Chapter Text
Today’s your first time on the set of a music video. As a relatively junior make-up artist working with Monsta X, you’ve only done music shows and some fansigns; it’s a mark of progress to become part of the on-site staff.
“Y/N-sunbae!”
Which is why you’re maybe a little salty that Dongwon, the brand-new intern who just joined two weeks ago under Jiyoo-sunbae, got the call to come along today to help with styling. He trots over to you with a smile, and you try and smile back. After all, it’s not his fault that Jiyoo’s more generous than your manager is.
“Hello, Dongwon-ssi.”
He holds up the thick pile of garments in his arms. “These are Shownu’s outfits for this morning. Manager says he’ll be filming his solo scenes first.”
“Got it.” You hold open the trailer door and Dongwon manoeuvres his load inside. “Is Shownu coming now?”
“Yes, I think so, sunbae,” he replies as he painstakingly hangs the clothes one by one on the rack next to the vanity.
“You don’t have to call me sunbae,” you tell him. It’s honestly weird to hear it considering you just graduated a year ago yourself.
“What?” He looks at you in surprise, then beams wider. “Then… please take care of me, Y/N-noona.”
UH?? You gape at the dude, who’s now giving you a deep bow. “I meant — you can call me Y/N-ssi.” Not noona…!
Dongwon jerks his head up, eyes wide. “O-oh.”
Awkward silence.
“I’m sorry,” he adds meekly.
“It’s fine.” Jeez, interns.
You look away and WHOA there’s Shownu standing in the doorway, silently observing the two of you. When did he get here?
“Ah, hello.” You straighten and nod politely.
“Hello.” Taciturn as ever, Shownu moves into the trailer. He gives Dongwon a long look, and Dongwon in turn glances at you as if for help.
“Ah — have you met before? Shownu, this is Dongwon, a new intern. Dongwon, Monsta X’s leader Shownu.” You smile blandly at them both, hoping everyone will just move right past that awkward moment. “Shownu-ssi, you understand the concept today, right?”
“Yes.” Shownu meets your eyes in the mirror. “Boyfriend concept.”
“Right.”
This won’t be weird. Shownu’s very, very good at keeping the personal and professional private. It doesn’t matter that outside of work, he’s your boyfriend, because the fact is: you’re both at work, right now.
So you don’t ask him why he’s looking at you so intently; you just move aside so Dongwon can hand over the clothes. “Dongwon-ssi, please help Shownu-ssi change and come get me once he’s ready for make-up. I’ll be waiting just outside the trailer.”
“Yes, Y/N-sunbae — no, noona. Ah, I mean — ” Dongwon flushes red. “Yes, I will, yes.”
You stop yourself from rolling your eyes, give a perfunctory smile and step outside the trailer to wait.
Not five seconds later, the door bursts open and you jump up to see Dongwon holding a decapitated shirt collar in his hands. “Dongwon?”
“The collar came off,” he blurts in a panic, the flush still present in his face. “I just handed it to him and the collar ripped, noona, what do we do?”
“Okay, it’s fine, calm down,” you say quickly. “Go find Jiyoo-sunbae and let her know, she’ll pick out a replacement.”
“Okay!” Dongwon dashes off, the silk collar fluttering from his hand like an inauspicious white flag.
You peek cautiously inside to see Shownu standing with the other 90% of the shirt in his grasp. “Dongwon’s just gone to find Jiyoo-sunbae,” you tell him.
His head snaps round. "Right,” he says.
He’s looking at you like he’s got something on his mind, but he doesn’t say anything more, so you just nod, withdraw from the trailer and shut the door.
Jiyoo arrives at that moment with Dongwon on her heels. “Shownu ripped the shirt collar?” she says to you, more of an incredulous statement than a question.
You nod. “Yeah. Don’t ask me how.”
She clucks her tongue and heads into the trailer, muttering, “How am I going to convince Manager to expand our clothing budget like this…”
The door closes behind her, leaving Dongwon hovering on the doorstep beside you. He’s wringing his hands and shifting from foot to foot. You decide to take pity on him.
“Don’t worry, it isn’t your fault. Besides, Wonho’s done this several times before.”
He peers over with wide, wobbly eyes. “Really? I’ve never seen clothing rip like that.”
“You’ll get used to it around Monsta X,” you say wryly.
Dongwon laughs nervously and goes back to wringing his hands.
Jiyoo exits then with the corpse of the silk shirt in hand. “Dongwon-ah, I gave Shownu the blue zip-up shirt,” she announces. “Go on in and see if he needs any help.”
“Yes, Jiyoo-noona.” Dongwon snaps upright, gives a sharp nod and disappears inside.
You can’t help giving Jiyoo a curious look. “You let him call you noona.”
“Hm? Oh.” She shrugs, attention mostly on the shirt. “Yeah, he’s cute, why not.”
You have to laugh. “Sunbae…” No wonder Dongwon took to calling you noona so easily.
“I don’t think I can save this,” she says mournfully, turning the shirt over in her hands. “Manager’s going to cry.”
Honestly, you won’t be surprised if Dongwon falls in love with her by the end of his internship. Jiyoo’s slight obliviousness combined with her friendly manner regardless of hierarchy is next-level lethal.
An hour later, you’re touching up Shownu’s make-up between shoots.
“Can you be a little more careful around the new intern?” you say under your breath as you re-apply powder foundation at his hairline. “If you scare him off, Jiyoo-sunbae will be mad.”
“Scare him off?” he responds quietly. “I’m not scaring him.”
“I just watched you stick out your legs and trip him from across the room.”
Shownu frowns. “That wasn’t on purpose. His legs are short. Mine are long.”
Really, you’re inclined to believe him. Shownu’s the last person to mess with someone for no reason. Yet, every time Dongwon returns after helping Shownu with a wardrobe fix, he seems to have another scratch to the shin or a new water stain on his shirt hem.
“Why do you care?”
The words are spoken so softly, you almost miss them entirely. You blink and stop contouring his jawline. “What?”
Shownu glances at you before looking off to the side. “Nothing.”
At this point you’re not even sure you heard his quiet words correctly. None of this behaviour seems like him. But now isn’t the time to ask about it, not while you guys are in the middle of filming.
Except here comes Dongwon himself, with a water bottle and a small electric fan at the ready for Shownu. “Excuse me,” he says shyly to you, and you shuffle to the side to let him direct the wind at Shownu.
“Not the face,” you tell him, “the powder isn’t set yet.”
Dongwon nods and points the fan at his neck instead. “Yes, noona.”
A sudden sharp movement.
“Aah — !”
The bottle flies from Dongwon’s grasp and hits the ground; water spills everywhere. You leap back with your make-up brushes clutched to your chest while Dongwon drops to the ground and scrambles to pick up the water bottle, yelping “Sorry!” over and over. Shownu remains frozen in his chair, staring at his outstretched hand with bemusement on his face.
“Shownu…?” you say questioningly.
He looks to you. “Y/N-ah?” he says in an equally confused tone, as though you might be able to explain why he just casually flicked the water bottle straight out of Dongwon’s hand.
And — since when does he address you so informally at work? You glance around to see if anyone nearby might’ve heard. But there’s only Dongwon, wiping at the puddle on the ground with his bare hands, poor boy.
“Dongwon-ssi, don’t worry about it,” you say hastily. “It’s all right, please get up.”
“I think Jiyoo is calling for you,” Shownu adds, tucking his hands back to his sides.
“Ah, really?” Dongwon’s head shoots up. “Then, please excuse me.” He bobs a quick bow and scurries off across the set.
You turn back to stare at your boyfriend some more. “Shownu,” you say.
“Yes?” he says. There’s a frown notched into his brow.
You have no idea what you want to say. In the middle of the hustle and bustle of the music video set, the two of you stare at each other in silent, mutual puzzlement.
“One minute,” the PD calls out, and the moment breaks.
“Never mind,” you say quickly, and put your make-up brush to work again. With a final pat to his jaw, you stand back. “Okay, you’re good. Go ahead.”
Shownu stands, but lingers in front of you.
Backing up a discreet step, you ask, “Is something wrong?”
His gaze searches yours for a brief moment, before he shakes his head. “Nothing.”
You’re pretty sure it’s not nothing. So a few hours later, over a quick dinner of cup noodles between takes, you broach the topic again in the privacy of his trailer. “Shownu.”
“Yes?” He looks up from his food.
You perch carefully on the chair beside him. “Is everything okay with Dongwon?” you ask in a lower tone.
Shownu stills immediately, a subtle stiffening of his body. “What do you mean?” he says, tone wary but polite.
“I just noticed you and him seem to be running into each other a lot.” Literally, once; a light brush against Shownu’s broad frame had sent Dongwon stumbling for a good metre or two. “Is there anything going on between you two?”
“No,” he replies firmly. He takes a moment, licks his lips, then adds, “What about you?”
“Hm? What about me?”
He hesitates again before continuing. “You… seem close.”
You gape. “Me and Dongwon?”
“No?” he challenges.
“No!” you sputter. “Why would you think — ”
“He calls you noona.” Shownu’s eyes shift off to the side.
“So?!”
“…So, the two of you sound close.”
Oh good God. “Are you jealous?” You can’t keep your disbelief out of your voice. “Of the intern?”
“No.” It’s a quick denial, but then he rethinks. “Well. Maybe? I don’t know,” he admits.
Okay, now it’s kind of funny. “Shownu, Jiyoo-sunbae told him he could call her noona. He addresses all the women like that. Didn’t you notice?”
“Oh. Really?” Shownu meets your gaze for a second before looking away again. “…I didn’t notice.”
A chuckle escapes you. “Pay attention and you’ll see, all right?”
Sheepishly he nods. But before you can pat yourself on the back for communicating clearly and resolving this minor misunderstanding in your relationship, Dongwon pokes his head into the trailer and steps just inside. Speak of the devil.
“The director says five minutes, Shownu-ssi, Y/N-noona,” he chirps.
And suddenly Shownu’s standing, soggy cup noodle bowl dramatically half-crushed in a fist. One look at his expressionless face has Dongwon backpedalling right out the front door and looking to you for support.
“Thanks, Dongwon-ssi, we’ll be there,” you respond for the both of you, propping a smile on your face to make up for the constant frights he’s been enduring.
As Dongwon hurries away as fast as his legs will take him, you turn to Shownu. “Hey. Remember when I said not to scare him off?”
Shownu’s watching Dongwon’s retreating figure through the open door. A neck roll produces an ominous crack.
You drop your voice. “Hyunwoo.”
The sound of his real name finally makes him look round. “Ah, yes?”
This guy, honestly. You touch your fingers to his. “There’s nothing to be jealous of,” you say softly. “Okay?”
Finally his body relaxes. “Okay,” he agrees. That familiar sheepish look is settling in again. Affection surges through you; you wish you could kiss that adorable expression right off his face.
You give his hand a squeeze and then withdraw. “Back to work?” you say with a smile.
He nods firmly.
“No more tripping the intern, right?” You point at him as you walk backward out the door.
“It was an accident!”