I yawned tiredly as I stepped into the photo studio the next day. I gripped onto my hot coffee thermos and felt my bag feel a bit heavier than it should have, hanging from my arm. I saw our receptionist only just settle into her seat and knew that I was super early. I woke up very early in the morning because I didn’t get a very good night’s sleep. I had gotten ready and left for work when Yongguk was still asleep. I didn’t want to wake him and figured that I’d text him a little later. 

“You’re early.” our main photographer commented, as I stepped onto set. 

I nodded. 

“Couldn’t sleep.” I said plainly. 

“Maybe you could start on Isaac’s make up a little earlier.” he nodded towards the dressing room. “Save us a bit of time.” 

“Is anyone else here yet?” I tried to hide my obvious yawn. 

“Nope.” he chuckled. “You’re the first one.” 

I nodded silently and walked lethargically into the dressing room. As I stepped in, Isaac was sitting on the waiting couch, alone with his phone in his hand and steaming mug in the other hand. He looked up and noticed me before smiling a small smile. 

“Morning.” he said, his voice overflowing with cheeriness. 

I cringed and felt that his greeting was way too cheery for that time in the morning. It was way too early to be that happy and energetic. I observed Isaac and found that he was wearing smart casual clothing. Some dark jeans and a grey cashmere. A seemingly expensive watch around his watch, looking so classy in comparison to the ones that Yongguk had at home and never actually wore.

“Good morning.” I greeted back, trying my hardest to match his enthusiasm. 

“You don’t look ‘good’, though.” he chuckled, sipping his coffee. 

“Is it that obvious?” I returned his smile. 

Isaac smiled, showing his nearly perfect, white teeth and shook his head. He stood up and began making his way to the makeup chair in front of the mirror, he settled on it and reached into his pocket to put his phone away. I set my coffee thermos onto the coffee table in the middle of the room, instantly feeling the sudden absence of its warmth. I walked over to Isaac and unloaded my makeup onto the table. 

“Why are you so early?” he asked casually. 

“I couldn’t sleep.” I shrugged, opening the usual palette that I used for him. 

“Did something happen?” he asked. 

“No.” I said softly, dabbing some makeup on his face with my fingers. “Just got a lot of things going through my mind.”

As I did Isaac’s makeup, I realized that I seemed to have memorized his facial features, although it’s only been three days since I’d met him. I knew where his skin need more attention, I noticed that little scar on his upper lip. It was probably because I was so close to his features and maybe because he had such distinct features. Yet I’d never paid the same amount of attention to any other models. I silently shook the thought out of my head. 

“Would it be too personal if I asked what’s been on your mind.” Isaac asked gently. 

I chuckled softly and turned to my makeup bag to switch to another brush. I shook my head and began applying some powder to set Isaac’s makeup. I worked on his makeup in silence for a while before replying.

“It’s not something you’d understand, though.” I said jokingly. “It’s about being married.” 

“Yeah?” Isaac smile, raising his eyebrows and scoffed in fake offence. “Try me.” 

I put the brush down and used my fingers to softly blend out a section. 

“Done.” I said, trying to avoid his question. “Now, go get changed, our hair stylist should be here soon.” 

Isaac didn’t budge but instead stared at me. Not directly, though. Still facing the mirror, he stared at my reflection. His once charming, sharp eyes and somehow turned into a slightly intense gaze. I met his eyes only slightly before pretending to busy myself with cleaning up.

“Are you sure you don’t want to tell me?” he said. “If it’s bothering you, then you should talk to someone.” 

I didn’t answer but instead patted him on the shoulder and smiled softly. “Go, get changed.” 

It was true that I wanted to talk someone but I didn’t think that it would have been appropriate to pour my feelings out to someone who is almost a stranger to me. I walked out of the dressing and waited for him to change, while also waiting for Yubin to arrive at the studio. As our staff, one by one, began to arrive, we all gathered into the dressing room to get Isaac ready. Since it was the last day of the photoshoot, we had to make sure that everything was perfect for the last set of photos.

Since my job was done, I sat on the couch and played with my phone as everyone was taking care of Isaac in front of the mirror. I usually would help the others out but due to my lack of sleep, I didn’t feel like it. I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t texted Yongguk and checked the time. It was about half past eight. He should have been awake already, yet I didn’t receive any texts from him, asking where I was. I sighed. I decided to text him. 

‘Hey, I couldn’t sleep, so I went to work early. I didn’t want to wake you up.’ 

I pressed ‘send’ and put the phone into my jacket pocket before slowly lying down onto the couch. I lay my head on the armrest and figured that I could just relax for a bit. Not go to sleep but just shut my eyes and relax, since Isaac had already gotten his makeup done and all. One minute I was still listening to the quiet chattering in the dressing room, the next, my eyes shot open as I woke up. I abruptly sat up, not too sure of where I was, when something fell off of my body. I rubbed my eyes and realized that I was still in the dressing room but it was empty, everyone had gone outside. I glanced up at the clock on the wall and it read eleven o’clock. I’d been out for at least two hours. 

“.” I murmured. 

I felt so embarrassed at the thought of how many people had walked past and noticed that I was asleep. To make it worse, I probably looked super ugly while I was asleep. I sighed and glanced at the floor, at the object that had fallen off my body as I sat up. I picked it up and observed it. It was someone’s jacket. A grey cashmere. Isaac’s cashmere. He had put it over me while I was asleep. I was strangely touched and noticed that its scent had managed to cling onto me as I slept. It was soft smell of cologne, not too sharp but a very comfortable, pleasant scent. It instantly made me think of Isaac, of all the times I had stood close up to him, to do his makeup. All those times that I had smelt this exactly scent of cologne. 

I cautiously and embarrassedly, made my way onto the photoshoot set, seeing Isaac was still modelling. I quietly crept next to Yubin and nudged her softly. 

“Oh.” Yubin smiled teasingly. “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.” 

I sighed. 

“Oh my gosh, please don’t.” I said, embarrassed. 

“You look so cute when you’re asleep.” Yubin chuckled. “Even Isaac had to agree.” 

My eyes widened and I looked at her. Like a way of silently asking if she was serious. She didn’t need to say anything, the mischievous smile that crept onto her lips said it all. I buried my face in my hands. 

“Next time I feel tired,” I whined. “I’m not coming to work. I’m gonna stay home and sleep.” 

Yubin scoffed and shifted her attention back to Isaac.

“What’s up between you and Isaac anyway?” Yubin asked nonchalantly with her arms crossed in front of her chest. “This is like the closest I’ve see you get to any model.” 

“Nothing’s up.” I shrugged. “He’s just really nice. Besides, we’re only seeing each other for these three days, no use in becoming good friends.”

Yubin didn’t say anything and just nodded absentmindedly, still staring at Isaac. I sighed and knew that she was appreciating his beauty, something that even I had to openly acknowledge. He was very handsome and also was a gentleman, as seemingly perfect man. I thoughtlessly pulled my phone out from my pocket and saw that I’d received a reply from Yongguk.

‘Okay. See you at home.’ 

I read his reply silently. There were only five words, yet I didn’t know why I kept rereading them. I didn’t know if this was telling my something. That those few words were telling me so much more about our relationship. I sighed and turned my phone off, putting it back into my pocket. 

As out photographer called for a break, Isaac stepped off the platform and walked towards me. I already was standing there, with napkins, waiting for him. 

“Hey.” he smiled and reached for the napkins, gently dabbing his sweat away. 

“Hey.” I said back mindlessly. 

“How was your little nap?” he tried asking casually but couldn't hide his grin. 

“Oh my gosh.” I smiled, embarrassed. 

“It’s okay. You were tired.” Isaac said.

“Thank you, for the jacket, by the way.” I said. “It’s folded neatly and waiting for you in the dressing room.” 

“Ah yes, no problem.” he nodded, smiling teasingly. “You looked a bit cold, all curled up.” 

Just then, everyone was told to continue the photoshoot, so Isaac waved hurriedly before returning on set. I turned away and thought of his slight teasing, biting back a shy smile. I could feel heat grow on my cheek but chuckled, it was probably from all the lights on set.

——————————-

I closed the dressing room door behind me and greeted everyone that was still by the monitor. Our photographers and Isaac were still going through all the photos.

“Goodnight, everyone.” I called out. “You’ve worked hard.”

I saw that Isaac’s attention immediately shot from the monitor to me. He turned to the photographer and said something quickly before jogging across the set over to me. 

“Were you just going to leave like that?” he asked. “Without a proper goodbye?” 

I bit my lip. 

“You were…busy.” I said softly, feeling kind of guilty since he had put it that way. 

“You heading home?” he asked, looking down at me. 

I nodded.

“Will I ever see you again?” he said soflty. “No, actually, do you want to see me again?” 

I chuckled, almost embarrassed and glanced down at my shoes. I felt the warmth radiating off him and instant realized how close we were. I took in his cologne with every breath, it had faded but was still recognizable. The scent that I had become familiar with and the scent that had managed to cling onto my clothes. I looked up at him and saw that he met my gaze, letting a warm smile tug on his lips. 

“Let’s go get coffee tomorrow.” he said, without hearing my answer. “Are you busy?” 

“I…” I paused. “Yes, I am, actually. I’m sorry, I can’t.” 

“What about Friday?” he insisted. “I’m free for the rest of the week, it all depends on you.” 

I began fiddling nervously on my sleeve, without really knowing why. I bit my lip and felt my heart rate pick up, and felt warmth radiate on my cheeks. 

“Yeah, okay.” I finally managed to choke out. 

Isaac gave me a smile, showing his teeth and I gulped. It seemed that he knew his teeth were perfect, he seemed to know that it was his smile that I like, so he kept smiling. We quickly exchanged numbers and he said he’d text me on the Friday. I stood there for a moment as he turned his back and walked back to the monitor, swallowing.