Returner Fantasy-Chapter 154: Photoshoot - Part 5

The summit meeting about reviewing the rules of the Harem x Yuri plan, along with the discussion about Mistress approval, ended when Mira and Mina came upstairs and knocked on the door, calling for Jess and Jeff to get ready so they could leave before lunch.

After changing clothes and loading Jess’s luggage into the van, their families met them outside to send them off.

"Are you sure you’ll be fine skipping classes for a week, Jeff?"

"It’s only the third week of the first semester, so I’ll be fine, Mom," Jeff said in response to his mother’s worries, mentioning that Nubia had the same concern.

"I haven’t seen Nubia for a while, so tell her to stop by, and Veena as well," his mother said, followed by a reminder from his father.

"Be careful on the mountain road, and buy some fish for souvenirs."

After taking note of his father’s request and listing the name of each fish, Jeff talked to his younger brother, Nell.

"I put some money into your bank account, so make sure to treat your girlfriend—but don’t overdo it," Jeff said, teasing his brother with a perverted grin, earning himself a kick in the shin as his brother retorted.

"We’re not like you and your girlfriends, bastard."

"You mean she wasn’t your girlfriend yet, or you haven’t—Ouch!"

Another kick landed on his other shin, cutting off his perverted teasing and sending Jeff limping in pain.

"What about you? Jess-oneesan is a popular model now, and you’re dressed like that as her boyfriend?" his brother said, questioning Jeff’s attire of a plain white shirt and shorts paired with beach sandals.

Compared to Jess’s outfit—a white summer dress topped with a denim jacket, paired with a light brown beach hat and white lace heels, the same outfit Mira and Mina were wearing except that Jess’s was a short dress exposing her enticing thighs and slender legs while theirs reached right to their knees—Jeff’s attire was rather simple.

"We’re going to the beach, so of course I’ll be wearing something like this," Jeff said, defending his argument that it wasn’t just about the clothes, but his muscular frame as well.

"Then at least wear that when you arrive there, idiot."

While Jeff and his brother were squabbling, Jess was in a serious conversation with her mother.

"Once I’m back, you better tell me who that bastard is," Jess said in a rather threatening voice—not toward her mother, but toward the man she believed had gotten her mother pregnant.

Jess wasn’t sure if her mother actually had a boyfriend. After all, her mother’s life had revolved solely around work and taking care of her ever since her father died—or at least, that was what she thought.

But the frequent retching of her mother, her refusal to take a pregnancy test or even go to their doctor, along with the teasing smile of her aunt, all led Jess to believe that her mother was indeed pregnant.

She kept asking, nagging, and bothering her mother over the weekend to tell her who the bastard was, only to be ignored or threatened with rejection of her plan to temporarily quit her studies for two months just so she could follow Jeff to the Capital City a bit earlier than their original plan.

"Fine, I’ll tell you everything once you’re back," her mother said, patting Jess on the head to silently let her know that she didn’t have to worry about any trouble concerning her possible stepfather, nor the dangers of pregnancy due to the weak womb condition of the women in their family, and the safety of her soon-to-be sibling.

Jess could only respond by embracing her mother, feeling happy for her yet still scared for her safety.

With one final check to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything—especially Mira and Jeff’s photography equipment—their group left, heading to East-Coast City for Jess’s four-day photoshoot.

---

The camping van that Jeff rented as their service was set up with a small bathroom behind the driver’s seat; a passenger seat that could be turned to face front or back—where Jess was sitting beside Jeff, facing Mira and Mina, who were seated at the small dining table beside the sliding side door; a small kitchen set on the opposite side of the dining table; and a bed wide enough for two people at the back, with storage beneath where their luggage was placed.

Since the photoshoot would start tomorrow morning, they still had plenty of time to make stops at different locations and enjoy the journey itself, unlike when they rode a service bus during their vacation trip for their internship a month ago.

Their first stop, was at the boundary of Central City to take pictures at its Welcome Arch.

"Take another shot. This one’s no good, but don’t delete it," Jess said after looking at Mira’s camera phone, which Jeff had used to take pictures of her, Mira, and Mina with the Welcome Arch as the background.

It wasn’t that the picture was bad, considering Jeff’s skill as a professional photographer. Jess, however, was still mad at Jeff for his almost-attempted cheating, which was why she made him repeat the shot—forcing Jeff to kneel and bend over the ground to take a low-angle photo. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Once Jess was satisfied on the twelfth attempt, Jeff took another twelve shots with only Mira and Mina in the picture, before Mira took a single shot with Jess and Jeff, then asked a traveler to take a photo of all four of them.

That should have ended their stop at the Welcome Arch, but when other travelers recognized Jess as the new model of PoruMerc Women’s Fashion Magazine, a line formed, asking to take pictures with her.

"That took longer than I expected," Jeff said, looking at Jess seated in the passenger seat, who felt drained both from the exhaustion of thirty minutes of photos with fans and from hunger, since they hadn’t eaten lunch yet and it was already past noon.

Jeff then started the van and drove toward their next stop—the service area where they had rested during their vacation trip, where Jeff had separated from the group to go to the Mountain Nest Hotel, ruin Trud’s good time, and burn Trud’s sports car.

Jess intended to enjoy her lunch, with her diet lifted with Mina’s approval. However, as soon as they arrived at the service stop, what greeted them was Jess’s modeling cover photo displayed among the billboards.

"So that’s how those travelers recognized you," Jeff said, teasing Jess as he stepped out of the van and took a picture of the billboard, followed by a selfie with it in the background before sending them to Nubia and Veena.

"Gyaaah~!"

While Jess let out a mortified scream, Mira and Mina stepped out of the van, heading to the food court to order takeout. After all, Jess would surely be recognized by customers and staff if she went there herself.

---

Since Jess wasn’t in the mood to eat yet, they continued their journey toward their third stop—a viewpoint at the highest part of the mountain road.

There were no billboards there, nor any shops that might be affiliated with PoruMerc, but Jess didn’t want to risk the chance of someone disturbing her late lunch.

With Jess wearing a face mask and sunglasses while keeping her hat on, the group made a short climb to the top of the hill, where there was a park with a view of the entire Central City, where they finally ate their lunch.

"So how’s your work going, Jess?" Jeff said before taking a bite of his burger.

"Don’t call me by my name, idiot!" Jess replied, worried and paranoid that other travelers having lunch nearby might recognize her just from her name.

Without replying to Jeff, Jess proceeded to eat her lunch, alternating between her burger and pizza, then gulping down a bottle of soft drink.

"Every time I watch you eat like that, I can’t help but get annoyed," Mira said, envious that Jess never got fat no matter how much she ate.

"You might not get fat, but your stomach is still going to bulge until you digest all of that, so hold back a bit, Jess," Mina added, holding back her own annoyance.

Seeing that Jess had no intention of talking until she had satisfied her hunger, Jeff redirected his earlier question to Mira and Mina.

"If you’re worried about competition with the other models, then you shouldn’t be," Mira said, followed by a clarification from Mina.

"Jess is at the top among all the newly hired models. She could even compete with the veterans."

"And that doesn’t cause her trouble?" Jeff said, surprising Mira and Mina. After all, Jess was having trouble with other models and had even gotten into a heated argument with one during her most recent photoshoot, where they had both had to restrain Jess from getting violent.

At that moment, Jess spoke for herself after eating enough to ease her hunger.

"If that bitch messes with us again, I’m really going to punch her."

"Please don’t do that, Jess."