Shine like the Stars

03 | jennie

"So today's a 'messy beach waves' type of shoot, huh?" my best friend and hairstylist, Lee Chaerin asked. I sighed, nodded and pulled out my phone. It was routine at this point; I would scroll through the comments on my latest shoot and tell her about them while she did my hair. Then my other best friend and fashion designer, Kwon Jiyong would come and dress me for my shoot that day.

If you haven't gathered it by now, I'm a model under Choi Modeling. I've always been so stylish, as my mom would say, and she practically pushed me to audition when the company was looking for new models. So I did, and, surprisingly, I got in.

Choi Modeling is known for their beautiful and perfect models, and I saw myself as the complete opposite. But the CEO, Choi Minhyuk, told me I was exactly what they were looking for. And I've been modeling for them ever since.

I was about to open my social media when the door slammed open. Chaerin and I, both startled, looked at the door to see my other other best friend and fellow model, Do Hanse, in the doorway. His hair was curly and frizzy, his lip ring and eyebrow piercing shining under the fluorescent lights of my dressing room.

He looked confused as to why we were so startled then turned shy, rubbing his neck and saying, "Sorry about that...I just finished my shoot and wanted to stop by." "Well, you certainly made quite the entrance," Chaerin muttered, getting her materials ready.

Hanse walked over and sat down beside me. He looked at my phone then back up at me. "C'mon, I wanna hear the comments! You looked stunning in the last shoot we did," he said, smiling. The last shoot was themed "Nights Out" and Hanse and I were paired together, and even I admitted we looked good together.

I opened my social media and clicked on the last post I made, a week ago and titled "Nights Out with @ han_.se ." I started looking through the comments section and stiffened.

Most of the comments were positive and defending me, but there were quite a few negative ones.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm used to the hate by now. But this...this was a lot, even for me. Comments ranging from calling me ugly to insulting my dress (Jiyong would not be happy about that) to even some calling Hanse unprofessional because of his piercings. Choi Minhyuk even said that he loved Hanse's piercings, saying that they made him stand out.

"What?" Hanse asked, his grin falling slightly. I didn't realize Chaerin had been reading the comments over my shoulder and she tsk-ed. "Don't listen to them, love. You two worked hard to be in one of the best and well-known modeling companies. They don't know how hard you two worked to be where you are today."

"They're hating?" Hanse asked, getting up to move behind me. I started scrolling and I heard him hum in disapproval. "They're blind. We looked hella good in that shoot and no one can tell me different." "Exactly. Listen to Hanse, love." Chaerin asked, running a brush through my hair.

I couldn't help but keep focusing on the hate. It's been getting to me lately, and I haven't even properly addressed it with someone. I don't want people to know that it's getting to me. It's never gotten to me before and I don't know why it's starting now.

"Wait, that one said something about a video on Twitter. I swear if they're starting dating rumors again--" Hanse started. "Calm down, Se. I'll look now." I said, clicking off the app to go to Twitter.

Sure enough, I saw that I was tagged (several times) in a tweet that had a video of me being "rude". I clicked on the video and it was a three-second clip of me waving cameras and paparazzi away. I heard Hanse scoff and Chaerin huff behind me.

The comments were even worse here. Comments on my physical appearance and my RBF (resting b*tch face) were the most prominent. Some even said that I must be terrible to know in person if that's how I treat complete strangers.