Catch, 22!

Chapter 9: Mysterious Makeup

Jungkook arrived at the park an hour before she did the next morning. He had found a tree and was sitting under its shade, resting his back against its trunk. He was wearing black pants with a matching belt and a billowy white shirt that he had tucked in. His long bangs were curling about his face, and his adoring fans would have been fainting had they been standing in his presence. He'd wanted to look his best for Hyejin today. So, he'd come looking like he'd stepped out of the pages of a photo shoot. He didn't care. He just didn't want to lose her. So, he was using every weapon in his arsenal.

He desired a romantic relationship with her. But he also wanted a working one. Jungkook's new dream was to do a collaboration with this girl. He wanted them to sing her song together. But part of him wanted to keep her a secret. Besides, then he'd have to tell her who he really was. Perhaps he'd sit on this idea for a while.

After an hour of debating the merits of telling her the truth, Jungkook looked up to see her and her fabulously large canine headed straight for him. They were bounding down the path that he was sitting a few feet from. They sped past him without stopping.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Hyejin!"

She stopped abruptly, pulling tightly on Twenty-two's leash, as she turned her head towards Jungkook. She stared at him like she'd never before seen him. He watched as her eyes caught his face and traveled the entire length of his body down to his toes. And then all the way back up again. Her eyes widened as they came to rest on his face.

"Jungkook?" she asked, breathless from his beauty.

He nodded. She didn't recognize him? Now she was scrutinizing his face. She walked straight up to him, her eyes never ceasing their perusal of his countenance.

"Jungkook, are you wearing makeup?"

Hyejin couldn't believe it. He was wearing makeup. She was sure of it.

"Uh..."

Now he felt silly. It was such a normal part of his life. He'd been wearing it for years. He didn't even think about it anymore. Outside of believing he looked better when he had it on. That's why he'd worn it today. To attract her notice. Apparently, he had. Though he felt he hadn't meant to draw this kind of attention.

She stepped closer, until she stood directly in front of him. Then she got down on her knees before him. She reached out and wiped his cheek with her left forefinger. And some foundation colored her finger before she pulled it away.

"You ARE wearing makeup!" she exclaimed, incredulous. "Why?"

Now he was stuck. He shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "So. So what?"

"So what?" she gaped in astonishment at him. "Who do you think you are, a pop star?" However, she had to admit as her eyes studied his frame and his face, he was strikingly handsome made up; though, she still preferred Jungkook au natural. Then, she laughed at her own joke.

As she scrutinized his appearance, she realized that he really did look like the pictures of performers that plastered walls and buses. She narrowed her eyes at him. He was still seated, leaning against the tree. He looked like he'd stepped out of the pages of a gentleman's quarterly. Truth was he was stunningly beautiful in that getup. His midnight eyes were accentuated by his dark hair and his black pants. And even by that elegant, white shirt. And by...was he wearing mascara?

She leaned forward to get a better look, her nose a scant six inches from his own. No, she shook her head, those were his natural eyelashes. But as she studied his face from this distance, she noticed a subtle divot in his chin that seemed to divide his strong jaw in half. How had she missed it before? And why, oh, why did it make her want to sigh?