Manager Cheng and the photographer pushed the door open and came in. They had no idea what had just happened in the room. I hurriedly straightened my messy clothes and hair, trying to calm the frantic pounding in my chest.

Very soon, Teacher Zhang the photographer raised his camera. Without much expectation, he said to me, “Come on. Give me a pose where you pinch the skirt. Smile.”

He probably thought I couldn’t do it, or at least wouldn’t do it well. But under the threatening glare of a certain demon girl, I instantly unleashed a feminine charm and survival instinct that even I didn’t know I had.

I took a deep breath and lifted my head toward the camera. With both hands, I raised the hem of my skirt and forced out a nervous smile at the lens.

“Ha, that’s a big improvement! Still a shy newbie, though. But much better. It’s fine, once we keep shooting, you’ll loosen up.” The photographer had no idea what was going on, and praised me in surprise. Then he began directing me step by step. “First, hold the corners of the skirt with both hands and lift them slightly to the sides... turn your body a little more to the left... expression, expression, make it more natural... right, you’re getting into it more and more!”

Like a marionette, I mechanically obeyed every instruction. From awkward to practiced, I put on all kinds of poses and expressions. Every second dragged on like a year. I only hoped it would all end soon.

At last, after who knew how long, the photographer finally stepped away from the camera for a moment. “Mm, this set should be enough to satisfy the client. Very nice. To improve this much in such a short time... you little miss might really have what it takes to become an excellent clothing model.”

Looks like it was over.

I had just let out a sigh of relief when the next sentence floated over.

“OK, newbie, go change into the next outfit. We’re continuing the shoot.”

Huh?

My legs went weak, and I almost collapsed to the floor. My expression probably looked worse than crying.

And of course, that demon girl leaned close to my ear and whispered, “What? Can’t understand human language? Do you know how valuable our employees’ time is?”

So my dignity doesn’t matter, huh?

With a miserable face, I took the next outfit and returned to the fitting room.

This time, the shoot was for a loli-style dress. Compared to the sailor uniform, it leaned more toward everyday wear and pure cuteness. Since I already had one round of experience, I slipped into the dress quickly this time and looked uneasily into the mirror—

The combination of shoulder straps and a V-neck naturally framed my long, swan-like neck, while bringing out my slenderness and fragility. Lower down, the three-tiered cake skirt decorated with sweet prints looked full-on princess style, and made my legs look even longer. And these white stockings wrapped tightly around me...

Wasn’t this way too charming?

Unlike the schoolgirl vibe from before, this version of me looked more like a sweet, lively girl next door. The kind who would smile at you every morning when you happened to meet outside, cute and innocent, and greet you with a sugary-soft good morning.

As a boy, being this perfectly suited to a cute little dress—so perfectly it felt seamless—filled me with shame and humiliation. Even with my back turned to the mirror, the soft lace brushing against me from the skirt hem and the sweet prints scattered everywhere kept reminding me at every moment: this was girls’ clothing, and the kind made especially for adorable little girls.

I let out a long sigh, left the fitting room, and, knowing better by now, stood in front of the backdrop and obediently followed the photographer’s requests, making all kinds of expressions and poses...

I used to think modeling was easy money, the kind of job where you could lie down and count cash. Only now did I realize that wasn’t true at all. It didn’t take much physical strength, sure, but your mind and attention had to stay sharply focused the entire time if you wanted to show your best side to the camera. Once it went on long enough, it became genuinely exhausting.

By the later part of the shoot, my mind had already started to blur. Like a puppet on strings, I kept changing expressions and poses while the flash went off again and again...

After an unknown stretch of time, the photographer finally stepped away from the camera and nodded at me. “Good work. That’s it for today’s shoot.”

Phew...

I let out a long breath and sat down wearily on a small chair to rest for a bit. Only then did I notice there were no outsiders left in the room. That demon girl and the demon manager had left at some point without me noticing.

Then suddenly, my stomach started churning violently. It got worse and worse, and I instinctively bent over and clutched it.

The photographer was still cleaning up and wrapping things up. He noticed something was wrong and asked with concern, “Little miss, do you need the restroom? Ha, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. The restroom’s at the end of the hall.”

“Mm, thank you.”

Following the direction he pointed, I quickly found the restroom. Just as I was about to go in, a man in a suit came out from inside. He looked me over in surprise and said, “Miss, this is the men’s room. The ladies’ room is across from it.”

“The ladies’ room? Why would I go to the ladies’ room?” I answered without thinking.

Then the man stared at me strangely.

Only then did it hit me. I was still wearing the little dress from the shoot, along with the wig and makeup, yet I was trying to walk into the men’s room. No wonder he was looking at me like some kind of pervert.

“S-sorry...”

My face flushed red with shame, and I hurriedly ran all the way back to the studio.

Right. First I’d go into the fitting room, change back into my men’s clothes, take off the wig, and then go use the men’s room.

And then, to my shock, I discovered that the fitting room door had somehow been locked. It wouldn’t open.

Worse, the photographer had already finished up and left. There was no one else in the room anymore.

Hey, hey, what the hell is this supposed to be?! My clothes as a guy are still inside the fitting room! How am I supposed to go to the bathroom looking like this?!

To make things worse, I wasn’t familiar with the company at all. Even if I wanted to find someone, I had no idea where to start. Meanwhile, my stomach was churning harder and harder, like I’d eaten something bad and was about to explode at any second.

No, no, I can’t take it anymore. I have to get to a bathroom right now!

The restroom itself was easy to find. It was right at the end of the hall. But the problem was, dressed like this, if I boldly walked into the men’s room, I’d one hundred percent get treated like some deranged female pervert!?

Maybe... maybe I should wait until no one’s around, then dash into the men’s room...!

But why were there always people going in and out of the men’s room?! There was no way I could walk into it in this cute little dress while other men were around! And on top of that, every man going in or out kept giving me strange looks. There was no way I could force myself to go in like that!

Originally, I could’ve gone to another floor to look for a different restroom, or even left the office building and searched for a public toilet outside. But after waiting those few minutes just now, my bladder was already at its limit. It felt like a ticking time bomb.

If I took even a few more steps, I wouldn’t just be a crossdressing pervert anymore. I’d be a super pervert doing a public peeing play scene in women’s clothes!

And with how I looked right now, no men’s room anywhere would be easy to enter, would it? If I went to a public men’s room outside, even more people would stare and take pictures.

It seemed... there was no other choice!

I walked up to the restroom door marked with a pink sign, clenched my teeth, and stepped forward...