You're The Light Of My Life (Part 2)
“Hey midget, wake up!”
“Rise and shine, unnie!”
Someone was trying to ruin my beauty sleep and I already knew who the culprits were. Sinking my face deeper into the soft, comfy pillows and ignoring the annoying voices did not do anything to make them get the hell out of my room. Just my luck that I always get stuck with the most frustrating roommates ever. And both of them had a black hole for a stomach. Now, they have resorted to plan B, which is vigorously shaking me and slapping my back multiple times to awaken me. Not to mention that they were using those awfully grating voices again. I reluctantly opened an eye to look at the time on my digital alarm clock on the bedside table.
It was eight in the morning.
On a Sunday.
Good grief…
With every ounce of patience already drained from my existence, I sat up from the comfort of my bed and turned around to show these two shikshins a piece of my mind.
“Don’t you people know what time it is!?”
“Of course. Its breakfast time and I didn’t see food on the table for us.” The towering girl who I was glaring at folded her arms as she said that in a matter-of-factly tone.
“Sooyoung, you’re a grown woman! Can’t you cook food for yourself by now?”
“I can but my cooking can’t be compared to the likes of yours, Lee Soonkyu.”
“She says the truth, unnie.”
“Yoona, please be a dear and betray your Sooyoung unnie for once.” I was secretly praying really hard that she would finally come to her senses and side with me instead of that food-digging monster of a glutton. My prayer was left unheard.
“No can do, shorty.” The giant intervened while placing her arm around the doe-eyed girl. “We shikshins have vowed that, as long as there is someone who is skilled enough to prepare better meals than we do, we will use our teamwork and loyalty towards each other for the sake of satisfying our stomachs.”
That very ‘touching’ oath earned a high-five with a pillow right in the giant’s face.
“I’m going back to sleep,” I muttered as I turned back over to the other side of the bed.
Seriously, these kids.
And just when I thought that my misery was finally over, those irritating nasally voices came back once again into my ears, preventing me from getting some much-needed shut eye.
“Unnie~”
“ALRIGHT ALREADY! I’ll COOK YOUR DAMN BREAKFAST!”
Normally, I don’t like to yell at Sooyoung and Yoona at the top of my voice whenever both of them complained to me about their hunger tendencies. I will feel bad for treating my juniors so harshly. But this was the last freakin’ straw. As I grudgingly got up from my bed and stomped past the two troublemakers, I took heed of the very audible snickering coming from them but decided to turn a deaf ear on it.
Living the college student’s life is no easy feat, especially if you’re living with a couple of pigs for a few years and counting. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Sooyoung and Yoona. I could never remember a page in my life where I could bicker so much with someone and yet still think that they’re one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. They’re also my two closest friends. We met in high school and from then on, managed to make it through and ended up entering the same university. They were a year younger than me but that did not hinder them from pestering and bossing me around when it comes to food. Their freakishly long legs being an added advantage to my vertically-challenged appearance.
After making my way through our shared dorm and into the kitchen, I forcefully pulled the door of the refrigerator to whip something up for the two gluttons.
“What do you guys want to eat today?” I called out to them as I mindlessly searched through the fridge for ingredients.
“Well…that’s the problem, unnie. There isn’t anything to cook in there.”
It seemed that my brain was still buffering due to the drowsiness of waking up so early. Right after that statement was how I finally realised that there wasn’t anything at all to stuff ourselves with except for a half-full carton of milk, bottles of plain water, a small bar of butter, and a lone egg sitting in one corner. Even the stash of lollipops and chocolate bars that Sooyoung usually bought weren’t in sight.
“Yah, why the heck didn’t you guys buy the groceries when it’s gonna be empty soon!?”
“I thought it was your turn to buy them on Friday.”
Sooyoung’s rebuttal refreshed my memory. Two days ago was when I had to tutor Sunyoung, or as she wanted to be known now as Hyomin, and the trip to the supermarket on that day failed to cross my mind. The morning’s ambush was typically my fault and I mentally face palmed at that. If I had remembered that it was my turn, I could’ve enjoyed a few more hours of beauty sleep.
“Alright, alright, I completely forgot about it.” I humbly admitted my mistake. “Just let me freshen up first and I’ll head straight to the store to buy the both of you a quick breakfast.”
“You mean we have to wait even longer until you come back here with the food!?” Sooyoung complained.
“Look, if you’re starving right now, just cook that last egg and share half of it with Yoong.”
“That won’t even fill a quarter of our stomachs! Besides, that’s a salted egg in there and not a regular egg.”
“An egg is still an egg, isn’t it? It’s not going to give you high blood pressure just by eating one.”
“Eww, I think I just lost my appetite at the thought of eating that all by its lonesome.”
“Then I guess I don’t need to go to the store now.”
“Yah!”
“Unnie!”
That was my cue to bolt into the bathroom, take a nice quick shower, and go to where I was needed to go before they both do more than use their highly irrational voices on me.
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The sound of the bell dinging as I stepped inside the cooling convenience store echoed throughout the interior. The place was decorated just like your normal, average, everyday store. Your entire daily needs sitting on the assorted shelves neatly and ready to be bought. My eyes automatically locked onto the cashier whom I was very familiar with. Her ebony hair was tied in a neat ponytail to accompany the uniform which she was wearing. A lock of hair managed to escape from the hold of the hair band and blocked her view of the magazine which she was engrossed in, causing her to tuck it swiftly behind her ear. I smiled at her behaviour whilst shaking my head at the sight. The girl would always take every opportunity she could get to press her face into those fashion magazines. Good thing that the store was practically barren at this time of day, seeing as I was the only one in the small premises. Her manager wouldn’t let her get away with this if he saw her slacking off like that.
I strolled nearer to the register and it successfully got her to break her attention on the magazine.
“Hey Sunshine,” she greeted me with that distinct eye-smile of hers, “Isn’t it a little too early for you to be up?”
“The kids at home were nagging at me about breakfast again. Only this time there weren’t anything in the fridge to make a decent meal for them.”
“What a way to start off a lovely Sunday morning. No wonder you look like you’ve just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I dismissed her implied statement on my frustrated mood and started to browse around the store. “Aren’t you supposed to be working instead of flipping through that, Tiffany?”
“Hey, it’s the new issue that just came out today! I can’t pass up on this.”
“I don’t think your manager would be so accepting of your obsession with magazines though. Or more specifically, your obsession with pretty ladies wearing clothes you can’t afford with your monthly salary right now.”
“Oh, be quiet Soonkyu and let me enjoy my hobby.”
That shushed our conversation for a while as I searched around for the things I needed. Hwang Miyoung, or Tiffany as she preferred to be called, was another friend that I somehow met and gotten to know by just being a regular at this twenty-four hours convenience store. Most of her shifts collide with my daily visits to her place of work, and from then on we decided to get to know each other. She is a bubbly and cheerful woman with a beautiful eye-smile that can attract anyone from all walks of life. She studies at a different community college and is majoring in English Literature. Oh, and she has an addiction with fashion magazines. Did I already mention that?
After I picked out all of the groceries that I had forgotten to buy two days before, I went back to the counter and not at all surprised to see Tiffany still engrossed in whatever she was looking at. Feeling a bit cheeky, I scattered all of the items in my hands onto the counter to startle her.
It worked surprisingly well.
“Yah, that scared me!” She yelled and placed the open magazine on her chest to calm her beating heart down.
“What if someone decided to come in here and rob the place whiles you’re busy reading that? That would be ten times scarier than me dropping all my groceries in front of you.”
“Fine, point taken,” Tiffany sighed as placed the book down and started scanning all the items.
With Tiffany diligently doing her work, my curiosity got to the better of me and I took the liberty of flipping through the object which peaked interests her so much.
“I don’t get it. I mean, sure there are some nice clothes in here and all. I wouldn’t mind wearing them but I don’t understand why you’re so hooked into this.” I said while looking through pages after pages of models posing at different photo-shoots.
“Are you sure you’re a girl, Soonkyu?”
“Last time I checked when I went to the bathroom, I am indeed a girl.”
“Well, don’t you understand the meaning of ‘eye candy’?”
I rolled my eyes at that phrase. “C’mon Fany, looks are deceiving.”
“But isn’t it nice to admire their physique?”
“You’re starting to sound like a perverted, old man…”
“No, no, not like that!” My ebony-haired friend denied and flailed around to prove her point. “I meant that wouldn’t it be nice to have a body like that?”
“…Now you’re starting to sound like a wannabe anorexic teenage girl.”
“NO, I-I mean… I-I…” This was the first time I’ve seen the joyful woman being such a nervous wreck over a simple reason for her addiction. She heaved a heavy sigh and continued, “Okay, I just like looking at the models in there alright? Go to page 60 and you’ll know what I mean.”
I nonchalantly obeyed and flipped to the designated page. What awaited me was a picture of a beautiful woman who looked to be around the same age as us, posing rather professionally in the streets of Manhattan. The other pictures of her were also done magnificently well. She had an aura to her that was very much different than the other models in the earlier pages I saw.
“That’s Jessica Jung,” Tiffany said, “and there’s something about her…” When I heard the tone of how she spoke about this model, I immediately looked up and saw a dreamy Tiffany lost in her own wonderland as she stared at the open page where Jessica was in. Oh my, this girl was love struck.
“Uh, Earth to Tiffany?” Waving at her managed to break her from her reverie.
“Sorry, I was lost in thought.” She gave me that eye-smile again though I could tell that it was a bit forced.
“Yeah, well I can totally see why you like looking through these.” I teased, not forgetting to add in a smirk for good measure. A blush successfully crept onto her white-porcelain face.
“But there is another one that looks a lot like her.” Tiffany coughed and changed the subject, “Turn to page 75.”
“Man, you even remembered the page numbers,” I deliberately teased her yet again and resulted in her continuing her original task of putting all of my stuff into a carrier. When I got to the page, I was greeted by another beautiful woman who looked very similar to Jessica Jung yet different at the same time. This one was wearing a body-fitting black dress which showed off her delightful curves, and she was posing by staring out a window with a sombre expression.
And she looked oddly familiar…
I furrowed my brows. I couldn’t put my finger on it but there was definitely something tugging at me regarding this woman. I just didn’t know what it was.
“Who is this?” I asked Tiffany.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to find out too. Actually, this model debuted several months ago so she’s quite a newbie, but she has a really good rep. I don’t know much about her other than she uses the initials H.M as her name.”
“H.M?”
“Pretty mysterious, right?”
“Pretty AND mysterious.”
“So I see that you’re interested with this one, huh?” Now it was her turn to tease me and wiggle those thick eyebrows of hers. Gawd, it looked so sleazy when she did that.
“Yah, do that again and I’ll shave those eyebrows of yours.”
“Meanie. That will be 19000 won, please.”
“Add in the magazine for me, will ya?” I said as I gave the book to her, much to her astonishment.
“Did you just experience love at first sight?”
“Says the one who ogles at Jessica Jung almost every day.”
“It’s not ogling!”
“Ah, so you do admit that you stare at her face almost every day.”
That made the cashier at a loss for words for once. I paid for everything and bade Tiffany goodbye as I exited the convenience store. It was fun teasing her like that. Going back to the dormitory, I looked down at the plastic bag that I was carrying and the picture of that woman flashed back in my mind.
‘Why is she so familiar?’ I thought.
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The image of that woman still plagued my mind as I walked the hallways of the gigantic campus towards the lecture room. I knew that I was over-thinking too much regarding such a mundane reason but I couldn’t help myself. There was just something about her. Her face…she was so damn alluring and gorgeous yet I felt like I’ve met her before. Oh great, maybe Tiffany’s influence had gotten the better of me. Sooner or later, I’m going to be the next one buying the next issue of Elle on a monthly basis. And I’m not even going to read most of the articles in there.
Pushing the door open and entering my class, I did my usual morning greetings while going towards my newly-proclaimed seat. Hyomin did the same thing the first time I approached her. Reading a book, although I couldn’t really see what the title was. But judging from the amount of cameras and colourful pictures in it, I’d say that it was a photography book or something of the like.
“Morning Hyomin,” I jovially greeted her as I placed my belongings down on the table. “What’cha reading?”
That reacted yet another startled response from her much like in the beginning. I’m still clueless whether she was just naturally tense around everyone she meets or if she didn’t want me to look at what she was so engrossed in. Whatever it was, she looked adorable being like that.
“O-oh, good morning Soonkyu,” Hyomin stuttered as she immediately blocked the book from my view. “I was just reading…stuff.”
“Stuff?” I suspiciously asked whilst quirking one of my brows.
“Yeah, stuff.”
“Care to be more specific?”
“Well…I don’t think it’s something that would interest you.”
“Try me then. Who knows, maybe it could be something I fancy in.”
She seemed hesitant for a while, but then succumbed to the puppy-eyed look I was aiming at her in the end. That always did the trick. Nobody could ever resist the puppy look. Well, except for certain people though. Especially the two gluttons I happen to live with. My bespectacled friend slowly revealed the book to me. It was indeed a photography book.
“I like taking pictures too.” I said while taking a peek inside it. The moderately thick hardcover book was filled with eye-catching photos of a variety of things from city landscapes, animals, people, and everything else that exists in this world. There were also articles and tutorials about the different functions of a camera and learning how to use them in order to get the perfect shot. “You wanna be a photographer in the future?”
“Kind of. It’s just something that I like to do in my free time,” Hyomin scratched the back of her head.
“That’s good. At least you have a hobby that’s productive, unlike me.”
Hyomin widened her eyes slightly when she heard that. “Really? Then what do you like to do as a pastime?”
“I play video games and sleep. Not really the healthiest hobby you can get yourself into, isn’t it?”
“True,” she lets out a small giggle. “But it’s kind of hard to believe that since you’re one of the top students in the class.”
“Nah, I’m not really a genius here. Apparently, the Kim gave me a failing grade for something I didn’t excel at.”
“Which is?”
“Social interactions.”
“Eh?!” the flabbergasted Hyomin stared at me in disbelief. “I should be the one getting that! Not you!” She then noticed how abnormally loud her voice was and proceeded to shut it up abruptly.
I was greatly amused at the amount of emotions that the usually shy and nervous Hyomin was showing.
“You’re socialising just fine with me in my opinion. Heck, you even offered to call you by your nickname on our first ever tuition class together.”
“That was…” Hyomin trailed her words and scratched her head again. “My real name is a bit of a mouthful to say. I was just being considerate.”
“How thoughtful of you, though your real name is perfectly fine, Sunyoung.” I said while giving her a sweet smile and returning back to the book in my hands. “These are really nice photos. Have you ever taken a shot and then thought that it was the best photo you’ve seen in your life?”
“I do actually. There’s a few of them I’ve taken in the past, but I don’t really have the time to capture new pictures nowadays.”
“Why not?”
“Oh, just busy with schoolwork and all.
I noticed a hint of sadness in her voice when she said that and for a moment, it seemed like her mind drifted to something else which was bothering her.
“Hey,” I caught her attention back by closing the book and giving it back to her. “When we’re finished with this current thesis on our hands, how about we hang out? We can go places and take pictures. You know, to clear off the stress that college keeps pushing onto us. What do you say?”
She perked up almost immediately after that suggestion, but then had a second thought and looked at me incredulously.
“You…really want to do that? W-with me?” Hyomin questioned whilst pointing at herself.
I quirked my eyebrows at her disbelief.
“I’m talking to you, aren’t I? Why would I kid around about this?”
That react a third thought about it and she finally made her decision by nodding her head and smiling gratefully.
“Then it’s settled,” I exclaimed and then extended my pinky finger towards her. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
We both made the childish pact with amused faces but with great intentions. The reason why I suggested the idea was because I wanted to get to know her better. Find out what makes her tick and what doesn’t. And also because…
She seemed lonely.
From what I’ve recalled, I had never seen her talking with the rest of the class. Nobody else seemed to be willing to make small talk or strike up a conversation with her. Was it because of her personality? Yes, I do admit that Hyomin was not much of a talker but I couldn’t say for certain when I only interacted with her for a few days. Maybe she’ll open up more when she feels more comfortable around me.
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After another mundane day in school, Hyomin said that she was able to free up some time to let me teach her more. I happily accepted the request and we decided to go back to the park which she was so fond of. The bench which we sat on last time was unoccupied so we took the seat again without much thought. The tutoring was pretty much the same as how it went the week before: Me patiently teaching while my friend diligently listens and jotting down notes with a focused mind. Of course, there were some moments of distraction like a hot jogger passing by, someone feeding the ducks at the pond with a bag full of breadcrumbs, or yet another couple shamelessly being lovey-dovey nearby. Most of those things mentioned were noticed by me, and it was the student who had to bring me back to the task at hand, and not vice versa.
Some tutor I am.
“You don’t look like the type to get so easily distracted,” Hyomin mused while tapping her pen on her chin. “Are you sure you’re my tutor?”
“Of course I am! I’m the best tutor you’ll ever get.”
“Sure you are,” she said as she inspected my face with much scrutiny.
I knew she was just playing with me though. The gratuitous staring match we had made us temporarily forgot about the papers we were supposed to write. I stared back intensely at the bespectacled woman with the geeky glasses in front of me. Hmm, come to think about it, she would look even prettier if she took those specs off and change up her style a little bit.
But wait a minute.
Something came back into my mind.
It was that model again.
The image of that woman…
Hyomin…
H.M…
…
HyoMin.
That sudden thought hit me like a brick wall.
“I win!”
Hyomin pumped her fist into the air after I finally blinked, claiming her victory. I broke out from my reverie but the dumbstruck expression I had was still plastered on my face. That made her noticed my strange behaviour.
“Soonkyu, are you alright?” she asked, concerned.
“O-oh, I’m fine. Just a...little surprised that someone can beat me in a staring game,” I sheepishly lied. “This is the first time I lost.”
Hyomin grinned after hearing that response. “Finally met your match, huh?”
“Nah, best two out of three. But we can do that some other time. Right now, let’s continue with the lesson.” I acted calmly and tried to get my head back onto the thesis, but my suspicions regarding the model being right in front of me kept plaguing the back of my mind. My eyes kept darting back and forth from the paper and her. Hyomin did have a similar face profile just like the model in the magazine. But then again, Tiffany’s model heartthrob also held a resemblance between the two. With the high numbers of people doing plastic surgery in this country, there would always be some similarities here and there. Anyone with the money could easily pay the surgeon to make himself or herself become the long lost twin of another person. And when it comes to the fashion industry, people will just turn a blind eye since it was considered ‘normal’.
The standards for beauty changed significantly because of that.
When the tutoring was finally over, Hyomin thanked me once more for taking the time to teach her again.
“Are you sure you understood everything I told you?”
“Positive,” she nodded jovially. “I guess you’re right. You are the best tutor I ever gotten.”
“Yah, don’t flatter me too much or else it’ll go up to my head,” I joked whilst packing up my stuff. At that moment, I recalled something that I had almost forgotten. “Hey, since we’re going to be seeing each other for quite a lot of times now, can I like…you know…have your number? So that it’ll be easier to keep in touch with you.” For some reason, it felt like a cat got my tongue when I uttered that sentence out. I might’ve looked completely pathetic to her.
“Oh, s-sure,” Hyomin stuttered, slightly taken aback by my sudden request for her number. She hastily took out her phone and we exchanged numbers without any problems, if you didn’t include the awkward moment we experienced in between switching our phones and silently tapping in the numbers. Once that was done, we exited the park and headed towards the bus-stop.
“See you tomorrow,” my friend said as she turned to board the bus which had arrived.
After waving goodbye when the bus drove off, I walked my usual route towards the dorm, with my brain still thinking about her.
When I climbed up the steps leading to my room, a short heavy vibration went off in my bag. Hastily searching through the contents of the bag, I fished out my phone and checked it for a new notification. It was a message from Hyomin. A curve of a smile went onto my lips as I read what she’d written.
“Hey. Just wanna thank you again for the lesson. You should really consider being a teacher next time after we graduate
”
“Daww~ really now, I’m not that great. What kind of teacher gets distracted so easily anyway?
”
The conversation continued throughout until dinnertime, in which I had to deal with the two gluttons. During that time when I was texting Hyomin, there was an urge in me to ask her if she ever wanted to be a model but decided against that before my fingers pushed the ‘Send’ button. I should wait until I had any circumstantial evidence before jumping to conclusions about it.
But then, I pictured her without the glasses and her sense in nerdy fashion.
She’d totally make anyone turn their heads and take a second look if she walked by.
‘Not bad,’ I thought.
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It was already nearing the weekend and we have made small but certain progress when it came to the tutoring. We decided that every day we would free up some time after school to get together and get some lessons done. I was quite surprised that Hyomin was so hardworking and eager. Usually, suggesting having tuitions every day after school would be an all-kill to a person’s energy. Laziness too would kick into gear.
But not for her.
I was utterly impressed. It made me envy her.
To be honest, I wasn’t all too keen to do this so often but for some reason…I really wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.
We’ve gotten to learn a little more about each other for the past few days. Underneath that shy and timid exterior was a funny and weird girl. Weird in a good way, of course. Her witty jokes never failed to make my abdomen have a workout as I burst out laughing without a care in the world.
But I wasn’t able to enjoy her dorky antics for a little while longer.
“Did something happen?” I asked in concern when I saw how she was rushing to pack up her belongings in a hurry the moment the last class of the day ended. From what I could tell, she looked pretty stressed out.
“Huh? O-oh, I have to go somewhere. Something urgent came up,” she blabbered out, stumbling a bit as she tried to awkwardly push past me. Giving me an apologetic look and a prolonged hold on my wrist, she said, “Sorry Soonkyu, we’ll have to postpone today’s meet-up till next week.”
“Okay then,” I muttered dejectedly. “Bye…”
A feeling of emptiness took hold of me as I stared off at the brunette’s back until it disappeared amongst the sea of students rushing towards the exit.
I wondered what had happened.
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"Tell me again why you had to drag me all the way to the beach? It’s not even summer vacation and I have a load of things I need to do,” I voiced out my complaints to the oblivious girl who was peeking her head out from the corner of the shore-house where we were conspicuously hiding behind. “And this ain’t a good hiding spot just to let you know.” I said as the owner of the mini kiosk in the shore-house kept sneaking a glance at us behind the newspaper he was supposedly reading.
“Shh! Look, there she is!” Tiffany hushed me up and made me look at the direction she was pointing at. From a distance, there was a group of people congregating by the shoreline of the beach. They appeared to be handling quite a range of equipments which looked to be devices intended for use at a photo-shoot. Come to think of it, there were some holding DSLR cameras with huge bazooka lens that could whack anyone’s head off if one was unlucky enough to stand right next to the cameraman when he was about to turn. I squinted my eyes against the blazing glare of the hot sun to get a better look at what was going on. Beads of sweat were trailing down the back of my neck and spine. At this rate, I won’t be surprised if I melted into a puddle. It was so damn hot, even though it wasn’t the summer season. Curse you global warming...
“Who? I can’t even see anything. Those cameramen are blocking the way.”
“Didn’t you listen to me throughout the whole time we were getting here!? It’s Jessica!”
“How can you tell?”
“By her legs.”
“Oh, for the love of-“
“Hey, I can see her clearly now!”
I looked back up again and like heaven’s light breaking its way amongst the clouds, the almighty Jessica Jung whom Tiffany had been gushing about, in all of her bikini-clad glory could finally be seen after some of the crew members walked away. All I could say was...
“Wow.”
“I know,” Tiffany replied while looking through her binoculars that she brought along.
No wonder she was all hot and bothered about this woman. The photos in the magazine didn’t even come close to the real thing right in front of our eyes.
The photo-shoot was about to begin and the model was ready for it. After the cameraman’s signal, the light-brown haired woman started to pose in a really...let’s say sultry manner on the sandy beach. I could tell that Tiffany was trying her best not to squeal like a fangirl as she covered her mouth tightly with one hand when Jessica was being all sexy with that half-gaze on her flawless face.
“Oh my god...” Tiffany openly gawked, “she’s so beautiful.”
“You’re drooling.”
“What!?”
“Just kidding,” I grinned.
My stalker friend turned to give me the stink-eye then went on back with what she was happily doing. “If you’re not going to enjoy this moment with me, feel free to do whatever you want as long as you don’t leave this place and ditch me out here.”
“Don’t worry,” I nonchalantly replied while choosing a vanilla ice-cream from the freezer at the kiosk. “I’m just gonna hang around here for the time being till you finally calm down from your Jessica high.”
After paying the stall-holder, I stood to the side and leaned against the wooden walls of the shore-house, licking my ice-cream boringly as I waited for Tiffany to end her spectator’s view. I could hear her mumbling to herself from where I stood. Probably spazzing about her crush. It was quite amusing to watch, actually. I was about a quarter into my frozen treat when Tiffany suddenly burst out in her loud voice.
“Whoa!”
“What is it? Her bikini slipped off?”
“Soonkyu, don’t take me for a pervert! It’s H.M!”
When I heard those initials came out from her mouth, my legs automatically rushed by Tiffany’s side and my free hand snatched her binoculars from her grasp. She lets off a yelp when her head yanked towards me since the binoculars were hung around her neck.
“Yah, you’re choking me!”
I ignored her noisy complaints and scanned the site of the photo-shoot like a hawk hunting for its prey.
“I don’t see h- Oh, there she is.”
And what a stunner she was. Clad in an outfit (or lack thereof) much like Jessica Jung, the woman known as H.M had her side viewed towards me as she was chatting with one of the make-up artist touching up her facial features. She then turned towards my direction to talk to another staff member. That familiarity I sensed in this gorgeous woman returned yet again when her face was in full view. And as if by luck, her eyes glanced up and they locked onto my own behind the binoculars.
I gulped.
I could feel my half-eaten ice-cream dripping down my hand and landing onto the sizzling sand below.
No doubt about it.
I knew this woman.
I tutored her for the past several days.
And here she was, in all her half-naked glory, staring back at the lens of the binoculars I was holding.
H.M was Hyomin.
Hyomin was a model.
Quiet and quirky Hyomin whom I met at school and started to get to know more of was a model.
A really, really... sexy model.
And all I could say was...
“Hot damn.”
To be continued...