Ho-jin was standing by the window in the club room with his arms crossed, looking outside. Near the shelves, some of the older members of the club were talking and laughing.
"Hyung¹," one of the boys called.
Ho-jin turned a little. "Yes?"
"How many more people are we waiting for?"
"Two more," Ho-jin said. "First-years. Please don't do anything stupid and scare them off."
"This place is gonna turn into a daycare," one of the boys muttered.
Ho-jin looked at him. "It already feels like daycare whenever you're around, hoobae. Just saying."
Everyone but the boy laughed, and Ho-jin turned back to the window.
He finally saw two boys walking toward the building. One had a digital camera around his neck, and the other had a huge camera bag over his shoulder. Isn't that too heavy for him? he thought. Was he carrying that when he was running this morning?
He moved away from the window and sat at the table. About a minute later, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," he said.
Hae-sol entered first. Ji-hun came in beside him.
They bowed and greeted everyone before going to the table. Ji-hun followed Hae-sol to their seats without looking at Ho-jin even once. Ho-jin noticed it immediately and found it funny.
"Sit down," Ho-jin said. He had been speaking casually until then, but now his voice became more serious. "Hello, everyone. I'm Shin Ho-jin, a third-year. I've been in the Photography Club for four years, and I've been president for two of them."
Once he was done introducing himself, Ho-jin moved on to the club itself, first its history, then what they would be doing that semester. Their advisor was on medical leave. Attendance was mandatory. They met once a week after school, and everyone needed to handle the equipment carefully. "Let's introduce ourselves. Tell us your name, your year, and why you joined."
They went around the table one by one.
When it was Ji-hun's turn, he stood up and bowed politely. "I'm Moon Ji-hun," he said without looking at Ho-jin. "Thank you for accepting me. I'm a first-year student. I joined because I like taking photos. I use an old SLR camera."
The words "old SLR" had caught everyone's attention. Ji-hun realized for a moment that too much attention was on him and blushed.
Ho-jin looked at the camera bag beside Ji-hun. "That bag looks pretty heavy. You can leave it here if you want. This place is very safe."
Ji-hun shook his head. "I'd rather take it home and bring it back, because it belonged to my father and it's very valuable."
"All right, then," Ho-jin said calmly. "Let's split into digital and analog and make the groups. Digital over here, film users by the window."
Ji-hun was left alone by the window.
One of the boys frowned. "Do we really need to split up just for Ji-hun? He can use digital too."
Before Ho-jin could answer, Ji-hun jumped in. "I can develop film myself, so I don't need anyone. I can use digital for projects too if I have to."
Ho-jin looked at Ji-hun and thought of the students who joined just to have something on their school record, or because it was not a regular class. Ji-hun was clearly not one of them. Nobody carried a three-kilogram bag back and forth every Friday just for show.
"I'll personally help Moon Ji-hun," he said calmly, without taking his eyes off Ji-hun as he spoke.
Then he suddenly turned to everyone who had chosen digital. "And from now on, when you've only just met someone, don't call them only by their given name. Show some respect to people you've just met."
Ji-hun finally looked at him. But there was no gratitude at all in his eyes. Then he quickly turned his head back and looked out the window.
—
Everyone in the club room had started talking about their cameras and taking random pictures of everything around them. Ji-hun was sitting in the corner with his bag because he had lost Hae-sol to the digital group.
Ho-jin finally managed to come over after checking everyone's registration information. "Is there a reason you haven't taken your camera out of the bag? Come on, take it out. Let's have a look."
Ji-hun did not look at Ho-jin as he opened his bag. He did not take the camera out. "I don't need you to defend me. I don't want someone like you defending me," he said. "Just ignore me."
Ho-jin had not expected that answer. He had not expected any reaction that harsh, but he did not push it. "I know you don't need it," he said. "I won't do it again, don't worry. But we're already in the Photography Club. Can I see your camera? I shoot film too."
Without saying anything, Ji-hun opened the bag and took out the heavy black Camon EOS 1N.
Ho-jin looked carefully at the camera. "It's heavy even without the lens. Can you carry it around every day?"
"I'm stronger than I look," Ji-hun replied.
"All right. Follow me. I'll show you the darkroom."
The darkroom was narrow. When Ho-jin turned on the red light, the whole room became red. "You can use this room whenever you want. Just knock on the door first."
"Thank you," Ji-hun said.
"Moon Ji-hun... About that girl earlier..." Ho-jin started.
"I don't wanna know," Ji-hun said immediately. "It has nothing to do with me."
"Why?" Ho-jin asked quietly.
This time Ji-hun turned to him. "Because I don't like you. You smoke, you hang out with girls every day, and you bully everyone around you. I think you're a terrible person."
Ho-jin clearly had not expected to hear that. "Wait, just listen to me..."
"I said I don't wanna know," Ji-hun interrupted. "If you explain any more, I'll leave this club. We can't be friends anyway."
For a moment, Ho-jin wondered if there was something wrong with this kid. Since the first day, Ji-hun had reacted too strongly whenever Ho-jin did or said something. Ho-jin did not like seeing someone this young get this uncomfortable every time he was around. He waited for a moment before asking quietly, "But... what if I wanna be friends with you?"
Ji-hun crossed his arms and looked directly at Ho-jin. "You're a senior in high school. I'm only in my first year of middle school. There's no way we can be friends."
Ho-jin shook his head. "You misunderstood me. I just want things between us to be less awkward. Of course I'm your sunbae. You can even call me 'hyung' if you want."
Ji-hun narrowed his eyes a little. "I already told you, I don't hang out with bullies. I don't like you."
The smile disappeared from Ho-jin's face, and he took a step back. "Okay."
Ji-hun took a deep breath and looked away. "Can we leave now? And I'm not gonna call you hyung. I don't even have a reason to call you that."
Ho-jin looked at him for a while, then nodded. "All right."
They left the darkroom, but the tension between them was still there.
—
The Photography Club room was noisy. Everyone was talking and joking around. Ji-hun picked up his camera bag and said he was leaving.
"Wait," Hae-sol said. He smiled at the others, bowed, quickly said goodbye, and followed Ji-hun out.
Ho-jin sighed. After reminding everyone separately about the homework and the project, Ho-jin told them they could leave and that he wanted everyone in the club room on Friday, no exceptions.
The kids left the room with all the noise and excitement of teenagers, and Ho-jin watched them go. Then he walked over to the window and looked outside. Ji-hun and Hae-sol were walking through the school yard together, talking about something.
Then Ji-hun laughed. So you can laugh?
Without thinking much about it, Ho-jin reached for the camera on the table and brought it up to his eye. He took three photos while Ji-hun was still laughing. Now that's a candid portrait, people. If you didn't know, now you do…
He felt really excited all of a sudden and could not stay still. He looked at the clock on the wall, and time seemed to be moving too slowly. He pointed the camera at the floor and pressed the shutter over and over until he used up the rest of the film. Then he ran to the darkroom and turned on the red light. These photos are gonna look incredible.
More than anything, Ho-jin wanted to see Ji-hun laughing again. Right now, if possible.
While developing the film, he thought about a few competitions. He was sure he could enter at least one of these photos. As he waited for the negatives to dry, he tried to picture how they would come out. He knew exactly what he had photographed.
When the photos finally ready, Ho-jin got what he had expected. He had three very clear photos of Ji-hun smiling, and Moon Ji-hun looked pretty happy in them.
Ho-jin kept looking at the photos. Behind Ji-hun's harsh attitude and the wall he was trying to put up, he could see a pretty likable and smart kid. He had known what he was photographing when he pressed the shutter.
"You're really something else, Moon Ji-hun," Ho-jin said quietly to himself.
—
형¹ (hyung): A Korean term used by a younger man to address an older man. Depending on the relationship, it can carry warmth, closeness, and respect.