WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
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Chapter 19: Fashion Show
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“Good work.”
“Ugh... yeah.”
“Ahyeon, wipe that drool off.”
We’d come to Paris for a fashion show.
My schedule here had been hell.
Not just any hell, but a hell made of people.
I was surrounded by people as I moved from place to place.
Skincare, getting dressed.
Changing again, taking photos, then changing again.
And these weren’t ordinary clothes. They were possible outfits for the fashion show, so I had to handle every single one with care. That alone took so much attention.
On top of that, I visited Andel’s headquarters in Paris and saw Andel for the first time in about two months.
Then came meetings and explanations of this season’s concept.
Briefings on how I should walk in the show, reviews, and yet more meetings.
There were interviews afterward, dinner schedules to check...
While all of that kept piling on the exhaustion, one crucial fact weighed on every inch of me.
“Ah... I want to play games.”
I couldn’t play any games.
In RPG terms, I had a debuff that kept draining my health, but no potions.
If I’d brought a laptop, I could’ve played at the hotel.
But how could anyone game on a laptop?
For a desktop purist who didn’t even play mobile games, this was a test of endurance.
Anyway, as for what those two hellish weeks had achieved...
“How is this the same model from earlier? People are calling you Andel’s new face!”
As Roselia put it, model Ahyeon had firmly established herself in the industry as Andel’s new face.
* * *
F/W Paris Fashion Week had brought together many famous brands and fashion models.
As a major event that set global fashion trends for the fall and winter season, it drew plenty of attention from the fashion industry around the world.
And Roselia had just told me that one Asian girl had become quite a topic of conversation, even if she hadn’t been the biggest one.
“Andel’s new face?”
That sounded a bit grand, I thought for a moment.
But models were the faces of brands, so it wasn’t an unreasonable thing to say.
“It hasn’t even been that long since I signed...”
Still, hearing that after my very first Fashion Week under the contract did put some pressure on me.
More importantly, judging by both the label and the general reaction, it seemed my looks had drawn the attention.
I’d expected that.
Entertainment agencies had been showing interest in me since I was little.
Getting attention for my face wasn’t exactly a surprise at this point.
After all, hadn’t I been working as a child model since I was six?
I’d received several scouting offers, from the big three agencies everyone knew to the fairly large mid-sized agency where Aseong had been a trainee.
I’d turned them all down, since I’d already been making a name for myself as a model.
Looking back, that had been the right choice.
The general public wasn’t all that familiar with models, were they?
No matter how much international hype I got or what contracts I signed, as long as I stayed off TV, fewer people would recognize my face.
They said the best kind of rich person was one whose face nobody knew.
Not having to wear a mask to the convenience store was a very satisfying advantage.
Of course, it was hard to make money in the first place without much public recognition...
But that didn’t apply to me, with my fame among industry insiders.
“I heard from the staff that everyone at Andel is really pleased, too. Looks like things went the way they wanted.”
“So there was a reason they were so eager to sign me.”
Listening to Roselia, I thought back to the clothes I’d worn in the show.
A lot of them certainly seemed designed to bring out the best in my appearance.
The outfit I’d worn for the opening had practically radiated cold.
Wait, had the fabric actually been a little cold? What if I’d caught a cold?
“Here, look at this.”
While I was thinking back over the clothes I’d put on like a machine, Roselia held up her phone to show me an article.
The show had barely ended, yet articles about it were already going up.
[Andel’s Successful New Season, with an Aloof Runway Walk and Striking Looks...]
There was a photo of me walking the runway.
My makeup was pale, and my gaze was lowered.
I’d put on the icy expression they’d asked for, but it was so cold I could barely believe that was me.
Still, seeing the article call me an ice princess and so on, I seemed to have left a strong impression.
“But are you okay with this? Almost all the articles are about your looks.”
“I like it.”
Honestly, hearing that your looks had drawn more attention than your walk or your poses could upset some models.
But I didn’t really mind.
‘Isn’t that a good thing?’
Models were all pretty to begin with.
And I stood out as pretty even among them? That was great.
Of course, there was the serious downside of people paying less attention to the clothes... but that was for Andel to handle.
It wasn’t as if I’d worn a mask when I signed the contract.
Andel must have considered that before choosing me.
Anyway, if I had to choose between becoming uglier and earning less as a model, I’d obviously pick the latter.
My looks had played a big part in making me successful, too.
Honestly, my posing and runway walk still needed work.
I’d even been criticized when I first made my international debut.
Not that I was blaming my mentor Han Seonghwa, a big fish in a small pond who’d taught me wrong.
Those things came down to natural talent.
Sometimes, someone scouted off the street who’d trained for only a short time would get more hype for their walk than someone who’d modeled for years.
Anyway... on that subject.
“Ahem, ahem... Ahyeon?”
The girl who approached me in French at this party for the models after the show was closer to the naturally gifted type.
“Selina.”
“I-I’m sorry about last time. I got the wrong idea...”
Selina was a female model I’d also met at Andel’s Christmas charity party.
She was the French model I’d had a brief argument with.
She’d drawn quite a bit of attention at this fashion show.
“Okay.”
When I calmly accepted her apology, she gave me an odd look.
“Y-you can tell me off if you want.”
Incidentally, I’d only learned her name this time.
She was an exclusive model for a famous brand on a level with Andel.
Her confident walk and poses had drawn plenty of attention.
Of course, you could ask who wasn’t confident on a runway... but I meant that she’d been the best at expressing it.
“A-Ahyeon?”
Now, though, there wasn’t a trace of that confidence to be found.
Considering she’d come over to apologize first, she’d probably been chewed out somewhere after that party.
Well, it had been full of industry people.
She’d probably heard it from both her brand and her manager.
On top of that, Andel had hosted the party.
She’d gotten into a spat with Andel’s next exclusive model at a party hosted by Andel?
Oof. I couldn’t imagine how badly she’d been told off.
“It’s okay, Selina.”
With that in mind, I gave her a small smile.
Our aloof model Ahyeon rarely smiled, but that only made her smiles more effective.
“Everyone makes mistakes.”
And I wasn’t particularly angry about that day anyway.
It wasn’t as if I’d raised my voice and fought with her. Getting angry over a kid whining would be ridiculous.
What really made me angry was when another construction site took our equipment to use and didn’t return it.
Especially on days when we could go home as soon as we finished the work. If that held up construction, I’d go over there and settle it with my fists.
“Anyway, I enjoyed your walk today. I learned a lot from it...”
As I spoke softly and gently, the young French model looked touched.
“Ahyeon...! You’re on Instagram, right...?”
She expressed herself as fully as a kid her age could.
For the record, Selina was twenty-one, an adult.
Well, she was the same age as our Aseong, so I supposed she really was a kid.
* * *
[Come visit France next time! I’ll invite you over!]
After boarding the plane, before switching on airplane mode, I smiled at the message on my phone.
“What are you smiling at?”
“I made a friend.”
I showed her the message, and Roselia smiled from her business-class seat across from mine.
“You even managed to make a friend?”
“That’s what parties are for.”
Weren’t they places where people met and laughed together?
Of course, they were meant for business, but for young models, they were sometimes places to make friends, too.
“Once we’re back in Korea, I won’t have to leave the country again, right?”
More importantly, overseas business trips really were exhausting.
The Christmas trip had been hard enough, but spending about two weeks away had nearly killed me.
“Hmm, probably not until summer?”
“Summer...?”
“There’s another event then, so if Andel asks, we’ll have to consider it.”
“Haah.”
I sighed and reclined in my seat.
Last year had been nice. Having a contract was exhausting.
Still... the money was different.
Thinking of the numbers written in the contract and the amounts deposited into my account filled me with energy.
Right. I should stay positive.
Hadn’t I finished one of the major events, at least?
The fashion show had gone well, and I’d made a new French model friend.
Andel must have been very happy with this show, too, since they’d given me shopping bags full of gifts.
It really was a smooth start to the year.
And so I returned to Korea feeling rather satisfied...
“H-huh?”
But that feeling didn’t last long.
Because...
[Viewers: 154]
“Minna, doko...?”
-lol;
-heh...
-yeah, this happened...
After two weeks off, my stream was dead.
Footnotes:
“Minna, doko...?” is Japanese for “Where is everyone?”
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