Chapter 704

Gaeul grabbed onto the hem of her one-piece dress. She couldn’t believe that this rather fluttery yellow dress cost 700 thousand won. It looked like it would only cost 30,000 won at the shopping mall in front of her house.

“Models, please get ready,” said the woman, who she saw when she just arrived at the studio, with a clap.

“I think I’m going to suffocate if I keep wearing this,” Heewon grumbled.

He was wearing a gray check-patterned s.h.i.+rt and indigo overalls. He kept touching the blackish-red bow tie around his neck as though he found it uncomfortable. Whenever he did so, the stylist next to him told him not to touch it.

“Looks good on you.”

“Don’t laugh.”

Gaeul pouted. As Heewon usually wore similar-looking t-s.h.i.+rts and trainers usually, overalls and proper formal shoes would feel like nothing but annoying pieces of cloth and leather.

“Should we start with you, Mr. Heewon?”

The photographer told him to stand in the middle of the set. There were two old tables and three chairs without backrests. One of those chairs had fallen down.

“You said that this is your first time modeling, right? For now, please stand in the middle like that. As for your face, keep it expressionless as much as possible. However, don’t tense or relax your eyes too much.”

Heewon stood upright. Gaeul covered her mouth and chuckled, but the photographer didn’t say anything.

“Can you push your right leg outwards from that position just a little? Yes, that’s good.”

Heewon did exactly what the photographer told him to do. He reached his hand out when he was told to, and he turned his head when he was told to. Heewon’s awkward-looking body eventually dissolved into the set naturally.

“Mr. Heewon. Can you sit down on the chair?”

Heewon sat upright on the chair with his hands clasped by his lap, and his knees were together like a goody-two-shoes waiting for a graduation alb.u.m photo. Gaeul crossed her arms. When she looked at him along with the bookshelf behind him, she felt like a smart child had entered his father’s study. It suited him, but whenever she thought of how he acted usually, she couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Can you do a pose that you want to do? Anything is fine. If that’s too difficult, try using your arms first. After that, your legs, then your expression. There’s no need to be so confused about it. You just have to do things one by one.”

The photography set, which she thought would be very strict and would only be filled with shutter sounds, was filled with laughs and light jokes instead. The photographer, who was in his mid 30s, was very witty to the point that he might as well switch jobs to being a host for a TV program. Heewon made little changes to his expressions and posture as he heard his words. His awkward-looking pose gradually became better. His hands, which would usually be placed awkwardly by the side, would point at objects or be placed naturally on his body, and his eyes, which only looked at the lens, eventually looked everywhere around the studio.

“Good. It’s fine to become daring. You can smile, and crying is fine too.”

“Can I take off this tie?”

“It looks good on you, is it too suffocating?”

“Yes. I just want to throw it away.”

“Hm, that sounds good too. Wait a moment.”

The photographer approached Heewon with the camera. He kneeled before getting a side view of Heewon.

“Can you try throwing the bow tie on the ground with all your might? I’ll give you the signal.”

“Can I really throw it?”

“Yes, put all your strength into it!”

When the photographer started counting from three, Heewon grabbed the tip of the bow tie and took it off before he eventually threw it on the ground after the count of one. Heewon smiled as though he felt refreshed.

“It’s good, but we did style you so that the bow tie completes the picture, and taking it off blurs out the overall atmosphere. Miss Minjeong, please put it back on him.”

The stylist, who had been waiting on the side, quickly rushed over and put the bow tie around Heewon’s neck again. Heewon jerked his shoulders, as though he was a dog that didn’t like being put on a choker, before he eventually became docile.

“This is so exhausting.”

“That exhausting expression is good too.”

Regardless of what Heewon did, the photographer did not say a single bad thing. The camera motor kept moving relentlessly, and shutter sounds filled the s.p.a.ce.

“Can you make a drowsy expression now?”

The photographer, who was talking with Gyeonmi while looking at the monitor for a while, gave a new request. Heewon’s face immediately turned into a daze. It was a drowsy expression that would make anyone yawn just by looking at him.

“That looks good. Can you lean on the wall and sit down? Think of it as getting a rest after a long work session.”

The shoot gained speed. The shutter sounds became a lot more frequent. It looked like the camera was definitely on burst mode. Heewon seemed to have adapted, as he slightly reacted at the shutter sounds and changed his body. Whenever his arms waved out, the photographer excitedly shouted out ‘good’.

“Finished. Can you come over?”

Heewon walked over to the monitor. Gaeul stood next to him. The photographer dragged a few files with the mouse and organized them before he pressed down on the keyboard to show them in order.

“In the photos taken at first, your eyes look unstable, and your body looks inconsistent, but you can see the change as time goes by, right?”

Gaeul exclaimed as she looked at the photos. The later photos made her wonder if it was the same Lee Heewon. When the photographer pressed a few b.u.t.tons on the keyboard, the photos turned monochrome, and they gave off a dreamy sensation that was in tandem with Heewon’s drowsy-looking eyes.

“How are they? Did you find any photos you like?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Choose some anyway. It is important for you to discern which photos are good and for the photographer to find out about your preferences. In the future, you’ll be working with other people a lot, so the more professional you become, the less good it is for you to be so vague. This is the case for both the photographer and the model.”

“Then I like this one and this one. It makes me happy just by looking at them.”

Heewon picked two photos. The first one was where he had his eyes closed as though he was sleepy, and the second one was where he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and looking slightly down.

“Why do you like these two?”

“Because I look like I’m sleeping.”

The photographer put on a thick smile. He selected a few photos including the ones that Heewon chose before moving them into another folder.

Gaeul started getting nervous. She wasn’t aware of the pa.s.sage of time when Heewon was shooting, but as soon as she realized that it was her turn, she wondered if she could do well. On top of that, Heewon managed to bring out his unique traits and finished the shoot successfully. She now felt pressured to do well.

“Miss Gaeul, shall we start?” The photographer said with a smile.

Gaeul nodded and stood in the middle of the set. There was a black piece of cloth covering the giant lights on the side, and the heat from that light was quite intense. It felt like it could be used as a heater. Now, she found Heewon amazing for being so calm in front of it. It was on a completely different level from the lights she saw when she helped out Maru.

“There should be some heat. Don’t get conscious of it though. If you keep thinking that it’s hot, you might really start sweating.”

“Yes.”

“Miss Gaeul.”

“Yes?”

“What did you eat for lunch today?”

“Lunch? Four pieces of kimbap.”

“Oh, my. You must be hungry then. Don’t you want to eat a lot of things?”

“There are a lot of things I really want to eat.”

“For example?”

“Fries! I like anything fried.”

“Fries, huh. I love them too. There’s nothing that tastes better than fries during the late night.”

“Right, I feel you.”

“Becoming an actress is hard after all, right? Sometimes, you have to skip your meals, and you have to ignore it even if there’s something tasty in front of you. Sometimes, you have to smile even though you feel sad.”

“There’s that, but I enjoy acting, so it’s fine.”

“So you’re an adult already, Miss Gaeul. I still can’t shake off such temptations.”

The photographer kept talking to her without holding the camera. He asked what she liked, what her favorite animal was, if she could differentiate between different dog species, and things like that. Eventually, Gaeul felt like she had become used to the heat and the air inside the studio, as well as the gazes of the people. At that moment, the photographer picked up the camera. She was inwardly a little startled. It felt like the photographer was saying ‘I see you’re ready now’ just at the right time.

“You can put your eyes on anything you want. But looking at empty air must be quite difficult, right? There’s a poster behind me right? Can you have a look at that one for a sec?”

Just as the photographer told her to, Gaeul looked at the poster on the wall. That poster, expressed with a violent mix of gray and white, showed an elderly with cloudy eyes was looking right ahead. Gaeul felt a chill. She felt as though the elderly on the poster was about to pop out at any moment.

“That kind of feeling is good. The disparity between your colorful clothes and your expression is good to look at. But your expression does look a little stiff.”

“Oh, I’m sorry about that. I was focused on the poster so I subconsciously….”

“Oh really?”

The photographer turned around before laughing awkwardly.

“I see. That poster is definitely quite burdensome to look at for a long time. I might sound like I’m flattering myself, but I actually felt really proud after shooting that poster. It gave me the chills the moment I saw it.”

“Yes. It really does give off that feeling.”

“Do you recognize who it is?”

Gaeul squinted. She was overwhelmed by the elder’s eyes that she didn’t have the chance to look at his whole face. When she looked at the elder with more leisure, Gaeul exclaimed,

“Isn’t that Sir Yoon Moonjoong?”

“Yes, it is. Do you perhaps know what Twilight Struggles is?”

“Yes! I do.”

Gaeul replied loudly. How could she not? It was Maru’s first appearance in a film.

“It’s one of the posters for that movie. But it wasn’t used. Apparently, senior Yoon’s eyes are too much to bear. Actually, I felt rather frustrated. The photo turned out so good. Miss Gaeul, how is it? Do you like that photo?”

“Yes,” she replied without hesitation.

While she felt scared, she was able to see that the photo was a really good one. It was a photo that shook one’s emotions subconsciously. There was no way she didn’t like it.

“That kind of expression isn’t something you can make with just a good camera and a good photo editing program. Honestly speaking, that senior will probably look like that even with a disposable camera. That’s because that’s the power he himself possesses. Of course, you can shoot photos like that too.”

“Me?”

“People all have their unique atmospheres. Of course, it’ll get deeper with experience and time, but there are definitely characteristics you can only show at that certain moment. Miss Gaeul, can you try smiling?”

Gaeul hesitated before smiling. It was something she did numerous times when acting, but it was quite hard to maintain a static smile.

“Miss Gaeul, you can feel that the smile is a little awkward too, can’t you?”

“Yes.”

“It might be because it’s your first time, but it might also be because you’re only moving your muscles. When you’re acting, your expressions aren’t separate from your emotions, right? It’s the same when it comes to photos. It might be more static and more momentary compared to a video, but emotions definitely do get captured in it. I want to see your pure smile, Miss Gaeul. What might make you smile in comfort? Family? Friends? Or maybe a lover?”

Gaeul had a look at a few of the images that swirled inside her head before smiling. The photographer started pressing the shutter.

“It looks okay, but you do seem rather uneasy.”

“Is that so?”

Gaeul was startled because she felt like he found out what she was thinking. What she thought of just now was Maru’s face. She wanted to be with him, but she kept thinking about her lack of qualities and how she decided to put some distance between them for a while. It was true that she liked him, but whenever she thought about him, she subconsciously ended up comparing herself to him. Did she have what it took to stand on the same stage as Maru right now?

“How about something else? I want to see you more relaxed.”

A relaxed smile, huh. Just then, she saw Heewon yawn like a frog behind the lights. He looked like he would actually go to sleep if there was a blanket nearby. Seeing his goofy att.i.tude, she felt like a fool for being so worried. Just then, a smile crept onto her face.

“That’s it, that one’s good. Remember that feeling and let’s have your right arm grab your left for a moment, shall we?” said the photographer.

Gaeul did what he said and smiled according to her memory.