Joohyun is nervous.

This is probably the fifth time she swipes the sweat off of her hands on her jeans.

"Relax, take a deep breath," she hears her manager — Tiffany, say. "Stop bouncing your legs, it's driving me crazy."

And she does as she's told. "Sorry, I'm just nervous."

"I know." She smiles. "Look, it's starting."

Tiffany opens the instagram live as soon as the app shows the notification.

On the screen both women can see a middle aged woman — Ashley Addams, owner of ReVel Fashion, one of the biggest fashion brands in the world.

Good evening, everyone.

I'm glad to announce the 35 models who made it to the final stage of ReVe's Beauty that will be held in Thailand next month.

Adriana Lima, Candice Swanepoel, Behati Prinsloo…

The list goes on and on and Joohyun thinks she might faint at any second.

Kang Seulgi, Erin Smith, Bae Joohyun…

She doesn't even have time to process what's happening when she feels iffany's arms around her neck. "OH MY GOD! I told you you would make it."

She returns the hug and before she knows, they’re both jumping in her living room.

-

All the models are given two days off before the start of preparations for the contest next Monday.

Joohyun then decides to spend her first night off at the lounge in her hotel.

She usually isn’t one to get drunk alone and isn’t about to do that tonight. She just feels like she needs a few moments alone in order to clear her mind.

So, she quickly gets ready — a white button up, dark jeans and high heels is what she chooses. She applies light make-up and makes her way to the 19th floor.

The place, as she expected, is almost fully packed. She goes on to the open area and sits in one of the chairs near the wall. Soon, a waiter comes to take her order.

She takes her phone from her purse and starts scrolling down on it, seeing a few messages from her parents and friends wishing her good luck.

And Joohyun is so focused on the device she doesn’t see when someone stops in front of her table. “You must be Bae Joohyun,” she jumps on her seat, finally looking up to see who it is. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

In front of her is a very attractive woman with feline, sharp eyes, cute nose and a killer smile. “And you must be Kang Seulgi.”

The other woman nods and then asks, “Mind if I join you?”

“Be my guest,” she says as she gestures to the empty seat in front of her.

-

Monday arrived faster than Joohyun would like to admit.

She had spent her whole weekend preparing for the contest — from the way she would introduce herself to the way she’d walk the runaway. Even the smallest details matter in a contest like this.

She’s sitting with the other 34 models in the conference room, writing down every little thing the organizers are saying about the contest.

When they’re given a break after nearly two hours Joohyun sighs in relief, wanting nothing more than to stretch her legs and give her hand a break.

“A dancing routine, huh? I wasn’t expecting that,” she hears a familiar voice whisper in her ear.

“Seulgi, stop doing that. I get scared easily,” she says as she turns around, glaring at the younger girl.

“Sorry,” she replies, lifting her hands in the air. “So, let’s grab lunch together?”

“Uhm, sure. Let’s go.” She grabs her belongings and leaves the conference room along with the taller woman.

-

Between rehearsal for their opening dance, CFs to promote the brands patronizing the contest, content to be shown during commercials and perfecting her speech and walk, Joohyun barely notices when the real day of the contest arrives.

She was getting ready to leave when her phone vibrates on the nightstand indicating there’s a new notification.

@kangseulgi sent you a message.

She quickly unlocks the screen and opens the app.

Good luck! See you soon. It reads.

She types a quick reply and finally leaves her room with Tiffany behind.

-

Step by step and Joohyun was advancing to the next stages of the contest.

She introduced herself perfectly, then walked the runway beautifully while wearing only a swimsuit, then gave a touching speech and finally walked the runway again but this time wearing a beautiful dress.

From Top 35, to Top 25, to Top 15 and finally Top 10.

And all the while Seulgi was right behind her. Advancing just like her.

Let’s welcome back the Top 10 Finalists to the stage.

Now, only five of them will make it to the next stage. Who will be?

And the first is… Lais Lima, from Brazil

The second is… Ashley Smith from United States

Joohyun is sure she isn’t even listening to the MC anymore with the way her heart is racing against her ribcage.

And the last one is…

She takes a deep breath, it’s now or never.

Manuela Gonzalez from Mexico

She’s sad and disappointed and wants to cry but she remembers they’re still on the stage so she cheers and smiles for the models who made it into the Top 5.

When she finally moves to leave the stage she feels arms around her shoulder, “It’s okay. You did well. I’m proud of you.”

She sadly smiles at the younger as she returns her side hug, “I’m proud of you too, Seulgi.”

-

We’re here tonight with Kang Seulgi, who was Top 10 in ReVe's Beauty held last week in Thailand.

Interviewer: Welcome, Seulgi! It’s a pleasure to interview you. First, I wanna congratulate you for being Top 10 in ReVe's Beauty. How do you feel about it?

Kang Seulgi: Thank you! I honestly can’t describe how I was and still am feeling about ReVe's Beauty. Even though I didn’t win, being part of the Top 10 is a great achievement for me and my career. I’m just glad I got to be a part of all this, meet amazing people and represent my country.

Interviewer: Speaking of representing your country, you alongside Bae Joohyun were the only two models from South Korea and through the whole contest we could see how both of you got pretty close, considering you were rivals.

Kang Seulgi: Oh, right! We really did. Joohyun-unnie is an amazing person. We have so much more in common than we thought.

Interviewer: You getting closer to her was in a way a strategy? Since she was the only other model from South Korea and the one to watch out for, considering you both were strong candidates for the winner.

Kang Seulgi: I heard people saying something like that before but I refused to believe someone could even think this is real. I was the one who talked to her first and no, it wasn’t a strategy. I saw her there and decided to say hi. I guess in a way we did got close because we’re both koreans but not because we were rivals but because we have such great chemistry and a lot in common!

Interviewer: I understand. Then we hope to see more of this friendship from now on! Now, let’s speak about your future. What are your plans?

Kang Seulgi: I have a photoshoot next week in China. Then, I’ll be moving to Paris for the next couple of months for a project I still can’t talk about.

“Seulgi seemed really mad when the interviewer said you two getting close was a strategy,” Tiffany comments as the both of them watch TV.

“Yeah. When we were in Thailand she talked to me about it. It was really cute the way she was nervous thinking I’d think she was taking advantage of me.”

“Oh, so you’ve heard about these rumours at the time?”

“I did, but I knew it wasn’t true. Seulgi seemed really a genuine person, I didn’t believe even for a second she could do that.”

“I see…” Tiffany says. “Wait, what are you doing?” she looks at her quizzically when she grabs her phone and takes a picture of the TV.

“Nothing, just sending a picture to Seulgi.”

-

Joohyun couldn’t feel more blessed.

It’s her 25th birthday and she's able to celebrate it with her friends and family for the first time in the last two years.

She had asked her manager to clear her schedule for the weekend, meaning she had to do lots of photoshoots and a few fittings for her next projects. It was tiring, yes. But at least she was able to go back to Daegu for the weekend and be back in Japan by Monday.

She was ready to go to bed after an exhausting but amazing day when someone knocked on her bedroom’s door, “Get in, Tiffany.” she says, knowing already it was her manager.

“Your day is not over yet and I have a special delivery by someone really important,” Tiffany says, entering her room holding purple colored balloons, a bouquet of flowers, a small bag and a cardboard box.

“Oh my God, what is this?”

“Open and you’ll find out,” the older woman says, putting everything on the bed.

Joohyun is eager to do as she’s told and as soon as she opens the small bag and finds a velvet box she could guess who the sender is. Inside there’s a necklace with a small pendant with the letter “J”.

“No way, this is so cute. I can’t believe she got me this,” she says, finally looking at her friend. “Wait, why are you recording me?” she asks, frowning.

She hears a familiar laugh from her phone and instantly realizes Tiffany isn’t recording her but in fact is video calling her friend — and the one who prepared this surprise, Seulgi.

Tiffany then turns the camera to Joohyun and she can’t help but smile as soon as she sees Seulgi on the screen, “Hi, Seul!”.

-

Joohyun’s sure if she closes her eyes for more than ten seconds she will end up sleeping right there in the middle of her bathroom.

When she is done with her night routine she goes straight to her bedroom, ready to lay down on her bed. But as soon as she goes inside she hears her phone ring on the bed.

She smiles. She doesn’t even need to look at the ID to see who the caller is.

“Hi, Seul!” she says, suddenly sounding excited as if she wasn’t about to faint a few seconds ago.

“Night, Hyun. How was your day?” she hears the younger asks.

She then proceeds to tell Seulgi it was a busy yet fun day for her. She had a photoshoot that took longer than expected, then had a few fittings for the next show she will walk the runaway and the casting that was scheduled to happen next week was suddenly changed to today.

“Busy, indeed. Aren’t you tired? We can talk tomorrow.”

“No! You know I love talking to you. Tell me, where are you now?” she asks, noticing that Seulgi seems to be somewhere outside.

“Oh, I’m in the middle of an outside photoshoot.”

Before Joohyun’s able to ask more questions, she sees a blonde popping up beside Seulgi. “Hello, Joohyun!”

“Oh! Hi, Taeyeon. How are you? Is Seulgi giving you too much trouble?” she jokes.

“Yeah, you know how she is,” the blonde shrugs as she answers and both of them laugh.

They keep on teasing the younger for a few more minutes until she decides to kick Taeyeon out.

“I miss you.” Joohyun suddenly blurts out when they’re alone again.

Seulgi is only able to softly smile at her as she answers, “Me too, Hyun. I wish I could be with you right now.”

Joohyun could only nod at the younger’s words because before she knew it, she was drifting to the dreamland with Seulgi fondly watching her sleep until she was called back again.

-

Joohyun was finishing washing the dishes when she hears her phone ring on the kitchen counter. She hurriedly dries her hand thinking it must be Tiffany calling to tell her she’s already downstairs.

But when she grabs her phone and doesn’t see Tiffany's contact name but Seulgi’s, she frowns.

“Seul, is everything alright?” she asks as soon as she answers the call, worry evident in her voice.

“Oh. Hi, Hyun! Yes, it is. Why?” she hears Seulgi’s tired yet soft voice on the other side of the phone.

“Isn’t it almost midnight there?” she asks again after doing some mental calculus.

“Yes, I just got home. Anyway, can we video chat?”

She doesn’t bother answering the question, instead she changes it to a video call while she goes to her bedroom. “Hi,” she says again when Seulgi’s pretty, tired face appears on her phone’s screen.

Joohyun then starts to get ready to leave while Seulgi tells her about her day. She applies a light make-up, then her earring, and the necklace the younger gave to her on her birthday and her most special ring — the one with the initials BA, that belonged to her grandmother.

Seulgi seeing Joohyun yet again putting on that ring decides to ask about it, “You know, Hyun. You never told me what BA means.”

“Ah, it’s a ring that belonged to my grandmother. BA means Bae Ahreum, she gave it to me before she passed away,” she says as she touches the ring, a soft smile appearing on her lips.

“I see. It’s a beautiful ring. Now I understand why I always see you wearing it.”

“Yes, it’s really important to me. I somehow feel connected to her, this is why I wear it all the time.”

Seulgi nods and Joohyun