Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Foundation

By: TheRealityWeWanted

Haechan

 

“I thought you were gonna murder me just now,” Mari noona admitted, swirling a piece of pancake around in the syrup on her plate.

 

I pushed the pancake currently in my mouth into the sides of my cheek so I could respond, “What?” I decided to chew and swallow, not wanting to look like a chubby pudu to Mari.

 

“You were leading me into a dark alley.”

 

“It’s Seoul! All the best restaurants are in dark alleys.”

 

She paused before raising her index finger “Point made.”

 

It was nice to see Mari content. She’d looked ready to cry back at headquarters, and that was something I didn’t want to see. Just thinking about it pissed me off.

 

Min-ji noona had been the company’s head makeup artist since my debut. I couldn’t believe she wanted to make the newbie stay late, so Ha-rin could go clubbing with her. I’d have to keep an eye on both of them from now on.

 

“You used to live here, right?” I asked, sipping my hot coco. It was eighty-six degrees outside, but I didn’t care.

 

Mari was barely paying attention. She stuck another piece of pancake in , eyes going dreamy. “Mmmm…” When she realized I’d asked her a question, she perked up. “Hm? Oh, sorry. These are sooo good.”

 

I stared. Gwiyeowo…

 

But, wait. Cute was what I called Ji-sung before harassing him. It wasn’t something I should be calling my older makeup artist— even in my head. 

 

I cleared my throat. “It’s okay. I was asking didn’t you live here?”

 

“Yeah, til I was six. How’d you know?”

 

“Johnny has a big mouth.”

 

“Good to know.” She closed her eyes. “Wow…fluffy and cakey? These are almost as good as my dad’s. It’s what he makes me whenever I’m upset.”

 

So that’s why she wanted them. I filed that info away for a rainy day.

 

“How’d you find this place? I’ve been all over Itaewon looking for good pancakes, and all I got was food poisoning.”

 

“Finding good places to eat is kind of a hobby of mine,” I replied. “The guys call me Yelp, because I’ve got restaurant recommendations for whatever you’re in the mood for.”

 

“Oooh, also good to know.” Mari grinned and kept eating.

 

“Are you guys doing okay? Do you need anything else?” Our waitress asked on her way to the back.

 

Mari looked at me. I shook my head, so she told her we were fine.

 

“Okay, let me know if you do.” The waitress squinted at me then shook her head before disappearing.

 

I lowered my BAPE baseball cap and made sure my black mask was still covering my chin. To get out of filming tonight’s minor promo material, I’d texted my manager and told him I’d bruised my tailbone. Then I’d texted Mark, told him the truth, and begged him to stop our manager from rushing to the nearest hospital. If someone snapped a pic of me sitting on my very functional eating pancakes with a girl, I’d be in big trouble.

 

“What’s wrong?” Mari asked. “Do you think she recognized you?”

 

“No, I think we’re good.” I didn’t want to be her second cause of stress tonight, so I nodded to her plate and tried to change the subject. “You’re a butter and syrup person, huh?”

 

She glanced at my plate and smiled. “You too. People that only use one or the other on their pancakes can’t be trusted.”

 

“Like Jaehyun hyung.” I flinched as I drove a figurative bus over him. “The weirdo only uses butter.” I reversed the bus back over him.

 

“If it’s not both, it shouldn’t go down your throat. That’s what I always say,” Mari announced proudly.

 

I let that sink in and so did she.

 

We both decided to act like it was never said.

 

“Ahem. Seriously, Haechan. Thanks for earlier. I didn’t really know what to do. I was just…speechless.”

 

“How many times has Min-ji asked you to stay late?”

 

“Uh…quite a bit. I spent a while trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, but well…you saw how that turned out.”

 

I had, and it made my blood boil.

 

“Do you want me to tell my manager? He could talk to her boss and get her in a load of trouble.”

 

She shook her head, an indulgent smile on her face like she was trying not to tell a kid their crappy art project . “Thanks, but I don’t think that’s the best idea. Chit— I mean Ten— got me hired, and the other makeup artists already resent that. If they found out you got Min-ji reprimanded, it could backfire.”

 

“Are you sure?” I really didn’t like the idea of her being bullied.

 

“I’m sure. I try to give others the benefit of the doubt, but I’m not a martyr. Going forward, I’ll see how she behaves. If she pulls this stunt again, I’ll go to her boss myself.”

 

I pushed out a sigh, knee bouncing restlessly under the table. It was cool that Mari noona wanted to handle her own problems, but the injustice I’d witnessed made me want to do something.

 

Whether Min-ji had singled Mari out because she was new or because she was a foreigner, the situation reminded me of my own.

 

“I was born in Seoul too, but I actually lived in Jeju until fifth grade. Most of my family’s still there, and my parents moved back with my siblings once NCT hit it big. I miss them even though I’m surrounded by friends. I can’t imagine how you must feel.” 

 

She bit her lip, eyes dropping to her plate. “Yeah…it’s tough, but my grandma actually lives in Incheon. And when Chit’s in town, we hang out a lot.”

 

“Your nickname for Ten hyung’s funny,” I pointed out since this was my second time hearing it.

 

“Not as funny as pudu,” she shot back.

 

My mouth dropped open. I narrowed my eyes. “Who told you?” I whispered menacingly. 

 

Mari burst out laughing. “The internet!”

 

“Oh, so you’re looking me up?”

 

“Only to see how well your makeup came out on camera.” She grinned, crinkling her nose like Kim Go-eun. “I can see why you gave me another chance.”

 

My stomach dropped and the next forkful of pancakes got stuck in my dry throat. I gulped some orange juice to help it down.

 

What was wrong with me?

 

My ideal type was Chaeyoung from Twice when she had short hair. Mari noona looked nothing like—

 

They both have beauty marks by their lips, my brain offered helpfully.

 

Oh, that was true.

 

No.

 

I. Didn’t. Like. Older. Women. Never had, probably never will.

 

Pushing my food around on my plate, I avoided eye contact with Mari’s beauty mark at all costs.

 

An awkward silence had settled in, because I didn’t respond to her comment about second chances, so I tried to fill it.

 

“Why’d you move back to Seoul?”

 

Mari noona gave me a weird look, but answered anyway. “Well…I guess I wanted to rediscover the city I was born in. Living in the states for most of my life, I got to experience my mom and one side of my dad’s culture, but not the other side. I mean, my dad spoke Korean to me at home and I FaceTimed my Lolly— that’s what I call my grandma— all the time, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted to experience Korea as an adult.”

 

As far as I knew, I was Korean and so was everyone else in my family. Most of my friends were too with the exception of Chen-le, Renjun, and the members of WAYV.

 

Being more than one thing was literally a foreign concept, so I couldn’t help but ask, “Is it…confusing trying to get to know two cultures?”

 

Mari noona tilted her head, and for a second I was afraid I’d offended her. But she just smiled and said, “You know…I like that you just came out and asked.”

 

She spent the next thirty minutes explaining that everyone’s experience was different, but hers hadn’t been too confusing, because of her open parents and grandma. 

 

Her childhood sounded fun and interesting, and I thought it was cute she called her grandma “Lolly”. 

 

As the conversation drifted toward other things, I told myself I couldn’t use that word a third time in connection with my twenty-five-year-old makeup artist.

 

 

 

After finishing our breakfast for dinner, I offered to take Mari home, but she declined and got her own cab. I hefted her giant rolling makeup bag onto the seat before she slid in. She didn’t close the door right away. One foot was still on the ground, her delicate fingers gripping the handle.

 

On the other side of the cab, Itaewon’s colorful night life rushed by, but on this side with Mari noona looking up at me with big brown eyes, time stopped.

 

This. I took a mental snapshot.

 

This was like a scene out of those mushy movies Renjun made me watch.

 

“I can’t tell you how much I needed tonight,” Mari said softly.

 

“Well, I’m glad my services were appreciated. Don’t forget to give me five stars.”

 

She laughed, nose wrinkling again, and shook her head.

 

I hadn’t wanted to make a joke out of this moment, but my mind was blank aside from silly pre-loaded Hyuck responses.

 

“Hmm…I’ll think about it. Goodnight, troublemaker.”

 

I made sure her leg was safely tucked in the cab before moving closer and resting my forearm against the metal door frame. I leaned in to catch a whiff of whatever amazing-smelling fruit she used as her scent. 

 

“Night, noona.”

 

I straightened and shut the door before walking up to the driver’s window and discreetly slipping him some cash. I wanted her night to end smoothly.

 

She waved at me as the cab pulled away, so I waved back with both hands; not stopping to think about how childish it looked. I watched the orange car cut through traffic, and kept staring even when I couldn’t see it anymore.

 

 

***

 

 

When I got back to the dorm, both my stomach and my head were full.

 

One with pancakes. The other with everything that’d happened tonight.

 

I held my breath as I crept up the stairs. It was late. The guys were probably asleep.

 

“Hyuuuuuuuccccckkkk!”

 

Or drunk in the living room.

 

Johnny had been the one who’d slurred my name, and as soon as he saw me he ran over, picked me up, and swung me around.

 

“Hyung!” I whisper-yelled. “Hyung, put me down!”

 

By the time he listened, Jaehyun and Mark were cackling on the floor. They were drunk too, but Mark looked manageable.

 

“You missed curfew, punk!” Johnny collapsed on the couch. He was such a giraffe, he took up the whole thing. I moved some soju bottles out of the way and sat on the hardwood floor. There was a pillow I could’ve sat on, but it was too far away.

 

Jaehyun squinted at me. His face was red, but his eyes were more alert than I’d realized. “Where were you? Your doesn’t look broken to me.”

 

Mark looked nervous. I owed him big for not telling anyone, even when he was drunk. 

 

“I’m fine, I just told Mark to tell the manager that,” I admitted.

 

On the couch, Johnny kept repeating “broken bum-bums” to himself and cracking up.

 

Mark already knew the truth, so did I tell Johnny and Jaehyun too? I trusted them almost as much as my Dream group mate, but they had a soft spot for Mari. What if they were so angry, they were tempted to interfere like me? Or worse, let it slip to the wrong person?

 

Not only would Mari noona be upset, she wouldn’t confide in me anymore.

 

Faking a yawn, I stood up. The less people who knew, the better. “My cousin was actually the one who bruised his tailbone,” I explained nonchalantly. “But you know the company doesn’t care about family emergencies unless it’s immediate family. So I lied to take my cousin to the hospital. He’s from Jeju and he’s got anxiety. I’m the only one he knows here.”

 

Mark gave me a wide-eyed look and downed more soju, while Jaehyun listened intently. I hoped him and Johnny weren’t sober enough to ask me which cousin it was or the story would get a lot wilder.

 

“M’tired, so I’m gonna go wash the hospital stink off and go to bed.” That’d get me out of any possible questions. 

 

Mark and Johnny slurred a goodnight, but Jaehyun kept quiet.

 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him finish his bottle of soju, toss it, and clench his jaw. 

 

***

Author's notes: It's been a while, but here's another update! Haechan hasn't come out and said Chaeyoung from Twice was his ideal type, but he HAS said he likes girls with short hair, so I just chose her when she had short hair for the sake of this story. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter :) If you did, please vote and drop a comment. They really motivate me.

I'm gonna try and update again on Friday <3 Hope everyone has a good rest of the week and streams Resonance. It's NCT's best album yet. My favorite songs are Light Bulb, Faded In My Last Song, and Nectar.