𝔗𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔑𝔢𝔵𝔱 𝔇𝔬𝔬𝔯

CHAPTER 16

NO BETTER YOU THAN THE YOU THAT YOU ARE

(This title is a song lyric btw... scars to your beautiful by Alissia Cara)

~ Jazmyn and Irene's apartment ~
"

You feeling any good?" Jazmyn asked the girl sitting on the couch. Irene hummed in response. "You shouldn't over work yourself, Irene... you slept for less than two hours yesterday and the day before that. Look at your boss. He's so chill about work. He is more concerned about his employees health! Then why are you always so worried about work?" Irene remained silent. Jazmyn sighed. "Irene... I can't afford to lose you... I've already lost enough loved ones. You are the only one remaining..." Jazmyn inched closer to her cousin, placing her hand on Irene's back.

"I'm sorry!" Irene whispered. "You don't need to be... just be happy and healthy... that's all I'm concerned about." Jazmyn replied. "I still miss him sometimes..." Irene said and her voice cracked. Jazmyn understood at once, who Irene was talking about. It was none other than Kai. "Why? Why can't I move on Jaz? Why can't I forget him just like he forgot me? Like we never happened..." Irene questioned her cousin. "Shh! Everything will be fine..." Jazmyn pulled her cousin into a hug.

"Yesterday... the date... it was when we first met... I couldn't sleep all night because I kept thinking about it. And the day before... I read something about him on the internet. Apparently... he is dating Hyerin. He is out there somewhere, living his dream life... while me... I'm just an insignificant person in some modelling agency that nobody gives a damn about... he has millions of fans all thanks to me..." Irene poured out the feelings she had stored in her heart, infront of Jazmyn.

"Irene... you are not some insignificant person working in some insignificant agency. You work under Luhan's agency, one of the biggest modelling agencies of Korea. You design their sets and you help the agency in ways that even you wouldn't know. Forget about Kai... he is nothing without all that fame. One scandal and his fame will disappear. He is just another celebrity that gets more hate than love. He is too arrogant and lacking to deserve you. There's no better you than the you that you are..." Jazmyn answered.

The girls spent another hour or so talking to each other. Then they finally decided to sleep. Jazmyn finished eating dinner along with Irene and they both headed to bed.

~ Location of the ad's shooting ~
Today was the photoshoot. Jazmyn had already prepared herself for another hectic day.

"Hey you!" Jazmyn turned around to a familiar voice calling her. "Yes you! It's so hot in here... go bring me some cold drink or something." The actress demanded. "Ok!" Jazmyn replied before getting her a drink.

~ An hour later ~
"No not this one... who even hired you to work here? You don't have the slightest clue about fashion." The actress said, rejecting the tenth outfit. "Go get me water!" She said. Jazmyn had been listening to this woman's commands for an hour now. The woman was testing her patience now. "I'm sorry but I'm not your personal assistant. I have not been hired to listen to your every demands and fulfill them. I have better work to do than to please you." With that Jazmyn left the changing room, leaving behind an outraged Hyerin (Yes... the same Hyerin that Kai was rumoured to be dating) and a proud Jinae (the actress who invited Jazmyn to her party).

~ Luhan's Modelling Agency ~
Luhan had been noticing how off Irene looked throughout the day. She seemed more quiet than usual. She focused more on her work than the jokes that were passed around by other employees.

It was almost time for all the employees to start heading home. Luhan saw Irene packing her stuff and getting ready to leave. He quickly walked over to her and blocked her way. "I have to go... please move..." Irene stated firmly. "What's wrong? You seemed off the whole day." Luhan said, getting straight to the point. "Nothing happened..." Irene replied. "Are you lying to me?" Luhan asked Irene. "Luhan... it's getting late... I need to get home early." "I'll drop you off!" Luhan replied. Then without waiting for a response, he grabbed her hand and headed to his car.

"Luhan! Stop it! Let me go!" Irene shouted. The truth was, Irene just wanted him to take her somewhere, no one could ever find her. She wanted to escape from this place. These walls of the office reminded her of Kai. They reminded her of how he used her for his own reasons and then left as if she never existed. She read another tweet today. It said that Kai's new drama was a hit.

Luhan made her sit in his car while she continued whining. The car pulled out of the parking lot. Most of the car ride remained silent except for Luhan clearing his throat a few times or Irene navigating the way.

"Turn left from here." Irene said. "Okay..." luhan said, turning the steering wheel to the left. "Hey... you know if you ever need help, you can always ask me..." Luhan finally said. Irene didn't respond.

The car finally came to a stop. Before Irene got out of the car, she flashed Luhan a smile. "Thank you... for dropping me off and for caring so much for your employees." He smiled back. Irene started walking towards her flat. Luhan kept staring at her until she completely disappeared into the building. Luhan wanted to make sure that she reached home safely, before he left.

Luhan never told Irene but she was a big help for him. Whenever something urgent came up, he knew that he could always rely on Irene. Out of all the others, she was the most passionate about her work. Luhan loved that quality about her. She never complained about work and always had a smile on her face. Today, he didn't see her smile the whole day and it bothered him to an extent that he felt the need to ask her directly. There were a lot of people who cared about her. Only of she could realise...