Paradise

♤9♤

When he comes back to his senses, he walks over to me and sits by my side, making me scoot over.

He angles his body and the camera towards the horizon and numerous clicks are heard through the park.

I patiently wait for him to finish until I feel him shift so I open my eyes and hold his gaze.

His beautiful lips part to speak. "Thanks for the tip." He says with a smile.

I nod in acknowledgement.

"Shinsung, right?"

"Glad I'm famous." I sneer sarcastically.

His smile drops a bit. "You are, actually. Your names are bouncing off the academy walls left and right so it's hard not to know you."

I nod again.

"What are you even doing here? This is private property, you know? You're trespassing." I say nonchalantly as if I'm telling him about the weather.

"I could say the same for you, Princess," He replies in a deadpan tone followed by a humorless chuckle.

"I can be here whenever I want. The Songs own this. They're my boss and they've given me permission to come here whenever I want. So, here I am." I say with a shrug.

He hums in reply and looks thoughtful for a moment.

"You should be my model." He suddenly says.

I shoot him a weird look.

"Where'd that come from?" I ask jokingly but he simply shakes his head and shrugs.

"It would be good to have someone like you as a model." He explains. "Why me, though? There are so many prettier girls at Park Academy. Just choose them. Besides, I'm less of a 'capture-the-moment' type of person and more of a 'live-in-the-moment' type of person. So, I'm not really into getting my  pictures taken."

He looks at me with a deadpan look. "You are pretty. And besides, all the other girls are snobbish and prissy. They're never actually interested in making art. All they want is to get in my pants. You're different. I can feel it. You're pretty chill. Like. I don't know. A cousin, maybe? Yeah. Those are the vibes I get from you. So, I think it'd be really cool if you'd decide to work with me."

I turn towards him completely after I've made up my mind. "I'll work with you," I start and his eyes immediately light up with joy as he moves to hug me but he halts when I push him off by putting my hands on his chest. "But only until I find a proper replacement for me. I'm sorry but modelling isn't really one of my interests so I don't wanna do it forever. But I promise to continue helping you until I find someone else who we can both trust to model for you instead." I explain and he sighs.

"That's good enough. Though I doubt you'll find anyone who will actually wanna genuinely work with me. But if that's what you want, then I'll respect that." He says.

This makes me smile and I mutter a soft 'thank you' before looking out into the horizon once more. The sun has completely set now but the sky isn't that dark yet. It's still a dark orange dotted with specks of soft red. This makes me realize how long I've been here and how late it is but I don't mind.

Without taking my eyes off the scenery, I speak; "Have you always wanted to be a professional photographer or is it just a hobby?"

He replies to me in that baritone voice of his. "Well, it's always just been a hobby but nowadays I've been feeling more drawn to it. It's probably because of my mom. Ever since I was a child, I'd always take her camera and take pictures of her beautiful artwork until one day, I got one of my own. Taking pictures is just something I really enjoy. It's not really something that I'd take up as a job since I have to take over Victory Group one day, but it's rest-assured that I will continue doing it for the rest of my life. I enjoy but I don't love it. It's just a past-time."

I nod in understanding then remember something.

"If it's okay for you, I could recommend you to the Songs to be the official photographer for this weekend's upcoming press conference where they finally reveal the Young Lady's face. You'll get a seat at the first-row and even get to attend the after-party for the VIPs." I state.

He stares at me in awe.

"You'd really do that? I mean. Of course you don't have to. Not that I wouldn't want you to, of course. I do want you to do it....it's just...wow....can you really do that? Would you? For me? Cause that would mean a lot and-" He trails off and smiles at me sheepishly. "Sorry. I tend to ramble when I get too excited."

I simply chuckle at him. "It's okay. I get it. And I would do it for you. You're giving me the opportunity to work for one of the best photographers ever so I figured I should do something in return."

He hugs me and this time, I let him. "Thank you so much, Shinsung. This is an amazing opportunity. How'd you even know that I'm an amazing photographer when you haven't even seen my photos yet?" He asks while pulling away.

"I just know."

He gives me his signature boxy smile and I smile back.

I rise from my seat and he follows.

"I have to go now. It's getting pretty late and I have to help mom make dinner for the Songs." I declare and he nods in understanding.

I see that he's about to speak but I wave and walk off before he can.

I turn around half-way with a grin and say;

"Feel free to come here whenever you like, Taehyung."