The room was crowded. Between the photographers, the staff, the make up artists, the hairdressers, Jungwon felt a bit lost.
Everyone had been nice to him since he got there in the morning, but he still couldn't feel at ease.
Jeongkook on the other hand seemed very comfortable there. He kept smiling and looking around, excited to be a model today.
Park Jong-Seong's clothes had an urban vibe. They were both comfortable and badass. The entire collection had a black base, then some outfits were a bit more hip hop, some were more rock inspired.
Jungwon liked his first outfit very much. It was a simple black turtleneck with cool black Jeans.
The staff was done preparing him and he would start shooting in a minute, but he saw a big mirror and couldn't resist taking a quick selca.
The photo shoot started for Jungwon, and surprisingly, he felt at ease. Maybe watching Jeongkook before him had given him confidence, or maybe he had a secret talent to look handsome no matter the outfit.
Even though he tried his best concentrating on the camera, something felt weird. He felt chills on his neck several times, and he didn't know why. It must be the excitement. He thought, not even convincing himself.
He had to change clothes a lot and each time he felt Miss Seo watching him. She hadn't a « please do well for our dojang's image » look, she had a furious, concerned and annoyed look.
I don't understand why she keeps looking at me like that. Since she got the phone call last week, she has been much more strict, and overall mean to me. But I've trained even harder and I'm sure I'll do well on the competition. Spending one day here won't affect that.
Jeongkook was in the make up room, and he got up as soon as he saw Jungwon arriving.
"How cool is today?" he said, excited.
"It's awesome" said Jungwon. "Do you think we'll get to meet Park Jong-Seon?" he continued, covering his mouth as soon as he said the designer's name.
Thankfully Jeongkook was looking at his phone and didn't notice how Jungwon had blushed and how embarrassed he was.
"I don't know, Won" he replied. He looked up at his friend and continued "have you noticed how miss Seo stares at you? It makes me so awkward."
Jungwon stayed silent.
So it's not just an impression of mine. If even Jeongkook has noticed, it means it's definitely happening.
"Boys, could you please come with me" asked a staff.
"Of course" they replied together.
The day had passed so fast that Jungwon was sad it was over. Not only did he experienced something unique, but he had learnt a lot from the staff, the photographers and his hairdressers. Now that the photo shoot was finished, the staff had prepared a big table full of snacks and beverages, so that everyone could enjoy a cheerful moment together.
The two athletes were shy at first. During the day, they had a working context, so it was easy to interact with the staff, but now the atmosphere was quite different. It was a lot more casual and the young boys weren't used to that, but they soon started to speak more freely with everyone.
Miss Seo continued spying on Jungwon, but the latter decided to ignore that.
Jungwon was really attentive to the crowd. He wanted to meet the designer at all costs. He had spent the whole week getting to know him through interviews, tv shows, lives and so on. Every day he discovered something new they had in common, like that their favorite tv show was "Cooking on Sunshine".
This is my one chance to meet him, so I have to. I'm sure he is here. I wonder if he saw me while I was posing?
Suddenly, Jungwon caught a movement on his right and turned his head. A door opened and a handsome young men entered the room. He had a sharp jaw line, blonde hair and a killer smile on his face. Jungwon suddenly felt his mouth getting dryer, and it wasn't because of the cookie he was eating.
Jay's eyes embraced the crowd and stopped on Jungwon's face. A second later, they locked eyes and Jay started walking towards him, as if he was hypnotized.
Jungwon saw the designer coming in his direction and lost control of his thoughts. Time seemed to have slowed down and Jungwon only wanted for it to start going faster again. He wanted to meet this person. He needed to meet this person.
Now.
However, something came in their way, literally. Miss Seo rushed in front of the designer and presented herself. The intense eye contact the two men had shared was broken and Jungwon turned his head, trying to process what had happened.
Noticing his friend's weird behavior, Jeongkook place a hand on Jungwon's back and took him aside.
"Hey, are you okay?" he said, looking concerned.
"I don't really know, I think I'm getting a headache" replied Jungwon, livid.
"Do you want to go home?" asked Jeongkook.
Jungwon didn't know what to answer. He wanted to stay, yes, and meet Par Jong-Seong but he was feeling very weak and didn't want to risk getting sick in front of the designer.
"Yes please" he replied, hating himself for suddenly not feeling well.
"Stay here, I'll excuse ourselves and take you home" he said.
~~
Jungwon heard knocks on the door.
"Come in mom" he said.
"I made you some tea" announced Jungwon's mother as she came in his room. "What happened?"
"Well everything was okay, I think I did a good job modeling, and then we all shared a more convivial moment around snacks and I didn't feel well after that. But I'm feeling better now" explained the young man.
"I see. Did you maybe eat something bad?" she asked, trying to understand the situation.
"I don't think so... Everyone was eating the same food, if it was it, I wouldn't be the only one feeling unwell" he relied.
"You're right, well, just try getting some rest" she said. "And drink your tea!"
Jungwon nodded and sipped a bit of tea. It was hot, but it helped.
Satisfied, she left the room. Jungwon drank more and soon closed his eyes to nap.
He was woken up two hours later by knocks on his door.
"Come in" he said in the middle of his yawn.
His mom opened once again the door, but this time she had a package under her arm.
"You received this" she said.
"Did it arrive now?" asked Jungwon as he stood up.
His mother nodded.
"But the post office delivers in the morning" he continued, quite confused.
"A young man came to our door to give this to you. He said you met today and he was worried about you, so he wanted to check if you were feeling better. I said that you were sleeping and he wrote you a little note to go with this package instead" she explained.
"Who was he?" asked Jungwon, trying to remember every man he had met today.
"He introduced himself, but you know me and names... I dont remember, sorry. But I can tell you he was really handsome, blond hair.." she didn't even get time to finish her sentence that Jungwon jumped in front of her, showing a picture on his phone.
"Was this him?" he asked nervously.
"Yes it was! But he was blonde today, it must be his natural color in this picture" she replied.
"It's Park Jong-Seong mom, the designer himself" said Jungwon, unsuccessfully trying to keep his voice stable.
His mom opened her eyes wide.
"Really??" she asked, excited.
"Yeah!! Could you please let me open the package alone now? I don't want to shove you out of my room, but I'm really curious now" he said, feeling guilty but at the same time too excited to wait more.
"Sure, sure" said the mother, with a suspicious smile on her face.
Jungwon delicately put the package on his bed. There was a little note on top of it.
"Hey Jungwon,
I'm sorry we haven't been able to meet and talk properly today. I heard you felt unwell and I was worried, so I came to check on you.
I had a look at your pictures from today and I was really impressed by your expressions and poses, you did a really great job.
I want to gift this to you as a thank you for your hard work.
I hope you'll get better soon.
Jay"
Ohmygod, ohmygod, oh my GOD!
Am I crazy or did the most famous designer of Korea worry about me, send me a present and signed his letter "Jay" which is the nickname only his family and friends use????
Jungwon was overwhelmed. He couldn't believe what he just read. He cautiously put the letter on his desk and opened the package.
It was a simple black turtleneck and cool black jeans.
How did he guess it was my favorite outfit of today?
Jungwon spent the evening looking at his new clothes and reading over and over again his letter.
One sentence was living rent free in his mind, and fell asleep imagining Jay's voice saying it.
"I heard you felt unwell and I worried, so I came to check on you."