WHILE THE WORLD ISN’T WATCHING

Archive description

CHAPTER 4: AFTER THE FLASH

♥ 0

The morning of the fourth day started quietly. Boom was making coffee when he noticed that Smart had been sitting in front of the table for several minutes, looking at his cup without saying practically a word.
— What's wrong with you? — Nothing. — Sure? — Yes.
Boom looked at him for a few seconds.
— Something is wrong. — Nothing is wrong with me. — Smart... — What? — I know you.
Smart raised his gaze and took a sip of coffee.
— Well, not today.
Boom let out a small laugh.
— Ah, okay.
He went back to what he was doing. A few seconds passed in silence.
Smart looked at the clock. Then he looked at Boom. He looked at the clock again.
Boom pretended not to notice.
— What? —he finally asked. — Nothing. — You've been staring at the clock for five minutes. — I am not staring at the clock. — You just looked at it again.
Smart let out a sigh.
— Fine, alright.
Boom turned toward him.
— What? — I'll tell you. — Tell me what?
Smart looked at him with a serious expression.
— Yesterday. — What happened yesterday? — That's what I want to know.
Boom frowned, confused.
— What do you want to know? — What did you go down for?
It took Boom a second to understand.
— Is that what's bothering you? — Nothing is bothering me. — You're upset because I went down yesterday. — I am not upset. — Smart... — Well, just a tiny bit.
Boom burst out laughing.
— Are you jealous? — No! — Then why have you been wondering where I was since last night? — Because you disappeared. — It was just a few minutes. — It was more than ten. — Did you count?
Smart remained silent. Boom started laughing even harder.
— Don't laugh. — It's just... — It's not funny. — A little bit, yeah.
Smart crossed his arms.
— Besides, you didn't even tell me what you were going to pick up. — Because it was a surprise. — For who?
Boom smiled.
— For you.
Smart stopped frowning.
— For me? — For us.
Boom stood up and walked over to one of the bags he had put away the day before. He pulled out a box and returned to the table. Smart looked at it with curiosity.
— What is it? — Open it.
Smart took the box and lifted the lid. His eyes lit up when he discovered the instant camera.
— A camera? — Yes. — When did you order it? — A few days ago. — And that's why you went down yesterday? — Yes.
Smart picked it up carefully.
— I thought you were doing something weird. — Something weird? — I don't know. — What did you think I was doing?
Smart looked at him.
— Nothing.
Boom laughed again.
— Right.
Smart ignored the smile and started inspecting the camera. Boom sat down next to him and said:
— I bought it for these eight days.
Smart looked up.
— Eight days? — I had ordered it for when these days off started, but it took a while to arrive.
Boom pulled several packs of instant film out of the bag. Smart looked at them and then looked back at the camera.
— And you bought all that film too? — Yeah. Several packs.
Smart smiled.
— Then we really can take a lot of photos. — Of course.
Smart looked back down at the camera.
— I like it. — I knew you would, Boom replies.
For a few seconds, both of them just stared at it. Finally, Smart raised the camera.
— Then we have to take the first one right now. — Right now? — Yes. — I haven't even combed my hair. — It doesn't matter, you always look cute. Come here.
Boom leaned in, and Smart raised the camera.
— Smile. — Like this? — No, you look suspicious like that. — And what are you? — The one trying to get a good picture.
Boom chuckled.
— Give it here.
Smart lowered the camera and handed it to him.
— Now what? — Now me.
Boom raised the camera.
— Smile.
Smart smiled. The little sound of the camera filled the kitchen. Seconds later, the photograph began to develop. Smart took it carefully.
— Let's see.
Boom leaned in to look.
— Not bad. — Not bad? — It's pretty.
Smart smiled.
— Our first pictures.
Boom nodded.
— Our first ones.
Smart held it between his fingers for a few seconds before leaving it on the table.
— Well. Now we can go have lunch. — Already? — Yes. — Where? — To my mom's place. Well... to the restaurant.
Smart stood up from his chair.
— Can we bring it?
Boom looked at the camera.
— Sure. — Then today we have our first outing with the camera.
Boom let out a laugh.
— Officially secret. — Like always.
They got ready without too much effort. Simple clothes, caps, and face masks. Nothing that would draw too much attention.
They couldn't afford the luxury of walking around Bangkok like just any couple. Nobody knew they were together and, of course, they didn't want anyone starting to suspect either.
They left the apartment and went straight to the building's parking lot. They walked with discretion to Smart's car, avoiding drawing too much attention among the people who might be entering or leaving.
Once inside, both took off their masks and breathed a sigh of relief. Smart placed the camera carefully on his lap.
— We have to take a lot of pictures.
Boom smiled as he started the car.
— We have time, we'll have to make the most of it.
Smart smiled.
— Exactly.
Boom pulled out. For a few seconds, they remained in silence. Until Smart raised the camera.
— First photo in the car. — Smart!
The sound of the camera snapped again. Smart looked at the photograph starting to appear.
— Too late.
Boom shook his head, though he couldn't help smiling.
— You're impossible. — But you like my pictures. — Some of them. — All of them. — Don't exaggerate.
Smart put the photograph away carefully.
— This one stays too.
When they arrived at the restaurant, everything seemed calm. They entered with discretion and greeted Boom's mom. Shortly after, they sat down to have lunch.
For a good long while, they were able to enjoy something that for them was almost a luxury: being together without having to think about schedules, calls, or cameras.
They talked about anything and everything. They laughed. And, of course, Smart took the camera out a couple more times.
At one point, Boom snatched it right out of his hands.
— Now it's my turn. — What are you going to photograph? — You.
Smart froze.
— Me? — Yes. — Why?
Boom raised the camera.
— Because I want to.
Smart smiled.
— Alright.
Boom took the picture. When it came out, Smart looked at it.
— I like it. — Yeah? — Yes. — Then keep it.
Smart held it between his fingers.
— This one's a good one.
Boom smiled. But right when they were about to keep talking, Boom looked toward the entrance. His expression changed slightly.
— I think we have visitors.
Smart followed his gaze.
— Fans?
Boom nodded. The two of them looked at each other. Smart understood immediately what that meant.
— I'll hide. — I'm sorry, Boom says. — It's fine.
Smart took the camera and stood up.
— Go. — Sure? — Yes. Go greet them.
Boom smiled at him before walking away.
Smart headed toward a more secluded area of the restaurant, where there was a small window from which he could see part of the dining room. From there, he watched as Boom started talking to the fans.
He greeted them with a smile, took pictures with them, chatted for a bit, and received a few small gifts. Smart smiled as he watched him. He loved seeing him like that, surrounded by people who loved him. He knew how much his fans meant to him and would have never wanted to interrupt that moment.
Only... after a few minutes, he began to miss him.
He looked at the clock. Then he looked back through the window. Boom was still out there.
— Well...
Smart sat down in a chair. He took out his phone. Since it was still on airplane mode, he couldn't do much, so he opened a game.
He played a match. He lost.
— Figures...
He played a second one. He lost again.
— This is rigged.
He left the phone on the table and looked back through the window. Boom was still taking care of the fans.
Smart smiled.
— How nice...
He picked up the camera. He waited for the image to frame up and took a picture from his hiding spot. The photo began to develop.
Smart looked at it with a small smile. Then he wrote on the back:
Day 4. Waiting for my favorite person.
He smiled to himself and put the photograph away.
A few more minutes passed. Smart stood up and decided to help the restaurant employees in the kitchen for a bit. He greeted some people, helped move some things, and even ended up tasting a little bit of food.
But when he ran out of things to do again, he went back to his seat. He looked through the window once more. Boom was still with the fans.
Smart sighed.
— How long can a photo session last?
He checked his phone. Nothing. He looked back through the window. Nothing.
Finally, he settled into the chair.
— I'm going to close my eyes for five minutes.
He left the phone on the table. Five minutes later, he was fast asleep.
When Boom finally finished dealing with the fans and came back, he found Smart asleep in the chair, with the camera carefully placed beside him. He walked over slowly.
— Smart?
Smart opened his eyes slowly.
— Already? — Already. — Did they leave? — Yes.
Smart sat up.
— How long ago? — A while. — You took forever.
Boom let out a chuckle.
— Did you fall asleep? — No. — Smart... — Well, a little bit.
Boom shook his head.
— Were you that bored? — No. — Sure?
Smart looked at him.
— A little.
Boom smiled and sat down next to him.
— I'm sorry. — You don't have to apologize. — But we wanted to spend the afternoon together. — And we are spending it.
Smart picked up the camera.
— Look.
He showed him the photo he had taken from the window. Boom looked at it and smiled.
— Were you spying on me? — No. — Then? — I was checking to make sure you were okay.
Boom let out a small laugh.
— Right.
Smart looked at him for a few seconds.
— Besides, you looked very handsome.
Boom smiled.
— Come here.
He leaned toward Smart and gave him a quick hug.
— Now yes.
Smart smiled.
— Now yes.
The afternoon was already moving along, and the restaurant was quiet again. Smart checked the time.
— Should we head out?
Boom nodded.
— Yeah.
Before leaving, they said goodbye to Boom's mom and thanked the restaurant staff. Then they returned to the parking lot.
Once inside the car, Smart pulled out the photos they had taken during the day and started sorting through them.
— I like this one.
Boom looked at the picture.
— Me too.
Smart picked up the one he had taken from the window.
— And this one.
Boom smiled.
— The one from the window. — Yeah. — That one was good.
Smart raised an eyebrow.
— See? — What? — The camera.
Boom let out a laugh.
— Okay, I get it. — We haven't wasted a single one. — That still doesn't mean we have to photograph everything.
Smart smiled.
— I'm not promising anything.
The ride back was peaceful. When they arrived at the apartment, they had a simple dinner and ended up right back on the couch, sharing it while reviewing the day's photos.
Smart picked one of them up.
— This one was nice.
Boom looked at it.
— Yes.
Then he picked up another.
— This one too.
Boom shifted a little closer.
— We've got quite a few.
Smart spread them out on the table. For a few seconds, neither of them said anything.
There was something special about seeing them together. Every single photograph held a moment that, until a few hours ago, seemed insignificant: a smile in the car, a glance, a meal, an afternoon waiting behind a window.
Boom stared at the pictures.
— It's going by fast.
Smart looked up. He understood perfectly what he meant.
— I know.
Boom picked up one of the photographs and looked at it again.
— But we still have days left.
Smart smiled.
— Yeah.
He settled in next to him and rested his head on his shoulder. For that night, that was enough.
Outside, Bangkok kept moving at its usual pace. Inside, they stayed hidden from the world.
And without realizing it, that little camera was beginning to save something much more important than photographs: the days they would someday want to remember.