“One, two, three… hold it Kibum!”

Chanyeol quietly watched the model being photographed, head lowered to let his brown hair cover his face a bit, using the high collar of his thick coat hide the rest. He pushed his glasses up so they didn’t interfere with his line of sight, and just watched. He gripped his pen and notebook close to his chest like his life depended on it, face flushed and nervousness seeping through his body. His camera bag hung against his backpack, and he debated a few times on just trying to take pictures on his own. But, knowing he could get scolded, he didn’t make a move to. So Chanyeol just sat and pondered what to do.

Kibum was finally here again, and Chanyeol as absolutely ecstatic. He’d seen the Korean model on the streets of London a few times now, and he admired him so greatly. Today he was in a sleeveless black shirt, with a heavy looking coat draped around his shoulders, accented with bright pink skinny jeans, and a few accessories. His bangs were dyed a pink, and it was Chanyeol’s favorite look of his to date. His poster board in his room was littered with small pictures of Kibum’s photo-shoot pictures. Kibum was absolutely flawless in Chanyeol’s eyes; a god, almost. And, being an amateur photographer, Chanyeol wanted desperately for Kibum to model for him. But he still hadn’t done so.

The only problem was Chanyeol. He couldn’t even work up the courage to meet Kibum’s eyes, let alone ask him to model for him. He truly hated himself for it, because it was all he really wanted, and the only thing standing in the way of it was himself.

His heart lurched as the photographer dismissed the model for a lunch break, and he watched Kibum begin to walk away down the street. Chanyeol gulped and began quietly following him, attempting to figure out what to say. What if he just ignored him? What if he thought he was weird and shot him down? Many scenarios tumbled through Chanyeol’s mind, and his hands began shaking against his notebook.

Kibum turned into a small bakery, and began ordering a few things. When the employees began cutting Kibum a slice of cake, Chanyeol calmed himself enough to step into the store and walk over to stand in line right behind Kibum. He swore he had never been so nervous in his entire life, palms sweating and trembling like a leaf. He debated on taking off his coat twice, but he was too terrified that he didn’t smell well, along with how much of a hassle it would be to take all his stuff off then put his coat back on. Chanyeol came to the conclusion that he’d probably end up making a fool out of himself, and trashed the idea.

Through his rambling thoughts, he realized that Kibum had his order, and looked about ready to leave. Just as Kibum had grabbed his to-go box and turned to leave, Chanyeol finally stepped forward a bit and called to him.

“A-Ah, please don’t leave yet!” Kibum turned slowly when hearing the words and stared at Chanyeol’s shaking form, quickly becoming puzzled.

“Who are you?” Kibum asked, eyeing him suspiciously. “Are you a journalist? Because I’m not interested in your interview…” Chanyeol’s heart leapt and shook his head rapidly, bowing a bit. He realized with his notebook and pen, he looked exactly like a journalist.

“N-No, I’m not a journalist… My name is P-Park Chanyeol, I’m a photographer…” Chanyeol spoke, voice shaking terribly. He gulped and looked around nervously, shuffling his feet as Kibum kept staring at him, confused as Chanyeol continued, “Sorry, I have to…” he bit his tongue, and gritted his teeth. There was no way he was going to back out after getting this far, “no; please model for me!”

Kibum stared for a bit longer, and the silence between them made Chanyeol feel like he couldn’t breathe. But then Kibum smiled brightly, taking Chanyeol’s breath away in a much more blissful way before answering,

“I’d love to!”

Kibum smiles wider as Chanyeol’s heart beats so loud against his chest he could swear the entire bakery can hear it. Kibum giggled a bit and stepped a bit closer, “Please don’t be nervous, all you had to do was ask.”

Chanyeol felt like he was flying, a wide, bright smile growing on his face as he bowed a few times to him.

“Thank you Kibum, thank you so much… I really admire you and I’m so excited to have this opportunity!” he said, face growing red from shyness and excitement.

Kibum’s own cheeks tinted pink at the compliment, and he began nervously messing with the container in his hands, “Admire me? Really? I’m not that good, compared to most…”

“No, no, you’re really perfect to me!” Chanyeol brought a hand to his mouth, dropping his pen in the process, realizing what he’d just said. Kibum’s face quickly became redder, looking down shyly and bending over to grab the pen, handing it back to Chanyeol shyly.

“T-Thank you, really, you’re too kind…” Kibum said, looking down bashfully.  Chanyeol took the pen from him and bowed gratefully, tugging the top of the zipper on his coat down so Kibum can see his face easier.

And Kibum caught himself staring when Chanyeol did so, thinking that he definitely made the right choice accepting this offer. They just stared at each other for a long while, before Kibum announced he had to get back to work, and offered for Chanyeol to follow; which he of course did in an instant.

Though neither of them realized it at that moment, they had put something beautiful into motion that would lead them to a future that they never would have expected.