Chapter 19

"Hold your head high, baby, and throw your shoulder back; portray your soul like you are a strong, heartless goddess, but in the same time you're heartbreakingly as weak as those delicate crystal petals. Let what is left from your frail human heart flow through the tip of your fingers, which gingerly touch the back of the man you hate with all your heart, yet deeply love with also your heart." Luhan repeatedly pressed the button on his camera, releasing clicking sound of the shutter. His left hand skillfully played with the lens, adding faint humming sound as he adjusted the zoom.

Kyungsoo cocked his head to a side, almost comically. His eyes were popped open, and his mouth agape. Click. Click. Click. The clicking sound never stopped, neither did the flashing light (Luhan thought the pose was adorable, regardless that he could not use it for his ads. He thought maybe he could give Aunty Oh a copy.).

Sehun heard Kyungsoo whimper. He could not blame the boy. The spluttering nonsense Luhan just blurted out was beyond the healthy state of a human mind. At least Sehun got the easy role (which soon enough was proven not being that easy, thanks to Kyungsoo), to stay still and let Luhan do whichever he planned to do with his back. He pretty much was ordered to be a living-mannequin.

"Be strong from head to toe, but let your eyes and the tip of your fingers betray your cold, composed self, and may small jolt of emotions reek through your fingers. Lather your fingertips with raw, vulnerable emotion which seeps into your body the moment you touched your beloved man," Luhan went on. He tilted his head upward, smiling dreamily as he was seeing something couldn't be seen up there (he was looking at his passion, dream, and future tomorrow, but Sehun wouldn't know). Luhan breathed deeply and shifted his gaze to Kyungsoo.

"There. Got it, baby?" After his long, extra detailed explanation Luhan was sure that Kyungsoo would've caught what he wanted perfectly. He raised his camera, preparing to shoot more pictures.

Lu-Lulu I-I don't understand a word...," Kyungsoo whispered hesitantly, his eyes flicked to the camera nervously. "How can I make my fingertips vulnerable?" he sobbed in desperation. Sehun felt something soft wobbled around weakly on his upper back. He assumed it was the boy's interpretation of 'vulnerable fingers'. A banshee-cry coming from Luhan was enough for him (and Kyungsoo) to find out that it was not the vulnerable fingers' pose Luhan was aiming for. But the clicking sound remained.

Kyungsoo clung his arms around Sehun's shoulder, burying his face into the bare skin to cover up his embarrassment. By that, Sehun had just been deemed as an autumn tree replacement. Needless to say, the situation did no help to ease down Sehun's condition at the very least.

"Kyungsoo....," Sehun's voice coming out strained.

"Yes...?" Kyungsoo tilted his head to a side, his left cheek lightly pressed to Sehun's back as he did so. Kyungsoo could not see Sehun's face from his position, and it's not nice if you didn't properly look at someone in the eye while talking to a person; so Kyungsoo decided to straighten his body up, and with much effort he stood on tip-toe and elongated his neck as far as he could to look over Sehun's shoulder.

Sehun’s unwilling eyes met the huge, glazed orbs. The owner's plush lips were slightly downturned, trembling. A jolt of electricity washed through Sehun, heading right to south. He gulped.

"Sehun-ah?" Kyungsoo (cutely) blinked. This was too much for Sehun to handle. He automatically lifted up his arm toward his shoulder where Kyungsoo building a comfy den on it, his wide palm swallowed most of the boy's face. Kyungsoo's skin was soft under his palm. And warm. And smooth. Sehun took a deep breath to calm himself down, and added a little push backward.

"Ouch," Kyungsoo whimpered.

"Let's get it done, quick," Sehun muttered, his eyes refused to see the tiny creature on his back.

"B-but vulnerable fingers....," Kyungsoo sobbed.

"Just think of anything you've been longing to have, which never been yours to claim," Luhan quickly said. As evil as he was, Luhan still had a little compassion deep down inside. Plus, Kyungsoo would break Sehun in any minute.

Kyungsoo turned his head, and now the puppy eyes were aimed at Luhan.

"Steaming balls cake," Luhan stated calmly. And just by that, the photo shoot went on as smooth as a politician's speech on the election day.

***

Kyungsoo looked heart-wrenchingly sad. His fingers were ghosting around Sehun's back, barely touching the surface.

"Splendid! Now press your left cheek on Sehun's back, baby. Yes, that's right! Gosh you'll make me break into tears." The camera's shutter were clicking non-stop, catching images after images of Kyungsoo the Goddess of Winter.

Kyungsoo sighed. He was hungry, but the steaming balls cake was not his. He trailed his index finger, stealing the feeling of the steaming balls cake under his finger. He heard some low clicking sound from afar, and decided to ignore it. Kyungsoo continued to trail his finger. It was warm. He really wished he could eat some steaming balls cake right now. Kyungsoo was so hungry.

Kyungsoo unconsciously leaned forward; his lips lightly touched the steaming balls cake. Just a light, harmless touch, because he knew he could not have the steaming balls cake. It's not his. Kyungsoo gasped and pulled out his lips. It's not his! The realization dawned upon him. He turned around; his eyes were large and horrified, staring at the camera with a vulnerable look.

"Bravo!" Luhan cried.

"'Back only' model, you may have your rest. Don't worry, hun. I got your back!" Luhan giggled at his own freshly made pun.

"I only need a few photos of Kyungsoo alone and then we can call it a wrap." Luhan shooed Sehun.

Sehun could not be happier. He freed his back from Kyungsoo and fled away, ignoring the weak protest from the boy. He thought he heard Kyungsoo squeaked out 'steaming balls cake'. Sehun shivered.

Luhan ordered the props' crews to bring out something. "Get me the 'moon in winter' now," he ordered through his small microphone. Sehun stood beside Luhan after getting his shirt back. He wondered what Luhan was up to this time.

Sehun heard a gentle hum of machinery from afar, and a huge ball attached to a metal chain was swung from a height, a safe distance from them. He frowned. That thing didn't look like a moon in any kind of phase, in winter or not.

"No, no, no, no! The winter moon, I said, not my wrecking ball!" Luhan yelled in frustration.

"Gosh! Can't I get anything correctly for once?"

The lifting machine groaned as it did its work, pulling up the chain sling of the huge metal ball. The 'wrecking ball(?)' went up and up before disappearing from their sight. Sehun gave Luhan a weird look.

"What? It's for my personal MV, okay," Luhan nonchalantly answered Sehun's unspoken question.

Another humming sound was heard before something resembled a full-moon came into their line of sight.

"The moon originally was for my 'Boy Who Wept Kitten' ads.”

Knowing that Sehun had a fashion blindness (although it was not as severe as Kyungsoo), Luhan went on, "BWWK. It is one of my clothing lines," he explained.

Boy Who Wept Kitten. Sehun held his tongue. It was better for him not to say anything.

"Come on, baby. Let's continue!" Luhan chirped happily to Kyungsoo who was staring at the moon above him in awe.

***

Kyungsoo was so exhausted when finally Luhan called it a wrap. He slumped to the floor, still in his white gown. Luhan sat beside him, cross legged, whilst Sehun took the other side.

"There, there, you've done a great job," Luhan soothingly said. He patted the poor boy's head softly.

"Thanks to you, my new perfume will be a hit," Luhan stated in confidence. Sehun could not hold himself from asking Luhan, "What's the name?"

"D'Lulu," Luhan chirped proudly.

Sehun regretted his inability of holding his tongue.

Luhan was so eager to share his wisdom of fashion life, he excitedly talked nineteen to the dozen.

"You see, baby, you started rough but you ended up doing such a marvelous work. Do you understand what you lack of?" Luhan asked Kyungsoo, he talked fast yet gently. The boy shook his head weakly.

"What you lack is 'imagination'." Luhan made a hand gesture on the air, forming a rainbow shape. Kyungsoo watched Luhan doing the gesture with wide eyes and fascinated smile.

"Fortunately the steaming balls cake did the magic. What if it wasn't Sehun? What if the male model I paired you with didn't have a smooth, ivory, yummy skin? What if his back was full of acne?" An exaggerating sharp intake of breathing followed after the fiery statement.

"Mmm... Then I should use my 'imagination'?" Kyungsoo imitated the rainbow shape Luhan just did.

"That's right! I'm so proud of you!" Luhan cried. He wiped away the non-existent tears in his eyes.

"Then what's your 'imagination' of the situation would be?"

Sehun wondered what the 'half circle in the air' sign meant and why they kept doing that.

Kyungsoo thought deeply, chewing his upper lip. He mouthed 'imagination' as he turned his palm outward and made that weird signal. His eyes then brightened up, sparking.

"Potato wedges!" Kyungsoo exclaimed gleefully.

Sehun had to shove his fist into his mouth to keep calm.

***

Luhan called for his assistant. He whispered something in her ear, and she nodded. His assistant then left the room. Victoria came back with a tray of food in her arms. Kyungsoo's eyes popped, staring at the tray longingly. A soft whine escaped from his lips when he saw the cookies.

Luhan gestured Victoria to place the silver tray in front of Kyungsoo. "French macaroons with vanilla cream filling," he proudly presented.

"I specifically asked my favorite Four Season's pastry chef to make these delicacies. I know you'll love it."

A rambling noise came from Kyungsoo's tummy. Luhan laughed. "What are you waiting for? Enjoy your reward!" he urged Kyungsoo.

Without being asked twice Kyungsoo started to stuff his mouth. A satisfied moan fell from his lips as he had the first taste. He chewed and swallowed the cookie fast, providing space to stuff more of it.

Sehun grimaced. He could not imagine putting all those sweets into his mouth. But Kyungsoo seemingly enjoyed his macaroons very much; the food tray was securely placed on his lap, his hand tightly clutched the edge. His free hand kept feeding his already stuffed mouth with more cookies, puffing up his cheeks even more. Sehun swore that Kyungsoo could have had those cheeks pouches hamsters have, judging from the amount of food he had managed to slip into his small mouth. Sehun struggled not to poke the puffy cheeks. He quickly shifted his attention to the food. The tray was filled with the sweet-meringue cookies with chewy innards vanilla filling.

Sehun made a face. He imagined himself putting the overwhelmingly sickly-sweet food into his mouth. He shuddered. He hated sweets. He stole a quick glance at Kyungsoo. The macaroons might be delicious, after all, judging from the way Kyungsoo munched the food. Maybe they were not that bad. For once Sehun considered to willingly taste one of those sweet macaroons.

Oh well. One would not kill him.

Sehun was just about to reach out for a macaroon when a low snarl rumbled from Kyungsoo's throat. He immediately pulled out his hand.

"Kyungsoo, did you just growl at me?" he asked. The response came out as a panic shriek.

"Ah, I'm so, so, sorry Sehun-ah, I didn't mean to! You see, I was just surprised, that's all. It's out of reflect, I'm so, so, so sorry. Of course I will share the cookies with you! Did you know that dogs might growl, or even bite when they are approached by you, when they're having something delicious?" Kyungsoo babbled. His arms were flailing around in panic.

"Did....did you just refer yourself as a dog?" Sehun stammered. His voice came out shaky.

"Ah, no. Of course not! I mean, I have read a research about 'fight or flight' response, you know, of how the hypothalamus controls stress response and all. The clinical study happened to use dogs as the research subjects, because as we know, dog's neuroendocrine system functions virtually the same as it does in human-"

Kyungsoo rambled some more long explanation, but it was too late. The mental image of a chirping Maltese, growling with its high-piched bark to protect a bowl of food had polluted Sehun's mind. Sehun trembled. He brought his palm to muffle his laugh, but to no avail. A choked laugh escaped from his mouth, growing into much bigger laughter which could be heard throughout the huge room.

A camera was aimed at Sehun, producing a continuous clicking sound as the shutter lens was abused over and over again. Luhan sobbed. Finally he was able to reach one of his goals in life.

................................................................................................................................................................................

A/N

An angel sent me a PM, offering to beta-read my story *ugly sobs*

I'm such a grammar abuser I should be in jail. You're a life savior, Julia ;;;^;;;;

                          'Imagination'