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Masks are a common sight in idol life, whether it’s to hide from errant paparazzi on a late-night snack run, or to get through the airport without your no-makeup face being photographed and blasted on all forms of media. But they’re usually something you wear in public, and Chenle’s a little confused as to why his hyung is struggling to eat breakfast under a disposable face mask.
“Renjun-hyung, are you sick?” The boy in question sighs frustratedly, letting go of the mask with his free hand to have it snap back against his face.
“No, I’m not sick,” the other Chinese member grumbles back. “I just have a really bad breakout right now.”
Chenle shrugs. “Yeah, but we don’t care if you look ugly,” he informs his bandmate around a garbled mouthful of egg.
“Yeah, Renjun looks the same as usual,” Jisung pipes up cheekily, only to get whapped in the back of the head by a frilly apron-adorned Jaemin. (It was supposed to be a gag gift, but Jaemin had been so genuinely touched that none of them had the heart to tell him he wasn’t supposed to like it.) “Ow!”
“Eat your food and stop being mean to Injunnie,” the pink-haired boy scolds before looking around and counting heads again. “We’re missing three. Mark and Haechan fell asleep in the 127 dorm, so where is Jeno?”
“Right here.” A freshly-showered Jeno walks through the living room, towel still draped around his shoulders. He, for one, doesn’t seem fazed at all by the unusual sight, slumping into his chair next to his suddenly stiff teammate.
However, Jaemin’s remarkably awake in the mornings, no small thanks to the black tar he downs on the regular, and he immediately hones in on the strange energy between his fellow 00 liners as Renjun hurriedly scoops his plate up to dump everything in the sink, leaving behind a particularly droopy Jeno.
Jaemin doesn’t get the chance to confront Renjun until they’ve left the salon for the day’s schedules, Renjun slightly grumpy from being forced to finally take the mask off so his base makeup doesn’t wear off. At that point, it’s a little too hectic to find a place to talk, but Jaemin makes do, tapping his foot impatiently until the stylists are done fussing over everything and he can drag Renjun into the nearest closet. Jeno sulks after them, but Jaemin ignores it and their Chinese bandmate’s surprised yelp, choosing to focus on cornering the more difficult of the two.
Now, Jaemin wasn’t usually one for interventions, not like Doyoung-hyung and Taeyong-hyung who are always poised to hunt down trouble with a sniff, but he doesn’t like it when his closest friends in the entire world start giving off an uncomfortable amount of tension. Like, Markhyuck amounts. “Okay what is up between you and Jeno?” He demands in the dim space. “You two have been weird all day now, ever since we woke up. You haven’t even tried to pick each other’s noses once or anything, and no, you can’t tell me you’ve suddenly decided to mind your own hygiene, he was literally flossing your teeth yesterday.”
Renjun blinks, caught off-guard. “We’re not that bad,” he protests, but Jaemin dismisses it with a wave of his hand.
“Look, you can continue to shove yourself up his nose or down his throat, I don’t care, but you’re not even talking to each other anymore, and manager-hyung is going to notice pretty soon.”
Renjun grumbles, looking down.
“Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that?”
“He’s the reason I keep breaking out, okay?” Renjun bursts out, gesturing wildly as he finally gets the chance to unload. “He keeps poking me in the cheek or massaging my face between his palms and I’ve tried to switch cleansers twice now, but nothing works.”
Jaemin blinks, nonplussed, but now Renjun’s on a roll.
“And I can’t get him to stop because he just gives me that kicked puppy look instead and then tries to cuddle me and I get all sweaty and gross because he runs so damn hot and then I have to shower and wash my face again and the zits keep coming back and I just—” Renjun cuts himself off, panting heavily.
“Well, that’s an easy fix,” Jaemin says, and leans forward to whisper something into Renjun’s ear.
Now, Hyerin might be new to working in the entertainment industry as an assistant stylist, but she’s heard enough whispers and seen enough hints herself to know that there are some things you just don’t talk about. Like when a member of a boy group drags his bandmate into the closet, only to re-emerge half an hour later, clothes rumpled, breathing heavily.
It’s supposedly a normal thing in this industry. She’s vaguely intrigued. Especially when one of the idols, upon coming out of the closet (quite literally), promptly drags another member back into the same closet. Uh-oh. Jaemin’s smiling placidly at her. She’s been caught staring.
“I-I didn’t see anything,” Hyerin quickly stammers out, before realizing she shouldn’t be intimidated by a boy about half her age.
“No,” Jaemin agrees, “you didn’t.” And he promptly sits down to wrap all four limbs bodily around their maknae.
And when Renjun and Jeno re-emerge, not a hair out of place, and Jeno plops down in front of the makeup mirror sighing dreamily at whatever’s in his hand, Hyerin doesn’t say anything at all.
She does wonder why he’s swooning so hard over a bottle of hand sanitizer though.