Clack, clack.
The sounds of her shoes echoed throughout the bar. As the customers drank their cocktails, they watched with interest as Silje did her very first walk.
When she finished her walking, Greg laughed out loud.
“Hahaha!”
He grabbed his stomach in pain as he laughed so hard. Silje just looked at him quietly.
She felt shy, but not embarrassed. She was determined, and something so small and trivial like this wasn’t going to get her. To get better, she just had to work harder.
“Have you never walked before? Why would you walk like that with your back so stiff and your arms swinging side to side? Are you pretending to be an orangutan?”
Greg mimicked an orangutan while swinging his arms, which made everyone in the room laugh.
“You’re right. I have never done model walking before.”
When Silje quietly agreed, Greg patted his beard and asked seriously, “Then have you
“Left row. Right row. You all remember your turns, right? Now, when it is your turn, do your best walks.”Fishes.Looking around the crowded rehearsal, the models looked like fish in an aquarium.Fish trying to survive in this tiny world, trying to eat and not be eaten. Trying to protect their own spaces while constantly making attempts to extend their own territories.The rehearsal started and Silje was walking just fine while the Chinese model Fei glared at her openly.Silje was about to leave the stage when the Japanese model Yuki, who was coming out to the stage, tripped Silje while passing by her. Yuki was very sneaky. She made it look like it was part of her walk, and she immediately walked away toward the center of the runway.Silje lost her balance. Unfortunately, she was wearing heels that were over 12 cm.Crash!Silje fell on the stage loudly and Yuki, who caused all this, laughed quietly.“Ha
At her sharp words, a shocked silence fell before Greg and the cowboy started to laugh hysterically out loud.“Hahahaha!”They were laughing so hard that they started to cry. The cowboy turned to Greg, “She’s funny. Introduce us.”“Silje Kim. She is a friend of mine. She is also a model.”“Hmm, a friend. How nice. It’s always so nice to have a friend especially in a lonely town like this.”With that, the cowboy started to sing again.[ In New York…!Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,There’s nothing you can’t do!Now you’re in New York!!]It was the “Empire State of Mind” by Alicia Keys and Jay Z.Greg seemed used to his friend’s constant singing. He introduced them.“Silje, say hello to this guy. I’m embarrassed to call him a friend, but I suppose he is. His name is Mathew and I
Jung Yun was a great teacher.“Now, try it again! Look at the mirror as you walk. You can see yourself walk, right? Like I said before, if you walk like that, you can’t show off your clothes. You don’t have to mimic the way western models walk. Their walk is more natural, but you should walk a little faster and more professionally. Walk to impress!”After watching Silje try it a few times, Jung Yun became frustrated. She decided to show it to her in person.“Watch how I do it. See how my legs move. Relax your ankles and your arms. Just light swings. And walk a little faster!”Clack clack.The sound of high heels echoed throughout the room sharply.Jung Yun’s walk wasn’t textbook, but it was captivating. Silje couldn’t stop staring because it was amazing. It was no wonder she was considered a top model. If a model walked like that on the runway, the audience would be mesmerized.Sil
Greg’s words hurt. Silje wasn’t ready to give up yet, but still, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed. When she returned home, she looked back at her past two months.There were at least a few thousand models in New York. In this saturated city, Silje was one of the countless new nameless models.When she told Aunt Skina about her modeling, she screamed at her.“A model? Are you crazy, Silje? Have you not learned your lesson yet? How could you do this your adoptive parents back in Norway? Have you forgotten everything?”It was a never-ending reprimand and when Aunt Skina was finally done, silence fell.After staring at her for a while, Silje replied quietly.“No, Aunt Skina. Thanks to you, I haven’t forgotten anything. For over a year, I have worked in your store like a slave without being paid. I never complained despite your verbal, emotional, and financial abuse.”“W-what?&rd
“…Niels, I’ve gotta go now. Take care. I will call you later.”Click.Silje hung up the phone and sighed quietly.She suddenly couldn’t breathe. She felt like she was suffocating. Dizzy. The room was spinning all around her.She could hear his voice inside her head again — Silje tried so hard to forget him.She made sure not to think of him at all, but he was suddenly back in her head.‘Silje…!’She trembled. Her body hurt like it was going into shock.Silje couldn’t move at all.“That boy with dark hair… After you left, he came to my store every day acting crazy. He looked like he lost his mind, then suddenly, he stopped coming. I don’t know what happened to him. Did he by chance find you in New York?”She tried so hard to forget him.The dark-haired boy.Silje bit her lips till they started to bleed. She shook he
The studio was too bright and Silje felt lost. She looked at the camera and she didn’t know what to do.Click, click.The photographer continued to take her photos and against the constant flashes, Silje felt exposed.“Huh? Why aren’t you posing?” the photographer asked in confusion.This was awkward. She had to do something fast. NOW! People were staring at her in annoyance. Everyone was busy and they had a deadline to meet.This was bad. Silje finally got a photoshoot, and she was ruining it.“Now, let’s get going! I just need a few good photos and we can be done for the day.”The photographer obviously wanted to finish this day as quickly as possible. He seemed to be frustrated by her lack of experience. He whispered to his assistant quietly before grinning, “You can’t do it? Then should we change to another model?”This was a cruel world. One wrong step and your tu
Silje was about to introduce herself when through the clear glass wall, she noticed a loud black man walking outside the room. He was wearing a pair of leopard patterned pants and a fur scarf.He was talking to someone loudly.“They said they didn’t like our model, so go get them another one. Don’t we have an elegant and professional model that’ll impress that difficult editor?”Silje couldn’t believe her eyes as she watched the familiar man. She stood up slowly and walked towards him as if she had seen a ghost.The man was still chatting with someone when he finally noticed her. He grinned.“Oh, look who we have here! I’ve seen you before.”He took off his sunglasses and after a few seconds, he smiled widely.“Oh, you are the girl I met at the nightclub. Aren’t you impressed that I remember you? I never forget a face. By the way, what took you so long, little girl?&rdq
A psychiatric hospital at the outer border of Oslo.A harsh wind blew and knocked on the windows mercilessly. The sound echoed and the moonlight that shone through the window looked somewhat lonely.This was a frightening place. This was where the monsters lived.Kail smiled bitterly.Shockingly, his face was covered with a protective metal mask. He had been having severe seizures and he had been acting violently. The hospital was given an incredible amount of funds from his father Rolf, so they had no choice but to keep him. But to protect him and the others, they had to restrain him.Kail leaned back in his hard bed. This wasn’t so bad. It was like a prison, but it couldn’t be helped.Sometimes, he could even think clearly. It was a rare occurrence as Kail often wasn’t himself. He usually felt mindless and his episodes were often vicious.Feeling rigid but clear-minded for once, he looked around slowly.Howe