Kwangmi strolled down the streets of Seoul, camera in hand.  Film was a lot harder to use than digital.  She couldn’t just delete the pictures she didn’t like –every picture counted.  Kwangmi didn’t want to waste film.  Besides, she had to develop all the photographs herself.  The assignment was a double theme, consisting of relationships and body parts.  She had chosen solely black and white for this assignment.  As she neared an ice cream parlor, a little boy stood outside with tears streaming down his face, his fists trying to wipe away the streaks.  A broken ice cream cone lay splattered all over the asphalt, a small puddle of mint green slowly oozing outwards.  A girl who looked a bit younger than Kwangmi stood next to the boy, glaring at him.

“I told you to be careful!  Why don’t you ever listen to me?  You are so stupid!” the teenage girl scolded the boy, resulting in more sobs from the latter. 

A strange mix of anger and compassion stirred in Kwangmi’s heart –anger at the girl for hurting the boy and compassion for the child and the anguish he must be feeling.

She approached the two, crouching down in front of the boy, eye level with him.

“Hey, don’t cry.  It’s just ice cream.  I can buy you a new one,” Kwangmi soothed in a small and quiet voice.  Of course, she knew he was probably more upset with the girl’s reaction than with the wasted ice cream, but she figured she would fix what she could.  “Do you want me to buy you a new one?”

The little boy sniffled, his sobs now coming out as little whimpers, and nodded vigorously.  Kwangmi nodded appreciatively.  “Okay, but let’s not let this opportunity go to waste.  Will you do something for me?”  Immediately, the boy nodded again, willing to do anything for this nice person.  “Now, this will sound weird, but can you take off your shoes for me?  I want to take a picture of your feet with the ice cream.  We’ll just set them aside for a little bit and then you can put them back on once I’m done, okay?  Will you do that for me?”

“Hey, what is this that you are asking him to do?  Joon, don’t listen to her.  Let’s just go home,” the girl snapped, attempting at grabbing the boy, Joon, by the wrist.

He violently wrenched away from her, moving closer to Kwangmi.  By this time, the trio was attracting curious glances from the passersby.

Kwangmi looked up at the stranger calmly.  “I promise it will only take a moment, and I’ll just be getting his feet, nothing else.”  Glaring, the girl retracted her hand and Kwangmi turned back to Joon.  “Let’s get these off.” 

She assisted in taking of his shoes, putting them out of the way.  She also positioned the boy, pointing his feet towards the sticky mess.  He was wearing shorts, and when Kwangmi brought up her camera, all she could see within the borders were bare skin, cement, and melting ice cream.  Quickly, Kwangmi adjusted the settings on the camera to better accommodate the lighting, then snapped three or four pictures, each one angled precisely.  Once finished, Kwangmi leaned back, lowering her camera.

“There.  All done.  Was that too bad?”  Joon shook his head.  “Good, now let’s get your shoes on.”  She again helped him don his sandals.  “Do you see?  You can always find the good things in a situation, even ruined ice cream.  I couldn’t have gotten that awesome picture if you hadn’t dropped it.  So thank you for that.” 

Kwangmi smiled gently at the boy and he smiled back at her.  Rising, Kwangmi reached out her hand for Joon to take, which he did, and led him back into the ice cream parlor.  She brought him back up to the glass displays so he could pick out a flavor.  The girl angrily stomped after them.  Inside, the air chilled, a much needed relief from the oppressive heat outside.  Vibrant colors of lime, fuchsia and sunny yellow coupled with wacky art sculptures of the same hues decorated the space.  The area was fun and a kid’s dreamland of cold, sugary treats.  Joon picked out his flavor of choice and Kwangmi ordered it for him, smiling satisfactorily when the little boy reached out and took his ice cream.  Before she could pass over the money, a bill was slapped down on the counter.  Startled, Kwangmi peered over her shoulder at the other girl. 

“I can pay for my own brother’s ice cream.  I don’t need some stranger doing my job,” she spat.  “Come on, Joon.  Let’s go.”

Not upset by his sister’s cruel tone anymore, Joon followed after the girl, looking back to wave and smile at Kwangmi as they left.  Kwangmi returned the gestures happily.  Once, they had left, she turned back to the man behind the counter.

“May I get some napkins, please?”