“Oh, you’ve arrived!” Hyein greeted the boys and their manager when they entered the room where they’ll have their hair and makeup done. “I see you’ve got new hairstyles now,” she said when she saw the boys’ new hair.

“Yeah, we finished quite a bit late yesterday,” Junseo, their manager said and motioned to the members who each took a seat on the couches.

Hyein gave him a sympathetic smile and turned to the boys. “What do you think about your new hair, boys?”

“I totally like mine,” Jaehyun said happily. His hair was now back to black and was cut short.

“Of course, it looks the most natural one,” Taeyong said, turning to him. “Mine didn’t even change.”

“I like how I got full blond hair now,” Taeil said.

“My hair was only cut short so I’m ok with that,” Yuta replied happily.

“I’m still feeling my new hair colors but I think I’ll get used to it soon,” Mark nodded and ran a hand through his hair.

“Ah, I like mine too,” Winwin said as he also got an interesting combination of colors. Blond on the top and then pink on the sides and on the back.

“I didn’t get a crazy hair like Mark hyung so I’m pretty happy with mine,” Donghyuck said without forgetting to add an insult to his older member.

Mark playfully jabbed Donghyuck on the ribs, earning a laugh from everyone in the room.

“Well, I’m glad to hear those positive responses from you,” Hyein said. “It was actually Yujin’s idea to have Mark and Winwin have two colors,” she added.

“Eh? Yujin noona thought of this?” Mark asked. “Where is she anyway?” he asked again, looking around for the young stylist.

Hyein also looked around and sighed out loud when Yujin was nowhere to be found. She unlocked her phone and dialed her number. “Why can’t I always reach her phone?” Hyein sighed in defeat. She turned to the side and looked at her assistant. “Sooah, can you please get Yujin from that roof and tell her I need her right here right now.”

Sooah, who was currently arranging the accessories on the table stopped what she was doing and pursed her lips in a thin line before turning to her boss with a sweet smile on her face. “Of course,” she replied as she clenched her fist tightly behind her back then walked away.

“While we’re waiting again for Yujin, let’s start with hair and makeup for Taeyong, Taeil, and Jaehyun,” Hyein said and motioned for the boys she called to approach the vanity.

☆*:.｡.make you smile.｡.:*☆

“Ah, I can’t believe I left my camera back up there,” Yujin groaned in annoyance as she started walking back to the dressing rooms after retrieving her forgotten camera. She was currently walking back and browsing her photos on her camera at the same time and wasn’t looking at where she was going so she wasn’t really that surprised when she fell on her when she collided with someone, also causing her to drop her SLR to the ground.

“How long are you going to make us wait?”

Yujjin looked up when she heard the cold voice of Gong Sooah, Hyein’s assistant for almost eight years.

“I left my—“ Yujin tried to explain but Sooah already had her back turned against her and started walking back to where she came from.

“I don’t care what you were doing. Just hurry up and start doing your job.”

Yujin was dumbfounded by her attitude. She knew that Sooah didn’t like her but she thought that Sooah at least needed to act civil, especially that they were in a public place. Yujin counted from one to thirty before grabbing her SLR and standing up. She didn’t want to walk side by side with a person who dislikes her.

“No way,” she muttered, her brows furrowed in confusion when she saw a crack on the screen of her camera. She turned her camera and examined it for other damages and was relieved that she didn’t find any more.

Yujin looked up and frowned at the woman who was about eight feet away from her right now. She wasn’t exactly sure when Sooah started disliking her and why she did. Yujin never brought it up to Hyein because she knows she would just cause some drama between all of them and she was done with that. She was done with drama ruining her life.

Ever since Yujin came back to South Korea, she promised herself that she’d never get herself involved with something too major for her to handle.

So whenever she’d have encounters with Sooah, she would always just keep shut. Sooah doesn’t really speak to her and never tried to do anything to her anyway.

“Why are you walking so slow?” Sooah turned around and glared at her. “Hyein unnie wants you there right now!”

Yujin was surprised at her outburst but it didn’t show on her face. She just pursed her lips and tried to walk faster but she still made sure not to walk side by side with her.

“How nice of you to finally join us, Yujin,” Hyein raised an eyebrow at Yujin the moment she saw her entered the room.

The boys NCT 127 either turned to look at Yujin and by the case of Jaehyun, Taeyong, and Taeil, looked at her through the mirror.

“What’s with the long face, Yujin noona?” Donghyuck asked.

Yujin was still frowning when she entered the room and was then shocked to see that the boys were already there getting ready for the photo shoot. She bowed to them as a greeting. “Your hair’s new.”

Mark stood up and excitedly approached her. “Noona! I heard you were in charge of my hair and Winwin hyung’s!” he exclaimed, showing off his hair.

Yujin nodded, pleased to see that the colors she chose for them suited them right. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come to the hair salon yesterday but I’m glad that it turned out just the way I wanted it to look.”

“You were supposed to go with us?” Taeil asked, surprised to hear that from her.

“Yes, but I wasn’t able to because of school, oppa,” she answered him, earning a glance from Taeyong who was sitting quietly because his makeup was currently being fixed. “I was supposed to be there because I wanted to ask for special requests for Mark, Winwin, and Yuta’s hairstyle.”

Yuta’s eyes lit up when he heard his name. He straightened his posture and pointed a curious finger near his face. “Me?” he asked in surprise. “You were also in charge of my hair?” Yuta couldn’t believe it but he did feel like his hair was way too plain for some reason.

“Yeah,” Yujin nodded at him. She approached the couches to where the boys were sitting at and put down her camera on the coffee table in the middle of the couches. She was standing near Yuta and quietly thought if she should proceed with her plan about his hair.

Yuta didn’t know why, but he felt nervous under Yujin’s stare. She was looking at him like she was burning holes into his head and it made him feel uncomfortable. He mustered up some courage and asked her, “wh-what is it?” he stuttered, giving away his façade.

Donghyuck laughed beside him when his voice cracked. “Yuta hyung, are you not feeling well?” he teased. “What’s going on with your voice?”

Yuta turned to the youngest member and put a hand on his thigh to make him stop laughing. “I’m fine,” he said with a serious tone.

“You’re actually thinking of doing it to his hair?” Hyein asked her curiously, turning around to face her.

Yujin turned around and bit her inner cheek, unsure herself if she should do it because she knows that it’s going to surprise everyone especially him when she tells them what she’s planning. “I really want to do it, unnie,” she responded with much desire in her voice.

The boys glanced confusedly at each other as they didn’t know what they were talking about but they were surprised to hear a change of tone in Yujin’s voice.

“What are we talking about?” Winwin asked, his eyes searching for answers. He was quietly listening to the conversation but when everyone turned silent all of a sudden, he was afraid that he might have misunderstood or missed something.

Yujin turned to the Chinese member but wasn’t sure how she’ll explain it to him. She looked down, trying to formulate her sentences but was interrupted when they heard the door open.

“Hyein-ssi, the photographer says we should start soon because he thinks that it might rain,” a staff member said.

Hyein stopped what she was doing and nodded at the staff member, “Three of the members are about to be done getting ready,” she said. “I’ll have them out as soon as they’re finished.”

“Thank you,” the staff member said and closed the door as he left.

“You better get started then, Yujin,” Hyein gave her a look which Yujin nodded in response. “Yuta, please go with Yujin to the other room,” she said, turning to the Japanese boy.

“Huh?” he asked confusedly but stood up, looking back and forth at Hyein and Yujin.

“Yujin’s gonna style your hair, Yuta,” Hyein told him with a smile since it was the only thing she could do for him now. “This room’s pretty crowded now so you’ll have to go to the next room.” Hyein nodded at Yujin, telling her to move now.

☆*:.｡.make you smile.｡.:*☆

“EXCUSE ME?” Yuta’s eyes widened to the size of a soccer ball when Yujin showed him and the hairstylist unnie a picture on her iPad of how she wanted his hair to look like. He could already imagine the other member’s reactions when they see him looking like that. ‘They’d laugh at me like there’s no tomorrow and will never let it die.’

The hairstylist behind them laughed at his priceless reaction. “I can make this possible,” she said in between laughs. She looked at the picture on the iPad one last time before spinning the chair around, facing the mirror. “Crimped hair, coming right up!”

The hairstylist stepped back, leaving them alone as she prepared the hair equipment she needed to use for Yuta’s hair.

“You’re really serious about this?” Yuta panicked on his seat. He looked at Yujin with a pleading look. “I promise I won’t get mad at you if you tell me that this is just another prank of yours,” he said, already at wit’s end.

Yujin bit her lip, feeling bad at how miserable he’s looking like right now. “Trust me.”

“Eh??”

“Just trust me about this, ok?” she said and gave him a soft smile without her even noticing that she did. Yujin gave him a “fighting fist” for encouragement before turning away.

Yuta was still frozen on his seat as he couldn’t believe that she smiled at him again. His eyes were only focused on her, making him forget about his current situation. Seeing that smile of hers made the panicky feeling be replaced with butterflies slowly erupting from his stomach.

“Shall we start?” the hairstylist noona asked, taking him away from his thoughts.

“Where are you going?” he asked and swiftly turned around when he saw her already by the door.

Yujin was about to turn the door knob but stopped when she heard his call. “I have to go back to the other room and help out,” she told him reluctantly.

Yuta didn’t answer as he felt disappointed when he saw her face returned back to normal. ‘She’s not smiling anymore.’

The hairstylist looked to Yuta, then to Yujin, then to Yuta again. ‘She obviously doesn’t want to go and he obviously doesn’t want her to leave,’ she chuckled at the thought, earning a confused glance at the boy on the chair. “Yujin-ah, I’ll take care of him for you so you better get going.”

Yujin blinked at the older woman and nodded. “Take care of him well. Thank you unnie,” she said bowing to her in gratitude. “I’ll see you later,” she said, taking one last look at Yuta.

When Yujin was out of the room, Yuta turned back and sunk in his seat. He sighed out loud and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

“Don’t give me that sorrowful look on your face, young man,” she said, surprising him.

Yuta straightened his position and bowed his head once in apology. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend—”

“She told you to trust her, right?” she asked him with a kind smile. “You don’t have to worry because that girl knows what she’s doing. Plus, you’re in good hands!”

Hearing that from her honestly relieved him a lot. ‘Ah, it’s not that… I just didn’t want her to leave me all alone.’

☆*:.｡.make you smile.｡.:*☆

“So our stylist has finally given me her attention,” Taeyong teased as Yujin applied thicker eyeliner under his eyes.

“I never knew you were the jealous type,” Yujin countered back with the same tone Taeyong used on her.

Taeyong’s eyes widened in surprise when he heard a change in her tone. “Yujin! Your voice just changed!” he exclaimed excitedly.

Yujin stepped back and examined her work on Taeyong’s eyes, not minding his comment about her voice. “You’re good to go, TY Track,” she said and nodded her head towards the photographer.

“You called me TY Track?!” he yelled in surprise once again but Yujin already left his side and was walking to where Taeil was. “Taeil hyung! Our stylist is changing!”

“You’re being too loud!” Taeil yelled back and shook his head at the leader. “What was that all about?” he asked Yujin who was now standing beside him.

Yujin shrug her shoulders on response. “I just wanted him to know that he can be comfortable around me,” she answered honestly.

“That’s good then,” Taeil smiled at her. “Taeyong always try to play around with you because he feels like you’re intimidated by him.”

The both of them quietly watched as Taeyong started posing for the camera.

“That’s not the case at all,” she said. “In fact I think he’s the one who’s intimidated by me,” she told him, looking at the ground. “Whenever he says something to me, he apologizes right after and it just makes me feel awkward. I don’t want our relationship to be like that,” she tells him. “I play around a lot because it’s my way of expressing that you can be comfortable around me; it’s the only way I know how.”

Taeil was stunned at her words. “I completely understand you,” he tells her. It made him very happy that she opened up to her that easily especially because he knew about her past. Taeil patted her head like an older brother that he is and it made Yujin look at him with a confused expression. “We feel the same way, Yujin. We like you to know that you could be comfortable around us too, so don’t be shy and just be yourself around us, ok?”

Yujin found the sincerity in his eyes and it made her heart feel warm. “Thank you, oppa,” she said softly and looked back at Taeyong.

Tail removed his hand on her head and followed her gaze. They stood there and watched for another few minutes.

“Taeyong is a natural when it comes to photo shoots.”

Yujin turned to the oldest member beside her. Taeil was watching the leader closely and Yujin knew what he meant about this. “I think you had awesome shots too, oppa.”

Taeil met her eyes and gave her a small grin. “You’re just saying that,” he said and shook his head, refusing to believe her. Even though he was trained for this, he didn’t get much opportunities in the past to participate on photo shoots like the other members and it makes him feel like he was lacking.

“Yes! That’s a great expression you’re showing me, Taeyong!” the photographer complimented for the fourth time ever since they started.

Yujin shifted her weight on her left leg as she looked towards Taeyong who was posing very coolly for the photographer. When she looked back at Taeil, she noticed that his expression had gotten even more worried because she knows that the photographer only complimented him once and that was when he ended his photo shoot.

“I’m going back now,” Taeil tried to hide his dejected feeling he was currently feeling and walked away, not bothering to get a response from Yujin.

“I really meant it though,” she said quietly as she watched Taeil’s retreating form.

“Meant what?” Taeyong’s voice boomed behind her and it startled her a bit. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said with a chuckle.

“You’ve finished?” she asked, not knowing that he was already done with the photo shoot.

“Yeah. So did I look cool?” Taeyong asked and raised his brows, trying his luck again to get some emotion out of her.

But Yujin also wanted to play the game he’s playing. “Yeah,” she said with her normal look and voice. “TY Track was cool,” she said and started walking back.

Taeyong walked with her while thinking of striking a conversation with her again. “Yujin, would it really kill you to call me oppa?”

Yujin glanced at him