Fate's Little Bell

Chapter 11

We entered the park and I looked away so I could concentrate on where I was leading us. As I took a sip of my drink, Jeongguk said, "This place is so pretty.... I wish... I'd brought my camera."

    I laughed. "Yes. My park is very pretty. You should film a G.C.F. here."

    "Your park?" he asked teasingly. "And you know about those?"

    I nodded, rolling my eyes. "Of course. I'm not that clueless."

    He laughed. "Do you like them?"

    "Of course I like them! You should go into movie directing." I paused. "Well, if you ever had time."

    He smiled and looked around. "I should've brought my camera."

    "You should've. You'll just have to make do like those of us who can't afford a nice camera and use your phone."

    He let go of my hand and fished his phone out of his pocket. After looking around at the bare trees and old fashioned lampposts scattered around, he turned to me. "Smile," he said, raising his phone to take a picture.

    "Ew, wait what? No, don't take a picture of me!" I raised my hands up in front of my face defensively.

    "Why not?" he asked, pouting at me.

    "Because... because there's so many better things to take a picture of."

    He turned slowly, looking around at the slightly overcast sky and the naked trees quivering in patched of dying grass. "But you're much prettier than... anything else here."

    I blushed. "Fine...," I mumbled.

    He grinned and grabbed my hand, dragging me over to one of the lampposts. "Stand like this, okay?" He demonstrated, standing with his feet close to the base of the pole, holding on with one hand and keeping the other stuck out, almost as if he was about to swing around it.

    On the other side, after setting my drink down, I copied him. "Like this?" I asked.

    He nodded and looked me up and down, making me feel a little self-conscious. "Wait, give me your bag." I took it off and handed it to him. He nodded again, smiling. "Much better."

    He walked a few steps away and raised his phone. After a second, he moved to his right, presumably to get a better angle. I couldn't help but laugh. "It's a photoshoot," I said, grinning. "And I get to be your model."

    He smiled at me. "Can you look up?"

    "Like... at the sky?"

    "Sure. Or the trees... whatever you want."

    "Okay," I said. "Should I be smiling?"

    "Hmmm... not a big one... just a little bit."

    I nodded and gazed up at the tree branches, which almost looked like plaster cracks, crisscrossing across the soft grey sky. As I stood there, my nose started to get itchy. I wanted to ask Jeongguk if he was done, but I was scared to mess up what he was doing if he wasn't, so I stayed quiet.

    Finally, after what felt like an eternity of holding out my arm and struggling not to scratch my nose, he called, "Okay, done."

    Heaving a sigh of relief, I released the pole and scratched the tip of my nose delicately. "Finally," I exclaimed, picking up my drink again. "How many pictures did you even take?"

    Jeongguk laughed. "Three."

    "Seriously? Did that really take that long or were you just having fun torturing me?" There was no malice in my words.