"I'm not shy!"

Jungkook grinned as he scrolled through the menu. He knew that it was more accurate to describe Yoongi as "antisocial" rather than "shy," but he couldn't help teasing him. He also knew that Yoongi secretly enjoyed having people stay and visit, even if they didn't do much together. Yoongi might just sit in his studio all day, but Jungkook could tell that he was happier simply knowing that someone else was on the other side of the door.

Jungkook tried to stop by often since he wasn't that busy and he could usually get Yoongi to pay for his food. He'd ended up becoming a makeup artist, oddly enough, for a drama that was currently airing. Since they were only required to be on set three days a week to film, he had a lot of free time, which meant that he crashed at Yoongi's place fairly often unless they were filming somewhere farther away.

The job wasn't something that he'd have ever picked out for himself, but it had actually worked out pretty well for him. He didn't necessarily like being the center of attention, but he still liked the social buzz of large groups of people. He liked being part of that buzz. He liked people knowing his name, but not necessarily knowing him in any real sense. He liked the small, meaningless interactions on set. Taking part in making something happen. Knowing, when he saw the show on TV, that he had been a part of that.

It wasn't, by any stretch of the imagination, a particularly meaningful job, but he still felt like he was making a concrete impact, however small. That was really all he was looking for at the moment.

He'd worked a number of temporary jobs – coloring layers for a graphic artist, arranging displays for a shoe company, selling perfumes and colognes for a cosmetic brand – and that last job was what had led him to this. Being a makeup artist was certainly less work than hustling for a nine to five, even if he had to deal with stuck-up actors and actresses at times.

He honestly didn't mind it that much. He liked to make fun of them, and he didn't feel as bad about it when they were assholes to him first.

He was currently working on the set for a rather popular drama. The writing wasn't that good (he'd tried out some of the dialogue and had gagged), but they'd brought in this really pretty actress to play the lead. Jungkook didn't really think that she was that good, but everyone else seemed to think so. She was nice, at least. Not that she was Jungkook's client. The producers for the show had been very clear that females would do the females' styling and vice versa because they couldn't afford to have a big scandal blow up and ruin the show if it got out that the makeup artist was having an affair with an actor, etc.

Not that Jungkook really thought there was much of a show to ruin. He didn't really care for romance series altogether too much.

"So," Yoongi began after their chicken had been delivered (they were both too lazy to go pick it up). "The new show you're working on. What are the actors like?"

Jungkook groaned. "Ugh, hyung, you wouldn't believe the guy I'm assigned to," Jungkook said, fully ready to rant at length. He stood up to better pantomime. "So, just so you can picture this guy, okay, he's got these, like pointy ass eyebrows," Jungkook began, putting his index fingers over his own eyebrows for reference and tracing two lines outward at harsh angles. "And he only speaks in English – to get into character, he says – and so he'll say that he wants a little brown eyeshadow, and I pretend to not understand him because of course I'm just his ignorant little makeup artist, so I point to the orange, and he keeps repeating 'brown' louder and louder until other people are looking over at us, and I just keep pointing to the orange, until finally he takes the brush himself and jabs at the brown and I pretend to be so surprised and give him a thumbs up before smearing on the brown eyeshadow. And then he'll say that he wants eyeliner and I'll just keep pointing to the mascara." Jungkook collapsed back onto the futon, shaking his head and grinning. "And none of the staff get mad at me because everyone knows he's a pompous asshole. Who does he think he is, refusing to speak Korean?"

"He sounds horrible. I don't understand why you like this job," Yoongi commented bluntly, reaching for more chicken.

Jungkook snickered. "We call him the Queen of England behind his back."

Yoongi laughed along. "You know what Tae says about the Queen of England, right?"

Jungkook huffed, crossing his arms across his chest, but he didn't hold the position for long because he wanted to eat. He grabbed more chicken, his words becoming muffled as he tried to talk while he chewed. "That she's actually a robot clone of the original Queen of England, who died like fifty years ago. Yeah, I know."

"I honestly don't think he's that wrong on this one."

"Yeah, maybe he has a case," Jungkook conceded before jabbing a greasy finger towards Yoongi. "But, for the last time, I am not a robot."

"Hey, I don't care if you're a robot," Yoongi said with a shrug. "I hate people anyway. You be you, Android Jungkook. Or iOS Jungkook. I don't really care about brands, I'm not that superficial."

Jungkook rolled his eyes but achieved revenge by eating more chicken while knowing that he wasn't paying for any of it. He could chip in; he made enough money to get by as a makeup artist, but since he was only working three days a week, it wasn't like he was getting rich. He was trying to save up and maybe get a better place.

He'd been living in a cramped apartment for a few months now. He'd jumped at the offer because the rent was so low, but after living there for a week, he'd realized it was because basically everything was in a constant state of disrepair or almost breaking, and the neighbors were really loud. He'd thought about asking Yoongi if he could move into the guest room, but he knew that Yoongi probably wouldn't charge him rent, and he'd feel bad. He couldn't take advantage of him like that. Plus he didn't know where this job would take him, so it didn't make sense to move out immediately. So, at least for now, he'd save up money and wait to see what happened with the drama and if he got another offer after that.

"Hey, isn't Jin's girlfriend in the drama you're working on?" Yoongi asked, looking over at Jungkook.

"Is she?"

"Yeah, the lead actress. Isn't that her?"

Jungkook tilted his head, picturing her in his mind. "I mean, she's definitely pretty enough for Jin's standards. Not that I thought he cared about that, really, but people change. But you think it's her, really?"

"I think so," Yoongi said, getting up to wash off his hands before pulling out his phone and scrolling through the messages. "I don't think he ever sent a picture. But he mentioned the drama. It's gotta be her, right?"

"I don't think there's another big female role," Jungkook said. From what he understood, the show was really trying something groundbreaking in the romance genre by introducing a love triangle between the female lead and three guys. Really only two guys, though, because everyone knew the third guy would never end up with her, but maybe the show just needed more dialogue to extend the screen time or maybe they just needed to cast someone big to draw in the audience. Jungkook wasn't really sure.

"What's she like?" Yoongi asked, setting himself down on the floor and leaning his back against the couch. He put a hand on Microwave's head and rubbed softly.

Jungkook shrugged, adjusting slightly so his legs were curled up beneath him. "I haven't really had much contact with her. Us makeup artists talk amongst ourselves, though, and her makeup artist seems to think she's nice. Sort of removed, but that's pretty normal." Jungkook looked over at Yoongi. "Enough about her. Have you been talking with Jooheon lately? How's he doing?"

Yoongi nodded. Jooheon had been a friend of the family for a long time, as had his younger brother Hyungwon, and like Yoongi, Jooheon had chosen to go into music. Unlike Yoongi, he was focusing on his career as a rapper. Yoongi wasn't that interested in rapping himself, but he thought Jooheon sounded pretty good. He just sort of had a natural sense of rhythm and way of accentuating and de-accentuating syllables that made it sound, if not pleasant, then skillful. "He's doing well. I passed along his demo to my studio, but mixtapes aren't really in our wheelhouse. Still, maybe my producer will send it along to someone." Yoongi groaned, dragging his fingers down his face. "If my producer opens up his email. For someone who works in a technology-driven field, this guy is literally useless when it comes to anything with computers. When I first sent him my demo as part of my application, he said the sound file was silent and that I had to re-send it. So, after sending five additional copies, he finally calls me back to let me know that his volume had been off." Yoongi shook his head. "My producer, ladies and gentlemen."

"Maybe when I get fired from my makeup artist job, I can step in as his tech assistant," Jungkook suggested with a smile that hinted that being fired was an inevitability; the only question was when.

"Yeah, sure," Yoongi said with a laugh. "Have you ever worked with Ableton Live? Or Logic Pro? FL Studio? Cubase? Studio One?"

Jungkook's grin froze as the unfamiliar names of popular DAWs rattled off Yoongi's tongue. "...GarageBand?"

Yoongi just chuckled and shook his head.

--

published 06/02/20 (mm/dd/yy)