I AM REQUIRED TO COME downstairs the next morning for my first full day on the job. I wake up at 6 and take a full hour to get ready (I wanted to look my best, okay?)
Staff members are allowed to wear whatever they'd like, as long as the colors are neutral—no bright neons or loud shades. So, I pair an oversized white shirt with beige baggy cargo pants and white shoes. I keep my makeup light, simply because I am too tired to do anything fancy, curl my bangs and straighten my hair.
I leave my dorm, and end up running into another staff member. She smiles with a bright look on her face. She clasps her hands and gasps at the same time, then exclaims, "Oh, so you're the new staff!? We're neighbors!!!"
"...Oh, hello." I bow. She looks to be older than me by a few years. She had short blonde hair that was pinned up with a large hair clamp. She wore a white tee and black sweatpants, and was carrying a tote bag like I was. However, hers had hair supplies inside, while mine had makeup.
"Want to head down together?" She waves at me to follow her towards the elevator, and I do exactly that.
We ride the lift all the way down to the first floor. She (her name is Julie) gives me a brief tour of places that the staff members use most—bathrooms, break rooms—things like that. We arrive to a large dressing room, where a few other staff members were hanging out in. It is a white room with 10 or so vanity mirrors that have bright lightbulbs glued along the rims. The desks in front of the mirrors are neatly organized with hair products and makeup brushes, with two chairs in front of each mirror.
"This will be your station. You can set up before the boys come!" Julie points to a mirror at the very end. I nod and take a seat, opening my duffle bag and taking out all of the makeup I think I will most likely use on the boys.
Yesterday, Mr.Sejin took me to the HYBE makeup shop, and allowed me to pick products I wanted to use solely on the members. I tried picking things on the least expensive side, as high end products seemed to be just as good as the dupes.
After about 10 minutes, an older man steps into the dressing room. The 5 other women staff members that I am in the room with, stand up and bow. I quickly do the same.
"Good morning Julie, Nari, Mi-Young, Lea, Seong, and...." He turns to me and I rapidly introduce myself in a hurry. "Y/n! Ah yes, our new makeup artist! Welcome."
The 5 women all face me and happily bow, mumbling "Nice to meet you!", "Hello!", and "Welcome!". Wow, they're all so...kind.
"The boys will be here in about 5 minutes. We are getting them dressed and styled for a new
EN-O-CLOCK episode, so keep it simple please!"
"Yes sir!!"
The man leaves, and the women start to shuffle through their items to start imagining what they would do. There were two people on outfit styling, two (including me) on makeup, and two on hair.
Moments later we all hear the door open. We turn to look, and are greeted with bright smiling faces from 7 men with outstanding visuals.
I'm actually getting a little excited to try out my skills on their faces.
"Alllllright! Good morning guys! Please pick whatever station you want to do first." One women, who I believe is named Lea, commands.
They all disperse to different stations, and one man comes straight to me with a smile. "Good morning!"
I immediately remember his name because he reminded me of a dog I used to have before Geun was born. "Hi Jake...Have a seat." I point to the chair in front of me, and begin to take out products from my bag.
He sits still and watches me silently as I try and determine what things I want to use. I feel his large eyes on me, so I decide to steal a glance back at him. His blonde hair was untamed and dry, almost covering his eyes. His skin was bare but smooth looking. I don't think he realized that he was grinning as he watched me, but I find it kind of charming.
I take a small brush and apply some concealer to it, which I believe is his shade. I pull my chair a bit closer to him and place my free hand under his chin, angling his head how I need it so I can properly apply the makeup. I've never done makeup on anyone else before, so being so close to Jake when I barely know him is definitely a bit odd.
He has a soft face though.
I dab the brush gently, blending in the concealer. He doesn't close his eyes, but instead watches me concentrate.
It isn't until this moment, that I realize I despise making eye contact, being looked at, or anything that involves someone looking at me—the entire time, my hands are just shaking from anxiety. I feel like he is judging me the entire time.
"...You have pretty eyes."
I sort of stop what I'm doing, looking away from his cheek and up at his charcoal gaze. "...Mine?"
"Yes...They're a dark green?"
I swallow hard before continuing my job.
"...Mhm." No one's really commented on my eye color before, let alone say they're pretty.
"How's Geun? Is he still hospitalized?" He asks me as I pull away with the brush and take out an eyeshadow palette, digging for a thin brush.
"Mm. He's doing good though...I told him about my new job here and his heart monitor started to beep like crazy." I chuckle, and he begins to laugh too.
"I hope he recovers soon so he can come visit us."
I bring the brush up to his eyes and start applying a light brown shade on the outer corners. "...Yeah...Me too..."
He stares at me, watching me focus once again. "...So you're 17?"
"Mhm."
"How long have you been doing makeup for?"
"...On myself, since I was 10. I've never done makeup on others before, but it's pretty easy."
"Woah, for 7 years? That's a long time!" He smiles at me like he's actually interested in what I say. It's cute.
I figure since he's been so nice to ask about me, maybe I should do the same. "...So, uhm...How old are you?"
"I'm 19!"
"Oh cool...Cool..." Oh wow I forgot how terrible I am at social interactions, talking with others, or making friends. I probably sound really stupid. Geun always laughed at me because he was more of an extrovert than me, though he's younger.
"Don't you have school? Or did you already graduate?" Jake asks me, thankfully, because I didn't know what else to talk about to fill the silence.
"No, I just don't go anymore."
He stares at me with an obvious expression.
"...I'm not a delinquent or anything if that's what you're thinking."
"O-Oh! I-I wasn't—"
"It's okay. A lot of people think that when I tell them I dropped out...But there's just a lot more to the story that I don't have time to tell, so I don't correct them."
I feel his intense gaze as I turn away to put the makeup back into my bag, like he wanted to ask me more. I don't want him to feel bad or start interrogating me, so I quickly say, "Finished...I'm finished."
Jake pauses, before saying "oh" and facing the mirror. He immediately smiles, turning his face from left to right. "Oh my god! I look so good!!!"
"...Glad you like it." I nod, and Jake stands up from his chair and bows.
"Thank you!" He exclaims, waves goodbye, then moves to the hair stylist station. I wave back, and let the next boy come to me.