Haseul was so cute it was unbearable. Everything from the way she walked to the way she scrunched her nose before she sneezed was adorable. Sooyoung had avoided her like the plague, going out of her way to stand on the other side of the room or excuse herself from any social situations when she was involved. Sooyoung heard from Jungeun that Haseul was convinced she hated her, and she figured it was better that way. Less of a chance of making a fool of herself. That is, until today.

 

   “Alright, everyone, draw a stick,” the professor called out, holding out a fist with several white sticks coming out of the top. “Whoever has a stick the same length as yours is your partner for today.”

 

   After a few grumbles and groans, everyone in the class was abuzz with comparing straws to find their partners. Sooyoung found Jungeun first, but no match.

 

   “,” Jungeun said. “I don’t like anyone else in this class.”

 

   “You like Vivi,” Sooyoung said, pointing at a petite brunette nodding along as she listened to another classmate’s story.

 

   “As if I could talk to Vivi,” Jungeun scoffed. “She’s, like, untouchable. Everyone likes her.”

 

   At that moment, Jinsoul was making her way to Jungeun and Sooyoung, holding her stick out in front of her. They silently compared lengths and Jinsoul groaned at the sight of her stick matching Jungeun’s exactly.

 

   “I guess we’re stuck together,” Jungeun grumbled.

 

   Jinsoul rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she stood beside her. Sooyoung looked at her own stick and scanned the room. Nearly everyone had found their match, except…

 

   “,” Sooyoung whispered to herself.

 

   On the other side of the room, behind a couple that had schmoozed matching sticks off of other people to match with each other, stood a short-haired, brown-eyed life-ruiner looking lost and confused at her own stick. Sooyoung closed her eyes for a brief moment and took a deep breath to prepare herself. She walked over to Haseul, whose eyes widened the closer she got, and flashed a weak smile.

 

   “It looks like we’re the only ones left,” Sooyoung said as she held up her stick.

 

    Haseul held up her stick to Sooyoung’s and, as expected, they lined up perfectly. Sooyoung saw Haseul swallow down a lump in as she tried to smile back. She turned to the front of the room when the professor spoke up above the others.

 

   “Now that everyone has their partners, here’s your assignment,” he said. “Each pair will choose a subject and take photos of it in different lighting arrangements. The subject can be anything — people, things, places, whatever you want. Just make sure you take photos of it from different angles and with different lighting. This is to help you identify and understand how lighting can affect the mood and story of your photography. You have one week to work together and present a portfolio of at least 10 of your best photographs. Any questions?”

 

   Jungeun was the only one to raise her hand.

 

   “No, you cannot submit photography,” the professor said with a sigh.

 

   Jungeun put her hand down and pouted.

 

   “If there is nothing else, class is dismissed.”

 

   The room erupted with sound again from students packing their things and talking amongst themselves. Sooyoung turned to Haseul, who was slipping her notebook into a small backpack.

 

    “So, uh... “ Sooyoung said, unsure of how to proceed. “Should we figure out a time to meet up?”

 

    “Yeah,” Haseul said as she zipped up her backpack. “Here, give me your phone number.”

 

    Haseul pulled her phone out from her back pocket and opened up a new contact screen. She handed it to Sooyoung who took it quickly, trying to hide her shaky hands as much as possible. She held the phone with an iron grip, typing as quickly as she could, but still making several mistakes. When she finally managed to set up the information, she drop called herself to get Haseul’s number as well.

 

    “There you go,” Sooyoung said, holding the phone out to Haseul.

 

    “Thanks,” Haseul replied as she stuffed it back into her pocket. “I’ll see you around?”

 

    “Yeah,” Sooyoung said and hurried out of the room to join Jungeun outside.

 

    Sooyoung could see Jungeun smirking deviously and did her best to ignore it and keep looking straight ahead, until she felt a jab in the side as they walked.

 

   “You got her number,” Jungeun said when Sooyoung looked over.

 

   Sooyoung rolled her eyes and walked faster, but Jungeun just ran ahead and walked backwards in front of her. She wiggled her eyebrows ceaselessly until Sooyoung stuck her foot out behind one of Jungeun’s legs, causing her to trip and nearly fall.

 

   “You should be thanking Professor Lee,” Jungeun said. “He basically created this project for you two to meet. Now you have to talk to her and not run away from her, which I don’t understand why you do in the first place.”

 

   “I don’t run away from her, I just…” Sooyoung paused, trying to think of an excuse. “Don’t want to bother her.”

 

    “She’s not a scary person, Sooyoung. She’s just a regular girl like you and me.”

 

    “No,” Sooyoung said. “She’s beyond regular. She’s... “

 

    Sooyoung sighed wistfully, looking down at the ground as she walked. She didn’t have the words to describe Haseul. How do you describe perfection?

 

    “You’re pathetic, dude,” Jungeun said with a groan.

 

    Sooyoung shoved her shoulder as they parted ways for their next classes.

 

**

 

    That night, Sooyoung arrived home and threw her bag onto the couch on her way to the kitchen, where her mother was chopping vegetables for dinner.

 

    “Need any help?” Sooyoung asked.

 

    “No, I’m almost finished here,” her mother replied. “How were your classes?”

 

    “Fine, I have a new project in photography and a maths test in a couple of days.”

 

    “Study hard, I know you’ll do well.”

 

    “Thanks, mom,” Sooyoung said as she looked around.

 

    “Is Yerim home?” she asked.

 

    “Yes, she should be up in her room,” her mother replied as she dropped the vegetables into a pan. “Will you go tell her wash up? Dinner will be ready soon.”

 

    Sooyoung nodded and went up the stairs to Yerim’s room, stopping in the living room on the way to grab her bag. Yerim’s door was locked, as usual, so she knocked a few times to get her attention. The door swung open and Yerim looked up at Sooyoung, annoyed.

 

    “What?” Yerim asked.

 

    “Dinner’s almost ready, mom said to wash up and head downstairs,” Sooyoung said.

 

    “Okay,” Yerim replied before shutting the door in her face and locking the door again.

 

    Sooyoung shook her head and headed to her room. Yerim used to be a ball of sunshine and rainbows, but ever since she turned 15 she’d just been a huge brat. She hardly left her room unless she had to, and never wanted to leave the house for family outings. It was a long-winded battle every time they wanted to go out to dinner, and sometimes they fought so long they didn’t go out at all. Sooyoung wasn’t sure what had gotten into her, but she also didn’t try to push it either.

 

    Sooyoung felt her pocket vibrate and she pulled out her phone to find a text from Haseul.

 

    Haseul: Hey! Are you free tomorrow afternoon to work on the project?

 

    Sooyoung felt her body tense up slightly at the thought of hanging out with her alone. She cursed at herself for letting something so simple affect her.

 

    Sooyoung: Sure! I get out of my last class at 2:00. Does that work?

 

    Haseul: Works for me! See you then!

 

    “Sooyoung, let’s go!” Yerim shouted from the doorway.

 

    Sooyoung jumped at the sound, but she threw her phone onto the bed and headed downstairs to eat.

 

**

    “So what’s your game plan?” Jungeun asked.

 

    “My what?” Sooyoung replied.

 

    “Your game plan. How are you going to woo Haseul while you work on this project together?”

 

    “There is no game plan. I’m going to do the project with her, get an A, and we move on with our lives without talking or looking at each other like we did before.”

 

    Jungeun looked at Sooyoung with half-lidded eyes and her lips pressed together, annoyance spread across her face. Sooyoung simply shrugged back. She was serious.

 

    “You don’t think you guys might just, I don’t know, become friends through this?” Jungeun asked.

 

    Sooyoung looked away, considering the possibility. She assumed Haseul was probably a nice enough person, but just the thought of being around her made Sooyoung so nervous, she could never see putting herself through it on a regular basis. The truth would come out and everything would fall to shambles.

 

    “Nope, can’t see it,” Sooyoung decided.

 

    “Well, get it together for now, because she’s walking over here,” Jungeun said, pointing away from where they sat.

 

    Sooyoung searched and saw Haseul’s petite figure making its way toward their table. They had decided to meet in the patio outside the student center at 2:30, which had come much sooner than Sooyoung anticipated. Jungeun tapped her on the shoulder and gave a thumbs up before darting off in the opposite direction. Haseul made eye contact and waved, but Sooyoung pretended not to see and looked down at her notebook instead. It wasn’t until Haseul was sitting across from her that Sooyoung even acknowledged her presence.

 

    “Hey,” Haseul said brightly.

 

    “Hey,” Sooyoung replied. “H-how are you?”

 

    “Tired,” Haseul said with a sigh. “But good. How are you?”

 

    “I’m okay.”

 

    “Okay, so have you thought about what our subject should be?”

 

    “A little. I was thinking we could do like a piece of fruit and maybe within the photos show the passage of time by letting it start to rot?”

 

    Haseul nodded and wrote the idea down in her notebook. Her handwriting was bubbly and neat, completely unlike Sooyoung’s rushed and slanted cursive. Sooyoung noticed the way her fingers curved around her pen in the way her kindergarten teacher told her was the “correct” way to write.

 

    “That would be an interesting idea,” Haseul said. “I was thinking maybe a human subject might be a good way to showcase how different lighting can display different emotions, even if the face is the same.”

 

    “That sounds good, too. I think we should do that.”

 

    Haseul had started to write down her idea, but stopped at Sooyoung’s statement and looked up through some hair that had fallen into her face.

 

    “Do you not want to brainstorm a little more?”

 

    Sooyoung smiled at the way Haseul’s eyebrows pinched together when she was confused. She just wanted to do whatever Haseul wanted to do.

 

    “No, I think your idea is perfect,” Sooyoung said.

   

    “Okay,” Haseul said, tucking her hair back behind her ear. “Who should we take pictures of?”

 

    Sooyoung had to very seriously resist the urge to say “you.”

 

    “Hmm,” Sooyoung hummed, tapping a finger against her nose. “We should find someone comfortable in front of a camera. Maybe we can enlist someone in the theatre department?”

 

    “Do you know anyone in the theatre department?” Haseul asked.

 

    Sooyoung pressed her lips together and shook her head. She hardly had friends outside of Jungeun.

 

    “I mean we could probably do it with anyone,” Sooyoung said after a moment. “I did some modeling as a teenager, I could probably coach them on how to sit properly.”

 

    “You modeled?” Haseul asked, sitting up straight.

 

    “I did a few shoots for a glasses company when I was like 16, but they were only for a national campaign.”

 

    Haseul stared at Sooyoung for a moment before breaking out into a laugh.

 

    “‘Only a national campaign’ she says,” Haseul said between laughs. “You’re a professional, we should just use you!”

 

    “M-me? Nooo no no no,” Sooyoung protested, waving a hand between them. “I don’t need to be back in front of a camera.”

 

    “Why not? You’re gorgeous, I’m sure it would be way more interesting than any of the other submissions.”

 

    Sooyoung stared down at her notebook with wide eyes. Haseul had just very casually complimented her appearance as if it was nothing, and now Sooyoung was afraid she would never be able to look her in the eye again. She heard Haseul close her notebook and tuck it away in her bag.

 

   “Hey, I just remembered I have to talk to my professor before his office hours are over so I gotta jet, but I think we’re all set, right? Do you want to meet up tomorrow to start taking photos?”

 

   Sooyoung could only nod slowly, still looking down at her notebook.

 

   “Great! I’ll text you later to figure out the time. Bye, Sooyoung!”

 

   Sooyoung waved meekly and ran her fingers through her hair. This was going to be harder than she thought.