Chapter 19
“Good work.”
“Ugh… yeah.”
“Ahyun, wipe the drool here.”
Paris, where I had arrived for the fashion show.
My schedule here was like hell.
Not just any hell—the hell of human interaction.
Being jostled among people as I moved from place to place.
Getting skincare treatments and putting on clothes.
Then changing again, taking pictures, and changing again.
The clothes I wore weren't ordinary, either. They were candidates for outfits to wear at the fashion show, so I had to treat each one with care. It was exhausting having to worry about every little thing.
On top of that, I visited Andel's headquarters in Paris and met with Andel again after about two months.
I held more meetings and heard an explanation of this concept.
There were briefings and reviews about what kind of walk I should do at the fashion show, followed by yet another meeting.
There were also interviews afterward, along with checking the dinner schedule….
As all of that steadily piled on the fatigue.
The most important fact of all wrapped itself around my entire body.
“Ah… I want to play games.”
I couldn't play games right away.
In RPG terms, I was covered in a debuff that steadily drained my HP, but I had no potions.
If I'd at least brought a laptop, I could've played in the hotel.
But how could I possibly play games on a laptop?
For a die-hard desktop loyalist who didn't even play mobile games, it was a time of endurance.
Anyway, to talk about the results of those two hellish weeks….
“How is she the same model we saw earlier? People are calling her Andel's new face!”
Just as Roselia said.
Model Ahyun had been firmly etched into the industry as Andel's new face.
*
FW Paris Fashion Week, attended by many famous brands and fashion models.
As an important event that determined global fashion trends for the fall/winter season, it drew the attention of countless people throughout the fashion industry worldwide.
Among them, I had just heard from Roselia that, even if I wasn't the biggest story, one Asian girl had become quite a talking point.
“Andel's new face?”
For a moment, I thought, What an extravagant title….
But since a model really was a brand's face, it wasn't something I couldn't understand.
“How long has it even been since I signed the contract….”
Well, hearing that after only my first Fashion Week since signing the contract was rather burdensome.
More than that. Judging by both the title and the atmosphere, it seemed I'd drawn attention for my looks.
It was exactly what I'd expected.
I'd been shouted out by plenty of entertainment agencies since I was young.
So it wasn't all that surprising to be drawing attention for my face now.
After all, hadn't I been showing my face as a child model since I was six?
Starting with the Big Three agencies everyone knew, I'd received multiple scouting offers from the fairly large mid-sized agency where Aseong had been a trainee too.
Well, I rejected them all because I was already establishing myself fairly well as a model at the time.
Looking back, that was the right choice.
Modeling is pretty unfamiliar to the general public, isn't it?
No matter how much international hype you receive and how prestigious your contract is,
if you don't appear on TV, few people will have any chance to recognize your face.
They say the best kind of rich person is one whose face nobody knows.
Being able to go to the convenience store without wearing a mask is a truly satisfying advantage.
Of course, if you're not well-known to the public, making money is difficult to begin with….
But that doesn't apply to me, since I'm famous among industry insiders.
“I heard it from the staff—apparently things are looking really good on Andel's end too. Looks like it turned out just as you wanted.”
“So there was a reason they were so eager to sign me.”
As I listened to Roselia, I recalled the clothes I'd worn at the fashion show.
There certainly had been a lot that seemed designed to highlight the strengths of my appearance.
Especially the outfit I'd worn for the opening—it felt like cold air was flowing off it.
No, was the fabric actually a little cold? What if I caught a cold?
“Look at this.”
While I was once again recalling the outfits I'd mechanically put on,
Roselia raised her phone and showed me an article.
It hadn't even been that long since the fashion show, but articles about it were already being posted.
[Andel's successful new season, with a haughty walk and striking looks….]
It contained a picture of me walking.
I was wearing pale makeup, my eyes lowered.
The ice-cold expression I'd made as instructed looked so unlike me that I wondered if it was really me.
Well, separate from that, judging by the article calling me the Ice Princess and so on, it seemed I'd left a strong impression.
"But are you okay? There are almost only articles about your looks."
"I like it."
Depending on the model, hearing that your looks—not your walk or posing—were the biggest topic could sting.
But I didn't particularly mind.
‘Isn't that a good thing?’
Models are all basically pretty anyway.
But that means I'm noticeably prettier even among them, right? That's a very good thing.
Of course, the fatal side effect is that people's eyes get drawn away from the clothes… but that's Andel's problem to solve.
It's not like I signed the contract wearing a mask in the first place.
Andel must have chosen me knowing that.
Anyway, if the choice were between becoming ugly and earning less as a model,
I'd obviously choose the latter.
Besides, a lot of my success came from my looks.
My posing and runway walk honestly aren't that good.
I even got criticized when I first made my international debut.
It's not something I can blame Teacher Han Seonghwa, that frog in a well who taught me wrong, for.
Those things are innate to begin with.
There are even times when a model who was street-cast, trained for a short period, and then put on the runway gets more hype than someone who's modeled for years.
Anyway… in that sense.
“Ahem, hmm… Ahyun?”
At this party where the models gathered after the fashion show, the girl who spoke to me in French was closer to the naturally gifted type.
“Selina.”
“I-I'm sorry about last time. I misunderstood you….”
Selina was the model I'd also met at Andel's Christmas charity party last time,
a French model I'd had a brief argument with.
She'd attracted quite a bit of attention at this fashion show.
“Yeah.”
When I accepted her apology matter-of-factly, her expression as she looked at me was strange.
“Y-you can say something, you know.”
For reference, I'd only learned her name this time too.
She was an exclusive model for a famous brand comparable to Andel.
She'd drawn quite a bit of attention with her confident walk and posing.
Not that anyone who walked in a fashion show would lack confidence… it meant she expressed it better than anyone else among them.
“A-Ahyun?”
But that confidence was nowhere to be seen now, no matter how hard I looked.
The fact that she'd come to apologize first aside, she must have been thoroughly chewed out after that party.
Well, it had been an event attended by industry people.
She'd probably heard an earful from the brand, and from her manager too.
It had even been a party hosted by Andel.
She'd caused trouble with Andel's next exclusive model at a party hosted by Andel?
Whew, I can't even imagine how badly she got chewed out.
“It's okay, Selina.”
With that in mind, I said it with a small smile.
Our aloof model Ahyun didn't smile often, but that was precisely why her smiles carried more impact.
“Anyone can make a mistake.”
And besides, I wasn't particularly angry about that day.
I hadn't raised my voice and fought with her in the first place, and it would be ridiculous to get angry because a child had thrown a tantrum.
What really makes me angry is when someone takes equipment from another worksite, claiming they'll use it, and then doesn't return it.
Especially on a piece-rate day when I can go home as soon as I finish; if the job gets delayed because of that, I go over and throw punches.
“More importantly, I saw your walk today. It helped me a lot—”
So I spoke softly.
When I addressed her gently, the young French model looked moved.
“Ahyun…! You have Instagram, right…?”
Putting as much feeling into it as a girl her age could muster.
For reference, Selina was twenty-one and an adult.
Well, Aseong was the same age, so maybe she really did count as a kid?
**
[Come visit France next time! I'll invite you over!]
After boarding the plane, before turning on airplane mode,
I smiled to myself as I looked at the message on my phone screen.
“What are you looking at that has you smiling so much?”
“I made a friend.”
When I showed Roselia the message as I said that, she smiled too from across the aisle in business class.
“You made a friend in the meantime?”
“That's what parties are for, isn't it?”
Aren't they places where people meet and laugh together?
Of course, they're places for business, but for young models they're sometimes places to make friends too.
“We won't have to leave the country again once we get back to Korea, right?”
More importantly, overseas business trips really are exhausting.
Christmas had been tough too, but being away for nearly two weeks had me at death's door.
“Hmm, probably not until summer?”
“Summer….”
“There's another event then, so if Andel asks, we'll have to consider it.”
“Haa.”
I sighed and slumped back into the seat.
Last year was nice, but being under contract is exhausting.
Still, well… the pay is different.
When I thought of the figure in the contract and the amount landing in my bank account, I automatically felt energized.
Right, I needed to keep a positive attitude.
At least one of the major events was over, wasn't it?
The fashion show had gone well, I'd made a new French model friend,
and Andel had liked this fashion show so much that they'd even packed shopping bags full of various gifts for me.
It really was a smooth start to the year.
And so, I returned to Korea with a fairly deep sense of satisfaction, but….
“Uh, huh?”
That feeling didn't last long.
Because….
[Viewers: 154]
“Mingna doko...?”
-ㅋㅋ;
-ㅋ...
-That's how it went..
Because after taking two weeks off, the stream had gone to shit.