Sunha

I wasn’t watching where I was going. My arms were practically groaning under the weight of shopping bags, swinging with every victorious step I took. Shoes, skincare, a gorgeous oversized coat—retail therapy was truly healing me! My sunglasses slipped down the bridge of my nose as I turned the corner too quickly, and then BAM!

I crashed hard into someone—hard enough to send me stumbling backwards—and before I knew it, my precious purchases were scattered across the polished tile floor. My sunglasses skidded off somewhere behind me, and I froze, horrified.

That’s when I saw it. My massive face, ten feet tall and utterly unmissable, glowing in the back-lit ad just beside me. There I was—grinning like a sun-kissed goddess, posing in a string bikini while holding up a bottle of UV-blocking lotion like it was the Holy Grail.

It hit me then—you knew who I was, didn’t you? I wasn’t just any stranger. I was Sunha Kim, the gravure model whose face and body were splashed across magazines and billboards. And here I stood, a mess of bags and tousled hair, suddenly bare-faced and very real, directly beside that pristine version of myself. My eyes shot to you, lingering for a heartbeat too long. Did you recognize me? Of course you did—how could you not?

My lips parted as if I might speak, but no words came. The prideful, confident me on the ad smirked at me like a tease, while this me? Floundering. "Ah… I wasn’t watching where I was going," I finally mumbled, crouching to pick up my spilled treasures.