Hour Before Dawn

Chapter 3

"What are you doing there?"

Ye-jin smiled without taking her eyes off of the photos. She stood by the wall looking at the collage of framed travel photos in Bin's condo. It was early in the evening and they just finished having dinner.

"Looking at our pictures over the years," she answered.

"I know that," Bin said with a giggle while handing her the can of beer. "You wouldn't just stand there and stare at the wall. I meant, what got you looking at our pictures?"

The sound of the fizz was heard when they opened their cans of beer simultaneously.

"I don't know, I was just walking by and next thing I know, I'm reminiscing. Remember that day?" Ye-jin asked while pointing at one of their pictures.

It was during one of their travels when they fought over who took better pictures and nearly fell off the log they were sitting on, which would've sent both of them down the canyon.

Bin smiled, thinking about how they both nearly had a heart attack. "How could I forget? Your competitiveness nearly got us killed."

"Excuse me, you appear to be reserved and quiet on the outside but you're just as competitive as I am."

"We're a lethal combo," he said with a smile while shaking his head.

"I wanna get away," Ye-jin blurted out while he picked up his camera that was sitting on a shelf beside them.

"Let's do it," Bin immediately replied. "After your race."

She turned to him with a big smile on her face and he saw how her eyes lit up. "Where to this time?"

"Let's do something spontaneous."

"That'd be awesome," Ye-jin replied with no hesitation.

Ye-jin followed him to the couch where he sat and turned the camera on. Next thing she knew, he took a photo of her while chugging her can of beer.

"Couldn't help but take my picture, huh," she said with a tease.

"You looked so good chugging that beer down," Bin replied while checking the picture. "Such a good angle from here too."

"Be careful now, you might start crushing on me," Ye-jin said while taking another sip.

He chuckled to himself, keeping his eyes on the camera screen while zooming in on the photo of her. They sat in comfortable silence for a while.

"Gosh, Beanie, we're old," she said randomly.

"Where'd that come from?" He asked without looking at her.

"I just feel old all of a sudden. Do I look old?"

He looked at her without lifting his head up from the camera and saw Ye-jin comb her fingers through her hair before taking a drink. He loved it when she does that so he took another photo of her.

"No," he replied softly with a smile even though he wasn't looking at her before finally lifting his head up to give her his attention. "You don't look old at all."

Ye-jin rested her head on the couch and turned it just a bit to face Bin. "Why'd you take another picture? I looked good just sitting here?"

Bin giggled at her. "I just need to practice and you just happen to be right there."

"Tsss. Give me the camera, I'll show you what a good photo looks like."

He passed her the camera and she took his photo while he drank his beer.