Chapter Text
Ji-Ho was driving to her next appointment. The traffic was dense in the streets of Seoul, there was a light drizzle and her phone was buzzing in the pocket of her leather jacket. Perfect.
She thought that maybe it was the manager of the orchestra calling about the shoot she was now driving to. She pulled over, parked her scooter, and took out her phone. She didn't recognize the number, but answered anyway.
“Na Ji-Ho speaking.”
“Hello Ms. Na. I am Ko Youjeen of Hybe Labels. We would like to make an appointment for a photo session with one of our artists.
She must have heard wrong. Why would Hybe Labels, one of the biggest music agencies in Korea, be calling her ?
“I’m sorry, who did you say you were calling for?”
“I am calling to make an appointment for Mr. Min Yoongi. Would you have any availability next week?”
“Huh… yes of course!” She pulled out the calendar on her phone with trembling fingers. “I have time on Wednesday September 21 or Friday the 23rd in the afternoon.”
“Friday would work. I’ll send you documents regarding confidentiality and conditions and you can send me your estimate with the signed documents.” She gave the representative her information and they talked about a few technicalities. When she hung up, she felt a little lightheaded.
“Did this just really happen?....” Ji-Ho said out loud before noticing the time on her phone. “Damn, now I am going to be late!” She drove hard and arrived just in time for the small classical concert she was hired to photograph.
-
Ji-Ho purposefully pushed Hybe’s call to the back of her mind and did her job like always, focusing on the expressions of the musicians and the feeling of the music. She was quite satisfied when she came back to her apartment at the end of the day.
Min-Seo, her roommate and best friend, was already back from work and Ji-Ho smelled something delicious as soon as she stepped inside.
“Hey unnie! How was the concert?” she called from the kitchen.
“Great, I think they will like the pictures,” Ji-Ho said as she got closer to the stove where tteokbokki were simmering in a large pan.
“They always do,” her friend said while pushing a strand of black hair from her face with the back of her hand.
After taking off her jacket and setting down her equipment, Ji-Ho checked her emails. She browsed for a couple of minutes and then she saw it. THE email.
“You are not going to believe who called!” she told her roommate, all the excitement rushing back to her mind.
“Ouuuh, don’t tell me! Was it that actor from the new drama who came to your studio the other day? Or that museum you approached for their catalog?”
“You are never going to guess,” she said, trying to stay calm, and failing.
“Ah come on! Give me a hint!” said Min-seo impatiently.
“3 letters. Big.”
After watching her roommate grasping at straws for a few minutes, Ji-Ho gave her a mischievous grin, her nervousness put aside for a moment to enjoy her friend’s reaction. “B…T…S.”
“Whaaaat !?!” Min-Seo yelled, knocking the handle of her pan, almost sending it flying across the room.
“Hybe Labels called me this afternoon. For a portrait session with freaking SUGA!”
“You’re joking!” Min-Seo said, a look of total disbelief on her face.
“I kind of wish I was! A lady from the label called me this afternoon and now they have sent me like 10 documents for me to sign before the session next friday. I'm freaking out a little.”
Once she recovered from the initial shock, her roommate was quick to reassure her and hype her up : “This is the opportunity of a lifetime! It could change the course of your entire career!”
“I know! And of course I’m excited. But why did they choose me? I am a barely known freelance photographer and they must have dozens of in-house photographers!” wondered Ji-Ho.
“Maybe someone saw some of your works and suggested you? You know how people lose their mind when you do their portrait! You have a special gift and you know it,” said Min-Seo firmly.
“Yeah, but we are talking about one of the biggest celebrities in Korea! Or even the entire world! There must be a million pictures of this guy!... I feel like I’m gonna throw-up,” she whined.
“Don’t worry! Your pictures are gonna blow them away,” said Min-Seo with a reassuring smile, rubbing circles on the back of her friend to calm her down.
“You’re very sweet, but this is still fucking unreal!” said Ji-Ho.
-
And that's how she felt for the whole week leading up to the shoot. She went about her work as usual. Receiving an actress at her studio for her headshots, attending a gallery opening, processing photos… just like she had been doing for the past 5 years. But her mind kept coming back to that appointment. Usually, she was very confident about her skills and she loved her job, but this was a whole new territory, one she wasn’t sure she was ready for. And to add to her anxiety, the agency had been very precise concerning the secrecy of the shoot and the following pictures, but requested nothing for the shooting itself. She was left wondering what exactly they wanted and it made her feel uneasy.
And so the fatal day finally arrived.
The appointment was at 1pm, but she had cleared her schedule for the whole day and had arrived at dawn to clean her small studio from top to bottom. She then prepared all of her equipment to be ready for any eventuality. And she may or may not have spent the last hour before the appointment redoing her long black hair into a “messy” bun and changing her clothes 3 times until she settled for a pair of high-waisted black trousers, a light green tank top and a long open white cardigan, paired with her favorite Doc Martens. She even put on a little make-up, which in and of itself was a telling sign of her state of mind, since she barely ever wore any.
Then, right on time, the doorbell rang.