"You would look so good with a shoulder-length style," Jeongsoo stated, staring at Lotus with his chin resting on his palm.
He didn't have anything in front of him at the table. Not a book, not his phone, no dishes. He was just sitting there cluelessly.
She stopped reviewing the answers Jin put down for his homework and looked up at him in confusion. "What...?" She asked.
Jeongsoo seemed to light up as she acknowledged him. "Let me cut your hair, Lotus!" He chirped, bouncing in his chair from excitement at the chance he might be able to.
"Uh," She covered the top of her head with wide eyes, "I like my hair now. I can do a lot of styles."
Her hair wasn't too short so she could put her hair up in a wide variety of updos and it wasn't too long so it wasn't much of a mess to deal with. She even liked how it would fall over the sides of her face and make her feel less vulnerable.
Jeongsoo pursed his lips and folded his hands, "Please, my dear baby sister! Please! I'll give you bangs!"
"I don't think bangs look good on me." She rejected him.
"Then I'll give you curtain bangs!"
She bit the inside of her cheek, thinking over her answer. He looked so eager to cut her hair, she felt bad for not letting him. But she just couldn't bear to change her hair right now. If she turned out not liking how the haircut looked on her, she would have to struggle looking at it until it grew out. And that could be months and months!
Shaking her head once more, she replied, "I'm so sorry, Jeongsoo. I just like my hair this way. I'd get clip-on bangs if I wanted them. But you can trim my split ends if you want..."
"Fine," He whined, "I really wanted to practice on a real person, too."
Jeongsoo almost looked comical as he slumped over, pouting like a child. For being the oldest, he still retained a youthful quality on the level of Cole, who was only 8.
"...Have you passed your recent test?" Lotus hesitated to ask.
"Duh, I have passed it! That's why I want to practice on someone instead of some plastic head!" He sighed.
"That's good!" Lotus chirped in an effort to cheer him up.
"Is it though?" He dramatically groaned out.
He had passed the recent test they had but he still wasn't able to test his knowledge on someone who could talk! He went into those classes to deal with actual clients! Sure, he wasn't regretting dropping out but he was beginning to get impatient.
"It is! That means you're good at it!" She exclaimed, "You'll be able to cut your own hair soon! Maybe? Probably?"
He only sighed. Cutting his own hair wasn't the same! He wanted to hear the feedback, have that experience of communicating with someone while he did their hair! Doing his own hair couldn't give him that...but—!
"Wait! I can teach you!" He leaned forwards, "I'll teach you how to cut hair! And how to keep your own healthy and gorgeous!"
While she did love her hair how it was, it wasn't the best. Split ends and dryness seemed to be a problem for her. She felt that just washing it with any shampoo and conditioner would do, but from how the not so good-not so bad condition her's was in, that was only half of it.
She nodded, "That sounds like a good idea."
"Come on, I have a few long wigs in my room!" He excited said and stood up.
Lotus panicked and stared down at the sloppy handiwork of her other brother on the papers she was originally busy with.
"Wait! I have to finish checking Jin's work."
He quirked a brow. "And? You always do his homework. He can deal with having a few wrong answers. Not like he'll do differently on his tests."
She frowned and lifted the remaining pages to count them. There were so many more answers to perfect. Jin wasn't the best education-wise so there'd be more wrong answers if she didn't attempt to correct them. And this helped her get a gist of what she would be doing next year!... And she didn't want him to fail.
"Yeah, but–"
He cut her off, "–You can always finish it later. This will be quick!"
Not like that convinced her much. Before he could open his mouth to beg more, she gave him a nod and stood up. Though, not before putting all of the papers into a pile and setting the pencil on top.
"Heck yeah!" Jeongsoo cheered and grabbed the back of her shirt as he passed, dragging her away from the table.
"Wha—" She let out a soft strangled cry as she tried to keep up with him.
He let go of her shirt once they reached the stairs and proceeded to run up them, leaving her to struggle to keep up with him. But, dang, she couldn't. He was already gone and she was barely to the top.
'I need to go up these more.' She thought to herself, holding her chest as she felt her heart rate spike just the tiniest bit.
It was most likely because he had just upped and dragged her after him with his huge strides that she could barely keep up with. But it would still be nice to run up and down them sometimes.
As she neared the door to the room shared by the three oldest, she slowed down, gradually coming to a halt just in front of the threshold. They shared a room. And she didn't want to intrude, especially if Chance was in there.
"What are you doing standing here? Come in already." Jeongsoo said once he spotted her.
She let out a barely audible groan of hesitance before peeking inside, checking around. She felt a bit better once she saw the sheet on the bottom bunk-bed moved enough to see onto the mattress. Chance wasn't there at all and his grey covers were still tucked in neatly, signalling he hadn't come back yet. She still slightly shivered and entered, standing on the cluttered side of the room that belonged to Jeongsoo.
Aside from the clutter, one could tell who owned which side. Jeongsoo's side had the only desk in the room with a mannequin head with a wig on it, something which didn't fit the other two at all.
Jeongsoo was fixing a long grey wig on that mannequin head. He held it up and stared in admiration before he placed it on a fascinating stand that looked similar to a mic stand.
"This here is Cookie." He introduced her to the head.
"She's a beauty, isn't she? You'll be giving her a trim. I'll show you how-to on—" He turned to his shelf and grabbed a second head leaving one left on the shelf to stare at Lotus, "—Frosty. Don't ask about the names. Let me go find a wig I'm willing to sacrifice."
"Um...Why do you have wigs anyway?" Lotus questioned, not remembering him ever wearing one. She glanced at the last head on the stand, rocking back and forth as Jeongsoo's back was turned. She swore she could see its eyes following her.
"Sometimes I like to go out with a wig on. No biggie." He answered and he carefully rummaged through one of his drawers. Lotus stood on her tip-toes to look at its contents, ignoring the third head. She slowly blinked once she saw what was in the drawer; He had a lot of wigs.
"How'd you get so many? I thought a good wig was expensive." Lotus furrowed her brows, thinking back on all the wigs she had seen when she was surfing through online shops. They were all a lot of money, at least more than what he had.
"I find ecchi for my friend. His mom works at a wig shop." He simply stated.
Lotus slowly blinked before asking, "What's ecchi?"
She swore that word rung a bell. It was mentioned in one of the threads she frequented, but she couldn't remember the topic. The most she could remember was making a mental note to look it up but then forgetting said mental note. Good thing she was reminded, but her phone was in her room.
"Don't worry about it," Jeongsoo waved her off.
She had already taken notice of the way he tensed when she had asked. It just made her more curious.
"Jeongsoo, what's ecchi?" She repeated, her brows upturning.
His head slowly turned to her and he stared for a minute. His blank expression made a twinge of anxiety crawl up her neck. She was about to tell him to forget the question but he quickly, but awkwardly, chuckled.
"Lotus, my precious baby sister, I love you dearly. Enough to not tell you about it, so, please drop this."
She blinked once more before gasping slightly. Ecchi! She had scrolled past that section because it was NSFW! She went flustered and covered her mouth, wide eyes piercing into Jeongsoo's skull. He was looking up shameful stuff, wasn't he?!
Lowering her hands from her mouth, she squeaked, "Is it kind of like some of those scenes in some josei manga?!"
It was his turn for his eyes to widen in shock. "Josei—?! Aren't those supposed to be for mature audiences? What are you doing reading stuff like that?" He scolded her.
"What's so bad about it?" She folded her arms with a soft pout, "Have you not read Yakuza Lover or Hotaru's Way? Okay, Hotaru's Way isn't the best example, but I enjoyed it!"
He pinched his nose and groaned. "If you don't tell mom and dad about my content dealings, I'll leave this be."
"Deal!"
He sighed and returned to looking through his wigs. It was nerve-wracking exposing yourself but at least they both knew that they could both keep a secret! It's not like either would risk getting in trouble by tattling.
"Okay! Now!" Jeongsoo pulled out a slightly shorter lime green wig and placed it on the bare mannequin head he had set on the other stand, smoothing down the top.
"That's a bright colour..." Lotus trailed off.
It felt like it could light up the whole room better than the sun shining into the room from the window in front of the desk. Not to mention that the shiny glisten where the sun hit the top of it wasn't helping the brightness. It was neon but in a bad way.
Jeongsoo hummed in agreement, "And it's one of my cheaper synthetic wigs, so there's no loss here."
He held out a pair of barber shears and two combs which she cautiously grabbed, looking between the combs without a clue of what she had to do.
"We're going to do blunt cutting today." He announced before taking his place in front of his mannequin head, "First, we gotta learn the areas. The fringe area is in the front, duh. Anyone knows that."
He tapped the crown of the head with his comb, "This is the top."
The end of the comb moved to the edge of the hairline near the temple and trace back before stopping above the ear and sliding it down to the tip, "This area is the side. From the tips of the ears and—"
Lotus struggled to trace on her wig as she tried to memorize the area. It should've been easy, but he was talking without stopping to make sure she was understanding what he was saying.
"And under the back area is the nape. There you go, the area!" He then placed his comb on top of the head, "I like using my pin tail comb for parting, but we'll use a rat tail for today, m'kay? Just watch because I need to explain these basics just so you know them. Then we'll get to the learning of how to do a little trim!~"
'Rat tail...? Pin tail...? What?!' She shouted in her mind, biting her tongue as she glanced at the comb he had.
"So, you see where this comb's end goes off the head? That's where the fringe starts." He explained, the words before being blurred out by Lotus' mind.
She rushed to copy his action of gathering the fringe, but couldn't clip it with a purple hair clip unlike him. She was just making sure she knew how to part the areas, she didn't need to clip them.
"For the sides, just below this parting near the temple is where it starts and it goes over from here to here, just like a showed you a minute ago," She had looked back at her wig for just a second and missed what he had demonstrated, "And stops right at the top back of the ear."
From where to where?! She swore she understood him slightly when he showed her the first time when he was merely pointing them out, not parting them yet, but she now couldn't understand. It felt like her eyes were swirling as she tried to part the sides just for the experience.
"Of course, you have the upper part of this all gathered and parted, but the bottom is where it gets you. You part the top area on the lower crown."
'When did he clip the top?!' She internally shouted in panic.
"Right about here!"
'Wait, where?!'
"—Just above the sides. The back area lines up with the sides! Usually, stops around the mid-top of the ear, you know? This area and the top are where you usually get your layering done." He continued to explain, ignorant to the turmoil inside her mind.
And no, she still did not know. This was confusing her, no matter if he was trying to use terms she could understand because she couldn't understand it! She had a feeling this was easier than it was right now.
"Then the nape is what's left." He gestured to the bottom and she nodded along, pretending she could understand with lips tightened into a line, "The nape is very important even if it's at the bottom. If you mess up with cutting this section, you'll mess up the length and sometimes the shape. Not a good mistake if you do it. Obviously, any mistakes with your hair aren't very good. But, this area also deals with the graduation."
"Where you hold the hair also makes a difference, Lotus!" She tensed as he looked over to her, "You'll get shorter hair in the front and longer in the back if you hold the hair towards the front and vice versa."
He seemed to grin, confident that he aced his little beginner's lesson. "Great, now that you know the areas! Let's trim!" He chirped.
Though, he did make sure to make one thing clear, "And, remember, when hair is moist, it stretches. When it's dry, it doesn't stretch as much. So it's best to remember this when cutting your hair. It makes a very, very big difference. We'll be cutting these wigs now." He pursed his lips and patted the wig on his mannequin's head, "Yes, poor babies."
Hey, she doesn't judge. She talks to her plushies, he talks to his wigs and heads. Nothing too weird here...
Jeongsoo took out the clips and combed through the wig while making sure it didn't try to fall off the head. "So, we'll be cutting these dry. Because you don't want anything too dramatic, just the split ends trimmed, when it's dry you can see them so much better. We'll be reflecting that...enough on these wigs."
"Honestly, split ends are tiny, but under lights, when you pull the hair up, you can kind of see them. The light reflects off of them. And you can see the hair almost loses strength at the ends. They get thinner, right?"
He took strands and leaned back so the sunlight hit the wig. Lotus followed and leaned back enough for the sun to glint off the wig hair in her hold. No, she couldn't see any split ends on the synthetic hair which probably wouldn't be able to obtain split ends. Not that she knew because she wasn't familiar at all with wigs. Makeup? Fashion? Sure! Hair like Jeongsoo? Skincare like Chance? Nutrition like Jin— even if he ignored what bad things he ate daily but loved calling out his brothers and at times Lotus for eating like shit? No.
"Now, as you can see, the shape of my wig is similar to yours. It's long, it's got that shorter in the front, longer in the back shape. Like a point. We're blunting that out, today, ma'am." He moved to the back of the head with Lotus following and standing behind her's, staring in confusion as he parted his wig vertically, "Do a parting of the top and back area but, like, slash it in the middle. Middle, to the occipital bone to the ear. Just like this."
She reluctantly followed the best she could, using one of the alligator clips to clip that section just like he did. Middle to the...occipital bone? What the heck was that? And then to the ear...She was sure she did that same thing as Jeongsoo and did the same to the other side, leaving the nape area free. It wasn't so bad...even if it didn't look as much of a clean part as his.
"Now we got that nape, the bottom part. Look at where it's strong. Where is it thicker?" She began to sweat as stared at her wig. How? "Start there. Put the hair in your comb, tap it down. Yes, with the teeth pointing to you. I already said this but again, I like to use the fine-tooth comb, the one without the rat tail. It's just my preference."
Jeongsoo was already lowering the comb through the hair and she was just putting the comb in the hair! There's no way she was going to do this right! She needed his additional help, but he just kept talking!
"Bring it to the end and start cutting it across. Make sure you try to keep it as straight as you can. When you get done cutting, do it again, hold it between your fingers and clean it off. Lightly." He snipped at the end just a few times before combing through the nape section once more and going to the other edge, "And then do it to the other."
'Wha— I— Uh...' She could feel her brain slowly stop functioning as she snipped at the strand of hair between her fingers. She pales as it slid from her fingers before she was able to do anything else.
Well, that was that. She was too far behind and she needed to get the rest.
"You continue to do that with the rest of the shape, okay?" Jeongsoo hummed out, cleaning up his cut.
"Okay?" Lotus answered, clearly unsure of what she was agreeing with.
Jeongsoo looked towards her, eyeing the wig before smiling. "You got it!" He chirped and turned back.
Did she? Did she really? She felt like she was cutting the wig mindlessly. But, she was just going off on her own at this point doing what she felt was a little bit right.
She ended up finishing it all quickly with her...technique. To her, it looked...okay. It was uneven but she did the best she could! No matter how hard she tried to even it out, it always seemed lopsided. Jeongsoo wasn't a good teacher, that's for sure.
"And...done! Isn't that just wonderful?" He sang out and stepped back from the head.
She frowned as she stared at his wig. It looked so cute and put together. Hers looked like some guy was surviving a post-apocalyptic world and kept barely dodging blades.
"Your's looks better!" Lotus exclaimed.
"I'm sure your's is..." He stopped himself when he fully looked at her wig and covered his mouth to hide the amused grin that was popping up.
"It looks good for a first try!" He encouraged her, "Though it is a bit uneven and choppy... It looks aesthetic!"
Yeah, sure, aesthetic. She just deadpanned and gave a robotic nod.
"There's always next time! Let's get this mess cleaned up and~ I can trim your hair!" Jeongsoo chirped, reaching over to lightly pat the top of her head.
He took her mannequin head off of the stand and set it on his desk and plunked the wig off of it. With a tense smile, he put the wig back into his wig drawer. It looked like it pained him to do so.
"Oh, trimming...I thought you forgot about that," She sighed, "Can we do it tomorrow?"
Jeongsoo huffed and grabbed the other head and snatched its wig off, "You're so lucky I'm going to meet up with my friends later. But yeah, we'll do it tomorrow. And I mean tomorrow!"
He paused and dropped both the wig and head on his desk, clasping his hands together. "Actually!~ I have an idea! I never get to spend time with you because you're always inside and always 'busy'. So how about you come hang out with your big brother?! I'm beginning to feel like Jin's the favourite brother here!"
Lotus squinted at him, "...Where are you going?"
"To Jae-Wook's."
That guy. He was nice and used to visit them a few years ago. Honestly, she hadn't seen him since then, but she knew he was still a good friend of Jeongsoo's since he would mention his name from time to time.
"Luna and Yujin are going to be there. They're not like Chance's crew if that's what you're worried about." He added.
Still, she felt anxious about crashing their friends' hangout. It would be awkward for him to bring his little sister. Especially since his friends were just a year away from being an adult or were young adults already.
So, she wanted to decline until she saw his pleading expression. Maybe she did spend more time with Jin.
"I guess I'll go..." She relented, watching as he threw his fist into the air triumphantly.
"Awesome!" He cheered briefly. "But seriously, go get the broom. I'll tell you a hair routine that you should be doing while we clean."
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This is it. They were in front of a door in a nice apartment building, having already knocked. Lotus lingered behind her older brother, not so hyped about this situation. But she needed to push all of her insecurities to the back of her mind for Jeongsoo!
The door opened and she took it back. She could not push all of her insecurities to the back of her mind. Where were her securities? She needed something to soothe her mind if she had to spend the next few hours around big people.
"Is that Lotus?~" The guy who answered the door cooed after catching a glimpse of her behind Jeongsoo, "I haven't seen her in so long."
"Yep!" Jeongsoo chirped and moved enough so Lotus could be seen more
She cracked an awkward smile and waved. What was she supposed to say or do? If she said hello her voice probably would've cracked and it would embarrass her. If she did anything else, she'd probably stay up late thinking about it.
"You've gotten a little taller." The guy, obviously Jaewook by the thick brows and angular features, commented. And did he mature more over these few years! He even had a little bit of facial hair.
But why he was acting like a family member who just visited after ten years? She didn't know. She just followed Jeongsoo inside and was faced with four more people. Great! Haha...Darn it.
"Who's the girl?" One of them questioned, quirking a brow.
Of course, they would notice her straight away. She thought maybe if she was quiet, she wouldn't have any attention set on her. She was wrong as always. Hoping for the best was for nought with her so she had no idea why she kept doing it.
"She's Jeongsoo's sister, Lotus," Jaewook answered.
"Lotus, huh?" One of the girls hummed out, "It looks like Jeongsoo and Yujin finally get to be one of the older ones of the group today."
"Luna!" The other girl, who she assumed was Yujin, bashfully exclaimed.
Luna was a tall woman who looked stunning. Lotus felt just a bit of envy at how attractive she was. Her bleached blonde hair was to her chin in an angled bob, a contrast to her dark brows. The blonde of her hair mixed with the glossy gradient redness of her lips.
'Wow...' Lotus awed at how stunning the woman looked and dressed. This woman had the boobs to perfectly pull off the strapped black and beige top she wore, too! It would look like a disaster on Lotus.
The others weren't too bad looking either. Yujin was apparently the younger one and she didn't look as out there as Luna, but looked sophisticated with her fishtail skirt! The round glasses that settled on her nose and the way her hair was tied back just added to the cultivated flare.
The last girl was just as beautiful, with black hair that had white strands in the front. When she smiled, Lotus could see a gap between her two front teeth. She was the most inviting one to Lotus, making her feel a bit warmer.
Jaewook and the other guy didn't interest her as much. In fact, the unnamed guy was still scrolling on his phone. He probably didn't even know she was there.
"Se-yeon, pay attention." Jeongsoo huffed, clapping his hands.
"I am!" The guy groaned out and looked up.
"This is my little sister. She already knows Jaewook. Lotus, that's Se-yeon Son. Luna Myung and Ava, they go to classes with me along with Se-yeon. And we have Yujin Ho who was and still is going to a school near my old one!"
"Hi." Lotus meekly greeted them, and that voice crack appeared. Even better!
Jeongsoo gave her a comforting pat on her back and led her to sit beside Luna and Seyeon. She glanced at the two, her stomach flipping. She wanted to sit by him or Ava.
"Look at you!~" Luna cooed out, "Jeongsoo is so lucky having such a cute little sister!"
"Thank you?" She replied, gawky in tone.
"Ah! I'm just too envious!" Luna began to complain, fanning her face, "I've always wanted a brother or sister!"
"Luna, don't be overbearing," Se-yeon spoke up.
Luna only clasped her hands together, batting her lashes at Lotus. "Do you mind if I claim you as my sister?" She asked, ignoring what the guy had said.
"No?" Lotus answered.
"Perfect! Just call me big sis!"
Big sis? That was a peculiar suggestion. However, Lotus could deal with it.
"For someone whose the oldest here, you're immature," Se-yeon pointed out, not at all affected that the woman brushed him off the first time.
"Shut it you," Luna teasingly snapped at him.
She rested her chin on her clasped hands, a smile curling the ends of her lips, "So, Lotus, are you thinking about going into fashion like Yujin?"
"Fashion?" Lotus looked off in thought before shaking her head, "Not really."
Fashion was nice. Mixing articles of clothing, matching them together. Discovering new clothes! That would be invigorating, but not to Lotus. Yes, she liked dressing up and planning out clothing, but she didn't like it as much as thinking up how to decorate a room! Or coming up with cool room decor! She just couldn't see herself going into the fashion world.
"What? But you seem like you would come up with some good designs." Luna pouted.
"Hm...I do like designing. But I'm not sure fashion is for me." She could feel sweat beginning to form as she answered.
Man, she needed to get a hold of her shakiness. She clenched her hands in her lap in hopes none of them caught it.
"What do you want to do in your future?" Luna interrogated.
"I want to be an interior designer! Or an event planner!" Lotus chirped, confident in what she had said. That was a first for her!
Luna gasped in excitement, her smile widening. "If you need help building your portfolio in the future, you can plan my wedding!" She quickly added, "If I ever get married."
Now that got Lotus' attention. Planning a wedding! That would be so fun for her! She would make it perfect if she ever did plan one! A great venue, a detailed schedule, and a stress-free day for the bride and groom.
"Really?!" Lotus exclaimed.
"But that's if I ever settle down. You understand, right?" She wiggled her brows.
"Uh, yeah!" Lotus chirped, not sure if she should say she didn't understand. She truly did not and she wasn't sure if she wanted to understand where she was coming from.
Jeongsoo wedged his way between her and Luna, waving a deck of cards around. Lotus had to mumble an apology to Seyeon as she was squished against him to the point he had Ava leaning off of the arm of the couch for space.
"Hey, Lotus! Want to play poker?" Jeongsoo asked her, similar to a puppy.
"I don't know how to play," She stated.
"I can teach you!" He replied.
Yeah, no. That meant she probably wouldn't understand anything other than what the cards were. She would be the first to lose or test their patience if she did more than enough wrong moves.
"No thank you." She politely declined.
He sighed and slid off the couch, onto the floor. "Alright," He uttered.
"I'm playing," Se-yeon piped up and moved to the floor with Jeongsoo. The others followed suit, all excluding Luna.
"Luna?" Ava questioned, "Gonna play?"
"Nah, let me keep my new sis company!" She exclaimed.
"Suit yourself," Ava said, looking towards Jeongsoo to make sure he wasn't cheating as he passed out the cards.
Finally, Lotus was able to take her phone out without feeling as if it was disrespectful. It wasn't like she had anything else to do so no one could hold it against her. She eagerly turned it on and opened one of the apps,
Her thumb tapped against the screen as the start-up screen appeared. It wasn't like it would make a difference, but she desperately wanted to play the game some. It was one of her time passing games.
"Oh? What're you playing?" Luna questioned, peering down at Lotus' screen in interest.
"Implosion."
"Huh," Jeongsoo titled his head back to peer at her, "I thought you hated violence."
"I do...But the graphics are so awesome!" Lotus explained, "And this isn't real and it's not that violent to me! I can handle this more. I still feel super off with it, but it's fun."
"That's understandable," Jeongsong commented, focusing back on his cards.
"You're almost like a pacifist!" Luna gasped, "That's actually oddly fitting."
"I guess it is," Lotus absentmindedly agreed.
ns 15.158.61.46da2
