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16
Tinge of Pink

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JISOO

February 2nd

Joy is certainly not the person I expect to see at my doorstep.

I was watching the latest news story: "Super-teenagers save the day again! Culprits claim to suffer amnesia!"

It was covering the robbery V and I had last week, though luckily the CCTV footage barely captured the little slivers of our eyes left unmasked. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, but it was still assuring.

Halfway through, someone rang on the doorbell. I thought it was just a neighbor, or Jin feeling extra annoying.

But Joy?

She's been out this entire week. Ever since we untainted her, she had to stay in the hospital because of amnesia, and probably emotional trauma as well, but others don't know that.

"So, are you gonna let me in?" she crosses her arms and taps her feet impatiently.

At a loss for words, I just gape at her.

"No? Fine, move outta the way." She marches into my apartment without any hesitation.

"Wait, woah, what are you doing?" Finally finding my words, I step in front of her and mimic her crossed arms.

Her huge bag plops onto the couch, and she starts unzipping, ignoring my question.

"Well?" She glares at me, "Aren't you going to get me water? I'm a guest."

"More like an intruder," I mumble, "Why are you even here?"

Despite my words, I still go to prepare her a glass, feeling slightly bad about not getting Taehyung any of the various times he came over. Then again, he won't be here again.

You're my friend, he said.

Yet not a single word uttered to me after we turned in our essays. None! Nada! Just thinking about it makes my blood boil. But I know that there's no point in dwelling. I did that a long time ago. If I have friends, great! If not, whatever.

Nothing new.

I just gotta go with the flow, and stop doubting myself.

Joy grabs the water and takes the smallest sip, indicating that she probably isn't even thirsty.

"I still don't know why you're here. Is this part of a scheme or something?"

Ignoring me, she unpacks the bag, revealing several small, thin boxes, slightly covered in powders of some sort. There's also bottles of peach-colored liquid and some various brushes.

"Sit down," Joy commands, fiddling with one of the boxes and motioning to the couch as if I'm the guest.

I sit down with slight reluctance. "Hello? What is happening?"

"Ugh, can you be quiet? Consider this a... " Taking out her phone, she hurriedly types something in before facing me, "Anacknowledgementofmyregrets."

Translating her jumble of words seems like an impossible task, so I simply stare at her to coerce a response.

Finally, throws her phone at me. When it lands in my hands I check the screen to find a google page open. She googled: "synonym for apology."

Eyes darting to her, I stutter in disbelief. "Y-you're apologizing?"

"I heard from Taehyung what happened. For the record, I don't remember any of it. But, I do feel kind of bad."

I blink a few times.

Is she my friend now?

Dammit, what am I thinking? She's just being a little nice. But this surely can't mean that she actually wants to be my friend.

Joy's still unpacking her items and I can't help but ask: "What is that?"

"Seriously?" She turns to me in repulsion, "This is makeup. Ever heard of it?"

"Oh," I let out, curiously eyeing the foreign objects in a new light. I've seen these things around before, but never really had the interest for it. It looks cool.

Joy sighs, grabbing my two cheeks and pulling me close with a cosmetic brush in hand.

"Close your eyes," she says.

I say the first thing on my mind.

"Are we about to kiss right now?"

"NO!"

Immediately, she pushes my face away and her face contorts into one of utter disgust.

Something about the way she immediately spats an almost offended look at me is hilarious. She seems to find my laughing weird at first, but soon joins in.

The laughter dies out, and she actually smiles this time when she grabs my face. She squishes it a bit and tilts my head from side to side.

"You're quite pretty," she comments nonchalantly, eyes analyzing my features. "But I'm gonna do your makeup, not kiss you."

"Uh thanks?" I squeak through my squished mouth, "Why are you here to do my makeup, though?"

She lets go of my face and laughs, "You're so clueless. But I can see why he likes you."

I frown, "Someone likes me?"

This makes Joy laugh even harder, "Wow, and to think you're one of the top ten students."

I frown but don't say anything. As confused as I am, this is kind of nice.

She's talking to me and sitting on my couch as if this is her own home.

"I'm gonna do skincare first. Close your eyes," she rubs some jelly-looking substance on her fingers, and jokingly, she adds, "Pucker up!"

The me from a month ago would've immediately kicked her out. But I told myself that I would at least try to step out of my comfort zone.

This isn't for Jungkook, this is for me.

So I force a laugh at her comment, closing my eyes and letting her do whatever she wants to my face. There's a slight distress stomach, as if quietly telling me, 'What are you doing? Get it together!'

Somehow, I manage to push those thoughts away, instead allowing myself to enjoy this moment.

___

It's probably been an hour.

I used to dislike Joy for the longest time, and only started feeling empathetic after I ran into her in the alley. Once she got tainted and confessed, any negative feelings for her dispersed completely.

Now, I kinda think she's nice. Like, actually nice. Aside from her occasionally blunt bickering, I can see the Joy that's well known in school for having a refreshing smile and bubbly personality.

"Okay, now wear this," she says, pushing me into my bathroom with a pile of clothes.

"Wait, what?" I attempt to hand the clothes back, "I still don't know why you're playing dress up on me."

She giggles behind the door, only leaving it slightly ajar to see my confusion, "Tell me how it fits!"

She then slams the door closed, leaving me in utter puzzlement. The fabric in my hands feels like the type of stuff that I never would've touched in stores. There's an alarming lack of fabric, actually.

At the bottom, there's a white miniskirt that is far too short for the cold weather that is lingering in the air today. A somewhat cropped knitted sweater is the other item of clothing, and it's light pink color seems to match perfectly with the silver necklace that Joy put conveniently on top of the pile.

I sigh, turning to change only to stop in my tracks at my reflection in the mirror.

I look... different.

But in a good way.

My cheeks are a little more flushed, and my skin tone is even, no more eye bags in sight. The curl of my lashes is more defined, along with the lines of my eyebrows. My eyelids are decorated with a soft glitter and light brown pigment, although it's barely noticeable unless I look up close. My lips are a juicy pink, and I even bring my hands up to touch them and--wow. They're soft.

I feel pretty.

Looking back and forth between the pile of clothing and the mirror, I decide to try on the outfit. It's just for fun.

I timidly step out of the bathroom when I'm done. What if I look weird? Did I put this skirt on backwards? How am I supposed to know which way is the front when the skirt looks exactly the same way on both sides?

Joy's jaw drops to the floor upon seeing my appearance.

"Wow..." she starts, walking towards me while scanning up and down, "I did a good fucking job."

I chuckle lightly at that, still feeling foreign in this new attire.

"Okay, let's go."

"Go where?"

"The movies."

"What why?" I follow behind her like a lost duck.

"For your date, obviously." She casually takes her things and stands at the door.

A date?

She's managed to find my black bag, the one I bring with me literally everywhere, and holds it out to me as if I already agreed to what we're doing.

I start to feel dizzy at the idea of a date. When did I ever talk about this?

And more importantly, "With who?"

Her eyes gleam as she unlocks the door and shoots me a wink.

"With Taehyung," she chuckles, "duh."

TAEHYUNG

Life has taken a complete 180 degree turn in the direction I don't want it to go.

Here I am, with the company of my closest friends, Sungjae and Jimin. We're joking around and playing some video games at Sungjae's (because he has the best collection), and it seems like I've gone back in time.

This week, I haven't talked to Jisoo at all.

The moment we turned in our essays, I realized that I would have no excuses to talk to her anymore. Maybe I'm being dramatic because it's literally only been a week, but if I let this bleed into the future, then I'm going to have a hard time getting close to her again.

Ultimately, I'm not giving up on her just yet. Not unless she flat out rejects me.

Even though she likes someone else, it's not like they're dating, and I'm not going to add "yet" to the end of that sentence. Not if I can do something about it.

That's right, I'm freaking determined.

But throughout the whole week, my gut and brain seemed to betray me every time I got within a 5 foot radius of her.

So now, I'm here at my friends' house to pretend like everything's fine and dandy, even though I've been itching to concoct a reason to see Jisoo again.

"Taehyung," Jimin calls, waving a hand in front of my face.

"Huh? What." I scan the two's judgmental expressions, "What is it?"

Sungjae scooches over to my side of the couch, "You've been out of it this entire week, dude."

"Yeah." Jimin sits too, "Is it your parents again?"

I give them a tentative smile, "No, don't worry. I guess a lot's on my mind, but not about my parents this time."

They look unconvinced.

"For real!" I look pleadingly into both of their eyes, hoping that they drop the topic.

Sungjae breaks the silence, leaning back into the couch and analyzing my behavior, "Is it about a girl?" He smirks, sharing a look with Jimin that I can't decipher.

"No!" I sit up straight, "What makes you say that?"

They don't say anything for a moment, simply communicating with their eyes as if they know something that I don't. Then, Sungjae leans into Jimin's ear and whispers something; I can only catch, "Joy" and "plan."

"What are you talking about?" I pout, forcing myself in between them as they laugh at my annoyance and confusion.

"Oh, nothing." Jimin waves a hand in the air dismissively, "Anyways, we were thinking of going to the movies today. Let's go."

Standing up to follow the pair to the car, I frown at them avoiding my question, but don't think too much of it.

When we're in the car, Sungjae gasps, "Oh no!" he frantically declares, looking to the backseat to Jimin and to me, in the front passenger's. "I have an appointment in thirty minutes! I guess I can only drop you guys off."

"Really? That sucks man," I grumble, displeased about his announcement.

"Yeah! That totally sucks," Jimin agrees a little too enthusiastically.

Sungjae shrugs, "It is what it is."

With a smirk far too mischievous for someone who's sad about not being able to hang out with their friends, he steps on the pedal and starts driving.

It's about fifteen minutes into the drive, when Jimin checks his phone and gasps audibly, similarly to Sungjae.

"I'm so sorry Tae," he starts with an apologetic tone, "I just got a text from my mom saying that it's my turn to do the dishes."

I watch from the rearview mirror as he puts a hand to his chest like it's physically aching from the thought of not being able to see the movie. What movie is it, anyway?

"Bruh, you can literally do the dishes later." I intend to send a cute puppy face but his mildly disgusted expression suggests otherwise.

"No no no," Jimin insists, "I have to go home."

His firm statement hangs for a moment.

"I guess we'll see the movie another day then," I relent, although Sungjae is still driving to said location.

He pulls up to the mall, where the theater is on the top floor.

"Why are you still taking me here? You want me to watch this movie alone?" Then it clicks in my head, "Wait, is this part of the plan you mentioned earlier?"

Giggles are the only reply to my questioning.

"Guys!" I yell, slightly frustrated.

Sungjae unlocks the car door and shoves two small papers in my hand, motioning for me to get out, "We're so sorry about not being able to watch The Conjuring with you, but I think you'll have fun on your own!"

A chill runs down my spine at the mention of the movie name as Jimin climbs from the backseat to unlock my seatbelt and push me out the door.

I can't watch horror movies for my life! Why are they giving me two tickets even though I'm watching by myself?

"Wait, guys, I—"

Jimin successfully shoves me out, and hops into the seat I was once occupying. He and Sungjae stick their heads out at me mockingly as they shut the door.

I bang on the windows, "What are you guys doing? I'm not gonna watch the movie, so give me a ride home!"

Jimin rolls the window down barely a few inches, and I hear his slightly muffled voice with Sungjae's. "Have fun!"

With that, they drive away, my feet almost getting squashed by their tires. The car disappears into the distance, and I'm left in front of a mall with two tickets to a movie I will certainly not watch.

At least not alone. Horror movies alone are a big no no.

I sigh, rubbing my temples as I take out my phone to call an uber.

Someone taps on my shoulders, though I shrug them off, "Yes?" I sigh, not looking away from my screen.

"You total dummy."

Immediately, my head snaps up.

Jisoo, in all her glory, is standing there in an adorable pink and white fit. Her eyes are fiery with some type of rage, although at the same time, her face seems to glow a little more than usual. Her arms are crossed as she glares at me.

"Care to explain why I have to be on this date with you right now?"

I fail to come up with a coherent response, instead spotting three texts pop up from the top of my phone.

operation: taehyung is whipped af

shortie: wbk since u told me off for saying that u used to talk shi abt her

sungjae: lmfao i had joy help us out ;)

sungjae's girl: muahaha have fun!

I'm going to place a curse on them so that the side of their pillows are always warm.

"So?" Jisoo's stare is full of annoyance, "Why does Joy think we're dating or something?"

"I don't know?"

Am I really that obvious?

"Now I have to be on this date with you. Great." She stomps towards the mall.

I wince, feeling bad for her predicament. As much as I want to go on a date with her, it'd be much better if she doesn't feel forced to.

"It's fine," I sigh, "Look, I can call a cab for you and you can go home--"

"It's The Conjuring right? Are you good with horror?" She's speed walking to the building, and I have to jog to catch up to her.

"Well, no," I admit, "But it's fine, we don't even have to watch it if you don't want to--"

"You're lucky I brought money. Since you got the tickets, I'll pay for popcorn. You want popcorn, right?"

It takes me a moment, but I realize that she's not listening to me. She reaches for the tickets in my hand and glances over them, opening the door to the mall.

"It starts in ten minutes; we better hurry," she mumbles as I trail behind her.

I realize that her walking is a little rushed. Jisoo doesn't look me in the eye and her hands seem fidgety.

"Wait--" I hold onto her wrist so she has to turn to face me, "Do you actually want to watch this movie with me?"

The tinge of pink that peeks through the powder on her cheeks answers my question.

Author's Note:

im so excited, the next one is their date hehe. also one the commenters on this story wayyy back called taehyung a "total dummy" and i thought it was so cute so i added it here T-T

if you've made it this far in the story, first of all, CONGRATS WTH! secondly, THANK YOU FOR READING!!

<3 lalalalala7fire