Fitting Model – 1

In the end, Ye-rin never told me what happened that night.

I casually asked several times, but each time she’d just smile awkwardly and say it was nothing…

I thought that expression clearly showed it wasn’t nothing, but I didn’t press further. Everyone has a secret or two they don’t want to talk about.

I decided to think that maybe she had a nightmare she was embarrassed to tell me about. Someday, when time passes, she’ll tell me.

And so, two months quickly passed by.

Though a short period, it was enough time for someone’s girlfriend count to change from 7 to 8.

Knowing it was shameful, he tried to hide it, but Jin-hyuk and I caught him. That idiot.

I aimed for grade 1 on the final exams, but unfortunately had to be satisfied with grade 2 again.

…Grade 2 is still good. Grade 2 is still good.

While there weren’t any other notable changes, if there was something that had changed… it was the way people looked at us.

Within school, Ye-rin and I were now practically an unofficial couple.

Neither of us disliked or denied those glances.

And the more this happened, the more impatient my heart became.

…I really need to do it now.

The confession that I had delayed far too long.

Now I had nowhere else to retreat.

Did I catch middle school syndrome or something…? All that nonsense about not being worthy of Ye-rin…

Of course, those thoughts I had then were nothing but sincere truth, but.

The more my feelings for Ye-rin grew each day.

…The more I wanted to move to the next stage.

It’s not like I don’t want to. I want to hold Ye-rin’s hand, k…iss, and do all sorts of things.

As I spent each day happily contemplating how to confess my feelings, summer vacation approached.

Was it because my head was full of thoughts about confessing?

Thinking back on it later, it seemed to be after that night.

When Jin-hyuk, who had been teasing me daily about when I would confess, saying he’d confess only after I did and that he was keeping the proper order, stopped mentioning it.

**

“Fitting model?”

The first day of summer vacation.

Ye-rin asked if I was free today, and I naturally said okay. Even if I wasn’t free, I’d have to make time.

So I suffered in the scorching sun to reach our meeting place, only to hear unexpected words from Ye-rin.

“Yes, my mom’s acquaintance asked for help, and I also want to buy something…”

“Something you want to buy?”

“…That’s a secret.”

…Is it a birthday present for me? Although it was still almost two months away, I had a feeling it might be that.

She gave me an expensive gift last year too, and I was a little afraid that this year might be a similar amount.

I’d be happy with even a cheap toy drum if it was from you, Ye-rin.

But I knew if I said that, Ye-rin would shake her head firmly as if to say absolutely not, so I didn’t bother saying it out loud.

“Your allowance? Did you spend it all?”

“Mmm, I’ve been saving up for something since last year…”

Saving money at our age…?

I made a mental note that when we get married, I should leave the money management to Ye-rin.

“The job… how does it work, will you do it multiple times? Or just today?”

At my question, Ye-rin looked at me intently.

“What would you prefer…?”

What would I prefer?

To be honest, I’d prefer if she didn’t do it today either.

How should I describe this feeling?

Possessiveness, greed, jealousy… pettiness. Call it whatever you want, but I didn’t want to show Ye-rin all dressed up to other people.

Only I should be able to.

“…I’d prefer if you didn’t do it.”

When I spoke honestly without hiding it, Ye-rin’s eyes widened in surprise, then gradually narrowed and curved gently like a crescent moon.

“…Today too?”

“Yes.”

“Mmm, I’m sorry. I already promised to help today…”

Ye-rin continued, saying “instead—”

“I promise not to do it next time…”

As if asking me to let it slide just for today, with that look and voice mixed with aegyo.

I could feel all the negative emotions I’d been feeling until now completely melting away.

“…Promise?”

“Yes, promise… I’ll tell you beforehand if something like this comes up in the future…”

…Is she a fox rather than a cat?

Far from being upset at my words, she seemed happy with my reaction, smiling and carefully choosing words I would like to hear—I felt like I was about to be entranced.

No, I probably already was.

**

So I wondered why she called me, and it turned out my role today was to be a one-day manager.

Apparently, she felt burdened and worried about going to such a place alone, but it was fine with me.

I wanted to see Ye-rin all dressed up doing modeling work up close, and it would put my mind at ease.

So we took a taxi, sat in the back seat chatting for a while, and soon arrived at our destination, which wasn’t too far away.

When we entered the photo studio inside the building, a woman who appeared to be in her 30s approached us in a sophisticated space that was neither too large nor too small.

“Ye-rin, you’re here? It’s been so long. Thanks for coming today. And this is…?”

“Hello, I’m Ye-rin’s, umm, how should I put it…close oppa…?”

“……Yes, a close oppa.”

Those gazes feel sharp…

When I answered and Ye-rin responded with a voice full of dissatisfaction, the woman in front of us covered her mouth as if she couldn’t believe it.

“Oh my, oh my goodness. Close with Ye-rin? Really?”

“Yes, haha…”

“……Very close.”

“That’s right…”

“What an amazing friend~? Oh, where are my manners. I’m the owner of this shopping mall. Call me Ma’am, Auntie, whatever you’re comfortable with. You could even call me ‘Noona’ if you’d like.”

“…Yes, Auntie.”

Thinking that ‘Noona’ would be a bit much, I chose a compromise, which made the aunt click her tongue as if disappointed.

Then, making a camera shape with both hands and looking at us while rotating angles,

“By the way, Ye-rin goes without saying, but the oppa also has such a good frame~? Do you work out?”

“Ah, yes. What’s a ‘frame’?”

“Hmm~ It’s like high praise? In the modeling industry, we call it ‘frame.’ It means you look like you’re from another world.”

Oh. I understood immediately.

As I nodded in understanding while looking to the side, Ye-rin’s face turned red.

“Oh my, look at these kids. What a shame. Today we’re only shooting women’s clothes, so we don’t have men’s clothing. If I had known, I would have brought some all at once.”

As if to prove those words, in the studio behind the aunt, only women were visible.

Hmm, atmosphere approved.

“Student, if you don’t mind, next time together…”

“……Auntie?”

“Ahaha, we agreed to help just today, right~”

…Wait. She agreed to help just today?

Clearly earlier she made it sound like she wasn’t doing it anymore because I didn’t like it.

When I looked to the side as if asking what was going on, Ye-rin hurriedly turned her head in the opposite direction.

But she couldn’t hide the ear of truth that peeked out through her hair.

…You predicted exactly how I would react, didn’t you?

Feeling indignant, I poked her soft side with my finger, and Ye-rin flinched with a sound like “Hyat…”

Poke poke.

“Heek…”

Flinch flinch.

What’s this? Why is it so soft?

With that addictive, soft, chewy texture that could kill someone with poking without them noticing, I ended up poking twice more without even realizing it.

If the aunt hadn’t been in front of us, I might have kept poking until Ye-rin got angry.

“How lewd.”

“It’s not…”

Yeah, right. You can’t even say anything when I poke you like this.

But she seemed to feel awkward about what happened earlier, avoiding my gaze. When I finally burst into laughter, she slowly started looking my way again.

“These kids turn me into an invisible person whenever they get the chance~?”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“Now I understand why Ye-rin was so stubborn.”

“Stubborn?”

“A-Auntie, wait…”

“She insisted her all-dressed-up appearance must be shown to a certain someone first, and normally she’s not like that, but she was so stubborn~ Even when I told her it would be difficult since this is a women’s studio, she said she wouldn’t do it otherwise, so I finally gave in and told her to bring you along!”

…So that’s what it was?

Both our faces turned bright red at the aunt’s revelation of the behind-the-scenes details, and we couldn’t lift our heads.

When I glanced to the side, Ye-rin, who had been exposed to consecutive truths, had a face so red I thought she might explode. Her intensely pink eyes were welling up, on the verge of tears.

The aunt smiled with satisfaction at our appearance.

“……I, I want to go home.”

Finally, as Ye-rin’s embarrassment exploded and she activated “I’m not doing this” and turned around, the aunt wailed apologetically and mentioned a 50% daily pay increase, which finally helped us resolve the situation.

 

The shooting officially began.

Perhaps because of what had just happened, I had thought about it somewhat lightly, but.

As soon as the preparation for shooting began, I felt the realism as I watched the fancy yet cute props arranged in the studio, and the people busily doing Ye-rin’s makeup and styling around her.

“Wow, Ma’am, is she really 14 years old?”

“I hate aging…”

“It’s not an age issue for you, though?”

“Be quiet, even I had skin like that when I was about 2 years old.”

“If you have to go back to 2 years old to compare, isn’t that way too different?”

“Oh my, look at those long eyelashes. Ma’am, does she really need makeup? I think she’d look prettier more naturally without it…”

“Hmm~ Let’s do just a little, just a little so it’s barely noticeable.”

“Sure~ Her boyfriend must be lucky? His already pretty girlfriend becoming even prettier.”

“Ahaha, he’s not my boyfriend yet…”

“Kyaa, did you hear that? Not ‘yet’ she says-.”

…Wow, this is draining.

Just listening to the conversation in a place with only women was draining enough, but when they insisted on including me in the conversation and squealing, I felt tired even though I hadn’t done anything.

I hid in a corner, meaning “please talk without me,” and soon it seemed the preparations were finished as I saw everyone moving busily again.

“…Oppa.”

Turning my head at Ye-rin’s voice from beside me, I saw Ye-rin who was always pretty, but now even more beautiful after being all dressed up.

She was always like this, but with makeup and styling, she now looked so adult-like that it was hard to believe she was really 14.

“Did you come to keep your promise?”

“…That’s not allowed to be mentioned.”

When I mentioned the promise the aunt had told us about—showing herself to someone first—Ye-rin blushed and hit my shoulder with a thump.

At that pleasant pain, I smiled and grabbed her hand that had touched my shoulder.

“You’re so pretty. Really.”

“…Yes, thank you.”

No fancy words were needed.

Because Ye-rin would know the sincerity in my voice right now.

 

“Ye-rin, smile a little. Just a little more~? Kimchi~”

The photoshoot that everyone thought would be quickly finished—”Hmm, looks like we’ll get off work on time today”—wasn’t progressing as expected due to an unexpected variable.

That variable was.

“K-Kimchi…”

Ye-rin was not used to photo shoots.

Since Ye-rin usually didn’t take selfies, let alone have interest in photography besides occasionally taking pictures with me, she seemed to have difficulty with expressions and poses.

“Hmm~ She’s still pretty, but it’s a bit of a shame…?”

“I’m sorry…”

“No, no, Ye-rin! What do you have to be sorry for? Everyone struggles at first, so don’t worry about it.”

The aunt said it was fine, but Ye-rin still seemed uncomfortable, and I could see her expression becoming more rigid.

…What should I do? As I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help struggling Ye-rin, my eyes met with Ye-rin’s blue eyes.

That gaze reminiscent of sapphire seemed to be whispering to me for help, so I couldn’t just stand still.

“Um…Auntie?”

“Oh my, what is it suddenly? Do you need something?”

“No, I was wondering…could I sit over there?”

The place I pointed to was at an angle that wouldn’t appear in the camera, directly in front of Ye-rin.

The aunt seemed to understand as soon as she saw the position and immediately gave me the okay sign.

“Oof…”

Wow, I hadn’t noticed from behind, but entering the shooting area, the pressure was no joke.

The brightly shining lights, the camera lenses all focused on one spot.

So she had been alone in a place like this.

But now there were two of us, so we could share the burden, couldn’t we?

With such thoughts, I sat in front of you.

Ye-rin seemed surprised by my sudden movement, but soon her face began to soften as she saw me sitting down.

The blue hue turned to pink. A clear change that anyone could see was captured in my eyes.

Fight

ing

As I mouthed words of encouragement while looking at Ye-rin, her smile was no longer the stiff one from earlier.

It was a dazzling smile full of shyness that made everyone admire it.

Click-

The photoshoot that took longer than expected only needed one shot to be completed.