It was pure, unadulterated torture.

In the day, Hyejin would camp in the training room with her stacks of magazines, ploughing through each and every one dutifully while trying to add her own unique spin on a hairstyle that would fit the fashion trends of last season. At night, she would drag another trolley full of magazines home and continue the same routine in the barbershop till the wee hours of the morning. Day after day, it was simply rinse and repeat.

What added salt to the wound was the fact that the other trainees all seemed to be having a much better time with their training programme than she was. From time to time she would see the other senior stylists bring their mentees into the training room to teach them a thing or two about the latest perming techniques or treatment methods—all of them would toss her looks of sympathy (some of scorn) as they walked past.

"You're still here?" an annoying voice echoed from behind her. Turning around, she scowled when she found Hannah standing there with an obvious gloat on her face. "To think that I was slightly jealous that you were assigned Hyunwon as your mentor. Where is he? I don't think I've ever seen him in here with you. Was he too disappointed with your standards that he decided to give up?" She fluttered her false eyelashes innocently as she spoke—it made Hyejin want to smack her plastic face.

"What do you want?"

"I just came in to pick up some dyes," Hannah replied, walking over to the cupboards and slowly searching through them for the dyes that she wanted. "Natasha says she's going to teach me how to improve my technique in ombre hair dying. Do you know what that is? It's when you have a gradient of colour running down the length of the hair," she explained patronisingly. "It's one of the most advanced techniques you learn on the university styling course. Difficult to do well. I don't suppose you would have heard of that when you were working in that pathetic barbershop."

Hyejin scowled.

The whole wide world knew that she used to work at her father's barbershop before joining the Cutting Edge (although Gina and Ryu had done some back-end manipulation to the timeline to give the false impression that she had been recruited beforethe Ares incident), thanks to the interviews that had been splashed all over the newspapers and magazines. At the peak of the media frenzy, the reporters had praised Ryu to the ends of the Earth and back for having spotted and scouted such a talent, but she knew that there were many—including some of the senior stylists in the salon—who felt that she was undeserving of all the praise and attention. Hell, she actually agreed with them on that account.

Still, it didn't mean that she liked it when people used her background as reason to patronise and belittle her. She had never felt like there was anything wrong or shameful with having worked at the barbershop for so many years. That was her home, and it was where she had picked up her very first pair of scissors.

She tried to ignore the other girl and continue with her sketches, but Hannah seemed determined to milk this moment for all it was worth. Walking over, she peered over Hyejin's shoulder and remarked, "Trench coats were in fashion in the Fall/Winter collections two years ago. Don't you know that the collar details of the coats are what's most important about the outfit? You can't have models wearing their hair down when they walk the catwalk in trench coats, that's a fashion basic."

"Hannah, I can't concentrate with you jabbering in my ear," Hyejin snapped. "I think Natasha is waiting for you, maybe you'd better be going."

Hannah's ruby-red lips curled up into a smile. "If those sketches are all you're going to be able to do, then I don't think it makes much of a difference whether or not I'm here distracting you. But you're right, I should probably get going. It takes a couple of hours to complete the ombre hair dying process so I'll need to get started soon. Have fun!"

As if Hyejin wasn't already in a foul mood, Hannah's random interruption only made her even more gloomy. She stared at the sketches she had laid out on the table and sighed. It had already been close to five days and she had completed about ten sketches that were to her satisfaction. That was ten out of close to a hundred that she had drawn over the past few days. The wastepaper basket at one corner of the training room was overflowing with crumpled paper balls.

"Stupid Kang Hyunwon. Asshole. Jerk. Annoying prick," she muttered. She drew a caricature of him on a blank sheet of paper and surrounded the image with all the words that she could think of to describe him, each one more insulting than the one before.

All of a sudden, the paper was snatched away from her.

"Not bad, looks quite a lot like me," Hyunwon quipped, the left corner of his lips tugging upwards slightly. "If you finally decide to come to terms with reality, you could consider pursuing a career as a street artist. The fellow by the subway station who draws caricatures for people charges twenty thousand won a piece."

"Give it back!" Hyejin shrieked, appalled that the subject of her drawing and cursing had gotten his hands on it. She reached out to grab it but Hyunwon was one step faster. He quickly took a couple of steps back, almost causing her to fall flat on the floor.

"What's this? You dare to draw something like that and give me all these names but you don't have the guts to show it to me?" Hyunwon said with a laugh. "You know what, I think I'll keep this. As a souvenir. It's not every day your mentee draws such a lovely picture of yourself."

Hyejin was so embarrassed and outraged that her face was turning as red as a tomato. Hyunwon didn't seem the least bit angry with what she had done, in fact, he was standing there with the slightest hint of a smile on his face—Hyejin knew that that meant, it meant that he was secretly plotting new ways to torture her to death. He was the devil reincarnate.

"You know what, suit yourself," she said, throwing her hands up in the air. "If you like it so much, then keep it. I've got a lot of work to do, so if you don't mind, I won't be wasting your time any longer, sir."

Hyunwon was slightly crestfallen when he heard her say that. He had been expecting her to put up more of a struggle so that he could gloat about it and deal a couple more jabs to her pride, but here she was behaving like a wet blanket. He folded up the drawing and stuffed it into his pocket, walking over to the table and looking at the other pieces of paper lying around.

"How's the progress coming along?" he asked. "It's already been five days, don't you have anything to show me yet? If you work at this snail pace, three months will be up in the blink of an eye."

Yes, I realised that Mister Obvious. Hyejin rolled her eyes, not even caring that he had seen her do that. In her opinion, there was really no need to put on a show in front of this man. He hated her and she hated him—the feeling was mutual. Reaching into her plastic folio, she fished out the ten designs that she had done so far and handed them to him.

"I've only done ten for now. These are based on the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter collections from two years back. I've only just started on last year's collections," she said.

Hyunwon casually flipped through the designs that she had passed to him, a look of slight surprise flashing across his eyes as he scanned them through.

"Right," he said flippantly. "Only ten? Looks like you're not that eager to make any progress after all. I'll take these for now. Give me the rest whenever you're ready, I think I might need some more scrap paper in my office." He turned and headed for the door. "Oh and Hyejin, if you ever want to throw in the towel, you know where to find me."

Hyejin picked up a stray hair towel that was lying on one of the chairs and threw it straight in the direction of Hyunwon's head. As the door closed behind him, the towel hit the door with a dull thud, sliding back down onto the ground.

#

Back in his office, Hyunwon was a little perplexed.

He sat in his swivel chair and studied the ten sheets of paper that he had laid out on the table. There was some form of cognitive dissonance going through his mind right now that made him grossly uncomfortable, but he couldn't quite figure out what was the cause of it. Loosening the top button of his black silk shirt, he stood up and headed over the side table to pour himself a glass of water.

A knock came at his door and Remington sashayed into the room, saying, "I hope you haven't forgotten that the Alexander McQueen show is tonight. Ryu sent me here to make sure that everything is in order. Since this show is the opening show for the Seoul Fall/Winter fashion week there's going to be plenty of reporters and big names coming down tonight, so he's a little bit more concerned."

"I didn't forget," Hyunwon replied drily, gulping down the entire glass of water in a single shot. It did nothing to ease the little worm that was wriggling in his mind.

Remington looked down at the designs that were sprawled across the desk, picking one of them up for a closer look. "These are pretty good, but it doesn't look like your style," he said. "Who drew these? Shin? Sabrina?"

Hyunwon shook his head. "Song Hyejin."

"Seriously?" Remington looked impressed. Now that he studied the drawings a little closer, he realised that they were a little rough around the edges, unlike the work that came from any of their senior stylists. "I told you the girl has some talent. If she gets the proper training, she may yet live up to the reputation that they've given her in all those magazines!"

Hyunwon sat back down on his chair and took a second look at all the drawings. At that moment, he came to a sudden realisation about why he had been feeling so uncomfortable after looking at Hyejin's work. "Talent? You've got to be kidding me," he murmured to himself.

The problem was that he hadn't been expecting this from her.

To him, Song Hyejin was a nobody who had simply gotten lucky when she struck gold with Ares; she had no suitable experience or skill whatsoever and all she had was a head full of unrealistic bubbles of dreams that he was determined to pop. In other words, he strongly believed that she didn't have any right to be here.

That tiny worm that was irritatingly gnawing away in his mind was the possibility that he could be the slightest bit wrong.

"Hyunwon, let's look at things objectively here. You were the one who signed that contract allowing Hyejin to join the salon's training programme as long as she managed to succeed in the dye challenge. She did it fair and square, but now you're going against your word by keeping her locked up in the training room looking through old magazines? I didn't raise anything when you insisted on being her mentor because I thought you would be more professional than that."

"Iamprofessional!" Hyunwon retorted, a flash of annoyance appearing in his eyes. "She's the one who's not professional for goodness sakes." He pointed at his cheek. "Have you forgotten what she did? That girl slapped me across the face!"

"And you cheated in the dye challenge by using one of your self-created dye shades that wasn't in the manual," Remington replied, folding his arms smugly.

Hyunwon huffed and sank back into his chair. He didn't have any retort for that.

"Look," Remington said, "Hyejin hasn't had any sort of formal training so it's understandable that she's going to be rough around the edges. You can't use the same standards to judge her the way you would with any of the other trainees. But looking at these," he gestured towards the designs on the table, "I'd dare say that the girl is just like an unpolished piece of jade. All it takes is someone who appreciates what she has and is willing to bring out her shine."

He didn't get a response to that, beyond what sounded like a reluctant grunt.

Hyunwon sighed and picked up one of the sheets, holding it up against the light. Scarves and light chiffon had been in fashion two summers ago, and the corresponding hairstyle that every girl had wanted back then was a chic pixie cut that would expose their necks so that everyone could get a clear look at the expensive scarves they were wearing. Back then, he remembered thinking that the pixie cut was a little too harsh and masculine, detracting from the femininity of the chiffon.

What Hyejin had sketched was a girl wearing a floral print chiffon dress, but instead of placing the scarf round the neck like most people would, she had the scarf wrapped like a hairband round her head. That, paired with the long ponytail that ended in a cascade of gentle waves midway down the girl's back, gave the entire look a more retro feel that highlighted the overall feminine form.

He reluctantly admitted that it was good—very good.

"She's still got a long way to go if she hopes to go professional," he commented sourly.

"That's what you're here for isn't it? Let me also remind you that Hyejin is the first disciple you have officially agreed to take since the beginning of your illustrious career. Everyone out there is watching to see how that pans out. Although I know that your reasons for doing so are hardly anything worth shouting about, but for the sake of your own reputation, maybe you'd want to reconsider this petty revenge plan of yours."

"Petty revenge again!" Hyunwon exclaimed, glaring across the table at his friend. He didn't think he was being petty, but clearly everyone else thought otherwise.

Remington smiled, standing up from his seat. "Alright there's plenty to settle for tonight's show so I'm going to head off to Design Plaza first to make sure everything is ready, I'll catch you later," he said. Just before he stepped out of the room, he paused. "Oh, by the way, all the other trainees will be coming along for the show tonight. They'll just be observers, but we thought it would be a good chance for them to see what things are like at a full fashion show. Remember to bring Hyejin along."

"Why should I bring her—"

Before he could finish his protest, Remington had already left the room, shutting the door behind him. Hyunwon ruffled his hair in frustration, thinking that all those designs strewn across his table seemed to be mocking him. Reaching into his pocket, he dug out the caricature that Hyejin had drawn of him, staring at it sullenly.

"Am I being petty? Am I?" he asked himself. His doppelganger didn't reply.

#

Hyejin almost wanted to leap up and strangle somebody when the door to the training room opened once more. It seemed as though the whole world was determined to get on her nerves today and not let her concentrate on the task at hand, because that door had been opening and closing almost every fifteen minutes.

Looking up though, she froze when she realised that it was Hyunwon again. He looked a little less smug and a little more serious this time, walking over with a stack of papers in his hand.

He's done with them already? she thought to herself, her heart sinking down to the bottom of her chest when she realised that he was holding the designs that she had given him earlier. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself for the cruel words that would surely start spewing out from his mouth any second.

Setting everything down on the table, Hyunwon cleared his throat and said, "I've taken a look through them and I've made some adjustments here and there." He spread out the sheets one by one. "Over here," he said, tapping at the first one, "you've done the fringe about a centimetre too short. Use the eyebrows as a gauge. The shorter you make the fringe, the more edgy the look gets and that doesn't necessarily suit the outfit, so you've got to be careful about things like that. Unless you are intending to go for a more modern style, then keep the fringe minimally touching the eyebrows."

Hyejin was a little intimidated by the amount of angry red lines Hyunwon had drawn all over her designs. It was like being back in school again where the teacher would scrawl red crosses and circles all over your work if you didn't get the answers correct.

Seeing that she was just standing there like a block of wood, Hyunwon frowned and smacked the top of her head. He wasn't being petty this time, he decided—this time round she legitimately deserved to be whacked because she wasn't paying attention when he was talking.

"Are you listening to me?" he said crossly.

Hyejin quickly snapped out of her daze and nodded her head. Looking at all her designs, she realised that Hyunwon had actually gone through each and every one quite thoroughly, using his red ink to correct parts that he thought were not so well done. What amazed her the most was how a single stroke of his pen could manage to transform her mediocre work into something that she thought was good enough to be on one of those design magazines.

As annoying as the man was, she had to admit that there were good reasons why everyone claimed he was the best stylist in the industry.

Hyunwon rolled his eyes and continued, "And over here, you should have had the hair combed towards the back instead. If you let it cover the ears then it doesn't allow the cheekbones to be highlighted. Sharp lines were the focus of that particular collection, so the angles of the models' faces had to be shown clearly in order to complement the clothes. You need to pay more attention to details like that!"

He went on and on for another fifteen minutes or so, semi-lecturing her on every single minute detail that was not to his satisfaction. Although his tone was still harsh and condescending, Hyejin actually felt invigorated by what she was being told. As he spoke, she hastily took down as many notes as she could in her notebook, fearful that she might miss out on the slightest detail.

"Alright, that's all," he said, clearing his throat once more. After talking for an extended period of time, it was starting to feel a little scratchy and dry. "For the next set of designs I don't want to see any of the same mistakes or else I'm kicking you off the training programme, got it?"

"Wait a minute, does that mean that you've passed these designs?" Hyejin asked hopefully.

Hyunwon rolled his eyes. "Well I haven't asked you to re-do all of them have I? But don't get complacent, because you're still nowhere near satisfactory."

Hyejin let out a shriek of delight, not quite daring to believe her ears. In her excitement, she jumped and grabbed hold of Hyunwon by the shoulders, shaking him so hard that he thought he was going to pass out from the dizziness.

"What the hell are you doing?" he yelled, extricating himself from her grip.

"I am so sorry," Hyejin apologised, realising that she might have gotten a little overexcited. She calmed herself down and gave him an awkward smile, though the look in his eyes right now told her that he wanted nothing more than to have her fed to piranhas.

Scowling, Hyunwon headed for the door.

"Oh, the salon is handling the hairstyling for the Alexander McQueen fashion show this evening, to kickstart Seoul Fashion Week. All the trainees have been allowed to go down to observe, so I suppose you could join them too."

The... Alexander McQueen fashion show?

All of a sudden, the world didn't seem like such a terrible place after all.

#