Over the last month, Minami had been busy with test shots and fittings. They were deciding on the concept of her first photoshoot for her social media accounts as well as testing how well she showed up on camera. What were her best angles? What lighting looked best for her? What looks suited her the best and made her shine the brightest? Some that they thought would be perfect for her, ended up making her look slimy, while some they believed wouldn't work ended up looking like they were made for her.
That was all to prep for the starting phase of her road to debut: the photoshoot for her profile pictures.
Minami showed up to the photography studio wearing a plain white t-shirt and sweats, no makeup, and her hair down and ready to be made up. It was her first time getting serious photos taken. While she had done the test shots, she felt a lot more free since she knew they wouldn't be used for anything, but this was the real deal. Now, the stakes were much higher.
Thankfully, she'd watched enough videos to know how to prepare and how to show up to this kind of photoshoot. Of course, the test ones prior had given her a little bit more insight as well.
Upon her arrival, she was immediately escorted over to a chair in front of a brightly lit mirror and staff members quickly jumped to work doing her hair and makeup. She held her plum leather bag, her favorite one at the moment, tightly in her lap, feeling a bit of anxiety.
Another staff member rushed over to her with a laminated stack of papers held together by a metal ring.
"Okay, so here is the concept of the shoot today. We're going with a light and innocent look, pure and new. These pictures are going to be used for your profile pictures so they're going to be an introduction of you to the public. Think of it like you're a blank canvas being introduced to the world for the first time and as you gain experience you'll be colored and a picture will form. Does that make sense to you?" They flipped through the stack of papers which contained numerous poses and reference photos of the concept as they spoke.
Minami slowly nodded her head, the makeup artist putting on her lip makeup made it difficult to speak, so she was only able to mutter an, "uh-huh" in response.
When her hair and makeup were done, she was whisked away to the next stage: the changing room. It was a small room with a big mirror and some metal chairs, there were two racks filled with clothes and numerous pairs of shoes lined the floor right next to them. There was a bathroom attached which is where Minami would change.
"Wow~" Before she could even get a proper look at the clothes they'd selected for her, the stylist was handing her clothes and pushing her towards the bathroom. She was given a white baby doll style dress with matching thigh high socks. Both the dress and socks had very subtle heart designs on them that would most likely not show up in the photos, but they were adorable nonetheless.
'This is totally my style!' she thought to herself as she eagerly got dressed. It was really all coming together, things were starting to feel more and more real. If she had told herself from two years ago that this is what she got to wear she'd scream with joy, not that the current Minami wasn't also doing that on the inside.
She exited the changing room and the stylist held up a pair of shoes against her feet, then switched them out for another pair, "Put these on!" She seemed very rushed, which was starting to spike Minami's anxiety. She quickly put the pair of shoes on and the stylist started swarming her with various accessories, holding ones up to her neck and ears and then switching them out.
About ten different combinations were rotated about before settling on a metal star necklace that trailed down to the middle of Minami's chest and dangling silver white star earrings to match. She was given a charm bracelet that had hearts and stars and a ring with a little pink cat on it.
Minami wondered if maybe the heart ones that the stylist had held up earlier would've been better, but then again maybe that would've been too many hearts.
It was then that she finally got to take a look at herself in the mirror. Her eyes widended. She slowly went up to the mirror and touched it gently. Was that really her?
Her hair was curled and rested shortly below her shoulders, and her bangs with clipped with a sparkling cat clip. Her makeup really accentuated her natural features – big eyes, soft lips and great jawline. The ring and her bracelet had also managed her bejeweled white glitter nails pop as well.
"I'm so....pretty…." For so long, Juri's words had echoed in her brain, that image of herself crying after throwing up in the bathroom two years ago burned into her memory, constantly reminding her over and over again how ugly she was. This was the first time that those thoughts were silent. It was almost like this new image of her had entered her brain, grabbed the other thoughts, crumpled them up and tossed them out of her ear. They were completely gone.
Tears pricked the back of her eyes and she suddenly leaned back, blinking and fanning her eyes frantically. She couldn't cry, not after all the time that had been spent on doing her makeup. 'Dangit, why am I such a crybaby…'
"MINA! Stand by!" A male voice yelled from the main area. Minami rushed over and waited for them to adjust the settings on their equipment and prepare the props. She stood there awkwardly and glanced over at her manager. He was walking back and forth on the phone, not paying any attention to her or what was happening around him.
Her shoulders slumped, she'd wanted to ask if she could take behind the scenes photos. Even though lots of idols took photos like that, she wasn't sure if she needed permission beforehand or not. She looked around hoping to ask someone, but everyone was so busy with their own tasks that she felt like she would be inconveniencing them.
"Okay! Mina, come on, we're ready for you!"
Mina hopped over to the middle of the white display, standing still while waiting for more directions, when the camera suddenly flashed. She stood there puzzled for a moment, her brain not registering what was happening, when the camera flashed again.
The photographer scoffed, "Come on. Don't act like a deer in the headlights. Do something! Pose!"
Minami shook her head, shaking off the anxiety and surprise, and immediately began posing. She thought back to all the videos she'd watched of behind the scenes of footage of idols like 5year filming their music videos and doing their album jacket shoots, all their photos, all their poses and how they changed pose with each camera flash.
Copying the poses she'd seen and liked, she did just that, switching it with each camera flash. She shifted her weight onto on foot, stretching the opposite leg out to the side and pointing her toes, while keeping her hand on her hip and shifting her shoulder slightly.
"Good! GOOD!" the photography was smiling now, his own energy picking up with each shot.
From looking up to the side and shielding her eyes from pretend sunlight, to holding her arms behind her back and learning into the camera while winking.
"She's such a natural." One staff member whispered to the other in awe. She overheard them and felt an insane amount of energy build up inside her. 'You're doing it Minami, you're doing it!'
Her manager was still on the phone, but at this point he was standing behind a computer screen monitoring the images being taken. He held a thumbs up to Minami and smiled at her.
Throughout the session, they changed outfits a total of six times and took what must've been thousands of photos. Although Minami had been a little disappointed to not get any behind the scenes photos like she intended, the day wrapped with everyone feeling ecstatic and proud about the work they'd accomplished which was a much better outcome.
★ ★ ★
Minami returned home exhausted, and flopped onto her blush blue couch, putting her feet up on her coffee table and sighing, ready to fall asleep.
Bzz! Bzz!
'Huh?' She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the screen, it was a text from Naoto.
[Naoto] Hey, haven't heard from you in a while. Do you want to come over?
Minami bit the nail of her thumb. She was going to debut soon, dating was a big no-no in the idol world, and even being seen with a guy could cause an uproar. As of right now though, no one knew who she was, so it should be fine right?
[Minami] Sure…I'll see you soon!