Chapter 22: The Photoshoot

“Youngmi-ah! Hurry up; we’re going to be late for the photoshoot!”

Heechul yelled from downstairs. He hated being late on appointments, he always made it a point to be on time and he even woke 2 hours earlier to get himself ready for this occasion but apparently for Youngmi, she just had to stay up so late last night.

“Aish, this girl really”

He muttered under his breath as he plopped down on the sofa. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hand together.

“Aigo ~ you two argue like a married couple already”

He jumped off the seat and turned to see Mrs. Nam entering the living room from the kitchen with a tray of two cups in hand. Heechul got flustered and was embarrassed for yelling like that, he completely forgot that the lady was there! Immediately he bowed in apology and took the tray from the lady setting it down on the glass centre table.

“Sorry for yelling umma”

The lady chuckled and sat down as did Heechul. Seeing as she was reaching for the glass, Heechul immediately took the cup and handed it to the lady with a smile and she thanked him with a nod of appreciation then Heechul took his own cup and gave it a long sip.

For a moment, he felt like he was in heaven. Mrs. Nam’s cups of coffee were always the best and he often has mistaken it for coffee. He doesn’t know how she does it and up until now it has remained a mystery, even Youngmi doesn’t know about it.

Meanwhile, upstairs, as Youngmi was finishing the last few buttons of her shirt when her phone sounded off. Quickly fixing her shirt, she grabbed her phone and glanced at the caller I.D., her unnie was calling.

“Yeoboseyo?”

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THAT BRAIN OF YOURS?!”

An annoyed sigh escaped Youngmi’s lips as she held the phone a bit farther away to keep her drums from breaking.

“What are you talking about?”

“DAMN IT! YOU VERY WELL KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT! IT’S ALL OVER THE NEWS IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW!”

“What the hell? Can you just get straight to the point?”

“YOUNGMI, HEECHUL IS TROUBLE! IF IT WEREN’T FOR HIM, YOU WOULD NOT GET TREATED THIS WAY! Please Youngmi, I don’t want you to spend the rest of your life under shackles of security guards and the heavy burden of people having their eyes on your every move!”

Youngmi fell quiet. Her unnie was just concerned, she was fully aware of that and she has only come to a realization that her unnie must have seen the news. She didn’t even know that it was on the news. She sat infront of her desk and opened up her laptop, searching the internet for the latest news and sure enough, it was on the front page of a famed Korean News website.

Dr. Nam Youngmi faces another hale storm from antis.

Looks like being the fiancée of Big Space Star & Super Junior member, Kim Heechul is not as easy and carefree as many may think. Take it from the young Dr. Nam, she has yet again faced another attack in her own home and this time it looks serious people. According to sources, the doctor got hurt after an unknown person –possibly an anti- threw a rock as big as a fist at her bedroom window.

Damage to property is serious offense; the last attack that happened, the guilty girls faced serious offenses with the police and some even got expelled! Wow, well this people, is the reality of having a star for a soon-to-be husband.

There were more articles and some even had photos of her broken window. She turned back her attention to the phone to which her unnie repeatedly called her name.

“Well what do you want me to do? Call off the wedding?”

Her unnie was quiet on the other line and she very well knew what that silence meant. All of a sudden she felt a rage in her stomach and her heart; her brows creased and frowned, her grasp on the phone tightened too and she slammed the laptop close.

“I just want you to be safe Youngmi”

She bit her lip as tears slowly made their way on the edge of her eyes threatening to fall at any given moment.

“I love him”

She put her phone down and blinked away the unshed tears. She reapplied powder on her face and made her way downstairs to see Heechul standing by the doorway, ready to go.

“Shall we?”

He opened the door for her; they both bid the lady goodbye and went on their way. Youngmi strapped herself in the passenger’s seat as Heechul buckled up his seatbelt and started the car.

The drive was pretty quiet and for Heechul it was odd because normally they would have something to talk about; Youngmi would always come up with something to say just to keep the situation from becoming awkward.

“Are you okay?”

He asked; she snapped out from her daze and turned to him, forcing a smile and gave a nod.

“Liar”

She let out a sigh and looked out the window of passing cars and people strolling down the streets.

“You should tell me”

He stated with a smile but she only mumbled

“It’s nothing oppa”

Heechul puffed out a breath, taking a turn. Youngmi was just so quiet so what he did was he kept one hand on the steering wheel and the other reached for her hand, clasping it and giving it a squeeze making Youngmi look down at it and then turned to him who gave her a quick glance before concentrating back on the road.

“Set your worries aside Youngmi; we’ll have fun today, I promise”

Her heart couldn’t help but flutter at his simple words. This was the side of Heechul that she rarely saw because he was normally a crazy and self-obsessed fool –theatrically speaking. But Heechul did infact possess this kind of attitude, he knew how to make her feel better but most of the time... worst.

She intertwined her hand with his and gave it an equal squeeze then with a soft smile at him she stated

“Thanks Heechul”

Heechul laughed

“Dramatic little pig”

She squeezed his hand harder making him let out a cry of pain. He took his hand away and shook it several times before placing it back on the steering wheel with its pair.

“Aish, that hurt”

He pouted cutely making her let out a giggle.

-

The couple entered the quiet place where the shoot was to be held; the small office doors opened and they both went in seeing the photoshoot coordinator sitting inside; she smiled upon seeing the two of them.

“Welcome Mr. Kim, Ms. Nam”

“Annyeong Haseyo”

Heechul shook hands with her followed by Youngmi. The lady introduced herself and explained what was going to happen;

“So you two will go down with me and pick out your first costumes for the first concept shoot”

They all stood up from their seats and headed down some stairs and in there, it was paradise for wedding. Gowns of so many elegant designs hung on either sides of the walls, to the left hall was where all the tuxedos were and to the right hall was a room filled with mirrors, 2 chairs and 2 changing rooms then there was another hall leading to the dressing room where the make up was done and then straight up was stairs leading out to the garden.

“Omo ~ so many!”

Heechul smiled seeing the sparkle in Youngmi’s eyes. He only realized how important a wedding was for her and though he was stubborn at first to do it the modern way he eventually gave in because truth was, he wanted to make her happy beginning with everything.

“Please pick one out Ms. Nam”

Heechul glanced over his left and one immediately caught his attention. It was a tube type of gown, diamond studded belt around the waistline and the skirt puffed up graciously stopping a little bit above the knee. It was cute and he definitely thought that it would suit Youngmi’s figure and make her look tall.

“Try this one”

He said, picking out the gown and handing it to her earning him a look of surprise from her while the lady smiled.

“This will suit you Ms. Nam, it will make you look tall and may I just say that Mr. Kim has quite the taste for weddings”

Heechul earned himself a prideful smile as Youngmi chuckled and took the gown in her hands.

“Alright but if I don’t like it then I choose another”

“Neh, neh now I’ll go choose mine”

He said trudging off to the next hall while Youngmi was led to the changing rooms.

After changing their outfits, Heechul was first to open his curtains. He was standing on a platform and saw himself in the full length mirrors; he was wearing an all white tuxedo with a rose in the pocket and a red tie and he even wore white shoes.

“Are you done jagiya?”

“Neh! Just a minute”

Heechul puffed out a sigh facing the mirror once again to fix his hair. Without warning, the curtain opened and what he saw next seemed to have stunned him in his place.

The dress hugged Youngmi perfectly; she wore sparkly white heels and her fair white skin was exposed beautifully. She looked like an angel; she was simply glowing in his eyes. After awhile of staring, he felt his cheeks go numb making him look away and Youngmi laughed at his reaction.

“Aegyo ~ you look handsome oppa!”

She stated feeling her cheeks grow numb too so she covered them with her hands. Heechul stuck a hand in his pocket and coughed to the side.

“You look beautiful too”

For the very first time in his life he actually felt embarrassed and shy and simply, utterly speechless infront of a girl. Not just any girl but the girl he was going to spend the rest of his life with in less than 7 months. The lady entered the scene and they both gave an approval of satisfaction so off they headed for make up.

 Cinderella

The couple met the photographer for the shoot; he was quite the gagman to say the least making jokes every now and then. The first concept was Cinderella.

“You will take off one shoe Youngmi-ssi and Heechul-ssi will find it and you must make it seem like you’re running off”

He explained and Youngmi nodded, intently paying attention to what the photographer instructed. Heechul raised his hand in protest and asked

“Can we do it the other way around?”

It was quiet for a moment then Youngmi sniggered. The photographer got a bit confused at first but then laughed it off realizing what Heechul foresaw.

“Okay, let’s make this a fun shoot neh?”

The photographer said and so they got into positions; the background was something castle like, Heechul took off his shoe and Youngmi bent down to pick it up, with a dramatic pose: mouth open, hand close to mouth, the shoeless foot sticking back out in open air. The photographer took the snap.

Heechul changed positions but still with the same hand gesture and face, he faced Youngmi who now stood up and was holding the shoe in hand. SNAP. SNAP. SNAP.

Youngmi walked over to Heechul, bent down gracefully and fitted the shoe, Heechul stuck out his foot making it seem like he was fitting the shoe with still the same expression and hand gesture. SNAP. SNAP. SNAP.

Youngmi stood up, he was smiling as she then bent forward and gave a kiss on his cheek making him fluster. SNAP. SNAP. SNAP.

“That was great!”

Heechul turned to Youngmi and kissed her forehead.

Alice in Wonderland

Under a big tree was a round table, set up with tea cups, pastries of all sorts, sugar, tea pot and other what not’s then there were two chairs placed beside each other. Heechul sat on the left side and found a top-hat; he put it on and sat down as Youngmi took the seat on the right chair.

“Alice in Wonderland ~”

Youngmi said in a cute voice making Heechul snort a laugh as he picked up a tea cup. They both faced the photographer, Heechul held out his cup to Youngmi as she poured down some tea on to it. SNAP.

“Is this safe to drink?”

He asked one of the staff organizers of the shoot and she nodded a yes so he took a sip as Youngmi stared lovingly at him as he drank like a sir, holding his pinky up. SNAP. SNAP.

He noticed her stare and held out his cup to her lips catching her in surprise for his sudden action. SNAP. SNAP.

“Beautiful!”

The photographer exclaimed but the two completely ignored him;

-

They lost count of how many photos they took, there were three more concepts after the two and eventually both grew tired. Before the sun could set, there was one final piece they wanted to take so the puzzle would be completed. There was a mini-castle, the two climbed all the way top and facing each other, and the photographer took three shots.

Heechul smiled as did she. SNAP.

Slowly they moved closer. SNAP.

And kissed. SNAP.