JR’s POV

I began to skittishly pace back and forth around my living room as I brought my hands to my lips and started biting my nails. I had tried calling Jason several times on the phone after Ren had left without any luck. Panic struck me. What do I do? Something like this had never happened to me before. Never in a million years would I have expected for someone whom I regarded as a good friend to backstab and betray me like this. It was one thing to not answer or return my calls, but Jason had literally just made a decision about my company without informing or even asking me if it was okay to do so! Was this what friends did? Of course not. This was what users did. As much as I hated to admit to this reality, I had just been used. It’s not like this was the first time it had happened. With as many times as it had happened in the past, one would think that I would have grown accustomed to the sting each time. But I hadn’t. Each time hurt worse than the last. Each time had me lose more and more faith in humanity. Even still though, I naively clung to the hope that things would eventually be different. How wrong and stupid I always was.

I started walking towards the direction of my front door after realizing that I couldn’t just take this sitting down. If Jason wouldn’t answer my calls, I’d go directly to him to demand an explanation. Even though I absolutely hated going outside, this was important enough to warrant a visit. When I reached for the door knob I suddenly froze. Could I really do it though? I had little confidence in myself to confront him or anyone for that matter. I had never done such a thing before. When it came to confronting others, I was timid and Jason knew so. If I tried to approach him and call him out on his horrible actions, he’d never take me seriously. He’d just laugh at me and tell me to walk away, knowing that through his more straight-forward personality he held the upper hand. I dejectedly dropped my hand down to my side. I internally cursed at myself. It’s your company. Stand up and fight back. Don’t let him take what you worked so hard for!

But I… I can’t…

As I started to turn my back away from the door in defeat, I grew startled when there was a sudden loud knock coming from the other side. I furrowed my brows and paused for a brief second before pulling it open to reveal none other than the redhead in question himself. Anger boiled through my veins the moment I laid eyes on him. How dare he… how dare he show his face here. Did he not have any shame? Of course not. Jason wasn’t the type of person to care what others thought about him or his actions. Even still though, did he think I would just welcome him in here like old times? Today he had shown his true colors. Today he had proved to me that I couldn’t trust him and there was absolutely no going back from here. Jason gave me an annoyed look.

“Are you going to let me in?” He asked in an irritable tone. I couldn’t believe Jason. Out of the two of us, if anyone had any reason to be annoyed, it surely wasn’t him. As I parted my lips to speak he rolled his eyes at me and forced his way inside of my apartment, shoving me off to the side. I was so stunned by his blinding audacity that I remained motionless for a couple of seconds before moving to close the door. The last thing I needed or wanted was for my neighbors to overhear what would soon be discussed and the big secret revolving around House of Kim getting out. When I turned around I was met face to face with Jason who suddenly shoved me backwards, pinning my back against the door. He shot me a threatening, intimidating gaze.

“J-J-Jason-” I attempted to stand up for myself.

“Are you going to cry?” A small smirk curled up in the corner of his lips as he taunted me. I stared at him with wide eyes. Cry…? How could he say that…? I feebly shook my head from side to side as I bit down hard on my bottom lip. Jason stared down at me and scoffed. “Liar. I don’t believe you. Cry.” He dared me. I angrily narrowed my eyes and glared back at him.

“W-Why would I give you that satisfaction?” I darkly whispered. Jason took several steps back after seeming rather amused by my comeback.

“Do you know why I’m here?” He asked, folding his arms across his chest as he sat down on the couch armrest behind him. I continued to silently glare at him. Jason chuckled. “I’m not even going to bother asking if you saw it on TV. Judging by the countless phone calls and your sour attitude, you’re more than aware of what has taken place.”

“Why?” I asked through my gritted teeth. “Why did you do it?!”

“Didn’t we always promise to help one another?” He innocently asked.

“Help?” I asked, floored. “Since when does JA Style need any help?”

Jason darkly smiled at me. “You’re a threat to me, Mr. Kim.” He stated. “And quite honestly, it pisses me off. So what to do about it? You know there’s a particular saying: keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing this entire time.”

“I thought you were my friend… when all this time, you viewed me as your enemy? I-I’ve never done a single thing to you or your company so why-”

“Exactly. Why not stop you while I can?” He muttered, interrupting me. I shook my head then stood away from the door, stepping forward and stopping in front of him.

“You can’t do this… It won’t work. Kim Baekho might have agreed to do the collaboration collection but I never did. Baekho has zero experience as the fashion designer he seems to portray! If you honestly think that Baekho’s clothing designs will help you boost your company-”

“No thanks. I’m well aware that asking Baekho to design the clothes would be comparable to committing a national tragedy.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “Then are you trying to tell me that you’re going to design the clothes all by yourself with my name? We might have been friends- no, acquaintances, but even you don’t know me well enough to be able to predict my designs.”

“I’m not going to be designing them all by myself. I’m going to have help.” Jason confidently claimed. I stared at him like he was crazy.

“You’re going to have help? Who? Who’s going to be helping you?” I asked. Jason smirked.

 “You.”

“W-What?” I took a step backwards, even more stunned. Jason slowly stood back up and started to approach me, forcing me to walk backwards until my back hit the door again. I was trapped.

“I said you’re going to help me.” He warned, leaning closer to my face while trying to intimidate me. I immediately turned my head to the side and focused my gaze down to the floor, trying to avoid making eye contact with him. Jason laughed at me. I started trembling.

“I-I’m not going to do that.” I replied.

“But you are.” He insisted. “You’re going to submit to me your designs while I’m still being nice. Or… would you prefer it if ‘Mr. Kim’ made another public appearance in the news, this time in an auto accident or perhaps in a juicy scandal, tarnishing the name of your beloved House of Kim?” Jason threatened. I completely froze.

“You wouldn’t do that…”

“It seems you barely know me either.” Jason boredly shot back.

“You… You’re going the blackmail me into doing this collaboration with you? Something which I would have willingly done with you as promised at the end of this year if only you had waited?” I asked, still trying to comprehend the real reason why he would try to do something like this. “Why now?”

Jason pulled away from me with a dark look on his face. “Because I’m sick and tired of pretending to like someone like you.” He replied. His words pierced straight through my heart. The corners of my eyes began to tear up. I couldn’t believe my ears. If it weren’t for what happened today, if he had said those words to me before, I wouldn’t have believed him. I would think that this was all some sort of cruel joke. Only I knew better right now. I knew it wasn’t a joke. Jason really didn’t like me. My body started to grow numb at this realization. There was no getting around this proposal of his, was there? He had already made the announcement on live TV. House of Kim was doing a collaboration with JA Style, whether I liked it or not. The designs still needed to be made or else I’d risk ruining the credibility of my own label’s name. The way Jason had cornered me, he had given me the choice of letting him ruin the company or giving me the responsibility of doing it myself. He had set me up for failure, knowing that I wouldn’t dare risk ruining my name myself. I roughly cleared my throat and forced myself to look back up at him.

“Is that how it’s going to be then?” I asked. Jason gave me yet another amused smile.

“It is.”

“Then I have some demands myself.” I replied, making this my first real attempt to try to stand up for myself. Jason gave me a surprised look before smiling again.

“Demands?” He asked. I stared at him.

“I don’t deserve them?”

Jason smirked in annoyance. “Fine. Tell me. What are your demands, Mr. Kim?”

“I don’t want either of your top models, Hwang Minhyun or Aron Kwak wearing my clothes.” I firmly stated. Jason froze before tilting his head to the side in disbelief over what I had just said. If I was going to be forced to design clothes for someone like him, I didn’t want people like Minhyun or Aron wearing my designs. Especially not after knowing the history of the way the both of them seemed to treat Ren. I had taken note of their names and actions each time Ren had told me what they had done to him. I had also recognized their faces at the countless runway shows I had seen them headline in. Least should I mention the run in at the party that night I had been called by Ren to pick him up, where Aron had completely humiliated me. I had let it slide then, pretending to be alright just so that I wouldn’t worry or inconvenience Ren, but the scars were still there. No. I absolutely wouldn’t allow them the honor of wearing my designs. House of Kim’s clothes usually skyrocketed models careers and moved them on to bigger and greater things. I wouldn’t dare to do the same for terrible people who certainly didn’t deserve it.

“Excuse me?” He asked, sounding offended.

“Can it not be done?”

“Minhyun and Aron are the reasons why my clothes fly off the racks amongst my celebrity clientele. Tell me one reason why I should grant this outrageous request.” He demanded.

“Isn’t Ren enough?” I stated, making Jason pause yet again. Friendship aside, I had seen the potential for greatness in Ren myself that day I watched him walk the runway. The only reasons keeping me from potentially seeking him out myself for House of Kim were the facts that one, he was still inexperienced, and two, he was already signed under a contract.

“Ren isn’t ready.” He claimed.

“He can practice, can’t he?” I insisted. I wasn’t going to budge. I stood firm on my position of not wanting to allow either Minhyun or Aron to represent my designs. In the end, everything one does in life is usually impacted by their past decisions and their connections. Both Aron and Minhyun had both done enough to sever all connections and ties with House of Kim, whether they knew it or not. This was one of the reasons I believed in universal kindness- you never know who anybody could truly be in life. Jason gave me another angry look then scoffed.

“And if I decline your request?”

“Then you can ask Baekho to design the clothes.” I threatened.

“You’re bluffing. You wouldn’t let House of Kim flow down the drain. It’s far too valuable.”

“I’d rather it be destroyed than be in your hands.” I angrily shot back. Jason gave me a surprised look.

“Then what’s keeping you from doing it now?” He asked, making me pause. If Ren had heard that House of Kim had suddenly gone out of business, how would he take it? How would he react? There was no doubt that he would be devastated. Even though my greatest wish was to keep him from meeting Baekho, I couldn’t step on his dreams. Ren wanted to meet Mr. Kim. He wanted to one day represent the clothes. Even though it was something I wouldn’t allow for either Minhyun or Aron, if I could, I wanted to do it for Ren.

“Can’t you just accept that I’ve agreed to work with you despite the fact that you stabbed me in the back?” I muttered, not wanting to tell Jason the real reason.

“You really don’t like Minhyun and Aron, don’t you?” Jason asked, seeming frustrated that I would ask him not to use his top models. I remained staring at him.

“Can you honestly say that you do?” I asked. After having personally looked through both of their professional portfolios and resumes, I was well aware that Aron and Minhyun were both approaching their expiration dates as models inside the industry, although Aron was far closer than Minhyun at reaching that date. If I knew this, I also knew that Jason did as well. This meant that Jason really didn’t have any reason to fight me any further on trying to defend two models that would be leaving soon anyways. Jason threw his hands up and sighed.

“I’ll see what I can do.” He replied then pushed past me, taking his leave on his own. Once the door shut behind him I felt all of the strength escape from my legs and I collapsed to my knees. I stared down at the carpeted floor in front of me, my heart racing. Had I just stood up for myself for once? Although I should have felt happy for myself, I didn’t. I still lost. In the end, I would still have to let Jason call the shots if I even remotely wanted to help Ren further his modeling career. That’s right. If I wanted to help Ren, I would have to tolerate this for now and do as Jason said. But in the meantime during all of this mess, I would have to hold myself together, which was easier said than done. My entire heart ached. I had just lost someone I considered a friend and who turned out to have been secretly despising me for years. My company which I worked so hard for, my dreams… I felt completely devastated.

 

 

Ren’s POV

The next morning when I arrived to the JA Style studio, I practically skipped inside and up the stairs to the practice room where all of the other models had been gathered. Several of them were stretching in front of the mirrors as we waited for Jason to appear and make his announcement to us over what we had all heard or seen on the news the other day. I started to do the same and stretched in one of the empty corners of the room, placing my right foot on the railing bar and reaching for my toes with my right hand. Minhyun suddenly entered the room, only this time he was alone without Aron following him. I thought back to when Aron had scolded me when I questioned Minhyun not being with him when I saw him walking to the studio. I shrugged, trying not to think anything of it. I didn’t want to be needlessly scolded again for not minding my own business. Besides, just as Aron had said, just because they weren’t together all of the time didn’t mean something had happened between the two of them, right? I looked at Minhyun as he stopped directly in front of me. He folded his arms across his chest and darkly stared down at me. I awkwardly blinked then put my right leg back down on the floor while wondering what it could be that Minhyun might possibly want. There was an unbearable silence between the two of us that lasted for several seconds until Minhyun finally spoke up. As he parted his lips to speak, I leant down and grabbed my water bottle, unscrewing the lid and tilting my head back and bringing the bottle up to my mouth to take a drink.

“We broke up.”

SPLOOSH!

I quickly turned my head in another direction away from Minhyun as water sprayed out from my mouth. Minhyun shot me a disgusted look while I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. I glanced back up at him in shock. “You what?”

Minhyun arrogantly raised his chin. “We broke up.” He repeated himself as if I hadn’t heard the first time.

“I know, but… why?” I asked in disbelief.

“Hmm… he’s too petty?” He answered my question with a question. I blankly stared at him.

“But that can’t exactly be a shocker.” I replied. A small smirk spread across the corners of his lips before quickly dissipating. I took the water bottle in my left hand and rose it back up to my lips, taking another sip when-

“There’s talk about you replacing him.”

GAG!

I nearly choked on my water this time. Minhyun gave me an irritated look before snatching the water bottle out of my hand. I coughed several times before looking back up at him again. “That’s just something Jason said the other day. I doubt he’d really give me Aron’s spot only after one runway show.”

Minhyun shook his head. “Despite yesterday being our day off, Jason called Aron to his office shortly before he left for the press conference to officially give him the news: shape up or get lost. As you may or may not know, it doesn’t take much to get replaced in this industry.”

“But what does this have to do with me? Why are you telling me this?”

“Aron never received training from Son Dambi. You did. Therefore, your walk is better than Aron’s. I refuse to date second best. I stand by Jason’s decision. Aron has become too comfortable in his spot that he’s failed himself. If he’s not going to push himself to do better and retain his spot, I have no interest in dating him. I’m only telling you this because you’re not completely intolerable.”

I blinked. “Does that mean… you want… to date… me?” I pointed at myself. Minhyun didn’t even hesitate to throw my half empty water bottle at my head. It hit me then bounced off and fell to the floor. When I glanced up I noticed Minhyun was glaring at me.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” He started to turn his back to me.

“Oh, thank god…”

Minhyun froze then turned back around to face me. “Excuse me? What was that?”

I felt like crying. Why did I always say the wrong thing? “Don’t hit me…” I cowered.

“Why do I waste my time with you?!”

“GATHER AROUND, CHILDREN! IT’S STORYTIME!!!” Jason loudly announced as he stepped into the practice room and stood at the front. Minhyun turned his attention away from me and left to join Jason with the rest of the models. For precautionary measures, I remained standing at the back of the group. It was then when I noticed Aron sneakily slip into the room and join at the back of the crowd. When he happened to catch me looking at him he quickly averted his gaze away from me, trying his best to ignore me. I awkwardly pursed my lips together then kicked the front of my right sneaker against the wooden practice floor. Jason continued speaking from the front of the group. “Today we’ll be shooting for the JA Style featured pictorial in an upcoming magazine. Each of you will get dressed promptly. We’ll be going on a field trip downtown where our photographer will follow each of you in your natural settings. Don’t be natural though. Remember, you’re still showcasing my clothes. Any questions?”

I tilted my head to the side. After the announcement that he had made on live television the other day, why wasn’t he saying anything about the collaboration now? After all, he had only just agreed to sign on to work with House of Kim. All of us would be involved in this collaboration as well. As I was about to voice my question, Jason suddenly spoke again.

“Ah, that’s right, before I forget- you are all aware of House of Kim, are you not? If you haven’t heard, we’ll be partnering up soon. In order to get a better feel of my designs and models, designer Kim Baekho will be accompanying us on today’s shoot. If I were you, I’d be on my best behavior and put forth my best effort if you have any hopes of representing our collaboration.” Jason replied. I felt myself losing consciousness at the mere thought of Mr. Kim simply being around me and-

THUD!

As I fell to the floor I felt someone’s hands wrap around my arms and pull me back up. When I regained my vision I noticed that it had been Aron that had helped me. I wasn’t sure if I was feeling stunned or lightheaded. As I was about to thank him, he quickly released me then turned away from me. Jason stepped through the group of models and made his way to the back. When he saw me he rolled his eyes. “Why did I have a feeling that the person who lost consciousness was you?”

I bowed deeply in front of him. “I’m sorry-”

Jason laughed at me. “Pull yourself together, will you? I won’t stand for you embarrassing me in front of the man himself.” He teased me. I nodded hysterically.

“I will!” I paused. “I mean, I won’t embarrass you- ah, I’ll stop talking now...” I replied, feeling humiliated. Jason blankly stared at me before sympathetically smiling and shaking his head in disappointment.

“At least you’re pretty.” He replied before walking away. “Everyone! Get dressed! We’ll be leaving in half an hour!” Jason declared as he exited the room, leaving the rest of the models to talk excitedly amongst themselves at the news that Mr. Kim would be observing us today in person. It was almost unbelievable. A man who had spent so much time hidden and shrouded in mystery surely seemed to be out and around a lot recently. Not that I minded it, of course. I followed after the models as they poured out one by one from the practice room and grabbed their outfits from the storage closet to change into in the dressing room. I grabbed the outfit with my nametag written on the outside of the bag and took it with me into the dressing room. I quickly redressed into a pair of black jeans with a long white dress shirt layered underneath a black sweater. For my accessories I had been given a black leather jacket, a black fedora hat, and a silver chained cross necklace. When I finished dressing I left the room and traveled downstairs to the first floor level where Jason’s shop was located with the intention of speaking to him. Halfway down the staircase I froze in motion when I spotted a tall, wider built blonde standing with his back facing towards me. He was dressed in destroyed black jeans, a white tank top and a black leather jacket. Once again he was wearing those dark black sunglasses of his. My heart started racing as I caught a glimpse of him. Mr. Kim…

“Move, brat.” Aron suddenly came out from behind me, brushing me to the side on the staircase. I quickly latched onto the railing before losing my balance and falling down the steps. I watched as Mr. Kim slowly turned around in the direction of the noise to see both me and Aron. My heart stopped. Be cool, Ren! I nervously smiled back at him, bowed my head slightly then almost brushed into another model as I attempted to continue climbing down the steps. Mr. Kim remained emotionless and continued to silently stare at me. By now I could have died from embarrassment. I couldn’t tolerate being inside the same room as him now. I stepped outside of the studio and stood outside in front of the store. Dammit… we haven’t even started the shoot and yet you’ve already managed to make a fool out of yourself! Wow, keep at it Ren and soon you’ll hold the world record!

Minhyun surprisingly followed me outside of the store. He kept facing forward without even so much as glancing down at me. “Well, that was smooth.” He teased.

“Do you have to make sure that at least one of you is constantly around to make fun of me at all times?”

Minhyun smiled. “It would seem that way, wouldn’t it?”

“Why are you following me?” I asked, a bit weirded out that since delivering the news of his breakup with Aron, Minhyun had been approaching me a lot more than he usually did (which was never, by the way).

“I have to keep an eye on the competition, don’t I?” He confidently asked. I pursed my lips in annoyance. Minhyun never directly answered a question, did he? But wait a minute… competition? It was true that our little contest had been called off, but I still sought Minhyun’s spot. For someone who had said he wasn’t initially worried about it and even dared me to take it from him thinking that it was impossible, he suddenly seemed worried, especially now that Aron had been officially warned.

“Are you worried?” I asked. Minhyun smiled again as if my words were amusement to him.

“Do you want me to be worried?”

“I just want to model.” I replied. “I don’t want to be the cause of so many fights between you or Aron.”

Minhyun carelessly shrugged. “Aron isn’t my problem anymore.” He replied then turned to face me. “Which means you’re on your own now, kid. I won’t be around to stop his childish antics any longer. He needs to learn to think for himself. He’ll never reach my level if he continues to clown around.”

“Wait a minute…” My voice trailed off, mildly offended. “I never said I needed you to protect me!” I defensively shot back. Minhyun gave me entertained look.

“So I just so happened to be around to free you every time he tied you up or used you as a verbal punching bag?”

“Yes!” I declared. It was the truth, wasn’t it?

“But you never rejected my help.” He insinuated. I sighed in frustration. He was right.

“There’s no winning with you. Fine! Thank you for all your help and advice up until this point, your majesty!” I tried to taunt him. Minhyun paused.

“Majesty?” He asked then smiled. “That has a nice ring to it…”

“What have I done???” I said, immediately regretting calling him that. The rest of the models soon joined us outside, followed by Jason and of course Mr. Kim. Both of them stood outside wearing large frames which covered most of their faces. As I spotted Mr. Kim, I couldn’t help but stare at him with so many questions going through my head. There was so much I wanted to ask him… But first I’d have to get the formal chance to talk to him. I knew I couldn’t just approach him and start talking to him without coming off as rude.

In a large group, we followed the designers as we made the short walk deeper into the city where we were met with the photographer who seemed to be close friends with Jason. The two chatted briefly amongst themselves before Jason finally stepped aside and let the photographer get to work. I blankly stood around, not knowing what to do while the other models started hanging around and posing naturally. I didn’t know if this was bad luck or not, my first public shooting being witnessed by none other than my role model himself. I grew more and more nervous by the second knowing that Mr. Kim could be watching me standing around doing absolutely nothing. I started to panic. Suddenly, to my surprise, Aron walked over and threw his arm around my shoulders and forced me to walk forward with him, acting as if we were best pals. We happened to catch the attention of the photographer, who had been busy shooting another model. He quickly snapped pictures of our interactions together as we walked down the sidewalk as if it were the runway. Once we passed the photographer, I nervously glanced over at Aron, giving him a questionable look.

“Pretend like you can tolerate me and I’ll do the same.” Aron replied in a barely inaudible voice.

“But… I don’t understand. Why are you suddenly helping me?”

“It has nothing to do with helping you.”

“Then what-”

“I’m helping myself. Right now, you’re officially set to be my replacement. Rather than let Jason see it bothering me, I’m going to embrace it. I’m going to show him that I don’t feel threatened by you. I’ll show him and I’ll definitely show Minhyun that I deserve to be here. I’m not some washed up model. I still have a few years left in this industry if I work at it.” He replied. I stared down at the floor as we continued to walk with his arm draped over my shoulders.

“You feel… threatened by me?” So what Minhyun had said was true. Jason really had given Aron a talking to about the reality of me possibly replacing him. Aron suddenly stopped walking and stretched his arms into the air for show for the photographer who snapped another picture of him.

“Don’t be a about it.” He forced his words through a fake smile, knowing that the photographer was still watching us from the distance. I remained staring at him, stunned at how fake his personality could actually be. Aron nudged his head towards the direction of the photographer. “Act.” He sternly advised me. I quickly forced a fake, interested smile on my face before leaning back and pretending to laugh at something Aron might have said. The photographer snapped another picture. From the corner of my eyes I glanced back over to where Mr. Kim was standing beside Jason. I felt my heart skip a beat when I noticed that he had been looking in my general direction. Had he been watching me this entire time? I nervously turned away from him to see Minhyun casually leaning his back against a streetlamp post while scrolling through his phone down in his hand. The photographer scrambled over to his location to get a good angle of him pretending to be ‘natural.’ Now that I was alone with Aron, I pulled away from him.

“I don’t know what you have in mind, but leave me out of it. You and Minhyun- both of you. Okay? I don’t want any trouble.” I replied. With Minhyun having already flat out told me that he viewed me as competition, I had a feeling that the same probably went for Aron as well. Aron placed both hands on his hips and smirked at me.

“Trouble? Who said there was going to be trouble?” He innocently asked. I took several steps backwards, beginning to feel extremely uncomfortable. I didn’t trust Aron in the slightest, especially not after the short history we already had between us.

“There’s always trouble with you…”

“Do you want to avoid trouble then?” Aron asked. I blankly stared at him, waiting for him to explain. Aron glanced over his shoulder and shot Minhyun a dirty look before turning back around and lacing his arm between mine. “Then pretend to be my friend.” He simply stated as he pulled me forward with him again. As we passed Minhyun and the photographer, the photographer immediately turned and took another picture of us. Minhyun caught sight of our arms interwoven together. He threw his head back and scoffed in disbelief at us. I felt an imminent sense of dread and doom over what had just happened. Everything was starting to make sense now. The reason why Aron wanted to hang around me suddenly was because he wanted to make Minhyun jealous while during the meantime he wanted to force himself a place underneath my spotlight. Deep down, part of me resented both Aron and the idea of what he wanted to force me to put up with. I mentally sighed. He really wasn’t giving me a choice. I supposed that I would have to think of it as if Aron really being my friend. And it wasn’t that I didn’t want to in the beginning. Aron was the one that had made it clear to me that we were ‘enemies.’ From now on I would have to pretend as if none of it had ever happened if I wanted my chance to impress Mr. Kim and speak with him. I knew none of it would be possible if I was constantly getting into fights with Aron or even Minhyun, who was more the type to make catty comments rather than personally attack me.

As the shoot progressed, every now and then I kept stealing glances back at Mr. Kim, wondering if he was still watching me. Sometimes I caught his eyes looking my way and each time I did, I felt my heart flutter with excitement. Was there something about me that he seemed to like a lot? I couldn’t get over how many times I had caught him staring. When Jason had scouted me and told me he favored me because I had a ‘unique’ appearance, I only halfway believed him. I mean, I owned a mirror. I wasn’t blind about my looks. But I didn’t believe that the ‘me’ right now in the beginning of my career would be enough to capture Mr. Kim’s attention. I was still completely new to the industry. I was curious about him now. Just what was it that he seemed to like the most about me? Was it my looks? My walk? The way I posed? I was beginning to grow anxious. If only I could just get a few seconds to talk to him... that’s all I would ask for.

After the shoot had ended and Jason had dismissed us, both he and Mr. Kim took a taxi off to wherever it was they were going, leaving the rest of the models to linger in the city or return home. As soon as I watched the taxi disappear down the street, I reached into my pocket to check my phone to see if I had any missed messages. There were zero. I pouted, thinking about how rare it was that JR hardly ever texted me. I devilishly smirked then scrolled through my contacts to find his number. As I was about to push the button to call, Minhyun suddenly stepped up from behind me with his arms folded across his chest, looking down at me. He had a bitter look written across his face.

“It seems you won’t be needing my protection from Aron after all, since the two of you are so ‘close’.” He scoffed, not even trying to disguise his jealousy whatsoever. I blankly stared up at him, remembering the other day when he had overseen me talking to Aron in the locker room where he hadn’t bothered to hide his jealousy either. After speaking with the two of them, I realized that Minhyun seemed to be the one the breakup was affecting harder. In fact, Aron hadn’t even mentioned the break up, aside from telling me that he was going to prove Minhyun wrong. I had to wonder… did I have it all wrong about them? Since I had first arrived at JA Style and having met them, they had given me the impression that it was Aron that was the more love-struck out of the two with the way he followed him and was overprotective of Minhyun’s spot. But yet, although part of Aron’s plan was to make Minhyun jealous, he didn’t seem as devastated over the breakup as I would have imagined him to be. Or maybe it was confidence, knowing that they would soon get back together after securing his spot?

“Minhyun-”

“Since when?” He suspiciously asked. I paused, utterly confused.

“Huh???”

Minhyun laughed. “Do you honestly think playing coy is cute? Since when have you and Aron been talking, huh?!” He practically screamed at me. I stared at him with wide eyes full of shock before slightly stepping backwards.

“Wait a minute, why did you even break up with him in the first place if you were going to act like this?!” I shot back at him. Minhyun rolled his eyes and slapped his right hand across his forehead, sighing heavily.

“Oh my god, you’re so stupid. It was to motivate him to do better!” He exclaimed in frustration. “I mean, how could I not have been any clearer when I explained so earlier? What in the world are our school systems teaching our youth these days? Oh, I can’t believe it…” Minhyun continued to ramble on about his disappointment in me while I tuned out. I furrowed my brows in confusion as I tried to put all the pieces together. So Minhyun broke up with Aron to motivate him to work harder, who in turn is actually using me to both make Minhyun jealous and boost his image with Jason and Mr. Kim. Well, I can’t say that Minhyun’s plan for Aron wasn’t working… but why did I have to pay the price? Back when I first started here, both Minhyun and Aron wanted nothing to do with me. Meanwhile, these days I couldn’t seem to get away from them. Why couldn’t they just leave me alone? Was that too much to ask?

“Alright, alright, I think you made your point. I’m stupid. Now what do you want me to do about it?” I asked, disrupting Minhyun’s longwinded dialogue and snatching his attention. He glanced back down at me.

“Answer my question.”

“Which was?” I asked, only further fueling the fire. Minhyun angrily took a moment to collect and calm himself, closing his eyes briefly before opening them and speaking to me again through his teeth.

“Since when have you and Aron started talking?”

I blinked. “Since this morning?”

Minhyun scoffed in disbelief. “Wow!” He said, standing back and scoffing into the air. “Do you mean to tell me the little jerk has been planning to run to you all along? Is that why he seemed indifferent when we broke up?”

I furrowed my brows. “What?”

“There wasn’t even an ounce of remorse from him! He said ‘ok,’ accepted the breakup and left.” Minhyun replied as he shifted his gaze downward. The hurt was evident on his face. I found all of this just bizarre and weird. It was almost as if Aron and Minhyun had switched places. It seemed like Minhyun had grown accustomed to Aron waiting on him that now that he was no longer there, he missed him. But according to what information I had received from Aron, he wasn’t as cold an unfeeling about the breakup as Minhyun had described him and he still seemed intent on getting Minhyun back. My head started to hurt.

“It sounds like you need to talk.” I suggested. Minhyun irritably sighed.

“I suppose you’re right.” He replied, putting on his pair of black sunglasses that had been resting in his coat pocket. “So where to? Your place or mine?” He suddenly asked, surprising me. I froze. Um…

“Oh, with me?” I asked after being completely misunderstood by him. I had meant that he talk to Aron, not me. I had to take a second to let this all settle in. Minhyun, one of the people that despised me, suddenly wanted to go to my place? Just what was going on? It seemed the more I tried to avoid trouble, the more I constantly found myself in it. Minhyun remained staring at me, quietly waiting for my answer. Oh god, this was awkward. I didn’t really want for him to know where I lived just in case I angered him again in the future because apparently I had a natural talent for that. I forced a smile on my lips and awkwardly pointed at him. “I mean I kind of already had plans but… Oh, what the hell, y-your place?”

Minhyun shrugged then turned around and started to walk off down the sidewalk. I guess I was supposed to follow him? I didn’t really know what to do. Deep down I was already having a panic attack, knowing that I would now be stepping into my so-called ‘enemy’s’ home and also knowing that there was a slight possibility that I might not be stepping back out. Before I started following him, I stopped to notice that Aron had been looking from a distance in our general direction, his eyes glued on me with a dirty expression. Oh god… How could so much misunderstanding happen in one morning? Why was I suddenly being dragged back and forth like a rag doll between the two of them? Minhyun and Aron just lived to make my life miserable, didn’t they? Although Minhyun wasn’t half as bad as Aron, it was beside the point. I started following Minhyun down the street despite the fact that he wasn’t the person I really wanted to see right now. I mentally sighed. I guess I would just have to tell JR about all that had happened later, I suppose.

 

 

When we arrived at Minhyun’s luxury apartment in Gangnam, I was surprised to discover just how close a distance he lived to the JA Style studio. When I had asked him about it, his response was that it was a gift from Jason. Basically, since he was Jason’s top model, he was treated like a star. Jason provided him with anything and everything he might possibly need on the condition that he not break his contract with him. I found it kind of odd though. Jason regularly threatened to terminate both Aron and Minhyun’s contracts on what almost seemed like a daily basis. Of course, the more I got to know Jason, the more I realized that he was a lot of talk. He said many things he didn’t mean, which was why it was difficult to tell when he was in fact being serious.

I stepped inside of Minhyun’s apartment after he unlocked the door and entered first. As I stopped to remove my shoes in his door hallway, I stared in amazement at how much space there was, even with all of the designer furniture laying around everywhere. Minhyun casually stepped into his living room with his pair of slippers on, trailing off into the kitchen inside another room on his right. I stopped in the middle of the living room and noticed a staircase leading to a second floor where there were several other rooms. I glanced back down at the first floor I was currently standing on. To my left there was a hallway which lead to at least three other rooms.

“And you live here alone?” I asked in shock. Minhyun stepped out from the kitchen with two glasses of water in his hands.

“Why is that so surprising?” He boredly asked.

“There’s so many rooms-”

“Don’t you have that many?” He asked, literally just assuming that I lived at his level of wealth. I suddenly felt embarrassed, thinking back to my tiny but decent sized apartment for just myself. It wasn’t exactly luxury living, but it wasn’t exactly nice either. And then there was still that hole in the wall that I had drunkenly shoved JR’s head through quite some time ago that I never exactly got around to fixing. I awkwardly smiled and nodded.

“Maybe not as many as you do.” I lied, trying to hide my living arrangement from him. Now I was glad that I didn’t bring him over to my place. Apparently Minhyun thought higher or me than I originally thought he did if he assumed I had money. I had barely done one runway show. Of course I wasn’t exactly rich. But if he believed so, maybe I was doing something right for once with the way I carried or presented myself. He suddenly handed me a glass.

“Here.” He coldly responded. “I don’t drink tea, therefore I don’t carry it. I mostly only drink water, so you’ll just have to deal with it.” He replied, turning his back to me as he walked over to one of his couches and sat down against the right armrest, pulling his legs up to his chest as he sat.

“Uh, yeah, thanks.” I replied, accepting it and sitting down in the white armchair next to him. The next couple of minutes were spent in an awkward silence before I finally broke down. “So uh, what did you want to talk about…?”

“You said that you’ve only been talking since this morning, but I saw the two of you talking the other day. What was it about?” He curiously asked. I had to take a moment to think back to our conversation in the locker room.

“He was asking me about Dambi-noona again. He wanted to know-” I paused, thinking back to how much he had managed to infuriate me about JR. Now knowing what it was that JR had once gone through, I didn’t want to think about it again or anymore. “He wanted to know how I knew her and I told him I met him through JR. They were friends back in high school so he introduced me when I told him I needed to improve my walk. That’s all.”

Minhyun stared at me for a couple of seconds then nodded. “I see. And this morning? What did you discuss then?” He asked. I returned his question with an uncomfortable look. Do I tell him? Was it even my place to say anything about Aron’s plan? Minhyun flashed me a concerned look. “Can you not tell me?”

“Can I ask you something?” I said, trying quickly to change the subject. Minhyun gave me an intrigued look.

“I suppose.”

“I’m just so confused. You’ve been cruel to me up until the show, where you were surprisingly nice to me by giving me your advice and tips. Then after the show, you went back to it again. And that’s when I told you that I wanted to call the competition between us off. You took it… better than I thought you would. You didn’t blow up at me. You just coolly accepted it and acknowledged that I would still try to take your spot. Just… what’s the deal? Is it really all about seniority? Because you’re my sunbae and I’m your hoobae? Do you and Aron really hate me or not?”

Minhyun coolly smirked. “Hate is a rather strong word, don’t you agree?”

I paused. “It can be…”

“I can’t speak for Aron, but as for myself, I don’t hate you. The competitive nature of the industry in which we are both in, I can’t exactly be your friend either. That isn’t a strike against you personally; it goes for everybody. I don’t have friends. Those that I have had have always turned against me. This is an industry where everyone is in it for themselves. If you’re not criticizing someone else, you’re the one that’s being criticized then. That’s just the way it goes. As for all of the advice I’ve given you, it’s out of not wanting anyone else to go through the same troubles or experiences I had if it can be easily avoided. Do not misunderstand me. I might be the type of person to make fun at other’s expenses, but I am not the type of person that wants to see others fail. It’s the exact opposite. The ‘cruel’ things I do might seem cruel, but have you actually ever given them any thought? You’re right. Why didn’t I blow up at you when you called the competition off or when you said you still wanted to take my spot? If I wanted you out of this industry, I’d of done it by now. It’s easy to break down others. But it takes a strong person to build others up.”

“But… why? Didn’t you say it yourself? This is an industry where everyone is in it for themselves. Why do only you care about something like that?” I asked, surprised to finally hear Minhyun’s reasoning from himself.

“I’m nearing the cutoff age for the modeling industry, as is Aron. You’re still new. You don’t know much. Most newbies would be thrilled for the First Lead spot and settle, never to attempt taking the Headliner position. But after seeing you walk, I’ve seen potential. You once claimed that I felt ‘threatened’ by you. Not once have I felt threatened by you because not once have I ever seen it that way. I’m going to finally be honest with you, Ren. I haven’t the slightest clue where Mr. Kim’s ‘secret’ workshop is. Do you want to know why I lied to you?”

I stared at him in shock. Wait a minute… what?! He had been lying to me? No, no. There must be a reason to it other than Minhyun possibly being a sociopath. “Was it… to motivate me into going for your spot?” I asked, feeling completely floored by Minhyun’s sudden confession. All along he really had no idea where Mr. Kim’s workshop was? Instead he had wanted to motivate me to work hard to take his spot, using the only leverage he could think of, which was my fascination with House of Kim’s Mr. Kim.

“If anyone is going to replace me after I’m gone and become the next Headliner, I’d rather it be someone that is just as good as I was. You’re right. I wanted to motivate you because you’re new. I don’t want you to settle for Aron’s spot, likewise, I don’t want Aron settling for getting kicked out either just because he is close to being forced to quit because of his age.”

“I can’t believe it…” My voice trailed off as I tightly gripped the full glass inside of my palms. “All this time I thought you hated me, when in reality you were only just trying to help me… I mean, I somewhat thought that might be the case because of all of those times you stood up for me, but then there were several more times where you were so cruel to me I thought that it couldn’t possibly be it…”

Minhyun coolly smirked. “Well, believe it.” He replied, shifting his gaze away from me and towards the window to his balcony. “The only reason Aron never went for Jason’s Top Model status or for the Headliner position was because he wanted me to have it since he was my boyfriend. If Aron had ever really tried, he could have taken it away from me if he only wanted to. Aron… believe it or not, he’s always had a passive personality. At least when it comes to getting the things he wants. Even when I broke up with him, he didn’t protest it. At first I thought maybe it was because he might possibly have feelings for you, but then after speaking to you I realize that maybe that’s just my jealousy speaking.”

I tightly pursed my lips together, thinking back to the deal that Aron had forced me to take. “I’m sorry for asking this, but I don’t know who else to ask. Is Aron… a good person?” As I asked this Minhyun seemed to laugh. He slowly shook his head.

“To most people? No, he’s not.”

“Then what did you see in him? Even you said that he was petty…” I replied. Minhyun sadly smiled.

“Like I said, to most people he is. But to me, he’s not. To each his own, but it runs deeper than mere attraction. Falling in love with him… it was a complete accident. As I said, I don’t indulge in friendships. But he’s been the only one so far to make me break that rule. We spent so much time together at the JA Style studio that it just sort of naturally happened.”

I nodded. “I can understand that feeling well.” I sadly smiled as Minhyun and Aron’s situation seemed to mirror my relationship with JR. Although we were both busy people, during all the time we did spend together I already ended up falling for him. But unlike Minhyun and Aron, I knew that the probability of JR returning the feelings was less than zero. It was something that I had already come to terms with though, at least that’s what I was trying to convince myself of. At first it was pure attraction, surprisingly. Looking at someone as unkempt as JR, I never would have guessed it myself. But if I looked past the clothes and more at him as a person, I had realized that he was actually extremely handsome. With his tan skin, his deep, dark brows and his delicate forehead- it was enough to make my heart skip a beat. All of that plus his innocent personality? It was enough to make me want to go crazy. He didn’t know that though and that’s probably the way it would stay.

Minhyun raised an intrigued brow. “Oh?” He asked, taking a sip of water. “And who might have caught the attention of your eyes?”

I shook my head and shrugged. “It’s in the past.” I lied, not wanting to bring it up with him. Minhyun nodded and let it go.

“It’s fine then. Now, about Aron…” His voice trailed off. I glanced up with a panicked look on my face as he brought up the initial subject I had been trying hard to avoid. “I am to assume that there are no ‘feelings’ between the two of you?”

I nearly choked out of shock. “What? Me and Aron? Never!” I wildly exclaimed, only to be met back with a dirty look from Minhyun. I did it again, didn’t I? The filter between my mouth and brain failed yet again. “I mean… just given the history between the two of us, even friendship seems unlikely, but…”

“But?”

“I want my time spent here to run smoothly, so I’m not completely opposed to being his friend or yours.” I replied in attempt to explain and cover up any further communications that would occur between Aron and I. Whether I liked it or not, Aron was going to be hanging around me a lot more these days so I wanted to give Minhyun a bit of peace of mind knowing that absolutely nothing of that nature was going on. If Aron wanted to win Minhyun back, it would have to be through another way other than jealousy.

“Is that so?”

“Despite our rocky start, I’ve looked up to you from my very first day with JA Style when I saw you walk down that runway. I remember being completely enchanted with the aura you gave off as you seemed to effortlessly glide down representing Jason’s clothes. I thought to myself ‘I want to be more like him,’ and I’ve used you for reference whenever I make a mistake during practice. It’s true that Dambi-noona has taught me several things since then and although she is a good friend, she is not the model that I look up to.” I said, finally pouring my heart out about how much I had admired Minhyun’s ability and work ethic since day one. None of it was a lie. The first time I had seen him on stage I really did think that he was cool, unfortunately that image of him shattered as soon as I got to interact with him. Though his actions weren’t as cruel as Aron’s, his words and lack of interest were. Even though my being here today was an accident, I was actually somewhat glad that we had both been given the opportunity to finally sit and talk about everything. Minhyun gave me a smug grin before placing his empty glass down on the small coffee table beside the couch.

“Yes, well, if you want to be more like me, you’ll have to work for it. I wasn’t an overnight success. It all comes with experience. And as much as I appreciate the offer, like I said, I don’t do friendships. But do know that I don’t exactly ‘hate’ you.” He replied. This was as good as it was going to get with Minhyun, wasn’t it? I awkwardly laughed.

“I’ll take it.”

Minhyun smirked. “Good. Now that several misunderstandings have been made clear, get out.” He coolly replied. For a second I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not, but rather than embarrass myself any further in front of him, I decided that it was best to assume that he wasn’t joking. I leaned over and placed the glass of water that he had given me down on the coffee table before awkwardly standing and bowing in front of him.

“Thanks for having me over. It was fun.” I replied. Minhyun gave me a surprised look.

“Fun?”

I smiled and nodded. “Yeah. I learned a new side of you today and it was fun getting to talk to it.” I said while making my way back over to the door hallway where I quickly slipped back into my own shoes, turned back and waved before finally exiting. Before leaving I noticed the stunned but somewhat happy look written on Minhyun’s face, giving me the impression that probably not that many people had ever called him ‘fun.’ Though Minhyun wasn’t the most comfortable person to be around, he had his own charm. I just had to look for it. I wouldn’t have even known that it existed before today’s chat. But now that I knew that Minhyun wasn’t out to sabotage me, I felt more confident and relieved. Of course I didn’t expect the teasing to stop, but at least now I knew it wasn’t out of disdain of me. And even if Minhyun couldn’t bring himself to personally call me a friend, I knew that it wasn’t the case. I left the luxury apartment complex with a smile on my lips. I couldn’t wait to tell JR. I finally pulled my phone out and dialed his number after not being able to do so earlier. It rung several times without a response. I shrugged then dug my phone away. I guess I’ll talk to him later.

 

 

Baekho’s POV

I arrived at the JA Style studio early in the morning per the request of Jason the previous day. When I stepped into the shop level on the first floor, the entire store had been empty aside from one of his employees running the front counter. She kindly greeted me and asked how she could assist me. While acting underneath my ‘Mr. Kim’ persona, I distantly demanded that she call Jason down to speak with me. After witnessing the scared, uncomfortable expression on her face I instantly regretted it. But for as long as I was out in public, I couldn’t break my character. She apologetically bowed, informing me that Jason was currently in a meeting with his models and that he should be down shortly and that during the meantime I was welcome to look and browse around. I turned my back to her without saying anything and started to walk around the store. The first thing I noticed was a large portrait of G-Dragon hanging on the wall, wearing what looked like some of Jason’s clothes. I rolled my eyes underneath my sunglasses and continued to walk around. Several minutes had passed before Jason came quickly trotting down the stairs with a folder in his hand to greet me.

“Mr. Kim! I hope you haven’t been waiting long.” He said as he climbed down the last step and joined me inside of the shop. I impatiently checked the time on my watch and silently stared at him, continuing my portrayal as Mr. Kim.

“Time is valuable. Or were you not aware?” I coldly asked. Jason forced a smile on his lips then glanced back at his employee still standing behind the front counter. He sent her on a meaningless task to the upstairs storage room so that he and I could talk.

“Our models should be coming down shortly, but in the meantime, I want for you to take a look at this list. Today we are shooting a pictorial for a fashion magazine featuring JA Style’s latest designs. They were all told that you would be in attendance and to not screw around because you will be picking the models that will be showcasing the results of the House of Kim and JA Style’s collaboration.”

I glanced at him over the rim of my sunglasses. “I’ll be choosing?” I asked, somewhat confused. It was true I had experience modeling before I took on the ‘Mr. Kim’ gig, but it had only been for advertisements. I knew close to nothing about the runway or fashion shows, aside from what I had learned from JR’s notes. It was highly doubtful that someone like Jason would leave me in charge of making a major decision like that one.

“Of course not! Don’t be ridiculous. Here, look at the list. I’ve already selected which models will be participating in the show, but they don’t know that. I want you to memorize this list of names and faces by tomorrow, when you’ll be announcing who made the cut. As for today, your job is to look interested in all of the models and act as if you’re determining who you want. Understand?” Jason explained. Meanwhile I remained standing frozen in place.

“Does JR know about this?” I cautiously asked.

“SHH!” Jason exclaimed. “Don’t say that name in here, of all places!” He oddly scolded. “And why wouldn’t he know? Of course he knows! He’s the one who helped me pre-select my models.”

“This still doesn’t feel right…”

Jason scoffed, closing the folder in his hands. “Why are you only now starting to grow a conscience? You’re more than aware of what we’ve been doing from the beginning. You signed a contract. It’s time to abide by it.” He replied. I remained silent, not having any other choice after he had brought the contract up once again. Through the contract I was legally bound to continue with this charade and both of their decisions. Jason left me as he walked towards the back of the store, unlocking a closed door and disappearing for a moment. I turned back a few minutes later when I heard a sound coming from the staircase behind me.

“Move, brat.” I heard a voice order, followed by a short brunette trudging past and shoving a particular blonde that had been standing in the center of the stairs. He quickly reached for the railing and grabbed on before he could fall. For a brief second after he had stumbled, he paused before slowly raising his head to look at me from across the room. He awkwardly smiled at me before bowing and quickly turning, accidentally knocking into another model behind him. He paused again, holding his head down and refusing to glance back at me before he darted down the rest of the stairs and ran past the front door of the studio, stepping outside. I had to use every ounce of strength not to smile as I recognized the model as being Ren, the person that had caught my eye back at the fashion show. Although this was my first interaction with him aside from the night I had run into him with JR at the hotel, I was beginning to understand why Jason had referred to him as ‘strange.’ For a runway model, he seemed awfully clumsy, didn’t he?

After Jason had re-entered the room and the rest of the models joined us down in the shop, Jason and I were the first to step outside. As I exited the studio I quickly glimpsed at Ren who had been standing on the right side of the door and beside the building, talking to a much taller model. He had been completely unaware that I had been looking at him. If it hadn’t of been for all of the people around, I would have tried to talk to him. But if I did, I would have been scolded later by Jason, wouldn’t I? As Mr. Kim, I had no reason to be talking to him. Or at least for the meantime until production of this alleged fashion line took place and the fittings and the preparation for the show were underway. That just meant that I would have to be patient for a little while longer, even though I was itching to say something to him. Aside from his grace onstage and his strange clumsiness off, there was something about him that just seemed welcoming. Simply put, he looked like an approachable person, someone fun to be around. That was just based off of pure observation. I had spent a majority of my life alone and fared well so far, never really feeling like I was missing out on anything. I had been fine with not having friends or love interests because I was distracted enough to keep myself from thinking about them. But now that I had signed on to become the face of one of the world’s most prominent fashion designers, it seemed that I had nothing but time on my hands to think about it. And it was somewhat driving me insane.

 I followed Jason as he took the lead and together with the rest of his models we traveled deeper into downtown Seoul. We met with the photographer that Jason had contracted earlier and I watched as the two carried out a short winded conversation that I was not allowed to join in on. Mr. Kim was supposed to be a man of mystery and silence. He was the total opposite of myself. Granted, I wasn’t exactly a Chatty Cathy, but I wasn’t as anti-social as Mr. Kim was supposed to appear and training myself to keep quiet was a challenge in itself. After the two had finished speaking, Jason prompted everyone to go about their own thing and that the photographer and I would be watching. The models dispersed around the setting of downtown Seoul. Jason silently nudged me in the elbow to prompt me to feign interest in the models. I started to slowly walk around and observe several different models, pretending to be judging them when in reality not having the slightest clue what I was supposed to be watching for. The models seemed to nervously tense up whenever I walked past them. It was a strange reaction for someone like me, who had grown accustomed to being a nobody my entire life. And now that I was suddenly a ‘somebody,’ the reactions I drew from the media and even Jason’s models would take some time getting used to.

I turned my back to come across Ren who had been standing vacantly several yards away from me on the side of the street. I wondered what he was up to? Suddenly as I started to take a step forward, the short brunette that had brushed into Ren at the stairwell back at the studio walked up from behind him, throwing his arm over Ren’s shoulders. From a distance, it looked like they were having a good time. The photographer even turned his attention away from the current models he had been focusing on to capture the two of them. I froze in place as a sudden wave of jealousy swept through me while watching the short brunette and Ren laugh amongst themselves, leaving me wondering what they had been talking about and why it was so funny. It was ironic how Ren was literally standing right there but he was still so far away from me, inaccessible to me. I couldn’t talk to him despite how much I wanted to get to know him, leaving me feeling utterly depressed.

I turned away and continued to walk around, pretending to act like someone whom I was not. The shoot progressed with many models being captured by the photographer and many not. The models that stood out the most were obviously the top three that Jason usually selected for his fashion shows. However, the only name I knew at the moment was of course Ren’s. The others I didn’t quite know or even remotely care to know. Every now and then I would glance back to see what he was doing. I didn’t know if it was just my hopeful imagination playing tricks on me, but I swore that there were several times where it felt like he was doing the same thing and looking for me. Each time I sensed this he seemed to quickly look away when I tried to meet his glance from underneath my sunglasses. But part of me realized that it wasn’t me he was looking at. It was Mr. Kim. Ren was just like any of the other models here, hoping that Mr. Kim would recognize them and skyrocket their careers in the modeling industry. I felt foolish. Before signing on to become Mr. Kim, never before had I ever felt so self-conscious in my entire life. I had usually been a pretty confident guy, occasionally working out and so on. But now that I knew I had the whole world suddenly watching me much more closely, I felt small, especially in front of someone as stunningly attractive as Ren. Could something ever happen between the two of us without someone getting hurt? That was another thing I didn’t feel so confident about, making me feel regretful about ever signing on to become Mr. Kim. But if I hadn’t, in what other circumstances would I have run into Ren? I would have never seen him on the runway and I wouldn’t have the opportunity I had such as now to be even remotely near him. It seemed that becoming Mr. Kim was both a curse and a blessing.

When the shoot was finally over, I climbed into the back of a taxi with Jason, not stopping until we arrived back at Jason’s studio to collect my car where he then had me drive him all the way back to my place. He hadn’t wanted to take the taxi all the way back to avoid unwanted solicitors at all hours of the night back at the mansion. It was a known fact that taxi drivers often sold their secret knowledge of celebrity addresses to crazy fans and stalkers. When we drove up to the front gate, to my surprise there was someone already there, standing out front dressed in an oversized hoodie with the hood drawn over his head. I grew alarmed. Jason on the other hand gave off a frustrated sigh.

“God, what’s he doing here?”

“He?” I asked then watched as Jason rolled down the window and leaned his head out.

“JR, get out of here! Go home!” He snapped at him. JR jumped as he was being scolded then took a step backwards. I furrowed my brows. Just what was going on here? Why was Jason suddenly acting this way towards JR, who was supposedly my boss? Despite being yelled at, JR remained standing still. Jason scowled then turned back to face me. “Just turn around. We’ll come back later. He’s not crazy enough to wait outside all day.” He claimed, raising several more red flags underneath my radar. This just didn’t seem right…

I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door, climbing outside despite Jason’s loud protests to stay inside the car which I ignored. I walked over to JR and stopped directly in front of him. JR awkwardly held his head down low, hiding beneath his black hood. “What’s going on?” I asked. JR kept his head held down for several seconds before slowly raising it to look at me.

“I could ask you the same question…” He suddenly said very darkly.

“What?”

“Why are you going along with everything Jason says? Is he your boss?!” JR surprisingly snapped, startling me. Jason quickly scrambled out of the car and ran over to the both of us in front of the gate, immediately stepping between me and him.

“You already agreed to design the clothes! You even gave me terms, which I intend to follow. What more do you want?!” Jason angrily screeched at him. JR gave him a stunned, wide eyed look. Meanwhile I continued to watch in silence at everything unfold out in front of me. When at first Jason and JR had once seemed like friends, why now did everything seem different? Why was Jason cruelly lashing out on JR? Had JR done something to upset him? As unlikely as it seemed, I couldn’t think of any other explanation for what was going on between the two of them. Jason continued to glare at JR. “What more must I do to make you leave me alone?!”

“…Why are you pretending to play the victim?” He asked in a shaking voice. A closer look at him revealed the tears that were building up in the corner of JR’s eyes.

“Victim? What are you two talking about?” I asked, feeling utterly left out from the current situation at hand.

“Get over it!”

“How can I?!” JR screamed back at him. Jason quickly turned back to face me.

“He’s obviously lost his mind. I don’t think I need to explain the evident mental problems this one has. Come, let’s leave him be before-”

“You try to take everything away from me… and then tell me to ‘get over it’? Are you even human?!” JR cried.

“He’s crazy.” Jason tried to reassure me, grabbing my arm to try to pull me with him. I didn’t budge. Try to take everything away from him? I thought back to the press conference that Jason had forced me to make a public appearance at in which we announced the collaboration line between both designers. Was it possible that Jason hadn’t confirmed it with JR first? That would explain why I had never been personally contacted by JR about making the appearance. But surely Jason wouldn’t have sunk that low. Besides, weren’t they friends?

“What are you talking about?” I asked JR directly. “Do you mean to tell me that you never approved the collaboration or the appearance?” I asked again. JR quickly shook his head in silence. I immediately looked over at Jason, who seemed even more irritated.

“You’ll always be there to stand in my way, won’t you?” Jason bitterly replied, his eyes glued on JR.

“You could have corrected this big mistake. Why didn’t you say anything to me since then?” I asked JR to clarify. None of this was making sense. He could have called me after the press conference but instead I heard nothing from him. “You could sue both me and Jason- why are you continuing to go along with this charade?”

“Isn’t it obvious? He doesn’t want to get caught either. A case like this will make international headlines, and if it does, JR’s true identity would be revealed. A hermit like him would never welcome all of the attention that he would receive. Instead he’ll choose to hide like he’s always done!” Jason sourly replied.

“You’re wrong!” JR exclaimed through tears.

“Then say something!” Jason shot back.

“I have my reasons!”

“Then if you have your so-called ‘reasons,’ stop crying about it!”

“Then help me to understand how you could just take something that’s not yours and tell me to be ok with it!” JR shakily restated. “How do you expect me to live like-”

“Then just die!” Jason exclaimed, startling JR who immediately froze as his words reached his ears. I angrily stepped in between the two of them. This had gone too far.

“Enough!” I snapped.

“Nobody would have ever even known you existed if you were to suddenly just drop dead!” Jason continued. JR started to tremble and he shakily raised both hands and placed them over his ears in an attempt to prevent what looked like the beginnings of a mental breakdown.

“I said enough!” I warned.

“And you only have no one but yourself to blame for that one, you coward!” Jason continued again. I spun around and grabbed him by his shoulders, shoving him backwards.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” I demanded. Jason flew several feet backwards, his back hitting the side of the car. “What gives you any right to attack another person like that?!”

He viscously glared at me. “Are you going to take his side now? Is that it?” Jason scoffed. “Newsflash; I hold all the upper strings for House of Kim now. Your boss is basically my puppet, making me your new boss now. Do you really want to fight against me in a battle that you know you’ll lose?” He confidently asked. I glared down at him. Never before had I wanted to beat the living hell out of someone as much as I did now. I could do it. I could kill him right here and now with no one but JR as my only witness, only somehow I knew he would never speak a word about it.

“I’ve got nothing but time, buddy.” I threatened, fully prepared to take him on whether with fists or in the court room.

“And Ren?” He suddenly brought up his name, taking me by surprise. JR slowly lowered his hands from his ears and watched from beside me. I gave Jason an unbelievable look.

“What about him?” I cautiously asked, not wanting to be the reason if Ren suddenly lost his job.

“Wouldn’t you do anything just to be in the same room as him? Don’t you want to officially ‘meet’ him? Ren is my model. Do you think I’d let you anywhere near him? I can keep the two of you so far apart, don’t even try me. I’d think twice if I were you.” As Jason threatened me, JR seemed to tense up. By looking at him, it seemed like he had something he wanted to say, only he was afraid to say it and instead remained silent. I glanced back at Jason and narrowed my eyes.

“Let’s be adults and leave him out of this. This is between the three of us right here and now.” I replied. Jason stood up from leaning back against the car.

“Then the two of you will continue to do exactly as I say or it’s all over for all of us, Ren included. Understand?!” Jason snapped. I remained silently glaring at him in deep protest over what he had done to JR and how he was treating him about it as well as both threatening and dangling Ren over my head. It was true that I wanted to officially meet him. But it was also true that I didn’t want him losing his job, especially not over me. JR timidly stepped forward with his head held down.

“I understand…” He replied, sounding defeated. Jason glanced back over at me.

“And you?” He asked. I tightly pursed my lips together, internally despising him.

“I understand.”

“Fan-ing-tastic then.” Jason muttered, angrily marching off down the street alone, making his way on foot out of the uptown residential area and headed back towards the city. Since he left, several minutes of silence passed between JR and I. Knowing that he wouldn’t be the first to break, I waited until Jason had long disappeared before finally turning to him.

“You ok?” I asked, worried about his mental state especially after having heard what Jason had said to him. Still looking downwards, JR slowly nodded his head.

“I’m ok.” He quietly responded.

“Why did you come here?”

“I don’t know.” He replied. I paused.

“You don’t know?”

“I didn’t… I didn’t know what else to do. Since the other day, I’ve been slipping in and out of madness. I came because I needed answers. I needed to know why you did it. I know… I know why he did it. But you… I couldn’t think of any reason.”

“I swear to god, JR, I had no idea-”

“I know that now.” JR replied, slowly looking up at me. “I just wanted to know why you didn’t question it… I… I’m your boss… I was…”

“I did question it. But I was an idiot. I didn’t do anything about it. I just automatically assumed that you had approved it because I trusted him. I thought the two of you were friends-”

“He’s not my friend.” JR immediately replied, cutting me off. “A friend… would never do something like this.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say.” I replied, feeling partially responsible for what had happened. “But now that you know, does it really change anything?”

JR shook his head. “No. I still feel as miserable as before…” His voice trailed off. I paused.

“You could do something about this, you know. But why don’t you? What exactly are those reasons?” I asked, wondering what was strong enough in this world to prevent him from taking action against Jason for this obvious crime. It wasn’t just any company we were talking about being taken out from underneath his feet here, it was House of Kim. And JR probably had all of the money in the world to hire the best lawyers and see to it that Jason be put behind bars. “Is it really just about hiding?” I asked, knowing that if he had pressed charges against Jason, doing so would expose all three of us. I could take a hit. Being exposed as a fake didn’t much matter to me, seeing as I was a nobody in reality. But JR, who was actually a somebody putting in tremendous effort in order to look like a nobody, couldn’t seem to afford that hit. And I wanted to know why.

“There are some things worth protecting in this world.” He quietly replied.

“Like what?”

JR paused. “Let’s just leave it at that…” He said dejectedly as he slowly started turning away from me.

“At least let me take you back.” I offered, seeing that he was starting to make his way back home on foot much like how Jason had left. I almost felt afraid to let him go alone after the cruel things that had been said to him. JR continued walking, slowly shaking his head in protest.

“Being seen together… with someone like me… it wouldn’t be wise. Goodbye, Baekho.” He said then left, leaving me behind with my still running car parked outside my front gate. I watched him go, tightly pursing my lips together in uncertainty. Just what was it that he wanted to protect? What was so important that he’d risk being Jason’s slave just so that he could protect it? It seemed whatever it was, he didn’t want neither me nor Jason knowing about it and I had a feeling that that’s how it would eventually remain.