shut·ter [/ˈSHətər/] noun:
1. each a pair of hinged panels, often louvered, fixed inside or outside a window that can be closed for security or privacy to keep out light.
2. a device that opens and closes to expose the film in a camera.

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The first snow and it wasn't even winter... How could this be? Hae Ri starred out her window in disbelief, her jaw hanging open a mile long. Outside her dorm window the snow fell lightly, it must have started last night because a light sheet already covered the pavement and grass. Unbelievable... Hae Ri had class today and now she had to go out in this weather, it really put a damper on her already low spirits.

Days had passed since she had discovered Stephanie's relationship with the sleeping boy, and each day that did, she told herself she would get over it. Today is the day, things are going to be okay, don't think too hard about it, what kind of relationship did you have with him anyways? You have no right to be acting this way. But everytime she would tell herself these things... The less and less she believed them. It was so easy to tell she had slid right into depression's grip but she wouldn't admit it to herself. It had been such a long time since she had felt so low in her life that she completely forgot the feeling, she didn't want to remember the feeling.

"Why do you do this to me...?" She huffed, grabbing her bag and camera. Her camera... She hadn't touched it the first day after she had dropped it. The overexposed film sat inside it, useless to her. For some reason she just didn't want to touch it, afraid she'd wipe away his fingerprints on it. Afraid that she'd destroy the evidence of his existance. Her fingers squeezed the machine tightly, removing the lens cap and staring into it's multicolored lens. Looking through a viewfinder was like looking into another world entirely, likewise for her lens. Maybe in that universe she was a happier girl, a girl who knew what a smile was...? With a click of her tongue she looked away from the camera, capping up the lens once more for protection and shoved it into her bag with a low sigh. Her fingers grabbed at her hood and flipped it over her head.

Today, things were going to get better. It will be okay Hae Ri.

She looked up at Stephanie's bed to see if she was still around, she was there, stirring in her bed. Did she have class today...? Hae Ri counted on her fingers trying to remember Stephanie scheduled days for early classes, she didn't think she had early classes today? But maybe she was wrong, Hae Ri knew herself that her memory wasn't the greatest. Maybe she should go wake up Stephanie just in case...? No, that wasn't an option. Last time Hae Ri had wandered up to her living area she had gotten a phone thrown at her and a pillow to her head. Just thinking of the incident sent shivers down her spine, it was for the best if she just left and let Stephanie deal with it...

With her own internal pep talk, she quickly left her dorm. For once she actually remembered to lock it as she left, and actually felt quite proud of herself. Hae Ri had to hurry if she wanted to make it to class on time, too much time was spent starring at the snow and now she was running late.

Hae Ri couldn't help but look up to the light grey skies, watching the snow collect on the lens of her glasses, clinging to the fur trim of her hood. It was a snowy day when the accident happened as well... These times, they were the worst for her. It was quiet outside, peaceful and silent, like nothing in the world could ruin such a moment. Snow was suppose to be a beautiful sight, everything covered in a pure innocence but for Hae Ri, this was a dirty scene. Something that was great pain for her. Her hood slipped back off her head, the snow now catching in her long wavy hair.

Class.

Hae Ri snapped out of her daze and quickly adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder and took off running towards the traditional arts building. She had never been late in her entire life, and she wasn't about to start now because of some stupid snow! Her boot hit a patch of thick snow and before she knew it she was looking at the sky once again, this time involuntarily. A small squeak was the only thing that came out of her mouth as her tail bone slammed against the pavement, knocking the wind out of her. Of course, first figuring out that it had snowed and now she actually fell... Why didn't she predict this?

"Yah! Are you okay!?" A deep voice suddenly yelled from behind her as she laid on her side, pushing herself up. Someone had seen her fall too...? Today must have been one of her particularly 'bad' days. "That was a pretty bad fall." The person chuckled to himself, grabbing for her arm and helping to pull her up. Hae Ri looked up to the person and her eyes widdened, her muscles tensing.

Sleeping boy... Sleeping boy had saw her!? He was grabbing her arm, he was touching her.

Her arm ripped out of his grip and she quickly gathered herself together, standing up and brushing off her backside. This wasn't real, she was still in bed dreaming right? Her eyes completely avoided him, tears immediately springing to her eyes. Not from the pain in her back, but from the memory of knowing that he was a real person. Her hand quickly pulled up her scarf to her glasses to try and hide from him.

"Ah, you're Stephanie's roommate." He mumbled, pointing to her, "I'm sorry about your camera, I didn't break it did I?" He looked around her neck and stomach looking for a camera dangling around it but when he didn't find it his heart sank low. Did he really break something so valuable? Hae Ri wanted to run, run away and hide. This was much too uncomfortable to her.

"A-Ah... N-No, it isn't broken sunbae... It was my fault anyways..." Hae Ri's voice was quivering. This was the first time in her time of seeing him at the park that she had wished he would just leave her. Every night that she had looked at his picture, wishing that he was next to her... Now he was and all she wanted was for him to disappear. Was she being too selfish...?

"That's a relief." He sighed, burrying into the warmth of his huge grey scarf. For a little while, there was an awkward silence between them, and it wasn't helping Hae Ri's nerves at all. "Ah, I never got to introduce myself to you. My name is Min YoonGi. Please take care of me." He bowed to her lazily, his hands still in his jacket pockets. Hae Ri bowed back quickly, YoonGi...? That named sounded familiar to her... But no matter how hard she racked her brain she couldn't think of the time she had heard his name.

"H-Hwang Hae Ri..." She mumbled, trying to avoid him again.

"Yah, that isn't very polite when you're speaking to your senior. You should use formal language and look at me at least." He complained, her eyes looked up at him to see his beautiful triangular eyes staring at her. It was a bad move, now that she had stolen a glance it was torture for her to look away from him. Even when she blinked it felt like someone had pushed cold spoons into them. The only thing that popped into her head was, 'please don't go.'

"Are you... Going to see Stephanie...?" She asked out of the blue, her own heart sinking down into her intestines. It wasn't her business what he planned to do this morning, so why was she suddenly curious? Especially since it only made her feel worse to think about it... Today, things weren't going to get better. Things weren't going to be okay Hae Ri.

"I planned to, but I'm running late for class so I guess I'll have to skip it." He shrugged, he seemed so relaxed for someone running late for his classes. Hae Ri's eyes widdened, classes...!

"I-I need to get to class, i-it was nice meeting you sunbae." No it wasn't. She quickly bowed and took a few running steps before a hand clamped down on her forearm, startling her. Don't touch her, please don't touch her. She just wants to get to class...! "Please don't touch me...!" Hae Ri managed to squeak quietly, ripping her arm out of his grip once more. She hadn't meant to say what she did, and the look on YoonGi's face was a bit shocked from her sudden demand. Immediately she looked away from him, her eyes starring down at her feet and her breathing slightly heavy.

"I'm sorry..." He mumbled, "But you just ate shit, I don't think running again is a good idea for you." He shrugged, looking behind her, "Just take your time, it's better to be late then not make it at all." He smiled slightly. Hae Ri wanted to hit herself repeatedly, how could she have said that to him...? Tears welled in her eyes but she quickly blinked them away, after she said that he still smiled at her? She didn't deserve it...

"I'm sorry..." She muttered, trying to calm herself down.

"It's fine." He shrugged again, it looked like that was his response to everything, "What building do you have class in? I'll walk you to make sure you get there okay, that was a pretty nasty fall." He asked her, looking at the buildings in the distance. He'd feel like a complete asshole if he didn't at least make sure she was alright, and what harm would it do? It would make things easier for him if he at least knew his girlfriends roommate.

"N-No...! It's fine! I'm fine!" Hae Ri smiled nervously, waving her hands at him and bowing. Her hand immediately covered her lips, did she...?

"Yah, your sunbae is being nice enough to walk you. Be polite and accept it." He mumbled and began walking towards the buildings, "What building, Hae Ri?" He asked again, stopping and looking over his shoulder waiting for her. She had no choice... She had to follow him now if he was going to act that way...

"I-I'm a traditional arts major..." She sighed, walking up next to him. A pain stabbed into her back and she whimpered, if only she hadn't fallen this wouldn't be happening to her...

"So you are a Photography major over there?" He looked down at her, he himself liked cameras as well but his love for music was much larger than pictures.

"Yes..." The more she walked next to him, the more she loved it. The more she wanted to walk next to him everyday like this. The more she walked next to him the more she thought 'please don't leave.'

"That's pretty neat, I'm a music major. For composition and song writing." He nodded as he walked, already working out rythms in his head for his class. Hae Ri nodded in response, making sure to keep as quiet as possible. Surely this was going to be awkward for her, it would have been for any other person she had met when she had fallen but being silent next to him... It felt good, it was... comfortable for once.

They came to a stop in front of the traditional arts building and YoonGi bowed to her, "If it hurts too much, go to the nurse or something, okay?" He spoke as he shook the snow out of his black hair. Hae Ri nodded and bowed to him quickly,

"Thank you so much for helping me..." She stood back up straight and mustered up enough courage to look him in the eye. He was smiling at her, and it made Hae Ri's heart stop. His eye smile was beautiful, his wide grin, and small straight teeth was perfect in her eyes. 'Please don't leave.'

"Just take care of yourself. I'll see you around." He bowed once more before he ran off towards the musical arts building. Without thinking her arm reached out slowly, grabbing for him but he was already much too far, 'Please. Don't leave me.' Her hand dropped back to her side, admitting defeat. Already her eyelids were drooping in exhaustion. Slowly she turned in to the building, walking through the lobby. Her boots echoed through out the empty building as she slowly made her way to her class.

'Just take your time, it's better to be late than not make it at all'

A smile spread across Hae Ri's face as YoonGi's words echoed in her head.

"Yah, why don't you like Hae Ri...?" YoonGi asked as he watched Stephanie twirl around the practice studio. It seemed he always found her on her days when she was practicing her classical dance... Once again he found himself skipping classes for this girl... If Hoseok found out he'd surely get an earful. There was only so much nagging he could take from the kid. It was best if things like this were kept a secret from him for his own health.

"Didn't I tell you not to ask your girlfriend about other girls!? And how do you know her name?" Stephanie snapped, rolling off her pointe shoes and spinning to glare at her boyfriend. YoonGi shrugged his shoulders as he laid on his side comfortably, doodling in his notebook. He wasn't in the mood to come up with any lyrics, all he could think about was how weird Hae Ri was acting before she had fallen. He had witnessed everything since she left the dorm, it certainly was strange how she was staring at the sky for a while.

"I was around when she fell outside so I helped her out. It's called being polite, try it sometime." He sighed, flipping to a fresh page in his notebook. He knew his girlfriend was about to burst into angry flames but he didn't really care either. He always just let nature run its course.

"Yah! Why are you being such an asshole!?" She screeched, hurting YoonGi's ears.

"I'm actually not. I helped out your roommate to be polite and I chatted with her a bit. Calm down already," She was already getting on his nerves, was she ever calm and rational about anything? "And even if I'm your boyfriend, I'm your senior as well. So answer my question. What's your problem with Hae Ri?" He finally looked up at his girlfriend to see he was right, she was red in the face with anger and embarrassment that she had to be told to be more polite by her own boyfriend.

"She's f*cking stupid okay!? She is weird and it bothers me!" Stephanie snapped, kicking imaginary dirt in his direction. YoonGi shrugged, he guessed Hae Ri was a little weird... But he wouldn't call her 4D, there was something weird about her that was on a different level...

"That's not very nice." He simple stated and looked back to his notebook, starting more doodles and drawings. Yah, these looked like shit.

"Who cares?" Stephanie fumed, turning away from him in anger. Why was he always asking about Hae Ri lately? She was nothing special, bland and plain. No one would ever be interested in someone like that.

"My parents raised me not to judge a book by its cover." Was she really going to be that way to her own roommate? YoonGi was almost shocked, but then again this was Stephanie he was with. "I mean, my roommate drives me insane too but we're good friends. He helps me out with a lot of shit."

"Yah! Don't think just because you met her for five minutes you know anything about her! I live with her so I know, okay!? She can't even remember to lock a god damn door!" Stephanie was about to throw something at him again, and he sighed realizing it. Being around her was so much work sometimes... But he was honestly too comfortable to move if she really did lodge something his way.

"Even though you live with her... Something tells me you don't know either." He shrugged, doodling a serpant like monster for shits and giggles. He even snickered at his own drawing when he drew it cross eyed. Bingo, he knew he was right when a cell phone smashed into pieces next to his head.

Notes