*Caution* This is the second chapter of a double update - just in case you didn't notice~
Have fun reading c:

 

...then he rang the bell.
He couldn't hear it making any sound but soon the lights flickered on and a tall, wiry guy crossed the entrance area with wide steps and opened the door.
And Kyungsoo was faced with... a broad chest. He looked up.
Damn all these giants.
The guy was young, roughly around his age maybe and had shocking rainbow-colored hair.
"Hey. I'm Kyungsoo." he unsurely said, not able to bow properly with all his attention focused on not collapsing beneath the weight of his luggage.
And he was met with a look so unimpressed, that somewhere in the world Kristen Stewart must have been sneezing this exact moment.
Though unlike the famous dead-pan-wooden-plank-expression this one had an edge of oh-my-god-you're-boring.
The boy didn't even blink.
"Y-you know. The fashion student? T-this is the right place, isn't it?"
For an agonizing second, nothing happened. Then he saw the vaguest nod in the history of nods.
"Hi." he blankly said and Kyungsoo swore that if he now raised an eyebrow at him, Kyungsoo might just start crying from feeling like an inferior loser, unworthy of taking up his time.
Okay, get your together. You're just tired.
The boy wordlessly stepped aside and Kyungsoo scrambled inside.
"The studio's in the back. Put your stuff wherever." he curtly said while striding to the back.
Oh my god he hates my guts.
He's probably pissed that he had to get up even though his boss isn't around.
Swallowing the lump of guilt and panic he hurried to follow.
The studio sure was huge, reminding him of a storehouse. He followed him into a small corner where a simple white screen had already been set up close to a table with a few chairs that looked like they were used quite frequently.
The boy immediately went to check something about the wires connecting the various boxes and with a huff he positioned the clothing bag over the chair and rummaged through the bag until he found the currently most valuable object - his energy drink.
He'd never make it through this without a little artificial hyper-ness.
So he opened it with a resounding clack and took a big gulp.
Waiting for the prickly liquid to settle in his stomach, he watched the quiet guy fixing the wires.
The deafening silence was only broken by faint buzzing of the lamps and the prominent sizzling of his drink.
"Uhm. Can I help you with anything, uh...?"
"Not necessary."
Kyungsoo nodded to himself.
Oookay, then.
I tried.
Another sip later he put the sickeningly sweet drink away to reach for his clothing bag when the guy looked over his shoulder to address him once more.
"Sehun. My name's Sehun."
"Ah, okay. Thanks, I'll remember, sorry."
He couldn't shake the feeling that this Sehun was in a very, very bad mood.
So he simply shut up and prepared his outfit, trying to make as few noise as possible.
Thankfully the outfit hadn't gotten wrinkled with his careful way of transporting it.
A sea of neatly attached wooden pearls looked up at him and for a split-second he felt proud of somehow making it.
Then the door bell resounded and he jumped, immediately heading for the doorway.
"It's okay, I got it, it must be the model!" Kyungsoo babbled, not even expecting any form of response.

The closer he got to the door, the taller grew the silhouette outside and when he finally opened it, he felt like the world had gotten dark with the shadow looming over him.
Seriously. There must be a beanstalk somewhere for all these ridiculously huge guys to fall from.
This guy was taller than Sehun and maybe even taller than Chanyeol - really, going from a certain height upwards it was impossible for midget Kyungsoo to tell a few centimetres apart anymore. The Chinese was dressed casually with a jacket thrown over his shoulders, jeans that wouldn't look special on anyone who didn't have eternally long legs like he did and a sports bag in one hand.
Actually he looked like he was posing for a shooting already. And his expression told him that it was a cool, 'I'm better than you' type of shooting. The sizzling energy drink inside him decided that he had nothing to lose anymore anyway and he smiled brightly despite feeling like hiding from the serious face.
"Hello. I'm Kyungsoo, the designer. Nice to meet you."
To his surprise, a small and professional smile was flashed back at him.
"Wu Fan. You can also call me Kris. Nice to meet you too."
Oh. My. God, Kyungsoo thought while guiding him towards the studio.
He looked even more impressive in real life. Everything about him screamed 'professional model'. AND he was polite. This raised the pressure for another few bars, creating a tower at least as high as Wu Fan himself was.

A few minutes later the proclaimed perfect being was sitting in a chair across him and Kyungsoo more or less faked doing his make up - since really, there was nothing to conceal. His skin was flawless and the basic foundation he had already applied was spot-on. Even though he'd had several possible looks in mind he was now certain - natural was the one to go. His features were so strong, if he'd add a fancy make up it would be way too much in combination with his attention-seeking look. Besides, he was sure that it'd need a proper make up artist to handle expressive features like his without butchering it.
So he only did the lightest contouring he could and went for subtly highlighting his eyes, all the while caught up in the awkward silence.
He was silent since he couldn't do make up and talk at the same time, Wu Fan was quiet since he obviously relaxed his muscles so Kyungsoo could do his work and Sehun was quiet since... he was afraid of crossing the '50 words per day' border? Who knew, really.
"Alright, could you maybe dress before we do the hair?"
"Yeah, sure."
The Chinese got up and Kyungsoo was once again reminded of his ridiculous height.
He held up the pair of simple, loose-fitted pants in one hand and the short-sleeved shirt in the other.
"You want any room to change or...?" he helplessly said but the blonde only shook his head with a benevolent smile.
"Nah, don't worry about it. Which way do I get into it?"
Kyungsoo patiently waited while he shrugged out of his' and into Kyungsoo's clothes. On the inside he felt a little reassured about his nonchalance. At least he wasn't one of those models, obviously. Surely it was everyone's own business but Kyungsoo knew from experience that the more experience a model had the less s they gave about someone seeing them getting dressed. And with good right but that was just his own opinion.
He even managed to hold a bit of smalltalk with the model while doing his hair.
Good thing that he had already thoroughly practiced this hairstyle on an unfortunate Chen the night before.
(Xiumin would never delete the photos of the first failed attempts.)
Only when he was completely done purposefully messing up the dirty blonde hair and reached for the cape(the main focus of the outfit), he noticed that Sehun was currently leaning back in a chair, playing a game on his phone. Coupled with the blank look he made for one of the earth's finest examples of personified boredom.
His eyes flew to his phone.
", we took over an hour!" he cursed before he could help it and Sehun's eyes flitted up from the tiny screen.
"I'm so sorry, I should've hurried a bit more."
Sehun only shrugged. It really was like talking into a big, black hole.
"So... You have any kind of moodboard?" he asked instead, stashing his phone away.
Kyungsoo blinked.
"Uhm. Not with me, actually..."
"Any idea what kinda photos you wanna have?"
Cue more blinking.
"Uhm. Just..."
Just totally plain photos? It's probably insulting to put it this way, right?
"-something more classy or minimalistic is completely fine since this outfit is already so colorful and all. Doing too fancy stuff might distract from it I guess..." he rambled while Wu Fan eyed them with a very slightly raised eyebrow.
Yeah, very professional.
"Sorry, this is very spontaneous." he hastily excused himself in regards to the model who only waited patiently.
"You brought any kind of set-deco or anything?"
"Uhm... I brought a few meters of loose fabric..." Kyungsoo mumbled, feeling useless and silly.
Sehun simply nodded and asked the Chinese to position himself in the center so he could take a few test shoots and adjust the light appropriately.

Kyungsoo took the time to lay out the food and drinks he brought.
The quiet shutter of the camera and the flashing lights were now the only sound in the hall only interrupted by a few quiet instructions of Sehun.
Soon Kyungsoo rushed to his side with the huge ball of fabric in his hand and began to properly oversee everything.
Which essentially meant that he did nothing but watching in case the clothing got wrinkled or stuck out in weird angles.
More shutter noises. More flashing lights.
And more silence.
Slowly the test shoots went into the actual shooting and the breaks Sehun took to scrutinize the quality got shorter.
When asked about the mood he had stuttered out that the garment was meant for an avantgardistic theater performance... which earned him another raised eyebrow of Wu Fan earlier. They had settled on a 'simple and cool' look though, which seemed to bode well with him.
Kyungsoo sighed quietly.
They were so professional. And he felt so awkward and fidgety.
He really wanted to turn on some music but it seemed inappropriate with both of them being so deep in concentration.
After about 40 minutes of shooting Sehun's breaks increased once more. He kept looking at his camera screen and scrunching his brows together in what looked like annoyance.
Oh my god. I bet the cape just looks ugly.
"Can you get up for a sec? I'll change the background. Is black okay with you as well?" he curtly said with a side glance to Kyungsoo who numbly nodded.
Whatever you say, you're the professional. I have basically NO expectations at all.
"Can I turn on some music?" he finally burst out and Sehun looked up from where he rolled down the black paper background.
"Huh?"
"M-music. I actually brought some music. I also have small speakers and-"
"You can use the speakers over there. Red button to switch them on. Plug in the blue cable." he distractedly said while waving into a general direction where the set of a huge and complicated-looking music system stood.
It took him a few seconds of panicked staring and careful touches but when the heavy and familiar bass echoed through the hall he already felt much, much better.
He looked over to Sehun in question who gestured for him to raise the volume without even sparing him a glance, already lost in his work.
After a fiddling a bit more so he could charge his phone at the same time, he went back, got a few snacks and downed the rest of his energy drink.

As if it was just Kyungsoo's luck Sehun now decided he had more instructions and even Wu Fan had a few more questions - both had to considerably raise their voice over the loud music.
Still, call it his imagination, but Kyungsoo thought that the model's aura had intensified with the music. It was probably just Kyungsoo really being into his music.
(Though he had purposefully included Chinese songs in regards to the Chinese model)
Sehun didn't complain, didn't eat, didn't drink and basically really did nothing but taking pictures, seemingly having endless patience and persistence to the point that Kyungsoo himself called for a break once since he thought they should drink a bit once in a while to stay hydrated.
Workaholics. Everywhere.

After almost two more hours of rearranging clothes, fixing the make up and holding up reflectors Kyungsoo barely noticed the time flying by and was stunned when it turned out to be 18:45 already. With all the artificial lighting inside he had really lost any sense of time.
They had a look at the last batch of raws, standing in front of the laptop, nibbling on cookies and sandwiches and Kyungsoo had to say they exceeded his expectations by far.
"Woah. I didn't know this thing could look so awesome!" he called out, fawning over one of the close ups with Wu Fan playing with the cape to hide his eyes.
"SO awesome, really. Thank you both so much!"
The Chinese only cracked his bones while shrugging all the tension off his body.
"No big deal. I'll get the pictures as well, right?"
"Of course you will!"

When Sehun opened the door at precisely 14:55 he had to lower his head to look into the student's eyes. He looked tiny but determined, exactly like he would have pictured (and feared) a designer.
Oh, he hated people. He hated socializing. His lips already felt dry and he silently let him in, subtly wetting them.
Sehun was an object photography trainee. He didn't do fashion shoots. Actually, he hadn't even had a simple portrait shooting. Not ever.
Immediately he scurried over to re-check the soft boxes for the umpteenth time.
After getting this spontaneous burden forced upon him by his boss he had spent a ridiculous amount of time going through fashion magazines the night before. Now he felt even more clueless than before.
A thump was heard when the boy put down his bags.
. I should have helped him carry it in, right? Damn.
He really hated socializing. Actually the mere guilt over the social faux pas began to send the blood rushing up his pale face.
"Uhm. Can I help you with anything, uh...?"
"Not necessary." he quickly shot him down.
I don't even know what I'm doing here myself!
No idea what exactly I'm preparing myself for.
And I'm all red...!
Not that he should tell him that.
Only in the echoes inside his head did he realize that the guy had probably tried to get him to say his name.
He really wanted to hit his head against the nearest hard surface.
I didn't even introduce myself earlier.
I'm such an idiot.
God, this is already starting out just peachy.

After the longest hour of his life spent fiddling with cables and pretending to be busy and feeling horribly awkward when the tall, good-looking model stepped out of his clothes without a hitch -at this he had quickly pretended to play a game on his phone; he wasn't a voyeur, after all!(But damn, that Chinese guy was well-built. It made him a tidbit envious.)-, it was finally Sehun's time to get on with it.
With... whatever he was going to get on with. The guy was pretty impressive and the outfit looked good as well - simple pants in a warm green, a complex-looking shirt with various layers in a creamy color and lastly a very big cape-like thing made of a fabric with some african-looking pattern and lots and lots of wooden beads, everything in the same green and vanilla tone, but joined by warm yellow and vibrant orange. Topping it off he wore a variety of accessories like bracelets, an earring and a belt, all made of the same materials.
That's all very nice but... How on earth am I supposed to put it in scene?
What kind of a shooting do you expect with clothes like this?
Sehun felt like an idiot. Like he had been drawing skillful still lives all his life and was suddenly asked to draw an alien. He knew how the pencils worked. He just didn't know how aliens worked.
Or, in this case, fashion.
The model did pose as if he knew exactly what he was doing. Which he obviously did. It was probably second nature to him. Once in a while the tiny designer rushed forward to righten the clothing and correct a blatant mistake Sehun should've noticed.
For the hundredth time he looked at the screen and sighed. The model was doing his job, the designer was doing his job... Only he had no freaking clue what to do. The photos looked completely boring and lifeless. Flat.
He couldn't do this. Slowly, panic creeped up inside him. What if he really messed this up? This was some important thing for the designer, right? And the model was a professional.
I didn't sign up for this.
I wanna go back to shooting coffee machines or anything.
He was about to change the background into a black one -which was mostly him stalling time and desperately pulling every straw he could find- when the designer some music.

Music. Sehun really liked music.
It was some Chinese upbeat music with dubstep elements and every heavy pumping of the bass went right up his spine and relaxed him.
He had to pull himself together. It was just a simple photoshooting on tfp-base. There was absolutely no money involved. He just really had to stop trying too hard to create something he had no clue about.
With this in mind he went up to the model who kept righting his hair.
"Hey. Uhm. You see... Actually I've never done a fashion shooting. Like, never." he hesitantly said with lowered gaze.
"I'll just try to make you look good, okay? So just, uh, do your thing and I'll make sure you'll look your best. I might nag you a bit if something comes out bad on screen." he said, nervously his lips.
"It's okay. Photographers are supposed to give instructions like that." the guy replied with a raised eyebrow and Sehun really wanted to hide his face behind his hands.
Of course they are. I'm so stupid.
Now he thinks I'm a complete noob.
"Don't worry. I've been doing this for two and a half years." he added and went back into position, readjusting the light intensity for the now black background and the designer shuffled back to his side with the powder ready in one hand.
Sehun took a deep breath. Time to just go with the flow.
Don't think too much. Forget about the clothing for now.
Focus on the guy, no Wu Fan.
Make the tall, handsome Chinese Wu Fan look as stunning as he possibly can.
And he lifted the camera.

Two and a half hours later he bid them farewell and leisurely shut down all the lights to clean up.
The designer, no, Kyungsoo had insisted on helping him but Sehun had politely declined. He did him a much bigger favor by leaving. Not that he disliked him, it was quite the opposite - he had stayed alert, patient and helpful. He even reminded them to stay hydrated and brought sandwiches. Sandwiches.
(Whose leftovers Sehun had easily accepted without putting up a fight when Kyungsoo left earlier. They were homemade. They were no instant noodles. Homemade food. Yum.)
Still, his pensum of people was more than fulfilled for a day.
Nevertheless he wore a tiny, happy smile as he bobbed his head to the music blasting from his headphones.
It had gone better than expected and he was actually surprised he could do something like this.

Maybe taking pictures of people wasn't completely horrible, after all.

"Okay, I'll do a few test shoots."
Oh my GOD what to do?!
Should I pose already?
Would that be silly?
Kris settled on casually looking a bit away from the lense which could still count as posing. Just in case.
He was used to being on crowded sets with a bunch of people having very specific imageries in mind. They would bustle around, loud music and excited chatter filling the place with people tugging at his clothes and hair from every angle. Not to forget people trying to give him advises and photographers bossing him around until he sent them a death glare.
Not to dead-silent, almost empty places.
Not to sighing photographers.
He was sighing.
SIGHING.
Could it be any worse? Every sigh from this dead-pan photographer boy seemed to say 'God, why do I have to put up with this. Fashion shootings are so miserable.'
Maybe he was just not doing a good job. But he wasn't sure on how to enact this garment and the guy was so quiet and his stare was so piercing and judging that he felt more than anything.
If it had been any other day, he would've already snapped at him for acting this way and not giving him proper instructions. But this was Luhan's friend and he really didn't want to possibly ruin their friendship.
Still, he felt horribly anxious. After all, the  photographer kept sighing and the friendly designer seemed so hopeful. Kris just wasn't feeling it.
It all took a turn to the better when Kyungsoo put on some music.
And not just any music, music in his mother tongue. He even faintly knew the song, suspecting it to be Jin Lin's Chess. Any form of noise would have been a great distraction at this point but this exceeded his hopes. With heavy bass pumping through your veins, everything instantly became easier.
And then the poker-faced photographer approached him, stating that he had never done a fashion portrayal before.
That explained quite a bit. I bet you don't have to coax a car into doing what you'd like it to.
"I might nag you a bit if something comes out bad on screen." he added seriously.
"Don't worry. I've been doing this for two and a half years."
Usually Kris reacted pretty... unforgiving if cocky photographers decided to nitpick too much, lashing out if he felt his self-confidence sinking too much - it was some sort of self-defense.
But this boy had just admitted to not having a clue. So whatever he said would feel less like criticism and more like a suggestion for himself.
Besides, there was a phrase that really stuck with him.
I'll just try to make you look good, okay?
Him. Not the clothing, not the hairstyle, not the make up. Just him as a person.
Sure, once in a while people claimed to aim at this, but it was mostly just shallow talk. He could tell that the young photographer was serious, though. And in a way, he reminded him of the tiny designer. He, too, had kept asking whether he was comfortable.
'Is it okay for you? Do you feel comfortable with this style?'
It wasn't everyday that you had a photographer and a stylist caring for you like this.
Of course he remained professional on the outside, but he couldn't deny feeling much more relaxed now.
"Let's just go with the music, okay?" the photographer mumbled, barely audible over the bass.

After that, they worked together smoothly. It was strange - all the tension from before was gone. No one was superior to anyone and Sehun often told him in that dead-pan voice of whatever he thought looked bad or good enough to hold it for a while. To his surprise he even opened up enough towards the end to tell him exactly why he disliked a certain pose.
"Lift your head a little. This angle makes your neck look weird."
"Lean the other way. You always lean to the left."
If it was any other person than him he would have felt slightly offended by so much critique but he could tell that he meant no harm. He was clearly one of those oddballs who had spent so much time with their passion that they sort of lost contact to the outside world.
Besides, he was surprised about a few pointers. He had always assumed those poses were good and coming to think about it, it was embarrassing that he hadn't known earlier if they looked that weird.
The designer also kept supporting the shooting and didn't scold him when he accidentally smeared a bit of his make up or messed up his hair.

And at the end of the day, Kris looked at the laptop screen in surprising satisfaction.
Those weren't the typical fashion photos with generic poses and angles. Neither were they some cosmetic advertisement photos. It was just him.
And he actually liked himself quite a lot in these.

"Wellll..."
Chanyeol looked at him expectantly and Kyungsoo finally broke in a wide smile.
"...I think it went quite well! Everyone was super professional and I did basically nothing!"

...And this, ladies and gentleman, is called dysfunctional communication c:
People who know me are aware of my love for different perspectives.
Awkward Soo meeting awkward Kris meeting awkward Sehun... Something like this had to happen.
Btw, the song I used was indeed Jin Lin's Chess. Upbeat music's always good on occasions like these.
https://vimeo.com/141712711

Mini Fashion Dictionary Entry #5!
tfp = time for prints
This means that no one receives any payment. Instead everyone gets the results to add to their portfolio.
raw photos = the type of files your camera produces during the shoot.
They're huge and completely non-photoshopped.
(Usually you won't ever get a hold of those since photographers hate to give them out. They'll most likely take care of the post-production as well, like Sehun does in this.)

Love you all,
Sugar-and-Salt c:

P.S.: Don't do a photoshoot without music. Seriously. Don't. At least one of the participants will be very thankful for the music.

P.P.S.: Yes, I think Kris is definitely handsome but also needs someone to properly highlight his beauty. That's just what I feel though. With him it doesn't happen all on it's own unlike a few other members.