From the look on her best friend’s face, Wheein saw that Hyejin was very excited. Even more ecstatic than Wheein herself, who had a reputation of annoying said friend of ten years whenever a new idea popped in her mind. In Wheein’s defense, she couldn’t tell her fans those brilliant ideas until they transform into one of her new videos. Hyejin was both her editor and the type of person who didn’t care about spoilers, giving Wheein only reasons to rave to her instead. So when Hyejin came to her apartment with recommendations, Wheein was pleased. Wary and doubtful, but pleased.

“This here,” Hyejin held a brush in front of Wheein. It looked similar to Wheein’s paintbrushes, but more expensive. “This brand is really good for blending. You won’t have to worry when you apply eyeshadow on her.”

Wheein hummed.

Hyejin spared her a look. “Do you plan on applying eyeshadow on her?”

“Haven’t really thought about it.” She shrugged. “When she comes over for filming, I’m just going to wing it. Go with my gut, y’know?”

Hyejin blinked and then poked Wheein’s stomach, which elicited a giggle from her. “Well, tell your gut that I bought these specifically for Byul-unnie or I’ll make its host regret being born.”

Rolling her eyes, Wheein scanned the makeup kit spread out on the table. She didn’t know how Hyejin expected her to try out everything. If she had to guess, Hyejin scouted several stores to get all these cosmetic brands. “You didn’t have to go this far. I was planning to just use what I already owned.”

“I did need to go this far actually,” Hyejin deadpanned. “If this is the only time Byul-unnie will allow us to do her makeup, I’m going all out.”

That explained Hyejin’s enthusiasm. “You know I’m going to be applying the makeup, right? Not you.”

“I know.” Hyejin smiled and Wheein knew if her girlfriend saw that look, she would bolt out of the room. “That’s why I’m making you use what I bought. It’ll be a collaborative effort that way.”

Wheein let out a low whistle. “You’re desperate.”

“I am,” Hyejin smirked. “I’m insulted. If you were really my best friend, you would know I’ve been trying to dress your girlfriend up for months.”

“You’re really using the ‘if you were really my best friend’ card on me?” Wheein laughed. “After a whole decade?”

Hyejin playfully pushed on Wheein’s shoulder. “I’ll use that trick on you when we hit our fourth decade together.”

Wheein smiled, looking forward to that happy future. However, she wasn’t in the mood for being sappy, so she decided to keep their conversation focused. “Why are you so…” Wheein bit back the word obsessed, lest Hyejin force her into a noogie. “Determined to give her a makeover?”

“You think Byul-unnie is attractive right?” Hyejin asked.

When Wheein opened to answer, Hyejin hushed her. “Don’t go into your girlfriend tangents please. It was a rhetorical question.”

Huffing, Wheein crossed her arms. “Go on.”

“She is attractive. But I want her to spice it up, y’know?” Hyejin did a little shimmy and Wheein snorted.

“I do,” Wheein insisted. “But I know you want to tell me anyway.”

“Why, thank you.” Hyejin set down the brush and leaned against the table. “While Byul-unnie is pretty, handsome, or whatever you want to call her, she’s always in her comfort zone! She dresses so modestly and barely uses makeup. Which—” Hyejin held up a hand when she caught Wheein crossing her arms. “Is not a bad thing. It’s great; it works. It’s just frustrating to know she has all this…potential to be drop dead gorgeous and just doesn’t utilize it.”

Hyejin clenched her fists to emphasize her point. Wheein’s eyes widened, wondering the extent of Hyejin’s passion. “You’re crazy.”

“No, I’m right.” Hyejin set her hands on her hips. “Do you remember that time Yongsun-unnie got Byul-unnie to wear a dress?”

Wheein winced, focusing her gaze onto the window. The trees dancing with the wind seemed really interesting for some reason. “No.”

“You ended up staring at her so much that you tripped and fell into a trash can,” Hyejin explained. “And when Byul-unnie ran to ask if you were okay, you said you dove into the trash on purpose.”

Wheein shut her eyes, replaying the incident in her mind. Even though she called Byulyi a dork more often than not, Wheein sometimes wondered why Byulyi settled for her. “Your point is?”

“My point is she should hone that power!” Hyejin argued. “We could take over the world!”

At that moment, Wheein knew the viewers would love this vlog. She didn’t know if she herself would love the process of making it.

___________________________________________________________________________

“Hey, Wheenie.” Byulyi wrapped an arm around Wheein’s shoulder and pressed a kiss against her cheek. “I missed you.”

Wheein hummed, giving her a peck on the lips. “I missed you too.”

“Okay ladies,” Hyejin interrupted. “Save that chemistry for the camera.”

Blinking, Wheein turned to Hyejin and narrowed her eyes. “You’re recording us right now though.”

“You’re lucky you have such a good camerawoman and editor,” Hyejin raised one hand and made an okay sign.

“Usually,” Wheein pointed out. “Editors focus on being behind the scenes and don’t interrupt the recording.”

Hyejin scoffed. “Oh come on now, your fans love me.”

That was true, the top comments in several of her videos seemed to agree. Wheein huffed. “If you’re going to leave this in, make sure you also put that comment in so they know how conceited you are.”

“They’ll say ‘queen knows her worth’ and ‘we love a girl who knows her fans.’” She turned the camera around to face her. “Isn’t that right?”

Wheein took that moment to roll her eyes as Byulyi laughed. She should think of some witty response. Before she could though, Wheein turned her attention away from Hyejin and towards the door as Yongsun entered the room with takeout in her hands.

“Unnie!” Wheein watched the camera lens adjust as Hyejin zoomed in on Yongsun. “Say hello to the fans.”

Yongsun brightened and walked towards the set. “Hi Hyejinie! Hi Wheein’s fans.”

“Wait, wait.” Hyejin held up a hand as she took a few steps back. “You’re too close, they won’t be able to see you.”

“Oh, sorry,” Yongsun chuckled. Coughing into her hand, Yongsun handed the plastic bag to Wheein. “Here you go! I got your favorites.”

Opening the bag, Wheein and Byulyi peered inside. Actually, she bought Wheein and Byulyi’s favorites. “Why?”

“What do you mean why?” Yongsun frowned and rested her hands on her hips. “Maybe I justed wanted to make sure my favorite neighbor and her girlfriend were taking care of themselves.”

Hyejin adjusted one of the lighting umbrellas as a smirk appeared on her features. “She wanted to see you apply makeup on Byul-unnie and didn’t want to get kicked out.”

There was a moment of silence as Wheein turn towards Yongsun. She opened as if to deny Hyejin’s accusations, but then shut and nodded. “Yeah, I wanted to see you apply makeup on Byulyi.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Byulyi muttered.

Yongsun laughed as she took a seat next to Hyejin. “Oh, I beg to differ. This is more important than Ggomo’s future wedding.”

Byulyi furrowed her eyebrows. “Wheein’s cat is having a wedding?”

“He has been going steady with one of the stray cats,” Wheein mumbled.

“I’m not going to comment on that.” Hyejin pointed at the bag of food. “How come I don’t get a bribe?”

Yongsun shrugged. “I could always take you out. If you want.”

“Oh?” Hyejin asked. “And where would you take me? Hypothetically.”

“Well, hypothetically—”

Wheein decided to ignore those two, lest she’ll hear something that would make her want to go deaf. “Anyway.” She patted the seat of her rolling chair. “Go and take a seat.”

“Don’t go and make me ugly now,” Byulyi said, doing as she was told.

“You?” Wheein scoffed. “That’s impossible.”

“Gross, Wheein!”

Wheein groaned and threw a glare across the room. “Shut up, Hyejin!”

——————————————————————————————

“Okay recording in three, two, and…”

Hyejin made the signal and Wheein faced the camera, flashing a smile and wave. “Hey guys, it’s me—”

“Wait.” Hyejin pressed a few buttons on the camera. “We have a problem.”

“Huh?” Wheein frowned, crossing her arms. “Is our camera broken?”

Not saying anything, Hyejin inspected the camera and rotated it in her hands. “Oh! I figured it out.”

“What’s wrong?” Wheein asked. “Do we need a new memory card?”

Hyejin held up a small black lid, laughing. “I forgot to take out the lens cover.”

“How do you not notice something so obvious?” Wheein groaned, burying a hand in her hair.

“Hey, don’t get smart with me,” Hyejin countered. “You were the one that’s supposed to stare at the camera. Why didn’t you point it out yourself?”

Byulyi hummed. “She’s got you there.”

Feeling heat rise in her cheeks, Wheein closed her eyes. “Please edit that out please,” she gritted between her teeth.

——————————————————————————————

“Hey guys, it’s me Wheein and welcome to my channel! Some of you may have already noticed, but this isn’t one of my normal vlogs. For one thing, I’m at home and—” She scooted to the side for Byulyi to be in the shot. “My girlfriend is with me! Say hello to the fans, unnie.”

“Huh-oh!” Byulyi straightened up in her seat and lifted her hand. She may have wanted to wave to the audience, but Byulyi looked like she was trying to ask the teacher a question.  “Hello.”

“Oh my god, cut!” Hyejin peeked out of the camera. “Unnie, you’re so tense.”

Byulyi rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m not used to the camera like you two.”

“I can tell. It’s like Wheein paid you to be her fake girlfriend.” Yongsun tried to muffle her laughter, hiding behind her hands.

“Hey!” Wheein frowned. “You’re ruining my artistic flow.”

“Uh, guys,” Yongsun piped up. “Is the camera supposed to be blinking when it stops recording?”

Wheein winced, turning towards Hyejin. “Can you edit this out too?”

“Don’t you think this would be a funny start to your new video?” Hyejin asked.

Wheein hummed. “I’m starting to think that you just don’t want to erase footage so it’ll be easier for you.”

“That is not true!” Hyejin protested. “No matter what, being an editor is hard. It takes blood, sweat, and tears. It requires…” She paused, her expression turning thoughtful. “Yeah it’s true.”

“Didn’t want to try harder?” Wheein raised an eyebrow. “Wait, we’re wasting time! We have to actually do this video.”

Byulyi offered a smile. “You two are ridiculous.”

“Hey,” Wheein pouted. “I don’t think you have the right to say that when you and Yongsun-unnie fought about which of your dogs was cuter.”

“Daebak’s honor was on the line,” Byulyi’s voice held no shame.

Wheein blinked. “You fought for two hours and for some reason Yongsun-unnie started pelting pillows at you.”

Yongsun grimaced. “I should’ve done more!”

As the two began to argue, Wheein took a seat at the edge of her bed. Why were they all at her apartment again?

——————————————————————————————

“Okay,” Wheein lifted the eyeshadow palette for the camera. “For Byul-unnie’s eyes, first I’m going to—”

“Don’t use that color,” Yongsun interrupted.

Wheein froze, the brush in her hand hovering over one of the colors. Byulyi opened one eye. “What’s wrong with the color she’s using?” she asked.

“She should use a more natural color,” Yongsun suggested. “Darker.”

Hyejin shook her head. “That’s too boring.”

“Maybe,” Yongsun offered a smile. “But I don’t think baby blue would look good on her.”

“Okay, I guess I can agree with you there,” Hyejin sighed. “How about pink?”

“No,” Byulyi answered before Wheein could even move her brush.

“Wha— come on, unnie.”

“I said no,” Byulyi leaned back on the rolling chair. “I already know I’m going to look ridiculous.”

“Yeah light pink is ridiculous.” Yongsun threw up a hand. “Hot pink, on the other hand—”

Wheein gave her friends a warning look. “Guys, I appreciate the advice but it’s a girl does her girlfriend’s makeup video. Not a girl has her friends make all her decisions for her video.”

Yongsun and Hyejin apologized and Wheein turned back to her girlfriend, satisfied. She studied her Byulyi’s features, squinting as she considered the shades that would compliment her girlfriend’s eyes. “You know…maybe hot pink would look good on you.”

It took the coaxing of Wheein and the promise of a playdate with Daebak and Ggomo for Byulyi to come back inside the room.

——————————————————————————————

Humming, Wheein grabbed one of the concealers Hyejin bought. “Now, I’ll try to get rid of the few blemishes Byul-unnie has.”

“No.”

Wheein blinked, then turned her head towards the camera. Hyejin met her gaze and shook her head slowly. Without breaking eye contact, Wheein set the concealer down and started to reach for a different brand.

“That one’s no good either.”

Her hand freezed, but then grabbed a new concealer wand.

“I don’t even know why I bought that one, if I’m being honest with you.”

Wheein felt her eye twitch. “Why would you buy so many brands? And not want me to use any of them?”

Hyejin sighed as she placed a palm on her cheek. “It was an impulse.”

Wheein nodded, trying to fight back a scream. She started to wonder how much of the footage was actually of her applying makeup on Byulyi.

——————————————————————————————

“Stop looking at her lips.” Hyejin had the audacity to sound annoyed.

Wheein widened her eyes, directing her attention at her. “I’m holding lipstick. I’m literally supposed to look at her lips.”

“That’s true, but—” Yongsun’s face looked similar to that time she hit her toe against her bed frame. “The way you’re looking at her is very…personal.”

“Huh?” Wheein blinked.

“It looks like you want to make out with her you nasty,” Hyejin frowned. “Do that off camera. Preferably when we’re not in the same room too.”

“I’m not going to kiss her!” Wheein stressed. “You two are just mean.”

She glanced down at Byulyi, freezing when she saw the latter giving her a sheepish smile. “You’re not?”

Biting her lip, Wheein shifted her gaze from the concealer in her hand to her girlfriend. She set the makeup on the table. “Turn off the camera.”

“Oh my god.” Hyejin sat up from her seat, walking towards the door. “You’re ridiculous. Ridiculous!”

Yongsun hurried after her, lifting her hands to cover her eyes.

A giggle bubbling in , Wheein closed her eyes and leaned forward to kiss Byulyi.

——————————————————————————————

Hyejin stared at the monitor, balancing a pencil under her nose. “So—” She grabbed the pencil, her fingers spinning it around frantically. “We have two problems in our hands.”

“Lay them on me,” Wheein pumped her fist in the air, preparing herself.

She let out a sound of awe. “Assertive, I like that. Anyway, first problem is that you didn’t finish the makeup challenge. You did Byul-unnie’s makeup, but she didn’t do yours in return.”

“That’s it?” Wheein shrugged. “We can have her do that another time. It can be the second part of the series.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Hyejin offered a smile then, settling a gentle hand on Wheein’s shoulder. That wasn’t a good sign. “The second problem is that the bloopers are longer than the footage you want to use.”

Wheein narrowed her eyes. “How long are the bloopers?”

“Fifteen minutes,” Hyejin answered.

“And how long is the actual content?”

Hyejin casted her gaze away from Wheein. “Ten minutes.”

“Te—” Wheein’s mouth gaped. “Ten minutes?! That’s not close to how long our videos usually are.”

“Yes, yes I know.” Hyejin shot her a grin. “But if you let me add all of the “bloopers,” it’ll reach our average amount of time.”

Wheein wanted to protest, but stopped herself. This would solve the problem, but it would also give the fans reasons to . It was a double-edged sword that Wheein didn’t know if she should take.

“Wheein, please,” Hyejin pleaded. “Don’t do this for you, do this for your viewers. That and I want everyone to see Byul-unnie trip and get makeup all over your bed.”

Relenting, Wheein sighed and nodded. She saw the approaching memes her fans would send her way.

——————————————————————————————

A week later, Wheein forced herself to look at the video’s progress. It had twice the amount of likes Wheein was used to getting and it was well on its way to being her first video with a million views. Wheein learned that people loved it when her friends got off track.

--

[Author's Note:] I realize this is more comedy than romance, but I hope you like it anyway lol