When the sun had almost completely disappeared, the students slowly began returning to the meeting point, and the tiredness was obvious on everyone's faces. Ji-hun, who had been shooting with a camera weighing more than a kilogram, did not feel particularly tired. He only thought it was unfair to everyone that golden hour lasted such a short time, but especially unfair to photographers. While everyone showed one another the pictures they had taken, laughing and discussing them, Ji-hun did not have that chance. He was shooting on film, and he would have to wait before he could see anything. Ji-hun was a patient person, and photography had taught him how to wait.
Ho-jin had tried to keep his distance from Ji-hun throughout the shoot. Whenever their eyes met, he only bowed politely, and he expected Ji-hun to show him the same respect. Ji-hun understood that Ho-jin was doing it deliberately, and he also maintained the distance between them for as long as they were together. Besides, Ji-hun did not particularly need Ho-jin's help, and Ho-jin must have realized that already.
—
While Ji-hun loaded his film onto the reels, Ho-jin moved from one student to another around the club room. After telling them what they needed to do and finally sending the last student home, he looked at Ji-hun, who was now alone and preparing to enter the darkroom.
"Ready?"
"Yes, sunbae."
"Let's go in."
From the moment they entered the darkroom and turned on the red light, neither of them said anything. Ho-jin sat in the chair by the side and watched Ji-hun work as though he were a photographer at the height of his career.
What Ji-hun did not know was how much Ho-jin admired him.
And that admiration did not even come from Ji-hun taking good photographs. For Ho-jin, the passion he had for this work at such a young age and the seriousness with which he treated it were enough. In all his years at this school and in this club, this was the first time he had found someone who loved photography as much as he did, and he was happy about it.
At one point Ho-jin stood up, picked up one of Ji-hun's wet prints with the tongs and held it toward the light. He saw a cyclist crossing a small bridge. The golden light had been used at exactly the right angle in the photograph, and without question, it was by far the best photograph Ho-jin had seen that day.
He looked at it for a long time before turning to Ji-hun. "I don't even have the words to tell you how good this photograph is."
Ji-hun felt such a strong movement inside his heart that he went red all the way to his ears. Hoping the red light would hide it, he lowered his head. "Thank you."
"Keep going like this."
As Ji-hun bowed deeply, Ho-jin sat back down and leaned his head back, closing his eyes in a way that made it obvious he wanted to rest.
Ji-hun wanted to smile, but he knew what was stopping him.
—
The next few days passed as usual. Classes continued, assignments were difficult for everyone, and Ji-hun had trouble sleeping at night, but neither classes nor assignments were the reason.
He was thinking about Ho-jin.
Things between them were still the same. They were distant and cold. Sometimes when they crossed paths in the hallway, Ho-jin turned his head away, and Ji-hun realized that Ho-jin was no longer going to speak to him about anything except photography. In fact, even during that brief moment before Ho-jin saw him and turned his head away, his face showed nothing Ji-hun could interpret.
Late Thursday, just before Friday, during the first afternoon break, Ji-hun was standing in the hallway with Hae-sol drinking banana milk when Shin Ho-jin appeared at the end of the corridor. Both he and the friend beside him looked furious, and Ji-hun became annoyed with himself for a moment because he could not stop his heart from beating faster when he saw him. He lowered his eyes to the floor, and when Ho-jin stormed past him, Ji-hun did not even know whether Ho-jin had noticed him.
Ho-jin punched the classroom door open, went inside and headed directly toward Choi Da-eun while his friend closed the door behind them. Everyone in the hallway, including Hae-sol, stood there stunned. Of course it frightened everyone to see two high school seniors behaving like that on the floor where younger students had their classes.
First came the sound of a desk falling over inside the classroom, then Ho-jin shouting angrily.
"I'll show you!" he yelled. "I'll show you what happens when you don't take me seriously!"
A few seconds later, the door opened and the two sunbaes came out. Nobody failed to notice the blood dripping from Ho-jin's hand, and nobody dared ask anything of Choi Da-eun, whom they had left behind crying.
Ho-jin walked past everyone without looking at anyone, then suddenly stopped beside Ji-hun.
Ji-hun looked at him but could not move.
"Is there a problem, Moon Ji-hun?" Ho-jin asked.
Ji-hun did not understand what Ho-jin meant.
"I'm asking if anything is bothering you," Ho-jin said. His lips were trembling.
Ji-hun shook his head, and Ho-jin's friend pulled him by the arm. "Hyung, the teacher's coming. Come on, let's go."
Even after the two of them left, the noise did not return to the hallway. Nobody seemed to know what they were supposed to do.
Hae-sol moved a little closer to Ji-hun. "What the hell was that?"
"I don't know."
"Should we look inside? Da-eun's crying really badly."
When Ji-hun looked through the doorway, he saw Choi Da-eun sitting at her desk and crying quietly.
"Forget it," he said. "It's none of our business."
But Ho-jin's frightening eyes and trembling lips did not leave Ji-hun's mind for the rest of the day.
—
The floor where the teachers' office was located was empty. Ji-hun still looked around and tried to make sure nobody had seen him before knocking on the door. For a moment, he put his ear against it and listened to what was happening inside. Then he thought one last time before knocking and going in.
When Ji-hun came out of the room, he felt relieved because he wanted to believe he would no longer have to see Choi Da-eun sitting at her desk and crying.
But that was not the only thing he felt.
More than anything, Ji-hun felt as if he had finally gotten revenge on Ho-jin, and at last someone was going to force that bully to answer for what he had done.