The Scandal | VSOO

twenty-eight | new york

Third Person POV

Three Years Later — New York

Jisoo sat in her lounge chair, basking in the chilly New York morning. Admiring the view from her balcony in her NYC penthouse.

Sat in silence, the weather reminded Jisoo of Seoul, the cold chilly breeze that spring greets, it was almost cherry blossom season in Korea she thought.

Just like that, over three years have passed since she stepped foot in her homeland.

New York did not welcome models gently. It swallowed them whole and decided later whether they were worth keeping.

For Jisoo, it had been decided almost immediately, like it was too easy.

The first year, she became visible.
The second year, she became wanted.
By the third, she was inevitable.

Someone whispered her name with the same tone reserved for legends.

"Jisoo's here."

Jisoo had always known.

Not hoped. Not dreamed. Known.

She was born for cameras, for attention, for rooms that turned when she entered. In Seoul, she had dominated the industry before she was even old enough to legally drink. In New York, she didn't just rise, she expanded.

Top model in Korea? That was impressive.

Top model in the United States? That meant the world.

Luxury brands competed for her. Designers rewrote shows to include her. Photographers called her "light itself." She walked in Paris in the morning, Milan at night, New York the next day, sometimes all within the same 72 hours.

Fashion Week wasn't a week. It was survival.

And Jisoo survived it better than anyone. She loved the distraction, she loved how busy she gets that it kept her from staying in her thoughts for too long.

But somewhere along the way...

Something cracked.

It wasn't obvious at first. Not to the public. Not to the industry.

But to Irene, it was impossible to miss.

"She's just... matured," Irene would say when people asked.

Humble.

That was the word she used. And it sounded wrong every time.

Because Jisoo had never been humble. Anyone in the industry and public knew this about her.

She had been sharp, unapologetic, untouchable.

Now...

Jisoo hesitated. She stared at herself longer in mirrors. She asked questions she never used to ask.

"Do you think I look tired?"

"Do I look fat?"

"Am I still... relevant?"

Irene would always answer immediately to reassure her model.

Irene knew exactly when it started. Three years ago to be exact.

Taehyung.

She never said his name out loud anymore. Not after everything. Not after the scandal.