One Year Later

A young woman trying to calm her crying son. Click

An older couple walking hand in hand. Click

A gentleman stopped jogging and fell into the grass exhausted. Click

It was a bright cool morning in November and Jiyong found that even after a year of being back, he still loved to people watch in the park. He’d always do it when he was in the U.S. as a means to escape from his family, but now it had just become habit.

Photographing the world around him always drew inspiration for his bigger photo shoots. No matter how big or extravagant the shoot may be, if you don’t have the basic human emotions, you can never portray the story properly. He found that by observing the most mundane acts of human nature, he could help his models depict the exact emotion he wanted for the picture.

Guess that’s why he was voted number one for the next generation of Hollywood’s professional photographers. He had made a huge career for himself but he was never truly happy in the United States. Probably because he always thought of himself as an outcast that never fit in anywhere.

BRRR BRRR BRRR

I'm finally waking up, a twist in my story. It's time I open up, and let your love right through me.

BRRR BRRR BRRR

Jiyong growled to himself as he heard the ringing phone in his pocket. He juggled to put his camera over his shoulder and answered his phone.

“What do you want Seungri? You know not to call me on Saturday mornings when I’m out unless it’s –“

“It’s an emergency or a big offer, I know sir,” replied the young man on the other end.

“Well… Which is it?”

“A little of both. Remember that shoot we did last month for Vogue? Well Nylon just called and they want you do their spread for this month. They liked your vibe from the Vogue shoot and they’ve redone their whole concept to work around you. The only thing is, is that their model has a very tight schedule and she can only do it on Monday. So should I go ahead and accept the offer sir?”

Jiyong looked around the park, wishing he could stay and escape reality for just a little longer, but then sighed and said,

“Fine. Yes go ahead. Now tell me about this concept they have.”

“Ok great. Well you see…”

Jiyong listened to his assistant describe the look the magazine wanted as he started walking back toward downtown.

Jiyong walked down the street, on his was to his favorite coffee shop, when he finished his call with Seungri. As he opened the door he was greeted with the familiar sound of the door chime ringing. He found his way to the small booth in the corner of the shop that had been dubbed “his lair” by the employees, and started unpacking his camera and computer. A girl walked up behind him and asked, “Do you want your white mocha with an extra shot as usual Jiyong?”

“Oh God,” he said as he jumped about a foot in the air.  “I didn’t know you were behind me Soran!” He paused so his heart beat could go back to normal and then turned to the girl saying, “But make it with 2 extra shots today.”

“Yeah? You got a long day ahead of you?”

“Kinda. Apparently my model today is supposed to be a very high maintenance actor. We only have a couple hours to get the shoot done and I only got 4 hours of sleep last night. So it should be an interesting shoot.”

“Sounds fun,” she said sarcastically. “Well sir, I won’t keep you waiting. I’ll have it right out for you.” She smiled and walked off leaving him to his work.

That’s why he liked it here. They knew he was a pretty famous photographer that works with well known people, but they never pushed to know details. Everyone just treated him like a normal customer and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Soran came back with his drink, set it down on the table and left him to his work.

He went through the photo’s he had just captured from this morning’s outing and saw a picture he forgot he had taken. It was of a little boy sitting under a tree reading a book. Jiyong sat a stared at the boy and remembered his life growing up.

His father was an American med student when he’d met Jiyong’s mother, a Korean foreign exchange art student. Even though their personalities were completely opposite, they fell in love and got married. When Jiyong was 8 years old his parents moved from New York to Suwon because of his father’s work.

When he was growing up his parents thought it best to have a bilingual household, so when they did move, Jiyong would not have a language barrier problem. However, Jiyong was a shy, quiet, child, and when they moved to Korea, he became even more reserved. His mother would encourage him to draw or paint as a means to express himself, but they accepted that his quiet nature was just his way of dealing with the lifestyle change.

In his elementary school he didn’t make any friends. The kids thought he was weird because he would sit and draw, and wouldn’t talk to anyone. They would make fun of his pronunciation and the fact that he was from a different county. So he thought it best to just say nothing at all and do his school work.

Jiyong took a sip of his drink and looked at the boy in the photo again. He leaned back in his seat and started to remember a day he would never forget.

It was the last day of the first week when he met him. School had finished for the day and Ji Yong was walking to the park that was across from the school with his sketch pad. He had made it across the street, and found a nice shaded area underneath a large tree to settle down in. As he was going through his bag to grab his pencils some other kids saw him. They came over and started to harass him, making fun of his drawings, laughing at the way he talked. Then out of nowhere another kid came up behind them and pushed the bullies to the ground. This new kid was a tall chubby boy who Jiyong had never seen before, but apparently the bullies had. For when they looked up to see who their attacker was, their eyes bugged out and they scrambled up and took off.

The large boy picked up Jiyongs ripped drawing, dusted it off, and handed it back to him saying,

“Hope they didn’t ruin it too much.”

Jiyong just stared at the boy wide eyed.

“Hel-looo…” the boy waved the drawing in Jiyongs face, wanting him to take it.

Jiyong blushed and took the drawing from him.

“You’re welcome, by the way,” said the boy. “Those two are jerks. If they ever bother you again just let me know.”

Jiyong looked down at the ground, not saying anything.

“Hey kid. I’m just tryin to help you. So just find me next time, ok?”

Jiyong nodded slightly without lifting his head up to much.

The boy chuckled and leaned down to ruffle Jiyong’s hair. Jiyong scrunched down at the contact and then looked up at him.

The boy smiled at Jiyong, held out his hand, and said,

“The name’s Seunghyun. What’s your’s?

All of a sudden Jiyong was snapped out of his daydream by a loud, irked, voice coming from the register.