SH 2014: Jinx for psharp10
For: psharp10
From: ANONYMOUS until May 22, 2014
Title: Jinx
Rating: PG
Pairing(s)/Focus: platonic Suho/Jonghyun
Length: 4400 words
Summary: Sometimes working at Star Model Agency is great. Sometimes it really isn’t. This is one of those days.
Notes: Thank you to Y and S for helping me with ideas for this fic, and to Z and L for beta-reading. I hope you enjoy it. I loved that you wanted Suho/Jonghyun, so I knew that would be what I wrote. I’m sorry it’s not overtly romantic, but I’m 100% sure you can read it into it.
One day South Korea wakes up and decides that it needs models. Lots of them. Almost overnight, modelling agencies pop up out of the woodwork and more become the advertisers for various brands, taking over from cookie-cutter pop idols.
Models are usually tall, but there are not as many tall people in South Korea as in the West. To fill a gap in the market, a company called Star Model Agency is created, for shorter models. For women, this means 163cm and below, for men, 177cm.
Clocking in at a mere 170cm, give or take the shoe lifts (nobody needs to know if he’s actually 167cm or not), Kim Joonmyun, known as Suho, is one of SM and Korea’s most senior top male models, captivating women and men alike with his kind smile and easy-on-the-eye features. He’s a wild card in an agency known for its looks; he holds a Bachelor’s in English from a SKY University and is well-known for his knowledge on various topics. A clever model. It’s a stereotype, albeit it, but it’s one that’s not a complete fallacy. Not all of the others have the talent or the brains that he has.
One day, when Joonmyun is twenty-eight, all of that is brought to an end when the catwalk at one of his runway shows collapses beneath him, permanently disfiguring him with facial scars and a leg so broken it never healed straight, regardless of the leg splint he’d been in for months. Suho’s modelling career is over.
But Joonmyun loves the work he does, and loves the company. He asks if they have an opening elsewhere, and he gets offered a managerial position. Five models to manage, to control. Five models to fix deadlines for, to talk with magazine editors and photographers about, to make sure are up in the morning and dieting properly, to babysit. Five models all his very own. The thought of leading, of being in charge, bubbles through his veins, spreading the joy throughout his whole body. There’s nothing he’d like more, except from to be on stage once more-now a distant dream, even if he had plastic surgery to fix his scars. He’ll never walk properly again, which is hard for a catwalk model but manageable as a regular person.
He’s been a manager for over a year at this point in time. He’s good at it, which is a good thing, because he has the strangest group of models of all the managers.
He doesn’t have Lim Hyunsik or Lee Dongrim, who know exactly how to move their bodies to get the best shots, and are always polite, he has Lu Han, a Chinese jokester who enjoys lifting the mood at incredibly inappropriate times, resulting in very formal apologies from Joonmyun.
He doesn’t have Im Soeun or Lee Hayi, the two youngest in the company, who do their very best to look older and more mature and in control, he has Park Sunyoung, who also does her best but often ends up doing school uniform photoshoots and adverts with her hair in bunches, with models five years younger. Joonmyun hates doing those.
He doesn’t have Kim Taeyeon, whose voice is so beautiful that she moonlights as a singer, he has Hwang Miyoung, who is lovely but whose voice quivers to a shriek during vocal warm-ups for three-word lines in TV adverts.
He doesn’t have Park Gyuri, who is confident and knows how to get what she wants, he has Zhang Liyin, who is painfully shy for a model, and who usually doesn’t speak much during their outings. Joonmyun’s had complaints she seems standoffish. They much prefer Gyuri’s openness.
Joonmyun does, however, have Kim Jonghyun.
Kim Jonghyun is his favourite. He may be one of the shorter males in the company but his huge heart makes up for it. He volunteers for charities during his free time and donates a portion of his wage every month. And although he’s not as bright as Joonmyun is, they are still able to have intelligent conversations with each other about all sorts of topics.
Jonghyun has never offended a client. He has never burst into song on set and warbled until they couldn’t bear it (though Joonmyun knows for a fact that he has a tendency to warble at home). He has never been put in a school uniform and forced into doing aegyo for a noona actress. He knows how to pose, and he knows how to ease the mood if necessary, and he knows how to network.
Kim Jonghyun is also Joonmyun’s best friend, so he’s probably a little biased.
The day starts like any other day. He wakes up at half past five and showers in three minutes before throwing on a suit. With a piece of bread in one hand, he phones his models in order from youngest to oldest making sure they’re awake for the day-Lu Han grumbles as always, and he’s not entirely sure Miyoung doesn’t just go straight back to sleep-, and then drives to work for six thirty. Thankfully they can all make their own way there and he doesn’t have to play chauffeur as well as babysitter.
Once there, he unlocks the front door and heads to the kitchen, where he makes himself a steaming black cup of coffee and makes sure there’s enough in the pot for Do Kyungsoo and Jung Hana, who will inevitably make their way through within the next ten minutes or so.
Coffee in hand, he heads to his office and sinks into his chair and waits for his models to arrive. This is, inevitably, the only rest he gets every day.
Today somehow manages to be different, as Yang Seungho walks in ten minutes before Joonmyun expects his models to arrive, and says, “Yuri is sick today, so you’ve got Choa, Way and Kwon. Make sure they get to their schedules.”
Joonmyun blinks at him, trying to take it in, and then says, “But, Sir-”
“Just do it, Joonmyun!” he says. “They’ll be here soon.” And then he marches out before Joonmyun can argue that there is no possible way he can take eight people to their schedules. He doesn’t have enough hours in the day, or enough copies of himself. It’s hard enough with five.
Choa and Way arrive first. They are a pair of identical twins actually called Heo Minjin and Heo Minsun, and they grin at him and call him Oppa in cute voices, despite the fact he’s fairly sure they’re actually older than he is. They’re dressed exactly the same. Yuri’s thing with them is to play off their identicalness, so they’re always in the same clothes as each other.
Jonghyun arrives next, five minutes early as he always is. Joonmyun gives him a grateful smile as he comes in. He doesn’t look confused by the twins in the room, he just greets them politely and sits, waiting for the rest.
Liyin and Sunyoung arrive together, and then Yuri’s other model, Jo Kwon, arrives. The stragglers are Lu Han and Miyoung who are a good ten minutes late. Joonmyun introduces himself to Jo Kwon as they wait. Like the girls, he’s older than Joonmyun, and seems to greatly enjoy when Joonmyun calls him Hyung.
Once all eight are there, Joonmyun settles once again into his chair and explains the situation. “I can’t drive all of you about,” he says. “There’s just not enough hours.”
He opens an email-based calendar on his phone and, logging into the intranet, merges Yuri’s schedules into his. There are so many overlaps he could cry.
“At 10am,” he says, using stage names for all those who use them, “Kwon has an appointment with Yura from Daisy Studios, Choa, Way and Luna have a photoshoot with Kris at Galaxy and Jonghyun has a filming at Bling World. 10:30am, Riin and Tiffany both have recordings here at SM so that will be fine. Luhan has a catwalk to do at XOXO with Minseok. That’s your only schedule today, Han, so you can go home after that.”
“Can’t I stay with Minseok?” Lu Han asks, a wicked grin on his face.
“Don’t get in his way,” Joonmyun warns. “There’s only so much of your face a sane man can take.”
Nobody points out the obvious, though Miyoung and Kwon do laugh into their sleeves. Joonmyun is well-resigned to his lack of sanity. It’s hard to retain it in such an industry with five models to manage. They are all at varying levels of overgrown child, and it’s quite tiring.
Once they’re not laughing at him and his pain, they begin to schedule out who Joonmyun will take, who will get a company chauffeur, who will drive themselves and if anyone will get public transport.
“I can drive there,” Kwon offers, smiling. “Just give me directions.”
“Same here,” Jonghyun says, “but I’ve been there before. I’ll be able to get there easily, and I’ll make sure that Minho won’t complain to you.”
Choi Minho is the director at Bling World, and also one of Joonmyun’s best friends from school, and one of Jonghyun’s through Joonmyun. Joonmyun knows he won’t complain to him without Jonghyun’s assistance; Joonmyun knows far too much about him.
Lu Han can’t drive, so Joonmyun has the chauffeur take him, as it’s out of all of their ways, and says he’ll take the three girls to their photoshoot himself. He doesn’t trust that they’ll get there in one piece if he doesn’t.
The four of them leave immediately to battle the traffic and arrive with enough time for hair and makeup before the shoot itself starts.
The shoot is a disaster.
There’s no easy way to sugar-coat it, so that’s the best Joonmyun can say without devolving into swear words. The photographer had unrealistic expectations about the way women’s bodies move rather than just photoshopping them into impossible poses himself. The director spent almost the entire shoot on his phone, complaining about anything and everything, down to the twins’ hair. The makeup artist made their makeup so pink it made them look washed-out, and didn’t blend their BB Cream into their necks. An assistant almost dropped Sunyoung’s phone on the floor and only Joonmyun’s quick reflexes stopped it from shattering the screen.
The whole shoot takes less than two hours, which is an even worse sign. It shows that the photographer just wanted to finish up with them. Joonmyun is used to three-hour shoots perfecting everything. Of course there are short shoots; models who do everything the photographer wants instantly can take as little time as thirty minutes. But the average photoshoot that Joonmyun has dealt with is longer than two hours.
When they’re finished, Joonmyun makes a mental note never to deal with Galaxy again, even though he’s usually had good dealings with Kris. Regardless of it being an off day, it’s just not worth it for the stress, let alone the money loss.
It’s when he’s herding the girls back into the car that Yura phones to tell him Kwon never arrived. Joonmyun checks his phone to discover texts stating that the traffic is so bad Kwon’s considering just leaving the car in the middle of the road and walking. Not a good idea.
“Where are you?” Joonmyun asks once he’s off the phone with Yura and phoned the model instead.
“Looking over the river?” Jo Kwon offers sheepishly. “I got really lost.”
“Get to the nearest tube station,” Joonmyun orders, rubbing his temples. It’s barely lunchtime. “Make your way there. Yuri will destroy me if she hears that you messed up at Daisy.”
“I’ll do my best,” Kwon replies cheerfully, and hangs up.
Joonmyun sighs and prays that nothing else will ruin his day.
His phone rings.
“Joonmyun,” he hears the slightly resigned voice of Kim Minseok, the person Lu Han had gone to see. “Lu Han won’t go home. He says you gave him permission to stay here, because he’s apparently ten and needs Mummy’s permission.”
Joonmyun is slightly affronted that he’s Mummy rather than Daddy, but he can’t fault Minseok’s logic for calling him that, either. “I said nothing of the sort,” he says, like Minseok thinking so is an insult.
“Could you just get him to leave? I have no issue with him groping me but once he gets onto the other models, it becomes irritating. All that paperwork from upset models isn’t worth it in the long run.”
“Put him on?” Joonmyun requests. Once Lu Han is at the other end of the phone, he starts, “Lu Han-”
“Yeah, yeah,” Lu Han says. “I’m going home, I just wanted to see how far I could push Minseok’s buttons before he caved and called you. It took over an hour, so he’s more resilient than I thought!” He pauses for a second. “See you tomorrow, Mama.” Then he hangs up before Joonmyun can protest.
Joonmyun lets out the breath he was holding in and goes to find a chair.
(Jo Kwon, does eventually get to Daisy. It’s late, but he’s there. And who knows what’s up with Liyin and Miyoung…)
Lunch is taken with Jonghyun, quietly sitting together in a corner of the agency where they’re free from prying eyes. Joonmyun no longer needs to diet, but he finds himself eating the same chicken salad and rice as Jonghyun, to give him moral support. It’s also provided by the agency cafeteria. Joonmyun is secretly lazy.
Jonghyun’s day, as far as he can tell, went perfectly. He has stunning makeup left from his time at Bling World, accenting his cheekbones just right. Minho apparently raved about his diction and the performance of his lines. He’d said it was absolutely what they needed and they would book him again. Such words are music to Joonmyun’s ears.
“He told me to thank you for bringing me up so well,” Jonghyun jokes with a smile. “You’re a star, Myun.”
Joonmyun hadn’t been worried about him, knowing he’d do a fantastic job like he always does, but he smiles anyway. “It’s not all me,” he says. “You’re good at what you do. You should give yourself credit for a job well done, considering I wasn’t even there to watch over your shoulder.”
His voice almost cracks at the end. It’s been a long time since he’s been able to be at one of Jonghyun’s schedules, because the girls and Lu Han need him so much more. Jonghyun can manage just fine on his own, and doesn’t need a babysitter. But sometimes he’d just like to be able to go to one of Jonghyun’s shoots and watch him as he performs his best.
He mentions it aloud, almost dreamily.
“We’ll get the chance,” Jonghyun says with a smile. “It’ll be like old times, only, you know.” Only Joonmyun won’t be onstage with him. He’ll be watching from off camera, offstage; observing but not participating. “I promise you we’ll have a schedule just for me, and I’ll perform for you.” He gives a cheeky wink and Joonmyun feels his cheeks heat up, even as he laughs with him.
“We’d better,” he agrees, and spoons another helping of almost cold chicken into his mouth. He grimaces as it settles leaden into his stomach. This afternoon has got to be better. This afternoon he’ll be with Liyin, and he’s unrealistically optimistic that nothing can go wrong.
As always, it manages to do so.
“I should never have thought that,” he mutters to himself. “I jinx everything.”
“What’s that, did you say something?” Chanyeol asks, turning away from his camera to face Joonmyun. Chanyeol is film crew. Chanyeol is incredibly inept at his job.
Joonmyun raises his finger to his lips and makes flapping noises at Chanyeol until he gets it. His eyes widen and he nods, miming zipping up his own lips. Joonmyun wonders if it took that long for the blood to reach his brain or if he’s just a bit thick the rest of the time, too.
First, the guest photographer had been late. They hadn’t even called to say they would be, just swanned in an hour past the assigned time.
“Had something else to do,” the photographer had said, shrugging. “Now, where’s the model?”
Even though he’d picked Liyin himself, he complains about her hair, her height, her makeup and her clothes, which he orders they switch, and then complains that the dress he’d wanted her in isn’t even there. Next, he complains about her mousiness. “Bit of a bitch,” he’d commented almost immediately. “She looks like one. She looks like she’ll lead a man on. Not sure I like that.”
Liyin isn’t one to lead anyone on. Liyin is one of the sweetest people Joonmyun knows. She’s just painfully shy and self-conscious.
She’s also been a model for years, and she knows exactly what she’s doing, but that doesn’t stop the photographer from criticising every single one of her poses, and directing her into strange and unique positions. As is expected, she does it all silently and willingly, but it’s without a smile, which gives the photographer another reason to complain.
By the time it gets to the recording of the television advert, which is now, they’re well over two hours past their allotted time and the photographer is showing no signs of slowing down. Joonmyun prays for an excuse to leave. He feels sorry for Liyin, really he does, but this is too much even for him to deal with. Everything that could have gone wrong has.
It’s as he thinks this that, for absolutely no reason than spite and because it can, Chanyeol’s camera makes a loud, screaming noise, and then hurtles off its tripod and crashes onto the ground. Chanyeol just about bursts into tears, and he collapses to the ground in a sobbing heap.
Joonmyun takes this distraction to slink out of the room for a breather. He leans against the door, tipping his head back to rest against the wood, and takes deep breaths as his eye twitches uncomfortably.
This is how Jonghyun finds him ten minutes later.
“You look like someone kicked your puppy,” Jonghyun teases.
“They wouldn’t dare,” Joonmyun replies instantly, thinking about the sad face Byeol would make if someone were to kick him. “I’d hurt them.” He sighs, and tries to collect himself a little better. “No, I’m fine, this is just a minor annoyance.”
“Minor,” Jonghyun repeats, using air quotes. “Minor, he says. You haven’t seen your face.”
“I’m fine,” Joonmyun argues, and he stands straight and brushes himself down. “I’m absolutely fine.”
Jonghyun doesn’t look like he believes him, which is fair enough, because he shouldn’t even be away from Liyin for a moment. “How’s Liyin-noona?” he asks instead.
“The usual,” Joonmyun says. “Can’t say the same for the photographer.”
It’s at this moment that the doors behind Joonmyun are thrown open, and he’d have fallen backwards if it weren’t for Jonghyun grabbing his hand and holding onto him, feet planted firmly so they don’t both make their way towards the floor.
“I’m leaving!” the photographer barks grandly, and he flips his scarf over his shoulder before marching away. Joonmyun heaves a sigh of relief. He couldn’t wait to see the back of him. He knows he only gets paid when his models find work, but he’d take being poor over too many of those clients.
Jonghyun chuckles once the photographer’s long out of earshot. “I see what you were upset about,” he comments. “If I’d known that you had Key I’d have commiserated you first before the jokes.”
Joonmyun rolls his eyes in response. “Let’s just check on the others. Chanyeol broke his camera.”
Chanyeol’s still on the floor where he’d left him, clutching the remnants of his camera to his chest and rocking backwards and forwards. Joonmyun walks straight past him and goes to find Liyin, who is getting undressed behind a curtain. He waits to give her some modesty, despite there being no physical secrets between him and any of his models.
Liyin finally comes out, dressed in her normal clothes. Her schedules are now over for the day, and Joonmyun heaves a second sigh of relief at knowing that two of his models are away and Jonghyun can still look after himself. This means he’s left with Miyoung, Sunyoung, Jo Kwon and the twins.
The twins went earlier to their next schedule on their own, since he was unavailable, and he hasn’t heard back from them. He presumes everything is fine. On the other hand, he thinks Kwon might have got lost somewhere, and a quick phone call doesn’t assuage his worries. Miyoung had a break until late afternoon, when he’ll go to help her, and Sunyoung has had dance practice this whole time. Models these days have to be as versatile as actors and, dare he say it, pop idols. Sunyoung is a good dancer, so this means she sometimes gets more dynamic shoots. It makes a welcome change from school uniforms.
Right now, however, he has a break of about thirty minutes. Jonghyun also has a break. It seems logical that they would spend it together.
They end up sitting in the cafeteria this time, seeing as it’s now closed and there’s nobody else in there. They only talk a little, but it’s not awkward, because they’ve known each other for so long they know how the other one thinks. They don’t even need to finish sentences to understand each other.
“Remember when-?”
“Don’t bring that up now!”
“But it was so-!”
“Yes I know, but really now…”
Jonghyun has a holiday coming up soon, a few days away to see his parents, and something bubbles up into Joonmyun’s throat. Jonghyun hasn’t taken a holiday since Joonmyun’s accident. Neither has Joonmyun. He doesn’t know how he’ll cope without him. Jonghyun is his rock, and he was by his side through every step of the difficulties. He knows sooner or later he’ll have to let go of his comfort blanket, but he’d rather it be later.
“I’ll be fine,” is what he says aloud, breezily, like it means absolutely nothing. But inside everything is churning. “I’m a big boy.”
“Of course you are, Myun,” Jonghyun agrees. “You’re the best mother in the world.”
Joonmyun gives him the evils as Jonghyun laughs, rocking back in his chair in a completely carefree way, and Joonmyun can’t help but smile anyway.
Miyoung is all smiles when he sees her, bubbling around with her eye-smile showing. Miyoung’s problem, aside from the warbling, is that she’s actually too nice for her own good. And she’s not the world’s sharpest tool in the box.
Thankfully, she doesn’t usually get called for interviews where she needs to talk about anything but modelling, singing and Girl Power; both the ideal and her own scented perfume line. It smells exactly of Tiffany’s and Miyoung is probably raking in the cash. Why she stays at SM is beyond him, but at the same time, maybe it’s safe.
Joonmyun can sympathise with wanting to avoid interacting with the public. It’s one thing to be in a magazine, on a poster, on a billboard, on the television or big screen. It’s another thing to answer, “What’s your favourite fruit?” with “Purple! No, wait, I meant blackberries.” Luckily for her, she’s so likeable that the public can forgive any lapse of stupidity.
Right now, she’s wearing her dress backwards. Joonmyun sometimes wonders if it’s all an act and she’s internally laughing at people’s reactions to her. If so, she’s an excellent actress.
“I think the T-bar should be at the back, Tiffany,” he says, using her stage name. She blinks at him, and then down at herself. A sheepish giggle escapes her mouth.
“Oops,” she says. “It’s been a long day.”
She heads away to fix her outfit and Joonmyun heads over to greet the in-house photographer. He’s called Rokhyun and, like Joonmyun, he used to be a model, until he retired for far less depressing reasons. But he seems to enjoy being behind the camera rather than in front of it, these days.
He’s a likeable guy, unlike Kim Kibum. He and Miyoung click instantly, and she falls into posing like she was made for it. He throws out jokes and she laughs prettily, lighting up the camera, and Joonmyun collapses into a chair and thinks that at least this is a nice and relaxing end to a day of hell.
Until the chair collapses underneath him, and lighting crew nearly drop a lamp on his head immediately afterwards.
“Lucky escape,” Miyoung says cheerily. “Could have nearly lost you again!”
Joonmyun thinks he’s closer to losing the contents of his stomach.
“I’m cursed,” he says to Jonghyun, once everyone else has gone home and it’s just the two of them. “Today was awful.”
Jonghyun stands to pat him on the back, as Joonmyun slides everything from his desk into his drawers and pockets the key. “There, there,” he says.
“What if every day is like this when you’re not here? How will I be able to cope?” Joonmyun says, feeling it all rush out of him now he’s feeling honest and relaxed. Boxing things up and pretending everything is okay doesn’t work when it’s not.
“Well,” Jonghyun begins. “You could always take a break too and come back with me?” His offer is a little quieter than his usual voice, a little more unsure. “Just for a few days. I’m sure the rest won’t mind an interim manager.”
Joonmyun stares at him with wide eyes.
“Or not?” Jonghyun offers. “But you should probably take-”
Joonmyun stops him by wrapping his arms around Jonghyun in a hug. “Yes please,” he breathes into Jonghyun’s shoulder. “I’d really like that. Thank you.”
“It’s no problem,” Jonghyun says, rubbing Joonmyun’s back comfortingly. “My mother likes you, anyway. She keeps asking when you’re coming back, so she’ll be happy to have you.”
“Your mother cooks the best bulgogi,” Joonmyun continues into Jonghyun’s clothes.
“This is true,” Jonghyun agrees. “Come on, let’s sit down.”
Jonghyun leads them over to Joonmyun’s desk chair and somehow fits both of them into it. Joonmyun slumps against Jonghyun’s side and snuggles in close. Jonghyun gives the best hugs.
He’d probably put up with this mess every day if it ended in cuddles.
(Jonghyun’s cuddles.)
From: ANONYMOUS until May 22, 2014
Title: Jinx
Rating: PG
Pairing(s)/Focus: platonic Suho/Jonghyun
Length: 4400 words
Summary: Sometimes working at Star Model Agency is great. Sometimes it really isn’t. This is one of those days.
Notes: Thank you to Y and S for helping me with ideas for this fic, and to Z and L for beta-reading. I hope you enjoy it. I loved that you wanted Suho/Jonghyun, so I knew that would be what I wrote. I’m sorry it’s not overtly romantic, but I’m 100% sure you can read it into it.
One day South Korea wakes up and decides that it needs models. Lots of them. Almost overnight, modelling agencies pop up out of the woodwork and more become the advertisers for various brands, taking over from cookie-cutter pop idols.
Models are usually tall, but there are not as many tall people in South Korea as in the West. To fill a gap in the market, a company called Star Model Agency is created, for shorter models. For women, this means 163cm and below, for men, 177cm.
Clocking in at a mere 170cm, give or take the shoe lifts (nobody needs to know if he’s actually 167cm or not), Kim Joonmyun, known as Suho, is one of SM and Korea’s most senior top male models, captivating women and men alike with his kind smile and easy-on-the-eye features. He’s a wild card in an agency known for its looks; he holds a Bachelor’s in English from a SKY University and is well-known for his knowledge on various topics. A clever model. It’s a stereotype, albeit it, but it’s one that’s not a complete fallacy. Not all of the others have the talent or the brains that he has.
One day, when Joonmyun is twenty-eight, all of that is brought to an end when the catwalk at one of his runway shows collapses beneath him, permanently disfiguring him with facial scars and a leg so broken it never healed straight, regardless of the leg splint he’d been in for months. Suho’s modelling career is over.
But Joonmyun loves the work he does, and loves the company. He asks if they have an opening elsewhere, and he gets offered a managerial position. Five models to manage, to control. Five models to fix deadlines for, to talk with magazine editors and photographers about, to make sure are up in the morning and dieting properly, to babysit. Five models all his very own. The thought of leading, of being in charge, bubbles through his veins, spreading the joy throughout his whole body. There’s nothing he’d like more, except from to be on stage once more-now a distant dream, even if he had plastic surgery to fix his scars. He’ll never walk properly again, which is hard for a catwalk model but manageable as a regular person.
He’s been a manager for over a year at this point in time. He’s good at it, which is a good thing, because he has the strangest group of models of all the managers.
He doesn’t have Lim Hyunsik or Lee Dongrim, who know exactly how to move their bodies to get the best shots, and are always polite, he has Lu Han, a Chinese jokester who enjoys lifting the mood at incredibly inappropriate times, resulting in very formal apologies from Joonmyun.
He doesn’t have Im Soeun or Lee Hayi, the two youngest in the company, who do their very best to look older and more mature and in control, he has Park Sunyoung, who also does her best but often ends up doing school uniform photoshoots and adverts with her hair in bunches, with models five years younger. Joonmyun hates doing those.
He doesn’t have Kim Taeyeon, whose voice is so beautiful that she moonlights as a singer, he has Hwang Miyoung, who is lovely but whose voice quivers to a shriek during vocal warm-ups for three-word lines in TV adverts.
He doesn’t have Park Gyuri, who is confident and knows how to get what she wants, he has Zhang Liyin, who is painfully shy for a model, and who usually doesn’t speak much during their outings. Joonmyun’s had complaints she seems standoffish. They much prefer Gyuri’s openness.
Joonmyun does, however, have Kim Jonghyun.
Kim Jonghyun is his favourite. He may be one of the shorter males in the company but his huge heart makes up for it. He volunteers for charities during his free time and donates a portion of his wage every month. And although he’s not as bright as Joonmyun is, they are still able to have intelligent conversations with each other about all sorts of topics.
Jonghyun has never offended a client. He has never burst into song on set and warbled until they couldn’t bear it (though Joonmyun knows for a fact that he has a tendency to warble at home). He has never been put in a school uniform and forced into doing aegyo for a noona actress. He knows how to pose, and he knows how to ease the mood if necessary, and he knows how to network.
Kim Jonghyun is also Joonmyun’s best friend, so he’s probably a little biased.
The day starts like any other day. He wakes up at half past five and showers in three minutes before throwing on a suit. With a piece of bread in one hand, he phones his models in order from youngest to oldest making sure they’re awake for the day-Lu Han grumbles as always, and he’s not entirely sure Miyoung doesn’t just go straight back to sleep-, and then drives to work for six thirty. Thankfully they can all make their own way there and he doesn’t have to play chauffeur as well as babysitter.
Once there, he unlocks the front door and heads to the kitchen, where he makes himself a steaming black cup of coffee and makes sure there’s enough in the pot for Do Kyungsoo and Jung Hana, who will inevitably make their way through within the next ten minutes or so.
Coffee in hand, he heads to his office and sinks into his chair and waits for his models to arrive. This is, inevitably, the only rest he gets every day.
Today somehow manages to be different, as Yang Seungho walks in ten minutes before Joonmyun expects his models to arrive, and says, “Yuri is sick today, so you’ve got Choa, Way and Kwon. Make sure they get to their schedules.”
Joonmyun blinks at him, trying to take it in, and then says, “But, Sir-”
“Just do it, Joonmyun!” he says. “They’ll be here soon.” And then he marches out before Joonmyun can argue that there is no possible way he can take eight people to their schedules. He doesn’t have enough hours in the day, or enough copies of himself. It’s hard enough with five.
Choa and Way arrive first. They are a pair of identical twins actually called Heo Minjin and Heo Minsun, and they grin at him and call him Oppa in cute voices, despite the fact he’s fairly sure they’re actually older than he is. They’re dressed exactly the same. Yuri’s thing with them is to play off their identicalness, so they’re always in the same clothes as each other.
Jonghyun arrives next, five minutes early as he always is. Joonmyun gives him a grateful smile as he comes in. He doesn’t look confused by the twins in the room, he just greets them politely and sits, waiting for the rest.
Liyin and Sunyoung arrive together, and then Yuri’s other model, Jo Kwon, arrives. The stragglers are Lu Han and Miyoung who are a good ten minutes late. Joonmyun introduces himself to Jo Kwon as they wait. Like the girls, he’s older than Joonmyun, and seems to greatly enjoy when Joonmyun calls him Hyung.
Once all eight are there, Joonmyun settles once again into his chair and explains the situation. “I can’t drive all of you about,” he says. “There’s just not enough hours.”
He opens an email-based calendar on his phone and, logging into the intranet, merges Yuri’s schedules into his. There are so many overlaps he could cry.
“At 10am,” he says, using stage names for all those who use them, “Kwon has an appointment with Yura from Daisy Studios, Choa, Way and Luna have a photoshoot with Kris at Galaxy and Jonghyun has a filming at Bling World. 10:30am, Riin and Tiffany both have recordings here at SM so that will be fine. Luhan has a catwalk to do at XOXO with Minseok. That’s your only schedule today, Han, so you can go home after that.”
“Can’t I stay with Minseok?” Lu Han asks, a wicked grin on his face.
“Don’t get in his way,” Joonmyun warns. “There’s only so much of your face a sane man can take.”
Nobody points out the obvious, though Miyoung and Kwon do laugh into their sleeves. Joonmyun is well-resigned to his lack of sanity. It’s hard to retain it in such an industry with five models to manage. They are all at varying levels of overgrown child, and it’s quite tiring.
Once they’re not laughing at him and his pain, they begin to schedule out who Joonmyun will take, who will get a company chauffeur, who will drive themselves and if anyone will get public transport.
“I can drive there,” Kwon offers, smiling. “Just give me directions.”
“Same here,” Jonghyun says, “but I’ve been there before. I’ll be able to get there easily, and I’ll make sure that Minho won’t complain to you.”
Choi Minho is the director at Bling World, and also one of Joonmyun’s best friends from school, and one of Jonghyun’s through Joonmyun. Joonmyun knows he won’t complain to him without Jonghyun’s assistance; Joonmyun knows far too much about him.
Lu Han can’t drive, so Joonmyun has the chauffeur take him, as it’s out of all of their ways, and says he’ll take the three girls to their photoshoot himself. He doesn’t trust that they’ll get there in one piece if he doesn’t.
The four of them leave immediately to battle the traffic and arrive with enough time for hair and makeup before the shoot itself starts.
The shoot is a disaster.
There’s no easy way to sugar-coat it, so that’s the best Joonmyun can say without devolving into swear words. The photographer had unrealistic expectations about the way women’s bodies move rather than just photoshopping them into impossible poses himself. The director spent almost the entire shoot on his phone, complaining about anything and everything, down to the twins’ hair. The makeup artist made their makeup so pink it made them look washed-out, and didn’t blend their BB Cream into their necks. An assistant almost dropped Sunyoung’s phone on the floor and only Joonmyun’s quick reflexes stopped it from shattering the screen.
The whole shoot takes less than two hours, which is an even worse sign. It shows that the photographer just wanted to finish up with them. Joonmyun is used to three-hour shoots perfecting everything. Of course there are short shoots; models who do everything the photographer wants instantly can take as little time as thirty minutes. But the average photoshoot that Joonmyun has dealt with is longer than two hours.
When they’re finished, Joonmyun makes a mental note never to deal with Galaxy again, even though he’s usually had good dealings with Kris. Regardless of it being an off day, it’s just not worth it for the stress, let alone the money loss.
It’s when he’s herding the girls back into the car that Yura phones to tell him Kwon never arrived. Joonmyun checks his phone to discover texts stating that the traffic is so bad Kwon’s considering just leaving the car in the middle of the road and walking. Not a good idea.
“Where are you?” Joonmyun asks once he’s off the phone with Yura and phoned the model instead.
“Looking over the river?” Jo Kwon offers sheepishly. “I got really lost.”
“Get to the nearest tube station,” Joonmyun orders, rubbing his temples. It’s barely lunchtime. “Make your way there. Yuri will destroy me if she hears that you messed up at Daisy.”
“I’ll do my best,” Kwon replies cheerfully, and hangs up.
Joonmyun sighs and prays that nothing else will ruin his day.
His phone rings.
“Joonmyun,” he hears the slightly resigned voice of Kim Minseok, the person Lu Han had gone to see. “Lu Han won’t go home. He says you gave him permission to stay here, because he’s apparently ten and needs Mummy’s permission.”
Joonmyun is slightly affronted that he’s Mummy rather than Daddy, but he can’t fault Minseok’s logic for calling him that, either. “I said nothing of the sort,” he says, like Minseok thinking so is an insult.
“Could you just get him to leave? I have no issue with him groping me but once he gets onto the other models, it becomes irritating. All that paperwork from upset models isn’t worth it in the long run.”
“Put him on?” Joonmyun requests. Once Lu Han is at the other end of the phone, he starts, “Lu Han-”
“Yeah, yeah,” Lu Han says. “I’m going home, I just wanted to see how far I could push Minseok’s buttons before he caved and called you. It took over an hour, so he’s more resilient than I thought!” He pauses for a second. “See you tomorrow, Mama.” Then he hangs up before Joonmyun can protest.
Joonmyun lets out the breath he was holding in and goes to find a chair.
(Jo Kwon, does eventually get to Daisy. It’s late, but he’s there. And who knows what’s up with Liyin and Miyoung…)
Lunch is taken with Jonghyun, quietly sitting together in a corner of the agency where they’re free from prying eyes. Joonmyun no longer needs to diet, but he finds himself eating the same chicken salad and rice as Jonghyun, to give him moral support. It’s also provided by the agency cafeteria. Joonmyun is secretly lazy.
Jonghyun’s day, as far as he can tell, went perfectly. He has stunning makeup left from his time at Bling World, accenting his cheekbones just right. Minho apparently raved about his diction and the performance of his lines. He’d said it was absolutely what they needed and they would book him again. Such words are music to Joonmyun’s ears.
“He told me to thank you for bringing me up so well,” Jonghyun jokes with a smile. “You’re a star, Myun.”
Joonmyun hadn’t been worried about him, knowing he’d do a fantastic job like he always does, but he smiles anyway. “It’s not all me,” he says. “You’re good at what you do. You should give yourself credit for a job well done, considering I wasn’t even there to watch over your shoulder.”
His voice almost cracks at the end. It’s been a long time since he’s been able to be at one of Jonghyun’s schedules, because the girls and Lu Han need him so much more. Jonghyun can manage just fine on his own, and doesn’t need a babysitter. But sometimes he’d just like to be able to go to one of Jonghyun’s shoots and watch him as he performs his best.
He mentions it aloud, almost dreamily.
“We’ll get the chance,” Jonghyun says with a smile. “It’ll be like old times, only, you know.” Only Joonmyun won’t be onstage with him. He’ll be watching from off camera, offstage; observing but not participating. “I promise you we’ll have a schedule just for me, and I’ll perform for you.” He gives a cheeky wink and Joonmyun feels his cheeks heat up, even as he laughs with him.
“We’d better,” he agrees, and spoons another helping of almost cold chicken into his mouth. He grimaces as it settles leaden into his stomach. This afternoon has got to be better. This afternoon he’ll be with Liyin, and he’s unrealistically optimistic that nothing can go wrong.
As always, it manages to do so.
“I should never have thought that,” he mutters to himself. “I jinx everything.”
“What’s that, did you say something?” Chanyeol asks, turning away from his camera to face Joonmyun. Chanyeol is film crew. Chanyeol is incredibly inept at his job.
Joonmyun raises his finger to his lips and makes flapping noises at Chanyeol until he gets it. His eyes widen and he nods, miming zipping up his own lips. Joonmyun wonders if it took that long for the blood to reach his brain or if he’s just a bit thick the rest of the time, too.
First, the guest photographer had been late. They hadn’t even called to say they would be, just swanned in an hour past the assigned time.
“Had something else to do,” the photographer had said, shrugging. “Now, where’s the model?”
Even though he’d picked Liyin himself, he complains about her hair, her height, her makeup and her clothes, which he orders they switch, and then complains that the dress he’d wanted her in isn’t even there. Next, he complains about her mousiness. “Bit of a bitch,” he’d commented almost immediately. “She looks like one. She looks like she’ll lead a man on. Not sure I like that.”
Liyin isn’t one to lead anyone on. Liyin is one of the sweetest people Joonmyun knows. She’s just painfully shy and self-conscious.
She’s also been a model for years, and she knows exactly what she’s doing, but that doesn’t stop the photographer from criticising every single one of her poses, and directing her into strange and unique positions. As is expected, she does it all silently and willingly, but it’s without a smile, which gives the photographer another reason to complain.
By the time it gets to the recording of the television advert, which is now, they’re well over two hours past their allotted time and the photographer is showing no signs of slowing down. Joonmyun prays for an excuse to leave. He feels sorry for Liyin, really he does, but this is too much even for him to deal with. Everything that could have gone wrong has.
It’s as he thinks this that, for absolutely no reason than spite and because it can, Chanyeol’s camera makes a loud, screaming noise, and then hurtles off its tripod and crashes onto the ground. Chanyeol just about bursts into tears, and he collapses to the ground in a sobbing heap.
Joonmyun takes this distraction to slink out of the room for a breather. He leans against the door, tipping his head back to rest against the wood, and takes deep breaths as his eye twitches uncomfortably.
This is how Jonghyun finds him ten minutes later.
“You look like someone kicked your puppy,” Jonghyun teases.
“They wouldn’t dare,” Joonmyun replies instantly, thinking about the sad face Byeol would make if someone were to kick him. “I’d hurt them.” He sighs, and tries to collect himself a little better. “No, I’m fine, this is just a minor annoyance.”
“Minor,” Jonghyun repeats, using air quotes. “Minor, he says. You haven’t seen your face.”
“I’m fine,” Joonmyun argues, and he stands straight and brushes himself down. “I’m absolutely fine.”
Jonghyun doesn’t look like he believes him, which is fair enough, because he shouldn’t even be away from Liyin for a moment. “How’s Liyin-noona?” he asks instead.
“The usual,” Joonmyun says. “Can’t say the same for the photographer.”
It’s at this moment that the doors behind Joonmyun are thrown open, and he’d have fallen backwards if it weren’t for Jonghyun grabbing his hand and holding onto him, feet planted firmly so they don’t both make their way towards the floor.
“I’m leaving!” the photographer barks grandly, and he flips his scarf over his shoulder before marching away. Joonmyun heaves a sigh of relief. He couldn’t wait to see the back of him. He knows he only gets paid when his models find work, but he’d take being poor over too many of those clients.
Jonghyun chuckles once the photographer’s long out of earshot. “I see what you were upset about,” he comments. “If I’d known that you had Key I’d have commiserated you first before the jokes.”
Joonmyun rolls his eyes in response. “Let’s just check on the others. Chanyeol broke his camera.”
Chanyeol’s still on the floor where he’d left him, clutching the remnants of his camera to his chest and rocking backwards and forwards. Joonmyun walks straight past him and goes to find Liyin, who is getting undressed behind a curtain. He waits to give her some modesty, despite there being no physical secrets between him and any of his models.
Liyin finally comes out, dressed in her normal clothes. Her schedules are now over for the day, and Joonmyun heaves a second sigh of relief at knowing that two of his models are away and Jonghyun can still look after himself. This means he’s left with Miyoung, Sunyoung, Jo Kwon and the twins.
The twins went earlier to their next schedule on their own, since he was unavailable, and he hasn’t heard back from them. He presumes everything is fine. On the other hand, he thinks Kwon might have got lost somewhere, and a quick phone call doesn’t assuage his worries. Miyoung had a break until late afternoon, when he’ll go to help her, and Sunyoung has had dance practice this whole time. Models these days have to be as versatile as actors and, dare he say it, pop idols. Sunyoung is a good dancer, so this means she sometimes gets more dynamic shoots. It makes a welcome change from school uniforms.
Right now, however, he has a break of about thirty minutes. Jonghyun also has a break. It seems logical that they would spend it together.
They end up sitting in the cafeteria this time, seeing as it’s now closed and there’s nobody else in there. They only talk a little, but it’s not awkward, because they’ve known each other for so long they know how the other one thinks. They don’t even need to finish sentences to understand each other.
“Remember when-?”
“Don’t bring that up now!”
“But it was so-!”
“Yes I know, but really now…”
Jonghyun has a holiday coming up soon, a few days away to see his parents, and something bubbles up into Joonmyun’s throat. Jonghyun hasn’t taken a holiday since Joonmyun’s accident. Neither has Joonmyun. He doesn’t know how he’ll cope without him. Jonghyun is his rock, and he was by his side through every step of the difficulties. He knows sooner or later he’ll have to let go of his comfort blanket, but he’d rather it be later.
“I’ll be fine,” is what he says aloud, breezily, like it means absolutely nothing. But inside everything is churning. “I’m a big boy.”
“Of course you are, Myun,” Jonghyun agrees. “You’re the best mother in the world.”
Joonmyun gives him the evils as Jonghyun laughs, rocking back in his chair in a completely carefree way, and Joonmyun can’t help but smile anyway.
Miyoung is all smiles when he sees her, bubbling around with her eye-smile showing. Miyoung’s problem, aside from the warbling, is that she’s actually too nice for her own good. And she’s not the world’s sharpest tool in the box.
Thankfully, she doesn’t usually get called for interviews where she needs to talk about anything but modelling, singing and Girl Power; both the ideal and her own scented perfume line. It smells exactly of Tiffany’s and Miyoung is probably raking in the cash. Why she stays at SM is beyond him, but at the same time, maybe it’s safe.
Joonmyun can sympathise with wanting to avoid interacting with the public. It’s one thing to be in a magazine, on a poster, on a billboard, on the television or big screen. It’s another thing to answer, “What’s your favourite fruit?” with “Purple! No, wait, I meant blackberries.” Luckily for her, she’s so likeable that the public can forgive any lapse of stupidity.
Right now, she’s wearing her dress backwards. Joonmyun sometimes wonders if it’s all an act and she’s internally laughing at people’s reactions to her. If so, she’s an excellent actress.
“I think the T-bar should be at the back, Tiffany,” he says, using her stage name. She blinks at him, and then down at herself. A sheepish giggle escapes her mouth.
“Oops,” she says. “It’s been a long day.”
She heads away to fix her outfit and Joonmyun heads over to greet the in-house photographer. He’s called Rokhyun and, like Joonmyun, he used to be a model, until he retired for far less depressing reasons. But he seems to enjoy being behind the camera rather than in front of it, these days.
He’s a likeable guy, unlike Kim Kibum. He and Miyoung click instantly, and she falls into posing like she was made for it. He throws out jokes and she laughs prettily, lighting up the camera, and Joonmyun collapses into a chair and thinks that at least this is a nice and relaxing end to a day of hell.
Until the chair collapses underneath him, and lighting crew nearly drop a lamp on his head immediately afterwards.
“Lucky escape,” Miyoung says cheerily. “Could have nearly lost you again!”
Joonmyun thinks he’s closer to losing the contents of his stomach.
“I’m cursed,” he says to Jonghyun, once everyone else has gone home and it’s just the two of them. “Today was awful.”
Jonghyun stands to pat him on the back, as Joonmyun slides everything from his desk into his drawers and pockets the key. “There, there,” he says.
“What if every day is like this when you’re not here? How will I be able to cope?” Joonmyun says, feeling it all rush out of him now he’s feeling honest and relaxed. Boxing things up and pretending everything is okay doesn’t work when it’s not.
“Well,” Jonghyun begins. “You could always take a break too and come back with me?” His offer is a little quieter than his usual voice, a little more unsure. “Just for a few days. I’m sure the rest won’t mind an interim manager.”
Joonmyun stares at him with wide eyes.
“Or not?” Jonghyun offers. “But you should probably take-”
Joonmyun stops him by wrapping his arms around Jonghyun in a hug. “Yes please,” he breathes into Jonghyun’s shoulder. “I’d really like that. Thank you.”
“It’s no problem,” Jonghyun says, rubbing Joonmyun’s back comfortingly. “My mother likes you, anyway. She keeps asking when you’re coming back, so she’ll be happy to have you.”
“Your mother cooks the best bulgogi,” Joonmyun continues into Jonghyun’s clothes.
“This is true,” Jonghyun agrees. “Come on, let’s sit down.”
Jonghyun leads them over to Joonmyun’s desk chair and somehow fits both of them into it. Joonmyun slumps against Jonghyun’s side and snuggles in close. Jonghyun gives the best hugs.
He’d probably put up with this mess every day if it ended in cuddles.
(Jonghyun’s cuddles.)