“It’s really you!” Sehun exclaimed, coming up towards me. He wrapped an arm around me for a second before quickly letting me go. He was tall, so much taller than I remembered, and his broad shoulders made him look so masculine. His face, too, was so exquisitely handsome. No one could ever match his beauty, it was unique to only him.

    “Uh, Jihae?” Nari murmured, elbowing me a bit while she styled Xiumin’s hair. He had a weird look on his face, his widened eyes staring off into the distance and his lips pressed together into a line yet curved up at the ends. To add onto that, Nari’s expression was a mixture of confusion and slight discomfort. Immediately, I became aware of all the eyes on Sehun and I. We did greet each other a bit too excitedly, now that I think about it. I could feel heat rising to my face and I started to shake a little while I picked up a foundation brush. Baekhyun was surely smirking at me in the mirror, but when I looked, it was gone. Sehun still stood next to me, taking a more casual position, now. He was babbling about how he never expected me to take up beauty as my career path. He didn’t notice everyone’s concentration on us. Up until now, his self-awareness in social situations was the same.

    “You didn’t even wear makeup before! I swear you were the last to start using cushions,” he snickered. I threw him a playful glare while I smeared product on Baekhyun’s face just for a touch-up. I could see Baekhyun’s eyes flicker slightly between Sehun and I, trying to pick up whatever he could. Nari, too, seemed to be all ears.

    “It definitely wasn’t my first choice, but it worked out.” Once the base was buffed into his skin, I went to pick up an eyeshadow brush. My hands hovered over the abundance of palettes before pausing. I had no idea what to do with EXO’s makeup, either. I tried to pretend that I was just being picky about which brand I wanted to use since Sehun was watching me, but I was trying to plan out an entire eye makeup in those few seconds. EXO had a darker concept than Red Velvet for sure, judging by their wardrobe that I packed. It consisted entirely of darks—black, navy blue, dark red, and dark grey. There wasn’t much texture to the fabric. However, it did have a lot of accessories like chokers and chains. My attention suddenly turned to Baekhyun, who sat patiently in the chair. He was known for his iconic eyeliner looks in the past, so no one would bat an eye if I went all-out. Besides, his recent makeup had been lacking severely. I resolved to single-handedly re-cement his place as the king of eyeliner with this one performance.

    “Oh my god!” Baekhyun and Sehun exclaimed when I announced it was done. Baekhyun hopped out of the chair to look closer in the mirror. Consequently, Sehun rushed up next to his hyung to better examine it. I couldn’t tell if their reactions were good or bad. Nari and I assumed the worse. Her head snapped towards me and I could see fear flashing through her eyes.

    “I’m sorry, I can redo it quickly, if you’d like!” I hurriedly offered, rummaging to find the remover.

    “No, no, no, it’s perfect! I love it!” Baekhyun yelled in excitement. “It reminds me of my old eyeliner.”

    “That’s what I was going for, actually. I wanted to do justice to your reputation as the eyeliner king.” Calling him the eyeliner king triggered something deep inside Baekhyun. He had on a Chesire Cat grin and it wouldn’t go away the whole night.

    “I’m speechless, really. I didn’t know you were this good at makeup!” Sehun added. I felt jittery getting praise from him, but my heart felt full. 

    “Me next!” Chanyeol exclaimed, shoving Sehun and Baekhyun out of the way. I flew through the rest of the members, noting how handsome and polite they all were. The member that surprised me the most, though, was Kai. I made sure to do a more dramatic look on him, as well, considering the cameras always panned to him during choreographies. I expected him to be more arrogant or perhaps flirty because of his killer expressions during dances, so I was surprised to discover that he was just as timid as Nari. He was more smiley than I imagined him to be. I still found it endearing, nevertheless.

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁

    “It’s my turn!” Sehun sang. He settled in the chair and watched me bustle around to pick up the right products. I decided earlier that I would let Sehun have the best makeup of them all. I specifically reserved dark red for him. It would be difficult to top Kai and Baekhyun’s eye look, but I was determined. 

    I was hesitant to touch his face, unlike the others. I could see every detail of him this close, even the small scar on his cheek. His skin was so light and smooth, his eyebrows perfectly arched, and his lips a soft pink. Each individual feature of his face was fine artwork on its own, but all of it compiled into one person? It could only result in one of the most beautiful men alive.

    “Last time we met, you had a boyfriend. Hyun…ki? No, Kim Hyunshik, wasn’t it?” he started. “Are you still together?” I snapped out of my thoughts. He was already asking about my relationship status? That was good, very good.    

    “No, we broke up. I had a few other boyfriends while I was studying, but I’ve been single for maybe ten months, now.” He bobbed his head in acknowledgement. What was he going to ask next? A date? Phone number? I bit my lip out of nervousness while I continued to gingerly swirl the brush in the crease of his eyes. Much to my disappointment, he didn’t say anything after that. He must’ve wanted me to focus on his makeup, or he had grown tired of talking so much.

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁

    Finally, EXO’s makeup was done. I clapped my hands while I examined each one of them all dressed up and ready for their stage. They all looked amazing. I was proud of my work on Red Velvet, but I was way more into EXO’s. I felt that I had more creative freedom with them and I didn’t have to hold back. If my boss still refused to acknowledge me after this, then maybe it was time for me to find a new job. This was the best of my abilities.

    “Oppa!” I called to Sehun. He turned to me, a smile on his face. I wanted to ask for a picture to send to our parents and if I felt bold enough, his Kakaotalk ID.

    “Jihae, thanks again! We have to get our mics, so we’re leaving now. Bye!” Next thing I know, the door closed and they were gone. Did I just miss my chance?

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁