Seokmin had no idea why he did that. He’s not exactly the smart type, but surely he would’ve think twice before approaching a total stranger and giving him an apple.

He didn’t though. And now he’s looking down to a male with blond locks secured in a ponytail. The blond guy looked young, maybe in his early twenties. He was sitting on a concrete in this abandoned park, phone in one hand. A small carton bag on his side, it was where he put the wrapping plastic of the sandwich he just ate.

The blond guy moved his gaze from the apple in Seokmin’s hand to look at Seokmin, strands of his long bangs covered a part of his right eye.

Seokmin was not sure that it was the right thing to stare at the guy’s eyes, but he didn’t have any choice. It was as if his muscles were paralyzed. He couldn’t move his gaze, or even open his mouth a bit to show some teeth and hopefully make his smile seems less strained.

His muscles finally loosened up when the blond guy’s lips curved into a smile.

**

“Hm?”

The confused sound made Seokmin turned his attention from the boiling pot to Jeonghan who was sitting on the sofa. He was bent over Seokmin’s phone in his hand, his untied blond locks covered the sides of his face.

“I don’t remember taking this picture.” Jeonghan said while looking at the screen of Seokmin’s phone. His tone showed a bit of curiosity, but it was almost fleeting. As if it wasn’t a big deal an he didn’t mind even if he’s never going to get the answer.

But it had a weird effect on Seokmin, making him curious as to what made Jeonghan said that. He glanced at the pot, confirming that it was okay to leave it for a while, and walked towards the sofa.

Seokmin looked at the phone screen over Jeonghan’s shoulders. It was a photo of Jeonghan, sitting on the concrete in the abandoned park, book on one hand, sandwich on the other. His eyes were fixed on the book, cheeks slightly swollen from the sandwich in his mouth.

“Oh, that. Um....” Seokmin stuttered.

Jeonghan turned his head back to face Seokmin. His eyes looking straight at Seokmin’s.

Seokmin used to hate being looked at. His parents always looked at him with disappointment filling their eyes, while people in general looked at him either with disgust or fear. Others who don’t only looked at him with blank stares, the same one that Seokmin saw every time he looked in the mirror.

But Seokmin loved it when Jeonghan did it. When those eyes fall upon him, he could feel that he was being looked at for the way he is. He could feel in peace.

So even though at first Seokmin’s head was panicking to make up an excuse for why he secretly took a photo of Jeonghan back when they didn’t know each other, he managed to calm down by looking back at Jeonghan’s eyes.

They were free of accusations. Simply innocent and beautiful.

“We didn’t know each other at that time and I know I shouldn’t, but I just took it.” Seokmin answered while scratching the back of his head.

Jeonghan just hummed and turned his head again. Seokmin sighed.

“Don’t you think you should be a bit worried that a stranger took your picture without permission?”

Jeonghan turned his head back again.

“You’re the one who took it so it’s fine,” he said casually. He was back facing the phone again as Seokmin sighed for the second time.

Jeonghan suddenly let out an “Oh!” and put Seokmin’s phone on the table in front of him. His hands moved to the his own phone that was lying close.

“The photo reminded me of something. The store where I bought the sandwich. There’s something in the store.... Wait, I took a picture of it... It might be buried deep in the gallery though. It was before we met. Hmm.... Let’s see...”

Jeonghan’s finger once again sliding across the screen. His head bent down, at times moving slightly to get his dangling hair off his face.

Seokmin reached to the front pocket of his pants and took out a hairband. He moved it there from his wrist just before he started to cook. He took Jeonghan’s hair and tied them with it. Jeonghan just let him and didn’t move his attention from the phone. After Seokmin finished tying up Jeonghan’s hair, he went back to look at the phone.

Jeonghan’s photo gallery was mostly filled with random things. The mountain they could see from Seokmin’s place when the weather is nice. A flower he saw growing in the corner of the alley he used as a shortcut to his workplace. A human shaped bronze statue in front of an antique store he happened to pass by, the statue’s limbs jutting out in weird directions.

Jeonghan would show him those pictures when they met. The first time he did that, it was a photo of a duck in a river. Seokmin asked him what did the photo mean. Jeonghan just shrugged.

”The duck looks comfy and the water looks so fresh.”

He said with a smile.

Since then, Seokmin never asked him why he showed the photos. He just look at them and talk with Jeonghan about how the cloud looked like a dog’s paw, how the grass showed different shades of green, and how the dew clouded the bus’ window.

Jeonghan’s photo gallery was now one of the things that constantly bring a smile on Seokmin’s face.

The gallery doesn’t have any people in it. The only living things in the pictures were plants and animals. Or at least that’s what Seokmin thought.

Jeonghan’s thumb which was slowly sliding over the screen had just stopped. The screen now showed a male with his face sticking to a shop window. The light from the window shines on the male, revealing his pale complexion and skinny body. The photo looked like it was taken from quite far with the zoom on, but it was clear enough to see that the male was smiling.

Jeonghan’s finger froze for a bit while until it slided again over the screen. Seokmin wondered about the photo but didn’t say anything.

He wished he could see Jeonghan’s expression when that photo came up. Why, he didn’t know.