I'm Just a Photographer, Not a Voyeur
"⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼………." (Haaaaah…….)
[⎼⎼⎼⎼? ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
"⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼………………." (Haaaaaaah……………….)
Why did nobody stop me. At the very least, Yumin should have stepped in — aren't we friends and all that business?
"⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?" (What do you think?)
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
Waaaaaah!
I cried.
Yumin told me she isn't my friend. She didn't tell me to get lost, mind you… but still.
She seems like the type with a nasty personality, yet she's secretly kind and rarely says anything truly cruel.
"⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼." (Ahem.)
I couldn't lie face-down on the sofa whining forever, so I hauled myself upright. Let's just write off the fact that I hadn't listened properly to Kim Juyeon and ended up a volunteer — time to think this through, slowly.
What exactly had Kim Juyeon demanded of me?
First, her naming. Second, photographs of my landlady, Kim Soyeon.
The naming was already done, so the first item was settled. All that remained was the landlady's photos.
The extra condition Juyeon had attached: once every three days, I was to show her whatever pictures I'd taken.
Part of me wanted to simply ask the landlady's permission and shoot openly, but —
'Photos you take with Soyeon in on it give me zero thrill!' — she'd fly into a rage and come at me swinging, so for now that was on hold.
Which meant taking them in secret….
'Just thinking about it makes me feel like a first-class hidden-camera creep.'
"⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼…. ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼!" (Haaah… contract, contract, contract!)
A contract between mages is absolute.
An agreement made with the mutual consent of both parties can never be broken, no matter what.
And if the contractor should break it of their own will — they die on the spot.
Not by some sudden heart failure, not bleeding out from every pore of their body.
Their very existence simply ceases to be.
Every now and then someone would deliberately breach a contract, declaring, 'I will escape this world!!'
The result? Well. No need to spell it out.
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?]
'Of course. There are plenty here too. Everywhere humans live is the same, really.'
For your existence to vanish means being exiled from the world's embrace.
Not stepping beyond the world's shell of your own free will — exiled. Deported.
And anyone deported would tumble down into hell, or someplace like it. No better destination awaits.
"⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼… ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼." (Breaking a contract is… going to be hard, huh.)
The only ways out are a contract-nullification spell, or the death of one of the parties.
"⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?!" (It's not like I can kill Kim Juyeon, can I?!)
For such an unjust contract to be voided, Kim Juyeon herself would have to cast the nullification spell….
'Like she ever would.'
Which left exactly one option: dutifully, obediently photograph the landlady as the contract stipulated.
Kim Juyeon, before leaving the naming office, had announced she'd test whether I was cut out for the job, and ordered me to have photos ready by tomorrow.
Then she'd strolled out snickering, and the fury that welled up made me impulsively order one more hamburger.
Spending tripled! Waaah, O heavens above!!
"⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼. ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼." (Oh well. Nothing to be done about it.)
I turned on my smartphone and began jotting down strategy in the memo pad.
Looks like I'd be giving my brain a workout for the first time in a while.
"⎼⎼~~ ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼~" (En~~dless raaain~)
Fall on ma hat.
Humming away in high spirits on my way to the landlady's house — yet my footsteps had absolutely zero pep in them.
No matter how I spun it, this was voyeurism.
Still, a contract's a contract. Gotta do it.
I frowned hard at the Anti-Glow replica threaded onto my right index finger.
Credit where credit's due, though. It is pretty.
According to Kim Juyeon's explanation, it was only a replica, but in terms of craftsmanship it was nearly indistinguishable from the original. The difference, she'd said, was whether the Reverse engraving was present or not.
And that engraving sat on the inside of the band, so while you wore it, nobody could see it at all.
'Which basically means it's the same as the original, doesn't it.'
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
'Exactly.'
Just as Yumin said, I couldn't wrap my head around prices rocketing to the heavens based purely on whether an engraving existed.
Luxury goods really are a hobby for people with too much money and too much time on their hands.
For folks like me, who buy a hamburger and go hehehehe, they're no help whatsoever.
If it at least cast defensive or body-guarding magic, it would have been far more useful. Expensive-but-useless luxury items were just thaaat — pure, pointless extravagance.
Diiing—!
I arrived at the landlady's door and pressed the bell like a seasoned pro. I'm not the old Yumin who used to fumble around hunting for a single doorbell!
I rang and waited a moment, and the landlady's voice drifted out of the speaker.
[Oh, it's you, Yuna. Come on in — it's open.]
"⎼⎼." (Hmph.)
Is she genuinely safety-blind? Even granting that I show up around the same time every single day, this is too much.
Leaving her front door unlocked without a care in the world — the landlady looked dangerously short on vigilance.
Maybe I should stage a little ambush one of these days?
Magic exists for moments exactly like this, after all.
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
"⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼." (Complacency calls for shock therapy — it works best on the complacent.)
I know this well, because whenever I used to shower, Dad would flick the bathroom light on and off, on and off, over and over.
Eventually I started taping the switch down before every bath, so there.
Though every now and then he'd peel the tape off anyway and kill the lights on me.
Reminiscing about memories with Father that I can no longer enjoy, I walked on — and before I knew it, I was standing at the landlady's front door.
Gulp.
I'm normally not one for nervousness, but for some reason my palms were coming out slick with sweat.
"⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼, ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼!" (You can do this, Yumin!)
Paper bag of clothes in one hand, smartphone drawn out in the other.
'Silent camera?'
OK.
'Expression that won't look suspicious?'
…OK.
'Me, second-guessing myself?'
OK….
The landlady would be waiting by the door to greet me the moment I stepped in.
Which meant the instant that door opened was my window.
Open, shoot, act natural.
'I-I am a criminal. I am moving, right now, as a criminal!'
Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep
I punched the passcode the landlady had given me into the smart lock.
Tiriiing~! Clack—
The lock sprang open with a bright, clear chime.
I gripped the handle and pulled with all my might.
Through the narrow crack of the door — a glimpse of the landlady's black hair.
[Hello there, unnie!]
Before my face came into view, I bowed my head first in greeting.
Her sightline was covered by the textbox. Behind that opaque box, my features wouldn't register clearly at all.
From an angle entirely outside the landlady's field of vision, I pressed the shutter button.
'Click!'
There was no time to review the shot. I stuffed the phone straight into my pocket.
"Welcome, Yuna."
I lifted my head to find the landlady greeting me with a smile.
'Com-plete-ly guilt-y!'
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
. . .
"⎼⎼⎼⎼." (Hooah.)
I believe I've said this before, but a person really does need to bathe in private?
With no eyes on me, I could wash boldly, thoroughly, gloriously.
Toweling the water from my hair, I dressed at a leisurely pace.
Today's outfit! Just a T-shirt and shorts.
The dress the landlady lent me before was lovely, but I never quite felt at ease in it.
The bare feeling down below is a little off-putting, for one. And when the hem flutters about, I can't move freely for fear of flashing my underwear — how do I even put this?
"⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?" (Now then — shall we take a look?)
I picked up the phone sitting beside my clothes and checked the picture I'd snapped earlier.
Frilled pajamas, with a thin cardigan draped over top. A faintly startled smile, and a finger resting on the textbox.
A remarkably off-duty landlady, captured in glorious detail.
For someone who strides around in business suits every day, the landlady in comfortable clothes was always a fresh sight.
'Thrilling. Always something new. Pretty is the best thing in the world.'
With a base that good, she's like a model who looks impeccably styled in whatever she throws on.
And me, by contrast?
Decent height. Decently generous chest. Decently pretty face.
— If I actually said that out loud, it'd be false advertising, wouldn't it?
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
"⎼⎼⎼⎼." (Heheh.)
I switched off the screen and headed for the living room.
Surely this was a photo that would satisfy even Kim Juyeon.
I'd expected it to be difficult — the landlady is quietly meticulous in her own way — but it had resolved far more easily than anticipated.
Maybe I wouldn't need to worry about breaching the contract after all.
"⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼~" (Kokoro no kizu ni~)
Humming along with a heart far lighter than before, I reached the living room, and —
Hooo… hooo….
There was the landlady, fast asleep on the sofa!
She lay on her side, her body rising and falling gently with every breath.
"⎼⎼." (Huh?)
Hmm.
I crept closer and gave her cheek a gentle poke.
Squish.
Her cheek gave softly along my fingertip, then sprang right back into place.
I'd poked her fully intending to wake her, but the landlady had no idea anyone had struck, and slept on, sweet and untroubled.
"⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼." (Hee hee hee.)
Then, just as she was — pick the sleeping landlady right up!
And carry her to bed, obviously.
What was I thinking.
And so I slid my arms beneath the landlady's neck and behind her knees.
The one, the only — princess carry!
All that remained was to lift her and ferry her to the bedroom… and yet.
"⎼⎼." (Hmm.)
Kind of a waste, though?
Click!
I fetched the smartphone and photographed the sleeping landlady.
I'd forgotten to enable silent mode, but the landlady was asleep anyway, so who cared.
'A little clicking sound is nothing!'
My contract with Kim Juyeon wasn't finished yet. And she'd given no specific number of shots, either.
'Do as you please. Any photo of Soyeon works for me.' — she'd left it at that, so I was on solid ground.
Besides, there's a saying, isn't there? The more the merrier. More is simply better.
And when else would I ever get to see the landlady sleeping?
Click!
One more, my finger still sunk into her cheek.
Click!
One more, her faintly scrunched face framed dead center.
Click!
One more, propped at an angle against the sofa cushions.
Click!
One more, leaning against me. My face comes free of charge.
'Hee hee hee.'
Just you wait, Kim Juyeon! I shall return bearing the greatest photos ever taken!
The next day, at the naming office Yurim.
Kim Juyeon, seated across from me, was savoring the photos saved on her smartphone one by one.
"Oh."
One swipe.
"Ohhhhh!"
Another swipe.
"Heheheh…. What the. Yuna, why are you even here?"
[Consider it a complimentary service.]
Having flipped through the entire collection, Kim Juyeon cleared her throat with her face still glowing from excitement.
"Ahem. Ahem."
Kim Juyeon slowly fished a white envelope out of her bag and set it down on the table.
It was thick enough to hold roughly 300,000 won if you packed it full of ten-thousand-won bills.
I made no effort to suppress the corners of my mouth creeping upward, and asked — just to be absolutely sure — what that thing was.
[Hmmm…. And what might that be??]
"Thinking it over, I felt bad taking photos from you without paying you a thing. So I prepared this."
[Ahem.]
With one smooth, gliding motion, my hand collected the envelope.
I parked the money envelope under my backside and put a question to Kim Juyeon.
[Will this compensation be paid on a continuing basis?]
Kim Juyeon nodded as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Heh. Heheh. Heheheheheh.
The laughter would not stop.
Kim Juyeon. No — big sis Juyeon — pulled an unfair contract on me?
And am I not also a famously magnanimous soul among mages!
Something on that level, I can shrug off without breaking a sweat.
"⎼⎼⎼⎼." (Heheh.)
…Honestly though, in my heart of hearts —
Please hire me as your exclusive photographer!
I'll photograph Soyeon-unnie for the rest of my life!!
I'm confident I could quit this Yurim place on the spot!!
— is what I wanted to shout, but saying it would make me look like someone completely out of her mind for money.
'I'm not that far gone.'
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?]
"……⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼." (……Really.)
It's not a lie.
Probably……?
