"Don't get lazy with the lights please!" I yelled past the camera as the set was nearly ready. "Is everyone here?" I turned to the editor who had been lightly conversing with my manager.

          "We're just waiting on one more person. Oh, here they come" he waved his hand to get the last model's attention and my eyes followed as he ran over to meet them. I was taken aback by the sight of a slim figure dressed in a beautifully crafted traditional Korean dress, face pale and fair, probably the product of hours with the make up artist, and light red painted lips. The editor took their hand and positioned the model in the middle of the picture making it clear that they were the center of the focus. Despite being surrounded by other models, your attention was automatically fixed on them alone.

          The editor gave me a thumbs up before quickly jumping out of frame and jogging back to my side. "Alright, everybody hold your poses!" I tore my gaze only to crouch back down and find the picture through the looking glass of my camera, waiting for it to focus before I took the first picture of my first job in Korea.

 

          "That was great everybody!" the editor hollered over his excited clapping as we finished the shoot. All of the models smiled at each other and relaxed their bodies as they were helped off the set.

          I stayed off to the side and continued to flip through all of the shots, weeding out the bad ones where there were closed eyes or sun glares and saving the decent ones for further editing. "Not a bad bunch of models if I might say so myself" the editor came behind me with a proud remark.

          "I agree, especially this one in the middle" I pointed to the last model to arrive on the set, "All of these photos and not a single one looks bad"

          "Oh you like? That's my best!" he gave a hearty laugh and hit my on the shoulder with his rolled up papers.

          "What's her name?" I was curious about whether or not she had a business card so I could hire her in the future for a few shoots I had in mind but never found the right model for.

          "Her name?" the editor burst out into a crackling laugh, "well I guess that says something good! I'll go get her for you!"

          "Ah, okay that'd be nice" I replied in confusion. Maybe he was making fun of me because he thought I had a romantic interest, I mean they're probably used to things like that, but it wasn't what I meant at all.

          "The photographer wants to meet me?" I heard a voice but it was a little deeper than a typical girl's. "My name? You couldn't tell him on your own?"

The editor had her hand and was pulling her towards me, she hadn't even had enough time to get out of the costume yet so I felt a little bad calling for her since it was so hot out here and she was probably tired after going at this all these hours. "Nice to meet you" she formally began to introduce herself with a bow. Her complexion was even more perfect up close, and I wondered if the sparkle in her eyes was natural or if it was just the contacts, "My name is Lu Han"

           "Lu Han? That's not a girl's name is it?" I sounded rude as I accidentally let my thoughts slip out.

          "Girl's name? Oh!" she reached up and pulled off a wig revealing a tasseled mess of short bleached blond locks. "Do you get it now?"

          I looked down at the wig in shock and then back at her face and then down at the wig again before I finally pieced it all together. "Oh! I'm so sorry! No one told me- I could have sworn-"

          "It's okay, that's why I was hired in the first place" One of the make up artist came running over with a couple of damp tissues and helped take the make up off, revealing a face that was still plump and cute like a girl's but structurally that of a male's. "Now if you don't mind I have somewhere to be after this so I'd like to be excused to change"

          "Of course!" I shook my head to focus myself again after all the confusion and took his hand in a polite goodbye bow.

          "Not bad right? With all the make up it's almost impossible to tell that she is actually a he" the editor was still chuckling at the situation.

          I could feel my cheeks blush a little because I was made a fool of so I hid by beginning the process of deconstructing my camera and putting it all safely away.

"Listen, if you're not doing anything after this I know this great place to go get drinks. You are old enough to drink right?" he crouched down next to me and watched as if he was curious as to what I was doing and how I was doing it.

          "I'm 25" I wanted to sigh because that wasn't the first time my age had been questioned like this, but I held it in and turned away to shut down my laptop.

          "Great then you'll come?" He hopped up with a wide toothy smile, "It'll be just to two of us so you don't have to worry about feeling like you're working, you can just relax"

         I was pretty eager to get home, but I knew getting in close with the editor of a magazine could potentially gain me more jobs like this "Yeah alright, just let me pack all of this up and we can go"

          We took my car because I had all of my equipment and because he said he lived close to the bar and could just walk home afterwards. "Are you sure you want to drive?" he asked as we got in and put on our seatbelts.

          "I don't plan on drinking much, I should be fine" I replied as I started the engine and he directed me out of the parking lot.

          "Oh, I see" his voice trailed a bit but he bounced right back into his happy attitude before I could comment on it. "This was really your first professional shoot? From the looks of what you captured I'd say you've been doing this for at least a few years"

          "You're just flattering now" I chuckled and he told me to take another right at the coming stop light. "I have been taking pictures for a long time though. I got my first professional camera when I was eight, before that I spent all my allowance on those cheap disposable cameras. I had so many that my parents made it a rule that I could only get one developed every Sunday"

          "Sounds like a fun childhood" he cooed at my story and displayed another toothy smile.

          "Yeah" I simply ended the conversation leaving an awkward silence in the car. He was right that did sound like a fun childhood, but he hadn't heard the most of it. A minute or two passed before I started to wonder where exactly we were going. We'd left the neater more civilized part of Seoul for the crowded narrow streets of the Hongdae area.

          "You can park over there and we'll have to walk the rest of the way. Don't worry it's not too far" he pointed a finger to a crowded parking lot that only had a few open spaces left and I followed it. After parking I wondered if this was really the best place to leave my car, especially with all my expensive equipment in the trunk, but the editor was already pulling my arm towards an alleyway brightly lit with neon signs and the glare from people's cell phones as they walked and text. "Ah here it is, I'm going to warn you, its not a very typical bar"

           "I can see that" I looked up to see a bright red sign with 'The Backdoor' written in English. Backdoor? I thought to myself, my English wasn't perfect, I'd grown up taking classes in it but it had been a long time. Hmm, maybe because it's in an alley? I shrugged and followed the editor inside where we were greeted and seated in the back.

            "Do you have a preference with your beers?" he asked me as I looked over one of the laminated menus I'd found.

            "Not really, I don't think so" I replied trying to not sound nervous. The truth was I never really drank so I wasn't sure if I even liked beer or not.

            "Good, I know exactly what to order then" he raised his hand to call over one of the waiters. "You know what I want, I'll take two"

            "Oh Jongdae, I haven't seen you here in a while, who's the cute date?" the waiter looked down to stuff his notepad back into his apron and used his pinky finger to pull aside his bangs when he looked back up revealing a pair of puppy dog eyes lined perfectly with simple back eyeliner.

             "This is Kim Minseok, I just hired him as the photographer for next months issue" The editor introduced me and a nodded like I was following them although I was beginning to feel muddled again.

            "Oh I see" he winked at me before leaving us to give the excessively tall bartender our order.

            "Don't mind him, he just likes to tease people too much" he gave a forced chuckle with a hint of worry.

            "You seem to know each other pretty well, do you come here often?" I glanced from the editor over to the waiter who was leaning against the counter having a conversation with the bartender as our drinks were mixed.

            "Is it a bad thing that I spend most of my time at a bar?" he asked me like it was a question he'd been meaning to ask himself for a long time.

            "Oh no I didn't mean it like that" I tried to correct the misunderstanding.

            "Its okay, the owner of this place is one of my childhood friends so I come here very often to see him" he laughed at me because he could tell I was feeling bad about thinking he took it the wrong way.

           "Ahh" I was relieved that our drinks were already ready when the waiter returned to set them in front of us, leaving quietly this time to continue his conversation with the bartender.

           "Do you like it?" he asked me right after I'd taken my first sip.

            I nodded yes to not be rude but the longer it sat on my pallet the more I began to enjoy it. "Yes, I do!"

           "It's the best drink here, that tall dork over there came up with it himself" he shot a thumb at the bartender who glared like he wanted to know what was being said about him but it didn't last long before it was replaced with a lopsided smile. What a bunch of happy people.

           "Luhan!" the waiter called when the bell from the front door chimed and a slim figure came stepping inside. He pulled down his hood that had been covering a stylish mess of loose bleached blond curls and I automatically recognized him to be the cross-dressing model from the shoot. He gave a smile and a wave to the waiter and went to seat himself just a few tables in front of us.

           I tried to ignore the commotion his appearance had caused and continue the conversation with the editor. "You were telling me about the drinks?"

"Oh you're right" he turned his attention back to our conversation "Even if that bartender Chanyeol over there looks like a clumsy dork, he's actually really good at coming up with new drinks, this bar would have never made it if he didn't start working here"

           "Is he your friend too?" by the way he talked bad about him at the same time as complimenting him sounded like they were also really close.

"Its more like we've come to be friends. Baekhyun is the one who convinced him to apply. Chanyeol worked his first month here for free as long as Joonmyun let him play his drums on Friday night before closing" he smiled as he thought back on it making me wish I could see it just once.

           "This place sounds pretty great, you would think there would be more customers, even if it is a week night" I glanced around, besides the two of us and Luhan who'd just came in there were only four other customers and one had just left. As for the staff there was the waiter named Baekhyun who hung around the bartender Chanyeol and one other that I hadn't been introduced to manning the register at the front. "Is that your friend Joonmyun?" I pointed over to the last one by the door.

          "That little kid?" he laughed when he saw who I was pointing to. "No he's his nephew, just started working here a few weeks ago. Its strange though he didn't seem to care much about what his uncle did until Chanyeol started playing his drums here. He came every Friday night on a regular basis and stayed late talking to the big eyed kid that would sing. What was his name? Kyungsoo or something, he has a great voice, brings a huge crowd"

           "I'll have to come see it sometime then" I finally was curious enough to invite myself and he seemed thrilled by the thought.

          "Are you free this Friday? They've been telling me that they've got a really great show prepared for this week" I watched his eyes light up as I tried to mentally go through my schedule to see if I was free when they suddenly shifted to something behind me.

          "I never would have guessed Mr. Kim would bring you to a place like this" Luhan had noticed we were here and made his way over to say hi.

          "Is this the 'other plans' you spoke of earlier?" the editor shot back before I could comment.

          "No, they were canceled so I thought I'd stop by and see if Chanyeol wanted to rehearse later for this Friday" he replied matter-of-factly.

          "Oh, do you play here on Friday's too?" It was odd seeing Luhan dressed like this. I suppose it was his normal attire compared to the traditional dress I first saw him in, tight yet baggy black jeans with rips in them, a white tank top with the American word 'punk' scratched across it, and a red addidas brand jacket to match his shoes. His wrists were covered in bracelets and he had two simple silver bands on his thumb and forefinger on his right hand. Despite the drastic change in clothes he still had a cute face and eyes that twinkled as he smirked, it was mesmerizing.

          "Who's asking? A curious business partner, or a fan?" he winked at me and I couldn't help but think that I'd gotten way too many of them while I was here.

          "Oh shut up" the editor scoffed, "Yeah, I forgot to mention it but he plays the guitar here, on the nights that he's not working for me" he added the end part after pinching him in the side causing Luhan to jump back, the chains he was wearing making a clanging of metal sound.

           "I'd personally invite you, but you seem like the kind of guy that would get eaten alive here" Luhan pointed a finger at his boss to show him that he was keeping an eye on him before returning to me.

           "I don't understand, this seems like a really nice place" Sure if I wasn't a new comer it wouldn't be too exciting, but I could just imagine how pumped this place got when the band played, it sounded fun and I didn't have enough fun and excitement in my life right now.

           Luhan laughed like I was horribly misunderstood and the editor turned to him with a pleading look to keep quiet about something. "He didn't tell you did he? This is a gay bar"