Her foot landed and she placed her weight on it.  A loud snap cracked in ears as the branch gave way.  The girl couldn’t even scream before the limb dropped from beneath her.  Losing her balance, she started going down with it.  Her fingers clutched at merciless bark, scraping her vulnerable skin.  No thoughts had the time to pass through her paralyzed mind.  The freefall lasted mere seconds and then her fingers managed to grab onto something.  Or rather, something grabbed onto her.

Eyes wide, she locked her brown irises with Minwoo’s.  His eyes round with fear, he held tight to her hand, refusing to let her fall.  Her rather quick descent halted, Kwangmi managed to find her footing on a thicker, steadier bough.

Hesitantly, Minwoo released her hand to join her.  “Are you okay?”

Smile only slightly wobbly, she nodded.  “Yep, thanks.  That could have ended a lot worse if it weren’t for you.  Should we try climbing another tree?”

Minwoo couldn’t believe this girl.  He appeared more shaken than she did about this ordeal.  She could have fallen to her death and how did she handle it?  ‘Oh, no big deal.  It’s all fine now.  Let’s keep playing.’  Did she have no sense of self-preservation?

“Minwoo,” Kwangmi sang.  “Minwoo, are you there?  Anyone home?”  She waved a hand in front of his face, catching his attention.

“Are you okay?” he asked again, this time his words insinuating a double meaning.

“Of course I am.  No broken bones.  That’s always a plus.”  She gave him a sweet smile.  Sitting down on a lower, thicker branch, clinging to the trunk, her feet swung back and forth in open air.

Minwoo took a place close to her on a separate limb, facing her.  “And you’re not dead,” he added.

Kwangmi waved his statement off.  “Dying is overrated.”

“Unless you die,” he pointed out.

Again, she brushed it aside.  “Please, Death doesn’t want me.  Just likes flirting with me.”

“Or you like flirting with Death,” Minwoo quipped.

“Either way, there’s a lot of flirting going on.”  She sighed heavily.  “Kevin doesn’t like it.  Well, I’m sorry.  It’s not my fault I’m so accident prone.”

“How do you think your brother will handle hearing about this?” Minwoo asked.

“I don’t plan on telling him.  Honestly, if Kevin knew even half of the situations I got myself into, he would put me under house arrest permanently.”  Kwangmi shuddered at the thought.

Minwoo couldn’t keep his gaze off of the girl across the way, mesmerized.  “Your parents wouldn’t allow that.”  Minwoo teased.

The girl scoffed.  “Yeah, right.  They don’t care.  They’re too busy with their own companies.  They don’t have time to worry about an accident prone child and her older brother.”  The acidic words singed the air, creating a tension that wasn’t there before.  They caught Minwoo off guard.

“Um, I’m sorry about that,” he mumbled awkwardly.  How was he supposed to respond to such vehemence from such a person?

He didn’t remain lost for long, for the bright smile returned with brilliance, the previous scowl nowhere to be found.  “I think play time is over.  Let’s go take more pictures,” she chirped, hopping to the branch below and swinging down. 

Grateful the uncomfortable air had cleared and the familiar, mischievous gleam had reappeared in her eye, Minwoo cheerfully followed suit.

They landed on the grassy earth softly, gathering up their cameras and setting off again.  Kwangmi helped Minwoo with his personal project, giving advice and helping him find subjects for his photographs.  He enjoyed the closeness of her body whenever she leaned up against him to get a better view of the screen.  He smiled at her bossy tone when she gave orders.  His heart raced at her casual touch –the hand on his bicep, the brush of their fingers, their elbows knocking together occasionally.  It all made the fluttering in his belly increase.

No place in the park remained untouched by their searching hands and eyes.  Everything caught their attention, from the little line of ants on the picnic table to the curve of the jungle gym to the racing children.  It wasn’t until an amount of time had passed –an immeasurable amount of time Minwoo had no intention of keeping track of besides the fact that quite a lot had gone by- that the boy noticed that Kwangmi had barely used her own camera.  The picture junky wasn’t shooting photographs.  Something was wrong here.

“Kwangmi, aren’t you going to take pictures, too?” Minwoo queried.  He didn’t say what he worried about.  He didn’t voice the uneasy thoughts that swam around in his head –that she was too busy helping his novice hobby to complete her project.

Her smile didn’t waver in the slightest.  Her expression stayed the exact same: curved lips, half-moon eyes, and a subtle dimple, barely visible, pressed into her right cheek.  Her body language didn’t vary, the only exception being her head turning so as to connect their gazes, transferring her attention from the wishing dandelion that had previously captured it.  She had been directing him as to which angle would be best to make full use of the natural light provided by the sun.  A point very useful, but at that moment obsolete as the afore-mentioned thought flickered across Minwoo’s mind.  But the detail that had made itself known to him did not seem to bother her as much as it troubled him.  And her next comment did nothing to assuage his unease.

“I have been taking pictures,” she replied.  That was all she said.  And her tone gave the impression that she wouldn’t be saying anything more.

He blinked at her, clearly confused, clearly asking her to elaborate.  But she ignored his curious puzzlement.  Instead, she continued her lecture, gesturing him to execute her directions.  He did so obediently, ing their peculiar two sentences –one line each- aside for the moment.  Lifting his digital to his eye, he adjusted his position, his belly laying flat on the grass, aiming for an upwards shot.  When the dandelion was centered the way he wanted, he lightly pressed his forefinger once to focus and then once more to capture the image.  A familiar click notified that the scene had been digitally saved onto his memory card.  He glanced at his mediocre work, but in that instant, it didn’t look mediocre.  He didn’t feel mediocre.  In fact, he felt like he was getting the hang of it, rapidly gaining positive experience.  The satisfaction prolonged at the praising comment that Kwangmi verbalized.  She always gave him a few words of admiration as well as criticism, but this time, as he waited for the constructive criticism, it didn’t come.

He didn’t say anything.  He just looked at her, eyebrows raised expectantly.  The girl merely beamed, shaking her head, indicating she had no critique to give.  The pride swelled in his chest and Minwoo giddily pictured himself floating up to Cloud 9.  Unfortunately, while Kwangmi had the ability to lift him up higher than the sky, she also held the power to painfully crash him back down to the unforgiving earth.

“I know what I want you to treat me to,” she declared unexpectedly. 

Immediately, Minwoo was put on edge.  He knew, just knew, that he wouldn’t like her conditions.

He was proven correct with her next sentence.

“Let me take your picture for my class.”

Fear seized his heart.  Well, not so much fear as much as anxiety and uncertainty.  Icy tendrils circled around his heart, as if binding his chest with frozen chains.  Cold sweat broke out on his forehead and palms.  A lump the size of a golf ball lodged in his throat, making it difficult to swallow.

“No.”

Kwangmi pouted, her bottom lip pushing out slightly more than her upper.  Her eyes grew as she raised and furrowed her thin eyebrows to give him a kicked-puppy-dog look to rival even that of Youngmin’s.  This wasn’t fair of her.  She wasn’t fair.  She cheated and broke the rules and made his heart thump, thump, thump loudly in his chest, painfully, until he thought it would burst forth.  She left no room for him to even entertain the thought of winning.  No, she wasn’t fair in the least.  So what other choice did he have other than the response he gave?

Sighing, he crumbled under her stare.  “Fine.  What do you want me to do?”

Squealing delightedly, she took his hands, leading him to an area of fence that lined a stone pathway, trees shading certain areas from the sun’s afternoon rays.  She posed him in front of the fence, having him lean against the bars, his right hand behind him to hold the topmost bar.

“What am I supposed to do with this hand?” he asked uncertainly when it seemed she had finished, shaking his left arm to point out its gawkiness.

She put a thumb to her plump lips, contemplating his question.  “Put it back like your other arm,” she ordered.  He did so, but it didn’t look comfortable or natural.  “Never mind, put it down by your side,” she said.  Again, he followed her instructions.  Still, she was not satisfied –it hung limply, but not exactly relaxed.  “Put your thumb in your pocket.”  Nothing seemed to work.

Finally, Minwoo spoke up.  “I don’t think this pose is working…”

She let out her breath in a huff of frustration.  “Fine, you know what?  Then wave your hand around in the air!” she growled irately.

Minwoo’s heart dropped.  He knew it was his fault –he was too stiff, too awkward.  He wasn’t good at posing.  He resolved to wash away that scowl in favor of one of her famous smiles.

He lifted his hand in the air and waved it around erratically.  “You mean like this?” he grinned teasingly.

She stared at him for only one heart-stopping moment in which an embarrassed blush managed to paint itself onto Minwoo’s cheeks.  Then bubbles of tinkling sound flowed out of –giggles. 

“I’m not sure how effective this will be in the photo, though,” Minwoo continued, encouraged by her amusement.

The girl barely managed out a response through her laughter.  “You’re so silly!  It’s cute!”

Not anticipating that kind of reply, Minwoo’s arm lowered, opting instead to hide the bashful smile that played along his lips, concentrating his gaze on a random point in the distance, chest vibrating with silent chuckles.

Nine seconds.  That’s how long he held that stance, wondering what to do next.  That’s when he heard it.  The almost imperceptible swish of shutters.  His dark eyes snapped to Kwangmi, her camera raised to her face, on its downward journey after completing its mission.

“No, don’t move,” she commanded when he began to turn, lowering his arm more.  She stepped in front of him whilst adding a focal length lens, wanting a close up of his face.  “Face the way you were looking before.  Raise your arm, fist right here.”  She took his hand placing it at the edge of his mouth, arm across his body as it had been previously.  “Now smile like before.”

“Like this?”  He tried to imitate the pose, but he couldn’t relax into it like he had earlier, and he could hear the dissatisfaction that came out as a sigh.

“Aish, chill.  The camera is not going to hurt you,” she assured, though her tone was anything but comforting.  Kwangmi struggled to think of what she could do to get him to unwind.  Or at least to bring back that shy, upward lift of his lips.  “Okay, don’t move, but I want you to take in a deep breath and blow it out slowly like this.”  She demonstrated what she wanted him to do, filling her belly with oxygen and then exhaling it through partially open lips.  When he mimicked the action, his face muscles loosened as well as in his neck, shoulders, and arms.  “Think of a pretty girl back in school, or something.”  His gaze riveted on her, surprise written plainly across his features.  “Someone you thought was really cute.”  She paused to let him think.  “You have a face?” she asked.  He nodded.  “Good.  Now look that way,” she directed his line of sight, raising her camera, fixing it in position.  “Now think of her coming up to you and kissing your cheek.”  Pleased at the rosy tint that painted his fair skin, she continued in a whisper, “Smile.”

There it was.  That’s the look she wanted.  She snapped the picture before it got away from her.  What she didn’t expect was the little curve that was his lips grew until his white teeth showed in unmistakable delight, eyes twinkling.  Again, Kwangmi seized the opportunity and captured the image permanently.

“Perfect,” she grinned.

He shifted his stare to her.  “Is it?”

She nodded enthusiastically.  “Yes.”  Yes, you are.

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I had better get some feedback on this chapter.  It was really difficult to write and I want to know if any parts bored you or if some parts didn't flow well and if you were confused.  And I want thoughts on their relationship so far.  Is it going to fast?  Too slow?  Not enough fluffy moments?  Creepiness not established enough to bring in the exciting factor? I need to know because I am trying to be better, so I value all input, positive and negative.  Leave a comment, please!

Also, I'm still trying to learn more about film cameras and their various functions and the parts that put them together.  If you know a lot about photography and see mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them and not repeat them in the future.

Thank you to all who have subscribed to this story!  I really didn't think I'd get this many subscribers (it's only 16 -I really had no hope for this (^_^)") So I'm happy 16 of you like it enough to want to subscribe and stay updated on the rare times I do update.  I'm halfway done with the next chapter, which has a some more fluff, so please look forward to that somewhat :) It's not a lot, but it's some.

Who else agrees with Kevin that this would be considered a date?  Just out of my own curiosity -there's not right or wrong answer.  I want to know your guys' definitions of what a date consists of.

Really, I'm desperate for comments and feedback.  I mean, it's not that difficult to leave a few words, is it?  Fellow authors, you understand the euphoria of seeing that number of 8 increase to 9, right?  Or, if you're really well known, to see that number 73 increase to 86 (or more), am I wrong?  Really, at this point, I just want feedback on what I can do better.  The whole point of me sharing these stories on here is so I can gain more knowledge on ways to better my writing.

Thank you for your support of this story!  I hope to gain more in future chapters!