I PULL THE MERCEDES in front of a small house that's shrouded in green shrubbery. It looks cozy, and the outside is dimly lit with yellow porch lights. The evening sunset behind the house makes it looks even more inviting. For some reason, the only thing I can think about is Geun—how jealous he'd be of me if he heard that I'm at ENHYPEN's house—

"Come inside." Sunghoon is leaning down into the car as he stands outside the passenger door with his bag. I didn't even realize he left the car, I was so busy admiring the house.

"Huh?? Oh-I...really shouldn't..." I look back at the street and around me, thinking Manager Sejin might pop up.

"You're allowed to. Staff are given a lot of freedom on purpose."

Why, so they can put themselves in risky situations and get themselves fired? Like a way to weed out the bad ones? Or because every staff member except myself is married?

"Our manager said to be welcoming with you. To treat you like a friend. Obviously he's okay with it...I think you remind him of his kid. Maybe he's worried about you." Sunghoon explains as I get out of the car, locking it.

My brows furrow. I'm glad my boss is empathic of me, but— "So you all are acting all kind and natural because Sejin Sir asked you too?"

Sunghoon's face instantly contorts with stress. "N-No! That's not what I meant—Ahhh, it probably sounded like that, didn't it??"

He starts to apologize immediately, so I understand that I was in the wrong to jump to conclusions. "I see...Then...I guess...I can visit...It's only 5."

Sunghoon stops rambling and slowly smiles with relief. "...Cool...Follow me." He waves at me and I trail behind him. He unlocks the front door with a key, and we retreat from the cold weather inside. "I'm home!"

"Welcome back!!" I recognize the voice instantly. We slip off our shoes by the door, and walk in the direction of the voice to the living room. Sitting on the couch, watching videos on his phone, is Jungwon.

He seemed to have been home all day. He was wearing red and black plaid pajama pants and a black long sleeve. The front pieces of his now black hair (the blue must've been temporary dye), are pinned back with a pink hair clip. His nose bridge and under eyes are covered with a black paste, most likely a charcoal face mask. "Hiiii." He sings, his eyes not leaving his phone.

"Sup. Still just us two?" Sunghoon puts his bag down against the wall, and begins to walk down the hallway. I stand in the doorway, unsure what to do. Their house was so spacious. It reeks of a plethora of scents—cologne, ramen spices, detergent, and candy. But it didn't smell bad. It smells more comforting than anything, like a day after-sleepover.

"Yeah, everyone else is at practice—" Jungwon finally looks up and locks eyes with me. I stare back.

Underneath the mask, I can see his cheeks grow a dark red.

He throws his phone onto the sofa and jumps to his feet, turning around and throwing his hands over his face. "YOU DIDN'T SAY YOU BROUGHT A VISITOR!! I LOOK SO STUPID!!"

"You look cute! Is that Sunoo's face mask?" Sunghoon calls out from down the hall, hiding somewhere in a room. You can hear the joy in his voice, like he was planning to embarrass Jungwon.

He sighs, turning back around to me and falling onto the sofa. He curls up into a ball, hiding his face with his hand as he goes back to scrolling on his phone.

"Imma take a shower! Entertain y/n, please!!"

Jungwon verbally pouts, before looking up to me with a red face. Maybe I should make him feel better...

"...You look like a panda."

...That should work.

His face only gets more red. He turns away, and I see that even the back of his neck is the color of a tomato. "This is the last way I would want you to see me! I just found some of Sunoo's skincare and decided to try it!"

It didn't work.

"...No need to be embarrassed...I've seen my little brother do much more humiliating things."

Jungwon slowly turns to me, then chuckles. "Hah, have you?...Oh, uh, you can sit down." He points to the cushion beside him. I politely sit down, putting my hands in my lap.

He puts his phone down and faces his entire body to me. "So you came to visit?"

"...No. Not originally."

"Oh, I see."

"...B-...But thanks for having me...You guys have a nice house."

He can tell I'm a bit nervous, because his shoulders loosen and he lets out a snicker. "You're welcome. We've never had guest over—well, we aren't allowed to."

I begin to panic. "S-So I shouldn't be here?? I can get fired???"

"Ah, that's not what I meant!" He laughs, waving his hands around frantically to calm me down. "It's because all staff members are married. It would be scandalous for them to come here. Plus Sejin Sir said it's alright to treat you as a friend, especially since your our age...He likes your drive and ambition, by the way."

"My drive?..."

"Yeah, for makeup, and Geun. So you don't need to worry a lot." He grins, and I feel a bit more at ease.

"I see...Okay..."

Suddenly, an alarm goes off. I jump, Jungwon pulling out his phone. "Oop. I have to take this face mask off!" He exclaims. He turns off the alarm, then looks at me. "Can you take it off for me?"

"Me? Take it off??"

"Yeah, I would do it myself, but I get so scared when I have to rip it...Maybe you can do it??"

"...I...I can try, I guess..." Before I even finish talking, Jungwon scoots closer to me with his legs crossed. I get a whiff of whatever scent he was wearing—either his shampoo or soap—and feel my heart tingling when the smell of vanilla greets my nose. He leans his face to me, and I feel like jumping away and hiding my flustered face.

He has such big, pretty eyes. We stare at each other for a while, as I'm literally mesmerized by his gaze. He's forming a line with his lips, which make his dimples deep and prominent.

Mm...He's a very good looking guy. That is what I have gathered from this situation.

I lift my hands to his left cheek and pick at the black strip. It comes off enough to where I can slip one finger under it. "Okay. On the count of three. One,
two—"

"Wait, you're going to pull it all off at once!?—"

"Three." I say blankly, and rip the mask off like a bandaid. I use this same method with Geun whenever I had to remove something that would cause him pain. A loose tooth, a splinter, things like that. I'd do it when he least expected it to get it over with.

Jungwon yells and slams his hands over his face. "OWWW!!!" He cries. Before I can move, he falls into my lap face down, squirming and whining.

I throw my hands up, looking down at him with shocked eyes. I look around, like "Can anyone else see this?" He's made himself comfortable on me, and just continues to pout from the pain I inflicted on him. "Ow y/n!!!"

"...At least it's off."

"At what cost!?" He turns to lay on his back with him looking upside at me, his hands leaving his face to uncover his red skin. "I'm never doing a face mask again. My face is now burning!"

I look down at him, and his cute eyes are glistening with tears. Without even realizing it, I let the tips of two of my fingers touch his cheek, rubbing the area where the mask left a mark. He freezes, his eyes going big as I massage his face.

We both stay silent, and I know he's staring at me while I sooth his skin. "...It's actually better to take a face mask off as fast as you can. If you take you're time with it, you'll just irritate your skin as you endure the pain..." I whisper. I then noticed an empty cup of just ice on the coffee table. I reach over to it in carefully grab a single ice cube.

"Hold still, this will feel a bit funny." I say softly, and place the cube onto his skin. He sucks in air as the freezing solid collides with his face, but he relaxes a little after I run it across his cheeks and over his nose.

"This...This feels nice..." He sounds tired now, his eyes closed as he melts into my lap.

I throw the ice cube onto an empty plate on the table, then massage my fingers in circles to reduce the redness and irritation on his face. "...Next time, avoid a peel off mask. Paper mask work better." I grin.

"Oh that's right...You're a makeup artist. Of course you know skincare." He starts to smile while I kneed his skin.

His face is smooth and very soft, that I can hardly wait to do his makeup one day.

"Y/n..."

"Hm."

"...Nevermind...Keep going."

I wonder what he wanted to say.