After that, it was a whirlwind. Once he got the first OK cut, J's orders followed without a moment's rest.
“Okay, drop the tension from your body. Let's go with a feeling of pushing him away again just as he's about to be caught.”
Honestly, every single thing he asked for was tricky. But strangely, it didn't end up being a big problem. Maybe thanks to his story-laden face, whenever Siyeon struck even a clumsy pose, J quickly moved on to the next cut.
“This cut's really good.”
When J smiled for the first time, the CEO smiled along too.
“See, I told you my eye is accurate.”
Siyeon had no idea what exactly was so good. He'd only moved as told, yet small exclamations were already leaking out among the staff.
“Is he really an ordinary person? Not an unreleased rookie from CS Entertainment?”
“Ah, it'd be even better if the veil came off.”
While people were murmuring, J checked the monitor and then lifted his head.
“Now let's go with a front-facing cut last. Keep the veil on, and the eyes at least can show, right?”
If even the eyes show in a front cut, isn't that pretty much everything? The veil itself is semi-transparent so the silhouette already shows through, which is nerve-wracking enough.
While Siyeon just rolled his eyes around, Chae Yoono spoke up in his place.
“This shoot started on the condition that the face wouldn't appear.”
“Just one front cut. With this one cut, I think we can salvage all of today's footage.”
At those words, Siyeon's resolve wavered. If it ended with one front cut, there was no reason to hesitate further. There was a risk factor, but the desire to finish quickly and reduce the worry of a reshoot being booked was far stronger.
“Just the eyes is fine.”
“Ba… no, what are you saying?”
“We can shoot it first and request disposal if it's really no good, so let's just hurry and get it over with.”
Unable to win against the persuasion, Chae Yoono reluctantly agreed and shut his mouth with a displeased face.
Siyeon stood between the white fabrics. When he lifted his head in the veil, J continued his detailed requests through the lens.
“Don't look at the camera. Like you're looking at a beloved lover.”
In that instant, his gaze met Chae Yoono's, standing before him. For all his earlier refusal, the man was looking at Siyeon with a heated gaze, as if he'd immersed himself in an instant.
Like looking at his lovely partner. Or his omega. The emotion of cherishing a lover in a photoshoot pooled in those eyes.
Click. Just as only the shutter sounds filled the filming site that had gone quiet at some point, J broke the silence first.
“Let's end today's shoot with this.”
The CEO immediately looked toward the advertiser. The advertiser, too, relaxed his expression after seeing the screen. It hadn't fully replaced all the footage Han Seowoo was supposed to shoot, but they seemed to have salvaged enough not to scrap today's shoot.
“Haa…”
When the sign for the last cut dropped, Siyeon was completely drained. When his legs gave out and he staggered a step, Chae Yoono's hand reflexively reached over. But it stopped just before touching.
Just then, J called for Siyeon without taking his eyes off the monitor.
“Was it Hongsi?”
Siyeon snapped his head up at the sound of being called.
“…Yes?”
“By any chance, do you have any thoughts about becoming a proper model?”
A proper model? He was someone who'd been muddled along even into shooting a few replacement cuts just moments ago, and now the scale of things felt like it had blown up too big all of a sudden, didn't it?
“Let's pretend you didn't just say that.”
As expected, Chae Yoono cut in right away. At the firm refusal, J twitched an eyebrow.
“I didn't ask you, Yoono.”
“He's not a contracted model. He's an ordinary person.”
“That's exactly why I'm proposing it. Because he doesn't seem like an ordinary person.”
At J's words, Chae Yoono's expression hardened more coldly. He paid no mind to the CEO or the advertiser, fixing his eyes only on J. As a subtle battle of wills continued, the staff read the mood and kept their mouths shut.
“The shoot's over, right?”
“There are still cuts left to check.”
“You said you salvaged the footage you needed.”
As if he wouldn't listen any further, Chae Yoono walked toward Siyeon. Before Siyeon could say anything, his wrist was caught.
This guy, seriously…
He wondered if it was something worth going this far over. But the moment he saw the side of Chae Yoono's face, with its unusual air, the words that had climbed up to his throat wouldn't come out.
“Wait, Yoono, you're just going to leave like this?”
The CEO called out to stop him. But Chae Yoono didn't look back.
“Settle the payment with me.”
“That's not the issue…”
“And that cut just now. Sort it out so it doesn't get posted.”
Chae Yoono said it like an instruction to the CEO and then dragged Siyeon straight out. From behind, he could hear the CEO heave a sigh.
“That crazy guy, honestly.”
Having muttered it as if troubled, the CEO immediately composed her expression. And with a face like nothing had happened, she smiled toward the advertiser.
“My apologies. The kid's not usually like that. He's a bit sensitive about portrait rights and such. Still, the shoot didn't fall through and it ended well, so that's a relief, isn't it?”
While the CEO shrugged and skillfully smoothed over the mood, J's gaze lingered long toward the door.
The direction Chae Yoono and Siyeon had disappeared. A moment later, J's head returned to the monitor. The mysterious silhouette revealed between the white veil. Even though the face wasn't properly visible, it was a cut that strangely caught the eye.
The CEO, who'd come over to J's side at some point, looked down at the screen with arms crossed. After flipping through the screen for a moment, she stopped on the last cut.
“This one won't even need much retouching. Ah, this one's good too.”
At the CEO's words, the client-side employee also leaned in cautiously. J, lightly tapping the camera body with his fingertip, flipped the screen. The cut that had captured the instant the veil lifted just slightly had the contours of the face caught more clearly than expected.
“This cut is the best, but…”
“Except the face shows way too much.”
When J muttered regretfully, the CEO slyly cut in.
“It's a shame, but let's leave this one out.”
It was a photo with the face nearly revealed. No matter how good the result, it was a cut that was hard to use.
“I'll organize the backup on our end.”
Just then, Park Jihoon quietly stepped forward.
Since it was close to a work report, the CEO nodded without thinking much of it.
“Sure. Organize it well. If today's stuff gets leaked, it'll be a headache.”
At that instruction, Park Jihoon opened the last cut one more time. The cut captured at the moment the veil lifted, marked for scheduled disposal.
Park Jihoon's hand faltered over the mouse. And soon another file-organizing window opened and closed. As if nothing had happened.
The ride back was quiet. Siyeon kept his head turned toward the car window and didn't say a word, and Chae Yoono didn't strike up conversation first either.
Normally he was a person who'd somehow try to start something playful. He'd have needled Siyeon with some trivial joke, or pretended to be sweet while closing the distance at his own whim.
Today was nothing of the sort. When the mansion's front door closed and the noise from outside cut off, an awkward silence settled. Taking off his shoes and stepping inside, Siyeon felt a slight regret.
Did I stick my neck out for nothing?
But he soon erased the thought. It would've been a bigger problem if the shoot had fallen through. And besides, he was getting paid, wasn't he?
The situation had been so hectic that he hadn't precisely negotiated how much he'd get, but since she said she'd take care of him so he wouldn't feel shortchanged, a little anticipation rose.
Separate from that, the problem was that Chae Yoono's mood showed no sign of letting up.
Is he tired? Or…
“Are you angry, by any chance?”
When Siyeon spoke first, there came the sound of Chae Yoono, standing behind, leaning against the door.
“I'm not angry.”
“Then why've you been like this since earlier?”
“Like what?”
At the fully sunken voice, Siyeon finally turned around slowly. He says he's not angry. The eyes that were always lightly curved were stiffly hardened.
Seen like this, he gave a somewhat cold impression, anew.
“What's there to mind that much? They shot it so my face wouldn't show.”
“It showed. They only covered about your lips.”
“It's not like I'm a celebrity like you, Chae Yoono, so what's the big deal about my eyes showing a little? As if anyone would recognize me.”
“You say that because you don't know. How easily people take an interest. What if a sasaeng latches onto you because of it?”
His words stopped for a moment. It seemed like the man was worried about him, and it also seemed like simple possessiveness. What grated most was that Chae Yoono himself seemed not to know the difference.
Siyeon let out a sigh with a tired face.
“Forget it. Either way, the shoot didn't fall through. It ended without incident.”
“Without incident?”
“And you didn't get hurt either, Chae Yoono…”
The moment the words left his mouth, Siyeon bit down on his lip. Damn it. That slipped out wrong.
“Why does me getting hurt come into this?”
This time too he couldn't bring up the original story. He couldn't very well say you get crushed under the lighting later and carried to the hospital, nor that his bad ending had deepened because of that incident.
“It's just something I said. Because it'd be a problem if there was an accident.”
“There's no need to worry about that. From now on, don't go sticking your neck out for nothing.”
Did I do today's shoot for my own sake? In the end it was for everyone's sake. With his body and head already heavy, having to read the man's mood and make excuses on top of it felt unfair.
“Then was there some other, better way? I didn't do it because I wanted to either.”
