After returning home, Chihaya Tetsuya immediately shut himself in his room and once again began to study Jean's design sketches with intense focus.
He was so absorbed, in fact, that he didn't even hear Nagasaki Soyo calling him for dinner from outside his door.
"...Tetsuya?"
Receiving no response for some time, a puzzled Soyo couldn't help but open the door. When she saw Tetsuya completely engrossed in the sketches in his hands, a helpless expression appeared on her face.
"I knew it, he's working..."
Under Soyo's corrections, Tetsuya had completely developed the habit of eating his meals on time. Normally, even if she didn't call for him, he would leave his room early and wait in the living room for dinner to be served.
But today, not only had he not come out early, he hadn't even heard her call. For this situation, Soyo could only think of one possibility: he was working.
"Tetsuya, we made a promise, didn't we? No matter how busy you are with work, you have to at least eat your meals properly."
Soyo said as she walked over to Tetsuya's side.
"So, come out and eat quickly. You can continue after you've finished... Hm?"
When Soyo saw the design sketches in front of him, a look of surprise immediately appeared on her face.
"This isn't our household's draft paper... Are you looking at someone else's designs?"
"...Mhm."
Tetsuya finally gave a slow nod.
"These are the design sketches of the organizer of the joint exhibition... Mr. Jean."
"...?"
Hearing his response, the surprise on Soyo's face deepened.
(Tetsuya's tone... it feels a little off.)
Whether it was tense or gloomy, it was completely different from his usual calm and steady voice.
Driven by curiosity, Soyo leaned down and took a closer look at his face.
Just as she'd expected, his expression was completely different from his usual serious look when he was working. Amidst the usual solemnity, his deeply furrowed brow was filled with an emotion she had never seen before... something like anxiety and frustration.
"What's wrong, Tetsuya?"
Soyo immediately asked with a concerned expression.
"Is there... a problem with this Mr. Jean's designs?"
"...It's nothing."
Realizing that Soyo was worried about him, Tetsuya reached up and gently rubbed his brow, then put down the sketches.
"I just realized... that I still have a lot of room to grow as a designer."
"Eh?"
A look of confusion appeared on Soyo's face.
"What on earth happened? Why would this Mr. Jean's designs make you think that?"
"..."
Hearing her question, a moment of hesitation flickered across Tetsuya's face before he shook his head with a smile.
"It's nothing. It's time for dinner, right? I'll go wash my hands and be right there. Just wait a moment for me."
Without waiting for her reply, Tetsuya immediately stood up and walked out the door, leaving Soyo alone to stare at his retreating back, which seemed noticeably heavier than usual, with a particularly puzzled gaze.
"What is going on?"
...
For a designer, the clothes in this world could be categorized in the simplest and most absolute way—those that could be made, and those that could not.
And it was clear that Jean-Pierre Stanley's designs belonged to the latter category for Chihaya Tetsuya.
(I can't. I can't make this.)
No matter how much time he spent deconstructing and reconstructing the design in his usual way, he couldn't reassemble it as perfectly as Jean had.
Jean's designs contained far too many elements, and they were far too complex.
This designer, who had received an upper-class education and had traveled the world, possessed a depth of knowledge that he could never hope to learn. Even though Tetsuya had never stopped learning, he still couldn't close such a vast gap in a short amount of time.
This was something Tetsuya had never experienced before. Ever since he had officially entered the world of fashion design, he had rarely suffered any setbacks. Even when he dropped out of Geika Institute of Fashion, he had only felt a slight regret, not any sense of defeat.
The reason was simple: he had merely lost to the other party's shamelessness. His design itself had not failed. In fact, the other party winning the award had only proven his own skill.
After that, when he joined [KaZoKu] and began working as an apprentice, he gradually became more aware of his own talent.
His solid pattern-making foundation, his 3D draping techniques, his interpretations of fashion that were baffling to others, and his mastery of various fabrics and embroidery methods all proved his extraordinary talent in clothing.
He may have been humble, but that didn't mean he didn't have the pride that came with that talent. It was precisely because of this that he was so deeply shaken when he first saw Jean-Pierre Stanley's designs. And what followed was an unprecedented sense of anxiety—
"On the day of the [TGC]... if my clothes are on the same stage as designs of this level..."
Just thinking about that scene made his brow furrow unconsciously.
If it were just him losing to Jean, he could probably stomach the frustration. But the problem was, competing alongside him this time were the two girls who would be his models.
"If I lose... then Ai and Uika will also lose the finale spot at the [TGC]."
This was what Tetsuya could not accept.
To him, Hoshino Ai and Misumi Uika were the crucial support that had allowed him to get to where he was today, and they were also the most charismatic models in his eyes.
On this runway, which should have been their domain, he absolutely did not want them to lose to anyone because of him.
(There are still two months left...)
Could he really design something that surpassed Jean's work in these two months?
Could he really help Ai and Uika... win the finale spot from such an amazing designer?
If he failed...
...
"In any case, I'll just have to work a little harder."
After hastily finishing his dinner in five minutes, under the worried gazes of everyone, Chihaya Tetsuya walked back into his room once more.