Her first time setting up the camera herself, she laughs into the pillow.

Story notes: she mounts the camera herself

Jun is twenty-eight and Tao is twenty-nine. They rent a narrow room, and both are adults past twenty-five. Tonight is the first time she sets the camera up herself, on a low cabinet. She laughs into the pillow because the lamp keeps swaying and it strikes her as funny, not because she is trying to disappear. She says, out loud, that tonight is fine to record, and she is the one holding the frame. If halfway through she turns the lens toward the wall, that is her changing her own decision, and Tao stops with her.

The rented bed is narrow and the lamp throws a shaky shadow on the wall. They wrote the rules on a note and stuck it beside the camera: laughter is fine, stop is fine, and her face may stay in the pillow as long as she still says she wants to continue. Tao does not touch the record control until she turns back and nods. She asks whether he wants his shoulder in the frame. He says he does, but only for the stretch after her yes. Both of them are sober. The tea is cold. Neither hands the decision to a drink.

At 0:10 she tightens the mount, laughs, and asks if this is too close. He says he wants it closer, and he waits until she says yes. At 0:45 she puts her face in the pillow. Her shoulders shake because she is laughing. At 1:20 she turns the camera to the wall herself. The room keeps only breath and the tick of the lamp, and Tao does not turn it back. At 1:50 she brings it around again and says she wants the ending on both of their faces. Then she ends the recording with her own hand.

While the lamp is still swaying she peels the note off and reads it back to Tao: laughter is allowed, stop is allowed, and her face may stay in the pillow. Tao says he would want ten more seconds of the shoulder, but only after she nods. They do not treat this clip as a longer film. The beats end inside two minutes. The tea is still cold. She puts the camera back on the cabinet and says next time she will mount it again. He says tomorrow is also a fine day to stop, and she says yes.