"That tickles a bit," Jihoon giggled a little as you patted his neck with a soft cushion. "Sorry, Jihoonie. I'm finished soon," you smiled at his smile, patting a bit faster. "Nooo it's OK. I like it," he winked. You laughed, Jihoon was not shy. Unbeknownst to you, on a chair beside Jihoon, sat an even taller blonde guy staring at the whole interaction with green eyes. Haruto, your boyfriend — who you would otherwise notice in a crowd — was sitting on Jihoon's left which meant your back was turned to the poor boy. Since YG had a dating ban, he couldn't say anything he wanted in this situation, like 'look at me instead' or '누나, stop laughing with that stupid guy, please' or 'pay attention to me' or 'can we switch makeup artists so I can be with my girlfriend?' because everyone knew that if he so much as hugged you or held your hand in front of other staff members they would betray the company for some money from dirty, disgusting Dispatch. All Haruto could do was sit and huff, hoping you would for no logical reason just turn around and see him and stop doing Jihoon's makeup to compliment his hair.
Done with Jihoon, you went to one of the tables with drinks to take a sip or your iced americano, thirsty af. While drinking you noticed Doyoung (who was also finished with his makeup) had smudged his lip tint when he drank from a chocolate milk packet without a straw and, naturally, you went up to him to repaint his lips as a makeup artist should do. Haruto was staring at you on the mirror as you focused on Doyoung's lips and lightly dapped them with your finger. It looked so intimate to him; your finger tips touching his lips. He knew it was part of your job and that to you this was a mundane action like cleaning your EarPods/headphones or scrolling through TikTok or doing laundry — but it still hurt a bit.
"Looks perfect now! No chocolate milk until after the VLive, OK Doyoungie?" you said, arms crossed jokingly, knowing the boy liked snacking. 'Doyoungie' pouted jokingly — and totally unnecessarily — as he nodded "Yes, 누나, don't worry." You laughed. Haruto was pouting now but unlike Doyoung it was not in a joking way. He wishes you were paying this much attention to him instead of his members. He knew it was your job to make sure everyone looked good but in this specific instance it still hurt his feelings. He had just coloured his hair blonde, which was a huge shift for him as he'd never had to colour his hair so dramatically for a comeback, and he didn't like it and needed all your reassurance. His hair stuck out like a sore thumb so how didn't you even notice him? How come you noticed such a small detail on Doyoung's makeup? Why were you even looking at his lips so attentively? Why didn't you notice Haruto who'd been only two meters away from you for the past half hour?
His makeup artist gave him a thumbs up, signalling she was finished with his makeup which meant he just had to wait until Hyunsuk's awful hairstylist was finished and then Treasure could finally start their VLive. Haruto sat down by one of the large tables with everyone's drinks, again only a few meters away from you, and moved a few blonde strands to look a bit awkward on purpose, hoping your hawk eye would notice so you'd come to correct his hair. But no! You were busy with complimenting Asahi on the pretty ring he got to wear for the VLive, so another stylist came to fix Haruto's hair, combing it a bit and moving some hair strands away from his eyes, in a way that would've felt romantic had it been you who did it instead — oh, how he wishes you were touching his hair instead and looking into his eyes.
During the VLive, the boys were celebrating their comeback and playing fun games to entertain the viewers. Some of the staff were monitoring the comments to see what games were popular or boring among the fans so they know what to plan for future VLives. You were in the styling room, the boys were in the room that had been decorated and prepared for the VLive, watching the live and laughing at Asahi's robot infamous dance that people kept asking him to do no matter how old it was and Junkyu's fun energy and Yoshi's lobster hat he had to wear as a punishment for losing a game. Out of curiousity, you looked at the comments, happy to see many positive comments drowning out the few bad ones — however, you noticed something a bit odd.
Junqt: 'Woahhh haruto is so cometitive!!!'
raffaello96: 'Haruto is teasing Doyoung so much lmao'
HwanJungle: 'Haruto looks so cute mad haha'
Ye_shihohoho: 'Jihoon and Haruto must've had an argument b4 the live lmaoooo'
JeongwooSayang<3: 'thank you Ruto for brining back asahi's robot dance ekgknrb'
What? You had noticed your boyfriend was a very active participant in this VLive, talking more than usual and joking around, coming up with the idea to play 야자 time so he could talk to his older members informally (especially Jihoon, Doyoung and Asahi for some weird reason), teasing Doyoung before Doyoung makes the first move to tease him, even pushing Jihoon lightly so he wouldn't win a point for his team. You hadn't thought too much of it until you saw the comments.
After the VLive the boys were exhausted, their social batteries lowered, smiles and laughs all spent to entertain the fans. Now they were all ready to have something to eat or take a nap (if you were Hyunsuk).
"Ahhh finally I can have my chocolate milk!" Doyoung exhaled, gulping down everything in one go, to which Haruto rolled his eyes.
You waved to him. He walked up to you, ruffling his hair a bit, hoping you'll fix it finally, "Did you see today's VLive, Miss?"
"Yeah, you acted a bit strange in the VLive today... Are you OK?"
"Strange? By that you mean my team won all games thanks to me. I did a good job, right Miss?"
"Of course, you did a really good job," you patted his arm, not sure if he was open to hugging in front of his members.
"Thanks, Miss," he smiled a bit, looking at the floor, making it very obvious you should look at his hair.
You giggled, grabbing his chin to make him look at you, "You don't need to keep calling me Miss you know? Only the members are here."
"You don't like it?"
"I mean, it's not bad but it's not good either. Feels a bit distant," you shrugged.
"Sorry, I just did it out of habit." That was a lie. He only ever referred to you as 'Miss' sometimes when managers or other staff, especially from outside companies, were present in meetings, after performances, interviews or at variety shows but after VLives he'd only ever call you 누나 since the styling room was only filled with his member and they knew about the relationship already.
"Are you hungry, Haruto?"
"Hm. A little."
"You feel like eating kimchi stew?"
He nodded.
"Ruto, are you coming?" Jaehyuk asked, holding the door open.
"No, sorry I'll see you guys later."
"OK, bye," everyone waved, leaving you two alone in the room.
"You never answered my question," you held his arm and dragged him to sit down with you on one of the empty sofas.
"What do you mean?" he looked down at his shoes.
"Are you OK?"
"Mhm," he avoided your eyes, finding it hard showing himself vulnerable in this way.
You sat closer to him and held his cheeks, turning him to look at you, "Something tells me my boyfriend isn't telling me the truth.
His cheeks and ears were turning red. Such a small touch meant so much to him right now, especially when you combed your fingers through his hair, making sure no hair strands were blocking your eye contact — oh and combine that with proudly calling him your boyfriend and now he's a strawberry. He felt his breathing changing, stopping for a moment before going faster.
"This is the first time you looked at me today, 누나," he pouted a bit.
"Oh... I'm sorry, Boyfriend, I didn't realise," you felt awful.
"I sat right beside Jihoon during makeup time, you know?" he made his pout bigger.
You were shocked, having been so focused on doing his makeup that you didn't even realise Haruto was right behind you.
"And then you noticed Doyoung's lips and complimented Asahi and stuff and I just got a bit jealous. It felt like I wasn't even your boyfriend but more like someone looking at your life from the outside."
You held his hand in yours, playing with it and squeezing gently. "I'm so sorry but it's also my job to do their makeup and when we're with other staff it's not safe for me to act like your girlfriend."
"I know and that's not the frustrating part, it's just you paid sooo much attention to them and none to me and I just felt ignored. Sometimes I just wish I could go up to you and ask for a hug or do anything a normal couple would," he still pouted, looking you in the eyes.
"I'm sorry, Boyfriend," you pecked his nose. That made him smile!
"I wish I could hold your hand and tell you encouraging words or give you a good luck kiss before every performance but I can't. Just know that I'm silently cheering for you and sending you lots of love." You pulled him into a hug and he kept his face in your neck, taking in your scent and warmth and closing his eyes, so comfortable.
His voice was muffled by your neck, "I understand that but 누나, please, pay attention to me more. Even in front of the stylists. I don't mean a kiss or hug— Even if it's just something as simple as fixing my clothes or makeup or hair. Anything. Please?"
"I will, Boyfriend," you placed a small kiss on the top of his head, he smiled.
"Also... Can you like not act so cutesy to the guys? That hurt a bit," he hid his face in your neck, a bit embarrassed to admit he's jealous.
You giggled, "Awww was my little boyfriend jealous?"
You loved calling him little since he was so tall and it made him blush.
"Mhm," he pouted, blushing now.
You cupped his cheek, "I understand," you gave him a small kiss on his nose, "I didn't notice I was being cute but I'll definitely give you a bit more attention instead."
He nodded cutely and kissed your lips quickly.
"Can we stay here for a little longer?"
"Of course," you kissed his forehead.
It was a little uncomfortable to keep hugging in this sitting position so you got up and sat on his lap, wrapping him in your arms, his face in your chest now. "You look so cute in blonde hair," you kissed the top of his head.
He smiled against your skin, "Thank you, 누나."
You stroked his back with one hand and petted his hair with the other, Haruto blushed, happy you couldn't see his strawberry cheeks. Right now you didn't even need to speak, just enjoying each other's touch and breathing. It wasn't awkward. Silence is very comfortable sometimes, especially with your introvert boyfriend. He placed his head on the left side of your chest, listening to your heartbeat. You smiled. "I love you."
"I love you too. So much."
✧ ੈ ✧ ‧₊˚ * ੈ ✧‧₊˚＊* ੈ ✧ ‧₊˚ * ੈ ✧‧₊˚＊* ✧ ੈ ✧
❝ And I think, "What if we weren't ridin' and dyin' together?"
The whole world would fall apart
And I never felt so alone, felt so alone, na-na (never felt so alone, woo! Alone) ❞
