I opened my eyes and furrowed my brows. Sunlight had already flooded into my bedroom. I turned to the other side of the bed and found that it was empty. I squinted and sat up in bed, still dazed and drowsy from sleep. I quickly kicked the covers and stretched my arms and I crawled out of my bed. 

After washing my face and brushing my teeth, I made my way to the kitchen and saw that Yongguk was sitting at the table. He was sipping his coffee while reading the papers. 

“Morning.” I said quietly. 

“Hey.” he stated casually, looking up from his paper before turning his attention back. 

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” I asked. 

I walked past him and grabbed my mug, before filling it was the coffee in our pot. Just the scent of the coffee made my morning alright. I was way too addicted to coffee. 

“I wanted to let you sleep a bit more.” he shrugged. 

I settled in the seat across from Yongguk and also sipped my coffee. I held the mug with two hands and absentmindedly stared at the handle. Absentmindedly stared at the steam coming out of the cup. The morning was so quiet. I wanted to talk to Yongguk but honestly, I didn’t really know what to talk about. 

“I should head off to work.” Yongguk stood up and put his mug by the sink. “I don’t know when I’ll be home, so don’t wait up for me.” 

“Okay.” I said, eyes following him. “Bye”

Yongguk made his way over to me. I observed his attire, a black sweater and some ripped, faded jeans. I didn’t mind it but sometimes I’d rather him dress more formally. Although his job didn’t really require it, being a music producer but it was nice to look decent every once in a while. He stopped in front of me and leaned down, giving me a quick peck on the lips. 

As Yongguk stepped out the door, I got up also and got ready to head to work. As I was driving to the studio, my phone rang. 

“Yes?” I answered, still concentrating on the road. 

“Where are you at the moment?” I heard Yubin ask. “Can you come in a bit early?” 

“I’m in the carpark.” I said, turning into the familiar carpark of my workplace. “What’s wrong?” 

“Oh, thank God.” I heard her sigh with obvious relief. “The model’s here early and his agent wanted to start earlier.” 

“I’m on my way in.” I said, before hanging up. 

I shoved my phone back in my bag as I made my way into the building, walking past our receptionist before smiling and bowing at her. I walked into the photo studio and saw that everything had been set up. The white backdrop was up, the lights were all up, only with a few of our staff fixing the positions. 

“You’re here.” I heard Yubin’s voice, as she grabbed my hand. “Quickly, quickly.” 

Before I even opened my mouth, she dragged my wrist, running towards the dressing room. I stumbled behind her in my heels and laughed a bit. 

I got into the dressing room and saw that there were multiple people gathering around a seated man.  He sat in front of a mirror, his hair being fixed. One of out staff was spraying hairspray, while another was combing over his hair. He looked up at our hairstylist and laughed and I assumed that they were having a conversation. 

“Our makeup artist is here.” Yubin announced, pulling me through all the staff. 

The young man’s attention shot up and turned his head to look at me. I greeted everyone in the team and they all happily greeted me back. 

“This is our model today,” Yubin gestured to the young man. “Isaac Park.” 

I smiled and greeted him, before approaching the make up pallets that were already laid out, waiting for me. 

“Hi,” he smiled. “I’m Isaac, really nice to meet you.”

He stretched his hand out and I took it, shaking it firmly, before quickly introducing myself. Isaac smiled and jokingly leaned his face closer to my pallets. 

“I’m ready.” he said. “Please make me look beautiful.”

I laughed and shook my head. He honestly only needed the tiniest bit of makeup. He was already so strikingly handsome. His skin was very clear and all his features- eyes, nose, lip were so defined. I only covered up his eye circles and lightly highlighted his face and he was ready for the photoshoot. 

“Okay,” I said, standing up straight after a while of bending my back. “Please stand up for a bit.” 

Isaac stood up from his chair, as I massaged my own back a little bit. I really should have pulled a chair to sit down on. I motioned for him to turn and face me before I stepped up and made some last adjustments to his clothes. I dusted some lint off of his shoulders and leaned closer to straighten out his dress shirt collar, making sure that his bowtie was centred.

It all felt very foreign to me. I only did these adjustments for models and that wasn’t very often, because we had stylists to do it. I only did it once in a blue moon. Also it was the fact that Yongguk rarely dressed like that for me to adjust his clothes. Seeing Isaac all suited up and his hair styled nicely, I silently wished that I could see Yongguk like that more often. 

“Am I… done?” I heard Isaac ask. 

I snapped out of my thought and embarrassedly ducked away, realizing that I had spent way too long staring at nothing in particular. 

“Um, yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Sorry, I zoned out, it’s still too early in the morning.” 

I tried covering it up with a laugh before walking out with Isaac. Seeing him emerge from the dressing room, our photographers ushered him towards the set. They than began having a seemingly professional conversation and I assumed that they were briefing over the concept and other details. I sighed and bit back a yawn, before settling in a seat next to the monitor. 

“Boo.” I heard Yubin whisper right by my ear. 

“Hey.” I laughed, scooting over and patting the empty spot next to me. 

“How hot is he, right?” Yubin whispered excitedly as she sat next to me. “Goddamn, he is fine.” 

I chuckled and shook my head. Yubin has always been known for her wavering heart, easily moved by beautiful men. She was someone who incredibly appreciated handsome men. With our jobs, she got to see many models that were strikingly handsome and she’d react the same each time. 

“How are you always so calm?” Yubin nudged my side. “If you weren't married, I honestly would have thought that you weren’t interested in men.” 

“Of course I think they’re handsome.” I said. “But, I don’t know, I’m married.”

I heard the first click of the camera and saw the lights flash. I turned my attention from Yubin to the set. Isaac was standing on a white platform and our photographer was knelt down in front of him, trying to get the perfect shot. Each time a model did a photoshoot, I’d watch in amazement. It was so amazing how they came up with all those poses and expressions that all looked so professional and so attractive. If I was to do a photoshoot, I’d be so awkward. 

“Oh my gosh, he’s so hot.” Yubin squealed, gripping onto my arm. “I think I’ve found the love of my life.”  

As I was watching the photoshoot, my phone vibrated in my pocket. 

“Hey.” I said, answering it to Yongguk. 

“Are you still at home?” he asked. “I left my hard drive on my work desk, could you come drop it off for me?” 

“I’m already at work.” I bit my lip. “I’m in the middle of a photoshoot too.” 

“Ah, okay.” Yongguk said lowly. “That’s alright. I’ll see you at home. Bye.” 

“Okay, see you soon. Bye.” I said, hanging up. 

I put my phone back in my pocket and looked back up at Yubin. She had her brows raised and looked as if she was confused. 

“What?” I asked. 

“Please tell me that wasn’t Yongguk.” she said. 

“It was.” I said, still confused. “Why?”

“Because that was one of the driest conversations I’ve heard in my life.” she said. “Are you sure you’re even married?” 

I shook my head. 

“Just because you’re married doesn’t mean you have to be super affectionate.” I said. 

“I beg to differ.” Yubin cleared . “Then how would you show each other that you care?” 

“We know.” I shrugged. “We just know that we care for each other, I guess.” 

Yubin pointed a finger at me. 

“You guess.” she stated. “So you don’t know. When you get home, show your man some love, please, woman.” 

I laughed at Yubin and pretended that it didn’t even phase me. Although when I thought about it, we weren’t at all affectionate towards each other. We used to be, actually. It was just that we got super busy after we got married and our honeymoon phase cooled down sooner than most couples. 

I shook the thought out of my mind and continued to help out with the photoshoot until it was the end of the day. I then proceeded to stay back an hour to help our staff clean up the set and dressing room. I packed the suits back onto the racks and ran my hand across the material, I sighed. They were so nice and I could rarely see Yongguk in them. I pulled the rack into the corner for the next day, when Isaac would come back and complete the second set of photos. 

——————————-

I sat at the dinner table sipping a cup of hot tea, that had gotten warm as I worked, while going trying to come up with some new makeup concepts for our models in further projects. I absentmindedly stared at the clock on the wall and widened my eyes. I then checked my laptop, just in case I was wrong. I wasn’t. Both times I had read that it was eleven thirty and Yongguk wasn’t home. I shuffled through my paperwork and looked for my phone. I turned it on and thought that maybe Yongguk might have messaged me or something, but I got nothing. 

I quickly dialled his number and waited for him to answer. 

“Hey.” he answered. 

“Yongguk, when are you coming home?” I yawned. “It’s nearly midnight.” 

“Is it?” he asked. 

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see. 

“But I’m still so busy here.” he sighed. “Go to sleep first, I’ll come home when I’m done.” 

“Have you eaten?” I asked, using my shoulder to hold the phone as I cleaned up my work. 

“I’ll eat something later.” he said quickly. “I’m really busy. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” 

With that, he hung up. I was about to open my mouth to tell him something, but I quickly shut it. I sighed. Don’t blame him, I told myself. He’s just way too busy. I shrugged and cleaned up before settling into bed.