'Why am I half ? Why am I wearing makeup? Am I dreaming because this has got to be a nightmare,' Hyukjae thought self-consciously, trying to cover himself while the female staff in the shooting set were staring unashamedly at him and Leeteuk beside him.

"Teuk, why am I with you? You know I hate posing for photos," Hyukjae said, and slightly shrunk back in discomfort as a female makeup artist touched up on the bronzer on his chest.

"You'll see," Leeteuk offered, slightly distracted with his cellphone.

Hyukjae groaned loudly.

The door opened, and in stepped Cherie.

In one hand was a cup of coffee, and in the other was a very professional looking camera.

'Uh...'

As she stepped into the studio, Cherie stopped short as she saw Hyukjae and Leeteuk standing on set. Were they going to be her models for today? Hyorin didn't mention anything about it yesterday when they were shopping. Come to think about it, how did she even know there was going to be a photoshoot today?

'Hmm...interesting.'

Whatever. That was not at the top of Cherie's list of priorities to find out at that moment.

Hyukjae was.

Wearing nothing except white dress pants and peek-a-boo Dolce & Gabanna briefs, his upper body had bronzer and moisturizer slathered on all over, accentuating his shiny, tightly toned chocolate abs. Forgetting about Leeteuk completely, Cherie took every ounce of willpower in her body to tear her eyes away from the man and gulp down half of her iced coffee in one go.

Leeteuk noticed that she had arrived and started walking towards her, with Hyukjae following close behind.

"Hyukjae, let me introduce you to our photographer for today - Miss Cherie Liu!"

"Hi?" Cherie said questioningly, offering a smile. "I didn't know I was going to shoot you guys today."

Training her eyes on Leeteuk, Cherie focused on her breathing.

'In... Out... In... Out...'

"Oh, I kind of asked Hyorin to make it a surprise since I wanted to, you know, surprise you!" Leeteuk laughed. "I hope you don't mind. Did she tell you about the concept we're going for today?"

"No..."

"Okay, so basically, Dolce & Gabanna has a new men's briefs line coming out for their summer collection 'Seduction'. I'm a regular model for them, so I kind of pulled some strings and asked if you could shoot us for this year's ad campaign."

Cherie's jaws dropped.

"No way. This is incredible! You shouldn't have! But... am I even allowed to shoot you."

"Come on, you deserve this Cherie. You have to take every chance you have right?" Leeteuk smiled, putting his arms around her shoulders.

"I guess... Leeteuk, you're the man!"

"I know I am." Leeteuk grinned, leading her towards the other staff.

Hyukjae followed behind them, a little bummed out.

'Why didn't she look at me?'

After everyone got ready, the shoot began.

“Okay. Blow me away people!"

At first, Hyukjae was still slightly affected by what had happened before, so he looked lost and out of place. Shot after shot, there was just that little something that was missing.

Cherie sighed, paused, and brought her camera down.

"Hyukjae, please focus on the camera. You're really stiff and your expressions are a little blank. I need to get inspiration from you but it's just flat. Let Leeteuk guide you. I really need your cooperation for this shoot to turn out well."

Startled, Hyukjae tensed up and bowed his head really low. "I'm... s-sor- sorry."

This was so embarrassing.

Being called out in front of everyone because he wasn't performing well was beyond mortifying.

Seeing Hyukjae's timid reaction, Cherie immediately regretted yelling at him. Modelling wasn't in his area of profession and expertise anyway.

"No, it's alright. I'm sorry Hyukjae, I'm being too harsh on you. I know you can do it. Just feel the moment and evoke it in your eyes," Cherie said, giving him a warm smile.

"I'll try," Hyukjae replied, looking into her eyes for the first time. Something wild sparked in his mind that made him want to do well so he could wow her. He needed to redeem himself.

Suddenly thinking of an idea, he whispered it to a stylist and disappeared with her. Two minutes later, he came back with a sleak, black blazer slung on his back.

"Because I'm a pilot," he said.

Cherie raised her eyebrows, impressed. 

Bringing his hand up to his lips, he caressed it with his thumb and narrowed his eyes, raising his eyebrows to add more tension. Cherie snapped away deliriously, hungry for more of this newly confident man in front of her. Sometimes he smugly looked into the camera, pursed his lips, and with a wink, a smirk, a flirty grin. Unbeknowest to him, Hyukjae had unknowingly amped up the factor for Cherie to a very dangerous level. Dizzily, Cherie paused for a second to recompose herself, her body heady with lust.

"... and that's a wrap everybody!”

Everyone clapped and hooted, slapping each other on the back after a successful day of hard work. Staff members started to pack up the set as Cherie made her way to the models to thank them. She needed to quickly get out of there before her thoughts got out of control.

"Awesome! What did I tell ya? Not too bad huh?" Leeteuk clapped happily.

'Not bad at all,' Cherie thought, looking at Hyukjae who had returned to his normal, self-conscious self.

Picking up his cellphone from his manager, Leeteuk shot her an apologetic look. "Hey, listen, I gotta leave for another shoot, so Hyukjae can drop you off at where you're staying since he knows the area really well. Right Hyuk?"

Hyukjae looked up, alarmed. "What?"

"Oh no, it's fine. Hyorin said she would pick me up." Cherie said quickly.

Leeteuk gave her his cellphone. "I just got a text saying how she's out with Donghae so she can't make it."

'Very smooth. They're trying to set me and Hyukjae up. Again.'

But... that didn't seem like such a bad idea.

"Okay then, I guess I'll have Hyukjae me back home. Thanks for everything today Leeteuk, I seriously owe you big time."

"Don't sweat it. Just have some fun with my man over here and consider us equal. Think of it as a favor for me instead," Leeteuk whispered in her ears before leaving.

Cherie gulped and looked at Hyukjae.

"So. Shall we go?"

~*~*~*~

After much cajoling, Cherie convinced Hyukjae to stop for dessert on the way back. Finding a neat little gelato shop nearby, Cherie and Hyukjae settled in a booth by the windows and wordlessly munched on their ice cream cones.

Cherie looked at Hyukjae, who was staring out the windows, silently savoring his strawberry-flavored treat.

"You did really great today Hyukjae. I was super happy with how well you held out in the end. I'm really sorry about before though. I just wanted a good shot because I'm kind of a perfectionist. I hope you understand," Cherie broke the silence, hoping that he didn't think of her as a mean and critical cow.

"It's my fault. I was just... a little out of my element," Hyukjae shook his head.

"I get what you mean. If it was me up there, I would've passed out," Cherie laughed as she chewed on a vanilla waffle stick.

"Right? I don't know how Teuk does it," Hyukjae took another bite of his ice cream.

"At least he enjoys what he does. I know this may sound childish, but I went to the Trevi fountain yesterday in Rome to make a lucky wish that my goals would come true too," Cherie said shyly.

Hyukjae smiled. "You want to be a fashion photographer?"

Cherie bashfully nodded, glad that he had noticed.

"Can I ask why?"

Cherie hesitated. "Since when did you get bold enough to ask me details about my life?"

Hyukjae stopped chewing.

"Oh... uhh, I... I'm trying to be natural because girls like it," Hyukjae said slowly. "But if you don't want to talk about it we can just talk about the weather," he added with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

Cherie giggled.

Inside jokes.

This was some major progress.

She looked imploringly into his genuine eyes. "I've always loved taking photos of people when I was young. I love the way their personalities shine through a still-life photo and how satisfying it is to capture those beautiful moments on film. I love how you can almost read the story of that person's life just by looking at the emotions and feelings of the photo."

Hyukjae admired how her eyes twinkled as she talked about her passion, but why was there a certain solemn feel he was sensing? There was obviously more than what she was telling him.

"But...?" he prodded gently.

Cherie looked at him uneasily.

"I'm not particularly comfortable talking about it."

'I can't. I just can't...'

"That's alright. I understand," Hyukjae replied. "But if you ever want someone to talk to, I'll be there for you, even if I can't really talk myself."

~*~*~*~

Laying on her bed, Cherie her cellphone that had been shut off since she didn't want to be distracted from the shoot. There were 26 messages from some friends back in Korea, but the most recent one was from Hyukjae. She opened Hyukjae's first.

From: Hyukjae

To: Cherie

Message: Hey, just wanted to ask if you were home safe.
I had a great time today talking to you in the gelato shop :)

From: Cherie

To: Hyukjae

Message: Don't worry, I'm perfectly snuggled in bed :D
I had fun shooting you and Leeteuk too~ goodnight captain!

In an instant, she received a text back.

From: Hyukjae

To: Cherie

Message: Sweet dreams Cherie^^

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