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"Could I get the bride's hands on the groom's shoulders?...That's it, perfect, now hold still..."

A quick peek through the viewfinder, and the lights flash again, bathing the entire room in near blinding whiteness. The sound of the monitor attached to the camera makes a brief noise as the image is processed and transferred. It quickly shows up on the display, and Jongin doesn't even need to spare it a glance to know that it's above adequate, despite only getting a glimpse of the flouncy white dress that seems to take up the entire screen. 

"How was it?" the (soon to be) groom asks, moving aside just a little to avoid getting blinded even further by the harsh lights. 

Adjusting the camera so it doesn't fall off the tripod, Jongin sends them both a bright grin. "Perfect," he replies whilst trying to ignore the pain in his calves. Standing up for eight straight hours really does take its toll. For good measure, he nods at the computer and smiles again. His lunch break started two minutes ago, which only reminds him of how much he's starving. "That's a wrap, if it's alright with you."

With his fiancée by his side, the groom (whose name Jongin must've written down earlier but shamelessly forgot) sends Jongin a grateful nod, her doing the same, before they both step off the small stage and make their way towards the door. As they step out, Jongin notices the man lifting the back part of her dress up to prevent it from dragging across the floor. It's so comical Jongin has to hold back a laugh as he says his goodbyes.

After the door closes, Jongin grimaces when he feels his leg beginning to cramp, and, after glancing at the clock on the computer, he grabs a stool and hurries to take down the white dove-themed backdrop hanging from the ceiling before proceeding to carefully roll it up. He sets it aside and stands up, making another round to the monitor. Jongin tries ignoring the way his stomach rumbles as his fingers scatter across the keyboard, as he opens up his schedule for the day. The next couple has requested a sakura themed backdrop with slightly more dimmed lights than usual, and Jongin seriously wonders why they couldn't just be bothered to fly to Japan and get their photo taken with actual sakura trees, but he shoves the thought away before jogging over to the stage and climbing onto the stool. He finds the alarmingly pink sheet nearly hidden amongst the many other backdrops and Jongin nearly drops it whilst assembling it given the fact that his fingers are starting to feel like cardboard from working the camera all day.

It works, by some miracle, and Jongin finds himself putting the stool back by the desk and setting the lights to the default mode (before turning them off, of course) at an unnatural speed. He blames it on the hunger, courtesy of him forgetting to eat breakfast in the morning, and practically flies into the back room, which reeks of food.

Jongin walks over to his locker, which is marked 'KJI', and practically throws it open, the pain in his legs and fingers immediately disappearing upon laying his eyes on his lunch box. He makes his way to the microwave, only to notice a certain movement in his peripheral. "Thanks for helping me out with the lights," he murmurs, placing his food inside.

"What? I got hungry," Baekhyun, his (useless, in Jongin's own words) assistant, retorts from his usual position on the couch. He's shoving Pocky into his mouth like a primate and Jongin is pretty sure that's a sauce stain on his shirt. "I'll help ya out in a moment, don't worry," he chuckles when Jongin sends him a deadly look. "How was the shoot? And you're just hungry, big guy, stop givin' me that look."

Watching his food spin around, almost in a trance like state, Jongin shrugs. "It was alright, better than the previous ones," he says, somehow thinking that tapping his foot on the floor will make his food warm up faster. "He actually lifted up her dress as they walked out, I thought I told you to polish the area by the door," he adds absentmindedly. 

Baekhyun rolls his eyes. "I did, it's not my fault they keep scuffing up the floor," he replies, shoving the remaining stick in his mouth before tossing the empty box in the trash can. He gets it on the first try, much to Jongin's annoyance. "And please tell me they weren't like that weird Paris couple." He visibly shudders.

Jongin shakes his head. "Nah, they were a lot more tolerable," he hums. He automatically thinks back to said couple, the one that ended up screwing his entire schedule over in the early hours of the morning since the bride insisted he take more photos despite the latter's (and Baekhyun's, after a while) reminders that their folder was full and that the SD card was exceeding its limit. To say that he'll never forget the dirty looks the next couple gave him upon arriving forty minutes late to their shoot, would be a vast understatement. "A lot more tolerable," he adds, nearly jumping for joy when the microwave beeps subsequently.

"How hot was the groom?" Baekhyun says, apparently ignoring Jongin's reply to the fullest as the latter takes a seat on the chair opposite the couch. "On a scale of 1 to 10, that is?" he adds for clarification, ignoring the way Jongin groans a second later.

"If I had a dollar for every time you asked me that in one day, I'd own the ing bank," Jongin murmurs, scooping up a spoonful of rice and nearly about how good it is. He figures it's much too tasty to throw in Baekhyun's face. In all honesty, he doesn't even remember the face of the recent groom, or the rest, for that matter (save for perhaps one, but only because he had an unattractive tattoo on his forehead that would make just about anyone stop and stare). He doesn't know if it makes him unattentive or prosopagnostic or whatever, but he figures it doesn't, since majority of his thoughts during a shoot are occupied with trying to order the couples around and keep his schedule (and making sure Baekhyun doesn't screw things over). 

Baekhyun only nods, but it's clear that it's in disbelief. "Right." He sits up and leans back against the pillows. "Remember last week? You totally eye ed that one guy. Y'know, the one with the tall as bride? Don't think I didn't notice just 'cause I was busy with the lights, ya know," he chuckles before shrugging nonchalantly. "Your job literally consists of photographing hot dudes, I wouldn't blame you, just make sure the woman doesn't catch you." A groan leaves his lips as he stretches his entire body out across the couch.

"Whatever," Jongin grumbles, swallowing his mouthful of rice only to squawk in surprise upon realizing that his box is completely empty. He makes a mental note to eat breakfast tomorrow morning before checking his watch. "We've got ten minutes until the next shoot, could you--" He lets out an animal-like screech when Baekhyun rests his feet on his lap. "--Could you please get out there and transfer the photos onto the hard drive? Before you wipe the SD card, that is." He sends Baekhyun a look.

"I know that," Baekhyun scoffs before standing up, stretching again, and leisurely making his way out. "Sakura trees? Seriously, why couldn't they just've flown to Japan, for God's sake?" he calls from inside the studio, his voice slightly muffled by the thick wall. 

Jongin sighs as he puts the lid back on his now empty lunch box before walking over to his locker and stuffing it in his backpack. He figures (and hopes) the food in his system will help him stay awake and on his feet for another six hours, and he slams his locker shut just in time to mask Baekhyun's groan when the latter supposedly trips on a cable in the other room. Even though his fingers still feel like death, Jongin still looks forward to his video game session he promised he'd have with Jongdae, his 'one and only' best friend, if his last clients don't end up holding him back and make him arrive home at eight. Either way, Jongin shoves the thought aside and pulls out his phone. Nothing but a text from Jongdae asking if he's done the homework and a few random snapchats Jongin opens but doesn't reply to (except Jongdae's, to which Jongin replies with his signature, peace-sign selfie). His phone rings in his hand a second later, nearly making Jongin jump clear through the roof.

"Ayo," Jongdae says on the other end of the line. "Not in the middle of a shoot, I hope?" he laughs, his chuckle making Jongin's mood skyrocket, as usual.

"You know my break's at 12," Jongin replies, but there's no bite in his voice. "And in case you didn't see my snap, I'm halfway done," he adds before sitting back down on the couch and letting his eyes roam around the room. It's starting to look awfully messy, which of course leads Jongin to believe Baekhyun didn't mean it when he promised to sort through it last month.

Jongdae laughs again. "Shut up, you know how pissed you got when I called in the middle of--" He cackles when Jongin only groans. "Okay, fine. Anyway, how was it? The same old, I suppose?"

"Yeah," Jongin replies, fiddling with the button on his blouse, nearly getting his finger caught in his name tag on his chest. He doesn't know why photographers need to look modest behind the camera, but he's not about to question it. "In and out, as usual," he adds for emphasis, seriously hoping Baekhyun doesn't pull a klutz move and end up wiping the entire hard drive. "Hopefully I finish early today."

Jongdae hums in agreement. "Any cats got your tongue yet?" he asks casually and Jongin fights the urge to punch him through the screen. 

"No," Jongin huffs in exasperation. He's lucky Jongdae's his best friend, otherwise he just might've launched him into outer space years ago, especially considering he knows how much he hates being asked that. "And what's the use, anyway? They're just married," he adds for clarification, which is useless, though, since it does little to silence Jongdae's unattractive guffaws on the other end. 

After what feels like forever, Jongdae finally stops laughing, much to Jongin's relief. "Wise words, Kim Jongin, wise words," he chuckles. "Baekhyun, I suppose?" he asks, supposedly having heard the sound of God knows what falling over in the studio. "How's he?"

"Yeah, and he's...tolerable," Jongin replies, lying back against the pillows and doing his best not to feel sleepy. "I guess. Listen, are we still-"

"Don't be so hard on the poor guy," Jongdae laughs, "at least he can walk past a dog on the street without cooing like a little girl. And yup, as long as you help me with Physics." Even though they're not face to face, Jongin can almost see the overly bright, cat-like grin spread across his entire face. 

Jongin sighs at the fact that Jongdae apparently keeps forgetting that he's no better at Physics than Jongdae is, but the latter never seems to remember (nor care, for that matter). "Fine," he murmurs whilst running a hand through his newly dyed hair. He instantly regrets not washing his hands, because the strands are quickly covered in sticky black bean sauce a second later. "God damn i-"

"Jongin!"

Flinching slightly at the broken silence, Jongin bites his lip. He's torn between simply wiping his stained hand on his jeans or getting up and rushing to the bathroom, but he quickly forgets all about it when Jongdae speaks up a second later.

"Was that Baekhyun?" Jongdae asks, amusement evident in his voice. "Man, his voice has gotten deeper since I last heard him," he adds with a chuckle.

Muttering an absentminded 'Yeah', Jongin stands up and scrambles for the nearest tissue. Trying to balance his phone between his ear and shoulder, whilst simultaneously attempting to reach across the tiny table for (Baekhyun's used) tissue is, as he quickly learns, a difficult task, and he's about to grab it when he hears Baekhyun's voice again.

"Jongin!"

"Sounds like he needs you," Jongdae hums.

"The idiot probably just put the wrong photos in the wrong folder, I'll fix it later," Jongin mumbles before grabbing the tissue, only to drop it with a less than manly squeal when he realizes how dirty it is. He's (sort of) lucky, because Baekhyun's subsequent holler of his name a second later effectively masks Jongdae's ear piercing cackle on the other end of the line, and Jongin huffs before quickly rushing towards the door. "Can't you tell I'm busy?!" he asks in an annoyed tone, making sure to cover the speaker with his hand, only to close his mouth a second later when he lays his eyes on a (very) tall man and a petite woman standing in the doorway. "Oh."

Baekhyun, who's apparently finding it difficult to stifle his laughter, gestures to the couple a few feet away. "Your break's over, didn't you hear the door close?" he asks, amusement lacing his words as he adjusts the brightness on one of the lights.

Jongin only blinks before hurrying to end his call. Without sparing his new clients a glance, he mouths an apology in their direction before walking inside the studio, all whilst attempting to block out Baekhyun's series of giggles. 

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