(The Shilla Duty Free)

'Ms. Bae... i'm not a model...'

'Bah~ It's easy! Everyone can be one as long as they want to be.'  Irene said dismissively.

'Bu-'

'Don't worry! You're very pretty~' 

Why is my boss being so nice all of a sudden?

'That's not th-'

'Look... here me out okay...?'

Irene flashed Seulgi a look. She bulged out her eyes and lips, putting on a puppy face.

Everything else seemed to fade away as Seulgi stared at her boss.

The girl felt her heart pound against her chest.

Ah jinja...

Even if I wanted to reject you... I wouldn't be able to....

I wonder if I could take out my cell and take a picture of her...

Wh-what! Seulgi what are you even thinking about!

'S-sure...' was all a dry-mouthed Seulgi managed. 

'So!' Irene said briskly, pulling out the car onto the road again.

'Usually what happens is, because my schedule is so inconsistent, I only hire bodyguards before I need them. For example, an event or a business trip. When i'm at the office, I don't really need one, which is why I keep switching to different people. However, it's been really hectic lately, and Sooyoung can't seem to interview them fast enough. Which is why, I told her to hire a long-term one, who could act as a driver for me as well. The thing with Sooyoung is that... she's really skeptic of who keeps me safe. When she thinks all the bodyguard applicants are too bad, she either goes with me herself or leaves me without a bodyguard...'

Seulgi nodded slowly, trying to wrap her head around what Irene was telling her.

'The same goes with how she chooses models for photoshoots. While I usually let her do the hiring, I always have a talk with the model before they formally come on board. However since time was running short, she suggested I have the talk with whomever she hired in the car. She has really high standards for these things ... which obviously is a good thing! But it can be problematic sometimes. Just like today. She promised me that she would find me both a bodyguard and a model by today, and she clearly has rejected all the applicants.'

'There was no one else outside her office just now...' 

'Exactly!' Irene contiuned. 'That means that she thinks all the model applicants were unsatisfactory.'

'Then... what was she going to do...?'

'God knows...' Irene muttered. 'Until you showed up.'

'Which explains why she was so eager to hire me...' Seulgi said quietly.

'NO No no it's not like that! Joy wouldn't hire someone who she didn't think was good enough.'

Joy again... boss and Ms. Park must be really close...

Wait what?

'Jinja?'

'Yes I'm telling the truth. She must've saw something special in you to have hired you like that.'

Seulgi seemed to light up all of a sudden.

'Then what about you?' She asked playfully.

'W-what?'

'Do you see anything.... special in me?'

'I-....'

No words came out. 

Irene snuck a glance at her passenger. The girl was looking at her like a child expecting a present, her eyes sparkling.

You have got to be the cutest bodyguard I have ever seen...

'A-ah....'

'...?'

'...'

'...'

'I-...'ll tell you after the photoshoot!'

Seulgi gave a pout.

'If you'll do the shoot, of course.' Irene finished up quickly. 

'It's not like I have a choice now do I...' Seulgi sighed.

'That's the spirit!' Irene exclaimed as she pulled over the car, and drove into the studio.

The studio was a typical studio for photoshoots, which could be configured into different setups depending on what the user wanted. However to Seulgi, this was all very new. Cameras and lights were everywhere, and they came in all weird shapes and sizes. They all seemed to be pointing towards the middle of the studio, where a very typical light grey canvas lay, covering up a large area of the wall. 

'So...' Seulgi said, slowly walking in the studio, gazing around. 'This is how you make models look so good...'