crash into you | hyunjin a.u

- 1 -

The fresh smell of water mixed with calcium hypochlorite filled up my nostrils as I made my way inside the aquatics center. With the heavy bag of camera equipment slinging on my right shoulder and my backpack, I walked up towards the tribune. Photographers from other media companies already sat on their assigned seats with their cameras in positions to capture the competition.

After a few minutes, I finally found my assigned seat. I put down my backpack on the chair and got ready to set up the camera. It was still 30 minutes before the first competition start, so I got plenty of time. Right when I finished putting the camera on the tripod, my phone rung and earned me some stares from fellow photographers.

The screen showed my best friends name. I took a deep sigh and picked it up, "What do you guys want?" I said in monotone.

I could hear FIFA theme song in the background. "YA! Eun Ae, is that how you talk to your friends now?" Chris remarked. He's probably annoyed right now, that he had to call me by my birth name.

"You guys know, I'm at work, right?" I told the two of them. "So, if there anything you guys want to talk about, please go straight to the point."

"God, you're mean now." Felix commented. I could hear the sound of sizzling pan collided with the FIFA theme song from earlier. "I wanted to inform you guys that I'll be flying to Seoul this autumn." Felix said, followed by a high-pitched scream from Chris.

"And I got a job there too!" Felix added in enthusiasm. We all screamed in joyous, I even gained few stares from some people. I don't really care as long as the three of us are going to reunite again.

Felix, Chris and I have been friends since we were kids. When I first met Felix it was the first day of school back when I moved to Australia and I didn't really have someone to talk to, and then he came to introduce himself when he saw me sitting alone at the lunch. Then we met Chris at a summer camp where they divided us into groups to do the activities. The three of us were in the same group that time and the three of us didn't like the activities that much, and one evening Chris had the idea of going to the carnival near the area. It was one of the best night of my life, we sneaked out from the camp and went to the carnival and then got back in again without getting caught.

Although Chris was a few years older than Felix and I, we both get along really well. But there was one period of time when I had a huge crush on Chris. I thought about telling him how I feel but at the same time I didn't want to risk our friendship over a stupid crush. With the help of Felix's advices, I overcome the feelings pretty quickly.

Then after I finished high school I had to go back to Seoul because my dad got promoted and moved to the Seoul office of the company he worked at. Then last year Chris moved to Seoul to audition for a part in a new korean drama. Meanwhile Felix still living in Australia, he had been dreaming on working in the music industry here. He had been interested in kpop music ever since he was young.

"Haven, are you there?" The sound of their voices knocked me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, yes," I said whilst looking at my watch. The competition is almost started. "I will talk to you guys later, I got to go." And by that we bid our goodbyes and back to our own lives.

I put my phone back in my pocket and sat down on my seat. I adjusted the settings in my camera and took a few shots to see the result. I heard the voice of the announcer in the background, starting the whole event. I felt a sudden wave of anxiety as I remembered why am I here.

This is my first time capturing an international sport event ever since I started working at Infield Magazine a year ago. Most of my colleague called me lucky to get this task at the end of my first year here. They said the boss must have liked my work a lot if she ever do that to a new employee. But I still felt like I wasn't that good and this is such a pressure for me being here witnessing history being made at the final round of swimming competition in the 33th Olympic Game in Paris.