Promise Flower

Stars

I meet up with Jimin the following week in one of the dance rooms so I can get photos of him practicing. I can tell he's still a bit shy being the main focus of my project, but I try my best to keep him at ease with stupid jokes and a bit of teasing here and there. I've learned that he's actually very easy to tease, but always such a good sport about it.

When he's really feeling the music he becomes incredible to watch. There are moments where I have to remind myself that I'm supposed to be taking pictures of him. I'm just so in awe at how gracefully he moves. He moves seamlessly through the steps over and over again leaving my jaw on the floor the entire time.

I already knew he was an amazing dancer, but I think this is the first time I've seen him dancing this close. I'm hypnotized and I feel like I should have flowers for him or something. I can already tell his performance at the end of the semester will be amazing.

While I'm busy taking pictures I notice a tall figure come through the door. It's Namjoon the art reporter for the school newspaper. There's not a single person in the art department that he doesn't know. He's a journalism major but I swear he spends more time finding stories to report in the art department than he spends in class. If anything happens he's always the first to know about it.

He's great at what he does and has the incredible ability to make friends with nearly anyone. Being well connected is good for him as he's written a number of great features and has even helped some of the lesser known students here find recognition for what they do. It's pretty much guaranteed that a person will see a large increase in traffic to their exhibits, or a greater crowd at performances after Namjoon writes a story about them.

"Hey," I say looking up at him from my camera. "What are you doing here?"

"Just seeing what he's up to," he says.

"Looking for your next feature?" I chuckle.

"Of course," he smiles flashing his deep dimples. "What are you doing here?"

"He's the subject for my photo project."

"Really? What's the project about?"

"I'm just following him through all of the steps of preparing for his recital at the end of the semester."

"Recital?" I can already hear the wheels in Namjoon's head turning.

"Go ahead and interview him," I laugh. "You know you want to."

Jimin pauses his music and realizes Namjoon has entered the room. The two exchange greetings and Namjoon gets right to work asking him about his recital and all the details he's willing to share.

The great thing about Namjoon is that he has such a good relationship with everyone that no one ever thinks twice about sharing information with him. They know it will most likely be published in the paper, but they always remain candid and open with him. He's not only a great writer, but also one with incredible integrity. He always knows what to publish and what not to publish.

Jimin mentions to Namjoon that Yoongi would be playing a piece he wrote on piano during the performance and Namjoon is all ears. They talk a bit longer as I scroll through all of the shots on my camera. Jimin agrees to do a proper interview with Namjoon later in the week. Namjoon even wants to bring a videographer to get video footage that he can pair with the story online.

Jimin seems excited but I can also tell that he's nervous about all of the attention he's suddenly getting. He went from being the subject for my project to actually getting a newspaper interview with a video.

It would seem surprising that he hasn't been featured in the paper before since he's one of the best dancers here. Even Hoseok has been featured twice already, but Jimin is such a shy person that he always hides himself from getting so much attention. It's like he's able to hide behind his dance when he's on stage, but the moment he has to speak or do anything else that brings attention to himself he turns red from embarrassment. Honestly I find it a little cute.