Storybook » Hwang Minhyun

NINE

„Never thought I'd see the day that Hwang Minhyun is nervous because of work." Kim Jaehwan spoke and leaned on to the wall of the studio that Minhyun had booked. Minhyun moved his hands through his hair and eyed his best friend.

„What do you know?" He said and Jaehwan chuckled. „You are definitely nervous. Otherwise, you wouldn't snap at me." - „Did you fill the tank?" Minhyun answered with a question and Jaehwan rolled his eyes pointing at the tank in the middle of the room that was filled to the brim with water. „I did. And no, no need to say thank you." Jaehwan rolled his eyes and took his phone out of his pocket.

„When is your model arriving?" Jaehwan asked, without looking up and Minhyun eyed his wristwatch. „She's supposed to arrive in half-an-hour." He said. „When will Seongwoo arrive? I will need more than two hands for handling the shooting later. Tell Ong to bring his roommate as well. Daniel's strong." Minhyun said and walked to the table where he set up his laptop and the camera.

„Will do," Jaehwan said and left the studio, giving Minhyun room to breath.

Ever since the young male woke up this morning he had been nervous. It had been some time since Minhyun had actively worked on something. And when he told his aunt about his project and the sponsor she was super proud of her nephew, telling him to take good pictures and make a fantastic book that she could show to her students then.

Now Minhyun was here, waiting for Yeolhee and internally freaking out. What if something went wrong and Yeolhee would hurt herself? What if she would be uncomfortable? What if the water in the tank would be too cold?

Panic was making Minhyun walk over to the tank and stick his hand into it. „Okay, that's okay." He mumbled when he heard a chuckle and almost fell into the tank. „Careful!" Yeolhee yelped and Minhyun sighed. „You scared me." He laughed and climbed down the ladder running over to Yeolhee.

She was wrapped in a coat and had a carrier behind her. „My make-up and costume." She smiled pointing at the carrier. „Oh, also!" She grabbed into her coat pocket and took out an envelope. „This is from a boy named Lai Guanlin. He is a cancer patient." Yeolhee said. „But he is suicidal as well which is why he is in the hospital now. Daehwi befriended him and told him about the project. This is a letter from his parents asking you to take him under your wing as well. They said they'd pay well." Yeolhee spoke and looked at Minhyun.

„I haven't seen this boy yet, as Daehwi was ... difficult lately. But he said Guanlin would love to participate." Yeolhee watched Minhyun open the letter and read the words the Lai's had written to him, telling him Guanlin didn't have a lot of time anymore so they were currently trying to make every one of his wishes true. And one of them was to participate in a photoshoot.

„He sounds interesting. I definitely have to speak to him first and see how he's doing. But he definitely is a character." Minhyun smiled, folded the letter and laid it next to his laptop. „I can show you the dressing room as long as I am waiting for my assistants. I hope you're okay with them. My best friend can't wait to properly get to know his lifesaver." Minhyun laughed and held a door open for Yeolhee.

The girl smiled and closed the door. Minhyun scratched his nape and walked back to the table with his stuff, taking the letter out of the envelope again. ‚Our Guanlin doesn't know that he only has six months left. And we don't plan on telling him. We want him to enjoy every day without thinking about when to die.' The words were burning themselves and Minhyun knew he needed to meet that kid.

After reading the letter for three more times, Jaehwan came back. Behind him his friends Ong Seongwoo and his roommate Kang Daniel. „Whoa, Minhyun! You look so professional!" Ong hollered and Minhyun rolled his eyes. „Thank you. But that's my job." He laughed and started to explain what Daniel, Ong, and Jaehwan had to do.

While Minhyun was showing them how to properly work the lighting Yeolhee came back. Barefeet and in a beautiful white dress. Her eyes were only lightly made up with waterproof liner and mascara and her hair was open and wavy. Yeolhee coughed, catching the boys attention.

Minhyun stared at Yeolhee, unable to look away. „Holy moly..." Seongwoo gasped. „Who... is this?" Daniel asked and even Jaehwan whistled in approval. „My lifesaver. Nice to meet you again." The man laughed and Yeolhee blushed and went forward to take Jaehwan's hand. „Kang Yeolhee, nice to meet you all." She introduced herself to Daniel and Seongwoo before she stood in front of Minhyun again.

„Is this okay?" She asked pointing at herself, worried that she used too much make-up or that the dress was inappropriate. But Minhyun only gulped, showed her a thumbs up and turned away. „W-We start with a simple pictorial, I guess." He mumbled and went to take his camera. „Let's pose in front of the tank first."

Taking the first pictures were hard. But after Daniel had turned on some music and Jaehwan gave her tips for poses, Yeolhee didn't have any problems posing in front of Minhyun, who always smiled when finishing taking a set of pictures.

„Let's take a short break before we continue with the tank." He said and called Seongwoo and Daniel, giving them a list. „I want these words written all around the tank," Minhyun explained and gave them bold markers before walking over to the laptop, where Yeolhee was looking at her pictures.

„I look pretty pale, right?" She asked but Minhyun shook his head. „I think you look great!" He took the mouse in his hands and scrolled to find his favorite picture. It was a shot of Yeolhee standing sideways to the camera, her hands folded behind her back and her eyes looking upwards.

„This is my favorite." He smiled and Yeolhee looked at him. Her eyes drifted over his forehead to his brown eyes, over his slim nose to his lips. She gulped, her eyes lingered on Minhyun's lips for a while before she looked away with bright pink cheeks.

Minhyun blinked twice as well and coughed. „Ready for the underwater shoot?" He asked and Yeolhee nodded, stretching her hand in his direction. He looked at it for a few seconds before taking her cold hand into his warm one and leading her over to the ladder.