You were beginning to worry when you saw all the other members were present and in their chairs getting their makeup done except for yours. It had been a few weeks since you got this new job as a makeup artist for IKON. "Y/N what are you doing just standing here?", one of your seniors asked.
"I-umm-ah he's not here yet." You looked away in fear of her response.
"Who?"
"Hanbin. they told me to wait for him."
"The show is about to start and he hasn't gotten here?"
You shook your head wishing you were brave enough to ask why she was yelling at you when you had done nothing wrong.
"I'll have to call YG-"
"I'm here," Hanbin announced a bit out of breath as he entered the dressing room with his son. He put him down and sighed, "I'm here now."
"Good please sit down and let Y/N do her job." She practically pushed him down into the chair and you immediately began applying the first product onto his face so she wouldn't scream at you again. "I suppose your son's babysitter is late again?"
"Uh- yeah, she'll be here before I go on stage."
The woman sighed, not content. "You should find a better sitter." Once she left you took a look at Hanbin's face and noticed the worry in it. "You lied didn't you."
"How did you know?"
The stuttering gave it away but you just shrugged, "I guessed."
He gave you a shy laugh knowing he had been caught. "Yeah..." he looked over at his four-year-old son who at such a young age had gotten accustomed to being on the move. He was a calm boy who never made trouble for him. "I had to get rid of Han-Jae's sitter. She was releasing information about me and photos of him to the media. I want Han-Jae to live peacefully so I fired her but now I keep thinking the same thing will happen."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Your smile dropped as you felt saddened by his problems. Hanbin was only trying to be a good father to his son and work so he could give him a good life. You admired him for that.
Hanbin inhaled and exhaled deeply. "Now I don't know what to do. I have a full schedule now with the release of the album." You knew very well how packed his schedule was. The whole reason you were hired was because the workload for IKON had been increased.
"You're telling me..." you joked as you moved directly in front of him and stared at his eyes trying to figure out how you could possibly make him any more handsome than he already was. "My job isn't as hard as yours but it brings its challenges." You wouldn't tell him though.
He finally gave a light-hearted smile. "I'm sure it's hard to work with such demanding people."
"You mean that Unnie? Yeah" you sighed. "I'd rather not say anything. She might hear me and then where would I go?"
"Don't worry I won't let her do that. I know I haven't taken the time to get to know you in the past few weeks that you started-"
"That's alright." Once you were finished you let Hanbin take a look in the mirror. From his reflection, you could see the worries were taking over. That wasn't good for someone who had to go on stage and perform for his fans with a smile on his face. You looked over at his son who until now had kept silent and got an idea. You wanted to help them out. "About your son..." you trailed off not believing you were about to suggest the idea. "If you want I can take care of him for you."
"Really?" His face lit up with hope.
"Sure" you smiled assuring him that your offer was very real. "I would be happy to lend a helping hand."
"Won't you be troubled?"
You shook your head, "It's fine. I'm just going to pack up my stuff and wait here for you to finish. Wherever you go I go-" Your face turned fifty shades of pink when you realized how that sounded. "Because I'm your stylist- I mean-er you know, right?"
Hanbin chuckled seeing your flustered expression. "I know, thanks. I couldn't have asked for a better makeup artist." He bent down to talk to his son who was occupied by the coloring book in front of him. "Han-Jae, Daddy is going on stage now. The pretty Noona will take care of you okay?" Hanbin pointed at you.
Han-Jae nodded as he looked in the direction his father indicated.
With a final pat to his son's head, Hanbin ran out of the dressing room.
You took over Hanbin's place beside Hanjae and introduced yourself. "Hello Han-Jae, my name is Y/N. I'm going to take care of you if that's okay."
Han-Jae nodded then handed you a few crayons. "Noona can use these." He moved his coloring book over so he could share it with you. "We color together for Daddy." Han-Jae loved coloring because he liked getting comments from his father. Hanbin would gasp in awe at his work and so Han-Jae continued to seek those reactions.
There were no complaints on your end. You were happy to help him color.
As the hour passed you found yourself getting along very well with Han-Jae. He started talking more and like all children, he began asking questions. "Noona how old are you?"
"Can you keep a secret?"
He nodded eagerly.
You looked around before leaning in to whisper your age in his ear. "You keep that to yourself okay, women don't like having their age revealed."
He laughed not really understanding but he liked the silly faces you made when you told him to keep your secret. "Do you have kids?"
Hanbin stopped at the dressing room door when he heard his son's laughter coming through it. Soon he realized he could hear clearly the conversation between you two.
"Not yet."
"You want one?"
You nodded, "someday."
"Why not now?"
You became speechless, only strange noises left your lips. "It's not that easy. First I need a boyfriend and I don't have one of those."
"Do you want one?"
You giggled, "I do and before you tell me to get one, it's not that easy."
Han-Jae tilted his head. He had heard this before. When he asked Hanbin why he didn't have a Mommy. The answer he got was that until he had a girlfriend then he would have a Mommy but it wasn't easy to find one. "Why not?"
Hanbin opened the door slowly wanting to get a look at Han-Jae.
"You ask the hard questions Han-Jae." You sighed, "I'm not sure how to explain it to you. The basics are that two people have to like each other."
"Is that when someone makes you smile?"
You nodded, "that's a part of it."
"You and Daddy were smiling when you were talking."
Panic set in as you realized this little boy was smarter than you thought. "We were but-"
"You don't like Daddy?" His smile faltered making you jump into action.
"I do- I mean your Dad is a very nice man. He's handsome, he works hard, he's kind, and a great father to you..." You didn't know where you were going with this. "It's-" you fanned yourself with your hands as you struggled to continue.
Hanbin smiled when he heard all the things you said about him. He decided to help you out and step in to stop his son's line of questioning. "I'm back."
"Daddy" Han-Jae ran to show Hanbin his coloring. "Me and Noona did this."
"Woah!" he gasped. "It's awesome!"
Your face went red as you realized he could have heard your conversation. Your eyes went to the door hoping you could get out but Han-Jae's voice stopped you from attempting it.
"Noona is fun."
You were touched by his words and forgot about escaping altogether. "I had fun too Han-Jae."
"I want to be with Noona a little longer." He let go of Hanbin and grabbed onto your hand. "Want to come to my house?"
Now Hanbin was the flustered one. "That's a bit too forward Han-Jae." He looked over at you, meeting your eyes. "But..." You could tell he was now looking at you in a different way. "Would you like to eat lunch with us? We have time until the next appearance."
"Come on Noona say yes."
For your own sanity, you could have said no to Hanbin if he were the only one asking but Han-Jae was making it difficult. "Okay."