(Jiyeon POV)

“Jiyeon-ah.”

“Huh?” I shake my head, waking out of my trance.

Maybe I should stop thinking about that.....

“Jiyeon, ah. Your phone has been buzzing off the hook for the past half an hour.” Manager Oppa hands me the phone.

I hesitantly unlock the phone.

Is it another a hate mail?

I breathe a sigh of relief.

It’s a set of pictures of Sunhwa and....a male..?

The first picture is Sunhwa smiling brightly at the camera, with “Fighting” underneath.

Fighting, Sunhwa!

The next one is blurry.

Sunhwa looked like she was about to be pushed, and a light silhoulette of a boy could be seen.

What’s going on?

The next one is worse.

I can see Sunhwa’s head being buried face first into her books, with a hand holding her down. 

Is someone hurting her?

“Oppa....I think there’s something wrong with Sunhwa!’

He hits the breaks. “What!? What happened to Sunhwa!?”

I click on the arrow button in a hurry.

Daehyun posing in front of the camera with a V sign, laughing at the fallen Sunhwa greets me. 

A giggle erupts from my throat. If I didn’t know better, I’d think they liked each other.

“What’s so funny?” Oppa stares at me.

“Ani, it’s nothing. She’s safe.”  I smiled secretively, and usher Oppa to continue to drive.

I sit in silence for a few minutes, watching Oppa drive through the busy lanes, while dodging passing cars.

“So...you ready?” He smiles, while turning into the parking lot.

Nope.

“Yeah, totally.” I grin.

“Alright, let’s go!” He pushes me gently towards the door.

Slowly, I open it.

A cool breeze passes through, making my dress flow in the air.

“Oppa, is this the place?” I stare at the gigantic, victorian-esque building in front of me.

“Yeah. I think so.” Oppa quickly takes his jacket out of the car. “C’mon. Let’s go knock on the door.”

“Okay...” I mumble, taking small steps.

Let’s prolong this for as long as possible.

“Oh, Jinyoung! Jiyeon! You’re here too! What a pleasant surprise!” Michelle opens the door wide enough for both of us to enter. “I didn’t think you’d be able to make it!”

“Well, here we are!” Oppa shakes her hand. “Now, what’s Jiyeon’s schedule today?”

Michelle turns to get a look at me. “My, my, Jiyeon! Have you lost some weight?”

My feet suddenly feel very cold.

Should I tell her the truth?

“I-I”

“You did, didn’t you? Gosh, you look so fab!” She slaps me on the back. “You look like a true beauty now.”

Lord, only in the modeling world would this be acceptable.

“Thanks!” I mumble. “Where’s the changing room? Is the stylist going to be there?”

“It’s over there.” Michelle points to the other side of the lobby. “I think Elizabeth will be there to give you your outfit.”

Without another word, I head towards the change room.

I grasp the gold knob, and twist it open.

“Hi! You must be....uh..” The blonde girl looks at her file. “Ji..yeon?”

“Annyonghaeseyo.” I give her a deep bow. “I’m Jiyeon, and you must be Elizabeth?”

“Nae, I’m going to be your stylist for today.” She grabs my jacket, and spins me around. “Huh...uh-huh...uh-huh...”

What in the world is she doing?

“Jiyeon, look towards the left.”

And I do.

“Open your mouth.”

“What!?”

“Just do it.” She pulls my mouth down.

“Hmm...okay..” She scratches her chin. “Your legs are a bit short, and your eyes are a bit too close to each other. Your upper-lip is too skinny, so the “y” concept won’t look good on you, and you’re flat as well.”

Ouch.

I cover my chest protectively.

“Uhm....Thank you?” I tilt my head. 

Does this girl work for the FBI or something? How can she define all my body parts in a few glances?

“Whatever, I’m not going down without a fight. Change into this.” She throws a long, white summer dress my way.

“Is this an innocent concept?”

“Yeep. You’re getting paired with another model. All girls will be in groups, so don’t worry. This month’s theme for Forever 21 “Best Friends & Summer Girls”. So basically a bunch of pretty girls having fun.” Elizabeth winks. “You know, just the usual.”

Best friends & Summer girls....what a great concept name.

“Oh, okay.” I smile at her, before heading off to change.

                                                                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Here, how about this?” Elizabeth ruffles my hair slightly, and hands me a flower headpiece.

I center it over my head, and adjust the flowers.

Not to be cocky, but dang do I look good.

“As I imagined! This is perfect! You are going to look like a summer goddess!” Elizabeth claps. “I’m just too good.”

Whatever you say, Elizabeth. Whatever you say.

“Let’s go! Your partner is probably waiting for you.” Elizabeth grabs my hand, and leads me out of the room, up the stairs, and into the photo shoot.

“Woahh..” I whistle.

There are roses, and daises scattered all across the floor, and six heavenly looking girls in white dresses in different styles are seated on one white sofa. Each of them holding some sort of accessory.

“They’re all so pretty!” I fawn over each of their faces, each of them better than the one before.

“Of course they are! It’s Forever 21, we’re talking about here. Some of the girls here are TOPSHOP models, and we even have a Chanel runway walker in there.” Elizabeth nudges me. “But see that girl? The one in the middle?”

My eyes take a second to adjust from the chandelier located in the left corner of the room to the center, with the models in their positions.

“Yeah?” 

I focus my eyes on the girls, but the one in the middle strikes me.

Her hair is all black accompanied with full front bangs. Her eyes big, and round. Her lips also very full. And from my vantage point, she seemed taller than me as well.

However, that was not what irked me.

Her face seems so familiar. 

Especially the way her lips curved into a smile.

Elizabeth pats me on the back.

“That’s our prize-model. She’s basically the core. You should see the amount of fans, she has. It’s crazy, I’m telling you! Plus, she’s like pretty rich as well. She’s your partner too! You lucky duck! Her name is-”

“Bae Suzy.” I whisper.

My stomach feels like its tied in knots.

“Hey, how’d you know?” Elizabeth widens her eyes.

“Let’s just say, we’ve shared a few things...”

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