lipsticks and feelings

;; a

5

sweating.

4

lip-biting.

3

more sweating.

2

stressed-out grumbling.

1

the bell rings.

lisa throws her hands up, closes her eyes in relief that the damn thing is finally over, then puts her attention back at her friend and nodding in satisfaction.

three weeks ago, somin invited (more like begged) lisa to be her make-up artist at this competition thing that will only give said artists certain amount of time to finish a look. lisa declined at first, saying its a waste of time, but when somin told her the winner will get a cash prize and a job, she demanded all the details about it faster than barry freaking allen.

and now, here they are.

there were three rounds actually, and lisa leveled her friend with a glare that was enough to make any person within 5 feet melt when it was announced that they were in the hardest round.

the time limit was only 5 minutes.

don't get her wrong, lisa is satisfied with her work, but she's never been that person who's confident about anything she does so she frowns anyway, sticking her lower lip out in a pout.

the theme for them was magical, so lisa went with a mermaid look.

mixes of blue, green, and yellow along with a few gems decorated somin's face, and then it's their time to turn somin's chair around and for lisa to present.

silence first, before everybody erupts in cheers for them (and unimpressed looks comes from the people at the stage with them), and lisa smiles as she explains what she was going for, and how she managed to do it.

but things were never really on lisa's side, so why would they suddenly go right for her now?

all the other competitors complains they cheated, that there was no way for them to do that under the span of 5 minutes, and lisa figured because the judges are biased (and idiots) as a favorite is one of the make-up artists, the host comes up with a decision made by the said biased (idiots) group of people. 

"... pair number 37 is disqualified, due to cheating and ignoring the rules said before the 5 minute mark started."

somin yells, somin complains. lisa is processing it, thinking how she should've seen this happening, and she looks up after a while, sees her friend fighting literally everybody in a verbal way.

she cleans her stuff up and grabs her friend's arm.

she shoots everybody a dirty look, some even stepping back, and she turns around to face the audience and judges with her brows up, chin high.

"we didn't cheat. you dont even have proof. if you all have this kind of trust issue then why do this stupid thing anyway?" she spats, "this is supposed to be a competition to find talented, speedy little make-up people who's capable of doing something extravagant under pressure and time, but I guess since one is perhaps a little too good for your liking, you get scared and disqualify them."

she laughs, "if I didn't know any better id say y'all are just mad that we did a better job than pair number 32-- oh hey, lyn, daughter of the head judge-- but that's not true is it?" she changes her expression into something sweet, yet incredibly mocking. "im sure mr. song over here believes in his daughter's talent that he wouldn't feel the need to get rid of someone that could potentially beat her in this contest? right?"

somin smiles smugly at everybody's expressions, and lisa makes a few gasp by saying something colorful before walking out and grabbing her stuff, heading out of the building and into the café across the street.

"im sorry," somin says after they drank a bit of their beverages and vented their frustrations. "I know you really wanted to win."

lisa shrugs, "not really to be honest. at least not now. not when I now know what kind of people runs that sort of thing.  I can just search and search. nothing new."

somin smiles sadly, then excuses herself to go to the restroom.

and lisa stops sipping from her straw when somebody sits at the chair that her friend was just in.

she blinks,

"what?"

okay, maybe she should've been a little bit more gentle, but after what happened? she's still on edge. you cant really blame her.

the person smiles at her in a weird I-don't-smile-often way, before getting something from the inside of the coat and lisa panics, thinking its a gun, and she instinctively throws her drink at the person in front of her, closing her eyes.

breathing heavily, she opens them, and sees that the guy was actually just reaching for a piece of paper.

and said person is now covered in strawberry and banana milk shake.

lisa stammers, "I thought you were holding a gun!"

the guy just sighs, muttering, "believe it or not, this is not the first time this happened. and given that, I should probably just stop reaching for the inside of my coat." he shake his head, "but I never really learn. one of my issues."

lisa is still gaping, grabbing a bunch of tissues and attempts to wipe all the liquid away. the guy grabs her hand and takes the tissues, wiping some of the strawberry off himself.

the suit looks expensive, and lisa is holding back her screams (and tears), because this guy will definitely make her pay. 

but it's his fault, lisa thinks stubbornly. defensively.

he shouldn't have done that.

he slips the now wet and pink, once white and sleek, rectangular paper in front of lisa.

"my name is samuel lee," the man finally introduces himself. "I work for bighit entertainment, and I was at the show earlier."

lisa frowns.

"you did a good job by the way," the guy, samuel lee, takes more tissues and tries to clean up the mess. "you clearly didn't cheat. and that little speech you did? glorious. I didn't expect that mouth on you though, since you look like one of those calm, I-follow-the-orders girls."

lisa scoffs, "I do not--"

"but that's not the point," samuel lee waves his hand as he cuts her off. "im here to offer you a job. just do that thing with the stuff but in a quick time. possibly quicker than earlier. and to seven really energetic guys."

lisa furrows her brows, tilts her head. "im not sure I understand--"

"just call the number on the card and we'll talk more." the guy cuts him off again and lisa briefly considers stapling the man's mouth shut with that stapler sitting at the counter.

samuel guy mutters something about hoping to hear from her soon and changing into something less strawberry and pink before sliding out of the booth and walking away.

"what happened here?" somin asks as she nears the table, noticing the mess.

lisa turns to look at her.

"I think I just spilled my favorite milkshake to my future boss."

💄

this !!! book !!! now !!! has !!! an !!! actual !!! chapter !!!

this took longer than expected bc I kept changing how it happened and all that, but I think I'm at least satisfied with this version. I was also really scared to update bc ppl have been waiting for this (and the plentier those people become, the more pressure I feel bc I'm scared to disappoint lol) but I hope you guys still like it! thank you for all the wonderful comments, I appreciate them dearly and it brings such a ridiculous smile to my face! oh and the lowercase is intended bc I'm on my laptop and I'm too lazy to properly capitalize lmao.

have a great day, night, afternoon, whatever :D