Model (2)
I finally managed to calm Yu Jiyeon down after she went on another rampage, accusing me of deceiving her yet again, and sent her on her way. No matter how hard I dug through my memories, though, I had zero recollection of ever seeing that woman.
But that made no sense. An average face I might overlook—but me, walking right past a beauty like that without even registering her?
Either way, I sat down at my desk to wrap up the week. I was skimming lightly through my textbooks and sorting out report deadlines and team project schedules when it happened.
Bzzzzt!!!
My phone buzzed and skittered across the desk. Shin Duhyeong, CEO of Abby Paramugson.
"Yes, boss. It's Sunday—what's going on?"
"Hyung's got a special assignment for you. Listen carefully."
"..."
Was it really impossible for this man to just start a normal conversation? I got that he was an ad guy down to the marrow of his bones, but every single sentence of his came with this compulsive need to leave a strong impression.
"What kind of special assignment?"
"I need a model."
"If you need a model, shouldn't you be calling an agency instead of me...?"
"You know what I want. Not those kids the talent agencies stamp out like factory products with their fake smiles. I need a fresh, raw, amateur model with that genuine feel. There's got to be at least one girl like that at your school, right?"
"Well, with over ten thousand students, I'm sure someone would turn up if I looked. But you should at least give me a rough image of what you're after, shouldn't you?"
"Three conditions only. First: no artificial beauty, period. Second: no faces that look like you've seen them somewhere before. Third: she has to be at least goddess-level for her college."
"..."
The first two conditions were just window dressing. What he really meant was find me a pretty girl. But someone like Shin Duhyeong wasn't simply hunting for a cute coed.
Maybe this was another kind of test he was throwing at me. Someone incredibly fresh, someone who could pull every eye in the room, and yet still not lose to any established professional model.
"I'll try, but I can't promise anything."
"Find one by the end of this week. Hyung's going to sleep now."
"..."
He was heading to bed at the very hour he wanted me to start searching? And this was overtime—why hadn't he even mentioned the hourly rate?
More importantly, who did he think I was that I could dig up someone like that in a single week? Of course, one face did float up in my mind right away.
Yu Jiyeon. She had the kind of looks that would top any college she walked into, plus she somehow pulled off both sophistication and approachability at the same time.
But Jiyeon was neck-deep in LEET prep—why would she waste time shooting a commercial? And "model" was a stretch; it would probably be nothing more than a single fleeting shot.
"..."
After that, nobody else came to mind. A few faces flickered past, but the second I stacked them next to real professionals, all that stood out was how ordinary they were.
"...?"
Then, out of nowhere, one particular face surfaced. She might violate a couple of the conditions, but she still left a solid, unforgettable impression.
'Room 301, right?'
The woman I'd run into at the front door earlier. She came off a little cheap at first glance, but strip away the heavy makeup and she might turn out to be the unexpectedly cute type.
She lived in this same studio complex, so the odds she went to my school were high. If I put in the legwork and wandered campus enough, I might bump into her once or twice.
I fretted over it until Monday arrived. For now, I decided to just focus on class.
"You made it, sunbae?"
When I reached the lecture hall, Gyeoul greeted me with bright warmth. She lived the farthest away and still showed up earlier than anyone—that pure diligence of hers...
And whatever awkwardness had sat between us since Friday had completely vanished. The way she lifted her head like a fully opened white lily was so lovely I almost couldn't stand it.
Stare...
Which was why I just sat there gaping at her instead of answering her greeting. Shin Duhyeong's special assignment floated up in my head again.
Wouldn't Han Gyeoul work just fine? She was a little short on flash, but when it came to that pure amateur quality, she was perfect.
And if she actually got the job, we'd end up spending even more time together. With nobody else she could lean on but me, she'd practically be glued to my side most of the day.
"..."
Apparently I'd been staring in silence for way too long. Gyeoul suddenly flustered and whipped her head away, dodging my eyes.
Ugh... What kind of guy ignores a greeting like that? Just like that, Friday's awkwardness came flooding right back in...
"Heh heh..."
"...?"
Of course that was the exact moment Oh Sujeong walked in. The second she stepped through the door and caught the weird atmosphere hanging between us, she let out that greasy little laugh of hers.
"What's so funny, Sujeong?"
"You two disappeared together on Friday—what were you up to?"
"I went home. No idea what Gyeoul was doing."
I bluffed hard, trusting that Gyeoul at least wouldn't have spilled first. Luckily, Oh Sujeong didn't seem to have heard a thing.
"You both just slipped away alone and expected nobody to get suspicious? When you've even got your stories lined up this carefully, it only makes me more curious about what you actually did."
"Who said anything about lining up stories...? Don't you trust your own friend?"
"It's because I trust her that I'm saying this. Gyeoul's reaction is weird, you know? By now she should be flustered and trying to shut me up, but look—she's just sitting there reading the room."
"..."
She had a point. The only one skilled at bluffing here was me.
Gyeoul, who'd never told a real lie in her life, was just terrified the secret might leak.
Not that there was anything grand enough to call a "secret." But if even a scrap of Sujeong's teasing ever turned real, how crazy would she go next time?
"I heard Ain said something totally random. Everyone was saying it was the first time they'd ever seen Gyeoul look that cold."
"From Gyeoul's perspective, a junior being rude might've been enough."
"Hey, Han Gyeoul—you answer. Would you have reacted the same way if it hadn't been this oppa?"
"Sujeong? Can we please just stop now?"
Gyeoul's face had turned faintly displeased as she opened her textbook. Oh Sujeong, a master of knowing exactly how far to push, scratched that one last itch and then dropped into her seat.
Heh heh...
But she still wouldn't wipe that slimy smile off her face. I got so annoyed a ridiculous thought even crossed my mind.
If I just turned Oh Sujeong's suspicions into solid fact, would I finally stop having to hear that laugh?
Getting a tiny bit closer to Gyeoul didn't mean I'd suddenly scored a meal buddy. More like the second the two of us so much as shared a single spoonful of rice, Oh Sujeong would start spreading every wild rumor she could invent.
Bustling...
I set my tray on a cafeteria table, crossed my arms, and scanned the room for anyone who might fit Shin Duhyeong's conditions.
Nope... not her either... that one even less...
Just exhausted college kids stuffing their empty stomachs with cafeteria food. Sure, there had to be a pearl buried in the mud somewhere, but every last one of them just looked worn down and tired.
Should I give up and just call Yu Jiyeon? She hadn't seemed all that busy yesterday.
Shake shake...
Better to keep my distance from Yu Jiyeon. I still couldn't figure out what was going on in her head, but every time we met I felt myself sliding backward into the past.
I spent the entire free period wandering every college on campus looking for someone decent. After two solid hours of that, I came to one clear conclusion.
Shin Duhyeong had handed me an absolute nightmare of an assignment.
The first condition alone was already crawling with outliers. What woman these days didn't get plastic surgery?
Double eyelids in middle school, nose job before high school graduation—that was just the baseline. And I wasn't exactly an expert who could spot surgery at a glance either.
Which naturally knocked out the second condition too. Whether plastic surgeons had leveled up or what, every single girl had the same eye shape and the same nose bridge.
It wasn't just "I've seen that face somewhere"—there were three or four doppelgängers roaming this campus alone.
Tuesday came and nothing changed. I even left Yu Jiyeon's "What are you doing?" on read and kept hunting.
Click... click...
I had no choice but to lean on SNS. I made a throwaway Instagram account that had no business existing in my life and started mechanically searching hashtags with the school name.
But this route was even harder. Between the surgery and the AI filters, you couldn't even guess what the real person looked like.
Anyone who seemed halfway decent already had follower counts in a completely different league. At minimum they were local influencers—which meant they'd almost certainly already been exposed somewhere.
"Hey! Why aren't you reading your messages?"
I finally got caught red-handed Wednesday in front of the library. Jiyeon spotted me from a distance, dashed over, and bellowed.
"Sorry. I've been too busy to even look at my phone."
"Then what the hell is that thing you're staring at right now if it isn't a phone? You looking to fight me?"
"It's for work from the company. Even if I answered your messages we couldn't meet, and the conversations never last long, so I just parked them for later."
"You're calling that an excuse? What kind of work is so important, then?"
"..."
I couldn't tell her. The second Jiyeon got interested she'd latch on for sure.
"Why aren't you answering? Are you mad at me about something?"
"What would I even be mad at you about? Haah... They just want me to find one amateur model, so I've been roaming the other colleges nonstop."
"M-model? Ahem... Then why didn't you ask me?"
"You're not interested in that stuff, right?"
"You never even tried to find out whether I was interested or not."
"Honestly, you don't meet the criteria. They want a freshman from this year."
"..."
No matter how incredible Yu Jiyeon was, she couldn't reverse time. The sudden realization that she had gotten older hit her; she bit her lower lip in pure frustration.
"Clear your weekend. We're doing study group—you're coming to solve past papers."
"That damn LEET again... Did some LEET academy pay you under the table for product placement? I'm not doing anything until I find this model."
"Why are you so serious about some part-time job? Did you ask Jeong Ain?"
"Uh... she won't work."
"Why not?"
"If I get involved with her you'll hate it. So no."
On the surface it sounded like a decision for Yu Jiyeon's sake, but the real reason was different. Jeong Ain would never be short of boyfriends for her entire school life, and I planned to avoid crossing paths with her until graduation.
"..."
Suddenly Jiyeon's words dried up. Wondering what was wrong, I lifted my head and found her staring at me blankly again, lost in thought.
It was the exact same look she'd given me on Sunday. That sly expression, brows knitted tight, evaluating every last inch of the human being that was me.
"What now?"
"Weird..."
"So what is weird?"
"Nothing. Just contact me when you find the model. I won't get in the way."
"...?"
Just like that she turned obedient again and backed off. Every time she got that look in her eyes there seemed to be some common thread, yet I still couldn't put my finger on what it actually was.