Eternity [ryeji]

Chapter 34

Yeji steps out of the car without saying a word to the woman sitting in the driver’s seat, closes the door roughly and walks up to her building while frowning.

She jabs the elevator button and taps her foot as she waits impatiently for the thing to arrive. Once it does, she walks inside, jabs the button to her floor and leans against the metal.

The elevator isn’t the only innocent victim getting abused because of her mood.

She kicks off her shoes – not even caring where they land – and stomps her way into the bedroom. Her jacket is tossed to the bed as she makes her way towards the two stuffed animals sitting quietly on her pillow.

The smaller white teddy bear gets shaken violently before its friend, the one wearing the karate outfit, gets scolded right after it has delivered the message recorded into it.

“How am I supposed to enjoy the journey when you’re so stubbornly annoying?!”

Jisu is about to go to the toilet when she hears the loud voice. She stops, turns around and goes to her best friend’s bedroom. “What is going on?” she asks when she sees Yeji squeezing the teddy bear. “Why are you abusing your Jinnie?”

“I’m imagining that I’m abusing its human namesake right now,” mumbles Yeji.

“You’re no voodoo shaman so leave the poor bear alone.” Jisu quickly rescues the bear from Yeji’s hands and pats it. “What happened?” she asks as she sits down on the bed.

Yeji sighs and lies down. “Big fight,” she says, closing her eyes.

“Oh? What happened? I thought you had a shoot today.”

“I did and I stupidly invited her to watch while she waited.”

“What’s so wrong about that?”

“She might have cost me my career.”

“What?” Jisu raises her eyebrows. “How is that even possible?”

“She disrespected my senior, my manager and the staff at the studio and wouldn’t apologize for it.”

“Start from the top. Tell me what happened. I don’t believe that Ryujin’s that unreasonable,” Jisu says.

“The heater broke down so everyone was cold especially us, the models. It was an S/S line shoot so we didn’t exactly have thick warm clothing on us.”

Jisu nods, silently letting her friend continue her story.

“I know that she meant well when she talked to my manager and the staff about the condition. She didn’t want me to get sick but everyone was already in a bad mood and she made it look as if I was arrogant,” explains Yeji, opening her eyes to look at her friend. “There was a senior model there. When she found out what the fuss was about, she glared at me and I couldn’t look her in the eyes.”

“What did Ryujin say, exactly?”

“Something about the management not being able to take care of their employees.”

“Right off the bat?”

“It started as a discussion and that was what it escalated into.” Yeji heaves another sigh. “I apologized on her behalf but she insisted that she was just telling the truth and that both the fashion company and my agency should have been more well prepared for a winter shoot.”

“She’s right, you know.”

“I know but nobody planned for the heater to break down. And the way she said it… seniority is no joke in my business and you know it. Not only did she make me look like I’m some arrogant spoiled model, she also irritated people from the fashion company. I was so happy to be able to get this job. I mean, their brand is very selective and strict. Not everyone can model for them,” Yeji says, shaking her head. “There goes any hope of being selected again for their next collection.”