He loved taking pictures, since the time he laid his hands on his first camera at the age of eight. He liked capturing people’s expression, beauty of nature and interesting events and making them immortal in the pictures he takes. His room had a shelf filled with photo albums. It was no shock that he took up Photography and excelled in the field.

She liked gazing at his photos for a long period of time. She could feel life in every one of them, she didn’t know who he was,  just that his name was Lee Donghae and he was one of the best in the world of photography. She never met him but she feels for him, she had a heap of albums of newspaper clippings of his works. She wanted to meet him so badly that she went as far as to writing to him but the letter was sent back, something about wrong address. Her friends laughed at her but she didn’t care about them one bit. At one time, when she went to a gallery she slipped a note behind one of Donghae’s pictures, ‘Beautiful Morning’ as it was entitled, her favorite of them all and prayed that somehow Donghae would find it.

*~*~*~*~*

It was his first participation in an exhibit. He only had three out of the dozen pictures hanging on the cream colored walls but it was already an achievement for a sophomore like he was. He stopped in front of his favorite, ‘Beautiful Morning’ and noticed a note. He read it and a faint smile crept on his lips. He thought it cute and funny, a fan’s sweet confession. Refolding it, he tugged it inside his coat’s inner pocket. At the end of the day, after entertaining guests, he slipped his reply and felt unknown excitement which made him smile giddily. But the following day, he felt a mix feeling of happiness and disappointment after all the note was gone but there was no reply, but he did not lose hope.

Rearranging the sling of his bag, he left the showroom and headed for a part of the city that he liked, where he captures a certain person and had always been part of most of his collection, though just one of the passersby, never the main character but had always been there. At 10 o’clock in the morning he steps down the bus and waits patiently inside the café across the bus stop. He took pictures of ‘everyday routine’ of course with her as one of the unknowing people. He had always admired her beauty yet he feared her reputation of being an ice queen and she was older than he was. She was a trainee of some big entertainment company, he was just a photographer slowly making a name for himself.

*~*~*~*~*

When she returned to the showroom that evening after training, hair still moist from shower, wearing plain white t-shirt, jeans and sneakers she was elated to see that her note was replaced by her idol’s reply, but did not have enough time to place an answer until the next afternoon.

Weeks passed and she noticed that the small wooden chest she keeps Donghae’s notes was overflowing with it. She was getting busy with the debut and tv appearances but she always manages to squirm out of her schedule especially on the day they decided to meet. Some of the painting and pictures were changed, some were still displayed and Donghae’s works were amongst them. She waited, sitting at the bench across the picture with her headphones over her ears until an hour passed ten. She wanted to linger some more but she had another commitment and reluctantly left with a note.

*~*~*~*~*

He left the photoshoot early, excited to meet his mysterious female friend. He arrived ten minutes early and waited in front of the picture, he sat at the bench across it, smiling broadly as he gazed at one particular person in the picture. The time tick on and no Jessica Jung came but he still waited until two hours passed. He was about to leave a note when he found something sticking out behind the frame. It shocked him, it was never there since he came, and he read it quickly. His hands trembled after reading the letter and tried his hardest to steady his hands as he write. He used to wonder about the discrepancies in their tales, he thought she was just joking but now he knew why. It was impossible but it was happening.

She wondered why Donghae suddenly said that they should end their ‘pen palling’, his letter never said the definite reason. She demanded answers but never got one. She felt betrayed and hurt, first he did not show up now he’s severing their communication without any reason at all. She has no right to be hurt, she felt stupid but at that short span of time she loved him, irrevocably loved him. But she continued nonetheless, she kept herself busy, trained until she can’t stand anymore, until she can’t think of him anymore.

*~*~*~*~*

It was Christmas, she was glad to have her break, and decided to stroll around the city like the old times, it was different now. Before she was like everyone else, no one would really mind her, though some guys would hit on her but now, people would smile at and acknowledge her.

It was normal that stars receive gifts from fans and Jessica was surprised to get one enormous present. When she and her friends tore down the wrapper her knees went weak and gave way. It was ‘Beautiful Morning’, the very medium to their subtle friendship. Her friend found a note lying on the floor and gave it to Jessica, while reading, somewhere in the middle she broke down. Her friends were worried, this was the first time they saw the ice queen cried this much.

Gathering all her strength she ran out of the apartment and headed for the gallery. She demanded about the picture that was sent to her, she demanded about the photographer. The curator looked at her with a poignant expression advising her to take a seat first. She narrated to Jessica about the photographer and the picture. How they were the best of friends, how he always goes out at ten in the morning in a certain street to capture a certain lady’s picture, how he became attached to a certain girl whom he exchanged letters with through the painting Jessica now has. How they never met when they both came.

“I didn’t quiet believed it at first but seeing you few months ago, waiting by the picture you reminded me of him two years ago. I was curious as to what you always do behind the frame so I took a little reading and that’s when I believed him. He was hired by your company on one of your photoshoots, he was at the mountains, and the weather was bad. He was so happy that he immediately hopped in his car and headed back to the city after his job, stubborn as he was…. There was an accident, the road was slippery, and the rain was pouring down so hard it was difficult to see. He crashed against a ten-wheeler truck, he lived… but he did not last long, after giving me his instructions, not to sell his favorite picture, keep it hung at the gallery for two years then send it to you on Christmas and so on, he was gone.” The curator narrated, her voice was trembling and she was patting against her eyes to keep the tears from falling. Jessica couldn’t believe what she was hearing; she felt half of her had died along with Donghae. The curator stood up and beckoned her to follow; they were going deeper in the gallery until they reached a certain room. The curator opened the door for her and let Jessica in.

She fell against the tiled floor and wailed, covering with her trembling hands. Around her were pictures of her, she remembered one of them taken at a theme park her class went on a field trip, one from their school’s culture festival. Donghae had almost had a memory of where she had been but most were taken near the bus stop.  The curator gave her a camera, Donghae’s special Polaroid camera, and a note. She took it home, she fell on her bed, eyes red from too much crying. She stared at the camera sitting on her bedside table and as if following a soft instruction she took it in her hands, wiped her face and started to pose. She took a shot, the film came out. After a few seconds she was shocked to see another person standing beside her, giving her a loving embrace she could not feel, smiling affectionately at the camera. She remembered the note and opened it.

A PICTURE TAKEN FROM THIS CAMERA WILL SHOW YOU THE ONE THING YOU LOVE, ONLY THAT THING OR PERSON HAS TO BE DEAD. I LOVE YOU, AND I HATE TIME FOR BEING UNFAIR BUT AT LEAST, HOPING THAT YOU LOVE ME TOO, I’LL SHOW UP IN THE PICTURE AND I SWEAR I’LL BE HUGGING YOU THERE, MY SOOYEON, MY JESSICA.

She thought she was out of tears, she thought wrong for she cried the whole night calling out Donghae, calling him stupid… telling him she loves him…

END.

a/n: i was told that the ending was creepy and maybe it is. and maybe it would normally scare a normal person but i liked it creepy and had a little inspiration from Kurosuji hehe...