#marumina

Admittedly, Mina hadn’t been aware of his name until about a year ago despite the fact that the young actor had made his film debut when he was a teenager. He had been cast in many period pieces, but he had only gained recognition recently after playing a young detective in an action-thriller that had recently won him an Academy Award. It seems that now that he has gained fame, people - fangirls, especially - have realized just how handsome and talented he is, flocking to every movie he’s starred in, including a romantic comedy released just last week where Marco Bodt plays a frazzled salaryman with no time for love. Now, magazines like Rosé are clambering to have the actor’s freckled face grace their glossy covers.

The entire building had been abuzz when they had heard that Marco Bodt would be visiting for a photoshoot. Many discussed the possibility of getting an autograph or photo of the actor while others just whispered dreamily about this lucky chance to see the actor up close. Mina, however, did not participate in these idle conversations, choosing instead to focus on mentally preparing herself for this upcoming photoshoot. At best, Marco Bodt will cooperate with the artists and photographers involved and everyone will go home happy. At worst, he’ll be an absolute demon and the photoshoot will take several days instead of a few hours. She’s had too many bad experiences to expect the former, though. Admittedly, Mina probably shouldn’t be so harsh when it comes to judging celebrities. After all, it must be difficult for them to be constantly hounded by paparazzi, and she’s sure that the constant exposure is sure to wear them down eventually. Although, Mina thinks amusedly, one would think they’d have fewer problems with all the money they have. It is, however, this exact cynicism towards celebrities that causes her to become surprised upon meeting Marco Bodt, and she thinks that she has inadequately prepared for their meeting after she’s introduced to him.

“Mina Carolina?” The make-up artist looks up at the sound of her name and is surprised to see Marco Bodt in the flesh, standing in front of her with a box of donuts in his arms. On his face he wears a beaming smile that is just as bright as the one he had worn on the red carpet just a week before. She had been certain that his smile, like most smiles that celebrities wore at those events, was just for show, but up close she sees nothing disingenuous about it. When she meets his gaze, his smile seems to grow even larger, and he lifts the box of donuts out towards her. “I heard that we were working together today, so I bought you and your team some donuts. I figured it’s the least I could do since you guys are going to be working so hard today. Compared to everyone else, I’m pretty much doing nothing.”

It’s probably the first time anyone has ever given her a thank-you gift. The most she ever gets is a card, although those cards are usually addressed to the chief photographer. Usually, she and the other employees that worked behind the curtain were completely forgotten as soon as the photoshoot was over. The kind gesture surprises her so much that she doesn’t realize she’s been staring for a while until she notices the actor shifting awkwardly in front of her. Mina quickly clears her throat and gestures for Marco to sit down in her studio.

“Thank you, Mr. Bodt,” she says, taking the box of donuts from his hands and passing it to one of her coworkers to set on a nearby table. She gestures over to an intern, who hurriedly fetches Mina the make-up palette and brushes that were decided upon for today’s shoot. “You’re far too kind. It’s already enough that you’ve shown up.”

“It’s alright for you to call me Marco,” he tells her with a laugh. He’s silent for a moment, watching as Mina pours a dab of moisturizer on her fingers to apply on the actor’s face. “It really is you who is doing all the hard work. I’m just here to sit and take pictures … although it’s my first time modeling for a magazine as prestigious as Rosé. To tell you the truth, I’m kind of nervous. I would hate to mess this up for you guys.”

She’s sure that he’s only saying this to be nice, perhaps putting up the nice-boy facade that the public finds so appealing, but she’s surprised when she glances down at his hands and finds him gripping so tightly on the arms of his chair that his knuckles have turned white. Mina begins to think that perhaps she shouldn’t have assumed such cruel things about him. Even if he’s a celebrity, he’s a stranger to her and it’s not as if she knows his life.

After she finishes applying the foundation, Mina wipes her hands on a towel and reaches down to squeeze Marco’s hand lightly. “I’m sure you’ll do fine,” she tells him with an encouraging smile. Her words must have calmed him down because he returns the smile, but it’s bashful this time. “After all, you’re in good hands.”

“I’ll leave it to you then,” he replies.

Generally, Mina doesn’t like it when her clients try to converse with her while she’s applying their make-up. While she understands their need to fill up the silence, their moving jaws and tilting heads make it difficult for her to apply make-up properly. At times like these, she usually requests her clients to remain as silent as possible, but she finds that she doesn’t seem to mind it when Marco talks. As she converses with him, she finds that he’s far more relatable and easy to talk to compared to other celebrities. Rather than talking about himself and red carpet experiences that others can never connect to, Marco asks more about Mina and her experiences in the make-up industry, sometimes even speaking with the other artists and interns in the studio so that nobody feels left out. There are a few times where she requests that he pauses for a moment so that she can apply foundation properly, and he clamps his mouth shut immediately with an apologetic look on his face, but Mina always finds herself asking him another question so that she can get him talking again.

She finds him absolutely stunning when he speaks, and she’s grateful to be able to observe him up close as he talks. His strong jawline is even more prominent when she’s within inches of him, and she makes sure to highlight it as she goes about applying make-up. She does the same with his freckles, taking care not to cover up the golden spots sprinkled across his cheeks and nose. Above all, though, Mina finds that the natural upward curl of his lips - this hint of a smile - to be his best feature, and she’s certain that it will come in handy during the photoshoot.

Mina had never really seen the hype around Marco until meeting him. After seeing his movie, she did have to admit that the man was talented, but she still didn’t know why he had so many admirers or why they had put him on such a high pedestal. Now that she’s spoken with him, she understands their feelings completely. He’s more than just a Hollywood star with a nice-guy-next-door persona - he’s the real deal. Despite his fame, he remains humble and genuine, and Mina must confess that she’s swooning a bit after meeting the star. She didn’t really have any plans to check out the romantic comedy he starred in, but perhaps she should make time for it sometime this week.

The minutes fly by and Mina finds herself spending more time on Marco than she had originally intended. Instead of working as quickly as possible, she finds herself applying blush and concealer as slowly as possible, hoping to drag out the time they can spend together. She wonders if he notices at all. Before she knows it, it’s already thirty minutes have passed since the time Marco was scheduled to arrive at the photographer’s studio downstairs, and an under-paid intern has burst through the door, breathless and with her hair in total disarray, begging for Mina to finish up so that the photographer can get some shots in.

“Is it that time already?” Mina asks, surprised. A flush of pink creeps across her cheeks, and she wonders what on earth has gotten into her to cause her to waste all her precious time. “I’m terribly sorry. I’m just about done. Please wait a moment and we’ll be down there in a minute.” She apologizes again, this time to Marco, but the actor only shakes his head.

“You’re doing a great job. You’re only taking a long time because you want it to be perfect,” he tells her, but he’s only half-right.

Which is exactly why she’s sitting at the back steps of the school, eating the chocolates that had been meant for him because she knows she’ll never build up the courage to give them to him this year. Maybe she never will. Not confessing and then eating the chocolates meant for Marco have been somewhat of a tradition for her. And while she finds the other girls and their confessions – some even bold enough to even proposition him about pursuing a serious relationship in front of the entire class (which he always gallantly refuses, much to Mina’s relief) – she can’t help but admire them for being brave enough to be true to their feelings. 

Next time, Mina thinks. She pops a caramel chocolate into her mouth and expects to enjoy the silky, smooth caramel that follows after the chocolate has melted on her tongue but is surprised when she finds that she doesn’t really care for the taste of it right now. 

“Mina?” a familiar voice asks. When she looks up, she sees the kind smile and freckled face that always greets her in the morning. It’s usually a pleasant treat, but right now she’s mortified that Marco is watching her eat chocolates at the back of the school by herself. It must be such a pitiful sight. She nearly chokes trying to swallow the chocolate fast enough and prays that she doesn’t have any chocolate smeared on her mouth or teeth. Mina quickly closes the box and stands up, brushing herself off. “Marco!” she says. “What are you doing here?” “I was looking for you actually,” Marco says. If he thinks that Mina eating an entire box of chocolates out of self-pity is strange, he doesn’t show it. He’s holding his own box of chocolates – shaped like a heart and tied elegantly with a sparkly golden bow – and hands it out to her. “I was actually going to give this to you.” Mina’s jaw nearly drops to the floor. “Me? You want to give this to me?” she says incredulously. She doesn’t quite believe what she’s hearing, so she has to ask him a few more times. “You’re giving me chocolate?” “Yeah,” Marco laughs. “That’s okay, right? Or maybe you’ve already gotten some so…?”“No! This is great!” Mina assures him, taking the box from him before he can change his mind. It’s actually a rather large box – a lot bigger than someone would normally get – and she just has to ask if he’s giving this away because he already has too many. Marco raises his eyebrows at the question. “Not at all! I bought this one for you because it looked nice. Do you like chocolate caramel? Those are actually my favorite, but maybe it was a bad assumption to think you did too.” He rubs the back of his neck, giving her an apologetic smile. “You’re right though. I do get a lot of chocolate, but my mom usually eats it. I can’t eat a lot of sweets at once like she can, haha. Don’t let anyone else know though.” “I won’t,” Mina says softly. It’s just a little tidbit of him, something silly and trivial, but she can’t help but feel that this small piece of him is something intimate. A small secret just between the two of them. “Oh, hey!” Marco says as if he’s just remembering something. “Jean and the others invited me to the arcade. Did you want to come?” “It’s fine,” Mina says. It’s partly because she can’t really see herself hanging out with Jean’s crowd – they can be rather loud and rambunctious, especially if Eren and Jean are hanging in the same group – but mostly because she feels a bit selfish if she spends anymore time with Marco at this point. She can be satisfied with just this.