Yuri smiled at Tiffany’s suggestion. “Yeah? Okay, if you’re so confident in me. I will.” A giggle escaped her lips. “Later? Like after school? Sure!” The thought of all this excited Yuri, it just meant more opportunities for fun. Plus, it could also mean more time with Tiffany, which is exactly what she wanted. Yuri’s smile faded though as she thought about it a little further. If she was signed, it would mean she’d be restricted. What if they told her she wasn’t allowed to go to certain clubs? Or hang out with certain people? Or not even go to the clubs at all? Yuri pushed her hair back. She’d never been under a contract or something even similar before. “Fany, they aren’t too harsh, right?…” Yuri gave her a worried look.
She sighed. “Of course, that class is a drag. I just put it’s time to better use.” Yuri flashed a cheeky grin. “Mr Baker, I remember him telling me off for sleeping in the library.” It was a hot summers day. A Monday morning to be exact. Yuri had a late night and she had already tried to doze off in her other classes, but was caught. Stumbling around unable to keep her eyes open she went to the library, right to the end of an aisle. Sitting down with her back against the wall she closed her eyes. She’d been there for nearly an hour before Mr Baker began to yell and shout. Of course that attracted attention. Who shouts in a library? Yuri remembers fluttering her eyes open to a frustrated middle-aged man. Out the library she ran. Yuri had never dashed so fast to escape in her life. “His face looked like he’d been sitting out in the hot sun for a week straight.”
Tiffany saw Yuri’s fear immediately, not only in her face, but in her voice. ‘No, no, they’re nothing like that - they don’t care what you do, really.’ The agency wasn’t a baby-sitter; rarely any agencies were. The general rule was to ‘do as you please, but just make sure you get the job done’. Her contract only designated their percentage cut of pay, as well as her obligations, but none of her obligations meant she was restrained in any way. ‘They’re not like an entertainment company, don’t worry!’ She grinned, patting her friend’s arm. ‘Like I said, all they do are things that concern your modelling - you could be smoking pot all night for all they care - just make sure you look good for the photo-shoot in the morning, y’know?’ Not that she smoked pot on a regular basis, but really, the only big no-no was coming to a job completely drunk or high and unable to work. Then you got in trouble.
‘Heyy, Mr Baker’s always been nice to me!’ Tiffany laughed, elbowing her friend playfully. ‘And he’s way better than the substitute teacher that we’ve been having anyway…’
[OOC: We can do the next scenario in a new thread ^___^]
He listened to her, but still half looked around at everything that was going on. Like a kid, his eye was caught by shiny things and lots of motion, and it was starting to get hard for him to stay still for too much longer. Shifting in his chair, he opted to turn toward her more to suffice for his own lack of movement. “Yeah, I just started at St Jude’s, I don’t know many people yet.”
He pursed his lips a bit, “Em, I was born in Korea as well, but I have moved a lot because of my parents, but we only spoke Korean in my home and other languages outside of it… I can speak Chinese,” he declared proudly, wrinkling his nose cutely, “But I like in Manhattan now, close the big park as well… I think… I’m still not too familiar with the area yet. But I live alone, my parents live overseas and my siblings are all older and married with families.”
He let out out a small laugh at his own words, a thought catching him. He couldn’t help but wonder about being that way one day as well, like his eldest brother, who already had 4 kids, two sets of twins, and a loving wife. Joon internally shook his head, since that wouldn’t happen to him. he would just keep modeling as long as his looks would permit him…
He offered another smile at Tiffany, “I just realized, you have the same name as the company that the shoot is for! that’s so strange, for that sort of thing to happen.”
She nodded as best she could as she listened, as the stylist and make-up artist worked efficiently. Unable to speak, though, she parted her lips to allow a soft gloss to be applied. The artist quietly murmured directions as she worked, ‘Look up. Open. Look at the ceiling. Wider. Look at my knee. Look to the left. Close your mouth. Rub your lips together. Look at me,’ while the hairstylist moved around with a brush and the blow-dryer.
When she was finished, her hair had been blown out straight, shimmering curtain, even silkier than usual, and the make-up artist had struck the perfect balance; her lips were full and glossy, her eyes delicately outlined, her lashes thick, but like all great make-up applications, the make-up was barely discernible at all. Tiffany looked at herself in the mirror, nodding. She couldn’t deny that she looked good - way better than good - and she smiled widely at the artist. ‘Thanks.’ She stood from the chair, gently brushing her side-bangs away from her eyes, tapping Joon’s shoulder with her fingertips. ‘I’ll just get changed, okay?’ She felt bad for making him wait - but hey, she’d been given a time to arrive, and she hadn’t arrived a moment later.
Tiffany walked to where a duo of stylists were poring over a rack of dresses and a neat pile of shoes beneath. Behind them, she spotted the prize Tiffany & Co. jewellery pieces she would be wearing alongside. As she stepped over to change, a team of assistants flurried around her at the stylists’ command, making sure her dress was in every way perfect, zipping, tightening, pulling and tugging. It was a white, strapless gown, with gentle folds gathering, slightly tightening over her chest while the rest fell fluidly like silk to the floor.
‘Perfect.’ One of the stylists stood back to admire her handiwork. ‘When I heard you were doing the job, I knew this dress would be killer!’ She led Tiffany to the table where the jewellery pieces sat laid out in the boxes, snug on their dark velvet cushions; the array of the company’s prize pieces was stunning - many from Tiffany & Co.’s yellow diamond collection - and all put together to create a brilliant, but not overstated set. There was a set of slender princess-cut diamond drop-earrings, and a cobblestone diamond bracelet interspersed with white and yellow diamonds, but the centrepiece was a magnificent cascade diamond necklace.
The pieces were placed on her carefully, adjusted and straightened, and Tiffany was led outside back to the hallway, to the top of the staircase. As she left the door, she looked over her shoulder at Joon, making sure he was behind her.
[lol it’s okay, I didn’t write that bit very well, sorry!]
Yuri tilted her head. “I’m-I’m not sure…” It wasn’t a bad idea. She could have her events managed for her, things planned in advance. Less stress and more money. All positive things. “I haven’t done professional modelling in ages, and only a few times Fany… Do you think I could really do it?” She looked over to Tiffany with a worried expression, that quickly changed to a smile. “Fine. If you can find me a worthy agent, I’ll do modelling. Then we can go on a huge, huge shopping spree!” Yuri giggled and held out her pinky. “Deal, okay?”“Oh, history. I plan on spending it sorting out my text messages.” Yuri tucked some of her hair behind her ear, a smile sitting upon her lips. History was probably her least favourite. She disliked the thought of school as it was, but she couldn’t tolerate that class. More like the people in it. Some of her classmates, a few girls, knew her sister. They made it perfectly clear that they didn’t approve of Yuri and her actions. ‘If I was Hyeri, I’d be ashamed to call you my sister’ Yuri remembered that comment very clearly. The three had walked past her locker after class and whispered it into her ear. Gossip Girl had blasted a few pictures of her latest night out. They weren’t scandalous, although one was questionable to those who didn’t know the truth. The angle looked like she was dancing and kissing a random guy, when in reality she was whispering to Hyuk, asking him if he wanted a drink.
“What about you Fany?”
Tiffany suddenly had an idea. ‘Why don’t you come visit the agency with me? They’ll totally sign you off, Yul.’ The modelling agency that represented her, IMG Models, was one of the biggest agencies in the country, and had several agents personally dedicated to her jobs and shoots alone. In Tiffany’s case, they worked with the Hwang family publicists for her benefit. They took care of securing and finding modelling jobs for her, as well as overseeing all the ones she was doing, and making sure the ones she’d already done went to the public eye smoothly. Her agency ensured that all she ever had to do was confirm she wanted to do the shoot, show up, and do her thing. ‘We can go later too, if you want. I’ll introduce you to the agents there who represent me; they’ll take care of you!’ The fantastic trio at IMG whose careers revolved around her modelling were some of the best in the business; skilled at hooking the most elusive jobs from the biggest clients, and making excellent connections, they were the sharpshooters in the modelling world that could turn a gorgeous face on the street into the biggest billboard in Times Square. Plus, they were pretty cool to hang around with. ‘If you get signed, we go on a spree!’ Not that she ever needed a reason to shop, but hey.
Tiffany made a face as her friend told her she planned to spend history on her phone. ‘Very productive, as usual,’ she teased, grinning. ‘I have English next. I hope Mr Baker’s not sick again…’ Her English teacher had been unwell for the past couple of days, and a boring-as-hell substitute had been teaching in his place; the entire class hated him, and spent the lesson chatting or catching up on sleep, or even eating.
Joon pouted when she cleaned his mouth off, though grateful since he wasn’t really that good with keeping his face free of food. Smirking a bit, he stole another one as she started to walk, following her up the stairs happily. Weaving through the people on the steps and to the room, he lingered behind a bit, looking around at the clothes and things that they had prepared and laid out for her.
“Oh! Of course,” he nodded and went to sit in the makeup chair next to her, looking at her in the reflection with a smile as he licked his fingertips clean and free of crumbs. “Those things are soooo tasty,” he said, enamored almost.
Lolling his head to the side a bit, he looked at his reflection, poking at and fixing his hair as best as he could. As silly and naive as he was, he wasn’t delusional with himself. He knew he was good looking, and he appreciated his looks and tried to take care of himself as best as he could without hindering his freedom to eat like a teenager. He never really had acne problems, so that was easy to solve.
‘I know, right?’ Still speaking in Korean, Tiffany laughed for a second before she closed her eyes and allowed the artist to begin applying. ‘You haven’t been in New York long, right?’ If her eyes had been open, she would’ve seen her make-up artist completely in the zone. ‘Did you just start at St. Jude’s?’
She wondered if he’d be easy to work with; even the most experienced models could be a pain, depending on what the shoot required. Some got too grabby, some were too distant, too absorbed in their own expression. Her agent at IMG hadn’t specified exactly what today’s shoot would involve; considering it was Tiffany & Co., and considering she had a male model to work with, there was likely to be some on-screen chemistry required. At least he wasn’t stuck-up, or completely full of himself, Tiffany thought gratefully. She’d worked with male models who clearly thought they’d been gifted straight from Mt. Olympus, and had been more arrogant than even the most pompous Park Avenue heirs she went to school with. There’d been one time where one such male model had gone so far as to overstep the line between modelling and downright inappropriate; he thought he had the right.
After the incident had been taken care of by her modelling agency and her father, that same male model had since been out of work.
Tiffany was allowed to open her eyes, and she chatted easily, as she always did. ‘I was born here, and I grew up in New York; that’s why my Korean is so bad… I don’t live too far from here, off Park Avenue near the Met, near Central Park.’ She stealthily grabbed another macaron as the hairstylist plugged in the hair-iron. ‘What about you? Are you living in Manhattan right now, or across the Bridge?’ English wasn’t his first language; perhaps he’d grown up in Korea.
“Ahhhh, okay! Maybe I’ll get to see some work that you’ve done,” he said innocently. He didn’t know what Gossip Girl, or even what the sites function was. He could honestly care though, if he did know. He didn’t care about trivial things like that, he would rather get to know people, face to face, and learn about their likes and dislikes on their terms.
He pointed a bit over his shoulder at an area blocked off for changing, “I think you can go over there… But hurry up! We have to start soon,” he said excitedly.
Looking down at the box, he wrinkled his nose. And while, he wasn’t the type to pass up food, the odd colors threw him off a bit. Shrugging, he reached in to take one with a smile, “Ah, thank you Tiffany-ssi~” He took a small bite to try the purple one, a bit surprised by the taste, “Wow! That’s really good,” he laughed, trying to be careful of the small amount of gloss they’d put on his lips to make them look fuller.
Tiffany smiled, climbing the stairs as she took another macaron from the box, before she saw a trace of the macaron filling at the corner of Joon’s mouth. Her thumb automatically wiped it away. ‘You’re so messy, it’s cute,’ she laughed, continuing up the staircase.
There was a trail of people running in and out of the left side of the landing, and Tiffany followed the tell-tale smell of hairspray and the slight burn of a hair-iron, Joon close behind her. She stepped into a room where interns and assistants were running around, pushing racks of clothings for the stylists, and carrying make-up products from place to place. Two dressing-room mirrors framed with incandescent bulbs were set up in the centre of the room, in front of two high-backed canvas chairs.
‘Tiffany! Over here!’ one of the make-up artists called, standing by the mirrors.
Tiffany turned to Joon, looking him over; he was already dressed and ready to go. ‘Um, just gimme a sec for hair and make-up…’ She smiled before she went to put her bag down, placing the box of macarons on the dressing table, plopping into the chair.
‘Hello darl,’ the British make-up artist greeted. She tilted Tiffany’s chin, checking over her complexion in the ligh. ‘Haven’t seen you since that job for Lacoste - but your skin’s still flawless…’ She clucked her tongue approvingly, and Tiffany laughed. ‘I try, I try.’ Meanwhile, a hairstylist sifted through her hair, combing through it, and Tiffany met Joon’s eyes in the mirror, smiling. ‘Sit down; we can talk while I get ready.’
[>u<]
“I know who Tiffany & Co. are Fany! It’s just amazing that you’re modelling for them.” She laughed a little, she was so proud of her friend. Yuri looked over her pretty bracelet. Clearly expensive. It was beautiful. Yuri had always preferred silver. It fitted Tiffany’s slim wrist perfectly. Even though it was given to her by her father, Tiffany probably got a lot of perks from her modelling jobs. Clothes, promotional things, shoes, jewellery, make up.
Yuri gave a little smirk. “I don’t know how I’d go about telling them they’d have to start charging me though. I think I’m going to a little underground one this weekend… I need an agent.” She joked and thought about it. It would be nice, to be wanted and payed for just for showing her face. Maybe she’d talk about it to the regular clubs she visited.
Yuri looked back over to the girls. Well, the two hadn’t hanged out for awhile. Maybe they were trying to be the first ones to send a tip in? Not really news worthy though, was it? “I don’t know, maybe.” She gave them one last look before deciding to ignore them again. There wasn’t really any way they could spin this into something negative.
[My bad! >.< ]
‘Okay, okay, just checking!’ Tiffany laughed, pushing her sunglasses back up her nose. ‘Thanks, though; I was surprised they offered at all.’ She suddenly had a thought. ‘Why don’t you get an agent, Yul?!’ It was a great idea; she herself had her modelling agencies - IMG for US-based work, and Storm for work based in Europe - to take care of potential various jobs and campaigns, plus she had the Hwang family publicists, who had one or two specific people working directly for her benefit. ‘It’ll make things so much easier. And you know you could always model.’ Her best friend wasn’t just pretty. Yuri was downright gorgeous; when she went out, she had an unrivalled, sexy, come-hither sort of effect - she would be hot property if she got herself into modelling. Come to think of it, it was unlikely they’d be competitors as models, so it wasn’t as if there was a threat to her own career - they were too different in appeal, though they could take on different masks for purposes of the client.
Tiffany tilted her head, careful not to look directly at the girls nearby. Gossip Girl loved information - any kind. So two of the Upper East Side’s biggest names simply sitting and hanging out together was still likely to make the blog. She could almost picture the title of the tip-off. BFF’s: The Kitten and Angel, Together Again… ‘Anyway, what class do you have next?’
Joon smiled at their introductions. Nodding, he reached a hand out to lightly shake hers, “Nice to meet you Tiffany… Hwang…” he whispered her last name. Suddenly, a relieved smile came to his face, dropping his accented English in exchange for Korean, “You’re Korean! You can speak it, right? My English is not good, a lot of people can’t understand me sometimes,” he laughed a bit as his own misfortune.
He was still at a loss from what Anya said, that he should know who she was, but he honestly had no idea. He’d only ever really worked with European and American models before, and she certainly didn’t look familiar, “I’m sorry to ask but… why should I know you…? Are you famous, or something like that?” He asked, quirking his eyebrow a bit, completely serious with his question.
He was new to New York, so he didn’t know the socialities and the high society scene just yet. Not that he was all to eager to get acquainted with it either, but it came with the job description. He would much rather just have friends, but it looked like he was going to club and drink with the rest of them, in moderation of course. Can have another incident like in Prague…, he thought to himself, biting the corner of his lip. He’d gotten into a lot of trouble that night, caused a lot of expensive damage and countless other things were on his rap sheet from that night too. It was one that he wanted to forget, and a world that he didn’t want to become taken away in again. He’d only been 16 when it happened, which made it that much worse.
‘Hm?’ Tiffany blinked at the sudden language change, a little surprised at his genuine delight. ‘Oh - uh…’ Managing to process what he’d said in Korean, she nodded, quickly reverting to the language herself. ‘Yeah, I am. Don’t worry, my Korean pronunciation is really bad…’ She smiled sheepishly. ‘I don’t get much practice; I only speak it when I’m in Seoul… And the only time my father speaks to me in Korean is if he’s trying to be serious…’ Which was mostly never. Tiffany sometimes had to laugh at her father’s inability to seriously scold her; he usually ended up pleading with her not to do whatever she’d done wrong again instead of any real punishment. Then again, it wasn’t as if she’d ever done anything that seriously wrong…
‘Ah…’ Tiffany laughed nervously, tucking her hair behind her ear, her eyes forming crescents. ‘I’m-… I’m not famous, exactly…’ She didn’t even know what she was. Sure, she got recognised everywhere; at charity events, at parties, dinners, school functions - on the street, even. Thanks to not only the society pages and modelling, but thanks to Gossip Girl, she was more infamous than famous. ‘My family’s just sort of prominent, that’s all…’ Not a lie. The Hwang empire stretched from Asia to America and beyond; her father’s decision to study abroad for university at Harvard and Yale all those years ago had solidified the Hwang branch expansion in the States. ‘And I’ve done some other modelling, too.’ Also not a lie. Tiffany thought it best to not detail her entire modelling resume. She didn’t want to bombard him with everything about herself; if he really wanted, he could always check Gossip Girl for the total background check, she thought musingly. She was telling the truth, but just… Censoring it.
‘Anyway… I should probably go get ready for the shoot… Do you know which room Anya said the hair and make-up crew was?’ She held out the open box of Laduree macarons as she began to move towards the stairs. ‘You want one? They’re kind of awesome,’ she confessed, giggling at her own bluntness.
Joon didn’t even notice that she was there. He was already dressed in his outfit for the shoot, his hair done and looking very handsome and well groomed. Smiling a bit as the coordinator stepped aside, Joon walked past the bottom of the staircase casually.
He was in a good mood, seeing as how it had been so easy for him to find jobs upon arriving in the city. His agent said it was because he took a break and now designers and the camera, missed his face. He could definitely say the same for himself. He missed posing, and pretending to other characters in his head, letting them show through his walk, or the way that he stared into the lense. And as cocky as it was, a small part of him missed being admired. He was one of the youngest to come out of Asia in a long time, and one of the most good looking asian male models currently working, so he had to take advantage of it, he realized, if he wanted to make it further and follow his true dreams. He had his foot in the door, and that was something.
Twisting the watch on his wrist a bit, playing with it, he was careful not to hit it too hard, scared some of the diamonds would fall off the face of the vintage Cartier, but when he saw nothing happened, he shrugged and took a seat, watching as they finish putting the last few touches on the set for the shoot.
He heard he was shooting with some young female model, but he hadn’t had the chance to meet her yet. He found himself looking around a bit for her every few moments. When his eyes caught sight of Tiffany, he froze a bit, quickly placing her face as the girl from the cafe… and from lunch outside school. The pretty girl with the sparkling black hair.
Tiffany froze. The boy she’d seen at the cafe - and the one she’d been seeing around school all day - was standing before her, looking much more impressive in his suit and tie for the commercial than he had in his coffee-stained St. Jude’s uniform. She had to give him kudos; he was a good-looking guy. When there wasn’t egg all over his face, anyway.
‘Oh, have you two met?’
Her thought train was broken as one of the directors of the shoot, Anya, came toward them. Tiffany looked at the boy, then to Anya, to the boy, and back to Anya. ‘Ah… No. We just um… I’ve seen him around…?’ her words were unsure, but a small smile curved her mouth as she laughed. She glanced back at the boy. She didn’t even know his name.
‘Oh. Well, get acquainted. Fany this is Lee Joon; don’t worry, he’s as experienced as you are. Maybe a bit more, actually. He’ll take care of you. Joon, this is Tiffany Hwang.’ Anya gave him a pointed look. ‘You know who she is, right?’ She motioned to the stairs behind them. ‘Have a nice little chat, and then get yourself dressed and done by Gav’s team upstairs; you’ve both met the other directors, right? Good, no rush, we’ve got all night!’ Anya chuckled, eyeing the box of macarons Tiffany silently offered. ‘Ooh, we’ve got plenty of food upstairs, but you’re going to need that sugar…’ Patting Tiffany’s backside affectionately as she walked away, macaron in hand, she called out, ‘It’s gonna be a long night!’
Tiffany laughed nervously as she and the boy were left alone again. She shifted her bag on her shoulder and held out a hand. ‘So um, yeah, I’m Tiffany. You can call me Fany though. If you want.’
Joon had to walk around at school all day with the stain on his shirt. A giant brown blob stick right to the middle of his chest, not easily hid by his blazer. After breakfast, he hadn’t had time to go home and change his shirt, so he ran to school dirty and feeling a bit uncomfortable.
Between classes, he dragged his feet to go outside for some air, catching glance of some of the students with a different lunch period, lounging around the back of the school and on the terrace outside the cafeteria doors. Leaning against the railing, he caught sight of a few passing girls, all of them seeming to move in slow motion and led by a Korean girl, with dark hair, and eye smiles.
Biting his lip a bit, he turned his gaze away quickly and headed back inside. He wasn’t appropriate to be seen by girls right now, not with that incriminating stain stamped to his chest like a child.
—————-
During lunch, Joon left school grounds, walking toward a cafe that he’d discovered not far from St Jude’s. It was a bit warmer out, but he still wore his blazer to cover the coffee stain. Dragging his feet, he queued into the long line at the cafe, rocking from foot to foot as he watched the girls from Constance file out for lunch.Pursing his lips boredly, he rolled his eyes a bit as the girls pushed through the line on the sidewalk to get to where they were going. Joon turned to the side slightly, his shoulder nicking shoulders with a smaller girl, same shimmering dark hair and smiling eyes glancing back at him for a moment and then turning away as if nothing had happened.
The girl from earlier… He bit his lip and quickly turned his back to face her, in slight shame. The line started to move and Joon used this opportunity to scuttle inside and out of sight before she could notice him again.
{OoC:: I followed the same thing you did, parts throughout the day where he saw her
[OOC: Yup, cool :) and sorry this took so long… tumblr was being a troll OTL]
Tiffany shrugged off her blazer, flicking her hair over her shoulder as the car turned onto Park Avenue, and she settled into the seat, sighing.
‘For you, Miss Fany,’ Dino said as the car stopped at a light, handing her a familiar box from the front of the car.
‘Hm?’ Tiffany raised her brows and took the box with the Laduree insignia, her face brightening; she lifted the lid and giggled.
‘Thanks Dino!’ She plucked a bright red macaron from the brilliant assortment. Her smile as she dug into the brightly coloured sweets remained palpable for the entire drive. She was on her way to a scheduled Tiffany & Co. commercial shoot; it was part of a contract that would require a series of other photo-shoots later on.
They arrived at the location, one of the old mansions on the Avenue, and Dino stepped out to open her door at the kerb, where assistants were loading cameras and equipment into the building. Tiffany stepped out of the car, bringing her bag and the box of macarons. ‘Thanks Dino. Gimme a few hours, okay?’
‘Yes, Miss. Call when you’re ready.’ Dino inclined his hat, shutting the car door behind her.
Tiffany walked into the mansion, waving at a few familiar faces; she’d worked with some of the crew members before on previous jobs. Her heels softly clicked in the marble of the hallway, when she stopped suddenly. Still dressed in his stained uniform, standing by the staircase and talking to one of co-ordinators, was the boy from Cafe Sabarsky.