Chapter 203: Woman of Great Beauty (5)
Kang Ra-Eun arrived at the studio for the swimsuit photo shoot. Her steps were far heavier than when she used to go to the outdoor set of Shuttered. Ra-Eun hated horror, but she hated revealing her skin just as much. She didn’t mind tight clothing that accentuated the lines of her body, but she absolutely despised blatantly exposing her skin. Her head was already hurting from the thought of having to do that today.
Park Seol-Hun chuckled as he witnessed Ra-Eun’s gloomy expression.
“Stop frowning. These photos are gonna be posted on our website. Consumers won’t buy our products when the model is making such a long face.”
“Then why don’t you get your photos taken in a speedo?”
“I have a dad bod, so I can’t. Also, who would want to see the body of a middle-aged man like me? Clothes only sell when they’re worn by beautiful and slim women like you, or men with lean and perfectly proportioned physiques like Mr. Jung Hun-Seong over there.”
Ra-Eun couldn’t deny Seol-Hun’s words.
The shoot would begin with Hun-Seong, and then switch over to Ra-Eun. The shoot itself wouldn’t take a very long time since it only involved photos instead of videos, but the time was not the problem for Ra-Eun; it was the swimsuit photo shoot itself.
There were seven swimsuits that she would be wearing in total; two one-piece swimsuits, one each of crop top, high-waisted, off the shoulder, swim leggings, and lastly, the highly-anticipated bikini.
“Fucking hell...”
Ra-Eun had received the products in advance from Director Do Hye-Yeong, and tried wearing them at home.
‘The other ones aside, wearing bikinis doesn’t get any easier.’
The level of skin exposure was so high that Ra-Eun had thought over and over again, right up until she had arrived at the studio, about calling it quits and telling Seol-Hun to sue her instead.
‘Forget it, I’ll just do it. A man never goes back on his word.’
Although Ra-Eun was now a woman, it did not mean that it was okay to go back on her word. Everything had already been scheduled, so calling it quits and walking out of the photo shoot now would make her a nuisance to every single person here. She had come here today with the thought that she just needed to endure it this one time.
Jung Hun-Seong stood in front of the camera for the morning portion of the photo shoot while wearing a white tracksuit with red stripes. His shoulders were broad, and his thighs were as thick as Ra-Eun’s waist. The tracksuit fit his lean body very well.
Ra-Eun erased her expression that had been in full depression mode since earlier and smiled at Hun-Seong.
“You look great in that.”
“R-Really?” Hun-Seong said with a face as red as a tomato.
Seol-Hun smirked as if he had expected Hun-Seong to react like that.
“See? How many times did I tell you that Hun-Seong liked you?”
“Shut your goddamn mouth.”
The one who had ultimately been the trigger for Ra-Eun to wear swimsuits was not Hun-Seong, but Seol-Hun. Seol-Hun decided to get out of there before the volcano that was Kang Ra-Eun erupted.
***
Snap, snap!
Hun-Seong skillfully posed for the photographer despite having zero modeling experience.
“Could you also do the ready position that you’ve shown during the Olympics?” the photographer asked.
“Do you mean this?”
Hun-Seong spread his legs a little and lowered his stance, to which the photographer gave a thumbs up to signal his affirmation.
Snap!
And just like that, Hun-Seong’s portion of the photo shoot came to an end.
“Thank you very much!”
“Mr. Jung. We’re about to go have lunch. You can join us, if that’s alright with you.”
Hun-Seong agreed to the staff member’s offer at once.
***
They went to a restaurant to eat as a group. Ra-Eun, who was sitting across from Hun-Seong, did not eat much despite the food having been served. She had only eaten a bite or two.
“Is that all you’re going to eat, Ra-Eun?” Hun-Seong asked.
Ra-Eun nodded while smiling awkwardly.
“Yes. I think this is enough.”
“But you’ve barely eaten...” Hun-Seong expressed worry.
Just then, Seol-Hun, who was sitting next to him, mentioned, “Our chairwoman has her swimsuit photo shoot after this, so she’s trying to eat as little as possible.”
Ra-Eun almost flung the spoon that she was holding at Seol-Hun’s face. She might have actually done it if Hun-Seong and the other staff members hadn’t been there.
“Please don’t say unnecessary things like that.”
Seol-Hun flinched from Ra-Eun’s bloodlust-filled warning. On the other hand, Hun-Seong became round-eyed from the mention of a swimsuit photo shoot.
“Is your photo shoot today as well?” he asked.
“Oh... Yes.”
“In that case, if it’s no trouble, would it be alright for me to stay and watch?”
Having realized that his question had come out very weird, Hun-Seong immediately shook his head fiercely.
“I’m absolutely not asking this out of weird intentions! It’s just that, umm...”
As a fan, he simply wanted to leave as many of Ra-Eun’s various sides in his memory as possible.
‘I’d like to say no, but he took time out of his busy schedule to model for our company.’
Ra-Eun decided to be generous since Hun-Seong had worked hard for them.
“Yes, that’s fine.”
“Thank you very much! I will cherish today’s memory as an honor for my family!”
Ra-Eun laughed for the first time today thanks to Hun-Seong’s overreaction.
***
The photoshoot that Ra-Eun was dreading began with the one-piece swimsuits. She stood in front of the full-length mirror once again to check her body before going back to the studio.
‘I knew it was a good idea to barely eat anything for lunch.’
Ra-Eun couldn’t afford to binge eat before her swimsuit photo shoot because most of the swimsuits exposed her stomach region. She found it a bit uncomfortable to show off a plump stomach.
‘Alright, this should be good enough.’
Ra-Eun took a deep breath before opening the door. Her hand that was grabbing the door handle was slightly trembling. As soon as she opened the door and revealed herself to the people in the studio, she unconsciously covered her ears because she felt like they were getting red.
Hun-Seong was blankly staring at Ra-Eun from behind the camera. The photographer was the first out of everyone to get a hold of himself, and let Ra-Eun know where to stand.
“Do you see the two lines on the floor? You just need to stand while lining the end of your toes with them.”
“Like this?” Ra-Eun asked.
“Yes, that’s perfect. That’s a pro for you.”
Ra-Eun was only unaccustomed to the outfit; she was very accustomed to photo shoots themselves. Ra-Eun smiled brightly as if she was completely fine with what was going on as the camera shutter continued to snap. Her perfect white teeth revealed themselves whenever she smiled. She was the most beautiful when she smiled.
The photographer let out his honest-to-God opinion as he was pressing the camera shutter.
“I consider myself to have taken photos of the cream of the crop of female celebrities, but I have to say that you’re head and shoulders above them. It’s an absolute pleasure taking your photos.”
The model was so beautiful that the photographer was having fun to the point that it didn’t even feel like he was working. They finished taking photos of Ra-Eun in the second one-piece swimsuit.
“Should we go with the high-waisted or the crop top first?”
“Let’s go with the crop top first.”
“Okay.”
The photo shoot continued with the other swimsuits one after another. Everything in this world was only hard the first time; it became more manageable once one got used to it. Ra-Eun wore the crop top, high-waisted, off the shoulder, and then the waterproof version of the black leggings that she liked so much.
Only the highly-anticipated bikini remained. It consisted of a top and bottom garment, nothing else. Ra-Eun stood on top of the stage, covered by a blanket that a female staff member had given her. She took off the blanket once the photo shoot began, revealing to the world the bombshell body that she had hidden all this time. She had even rolled her hair up in a bun to expose her slender neck, back and waist.
The men reflexively turned their gazes away from Ra-Eun as soon as they saw her in the bikini. Even Hun-Seong, who had said that he wanted to witness this scene with his own eyes, couldn’t bring himself to look at Ra-Eun’s provocative body.
The photographer bitterly chuckled. “Ra-Eun. Your expressions have been great before, but it’s way too stiff now. Try lifting the corners of your mouth more naturally.”
“Like... This?”
“Still too stiff. Softer. Smile~”
“...”
Ra-Eun’s smile was just as frozen as her body was. She felt like she was laid completely bare in every sense of the word. Emotions of embarrassment, humiliation, shame and many others stormed inside her head. She found it deplorable that she wasn’t able to run away right then and there. Ra-Eun wasn’t able to show the photographer the expressions and poses that he wanted due to the pressure.
“Why don’t we take a short break?” the photographer suggested.
It was usually good to take short breaks during shoots, but Ra-Eun went on without taking a single break to get this situation over with as soon as possible, starting from the first one-piece swimsuit. The photographer thought that her expressions had been unnatural because of the lack of rest, but of course, it had nothing to do with that.
Ra-Eun covered herself back in the blanket and sat down on a chair to take a short break. Just then, Seol-Hun came up to her.
Ra-Eun asked while glaring at him, “What are you about to say this time? If you’re just here to tease me, go away.”
“I’m not here to tease you. I’m here to cast a victory spell on you.”
“Victory spell?”
Seol-Hun whispered so that the other staff members couldn’t hear him, “The longer the shoot takes, the longer you’ll have to be in that.”
“...!”
Ra-Eun snapped right back to her senses. Seol-Hun was absolutely right. If she didn’t end this shoot as soon as possible, she might have to be in this bikini until late evening.
Ra-Eun jumped out of her seat and exclaimed, “Let’s resume the shoot!”
The photographer and staff members moved busily as they witnessed Ra-Eun full of drive.
***
Ra-Eun’s swimsuit photo shoot ended swiftly thanks to Seol-Hun. However, it had also been because of Seol-Hun that she had to wear the swimsuits.
‘Is this remedy for a malady or something?’
Ra-Eun looked through the swimsuit photos of herself uploaded on the official Levanche website. The pre-order sales of the swimsuits that she had worn had begun this morning.
‘I hope the result is at least worth the suffering I went through.’
As if the heavens had heard her wish, she received a call from Seol-Hun.
- Hello? Are you free to talk right now, Chairwoman?
“What is it now?” Ra-Eun replied apathetically.
But unlike her, Seol-Hun’s tone was as high as a kite.
- All the products were sold out as soon as the pre-order sales opened! The reaction to the bikini was especially hot!
Their sales had skyrocketed thanks to Ra-Eun offering her embarrassment and humiliation as sacrifice.
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