"MY shot here is so ugly," complained Seungcheol while inspecting Mandie's camera.
He entered Mandie's room without her permission. Luckily, she had left the house, and he didn't know where she went. It was the perfect opportunity, and he immediately went into her room.
He tampered with her camera and was greeted with beautiful pictures. There were people with different expressions, animals, and what caught his attention the most were the stunning sceneries. They were so captivating; no wonder Mandie loved her camera so much. It was undoubtedly skilled at taking photographs. Upon seeing those pictures, he couldn't criticize Mandie. He knew she was a freelance photographer, living alone in the house they were currently fighting over.
He admired even more the pictures she took of him. There were some unflattering shots where he didn't like his expression, so he disliked those, but there were also photos of him sleeping in the storage room, wearing only boxer shorts. He couldn't help but smile at what he saw. Mandie was indeed a talented photographer.
Every day, they quarreled with each other. Mandie still had no intention of leaving the house. He had tried many ways to make her leave, but nothing seemed to work. He even brought women to the house, but she remained indifferent. She always had the upper hand. However, if she thought he would be the one to leave his house, she was mistaken. No way! The house was his, and Mandie should be the one to leave.
He paused as he looked at the camera, and a photo of Mandie caught his eye. She looked so gentle in that shot, the opposite of the Mandie he knew. One was mischievous, always scheming against him, while the other was beautiful, he had to admit. She wasn't chubby, nor was she skinny; her body figure was just right. She had long hair, beautiful shaped eyes that he liked because they were slightly slanted. Her nose was well-defined and suited her round face.
His gaze wandered to her lips, and suddenly, his heart skipped a beat. He remembered when he kissed Mandie. He couldn't understand why he did it. Mandie wasn't the type of girl he usually liked. He preferred tall, fair-skinned, sophisticated girls who were up for anything he liked. But what the heck! He kissed Mandie, and he liked it. Even though Mandie didn't respond to the kiss, he felt so happy because he kissed her. He knew it was Mandie's first kiss because she didn't know how to respond, but he liked the softness of her lips. A strange feeling enveloped him, but he couldn't make sense of it.
He shook his head; he wouldn't like Mandie ever. He was a model who would never be interested in someone like Mandie. He had to execute his plan now. He was fed up with what Mandie was doing against him. It was time for him to find a way to make her leave his house.
With the camera in hand, he stood up and left Mandie's room. He was very confident that he would succeed in driving Mandie away from his house.
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"WHERE is it?" Mandie said to herself with tears in her eyes.
She remembered placing her camera on the table, but it wasn't there. She was starting to panic. Her camera had been with her for a long time. It held immense value for her because it was a gift from her parents when she was in college. She cherished it and didn't want to replace it with a new one because she believed it brought luck to her life. Her camera was her life. She couldn't live without it. But now, it was missing.
She weakly sat on the bed, a tear rolling down her cheek. Her camera was one of the things she treasured most, and now it suddenly disappeared. She couldn't be at peace until she found her camera. She regretted not taking it with her yesterday. Normally, she would carry it with her wherever she went.
She wiped away her tears and suddenly remembered something.
"Seungcheol!" she stammered and quickly went downstairs.
"Oh, where's the fire?" he sarcastically greeted her, pretending to be sitting and watching TV.
"Where's my camera?" she asked emotionlessly.
He looked at her and shrugged. "Why are you asking me about your camera?"
"It's just inside my room. Only the two of us are here. Who else should I ask but YOU!"
He avoided eye contact. "I have nothing to do with your camera."
Her eyes welled up with tears. "Please give me back my camera?" she pleaded.
She would do anything to get her camera back. He looked at her, and tears started to fall. He stared at her as if surprised by her appearance. She didn't care if she cried in front of him as long as she could get her camera back. He gazed at her for a long time and then averted his eyes and left her.
She weakly sat on the floor, crying so hard over a camera. The last time she cried was when her parents passed away, and after that, she promised herself never to cry again, never to be weak.
But that camera was her life. It allowed her to do the things she loved. She captured all the beautiful things around her. Her life might not be great, but through her camera, she could give life to everything around her.
How could she do that without her camera? She couldn't afford to lose it. She didn't want to replace it because she didn't have enough money to buy a new one. It came from her parents' hard work and sweat. She couldn't protect the house, and now her camera was gone. The thought made her cry even more.
Her crying stopped when she saw a pair of feet in front of her. She looked up and saw Seungcheol holding her camera.
She stood up suddenly. He handed the camera to her.
Her camera! Her blood boiled, and she stared at it. She knew it; he was behind all of this.
"Mianhae, Mandie," he said seriously. "I'm sorry."
She snatched her camera back from him and looked at it. There was nothing different about her camera. It was still the same.
She looked at him, and her eyes sparkled even more.
Without saying a word, she punched him in anger. He was surprised by her action, touching his jaw where she hit him.
"That's for touching my camera with your dirty hands!" she said firmly. She walked past him and proceeded to leave the house, leaving him still holding the part of his face where she had punched him.
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"GRANDPA Dan, is that you?" Mandie asked the old man wearing a hat. After retrieving her camera, she decided to wander around first instead of getting stressed at home with the person she despised. She paused when she saw an elderly man walking. She immediately approached him and recognized him as grandpa Dan.
"Mandie, my dear, how are you?" he greeted with a warm smile. It had been a while since they last saw each other. He was always kind to her, and she could never forget him.
"I'm doing fine, how about you? It's been a long time since we met, huh?" she replied.
"Yes, Mandie. I'm glad we're seeing each other again. You know, my dear, I'm still stronger than an ox," he joked. His smile suddenly faded as he noticed her frown. "Wait, are you okay?" he asked with concern.
"I'm okay, lolo, why?" she asked, feeling confused.
"Why are your eyes teary? Did you cry?"
She was taken aback, remembering why she cried. That darn Seungcheol. It was good that she got to punch him back.
"Oh, no, I didn't," she denied. "I just didn't get enough sleep."
"That fool better be prepared for me." She heard grandpa Dan mumble, but it wasn't clear to her.
"Do you have something to say, grandpa?"
"Nothing, my dear. Come on, let's have some coffee," he invited her.
She accompanied him to a coffee shop and assisted him while crossing the road. Once inside, she helped him find a seat.
He thanked her and sat in the chair beside her. She took off her camera hanging around her neck.
She glanced at lolo Dan, "Why are you alone, grandpa?"
"I asked your uncle Jin if I could take a walk. He didn't want to agree, but his wife convinced him. He's scared of his wife," he said, managing to add humor to it.
She was infected by his happy aura. She was sure that grandpa Dan's family was happy, based on the stories he shared with her. She had only seen him and your uncle Jin's son. She hadn't met uncle Jin's wife yet, nor the grandchild he mentioned, who seemed to be quite stubborn.
"What about you, Mandie? How's your home?" he asked while stirring his coffee.
She looked at him and sighed. "To tell you the truth, grandpa, someone is claiming ownership of my house. That annoying Korean model, Seungcheol," she said with annoyance. "He irritates me. He claims his family bought my house, but I don't believe it; they might just be fooling me. He even kicked me out of my house, but I found a way to make him leave instead, but he's still stubborn. He always brings malnourished girls to the house," she heard lolo Dan laugh. "Only the strong will survive between the two of us. Just this morning, my camera went missing. I can't calm down because it's precious to me, so I couldn't help but cry," she said. "But I couldn't resist punching him because he's the one who took my camera," she explained.
"What did he do when you punched him?" he asked excitedly.
"Nothing, grandpa, I just walked past him while I still could control myself from hitting that Choi Seungcheol. Acting like he's so handsome. His body is actually ugly," she said, annoyed.
Grandpa Dan burst into laughter. "You're so brave, my dear. Aren't you afraid of him? In the first place, you don't even know him, and he might do something bad to you," he said, expressing concern.
"Oh, grandpa, he should be the one afraid of me," she grinned and recounted everything she did to make Seungcheol leave the house.
Grandpa Dan just laughed. She was infected by his laughter, and it made her feel good.
"You did all that, Mandie?" he asked incredulously.
She nodded.
"You're really brave, my dear. Maybe you two are meant for each other?" he teased.
"No way, grandpa! What are you talking about? I won't like that man. Never!" she firmly said to grandpa Dan.
"He said the exact same thing as my grandson."
His words weren't entirely clear to her. She looked at him, "What did you say, grandpa?"
"Nothing, nothing, my dear. Let's meet again sometime to catch up, okay? Let's eat," he changed the topic and called the waiter.
They chatted happily, focusing on one person. And that person was probably choking now because of their conversation.
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SEUNGCHEOL accidentally dropped the glass he was holding.
"Seungcheol, man, take it easy," his friend said, patting his back.
He harshly brushed them off and gave them an angry look.
"Will you stop laughing!" he reprimanded them sharply.
They closed their mouths, but he could still see them exchanging glances and whispering secretly.
They had agreed to go out to their friend Mingyu's house. All five of them were there, all fellow models. They rarely got together due to their busy schedules, so they decided to meet at Mingyu's place. Because he was annoyed, he reluctantly accepted their invitation. It was a mistake since he received teasing remarks from them upon seeing the bruise on the side of his lip. The more irritating part was when he confided in them about the issue and they just made fun of him. They couldn't believe that a girl caused his bruise.
Was he losing his charm with women that he got punched like that?
He admitted that he was caught off guard when he saw Mandie crying earlier.
He couldn't be at ease with what he saw. He didn't expect Mandie's camera to hold such importance in her life that she cried over it.
He had planned to tease her until she begged him and eventually handed over her camera, but things didn't go as planned. He was the one who ended up returning her camera, and he even got punched.
Seeing her cry affected him deeply. That was the first time he saw her cry. When her tears fell, he felt like he hurt himself. He wanted to hit his head against the wall for feeling that way.
No! He shouldn't feel that way. Mandie is his enemy. She needed to leave the house as soon as possible. She had caused enough trouble for him. He needed to take action to make Maddi vanish from his sight.
He looked at his friends. They were also looking at him.
"What?" he asked, shifting his gaze among them.
Mingyu smirked. "It's the first time we've seen you so stunned, man. What's going on with you?"
"What are you talking about?" he asked, confused.
Soonyoung grinned. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes," he answered, feeling flustered.
"For us, you're not. You don't seem like Choi Seungcheol, the hot Korean model who never gets shaken because of a girl."
"Stop with your jokes," he said irritably to them. He was getting confused by their words. "I need your help," he said seriously after a pause.
"Are you sure about it, Cheol?" Mingyu asked, estimating the situation.
"Yes," he replied with confidence.
"Okay, if that's what Choi Seungcheol wants, then we'll help him," Soonyoung concluded the conversation. They raised their glasses and shouted...
"Kampai for Choi Seungcheol!"
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