Author's notes: This is the start of my NaNoWriMo project. I'll be writing a bunch of short stories, all set in the same place, but with different characters. However, they will overlap. Each story will be inspired or based on a song. For this chapter, it's Hey You by the Korean boyband Battle. Enjoy!

*

Cam's out on the pier taking pictures when he sees him. As beachgoers go, the boy's wearing pretty standard clothes: white tank top, black board shorts. It's his hair that draws Cam's attention, bleached blonde and mussed, like he spent all day in the water and let the wind dry it off. He's Asian, Cam thinks, somewhere beneath that hair and the dark tan of his skin. Without thinking, Cam turns the lens toward him and takes a couple of shots.

The boy looks over at him. Cam blushes and turns away, pretending to take pictures of the waves.

*

Sonreirse is a popular beach. Its sands are always dotted with umbrellas, and its pier is always creaking with the weight of people walking on the wooden boards. Cam likes to take pictures there, because there are so many people: surfers, moms and dads with their kids, teenagers, couples. They all gather at Sonreirse's main restaurant, Lucky Star. Cam knows the owner, Kazu, so he's allowed to hang around the restaurant to take pictures. A week after he first sees him, Cam spots the boy with the bleached blonde hair again.

This time, he's with more people: a group of girls and boys who all laugh and jostle each other as they file into the restaurant. Cam, sitting outside, debates whether or not to follow them. In the end, he walks up and down the pier, taking pictures of seagulls and people, until he's back at the restaurant again, just as the boy exits it.

Cam turns away, but the boy sees him. 'Hey!" he calls. "Hey, wait!" He runs up to Cam and touches his arm, almost grabbing it, before pulling away. "You're that guy who took my picture last week."

"Yes," Cam mumbles. "S-Sorry." People have hit him before, for taking their picture.

"No, no, it's fine. I was just wondering why you wanted to." The boy smiles.

Cam doesn't know what to say. Finally, he mutters, "I thought you looked interesting," then rushes off, ignoring the boy's surprised calls.

*

Cam's been described as a wallflower. He knows it's true. He observes, doesn't participate much. His photos depict a life he doesn't quite feel a part of, a stream of people he's more comfortable watching.

Sometimes someone stands out to him: bright clothing, strange hair, a way of walking, a sweep of the hand. They stand out like the beach boy now stands out, drawing Cam's eyes and thoughts. Cam thinks about him often, constructing a name, a life, from photographs and a brief touch on the arm. It's all empty though, because Cam knows none of it is true.

Cam develops his film and finds several shots of the boy. He only keeps a few, discarding the ones that feel awkward and wrong. Of the ones he keeps, the best is in three-quarters view, the boy looking out to the waves with the beginnings of a smile on his lips. Cam keeps it in his dark room, and tries not to look at it too often.

*

Cam avoids the pier for a while, but the next time he's there, the beach boy finds him. "Hey, don't run away from me this time," he says, standing right in front of Cam.

"Umm…"

"You're Cam, right?" The boy chuckles. "Don't look so surprised. I asked Kazu about you."

"You know Kazu?"

"Doesn't everyone at this beach?"

"Umm…"

"I'm Ryuu, by the way," the boy--Ryuu--says. He holds out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Cam shakes it. "Um…same."

"You're really shy," Ryuu says, chuckling. "Are all photographers like that, or is it just you?"

"I'm not really a photographer."

"But I see you here almost every day with your camera."

So he's noticed? "It's just a hobby," Cam mumbles. "Something I do after school."

"Oh yeah? My hobby's surfing." Ryuu grins. "Hey, if you're not busy, you should come watch me!"

"Really?" Cam's eyes widen.

"Yeah, really," Ryuu says. "And while you're at it, you can take some pictures, too."

Cam blushes: he was too shy to ask that himself.

*

Cam doesn't show Ryuu the photographs he takes of him. "They're a secret" he says, but really, they're not. They're just a collection, gathered over the days he spends with Ryuu on the beach. So many: Ryuu riding a wave, Ryuu paddling out to deep water, Ryuu walking up the wet sand with his surfboard under his arm. He fills out these pictures with what Ryuu tells him, when they're both just sitting on the sand, watching the waves.

"I really love the water. I grew up around here, actually, so it was always around. Surfing's a lot like being one with it, you know? You're moving the waves." Ryuu smiles at Cam. "Why do you hang around here?"

"There are a lot of people," Cam says. "I just like taking pictures of them."

"People watching?"

"Yes."

Cam takes everything Ryuu tells him and constructs a new name and life, one that is truer, fuller. Still, he doesn't talk about himself much, or give out any pieces to Ryuu. Those he keeps close to him, saving, storing--for what, he isn't sure yet, just that these pieces of himself wait with the photographs in his dark room.

*

Further away from the beach, there's a stretch of shops and cafes. The streets here are always full with people going to the beach, and people leaving it. The sidewalks are crowded, too, with people who tug umbrellas and beach chairs behind them as they struggle out to the sands.

There is one street lined with a row of art galleries. Cam often walks along it, looking through the windows at the paintings and photographs displayed inside. One day, on his way to the pier, he sees a sign in the window of one of the galleries: Photo Exhibit for Local Artists. Sign up inside! A woman walks out of the building with a purse hug over her shoulder and sees Cam looking at the sign.

"Hello," she says, smiling. She looks at the camera around Cam's neck. "Are you thinking about signing up for the exhibit?"

"Um," Cam mumbles. "I'm. I'm not sure."

"You should! We're always looking for new work to show."

"My photos aren't that good."

"No artist ever thinks his work is good," the woman says. "Why don't you give it a try?" She smiles at Cam again, before walking down the street and out of sight.

Cam stands in front of the gallery for a little while longer, looking at the sign. He thinks about all the photos in his dark room, the ones he hasn't shown anyone, the ones waiting. Finally, taking a deep breath, he walks inside the gallery and looks for someone who can help him sign up for the exhibit.

*

"There's a photo exhibit this weekend," Cam mumbles the next day, looking down at the sand. "I'm showing some of my work."

'Oh yeah?" Ryuu says, smiling. "So I finally get to see your stuff?"

"Yes. Yes, you do."

Cam picks his photos carefully: some of the ocean, some of the beach, some of the pier--some of Ryuu. These last he picks most carefully. Among them is the picture of Ryuu gazing out to sea. When he arranges them at the gallery, he puts this photo last, a little out of the bright lights, almost in a corner.

The gallery is crowded that night. People come up to Cam, and he is surprised to realize how many surfers, moms and dads with their kids, teenagers, couples, recognize him--the boy on the pier with the camera. They compliment Cam on his work, and he's pleased, embarrassed--but he's looking for Ryuu.

Finally, he sees him. Ryuu looks different in a T-shirt and jeans, but his hair is still the same, still recognizable. He's looking at Cam's photos, at the last one. Cam breathes in deeply and walks over to him.

Ryuu turns around as he approaches. "Is this how you see me?" he asks.

Cam looks at all the pictures of Ryuu, in so many variations and pieces, and then he looks at Ryuu. "Yes," he says quietly. "Um, now that you've seen this… I want to ask you: how do you see me?"

Ryuu chuckles and takes Cam's hand. He says, "Why couldn't you have asked me earlier? I could have answered you then: a wallflower with a lot to show."