Outside, the wind blew warmer than yesterday. The coat wrapped around his body seemed unfit for the weather. He gently opened the zipper, letting the wind brush through his body and his hair, his long coat blown by it.
After letting out a sigh, he reached the parking lot. He started the car as soon as he entered it and drifted off to the highway—on his way home.
Once he stopped at a red traffic light, he quickly dialled a number.
After two rings, someone picked up the call.
[Hello?]
An elderly lady spoke at the end of the call.
"Hi, Mom."
[You finally got the time to call?] She demanded, her voice laced with a complaining tone.
"I'm sorry. I promised Jin to call tonight but the shooting took longer…" he chuckled awkwardly, removing his leg from the brake pedal as the light turned green.
[Don't tell me you're driving!]
"I…" he hesitated. "Let me talk to Jin."
[You still don't want to talk to me…] Hiro's mother whispered, her voice barely audible.
"What did you say?" Failing to hear what she said, he asked.
[Nothing. Here, talk to your beloved son.]
After a brief pause, a small voice exclaimed.
[Daddy! Yayyy! You keep your pwomise!] Jin exclaimed excitedly.
Although Hiro could feel the child's enthusiasm to speak with him, he still insisted on correcting him.
"It's p-ro-mise, Jin," Hiro said, voice firm.
No reply came from the other side.
After a long silence, Hiro understood. He ran his fingers through the blonde strands on his forehead, exhaling sharply, giving in.
"It's okay, actually. What did you do today?"
[Draw.] Jin replied, his voice rather cold and distant. He was clearly upset now.
Hiro could already imagine the child pouting right now.
Jin, just like him, hated being told he was wrong. Yet, Hiro smiled faintly, his eyes softening as he changed lanes.
"Oh yeah? What did you draw today?"
[A dragon! But not a scawy one. A happy one! He has cake!] He proudly said.
Hiro let out a quiet laugh.
"A happy dragon with cake, huh? What flavour?"
[Cho… choc-choco… late!] Jin struggled, then burst into giggles, proud of himself. [Oh! And a candle! 'Cause it's his birthday.]
"You remembered the candle, good job. That's very important, after all." Hiro's smile only kept widening. "Maybe you can show me when I visit this weekend?"
[…You pwomise?]
The tiny voice on the other end sounded hesitant. Like he was scared to believe it.
Hiro swallowed, pausing before answering.
"Yeah. I promise, Jin. Nothing will stop me this time."
There was a pause, then a soft, [Okay,] followed by a long yawn.
"Are you sleepy already?"
[No…]
But another yawn followed the child's words.
"Okay, my dragon artist. Go to bed. I'll call you again tomorrow. Do well at school. Dream of chocolate cake since it's your favourite. Maybe some fairy will send you one."
"Okay! And you wook well! And dream of me so the fwawy send me to you," Jin mumbled, already half-asleep.
"I love you…" Hiro chuckled, his voice barely audible.
"Me too..."
He waited until he heard the soft static of the line going quiet before ending the call.
Silence filled the car. Not heavy this time—but light. The conversations between him and Jin, despite being short, always lightened his mood after an exhausting work day.
He kept driving—the city lights blurred outside the window, but something in his chest felt a little lighter. The tight knot from earlier seemed to have vanished.
But he knew that it was a momentary joy.
✻✻✻
The shooting continued for a few weeks. By then, everyone had grown familiar with one another, and the progress remained quiet and steady.
Perhaps it was because the entire team was oddly professional—unlike the other companies Hiro had worked with until now. He had always preferred contract-based work; as a result, there had never been a single company he stayed with for long.
It was simply too much of a hassle for a photographer who loved to travel.
Yet Felix, hadn't left the city in a long time. He feared that the man would return from his trips and not find him—causing Felix to grow angry or, worse, replace Hiro with someone else. Felix never lacked people in his life.
It was barely 6 a.m. when Hiro arrived on set.
There wasn't much noise. Only a few people from the cleaning crew wandered around, sweeping the floor and adjusting equipment. The usual loud chatter had yet to echo across the hall.
He felt at peace after a long time. It was as if the chaotic atmosphere never existed to begin with.
"Good morning, Mr. Leroy," one of them greeted him with a warm smile.
"Good morning. You can just call me Hiro."
The woman nodded with a smile before resuming her tasks. Many crew members acted like they ranked higher than the cleaners, simply because of their job title.
Hiro didn't like that.
And because he treated them no differently, they had formed a rather friendly bond over the past weeks.
"We finished cleaning the bedroom set. You can wait there if you want until we're done with the rest."
"No need to rush. I'm the one who came too early," he forced an awkward laugh.
Then, turning on his heel, he walked down the long corridor. The entire space felt unusually quiet.
Inside the bedroom set, he crouched beside the camera and adjusted the lens. The tripod was slightly wobbly; he fixed that too, gently brushing off imaginary dust.
He stayed there for a while, admiring the lens, making sure everything was impeccably neat. He loved working with the camera more than anything—capturing the world from his own point of view, as if he were writing a story through the frame.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway. People were beginning to arrive. He ignored them, his attention fixed on the screen in front of him.
One set of footsteps drew closer and then stopped at the entrance.
"You're early," a familiar voice said, the sound echoing in the quiet space.