When Friday came, the atmosphere in the Photography Club was different. This week's assignment was sports photography, and because of this, the students were excited and could not stay quiet. They were talking about the matches that would happen soon and what kind of different photos they could take. The clubroom was almost like there was a celebration going on. But the problem between Ji-hun and Ho-jin was still there.

The afternoon sun was coming in through the big windows. There were gold-colored rectangles of sunlight on the old linoleum floor. Ji-hun could not sit comfortably in his chair while Ho-jin stood in front of everyone and talked about shutter speed and motion blur. Whenever Ho-jin looked around the room, Ji-hun lowered his head and acted like he was changing a setting on his camera.

Hae-sol touched Ji-hun's side with his elbow. "Ya... Are you really gonna ignore him forever?" he whispered. He looked worried about it.

"It's not like he wants me around," Ji-hun said. There was not much feeling in his voice, and he continued turning the pages of his notebook.

—

A little later, the club split into groups, and everyone started heading toward the soccer fields to take photos during the match. Ji-hun and Hae-sol walked together. As they walked, their cameras kept hitting their chests. They could hear whistles and the players shouting from the school grounds.

"I heard Ho-jin is actually pretty good at soccer," Hae-sol said. He was very excited when he said it.

Ji-hun only made a sound and kept looking at the light on the grass. Instead of thinking about other things, he tried to think about the shapes the sunlight made. But what Ho-jin had said a few days ago was still in his mind. He kept remembering it.

He was also still surprised that Ho-jin had come all the way to his house just to talk to him. Ji-hun knew Ho-jin had gotten into serious trouble because of him. After learning that, he no longer had enough courage to look directly at his face.

There was only one thing Ji-hun could do until the end of the school year. He would stay away from Ho-jin and would not cause him any more trouble. Ho-jin would graduate after that anyway, and they would not have to see each other again.

—

The players were warming up on the field. Ho-jin was standing on the side with his camera bag, but the boys kept calling him over. They wanted him to play with them before the match started. Ho-jin did not go at first, but they kept asking.

In the end, he agreed. He put his things on the ground and ran onto the grass.

While watching him, it was easy to understand that he knew how to play soccer. He passed the ball and moved between the other boys without much difficulty.

Ji-hun was looking through his camera. He had not planned to do it, but his lens kept going toward Ho-jin. The sunlight was on his hair, and there was sweat on his neck. When he laughed and shouted something to the other players, he looked different from the Ho-jin Ji-hun normally saw.

Without thinking too much, Ji-hun kept using his camera. He took photo after photo of Ho-jin. In some of them, Ho-jin was focused on the game. In some, he looked happy because something had gone well. In the others, he was simply moving around the field.

Ji-hun pressed the shutter many times. While doing it, remembering the distance he had been trying to put between himself and Ho-jin became harder and harder. There was that warm feeling inside his chest again, and this surprised him even more.

After a while, he realized he was smiling.

—

That evening, even though it was already late, Ji-hun was still in the darkroom. After locking the door, he put the papers into the trays one by one and waited for the photos to appear under the red light.

Ho-jin was moving in most of the photos. In one, he was making a sliding tackle. In another, he was grinning after scoring a goal. In the last photo, he was only standing there and trying to catch his breath. His hair had fallen over his forehead.

Ji-hun placed the photos next to each other on the drying rack. For a while, he carefully looked at Ho-jin's face in all of them. His heart had started beating faster again, so he tried to calm himself down. Then he chose a few photos that he thought had turned out best and carefully put them inside his bag.

When he got home, he attached two of those photos to the inside of his wardrobe door. He put another one between the pages of his notebook. This way, whenever he wanted, he could open the notebook and look at it.

He kept telling himself that he had done this only because the photos had turned out well. There was no other reason. But every time he looked at them, that warm and painful feeling came back to his chest. Even Ji-hun himself did not understand why he felt this way.

—

The days continued with school classes and assignments.

One afternoon, the weather was cloudy. Ji-hun was going home and had taken the shortcut through a side street near the school. There were not many people around there. As he walked, a few older boys came out from behind a dumpster and blocked his way.

"Ya, kid," one of them said as he came closer to Ji-hun. Ji-hun could smell old cigarettes on him. "Got any money?"

"I don't have anything," Ji-hun said, holding the straps of his backpack.

One of the boys laughed. Before Ji-hun could do anything, the boy hit him in the face. There was a thick ring on his finger, and the metal made a little cut on Ji-hun's cheek. His face immediately started burning, and for a short time there was ringing in his ears. He took one step back so he would not lose his balance.

"You sure? I think you should check your pockets again," the boy said.

The others started coming closer too. Ji-hun thought they were going to hit him again, so he closed his eyes.

But nothing happened.

Someone caught the biggest boy by the back of his collar and threw him against the brick wall. The sound was loud in the narrow street.

When Ji-hun opened his eyes, Ho-jin was there.

He was standing in front of them. At that moment, he looked nothing like the calm club president Ji-hun knew. Ji-hun thought Ho-jin looked like he could beat all of them by himself.

"Get your fucking hands off him," Ho-jin said.

He was not shouting. But after hearing his voice, the boys still backed away.

The biggest one moved away from the wall. One side of his face was already red and scraped from the bricks. He looked scared. While breathing fast, he looked at the other boys.

None of them wanted to find out what Ho-jin would do next. They turned around and ran out of the street.

Ho-jin watched until they disappeared. Then he went over to Ji-hun and took him by the arm. "Are you okay?"

Ji-hun could not speak. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He could only breathe with difficulty.

Ho-jin took his hand and brought him along. They left the street, went through a few quiet side roads, and after walking for a while, they reached an apartment complex.

It was warm inside. There was a faint smell of old wood and detergent in the hallway. Ho-jin took Ji-hun into a little room. The room was comfortable. There were photography things on the shelves, and black-and-white photos were attached all over the walls.

"Sit," he said quietly and had Ji-hun sit in a chair.

Ho-jin opened a drawer and looked through it until he found a first-aid kit. Then he knelt in front of Ji-hun and started cleaning the cut on his cheek. He was careful with his hands.

While Ho-jin was doing this, Ji-hun started looking at the photos on the walls. In one, Min-ji was smiling under cherry blossoms. There were also city lights at night that were not completely in focus and strangers on crowded streets who looked like they did not know their photos were being taken.

Ji-hun did not know Ho-jin could take such beautiful photos. When he realized it, he forgot to breathe for a moment. Every photo looked different, but Ji-hun felt like there was something real inside all of them.

"If someone messes with you like this again, tell me right away," Ho-jin said as he put the bandage on Ji-hun's cheek. His voice sounded stern.

Ji-hun swallowed. "Okay... hyung."

Ho-jin did not move for half a second. He looked at Ji-hun in surprise, his eyes opening wider. Then slowly, he started to look like he could not believe what he had just heard. "Hyung, huh? So I finally earned it?" he said and laughed.

Ji-hun's face became so hot that he thought it might catch fire. "I... I didn't mean it like that..."

Ho-jin laughed quietly and adjusted the bandage one last time. He was very careful while touching Ji-hun's cheek, and because of this, Ji-hun's heart started beating hard. "Wait here, Ji-hun-ah," he said.

Then he went to his desk and opened a drawer. He looked through it for a while, and when he came back, there were three photos in his hand. He held them out to Ji-hun. His face looked gentle. "These are yours."

Ji-hun took the photos, and his hands were trembling. He was smiling in all three of them. There was a happiness in his eyes that he normally did not show, and even he could barely recognize himself like that. "When... when did you take these, sunbae?"

"After our first club meeting. I don't know why I took them either. I just... wanted to. It was the first time I'd seen you laughing. You look really cute when you smile. That serious look you always have on your face disappears."

Ji-hun did not know what he should say. "Thank you, Ho-jin sunbae..." he said quietly. "I'll keep them safe."

—

They walked toward Ji-hun's home together as the streetlights came on one by one. They talked quietly while they walked.

Ho-jin told Ji-hun that one day he wanted to go abroad and study photography. He wanted to become a fashion photographer and later work in different parts of the world.

Ji-hun told him that he also wanted to become a photographer one day. After saying this, he did not talk much. By then, he had already realized that he liked listening when Ho-jin talked.

When they reached Ji-hun's house, Ji-hun looked at him. "Thank you... for everything today," he said quietly.

Ho-jin reached out and moved Ji-hun's hair away from his face. "So, are we friends now?" he asked.

Ji-hun looked at him. He was a little embarrassed, but this time his happiness was real. "Yes... we're friends, sunbae," he said.

And just like that, they became friends. There were six years between them, but neither of them cared about it.