"Noona, have you found your soulmate?"
"Wooyoung! You can't ask stuff like that. Sorry, Noona."
Rose smiled slightly as leader Hongjoong told off his younger group member while sitting in the chair in front of her. She had been at KQ Entertainment for two years now and had been assigned to ATEEZ as their makeup artist, stylist, and general assistant to the group's staff. During that time, she had grown fond of the boys as if they were little brothers.
"Yeosang was the one who wanted to know."
She glanced over at Yeosang in surprise. He was one of the quieter members and also one that Rose thought wouldn't ask such a question just because he was curious about her personal life.
"Why did you want to know, Yeosang?"
"Soulmates have been on my mind recently. After we met BTS's Anna at the MAMA's, I was wondering..."
Yeosang bit his lip as he looked down at his hands in his lap. Noticing his soulmate's mood, Seonghwa walked over to the younger singer and stroked his hair comfortingly.
Rose had stopped doing Hongjoong's makeup to ask Yeosang the question, but a movement turned her attention back to the leader. He was smiling sadly at his left hand which he had held out in front of him. She understood what Yeosang meant.
Held to the highest levels of secrecy, Rose was one of the few members of staff who knew about ATEEZ's soulmate situation. While San and Wooyoung's bond had not been a shock to anyone, Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yeosang, and Jongho's incomplete bond had been a bit of a surprise. They had yet to meet their final soulmate.
"I have... found them. My soulmate. But we haven't bonded. He - he doesn't even know about me yet."
"What? Noona... why haven't you told him?"
She smiled sadly at Yunho.
"Sometimes it's not that easy."
"Can we help, Noona?"
Unknowingly, they had already tried to help her. When she found out that ATEEZ would be participating in KINGDOM with Stray Kids, Rose had taken it as a sign. Every time she was in their dressing room for the show, her heart would race at the thought of her soulmate being so close. Yet, they never crossed paths.
Instead, she had to listen as the boys from ATEEZ talked about the new friends they had made. Observant Hongjoong had noticed her interest when he talked about working with Bang Chan and the rappers from Stray Kids. A couple of times he had tried to organise for her to meet them, however for one reason or another, things never worked out.
"Thank you Hongjoong, but I have a plan. If- if that doesn't work, then perhaps I'll take you up on that offer."
"You're a part of our family now, Noona, and we will always help each other."
Hongjoong said it so sincerely that Rose felt herself get a little emotional. When she first started working there her Korean had barely been passable. The leader had helped her a lot in the first few months when she struggled with the language barrier.
"Aww, you boys are too sweet! Come on, let me finish. This is your last show before you go on tour. Are you excited?"
"We finally get to see ATINY in person again!"
"I'm so excited, but also a little nervous."
"We'll miss you, Noona!"
"I can't believe Noona's not coming with us."
They all laughed at Mingi's pout, including Rose.
"You'll be having so much fun you won't even notice I'm not there."
It was lucky that she hadn't been part of the team chosen to go on tour with them. Her plan to finally reveal herself to her soulmate was taking place while they were in Europe. At least, if everything worked out it would.
"What will you do without us, Noona? Will you miss us?"
"I have plans... and of course, I'll miss you, boys!"
Hongjoong caught her eye and Rose could tell that he understood what her plan was.
"I hope it works out for you, Noona."
She sighed as she put down her makeup brush.
"Me too... Okay, boys, you're all done. Off you go. Fighting!"
Rose plastered a smile on her face as she waved the boys out of the room. Once they had gone, she collapsed in the chair Hongjoong had been sitting in. She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment. Perfection was what she saw.
Every day she painted herself as close to perfect as possible. Not a hair of her carefully styled hair was out of place. Her outfit was professional but modern and stylish. Over the years she had curated this persona of herself, and it had all started when she started wearing makeup. Now, no one saw her without it.
Tearing her eyes away from her reflection, Rose reached for her tablet where she kept her concepts for the boys' stage makeup and saw she had a V Live notification. Her soulmate had started another episode of 'Chan's Room'.
She hesitated for a moment before clicking on the link and watched as her soulmate's smiling face appeared on the screen. It was Christmas Day so she was surprised that he had the time to do this today. It made her smile, thinking about how much he loved his weekly chats with his fans.
It was because it was Christmas Day that she was ATEEZ's main, and only, make-up artist for the day. The boys' main make-up artist had a family to spend the day with whereas Rose had no one and so didn't mind working solo for the day.
"Mingi forgot his jacket."
Rose was startled by Hongjoong's suddenly entrance. She looked behind her and watched as the boy noticed what she was watching.
"Is that Chan-Hyung? You really are a fan of Stray Kids... Oh, Noona. Is he...?"
It was surprising that he had never figured it out before, but then again, they had never discussed soulmates with her before today.
She bit her lip, one of the only flaws Rose hadn't been able to train herself out of doing. While she couldn't deny the truth, she wasn't sure whether to confirm Hongjoong's suspicions, but part of her longed for someone else to know her secret. So, she nodded her head.
"Why didn't you say something? All those times that I met up with him, oh, Noona. It must have been so hard for you."
The look the young Idol gave her was so caring that Rose wanted to blurt out the whole story to him right then and there. However, it wasn't the time nor the place.
"I - I have my reasons, but now is not the time to discuss them. Go before someone comes looking for you. You have to be on stage soon."
Hongjoong looked as though he was going to say something, but instead nodded, grabbed Mingi's jacket. Before he left the room, Rose called out to him.
"Oh, and Hongjoong, please don't tell anyone, not even the others. I know some of them have close friends in Stray Kids and, well..."
"Don't worry, Noona. It's not my secret to tell."
Rose smiled gratefully at the leader and watched as he left the room. She glanced back down at the screen to see the sight of her soulmate laughing.
He looks so happy... without me.
She watched it for a few minutes. Chan's Room was always so wholesome, and Rose enjoyed discovering new music from Bang Chan's suggestions each week. For her, it almost felt like she was spending time with her soulmate as she gradually got to know him better. Although it made her happy to see and hear that he was doing well, sometimes it also made her tear up.
With a sigh, she turned off the tablet. This wasn't the right place to watch it. Instead, she started cleaning and tidying up her workspace, while she waited for the boys to come back for touch-ups. As she did so, she caught her reflection in the mirror. Her watery eyes had caused her makeup to smudge.
That's what I get for not using waterproof makeup.
Instead of correcting it right away, Rose let one of the tears that had been building spill over and roll down her cheek. She had been glad to work today, just to distract herself from the fact that she had no one to spend the holidays with. The boys asking her about her soulmate was a reminder she didn't need.
Memories from the past two years played through her mind. For months she had sought out every opportunity there was to get close to Stray Kids in the hope that her soulmate might recognise her. Then for the next year, she watched them from afar.
Rose had thought that Kingdom had been a sign, a sign that fate was providing them with a chance to meet. After Hongjoong's failed attempts to organise a meeting, although he didn't know why at the time, on the last day she had desperately gone looking for Bang Chan herself.
It was one of her worst memories. Sometimes it still kept her up at night and even as she created her latest plan, she wondered whether she was doing the right thing.
Rose had made it as far as Stray Kids' dressing room backstage. The door hadn't been closed properly and she could hear her soulmate's voice coming from inside. However, before she entered, she overheard the conversation he was having with Felix. They were talking about soulmates. Rose left in tears without seeing her soulmate that day.
By the time ATEEZ came back to the dressing room, Rose was once again perfectly put together and smiling as if nothing had been wrong. While the other members told her excitedly about their performance, Wooyoung watched her intently.
What Rose didn't know was that one of the other members had followed after Hongjoong when he went to retrieve Mingi's jacket and had heard their conversation. When he got home that night Wooyoung made a call.
"Changbin, I have a favour to ask you."