Even when not looking at her, Taehyeon can feel Eunji smirking at him. He pretends he can hear the academy teacher and elects not to entertain her immaturity.
"So, I still don't understand how you ended up being the leader of your group."
"I was the best man for the job," Taehyeon says quietly. He isn't doing very well in his efforts to ignore her.
"And how did that happen? What's wrong with everyone else?"
Taehyeon is calm and collected. He's mature and generally at ease. There is no way he will rise to Eunji's teasing.
"Bada is too gentle for the stress of a leader, Geonwoong is basically mute, and Dongmin is too annoying," Taehyeon says. "I never said I wanted to be the leader. It just happened by default because nobody else wanted to take the initiative. We'll see how good you are as a leader one day."
Completely unconcerned, Eunji flips her hair over her shoulder. "I hear that Hyejin is the leader of her room. Or tent. Whatever."
"I heard."
"She has lots of ideas for the talent show on the last night. She's confident her team will win. Do you have any ideas?"
"I'm not really bothered about the talent show," Taehyeon admits. Unfortunately for him he hears the phantom sounds of a familiar girl group song half-drowned out by cheers.
"I'm sure you're going to tell me all about Hyejin's wonderful ideas though." Taehyeon tries to sound entirely bored with the possibility but right now he needs something to drown out the vestiges of a persistent memory. However he sounds, it works. Eunji shuffles closer to his desk and sighs dreamily.
"I'll be honest, I suggested the cheerleader pyramid but all the rest of the ideas are hers."
"Cheerleader pyramid?"
"Not like the cheerleaders who dance at sports games here," Eunji says, waving away the idea almost as energetically as the windmilling arm choreography Taehyeon has seen on TV. "Like those American cheerleaders with the pom poms."
"You're so weird. You won't even be there. Why would you suggest something like that?"
"Well, I'm good friends with someone going on that trip and he could very kindly record it for me."
"How are you so well-connected to people at my school?"
Eunji's elbow is much sharper than it has any business being. Taehyeon is sure he can't possibly be bleeding but he surreptitiously checks just in case.
"I was talking about you, dummy. She said she'll think about it anyway. That's just her way of rejecting my idea without hurting my feelings too much. I think she'll actually try a quick-change performance or some sort of idol routine."
Taehyeon must be the wrong sort of leader. He genuinely hadn't thought about what to do at the talent show. He only knows what he absolutely won't do. There isn't anything beyond pride they'd win in the talent show but now he's worried Bada secretly wants that pride more than anything.
"Oh, I just thought of an idea for your group. How about a magic show?"
"I can't do magic," Taehyeon says. Eunji thankfully doesn't look like she wanted him to reject her kindly the way that Hyejin had.
"You only need to know one trick. You can make that guy's glamorous and sophisticated university girlfriend appear."
Taehyeon changes his mind. He's happy to be tormented by the gay thoughts summoned by a titillating Rainbow song.
Preparing to pack for the week away, Taehyeon isn't sure how to go about things. Taeri was suspiciously eager to help but the fact she's doing nothing but laughing at videos on her phone oddly settles Taehyeon's nerves. Of course she was never going to be useful but he had worried she might start interrogating him about Bada's brother or something. That being said, it is unusual of her to spend time in Taehyeon's room.
"Are you going to lend me any of your skincare when I'm gone for the week?" Taehyeon asks. She looks distracted enough to give him the answer he wants but her eyes turn sharp as she looks up at him.
"If you're hoping for miracles, you should have asked me to buy you something expensive the last time I flew. It would be a waste to take something expensive now. It won't have time to work. You'll have to pretend your greasy forehead is intentional."
Disappointed, Taehyeon presses his fingertips to his forehead. He is a bit oily but he's managed to avoid social-life destroying breakouts so far. "What if a giant zit appears? Don't you have anything for emergencies?"
There is no need to specify that Taeri is prone to bright red volcanoes erupting over her face. Taehyeon is hoping that not mentioning that aloud will earn him something which could save him if everything else goes wrong.
Taeri gives Taehyeon an appraising look and shuffles off his bed inelegantly.
"Wait right here."
Taehyeon only has time to contemplate whether button-up shirts would make him look fashionable or nerdy. A small packet hits him in the back and something else is chucked onto his bed.
"The patches are invisible. Well, it works that way if I wear them under makeup. If you take some face masks with you, you'll be able to hide any patches on the lower half of your face. If you need to use any on your forehead you can just keep your fringe down," Taeri says confidently. Her arms are folded across her chest but she is entirely at ease whilst leaning against the doorframe. "The face wash is good before bed. It really blasts your skin but you'll be really dry in the morning. You should be able to get away with a lightweight moisturiser if you reapply it throughout the day. Don't even think about just using a thick cream or applying all the layers in one go. It won't work and you'll just be flaky and oily at the same time and then I'll have to disown you."
The thin box of zit patches is open but it looks as though none of the sheets have been used. The face wash is a full-sized product too. Taehyeon was expecting whatever free samples Taeri had to hand. "Wow. Thanks."
"Can you not even pretend to act grateful?"
"I am grateful," Taehyeon protests. "What do you want me to do? Saying thank you is normal."
"You're so annoying. And look at all your clothes; they're terrible. You should have warned me this was everything you had so I could have taken you shopping or something."
Still holding onto the donations from Taeri, weighing up the kindness in his hands, he wonders whether there is something wrong with his sister. She's never usually like this. She'd sooner make fun of an outfit he worked really hard on than offer to fix the problem. Maybe she's just saying this because it is an offer she won't have to act upon.
There's nothing wrong. Taehyeon is just being too sensitive lately.
"Thank goodness you never took me shopping," Taehyeon says, "my life would have been over if anybody saw us together."
Taeri lobs the nearest (soft) projectile at him. The force in her throw is gentler than expected but the pillow wasn't going to do him damage anyway. This is at least normal for the two of them.
"I'm sure everyone already knows how unlucky I am to be stuck with a brother like you. We need to pack your best clothes so you don't look like a total loser. Does Bada have anything you can borrow?"
"If he has anything, he's probably going to be wearing it himself."
"How selfish," Taeri mutters. She starts digging through the piles of Taehyeon's clothes and pulls faces at everything she holds up to inspect. Taehyeon tries his best to help out but Taeri loudly complains about how terrible his taste is. Taehyeon doesn't have many hopes for Taeri's style but he's due a miracle eventually.