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Im Jaebum wasn't the kind of girl who was extremely concerned about her appearance.
She spent most of her time dancing with her b-boy group or practicing alone in the school studio. As a result 90% of the time she was covered with sweat, in baggy clothing and with no makeup (there was never any time even if she wanted to).
As far as she was concerned, her girlfriend, Park Jinyoung had enough in the looks department for both of them.
As far exterior went, Jinyoung was the exact opposite of Jaebum. Whereas Jaebum was long and lanky, Jinyoung was short and curvy. While Jaebum's dream was to be a dancer, hers was to be a singer (the kind that could move people to tears). Jaebum was short tempered and forthright with her opinions (daring anyone to disagree with her.) On the other hand, Jinyoung was much more diplomatic.
They were the epitome of the phrase 'opposites attract' as far as the vast majority of the student body was concerned. Little did they know, that Jinyoung was just as stubborn as Jaebum when she was passionate about a cause. Nor did they know the fact when it came to Jinyoung, Jaebum was just as gentle as Jinyoung was perceived to be, if not more.
Jaebum sighed as she looked into the full mirror in her bedroom, taking in her messy ponytail, her ratty t shirt and sweatpants and her face, sweat soaked with a cluster of pimples on the corner of her forehead ("It's because you don't take care of your face like a proper Korean" her mom had said whenever Jaebum complained about it.)
Her senior prom was in 2 weeks, and she wanted to look..well the exact opposite of how she looked right now. It wasn't for herself; she was fine the way she was (except for the pimples). It wasn't for the student body (she didn't care about them that much). It was for Jinyoung.
It was a few weeks ago when Jinyoung had mentioned how she would love to see Jaebum all dressed up in a feminine fashion (followed by a 30 minute rant/lecture about how Jaebum shouldn't feel pressured by that and she should wear whatever she feels comfortable in and that gender was nothing but a social constraint)
Despite Jinyoung's protests, Jaebum could easily see in the younger girl's eyes that this was something she wanted and Jaebum was nothing if not, well as her (cocky) junior, Yugyeom liked to say, 100% whipped. (Jaebum had protested when the younger girl had first said it but they both knew it was true.)
She had already bought a dress for the occasion. Unlike her usual simple dresses, this was the kind of dress that Jinyoung often stared at when she flipped through magazine pages while lamenting that her legs weren't long enough (even if Jaebum had assured her a million times that she was perfect in every possible way.)
She had ventured into a makeup store but had immediately exited, intimidated by the wide range of selection and the swathe of smiling sales ladies whose purpose in life seemed to be making her poor.
She had considered asking her mom for help on the whole make up thing but then decided against it (she didn't want to be the daughter who killed her mom by shock.) So, she chose to consult the school make up expert, Bambam.
Bambam, or well Kunpimook Bhuwakul (Koreans were used to 2 syllable names, 3 if you included family name, so Bambam worked out better for him) was one of the few guys Jaebum actually respected. His self-confidence astounded Jaebum more than once. He was never afraid to be himself, even if being himself included being more fashionable than every girl in the school and wearing makeup. Despite all the homophobic slurs and insults he received, it never seemed to faze Bambam. Jaebum was ashamed of the fact that when he first saw Bambam he had assumed he was gay for a moment. All such notions were cleared from his mind when he saw the younger boy in the dance room with his tongue down Yugyeom’s throat. (a mental image she desperately wanted to forget.)
“Hey noona!” Bambam said as he entered Jaebum’s room.
Jaebum looked up from her laptop “Aish, at least knock, you brat.” She said, though there was no real bite to her voice.
Bambam grinned cheekily “Okay, so first let’s see the dress.” He declared, ignoring Jaebum’s glare.
“This is the dress, I want to wear.” Jaebum said pulling out the dress she had picked out days ago. It was a dark shade of pink, the top had full sleeves made of lace while the skirt was slightly flared and brushed her knees.
Noticing Bambam’s expression, she suddenly felt embarrassed “Is it weird?” she asked, sounding uncertain.
“No, no!” Bambam protested. “It’s just surprisingly cute, I thought you would be more into the hot look, you know slinky and body con. But don’t worry, cute will work for you too.” He added reassuringly.
“Are you sure?” Jaebum asked, still uncertain.
Bambam nodded “Don’t worry noona, I’ll make sure you look so cute, Jinyoung-noona won’t even recognize you.” He declared proudly.
Jaebum chuckled dryly “Gee, thanks.” She said sarcastically, chucking a pillow at Bambam.
On Prom Night...
Jaebum looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. Bambam had done a really good job. Even in her own eyes, she thought she looked good. Her straight hair was left loose. Bambam had used (what he called) basic makeup. Jaebum had to admit her skin looked smooth, her lips were glossy and thanks to the power of eyeliner and mascara (Bambam’s words, not hers) her eyes popped.
After bidding farewell to her parents (her mom was half in tears, muttering “Look how pretty you are when you try”. Jaebum had decided to take that as a compliment) she made her way to Jinyoung’s to pick her up.
She rang the doorbell expecting Jinyoung’s mom to answer but instead she was greeted by Jinyoung.
As Jaebum had expected, Jinyoung looked like an angel. Her hair was left in soft curls down her shoulders and she wore a white full length dress that showed off her figure.
Jaebum couldn’t help but a feel a twinge of pride when she noticed the way Jinyoung stared at her open-mouthed.
Suddenly she felt herself he pulled into the house. “Jinyoung-ah? What’re you doing? We have to go soon.” She asked confusedly.
“We’re not going.” Jinyoung said resolutely, increasing her grip as she dragged Jaebum down the hallway. “No one else is allowed to see you like this.” She said firmly, looking Jaebum in the eye, daring her to disagree.
Jaebum grinned to herself, at Jinyoung’s possessiveness. Usually, their roles were reversed and she was the irrationally possessive one (In her defense anyone would be if they had a girlfriend like Jinyoung.)
Maybe she would dress up more often.