First story of my Strangers collection.

I had so much more backstory in my head for this. >.< I tried really hard to hold myself back and keep this fairly short.

I make no promises about later. XD

Prompt 1: You're a celebrity, and I'm a paparazzo, and sorry friend, I have to take pictures of you to pay my rent.

Click! Click! Click!

The clicking of camera shutters was a constant in Sungyeol’s day. Between his modeling jobs and photo shoots, he couldn’t escape the camera’s lens and thus the clicks that he swore never stopped, even as he slept.

Hazard of the job. He always told himself, as he worked through the lines of paparazzi, fan-sites and fans all trying to get a glimpse of the young rising star in the modeling industry. Two years ago, Sungyeol was a gangly twenty year-old, blessed with wide, expressive eyes and good bone structure, despite his chubby cheeks, lucky enough to get signed to a modeling agency part-time. After being singled out in a charity show and asked to walk in Seoul’s Fashion Week as a backup for another model who had rolled their ankle, Lee Sungyeol was suddenly a top rookie in the industry, sought by countless shows and designers.

Sungyeol definitely enjoyed the work. He had no regrets about his decision to withdraw from university last year to devote his full attention to the career; since he had already been studying fashion and acting, he considered his work to be hands-on learning.

Of course, with the rise in popularity, Sungyeol noticed a rise in the amount of cameras following him, be it a professional lens of a paparazzo or the cell phone camera of an overzealous fan. As much as he loved his work, the complete lack of privacy in his life now continued to grate on his psyche. Not that he didn’t continue to try to catch those brief moments where he could just be a normal guy in his early 20’s. They were just becoming so few and far-between.

~*~

Pulling the black cap further down to cover his eyes, Sungyeol continued to move through the empty Seoul streets. It may have been 8 p.m. and sure, his manager thought he was locked up in his apartment for the night, but the model just had to escape, even for just a few minutes.

The street brightened a little, as the tall man reached the main intersection of the neighborhood. He couldn’t suppress the smile on his lips at seeing the lights of the neighborhood cafe mere steps away. His manager had the idea that Sungyeol was “addicted” to his iced Americanos; Sungyeol begged to differ, but he wasn’t about to argue and risk losing what little access to his precious caffeine his manager already granted him.

Sungyeol walked in and right up to the counter, ready to place his order. The male barista was just his age and Sungyeol inwardly cheered that it was a male taking his order-- he found that it was more likely he could escape unnoticed with them, as they usually knew little to nothing about who he was or male fashion models at all.

With his treasured drink finally in-hand, Sungyeol began the brief walk back into his neighborhood and to his complex. As he turned the corner to walk up the hill, he brought the drink to his lips, enjoying the bitter taste as it hit his tongue.

Click! Click! Click!

The dreaded shutter sounds stopped the model in his tracks. He glanced around him, noticing another figure returning to a standing position a few doorways ahead of him. The guy looked young, at least close to Sungyeol’s age. He wore a black cap over a similarly dark head of hair and his body was lithe, but a little bulkier. The guy moved the expensive Nikon to hang around his neck, revealing a face more gorgeous than almost all the models Sungyeol had seen in the industry.

It didn’t take long for Sungyeol to put two and two together though--  all black clothes, a cap on his head, expensive camera aimed right at him... The guy may be absolutely beautiful, but hell, he was one of those damn paparazzi stalking his every move. Sungyeol groaned at the realization. “Are you ing kidding me?! Now? Really?”

The guy ahead chuckled. “Wow, didn’t know that models had such filthy mouths.”

“I’m sure you would if you bothered to actually speak to us, instead of lurking in the shadows everywhere you went,” Sungyeol replied sharply.

The paparazzo laughed out loud, a small dimple revealing itself on his cheek-- Sungyeol held in the part of him that found it cute. “Well, what can I say? Hazard of the job, I guess.”

Sungyeol humphed, pursing his lips. “I guess, huh? Now if you’re done following me around, I’d like to return to my place alone.” He resumed his trek up the hill, closing the distance between the two of them.

The paparazzo paid no attention to Sungyeol, his gaze shifting to his camera to click through his previous images. He began muttering, a little too loudly, as Sungyeol heard him loud and clear. “Damn, you famous people and your so-called privacy. If you wanted a completely private life, you shouldn’t have become famous…”

Sungyeol whirled around to face the dark-headed photographer. “Yah! Just because I am good at what I do and well-known for it, does not mean I signed up to lose every semblance of normality in my life!”

The paparazzo scoffed, not at all intimidated by Sungyeol’s height over him nor his temper. “I got some pictures of you drinking a coffee in your neighborhood. I've taken worse photos than this of people much higher on the societal scale then you; I don’t know what you’re so upset about.”

“I just wanted to get a coffee like a normal person!”

“Yeah, well, I want to be able to pay my rent this month, so maybe you can sacrifice one shot of your little coffee break!”

Sungyeol balked, the photographer’s words cutting deep. Two years ago, this was him-- doing anything possible to keep a roof over his head and his enrolled in school, all through various modeling gigs he could pick up. He had been there; he knew. The model sighed and released a breath. “You promise you’re not going to use this to write some bull piece about me leaving some lover’s place and grabbing a coffee on my merry way?”

The paparazzo smirked once more, reaching a hand into his coat pocket. “Hey, you do me a favor; I’ll do one in return.” He pulled his hand from his pocket, with a card between his fingers. He stuck the card into Sungyeol’s free hand, then began walking down the opposite direction and finally around the corner.

Sungyeol looked down at the card in his hand: Dispatch photographer, Kim Myungsoo.

~*~

Click! Click! Click!

Sungyeol groaned, burying his face in his pillow. That damn sound again! He felt movement at the end of the bed, along with even more shutter movement. The male groaned again, finally opening his eyes as he sat up, exposing his bare chest to the morning sunlight coming through the window.

Click! Click! Click!

Sungyeol finally raised a hand to his face, both to protect from the sunlight, but also halting the shutter catches. The model heard a deep laugh from in front of him. “‘Soo! Seriously?!” he whined, falling back into the sheets on his side.

Two arms wrapped around Sungyeol’s middle and a dark head rested itself next to him. Sungyeol opened his eyes once more and gazed into two dark brown orbs in front of him, returning Myungsoo’s soft smile. “I can’t help it,” Myungsoo said, pulling Sungyeol closer until their bare chests touched. “How can I not take pictures of the most gorgeous being in front of me?”

Sungyeol warmed at the compliment, closing his eyes once more to snuggle into the other man’s neck. “You’re such a workaholic,” he hummed, making himself comfortable.

“Those weren’t for work,” Myungsoo replied, kissing the model’s bare shoulder. “Those were for my private collection.” Sungyeol looked up at the mischievous grin on the photographer’s face, finally melting as the man connected their lips.

So yeah, I had way more backstory to Myungsoo and possible ideas to show the steps taken to reach the point in the final scene...

But I figured this collection is more about the meeting and the moment, so this is what we get.

Again, I will happily take request prompts that follow the collection theme. Otherwise, next one should be up by the weekend!