Wrapping things up in London

The next week went by in a flash. Dahl and I visited Marion and Cecile two more times, allowing Dahl to catch up and hang out more with the two of them. Now that she made peace with her past, she could move on and fully enjoy life with a bright smile on her face. She was almost shining ever since our talk with Marion and Cecile. We explored London and its surroundings more, Dahl making me see more landmarks and other places of interest.

I also got my first period during that time, and it was as awful as I expected it to be based on the old Seo-Yun's memories. I felt like I was dying inside, getting stabbed would probably be less painful. Dahl stayed by my side during that time, caring for me, but amused by my predicament.

I finally found the downside of being a woman...

We had a lot of fun, but it was now time for me to get to work. Today was the day I was meeting with the designer who invited me, my main reason for traveling to London in the first place. She was looking for models for a fashion shoot and apparently invited a few very popular ones from around the world to advertise her new lines of clothes.

Dahl and Marion were accompanying me. It was obvious Dahl would, and Marion accepted my invitation, curious to see a fashion shoot herself.

We reached the building where the shooting would take place, a fancy-looking one in Chelsea. We were greeted by a male receptionist.

"Welcome, what can I do for you?" He asked with a professional smile.

I grabbed my ID card and opened the mail the designer sent me. "Hi, I am Park Seo-Yun. I've been invited by Ms. Valencia for a photo shoot. And these two are friends of mine. Ms. Valencia said that it was fine to have them accompany me."

The receptionist searched for something on his computer and nodded. "I see. Ms. Valencia is indeed expecting you." He then dialed a number on the phone. "Ms? Ms. Park just arrived, alongside two guests. Right, I'll let them in."

After hanging up the phone, he stood up. "Please follow me, Ms. Valencia is waiting for you on the second floor."

"Thank you."

He opened the door behind him and led us upstairs. On our way, we crossed paths with another woman, drinking a coffee next to a vending machine. She seemed to be around my age, with a tan skin and short brown hair. She briefly glanced at us before returning her attention to her phone.

"This is Ms. Bensaid, one of the other models Ms. Valencia invited." The receptionist said. "She's very popular in Maghreb and France."

"I see. She's quite pretty." I simply replied.

After a bit more walking, he led us to a nicely decorated office, where an older woman was typing on a computer.

She smiled when she saw us and immediately got up. "Ms. Park, welcome. I am glad you accepted my invitation."

"Thank you for inviting me, Ms. Valencia. It's a pleasure to meet you." I replied with a warm smile as I shook her hand. "I love your products."

After more flattery was exchanged, Ms. Valencia showed us the set of the photoshoot. Another model was already there, posing in front of a professional cameraman and a photographer. The model was a pretty tall and slender blonde woman with deep blue eyes. If I had to guess, she was most likely from Scandinavia or Eastern Europe.

"One more and we're good, Ms. Vilde." The photographer said as she adjusted her camera.

The model took another sensual and elegant pose, one she most likely rehearsed hundreds and hundreds of times throughout her life.

She's good... Almost as good as me. I thought, smiling, as I admired her technique, and her beauty too, obviously.

Marion observed the shooting curiously, with Dahl next to her, relaxed. Ms. Valencia was taking notes and talking to another model who was probably the one to be photographed next, judging from the clothes she was wearing.

As the previous model left the scene and the new one replaced her, Ms. Valencia came back to me, followed by a makeup artist. "Ms. Park, could you follow Ms. Jordana to the dressing-room?"

I nodded and temporarily left Dahl and Marion to get dressed in the clothes Ms. Valencia prepared for me. The makeup artist helped fix my makeup once I was done, and I then walked back to the room of the photoshoot. It soon became my turn to get in the spotlights, and I posed, effortlessly using all the experience Seo-Yun earned throughout her years as a model. It was my own experience now.

Being in front of the cameras like this was such a thrill. It was my first professional photoshoot since I became Seo-Yun, and I was loving it. All eyes were on me; Ms. Valencia and the previous models were observing me attentively, Dahl smiled proudly, and Marion seemed somewhat surprised by my performance. She still wasn't fully used to the idea that I used to be a man.

"Bravo, you were perfect, Ms. Park. Even better than I expected." Ms. Valencia stated once the shoot ended. "We still have a few days to go, but I'm looking forward to seeing you wear my other products."

"Thank you, I'm honored." I replied with a smile.

"Yun, you were fantastic." Dahl said with a wide grin when I joined them after finishing today's work. "Absolutely majestuous."

I took a seductive pose and gave her a flirtatious smirk. "You should know full well how fantastic and majestuous I am by now, no~?"

She giggled. "Right, right. Really, you need to be careful with this ego of yours sometimes."

"You love my narcissistic side as much as I do, Dahl, don't deny it~"

"Maybe. Anyway, what do you think, Marion?" Dahl asked her daughter.

"It was... quite interesting. It's nice to see what's going on behind the scenes." Marion replied.

"There's still a few days of modeling left, if you want to accompany us again." I said, smiling at her.

"Thanks, but I need to study too. Exams are getting close."

"Ah, right. I wish you luck."

As it was getting late, we drove Marion back to her house before returning to our hotel.

I followed a similar routine the next few days, modeling in a wide variety of clothes in front of the cameras and alongside other famous models. There was a sort of rivalry going on between most models, but I didn't care about petty squabbles like these, I was past that. All I cared about was to do my job, and to do it well. Ms. Valencia and her team were greatly pleased by my performances.

I did find an opportunity to skin her during the last day of work, thanks to Dahl's help. Being a much older woman like this was very strange, a taste of what would come as I'd age in Seo-Yun's skin. It was a dreadful thought that my beautiful body would one day end up aging like this. I spent two more days looking for potential bribes or other scandals, but she seemed to be an honest person. I was almost disappointed to find nothing.

I restored Ms. Valencia and spent another few days with Dahl, Marion, and Cecile, visiting more parks and forests the three of them loved while Dahl and I were waiting for our flight back home. I received a text from Claire during that time, saying that she had a big surprise for me once we returned. Dahl and I had no idea what kind of surprise it was, but she seemed excited.

Finally, it was time for us to leave London. Marion and Cecile accompanied us to the airport.

"Promise you'll come visit, alright?" Cecile said to Dahl as the two hugged affectionately.

"I will, Cecile, I promise." Dahl replied, holding back tears. "I'll come visit as often as I can. And we will also always welcome you if you ever want to visit us."

She then turned to Marion and hugged her as well. "Take care, Marion. Be careful, and study well."

Marion nodded. "You too."

Cecile smiled at me. "It was nice meeting you as well, Yun. Have a safe flight."

"Thanks. Farewell, Cecile, Marion."

We grabbed our suitcases and parted ways with them, boarding the plane back home. Dahl seemed melancholic. I knew a part of her wanted to stay with her family more, but she'd have more opportunities later. We had to come back home.

"We'll have to come back during our next holiday, Yun." She said when we took our seats.

"Of course. We'll visit your family whenever you want, Dahl." I replied as I kissed her.

This trip to London has been a wonderful time, it did the both of us a lot of good. Dahl had a huge weight lifted off her chest, and seeing her so bright made me happy as well. Still, I couldn't deny that I missed Claire during that time, so I was looking forward to seeing her again. Dahl and I bought her and Laura some souvenirs.