The King

Claude rubbed his eyes and jumped out of bed. The first bus of the day always departs at half-past five o'clock in the morning.

Even though there was only one car drive to the city in the entire village, Claude Hemsworth's small shack on the side of the fishing road still cost him sixty dollars a month.

It's been almost four years since Claude moved to this city.

Four years have passed, but every morning when he wakes up, he feels befuddled, as if he is still in a foreign country.

He tried to regain his composure because today he received a call from his manager, Jason, which means that after three months of not having the opportunity to perform, now he has one. Claude Hemsworth quickly washed his face, then put on a black hoodie and faded jeans. It must be noted that his body is beautiful, his height is 189 cm, his shoulders are wide, his hip is tight, and his jeans make his legs look longer.

This way of dressing makes Claude Hemsworth, who has a baby face, look more like a boy next door. He possesses the typical handsome look of an Oriental person: square eyebrows, a straight nose, and ivory white skin with bold Asian characteristics. But despite his strong features, his face still had the soft curves of a teenager.

Claude's presence on the catwalk is not very popular as a model. Today's catwalks are dominated by ghostly, flashy neutral beauty. Yet, Claude's beauty is out of date and lacks a distinct distinctiveness in front of the camera.

Furthermore, his motions are infected with the restrained and uncomfortable habits of country people, and his skeleton is larger than the stage aesthetic that favors confined roles, all of which contribute to his being increasingly lost in the middle of current fashion show trends.

Before walking out the door, Claude Hemsworth paused for a moment, knowing that he would be admonished by Jason if he was dressed like this.

He has an orange sweater and a nice pair of dark blue jeans, but fashion designers are now making the sizes smaller and smaller, from size 50 to 48 and then again from 48 to 46. People who are 170 or 175 tall have to choose sets for people who are 185 tall.

Claude Hemsworth has grown 3 cm taller than two years ago, so now wearing the other clothes seems to be tight. He took them out, then carefully put them back in place. They are not only two branded items that he owns, they are also the best memories and most cherished friendships that he has.

He drank a glass of water, ate his breakfast, and then Claude was out the door at exactly six o'clock, just in time for the next bus to pass. Forty-five minutes away, a prosperous city with reinforced concrete buildings appeared before our eyes. In a large, brilliant neon advertisement, the representative face of Romance Homie was Henry Jackie, a top model.

Henry has long, narrow eyelids, a sharp slant, pale skin, and looks as if this fashion brand was born for him. The shirt has narrow, horseshoe-shaped sleeves, tight against the slender body, and a long tie embroidered with a honey bee, the symbol of  Napoleon's power. From a distance, Henry Jackie looked like a vampire duke, his beauty filled with a sense of illness.

"What a witty Vampire Duke of the East!" 

In Henry Jackie's first year on tour in Milan, one photographer commented. 

Henry Jackie's first debut swept the Paris spring-summer fashion week, becoming a world-class model. His brilliant success not only raised the reputation of the agency, but a few years later, other agencies used his style as a yardstick to compare a certain model that has the potential to be successful.

Claude looked at Henry Jackie's advertisement a few times, then hurriedly walked towards the management company.

Certainly, by that standard, Claude was a kind of underdog model.

By the time he reached the front door of the office, Jason was already there waiting for him.

Jason works as an artist manager, and in the low season, he will also find shows for male models.

"Has Jamie arrived yet?"

Jason instantly raised his hand when he saw Claude. Jason's gaze travelled over Claude's clothing, a tiny scowl on his face, but he remained silent in front of everyone.

With a sigh of relief, Claude exhaled deeply. Jason isn't generally a good manager, so the fact that he hasn't publicly chastised Claude suggests he's had a lucky day. Jason gave him the moniker "Jamie." A male model may or may not wear underwear, but he must have a moniker so that others will notice that he is not average.

Jason was flanked by five other male models, all of whom Claude recognized despite Jason's failure to introduce them. Aaron, a robust person who specializes in fashion lines with powerful, comfortable American tones like Donna Karan's DKNY Men, is the one he knows best. He is disliked on the catwalk, just like Claude Hemsworth.

That is why Aaron is frequently enraged, mocking the fact that all prominent male models are girlie boys, and he also condemns society for being too twisted now, as a result of which his aesthetic ideals have become distorted as well. According to Aaron, the revenue of male models is highly volatile and only a few people earn a living from it. The guy works as a bartender in a pub, and Claude worked part-time as a receptionist there. Suddenly, Aaron made eye contact with Claude, and Claude followed him, seeing Jason contentedly conversing with a stranger, despite the man's too friendly demeanour.

At first glance, this model appears to be relatively youthful, less than twenty years old, highly attractive, and a neutral beauty. He was dressed in a green short-necked leather jacket with an incredibly exposed orange snow shirt with long sleeves, which assured that his eyes would sparkle for anybody who saw them.

When Claude looked at him, his eyes happened to fall on Claude's face. He grinned as he intentionally compared himself to that youngster, seeing that the young model was barefoot. However, Claude did not anticipate the young model giving him a chilly gaze and then turning away.

Claude grinned softly and turned away, without paying much attention.

Aaron was present for the entire incident. The guy touched him on the shoulder and murmured when it was time to get in the car.

"That Simon fits Henry Jackie's style, and it's been said that the firm takes him seriously. Perhaps he'll be allowed to attend Donnan Fall/Winter Fashion Week this year as well. This commercial effort is only rubbing and testing. Perhaps next year, that young model will be the next Henry Jackie."

"Really? That's fantastic! He ís really good, isn’t he?"

Claude was taken aback. A freshly launched model for Molis enough to demonstrate how highly the firm values him. When everyone boarded the car, Jason sat next to Simon, realizing that he was now not only a voter, but also a personal manager for this potential supermodel.

Six models met to shoot a commercial for an online game about angels and devils, with a narrative based on dragons and fairy tales. According to speculations, “The  Angel King” is financed by Clare Fashion Company, and this is a Chinese-style online game that reaches the worldwide market, properly constructed, taking only the products they play into consideration. It is sufficient to set out for advertising to see a portion of it.

The advertisement script has a scene where the disciples decide to fight with the main character in the middle of heaven and earth, which requires a majestic scene and must have blue sky, water, and a vast desert, so the filming crew had to fly to another area to get the scene. The key actor in the advertisement is, of course, a big star, playing the role of The Demon King, and all the models left are just background actors, playing the roles of a few brazen people surrounding and attacking the main actor.

This type of role that is completely background has no prospect for a modelling career, but fortunately, the job lasts quite a long time, at least half a month, so the salary is considered temporary. It's just that Jason appreciates Claude's docile personality, so Jackson gives him a role.

The group went to the airport, directly checked in, and then went in, one hour before the boarding time.

Jason spoke with Simon once again, although it wouldn't be accurate to call it talkative because only Jason was droning on about his magnificent past, while Simon hummed a few phrases here and there, not frowning, but not very thrilled.