Chapter Four: "Flash Again"

"She always takes pictures, not even knowing that she herself is the perfect beautiful view."

- Yashiro Jin-Woo Kwon

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Group study, huh? That's what they said they would do, at least. But looking at his friends right now, Eivan couldn't help but shake his head at his friends, Gavin, Alistair and Frederic were laying in his bed comfortably while playing mobile games, Yami and Yuna were sitting on his couch with the former reading his book before throwing it somewhere, Yashiro, Jihyun, Shaina and Lisa sitting on the carpeted floor silently watching all that is occuring within the four corners with Glenn tying Jihyun's hair into a fish tail braid.

Watching all of his friends lounging around his room comfortably irked him to no end. Usually, he wouldn't mind them feeling as if this is their room but they should have been studying, not lazing around!

"Come to my house for a group study they said. Now, look what they're doing, acting as if they own the friggin' place." Eivan sighed, gripping the tray containing snacks and some refreshments that he was holding unto tightly.

"I'm sorry." Jihyun said, feeling compelled to apologize for her and her friends' behaviors while looking up and giving the irritated male a gentle smile, careful not to move her head too much as to not disturb her friend that was braiding her long brown hair.

"No, don't apologize, Jihyun. It's not your fault that they're all lazy. Sorry you had to feel that way." Eivan said with another sigh, smiling gently at the demure female, not missing the longing stare his long-time bestfriend was giving her and instead smirked lightly at him, having formed yet another plan for his shy friend to get together with his pretty crush.

"Say, Jihyun," He called, getting the attention of the still girl which was obvious due to her raised eyebrows, "Have you ever thought about something like, I don't know, a male liking you?" His question caused his silent friend to flinch before glaring at him, mouthing for him to stop what he was doing immediately, unfortunately, his plead fell on deaf ears.

Meanwhile, Jihyun was confused by the sudden question, having not expected such a question from the ever logical Eivan, she expected him to ask her questions related to science, literature or logic, even mathematics maybe, in short, all academic-related ones, not emotional-related questions like this. And as such, she's very perplexed. Why would he ask her something like this?

"Like? I haven't really thought about it." The brunette answered truthfully, a finger tapping on her cheek, seemingly deep in thought.

"Seriously, Jihyun!?" Yami asked, standing up after throwing yet another one of Eivan's book causing the latter to massage his aching temple after putting the tray he was holding down on one of the many tables in his room, internally growling in annoyance at his three male friends who were playing games while laying in his bed to jump and start eating the snacks, "You're the prettiest girl I know! How come you haven't thought about that yet!? A lot of guys at our school likes you, some even confessed already!" The energetic girl yelled, unknowingly causing the shy raven-haired male sitting behind Glenn to sigh, thinking that his chances are further lessened.

"In our friend circle, you're the only single and available girl!" Yami added in a much louder voice, much to Eivan's annoyance, making him cover his ears at his girlfriend's loudness before turning to slap his friends' hands, scolding them for eating the snacks when most of them haven't even eaten yet.

"Don't move around too much, Jihyun. I'm almost done." Glenn said, holding unto the said female's shoulder for a second before going back to braiding her straight brown hair.

"Ah, yes. Sorry."

"That's true, I agree with Yam. Jihyun is really pretty but I understand why she isn't dating anyone yet." Lisa smiled, holding unto Jihyun's hand, slightly confused why it was trembling slightly when it should be still before shaking the thoughts off, it was probably just nothing, Jihyun has always been a shy girl and hated being in the limelight so maybe she's nervous, yes, that must be the reason.

"And that is?" Eivan asked, curious about the answer himself, glancing at Yashiro who was shaking his head and sighing.

"Because," The highlighted-haired girl paused once again, squezing her friend's hand lightly as if asking for her permission to speak at which the brunette only raised her eyebrows which is enough for Lisa to continue, "Jihyun wouldn't want to enter a relationship with someone she's unsure of. She knows it would be unfair to the guy or girl she'd date if it was one-sided and only dated them for pity. She's such a kind-hearted girl. And also, mainly because she hasn't found the guy or girl she'll like yet."

"Or girl?" Yuna asked, confused which caused Lisa to shrug.

"I'm open to the idea of Jihyun liking someone of the same sex as her just like how I'm open to me dating a girl too." Lisa honestly said, leaning her head on her shy friend's shoulder and wrapping her arms around Jihyun who leaned closer to her, already used to the skinship the girl beside her always initiated, even going as far as hugging her back which led to Lisa's cheek rubbing against hers.

"I'm pretty sure if Jihyun and Lisa were to be not as straight as we thought, they'd go for each other." Yuna mindlessly said out loud making Yami nod in agreement, jumping up and being obviously giddy at the thought of both of her overly girly friends being in a much deeper relationship, being a huge fan of GL herself.

"I know, right!? LiHyun or JiSa, I ship it!" The energetic girl yelled and jumped in glee which reminded both Jihyun and Lisa of a school girl in love with an upperclassman which was not really far from the truth and the thought was enough for the two to laugh softly, unaware of a certain gamer boy frowning and a shy boy smiling just by seeing his crush happy and laughing.

"If she is, Lisa wouldn't date me." Alistair muttered loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

"I only dated you because you were desperate, you dope." Lisa remarked, still not letting go of her precious bestfriend who was still smiling while the male doing her hair behind her asked for a small elastic to tie the end of her hair for a more secure hair style before Shaina, who had been quietly texting her mother gave to Glenn who grinned at her and muttered a small 'thanks'.

"What!? Lisanna Choi, I've courted you for two years straight and you're saying you dated me because I was desperate?!" Such outburst coming from Lisa's clingy boyfriend was expected but it still made everyone in the room laugh, maybe except for Alistair himself, who was still fuming.

Soon enough, after the snacks were finished, mostly thanks to Gavin, Alistair and Frederic alongside Glenn, Yami and Yuna who were the most outgoing when it comes to consuming food, unlike the three well-mannered and less active trio, Shaina, Lisa and Jihyun along with the shy and quiet Yashiro. Due to the students having consumed the snacks, they all almost lazed around the room again if not for Eivan telling them to go to his mother's garden and so, they decided to finally obey the master of the houseold for once in their lives which led to Shaina admiring the flowers, Yuna and Yami laying down in the grass looking at the clouds, Glenn, Frederic, Gavin and Alistair sitting down on the floor below the shade provided by the roof of Eivan's home while Yashiro, as per usual, decided to be alone, leaning on the table near the entrance of a greenhouse while watching Jihyun who had been taking pictures of the beautiful garden using the camera that has always been hanging around her neck ever since they arrived with Lisa tailing behind her, talking, laughing or taking pictures with her, sometimes, Jihyun would even ask her to be her model, finding Lisa to be very pretty especially when standing beside the beautiful red roses which seems to inspire a certain inner photographer within Jihyun who would smile in contentment at the pictures, she even started snapping pictures of everyone present in the area, gently asking them to pose naturally for her, seeming to be enjoying doing her favorite hobby. That smile alone was enough to make a certain raven-haired male happy before his thoughts started worrying him again.

Yashiro sighed yet again, looking up at the blue sky above him, thinking about the possible outcome of his attraction towards the oblivious pretty girl. One was that she might not like him which could hurt his feelings and could start an obvious awkwardness between them. Two, he might not be able to confess to her which would lead to the possibility of her liking someone else. Honestly, both of those would hurt him. Why was he even thinking that far ahead when they haven't even talked yet.

He feels stupid, it's all just hopeless. With all these possibilities and thoughts running through his head, he feels as if he's going to pass out or have intense head aches. Maybe it's not even love yet but it's already so hard to keep under control. Or it already is love which makes it all the more harder. All these spiraling thoughts came to a halt after a certain flash and the sound of a flashing camera.

Curious, he found himself turning around to see the same girl that had been in his mind for quite a while now holding up her camera with the strap around her neck. It was then that he felt the world come to a stop, her longer brown hair swaying with the breeze, her blinking was slow, her beautiful pools of honey eyes complimented by the nearly setting sunlight, her slightly parted pink lips, the soft look in her face, the way their eyes met, the nostalgia, everything. Everything about this scenario was similar to how they first met, the only difference being it's been two years since their first meeting and her longer hair and their taller heights. They were staring at each other in such a romantic setting inside the garden filled with all kinds of different flowers and plants in the sunset, unaware of the numerous sets of eyes lingering on them with smiles in their faces, especially the girls, having already seen this scenario before, albeit not as detailed as now. It was like a romantic cliche movie.

"Hey." He shyly greeted after a few moments of admiring her features.

"Hey..." She greeted back with a soft smile, her camera still in hand.

"Why do we keep meeting like this?"

"What?" Jihyun asked, confused before taking a good look at Yashiro's face while the male couldn't help but feel flustered which was clear with his cheeks gaining a pinkish tint but managed to keep his smile and gaze straight towards the girl familiarizing his features. And that was when it hit her.

"Are you..." She paused, unsure, "You're the male I took a picture of almost two years ago, correct?" She finally asked, earning a nod from the male in front of her.

"I knew you were familiar. Ah, now I feel stupid for not noticing sooner." Came her soft voice, lightly gigging at her mistake as he couldn't resist the urge to stare at her. She just looked so pretty, he even took note of the cat-like whisker dimples on her upper cheeks below her eyes.

By then, he already knew that whatever the answer to that question he was asking is, he's glad that he keeps meeting her, or in this case, he's glad that he got close to her this way. It just felt so natural, so nostalgic, so heavenly. It's like a dream. And frankly, if it was, he would never want to wake up again. He kept on silently appreciating her with both of them feeling content with only eye contact, it was as if words are unneeded since no words would ever be enough to say how much they like and appreciate each other, still unaware of the eyes that have been watching them for quite some time.

"Hey, lovebirds," Yuna yelled, deciding to finally ruin the perfect moment as she laughed when the two flustered teens turned to them with blushing faces.

"Hyun, before you two get even more flirty, take a picture of me, real quick over here!" Yami demanded, sitting down on one of the chairs, one of her hand resting on the table and the other holding a rose she picked from the greenhouse, posing for her friend to get a perfect picture of her that she would later post on her social media account.

"Yami, she only takes pictures of something that inspires her inner photographer!" Shaina yelled at the currently posing female, annoyed that her silent friend's romantic moment with her demure bestfriend was ruined by both Yuna and Yami, giving the two an annoyed glare.

"So?" The ravenette asked, her onyx eyes making contact with her annoyed friend's same colored ones.

"You don't inspire her inner photographer because you're damn ugly as hell!" The still annoyed female said, crossing her arms and scoffing while turning her head the other way making her ponytailed red hair sway slightly, refusing to look at the raven-haired girl who was annoying her.

"Yam, did you just pick that rose from the greenhouse!? Those are mom's favorite, she'll kill me!" Eivan suddenly yelled, realizing that his troublesome girlfriend took the flower from his mother's greenhouse which had all her most favored flowers and plants and whenever someone damaged or took one of her favorite flowers, by any chance without her consent, she would always freak out.

"Shut up, Eiv! Deal with it!" Yami yelled back, causing her boyfriend to look taken aback before shaking his head, deciding not to say anything anymore while she looked towards her red-haired friend, "Come over here, Shaina Joo! I'll beat you to a pulp!"

"No, I swear if you mess up my hair, I'll kill you!" Shaina yelled, using her hands to shield her hair from her incoming assailant.

"Nice red hair you got there, did you mistook the ketchup for shampoo!?" The ravenette yelled, reaching for the other girl's hair.

"No, I soak my red hair from the blood of my enemies!" The red-haired girl retorted back with an angered look in her face, not wanting her dyed hair to be ruined causing her opposition to run away, "Come here and I'll soak my hair in your blood!"

"You brute! Get the hell away from me!" Yami yelled, running around the garden, even hiding behind Jihyun, Lisa and Yashiro before running away from Shaina. The two kept running back and forth while screaming profanities at each other, further confusing the three teens who stood there, not believing the current scene in front of them before Yami went behind Jihyun again, using her as a shield.

"Get away from me, Shai!" The hiding female screamed, holding unto Jihyun's shoulders and using her body to block herself from Shaina.

"Hey, be careful, idiot! Jihyun is delicate!" The ponytailed girl yelled, her arms ready to catch the confused female if she ever falls.

"Yami, quit that!" Lisa also yelled, also getting ready to catch their defenseless calm friend, urging Yashiro to do the same, "You too, Jinwoo, let's protect Jihyun!"

"Y-yeah..." The introverted raven-haired male muttered, wondering when did he get caught up in this.

"You guys are forgetting that we should have been studying!" Eivan yelled, cupping his hands around as a makeshift microphone as he leaned on the doorframe connecting his house to the garden his mother owns and tends to. "Seriously, they always get distracted. I knew this would happen if we did something like this."

"Don't mind it much, Eiv. At least Yashiro finally worked up the courage to talk to Jihyun." Gavin spoke from beside him, his eyes glued to the screen of his phone, still playing a game with Fred and Alistair, this time making Glenn join them.

"At least we did manage to accomplish something today. We're making progress, boys." Eivan said, looking at his male friends from the corners of his eyes with a smirk, seeing them give their own smiles. "Soon enough, we'll emerge victorious in this war."

"Why are you talking like a War chief, Eiv?" Frederic remarked with a laugh.

The intellectual male was about to answer when he suddenly came up with a plan.

"I know that look."

"We all do."

Were Gavin and Glenn's comments about the sudden familiar gleam in the intellect's eyes.

"This means trouble."

"I have a plan in mind to help out boy out more." Eivan said, his amber eyes narrowed, truth be told, he looked like an anime villain plotting something bad, almost even similar to Light Yagami from Death Note, and quite frankly, Eivan liked the said show to the point that he kept a collection of Death Note merchandises inside a closet in his room.

"And what kind of plan is that?"

"You'll see." Was his only response to the question that left his friends hanging. And man, is Eivan itching to put his plan in action soon.