─── Four ───

    The subways weren’t very crowded around this time of day. It was late, 23:28, to be exact. A few hours had passed since my time with Sehun and he was all I could think about. But his name was tied to my regret now. It was by fate that we met again and I still didn’t take the chance. Thanks to my mistake, history would repeat itself. The situation may be different now, but my feelings were the same. Back then, he was so close to me—he lived next door—yet I could never get close to him.  Something always kept us apart. This time, though, it was me.

    Hwayoung sat in the living room furiously scrolling through her phone when I entered our apartment. She didn’t seem to notice me despite the fact I had practically kicked the door open out of my frustration. I passed by her to head to my room, but she was suddenly hot on my heels.

    “You!” she called. “You did EXO and Red Velvet’s makeup earlier, didn’t you?”

    “Yeah?” Just the mention of it made my heart drop! She wordlessly shoved her phone in my face. The screen was full of high quality images of EXO and Red Velvet’s stages. Most of them were of Kai, Baekhyun, and Sehun. The captions praised their performance, but they also gave high praise to the makeup. They called Red Velvet’s makeup “a princess look” and EXO’s “the look of a god.” She swiped her thumb across the screen to show me more posts. With each swipe, I could see more and more mentions of my name. I stared blankly at the screen for a second before starting to wonder how they found me. I didn’t really care, though. I just wanted to get into my bed and sleep off the heaviness in my chest. I knew it wouldn’t go away so easily, but at least it couldn’t hurt me while I was asleep.

    “Yah, where are you going? This is huge!” Before she could show me more pictures of Sehun, I walked away.

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁

    It had only been two days since it happened, but it was starting to consume me. He was all I could think about.  It seemed like no matter what I did, I couldn’t get away from him. Whenever I used my phone, an overflow of notifications about Sehun’s “godly” makeup would fill my screen. Whenever I tried to drown myself in work, Nari wouldn’t stop asking about Sehun and I. Whenever I tried to shut my eyes and sleep, that feeling of regret would creep in and keep me awake for hours. So on Sunday when I came home early from work, I was more than eager to accept Hwayoung’s invitation.

    “Hey, are you busy? Let’s go clubbing,” she suggested. She had cornered me when I came through the door, a tactic that she seemed to like using. It was effective, after all. She was already dressed in a short, black dress with a tan leather jacket draped over her shoulders. Her face was bare, yet her hair was styled. This was my first time seeing her without makeup even though we’ve been living together for a month.

    “Sure.” I mean, why not? Yeah, it was Sunday night and I had work tomorrow, but I needed this. Maybe a few drinks would take away this anxiety that followed me obsessively.

    “Great! I already laid out some clothes on your bed. Do my makeup, please?” Ah, so that’s what she wanted. We both entered my room and I eyed the ensemble she had put together for me—a black off-the-shoulder top with long sleeves and light washed jeans. It wasn’t something I’d pick out on my own, that’s for sure. Still, I liked it.

    “Do Red Velvet’s makeup on me. The princess look!” she directed. I nodded, pulling out some products from my beauty kit. I always had to be reminded of him, didn’t I? After about an hour and a half of getting ready, we started heading to Hwayoung’s favorite club, Nova. I was hesitant at first, considering Nova is in Itaewon which is somewhat far from our apartment, but she promised me it was worth it, and it really was. The moment we entered, the lively atmosphere perked me up. There were multicolored lights going wild throughout the room and the bass of the speakers resonating throughout my body refreshed me. Hwayoung pulled me through the club, immediately heading to the bar to start off with a round of shots. I hated drinking, but tonight, I felt different. I didn’t even mind when we joined a large group of strangers for soju.

    “Hey, aren’t you Park Jihae? The one who did EXO and Red Velvet’s makeup the other day? I think I saw your picture on SNS!” a girl said. Great. I signaled Hwayoung to pass me the whole bottle. This was going to be a long night.

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁

    “Are we done yet? My head hurts so bad!” I groaned to Nari, stopping in my tracks to wait for the throbbing to pass.

    “Aish, you’ve been complaining about that since this morning? What even happened?”
    “The club,” I sheepishly admitted. She shook her head.

    “Invite me next time.” It was our turn to close the salon tonight. We weren’t alone, though. Our boss was still in her office talking on the phone with a client, I presume. I placed my broom against the wall and sat at one of the stations, leaning my head backwards and shutting my eyes. My hangover was terrible, but I didn’t regret it. For once, Sehun didn’t plague my thoughts and I could go to sleep peacefully. I never got a chance to thank Hwayoung for dragging me home last night, now that I think about it. A loud knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. I was alarmed to see a man standing there. Why did he look so familiar?

    “I’m sorry, sir, but we’re cl—“ I began, only to be interrupted by my boss.

    “Let him in, Jihae.” They greeted each other with a bow and she beckoned Nari and I to follow them to her office.

    “You probably don’t remember me since I didn’t get to properly introduce myself the other night. I’m one of EXO’s managers. I’m here today on behalf of EXO and SM Entertainment with an offer for Park Jihae and Kim Nari.” The man placed three large envelopes on the table, one for each of us. I skeptically picked it up, turning it over to see SM Entertainment’s official logo. He really wasn’t lying. Our boss opened hers first, looking at Nari and I as a signal to do the same. I pulled out a thick packet from inside the light pink envelope.

    “I meant to formally schedule this meeting a few days ago, but we had to fight with Red Velvet’s manager,” he chuckled. “Last Friday night, I was unsure of your abilities at first, especially since there was only two of you, but you did so much better than the other beauty teams EXO has worked with. The members agree with me when I say that was the best they’ve ever looked. They felt so much more confident and ready for their fans, and they wish to feel that way all the time with your help. In short, we’re asking you, Park Jihae and Kim Nari, to legally become EXO’s official beauty team.” My heart was pounding like crazy. This was the promotion I was hoping for, and it was so much better than I could’ve ever imagined. Sehun and the rest of s wanted me to work with them. I thought a door had shut after my shortcoming, but now it reopened along with a thousand new doors. 

    “So what do you think? This contract isn’t explicitly binidng you to EXO. You’ll just have more of a responsibility to them than the rest of your clients and you’re still working under us,” our boss further explained. I was hardly listening to her. All I could hear were papers rustling. I was aggressively trying to find the part of the packet where I sign. I didn’t care about the fine print. With the flick and swirl of the pen that was so graciously provided by EXO’s manager, my fate was sealed. There was no turning back now.

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁