Hopeless Romantic

CHAPTER ONE

"Marius! Marius, wake up! Remember, you have the interview at around ten!" his sister kept shaking him away. The sixteen year-old boy groaned as he gently shoved his older sister away. He then opened his eyes, slowly sitting up.

"I'm awake, I'm awake.. " he mumbles softly, pouting as he rubs his eyes like a child.

"Mom already made breakfast. Hurry up and get ready, you have a big day ahead of you," she says, ruffling his hair a bit before scurrying about of her baby brother's room. Marius blinks a few times, trying to get the drowsiness to fade away as he glanced around his room. It was still slightly empty, he thinks. It wasn't really decorated and he still hasn't finished unpacking a few boxes– due to him being busy with school and sometimes just being a bit lazy in general. To think that just a couple months ago, he moved to Tokyo from his hometown in Germany.

He won't deny it that the transition was difficult. It was hard for him to say goodbye to his friends and classmates whom he known for years, as well as some of his relatives. Though, he did promise to visit back often. However, there was a part of him that was still excited about his new life in Tokyo. He'd be able to meet and befriend new people, finally speak Japanese outside of his home, and perhaps.. who knows, he might meet his soulmate.

He looked down to see a certain book lying on the floor and bent down to pick it up. It was his one of his many romance novels that he collected over the years. He was reading it again last night prior to falling asleep. He smiles again before placing the book on the sidetable before walking out of his room. Marius, you could say.. He loved romance. He wanted to know the feeling of having his own heart skipping beats, having butterflies in his stomach– all of those things. He's never been in a real relationship yet. He had a few crushes here and there as he grew up, but it was nothing too serious.

After eating breakfast and quickly going through the rest of his usual morning routine, he was out of the house with his older sister and taking a taxi to Ginza.

"Do you think they'll like me?" he turns over to his older sister.

"Marius, you'll be fine! They'll like you for sure!" she reassures him as she reaches her arm out and lightly pinches his cheek. He pouts before lightly pushing her hand away.

"I've never been a model before. I'm surprised that your agency is recruiting me."

His older sister, Marilena, had done some work as model before in the past. While he thought being a model was pretty cool, he never really intended to become a model nor did he ever thought he would become one. He initially aspired and had plans to become a bunny farmer instead (how cute). Yet when her agency, Tourmaline & Co, saw him in a few of her social media pictures– they reached out to her and asked her help in recruiting her baby brother to become a model as they see potential in him. After a fairly short drive, the pair of siblings arrive at the agency's building and took the elevator up to the main office.

"Whoa.. This place is so pretty," Marius says, a bit awestruck as he follows his sister out of the elevator and entered the agency's office. The large room had a modern, minimalistic look to it. The floor was made with marble floor tiles and the walls were painted a light gray. Most of the furniture was white, though there was a handful that was either gray or black. The separate offices for the staff were separated by glass walls. On the wall, across from where Marius was standing, there were pictures of all the models that the agency manages.

"Sit here, okay? I'll go get my manager," she says. He nods as he goes to sit down on one of the large white sofas in the waiting room while she walked into one of the offices. He reached out for one of the magazines sitting on the table and skimmed through it. All the magazines that were there featured the agency's models. Marius stopped at a page of a girl, who was advertising a skincare product. She had a nice shortcut and pretty fair skin. 'She's pretty,' he thought.