Filter (Kim Namjoon X Readers)

Chapter 16

He sharply inhaled, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You are not wearing that tonight."

"What's the big deal?" you asked, holding the dress up to your body in front of the mirror. "It's pretty and my mom got it for me."

"No offense to your mother, who is a lovely lady, but she has a terrible eye for fashion." Seokjin huffed. After breakfast, Seokjin asked about your dress for tonight and not thinking much about it, you showed him the dress your mother has packed for you. He practically painted and shove the boys out of your room so he could think clearly. Namjoon was not having it and threatened to break the door down. You had to tell him you'll be okay for him to leave, but he still wasn't happy about it.

Back in the room, Seokjin paced back and forth, mumbling something to himself. "We can go shopping, but no, there's no time to get everything tailored. And she definitely can't borrow a dress from anyone. What to do, what to do..."

"You know, I don't care what I wear," you spoke up. "It's not like anyone's going to care about what I look like."

"That's literally not true at all," Seokjin disagreed, typing something furiously away on his cellphone. "I can tell you at least one person will have his eyes on you the entire time."

"I doubt he'll care what I look like either." you mumbled.

Seokjin nodded, "Yes, well, he doesn't know how to dress himself either. If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have blossomed in the man you know today."

"Wow, I'm quite thankful for you."

"I'll take that sarcasm as compliment," he chuckled. "But to be honest, I've never seen that boy go to such extent as he has for you."

"I still don't understand why," you muttered. "There's absolutely nothing special about me and I won't bring him any good."

Seokjin knew, but he didn't want to tell you the truth. Namjoon has to be the one to do that himself. "Don't talk about your worth as something monetary. You're more than that. But going back to Namjoon, maybe he wants a change."

"A change?" you repeated. "So I'm just a new toy for him to test out?"

Shit, "No, no, no. I don't mean it like that at all." Seokjin quickly dismissed. "Namjoon's a great guy and he's clumsy but he won't hurt you... and...and-"

"It's okay, I was only joking," you laughed, "I like to give myself credit that I can tell a person's real intention towards me. And I can see that he's not messing around."

"So what are you afraid of?"

"Because it's too good to be true." you confessed. "I mean, just think about it. What are the chances of the most popular guy in school liking someone as plain as me? Next to nothing."

"And yet it happened," Seokjin remarked, and that was the truth, he saw it. "He's head over heels for you, trust me, it's annoying to watch. And yes, I know he won't care about how you look. But you should care, at least for yourself. You deserve to feel pretty, Y/N, because you are."

You faked a gasped, "Did the one and only Kim Seokjin just told me I'm pretty?"

He laughed, "If you ever tell Namjoon that, he will kill me."

"My lips are sealed, but thank you for saying that." you hummed. "I should care more about myself, at least for just a little bit."

"That's the spirit," he cheered. "Oh, the delivery is here."

"What delivery?" you asked. The sky was rumbling and you held onto the table for support. Something was coming. Seokjin waltzed over to the window and pulled the curtains aside, revealing a helicopter hovering over the sand, blasting dust in all directions. Your mouth hung open as you joined his side. "Oh my god."

"Your dresses are here." he sang. Then he ran out of the room. Crazy, you thought, every last one of them. For some reason, you thought Seokjin was the most normal of them all, but you were wrong. None of them were human, they possessed supernatural abilities that no one will understand.

He soon returned with the dresses hung and wheeled racks and a team of what you assumed to be stylists. They pinned you down on the chair while Seokjin gave them numerous orders and talked with French terms that sounded like he was ordering a luxurious spa treatment. The stylists first worked on your hair, then painted your nails. When it came to changing, they shoved Seokjin out. But when it was time for makeup, it was he who shoved the stylists out.

"Isn't that what they're here for?" you asked.

"Yes, but I wanted to do this honor myself." he answered, pulling up a chair to sit right in front of you. He began with some foundation. "When doing someone's makeup, I think it's best done by someone who knows the person. I'm not saying I know you best, but it's better than nothing."

"Are you going to make me perfect?"

"No, no one should ever be perfect," he stated.

"Then what about you? That's your whole branding."

"Do you think I'm perfect?"

"Objectively yes."

"And subjectively?"

"Too perfect, too intimidating, too hard to approach."

"That's the way my family raised me to be," he sighed. "With my mom being a literal goddess to the country, my family thinks there's a certain level of perfection that we have to maintain with our image. The clothes we wear have to fit that standard, the people we surround ourselves with, even the food we eat. I can't even eat tteokbokki without hiding myself in the shadows somewhere. I wish I can stay in that shadow forever."

"Well, you're too pretty to do that. And I'm sure you'd shine even in the shadows."

He chuckled while putting on your blush. "Thanks. I appreciate that, especially from you."

"I sort of understand having to keep up some sort of image, either for protection or just duties. There's not a lot of places where we can be ourselves but in the places we can, we should thrive there. And eventually, we'll find the courage to let our real faces shine."

"I don't think I know what my real face looks like anymore."

"I don't know mine either, so I guess it's whatever you want it to be. Whatever you feel when you're with the people you love. How you are with the boys, carefree, relaxed, nagging."

"And you're kind, wise, vulnerable, and most importantly, beautiful." He spun you around to face the mirror. It could have been the golden lights on the vanity, but you felt like you were glowing. You touched your face, feeling uncertain if it was you or not. "I didn't go crazy with the makeup to allow your natural features to shine. But I can guarantee you're nowhere near plain and people won't be able to keep their eyes off of you, especially him."

Good, you thought, I don't want him to look away.