The Cutting Edge

012

"I did it..."

Hyejin was still sitting in the training room in a daze, collapsed onto one of the chairs. She had not moved from that position ever since the outcome of the test was announced about an hour ago. All she did was mutter the same words over and over in disbelief.

She would probably never forget the look on Hyunwon's face when he announced that she had passed the test—he had gone entirely red in the face and looked as if he was about to explode at any second. The minute she thought of his expression at that moment, she burst out into a fit of giggles. This was how victory tasted like, and it was so, incredibly sweet.

"Hyejin, what are you still doing in here?" Yeseul popped her head round the door. Everyone had long left the training room to pack up and go home, and once again the two of them were probably the last ones left. "Are you alright? Still in shock?"

Hyejin suddenly leapt out of her chair and ran over to Yeseul, holding her hands and twirling them both around in circles. "Yeseul, I did it! I passed the challenge! I'm going to be placed on the training programme together with you and all the other trainees. Can you believe it?"

Yeseul smiled, trying to stop her friend from making her dizzy. All this spinning around in circles was a little too much for her to handle. "Yes you did," she said, forcing the overexcited Hyejin to sit down. "Congratulations! I'm so happy for you! Do you know how worried I was while you were doing the test? Everyone thought it was impossible for you to pass... That final shade that Hyunwon brought out? That was apparently a shade that he created himself so it wasn't even in the manual! How did you manage to do it?"

Hyejin clenched her fists when she heard Yeseul's words, a scowl crossing her face. She knew that Kang Hyunwon was a jerk but she didn't realise just how much of a jerk he was. "That shade wasn't in the manual?" she scoffed. "So he brought out that shade because he knew that I probably wouldn't be able to get it right. What an ass!"

"Shh!" Yeseul brought her finger up to Hyejin's lips. "Not so loud! No matter what, Hyunwon is still the creative director of the salon, so you'll need to be careful with your words if you want to survive here."

"I don't care whether he's the creative director, an asshole is still an asshole," Hyejin retorted, swatting her friend's hand away. "Anyway, he lost fair and square and he's signed that contract, so he can forget about going back on his word. I can't wait for the training programme to start! How many other trainees do you think there'll be?"

"I don't know... I heard that there are typically about ten or so? We'll find out when they join us next Monday." Yeseul stared down at her feet and shuffled them awkwardly from side to side. "What happens if all the other trainees are better than us, Hyejin? I mean... I know my own abilities and I'm mediocre at best. When I was sifting through the applications, some of these applicants have some pretty stellar qualifications under their belt."

Hyejin placed a hand on Yeseul's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry so much! It's too early to be thinking about that now. Come on, we need to go out and celebrate my victory over the world's greatest asshole! I'll buy you supper." Dragging her friend to her feet, Hyejin herded the girl out of the training room.

A while later, the two girls found themselves sitting under the tentage of one of the nearby roadside stalls, sipping soju and eating baby squid dipped in the spiciest pepper sauce.

Hyejin took a bite of her squid and finished it off with a mouthful of soju. "Ah!" she exclaimed with glee. "This has got to be the most satisfying thing ever!" The cool autumn air made it an even more enjoyable experience.

"It's a lot better than I expected," Yeseul replied, taking a tiny nibble of her squid.

"What do you mean? Are you telling me that this is the first time you've eaten something like this?" Hyejin blinked in surprise. After thinking about it for a while, she said, "Actually I should have expected that. Your uncle owns the Cutting Edge, which probably means your family must be fairly well off. I'm sorry, I should have thought about that before I dragged you down here."