At the airport Ryeowook checked in and was seated in first class. He took the seat by the window and looked out. He looked over to the seat next to him and noticed someone had taken the seat next to him. It was Jessica Jung, his high school friend. “No way!” Ryeowook turned to face her, “What are you doing here?”

Jessica looked over and hung open, “Ryeowook?” She gave him a hug. They hadn’t seen each other since they had graduated from college. They’d both taken theatre classes together. Jessica had ended up going into modeling and acting while Ryeowook had taken more interest in singing. “What are you doing here?” She noticed that Ryeowook was dressed business casual. He looked very professional. “I thought you would become a top name singer? Looks like you’re in business.”

Ryeowook thought back to his college days. He had been going for a music career. In fact he had graduated top of his music class and was going to launch his music career after getting married. His dream to get married to Yoona had been a dream long buried, so his music dream was buried as well. But he wasn’t sure if he was ready to talk about that. He didn’t want to start a gruesome conversation. “On a business trip.” He wasn’t sure how to explain the change in career without telling her what had happened. “Just wanted a change in my life.”

Jessica saw that Ryeowook seemed a bit sensitive about this topic so she decided not to dig any deeper. “Oh wow.”

“So what are you up to these days?” Ryeowook decided to change the subject.

“I’m-” Jessica was interrupted by the voice of the pilot over the intercom.

“We will be taking off soon. Please put away all cell phones and electronic devices…”

Jessica took her phone out and put it on airplane mode. Then she cleared . She watched as Ryeowook did the same. When he put his phone away, she continued, “I’m a model now. I’m flying to America to meet the modeling agency USA models.”

“No way! That's the modeling agency my business is collaborating with!” Ryeowook said excitedly. He couldn’t help but feel excited. It was amazing how they had not really kept in touch for so long and ended up meeting again and would be working together.

“Wow! Small world!” Jessica laughed.

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    The plane landed and after claiming their luggage, Jessica and Ryeowook took a taxi together to the modeling headquarters. The whole time Ryeowook forgot about his pain. He haven't laughed this much in so long.

“You mean you got on the wrong plane? Oh my gosh! Where did you end up?” Jessica was laughing so hard as Ryeowook told her a story about the time he went to Thailand accidentally instead of Japan.

“I ended up in Thailand.” Ryeowook laughed along. “But I found my way to Japan and got all my stuff back. Thank god!”

“Just hope this doesn’t happen on your trip this time!” Jessica joked. “So one thing you should know about these American models- it’s crazy diverse. Which means you should know English at the very least. You do know English, right? Some?” Jessica just realized that she didn’t know this about him.

“Like, broken English? Does that even count?” Ryeowook bit the bottom of his lip. “The person I spoke to spoke in Korean. But I can count on you for translation?” Ryeowook knew that Jessica was perfectly fluent in English. “I know you’re also a model, but you can help me with this much, right?”

“Why not?” Jessica tilted her head. “But I expect you to treat me to a nice meal.” Jessica smiled from ear to ear.

“Deal.” Ryeowook shook hands with Jessica.

The car came to a stop. “Sir, you have arrived at the headquarters,” the driver announced.

“Thank you.” Ryeowook handed the driver a tip and him and Jessica exited the car. They walked side-by-side into the building.

“Wow,” Jessica looked around in amazement, “This place is huge!” She’d been a model in America for a long time, but this was her first time in such a grand place. It was like a palace!

“This way sir.” Someone gestured for Ryeowook and Jessica to follow them. They walked down a hall and into a room. “You may wait here.”

“I’ll be back.” Jessica gestured towards the door as she followed the guy out.

Ryeowook sat down and looked around the room. It looked like an auditorium. There was a large stage. The lights were dimmed.

Soon, lights flashed onto the stage. One-by-one models walked out onto the stage. Ryeowook watched intently. The American models really were something. Having these models would bring so much publicity to their company. He did a complete scan- from the top to bottom of each model.

When he saw Jessica step out he exchanged a smile with her. She looked fabulous. What came next blew the wind out of Ryeowook.