Sentience

12

Once in a while, Belle would smile. No matter what she was doing and no matter where she was standing, every time she was reminded of Changmin's proposal to have her as the model for his photography project, she would smile.

Right now, she was leaning against the wall next to a vending machine, looking up at the ceiling; the LED bulbs were placed 5 feet away from one another, and the smile hadn't faded yet from her sweet face. Her friend, Amy let out a chuckle as she parked herself next to Belle before she nudged the latter.

"You can't wait, don't you?" Amy said, teasing tone lacing in her voice.

"For what?" Belle asked back, straightening her posture after the near-to-fall experience due to the impact thrown by her friend.

"To be Changmin's model..." Amy smirked with wriggled brows.

When Belle told her about the project, Amy was squealing under the sealed lips and balled fist. She was far too excited than Belle herself. Her action could make one misinterpret the situation; they would've thought that Changmin was asking Amy instead of Belle.

And if that was really happening, it must be the ending of the world.

Like any other female student on the campus, Amy was simping over Changmin's touch in photography as well. But, Amy probably was wishing too high about it. Because she had always dreamed of being the model for his photos. Just imagining that she would be able to make it to the boy's social feed was already insane.

But, that was only a mere wish. Who was her to imagine too much when his love interest herself never made it?

"I feel... normal," Belle pondered, not really getting the feeling Amy was describing about. Because from her perspective, she was just helping Mother, not to be the main character for Ji Changmin's project.

"Girl... imagine this," Amy draped her arm around Belle's shoulder, another free hand swiftly swiping the air as if there was a screen that appeared somewhere. "Your photos will be viewed by everyone during the festival, you will be famous as well and the best part is, Ji Changmin is your photographer."

"What on Earth?" Belle scoffed, tossing Amy's hand off her shoulder. "You're imagining too much."

Amy then stood in front of the latter, holding both of her shoulders. Diving deeper into her eyes, she said, "Arabelle, listen... I heard there will be some agents coming. What if you get to be scouted to be a model? You have the look..."

"Oh my gosh, babe!" Belle mirrored Amy's posture; holding her shoulders, but, Belle had some sort of terror on her face. "You're speaking nonsense. Cut it!"

"But, Belle-" Amy was about to retaliate but her intention was cut off when her friend was distracted.

Belle was looking in a direction behind Amy, her furrowed brows made it too obvious that her focus was now on the thing she saw. Which meant, she wouldn't be able to focus on whatever rambles Amy was about to spit. So, Amy glanced over her shoulder as well, trying to figure out what kind of excitement had stolen her friend's focus.

And she found the distressed Ji Changmin, trailing the hallway.

"Something serious has happened," Belle said, her orbs softened but full of worries. When they went separate ways after lunch, things surely were fine. So why does he look so sour? She thought.

"How can you tell so easily?" Amy questioned, truly curious. Because in her eyes right now, she was seeing only Ji Changmin. Not the emotion.

Belle then breathed out, her eyes moved ever so swiftly from Changmin's face; the tightness of his facial muscles and gritted teeth, to his body movement. She could tell how he was holding back anger, and how he fought with himself not to burst at the way he held a camera in his hand. When a boy nearly knocked on him as they crossed paths, Changmin slightly glared at the demeanour but then, it crossed his mind that the person did nothing wrong, so he dismissed him while flashing a smile; the one which was not genuine.

It's obvious, Belle answered Amy's question in her head instead of voicing it aloud.

Little did she know, she moved forward, totally forgetting Amy's existence and calling Changmin's name. The boy seemed to have snapped back to reality when someone was calling him out, the voice was too familiar for him to ignore.

"Belle..." A smile then outstretched on his face; too wide that his dimple decided to pop out.

It might be insane for Belle to admit. But, every single time Changmin's dimple appeared, Belle would immediately smile too. It almost seemed like Changmin was shooting happiness and positive vibes through his smile. And that made Belle forget every concern she was thinking about at the time. Including earlier.

She had forgotten what kind of emotion she saw on his face earlier.

But, Changmin on the side was holding a different story. Perhaps, a part of him would be smiling whenever Belle appeared because her presence too had simply enlightened his mood; if he was in a bad mood. But, another part of him just wanted to hide out the negative feelings controlling him from being seen by Belle.

Because like him, Belle also could see emotions on one's face.

"Why are you here?" He questioned the girl as soon as she halted in front of him.

The small building they were in was not the common one. It was only for photography, dancing and broadcasting. Which, Belle didn't belong here because she was taking something that suited her personality.

"I'm with Amy," she pointed behind her back which Changmin glanced over and met with Amy's energetic wave. "It may sound... insane but we are here for the vending machine."

"Huh?" The boy pondered, catching the sight of the said machine not too far from Amy's position. "You two come all the way just for it?"

She vigorously nodded. "The coffee is tastier than the one in our faculty."

Changmin unknowingly snorted when Belle expressed her feelings through her body language. She shuddered as if the bitter taste of the coffee from their faculty suddenly visited her taste buds.

"Then... where is the coffee?" He asked and Belle started to scratch her sudden itchy scalp.

"The thing is... the machine is out of order," she awkwardly smiled. "They said, 10 minutes were enough to make it resume working so... we are actually waiting for it."

"You should've called me," Changmin confronted. "I could've bought it for you two. So, you guys need not come all the way here."

Belle then laughed properly which sounded like a lullaby. Too soft and too comforting. "It's fine, I guess. Besides, I didn't know that you're still here."

"Oh, speaking of that!" He suddenly beamed, then took his hand higher. "I've taken the camera. We should plan for the takes."

"Sounds good..." Belle was hesitant. "But, I'm worried we have to postpone it until Jinwoo's party is over."

Changmin's excitement surely had died down almost immediately when she announced that, his hand that was holding the camera slowly fell beside his frame. If he did not know Belle and her family personally, he might've retaliated, questioning this and that. Because sometimes his temper was hard to control.

But, right now he won't say anything. It was just, that he was curious. What kind of tasks did the eldest child need to carry for a family event?