CHAPTER 23: Where Is My Epic Background Music
BELLA POV
OMG! He is here. Hair beautifully styled, He was looking hot in those suit jackets, eyes adorably fixed on me. He looked like he was having an internal conflict. I felt it, my breath tickling my neck, goosebumps spreading all over my already warm body.
I looked into his eyes and there was something in them like admiration, it was getting too intense. He didn't break the eye contact and I didn't look away as well. Then as if something painful panged his heart, his gaze rested into a cold frown. The sudden switch twisted my heart like a blunt knife. The coldness and boredom it switched within the millisecond sent a painful shiver down my stomach.
The coffee I took this morning churned my stomach, sending my heart racing. He is here. My past, and future possibilities. Could he do me this favor? Should I go on my knees? I vividly remember the last time I begged for my life and still; it didn't end well.
Would Ho-Seok forgive me if I begged him not to flash my past before me, would he?
My hands trembled suddenly with sweat and I was quick to hid them. Tension gripping my neck. I quickly looked away, he didn't need to say it. His eyes speak volumes. Full of hate, full of fury. I know this was my cue, I needed a break, or I'm about to screw everything up.
He didn't say it, but I could feel it. The thick sour sting of disappointment coated with unforgiveness tainting the air.
"Relax those shoulders..." Deji's instructive call-out interrupted my messy brain. "Lift your chin... Your gaze on the camera, please...."It wasn't working. The unforgiving fist of anxiety strangled my heart. I'm about to screw up this shoot, and Kingsley won't find it funny with me.
My mind drifted through the contract clauses, frantic in searches for one that allowed the CEO a replacement in case the actual ambassador wasn't equal to the task, and didn't perform up to its standard.
The lights were insanely blazing, and I pictured my make-up melting until I resembled a crazy clown.
I had done different video coverage and had no anxiety problems. But doing this with Ho-Seok as the center of the deal, twining with him here with his eyes judging me was an entirely different matter.
I don't want to fail, the idea of screwing up in Ho-Seok's presence chained my guts. Stop brooding, Bella. Fight back. My subconscious mind embodied me.
A shiver of trepidation crept up my spine because nothing had prepared me for what he said next. "How long has she been posing?" Ho-Seok queried Kingsley.
Kingsley didn't speak, but the weight of his stare pressed against me like a second layer of clothing. Then he finally breathed out something that sounded like disappointment and anger.
Our eyes locked into two pieces of a puzzle sliding in place, his stare could frost the inside of a volcano.
"Thirty-five minutes." Kingsley coldly replied.
"She needs a break," Ho-Seok told him, but the way he said it sounded more ominous in my ears than I expected.
"Dude, we have an hour break upfront." Forced patience strained Kingsley's voice.
Was it just me, or had Kingsley lost some of his enthusiastic cheers? No more screaming 'gorgeous and pretty' Everything had tapered off to a death scowl.Oh, I forgot, Kingsley was placed on target, and screwing up the shoots for him would be the worst thing anyone had done to him.
"Twenty minutes break won't cost you a thing."
Curiosity and something infinitely sweeter, and ominously aura spread through my heart.This is Ho-Seok. Considerate Ho-Seok. He never changed.
My heart whimpered at the heartbreaking truth. Then, my impostor syndrome kicked in. A pill hard to swallow.Thickness clouded my throat. I was an impostor, a little girl playing dress up in grown-up clothes.
FLASHBACK.
Nine years ago.
"Ho-Seok, I'm bombing, see; even Shun Sung-Woo the photographer is even tired of my non-deterministic spirit." Nineteen years old me grumbled to my twenty-two years old boyfriend at the make-up room of my first modeling gig endorsed under Kang Ji-Ho with Ho-Seok as my guarantor, referee, or whatever the brand requested of me since he was the one that referred them to me.
"Bella, you are not bombing...." Ho-Seok's eyes didn't leave mine. His warm masculine spice filled my nostrils as he took me into an embrace, my head resting on his warm chest." You are the most beautiful, most remark personnel they have ever seen." Ho-Seok grasped my chin and tilted it until my eyes met his. "Chérié...," The thickness of his voice cooled some of the anxiety sweats itching my skin. He kept his grasp on my chin as he brushed over my cheek with his thumb. "Every model out there would kill to be standing where you are today, but Bwinnie chose you, Not any other celebrities in all the magazine pages..." His hands brushed my cheeks as he registered a sizzling kiss on my forehead. "This is a multi-billion dollar brand and they wouldn't invest in you if they don't think you are worth it..... You got this baby girl, think about it, a life-changing opportunity..." He placed a soft kiss on my lips. "I know you will do perfectly, okay."
His words lit every molecule in my body and dissolved them into a pool of exquisite unbearable warmth. He had always been there for me. My backbone for real.
FLASHBACK END.
A low murmur broke out, and I spotted a frown on Kingsley's face. "Let's take a break. Shall we? Juana, you have thirty minutes to attend to your bestie."
Kingsley's strained voice hit me. Which clearly translates ' I have thirty minutes to put my shit together."
The rest of the tears stung my eyes. It is the same Ho-Seok, all these years, I'm still that little girl.
Warmth filled my heart. He did that for me. I could see his hardened face became soft, his hands unclamped from his pocket before he walked away. My nerves settled while everything around me disappeared for one long moment, but his presence and words lingered. Mixed feelings stung my heart. Past. Ho-Seok. Future.
(Please, can my readers drop an insert after every chapter read. Paragraph comments, votes, add to Libray are also appreciated. Thanks for choosing THE TRUTH UNTOLD 1)