Work Text
Scouted at the local movie theatre at seventeen years old, YangYang couldn't have possibly imagined the future that was waiting for him. He initially laughed at the proposal, yet the man was quite insistent and handed him a business card. YangYang left it forgotten on the right pocket of his jeans until washing day, where he found it and decided to call and see if it was a real thing. He guessed it wouldn't hurt to try.It turns out, the proposal came from a legit modeling agency. They ended up making a date and the next thing he knew, he was on a flight to New York. The beginning of every model´s career is not exactly a piece of cake. He moved with other three guys to a modest apartment in Brooklyn and every day was spent going from one place to another in order to get in time to castings. That was until he finally started to gain more and more jobs and suddenly, his big break came upon him on a sunny Sunday. He got a call from his manager telling him that he was booked for a Dior show on the upcoming New York Fashion Week. He and his best friend Yukhei celebrated happily that night.The day of the show, he got there early and got dressed in clothes that costed more than his monthly rent. Nervous, he smiled for the pictures some photographers were taking and tried to keep it together. The backstage was a mess that day, with people running around fixing makeup and clothes on the models, suddenly the director of the show came in on the verge of crying saying that their opening model, famous Jung Jaehyun had gotten stuck in a snow storm in France and wouldn´t be there to open the runway. Everyone panicked, YangYang thought they´d have to get a new model so, building up his courage, he walked up to the director and tapped on his shoulder. “Hi, I´m YangYang, and I can open the show if you want” - he said smiling. Some models laughed at him, yet none of them, including YangYang, expected that the director would actually agree. They changed his outfit and YangYang replaced Jaehyun that day. The press and the industry were expecting poetic beauty and supermodel Jung Jaehyun not an unknown model, but YangYang was confident in himself for once. And he did it amazing, many people were asking for his name at the after party and later that night he received a DM from none other than the most prestigious modeling agency out there, Elite Models. Once he signed with them, he got Yukhei a contract with the agency as well.
YangYang walked through the world's most famous fashion houses even before his eighteenth birthday. Hermes, Dior, and Dolce and Gabbana booked him for their fashion shows during the 2017 Fashion Week in Paris and after that, he was requested for many magazine covers around the world.
It was wild for him to imagine his pictures hanged up in magazine racks in markets or shops of faraway cities, like Tokyo or Dublin. His playful personality and unique looks made the public and brands fall for him. His first big magazine job was for the cover of Vogue Arabia, and for it, he endured a seemingly endless plane trip to Dubai.
YangYang realized that being a real model, per se wasn´t as glamorous as he used to daydream on the subway on his way to casting calls. The thing he thanked the most was finally being able to leave his old apartment. It had two rooms for four people, a basically broken stove and no air conditioner made it his least favorite place to go home to, yet he saved some great memories with Yukhei and Jeno (before he quit modeling).Being a working model has its good and bad sides. Some of the good stuff was traveling to many places in the world, even when there was no time for proper sightseeing, he enjoyed seeing the cities he was in, sometimes, if he was lucky when he was shooting in location they would close some touristy areas to avoid the public from appearing in the pictures. The pay wasn't bad either, so he gave some to his parents and with the rest, he bought himself a cherry red sports car, that was permanently parked on the Elite New York building. He could also wear clothes people can only dream of, designer outfits, suits embroidered by hand, and expensive jewelry on his wrists. Another perk is being invited to exclusive celebrity parties, with flashing red carpet events, with famous singers performing and fancy named cocktails being served with shiny straws.
Fame could also be counted in the pros of being a supermodel, but for YangYang, it wasn't.
Tabloids began speculating about his imaginary romantic relationships with female and male models alike (he came out to the public in the cover of Teen Vogue, since his agency thought it was the best option before paparazzi caught him with a guy and try to make his life miserable)He couldn't even mutter a word to a fellow model from his agency at an event, because the next day, his DMS would explode with messages from people asking him about articles of gossip sites.There was a time he had a massive crush on a male model, and just when he thought his incessant flirting would pay off, tabloids reported a 'secret relationship' between them. That made everything incredibly awkward. The agency replaced the guy in a double photoshoot they had in hopes of not feeding the relationship rumors any further and the boy ended up hating YangYang. He couldn't even look at him in the eye after that incident. Luckily the guy ended up signing with another agency, this time in Brasilia, and whatever happened between them was left in the dark.
Yet, the dating rumors were only a part of his worries. Because of his hectic work schedule, most of his time was spent in photoshoots, planes or at the gym. Sleep hours were precious, not because he needed 'beauty sleep', since, in the end, any marks of exhaustion could be covered up by concealer, but because he was very tired. He was very grateful for all the opportunities given to him, but it was all too much sometimes. There are days where he wishes he could be back in Dusseldorf and be with his old school friends or with his family eating dinner and then go to play with his adored pup in the back garden. He missed the familiarity of his hometown when he was in foreign places.
But he understood from day one that in order to become a requested model that would be remembered by the industry he had to sacrifice his personal life for his work life. Dating was almost out of question, because being honest, he had no time or interest in harvesting a romantic relationship.
YangYang got to the gym, where many of his former management partners were training. He immediately recognized Yukhei on the leg-press. They´ve been friends for almost the entire length of his modeling career. He was the first person he met when he was scouted and brought to New York. The tall boy welcomed him into their model apartment with a wide smile and soon they became the best of friends. Turns out, Yukhei was scouted at a local modeling contest in Hong Kong and had already posed for various catalogs, while YangYang had no experience. To be real, when he first moved to NY, YangYang had no experience whatsoever and knew basically nothing from the modeling world.He was usually nervous at castings but figured out that if things didn't go right he could always return to Dusseldorf and become a lawyer like his dad wanted. Yukhei and Jeno taught him many poses and how to look more confident. At his first photoshoot, he just tried to pose as Yukhei had told him. To make the camera fall in love with him, it was awkward to flirt with a machine that was being held by an actual person. When the pictures were revealed he cringed really hard. When he showed the boys his pics they laughed knowingly. From that night they became the best of friends and not rivals like their other roommate believed. “YangYang!” - Yukhei waved his huge hands and YangYang walked up to him with a smile.“Guess what Zuberi told me today” - Yukhei asked going back to training.“What?” - YangYang asked putting his favorite playlist for training.“There's a new model, a guy. From China” - Yukhei said excitedly. They used to joke about being the only Chinese models at the company along with another female model.“Interesting” - YangYang swallowed as he started using the cable bíceps bar.“Do you have any idea of how he looks like?” - YangYang asked curiously.“You mean if I´ve stalked him? Of course, I did” - Yukhei took his phone from his gym bag and opened Instagram - “His name is Xiao De Jun”“He's really freaking ethereal ” - Yukhei said scrolling through the pics on his page. He was determined to get to know the newest model.“Let me see” - YangYang got closer and saw him - “He is indeed hot” - YangYang said casually.“I claim him” - Yukhei said loudly and everyone at the gym turned to him. YangYang wasn't interested in meeting new people, especially after the Mikkel fiasco , as Yukhei labeled it. Mikkel was a model a year older than YangYang, they met during a shoot for a coke commercial. YangYang was whipped for him the moment he saw him with his greek god facial features and honey eyes, he even broke his no dating rule for him, ready to risk it all for his love. Mikkel was all kinds of fascinating for YangYang, he loved taking pictures and because of it, they discovered the unknown city of New York together.They would watch Friends reruns in YangYang´s place while eating take-out Chinese food and YangYang remembers just staring at him as he laughed with him, thinking that was love.Things between them started to get painful when Mikkel moved to Paris due to a three-year contract with a makeup company there. They used to call each other sometimes when they weren´t busy or tired, which wasn´t very often. YangYang kept his phone with him at all times, hoping to hear about him, when he did call though, they would talk for hours on end. Yet, everything ended terribly when a tabloid showed a very illustrative picture of him making out with a pretty girl in a party.
The next time he saw Mikkel was at a photo shoot for a Dior advertisement. He wanted to leave and ended up hiding in a bathroom stall so no one could see him hyperventilating. He was there, on the bathroom weeping over Mikkel, again. It was then when Yukhei came to the bathroom looking for him. He kneeled next to where YangYang was seated on the floor, separated by the bathroom wall. “YangYang” - “Yes?” - YangYang was already crying and he didn't even try to hide it from his best friend - “Are you hiding here because of that dick?”“Maybe” - a weak response from YangYang´s lips, barely hearable for Yukhei.“He's the one that should be hiding, not you. You didn't do anything wrong. Now you´re gonna go there and you´re gonna show everyone why YangYang Liu is a world-renown model and a strong guy, okay?” After hearing that, YangYang decided he was not gonna let that guy ruin his opportunity, he stood up and got out of the bathroom. Yukhei smiled proudly and helped him fix his ruined makeup, so it wouldn't look like he had been crying seconds ago.Both boys walked back and YangYang did his best for the photoshoot. The photographer he had a different air that day, special magic. From that day on, he became known for his “ Liu boy magic ” and Mikkel stormed out of the set.He saw him once again in a Night Club one of the international models suggested to celebrate the end of New York Fashion Week. He and Yukhei ignored him the entire time they were there and enjoyed some time with their model friends.
Xiao De Jun was indeed breathtaking. Yukhei´s eyes followed him as he walked the runway at the practice room. YangYang had things to do, but Yukhei dragged him to seem like they only wanted to greet him and welcome him to the highly competitive, and really good-looking Elite models family.“Xiao De Jun right?” - a few girls walked up to him before Yukhei could even blink. He cursed under his breath. He already had YangYang´s promise to not try anything with Xiao Jun, but not with the other models there.“Hey, cheer up. You want some ice cream?” - YangYang offered, placing his arm around him.Yukhei looked at him and nodded.From the practice room door, the intimidating figure of the director of the Agency, Tiffany Young. “Wait for a second” - she ordered YangYang and Yukhei. A halo of superiority over her blonde head. She had earned the leadership of the agency after years of a flawless career as a top model, she was quite manipulative and could be cruel if you were on her bad side. Which is why YangYang and Yukhei always followed her recommendations religiously.“I got good news for you boys” - her high heels were the only sound on the quiet room as she walked towards the new model and the girls immediately flew away from Xiao Jun.Xiao Jun, YangYang and Yukhei were in front of her and she proceeded to tell them the big news. Yukhei had just been included in a special issue of British Vogue.“Now, YangYang and Xiao Jun. These are remarkable news, both of you were selected by Gucci and Versace to be the new faces of their campaigns respectively. YangYang you´ll be going to Paris and Xiao-Jun you´ll be arriving in Milan tomorrow night, so go pack”“Thanks, Ms. Young” - Xiao Jun beamed with excitement and Yukhei looked at him lovingly, YangYang had to kick him under the table for him to stop gazing at the guy. “Hey, guys!” - Xiao Jun called the boys.Yukhei turned around swiftly.“We haven´t been properly introduced. I´m Xiao De-Jun, but you can call me DeJun if you want” - he smiled awkwardly.“I´m Yukhei and this is YangYang”“You did great up there - YangYang complimented the shy boy, and Yukhei gave him a dirty look.“Thank you, I´m very nervous”“I totally get you. When I opened my first runway show I felt that I was going to faint” - Yukhei said enthusiastically and Xiao-Jun listened to all of his funny modeling stories that YangYang saw first hand. Like the time Yukhei fell during a runway show and stood up as if he was dancing, or the time he and YangYang ended up on the other side of the city after getting the wrong address for a casting call. The funny and cringe-worthy stories of their days as unknown models made Xiao Jun laugh loudly.YangYang could see how Yukhei smiled at Xiao Jun with adoration in his eyes and thought about how nice they´d look together. Yukhei and Xiao-Jun decided to go get some vegan burgers and asked YangYang if he wanted to go, but he ended up declining in favor of packing for his flight the following morning.His phone filled with messages from his manager explaining him at what time he would be picked up to go to the airport. YangYang wasn't very excited to go to Paris. Fashion Week was going to be soon and he had at least twenty-three shows to appear in. All he wanted was some weeks of rest before that, but he couldn't really complain about such a flattering position. The face of none other than Gucci. He looked up his name on twitter and many of his fans and other magazines were making him trend on the app. He sighed and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep.
Hendery, or more known as his designer name, Wong KunHang started designing at age fourteen, and by age twenty-one, he was already the creative director at Gucci. He studied at the prestigious Parsons School of Design at New York and excelled in all the projects. One fateful day the creative director of Gucci, Kim Doyoung saw his designs and was impressed by them. He thought they were fresh and exactly what he wanted to see in the ever-changing fashion world.Hendery had always been very interested in antique and modern art, which was why all of his designs were very detailed, art inspired and looked like little pieces of art. Doyoung gladly offered him a place in his company. Hendery started off as his assistant, but soon became his go-to assessor when it came to color palettes and details. Hendery has impressive creativity and young boldness in his designs. When Doyoung retired last year to live with his husband Jaehyun and their baby daughter in England, his obvious option was Hendery. And since then, the entire fashion industry has been behind him, following his every step. Being one of the youngest and more promising names in fashion was a heavy weight to carry.The flashing designer usually fell asleep at midnight surrounded by sketches of ideas for designs and his three cats. And woke up at six thirty to drink two cups of tea and take the train to his studio located in a fancy Parisian department, it had belonged to Doyoung before him and he had the pleasure of throwing away all of his creepy looking decorations. Doyoung was actually one of his few friends at the fashion industry, others were probably a few junior designers that insisted on calling him boss and some less competitive shoe designers. The truth was that he had various enemies, per se. Not really, people, he knew very well, but that had jumped to discredit his work, out of pure jealousy. With some other designers, he maintained a healthy business rivalry. But no one was like Ten.The head of Versace was, at least for Hendery the most conceited and terrible person on the face of Earth. Having become head designers around the same time, there was a clear rivalry between both men. Ten was five years older than him but carried himself as an eminence and as if he was the best designer of all, is also the second main actionist of the company, due to his disgustingly rich parents. He was arrogant and hated Hendery above anything else.
It all began when Hendery named his debut collection ‘Birth of Venus’, which was highly praised by the critics, the problem was that Ten also did a Roman mythology themed collection, that goes with the concept of his brand and accused Hendery of ripping out his idea, since he started to work on it way before Hendery began with his.The central clash was at the Met Gala, where Ten, surrounded by high-end designers and fashion editors called him up for allegedly stealing his idea and being an unworthy director for Gucci.Hendery had never felt more humiliated in his life. Things got heated again when they were nominated against each other for the title of Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards. The moment Hendery won and went up to receive his award, he was bustling with happiness for seeing his dream come true after all those years of hard work. That excitement died down when he saw that Ten had said some things that were certainly not compliments. The Thai designer tweeted: The standards at the industry were getting lower and lower, an explicit attack to him.That night, when he returned to the hotel, he lied on the couch and cried with his cats around him. The trophy was long forgotten in the kitchen counter, thankfully many people came in his defense, beginning with Doyoung saying how of a wonderful designer he was and Ten ended up deleting his tweet.From that day on, the world has witnessed the intermittent dispute between both designers for the best collections, designs, and campaigns, which was really burning Hendery out. Having to work harder all the time was very emotionally and physically draining. But he was not gonna let that shady designer win.Hendery´s assistant came to his studio three times a day to bring him food and other packages from the main office. This time, the woman brought him some milk and coffee and a muffin. Hendery was much younger than his assistant and most of the designer team, yet he was well respected by everyone he worked with.That day, he was going to have a reunion with the advertising team in order to choose some concepts for the new social media campaign they were going to throw to introduce the new face of the brand and their newest collection.Hendery got to the luxurious building, followed closely by some photographers. Once he got to the meeting room, he was given various pictures with faces of young and attractive models. Hendery knew some from previous shows, but only by look though, he was always busy fixing last minute issues. He recognized some of them, but not all. One caught his attention, and he read the name under the picture. Xiao Jun, Elite New York.Selecting models wasn't very interesting to him, but that time he was really struck by something he never felt before. The model was incredibly pretty to him, with a calm and gentle look, but his sharp factions also made him seem mysterious and graceful. He really wanted that model as the face of the brand.The next few days were spent designing more and more dresses and suits, and most of the drawings of the menswear collection resembled the young model he selected before. Gucci reached out to Elite models ready to make a deal but was rejected thanks to the fact that Xiaojun was already booked. And not by any brand, but Versace.Hendery felt his blood boil, Ten was probably behind this , he knew some of his employees were quite gossipy and couldn't really keep secrets, maybe he had somehow found out and decided to reach out first. Turns out, one of his designers found out and during an Instagram live she babbled about Xiaojun being considered for the newest campaign.Hendery had no choice but to chose another model, he received a call from XiaoJun´s management company and ended up agreeing on booking another one of their models. He didn't even bother looking him up on the internet. All he knew was that he was named YangYang Liu and they promised he wouldn't regret booking him. He sighed and went back to designing.
YangYang was picked up from the airport by a chauffeur hired by Gucci in a black car. He got inside with his manager and made a call to assure his mom that he landed safely and was getting to the hotel. Hotels all over the world were all the same in the end, just a place to crash after long photo shoots and runway shows, he was happy though, that long gone were the days he had to share hotel rooms with many other boys and he now had all the room for himself.There was a note over the table and a huge flower bouquet. We are very excited to have you as the new face of Gucci, we hope you enjoy your stance in Paris. YangYang left the note on the table and jumped to the bed. He messaged Yukhei and Jeno, even when he knew he should be sleeping. “Time to rise and shine Liu. We have to get you to meet the designers in an hour” - YangYang´s manager came in and opened the windows, almost blinding YangYang with the morning sun. YangYang groaned and covered himself better with the fluffy covers.“Come on, kid. They are waiting for you” - his manager left the room and YangYang sighed, he had to leave his warm bed and get ready for the day.
Hendery woke up with Cinnamon´s tail on his face, the feisty brown kitten loved to get on his bed in the mornings and walk around it, unlike the other two who were a lot less clingy. Hendery got his three cats when he first moved to Paris and took them everywhere he went to. Hendery loved them all very much, but not a lot when they were on his face. The clock signaled seven-thirty, he mentally checked all the things he had to do. Get a shower, dress up, go to the meeting, oh and breakfast too. Doyoung would always ask if he was eating well since he knew very well all the pressure he left on the boy's shoulders.Cinnamon followed him around to the closet and the bathroom if that cat could talk it would probably be a very talkative little being.Once he finished dressing up, he fed the cats and turned on the TV while waiting for the chauffeur. Entertainment news or boring politics news? He picked up the first to distract himself a little. He was petting another one of his adored kittens, Oswald was all black and had striking blue eyes that immediately drew Hendery to him.The news anchor was talking about some famous models, all pretty good-looking and with lavish lifestyles. His eyes glued on his cats and how Cinnamon was being her annoying little self with the other cats when he heard Ten´s name from the tv. He looked up in interest.
Ten, the creative director of Versace and model Lee Taeyong are involved in a dating rumor that sparked after both men were seen outside of Ten´s Milan residence on Friday night.
“I can't believe someone can stand to be in a relationship with Ten” - Hendery thought out loud. He could only imagine the worst things about being with Ten. His usual arrogant and insufferable self would get anyone at the brink of madness. That Lee Taeyong was definitely brave for doing so if the rumor turned out to be real. His cats oblivious were still playing around.A few minutes later, his doorbell rang and he had to leave his pets. Cinnamon followed him to the front door of the apartment with puppy eyes, Hendery kneeled down and promised the cat he'll be home soon. He got to the office and everyone greeted him, he got to the elevator and kept thinking about new ideas for the collection. He sometimes realized that all the work was really draining him, leaving him with almost no energy for anything else. Some of his friends suggest vacations or a boyfriend, but he was too shy to meet new people especially in a romantic way.His last boyfriend was another designer at Parsons. He had a dashing smile that made up for his bad jokes, they would talk a lot during the sleepless nights before finals week. Yet, he was very different from him, talkative and liked partying and concerts. They broke up because Hendery wanted to concentrate on his career, at the end the boy ended up leaving fashion school to become an independent artist.Hendery bought one of his paintings when they met at a cafe in Brooklyn during last New York Fashion Week, and realized leaving him ended up being the best choice for his professional career.That didn´t mean though that he disliked the idea of falling in love, he just postponed it. He wanted a love like the one Doyoung had found with a pretty model named Jaehyun. He could see how in love they both were when Doyoung talked about him over the phone.He was just 21 at the end of the day and if love was meant to be, it would definitely find him.“This is our new model, YangYang” - Hendery looked up from his notes and saw YangYang for the first time. He really understood why he was told he wouldn't regret booking him. His face was oddly familiar, he had probably seen at him during a runway show or something.YangYang shook his hand and smiled simply, he sat at the other side of the business table. Hendery couldn't concentrate on the meeting, just on the young model, who was listening attentively at the presentation of the head of the advertisement team.When Hendery was asked if he agreed with the concept, he returned to earth and asked for his assistant´s notes, trying to look professional even when he understood nothing of the meeting.“Sure, It's great. I just want you to add some more colors to the ads, I want them to look striking” - Hendery said focusing on his ideas, he was usually confident when it comes to his job, but YangYang´s gaze on him made him a bit nervous for some reason.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The moon is high like your friends on the night where we first met, went home and stalked you on the Internet now I've read all of the books beside your bed.
Once the meeting was over, Hendery had to leave for another meeting. He stood up and thanked everyone for coming. He and his assistant left the room and once he was out, the door was shut with everyone else inside. YangYang had no idea of what was happening until one of the other designers began explaining that they were throwing a birthday party for their creative director, Hendery. The man handed everyone little circular invites. They had the logo of Gucci in the back and the address of the party was written in golden letters. YangYang was actually looking forward to leaving Paris as soon as possible to prepare before NYFW rolled around. His agent took his invite and saved it in his pocket as If YangYang would lose it, which only happened two times before. Hendery is at his apartment with his three cats, sewing a dress while answering business emails. He's listening to music super loud knowing his neighbor hates it when he does that. Most of Europe's population is made up of old people and yeah, he can tell because there's no one of his age to appreciate Taylor Swift´s, Cruel Summer. Then someone knocks on the door. He turns down the music, prepared to see his old lady neighbor with a scowl on her face, maybe with the building watcher awkwardly standing next to her. "Hendery!" just before he can realize he's being hugged by his two best friends. Ryujin and Renjun. Stuck through thick and thin with him for almost two years now and he feels lucky to have them, especially because they brought him something that looks like a cake box. “Oh, hey Blondie”- Ryujin greeted the yellowish cat and set the cake box on the kitchen counter - “So, we tried, and when I say tried I really mean tried super hard to make this thing” Renjun took the box top off and there or was. The product of three hours of baking and decorating in front of their eyes and in the birthday boy's kitchen. It was an explosion of confetti-like candy and twisted purple letters spelled “Happy Birthday Hen!” The cake was covered with white buttercream and it looked like it was chocolate-flavored. “It's vanilla, it just stayed a little bit overtime on the oven” - Ryujin brushed it off as if it was a minor detail. “It Also has buttercream and Ryujin added the sparkles” - Renjun said looking down on the mess Ryujin and him made that almost burned down his apartment. “Hmm, wow thanks, guys. I really appreciate it” “You don't like it” - Ryujin pouted looking at how the cake finished falling apart. “Hey, it's not that bad for two people with no experience. And I bet there's something savable around here” And so the cake was cut and they were sitting in the dining table, with their cake slices almost uneaten and Ryujin was vividly explaining how Renjun and her went through a last-minute shopping spree at the grocery shop. Hendery could imagine Ryujin getting all sorts of decorations into the shopping cart and Renjun taking them out without her realizing it. They were kinda made for each other, but none of them would ever admit it. Once they were preparing the cake mix, Renjun realized that they forgot baking powder and that explains why what was supposed to be a fluffy vanilla cake ended up being so thick. Hendery met Ryujin at his first interview as creative director, and it was for Vogue, where Ryujin was, and still is an intern. He was so nervous for the things he was going to answer (Sunmi and Do young made him a list of things to say) and his interviewer´s assistant aka Shin Ryujin was just as nervous or even more than him, to the point where she almost dropped her coffee on him, and they bonded over a shared bus ride, when the editor Ryujin was with, left her stranded and Hendery´s ride was stuck in traffic. And ever since they've been the best friends one could think of, they send each other cat stickers and talk until midnight about heartbreaks and job complaints. He met Renjun way before he even moved to Paris. They met at an outlet sale of a New York shop years ago when Renjun was dragged by his college roommate Chenle to buy some fashionable clothes to wear instead of his boring regular clothes. Chenle handed him a lavender coat that cost more than his textbooks and insisted that he looked great in it, thankfully Hendery was there and when Chenle asked for his opinion and Renjun rolled his eyes in annoyance, Hendery answered that he should wear what feels right for him, completely bursting Chenle´s excitement to get Renjun a new wardrobe. Flash forward to them meeting again at the Starbucks Hendery worked at to pay for tuition at NYU. Renjun was a regular so he was surprised to see the new smiley guy in green. Hendery was in the afternoon shift, just after his classes at Parsons finished and just in time to see Renjun order the same drink and seat with two other guys, Hendery could tell just by a quick glance that Renjun liked one of them a lot more than just a friend. From the way, he looked at everyone with a bored expression except him. Hendery discovered later on that he´s name was Jeno, and Renjun used to study medicine with him and was in love with him, but even before he could ever confess, the guy was already gone. That Jeno guy ended up quitting college, a true shame if you ask Renjun. But as life is sometimes so crazy, Jeno ended up to become a self-made millionaire and now owns one of the biggest online stores of the country, impressive is actually not enough to describe what Renjun felt when he found out from his classmates gushing about the boy they once thought would never attain anything, smiling in the cover of Forbes Magazine. Renjun applied for an exchange program in a prestigious university in Paris and was accepted thanks to his impeccable grades, he now can visit Hendery at any time and that makes Hendery really happy. “Thank you” “We wanted to surprise you, we thought what can we , two almost broke people, an exchange college student and a writer that's still on proof period get a guy that has everything. And we figured that making you a cake would be the best idea” “We should have just given him that Mary Berry baking book” - Renjun said to Ryujin Ryujin looked at the clock and made a gesture to Renjun to start the plan. They ended up blindfolding Hendery in the elevator, Hendery figured they threw him some surprise or something. Yet, things almost got scary when Hendery thought he heard Ryujin say he could “go on” and almost walked into the street with moving cars. Ryujin had literally just gotten distracted for a minute while they waited for Renjun to get the car and Hendery had almost managed to walk into an accident. Once they got to the place, they took the blindfold off and the first thing he saw was a Happy Birthday Hendery sign in yellow neon lights. Many people were there and Sunmi greeted him first, wishing him a happy birthday. There were balloons and everything was decorated like the brand new collection they were about to launch. Many people he had rarely ever talked to came up to him to congratulate him and he was surprised to see a familiar girl being her talkative and bubbly self, Hwang Yeji. One of Ryujin´s cool model friends, her other best friend actually. And as she said once, “Any best friend of Ryujin is also my friend” She came up to them and gave Hendery a nicely wrapped gift before pulling him for a hug. They liked each other, but rarely ever got to hang out together, with her living in Tokyo and him in Paris. She must admit she was quite jealous of him at the beginning for taking Ryujin´s best friend spot that she had been holding ever since they were six. But there are many different types of best friends, the ones to go on adventures with. the ones to cry with and of course, the long-distance best friends. Ryujin and Yeji began catching up on stuff and Renjun and Hendery went straight to eat those sandwiches that were piled up in a long table along with all kinds of delicious food. Yeah, they were not the most social people, and that's why they start to talk about alien conspiracy theories while competing to see who can eat more Caprese sandwiches. It's not until they are too full and bored of talking of how people could get into Area 51 that they join Ryujin and Yeji again, who were talking about a guy. YangYang Liu "You know YangYang?" - Hendery asked Yeji with wide eyes "Yeah, we worked together for an editorial for Nylon last year. He's so cute, isn't he? - she said looking at the model. “Huh?” “You should have seen your face” - Yeji laughs “just go talk to him, he's single from what I know - she winked at him. Hendery was so not the type of person to approach somebody, especially if it was someone like YangYang. So he just looked around the place, there was a wall illuminated by bright lights, almost like a museum gallery and there were boards filled with pieces of paper pinned down on them. He got closer and realized they were birthday wishes. Some were short, from strangers and business partners, some were long like Renjun´s wish written in his doctor calligraphy, he recognized Yeji´s one with a bunch of stickers she probably got in Japan and Ryujin´s hearts above the I´s. He read them to himself, he constantly worried that people didn't like him much in his workplace but reading the little notes, he realized that he might be wrong. He smiled with the one his boss wrote, “KunHang, I wish you a very happy 22nd birthday, you have to get out of the studio a bit more and live life and have fun. Wishing you the best always, love - Lee Sunmi” His boss, the director of the company that owns Gucci and it´s other affiliated brands, always tells him to live a little and don't stress that much, just like Doyoung used to tell him. He was so excited to see one of those blue paper notes Doyoung always carried with him pinned in the wall too “Hendery, You are finally 22! Time happened so fast, I was once your mentor, but now you are almost like part of my family. I'm glad I got to meet someone as kind and hardworking as you. Don't ever let anyone make you feel bad for being yourself. I'm so proud of everything you have accomplished. Know that you can always count on me, I love you” "Hendery, remember when we became friends years ago? At that outlet sale and my friend asked you if I looked good in that horrible lavender coat? Well, Thank God you were there that time, not only because I would have been forced to get that coat, But because I met you. I like how you are someone I can always trust, even if you are sometimes weird and too obsessed with your cats and your job, you are one of my best friends and I only want you to always be healthy and happy" - Renjun "Dear Hendery, we've been friends for two years now and you are one of the sweetest and most precious souls out there. We´ve been through so many things together haven't we? :) From the way, you treat everyone with kindness and you make everybody feel like they matter. I love you bub!" - Ryujin "Hen, I've known you for a year now and you are one of the most special guys I've met. I admire you greatly for being able to live in your dreams all the time, don't ever stop being you <3 Happy Birthday Hendery! - Yeji " Happy Birthday and your cats are pretty! " - YangyangYangYang knew nothing about him, and he was supposed to write a birthday greeting? He just thought of something from the top of his head, to talk about how cute his cats are sounded like a good idea. Hendery reread that last birthday wish three times, your cats are pretty . Right, there were a few pictures of his cats next to his own photos. Hendery looked away from the wall to look for YangYang in the sea of people talking in the place. And he was there, leaning on the wall cooly, and was talking to two girls that we're laughing at what he was saying. He scrunched his nose when he laughed and for a second looked back at Hendery. YangYang was so bored . The girls he was talking to were just a tiny bit annoying, they were very cheery and talked to him like he was some sort of star or something. Jeno always says he's being too modest when he says he has no idea why people treat him like he's in a higher place than everyone else, especially when people used to look down on him when he was first beginning as a model. He has good friends that make a living as models but that are in no way being followed by paparazzi or even known by the general public, for example, Dongmin and Sorn and Yeeun. No one ever makes up ridiculous rumors about them, and he's kinda jealous for it. He was just there, acting like he was listening to any of what the girls were saying while thinking about the Spice Girls album Moonbin borrowed from him and never returned when he saw the birthday boy looking at him. And hell he's hot. When he's not stuffing his mouth with sandwiches that is. Renjun left him to go to the bathroom and he was now alone, he could go on and talk to Sunmi, but she's a social butterfly and he cannot actually hold a conversation for more than ten seconds with someone (Ryujin and Do young are working on it) so he decided he would just look at the pictures of him that were framed on the walls, no matter how embarrassing they might be. Some were from when he was a baby, all cute and innocent playing with some toys in a sandbox. The fact that it was a photo that used to be on his mom's nightstand made his heart ache a bit. It also meant that his mom was probably aware of the surprise party and sent Sunmi the pictures and never told him anything. There were also pictures of him in high school (a period of time he wants to forget), pictures from his Parson´s graduation and a photo from when he got an Honoris Causa from Parsons last year was there too. A photo of him with Renjun and Ryujin all wearing heart-shaped glasses one night they got drunk after crying over how they´ll never find love and one from the time Do young first introduced him as the new Creative Director of Gucci. The rest were editorial photo shoots he was forced to make for Vogue Paris as part of his introduction as the new director. For him very embarrassing pictures, everyone else likes them but Hendery cannot see them without cringing. (Sunmi is also working on it) “You look good!” - a voice suddenly came from behind him, surprising him. It was YangYang “I don't, But thanks” “I mean, you have a future as a model”
If he wasn't tongue-tied due to YangYang´s attractiveness, he would have thought “Is this guy for real?”
“You think?” - Hendery asked “Yeah, I can teach you how to be one” - the other said smugly “The only thing that's important to be a model is to-” “To have fun?” - Hendery interrupted him “What? No! Many people don't realize that is a job and that you are displaying a product , the clothes” “Oh, yeah it makes sense” These are your cats, right? - YangYang pointed at some pictures of Hendery´s cats also framed and decorated with butterflies. “Yeah, I got them a year ago when I first moved here” Hendery named each one of the cats and told YangYang a bunch of little stories of how his cats were always up to drive everyone mad. How they preferred sequins over cat treats or that one time one of them got lost, and he and Renjun looked all over the city for him and ended up being inside one of the kitchen counters. Yangyang listened to his stories fascinated, he loved cats too, In fact, there used to be many stray cats on the last floor of the model apartment he lived in years ago. Hendery loves making people laugh, and YangYang is someone who laughs easily a match. Then they talked about how both of them lived in New York at the same time but never actually met. “We probably saw each other in some subway ride, but never realized”"I think I would remember seeing you" - YangYang said easily as if he was used to making people blush. Both were on their own little bubble, laughing and talking of cats and new York snow and fashion shows. Luckily it's not one of those dancing parties because Hendery would be too shy to dance in front of YangYang. YangYang, already had his second glass of champagne empty and the soft background music makes everything look like a movie, where a cute guy is talking to him, about stuff he rarely ever talks about, like how cute munchkin cats are and how the Spice Girls are comparable to the Beatles. The joy of talking to a stranger about something so familiar and building a little bridge. Hendery, YangYang can tell this is not going anywhere since they live literally oceans apart. But right now he just listens to whatever sweet things he says, he just wants to touch his wavy black hair, YangYang thinks it must soft like the way he talks almost for no one else to listen, and there's a strange feeling in the back of his heart that says that he's the one. Suddenly, their little debate over Oscar de la Renta's new director has washed away when a voice calls the birthday boy to head to the garden and see the fireworks they prepared for that night. Hendery asks YangYang “are you coming?” - he's excited and YangYang follows him and then the dark skies are painted with red glittery purples and golden stars spell his name, and everyone claps and Hendery looks up stars glow in his eyes and YangYang looks down to see him holding his hand, he holds it tight because the exploding sounds make him flinch and YangYang decides he is okay with that. The firework show lasts a few minutes and then everyone is eating cake, Hendery is talking to some investors who caught him and YangYang sees him from the corner of his eye as Sunmi talks to him about the new campaign. “YangYang?” - Hendery asks once he's back with him. “Yeah?” “When are you going back to New York?” “On Monday, why?” “You said you have been to Paris thousands of times but have never properly seen the city?” “Oh, Are you offering to show me around the city?” “Only If you are free” “I might have to see if I'm free” Of course, he's free , after all, he's only in Paris for the Gucci campaign, but he has to play hard to get after all things are not fun if they are rushed. A brand new friend on his second night in the city is something he couldn't have guessed when he almost purposefully lost the invite so he could sleep all night. Some things are just meant to be. ------------- YangYang gave Hendery his number just before he left. And he stayed up all night waiting for any message, his mind was all in a huge mess, he just wanted a friend he repeated himself as he googled the designer's name. Hendery sent him a meme at two-thirty and YangYang laughed fondly at the pixelated picture from a joke they made earlier.All the pain and the promises of never falling in love again are erased from his mind as the sun rises up and he realizes he's been thinking for far too long. No one ever held his hand under fireworks before.------------- Hendery got home, fed the cats and changed out of his suit, and as soon as his phone received the wifi signal it began vibrating with notifications. He hurried to bed, big and fluffy. Most notifs were from a new chat he had just been added to “Hendery´s secret b-party” Ryujin and Yeji were freaking out over and sent a bunch of pictures they took of Hendery and YangYang flirting at the party. He cringed and covered his face with his hands, they would never leave him alone now. Ryujinnie: “Hendery and YangYang kissing in a tree-” followed by a hundred heart emojis Yeji: “Hendery, how did you manage to have YangYang all whipped in less than four hours?” Ren: “Girls, leave Hendery and his boyfriend alone!”
On a serious note, YangYang gave me his number and I don't even know what to say
Yeji: “Send him a selfie ;)”
No way
The group chat kept flooding with his three friends joking around, they were probably giggling still drunk somewhere in Ryujin´s apartment. Hendery thought, in his sleepy state that sending a Spice Girls meme would be funny enough for a start. So, he found one and when he sent the meme he realized it was already far too late for a weekday. His birthday falls on a Tuesday, what a bummer. He fell asleep and dreamt soundly that night.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Yang Yang's necklace shines under the sunlight and there are no clouds in the sky, the streets are not very crowded and Hendery lets YangYang walk before him. They're in the city streets and Yangyang was talking seconds ago of Why he always used to love summer as a child, he's glowing under the sun and he smiles like a kid when Hendery understands his We Bare Bears references.
And everything's bright and sunny in Paris for the day.
YangYang thinks Hendery is easy to talk to, he's willing to listen to even what seems the most insignificant things and he's also quite funny.
There's a clothes shop where they walk by and Yangyang ends up dragging Hendery into it. Yangyang tried on a velvet jacket, a cowboy hat and Hendery tries on an oversized leather Jacket. It's like when he used to try on his dad's clothes when he was a child.
"You've never been to a thrift shop before, have you?" - Yangyang smiles"Hmm, not really" "You can find all sorts of weird and cool things in these places," YangYang tells him his friend Jeno used to take him to second-hand stores in Queens years ago.
"We look so weird" - Yangyang said looking at the mirror.
You look cool,
Hendery wanted to say
"I'm gonna get these, you know fuck gender norms" - he took off the heart-shaped sunglasses for them to be checked ou. The superpower of all Models, he makes everything look good.
There's a park that's playing the Aristocats, there are kids and friends and lovers too. After buying an overpriced mat to lay on the grass, Yangyang smiles fondly at the musical scenes as Hendery tries to figure out how the heck to get to the arc of triumph from where they were at.
But he realized it might not be necessary to find it as YangYang seems focused on the movie. they laugh even though YangYang cannot understand exactly what everyone says since its in french, he has seen it so many times he almost knows the plot like the back of his hand.
Hendery, unlike him, does understand it, and it's so weird how different it sounds in Chinese. He tells YangYang that the last time he saw the movie was on his fifth birthday, wishing his parents would let him get a kitten.
"I just realized, your cats are like the Aristocats" - Yangyang says.
"Oswald would be Berlioz, Blondie is Toulouse and- well, Cinnamon doesn't look like any of them" - Hendery plays along
"You need a Marie" - Yangyang added.
"No, if I get more cats the curse might come true " - Hendery said easily
"What curse?" - Yangyang asked curiously
"You know, the old lonely person with a dozen of cats"
"Ha, that's not going to happen, you are awesome Hendery. You'll find someone, everyone does" - Yangyang said, eyes focusing back into the movie.
So Yeah, Everyone finds someone to be with, But Hendery loses hope with every passing Valentine's day.
"Do you have someone?" - Hendery realized he actually never asked. Yeji said he was single, But what if she was wrong and he's with someone and he's-
"Nope, and I'm perfectly fine being alone. I can do whatever I want"
YangYang always says he's happy on his own, yeah there's no one to hog the blankets and no one to let him down.
YangYang's holding a map he got at his hotel lobby over his head, trying to cover the sunlight from bothering him. Hendery takes him to the Eiffel tower and is filled with tourists, so they decide to walk by the streets of the city, they got ice cream. YangYang saw a cat shelter and dragged Hendery with him to it.
“This one is named Rocket and this one is Lucille”
“Are you looking to adopt a cat?” - the employee asked them and quickly YangYang told her that Hendery already had three cats.
“This is where I adopted Cinnamon, Blondie, and Oswald” - Hendery said while petting an adorable white kitten.
Hendery liked the way YangYang treated the cats like babies like they were so delicate and fragile. He dropped Blondie once on accident when she was little, Renjun says that's why she likes to eat sequins.
“I already have a name for my future cat” - YangYang suddenly said when the cat he was holding had to be returned to its cage.
“And that would be?” - Hendery asked as they both stood up to leave.
“I'll name her Clara” - YangYang said.
“That's a cute name”
“It's quite common in Germany”
“You've been there?”
“I actually moved there when I was two and grew up there"
Oh, that's where that accent comes from
“I miss home sometimes, most of the time actually” - Hendery, being from Macau understood him perfectly, what it was like to only see their families a few times a year and missing everything from the food to even school. YangYang talked about how his parents used to throw a Friday game night every week and always let him win, which explains why he's such a sore loser in Monopoly. Hendery told him about his older sisters and his parents and how initially they were not supportive of him becoming a designer but how now there's a double cover of his designs that were featured in Vogue and now is framed proudly in the living room.
YangYang told Hendery the story of how he got three stitches in the side of his jaw and fractured his left arm from the time he and his friends wanted to scare their maths teacher for Halloween when he was ten years old.
"I can still picture his face. He legit thought I had broken my arm. And so, I spent Halloween night in the emergency room. Some nurses were wearing plastic wings and gave me candy"
"But then my mom grounded me for like two weeks. Imagine the suffering of having that old Nintendo thingy taken away from me for what it felt like forever"
They laughed until they were out of breath. There was something about YangYang that felt like home, his soft Brown eyes looking back at him, his pretty smile grinning at his jokes and how it feels like he has known him for a longer time. He smells like expensive perfume but he's dressed up in jeans.
"I had fun today. You are the first friend I made in Paris" - Yangyang said, looking for his keys in front of the hotel he's staying in.
Crumbling his hopes like a cake, the word
friend
followed Hendery all the way home.