Through The Lens - Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: THE ACQUAINTANCE

(Inside U-Style Corp. building)

‘I would like you to meet the editor-in-charge of this issue.’ Im Seul Ong, the top designer in the company leads a fair and skinny but well built petite man into the discussion room.

The petite man has a decent hairstyle, stylish sunglass on and a Canon EOS 50D semi-pro DSLR hanging over his neck. He also has a document bag strapping over his left shoulder.

Seul Ong opened the door of the meeting room and finds a fair, petite lady sitting on the couch by herself looking through some documents.

‘Ga In-ah, I brought someone over.’

Both men entered the room, and Ga In quickly stood up from her seat putting her things aside.

‘Nice to meet you, my name is Son Ga In.’ Ga In said gently.

‘Ga In-ah, this is Jo Kwon a very good friend of mine and he just came back from overseas. He would be helping out in our project this time.’

Ga In eye smiled and reached out her hand for a handshake as a sign of formalities. She stood there waiting for the handshake but Jo Kwon just stood there frozen for a second. He can feel his heart skip a beat.

‘Yah, Jo Kwon. What are you doing standing frozen there? She’s greeting you.’ Seul Ong tapped his shoulder.

There was no response. ‘Yah, Jo Kwon-ah!’ This time, he tapped his shoulder, a little harder.

‘Oh.. I.. I am sorry. I was just—‘ Jo Kwon quickly recovered from his shock and took out his sunglass that was graying his eyesight.

‘Nice to meet you, I am Jo Kwon.’ Jo Kwon grabbed hold off Ga In’s hand and shook it firmly.

‘N..Nice to meet you.’ Ga In tried to hide her laughter from what she saw.

‘Since, we still have some time before our meeting, so I guess I would leave you guys and talk? I would be back later.’ Seul Ong said and walk out of the room.

After Seul Ong left the room, there was an awkward silence in the room. Both were standing opposite each other, didn’t move a bit.

‘So.. please have a sit first.’

This was the first time Ga In felt that something was seriously wrong. She never felt so awkward before when she meets new people in her working team. She would be usually talking straight about their project and work when she meets new people. She was known for being a perfectionist, wanting the entire project under her to be working perfectly. She shrugged off the weird feeling and focus back to the man sitting opposite him.

‘So.., you just came back from overseas?’ Ga In initiates the conversation.

‘Yea, I..I just came back from the States but I was born here in Seoul. I moved there for studies when I was thirteen.’ Jo Kwon puts bag away and focus on the girl in front of him.

‘So, Seul Ong said that you would be helping out. I am glad you did because I really need new opinions in my working team.’

‘Well, I just want to increase my experiences. And it’s time for me to come back to my birthplace too.’

‘I see.. erm, are you new in the photography industry? You seemed nervous there.’ Ga In noticed Jo Kwon who kept on touching the sunglass in his hand.

‘Oh, sorry. I have worked with a few magazines back in the States. I guess I am not in myself today.’ He chuckled shyly.

‘And sorry about just now.’ He continued.

‘It’s okay, it’s nothing.’

‘So, let me debrief you about our main concept of next month’s issue. I am going to promote the of a noona-dongsaeng wedding concept. I have noticed that there’s a growing number of noona-dongsaeng relationship now in our society. So, I hope to portray this kind of blissful relationship through our models and through your photography skills in next month’s issue.’

‘Hmm.. I think the concept is wonderful.’

‘As for now, we are still in the midst of looking for suitable models. We are recruiting them through online forms. Audition would be held tomorrow. And if the models are picked, the photo shoot would be starting next week.’

‘I have a question, where is the setting of the photo shoot going to be?’

‘The venues are not yet decided, but maybe somewhere in our country. What do you think?’

‘Have you tried overseas shooting before?’ He suggested.

‘Noona-dongsaeng kind of relationship is hard to come by in our country, so I guess whoever those are in the relationship has overcome many obstacles in their relationship. Going somewhere out of the country to have their wedding photo shoot would be an excellent reward to them. What do you think?’ He continued.

‘That sounds like a great idea. We shall discuss further in the meeting.’

Ga In felt really happy with the new ‘brain cell’ in her team. She felt that next month issue would be a hit with him in the team.

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