The task was allotted two hours, giving the guests plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful spring day.
But to Amelia Lockhart, it felt like far too little time.
Ethan Quinn rarely updated his personal social media. The occasional update was only for a new song, a concert, or to promote a movie or TV show for himself or his friends.
Aside from professional photoshoots for work, most pictures people had of him were candid shots. It had to be said that Ethan Quinn's looks were flawless—even candid photos looked as perfect as a painting.
He had no selfies, nor any group photos with friends.
This task was practically impossible.
But in order to repay his kindness as soon as possible, she couldn't give up this chance to spend more time with Ethan Quinn!
'Shooting a video for Charm Magazine's official blog together—if I miss such a great opportunity, when will the next one come? I've already used up my Good Luck Card, and there's no guarantee I'll be randomly paired with Ethan Quinn next time!'
Amelia Lockhart secretly steeled her resolve. No matter what, she had to try and get a photo with Ethan Quinn, even if it was just one!
The grass grew long, orioles took flight, and a small bridge arched over a flowing stream.
The bright spring sunlight shone on the shimmering river, on the countless willow branches hanging like green silk tassels, and on the silent man and woman sitting in the pavilion.
Ethan Quinn sat with his eyes closed, while Amelia Lockhart was slumped over the stone table, the very picture of despair.
While searching for the little red flags earlier, Amelia had spotted this scenic pavilion. It was built against the mountain, and from it, one could see the vibrant spring landscape and the neat, dense rows of village houses.
The view was breathtaking, absolutely perfect for taking photos!
However, as they had walked all this way, Amelia had already dropped numerous hints. Ethan Quinn had clearly heard the task description, but his lack of cooperation left her helpless.
"Teacher Ethan, look at the beautiful white clouds in the sky. Don't they look like us in a photo together?"
Ethan Quinn gave her a cool, indifferent glance.
And just like that, she lost her nerve.
'What am I supposed to do with a High God who hates having his picture taken?'
'Waiting online for an answer, it's urgent!'
[Hahaha! Big Bro really doesn't want to deal with Amelia Lockhart!]
[Big Bro's inner monologue: I'm already cooperating this much for a dating show, and you still have the audacity to want a picture with me?]
Amelia Lockhart couldn't think of a good solution. But when she turned to look, she saw Ethan Quinn was actually resting with his eyes closed, looking as if he were on a leisurely vacation—a stark contrast to her own state.
Amelia gritted her teeth.
Then she just raised her phone, looked at Ethan on the screen, and silently raised a fist at his image!
CLICK. The image froze.
In the photo, Amelia had a frustrated expression, raising a small fist, angry but not daring to show it. Meanwhile, Ethan sat in the pavilion with a look of serene, timeless peace.
'I wouldn't dare do this to the High God with his eyes open, but isn't it easy to take pictures of him with his eyes closed?'
'Time to think outside the box!'
It was as if a strange switch had suddenly been flipped in Amelia Lockhart. She began to take a whole bunch of weird photos with Ethan Quinn as the centerpiece.
[OMG! I want the photos from Amelia's album! Ahhh! Big Bro's sleeping face!]
[I actually think Big Bro is closing his eyes on purpose to let Amelia mess around. After all, he doesn't like having his picture taken, but it is a live broadcast!]
[To the person above, I think you might have just hit on the truth!]
Amelia Lockhart contentedly counted the strange photos in her album, only to find there were just eight. One short!
"I don't know if this will count, but I should probably take a full nine for the director," Amelia muttered. At this point, it was a desperate gamble.
Amelia raised her phone again. Looking at Ethan Quinn in the viewfinder, she used forced perspective, extending a finger to gently lift in the empty space, making it look as if she were lifting his chin with one hand!
A smile in her eyes, Amelia tapped the shutter button.
'When I get back to the Immortal Realm, I have to show this off everywhere! I'm a Little Phoenix who's teased the God of War, Ethan Quinn!'
'In all of heaven and earth, who can compete with that?'
The photo was captured.
As Amelia was smugly examining the photo that recorded her "grand achievement," she was so shocked she threw her phone!
CRACK.
The crisp sound of the screen shattering was just like her heart breaking at that moment!
In the last photo, Ethan Quinn had, at some point, actually opened his eyes.
And he was staring deeply at her with those handsome, dark eyes!
In that instant, Amelia felt her soul leaving her body. Scared.jpg!
Operating on the principle that if she didn't turn around, she couldn't be sure she was socially dead, Amelia stubbornly refused to look back to see if Ethan had really woken up.
But Ethan Quinn stood up!
He moved past her, light and unhurried, and bent down to pick up the phone she had flung away. Sure enough, several cracks were clearly visible on the screen.
Terrified, Amelia immediately jumped to her feet and tried to snatch the phone back. "That's my phone, thank you, Teacher Ethan..."
She couldn't pull it free.
Amelia wanted to cry but had no tears.
"Unlock it," Ethan Quinn said, tossing out the two words.
Amelia mustered her courage to give him a pitiful look, but one glance at his deep, dark eyes and she surrendered completely.
She cursed herself internally as she unlocked it.
'Why did I have to take that ninth photo? Now not only will I probably lose the first eight, but my phone screen is shattered too!'
'And this was a new phone, too.'
'What a loss! A total loss!'
Ethan angled himself away from the live camera, his fingers swiping on her phone screen for a long time. The longer it took, the lower Amelia's head sank.
She felt like a prisoner awaiting execution, enduring sheer torture...
Then, Ethan pushed the phone back into her hands and said simply, "Nice shots."
Amelia could hardly believe her ears. She looked up at him in disbelief.
"Don't take any more next time."
Amelia: ...
'So there was a second half to that sentence waiting for me!'
[Pffft, hahaha! Big Bro is actually in the mood to joke! I'm starting a blood-oath petition for the photos!]
[Seconding the blood-oath petition for the photos!]
The comments suddenly exploded with people jumping on the bandwagon. Although the livestream showed what Amelia was doing, they couldn't see the actual photos!
After speaking, Ethan Quinn walked away, apparently with no intention of pursuing the matter.
Amelia saw that all nine photos were still in her album—not a single one was missing. After pondering for two seconds, she followed after him.
'Maybe the High God's first sentence was what he really meant? Otherwise, why didn't he delete a single photo?'
'That must be it!'
Amelia mentally slapped a "tsundere" label on Ethan Quinn. 'So he's a tsundere High God!'
Back at the meeting point, none of the guests knew how the others had fared with the photo task. But Ruby Sawyer had sharp eyes and immediately spotted Amelia Lockhart's shattered phone screen. Her own eyes lit up with glee as she deliberately asked:
"Amelia, what happened to your phone? Did you trip and fall?"
Amelia gave an awkward laugh and rephrased what had actually happened. "Because Teacher Ethan is so handsome, my hands were shaking when I took the picture."
Ruby Sawyer scoffed inwardly. She didn't believe for a second that those two could take any good "couple" photos. Outwardly, however, she maintained a gentle smile. "Well, I'm really looking forward to seeing your photos! I'm sure they must be amazing!"
Amelia's lips twitched.
'Amazing doesn't even begin to cover it!'