"Madam Song!" Ji-Eun quickly made her way towards the Madam and held her shoulders firmly. "Please, no need to be like this."
She bowed gracefully to the older lady in front of her. Status aside, she is older than her and respect had to be shown. Curious onlookers were surprised when they saw their lofty Madam pay so much respect to the younger female. Just who were these people? And VIPs to boot too?
Soon, the Madam's personal assistant and around four bodyguards rushed up to them.
"Madam Song," her female secretary stopped a few steps away from them. "You left so suddenly that we weren't able-"
"Thank you for coming over personally," the Madam ignored her secretary altogether as she gushed over Ji-Eun. "I hope the drive wasn't long?"
"No worries, Madam. We came from The Regal," Ji-Eun answered politely. "Secretary Min, good to finally meet you."
The lady secretary bowed to greet her. "Lady Chung."
"I must say, Madam Song," Ji-Eun smiled at the actress before gesturing to the lady secretary. "Your people are very good at piquing their targets' interests. She made the perfect proposal to send to my office that even Secretary Oh said I have to personally come over today."
"Secretary Min did a good job, yes. And I must express my gratitude to Secretary Oh as well." The actress smiled at them as she gestured for her guests to walk with her. As they moved along and away from the reception, with the Madam and Ji-Eun in front, the secretaries could only follow behind. The onlookers watched the mini-parade curiously as they gossiped among themselves.
"I heard the Madam say, Lady Chung? Is that girl an heiress?"
"Well, she definitely looks like one. Did you see her clothes? And that guy with her must be her colleague or something. There's no way you'd allow somebody as good-looking as him to just walk behind you."
"Chung... Maybe she's that old President's daughter? You know, from that big financial group."
"Ah! If that's true, then she's definitely an heiress!"
"Then what is she doing here? Is the Madam looking to put her face on our covers?"
"Most definitely not," an annoyed voice came from behind the gossiping women. They all turned around in surprise and found that their Senior had been standing behind them.
The girls quickly backed about two meters away from Bae Yuri as she huffed at them in an indignant manner. "You girls should really brush up on some news, you know. It doesn't matter if you all have pretty faces if you know nothing about the world outside of your own."
"Ah... Sister Yuri," one of the girls timidly greeted the arrogant Senior. "Do you know who they are?"
Yuri looked at the girl who spoke with disdain, "Yes, of course. And I can tell you too that those two are not here for any promotional stuff. Those people are businessmen, not artists or models. There's no way that Madam Song would replace any of her models for a plain-looking log."
The girls looked at each other when they heard Yuri's comment.
"Plain-looking?" A brave girl echoed since she was sure that the girl from before was very pretty. And the way she had carried herself was elegant. Minus her clothes and maybe her title, she felt that the girl's aura alone was enough to bring everyone's attention to her.
Everything these girls thought about Chung Ji-Eun's appearance and stature was in contrast to their Senior's opinion.
"What's wrong with your eyes?" Yuri scoffed at the girl who spoke. "I think you need to get them fixed because your judgment is getting impaired already."
Yuri stood her ground against the surprised stares she was getting.
"Am I wrong?" She asked as she looked around. "Or were you not confident about your own performance in this company that you just assume anyone can take your place anytime?"
Some of the girls looked down at their shoes, embarrassed to be caught by their Senior, while others were just plain annoyed by the show of superiority.
Yuri shook her head.
"Sister Yuri," the young assistant beside her spoke. "We should hurry up, so we're not late. Your shoot starts in an hour. Your makeup has to be done-"
"Please don't butt in while I'm talking," Yuri snapped at her assistant. "Don't you think I know these things?"
"Ah, sorry-"
"Ya," one of the older models from the group earlier admonished her. "You need to tone it down a little, Bae Yuri. We're colleagues here, not enemies."
Yuri raised an eyebrow at the comment.
"All I know is that we are all competitors here," she said dryly. "It's every day that we work to get noticed, so don't blame me for being harsh."
She turned around to sashay towards the elevators, her small assistant hurrying after her.
The older female model who spoke up to Yuri shook her head in disgust. "Can you believe her? She only just secured a cover position and she's acting like she's way ahead of us," the girl said. "Let me tell you, one wrong move and that Yuri will have everything snatched away from her... with her attitude and all."
The girls all nodded.
"No one will be willing to stand up for her when the time comes. Even her assistant had been suffering."
"I don't really want to say this earlier, but I just felt that Senior was being all bitchy because she heard someone who's prettier than she finally came."
"I don't care about Yuri, but that heiress looked way more beautiful than her."
"You're right," another model spoke. "She doesn't have to work that hard to look pretty."
Soon, the girls ended their break and decided to get back into their stations.
And as every single person in the lobby of the building had their own opinion about the earlier scene, the company's first break had ended in a rather lively way.