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"Aria, look here!"
I turn, and before I can even blink I am blinded by a searing hot white flash.
"Yah, do you want to die?"
He giggles like an idiot as he scurries away from me, holding the DSLR out of my reach as I attempt to grab it from him. "It's a good photo, I swear!" he laughs out, finally showing me the viewfinder, which displays a very blurry, overexposed photograph of some human being wearing a hood. I let out a sigh.
"Pass me the camera, fool." He wordlessly obeys and I adjust a few dials, lowering the exposure by increasing the shutter speed and decreasing the aperture. Then I lift the camera to my eye. I don't even have to say anything before he starts posing with peace signs and what I assume is a supposed cute "aegyo" face, but it just makes him look constipated and a little high.
"There, see? That's how you take photos," I scroll through the gallery of photos capturing Taehyung's cringey aegyo, although in this one photo he doesn't look too bad...
I am suddenly aware of his proximity as he leans over my shoulder to look at the photos, breath like a wispy feather fanning my neck, heating my cheeks...
I inch away, a strange prickly feeling sweeping over my skin, and practically punch him with the camera as I hand it back, getting rid of it like a hot potato. However the only hot potato here is me. This is why I prefer to be alone, without the risk of becoming a blushing embarrassed mess. But in order to complete this assignment for our media studies class, it has to be done in pairs, something I never considered when enrolling in this class. You can't share a camera. It restricts one of creative freedom, and right now it feels like I am tied down by this person right here.
"Let's go to the park!"
He waves me over, camera dangling from his neck, but I don't budge. "Are you five or something? Let's just stay here on campus!" I call.
"Come on! Park! Let's go! Here is boring!" he calls back, even though we're only ten meters apart.
"We have to go back to class, you know!" I remind him. "We'll be late!"
He seems to think about this for a second, before ambling over to me and grabbing my arm, dragging me effortlessly along. "Yah!" but he just ignores my objections to his kidnapping, not letting go of me even as we cross the road. Pedestrians watch us in bemusement, and I scowl, glad that I have my hood up so no one can see me. Once he does let go of me, I fume.
