Warning: Un-beta'd.

“What are you looking at, Vic?”

A young girl tilts over to the side, her long auburn-brown hair falling down her arms in silky strands. “That guy over there,” she says, flicking her head in that direction, nearly flinging off her large sunglasses, “At the lipstick counter.”

Victoria had come out in a hurry and didn’t have enough time to do her makeup, which is why she’s wearing the sunglasses, even indoors. Her mother glances over, easily spotting a tall, young man wearing a uniform black suit and neatly styled hair. “My, he’s quite the looker, isn’t he?”

“Mom!” Victoria scowls. “You’re too old to be checking boys out.”

Laughing, her mom shoves her playfully with her elbow. “Do you know him?”

“I think we’re in the same form,” Victoria nods, pushing her sunglasses back onto her nose comfortably. “Hey, ma, let’s go over there.”

“Why?” Her mom asks, being dragged away by Victoria. “Are the two of you on bad terms?”

Victoria shakes her head. “No. It’s just… weird, seeing him outside of school.”

The two of them venture around the department store, finding cute outfits, shoes and purses to match their buys of the day. Eventually, after a little over an hour of shopping, Victoria and her mother arrive at the skin care and makeup product section again.

By now, Victoria has totally forgotten about Kris’s existence. Therefore, when she notices her mom leaving her as she’s testing out a new moisturizer, she’s slightly surprised by the familiar deep, rich voice that greets her ears.

“This is our latest lipstick release; the creaminess of the texture helps accent the thickness of your lips, bringing out the healthiness and plumpness while the color is a simple, smooth and well-layered lilac purple; personally, I think it matches perfectly with your well-toned skin.”

Damn it, Victoria hisses under her breath.

She sees her mom being drawn in by Kris, who’s wearing the slyest and most professional smile she has seen of him ever since the school year had started. Victoria didn’t even know this man could smile.

“Lilac purple is a color that is easily tinted; if you think the color is too light, all you have to do is coat your lips with a thin layer of lip liner before applying the lilac. We’ve got a good selection of lip liners for you to choose from as well.”

Without her own acknowledgment, Victoria is drawn into Kris’s selling. She glances over the lipstick and then at the lip liner, matching colors and wondering how certain combinations would turn out.

Needless to say, her mother was already sold. It’s hard to say no to such a modelesque face.

“My daughter would probably love that orange you’ve got there,” her mom excitedly exclaims.

Kris’s expression brightens up and he reaches for a liner in a drawer near him. “This coral lip liner we have is by far my favorite,” he says, swiping it over the back of his hand before applying a little bit of the lipstick over it, “it gives the orange the perfect hint of a light red but not too much so that it overshadows the lipstick and you can keep layering it on top of the lipstick without hindering the gloss. Your daughter will absolutely love it.”

“It looks great! Let me call her over,” Victoria’s mom beams.

Victoria’s attempt to hide was a major failure and when her mom hollers at her from however many feet she was away, Victoria sighs and pushes her sunglasses over her nose again in hopes that Kris wouldn’t be able to recognize her.

“Vic, doesn’t this look beautiful?” Her mom asks.

Great, just great, Victoria thinks. If he hadn’t recognized her at first, he definitely heard the name now. “Yeah, it’s great Ma.”

“Try it on!”

Victoria exasperatedly glances at her mom before daring herself to look at Kris. He’s already holding the lipstick in hand, the widest grin on his face. “Special service for a special lady.”

“I can do it myself,” Victoria insists. She takes the lipstick from him but before she can put it on, Kris grabs her by the wrist and stops her.

“You have to apply the lip liner first,” he says. At that, her takes Victoria by the chin and tilts her head up so that he has easy access to her lips.

He’s gentle; much more gentle than Victoria had ever imagined him to be. He swipes the corner of her lips with his thumb, the proximity between them a little more than just breathtaking. His skin is almost glowing, even up close, and even though he isn’t nearly as even-toned as Victoria, it’s easy to tell that he’s also blushing a little when their eyes meet briefly.

When he finishes, he smiles in triumph at his magnificent work.

“I think it looks perfect on you,” Kris tells her. His words make her heart skip a beat, her cheeks slowly burning beneath her pale skin.

Looking into a mirror, Victoria smacks her lips together and nods in approval. “Not bad.”

“It’s better than the red you usually have on,” Kris comments. “Personally, I think the red you wear is slightly too strong on you. You need more timid colors, like coral and orange. They complement you well.”

Does he even know the effect of his words? Sheesh. What better motivation is there for a woman to buy makeup than a handsome young man telling her how beautiful it makes her?

Therefore, Victoria’s mother immediately bags all of his suggestions, for both her and Victoria, before moving on to foundations and powder. Victoria stays behind, initially with her back to Kris.

When he starts cleaning up, wiping the makeup off of the back of his hand, she sighs and begins to help him.

“You sell lipstick,” she comments.

Kris shrugs. “So?”

“You sell lipstick,” Victoria reiterates, “what else does there need to be?”

“You were totally sold by my sales skills,” Kris smirks.

Victoria looks him directly in the eyes, tossing napkins into the bin he’s holding. “You sell lipstick. No matter what you say, I have the better end of the threat here.”

A little shocked by the seriousness of Victoria’s expression, Kris has a double take before laughter rolls over him. He reaches over and ruffles her hair, messing it up, and Victoria slaps his hand away. His smile now is much more genuine than the one he showed before—it was beautiful, almost.

“You’re cute,” he chuckles, running his fingers through his combed hair. “Why hadn’t I noticed that before?”

Victoria forces her heart to settle down in her chest. “Don’t say things like that,” she scowls.

“Why not?” Kris smirks.

Frustrated, Victoria takes a wet makeup removal sheet from the stand and wipes her lips with it roughly. The lipstick smears a little on her chin but she tosses it into his bin and sticks her tongue out at him. “Because it’s rude,” she grumbles.

Smiling helplessly, Kris pulls out a napkin and softly dabs away the rest of the lipstick that she smeared on her chin. “I never knew calling someone cute was rude,” he says. “Hm, I think you look best without the makeup. I think the reason I never paid too much attention to you before was because you wear too much makeup in school.”

“I don’t need your opinion on how I should project myself in public,” Victoria mutters under her breath, her heart threatening to beat out of her chest. “Your attention wasn’t exactly my biggest desire to achieve in school anyways.”

Kris grins. “Wasn’t.”

“Don’t play with my words,” Victoria glares. “You know what I meant.”

Her glare is just about as menacing as a hamster trying to bite. Kris just chuckles a little more and begins cleaning up again. “Alright, alright,” he hoots, “my bad. I apologize.”

From a distance, Victoria’s mom calls her over again. She responds and quickly gathers her belongings, ready to meet her mother across the store. As she’s leaving, she feels large hands around her wrist again. Gently, a card is slipped into her hand.

“This is my card,” she hears Kris whisper against her ear from behind her. “My work number is on the front, but my cell is on the back. If you don’t mind, we could grab a coffee or something before class sometime.”

Victoria clutches the card in her hand but smiles at him fakely, lips thinned. “We’ll see.”

“Or I could just tell everyone how you shake like a little Chihuahua with even the slightest touch,” Kris shrugs, “or even how easily you turn red when I applied the lipstick on you.”

“That’s blackmail,” Victoria purses her lips.

His lips stretch from one ear to the other, crooked in a smirk. “I learn only from the best. You sell lipstick,” he imitates her from previously in their conversation, “remember?”

Finally Victoria laughs too. “Fine,” she says, giving in. “I’ll send you a text Monday morning. If you don’t respond within five minutes though, the deal is off. Don’t go threatening me again.”

“Deal,” Kris winks at her.

Victoria’s mom calls out to her again and Victoria pockets the card, waving at Kris briefly before jogging over to her mom. She’s grinning, much like Kris was before, and she has to bite down on her lip to prevent herself from actually laughing aloud.

It’s odd how things work, she thinks. Kris was always that popular boy in class; he had many friends, always participating in various activities, but his path had never crossed with Victoria’s. It was hard from them to not know about each other’s existence, because Victoria was the beautiful model student and Kris was the handsome popular kid, but they had never spoken or interacted.

Yet, one simple encounter outside of school was all it took for them to find attraction in one another.

“You look happy,” Victoria’s mother comments with a sly smile of her own. “Something good happen?”

Victoria glances over her shoulder, watching as Kris begins selling his product to another customer at his counter. She thinks her mother’s statement over, wondering if this was what happiness felt like.

“Well?” Her mother presses.

With a secretive smile, Victoria pouts her lips and wraps her arms around her mother’s shoulders, hugging her mother close. “Not really,” she lied, “I guess you could say I got to see a side of him I never would have imagined seeing and it amused me. That’s all.”

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A/N: I did it. I can't believe I did it. This is a super short one-shot but you don't even understand how proud I am of myself. ;____; Hope you guys like it! Oh, and I could always use a little bit of advice and stuff when it comes to my writing, so you can always hit me up on twitter. @qian_xin0202 ^_^ Until next time! ♥Xue