Sleeping Beauty Syndrome

1

When humanity thought it had been hit hard by the coronavirus, it was clueless. Corona was a mild cold compared to the pandemic that was about to hit us. We had only just survived the coronavirus crisis, almost everyone had been vaccinated and things were slowly returning to normal.

I was happy that I no longer had to wear a face mask, at least while working as a stylist.

I had been working at KQ for four years now, was the head stylist and had been looking after the boys from Ateez and the other artists since my trainee days.

Together with my colleague Juhee, with whom I also shared a small apartment, I entered our make-up studio in the KQ building and prepared everything for the day. We had a TV on the wall so that the boys didn't get too bored during the sometimes quite lengthy styling process.

Juhee had gotten into the habit of always switching on the news straight away, which she did again today. Engrossed in my work, I didn't pay much attention to the newsreader's voice until Juhee clutched my arm and stared at the screen with wide eyes.

She always did this when she was nervous or anxious, usually on movie nights when things got exciting, which is why I was listening now.

"Another victim has died of a mysterious fever. This brings the death toll in Seoul to 13. It is not known what the deceased were suffering from, but as the first victim was a man who had fled from North Korea, it is suspected that it originated there.

There is still no statement from Pyongyang about the current situation there," said the woman with a serious look.

"Y/N, I'm scared, what if it starts all over again? I can't go through this again." Juhee moaned and I stroked her back reassuringly.

"13 deaths doesn't mean a pandemic, maybe they just ate something that was poisoned or something. Let's wait and see, there are hundreds of possibilities." I tried to comfort her.

One by one, the boys arrived, as they had a gig today, so there was a lot to do, and a new colleague would also be starting here, so we had to train her too.

As if on cue, a shy-looking girl, perhaps a few years younger than me, appeared in the doorway and looked around.

"Hey, are you Misaki our new apprentice?" asked Juhee, who was already cheerful again and the little Japanese girl nodded and bowed politely.

Her cheeks seemed flushed with excitement and her eyes looked far too big for her face as she kept them permanently wide open with tension. Juhee put his arm around her with a smile and she flinched, startled.

"Don't worry, don't treat the boys like idols, they're normal boys. Sure, they're all really pretty, but we have the power to make them look even prettier or not. Watch out," she said with a grin before putting two fingers in her mouth and whistling loudly.

Everything fell silent immediately and everyone turned to look at her.

"Yah Hongjoong, be a good boy and get your noona a coffee." she called out to the leader, who just nodded with a smile and went into the coffee kitchen.

Grinning, I shook my head as she taught the poor girl how to chase our boys around.

Misaki looked after Hongjoong in disbelief.

"I would never dare to do that, besides, I'm younger than them," she said quietly.

"You'll soon get over your shyness when you know them better," I cheered her up.

We explained her tasks to her which at first would only consist of watching and assisting and she seemed very keen to learn. She stuck more to me, as Juhee's loud and cheeky manner intimidated her a little.

"As a little warning, once you are allowed to work alone.... No haircuts without prior consultation. Your predecessor was fired for just doing Hongjoong braids," Juhee told her, shaking her head to show her disapproval, and Misaki nodded eagerly.

After a few hours, I started to worry, Misaki's cheeks remained so red and there was a fine film of sweat on her skin. San, who I was putting make-up on, also seemed to notice.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly as he looked at her in the mirror.

"Y-yes... I just feel a little dizzy... It's probably just the excitement." she rebutted, but I was far from reassured.

A few minutes later, she collapsed next to me and landed roughly on the floor.

Mingi, who had been waiting for his turn on the sofa, jumped up, picked her up and laid her carefully on the sofa. Yunho, who had also rushed over, placed a hand on her forehead.

"Call an ambulance. She's literally glowing..."