Cherry Red Hair

"Wow!" Minjun whistles before leaving the make up room to change. "You look amazing, my friend!"

A couple of days later, the boys are trying out outfits for their upcoming award shows, and Yejun has just entered the room with his new hair color.

Cherry red.

And Minjun's right, he does look amazing. Which considering cherry red is probably one of the ugliest hair dye colours on the planet, is a talent in itself.

Not even Rihanna pulled off cherry-red hair.

But Jeon Yejun does.

Am I even surprised?

Hyunwoo, the group's eldest, looks up from his phone. "You really do, Yejun. Almost as beautiful as me."

Hyunwoo has been acknowledged by the Korean as well as the international press for his stunning looks. The 25-year old mean does not just fit Korean beauty standards with his porcelain skin, straight nose and large, almond-shaped eyes, he fits the Western ones as well.

While Minjun, for some dumb, sexist reasons, is considered as too "feminine" for Westernes, no one finds anything to criticize about Hyunwoo's appearance, boosting his confidence. In my life, I've never met anyone who loves himself as much as Hyunwoo does; but in a country plagued by self-hatred, his happy and confident mentality has been a helpful lesson for his fans.

While I admire Hyunwoo, I can't help but envy him sometimes: life seems so much easier when you don't question your self-worth, and I hope that I will too someday be able to reach this state of internal bliss.

Yejun acknowledges his member's compliments with a shy smile before analyzing his appearance in his mirror. "What do you think, Hajun-ah?"

Of course, he wants Hajun's opinion. There's a special connection between these two boys, this much I've noticed. They have weird inside jokes and communicate without words. They are soulmates, in a platonic way. Just like Eun and I are.

Generally speaking, I've noticed that the whole group listens to Hajun quite a lot. As he's the youngest in the band, this is quite surprising, especially in a notoriously ageist society like Korea. I can understand them though - Hajun's extremely calm and quiet, and he makes you feel calmer as well. He's managed to calm me down more than once even though I severely disliked him at the beginning, so the effect he has on the people who like must be of such larger magnitude.

Hajun, who's currently letting his make-up artist try out new eyeshadow on him, glances at his friend. "It's not bad, hyung."

Which, coming from Hajun, is a huge compliment.

"Rose, what do you reckon?" Yejun suddenly asks, looking right at me.

Immediately, I blush. I always do when Yejun talks to me. He's so beautiful that every time he addresses me, I believe he does it by mistake. If Hajun wasn't my boss and therefore obliged to address me, I would probably believe the same regarding him.

Speaking of Hajun, he annoyedly clicks with his tongue. "Was has Rose got to do with it?"

Am I not even allowed to answer a simple question? Why does he always want to control everything connected to me?

Yejun seems baffled at his friend's aggressive reaction - and unsure what to reply. "Well, for starters, she's a girl."

Oh, wow.

"Well observed.",Hajun says drily. "So?"

"Jeez, Hajun," Hyunwoo scolds him amusedly. "Leave poor Yejunnie alone. He's right. It would be smart to have a girl's opinion. So, what are your thoughts, Rose?"

My heart immediately started beating rapidly as the three handsome men stare at me expectantly. "I reckon that you look really cool and handsome, Yejun oppa," I mumble. "And I'm convinced your fans will share my opinion."

Yejun beams at me. "Thanks, Rose." Then, his eyes glide over my face. "You should really dye your hair too, you know. I bet pink would look nice on you."

At this moment, Chinhae, who's been napping while getting his hair done, wakes up. "What are we talking about?" he asks, yawning.

Every Kpop group has that one notoriously mysterious member who doesn't talk. For YouGe, Chinhae is that member.

Which is why he lowkey scares me.

However, I'm aware that just like with Hajun, it probably takes him a while to warm up to people. Either way, it matters very little what I think of him. His fans love him for his honest and healing lyrics. That is what matters.

"Rose with pink hair," Hyunwoo fills him in.

"Random topic, but ok." His gaze falls on me. "Wouldn't look too bad."

That's it, I'm going to faint any moment now.

Four ridiculously attractive men who usually ignore me discussing what hair colour would suit me. Am I dreaming? If that is the case, I do not want to wake up.

However, as I laugh nervously, Hajun quickly reminds me that this is, in fact, not a dream.

"What even is this conversation?" he scoffs. "Rose's not dying her hair."

Why does he believe he has the right to speak for me?

Gritting my teeth, I raise an eyebrow at him. That's enough. "And why wouldn't I?"

"Yeah," Chinhae says, clearly enjoying this. "Why wouldn't she, Hajun-ah?"

"Don't you reckon pink hair would suit her?" Hyunwoo joins in on the teasing.

A mischievous smile has appeared on Yejun's face. "Do you think it would it would look ugly on her? Are you insulting your assistant, Hajunnie? That's not very polite, you know."

Biting my lips, I have to stop myself from laughing. They've got him trapped.

For once, I'm not the victim.

Flustered and with widened eyes, Hajun retorts: "What? I've never even said any of that. Stop putting words in my mouth!"

Well, it looks like someone's getting a taste of his own medicine.

"What's the problem, then?" I can't help but ask.

Truthfully, I've never considered dying my hair in my life. But something about Hajun forbidding me to do it just irks me. Suddenly, I feel the burning urge to do it.

"Yes, Hajunnie?" Hyunwoo adds. "Do enlighten us."

Hajun breathes out loudly to signal to us how much we annoy him. "Hair dye is really damaging for your hair, that's it. And it will never suit you as well as your natural hair colour anyway. So just leave it, Rose-ah. Take it from someone who's gotten his hair dyed many times."