— venus cosmetics inc.

@▫ adonis “Kim Jongin,” Aphrodite said, with one of those fake smiles he had perfected over the millennia. “The
Pleasure is all mine, Mister, Oh. We are thrilled to have you as one of our models for the shoot and very happy to hear that you’re willing to take photos with me.” Taking Sehun’s hand in his for a polite handshake, Aphrodite tried to tell himself that this Wasn’t who he thought it was. He was going back to when he first died, forbidding the name to enter his mind. Thus the God created a little persona for Sehun in his mind, not relating to him to the one he tried desperately to forget in hopes that maybe this hunch was wrong and the feeling of loss didn’t run through his veins. While Aphrodite’s power worked well with mortals, a bit dull with Gods, he ignored any emotion that may have come through Sehun’s hand. He let go, hand falling to his side and stuffing it in his pocket.

Peitho began to speak, introducing herself and mostly talking to the manager. She was conniving, almost as much as the God of Love himself, who cursed himself for raising such a formidable assistant as if she was his daughter. She deliberately ignored Aphrodite and the actor before them, trying to do what exactly? Aphrodite didn’t know.

“Alright. So, we may as well get this shoot going. We’ll start with solo shots and then go into the couple ones, hm?” Peitho looked at Aphrodite with questioning eyes, to which he tore his gaze away from Sehun’s feet to nod. Gods, of all days, why did it have to be this one? Aphrodite was surely going to strangle one of the Fates.

Aphrodite took a step back and let the actor go first. He needed to compose himself and will his lunch back down into his stomach. What would be worse was that Sehun would be, in fact, the person Aphrodite thought Sehun was, but he didn’t remember him at all. He didn’t look into Sehun’s eyes to see if there was a hint of recognition; he tried to stay away from those eyes. Those eyes that bore into his soul, begging him to keep him alive. Aphrodite, as much as possible, tried to keep his gaze away from the other man, tried to make sure the two didn’t make eye contact. But it was Aphrodite’s job to see through with this shoot, and it was so so hard not to look. So he did, he watched. The man was always beautiful, even more so than Aphrodite himself. Everyone else melted away in his presence; this world was indeed his.

[] very very late but hopefully it’s sufficient heh

@▫ aphrodite It’s building up to one of those hectic atmospheres inside the room that isn’t all that uncommon for their line of work as people scramble about, trying to do as good of a job in as little time as possible. Adonis watches as the scene unfolds before him, calmly sipping on the water that someone pressed into his hand earlier, sparing his manager a brief glance when said male steps up besides him. He’s a good man, someone who’s been in the business for a long time and knows it better than the back of his hand, if given the chance then he could probably make a star out of just about anyone. But what else was there to expect from the retired actor? Adonis likes him, because underneath all that hard and professional surface he’s just a guy who genuinely wants the best for his clients, and that’s really why Adonis keeps him around. “We made a few changes, they want you for a couple of additional shots.” The man informs, folding his hands together behind his back in that way that older men does when they’re pleased with themselves and he can’t help but smile a little, placing a neat hand on the man’s shoulder. “That’s great to hear, Hojin.”

The last time that Adonis saw Aphrodite he was bleeding out in said male’s warm embrace, staring up into those brown depth’s, glassy with unshed tears, plush lips parted in an inaudible scream. It’s the last memory that he’s got stored from being a mortal, and since being reborn he put his very best efforts into burying the picture into the hidden spaces of his mind. He didn’t deserve to die then, to be murdered by one of the Goddess’s many suitors, so after being reborn as an immortal Adonis kept to himself, didn’t quite feel like he belonged anywhere. As a human he never got the luxury to visit the mortal realm, that’s where he felt the most at home now and it’s people fascinated and impressed the young God for many reasons. They were nothing in the face of death, but despite the knowledge that life would one day come to an end the humans put in their best efforts.

It’s cruel, being forced to meet again after all these years in a setting where they had to pretend like they didn’t share the most tragic of history. A weight settles in his chest, air not properly reaching his lungs no matter the portions of air that he tries to in. “Is that— he’s the guy right, for the shot?” Hojin gives him an odd look and a curt nod and that's really all that Adonis needs for his heart to drop into the pit of his stomach. “Let’s introduce you.”

With a hand resting on his shoulder, a fatherly gesture as much as any, Hojin leads them over towards the one man that Adonis isn’t ready to face yet. Nonetheless he stretches his hand out, small smile on his lips. “Oh Sehun, it’s nice to meet you, Mr—?”

@▫ adonis [] rip i don’t typically trash my writing but that starter was ,,

the first thing aphrodite sees is peitho’s little hand wave in front of his face, a little bit too frantic. he turns his head to her, eyebrows furrowing as she chirps into his ear. “mister kim, you’re so late! what happened?” her eyebrows are knitted more than his, so he relaxes his face and puts his hands on her shoulders. “nothing, nothing. i’ll go into the back and put my makeup on and get changed for the shoot.” with a wave of the hand, he dismisses her, beginning to stalk over to the make up area. he hears peitho huff but he doesn’t make any note of it.

as he enters the room, he quickly changes into the clothes on the rack, beside him the make up artists giggle to each other. “aph— i mean, mister kim!” aglaea’s smile is happy and cheerful, as always. “have you seen the actor yet? he’s quite handsome!” aphrodite shakes his head, laughing to himself as he watches the girls. “no, i have not. i’ll be going to see him after i put my make up on.” the girls nod, seemingly understanding that they should show him the look. the slip a piece of laminated paper in front of him, and he starts to work. “i’ll see him after i stop looking like one of melinoe’s ghosts.” with that, the girls laugh again, chatting amongst themselves, aphrodite ignoring everything they say. he finishes his look, spraying setting spray on his face with a sigh. he really didn’t want to be here considering the previous night, but, this is his job after all and he will walk into that shoot with his head high. he has an image to protect, after all.

stepping into the room with peitho immediately at his heel, squabbling something he half-listens to. he smiles at the manager of the actor, shaking hands and exchanging a few words, but it’s mostly peitho who talks. somehow she manages to persuade (or not really somehow, the goddess of persuasion works for the devil after all) the man into a few more shots with the actor: oh sehun, than what was originally intended for, and aphrodite knew that it wasn’t /them/ who wanted him to be in the shot, but the little demon beside him. “do you know something?” he whispers, the small of his back being pushed as she brings him around the lights and camera, shaking her head with a sheepish laugh. “nope! i don’t know anything. why would you say that, mister kim?” her teeth are shining like a crocodiles and suddenly, aphrodite doesn’t feel so safe.

just as aphrodite begins to make his own little argument, he finally meets said actor: oh sehun. and of course, like all things are in life, it makes aphrodite want to turn his insides out and run away. not only was he incredibly handsome, just like the graces had said, but incredibly familiar— adonis? maybe? it had to be, unless hades was cruel enough to give some mortal his face. and of course, said mortal was to be standing right in front of aphrodite, the one who loved him after all these years.

@▫ aphrodite [] nonsense, it's not trash at all. took me forever tho—

It’s a stressful lifestyle, being an actor. Waking up bright and early at 5:20 for call time at 7:00, rehearsing lines and shooting for about nine hours without the luxury of a proper break, only for your manager to haul you back into the car in order to get to a fitting in time, then back into the car and off to some commercial shoot. A makeup brand? Adonis didn’t listen, too busy turning the pages of the thick manuscript for the new movie he landed only last week.

Being an actor is a lot of hard work, even for a God, but it pays off. Adonis, Oh Sehun, climbed to fame in a matter of months and the view from the top is a nice one. He sits in yet another hectic dressing room, makeup artist fussing about while applying all the different products onto his face, highlighting his features while he half listens in on a conversation between his manager and someone from the company; signing papers and discussing contracts. Venus cosmetics— Adonis isn’t a stranger to the products and usually finds them spread about in most dressing rooms. It is then easy to come to the conclusion that the brand is indeed raising in popularity, or at least so it sounds. When Adonis questioned the importance of the job earlier his manager urged that the contract is a big deal and a lot of money would be involved.

Adonis isn’t originally a part of the fashion industry, but ultimately he somehow became a model as well; as by now he’s grazed the cover of more than a couple of spreads, featured in plenty of advertisements and so on and so forth. This job was no different— at least it wasn’t supposed to be. He steps into the room where the shoot is being prepared and only then someone has the decency to inform him of the fact that he’s partnering up with the CEO himself. Adonis nods his head slightly and takes another sip of his water, stepping up to the assigned spot in front of the cameras as the team makes the final adjustments. It’s just supposed to be another job— until it isn’t, because nothing could have prepared the God of beauty and desire for the man who steps through the doors and successfully manages to steal his breath away.

@▫ adonis [] i didn’t know where to put this soooo... here we are :D also it’s kinda trash forgive me

work was never boring for aphrodite, in fact, it was quite the opposite. he loved hearing about promotional deals and even more, he loved creating palettes and lines that were to be released every season. work was never a bore, and he never tried to find reason to not go. and so, with a cup of coffee of what his secretary liked to call “75% milk, 15% sugar, and 5% coffee” in his hand, he made it to the tall office building. making his way up the elevator, he pushed his sunglasses to sit atop his head.

a phone call. “are you nearly here?” the person in the other side asked once he put his cellphone to his ear. “i’m on the elevator, peitho. i’m nearly there.” he said with a huff. since he was on the top floor, it took a while to get up there. the goddess sighed, he could sense her eyebrows furrowing. “alright. just get here quick, the shooting team is already here. they have already done the actor’s make up and they want you to sign some papers. also! they want you to be in the shoot.”

aphrodite sighed. he wasn’t given a choice as to whether or not this shooting was going to happen, despite being the founder of the company and the god of beauty himself— he seemed to have higher-ups that could care less about what aphrodite wanted for the company. regardless, this shoot didn’t seem to be such a bad idea, just that he would’ve liked to know sooner. also, he would’ve liked to have known the actor beforehand too. oh sehun, was it? some mortal actor that aphrodite hadn’t paid attention to. peitho, his assistant from olympus who was also disguised in the mortal realm, had taken it upon herself to say nothing about the actor other than his name. aphrodite didn’t pay attention to movies anyways.