Hae-Yeon

 
“Just a little to the right,” I squint into the camera and wave my hand to my assistant, Mi-Seul. “Perfect, hold it there,” I show her my thumbs up, and she ‘okays’ me softly.

The five-week-old newborn is all wrapped up in a beige-colored stretchy cotton wrap and nestled safely within a woven, bamboo basket that’s layered with ultra-soft cushions to help the baby relax into it. The basket is also lined with a soft blanket in a complementing shade of brown.

The wrap and the basket are fool-proof props, and till today, not a single newborn has rebelled when they’re snuggled into this setup. They tend to completely relax and sleep peacefully, thus helping with wrapping up the shoot much faster, provided they have been well-fed and burped before the shoot.

As Mi-Seul holds the reflector at the perfect angle, my index finger repeatedly pushes down on the capture button of my camera. Shifting to a newer angle, I continue clicking more pictures when suddenly my phone vibrates inside the back pocket of my jeans.

“Should I get it?” Mi-Seul whisper-asks me, and I shake my head in response.

Despite my reassuring her that the wrap fits the baby very comfortably, that the fabric has been cleansed with baby-safe detergents after its previous usage, and that the fabrics are all completely soft and breathable, the baby’s mother is still a little apprehensive about the wrap and blanket being too uncomfortable for her son. So, it would only make sense for me to wind up the shoot as quickly as possible to calm down the mother’s nerves.

New mothers are paranoid, and I get it to an extent.

Sometimes I even wonder if I would be the same when I become a mother myself, which, of course, is a remote reality, considering the fact that there is no man in my life right now.

The vibration in my back pocket resumes once again, and this time, the baby’s mother notices it too.

“Please pick up the call, Hae-Yeon-ssi. It’s okay, I trust you. He does look comfortable in the wrap,” the mother gives me a small nod of her head with a pretty smile, also permitting me to answer the call.

“Thank you, I’ll make it quick,” I get up from my crouching position and hand the camera to Mi-Seul before pulling out my cell phone from the back pocket of my baggy jeans.

The moment my eyes land on the caller’s name, the corners of my lips immediately lift, forming a big smile on my face.

“TaeTae?” I answer excitedly as I walk out of the shooting room and into the reception, softly shutting the door behind me.

“Hae, I’m here at the address you sent me. Where are you?” His voice is a bit loud, and I can hear louder noises of passing buses and honking horns in the background.

“I’m just wrapping up work. Should take another ten minutes or so. Do you mind waiting for a bit?” I check with him as I draw open the blinds and look down on the street to try and spot him walking into the building.

“Which floor are you on?” He asks, and I spot a tall and slim male figure walking into the building with the phone glued to his one ear, and his other hand combing through his jet-black hair.

It must be him.

“My office is on the third floor, come over. I think I just saw you,” I laugh softly.

Taehyung chuckles too, and then we end the call before I rush to the mirror and check if I’m looking okay because I am about to meet my friend from over twenty years ago, my first friend in life, and the friend who I never thought I would meet again in this lifetime.

He is precious, and I love it that the world is still a small place to dwell in.

A whole minute passes by, and then the door to my studio creaks open, followed by a head full of fluffy raven hair that pokes in through the gap, causing my lips to stretch into the widest smile possible.

“Taehyung!!!!” I exclaim as I dart forward, and he quickly steps in with an equally big smile on his face, engulfing my whole body in a tight and warm bear hug as I throw myself at him.

We both keep laughing as he twirls us around a few times before bringing my feet to touch the floor. I stand up and take a step back from him while holding onto his shoulders to take a good look at his whole self.

“Wow! Look at you, handsome!! You’ve grown up so well!!” I exclaim, dramatically clapping a hand over my mouth, and my compliment seems to paint a furious blush on Taehyung’s face.

“Stop it…” He laughs, his deep voice bouncing off the walls as he lets his head drop.

He then looks up at me with a more sober expression and asks, “So how long more?”

“Just ten more minutes. I only need to click a few more pictures. Do you want to come in and see?” I ask him, slanting my head in the direction of the door to the shooting room, and he nods eagerly.

After taking off his shoes, and after we both sanitize our hands, I allow us to enter the shooting room where the newborn is still sleeping in the same position, and the mother is waiting in her seat, flashing a smile at me when I enter the room.

“Sorry, it took a little longer. We’ll be done soon,” I inform her as I walk up to Mi-Seul and collect my camera from her.

“Who’s this?” Mi-Seul whispers when I get closer to her, pointing in Taehyung’s direction with her raised eyebrows.

Turning to look at him over my shoulder, I then turn back to Mi-Seul and reply softly, “He’s my childhood buddy. We’re headed out for lunch after this shoot,” I wink at her, and she flashes a tight-lipped smile and nods at me.

I motion for Taehyung to take a seat near the mother, and then I proceed to crouch on the floor beside the baby in the basket while Mi-Seul adjusts the lighting.

It doesn’t take us long because the one shot that I was hoping to get is soon captured when the little boy smiles in his sleep. The smile, of course, lasts no longer than two seconds and is quickly replaced by a pouty crying face, but from experience, I know that it will soon return. Hence, I swiftly turn on the burst mode on my camera, and the smile returns just in time for me to capture more than five shots of his sleepy smiling face in rapid succession.

Letting out a satisfied sigh, I stand back up on my feet as I scroll through the set of photos that were clicked, and a smile makes its way up my lips when I see that everything in the pictures looks perfect. There’s nothing more gratifying than looking at a bunch of perfectly clicked photographs.

“Look,” I tilt the camera a bit so that the mother can see the photos, and Taehyung, who is seated next to her, curiously cranes his neck to peek at the photos too.

“Wow! They look brilliant,” the mother smiles, nodding.

“Thank you, he was such a sweetheart. Didn’t wake up or become fussy, and this was one of the smoothest shoots ever. I don’t think he even wet his diaper,” I laugh as I remove the camera strap from around my neck and place it aside.

Turning to look at Mi-Seul, I tell her to change the baby back into his own clothes and clear up the space, and she responds with a thumbs-up as she bends down to pick up the baby.

“Let’s leave then?” I ask Taehyung, and he rises from his seat, nodding eagerly.

We leave the studio, take the elevator to the lobby and walk straight to the newly opened Asian fusion restaurant next door. Being a new one, the restaurant is fairly unoccupied, and we don’t have any trouble finding a comfortable place to sit down.

Once we settle down, and the waiter pours out two glasses of water for us, I rub my hands together and lean forward a bit on the table, and so does Taehyung who is sitting at the other side of the table.

“Sooo…. How have you been?” I’m unable to resist the big grin that forms on my lips.

“I’ve been amazing. How have you been?” He asks enthusiastically.

“All good,” I take a sip of water and lean back in my seat. “Where do you work?”

“I work at an entertainment agency as a marketing person. Nothing fun. But your work seems so interesting, Hae. I mean, you can just squish babies’ cheeks and click pictures of them all day and still make money,” he jokes, cracking up at his own joke.

“Mhm… It’s not as easy as you think it is. How’s everyone at home? If I remember it well, your mother was pregnant when you moved to Seoul, right?” I raise a brow at him, and he nods, impressed.

“Wow! You do have quite a memory. Yeah, she was. I have a sister, and she’s graduating from college this year,” Taehyung informs me.

“Amazing!!”

“But my memory is great too. I still clearly remember how you cried standing near that short white fence when I left your house that day. And I never thought that I’d be seeing you ever again,” his voice softens at the memory rewind.

“I never thought that too... and yeah, I cried for like a week after you left,” I smile sheepishly.

The entire meal time passes by with us catching up over random things that we remembered from many years ago, laughing loudly and talking about our lives over these past two and a half decades.

It is so refreshing to have met him after so many years, and it is, in fact, quite surprising that we find it so comfortable to talk to each other even after all these years. That is probably one of the biggest perks of having friendships that are built without any expectations.

It feels almost as if we have picked up on a conversation that we left yesterday, and it absolutely doesn’t feel like we’ve been apart for about twenty-five years now.

We click some pictures of our food and ourselves, and we even take a few pictures together. Taehyung then texts me his address, and I do the same, and then he offers to walk me back to my studio.

“Hae, we should meet up often. I want you to meet all my other friends as well,” Taehyung displays his big square smile—one of the many things about him that remains so fresh in my memory.

“Yes, Tae, we should meet up more often,” I say, and we both turn our heads to face the door when it is pushed open by Mi-Seul. “But unlike you, I don’t have many friends, and Mi-Seul right here is one of my best buddies.” I smile and point to Mi-Seul with my hands, and Taehyung beams big at her, nodding.

Mi-Seul, somehow, doesn’t seem as if she wants to look at anyone or anything else except Taehyung, and it’s quite understandable because he looks unbelievably handsome even though he is dressed in a very simple button-up shirt and slacks. Taehyung’s stare lingers on Mi-Seul for longer than I expected it to, and, well, I feel the urgent need to vacate the space and let them be on their own for a while.

But, of course, I have to poop on their parade because Mi-Seul and I have to get the photos sorted, and Tae and I have to discuss the photoshoot that he was asking about for his friend and his daughter.

“Ahem,” I clear my throat, causing Mi-Seul to snap out of her trance and rush inside the shooting room while Taehyung stands there, shyly rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

Shaking my head, I let out an amused chuckle because I have never seen Mi-Seul grow so shy and flustered before.

“So, Tae, the photo shoot that you were asking me about,” I take a seat on the small couch in the reception, and he sits down at the other end of the couch.

“Uhm, yeah, it is for my friend and his baby. The baby’s mother didn’t survive the delivery, and he has been having a hard time managing his work and the baby. Of course, there’s a nanny, but then he feels guilty about not being there for her as much as he would like to. So, I felt that this would be a good opportunity for them to bond and spend some time together while making memories, and even better while getting it all captured as photos,” he rounds out his explanation and runs his hand through his dense hair as he comfortably leans back, resting his elbows over the backrest of the couch.

“Wow, you’re still a big talker, aren’t you?” I laugh softly. “But I still feel bad for your friend. He shouldn’t be feeling this way, yet, I somewhat understand his stand. It is natural to feel guilty in such situations.” I nod my head, my eyes lowering to the floor before they lift to meet my best friend’s eyes. “And yeah, a photoshoot will definitely be a relaxing time for them to bond and spend time together. You’re good at this,” I pat his thigh appreciatively.

“I know, right?” He laughs proudly, flashing his teeth.

“I’m free tomorrow, and if you guys are free, then bring him over. We can have the shoot tomorrow. Is there any specific color or concept that you want to use for the photos?” I ask him as I reach out to grab the photo catalog that sits on the coffee table in front of us.

“You pick whichever color and concept would suit them best. He wouldn’t be too picky about things,” Taehyung smiles lightly, and I flip the pages of the album until I reach the page with one of my favorite newborn girl-baby photo shoots.

“This is one of my favorites,” I turn the album to him, and Taehyung pulls it to rest on his lap while he closely studies the sequence of photos for a few minutes.

“This looks great,” his eyes lift to meet mine. “We could use this, but before that, I’ll give you a confirmation in a few hours if we are doing this tomorrow. I haven’t yet spoken to him about the photoshoot,” his tone deepens as he hands the album back to me.

“Alright, let me know before 5 pm, okay? So that Mi-Seul and I could set the place up before we leave for the day, and that’ll make things easier, in case we are doing this tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Taehyung checks the time on his watch. “I’ll get going then, and I’ll text you by 5,” he gets up from the couch, and so do I. Taehyung, with his height, effortlessly towers over me and hugs me briefly before he turns around, and I follow him to the door.

“Oh,” he suddenly turns back to look at me while holding the door open with one hand, and his eyes slowly drift to the closed door of the shooting room before meeting mine once again. “And say bye to Mi-Seul,” he winks, giggling, earning a giggle and a slap on his arm from me.
 

Handwritten letters, physical photoalbums... Hae-Yeon is old school.
💕❤🥰

Published on : 09/03/2023