It started with Sophia opening her makeup pouch like she was revealing ancient treasure.

She laid it out on the floor dramatically, zippers unzipped with flair, brushes aligned like sacred tools. “We’re getting ready,” she announced proudly, as if you all had somewhere to be.

You blinked from where you sat on the bed, already in pajamas, hair tied up, holding a half-eaten rice cracker. “…For what?”

“Nothing,” she replied immediately, digging through her eyeshadow palettes with purpose.

Yoonchae looked up from her phone, not even blinking. “She means literally nothing. She just wants to use the new palette she bought because it has ‘cosmic shimmer’ in the name.”

“It’s not just a palette,” Sophia hissed dramatically, flipping her hair. “It’s a muse. A vision. An era.”

You squinted. “That sounds like what someone says before they bedazzle my forehead.”

Sophia grinned, already unsheathing a makeup brush like a sword. “And yet you’re still here.”

Yoonchae sighed, locking her phone and rolling over. “I tried to leave last time. She pulled me back with lip gloss.”

You tilted your head at Sophia. “Okay, but why me?”

“Because your face,” she said sweetly, pointing the brush at you, “is free real estate. And this—” she held up a tube of concealer like it was gold, “—is property development.”

“Girl,” you deadpanned.

“She’s not wrong,” Yoonchae added. “You’re pretty even without makeup right now. It's a waste not to paint you.”

“I don’t know if that was a compliment or a scam,” you muttered.

Sophia crawled over with highlighter in hand. “Both. Now sit still. I’m about to change your life.”