47

"Make up? Really?" He asked again as if feeling the words out as he said them.

"Yeah!" I shrugged. "I have everything in here." I pointed at my handbag, the baton still sticking out of it.

What a stupid condition. What a fucking stupid condition. Did I just want to straddle this man while doing his make-up? Was I perverted? I don't think so.

I was no pervert. I just—I just said something stupid to get away with this. And maybe that was the way to do it. I was sure Jungkook's masculinity would be threatened and this entire mess would stop, making sure we were enemies again. That's right. That was probably the best I could have come up with on the spot. The second thought in line after make-up was using the baton on him. But after my action-packed movie with Taehyung, I didn't have it in me to hurt anyone. Not at the moment, at least.

I blinked up at his wide eyes, "You—you can say no. I haven't forced you into anything. Just—FYI."

He exhaled, his jaw flexing, "No, no. I'll do it." He nodded and breathed low, trying to build the defeat in him I guessed. "If that's what it takes, I'll do it."

But wait. It was like someone had slapped my face hard. My jaw dropped. He agreed. He agreed. Why? Why wasn't this man insecure in his masculinity like other men I knew?! Why the fuck—

"I don't know how to, though." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Then, bit his lip. My eyes instantly travelled to his mouth. We'd have to kiss if he gets to be my boyfriend. OH LORD. My lip balm supply wasn't ready for this!

"I—I can do it for you." I blurted, my straddle plan in action now.

He raised an eyebrow, "Right now?"

My shoulders drooped, eyebrows lifting challengingly, "You can say no—"

"I'm not saying no." He stressed, his eyes shifting between me and the bag of his decisions in my hand. "I'll never say no to you, Miss Kang." His voice softened.

Fuck. My face began heating up. I hated how smooth this man was. Wait. Smoothness is a result of constant friction and erosion. That would mean...

"I hope you aren't saying no to all the other girls you've pasted this line on." I rolled my eyes, pretending that my own thoughts hadn't just stabbed me in the chest.

"What—" his mouth opened, eyes blinking at me fast enough to tell me he was offended. "—no, Miss Kang. There are no other girls. Is this about Miss Yoo?"

"No, this isn't about missing me." I faked a smile and he caught my hint that I didn't want to talk about the Human Resources chick.

"Okay!" I hopped, spinning around to size up his cabin that was so familiar to me now, it was kind of annoying. "Make yourself comfortable! You are in Haerin's beauty salon." I smirked at him pridefully. "Welcome, Sir. Please make yourself comfortable on the seat right there." I pointed at the visitor's settee.

Jungkook's lips quirked, eyes hovering around my face in a way that made me hide myself. "If you're my beauty salon, I'm never leaving."

"Cheesy!" I groaned. "Things like this won't work on me. Don't even try." I rolled my eyes, looking around the place, my eyes falling on the door.

"Let's close the door."

"I'll lock the door."

We said it at the same time. My eyes flicked at him and I shook my head. "No. I will do it. You locking the door makes it look weird."

"Weird?" He scowled, clearly already knowing the answer. "Why?"

"Don't act all innocent, you bastard. You know what I mean." I rolled my eyes, hurrying over to the door and clicking the lock in place.

Safe.

"I seriously don't."

My neck snapped at him, "You locking the door makes me feel like I'm..."

"You're..?" He urged me on and I wanted to break his neck already.

"Like you're trying to kidnap me or something. Kind of domestically violent." I sneered, and his smile collapsed because he hadn't expected that and I knew it.

His eyes darkened—not with anger, but with something heavier. Something like shame.

There you go. That's what you get for trying to mess with the Haerin.

Got him right in the weak point.

He tried to massage his temple to make it go away, then exhaled.

I simpered, "You know when someone locks the door because they can finally make sure you don't run—"

"I get it. I get it. I will never touch the lock when you're here." He admitted with his eyes closed.

"Good. Have a seat." I walked over and sat upon the table in front of the settee.

My hands immediately got to work, ransacking the handbag for all the supplies I had. I always carried enough prepping elements so that if I ever needed to redo my makeup, I had it handy. My hands trembled, pretending that I wasn't noticing him adjusting himself before me, our knees brushing. Inside, I died at least twice when the fabric of his trousers touched my bare knees. But outside, I was a professional makeup artist. I laid out all the items for him to see. He was curious, frowning and scowling and then nodding impressed when he read the labels one by one.

"What? You think I'm too much? I swear this isn't even half of what actual makeup is." I said. "In fact, nothing is too much in makeup."

He chuckled. "Of course. That's why you're so soft. I'm not complaining."

Ugh. This bastard...!

"Is that flirting, Mr Jeon?" I deadpanned.

He stopped smiling, "Yes."

"Don't do that again."

"...sorry." he bowed his head, guilty.

I wanted to laugh out loud. What was this dog I had suddenly adopted? Why was he being so cute? Fuck me. Why was I finding this adorable! Argh!

"Do you have any makeup on your face right now? Anything I might have to wipe off?" I raised a brow at him and he shook his head.

I nodded.

"Does sunscreen count?"

Aww. This man was something else.

"I'll wipe your face once so that we have a new and fresh base," I informed, reaching for the face wipes I had with me with the precision of a surgeon. He got the cue and immediately leaned closer to offer his face to me.

I felt like a jerk when I held his head with one hand and wiped his face with the other. Fuck his silky smooth skin. He didn't even have one damned mark or pimple on his face. Lucky bastard. My hands worked professionally, dragging the cloth over the sides of his jaw and I was tempted to go towards his neck, too, but I stopped. That would be too much.

He didn't blink once. Only when I wiped his eyes and his brows did he close them. Sure. I allowed it. Either way, this cocky bastard was privileged to get this close to me.

"My back is killing me. I'll stand." I announced and he straightened, watching me slip off my heels and stand up.

I didn't want to do it but I had no choice. I put my knee on the settee between his legs and climbed closer, aware of exactly what I was doing to him. He froze, stiffening up, absolutely not expecting me to do this.

My feet were wobbly and I did stumble once, balancing on one knee, but he gripped me by the waist.

"You—"

"I'll steady you." He informed. "I know it's uncomfortable like that."

"O—okay," I blushed hard as I picked up the bottle of serum and turned to him. "But if you do anything funny, the boyfriend deal is off."

"Yes." He obliged, fastening his grip securely. "And if I don't and I comply, I am the boyfriend. Deal."

His hands spanned my waist as if they had been waiting there all along. My body sizzled, the pressure making me weak and I knew it—he wasn't letting go.

My lashes fluttered, fingertips lacing his cheekbones to pay the serum in. He leaned into it like a fucking cat begging to be petted. Holy cow. This man was not kidding. I could feel my body vibrate, sweating up on my face at how good this man was at everything. Fucking, everything!

I couldn't dare look at his eyes because they were already watching. His gaze followed the details of my face so hard that I began doubting my makeup. And he wanted just that. He wanted me to accidentally look at him and get my cover blown.

No fucking way.

"Question." I began, reaching for the setting base first and applying it carefully over his skin, making sure not to get it in his eye.

My heart was playing beatboxing in my chest. This wasn't a joke anymore. Fuck me.

"Hm?"

"Until last week, you were ready to bury me in the backyard, Jeon." I continued, my eyes concentrated on his skin because I couldn't even twitch without making him twitch too. "And now you're letting me contour your jawline. Why the switch?"

He shifted a bit, adjusting his neck and I realised he might be having a hard time looking up. My knee was giving up too.

Then, the cocky bastard smiled, "I've always wanted you buried, Miss Kang." His eyes darkened, "Buried in my chest. Buried in my bed. I'm surprised you didn't catch it sooner."

I nearly toppled off, grabbing his shoulder to steady myself, my face a pound of pumpkin. "WHAT—Are you insane? That's what you say to someone who has an eyeliner in her hand?—ow...my knee."

He chuckled softly, "I didn't mean to catch you off guard." Then he shifted himself to angle himself on the settee. His left leg folded, preparing a perfect sitting arena. "Sit. It'll be easier this way."

Oh heavens help me!

His hand guided my waist down and I settled on his lap. My thigh brushed up on his trousers and I swear I felt heat. I felt the heat of his body through his fucking trousers.

Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic.

I reached for the foundation when it was its turn. "By the way, what do you mean by sooner? Have you..."

I stalled, my hands shaking a bit and I glanced quickly into his eyes before looking away, burned. I wanted to kiss his face so bad. Was this normal? Was I demented?

"Since when..." I gulped, resuming to apply the foundation.

He waited for me to finish up contouring his face, too, before finally speaking up.

"That's a secret, Miss Kang. A secret only my girlfriend will know." He smirked and I rolled my eyes.

Girlfriend. My skull had been detonated. Sir, this is Haerin's beauty salon. We don't serve that here.

"Sure. Be a bitch. No problem." I said, finally picking the eyeliner and drawing straight lines so that he looked perfectly like the eyes of the web comic guys I read about. And man did this man rock everything.

I put the eyeliner back down and picked up the mascara. "This one's tricky," I explained, opening the brush and showing the top of the mascara's brush to him. "Don't blink. I'll not hurt your eyes. So trust me on this one."

"Okay." He nodded.

I held his chin up, smoothly rolling the mascara on his already perfect lashes. His eyes looked even more beautiful with the stroke of my mascara. My fucking mascara. Doing a better job with him. Kill me now.

I almost blinked at him annoyedly, throwing the tube back in my purse. Betrayer.

"Now, all that's left is lipstick and maybe your hair." I pointed at his head awkwardly. "You didn't let me mess it up the last time. So you decide if you want to say no."

"I like it when you touch my hair, Miss Kang." He blinked with his weirdly feline eyes and my hands shook at my sides because he looked too pretty. Too fucking pretty. In a sexual kind of way. "Go ahead."

"Okay, boss man." I rolled my eyes, fluffing up his hair a bit so that it was perfected into that manhwa bad boy energy. And it suited him. I looked at him, pleased.

I simpered, "As a bonus, my salon will let you choose the shade of lipstick you want."

He blinked at me and then his eyes settled on my mouth. "Give me yours. The one that you're wearing. I want that."

OH MY GODDDD!!

I wanted to jump out of the window. My breath hitched, fingers tightening over the hem of my skirt till my knuckles were white. Was this man kidding me?

"Okay, so you want this shade." I pointed at my mouth, stuttering like a stupid mess. "We have that." I dug into the handbag, revealing the soft brown shade. "It's this one."

He looked at the lipstick intently and then smiled.

I popped the cap open and lifted his chin, dabbing small amounts of it on his lips. Gently, with the tip of my fingers, I smudged it off to give it a more natural appeal so that it looked a bit masculine. The heat of his mouth singed my fingertips. But I? I was held hostage to stillness. Ah, the poetry of my motherfucking situation.

"There. Done." I breathed, reaching for the wipes and wiping my hands.

He smiled, his eyes doing a little trick when he gazed at me.

I swallowed.

"Am I your boyfriend now, Miss Kang?" He tilted his head.

I moistened my lower lip, my heart erratic. Then I looked up, my face a ticking bomb that had exploded several times already. I clenched my fists tightly and nodded.

"That was the deal." I toned as if it were business.

"Fuck." He hung his head, chuckling at his lap. Then he looked up, red in the ears, explicitly blushing at me like a teenage boy. I wanted to smile but he cooled off quickly, eyes determined.

"Can you tell me what went wrong with that chap's brother now?"

Oh. I had forgotten about this.

Oh fuck.

Oh fucking shit.

I didn't even remember that I'd have to tell him the truth. But wait. What truth? It wasn't like he knew anything in the first place.

"Nothing much." I dismissed it with a wave of my hand. "His brother just told me he liked me and I didn't like the way he did it."

"This man's brother? The guy who appeared—"

I nodded. "At the maternity shop."

"I knew he had the hots for you." He exhaled, pained. "And why didn't you like it? I mean—fuck—" he palmed his face, "Did he do something bad?"

"Not like that." I stood up from his lap, crouching next to the table and putting all my things back in my handbag. My hands kept moving fast so that I could create a lie. "He just didn't listen to me when I said no. He asked again. That's why I was pissed."

Jungkook didn't look convinced. "How does that account for a police complaint?"

I laughed too loudly. "You know me. Exaggeration queen." His eyes didn't move from me as if he was memorising all my twitches to hold them against me later. Was he going to hold it against me later?

I flung the bag over my shoulder and sank my feet into the stupid orange shoes. "Okay, boyfriend. See you later. I haven't even started work yet."

My comment made him go pink again. He stood up too, the makeup face rocking it.

"You look good." I chuckled and then passed him my packet of face wipes. "Wipe it off later if you want to. But this looks cool too."

He smiled and I didn't wait. I scuttled out of there like a deer chased by a wild tiger that had my lipstick on his mouth and my makeup on his face.

•••

"Are you booking me for a cab to heaven or what?" I nearly jumped off the transportation desk but Mirae pulled me back.

"Miss Kang! Miss Kang, please calm down!" She urged, holding me back by the waist.

The middle-aged man behind the desk didn't even look interested. He blinked at me and then at Mirae. "I'm sorry but these are the rules. You can only opt for cabs if your house is not within a five-kilometre radius from the office."

"I'll tell you what, you'll be in my baton's radius if I don't get a cab this instant. This instant!" I shoved my fists in the air, my stomach lurching angrily too.

This was ridiculous. Absolutely trashy for Neureva's big pompous display of employee satisfaction. How the hell was it even sane to deny a female employee an office cab? Was this company hit on the head?

"I'm going to raise this," I growled at Mirae. "These people are going to suffer! I need it right now!"

She looked shaken and she was probably doubting my sanity as she tried to gather me by the shoulders. "Yes. Yes. We will raise this. We will escalate this, Haerin! Let's go drink coffee now. You'll calm down."

Calm do—what was this bitch talking about?

She didn't have a clue what my head was stressing over. These bastards didn't want to give me a company-offered cab service. What if Taehyung appeared at my door? What if I couldn't get away this time because he was prepared? Was Neureva going to attack him with their damned five-kilometre radius policy? I'd get abducted with the company policy stapled to my forehead.

And with the looks of it, Taehyung was going to return with a padded groin cap. Look, I knew that Seokjin had promised me that he'd talk to his brother and resolve this but I had to prepare in my own way too. I couldn't rely on someone else's words.

"Miss Zhang, this is the transportation desk, not the emergency service." The man behind the desk deadpanned at me.

"Miss Zhang is your side chick. I'm Miss Kang!" I retaliated. Then, I snapped my finger at him, warning him in a cold voice. "If this costs me my safety, you are going to pay. Get that?"

"Haerin! Coffee!" Mirae finally dragged me away, much because I let her. She couldn't have stood a chance against my strength.

She pulled me into the cafeteria downstairs and ordered us two cups of steaming coffee.

"Haerin," she began in a quieter voice once I had settled down. "What's wrong? Did something happen? Why do you need the company cabs all of a sudden?"

Now that I calmed down, I couldn't even reason why I burst out like that. Why was I so on edge? I was supposed to be a professional at this. Why did I just lose my cool like that?

"I'm on my period and I'm bleeding too much," I said. "I think my hormones just reacted worse than they should have."

"Aw," she groaned, touching my arm on the table between us. "I think you should take a rest. This corporate life is too stressful for us bleeding women sometimes."

I sighed, my head sinking into my hands.

I wondered if I could ask Jungkook to drop me home. But I didn't want him to know about this when I lied to him through my teeth this morning. And we'd just started dating. It would be weird to drop my baggage on him. Suffocating even.

I had made that mistake one too many times with Jong Suk. I couldn't repeat it here. I didn't want to see Jungkook running away like a headless chicken, too.

And fuck Jungkook for now. This was about me. I had to deal with this on my own. Pepper spray, a police complaint if the need arises—what the fuck was I saying, a formal complaint was already the most logical thing to do right now.

Bo Ah visited me in the afternoon. I had really expected her to get a machete. But she just gave me self-defence items and changed my emergency dial to Jungkook's because he needed to know things. I almost kept it. Almost. But I changed it back. He could know. Just not yet.

"Anyway," I huffed out a deep sigh to stabilise myself. "I'm okay, Mirae. I think we should get back to work. It's already late. I'm sorry you had to see that."

"No, no, that's fine. But what about the coffee?"

"Yeah, the coffee." I smiled, my head in my hands.

When the coffee arrived, I felt much better. The taste and the caffeine helped me calm down. I didn't have to be paranoid over nothing. I could handle this.

I was fine. I had always been fine. And I would continue to be. That was a given.