Snapshot Destiny

Assuming the name Pavel, Guan Jian-Ying is accepted to Cyrillic, Premier modeling agency in Heihe after his younger sister Ning-Ren sends them a Polaroid of him in his father's old working clothes. Modeling is quite different from his provincial life helping at his dad's noodle shop and caring for the horses his family breeds.

Life as a model has made Ielena Li listless, the photoshoots make her frustrated. smiling for press meets and commercials agitates her. She longs for the simpler life of a 9 to 5 similar to those of company temps and makeup artists. Being a model is more than just a runway walk. It's waking of at 5 am to go to bed at 2 am, covering the eye bags with layers of makeup, consistently watching your weight. people see you looking your best whilst you feel the worst you could ever feel.

A chance crossing of paths between Jian-Ying and Ms, Li, makes the newest Cyrillic recruit wonder more about those sad, sad, eyes.

When the newest recruit passes Ielena in the corridor, time flashes before her eyes, back to when she was no more than fourteen and in the Cyrillic offices for the very first time She doesn't realize she's tearing up as her eyes pass over the blissfully ignorant face of the young man she's walking past.