polaroid love | njm (2)
TWO â 1, 2, 3, đ¸
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PAIRING | na jaemin x female reader (ft. dreamies + enhypen 02z)
GENRE | fluff, angst, college au
WARNINGS | intended lowercase, cursing, stem student slander, inaccurate photography terminology
WORD COUNT | 3.5k
SUMMARY | inspired by enhypenâs âpolaroid loveâ â in his twenty-two years of living, na jaemin has never been in a proper relationship. after witnessing his best friends go through their fair share of complicated, devastating heartbreaks, jaemin decided he was better off investing his time and effort into his studies, rather than wasting his time falling in love. years of having fleeting crushes and being countlessly confessed to passed by and not a single person could tempt jaemin into the world of love. that is, until, he meets someone that he canât get out of his head no matter how long he stares at his anatomy textbooks. someone that reminds him of the hopeless romantic he once was. someone that can show him that love doesnât have to be so complicated to succeed.
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HEADER KEY | ⢠REC -> a characterâs point of view | â GALLERY -> a flashback from that characterâs point of view
Y/N CAM ⢠REC
âthanks for agreeing to come so last minute,â jake smiled, fiddling with the straps of his camera bag as you walked side by side to the film and media building.
âoh, itâs no problem,â you naturally mirrored his grin, âhow come hoon couldnât make it though?â
âah, he forgot his sister was performing at her schoolâs dance festival tonight, his parents came and picked him up before,â he explained, his steps slowing down as he checked the time on his phone.
you glanced over at your best friend and matched his new pace, âplease, i was gonna say, when would park sunghoon ever pass up the chance to be your model?â
âthatâs true, the manâs in love with his own beauty,â jake cupped his face with his hand, and you couldnât help but chuckle at the way he mocked your friend. âyâknow as his photographer, his confidence is so helpful when iâm shooting, but as his friend? it makes me want to bash my head into a brick wall.â
you threw your head back in laughter, placing a hand on jakeâs arm to steady yourself, âshould i be worried for my shoot then orâŚ?â
âabsolutely not, y/n, you could never annoy me to that extent,â he reached to grab your hand, giving it an affectionate squeeze. his touch lingered on yours for a few seconds before he cleared his throat and let go.
âwow, iâm flattered,â you paused to let three eager film students and their bulky equipment get past you, âalso, i was thinking we could go get dinner after this. iâll pay, since you did last timeâtake it as an apology for being embarrassing in front of your friend last week.â
jake winced at the memory of you rushing him and interrupting his conversation with jaemin, âwell, apology accepted, do i get to choose where?â
âsure! uh, within a reasonable price range though,â you quickly added, remembering the many packages that were on their way from nights of (un)necessary online shopping.
âhmmm, iâm craving meat⌠can we go to that korean barbeque place with the turtle-shell grills? i love it there!â the boy was practically jumping up and down in excitement, and you knew you could never say no to him.
âsounds good, jakey! yâknow my wallet happens to love it there too, they have a student discount,â you nudged him with your elbow, ending up accidentally winding him in the process.
muttering a few âsorryâs and gently rubbing the spot youâd hit a little too hard, jake opened the door to the studio eunjin had told them to meet in. as you laid eyes on a room of unfamiliar people, you subconsciously stuck closer to the only person you knew, bowing to eunjin just as jake had done, and following him to a spot where someone you thought you recognised was beckoning him over to.
âover here, jake!â the boy with the honey-brown hair waved, a pretty smile on his face that you couldnât seem to take your eyes off of.
âjaemin hyung! you know y/n, right?â jake nodded towards you, and you took that as a sign to detach yourself from his side, waving at the two older boys.
âahh yes, i remember,â jaemin waved back, and gesturing next to him, he introduced his friend, âoh, and this is haechan.â
âthe haechan that convinced your mutual friend that your name was âdaemanâ for three months?â jakeâs jaw fell open, recalling one of the many stories jaemin had told him about his best friends and housemates.
âyup, the man, the myth, the legend himself,â jaemin rolled his eyes at haechanâs announcement. âpleased to meet you both,â he took a dramatic bow, his humorous actions melting your nerves, âiâve heard a lot about you!â
âlee haechan!â jaemin gritted his teeth at his friend, his eyes widening in shock and embarrassment, âhaha⌠what he meant by that was, uh, i, um, i sometimes tell the guys about what happens at photography club and youâre usually in those stories, jake.â
âwow, iâm honoured to be the main character of your stories, hyung,â jake proudly put a hand on his chest, âah, thatâs right, do you know why eunjin noona asked us to bring someone with us today?â
before jaemin could even answer, eunjin called for the roomâs attention, âgood afternoon, everyone! for those of you who came as models today, thank you and a warm welcome to you all. my name is kang eunjin and iâm the president of the photography club. iâll be leading todayâs session, where weâll be taking photos for split-personality portraits. however, i donât expect the models to be dressed for a split-personality look, instead, you will be paired with another photographer and model.â
out of the corner of your eye, you saw jake glance over at jaemin, tilting his head as if to ask him if he wanted to partner up, to which he was met with a nod and an eager thumbs up.
ânext week, using the photos from the two models, youâll be editing those photos to create a split-personality portrait containing each model. i recommend you choose someone who has a similar style to you, but what you decide to do with your models will be completely up to the two of you. you can create as much of a contrast between them as possible, or make them appear as similar as possible, whatever youâd like. we have enough backdrops set up so that none of the groups have to share. you have an hour so, go wild, and donât forget, you can come to me if you have any questions!â eunjin concluded, as everyone hurried to find partners that they were satisfied with.
meanwhile, your little group had already decided for themselves, claiming the white backdrop youâd been lingering by for the past few minutes.
you watched as jaemin and jake set up the lighting and discussed their ideas for the shoot whilst you stood to the side, checking your face in your phoneâs camera to ensure you looked, at the very least, decent.
âsorry if i was a bit much before,â haechan popped up behind you, making you jump. âmy friends always tell me to tone it down when iâm meeting new people but, well, i canât help but let my natural charm shine through.â
you laughed, his interesting sense of humour and overflowing self-confidence reminded you of your friend sunghoon, and the familiarity made you feel more comfortable, âthatâs okay, sunbae, it definitely helped me feel less nervous, since i donât really know anyone here except from jake.â
âno problem but, hey, none of that sunbae stuff,â he shook his head, âyou can just call me haechan. i know iâm a fourth year and all but it just⌠it makes me feel ancient.â
âokay then, haechan,â you felt much more at ease speaking casually, âwhatâs your major? iâm a philosophy major, second year.â
âooh, philosophy! i have a friend whoâs doing his masters in philosophy. i double major in business and psychology, since i wanna go into consumerist psychology after graduating.â
âwoah, that sounds so coolâ oh, um, i think youâre, uh, needed,â you tapped his shoulder and pointed at jaemin, who currently had his arms crossed and lips pursed, sending glares at the chatty haechan.
âwell, thank you, y/n! i was starting to think he was deaf or something,â jaemin stuck his tongue out at his friend, who was mocking him in a high-pitched voice as he made his way over to the backdrop.
you tried to hold back your laugh at their immature antics, covering your mouth with your hand. who wouldâve thought that those two were older than you, let alone grown adults.
the childish bickering didnât last long though; as soon as haechan had the lens pointed at him, his professionalism settled in and, if you hadnât known any better, you wouldâve thought he was actually a model.
your gaze, however, quickly drifted away from him and landed on the man behind the camera. you couldnât pinpoint it, but there was just something so charming about the way jaemin calmly led the shoot, instructing haechan on how to pose and adjusting the light to various angles to capture the perfect shots.
he looked just as enchanting, if not more, with a serious, concentrated expression on his face instead of a beaming grin, as he monitored his progress and shared his results with his partner.
âhey, jake, i know iâm sending haechanâs photos to you anyway, but i think it would be good if you got some shots of your own in, theyâll look more consistent and itâll make it easier for you when youâre editing,â jaemin stepped back, encouraging jake to take his place.
âokay, sounds good, weâll start y/nâs shots in a bit then,â you snapped out of your daze when you heard your name, giving your best friend a nod of understanding, even though you had no idea what he was talking about.
âsorry for keeping you waiting for so long,â the last thing you expected was the boy youâd been staring at for the past fifteen minutes to appear next to you. âiâm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to this stuff,â he let out a breathy laugh, drumming his fingers on top of his camera.
you placed a hand on your chest to calm your rapid heartbeatâcaused by the shock of jaeminâs unexpected presence, or maybe by jaemin himself; letâs just say it was both.
âoh, no worries, i actually enjoyed watching you⌠photograph! it was nice watching you, uh, work, yeah!â your little slip-up made you want to bash your head into a brick wall.
âi mean, i donât know much about photography, but you looked like a real professional back there,â you said in an attempt to revive the conversation.
your compliment brought a shy smile to his face, âthank you, but iâm no expert, i just like taking photos for fun.â
âwho said you canât be an expert at something you do for fun? itâs not like those things are⌠oh, whatâs the word! theyâre not, theyâre not, uhhââ
âmutually exclusive?â jaemin knew he had gotten exactly what you meant by the way your mouth fell open slightly and you nodded at him.
âyes, that! of course you knew, youâre a stem major, right?â you vaguely remembered jake mentioning how they had bonded over photography being their creative escape.
âyikes, is it that obvious? itâs not the eyebags, is it? i promise itâs not because of the heavy workload, itâs just âcause i have an awful habit of having coffee at night. jenoâs trying to help me limit it to the mornings butâ i-iâm so sorry, iâm rambling, arenât i?â jaeminâs lively speech came to an end as he forced a laugh to cover up his embarrassment.
his shyness from before quickly returned, but you had to admit, you liked his chattiness, and you didnât want him to stop any time soon. it was almost⌠cute?
you shook your head lightly, as if that would physically rid yourself of the thought, âitâs okay! iâm usually the one thatâs doing the rambling so i donât mind at all. plus, i only know you do medicine because jake told me that his brother was in the same biochem class as you last year.â
âahh, thatâs right,â the older boy sighed, âiâm guessing youâre an arts major, then?â
âhumanities, actually. i do philosophy, which some people think is a social science but i personally donât think it really fits, even though it has its links in psychology, and i guess sociology too if weâre talking aboutââ you brought your hand up to your mouth to stop yourself before you went any further, âhaha, y-you donât need to know all that. sorry, this is exactly what i meant before.â
âno, no, itâs fine!â jaemin reassured you, that pretty smile was back on his face, âoh, that reminds me, i was meaning to ask if you would mind giving me your number before, so i could send you the pictures we take today.â
it took you a moment to register what he had said, but once you did, you didnât waste any time. âo-of course, yeah, thatâs fine! iâll even give you my socials while weâre at it,â you took his phone that he held out to you and typed in your number.
âjust out of curiosity, how exactly did me going on about my major remind you to get my number? if anything, if i were you, i wouldâve been put off of asking.â
jaemin let out a giggle, taking his phone back from you, âwell, after you apologised, i was thinking, if you were ever desperate to have a long rant but had nobody to rant to, i wouldnât mind being the one to listen to thatâafter all, i met you properly like, what, not even an hour ago? but youâve already heard about my housemates and my crippling caffeine addiction, if you were anyone else, i canât guarantee i wouldâve even spoken.â
you would be lying if you said your heart didnât skip a beat when you heard jaeminâs answer, âoh, youâre so sweet, and, hey, same goes for you. you can ramble to me about anything, just promise me you wonât block me if i spam you too much?â
âyes, as long as you donât block me if i text you at ungodly hours of the night.â
he laughed as he intertwined his pinky with yours, the sudden warmth of his touch had your breath hitching at the back of your throat. it took a moment for you to regain your composure, and when he eventually responded, you could barely hear him over the deafening thumping of your heart.
âof courseââ
âahem, miss y/n!â jakeâs loud cough brought your attention to him, reminding you that you werenât in fact in a world of your own with jaemin, but a studio instead, âget here now or youâre losing your instagram photographer privileges.â
you were immediately distracted from your best friendâs empty threat when you felt jaemin press his thumb pad against yours, locking your promise. he leaned closer to you, lowering his voice slightly, âyou should go, if jake keeps his word and you ever need a photographer for your instagram pics, you have my number,â he flashed a smile at you as he let go of your hand, gesturing for you to join your impatient friend.
even as you positioned yourself against the backdrop, you couldnât take your eyes off of jaemin, nor forget the way his hand felt against yours.
JAKE CAM ⢠REC
jake clicked through the shots heâd taken, his eyes flitting between the screen and your face, checking for your approval, âyâknow, if youâre happy with these, then we donât need to do any more, iâve got enough pictures to choose from.â
you nodded, satisfied with your photos, âyup, theyâre all good! not that i expected anything less from you, jakey. does that mean weâre done then?â
the boy felt the warmth rush to his cheeks at your compliment, hiding his reddening face by immersing himself with the settings of his camera. he cleared his throat before answering, âi-i mean, iâve got all that i need but, hey, jaemin hyung, do you wanna get a few pics too?â
âoh, yeah,â jaemin was already picking up his camera and reaching to adjust the lighting after jakeâs reminder, âdonât worry, y/n, i wonât keep you too long.â
you giggled, making your way back over to your spot by the backdrop, âitâs fine, you donât mind waiting, right, jake?â
he looked up from his camera, nodding, âcourse not, iâll start putting my stuff away now so i donât end up being the victim of your hangry rage again.â
your jaw dropped at your best friendâs not-so-subtle dig, âhey, watch your mouth, unless you wanna pay for your own food later.â
even when you were trying to be intimidating, jake couldnât help but find you cute, his teasing scowl dissolving into a wide grin when you furrowed your eyebrows and glared at him, âsorry, sorry!â
âyou better be!â he heard you say as he went to return the lighting gels heâd used, sneaking a few glances at you every now and then to check how you were doing with jaemin.
âoh, youâre done already?â haechan said out of the blue, shocking jake to the point where he almost dropped his camera.
âhyung! ah, you scared me,â the younger boy steadied himself and placed his camera in its bag before he could do any damage.
âdamn, thatâs the second time thatâs happened today, am i that scary? or was i just that quiet?â haechan asked, more to himself than to jake.
âno, no, i just get spooked easily. trust me, my friends love taking advantage of that,â he chuckled, âbut yeah, we finished already, jaemin hyungâs just getting a few photos of y/n as well.â
âoh, okay, that was quick, you two must work well together, huh?â haechan looked down at the time on his phone, and then at you in front of the backdrop, following the poses that heâd been doing before.
jake followed his gaze, a smile naturally making its way onto his face, âyeah, iâve been using her for my photos since high school, so i guess sheâs just gotten used to what to do by now.â
âah, i was watching you guys take pictures before and you just seemed to work so well together. that, plus how you were teasing each other, had me wondering whether you were, yâknow, together,â haechan shifted his focus back onto jake, his eyes widening out of curiosity.
âoh, uhh, t-together, as in likeââ
âlike, are you and y/n dating?â
jakeâs face fell as soon as the question came out of haechanâs mouth. of course he knew what he meant by âtogetherâ, he just didnât want to believe it was what he thought. it wasnât like heâd never heard the question beforeâin fact, heâd been asked that countless timesâbut, my god, did he hate it.
noticing jakeâs uneasy expression, haechan was quick to apologise, âoh, was that too far? iâm sorry, i-i was just being nosy, i didnât realise it would make you feel uncomfortableââ
âno, itâs okay, i was just⌠surprised is all,â jake tried to cover his discomfort with a smile, eyes darting around the room to look at anything but you.
now, it wasnât the question itself that jake despised; if he was being honest, he secretly loved the assumption that you and him were dating. what he hated was the answerâthe fact that the answer wasnât yes.
âno, w-weâre not together,â jake mumbled, wincing as he spoke the words that shattered his heart.
âsorry, what did you say? your club president was yelling something, i couldnât hear you properly,â haechan leaned closer to him in an attempt to block out eunjinâs voice.
âweâre⌠not together,â jake said through gritted teeth, trying to ignore the lump in his throat.
âohâŚâ haechan replied. his lacklustre response was followed by a few beats of awkward silence before he properly reacted, âwell, thatâs great!â
jakeâs head snapped up, confused at his unexpectedly positive reaction, âwh-what?â
âyeah!â haechan enthusiastically nodded. âi was just checking because, and you didnât hear this from me, but,â he lowered his voice, subtly gesturing towards you and jaemin.
âsomeone has taken an interest in y/n and wanted to know whether or not he had a chance with her before he went ahead and made a move.â
all jake could do was let out a quiet âreally?â, too focused on the fact that the broken pieces of his fragile heart had just been stomped on and destroyed.
âmhm, so, just making sure, you guys definitely arenât together, right?â haechan asked for confirmation, âoh, and she isnât with anyone else, is she? thereâs nobody else sheâs interested in or involved with right now?â
for a moment, jake considered saying yesâyes, there was someone else for you, someone youâd known and loved for years, someone who just didnât know it yet. it was just one little white lie, right?
but, would it really be worth it? would robbing you of the chance to be with a kind and caring partner who would cherish you and treat you right be worth a few more months of silent, aching pining? it would hurt him to see you with someone else, but his feelings had no right getting in the way of your happiness. your love life wasnât his to control, and he loved you too much to sabotage you like that.
taking a deep breath, jake faced haechan with a much more sincere smile, âno, thereâs nobody jaemin hyung needs to worry about, and iâm happy to, yâknow, help him out with y/n if he needs it.â
his eyes drifted over to you, huddled over jaeminâs camera, laughing at whatever heâd just said. jake felt his heart swell at the sightâeven if he wasnât the one behind that beautiful smile of yours, he was content knowing the person that was was someone he trusted and knew would make you happy.
âreally? thanks, man, i know jaem will really appreciate it,â haechanâs voice drew jake out of his distracted daze.
âof course,â he answered, his focus on you unwavering, âanything for y/n.â
Š YOUR-WORLD-WITH-NCT, 2023
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