∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞

 

“So, who are you gonna use for your subject?”

 

“I don’t know… I can’t pick just anyone. It has to be someone special that’ll inspire me to make my photos amazing!”

 

Mina smiled as she finished gathering her things and walked out the door of the classroom with her friend. “Wow, Seolhyun, is nobody we know ‘inspiring’ enough for you?” she asked teasingly.

 

“Come on, unnie, you know that’s not how it is,” the taller girl giggled, lightly bumping her shoulder into Mina’s, who grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to stand at the side of the hallway.

 

“We need to find you some cutie you can photograph. Shouldn’t be too hard considering your flock of admirers. Although most of them aren’t good looking enough for you,” Mina said, mumbling the last part, and thought for a moment before snapping her fingers and giving a small smirk. “Hey, how about that soccer player you’ve been telling me about? The one who always has perfect hair and smells like fresh pine?”

 

Seolhyun lowered her head for a brief moment, face warming. “U-Unnie… I can’t just go up to Jingoo and ask to take pictures of him.”

 

“Yeah, you can, and you will unless you just wanna fail the project by taking pictures of someone ugly. You’re gonna be spending a lot of time with your subject so you might as well ask the guy you’ve obviously been crushing on since the beginning of the year.”

 

Once again, Seolhyun sheepishly looked away from her friend. “N-Now that I think about it, it’ll be better if I ask Yuna or somebody…”

 

“Well no, it wouldn’t, because I’m going to use Yuna as my subject,” Mina interjected. “But honestly, think about it: you can ask Jingoo and after you guys go get ice cream or whatever together after school then you can go to your house, ask him to take off his shirt for the pictures, and since you’ll probably be in your bedroom you might as well—”

 

“Aaand I’m going to be late for class!” Seolhyun exclaimed, hurriedly turning away from the shorter girl, though she barely made it a step before nearly colliding with another person. She immediately began to apologize but fumbled over her words when she caught a glimpse of whom she almost bumped into.

 

It was a girl, about an inch taller than Seolhyun, with golden mahogany hair that flowed effortlessly past her shoulders. Seolhyun caught the faint scent of rain, and concluded that whatever shampoo this girl uses definitely surpassed “fresh pine” in terms of pleasant fragrance. Besides the perfection of her hair, there was the captivation of her dark eyes, and the way was turned into a slight frown. She seemed to carry herself with a confidence that further intrigued Seolhyun.

 

“Yo, Hyejeong!” Mina clapped the girl on the back, wresting her gaze from Seolhyun. “Now that you’ve showed up, I want to ask you something. We’re still meeting up after school today to work on the lab, right?”

 

“Yeah, sure,” Hyejeong replied, taking a small step from the two in front of her. “Look, I’m going to be on my way now…”

 

Seolhyun promptly started bowing to the departing student. “Um, s-sorry about bumping into you! Well, er, almost bumping into you…”

 

Hyejeong paused, allowing the corner of her lips to twitch before carrying on in the direction she was headed in. Seolhyun followed the girl with her eyes until she disappeared around a corner and the former noticed Mina trying to get her attention.

 

“Now it’s time to actually get going to class. So, are you leaving right when school ends or waiting for when I finish this lab? It shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

 

“I’ll, um, just head on home. I have a lot of things to do,” Seolhyun responded, her mind still somewhat distracted by the tall girl with amazing hair and not to mention an amazing everything else that she had practically run into a minute before.

 

“Aw, come on… Well, when I text you later I’m gonna want to know if you’ve talked to Jingoo about the project,” Mina spoke, smiling as she left.

 

∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞

 

Seolhyun had indeed encountered Jingoo later that day. She was on her way to her last class when the soccer player appeared in front of her, initiating a conversation about something she couldn’t remember now. At that point, Seolhyun had already made the resolution to wait for Mina after all, in hopes to see the girl, Hyejeong, again; as such, most of her thoughts were preoccupied and she didn’t ask Jingoo to be her subject for the photography project.

 

Would I have done it anyway?

 

Well, Seolhyun did think he was a good-looking guy; he seemed amiable so he’d probably go ahead with whatever Seolhyun asked of him. In fact, she quite liked the athlete, and maybe if he was her subject then she could ask him to take off his shirt like Mina suggested, because Seolhyun had always sort of wondered what his abs looked like…

 

Nah, I can’t bring myself to ask him. That’d be the only picture of him I’d have, in my head…

 

She soon found herself by the flagpoles in front of the school, where other students were waiting to be picked up. Mina and Hyejeong would eventually walk out of the doors, and then she’d have an opportunity to talk to the taller girl.

 

∞•∞•∞•∞•∞

 

“Alright, all the flies are in the correct vials, yeah? We don’t need to do anything extra at this point?” Mina asked Hyejeong, standing up from her chair and slinging her bag onto her shoulder. The taller girl kept her eyes on the notebook in front of her, writing some final notes on the lab for the day.

 

“Mmhm,” she mumbled in response, closing the notebook and placing it back in the station with their vials. “We can leave now.” She gathered her stuff and left the lab through the door that Mina held open.

 

“So…what are you doing this weekend?” Mina attempted at light conversation to break the silence as the two walked through campus.

 

Hyejeong let out a breath of air through and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know.”

 

“Ah, so you wanna hang out or something? I don’t have any plans and I need something to do.”

 

The taller student glanced at the shorter, a look that perhaps showed the disinterest in doing anything social because she didn’t see any special reason to further their relationship beyond that of “classmates.” But she answered politely nonetheless.

 

“Hm, maybe…”

 

She’s not really much for words, huh? Maybe she just needs more friends. Mina thought. She wasn’t sure of Hyejeong’s personal background, as the two only met that semester through lab, but she got the impression that they could fit well together as friends despite the brunette coming off as aloof to some extent.

 

They neared the main entrance of the school, and from a short distance Hyejeong could register Seolhyun, on her phone, leaning against a pillar. Hyejeong slowed her steps considerably and bent her head down to whisper to Mina.

 

“Hey, uh, is that your friend there?” She jerked her head towards Seolhyun when Mina looked up.

 

“Yeah, it is… Huh, I thought she said she wasn’t gonna wait for me after school.” Mina suddenly narrowed her eyes, and stopped Hyejeong by laying a hand on her arm. “Wait, why do you ask? You need something from her? Because I didn’t even know you two knew each other…”

 

Hyejeong quickly shifted her gaze to Seolhyun then back to Mina. “Er, I don’t actually know her, no, but…” she began, voice faltering.

 

“But…?” Mina prompted.

 

“Nothing. I was just…pointing her out to you.”

 

The brunette proceeded to continue towards the exit, albeit slightly apprehensively now. Mina followed; soon Seolhyun saw them, and while Hyejeong looked away, Mina waved energetically and pulled Hyejeong to greet the girl who had been waiting for them.

 

Seolhyun straightened herself up and tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear, smiling. “Hi Mina, I know I said I wasn’t going to wait for you but then I decided to do it anyway, because…” she trailed off, subconsciously glancing in Hyejeong’s direction.

 

There was a short, awkward silence, and gears began turning in Mina’s head. She looked between her two companions.

 

Hm, this may be a crazy stretch of my imagination, but… Mina let a smirk come to her face as she started to talk.

 

“Say, Seolhyun, did you get a chance to ask Jingoo to participate in your photography project?” she asked.

 

“Well, I ran into him but I didn’t ask him about it.”

 

“Still picky about wanting the ‘perfect’ person, huh?” Mina then clapped her hands together and gasped, somewhat startling the two people in front of her. “Heyy, why don’t you take pictures of Hyejeong?” She gestured to the girl in question, who widened her eyes and furrowed her brow in confusion. “I think she certainly fits what you’re looking for, and she doesn’t have any plans for this weekend, so—“

 

“No, that’s okay,” Seolhyun quickly spoke. “I-I mean, I can’t burden her like that, and plus we’re not familiar with each other…” Hyejeong stared at Seolhyun with an inquisitive expression, remaining silent.

 

No, I definitely can’t ask that of her! Seolhyun thought to herself. I mean, she seems like a nice person and all, but we don’t know each other and wouldn’t she find this weird? Although I’m really interested in getting to know her, so maybe… Yes I can ask?

 

…Yes, yes I can!

 

“Yeah,” Seolhyun said at the same time as Hyejeong. They settled their gazes on each other, Seolhyun’s eyes open in shock. Hyejeong began to speak first.

 

“I’m down for it,” she said.

 

“Y-You really don’t have to, this is just something that Mina suggested out of the blue—“ Seolhyun spoke softly.

 

“Seolhyun, right?” Hyejeong cut in. The younger girl nodded slowly. “So, Seolhyun…look, this isn’t a trouble for me. Don’t worry about it.”

 

She paused, and then suddenly reached for Seolhyun’s hand. “Come on, let’s go take pictures.”

 

Hyejeong briefly looked at Mina before lightly pulling Seolhyun along with her towards the parking lot. The girl in tow had little time to look back and hear Mina say her goodbyes, along with a wink.

 

Okay, what the heck is this? Seolhyun never thought that someone like Hyejeong would so easily accept the request. She wasn’t complaining, but for some reason she felt nervous.

 

Just as she looked down at their joined hands, Hyejeong let hers go and continued walking. Seolhyun frowned, increasing her pace in order to stay beside the taller girl. They were silent for a ways until they reached Hyejeong’s car.

 

“Are we going to your house?” Hyejeong asked, standing by the driver’s side door.

 

“Oh, um…y-yeah. I have my camera there.”

 

After she replied, Seolhyun stood there awkwardly while Hyejeong scanned her expression. “Hey, relax. I don’t bite.” Hyejeong smirked, nodding her head to the other side of her vehicle. “Get in.”

 

∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞•∞

 

The atmosphere of the car ride wasn’t completely uncomfortable. Every once in a while throughout the ten-odd minutes, the two would make idle chatter about something like their classes, extracurriculars, etc. When they eventually arrived at Seolhyun’s home, Seolhyun’s mother had greeted them, preparing a small array of various fruits for the two to snack on. She then departed to meet with some friends, leaving the two alone in the house.

 

Hyejeong sat on a sofa in the living room, waiting while the black-haired girl was fetching her camera. She still wasn’t entirely sure of why she agreed to help Seolhyun out with the assignment. Maybe it was just an excuse to hang out with a cute girl.

 

“Alright!” Hyejeong turned her attention to Seolhyun, who had entered the living room holding her large, black camera. “I was thinking we could start out by the pool? The way the sun is shining will give really good lighting.”

 

The brunette simply nodded and followed the photographer out the back door of the house and towards the pool area. In front of them was a big, somewhat peanut-shaped swimming pool, with a walkway circling around it that led to a tiled deck; in front was a fountain that cascaded into the body of water. There was also a spa tub off to the side, in the corner of two walls covered with flowered vines.

 

“Let’s go over to the deck,” Seolhyun declared. The two made their way over, and Seolhyun began directing her subject into various poses. There was little conversation between them, other than Seolhyun voicing what she wanted Hyejeong to do.

 

“You seem to be really into this photography thing,” Hyejeong stated after a few minutes of shutter clicks.

 

Seolhyun lowered her camera, letting it hang by the strap around her neck. She smiled. “Yeah, it’s pretty fun!”

 

Man, this girl is cute. Hyejeong thought, herself smiling. She was sure even from their first encounter that Seolhyun indeed had a physical allure, and now that was built upon by the photographer’s blissful enthusiasm. Hyejeong didn’t think she’d feel so at ease with a new acquaintance, but here she was.

 

They migrated to the spa tub area, and Seolhyun continued to take pictures of Hyejeong next to the vine walls. After a while, though, Hyejeong unexpectedly walked up to Seolhyun.

 

“Hey, why don’t you let me take pictures of you?” Hyejeong suggested.

 

The photographer immediately shook her head and waved her hands in denial. “Ah, no… I’m the photography student here, and besides, my pictures wouldn’t turn out that great anyways,” she mumbled.

 

“Pfft, nonsense. Of course they’ll look good.” Hyejeong took the camera despite Seolhyun’s protesting pout. “Back up to the wall,” she instructed, and Seolhyun did so.

 

Hyejeong didn’t know exactly what she was doing, but she continued snapping pictures of Seolhyun, who seemed to settle easily into the flow of being the model. Hyejeong inched closer, taking shots at different angles.

 

“See, your pictures are turning out well,” Hyejeong commented, still operating the camera.

 

“Yeah, well… I guess that should be enough for—ah!”

 

In the middle of Seolhyun’s sentence, her foot had slipped on the edge of the pool, and she fell towards the water. But Hyejeong’s quick reflexes allowed her to grab onto Seolhyun before the girl could drop into the pool.

 

Score, Hyejeong thought.

 

But maybe she had underestimated her strength, because when she pulled Seolhyun towards her their faces suddenly became only inches apart. That was too close, too close for either girl to feel comfortable with the depth found in the other’s eyes; with their breaths intermingling and heartbeats quickening.

 

….

 

Hyejeong panicked a bit on the inside, and without thinking, released her hold on Seolhyun and even gave a slight push; her previous rescue effort had thus been in vain, as Seolhyun entered the water with a large splash.

 

Smooth, Hyejeong! Real smooth. She mentally berated herself, but at the same time she found the situation amusing.

 

“Agh! Hey, what was that?” Seolhyun exclaimed when her head rose above water.

 

Hyejeong was about to open in response but instead she aimed the camera towards the girl in the pool and pressed the shutter button.

 

“Sorry, candid picture,” she winked. Seolhyun pouted, and Hyejeong couldn’t but smile at the expression.

 

“Alright, alright, I’ll go find a towel for you,” the taller girl conceded. She walked back towards the house, hearing Seolhyun call out the location of the linen closet. As she set the camera down on a table in the patio, she got an idea.

 

Hm, might as well have some fun now.

 

Hyejeong took off her shirt and set it on a chair, then swiftly proceeded back towards Seolhyun, who blushed furiously at the girl left in a tight, black sports bra.

 

“W-What are you doing—?”

 

Soon Seolhyun got her answer, as Hyejeong jumped into the pool beside her.

 

“I just had a sudden urge to go swimming,” Hyejeong stated when the water settled. “Sorry.”

 

Seolhyun stared the girl bemusedly. “How can you send someone you barely know falling into a pool and then proceed to remove your top and join in?”

 

Hyejeong shrugged. “Well, maybe I should come here to swim with you more often. In a swimsuit.”

 

The two stared wordlessly at each other, the tension comfortably subsiding. Although without warning, Seolhyun splashed a wall of water in Hyejeong’s face and leaped out of the small pool to jump into the bigger one. Hyejeong whipped her head around to face the grinning girl.

 

“Really? That’s how it’s gonna be?” Hyejeong leaned on the edge of the spa pool. “After all the help I gave you for your project?”

 

Seolhyun’s eyes widened in realization, and she took a couple steps back towards the brunette. “Oh! Um, sorry, thanks for helping me out… But to be fair, you kinda pushed me into the pool.”

 

“You’re exaggerating. I didn’t really ‘shove’ you in or anything. You fell on your own, which, by the way, I saved you from the first time.”

 

“…Thank you for trying.”

 

The taller girl then stepped out of the water, smirking to herself. “Well, I guess that’s it for me. I should get going so I can eat. You have enough pictures, right?” she spoke.

 

“Um, yeah, yeah, for now,” Seolhyun answered, stepping out of the pool herself. “But hey, I can order some food so you can eat here and don’t have to go home all wet.” Her expression turned sheepish at Hyejeong’s calculating gaze. “I-If you want?”

 

“Sure, that sounds like a good idea.” Hyejeong said.

 

Then we can hang out more.

 

Seolhyun’s face gradually brightened. “O-Okay!” She gave the other girl a once-over, and slightly bit her lip in contemplation.

 

Would it be right for me to take some more pictures of her now? Seolhyun questioned herself. Because no, she’s not currently wearing a shirt so then I could—

 

Towels, Seolhyun. Just go get them!

 

She gave herself a nod. “Hold on, I’ll be right back,” she said, and left to go fetch towels for the two. Hyejeong’s gaze followed the girl.

 

It had not been her original intention to try and be friendly with Seolhyun. She had noticed the black-haired girl at school multiple times, but was only really able to understand and appreciate her curiosity when the two came across each other in the hall earlier that day.

 

Hyejeong had taken a liking to Seolhyun. A strong liking.

 

She enjoyed the girl’s amiable personality—it was a flawless match with her charming looks. Even if Hyejeong wasn’t much one for cheery people, she found herself ready and willing to settle into Seolhyun’s flow. The couple hours they had spent taking pictures gave Hyejeong enough time and circumstance to concede to the fact that they should become friends.

 

Or more? Heh, good luck with that, she told herself.

 

---

 

The end! Fin! 끝! 

Thanks for reading this story :)

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