The next day, Yun Chun was jolted awake by her phone.
Still groggy, she fumbled for the device. Once she had it in hand, she mustered all her strength to pry open her eyelids just a sliver and tapped the answer button. Then her eyes fluttered shut again.
The instant the phone touched her ear, a piercing shriek filled the room: “Yun Chun!!!”
The woman’s roar chased away every last bit of Yun Chun’s sleepiness.
Her eyes snapped open.
The voice kept going: “Where the hell are you?! I went out of my way to line up this gig for you! The event’s about to start! You’re ditching me?”
Yun Chun glanced at the time and shot upright. She chuckled nervously at Qin Xing. “Sister Xing, I’m on my way.” In her mind, she wondered how she’d slept so deeply. She hadn’t even heard her alarm. Yun Chun swung her legs out of bed, slipped on her slippers as she headed for the bathroom, but in her rush, one slipper didn’t quite go on. She padded along on one bare foot.
Qin Xing laughed in exasperation. “On your way? Listen to your voice! You sound like you just rolled out of bed!”
Yun Chun let out an “Aiya.” “Sis, I really am on the way. I just dozed off en route. I’ll be there any second now, promise.”
“You’ve got twenty minutes. If you don’t make it, don’t expect me to line up any more jobs for you.”
Yun Chun quickly replied, “Got it, got it! Thanks, Sister Xing. See you soon!”
Qin Xing hung up without another word.
In those dozen or so seconds of the call, Yun Chun had already dashed into the bathroom and squeezed toothpaste onto her brush.
Hearing the line go dead, she set the phone—wedged between her shoulder and cheek—on the nearby washing machine. One hand lazily on her hip, she brushed her teeth while staring at her reflection in the mirror.
The dark circles under her eyes were even heavier than after the last dream.
Yun Chun cursed inwardly:
If she kept having these kinds of erotic dreams, she’d end up dying in bed one day.
~~~
After washing up and throwing on some clothes, Yun Chun bolted out of the Old City District. She scanned a bike-sharing code and pedaled furiously toward the shoot location.
Luckily, the venue was nearby.
Riding like a bat out of hell, she arrived just within Qin Xing’s deadline.
Qin Xing, waiting by the mall’s back door, checked her watch. She stubbed out her cigarette as she lowered her arm, peering through the haze of smoke at Yun Chun, who was stumbling toward her, gasping for breath.
At five foot eleven, Yun Chun was tall and slender, with legs for days and proportions that were nearly flawless. Her short hair was neatly cropped, and she moved with a confident swagger.
She was prime model material, top-tier.
If only…
If Yun Chun hadn’t been blacklisted across the entire industry, with her relentless work ethic, she’d have carved out a huge name for herself by now.
She wouldn’t need Qin Xing scraping together these odd jobs for her.
It wasn’t that Qin Xing looked down on these small gigs; Yun Chun’s talents deserved a much bigger stage.
As Yun Chun reached her, Qin Xing schooled her expression and smirked. “Impressive. Falling asleep on a bike.”
“…”
Yun Chun glanced back. In her peripheral vision, she spotted the shared bike she’d left by the entrance. That’s right—she’d told Qin Xing on the phone that she’d dozed off on the way…
She’d completely forgotten about that. Should’ve parked it out of sight.
Yun Chun scratched her head nonchalantly and grinned. She slung an arm around Qin Xing’s shoulders and steered her toward the mall. “Don’t sweat the small stuff. Isn’t the event starting soon? Take me to the dressing room so I can change.”
Qin Xing shot her a sidelong glance. “No rush. Got word this morning—they’re pushing it back half an hour.”
Yun Chun: “Then why’d you tell me I was out of time?”
Qin Xing grinned. “Would you have hurried if I hadn’t?”
Yun Chun: “…” Scheming as ever.
She’d known Qin Xing for two years now and was used to her ways. Besides, by the original schedule, she was already late, so she couldn’t complain. She just yawned. “I’m beat.”
Tears of exhaustion glistened at the corners of her eyes.
Qin Xing eyed her. “Weren’t you off last night? How are you this wiped out? What’d you get up to?”
Yun Chun looked listless. “Nothing.”
She could hardly tell Qin Xing she’d had an erotic dream where she was the one getting pinned down, could she?
She hadn’t done anything—because she’d been the one done.
But inwardly, Yun Chun flipped her off: Make me the bottom? Fat chance.
The last few times, she’d been caught off guard. Next time she dreamed of that guy, she’d flip the script and take charge!
…Something felt off about that.
What good did dreaming this stuff do her? Why was she even looking forward to it?
“Slap on extra concealer under your eyes to hide those bags.”
Qin Xing’s voice pulled Yun Chun’s wandering thoughts back.
She wasn’t looking forward to it at all. Better if she never had one again, or she’d really die in bed someday.
Yun Chun yawned again. “Sure thing.”
Qin Xing led Yun Chun to the dressing room the organizers had set up.
The room was cramped, but since it was just for models to do makeup and change, it worked fine.
A few passersby spotted Qin Xing and called out “Sis.”
Qin Xing had been in the game long enough to have mentored plenty of people and rubbed shoulders with bosses, execs, and local bigwigs. Her network was vast, her skills sharp—everyone in the circle showed her respect with a “Sis.”
Getting connected with Qin Xing was one of the few strokes of luck in Yun Chun’s otherwise rotten luck. No one else in the industry would touch her these days.
She was truly grateful.
It let her keep working as a model, even if it was just car shows.
Better than nothing.
Qin Xing assigned a makeup artist to Yun Chun and headed back out to handle things.
The event was straightforward: a car show.
They’d hired three models total.
The other two were already dressed and made up, lounging on a sofa and scrolling their phones.
One of them spotted Yun Chun, did a double-take, then whispered to her seatmate, “She’s gorgeous.”
She thought: Someone this stunning running car shows like us? She could be doing runway!
Her friend looked up, saw Yun Chun, and said, “Her? Yeah.”
She turned back. “You don’t know Yun Chun?”
“Who’s she?” The girl was only nineteen, fresh in the biz.
The woman, seeing how young she was, said, “Google her yourself.”
The newbie nodded and pulled up Baidu on her phone to search Yun Chun.
Yun Chun: Debuted at eighteen out of nowhere. First walked for renowned designer Snow’s fashion show, then landed the cover of SKY magazine—one of the top three by circulation in the country. Her ethereal vibe shot her name to the top of the trends the day it dropped.
Over the next year, Yun Chun rose like a star in the modeling world. She’d graced countless magazines—her Baidu page listed a bunch.
Ones this newbie could only dream of.
She skimmed it and said to her friend, “She’s that big a deal? So why’s she slumming it at a car show with us?”
The other glanced at Yun Chun but said nothing. There was a hint of pity in her eyes as she tapped her phone and shoved the screen toward the newbie.
Then, out of the blue, everything changed. A year later, her original agency head bailed. Soon after, her new boss got hit with a scandal. The company weathered it, but somehow, Yun Chun vanished from the scene.
Some said she was loyal to her old boss. Others figured the new one just didn’t like her and stopped booking her.
Insiders whispered she’d been blacklisted.
No one knew why.
Blow up at nineteen, gone by twenty.
Now, at twenty-two, Yun Chun hadn’t graced a magazine or screen in three years. The closest she got to modeling were the expo gigs Qin Xing fought for.
Yun Chun overheard the chatter behind her. They weren’t badmouthing her, just curious, so she let it slide.
Yawning again, she looked up at the makeup artist Weiwei. “Extra concealer under my eyes, please.”
Weiwei: “Got it.”
“Thanks.”
With that, Yun Chun closed her eyes, hoping to catch a quick nap.
Weiwei gently pressed the powder puff to Yun Chun’s face.
She wasn’t on Qin Xing’s regular team, but they’d worked together a few times—and Yun Chun had been part of those. This was her second time doing Yun Chun’s makeup. She could tell the woman hadn’t slept well; exhaustion showed plainly on her face. But the moment the puff touched down, Weiwei couldn’t help but marvel inwardly: Yun Chun’s skin is incredible.
It had stunned her the first time, too.
Not a scar or blemish anywhere on Yun Chun’s face. Just a tiny, barely noticeable black mole on her eyelid, hidden in the fold whenever she opened her eyes.
Her skin was soft and fair, taking makeup beautifully with just a light layer. Yun Chun’s features had real impact—her eye makeup didn’t need to be heavy; a sharp wing was enough to make her eyes pop. As for her brows, they were naturally sparse and elegant. Yun Chun clearly kept them groomed, and the shape suited her face perfectly. Weiwei just had to trace and fill them in.
Yun Chun dozed off.
A peaceful nap, no dreams.
Better than hours of tossing and turning.
When Weiwei gently woke her, the fatigue was gone from Yun Chun’s face. Her eyes sparkled with the vigor of a good rest.
Gazing at her reflection, Yun Chun stood and said, “Weiwei, your skills have leveled up again~”
“It’s Little Chun Sis—you’re even prettier!”
Yun Chun smiled. “You’re the cutest. Come hang at our spot sometime; Sis’ll hook you up with a nine-fold discount.”
Qin Xing walked over just in time to catch those words. Her eyelid twitched, and she said gravely, “Don’t solicit customers here.”
Yun Chun acted like she hadn’t heard a thing. She flashed a smile at Qin Xing instead. “Sister Xing, come grab a drink tonight. I’ll give you twenty percent off.”
With that, she held up eight fingers.
Qin Xing was speechless. “Is your place a KTV or a bar?”
Yun Chun always said her main job was modeling, but she only booked a gig every few months. Modeling wasn’t really about the money anyway. To make ends meet, she had to pick one reliable side hustle from a bunch of them to fall back on.
By sheer chance, she’d landed a job as a server at a KTV.
Pushing drinks meant commissions, after all.
For Yun Chun, hawking booze was second nature the moment she opened her mouth.
She blinked. “Going to a KTV without drinking? You’d be missing half the fun.”
Qin Xing had no patience for it. “The event’s about to start. Go change your clothes.”
Yun Chun grinned. “Sure thing, sure thing.”
~~~
