It has only been.... Arthit checked his watch and mentally calculated. It has only been 8 days 9 hours 16 minutes 37 seconds and counting since Kongpob asked him out on a date officially.
He wasn't freaking out yet. Probably, the whole thing hasn't sunk in yet. Plus, Kongpob was packed full until the end of the month. Arthit had enough time to acclimate to his new 'status'.
"Oi! New kid! Stop daydreaming and help me with these boxes!" A call from the back woke him up from stupor.
"Yes sir!" Arthit straightened his back at the loud shout and quickly picked up the boxes followed the older male to the side of the set where the equipment were being set up.
Aside from his new dating status, he's got a job! Rejoice! Thanks to Prem's connection, he managed to get a job as an assistant of sorts. Basically, he'll be helping around and learn the ropes. He's really determined to learn as much as he can and maybe earn a living for it.
All the thoughts of Kongpob were soon forgotten by the amount of menial work passed on to Arthit. There was almost no time for chit chat as the photographer and magazine representative had arrived. So many things were still needed to be done with so little people to help. Arthit had been running here and there just so they could start the shoot.
The shoot was for a popular fashion magazine, FIX, which targets women in their late teens to early 20s. He was familiar with the magazine as Maprang had brought it to school and talked about it with Toota.
Being the newbie, he had no idea who will be coming in today. From what he had heard from the other staff members, there would be two people coming in. They would be shooting the main focus of next month's issue. As for the theme of shoot, he had no idea. He had only been hired today so he didn't know much.
It was weird. Arthit checked the time on his watch. It already 10 in the morning. One of the models should have arrived an hour ago, but there was no sign of the model anywhere.
He glanced at Mim, the photographer who was in his late twenties and Ploy, one of the magazine's beauty assistant who looked a lot older. Despite the fact of the age gap, the photographer was arguing with her as if they were the same age. It was obvious that they were talking about the missing model. Arthit heard that this photographer hated late comers.
As the two argued, the photographer happened to look in his direction and caught his eye. Arthit was embarrassed being caught looking their way. He was supposed to be working not staying idle and trying to eavesdrop. For a second he was going to get scolded, but he was surprised by the words that came out of the photographer's mouth.
"You. Stand over here for a sec." The photographer gestured at the space in front of the camera.
The young male dumbly looked behind him and then pointed at himself. "Me?"
"Yes. You." The photographer almost rolled his eyes. "Quickly."
Arthit dropped whatever box he was carrying and hurried over. He stood in front of a plain white backdrop. He knew that this wasn't the main set since he had seen a lot of people moving things up on the other side of the set. The other parts where still off limits to him because he was new.
"Just stand there." The older male said as he looked behind the lens.
He stood there without a word and awkwardly looked at the ceiling. The click of the shutter surprised him.
No one said anything and let the photographer do what he wants. Arthit thought it was a test shot but after the older male looked at the photos, he looked at FiX's representative.
"I like his look. He'll do."
Arthit furrowed his eyebrows, at lost on what's happening. What did the photographer mean? This was just a test shot, right?
"But what about the model?" The female representative asked worriedly. "We have a contract with them. We can't just change models. My editor will be pissed."
"The model's late. He should have been here an hour and yet he's not. I can't be bothered by people who doesn't understand the value of other people's time. It was also stated when I signed with FIX that I have the right to change models. If you think then call your editor and let her deal with me." Mim was in no mood to wait anymore.
"But it's Phana!"
"I don't care. He had already wasted an hour of my time! He knows the rules." Mim harshly replied back. He then pointed Arthit to the dressing room. "Get changed and have your makeup done."
"Excuse me. What's going on?"
Mim wanted to smack the new kid for being slow, but he reigned in his temper. Right now he needed a model and this kid was his best bet to pull off this shoot. Mim really liked how the young male looked and he's perfect for today's theme. "Congratulations new kid. You're gonna debut as a model in our magazine."
"But I'm-"
Arthit's hesitation annoyed the photographer. "Do you want a job or not? This would pay a lot more than running around doing menial tasks. Right now what I need is a model. I heard from the other guys that you want to be a photographer? You can learn next time. Are you in or not?"
The piercing glare from the photographer stopped Arthit from speaking. The younger male quickly went to the dressing room as if his feet were on fire. Only when Arthit disappeared to the dressing room did the photographer smiled in victory.
"What about the other model? Should I call his manager about the change?"
"Yes. If they protest, tell them to read the contract carefully. It's written there that Phana's tardy behavior is unacceptable. I don't need brats like him." Mim replied to Ploy. He then started to give instructions to the other staff, urging them to fix the last minute touches faster. They were already behind schedule because of the missing model.
A few minutes before Arthit came out of the dressing room, the other model arrived just in time. Mim was greeted in which he greeted back. His mood improved now that this model knew how to be on time.
"Perfect!" Mim smiled. "There was a change in your partner, but I believe this one is more suited." The photographer could already visualize the beautiful contrast between the veteran model and the new kid. It would be the perfect combination.
"Get ready. We have a long day ahead of us."
"I see. I'll be in your care P'Mim" Kongpob smiled and was about to go to the dressing room when he spotted the last person he expected to be here. Fate was kind on him these days.
Arthit came out of the dressing room wearing a satin black shirt and that was unbuttoned up to his chest. and black pants. He was barefooted and was wearing minimal makeup, refining his features. His hair was styled in a messy-out of bed look.
He felt out of sorts. This was the first time he had been dressed and styled this way. His cheeks were already burning and he could feel all the looks he was receiving.
His eyes went straight to the photographer who looked approvingly at his transformation. Arthit didn't notice Kongpob until the younger male called his name.
"P'Arthit?"
"Kong?" Arthit did a double take when he spotted Kongpob looking at him with those big bright eyes. Thank goodness that he was wearing makeup or else he would have looked like a tomato from the way the younger male was looking at him.
Calm down Arthit. He's just looking at you. You need to chill. People are looking.
Seeing Kongpob, he immediately looked for the male's manager and spotted the older male behind the celebrity. "P'Jane." He greeted with a wai.
Jane acknowledged him and then looked upwards and smiled at how fate was playing with the two males.
The photographer beamed at their connection. He clapped his hands together once. "Good. You two know each other. This will make things easier."
Arthit dumbly nodded. Kongpob looked at him strangely as if he was missing something.
The younger male approached him and whispered. "P'Oon, do you even know the concept of today's shoot?"
Arthit shook his head. "I'm supposed to be an assistant, doing things behind the scenes. I don't know how this happened. The photographer suddenly decided that I should stand in as a model. Why? Is the concept today something I wouldn't like? " He immediately sensed something wrong in the way Kongpob asked him.
"It's not bad. It's just that-"
Someone shouted before Konpgob could continue. "Hey is the bed and bathtub ready?"
Arthit almost spewed up blood. He looked at his clothing and then remembered the white clothes still in the rack in the dressing room. It wasn't hard to imagine from the clothes what today's concept would be. There was still another set of clothes waiting for him to change into after this one. Right now, he wanted to cry but his eyes were dry from fright.
Kongpob sensed the older male's mood and squeezed his arm as a form of comfort.
"For popular magazines with a female demographic as an audience, it's not unusual to have concepts like these to sell well. It's really not that bad. This is not my first time."
"I know. I've seen it." Arthit replied with a flustered expression. He had bought almost all magazines that featured Kongpob. He had seen a lot of sexy concepts with males. He had more or less covered his eyes with fingers spaced widely when he came across them especially when it's Kongpob.
Kongpob's lips curved upward when Arthit's words registered. "P'Oon. You do know that the magazine I was talking about it targeted females." He brazenly held onto Arthit's waist while no one was looking. "Something tells me that you're hiding something from me."
Arthit was mentally scolding himself from slipping up.
"Kong! There are people around!" Arthit scolded, but he let the younger male's hands on his waist. He was very shy but that doesn't mean he didn't like Kongpob's on him secretly.
Kongpob held onto him for a couple of seconds longer before letting go. He knew his P'Oon's limit. "Sooner or later P', you'll tell me everything and I can't wait to know them."
In your dreams. Arthit silently screamed. He would never ever tell Kongpob that he's a fanboy.
"Stop horsing around Kong. Get dressed or else P'Mim might get angry again." Arthit scolded Kongpob to cover up his flustered expression. It was a poor attempt. Kongpob playfully pinched his nose and winked.
"Whatever you say dear."
"KONG!" Arthit shouted in a whisper while he put a hand over where his heart was. His heart was doing flips inside his body. It was a miracle that it was still beating.
Meanwhile, Kongpob's manager wanted to cry. He had witnessed Kongpob's hand on Arthit's waist. He was not stupid. He knew that the peaceful days were over.
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too short?
I got too excited to post. XD.
There's still part three.
can my readers write your FAVE PERAYA moment at the comments? I'm really curious about you guys :)
until next time.
ciao.