“I’m sorry love, but your fashion portfolio just isn’t strong enough. We admire your ambition and initiative, but this just isn’t the style our company is looking for.” Jiyong sighed in defeat but still produced a smile enough to thank the editorial executive for their time and the opportunity for an interview. Jiyong walked out of the En Claire Chic fashion magazine building, tallying up another failure at trying to get hired onto a fashion editorial team. For months, he had been developing his fashion portfolio, designing outfits and photographing models wearing his designs with hopes of a fashion magazine to notice his talents, but with no luck. He was told his fashion sense was too eccentric and abnormal, and that people wouldn’t be caught die wearing his designs. But he never gave up. He took their criticism and used it to fuel his creativity.
“I guess it’s back to the drawing board,” Jiyong said heading home. All he wanted was some peace to ease his rejection, but peace is not what he found once he returned home.
“Eomma. Appa. I’m home,” he shouted into the house as he entered.
“Welcome home, sweetheart. How was your interview,” his mother asked?
“Interview?? What interview,” his father asked?
“I had an interview with the En Claire Chic fashion editorial department. It didn’t go so well though,” Jiyong said sadly.
“Aww, sweetheart. It’s okay. It’s their lose. Someone will notice your hard work and be honored to have you work with them,” his mother said reassuring him with a kiss on the cheek.
“You wouldn’t have to worry about work if you just got a normal job like a lawyer or doctor or scientist. But no, you want to be a rebellious youth and waste your abled body and mind on something you can’t even make an honest career out of.”
“But it’s my dream. And I don’t want to settle for some dead end job and regret not following my dreams like you did.”
“Yah. Watch the way you talk to me kid. Nothing good will come from you wasting your time with this fashion nonsense. You need to start thinking about your future and grow up.”
“Well Appa, I’m sorry to disappoint you once again but I’m following my passion and you’re just going to have to watch me do it. Because with or without your support, I’m going to do what makes me happy.” And with that statement, Jiyong left the living room and headed upstairs to his room.
Jiyong took a breath of relief and pride. He was proud for standing up for himself. He loves and would never defy his father, but his dream was way too important for him to let his father speak ill of it. Jiyong continued to head for his room when he stopped in front of his younger brother, Taeyang’s room. He knocked but there was no answer. So, he slowly opened the door to see Tae dancing to the music coming from his small television set. He was watching his favorite show “Soul Train”. He knows his brother has a love and passion for dance, but he was too afraid to express that to his parents like Jiyong. So, he just sticks to dancing in his room. He continues to dance until the music stops and the show goes to commercial.
“Far out little bro. Your sweet moves have really improved. I’m proud of you,” Jiyong said slightly scaring his brother in the process.
“Holy crap Hyung, you scared the Bejesus out of me. But thanks. How’d the interview go,” Taeyang asked with optimism.
“That’s bogus. Those guys are a bunch of squares anyway,” Tae said with anger making Jiyong laugh at his brother’s adorable frustration.
“It’s all good little bro. There’s always next time. I’ll get something eventually.”
“I wish I was able to follow my dream like you.”
“Come on now. You know I can’t go against Appa. I’m scared to disappoint him.”
“But you’re disappointing yourself by not living your truth and following your passion. Your life is not Appa’s life. You have to live for yourself.”
“You’re right. I just need to find the right time to tell him how I feel and what I want to do.”
“Well, when you do, don’t hold back. Follow your dreams full force little brother. Make it your reality.”
“You got it. Thanks, Hyung.”
After talking with his brother about his dreams, Jiyong sudden got a burst of inspiration for some new designs. Throughout the rest of the evening and night, Jiyong worked tirelessly, sketching designs in his journal and creating new articles of clothing from his closet full of fabrics.
He mind was going wild with ideas and plans for outfits he wanted to try. His entire room was a tornado of color and patterns as he worked. Eventually, sleep took over his body and he decided to call it a night and start fresh in the morning.
The next morning, Jiyong woke up to his disaster of a room after his long night of working up a storm. But this wasn’t new to him. He started cleaning and putting things away when he discovered and really looked over all the things he created last night. And he was quite impressed with himself.
“I have to add these to my portfolio,” he thought to himself.
Before he knew it, he was downstairs looking for his brother. I didn’t take long for him to find Taeyang. He was in the living room, in front of the television playing Space Invaders on the Atari.
“Where’s Eomma and Appa,” Jiyong asked.
“Sunday drive,” Taeyang responded shortly.
“I need your help again Tae.”
Taeyang paused the game and looked at his brother. “What’s shakin’?”
“I need models to take more pictures for my portfolio. Do you think you and a couple of your friends would be interested in modeling some of my designs?”
“Sure… But what do we get out of it?”
“A unique modeling opportunity.”
“The warm feeling in your heart for helping someone in need.”
“And I’ll buy you guys lunch.”
“Okay, deal. I’ll call Bobby and Jennie and see if they can help.”
“You’re the man bro. Thank you.”
A few hours later, Jiyong, Taeyang, Bobby, and Jennie were downtown in the art district taking pictures with some of the art fixtures. They were all sporting the various designs that Jiyong had created the night before. The group received a lot of stares and odd looks from some spectators, but they didn’t mind. They were having a blast taking candid pictures and showing their fabulous outfits off.
Jennie's, Bobby's and Taeyang's Outfits
The photoshoot came to a halt when Jiyong and the group were approached by two fancily dressed gentlemen.
“Good day young people,” the first man started with a slight English accent.
“Hello. What can we do for you fellas?”
“Yes, we were both wondering where you got these delightful outfits from.”
Taeyang, Jennie, and Bobby all pointed at Jiyong without hesitation.
“I designed these outfit.”
“My word. Dear child, you certainly do have an eye for unique fashion,” the other gentleman said with an aura of elegance and intrigue.
“Thank you. It’s very refreshing to hear others appreciate my works.”
“Oh, my dear, we more than appreciate it. We absolutely love it. Please allow us to introduce ourselves properly. My name is Bradford McCallister and this is my colleagues, Monty Sinclair. We are fashion editors for Younique Genius fashion company; YG for short. And we are always out and about looking for new inspiration and fresh talents and it looks like we have stumbled upon our next new talent.”
“Wait… What? Are you serious?”
“Yes sweetie. We love your unique style and think it is something that the world needs to see.”
“I…I'm speechless. I really don’t know what to say,” Jiyong said in total shock.
“Well how about this. Our company does wardrobe and styling for shows like Soul Train and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. They are filming for Soul Train tomorrow. How about you come to the filming, bring these outfits or ones like it and we can show off your designs. Plus, our company’s executive and CEO will be there. Maybe if they like your designs, they can offer you a job working for YG. How does that sound?”
It was at this moment that Jiyong was truly and genuinely speechless. His mind was going a thousand miles a minute and he truly couldn’t utter a word. All he could do was stare at them in shock. Luckily Taeyang stepped up to save his brother.
“I’m sorry about my brother Jiyong. You just don’t understand how much this truly means to him. He’s been through so much trying to pursue his dream of fashion. Through all his rejections and little to no support from our father, he still manages it push through and work for his passion. So please forgive him for his silence.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet. Well let’s do this. I’m inviting the four of you to come to the filming for Soul Train. Do any of you perhaps dance,” Monty asked?
“Yes, Bobby, Jennie, and I dance all the time.”
“Well that’s perfect. The three of you can be extras and dance on the show and model Jiyong’s outfits. How does that sound?”
“That sounds righteous. Thank you for this opportunity.”
“Your welcome…,” Bradford said reaching hand to shake hands.
“Taeyang. My name is Taeyang.”
“All right then. Taeyang. Jiyong, Jennie. Bobby. We will see you tomorrow at the shoot. Here are Monty and my business cards. The filming will take place at Studio 85 on Splendor Avenue and 1st Street. Do you know where that is?”
“Yes, I know exactly where that is.”
“Psychedelic. We’ll see you cool cats tomorrow at the studio. 2pm. Cheers,” Bradford said as he and Monty walked away.
The group except Jiyong waved goodbye to them and then turned around to see Jiyong in tears. Taeyang ran to comfort his brother and congratulate him.
“You did it Hyung. Your dream is finally starting to come true.”
“I still can’t believe that just happened. And my dream… What about you? You and your friends get to dance on your favorite show.”
Now it was Taeyang’s turn to be shocked. Reality finally hit him.
“Holy cow!!! We’re going to be on Soul Train. What in the heck is happening today?”
“I don’t know bro, but I seems like both of our dreams are coming true.”
“I’m so freaking happy for you guys, seriously,” Jennie said as she hugged Jiyong and Taeyang.
“I’m happy for you guys too, but umm… When are we going to eat? I’m starving,” Bobby said.
“Way to ruin the mood Bobby,” Jennie said with disappointment.
“What? We’ve been out here all day. Plus, we just got great news. So, what better way to celebrate than with food?”
“He has a point Jennie. Let’s go change out of these clothes and head to the diner to celebrate. Jiyong is buying.”
“Oh yeah. I did promise to buy food. Dang it. Okay fine. Let’s go,” Jiyong said in defeat.
Yesterday felt like a complete blur to Jiyong. After celebrating, Jiyong and Taeyang rushed home to tell their parents what happened. Their mother was over the moon with excitement. Their father however was a little reserved in his reaction. He was still very skeptical of the dreams on his sons, but he was also very proud of them for pursuing something that loved. He congratulates his boys on receiving this opportunity and said he would support them and watch the show once it aired. Jiyong and Taeyang finally felt the relief of having their father’s approval of them following their passions.
The day of the Soul Train filming came, and everyone was super nervous. Jiyong changed up everyone’s outfits and updated his portfolio with the new pictures for the CEO and executive to see, if they wanted to. The filming went smoothly. Taeyang’s, Bobby’s and Jennie’s outfits caught the eyes of a lot of people and earned them a lot of camera time.
Jennie's, Bobby's and Taeyang's Outfits
And they definitely took advantage of that camera time. They were all grooving, jiving, and cutting a rug like nobody’s business. After filming ended, the producer of the show approached Taeyang, Bobby, and Jennie and offered for them jobs to be regular dancers on the show because of how well them danced. All their jaws dropped to the floor and of course they all accepted the offer happily. Jiyong was so happy and proud of his brother for finally openly pursuing his love of dance. But now came his moment of truth. Jiyong was then approached by Bradford, Monty, and two other people.
“Hello again Jiyong. It’s a pleasure to see you again,” Bradford started the conversation.
“Likewise. I'm sorry for going silence yesterday. The shock of the moment really took over me,” he apologized.
“Oh, honey. Don’t you worry about that. But anywho. Please allow us to introduce you to YG’s CEO Min-suk Yang and Executive Sandara Park,” Monty said.
“It’s an honor and pleasure to meet both of you,” Jiyong said with a slight bow.
“The pleasure is ours. You truly have an eye and unique taste in fashion. I absolutely loved the outfits you made for those dancers,” Sandara gushed.
“Yes. It is exactly the kind of uniqueness our company is looking for. Do you happen to have a portfolio,” CEO Min-suk asked?
“Yes, I do. It’s right here,” Jiyong said handing the portfolio over to him.
CEO Min-suk and Sandara looked through the portfolio together and exchanged various nods of approval and interest. After looking through the portfolio, CEO Min-suk closed it and handed it back to Jiyong. Jiyong felt that all too familiar feeling of nervousness he got when he felt he was about to get rejected again.
“Well, Mr. Jiyong. We were very impressed by your outfits and portfolio,” CEO Min-suk began.
Jiyong was waiting for there to be a but, but it never came.
“And we would like to offer you a paid internship with YG. It is our hope then through this internship you continue to develop your skills and eventually become a designer for our company. Is that something you would be interested in,” CEO Min-suk asked?
Once again Jiyong was in shock and was speechless, but luckily Monty patted him on the back and brought him back to reality to answer the CEO.
“Yes! Absolutely! I would love that. Thank you so much. You have no idea. This means the world to me.”
“We can imagine. We all started where you started. With people not being supportive and not understanding our vision. That’s how we got to where we are now. We were all just very persistent and lucky that eventually someone saw our work, understood our passion, and took a chance on us. We saw ourselves in you and that’s why we want you for our company,” Sandara explained.
“Well, thank you so much for deciding to take a chance on me. I promise, I will not let you down,” Jiyong said on the verge of tears.
“Absolutely. We believe in you. Well, it was a pleasure meeting you Jiyong and we shall see you next Monday for the start of your internship,” CEO Min-suk said reaching out to shake Jiyong’s hand.
“Okay, see you on Monday. Thank you again,” Jiyong said shaking Sandara’s hand as they parted way.
He turned to Bradford and Monty to exchange information about the internship and contact information. And he thanked them both again for providing him with this opportunity. They congratulated him on his offer acceptance and bid their farewells until next week. After that entire encounter, Jiyong had to sit down and catch his breath.
This whole stream of events made his head spin, but he couldn’t be happier. He was so thankful to those who helped him in both big and small ways but the more he thought, he also started to be very thankful to himself. His persistent and fiery passion got him here. And he was grateful to himself that he was that persistent. And so, as he sat there, absorbing everything that happened, he took the time to thank myself.
blakekathryn
germansingergirl
prguitarman
romaincrisis
janainaart
vaporwave
turnnoffyourmind
dailybridgerton