Sun Ae waited impatiently inside of the family portraits shop. She had put in her application about a month ago and they had just called her back in for an interview. Everything had gone fine, she had raced out with barely any sleep and brought her portfolio along only to find that it was a mistake and they had already filled the position. The lady at the front desk said she'd check for her if there were any open positions, but she still wasn't back and Sun Ae knew she was just doing it out of pity. But it was alright, taking endless photographs of families without end wasn't exactly the type of photography job she aimed for she thought as she looked around at the sample portraits. They were all the same, no creativity, no novelty, just the families against a bleak grey background all with what they must have thought looked like easygoing smiles.

She couldn’t wait to get out of this place.

Her parents were still furious though and most people didn’t get it. Why would someone whose grades are so high ever not go to college? For all intents and purposes, she was basically considered the failure of her high school. Choosing to be a photographer was not a popular choice in this stuck up private school she went to. But in the end, Sun Ae didn’t really care. Her parents were bound to get over it anyways, they couldn’t be eternally disappointed right? Well, they could if the photography choice was a huge failure, but Sun Ae chose to remain positive.

"I'm sorry, but I coudln't find anything" The woman said as she returned with an awkward smile.

"That's fine" Sun Ae answered quickly, ignoring the stab of disappointment that came up despite how crappy the job would have been, "Thanks for your time"

She let out a tired breath as she stepped out of the store. She recalled the sideway glances from her classmates who had chosen to dub her as most likely to end up homeless in the future. Really, there was not a shred of creativity in that school either.

But she loved what she was going to do. She loved it with every fiber of her being. It was her big dream and she would reach it. She smiled as she got on her bike and headed home. There was just something about taking photographs that made her feel alive. It’s like there’s two worlds and once she got behind the camera she could see the hidden beauty of things. Light would strike surfaces differently, shapes almost seemed to change, there would just be a sort of natural and raw history and the possibility of capturing it in a photograph blew her away every time.

One day, she mused silently as she neared her apartment, her photographs would be featured in galleries. For now it was alright. It would be hard, but it was fine. Nothing comes without a price anyways.

As she reached her door though she paused as she blinked up at a white envelope taped to her front door in the same manner that she had done last night. She scoffed as yanked the envelope off and went inside. A spark of curiosity came over her at the surprise that her complaint letter had actually gotten a response.

Dear 14B,

First of all, don’t be offended because some of us know how to have fun. I figure I would simply ignore your cowardly letter, but the way you elephant stomp in the mornings makes me think you’re not over this issue yet. I see no reason to change my lifestyle for you especially since you make hangovers so fun for me.

04A

Cowardly letter… Elephant stomp…?!

Sun Ae rolled her eyes and threw the letter off to the side. She threw her portfolio off to the sofa and collapsed alongside it. She closed her eyes and smiled as she enjoyed the peaceful silence that was so rare lately. She frowned as the words in the letter ran through her mind again. Really, how could he even have the decency to write back especially after what she had heard the night before? She shuddered in disgust as she remembered and dragged her feet as she forced herself to sit up. She blinked over at her TV only to remember there was nothing for her to do.

It didn't matter that she had forced her parents to enroll her in a top notch photography apprentice program as she finished out her last years of high school. It didn't matter that she had graduated from both places with high grades. All that anyone would care about was that it was now a month after graduation and no one had even wanted to hire her.

It will be fine. Somewhere out there someone is bound to need a photographer soon. I just have to wait for a chance...  She thought as she stared at her blank TV for a second longer and finally simply turned it on.

She watched a few airing dramas and variety shows and after a few hours she went off to make herself an omelet when her phone rang.

“Hello?” She answered, too tired to check the caller ID.

“Sun Ae! What are you doing?” An excited voice said on the other side.

“I thought you were in Japan?” She replied as she rolled her eyes at his happy tone.

“It doesn’t mean I can’t call you know” Taemin said calmly as he sat back in the plane that was about to take off for Korea.

“I guess not. So why did you call?”

“I missed you” He answered honestly, allowing his voice to lose its chipper tone.

“Um… thanks I guess" She said awkwardly as she waited for him to say something else,"Did you uh... have fun performing over there?"

"Yeah it was amazing, I wish you would have come seen me once" He said as he stared out the plane window, wondering what she was doing.

"I still had school. I wasn't about to drop it all just to see a concert. Taemin I gotta go now” She said quickly.

“Wait I wanted to tell you I’m—“ He began before she hung up on him.

He sighed as he stared at his phone for a few seconds longer. He knew he had stepped past their unspoken boundaries. That I miss you thing was too much, but he couldn’t help it. It was the truth. But it was also something she didn’t want to hear. That was her condition if they were going to try to be friends, nothing more. No matter how much he wanted it.

Sun Ae stared at the phone and bit her lip wondering if she had been too harsh with Taemin. Being friends was a bad idea. She knew it had been a bad idea from the start, but it's not like that would have stopped him from coming around all the time.  Taemin would understand. It was his fault anyways. She looked down and thought about that night and a ghostly pain echoed in her chest.

She shook her head clear of the thoughts that usually came up when Taemin called and instead tried to come up with something to distract herself with. She went to close her windows, the sun had already disappeared and her eyes flickered to the white envelope.

She smiled and ran to get paper and a pen.

~~~~~~

“There’s another one!” Baekhyun announced to no one in particular as he and Jong In walked into the latter’s apartment after training.

“I told you she would write back” Jong In said as he grinned and snatched the letter from Baekhyun’s hand.

“What does it say?” He asked.

“Shh I’m reading”

04A,

I see you’re not taking my concerns seriously. I only stomp around because if you have no regards for me then why should I? Like you said, ‘I see no reason to change my lifestyle’. BY THE WAY, when you have um… private company, keep it down because the walls are thin. Although I have a feeling you already knew that. Anyways, it’s uncomfortable to listen to. At least try to find girls who know how to keep it classy.

14B

Jong In laughed and immediately went over to get some paper.

“Weren’t you just telling me how exhausted you were after tonight’s training?” Baekhyun asked as he saw him eagerly pull out a pen too.

“When’s the last time you had an exchange of angry handwritten letters Baek? Seriously, this girl’s hilarious. You wanna know what she did last night too?” He said excitedly as he sat down and started jotting down his response.

“Let me guess, stomped around?” Baekhyun joked as he got a glass of water.

“No, well actually yes, but that’s not the point. She was playing DBSK ballads all freaking night. It was actually kind of ridiculous” Jong In said with a smirk as he finished out his letter.

“Those are our sunbaes you’re talking about”

“We both know they’re talented, but there’s only so many DBSK ballads a straight man can take in one night”

“You’re generalizing men” Baekhyun mumbled.

“Baekhyun. Shut up” Jong in said with a laugh as he placed the letter in the envelope, grabbed some tape and immediately headed downstairs with a simple wave goodbye.

On his way, he halfway hoped he might catch her coming out of her house or something, but then that would kill the suspense he supposed. Still, this was pretty fun he admitted to himself with a smile as he carefully taped the letter to the door. He paused for a second as he heard someone shuffling around inside.

Alright, now he was getting creepy. With a shake of his head he headed back downstairs to find an amused Baekhyun waiting for him.

“Do you like this mysterious letter writer?” He asked bluntly as Jong In came inside.

“Ha! I’d have to see what she looks like first”

“Attraction isn’t always about looks” Baekhyun said knowingly.

“For me it is. Plus I’ve got two dates tomorrow. I’m meeting the niece and later the cousin of one of the shareholders. They’re pretty enough, why would I try to complicate my busy schedule with another girl who won’t help us get anywhere?” He answered honestly.

Baekhyun shook his head in disappointment at his friend’s jaded vision of relationships. He knew he really wanted to debut, but sometimes he wished Jong In would have a real relationship without always thinking about what the benefits it would be for his career. Still, even though he disagreed with the way his friend lived, he knew he had good intentions deep, deep inside.

“By the way, did you hear Taemin is coming back?”

“Yeah, he called me today. I seriously can’t wait until he gets back it’s been forever since we’ve all hung out!” Jong In said excitedly as he subtly stole a look to the ceiling and wondered when he would get his next response.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Happy holidays!!! I've just finshed the first round of family dinners and awkward conversations (there will be more for New Years) xD I wish I could have updated earlier, but it's hard to write when your entire family is stomping around your house hahaha ^^  Also I'm working on making a poster for this fic, it takes me a while (and I'm pretty bad at it lol) so I should be done by... someday lol

Since my family is mostly gone here's an update and thanks for reading! :)