There are Many Flowers in Seoul

Chapter Fourteen

Watching photoshoots wasn't nearly as fun as taking part in them. While Jin-hee sashayed about her stage and was directed to adjust the height of her arms, the nature of her stance, and to change her expression to a variety of emotional states, Rose sat on a nearby folding chair and observed the farce with a glassy stare. Hitomi was more agreeably occupied with chatting to the lighting assistants, going so far in her flirtations as to distract them from their roles, prompting Si-woo to bark at them to focus.

All Rose could see was a life she'd once lived and left behind, and all the falsehoods of the pageantry.

It was clear even to her that Jin-hee felt no joy in the clothes she wore; there was no bond between the model and the clothes. While she was skilled in acting for the camera, there was no light in her eyes, no glowing adoration in the way she embraced the fabric, and her smile was stiff and practiced. Rose wasn't sure what they were trying to express in the pictures, but if they were looking for the joyous moment someone found the perfect dress or pair of shoes which made them feel they were wearing an extension of their own personality, then they were missing the mark by miles.

'What do you think?' Yuta asked her quietly in Japanese.

'Does it matter?' Rose retorted, her chin in her hand, her elbow digging into her thigh. The longer she sat, the more she curled over, as though trying to render herself so small that she'd become invisible and ultimately disappear from the studio so she wouldn't have to endure another moment of the display.

Yuta nudged her with his hip. 'Come on. You always have an opinion. Besides, we're trying to sell this to girls your age.'

'I think it's boring,' she said. 'I guess her fans will buy it, so there's that. But it's just so... blah. It's like everything else out there.'

'It might be different when the other models arrive.'

'Or it might be twice as boring.'

'You're a real ray of sunshine, aren't you?' Yuta tried to joke. 'What's wrong?'

Rose shot a glance at Eun-young, and then looked back at the stage. 'Nothing. I'm just tired, I guess. Tired and bored of the boring clothes on the boring model who is super, super boring.'

'You didn't always find this boring.'

Rose bristled. 'Don't even go there.'

'Sorry,' Yuta smiled down at her fondly. 'Why don't you go up to the café?'

'Am I in your way?'

'No,' he said. 'I just think you'd fare better with sugar and coffee.'

'What about Hitomi?' Rose asked, not wanting to wander off alone and find herself lost in the building somewhere. Her sense of direction was nowhere near as poor as her mother's, but Rose hadn't been paying enough attention on the tour to trust she'd make it to the café without some manner of help.

'If she wonders where you are, I'll let her know how to find you.'

'Mr. Suzuki,' Eun-young crossed the room briskly. 'The other models have arrived.'

Si-woo stopped taking his pictures and asked, 'Tae-won?'

Eun-young nodded. 'He's just arriving.'

The man passed his camera to his assistant and swept a hand though his dark hair. A few of the shorter, more rebellious strands fell forwards in an almost roguish manner and Rose realised too late that she was staring at the man when he smiled at her and her heart defied her desire for control and sense by thudding again inside her chest, determined to be acknowledged.