Blurred Lens

Natural

You woke up to your upstairs neighbour slamming their door heavily and disturbing your sleep. You had eventually drifted away last night and now felt relatively refreshed.

After a momentary flash of anger at the neighbour, your hand emerged from the duvet and patted around on the mattress until it made contact with your phone.

The brightness blinded you as your sealed eyelids began adjusting. The time flashed in your face.

Oh god, not again.

You never learned your lesson and glanced at the digital numbers reading '9:45.' In other words, you would be late to meet Jungkook, even if you left at this very moment.

Damn it, you thought, chucking the covers away from your body and jumping to the bathroom. You did your typical late-for-work routine and splashed water over your face and scrubbed your teeth for a couple seconds. You stared at yourself in the mirror and decided to chuck on some powder, mascara and lipgloss in lightening speed. It was an attempt to brighten your defrosting face.

You tripped your way back to your bedroom then and embedded yourself in your clothes hanging over your chair from yesterday. There were a couple creases, but they had to do.

You ran to the door, grabbed your keys and dropped Jungkook a quick message saying you were running late and were sorry.

Your professionalism seemed to be dissolving by the second. You made a mental note to actually start setting alarms because, clearly, your body clock was tremendously unreliable.

Your weighty door was pushed open and simultaneously slammed shut. You flew down the stairs and began running as soon as you reached the street. Mrs Kim would have to go without a 'good morning' for today.

You sprinted down the streets, pausing occasionally as you arrived at crossings, not feeling like risking your life today.

You saw the park in the distance after what felt like a century of running, but you had reached your limit. You stopped in the centre of the pavement and toppled your top half over, resting your palms on your thighs. You caught your breath back after a few deep breaths and decided to walk the rest of the distance to cool down your chilli of a face.

Waking the distance made your blood rush back to your head, causing the thoughts to some back. Nerves were present, but you often got nervous before seeing your school friends after a long time, so nothing was thought of them.

You entered the gates of the park, your happy place, which instantly calmed you.

Your eyes darted around the grass and paths, looking for a tall, almost intimidating man.

No one caught your eye, so you sent Jungkook a quick message asking where he was located.

You pressed sent and immediately heard the ping of someones phone behind you. The sudden, loud ring caused your body to spin around and catch Jungkook standing behind you, looking sheepish.

'I was trying to think of something to say to scare you, but my mind blanked,' Jungkook grinned, his eyes forming half moons.

You smiled at the sight of him. He was wearing a black and camouflage puffer coat with the shimmer of a chain dangling around his neck. The coat was unzipped slightly, revealing a leather jacket hidden underneath. Black jeans fell loosely around his legs and big, black boots covered his feet.

He'd clearly put some thought into his outfit, putting your rags to shame.

'Ah well that may have backfired, I'm famously hard to scare,' you said, resting your hands on your hips.

Jungkook raised his eyebrows and replied, 'Challenged accepted.'

You giggled, 'I didn't issue a challenge.'

'Oh, but you did. I'll get you at some point,' Jungkook exclaimed. 'So... shall we get this party started?'

You smiled again and began waking by Jungkook's side to a grassy area of the park. It was a peaceful area with no distractions, a go-to place for your photo shoots.

'So your dad asked for a couple pictures?' You asked, hoping to grasp an image of what the expectations were.

Jungkook paused before responding, 'Yes - for some portfolio thing. I can't say much about it.' He chuckled nervously and dug his hands into his pockets.

'There's the mysterious man I recognise,' you joked, taking of the cap on your camera lens and powering the device on. 'Is there anything in particular he's looking for?'

'Um... I don't think he's too fussy, just a few pictures.'

'Sounds good,' you replied, stopping in the centre of a grass patch. 'Does this location look ok to you?'

Jungkook's eyes wondered around the place and then returned to yours. 'Looks great.'

He shook his coat off, revealing more of his build. You tried not too look, noticing yourself getting a little warm in the cheeks as he unzipped his jacket a little and and cracked his neck.

You directed him to a good spot to stand and began with some full body shots. You'd forgotten at how much of a natural he was, the camera honestly didn't do him justice. He so effortlessly posed, not one bad picture in sight.

'I don't believe you haven't got some secret modelling contract hidden away,' you exclaimed, extremely happy with how these photos were coming out.

Jungkook smiled at your comment and looked at you for the next directions.

'Would you like to take some headshots?' You asked, gesturing towards a similar bench to the ones that held his last headshots.

He nodded, making his way over with you. You crouched down and adjusted some settings as he pushed his hair back, giving it a textured look. Jungkook made himself comfortable on the bench and adjusted his seating position.

'Do you mind looking at the camera as I get the lighting correct?' You queried, positioning the camera.

You leaned closer to the screen and altered the lens. As you finalised some settings you looked at the light reflecting on Jungkook's skin.

You stared down the lens and saw his eyes a little off centre. You zoomed in a little closer and saw he was staring directly at you. He had a soft expression painted on and his eyes never wavered. His face modified to then be more confused and he furrowed his eyebrows gently.

Knowing you were his centre of focus, you felt a blush coating your cheeks again and the butterflies escape their prison.

'Looks good,' you spoke gently. Jungkook snapped out of his daze at your voice and looked into the lens. His ears fell a shade of crimson and he cleared his throat.

He smiled mildly, knowing how to pose like it was second nature. His intense stare was a catalyst for the flapping wings in your stomach. The camera covering his view of your red face was a huge appreciation of yours.

After grabbing a dozen of shots with different expressions, you pulled the camera down to have a better look to ensure they were to standard.

You flicked through them swiftly and felt satisfied. As you looked back up, Jungkook's face had scooted nearer to yours from its original position. The camera wasn't separating your faces now and the distance felt a lot shorter. One quick manoeuvre and your noses would be inches apart.

'They look good,' you muttered, letting the chirping of the birds fill your eardrums, suddenly not hearing a single other sound.

Neither of you moved from this position for a second. You both stayed there, scanning each other's faces. The tense atmosphere begged you not to alter your position.

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