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It was early autumn: that time of the year where the leaves couldn’t decide between green and the warm hues of orange, red and yellow. Early autumn was the time when you and Jisoo met. When his heart couldn’t decide between wanting to walk away from you because you were too beautiful or hold you in his arms.
The first time you two actually interacted was when the leaves were struggling to transition into their autumn hues. You were part of the photography club at school, and as an assignment you had to walk around the neighbourhood and capture three things that represented autumn for you. He was part of the art club and needed to draw one beautiful scene from an autumn day.
After school that day, you headed around the neighbourhood, camera in hand, sharp eyes lingering on the green leaves stained with red and orange and on the pavements blanketed by foliage. You decided to grab a leaf from the ground that was half-green and half-red. You snapped a quick picture and shoved the leaf in the mess of your backpack.
Then, a soft, honey-like voice interrupted the whooshing wind and rustling of the leaves.
“Photography club?”
You turned around, and there was a boy on a porch of a nearby house in your school’s uniform, pencil tucked behind one of his ears while he leaned over the railing to get a good look at you. In his hands laid a sketchbook, ivory pages fluttering in the wind. You recognized him immediately as Hong Jisoo, a calm boy with slightly crazy friends that occupied the middle table in the cafeteria.
“Yeah. You’re from the art club, right?”
He nodded and smiled sweetly. “If you need good things to take pictures of, there’s a small park over there.” Jisoo tilted in his head to your left, opposite the direction of the school.
“Okay, thanks! Actually. . .I have no sense of direction, do you mind leading me there? If not, it’s okay, you can continue sketching.”
“Nah, it’s fine. I need to rest for a while anyway. You’re Y/N, right?” When you nodded, he hopped off the porch. Then you realized something. Hong Jisoo was extremely good-looking and extremely nice to someone he barely knew. He was slightly overshadowed by his more well-known friends, namely Seungkwan, Seokmin, and Soonyoung, but to you it didn’t mean he was a worse person than them.
He was still clutching his sketchbook as he led you to the park. It was slightly smaller than you expected, but it was a pleasing sight. Huge trees stained with autumn’s colours towered over benches that were sprinkled with fallen leaves. A gasp escaped your mouth at the beauty of it. A small statue of an angel stood in the middle, hands outstretched in welcome.
“It’s small, but it’s pretty, isn’t it?” Jisoo asked, leading you to one of the benches. That particular bench was facing the back of the angel, and you could see the intricate details that the artist had so lovingly carved on the angel’s wings. It seemed to be a memorial park of some sort, since behind the angel was a small grave with inscriptions on it. You and Jisoo sat down and reveled in the beauty that autumn had graced you with.
“I’m going to take some pictures.” You said quietly, as if afraid to disturb the serenity of the place. Jisoo nodded and grabbed his pencil from behind his ear, beginning to sketch. The only sounds in the park were the faint scratching of his pencil against the rough paper, the wind tousling the leaves, and the clicks of your camera with light footsteps in between.
You found a few interesting subjects, such as intertwined branches and falling leaves. You decided to take a picture of the angel, whose warm eyes seemed to fixate on you as you the camera clicked. As you checked the photo, you realized that Jisoo’s hand had made an unwanted appearance in the form of a peace sign. His hair stuck out behind the angel and you could see the smile forming in his eyes.
“Jisoo!” You shouted, but you laughed. “Why did you photobomb?”
He walked out from behind the statue and grinned at you, his eye smile going straight to your heart. You cursed inwardly : Jisoo looked so beautiful against the backdrop of red and green that you lifted up your camera once again.
“Stay there!” You said. He obeyed and made another peace sign. When he heard the click, he walked towards you. “How did it turn out?”
When you showed him, he said, “Wow, you’re amazing at taking photos. Can you send that one to me?” Jisoo looked at you with puppy eyes.
“Sure! Do I have your consent to use it for my assignment?” You asked, meeting his eyes. He smiled again and your heart stuttered.
“Of course. You’ll get a better mark if I’m in one of your photos.” With that, he winked. “Now that you’ve shown me your picture of me, I should show you this.”
He lifted his sketchbook, and on a fresh page there was a rough sketch of you, head tilted up and taking a picture of intertwined branches. You marvelled at the detail of his sketch: your hair seemed exactly the same, and the creases in your coat made it look more realistic.
“Woah. . .it’s so detailed, how? I never knew you were this talented.” You said. He blushed and rubbed his neck.
“Actually, can I use this for my assignment as well? We had to draw a beautiful scene during autumn and I think you fit the criteria quite well.” You nodded and realized something. Hong Jisoo had just called you beautiful, albeit indirectly. You could feel your cheeks getting as red as the leaves.
You still have that half-red, half-green leaf from when you first met Jisoo. You still have the photos that you took at that park that day. So when every autumn comes and passes, you reminisce over the day you met your loving boyfriend Hong Jisoo.