Candid Camellia {Jikook}

We

Two hours.

Jeongguk had two hours to complete his digital photography assignment. Jeongguk checks the sterling silver watch he wears, a gift from his Grandmother, before putting the strap of his camera around his neck. He assesses his appearance in the mirror of the hallway; smiling for a second to make sure he looks friendly. If he was going to get someone to pose for a picture, and have them do it well, for one, he had to look approachable.

He grabs his keys before he turns the doorknob and steps out onto the bustling streets of Busan.

With a deadline in mind, he decides to look for a subject. Jeongguk isn't quite sure what exactly he's looking for, but he knows he'll be able to tell once he sees it. He's going for an intimate shot, something that's going to take the breath away from his professor.

Soft, yet striking was the first thing that came to mind when he pictured the ideal way his assignment would turn out. But, finding someone that fit the role was the hard part.

Jeongguk ends up going on a nature walk. He strolls aimlessly around a nearby park, eyes wandering over the vast expanse lush green grass. It must be hard to maintain, considering there's so much of it. He gets the urge to snap a quick photo of the scenery, but calms down when he realizes he has thousands of images of trees saved on his hard drive at home.

He keeps walking, down to the small pond, smiling when he sees a child tug at her mother’s skirt, pointing at the geese that swim in the blue water. It reminds him of when he was a child and bursting with innocence instead of stress and boredom.

He's ready to leave the park, but stops when he sees possibly the most angelic creature he's ever laid eyes on. His hair is as dark as the bottom of the sea, in stark contrast with the lighter tone of his skin. The light pink he wears adds the the overall soft aura he carries, and Jeongguk is surprised he doesn't have a glittery halo above his head. He's not very tall, quite short even, but he makes the perfect candidate for Jeongguk’s photo.

The only problem is Jeongguk doesn't know how to approach him.

The boy takes a seat on one of the benches, legs crossed, eyes on the blue sky above them. He can only wonder what the rest of this guy's face looks like, because well, he's got his mouth mask pulled all the way up to his eyes. He figures if he talks to him he'll be able to determine what the rest of his beautiful person's face looks like, but how do you even start a conversation with someone so gorgeous?

Jeongguk starts by approaching him.

The unnamed angel lifts his head when he notices Jeongguk walking in his direction, and lowers his mask in order to respond to whatever it was that Jeongguk was going to say to him.

“This might be kind of weird, but can I take your picture?”

The boy’s eyes widen, almost as if that's the last thing he expected Jeongguk to say to him. But, to be fair, it probably was. His full lips quirk upwards into a smile when he realizes Jeongguk is serious.

“Mine?” he asks quietly, “I mean if you want to, go ahead.”

His voice is pleasant, and everything Jeongguk had expected. His satoori tells Jeongguk that he's from here, which sort of confuses him. Wouldn't he have seen someone so gorgeous walking around these streets?

“I’m Jeongguk, by the way. And you're?”

“Jimin.” he says, extending a hand so Jeongguk can shake it, “Park Jimin.”

“Well, Park Jimin, you've officially saved my Digital Photography grade.”

Jeongguk’s theme was capturing people without them posing for a picture. He wanted to depict what life itself was, which meant he used a lot of candid shots. People in their most natural essences were the most beautiful. However, he had made an exception with Jimin.

He stares at his screen, the photo he had taken earlier enlarged so much that he could see every single pixel. He's deciding what way to go about on editing it, unsure if adding a black and white filter is the way to go. He never struggles this hard editing photos of people, considering he's been doing it for years. But now, he's hit a road block.

Jimin, the boy he met earlier, had the prettiest features. Eyes that show exactly what it would look like if the earth and the galaxy met, pink plump lips, and a prominent jaw line. Jeongguk wasn't sure how to do him justice.

Jimin was aware of the shot, but it still had the intimacy Jeongguk wanted to portray. Maybe it was the bemusement that never let Jimin's eyes that carried the photo. As odd as it was, Jimin thanked Jeongguk for taking a photo of him. He'd never experienced something like that before. Jimin had gave him his number, (incase he needed a model again,) and resumed looking up at the sky.

Whatever it was that had made Jimin so erethral, it had put Jeongguks creativity to a halt.

He had a deadline though. There was no changing that. Now, he had just above forty-five minutes to get his assignment edited and sent. That was manageable.

His professor was quite lenient with him, probably because he was his favorite student, and allowed Jeongguk to get away with a lot. If Jeongguk turned in quality work, he'd give him a little leeway. His other professors didn't quite follow the same  unspoken rule. They probably despised him. One, because he was always running late, flying into class just before the bell rings with a camera in hand. Two, because he always day dreams during class. It wasn't his fault their lectures were deathly boring, though.

As his thoughts veer off towards other classes, he hears a soft knock at his door.

“Jeongguk?”

His mother's voice is soft, so he can tell that she has some sort of news.

“Come in.”

She opens the door, standing awkwardly, mapping out a way to enter his studio without trampling on his white tarps and tripods that have made home on the floor.

“Jeongguk sweetie, your dad, your brother, and I are going on a trip. It's going to be a couple weeks long. We knew that you have to stay for school, but we wanted to make sure that you'd be okay alone.”

He crosses the room in order to face his mother properly. “Of course, eomma, I’ll be fine.” he takes his mother’s dainty hands in his, “Have fun. Don’t worry about me too much.”

She gives Jeongguk a soft smile before she leaves his room, closing the white door behind her.

Jeongguk sits back at his desk, trying to figure out how exactly he wanted to spend these next few weeks.