His Stylist Noona

Chapter one

Da-eun pov

It was the night of the Mnet Asian Music Awards and you were running late. You shoved open the door to the dressing room and strode over to your station to find Tae already seated, casually scrolling on his phone. He looked up when you set your bag down and flashed you his famous, boxy smile.

"Thank goodness you're here, Noona," he said exaggeratedly. "I need you to make me beautiful for the show tonight!"

You couldn't help but laugh as you looked over at the man in front of you. He was, without a doubt, the most naturally beautiful person you had ever seen. "Tae. You and I both know that isn't true. You roll out of bed every day looking perfect. I actually don't even know why I have a job, come to think of it."

He blushed slightly and his smile turned shy.

"I, on the other hand, need copious amounts of makeup to look even remotely presentable," you said with another laugh as you started unpacking your bag.

A small frown quickly spread across his face. "That's not true, Noona. You're not wearing makeup now and you look fine," he said matter-of-factly.

"Fine," you repeated, giving him a playful smile. "Geez, Tae. You really know how to flatter a girl."

He opened his mouth to respond but was suddenly cut off by the voice of Namjoon who was sitting in the adjacent chair.

"Please forgive my dongsaeng, Noona. He's clearly a little confused. I believe what he meant to say is that you look very pretty today," the older man said warmly.

"You are too kind, Oppa," you said with a small smile, hoping you weren't blushing too much. Namjoon may not have been the one you were madly in love with, but he was still an incredibly attractive man whose compliments flustered you.

He was also, however, a married man.

Having finished with his hair and makeup, Namjoon was about to get up from his chair when you suddenly reached out and lightly grabbed his arm. "Ring," was all you said as you nodded your head towards his left hand.

"Oh right," he said following your gaze. "Thanks for the reminder." He then slipped the slim, silver band from his left ring finger and placed it in his breast pocket.

"Anytime," you said with an easy smile. "Mrs. Choi has put us all on 'ring patrol'."

He laughed at that, saying he and his wife, Aera, appreciated your vigilance, before excusing himself and heading out of the room. Once he was gone, you turned back to Tae and got started on his makeup.

"He's going to get caught one of these days," you mused. "Don't get me wrong, I think it's adorable that he tries to wear it as often as he can, but one slip up, and the secret is out. ARMY sees everything."

"They do," Tae agreed thoughtfully. He was quiet for a couple of moments before adding. "But, would it really be such a bad thing if ARMY found out? They are going to find out eventually. Why not just announce it now and get it over with?"

"I guess not", you replied. "At least then they could stop with all the secrecy and hiding and just be together."

"Exactly," Tae said pointedly.

"But," you said after a few moments of thought, "it wouldn't be easy. A lot of people would be really upset. Angry even, as crazy as that sounds. And it could be dangerous, especially for Aera."

He let out a long sigh and was quiet for a minute. "It would be tough. I know some ARMY would be really sad at first," he said solemnly before adding more hopefully. "But, eventually they would be happy for us, right?"