Ten minutes had passed since Changmin and Jaejoong’s introduction, but both of them were just standing in place. Changmin’s eyes were fixed on Jaejoong’s face the whole time, as if he was enchanted by his beauty. Meanwhile, Jaejoong was immediately lowering his head in shame, unable to tolerate the intense stare from the other.

Fifteen minutes has passed already by now, yet Changmin’s eyes seemed to never get tired of looking at Jaejoong. Feeling uneasy with the current condition (which obviously didn’t bring their knowledge about each other into somewhere), Jaejoong cleared his throat again. He just hoped that Changmin would break the stare on him and say something, anything.

Changmin blinked rapidly, trying to understand what just happened. Soon after he finally realized what he was doing before, Changmin immediately ruffled his hair with an awkward grin. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “Where were we just now?”

“Nowhere,” Jaejoong answered with a sigh, relieved that Changmin had finally stopped staring so intensely at him. “We haven’t done anything else, Changmin.”

“Really?” asked Changmin with wide; he realized that he was being such a fool before.

Jaejoong could easily notice Changmin’s uneasiness, as he was secretly eyeing Changmin’s expression as well. Jaejoong finally smiled gently as he decided to take the lead of the conversation for now. After all, he didn’t want to just stand for the whole day, even if he did enjoy watching Changmin.

“So… Changmin,” Jaejoong called, starting off the conversation. “Are you a photographer? I saw your camera equipment and it seemed complicated.”

“I’m a… what?” repeated Changmin, still feeling lost in somewhere far away.

“Photographer,” Jaejoong replied, trying hard to not burst into laughter. “Don’t you know it? It’s… the one who takes some photographs and publishes those somewhere; like in a magazine or maybe a gallery.”

Changmin silently cursed himself over his foolish behavior again. “Yes. I’m a photographer, just like you said,” he said quickly. “Sorry. Really, I’m just not used to talking with new people like this.”

“That’s fine. You don’t have to worry about that,” Jaejoong answered with a warm smile. “So… what were you doing before? Working? Do you still have to take some photographs? Actually, am I bothering you too much by standing and talking with you?”

Changmin remained in silence for a few seconds, wanting to think over the question carefully this time. “Well, honestly, I was…” he said, before stopping mid-sentence. He had something inside his mind already, yet Changmin wasn’t sure on how to say it in softer manner.

“You were…?” repeated Jaejoong with curiosity.

“I was… Well, this is embarrassing to say. But-” Changmin stopped again for a second to take a deep breath. “Honestly, I was taking some pictures of you before. And I just wonder if-”

“You did what?! Are you serious?” asked Jaejoong with wide eyes. He couldn’t hide his surprise; he wanted to make sure whether Changmin was saying the truth or not.

“Y- Yeah… But! But please don’t think of me as a ert or something!” Changmin said in a panic, quickly waving his hands in front of the other’s face to deny the unsaid accusation. “I have my reason for doing that! I swear.”

Jaejoong unintentionally burst into laughter almost right away, finding the reaction from Changmin was rather absurd, yet interesting. Of course, Jaejoong had been getting suspicious earlier. But as the other showed how panicked he was, all the worries were instantly gone from Jaejoong’s mind.

“Relax. I’m not accusing you of anything,” he said with another smile. “I just wanted to know why.”

Changmin sighed deeply, relieved that the other at least believed his words. “Actually, I’m working for a magazine,” he started explaining confidently. “The theme for this month’s edition is winter scenery. So I thought that it would be good to have beautiful scenery here… with… a… certain person… inside it.”

As the words finally reached its end, Changmin had completely lost his confidence. He didn’t know that saying an excuse like that would be pretty embarrassing. Right now, Changmin didn’t even know what he should expect for the other’s response to his explanation.

“Oh…” Jaejoong murmured unclearly. He wasn’t sure what to say in this situation. Even so, Jaejoong at least didn’t want to make their situation more awkward than it already was. “Can I take a look at your photographs, then? I’m curious on how I looked like from the professional lens.”

“But… It’s not that good,” Changmin stuttered, feeling danger upon the other’s request. “Besides, I’m not a professional photographer. I just enjoy doing this.”

“Oh, come on. You can’t underestimate me,” Jaejoong replied, rolling his eyes lazily. “Honestly, I know who you are already. I’ve read the magazines which had lots of your photographs and I have to say that I love your work.”

“What? You see my-? But... Why... How?” asked Changmin, stuttering again.

“It’s because of my friend. He likes to read the magazines and often brings them to my place. I was just trying to make sure first, Changmin,” Jaejoong answered smoothly, knowing exactly what his new friend wanted to say even though it was unclear. “I’m one of your admirers, you know? Do you really have to reject my request?”

Changmin opened his mouth and closed it again in a second, as he didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to show the photographs, knowing that it would lead to his untold secret. Yet on the other hand, he also couldn’t reject the request from the beautiful creature in front of him. Unwilling but not having any choice, Changmin finally showed the results to Jaejoong.

“I… Sorry, I forgot to zoom it out,” said Changmin guiltily, laughing awkwardly as he showed the close-up version of Jaejoong’s face. Changmin knew that those were obviously contradicting with his words, but he couldn’t think of any reasons at the moment. All he could do for now was just hope the other would let the incongruity go.

“So…” started Changmin again, wanting to change the topic as fast as he could.

“So…?” repeated Jaejoong impatiently, as Changmin wasn’t giving him the continuation of his words.