Y/n's POV
The colder breeze of the December air whipped at my half covered face, stinging my bare skin a little. It whistled through the trees of Central Park and small snowflakes started to fall. The snow crunching underneath my footsteps was the only other thing heard this evening. It was only a few days before Christmas and I had nothing better to do tonight in the big apple. I have my favorite camera with me and I just wanted to take night shots of the city in the small snow storm rolling into the center of it.
I tucked my scarf in my coat a bit more to conserve warmth and observed my surroundings, using my eyes to find subjects for my pictures. I want to create a decent sized portfolio for the holiday season because I do really love this time of year. Well, maybe not the increased price in my heating bill and the sleet that covers the streets, but other than that, it's not too bad.
I continued on my little journey through the quiet park, knowing my way around it like the back of my hand. I made a left and saw the Bethesda Terrace about one hundred feet away. Since it was dark out, the beautiful garland put up for the holidays shone brightly, even through the snowflakes. I held my camera up and pointed it at the structure, taking a few different pictures from multiple angles. Once I was satisfied with the outcome of a few of them, I made my way closer to it, wanting to take pictures through the archways.
I almost slipped on a patch of black ice and broke my camera, but I was able to gain my balance rather quickly. I let out a sigh of relief as I did because I do not have the money to throw on a whole new camera right now. I was now underneath the terrace and loved the way the lights create shadows for the arches. I took some more pictures and noticed the snow picking up a little. While I had some cover, I adjusted the blue beanie on my head and zipped up my coat some more. I sniffled a little because of the cold, so I'm most likely going to have a small cold in the next upcoming days.
I was about to walk out from underneath the terrace, but I felt my phone starting to buzz in my coat. I slung my camera around my neck and took off one of my gloves with my teeth, reaching into my pocket for my phone. I glanced down to see it was my mom calling me, so I picked up.
"Hey mom." I said as I already felt my hand getting colder by the second.
"Are you really outside taking pictures? I know the weather is colder there now." She told me as I just rolled my eyes.
"Yes mom, I am still taking pictures because that's what I do. And I know it's colder here, I knew that when I moved here." I explained to her for the billionth time.
"Well everyone here misses you! We know you can't come home for the holidays this year, so we want you to come down for a summer visit!" She said excitedly through the phone.
"Mom, I'll see when I can get a good flight down to Auckland again. And don't be so dramatic about all of you missing me, I was down there less than a month ago." I said with a small chuckle.
"Okay, no need for the facts," she joked with me, "but go home and sleep in the warm bed of yours!"
"I doubt it's really that warm."
"That's because the rent in New York City costs an arm and a leg! And you won't let your father or I pitch in to help!"
"I know, and I'm going to keep it that way. I'm 23 and can do this living thing on my own. I just got out of college last year and have been doing fine." I could feel the eye roll through the phone.
"Yeah, because my daughter making less than $30,000 a year really screams fine–"
"Crrrsh, uh you're breaking u– crrrush– love you!" I said quickly as I hung up the phone. I sighed and put my phone away, quickly putting my glove back on as my hand was probably going to get hypothermia or something like that. I got situated again and was on my way towards the giant ice rink that was put in again for winter time. I've always loved this place when it pops up because I've had so many fond memories here when I was in college with my friends.
I heard distant chatter and laughter and smiled as there would actually be some people for me to photograph. I had a pep in my step as I got closer, getting to the top of the small hill and overlooking the ice rink. There were about 15 people skating around, some holding hands, and others racing. But everyone was having a good time, which is all you can ask for. I was honestly surprised there were people here because it was almost midnight. But hey, I'm not complaining because it gets me some pictures.
I found the bench I always love to sit on and brushed off the few inches of snow that had gathered on it. I had these lightweight snow pants on, so I sat down and brought my camera up to my eye, finding the people happily going about their lives through my lens.
My camera focused on a couple first. It was a man and a woman. The man had this long black coat on and the woman had a light green puffer coat on. I could tell right away the man definitely worked down in Wall street just by the way he presented himself. The woman seemed like she would be a librarian at a smaller bookstore. I'd say that's a pretty good guess about them.
Click!
I took a few pictures of them, making sure to get their smiles in some of them. I moved my camera around for a bit and then spotted a small family on the ice. I'm shocked because the child was no more than 4 years old. But then again, for a child that young, they didn't have to worry about school yet. The mother seemed like a people person, so I'm guessing she's a counselor at a local school. And the father seemed like he would be a world class chef; I'm making that assumption solely based on his cool hat that reminds me of one a chef would wear.
Click!
I smiled as I took these ones because the pair had the child in between them, each of them holding one hand. The child obviously barely could hold themselves up, but it was still adorable. I could hear their joyful laughter from all the way up here, too. I'm glad they're having a great time and not freezing to death.
I continued doing this until the final person on the ice finally skated off. I didn't realize how much time had passed, but I checked my watch and my eyes widened as it was nearing 1am. I know I have nowhere to be this morning anyway, but I'd still like to go to sleep at a somewhat reasonable time.
I got up from the bench and immediately felt like a walking snowman because I swear my whole body is frozen. I wasn't paying attention to it because I was people-watching. You're not supposed to watch yourself when you're people watching, that's like... the number one rule. It hurt to walk because my feet were so cold, so it felt like I was walking on a bunch of pins and needles.
I headed in the direction of my apartment and didn't realize how much more it had snowed. There were maybe another two inches on the ground, on top of the already existing however many inches. I sighed and had to lift my feet up a little higher in the snow. But I made it to one of the main pathways and these are always plowed because so many people walk these. Also since there's a small one way road right next to it for park vehicles.
The streetlights provided me with light as the snowflakes kept falling. I was just watching them fall in the light as it always looked cool to me. I took a few quick pictures of it and moved on, wanting to get home rather quickly. I then saw another pair of people up ahead. I squinted my eyes and saw it was another man and woman. The man was taller, maybe around 6 foot, and had on a backpack; the woman looked to be my height. I laughed to myself as the man was obviously having to take pictures for the woman. He held the phone up and was taking multiple pictures of the beautiful woman.
She didn't have a hat on, which surprised me as I'm guessing her ears were freezing. But her hair, wow. She had this gorgeous blonde hair that was quite long too. She had a white mask on and a black puffer jacket. Then she only had on grey sweatpants with these simple white adidas shoes. I don't know how this woman is surviving in these conditions, but I applaud her.
I was getting closer and I saw her walk over to the man, looking down at the photos he had taken of her. I could tell by her body language that she wasn't too fond of them. The way she hunched over a bit and started to talk with her hands gave it away. Also the fact that I could hear she had raised her voice at him. I felt bad for the couple and decided to walk across the small street and make myself known.
"Hello? Do you need help taking pictures?" I asked them politely. The pair both jumped at the sound of my voice and they turned around to face me. Both their eyes were wide, but the woman's eyes softened when she realized I didn't look like a threat.
"No we don't, everything is fine!" She said sweetly to me. I picked up right away that she had a faint accent, definitely australian. I've heard my fair share since my family and I always went there for small vacations. I pointed at my camera that was around my neck,
"Are you sure? I've been taking pictures all night and I can take a few for you? You could just give me an email and I can edit them and send them over to you?" I explained to her. She looked a little apprehensive about it, but looked over to the man.
Then she started to speak another language to the man. That definitely caught me off guard to say the least. I just stood there, listening to the way the language sounded. I knew it was an asian language, but I just wasn't sure which it was. But after hearing a few things I have heard before in some good old kpop, I came to the conclusion that they were speaking in korean.
That's cool.
After some discussion between the two, the woman faced me again. I could tell she was smiling because of the way her eyes smiled at me. That caused me to smile back at her.
"You can take a few pictures! I'll give you his email after!" She said cheerfully as I nodded my head. I grabbed my camera from around my neck and told her where to stand. I wanted to use the streetlights to my advantage, so I pointed over to one and told her to go underneath the light. She did just that and looked at me, waiting for other instructions,
"Okay, now just let yourself be free. Really just be in the moment, pretend no one is here. Well, there kinda really isn't anyone here," I joked with her, earning a small laugh from her. I smiled at the sound of it and she started to just move in a carefree nature. I snapped multiple photos, changing my height and distance from the woman. I pulled my camera away from my face,
"Now pretend you're in love. Let your hopeless romantic side shine. And don't say you don't have one, we all do." I told her as she nodded her head a little, thinking about what to do. She stopped for a moment, which made me curious. Usually when I tell people that, they know exactly what to do, but she doesn't. I always think that being in love brings out a different side of someone, so pretending you're in love brings out that side of you; it translates into pictures nicely. I didn't want to say anything to pressure her, but eventually she found what she wanted to do.
The woman did a few little twirls and I complimented her on them, wanting to engage myself with my subject. I've always been good at that, so I need to keep the streak alive.
"Beautiful! Fantastic!" I said to her, "Now hold your hands out and pretend to catch some snow in your hands!"
The woman did just that and I smiled to myself as she looked amazing doing such a simple thing. I got a little closer to her in order to get a proper angle and I saw her glance at me a little, making me mentally smile. I took a few more, and then called it quits.
"Thank you so much! I can't wait to see how the pictures turn out!" She said happily to me.
"It's not a problem! Now what email can I send them to? Also, it'll probably take about a few days to get them edited." I told her. She quickly gave me the email and thanked me once again. I told her it was nothing and then she started to insist that she pays for them. I shook my head, "you really don't need to."
"Please let me, it's the least I can do!" She tried to reason.
"Nope! Not going to let that happen, blondie!" I said with a laugh. She playfully rolled her eyes at the random nickname I had just given her.
"Fine. But thank you for giving us a little of your time. Have a lovely night... bluie?" I laughed at the stupid attempt at a nickname for me. But I thought it was cute that she tried, even if it was just the color of my beanie with -ie at the end. I mean, it's basically what my nickname was for her, but it just fit better.
"That was horrible, but I'll give you an A for effort," I said to her. I knew I had to get going, so I started to wrap up the conversation, "alrighty, I'm going to get going and I'll edit these pictures later! Have a nice rest of your night you two!" I said, giving them both a wave. They both waved back at me,
"Thank you again! I'll be waiting!" The woman said before the pair started walking in the direction I had come from. I heard them start to converse in Korean once again as we started to get further apart. I had a smile plastered on my face for the whole walk back to my apartment. I walked in the building and took the stairs since the elevator still wasn't working. Thankfully I only live on the third floor, so I wasn't breathing too heavily at the end. I took off my right glove and fished my keys out of my pocket. I got them and put them in the lock, turning it and then opening my door.
My cat Apollo greeted me right away. His little orange body came slightly jogging around the corner. I crouched down and started to pet him after closing the door and locking it.
"Hey buddy, it looks like you were sleeping." I said to him. Apollo meowed while stretching and I smiled, standing up and getting some food out for him. He ran right over to it and started to eat the dry food. I then took off all of my snow gear and hung it up by the front door. I went over and turned on the heat and grabbed the blanket I just threw on the couch this morning and wrapped it around my body. I placed my camera on the coffee table and went into my bedroom to grab my laptop.
Apollo had finished his food and was now lying comfortably on his little cat bed underneath the small fake christmas tree I have. I smiled at him and went to sit down on the couch, making myself comfortable. I hooked up my camera to my laptop and downloaded all the pictures I had taken this evening. It took a little while, so I just scrolled through Instagram to pass the time. Soon they were all downloaded and my mind told me to look at the woman's photos first.
So that's what I did.
I found them easily and opened up the first one. Seeing her in the photo really took my breath away. I knew I would barely have any editing to do because she was just so photogenic. It's like she's been in front of a camera many times. I caught myself staring at the picture for a longer time than normal. I shook my head, but I just thought one thing,
What a moment.
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ayeee, there's the first chapter of my new book for ya! hopefully u like how it started bc i do lol. so basics: we are a freelance photographer, graduated college already, 23, a CASUAL listener to kpop, from Auckland, and we live alone with our cat named Apollo. boom, there's y/n. see u guys in the next chapter <3