ex·po·sure [/ikˈspōZHər/] noun:
1.the state of being exposed to contact with something
2.the revelation of of an identity or fact, esp. one that is concealed or likely to arouse disapproval
3.the total amount of light falling on the film or image sensor.

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The poor, poor girl... The rain had turned to a slight mist shortly after Hae Ri had left the dormitory building luckily, but had begun to down pour once again once she made it a majority of the way to town. Not only had her hair became as dripping wet as stepping fresh out of the shower, but the rain had soaked through more than one layer of clothing. A pathetic and sad mess, she was lucky enough to find a small coffee shop where she could shed her cold layers and warm herself up with a warm drink.

Her eyes stared into her cup of hot chocolate, her small hands wrapped around the cup for added warmth. Of course this would happen to Hae Ri of all people, she had never been one to have good luck. With a sigh, she looked over to the chair in front of her, where her jackets and sweatshirt hung to at least dry a bit. Really, why did these kinds of things always happen to her? At least her bag that housed her camera and journal hadn't been touched by the rain... It was a relief on her part, thinking of what could have happened to her precious camera... She couldn't even think of such a thing!

The hot chocolate in her hands had began to drop in temperature slightly and the steam disappeared, so she slowly lifted it to her lips to test it. Surprisingly, she gulped it down in a matter of minutse, desperate to warm herself even further. The rain certainly was mercless when it came to Hae Ri, soaking her nearly to the bone. A small shiver spiraled down her back sending her into a small shaking fit, her legs bouncing up and down viciously.

"Oh my! What has happened to you?" An elder lady gasped, she stopped as she was about to pass by. Hae Ri looked up at the lady, if anything was going to warm up first, it was her cheeks certainly because she could feel it. Did she have no control over her blood flow? It seemed that all she ever did was get flustered in front of strangers lately, "Your clothes! You poor thing!" The elder lady gasped once more, starring at the drenched clothes laying over the back of the chair.

"Th...The rain, I got caught in it on the way into town..." Hae Ri almost whispered, a little uncomfortable by the old lady's bold personality. Her hands wrapped tighter around her mug and she watched the lady shake her head, visibly upset over something.

"Why don't I take those clothes for you and dry them? I live above this cafe... Come come! I will make you something to eat as you wash up..." She placed a hand gently on Hae Ri's wrist, "You children these days don't take care of yourself well enough." She frowned, further deepening her wrinkles.

"N-No...! It's okay... Please don't go to all the trouble just for me..." Hae Ri smiled slightly, a stranger had never shown this kind of kindess before.

"I can tell..." The old lady smiled sweetly, "You are very used to taking care of yourself aren't you?" Without realizing it the lady had taken Hae Ri's hand into her own, and was patting it almost... Motherly. Her eyes widened at the elder lady's sudden statement, it was almost as if her heart skipped a beat and then stopped, her airways felt like they were blocked for a moment. "Now stop that nonsense and follow me!" Her almost serious demeanor quickly dropped and she lightly picked up Hae Ri's clothes and began walking off with them. Hae Ri really had no choice but to follow her...

When Hae Ri had come out from the bathroom dressed in her own jeans and a borrowed T-shirt from the old lady, she found that the small apartment like house was filled with delicious smells. It was embarrassing to admit but her stomach felt as if it was eating itself... It took a bit of time but she managed to locate the kitchen after a few minutes and found the old lady stirring something over the stove. Not wanting to disturb her, Hae Ri did what she did best and remained as silent and invisible as possible, taking a seat at her small table.

"Are you all washed and warm now?" The old lady asked without turning from the stove. Hae Ri jumped, how could she have possibly known she had come into the room? She turned over her shoulder to see if there might be someone in the house with them but there was no one but her and the old lady. "Alright! Here you are, child!" The lady had an almost sing song voice as she set a bowl in front of Hae Ri and then set one at her own place at the table. Her eyes followed down to the bowl where her eyes widdened tremendously,

"Wow...! Dwenjang jigae...?" Hae Ri tried not to be rude, but she was shocked, "Halmonee... Y-You didn't have to do this for me..." Her cheeks once more felt like she pressed a hot mug to her face. It had been so long since she had tasted a home-cooked meal, living off the slightly above average cafeteria food at her college or simply going for take out when she was out taking pictures. She picked up her spoon and immediately tasted it, overwhelmed by the amazing taste of it.

"Oh? It's so rare to see someone your age so polite. This is simple and fast to make anyways... And you needed something to further warm you." She laughed, digging into her own. For a moment, Hae Ri watched her as she spooned the stew into her mouth... If only the world were filled with warm hearted people such as the fragile lady before her. It pained her to even think what the world would be like without her, and Hae Ri didn't even know this woman one bit! "So, do you go to school around here?"

"A-Ah... I do... I go to the Arts school a little ways from here..." She nodded, trying to avoid eye contact with the old lady.

"Wow! An art student! What do you do? Paint, draw, sculpte!?" She was so excited about this topic suddenly that it threw Hae Ri off guard in an instant, her words because harder to formulate and she found herself stuttering for a response.

"N-N-No... N-Not exactly..." She let out an awkward chuckle, "I take pictures... I'm a photographer." Talking about herself made Hae Ri feel like the most embarrassed teenager ever, it was awkward for her. She never put the attention on herself, thus no one else did, which she enjoyed every bit of. To try and change the subject she searched the kitchen for something to bring up, anything to stop talking about herself. Talking about herself leads to deeper things and those things she never enjoyed bringing up with anyone, not even herself. Things that are burried are burried for a reason, therefore should stay under the heavy soil.

"I-Is that you Halmonee...?" Hae Ri asked, pointing to a small picture on the wall of a young couple. They looked as if they were holding each other as if they'd never see each other again, warm and loving smiles on their faces, soft eyes... Just by looking at the picture, its quality, and the discoloration, Hae Ri could tell it was taken sometime between the 1940's and the 1950's. The lady looked to where she was pointing and that same warm smile from the picture washed over her face, lighting her up like a light bulb immediately.

"Yes, that's me and my husband..." Hae Ri could tell just by looking at her face that she loves him deeply... How her eyes were sparkling, the small smile on her face, she was a glowing woman. "He was such a sweet man... I miss him everyday. May he rest in peace." Even from where she was sitting, Hae Ri saw the glisten of tears in her eyes and immediately regreted bringing it up. She needed another conversation starter, searching through the cluster on the wall. It wasn't long before she found another old small picture, looking as if it was a formal school portrait. Somehow, just by looking at it... Hasn't she seen that picture somewhere before...?

"Who is that?" She asked, slowly becoming more comfortable with the strange old woman before her. Hae Ri was now resting an elbow on her table, her eyes scanning over each and every photo. A lot of them were of the same small boy, playing or even posing for a few of them.

"That is my one and only son!" Instantly she perked up, "The little rascal graduated High School and then ran off with his girlfriend at the time and got married... Leaving this poor old Halmonee behind!"

"R-Really? My parents got married young as well..." Immediately realizing what she had just said, she wish she didn't. It felt like someone at clipped her heart and let it fall into the pit of her organs, without realizing, she dug up something she wanted to keep burried forever. At the strange silence the old lady looked over to see the blank expression on the unfortunate girl's face, her eyes glossing over slightly, looking dull and empty.

"You are too young to be feeling so worthless of yourself..." The lady smiled slightly. Hae Ri looked to the lady, her eyes a bit wider than before. There was that exact same feeling again, her heart pounding and then her breath getting stuck inside her throat. "You are much, much too young to be walking through life as miserable as you are." Time felt like it stopped and they sat staring into each others eyes. Who was this woman? What was this woman?

The sudden loud beep of the drying machine went off, startling both of them... However, it jumbled Hae Ri a tad bit more.

"Ah, your clothes must be dry! I'll go get them for you." She smiled and started to push herself off the ground.

"N-No, I'll get them. I should be getting back to my dorm now anyways." Hae Ri said hastily, pushing herself up faster than the old lady and almost running for the drier. She had to get out of here, her stomach felt like it was going to squeeze and make her dinner come back up again, her head was almost spinning. When she had reached the drier, she had to squat down for a moment just to gather her nerves. Why was that lady saying such things to her? Why was she so effected by words like that? Get out of here, warning. Warning. All forms of alarms were going off inside her head, ringing in her eyes and flashing before her eyes. She yanked out her multiple jackets and sweater and changed right there, throwing the lady's shirt on top of the washer. Hae Ri was like the speed of light as she changed.

"Thank you for everything, Halmonee. I'll be leaving now." She huffed, out of breath almost. The lady just smiled at her and watched as she left with haste. She had to get back to her dorm, her dorm that was safe from the outside world. Where she could curl up on her bed with the sleeping boy and let time go on without her.

Luckily, in the time that she had been at the strange old lady's house, the rain had stopped and the sun had set and gave her a safe and dry travel back to the dormitories. She began shaking terribly in the elevator, eager to lay on her bed and sleep the rest of the night away. What time was it even? Time had completely slipped her mind... The sun had set, so hopefully Stephanie didn't mind her coming home now. She had to come home now, Hae Ri wouldn't make it outside a second longer, her last nerve about to tear in half.

If Hae Ri was ever said she was good at sports in her life, it was a complete lie. But the way she sprinted down the hallway now would have made others think differently. She ran like someone was chasing her with a knife, her door couldn't have come up sooner, well it would have been nice if it did. The force she used to throw open the door made it slam back into the wall with a loud bang, and she flicked the lights on only to find something that would make her completely lose it now.

Stephanie sat on her bed, with only her bra on from what she could see, looking back at Hae Ri with that same indifferent face. This was nothing new, she had walked in on Stephanie doing immoral things plenty of times since their freshman year but tonight was going to be different. Hae Ri's eyes widdened and her face became red, she would have spun around when a shirtless boy proppped himself up on his arms to see over the small ledge at the person who was making such loud noises.

It was him.

It was the sleeping boy from the park.

How could she not recognize him? Her memory was sharper than ever, she memorized him to a T. His wavy black hair, the same triangular eyes and long eyelashes, thin lips. Her mouth fell open slightly as she stared at him, her bag falling off her shoulder and onto the floor with a loud crash. For once in her life, Hae Ri didn't think for the safety of her camera that was equivalent to her own life. This wasn't happening, it couldn't be. She had to have passed out on her way back from that old lady's house and was having a nightmare in the streets. Someone must have drugged her and was now having a bad trip. It's funny, how Hae Ri was thinking of the worst possible things to deny what was in front of her own eyes.

"Aish... I told you to stay out tonight..." Stephanie sighed, obviously trying to control the tone of her voice. It was clearly a very difficult task for her to do but Hae Ri didn't even hear her strained voice. It was like she had gone deaf and blind, or rather, squeezed her eyes shut tight and stuck her fingers in her ears like a child. Deny, deny it all Hae Ri.

"Mmm... Let's hang out another time." The boy sighed, pushing Stephanie off his legs lightly. Hae Ri couldn't take her eyes off of him, it should have been a one time thing. She desperately wanted to see him again and now that she has, she regretted everything about those thoughts. This hurt, this hurt like that rainy night all those years ago... Sleeping boy threw his hoodie over his torso, not even bothering with his T-shirt and thudded down the stairs from Stephanie's upper bedroom level. "I'm sorry." He bowed to Hae Ri slightly. She wanted to look at him, she wanted to see his beautiful face once more but she just stared at her feet planted on the floor. Her eyes traveled to her camera, where the back had broke open and the film now completely ruined.

The boy bent over and grabbed her camera, examining it before he snapped the back of it shut for her, "I'm sorry about the film too... It's gone to shit now, right?" He frowned, holding it out for her. She couldn't look at him, but she wanted to. She wanted to see him so badly but it was like all she could do was stare at the damn floor! Slowly, she held out her hand and the boy set it into her grip gently. The boy waved to Stephanie briefly before he left, the soft click of the door behind him. A few moments passed in silence before the volcano errupted in their room.

"Are you f*cking stupid!?" Stephanie screeched, trotting down the stairs as well. "I told you to stay out tonight, you bitch!" Hae Ri had no more energy, she had nothing. Slowly she walked right passed the fuming Stephanie, taking a seat on her bed. No matter what she wanted, her eyes wouldn't look up from her own two feet. How could this be...? What were the odds...? Her hands squeezed her camera tighter, the warmth from his hands still there... Stephanie kept releasing out all her rage in verbal abuse, but it was almost like she was speaking in a completely different language to Hae Ri. She just couldn't comprehend anything she was being scolded for. "Do you ever listen!? How the hell did your parents put up with you!?" Stephanie screamed, never leaving her place in front of Hae Ri.

Tears slowly began to roll down Hae Ri's cheeks.

Notes