Hongbin sighed deeply, hanging his new print up to dry, though he was considering just tossing it. Tossing all of them. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, letting himself fall onto the stool in his dark room. He'd been working on this project for his photography class for almost two weeks now, taking pictures nearly every day and as of yet, he still only had a few pictures from his first two days that were actually useable.

 

He glared over at the new picture, as if somehow by glaring at that, the goofy-grinned twerp who had photo-bombed and ruined his shot would somehow feel Hongbin's rage. One picture would be annoying – Hongbin had set up such a beautiful shot – but this kid was in just about every picture Hongbin had taken lately. He'd wasted so much time and material on these shots, only to find them completely useless after he developed them. He's still not entirely sure how that idiot managed to get into the shots without Hongbin even seeing him in the area. Hongbin would be a little creeped out if it weren't for the fact that the twerp was Oh Gwangsuk, the star of his high school P.E class, who had been way too coordinated and muscular for a teenager (Hongbin had grown out of his gangly stage and now wore shorts with pride, eat your heart out, Oh Gwangsuk).

 

He'd thought he was done with Gwangsuk after they'd graduated high school, he'd entered university as a photography/music double major and he had no idea where Gwangsuk was or what Gwangsuk was doing, and he didn't care. But here he was and obviously, if Hongbin didn't want to fail this class completely, he was going to have to address this, he was going to have to talk to Gwangsuk.

 

 

 

The next morning he packed up his camera bag and headed out to find his next 'subject', knowing he'd probably not get his photo but still keeping his artist eye open. He stopped to grab himself an americano, snapping a couple quick photos before moving on, no sign of Gwangsuk. He ended up at some old historical buildings a couple neighbourhoods over from the universtiy, figuring he could get some nice shots there. He made a show of setting up his camera and finding the best angles, chances were that Gwangsuk was around here somewhere but just in case, he took a couple promising shots. As expected, Hongbin didn't see him but he hadn't the other times either. Looking around, making sure there was no one who would see and believe he was insane, Hongbin called out.

 

“Oh Gwangsuk? Are you here?” He waited.

 

He didn't have to wait long, the sound of delighted laughter reached his ears and his eyes scanned looking for its source. He didn't see where Gwangsuk appeared from, suddenly he was just there, clapping like a 6 year old in glee.

 

“Finally! Do you think you made me wait long enough?” Gwangsuk pouted, “Not that I don't love playing hide-and-seek but..” the pout stretched into a bright grin again. Why on earth was he acting cute? And was his mouth always that big?

 

“Uh...” Hongbin stared at him in confusion (over this game, not Gwangsuk's mouth because yes, it was always that big. Hongbin had stared at it enough in high school, imagining kissing it, to know.)

 

“I thought one or two pictures would be enough but it's been nearly two weeks!”

 

“.... why...?”

 

“Why did I think only a couple pictures or why did it take you almost two weeks...?

Hongbin rolled his eyes.

“Why are you ruining my photos like this?”

Gwangsuk playd with his hands, nervously avoiding Hongbin's eyes, “This is going to sound so dumb but.. I.. was trying to confess to you?”

 

Gwangsuk took a peek at Hongbin's shocked expression and then averted his eyes again quickly.

 

“I know. Stupid, right? But.. I, uh, I actually know the photography TA and he told me about your project and I thought it would be really cute to show up in a couple pictures and then when you approached me, I would confess to you and you'd have photo evidence of my confession to you. I guess it's pretty lame and..”

 

Hongbin let out the breath he'd been holding and raked his fingers through his hair, taking a little bit of pleasure in the way Gwangsuk's eyes followed the movement.

 

“I was completely head-over-heels for you back in high school. If you'd asked me out back then, I would have said 'yes' in a heartbeat...” Hongbin could visibly see Gwangsuk brace himself, anticipating a 'but'. “I hate that I never really got over you. I hate that you ruined two weeks worth of work but every time I developed a photo and your stupid face was there, ruining the composition, I still found you cute. And...I grew out of my awkwardness and got hot enough that you're actually interested back...” Hongbin waited for Gwangsuk to understand.

“So, that's a yes? You're accepting my confession? You'll go out with me?”

 

“Yes, doofas. I'm saying 'yes'.” Hongbin smiled shyly.

 

Gwangsuk grabbed Hongbin's hand, giving it a squeeze. “Really?” At Hongbin's nod, Gwangsuk jumped up and did a little happy dance, reminding Hongbin he was glad no one else was around.

 

“Are you trying to make me reconsider?” Hongbin laughed out, tugging at the hem of Gwangsuk's sweater to guide him back to his seat.

 

“You know,” Gwangsuk started, “for the record, you've always been hot. Do you remember when we had P.E together? You used to put your hair up in a pony tail because it was long enough that it was always in your eyes. And you used to run around in those shorts that would have looked ridiculous on anyone else? How did you make long and gangly so cute?” He laughed at Hongbin's expression. “You were always attractive Hongbin. And look at you now, so out of my league!” Gwangsuk flirted.

 

“Oh? Maybe you're right! Well, in that case..” Hongbin pretended to get up and walk away, but followed obediently when Gwangsuk pulled him back.

“Hey now! You already agreed! You owe me at least one date, no running away.” Hongbin was coming to the realization that a pouting Gwangsuk was a dangerous thing.

“And you owe me some photographs” Hongbin countered.

 

“You want more shots of my gorgeous face?” Gwangsuk mock posed.

 

“No, twit. All those photos were for credit, remember? So now, for our first date, you're going to buy us both a coffee and come with me to get all my replacement shots.” Hongbin smiled.

 

Gwangsuk grinned and started dragging Hongbin back towards starbucks.

“So,” Hongbin said, happily letting himself be dragged. “How do you know Hyo Shin sunbae?”

 

Gwangsuk glanced over at Hongbin, dropping his hand from Hongbin's wrist to catch the other's hand, trying to think of a smooth way to change the topic away from Hongbin's (famously) attractive TA.