Dressing Room

We walk into the building hand-in-hand. I begin to grow anxious when we walk past the front desk, Taeyoung nodding in acknowledgement to the man that sits there.

He brings us to an elevator, lighting up the 6 button with a push of his finger. He turns to look at my blank face.

"You okay? You look kind of pale."

"Hm? Oh, I don't know. This is just all new to me."

"You don't need to be nervous Sohee, you're just watching," he laughs at me. My face frowns in annoyance. He holds the sides of my face, "아이구 [Aigoo], you're so cute."

He places his lip on mine, and I can't help but forget about him making fun of me a moment ago. He deepens the kiss when my fingers come up to rake through his soft hair, causing him to groan from the feel of my nails against his scalp.

"Sohee, be careful," he mutters between kisses, pushing me against the wall of the elevator.

I grow hot and I can feel the sweat beading on my neck. His tongue pushes its way into my mouth and I gasp in surprise.

Then the elevator dings, the automated voice saying "Sixth floor" in Korean.

Taeyoung pulls his mouth apart from mine and turns around to see a man staring at us in front of the doors.

He swiftly bows, grabbing my hand and walking out as if nothing happened.

"Oh my god," I mutter, my pulse beating at what feels like 180 beats per minute.

Taeyoung turns to look at me with a smirk on his face. He chuckles a bit and I hit his arm.

Then we're inside of a big room—so big and with ceilings so high that my feet stop in their place. It's intimidating. There's a bunch of screens at one end, white and green, with an array of cameras and equipment in front. There are people walking around, all with a purpose. Upbeat music blasts through the large area. Eventually, a few people stop to say hello to Taeyoung.

An older lady comes over to us, "아, 너 왔어 [Ah, you're here]." She waves her hand at him frantically, a flushed look on her face. She seems very busy, and in a rush. Taeyoung follows her to a smaller room, pulling me along.

"Please sit in hair and makeup first while I get things sorted."

The lady finally turns and notices me. Her eyes widen in shock, falling to look at our intertwined hands.

"오? 누구세요 [Oh? Who is this]?"

"매니저님, 이 사람이 내 여자 친구예요 [manager, this is my girlfriend]."

"여자 친구? 정말로? [Girlfriend? Really]?" Her surprised expression is accentuated with each word she says. "와우, 예쁘다 [wow, she's pretty]!" She exclaims, hitting Taeyoung's arm in approval.

I bow and introduce myself to her. She looks to be in her late 30s. She's probably Taeyoung's personal manager.

We walk into the dressing room and Taeyoung sits down in a makeup chair, the light bulbs surrounding the mirrors casting a heavenly glow on him. A team of makeup artists and a hairdresser begin to work on him, creating a wall between me and him.

"Would you like some water?"

I look at the manager in surprise from her English words.

"Oh, sure. Thank you."

She quickly leaves the room.

"You can sit down there." Taeyoung points to the chair beside me.

"Okay." I hesitantly take a seat, aware of the three pairs of eyes now on me.

"Who's that?" I hear one of the artists ask Taeyoung. Again he tells them that I'm his girlfriend and they all turn around, bowing and introducing themselves.

My cheeks flush from the attention. I'm not used to attention like this. It seems that Taeyoung is very popular here. I get a sense that these people respect him a lot.

They ask him more questions that I don't understand. The manager returns with a cup of water. Then she disappears again, moving around in a frenzy.

She must get stressed out easily.

"Do you want them to do your makeup?" Taeyoung asks me this, the three girls looking at me in wonder. "They really want to," he chuckles and they look at me in embarrassment.

"Oh..."

"They often complain because my hair and makeup is too boring, being a guy."

"Sure. I guess they can." My face is basically naked anyway, why not?

When he tells them in Korean they smile in excitement. As soon as they're finished brushing on the final touches to Taeyoung's face, the hairdresser fixing up his hair, they come over to me.

I become at their mercy, completely unaware of the words they are spouting to one another. Taeyoung laughs at me as he watches my disgruntled face as the girls begin to touch my face and hair.

As they begin applying makeup to my face someone walks in. A tall girl with striking features makes her way over to the seat on the left of me. She completely ignores me and Taeyoung, and waits expectantly as her team of makeup artists begin to work on her face.

Is she being photographed too? Are they being photographed together? I become very aware of how gorgeous she is. Of course she is, she's a model after all.

Then without her eyes leaving the mirror, she begins talking to Taeyoung. Taeyoung talks back, something about the photoshoot. They seem to know each other well since formalities are dropped.

I sense that the girls working on my face and hair tense a little bit, and I catch the side glances they give to this new girl. They become silent, their excited chatter humming down to a halt.

The manager comes back in with a pile of clothes in her arms. I get the instinct to get up and help her, but one of the girls lightly pushes me back down. The manager begins tossing clothes at Taeyoung. I take a sip of water before they move to paint my lips.

I cough as a gulp of water gets caught in my throat passage.

He's changing. In front of everyone.

My cheeks flush red as I catch his bare back in the mirror. No one else seems surprised, they all focus on the job at hand. I start to lose it when his pants come off too.

Is this normal? My boyfriend changes in front of all of these girls? I don't like it. But what can I say? He's a model, of course he's comfortable with changing in the open.

The team moves away from me, telling me that they've finished. When I look in the mirror I get a bit awkward. They did me up way too much as if I was the model getting her makeup done.

Their expectant faces cause me to fake a smile and tell them I like it in Korean. They all smile at me, commenting on my Korean.

"Let's see," I hear Taeyoung say from behind me but I'm nervous to even look at him.

The three girls say goodbye to me and leave the room with their equipment. I turn around to see Taeyoung zipping up a pair of pants. My cheeks burn with heat as I try to avoid looking at him.

"Oh. They went overboard." He laughs as he looks at the pants in the mirror, tugging at the pockets.

I clear my throat and stand up awkwardly. I notice the other girl, the model, looking at Taeyoung through the mirror. I casually walk towards him, trying my best to block his bare torso from her view. However, my height can't block his chest.

"You look like you should be the one posing with me." Taeyoung looks at me, taking in my styled hair and smokey eyes.

I hear the other girl scoff in the background, then I catch her scolding her makeup artist.

"Um, can you put a shirt on?" I whisper this, looking at the wall behind him.

He pauses, staring at my flushed face before breaking out into a hearty laugh. My eyes dart to his own, before subconsciously looking down at his body. He isn't buff by any means, but the outline of his abdominal muscles are visible, shadows casting over the indentations. His chest is also very lightly chiselled, just enough to show the outline of the muscles behind his skin.

"Ahem," he pretends to clear his throat and I look up at his eyes again in humiliation.

"I didn't imagine my first time seeing you shirtless would be here," I continue to whisper. Looking around the room again, I swiftly catch the model looking at us.

"Oh, sorry were you expecting more?" He laughs at me again and I furrow my brows in anger.

"I'm sorry but I don't appreciate the fact that you can get undressed in a room full of women without any problem." My insecure words come out sharp, and it causes Taeyoung's laugh to stop.

"Oh, I get it." He grabs a shirt from the clothing rack beside him, "You're jealous."

"What?" I look up at him in annoyance again. "Don't I have a right to be?" I add on, getting more anxious.

He pulls his arms through a silken button up shirt. "Yes baby, you do. I'm sorry."

I swallow at his words, all too aware of the girl's eyes piercing through us. Taeyoung doesn't notice.

He pets my hair softly before pulling me towards him, my body hitting his bare torso. He leans his head down to nip at the sensitive spot on the neck. I whisper-scream out an ow and try to push him away.

"Not in front of her please."

"Why are you whispering," he says against my neck.

"Taeyoung, stop," I deadpan, tired of his teasing now.

"Aw, but it's fun to see you get embarrassed." He lifts his head up, arms still around me.

"Well, it isn't fun for me."

He quickly pecks my lips and then releases his hold on me. I breathe out a sigh of relief. She isn't watching anymore.

"Damn it Taeyoung, button up," I grumble as I take the matter into my own hands, taking the soft shirt and buttoning it up myself. He chuckles at my agitation.

The shirt feels like silk beneath my fingertips. I slow down, taking more care in poking the buttons through.

I wonder how expensive this is.

I'm so focused on the quality of the shirt that I don't even take notice of my fingers grazing against his skin.

"I like this. You dressing me. Do you want to become my personal dresser?"

He leans his head down again to whisper in my ear.

I'm almost to the top button when he adds, "and maybe even my personal un-dresser too."

I punch him in the chest. The girl watches our commotion—me with a red face and Taeyoung with his features crinkled in amusement.

"Taeyoung," his manager enters the dressing room again. "Ready?"

"Yeah." He composes himself before walking out the door. He turns back and motions for me to come. I tag along, wary of the people walking quickly to and fro, doing my best to not get in their way.

"Taeyoung!" A man with interesting fashion choice comes up to Taeyoung, eyeing the clothes he wears. He holds a huge camera in his hands.

They carry a mini conversation, talking about the clothes. The photographer tells him to undo a few buttons from the top, and he folds the cuffs of his shirt sleeves as well.

Then the photographer looks over to me. "Is this the female model for today? I thought it was Eunji?"

He eyes me now, pulling at my leather jacket with a confused look on his face.

"Ah no, this is my girlfriend. Eunji is getting ready."

"Oh." The man's eyebrows arch up to an incredible height. He steps back a bit, looking at me again. I begin to shift my weight on either foot, uncomfortable under his dissecting eye. "Is she a model?"

"No."

"Hmm..." Now he gets up close, staring at my facial features as if I'm a horse up for auction. "Not bad. She should think about modelling sometime." He finally looks over at Taeyoung.

"I-I don't think so," I respond in Korean and his eyebrows raise up again.

"Oh? You speak Korean?"

"I'm her teacher," Taeyoung's face lights up in pride. I softly hit his arm.

"Well, think about modelling. You're a bit short but, that can be fixed." His piercing eyes run over my body again, taking in my short height. "It could be good though, for a different concept," he continues.

"Different concept?" Now Taeyoung is as lost as I am.

"A cute, submissive concept."

My eyes widen in shock, Taeyoung coughs a bit, a fist covering his mouth.

"Anyways, get into position please," And just like that, the photographer is gone.

"Never," I say. Taeyoung looks down at me, his ears red. "That's never happening."

"Aw, why not?" He teases me, placing his elbow on top of my head like an armrest. Then he walks off and onto the set. The lights turn on, casting shadows on him in the right places, and illuminating his features.

His manager gestures for me to take a seat in an empty chair by the computer screen. Photo shots of him appear on the screen as the photographer clicks.

He's taking a lot of photos. How do they choose which ones to keep?

A fancy looking chair is carried onto the white sheet after a while, and Taeyoung immediately sits down, directing his looks to the camera.

Holy shit he looks hot.

I grow uncomfortable and end up having to take off my jacket. As I do I feel my chair get knocked to the side a bit. Then I see the girl, Eunji I guess, walk past me with a strut, her face stoic.

Was that on purpose?

She stands behind the chair, her hands on Taeyoung's wide shoulders.

I don't like this.

I want to look away as the photographer directs them in what to do, but their beauty pulls me in. They look fake, not human anymore as they pose with blank faces and confident body language.

But once they swap the chair for a red, gothic style couch, getting Taeyoung to sprawl across it with Eunji sitting at the edge, I force myself to look away.

I pull out my phone frantically.

S: Koko?

No response. I tap my fingers against my phone anxiously.

S: Junwoo

He responds quickly.

JW: Yes?

S: Help distract me please

JW: Why?

S: I can't watch Taeyoung model

JW: ... why?

S: Because I can't

JW: Is he with another girl?

S: yes

JW: you're funny

S: this isn't funny Junwoo

JW: fine

He begins to flood my phone with memes, one after the other, each one getting more and more ridiculous.

I can't hold back my laughter any longer and everyone turns to look at me.

"Oh sorry," I bow my head in humiliation. Taeyoung gives me a confused glance before focusing back on the camera.

I softly giggle for the rest of the photoshoot, fingers typing with urgency after each meme he sends. Taeyoung gives me looks every now and again and the photographer sometimes has to tell him to focus.

S: thank you Junie

JW: no prob, i'm your meme king

I laugh at his response before lifting my head to see the photoshoot has ended.

"Who were you texting?"

The words are cold, sounding accusing. I turn around to see Taeyoung, his signature red ears burning bright and his hair dishevelled. He asks again when I don't answer, his hand grabbing my wrist and pulling me up from the chair. From behind him, I see Eunji smirking.

. . .

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Love,

Sooaura