Work Text:
***
- December 31, 2015.
The last day of this year is almost over; only one more hour to be exact, before the world will finally bid its goodbye to 2015, a year that is both memorable and a pain in the ass for most people. This year is no different from the past, the only difference is that more trends are introduced, Adele came back with a hit song, K-pop music rose from its grave, and this year's much better than last year. At least for Jaehwan.
Jaehwan's journey throughout the entire 2015 is nondescript. After graduating from college, he was recommended by his creative writing professors at Honwoo Publishing Company to hone his literary skills there and debut his first ever novel under them. The rest of the months went by, and Jaehwan has to admit there's nothing to actually boast about. He doesn't have a boyfriend, his friends are pursuing their own careers, and his family is staying in Malibu for quite a long time.
The fireworks are already set above the largest mall in Korea, Veracity, and in fifty-eight minutes, they will blast off and will fill the darkness of the night with bright colors as the people will rejoice and welcome the New Year. Jaehwan has and always been interested in watching fireworks. Ever since his dad brought him to a fireworks festival back when he was still five years-old, Jaehwan would go to whatever place there are fireworks as often as possible. Earlier this year, his company celebrated their tenth anniversary and Jaehwan automatically volunteered to buy all the pyrotechnics. His relationship with fireworks is serious that he thinks he doesn't need a boyfriend anymore. And, considering now that he's busy working on his debut novel slated for a winter release next year, he doesn't have time to worry about boys.
Donning a striped sweater and black pants, Jaehwan squeezes himself through the crowd of couples, trying hard to ignore the fact that he's single and convincing himself that there's no such thing as forever. He walks to the side where there's enough space to separate him from those non-single persons. They should be here for the fireworks and not their girlfriends or boyfriends.
Call him bitter, but he's not, and he's just stating the truth, anyway. Why bother travelling all the way to this event when all they'd do is flirt with their lover. They may even forget what they're here for.
The big screen on the exterior of the mall shows the countdown timer to 2016. There are no celebrities around and only common people since SBS, KBS, and MBC are showing pre-recorded music performances and the year-end awards night for each network station. It's better this way, at least nobody would scream bloody murder to their idols.
His phone lets out a vibration. He ignores it because he guesses it's Hongbin annoying him again with that female voice attempt of his when in all actuality it sounds a little too much like a moan of a woman getting her orgasm for the first time. But when the vibrations of his phone go crazy, he reaches for it in his pocket and picks it up.
“What the hell do you need?”
“Hey, calm down. I just called to ask if you have seen my babies.”
Jaehwan rolls his eyes. Babies, he says. “Wonshik is out drinking soju with Hakyeon. To be more accurate, it's Hakyeon letting Wonshik drink all the soju till he passes out so he can have sex with him.”
“Wait. You mean, they haven't done it yet?”
“Of course, they haven't! Wonshik looks manly but he has a heart as soft as marshmallow. He's innocent. He doesn't do gay sex at first date. Not your stereotypical homosexual.”
Hongbin makes a gurgling sound. “Their relationship is really freaking frustrating. I'm gonna go now, I need twenty-four hours of sleep. Do you have the key with you?”
“Yup. Sweet nightmares.”
“I hope you trip.”
***
With stable and expert hands, Taekwoon puts his eye near the viewfinder and focuses the lens on the big timer outside of the mall before hitting the shutter button. Three minutes to go, and 2015 will be finally over.
2015 has been good to him. He bought his parents a new house in Gyeonggi, he has been one of the top photographers in Korea and has worked with different celebrities and fashion magazines, and lastly, he launched his first exclusive photo exhibit back in mid-June. His success as a photographer was all thanks to his family and his drive to do better with every shot he took. Yes, there may be downfalls along the way, but he is always determined to rise up and continue the race.
His last project for 2015 is to document the fireworks display event in line with the new year's celebration here at Veracity Malls. All his shots will be featured on the pages of the upcoming January 2016 edition of Chained Magazine. This seems like an easy thing, but saying is much easier than doing, of course. If he fails to give great pictures to the editor-in-chief, his big reputation in the industry of photography and the arts will be tarnished. And he doesn't want that to ever happen.
But if he is to be honest, there are times that he feels his shots aren't enough or they don't come out the way he wanted them to be. He's expecting more, but all seems mediocre. Maybe because he's just lacking something—or someone, perhaps.
He trudges to the string of people at the side of the mall where it's less crowded but the point of view he's looking for is there. Two and half minutes more.
Beside him is a guy who's just standing there, waiting for the fireworks to light up. He angles his camera and readies himself to take a picture of the stranger before clicking the shutter button. On the monitor, he looks . . . ethereal, like an angel looking up at the sky with his wings wide open. His eyes are gleaming, the shine over the irises almost enthralling. He shouldn't have done this, but the subject of his weird musings right now is gorgeous.
I need to get a grip.
“Did you just take a picture of me?”
Taekwoon winces, his heart having a small heart attack. Lowering his camera down, he sees the stranger staring at him, his lips curved into a subtle smile. Taekwoon wants to pinch his cheeks and kiss those lips of his and—he needs to stop.
“Uh yes,” his mouth manages to say, though his vocabulary is tangled in his brain that he can't even put two words together to form a concise statement. “I apologize.”
“Huh?” The stranger shakes his head. “You don't need to. Actually, I'm kind of flattered. By the way, I'm Jaehwan.” The man, Jaehwan, offers a hand for him to shake. “And you're?”
Taekwoon grabs the hand firmly. God it's so tender, like honey. “Taekwoon. Nice to meet you.”
Jaehwan's eyes widen, taking a step back with his hands clapped on his mouth. “Wait, Taekwoon. As in Taekwoon the photographer of the Jung sisters on the Elle Korea photoshoot? The photographer of Got7's upcoming album? You're that Taekwoon.”
So, he knows him. He raises his camera, saying, “I believe that's me.”
“Oh, wow!” Jaehwan glances up and down his body, as if he still can't believe that Taekwoon is there. “You know how users in Nate and Naver are saying that your photographs aren't photoshoped too much because you already know the angle where you can show someone's beauty? Is that true?”
“The news came to me. I don't know, maybe it does. See for yourself, though.” He gives his camera to Jaehwan, hoping that he'll like it.
Jaehwan's smile turns into a wide beam, his teeth showing as he zooms in on the picture. He hands the camera back to Taekwoon and he jumps up excitedly. “I look handsome there! Wow. I'm at loss for words right now. Oh my god, the photographer just took a picture of me. And it is amazing.”
“Uh, thanks,” he says, scratching the hack of his head. For the first time, he feels the compliment is sincere and genuine, no mix of purely business compliments and whatnot. This is a honest comment coming from someone who knows him.
“I should be the one thanking you!”
Taekwoon is about to say something when the crowd begins yelling ten, nine, eight on the background. Turning his back to Jaehwan, he positions his camera steadily over his eye, waiting for the fireworks to blow up.
“Five, four, three, two, one! Happy New Year!” the people cheer, applauding and prancing around while fireworks brighten up the dark, painting the sky with different hues of colors. The noise mixed with the loud clapping and shouting from the crowd is deafening that has Taekwoon running away. His eardrums and head are going to explode if he stays for another minute there.
He keeps on running and running, until the sounds the fireworks are making somehow lows down. He kneels down and leans against the trunk of a tree, holding his chest as he gasps for air.
Shoot! He doesn't have any shots on the fireworks. What's he gonna do now?
Then Taekwoon hears quick footsteps approaching toward him. He can't quite see anything because there's not much light to clear his vision.
“What happened? Why did you run away?”
It's Jaehwan. “Why did you follow me?”
“Are you okay?”
“Why do you care?”
They're answering their questions with questions. Great. Fantastic. Jaehwan laughs heartily, clapping his hands like a retarded seal. Seconds later, Taekwoon finds himself laughing along with him, his breathing and pulse rate pacing up again.
“No, seriously. Why did you follow me?”
“What am I supposed to do?” Jaehwan sits down next to him, wrapping his arms around his knees.
Taekwoon straightens himself up. “Well, uh, you could just stay there and ignore me?”
“Are you always refusing help from someone with a kind heart?”
“Not always.” Taekwoon chuckles, before gazing up at the sky that's filled with twinkling stars. He can form a constellation or two using a finger. “It's just that, when I ran away from noises a year ago, nobody ever came up to me and asked me how I am.”
“I'm not one of those nobody. I care.”
“Are you always this caring?”
“Don't you think it's annoying to ask questions at this point?”
“I think asking is a good form of communication, right?”
Jaehwan narrows his eyes. “Really now.” He lays his hands one the grassy ground before speaking. “I'm not caring, to answer your question. But when you ran away I thought you were really, really scared. So I followed you, and you're too fast. You an athlete?”
“Uh, I go to the gym every weekends.”
“That's why your biceps are bulging as if there're rocks in it.”
“I don't know if that's an insult or a compliment.”
“It's a compliment.”
***
Jaehwan has never felt this way before.
When he first saw Taekwoon's face, his stomach flipped. When he saw his picture on Taekwoon's camera, he was internally telling himself to calm down. When he realized that Taekwoon was that Taekwoon who photographed the Jung sisters and other famous idols and celebrities, he was screaming on the inside.
They've been talking to each other for a couple of minutes already. How much they earn from their respective jobs, their hobbies, likes and dislikes, the music genre they usually listen to, favorite video games, and etcetera. This is the get-to-know phase when befriending someone.
“Next. Ideal types,” Taekwoon says.
“Ideal types? Hm, mine is tall, handsome, talented, smart, loves himself as much as he loves his lover, has that gaze that will turn you on.”
“Hold up. You're gay?”
“Yup.” Jaehwan nods. “Wait, please don't tell me you're a homophobe.”
Taekwoon chuckles. “What? No! I'm not. I'm gay, too. But I'm just surprised. I only have few friends who are openly gay because most of them are still closet cases.”
“I feel bad for them,” Jaehwan sighs. “But I can feel them, although I'm already out of my cocoon since tenth grade. It's hard to be closeted, especially when your parents are conservative as eff. You're not a closet case, are you?”
“Nope. Since third grade. My mom knew what I was after she noticed my cheeks would blush whenever my dad's friend comes in our house. My dad accepted me, too, but he still has hopes on me that I'll turn out straight and marry a girl someday.”
Jaehwan gapes. It's unusual for parents to accept their children's sexuality. Most would throw them away while others would simply concede. “I salute your mom for that. Your dad, too.”
“I have a problem, though.”
“What is it?”
“I didn't take any pictures of the fireworks display! My bosses are going to kill me!”
Jaehwan clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “You're lucky I took a few photos before I saw you running.” He hands him his phone. “And don't you worry, my camera has twelve megapixels. It's high quality, trust me. Just a few tweaks and turns with Photoshop, you can turn that into a professional-looking one.”
“Thanks.”
“I'll send it to you on your e-mail later. Maybe before lunch.”
“What do you mean—oh right, it's the first day of 2016. Hooray,” he says, nonchalantly. “But, really, thank you.” He opens the Notes and keys in his email address, before giving it back to its owner. “My address's saved on your notes.”
“Sure. I'll just send those photos to you later.” Jaehwan stands up, stretching his arms and legs. “I have to go now, my eyes are feeling heavy.”
Taekwoon rises from the ground, dusting off his hands on his pants. “Yeah, go ahead, get some good morning sleep.”
Jaehwan tips his head, then with slow steps, he walks away. He hears Taekwoon already strutting to the other side of the sidewalk. He turns around and calls Taekwoon to tell him one last thing. “Taekwoon!”
Said man stops on his tracks before facing Jaehwan seven feet away. The way he's sharing at him, his lips parted, is melting Jaehwan's heart. “Yeah?”
He shallows hard. “Happy new year.”
A beat of silence. Then a beat. And another beat. “Happy new year, too.”
You know that thing when you flush so hard when somebody says something to you? Or that thing someone does that it brings butterflies to your stomach? What's that? Crushing? Jaehwan smiles at himself, at the path, at the trees, at the moon and stars, and maybe at Taekwoon as well.
Happy new year, indeed.