Chapter 38: Turning the Tables

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Jeonghwan had ordered his people to prepare a bunch of dresses for Jooeun. He even personally picked out a gold-patterned strapless dress with a white lining. The pattern resembled an oriental ink painting. As the dress gave off a strong oriental aura, once worn on Jooeun's body, she completely exuded the classic elegance of oriental beauty, there was no doubt they matched perfectly. Paired with Jooeun's slender waist and long legs, her feminine beauty and charm, in an instant, emanated from her body like a fragrance in the wind.

Jeonghwan stood behind Jooeun and used his chest to firmly press against Jooeun's back as he wrapped his hands around her waist, not willing to let go. "You are like a piece of art."

"It's because you have good taste." Jooeun returned the praise. She never knew Jeonghwan understood her to this extent. He knew VOGUE wanted to shoot the Oriental Trend and knew they humiliated her for being a newcomer so he intentionally picked out this dress for them to see, by not picking Jooeun, they had made a huge loss.

"Why must you be a model, I just want to keep you to myself." Jeonghwan placed his chin on Jooeun's shoulder and complained.

"Look who's talking? Why not mention that even Jung Ryeowon was going crazy at the sight of you?" Jooeun immediately complained back before she let out a laugh. "Don't worry, aren't we only allowed to have physical contact with each other?"

"Of course!" After speaking, Jeonghwan turned Jooeun around and kissed her lips as they stood before the mirror, the two were extremely affectionate. Jooeun could see her own expression through the mirror. Jeonghwan's kiss really brought a person pleasure. Most importantly, whether it was affectionate or passionate, his lips belonged to only her. Just the thought of another woman kissing him made her heart uneasy.

"That's enough, I'm going to be late." Jooeun's face flushed red as she gently pushed Jeonghwan away from herself.

"When you get home, you better think of a way to compensate me." Jeonghwan released her from his embrace.

Jooeun nodded as she kissed Jeonghwan on the ear. "You can have whatever compensation you want."

The photography exhibition is to be held at 7 PM inside one of America's abandoned parks. Jooeun arrived not too late nor too early because, by the time she handed over her invite, there were already loads of famous people inside. Of course, amongst these people were her mentor, Ms. Bertha.

Everyone was trying their best to stand out, but most of them had a Western-style. Only Jooeun was dressed in a charming oriental mini dress, immediately drawing the attention of people around her, including the person in charge of VOGUE who had just rejected her earlier that day, Mina.

She walked over to Jooeun holding a glass of champagne with an amused expression before she spoke in a ridiculing tone. "I never thought, for the sake of the front cover of our magazine, you would follow me all the way here."

Jooeun laughed gently in a dignified manner. "I think you have misunderstood, Miss Mina."

"I don't think so. You obviously knew our theme would be the Oriental Trend so you deliberately dressed like this and appeared here. Unfortunately, once I've made a decision, I don't take it back." Mina thought, when Jooeun said she would regret it, she was referring to her appearance at this moment. Although she was indeed beautiful, VOGUE wasn't going to change their mind for the sake of one model.

"Also, CN's President Jung said you have a bad personality. Judging by what I see before me, he is right. You are indeed taking advantage of the situation to promote yourself."

"I've said it already, my appearance today has nothing to do with Vanity Fair." Jooeun emphasized again with a louder voice attracting the attention of Ms. Bertha, who was currently showing some guests around the exhibition.

"You've really put in a lot of effort, no wonder Ryeowon told me to be careful of you."

"Miss Mina, you must really think highly of yourself." After speaking, Jooeun's gaze diverted to the person standing behind Mina, it was Bertha. A smile appeared across her face. "Ms. Bertha!"

Bertha looked at Jooeun surprisingly before she emotionally wrapped Jooeun in her embrace. "Oh, my precious dear, it's been a long time. How have you been?"

"I've been good. But mentor, I've got a problem." Jooeun explained.

After hearing this, Bertha remembered why she had walked over here in the first place, she had heard two people arguing. So, she released Jooeun and turned to Mina. "What is all this?"

How could this be?

Mina was shocked. "Wasn't Jooeun here because she wanted to get back her front cover shoot? How does she know the editor of Royal Magazine? And why is their relationship so close?"

Jooeun didn't hold back, she explained the entire incident to Bertha. Upon hearing everything, Bertha absolutely felt the people at VOGUE were out of their minds. In a straightforward manner, she released her anger upon Mina.

"This is why your magazine has been failing. How dare you reject my precious and choose a B-grade model instead, yet be so proud of yourself? My god, this is ridiculous. Did you know how many awards Alexa received when she walked down the runways in France?"

"She isn't she a newcomer?" Mina was dumbfounded.

She has appeared at Master Bonne's show. In fact, she was in the finale. At that time, she was only 17 and you were still a nobody!" After speaking, Bertha affectionately hugged Jooeun. "My precious, don't be upset. Whatever front cover you want, just let me know."

Mina watched in disbelief as the two walked into the distance. Her blood began to boil. Because she had listened to Ryeowon, she gave up on Jooeun. She couldn't believe she was stupid enough to buy the case and return the pearl. She couldn't let this happen, she had to get Jooeun back.

Inside, Mina only had this new objective, she had completely forgotten what she said earlier about changing her mind for the sake of one model.

Jooeun did not look back at Mina, because she could already guess what Mina was thinking right now. She turned down Bertha's offer as she began to recount all that had happened to her in the past few years.

"Mentor, I am clear on my position right now. I will take one step at a time to completely get back what was mine. I'm thankful for your good intentions."

"My precious, the most important thing in life is to know what you want. It's never too late to start again." Bertha nodded understandingly.

"Thank you, mentor."

"Look at you, you completely stand out in the crowd. You haven't changed at all."

Upon hearing her praises, Jooeun smiled humbly. She was humble because she knew there were so many people in this world with amazing abilities; she felt she was nothing in comparison.

After the photography exhibition ended, Bertha ordered someone to escort Jooeun home. At this moment, Mina suddenly came running out and stopped Jooeun's car.

"Can you give me 5 minutes for a chat?"

"What else do we have to chat about?" Jooeun asked directly.

"As long as you are willing to shoot our front cover, you can make whatever request you want. I will make sure to fulfill it."

"Even at the expense of going against Jung Ryeowon? Jooeun asked as she looked out the car window, in a casual but dangerous tone. "I am a vengeful person."

"I've said it already, you can make whatever request and I will fulfill it, regardless of the expense."

"Then, I'll wait for you to show your sincerity." Jooeun laughed as she wound up the car window and asked the driver to leave.

"Jung Ryeowon, tomorrow you will realize, everything's changed."

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