red."

 

***

 

When the makeup and hair was finally done the stylist came in and handed Hyemi her first outfit, a beautiful red lace dress with a pair of red bowed heels. It was gorgeous  and clearly not fit for her but she put them on anyway.

 

Hyemi stared at her reflection once more in the large mirror of the dressing room. Her hair was in soft curls that framed her thin face. Her face was still pale but the dark circles couldn't be seen, her cheeks were red with blush and her rosebud lips tinted into a bright red lip stick. She wore eyeliner and fake lashes which accentuated her light hazel eyes more than usual. The dress fit her tall thin frame and slightly ended mid thigh.

 

Anyone would say the model looked beautiful and y but all Hyemi saw was a fraud looking back at her with flaws covered up by a touch of concealer. This reflection wasn't of a beautiful model but rather a girl playing dress up pretending to be one.

 

Hyemi questions why she became a model all the time. She had a chance to go to university to become a doctor but when she was sixteen the only thing that mattered was that she was pretty. She remembers herself at that age, a young natural beauty without any flaws whatsoever. That was when she was scouted to be a model, a young girl having to choose between an education and a chance to be a famous model. She knew she was naive then with her choice, her looks wouldn't last forever and now she knew. It had only been six years but Hyemi already hated the way she looked, the stress from the job had deteriorated her beauty. She wasn't the same pretty face she was back then, she wasn't even close even with the makeup.

 

"Hey Hyemi-ah!" Two models strutted into the dressing room. Hyemi gave them a nod of acknowledgement and fell back into her chair. These girls were her friends but being surrounded by such beautiful people just made Hyemi feel even more insecure about herself.

 

"Hyemi-ah, you look so pretty!" One of the models complimented.

 

"It's just the makeup." Hyemi mumbled under her breath.

 

"Hey guess who we're modeling with today." One of the models squealed.

 

***

 

Walking in to the studio they looked like perfect gods. Hair lightly tousled by the stylists and all three wearing handsome suits of different shades. Both of Hyemi's model friends were blushing as they walked in, pretending not to be overly interested by their appearance in order to get their attention. Hyemi on the other hand knew that around the others she had no chance with them and therefore truly wasn't interested.

 

One of them however noticed the model sitting in the corner with the red dress and was very interested.

 

"Hey..." he walked towards her smiling. Staring up at him, Hyemi stayed silent surprised he was talking to her. "I'm Jaejoong, you are?" He waited for an answer that didn't come as the photographer called them to start the shoot.

 

The first few shots were all three of the guys and the three female models including Hyemi. The photographer then decided he wanted a candid couple shot.

 

"Hyemi, you're up!" The photographer instructed, "you're with Jaejoong." She nodded and walked on to the set while Jaejoong followed. "The scene is romantic so act like you like each other."

 

Whilst her shoes were beautiful they were far from comfortable or easy. Tripping on her heels as she walked towards Jaejoong she fell into his arms. Jaejoong smirked at Hyemi, "not a problem" he answered to the photographer. He had been observing the beautiful girl the whole time they were there. From the incredibly beautiful face to her fake smile she put on for the cameras, even her sad looks she when the cameras stopped shooting. Everything about this girl fascinated him.

 

"You're really pretty." Jaejoong whispered while shooting. His compliments usually sent girls over the moon but Hyemi's reply surprised him.

 

"Not really." Hyemi answered, "I've seen prettier." The photographer yelled for the shoot to end and Hyemi walked away to her dressing room without so much as a goodbye.

 

Yoochun and Junsu walked towards Jaejoong and Yoochun patted his back in comfort. "Woah, you were rejected so quickly." He teased.

 

"What does she think, she's too good for you?" Junsu asked to clarify exactly why the girl had dumped his hyung.

 

"I don't think so." Jaejoong said walking away remembering what she had just said. Apparently she's not good enough for him.