Connected - Jaywon

The weird phone call

Jungwon was exhausted. He just spent the entire afternoon training for an upcoming taekwondo competition. His muscles were sore and he wanted to take a long and comforting bath.
His partner, Jeongkook, was laying on the floor, eyes closed, trying to catch his breath as well.

Both of them were enjoying their little break. As soon as their coach would be finished with the sudden phone call, they would start practicing again. The annual national competition would take place in a month, and she wanted them to train hard every day to win it.

They heard a weird growl  followed by a loud noise coming from the other side of the wall. Jeongkook got up and looked at Jungwon with a worried expression.

"I don't know either" said Jungwon, fearing the worst.
Miss Seo never leaves during our practice. Something big must be going on, she never keeps her cellphone when we're training. She looked so anxious when she left the room. I wonder who called her...

Jungwon did not have much time making hypothesis about the mysterious phone call. Miss Seo was already coming towards them with a long face.

"I just received a phone call from our club's manager" she said sharply. "Our club will be sponsored by a Designer's brand this year."

Jeongkook was so excited that he started to dance,  Jungwon on the other hand didn't seem very interested.

"Who is the designer?" asked Jungwon, not knowing if he would know the name or not, as he didn't like fashion.

"It's Park Jong-Seong" she answered, uncomfortably staring at Jungwon. "Do you know his brand?"

"Not really" said Jungwon.

"Isn't he the designer of the year in Korea?" replied Jeongkook, excited.

"Ah! Him! I think I heard something about him on the news" continued Jungwon. "But what does this sponsorship have to do with us, Miss Seo?"

"As you two are amongst Korea's best taekwondo athletes, they want you to promote his last collection with a photo shoot and maybe more, I don't know every thing yet" she said nervously.

~~

The two boys were in the locker room. Miss Seo had dismissed them earlier than usual, which was concrete proof that the phone call upset her more than she wanted to admit.
They both wanted to talk about it, but they knew from past experiences that they could be heard from her office. They quickly changed in silence and got out of the dojang.

"What do you think is going on with her?" asked Jeongkook, as soon as they crossed the street.
"I really don't know. Maybe she hates this Park Jong-Seong" replied Jungwon.
"Why would she hate a designer?" continued Jeongkook.
"Maybe she's upset because she wants us to focus on training only. Doing photo shoots must seem like a waste of time for her" suggested Jungwon.
"Well I guess it's her problem. I'm really looking forward to do this photo shoot!" said Jeongkook smiling. "Do you think we will meet models as well?"
"Maybe" replied Jungwon.

He knew that his friend liked to go out. Jeongkook was handsome, funny and he was on his way to become a professional athlete, so meeting girls was easy for him. He and his friend were opposite in that regard. Jungwon didn't like to party, and he never found any girl interesting. Back in school, in order to avoid relationships, he used to say that he already liked someone when a girl confessed to him, which happened quite a lot.

Their bus arrived and they sat side by side. Jeongkook started a monologue on how he would hit on the models at the shooting, but Jungwon wasn't listening. He was still upset about their coach. She had looked at him as if he was responsible for this sponsorship.
That doesn't really make sense. Why would she be angry at me? Does she think that I won't train as hard if I'm distracted by this sponsorship? She should know I'm more determined than ever to win.

The bus stopped and Jeongkook got out. He waved to Jungwon and started walking back home. Jungwon took his earphones and started listening to his favorite drama ost playlist. He had put his phone in his pocket, but suddenly he took it back. He opened the search engine and typed "Park Jong-Seong".

"Park Jong-Seong covers the popular celebrity magazine ..."
"Park Jong-Seong, youngest Korean designer to make it internationally ..."
"Exclusive interview of handsome Park Jong-Seong..."

The list went on and on. This guy was adored on the internet. Intrigued, Jungwon clicked on the image search.

Well yeah he's well dressed, but I don't see why everyone thinks he's-

Jungwon's train of thoughts had been brutally interrupted by the second picture he saw.

Wow

Okay

Wow

He's really handsome

...

Wow

But I think I prefer this one. He seems more approachable, like he's about to go hang out with his friends.

Jungwon didn't even notice that he was smiling at his phone. He soon got out of the bus, but continued checking pictures of the handsome designer on his walk home.

He opened the front door and went straight upstairs to his room. He laid on his bed, looking at the ceiling. He was feeling lighthearted.
Who would have thought that one day I'd be looking forward to do a fashion photo shoot ?