"Well," Jihoon asked as he folded his arms in front of him, "Do you like it or not?"
Yoona couldn't believe what she was looking at! It was the most beautiful soft coral dyed women's suit she had ever seen. She walked closer to the masterpiece, draped over a leather sofa, and she fingered the fabric. It was 100% silk, a short mini skirt that was pleated on the back hem, where the slit usually appears. The jacket was mid-sleeve, with an off-white satin-finished tank top. The winning touch was the pair of shiny, paten leather coral stiletto heels that were on the floor just beneath the suit.
"Omo…" was all she utter.
She knelt down immediately and almost cradled the shoes.
Jihoon grinned behind her, and knew that she liked it. But he just wanted to hear her say it. After all, he had personally selected the fabrics, and had it tailored exactly at a size 1, which was obviously her size.
"If you don't like it, we can have it returned," he teased.
Yoona turned her head to face him while still squatting on the ground, clutching her shoes as if someone were going to take them away from her.
"Don't!" she stammered, "Please don't return it."
"So it's acceptable?"
Her eyes sparkled with gratitude when she nodded profusely in response.
"You don't mind the color, or the cut?"
She stood and bowed down, a full 90 degrees from the floor, and remained with her head bowed.
"You didn't have to go this far," she said with her head inclined. "I can't thank you enough. Just tell me how much I owe you please."
He tutted at her and then told her to get up and stop bowing.
"I have 7 more made for you as well, all different colors, styles and cuts. Whatever you don't like, you can let me know and we will return them for something you want. This is just to get you started. Consider it your uniforms for work."
Her mouth dropped open in shock and he chuckled.
"Yoona, I told you on day one that you must look the part. You work for Peppered Rain now. I won't have this agency represented by…" he lowered his glasses from the bridge of his nose and motioned his hand up and down, "… this college beatnik look you have going on."
She looked down at her feet, she was wearing white Keds, jeans, and a large, oversized hoodie that covered her tee shirt.
"Over there," he pointed to another door in the large dressing room they were standing in, "is a restroom, with a toilet, Jacuzzi bath, and a shower." Then he motioned to a second door, "That is the walk-in closet." He walked over to the door he had pointed to and opened it up, motioning her inside.
She immediately noticed the rack of new suits off to the side, and a shelf of at least a dozen pairs of pumps and heels, of all colors and styles, and against the opposite wall was another shelf filled with matching handbags for every color of shoes. At the far end of the small room was three full length mirrors, one flat against the wall, and the other two on either side, angled.
She turned to him and swallowed.
"Oh I couldn't…" she shook her head. "It's just not right."
"I'm not giving them to you." He clarified, as he looked her straight in the eye.
"Then they aren't for me?"
"Oh they are yours for now. If I decide that you're capable in this job, then you'll keep them. And believe me, you'll need to earn them. This won't be an easy job Yoona. I thought I made that clear. "
When she nodded mutely, he continued.
"But if things don't work out, then it all stays here. With the company."
He waited for a response, when he didn't get one he asked, "Do we have a deal?"
Jihoon wanted her to have all of the suits with no strings attached, but he knew she would not accept them unless they were tied to a work contract, as a 'uniform' of sorts. He had wanted to give her much more, but this was a start. He knew from how quickly she resolved the photographer mystery that she was well worth it.
Yoona looked back at the suits, turned to the row of shoes, and lastly stared at the beautiful designer handbags. This was more than she had ever imagined she would ever see in her lifetime. But something made her uneasy. She wasn't sure why, after all, it's not like she was a kept woman, or being bought by these items, because like he said, they came with the job. Still, she wasn't used to this sort of luxury and it made her uncomfortable.
"Can you drive?"
She heard the words but didn't understand why he was asking her.
"Huh?"
"A driver's license, Yoona. Do you have one?"
She shook her head, because she didn't own a car. She either caught the bus or rode her bicycle everywhere. She didn't need a license.
"Well that's got to change. I can't have you riding that contraption to work and to meetings with clients, and that goes for a bus or taxi as well. They are undependable."
He reached down into his pocket and extracted a pair of keys and tossed it at her. She was still clutching on to the shoes, so she didn't catch it. It bounced off of her arm and she stared down at them, as if trying to understand what they were.
"Aish!" Rain said as he walked over to her, picked up the keys off the floor and placed them into the pair of heels she was holding.
"You need to go get lessons right away. I need you to have your license in a week."
"A WEEK!" she nearly choked.
"Ok ok, maybe that's too aggressive, then TWO weeks! Make sure to get a good instructor too, I don't care what the expense is, but you need a damn license. Any young woman your age should not be without one. You never know when you'll be asked to drive in an emergency. And for this job, it's critical."
Her head was buzzing. This was just too much for her to comprehend. It was as if she had landed on some strange planet in an alternate universe.
"You rode your bike to work today right?" he continued on talking as if she understood every word he said. He walked back to the closet door and exited. He turned the knob to the restroom before he realized she wasn't following him.
He turned back to the walk-in closet door, poked his head in, and whistled "Yoohoo!" at her, snapping her out from her daze.
"I don't have all day Yoona! I have a meeting at 10:00 with your young photographer, if you recall!"
She stumbled after him, still clutching on to her prized heels.
"I don't have to explain what goes on in here. Since you rode your bike to work, I can only imagine what you smell like. I disapprove of sweaty women…" he paused, "Well only in certain circumstances is it acceptable, and this isn't one of those." He chuckled at his own private joke and then immediately regained his stoic composure when she didn't respond. Of course she wouldn't, she probably had no idea what he was talking about!
He waved his hand at her to enter and when she padded in the large bathroom, he pointed at the drawers, without entering, standing in the doorway.
"You'll find everything you need in there."
She looked about the room, and noticed a large shower stall, big enough for ten people, and an oversized bath that had already been drawn, with floating rose petals in it.
Her eyes grew very large as she turned to him with an embarrassed look on her face.
"What?" he asked her in a serious tone. "You don't expect to put on a perfectly tailored silk suit being all smelly and sweaty, do you?"
"You want me to bathe?" she asked him incredulously. "Here? At work?"
He threw his head back and laughed at her innocence, forgetting how refreshingly naïve she could be.
"Yoona," he explained, "This is one of at least 6 dressing rooms on this floor alone. I have my own private bath and shower adjacent to my office. It's no big deal."
"I'll leave the key for this one on the counter," he explained as he placed the key next to the sink.
"We have long hours here, and we work hard. I'm a big fan of personal hygiene. But if you feel uncomfortable, then go home, take a shower, change, and then catch a taxi back. That will take you about 3 hours. Three wasted hours that could be used for meeting Mr. Changmin Shim and our promotional meeting afterwards with Priority. Now, which do you think is more important? Your oversensitive sense of privacy or work?"
"I'm sorry," she apologized, immediately feeling foolish. "I … it's just that I've never heard of bathing at work before."
"I'm sure there's a lot you've never heard of before now," he tried not to sound patronizing but knew she had led a relatively sheltered life.
"Now listen, I don't have time to hold your hand through the rest of this, I trust you can take it from here?"
When her face blushed red, and she nodded, he excused himself, locked the door as he left and headed back upstairs, to his office. He couldn't help but smile on his way up. This girl was a breath of fresh air. She would surely make work much more interesting. He had thirty minutes before his meeting with Changmin Shim, and he wanted to review the proposal again.
He wasn't looking forward to seeing Hyori Lee and her top model, Yuri at the 11:00 meeting with Priority, but he now he felt he had leveraging power, and an offer she wouldn't refuse.
Yoona looked at the rose filled hot steamy Jacuzzi bath and then back at the shower stall. The shower had no door, but was a large, marble lined stall with a showerhead the size of a turkey platter. She turned the knob and watched the water spray down as if it were raining.
"Whoa!" she gasped.
She immediately decided on the shower because it would be quicker and more fun than the bath. Somehow taking a bath at work just seemed too decadent for her.
Taecyeon was running late, as usual. He was supposed to be at Jihoon hyung's office at 9:00 and it was already 9:45.
He had overslept, and just his luck he had fallen asleep in Bridgette's hotel room. The only thing he remembered was flying in from France and meeting a beautiful flight attendant in First Class. He had asked her out, and one drink led to another, and the next thing he knew, he was waking up in a hotel, without his luggage or a car.
He leaned against the receptionists' desk after entering the main lobby.
"Gain-shii," he said with a bit of a pained looked, "I need help."
She was used to this. Every one of the male models that worked at this agency felt they had been blessed with divinity, a power over women, and flaunted it. But Taecyeon was the worse of them all. Or better stated, the best of them all. The problem was, he actually was perfect. Every inch of him was grade A, and she could never seem to resist his charms.
"Mmm," she nodded, "And just how can I help our little black sheep today? You know how late you are?"
"I need you to call an ambulance… or paramedic…" he clutched at his chest with a painful grimace. He wasn't his perky self, and looked like he had slept in his clothes.
"Taecyeon-shii!" she stood up quickly, full of alarm, "What is it?"
"Save… me…" he murmured before bending down low, still clutching his chest.
She nervously grabbed the phone and cried, "Hold on! Please, dear God, please hold on! I knew all that partying would someday do you in!"
She quickly dialed the emergency response number and tears formed in her eyes.
"Answer, answer, answer…" she pleaded. "Taecyeon-shii, please lay down, I'll get help right away!"
"It's too late," he moaned, "My heart can't take it any more. You're just… just… just too beautiful for me today."
He stood upright and grinned like a cat that just had the best bowl of milk ever, and she slammed down the phone.
"OK TAECYEON!" she called out to him angrily.
He pouted like a little boy being scolded by his mother and looked up from his hooded eyes, and lowered his head.
"I can't help it if you're just too pretty for me to take," he jokingly defended, "It's your own fault, not mine!"
"Aigooooo," she shook her head at him and sat back down in her chair.
"Did you miss me?" he smiled back at her again.
"Like a dog misses ticks," she crowed.
"Oh that much huh? Well I brought you a little something."
She perked up and tried not to anticipate much. This was why she was butter in his palm. He never forgot to charm her any time he came into the office. He always brought her some sort of gift, and always teased her mercilessly.
He removed a small crystal bottle that he had purchased at the duty-free shop in the airport and placed it on her wide desk. 'Eau de toilette,' it read.
"French perfume?" she asked hopefully.
"Mmm," he confirmed. "Do you want me to put it on you?"
"Yah!" she waved at him playfully as she picked up the crystal bottle.
"Now which dressing room can I have to wash up in before I see the Master of Doom and Gloom?"
She chuckled and withdrew a key and tossed it to him.
"You're already late," she chided, "But I can buy you at least fifteen minutes. Hurry!"
Taecyeon half jogged up the stairs as he glanced down at the key. Lucky for him this was a male modeling agency and every one of the changing rooms were decked out with the finest suits, shoes and accessories. Jihoon-hyung would never know that he left his luggage at the airport.
Yoona had just finished showering and was carefully opening the drawers in the changing room closet, stunned at the beautiful undergarments. This truly was a dream! She held up one of the lacy bras to her small chest and giggled. She then saw row after row of silky panties, women's boxers, and even thongs. She shook her head and snatched up a pair of bikini panties and began to slip them on. She then lifted a soft pink mini slip out of the drawer, which matched the color of panties she had selected. She stepped into it, and then began choosing a bra.
She thought she heard a door open and close, and she froze. She looked at the closed door of the changing room and immediately grabbed the towel off from around her hair and covered her front with it. She slowly opened the door and peeked out.
No one.
It was her imagination. She had become so paranoid that she was bathing at work, that now she was creeping herself out!
Taecyeon looked at the hot steamy bath filled with roses. This was a first. Gain-shii had really outdone herself on this one. How did she know he was coming in late? Then again, when was he ever on time? He had bathed with rose petals before, just not alone.
He was glad he had bought her the most expensive bottle of perfume in the shop. She deserved it. She worked hard, and always covered for him.
He quickly stripped and sunk down into the glorious hot bath water.
It was so large that he could stretch out his body full length and still have plenty of room! The luxury of a Jacuzzi tub! Shame he didn't have time to turn on the jets and soak. He quickly lathered himself up, and shampooed his hair. He kept the shampoo in while he stood up and then headed to the shower. He didn't notice that wet shower floor because he was squinting his eyes closed to keep the shampoo out.
Yoona reached for a brush and quickly began to brush her hair, when she noticed the blowdryer attached to the wall. She unhooked it and turned it on.
Taecyeon reached for the shower facet and turned it full blast and stood under the hot running water, rinsing the soap from his body and the shampoo from his hair.
"Ayeeee" he moaned softly as the steaming water ran over his head, chest and back. Why couldn't he just stay here for another ten minutes? But he didn't have time, he knew Jihoon-hyung would already be angry with him so he quickly turned off the wonderful, steamy water and shook his head.
He grabbed one of the oversize towels and patted himself dry, then rubbing his hair with it, before dropping the towel on to the floor. He headed to the changing closet.
Just as the shower stopped, Yoona had turned off the blow dryer. She didn't have much time and still needed to decide on her bra, and put her suit on. She wouldn't wear make up, because she never did. Maybe some light lip color.
She looked at her beautiful new shoes again and giggled. She slipped them on and stood before the mirror with nothing but the shoes and panties on, grinning ear to ear. They were gorgeous! She lifted one of her legs up, bending it upwards in a silly pose and felt like squealing!
"Gain-shii," Rain called her impatiently on his speakerphone, "I have Mr. Changmin sitting here with me, and we are expecting Miss Im to join us in a few minutes. Have you seen Taecyeon yet? He's over an hour late now!"
"He should be there momentarily," she answered.
"What, you mean he's here in the building?"
"Just freshening up," she tried to stall.
"Typical," Rain said as he clicked on the speaker button on the phone, disconnecting the call and faced Changmin again.
"So Miss Yoona should get a raise for finding you and more importantly, for convincing you to come."
Changmin just nodded in agreement, not convinced that he should really be here at a male modeling agency of all places.
"You'll see," pausing momentarily, something suddenly dawned on Rain. He quickly pressed a button and kept pressing it harder and harder.
"Yes Mr…"
"GAIN-SHII," he called out as he stood up, "Which dressing room did you send Taecyeon to?"
"Changing room?" Gain asked nervously, wanting to cover for him, but now realizing something must be wrong.
"Dammit woman, which room!" Rain had begun to pace and Changmin saw he was noticeably upset.
"Room six," Gain finally revealed.
"SHIT!" Rain yelled and sprinted toward the door, "Yoona is in that room!"
Changmin shot out of his seat after hearing her name, and quickly caught up with Mr. Jung in a matter of seconds, they both nearly flew down the flight of stairs.
"What's the matter!"
He wasn't sure what was happening, but he knew if Mr. Jung was this upset, then something must not be right with Yoona.
Taecyeon turned the handle to the walk-in closet from the changing room and as he raised his head he stopped mid step.
There before him stood a near naked young woman, with very long legs, slender and from what he could see, not very well endowed, as he reviewed her bare chest.
Yoona instantly froze. She stared at the fully naked male reflection behind her and she tried to comprehend what she was seeing. It took nearly ten seconds before they both realized what happened.
She threw her arms over her bare chest and opened her mouth to scream.
Taec had seen her eyes go from shock, to disbelief to panic. He crossed the room in lightning speed and covered her mouth, stifling her scream, pulling her close to him. He had no idea why he was holding her, all he knew is that he had to prevent her from screaming and alerting the world.
As soon as he felt her violently squirm he knew he had made a grave mistake. Why didn't he just slam the door closed?
Yoona was livid! She couldn't believe that this stark naked, giant pervert had grabbed her and she could feel his skin against her own as she twisted, elbowed, and tried to kick him, even though he was behind her.
"It's ok!" he said to her in full panic mode, not convincingly all, "Look, it's ok. It's me. Taecyeon. Did hyung send you here for me?"
Yoona froze again in disbelief and tried to bite the hand that covered her mouth.
"I'll take that as a no," Taec said, fully upset as she was, "You're not exactly my type anyway."
He looked at her arms pinned against her chest and tried to think quickly, how was he going to get out of this mess? Who was she and why was she in the male model's changing room?
They both heard pounding on the outer door of the dressing room, and it was Rain's voice calling her name.
"Yoona-shii," he called as he pounded his fist on to the dressing room door.
Both Taecyeon and Yoona froze. What to do? What to do!
They both looked at the walk-in closet's door. It had no lock, and was the only thing that kept them separated from the changing room.
Yoona looked panicked at his reflection in the mirror. He was so much taller than she was, and one of his hands covered her mouth while the other one held her arms that were pinned over her chest.
She wanted to cry out for help, but at the same time she was terrified to be found like this.
"YOONA!" Changmin screamed out loud and all three of them jumped, including Rain.
Yoona recognized the man holding her now. He was the model from the lobby that sprawled over the couch, shirtless. She could now feel that chest against her bare back and she swallowed.
Changmin did not wait for a response, but pushed Rain aside and kicked at the door handle.
"For the love of God, please don't scream!" Taecyeon begged her. "Look, I'm sorry, I guess hyung didn't send you to me. I don't know who you are, but please don't scream!"
His eyes pleaded with hers, and she nodded.
He softened his grip on her mouth and whispered in her ear, "If they kicked that outside door down, we will both be in trouble. Please tell them you're ok."
He raised his hand carefully off her mouth and closed his eyes, praying she would not scream.