En Vogue
En Vogue:In English, it's perfectly acceptable to refer to something fashionable as in vogue(meaning in the current fashion or style), yet to evoke a sense of French chic, many writers make the whole phrase French—envogue.
Kim Junsu enters the world of male models, who most of men look like mannequins, where art and illusion are supposed to be fantasy.
But later he realizes, this high fashion world requires lots of spreading legs wide open.
Prologue.
Living in New York is tough, Kim Junsu thinks. It was not his intention to come to this city in the first place. His parents did. New York grants you a better life. New York is the best city for us. You're going to like living in New York, Junsu.
Junsu scoffs. Better life my ass. He and his family's life isn't going better in New York. After his father's company had bankrupted, his family moved to New York, hoping for a better opportunity and fortune. But nothing's good happened. His father ran out of nowhere, probably died somewhere and nobody's found his body. His mother becomes a breadwinner working as a chef at a cheap korean restaurant in the most disgusting alley in the city.
Maybe he should finds a nice job to help his mother pays up the bills. He's still 16 years old, he can do anything. He can be a waiter, a cashier, or maybe a janitor. Once he has enough money, he will go back to Korea with his mother and start a new life together. That would be good. He misses seeing Korean, speaks Korean, and drinks soju.
He's sitting at a sidewalk, nothing to do except staring blankly at the bright skyscrapers. His mother hasn't came back to their apartment and he's starving to death. Nothing's left inside the refrigerator and he hasn't eaten anything since morning. Rather than doing nothing in the room and holding his grumbling stomach, Junsu prefers to sit at the busiest place in the city, sitting calmy.
His eyes catches at a huge billboard of famous sunglasses brand at the top of a building, John Varvatos. The model, half Asian, looks very gorgeous. In the picture, he wears the sunglasses (which fits him well) with eyes looking at somewhere, his full natural deep red lips are slightly parted, wind blowing his short dark raven hair gracefully, and a ray of summer illuminates his flawless face. He looks like a rich man in a private beach for summer holiday.
Junsu scoffs. What is he doing? Checking out a man in the billboard sunglasses campaign? What a dumb. Junsu closes his eyes. His body feels limp and his stomach feels hurt. He doesn't have any money just for buying a cheap salad at McDonalds. He's so done with his life right now. He can feel his consciousness slowly fading.
It must be fun to be a male model, Junsu thinks. With only ideal posture, attractive look, and nice poses in front of the camera, you can get money, fame, and recognition. It just needs a little effort to make money and fame. Junsu envies them. They must have lots of girlfriends…
Junsu opens his eyes for the last time before he faints.
Maybe this is just his hallucination, but he can see the man from the John Varvatos billboard is standing in front of him, staring at him. His right eyebrow crinkled a little, between curious and wonder. Junsu cannot believe his own eyes, the picturesque man that he looked a moment ago from the billboard is suddenly standing in front of him in flesh and blood form, holding a cup of Starbucks cup and glazy donnut, as if the man jumps out of the picture.
Junsu thinks he's dreaming when his vision becomes blurry and suddenly blank.