life is a dream, the sky is neon green # jeongri

chapter 1

"i want you to do my makeup."

ricky blinks. his perfectly plucked eyebrows furrowing at the request, icy gaze trained on the boy standing before him.

he had woken up a bit earlier than anyone else because, and let's be honest, he likes to get dolled up. he does it even on days when they aren't filming. he likes looking good and he likes going through his process every morning.

(even if he doesn't like to admit to it)

with his luxurious products lined up on the countertop, it was like a way to center himself for another day in planet camp.

so, when he wakes up two hours before the time they've agreed to meet for practice and locks himself in the bathroom, relishing in being alone and having time to himself, he's not particularly expecting the soft knocking at the door.

ricky opened it, thinking it was jay needing to pee (considering all the vocal does is guzzle down bottles of water right before bed. it wouldn't be the first time jay had interrupted him.) or kuan jui wanting to grab his fuzzy headband to start his own morning routine (albeit in zhang hao's room where he smears his excess face cream on the sleeping boys face.) but what he hadn't expected was lee jeonghyeon, in his neon green pajamas, standing at the door.

jeonghyeon shifts his weight from foot to foot, hands fidgeting nervously, eyes fixed on ricky, waiting for a response.

and the only one ricky can give him is, "what?"

the brunette's dark eyes flicker to the floor, lips pressed together as though trying to contain whatever he was about to say "you always look so pretty. i want to learn too." he chides quietly...hesitantly.

ricky feels his cheeks heat and he pretends he didn't hear the first part of what jeonghyeon said, for his own mental health. he knows he's pretty but he's always gotten so shy when someone tells him.

"ok." ricky swallows, grabbing jeonghyeon's hand and pulling him into the bathroom, "i'm too pale for you to use my creams but—"

he rummages through his bag until he finds his eye shadows and a small brush.

turning back towards jeonghyeon is one of the worst moments of his life. jeonghyeon looks at him intensely, the cutest little smile on his lips.

it's times like these when he's grateful for his height because if he was any shorter, jeonghyeon would be able to tower over him, looking down upon him with his intimidating gaze.

ricky recognizes that he's nervous. his heart is beating a little too fast, his hands are certainly more clammy than usual, and although he's not the best with eye contact to begin with, the thought of looking into jeonghyeon's eyes right now makes him short of breath.

but he has to. he can't do eye makeup without looking at eyes.

he loads his brush with eyeshadow and uses his other hand to comb jeonghyeon's bangs out of his face.

"close your eyes, hyung."

softly, ricky shades the edges of jeonghyeon's sharp eyes.

there's no need to acknowledge the awkward tension between them.

there's no need to acknowledge the way jeonghyeon shivers at his touch.

there's no need to acknowledge how long ricky admires jeonghyeon's long lashes for.

(he also admires the slope of jeonghyeon's small, button nose, the mole on his left eyelid and the flush of red on his cheeks.)

when he's done with the eye shadow he shoves the brush back into his bag and reaches for his eyeliner.

"wow." jeonghyeon says, looking at himself in the mirror, "you're good at this."

ricky can't help but grin.

"you did call me pretty earlier." he says softly, "i would hope i'm good at it."

and if he adamantly avoids jeonghyeon's eyes in that moment, nobody needs to know.

"you look pretty no matter what."

and if he adamantly avoids jeonghyeon's eyes, nobody needs to know.

he takes a few more seconds "searching" for his eyeliner, even though his fingers already bumped against it, hoping that the burning of his cheeks isn't too obvious.

jeonghyeon has cute puppy eyes and he's seen his makeup that the stylist noona's give him to emphasize the outer corners of his eyes. but ricky decides to draw his eyeliner upwards. just as he would draw it on himself.

and it's hot. he steps away from jeonghyeon and looks at his work and he's only a little bit obsessed.

he sees jeonghyeon's eyes drift towards the mirror and ricky immediately grabs his chin, turning his head away, "don't look yet."

jeonghyeon complies without a fight. he just stares at ricky and the blond can't decipher the look he's receiving.

ricky pretends like he can't feel his heartbeat in his ears.

"you're cute when you're mad." jeonghyeon mumbles.

"i'm not mad." ricky squeezes his cheeks before turning back to his makeup bag, "just—just wanna show you the finished product."

the brunette huffs out a quiet laugh, "at some point you're gonna have to acknowledge my compliments, ricky."

ricky feels more heat rise to his cheeks against his will, he quickly turns to search for his lip tint and avoid meeting jeonghyeon's eyes.

"i actually don't and i won't, lee jeonghyeon-ssi." he states matter-of-factly.

it's a skill he's learned over the years. the one to simply not acknowledge anything and everything. he's been able to hone in on this gift while living with gyuvin and seungeon, the two deciding to never be fully clothed in their yuehua dorm room.

"ricky..." jeonghyeon whines, bottom lip poking out as he pouts.

ricky takes the opportunity to dab it with lip tint, "do this." he curls his lips together making a 'pop' noise.

jeonghyeon stops his pouting and copies ricky's demonstration.

"done?" he asks, cutely tilting his head, looking at ricky with big puppy eyes.

ricky gives him a once over before nodding, "you're me, part two." he adds in english.

jeonghyeon looks at himself for a while, brushing his hair away and doing stupid poses for ricky to giggle at.

"you're cute." he finally admits, "now get out so i can do mine."

the brunette pouts again, flipping down the lid and taking a seat on the toilet, "noo~ i wanna watch you." he whines, "besides i woke up this early to be with you, not with zhang hao's snores."

and ricky won't admit that in that moment he falls harder for the boy sitting on the toilet in stupid green pajamas.