withered

1

The birds were humming as she was trying to reach out the freshly cut rose from the hands of her neighbour. It is her favourite and probably as it withers, she will 'too'. As she looks at her hand that was holding the rose, she was once again disappointed. More purple marks were showing frequently as seconds, minutes, hours, days, months & years pass by.

She hummed a tune that she just heard from the radio trying to tick off the thoughts in her head.. Or not. She just could not ignore her prediction. One week. If lucky, then two, if there's a thing called miracle, then more. Grabbing the empty vase, she winced in pain as those purple marks continue to hurt but still she managed to put some water in it and there she placed the rose she just got.

Jihyun vaguely looked at it. "Looks like I've found a company." Seconds later, she heard a knock.

She found herself opening her door and a man, approximately 8 inches taller than her unfolds before her very eyes.

"I'm Oh Sehun, your mom told me I need to take a picture of you."

She snapped back from reality. "Oh yes, come in. I was waiting for you."

The man was fixing his things before the photoshoot. "I'm ready."

Jihyun obediently complied with all of his directions. Although she wanted to sit beside the window where the rose was placed, she didn't. Although she wanted her hair tied, she did not as well but the photographer has kept her last request: To place the rose on the table beside the sofa where it could be captured.

"Smile. Think of happy thoughts." The man ordered.

"I am smiling."

"Maybe you are, but you're thinking of shits."

"I am thinking of happy thoughts."

"Liar."

"How could you say so?"

"I'm a photographer. We don't rely on words to tell whether someone's lying or not. We look at their eyes."

Jihyun drifted her gaze and the man captured that moment. It was too beautiful that the camera wanted to capture and save that too. She shot her gaze back to him.

"My mom said you're a beginner. How would you know that I'm lying?"

The man smirked as he pulled out the cover of his camera's lens from his pocket. "Being a beginner doesn't mean I don't know a lot. It means I've just started to apply all what I learned. And I've just mastered the art of photography."

He stood proudly. "The art of distinguishing a lie from the truth."

Jihyun tied her hair in a bun and offered him to sit on the other side of the sofa as she stood in front of him.

"The rose seems so important for you."

"No. It isn't at all."

His lid flutters. His eyebrows creased. "You're lying again, Miss Park." His tone was sarcastic. "Now tell me, spill it out."

She gave a soul-piercing look.

He gave up; he knew he wouldn't hear the answers from her. "Just tell me what you're thinking of a while ago."