Chapter 43

The first shoot was the maid costume concept.

Hayoon was utterly overshadowed by Arin.

As model against model.

And as actress against actress.

Of course, a layman watching the shooting process might say something like, “Min Hae-yun has the prettier face, so how could she possibly lose?”

But.

The most important thing for a model isn’t their face.

What’s most important is the overall shot’s quality.

The unity between the model’s aura and the shoot’s intended style, and the costume being perfectly tailored to the model’s figure, are what truly matter.

And in that sense, Hayoon had to admit defeat to Arin.

There was only a year’s difference in age, but Arin was clearly taller and better-endowed.

When wearing the same clothes, the audience’s eyes naturally went to the one with the better figure.

Still, this was understandable.

Figure is something innate.

However, Hayoon was losing even at the core of what makes a model—acting through facial expressions.

With far longer cosplay experience, Arin not only had great body measurements but also excelled in facial acting, making the gap starkly visible.

“Why aren’t you working as a model…?”

Even Yoo Soohee was impressed by Arin’s acting skills.

At that moment, Arin was delivering the best possible amateur model performance, after all.

“What? A model?”

“That’s right. You’ve got a great face, carry clothes well, and can act with your face. Why aren’t you a model?”

“Uh….”

“Do you have anything in mind? If you want, I can introduce you to people who’d surely want someone like you.”

It was impressive that even Yoo Soohee, who didn’t have a good impression of Arin, was now showing her goodwill.

It seemed that, as a photographer, Yoo Soohee wanted to give the model job to people she truly liked and personally took care of.

Though naturally inclined to want to take care of her own daughter Hayoon, she had also recognized Arin’s potential and was now speaking so highly of her.

Still,

“I… I don’t. Cosplay is just a hobby…”

“Is it? Such a shame…”

For Arin, cosplay was merely a hobby, so she awkwardly yet clearly refused.

Yoo Soohee, in turn, didn’t push her.

While Hayoon was her own daughter and she couldn’t help but be greedy, there was no need to force a stranger like Arin, after all.

In any case,

“That concludes the maid costume shoot for now. Hayoon, keep going. If you keep up this pace, in this cosplay book, the older sister will completely overshadow you.”

Yoo Soohee nudged Hayoon, trying to bring out her potential.

With a slight tease, she stimulated Hayoon’s rebellious psychology.

And Hayoon, of course, wasn’t about to keep getting overshadowed.

“Don’t worry. I have my plans.”

With that, Arin’s portion of the shoot had ended, but Hayoon still had one scene left.

She was to arrange a bunch of red roses on a bar table as if crafting a bouquet in a game with heroines preparing a floral gift event.

The plot was designed so that both heroines, imagining the protagonist, would carefully trim the rose stems.

Then, what should Hayoon imagine while trimming the rose stems?

And what would the cosplay book recipients want to see?

The answer was set.

A look of being in love.

The sentiment of “I want to give you this” should resonate strongly.

So, what kind of expression was needed to achieve that?

“Perhaps… a smile?”

Yes, a smile.

A subtle smile.

A smile that seems to imagine a significant other, one that conveys happiness just through imagination—a smile that makes people who see the cosplay book feel as though they were the owner of that bouquet.

And Hayoon had just witnessed such a smile when Arin was being photographed.

“Could you show me the previous shots?”

“The photos?”

“Yes, I struggle with portraying emotions, so I’d like to try mimicking them physically.”

“…”

Click, click.

Yoo Soohee scrolled through the previous photos of Arin while Hayoon, holding a compact mirror in one hand, used the other to adjust the angle of her mouth and eyes.

Even if she couldn’t naturally control her facial muscles, she could at least fix the shape of her smile for a moment…

“Is it better?”

“Wow… I haven’t worked with amateurs in a long time, but this is a new kind of experience. It’s fun. Hey.”

“What can I do? I’m an amateur.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Set your pose before your expression fades.”

Hayoon quickly moved to the table where the rose bouquets were set up, and Yoo Soohee immediately framed her daughter in the camera.

Clearly, Hayoon still had much to improve.

Her face was picture-perfect, but her figure fell a bit short compared to Arin’s, and her facial acting lacked refinement.

Right now, she had to keep snapping photos nonstop because the smile she manually adjusted kept slipping.

“Amazing…”

Yes, Hayoon was quite lacking.

But she had one unique aspect.

She was clumsy in acting and relied mostly on her face, typical of a struggling amateur model. But…

Just one thing.

“There aren’t many models who exude this kind of aura.”

Her aura was different.

This special aura that she had gained through her deal with the Status Window covered her insufficient acting.

An aura so captivating that it made people focus solely on the concept that “this person is making a bouquet for you.”

“Still, our girl should have been raised as a model…”

Savoring this moment as Yoo Soohee indulged in her personal desires somewhat.

“Alright, let’s try one pose change. Pretend to enjoy the scent of the flowers.”

Since raising Hayoon as a professional model wasn’t an option, Yoo Soohee decided to enjoy this present moment, where they could still exchange as cosplay models.

#

Immediately after the maid concept shoot concluded:

“Hello! Here it is. Enjoy.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Yoo Soohee brought out a pizza.

A pizza rich with sweet potato paste.

“Yum…”

Hayoon, who loved sweet potatoes, instantly lunged toward the pizza, tearing off the packaging to reveal the radiant sight of the sweet potato pizza.

It also had plenty of pepperoni, making it a pizza that brought an automatic smile to one’s face.

“Mom, will you have some?”

“I don’t like pizza. You two eat up.”

However, Yoo Soohee declined to join, focusing instead on reviewing the photos on the monitor while Hayoon and Arin cleared away the roses that had adorned the table and replaced them with the pizza box.

Subsequently, the two high school girls enthusiastically began munching on the pizza with a satisfied “Mmm” sound.

It had been a two-and-a-half-hour maid concept shoot.

Even though all they had to do was pose and be photographed, it wasn’t an easy task.

It was also lunchtime, and since they were already hungry, the two girls, without much conversation, hurriedly devoured the pizza.

By the time they each had claimed two slices, both Hayoon and Arin’s eating speed began to slow down.

For high school girls, consuming more than three slices of sweet potato pizza was quite taxing.

“Did you do the mobile attendance check, sister?”

“I did it, right?”

“Me too. I was just checking to be sure. Do you want more?”

“No, I’m full.”

“Me too…”

After concluding their brief exchange, the two girls left the pizza box slightly ajar and exchanged glances again.

“Is the next shoot that one?”

“That’s right…”

Now that their stomachs were full, it was time to clean their hands and prepare for the next shoot.

Of course, it’s not the typical bikini outfit.

Considering this was a shoot conducted with Yoo Soohee, Hayoon’s mother, around…

High-cut swimsuits were strictly prohibited.

Instead, they were set to proceed with a short dress-style bunny girl costume, lightly exposing shoulders.

“Phew, good thing…”

“Why?”

“I thought I had to wear a high-cut, which was why I was worried…”

“To be honest, it was a relief for me too—wearing a high-cut in my first cosplay book would have been intimidating…”

Given that Hayoon and Arin were still high school girls, even if they were open-minded about cosplay, a high-cut bunny suit would have been a tall order.

“Thankfully, there’s no bunny girl outfit in the demo footage. Whew… If they released the book with a high-cut bunny outfit…”

“Exactly… If it had been like that, without even considering the cosplay book…”

“Readers would have raised a fuss about the lack of authenticity. Ugh, I’d be trembling.”

The two high school girls breathed a sigh of relief at this close call.

“Now that lunch is finished, change quickly. Let’s start.”

“Yes, I’ll be right out.”

“Understood!”

At the soft urging of Yoo Soohee, they rushed to the restroom, washed their hands, changed into the bunny girl costume, and commenced the bunny girl concept shoot.

#

Subsequently, Hayoon’s acting ability improved dramatically.

She focused on absorbing Arin’s performance and learned the theory based on the advice of veteran Yoo Soohee.

Learning by being coached intensively for two hours with seasoned individuals around her, her skills couldn’t help but grow.

By the time they reached the final shoot, featuring the Santa girl concept, Hayoon was already displaying fairly natural facial expressions.

And inspired by Hayoon, Arin also delivered even more stable and solid performances, leaving Yoo Soohee with no choice but to end up capturing excellent shots with each shutter click.

Adding the post-processing expertise of Studio Yoon, the outcome of the cosplay book couldn’t possibly be unsatisfactory.

“Whew. That’s a wrap. Have a safe trip home!”

“That should be my line. I’ve never done a studio shoot like this before, but thanks to you, it was super fun.”

Hayoon and Arin parted ways, heading in the opposite directions of their respective homes, eagerly awaiting their next shoot.

In this way, they gradually distanced themselves from each other…

…until Hayoon’s steps halted.

-Quick Clear!

-You’ve completed a mission over a month before your first day of high school.

-In appreciation, I would like to present you with two choices.

The Status Window.

“Options?…”

And the Status Window…

-1) Spin the roulette once as a reward for completing the mission.

-2) Attempt an additional mission with another roulette bonus. In this case, the failure penalty is set to [Increased Body Hair].

Presented Hayoon with the options.

And just like you would choose number 2.

With a confident undertone.

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