a misty gashed aperture ii

'like an island that floats in the sunset...'

A/N: Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays!

Complete chapter title: 'like an island that floats in the sunset, i'm looking for the tomorrow i cannot see yet'

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The aftermath of the eventful first day of Seoul Fashion Week left the PR teams in chaos over the next days, with no room for more than a five-minute break to answer calls and texts from the media, sort the anonymous grievances and hateful emails, instruct the tech teams to deal with the reports on the labels' and the supermodels' social media accounts, and forward all guesting invitations, brand representation offers, and concept pitches to the supermodels' managers. Most importantly, they were instructed to direct any contact from all VIPs to Wendy's Executive Assistant immediately and mark them as confidential and urgent. Wendy, together with the Heads of the company departments, was thinking of the best strategies to manage the profit loss and gain; where to make smaller bets, and how to nudge their huge investors and big partners while avoiding chasing lost money.

Some brands were dismayed, pulling back their deals because the girls' behaviors did not align with their brand vision and reputation anymore. Others seemed to have been amped by the conflict among the four that they lined up pitches overnight to get them together, all for the money.

SFW garnered more attention than in the past as the whole fashion world got enamored by the exposés and unhinged behavior of "The Big Four." Everybody competed to be in the know—using their connection with anyone close to the supermodels—asking what the deal was with Lisa Manoban, did Roseanne steal her from Jennie or the other way around, whose side would Roseanne take, Ashley's or Irene's? Everyone had their own opinion and spin on any information they gathered.

Jennie's coming back did that. And she was not one to be taken for granted anymore. She was only starting to unfurl her wings to reach the skies The Big Trio had. "From the looks of it, the queen blonde was threatened, and it was not just her career, but also her heart," the biz news headlined.

Sitting at the runway front rows, attending exhibits and private showrooms, and walking the runways of the most sought-after local designers, the girls carried on with their days, business as usual, unfazed. Wendy made sure the designers got the memo to give Roseanne and Jennie the opening and closing spots interchangeably, as both were the most coveted positions in the shows. If she heard any complaints from either of the two supermodels, she would suspend them both for the rest of the year.

Roseanne and Jennie released a public apology to the designers Kim Minju and Sunyuul Yie and the show's organizers, but as expected, not to each other. Irene was treating Ashley as if the latter were invisible, she would not even flinch at the slightest mention of Ashley's name—as if that were filtered by her ear too.

On the last day of the fashion week, Roseanne arrived at The Wardrobe answering several calls from overseas—first, it was from Anthony, checking in if she was okay and how else could he help, who passed his phone to YSL stylist Natali Solntseva who was too excited to share with her a photoshoot idea that sparked from the supermodel's walk with Jennie, "When are you flying back heeere?" And lastly, from Soojoo, who wished she had seen the whole thing in person.

"That wasn't a sight to behold," murmured Roseanne.

Irene was already there at The Wardrobe, getting her hair done by two stylists. With her eyes closed, she greeted Roseanne with a slight lift of her hand.

Roseanne whispered a 'Hey' as she passed by Irene's seat to get to hers where her glam staff had already set up the lighting and makeup tools.

Soojoo laughed over the phone. "Did that night end well?"