[chaptered] Colors in Bloom (1/8)
colors in bloom; chaptered, PG-13, fluffy romance, taemin/jonghyun/krystal, 981 words
summary; a story of three youths who learn how to love, live, and let go.
chapter 1; brown
Taemin was never without a camera in his hands. Even as a three year old child, with a hand-me-down Kodak from his mother, he loved taking still-life’s of his surroundings, catching clouds floating by through the old lenses, fingering the vintage photo rolls and staining them with his fingerprints. He would take it everywhere, playing with it more than he did his friends. It was his best friend, his only loyal companion-there was nothing that he cherished more than that out-of-date black box.
And fifteen years later, Taemin still has the camera, keeping it in a hidden pouch in his bag, or close to him in his pocket. Once in awhile, when he wanted to take a bit of scenery with him which could only be taken with his Kodak, he would whip it out and snap away. But Taemin had found a new companion, a new camera that he could gladly call his own. Of course, it would never compare to his Kodak, but he liked how it could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, however he wanted it to. This camera was the closest thing he had to magic.
It was big, and new, and took up a fair amount of space, but he had always preferred when it hung around his neck, bouncing off of his chest or stomach each time he took a step forwards. At present, Taemin was walking towards an empty clearing in a park, surrounded by the most magnificent trees. He inhaled the autumn air, closing his eyes as the smell of falling leaves and cold soil filled his nose, smiling as his eyes met the blue sky above. He felt a rush of happiness surge through his body, the comfort of being alone and at peace making him want to jump into the air and clap his hands ten times over. That would never happen, though. It was too unlike Taemin to do anything ‘loud’, or not make any sense.
A sudden gust of wind blew browning leaves past Taemin’s face, and on impulse, he grabbed the small black Kodak from his back pocket, turning the rickety plastic dial gently, then pointing it to the sky.
The sound of the breeze filled his ears with a joyous symphony, rustles and crackles of breaking leaves joining the song that screamed change. Then the sound of distant footsteps entered his mind, but Taemin quickly shut them out, convincing himself that he was imagining things. He raised the camera to his eye, squinting and peering through the small lens, found the perfect patch of sky and was so close to clicking…
Thud.
All of a sudden, the world was moving in slow motion. It was like a movie, during one of those moments where sad instrumental music would play in the background, as the protagonist would reach out his hand to rescue whatever he was trying to save. This was all happening, as Taemin watched his Kodak hit the asphalt and split in two, in silent horror.
~~~~~ He cradled the pieces in his hands as soon as he was able to move, as soon as his movie sequence ended, as soon as he had snapped back into reality. His eyes looked over every broken piece, every centimeter of film and chipped plastic scarred due to fifteen years of use.
Maybe fifteen years was too long, Taemin thought, and he sighed, stuffing his camera (or what was left of it) back into its rightful place, clinging onto the roll of film he decided to develop after giving a hand to the stranger who bumped into him. When he turned around, eyes widening instantly, he wished and wished that his camera were still operational, because what his eyes were laid on was seemingly, in a way, brilliant. Beautiful even, but Taemin never says complicated words like that.
The man crouched before him had thick-rimmed black glasses and a red-to-green plaid scarf wrapped around his neck. His hair was the lovely shade of chocolate, loose strands poking out here and the due to the slightly heavy wind. His lips were full, plump, and the color of peaches and white paint mixed together. He held a guitar case in one hand, a rolled up newspaper in the other. Taemin stared, and stared, and stared until his eyes were full, yet his mind said they were hungry for more.
The man looked up, and Taemin’s heart skipped a beat-at least he thought it did-and he cleared his throat, reaching out a hand. “I-I’m sorry,” he said almost inaudibly. “I wasn’t-the wind-I’m sorry…”
The man with mahogany eyes laughed, and Taemin felt what seemed to be a needle pierce into his heart, withdraw itself, rinse and repeat, but instead of cringing, the pain turned out to feel more like pleasure. He bit his bottom lip as the man stood up, shaking himself off.
“I’m the one who should be sorry, I really wasn’t looking.” Taemin watched as the man’s eyes went to the roll of film in his left hand, and frowned. “I’m sorry about your camera.”
“Oh, this?” Taemin laughed nervously. “It’s fifteen years old, and the time comes for everyone when…” he stopped when he saw the man glance at his wristwatch and gape in panic at whatever time it displayed.
“Hey, uh, listen, I have to go, but-“ he dropped the newspaper onto the ground and dug through his cardigan’s pocket, pulling out a card, and handing it to Taemin. He was slightly baffled at why a stranger would simply hand out his contact information to somebody he’d just met-would this be considered ‘meeting’?-but took it anyways. The card read “Kim Jonghyun”.
“I don’t know you yet, but…” Jonghyun smiled, and Taemin’s shoulders moved upwards slightly as he tried to grin back. “I want to. I’ll see you around…?”
“Taemin. Lee Taemin.”
“Lee Taemin.” And Jonghyun’s smile widened, and Taemin’s heart stung again. Then he watched as the chocolate-haired man took off, light on his tiptoes, running in the direction of who knew where.
Taemin glanced at the card, then back up to the man who was scurrying away, then at the card, then Jonghyun again.
“Kim Jonghyun…” the name came as a whisper, but already his tongue was used to its tone. He looked to the film, now crumpled and lying on his palm.
“I wish you still worked,” he said to himself with a small smile.
a/n: so, as an author, I am testing out my devotion to a piece of work.
let's see how my first chaptered fic works out ^__^!