Work Text:
Lu Guang had never been one for photography. He only noticed the photo studio when out on a midday walk, trying to clear his head.
It was a cozy-looking place; a little run-down with ivy creeping up the walls and partially obscuring the sign over the doorway. It stood out, not matching the rest of the commercial buildings around it.
Lu Guang slowed, then stopped. Then, without thinking much about it, approached the door and opened it.
‘A guest has arrived!’ a robotic voice chirped as he stepped inside, blinking at the well-lit foyer area. There was a small loveseat and a table to his right, probably a faux waiting room, while a counter stood to his left.
He couldn’t see anyone at first, but as the door closed behind him and he took another step, looking around at the pictures on the wall, movement caught his attention.
“Oh, hello!” a man said as he walked from what looked like a lounge room further into the building. His right hand trailed against the wall, fingertips brushing it ever so slightly as he walked past, turning and settling behind the counter with a bright smile. “How may I help you today?”
Lu Guang’s eyes drifted back to some of the framed photographs that hung on the walls. “I’m… just browsing,” he answered. “These all look beautiful,” he marveled as he stopped by a picture of a sunset behind an intricate-looking sandcastle. “I really like this one.”
But the man didn’t move closer; he only turned his head towards Lu Guang as if tracking his movements. “Which one is it?” he asked.
Frowning, but ultimately shrugging, Lu Guang decided not to comment on the strange behavior. Instead: “It was taken on the beach at sunset with a sandcastle in the foreground.”
The man’s eyes lit up. “I love that one!” he said with a grin. “My sister was the one who made the sandcastle! Isn’t it pretty?”
Lu Guang turned back to the picture. “It really is,” he whispered. “You both have great eyes for beautiful things,” he said as he moved on to another picture, one of a simple teacup with delicate-looking steam rising from it.
His words were met with great peals of laughter, though, drawing him away from the picture and back to the counter, where the man was nearly doubled over, laughing.
Lu Guang just tilted his head. “Wh- what’s so funny?”
Finally, when his giggles had subsided, the man stuck a hand out towards Lu Guang. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said with a grin as Lu Guang took it. “My name is Cheng Xiaoshi, and I’m blind.”
Wait.
What?
Lu Guang’s brain finally caught up with what he’d just heard. “But you…” he trailed off, looking back to the pictures before his answer dawned on him. “Ohh, I get it, someone else took these pictures and you just sell them?”
But Cheng Xiaoshi just shook his head with that same grin. “Nope. I took all the pictures that you see here.” He let go of Lu Guang’s hand in favor of feeling around until he held up a camera. “Can I take your picture?”
Was this a joke? It must be. But Lu Guang just shrugged to himself and said, “Sure.”
When Cheng Xiaoshi raised the viewfinder up to his eye, his expression changed. “Oh, wow.”
Before Lu Guang could ask what was going on, Cheng Xiaoshi had pulled the camera away from his face. He dashed forward, using his free hand to grab Lu Guang’s wrist and pull him deeper into the building, into a sunroom.
Cheng Xiaoshi’s shin hit the table with an audible bump!, and he couldn’t quite hold back a yelp of pain, but he composed himself quickly. “Sit on the couch!” he directed, his excitement nearly palpable.
Something about his words, about his eagerness, kept Lu Guang from escaping, prompted him to actually follow the instructions.
Raising the camera again, Cheng Xiaoshi peered through the viewfinder. “The lighting is perfect!” he marveled. “It makes your hair shine.”
Lu Guang frowned, wondering what the joke was.
“No, no! Don’t make that face. Can you smile for me?”
How…?
He ended up smoothing out his frown, despite his questions.
Cheng Xiaoshi responded with a flurry of shutter snaps.
When he finally pulled the camera away from his face, it was with a relieved smile. “Thank you, I know it must’ve been weird, but the lighting really was perfect.”
Lu Guang stood, unable to stop the question from emerging: “How can you be a photographer if you’re blind?”
Cheng Xiaoshi grinned back at him. “I know, it’s pretty weird, but it works. I can’t see except for light and dark. Glasses don’t even work on me.” His smile turned wistful as his head lowered, as if he could see the camera in his hands. “But I’ve always been able to see perfectly when taking a picture.” He paused, “…and in the darkroom, but that doesn’t really count.”
“So all of these pictures…”
“…they really were taken by me,” Cheng Xiaoshi finished. He grinned in Lu Guang’s direction. “Sorry for hijacking you.” There was a beat of silence, and then: “Did you want to see?”
When Lu Guang inched closer, he felt Cheng Xiaoshi jump at the sudden proximity, but then angle the camera so Lu Guang could see.
He pressed the button to show recent shots, cycling through them slowly, and Lu Guang couldn’t take his eyes away from them.
In each one, it was undoubtedly him, and yet it didn’t look like how he thought he should. The golden light streaming from behind him illuminated his hair and made him look like he wore a halo gifted to him by the heavens. His neutral, almost-smiling expression almost looked dreamlike, content and happy.
“This is…” Lu Guang trailed off, unable to find any words accurate enough until he finally settled on, “…incredible.”
Cheng Xiaoshi gave him a soft smile. “Thanks. I’m glad you like it.” He cleared his throat as he turned the camera off. “I can print them out for you, if you like. I,” his expression turned sheepish, “I didn’t realize that I’d grabbed a digital camera. I prefer to use film ones, so I can develop them, but I can still print these out… if you’d like. No charge, of course.”
Lu Guang tamped down on the butterflies fluttering in his chest, reaching forward and taking the camera from Cheng Xiaoshi’s hand. He turned it on, then held it so that it was facing himself, the viewfinder up to Cheng Xiaoshi’s eye.
And he smiled, a true smile, one that he knew that Cheng Xiaoshi could now see. “I’d like that,” he answered.
Cheng Xiaoshi didn’t say anything, but they both heard the hitch in his breathing. His hand raised and, with a click!, took one last picture.