► Choi S e o h e e :

I stepped in, closed my eyes and waited for the stream of warm water to touch my skin. When it did it was soothing, for all I could hear was the water beating against the floor tiles of the shower cubicle and its gurgling as it exited the drain. Then, when I was expecting it the least, darkness consumed my thoughts and I plummeted into vacuum. A different dimension, almost, or so I thought.

I wasn’t sure what to do so I kept my eyes closed the whole time. Suddenly, my poor ears were visited by a metallic clashing. I woke, only to realise that my feet were no longer fixed on the wet bathroom floor, but a gloomy, snowy path that stretched into the horizon. My eyes followed along it, then across an icy bridge, and before the road ended it reached an edifice, a castle almost, that stood really tall, towering over even its biggest visitors. The intervening space between each obstacle was huge, so I didn’t even think about going to it.

I looked around me, eyes darting so quick it was dizzying. Spiky gates that shot into the sky, if there was a sky at all, enclosed the area. It reminded me of those secrete haunted villages one would see on television, uninhabited and hidden between the mountain valleys, away from any sort of connection. Or, for all I knew, perhaps everyone was preparing for a siege.

I waited as the panorama sunk itself into my brain, its unprotected façade only broken when a boy my age appeared before me, a lynx pendant dangling from his thin, pallid neck. His evil eyes were as sharp as his face, shining like azure gems from under his hazel hair, threatening to the soul out of me. The outfit he wore matched also the black of the obsidian throne he was perched on, the white of the snow in the background bringing out his most fierce, wicked characteristics. There was a blood-stained dagger in his lap.

Then, a clock somewhere struck twelve.

“Seohee…”

“…Seohee…”

But before I knew it, I was back in the shower cubicle, the cold piercing my skin and sending chills down my body. I opened my eyes to an outlet of water above me, a tingling sensation beneath my skin. I waited for my eyes to adjust back to the light in the bathroom, and then ascertained my surroundings, relieved once again when the smell of my shampoo reminded me of the night to come.

The flashbacks had been happening more frequent lately.

I turned the shower tap off, finding comfort as the last sprinkle of water trickled down and cleansed my body. Drying my feet on the bathroom mat now, I stepped out of the shower and coiled a pink towel around my damp body. I released my hair from my bun, the tips of it wet and frizzy. I ran my fingers through it, while my free hand found its way to the surface of the mirror. Wiping it down, I waited as the mist on it subsided, and as my face replaced the empty space it enshrouded. For a second, I thought my eyes looked blue under the dim light. Like his. Weight shifted onto my two arms as I leaned in to the mirror to take a closer look. All was normal.

Where was that place?

Who was he?

Thoughts continued to combat in my head, the whisper of my name repeating on and off like a broken record. Then, ‘Jonghyun’s’ voice sounded from outside the bathroom. I snapped out of my daydream and changed quickly into my dress, fiddling to find the opening for my head on it before putting it on. It fell over my head naturally and complemented my figure just fine, just like how I had discovered it at the store. Dividing my hair down the back and then pulling it to the front, I looked at myself in the mirror and practised my smile, satisfied with the way I was looking.

✰ ✰ ✰

I closed the door on my way out of the bathroom, towel draped around my neck and my back facing ‘Jonghyun’ who had seemingly been waiting all this time in the living room. I shuffled to him slowly, trying to put a happy expression on my face, but stopped when I realised he was conversing with someone through the home phone.

He didn’t seem to realise I was approaching him. “Okay Chaeyoung-ah, just make sure it comes on time! I miss you too… mmhm. Love you. Thank you so much again!” he chorused, making kissing noises in between intervals.

Ah, so Chaeyoung was ‘Jonghyun’s’ girlfriend? What a pretty name.

Not meaning to pry on their lover’s conversation, I backed away, walking in the opposite direction. I returned upstairs sort of bitter knowing I was probably creating trouble for ‘Jonghyun’, intruding on his private lifestyle when he already had a girlfriend and all.

The feeling didn’t go away, but when I had reached a room down the landing I hadn’t been in before, curiosity kicked in and replaced all my doubts. I stuck my head in, noticing again how it was filled with heaps of storage boxes, just like the bedroom I had woken up in this morning. Heedless of whether it was only like this under the dusk light, I was surprised to see that the boxes had not collected dust. I hadn’t had the chance to ask yet, but drawing from this, it seemed possible that ‘Jonghyun’ had just moved into the apartment, too. I the lights to see that the drawers were stuffed with clothing, the branded stuff sorted and neatly hung in the wardrobe on the adjacent ledge. Watches and hair products, though spread unevenly, on the cabinet top completed the package.

Oh, did ‘Jonghyun’ have that much clothing? So much that he needed to divide them amongst the two bedrooms?

I walked in a bit further, examining the other features of the room and letting the warmth draw me in, when suddenly I noticed a metal frame poking out from under the display cloth attempting to cover the bedside table. Inquisitiveness of perhaps what might be hidden under the cloth mounted within me, and so I went up to it and removed the frame from its outwardly uncomfortable position.

It was an old photo frame, a photograph locked tight within it.

I wiped the back of my hand across it to get as much of the dust off; the photo inside it was still intact, but not even the casing could have had stopped it from yellowing over the years. My finger then followed the crack that trailed in a diagonal slope through the middle of the glass, only stopping when my gaze had fallen upon a family of three.

Something in my heart stirred.

I was almost certain I had never seen this before, but the faces of the family members on this photograph were too familiar to be a mere coincidence…

“Seohee~ Time for your make up, come out now!”

I almost hadn’t heard him. But when he threatened to come and get me if I wasn’t there in ten seconds the next time around, I jumped. I was reluctant to put the photo frame down, but I knew I had to go.

I hesitated.

He called again.

“Coming,” I said, deciding finally to put the photo frame back in place. I locked the door before rushing out and went downstairs as quickly as my heart was throbbing, not giving anyone the chance to see where I had been, and what I had found.

► K e y :

After changing into a simple black outfit that comprised of a leather jacket, a frail translucent ribbon around the neck instead of a tie, a grey chequered undershirt and a pair of formal satin trousers, I found a room that would be right for Seohee and I to use for her make-up session. Things at the moment didn’t look pleasant, given the messy bedrooms and the limited amount of space in the apartment, but my hopes were recovered when I remembered the guest bedroom, which was the only spare room in the apartment with chairs and a working desk backed by a mirror.

On my way to the room, realising Seohee was no longer using the bathroom, I called for her to come out from wherever she was hiding.

✰ ✰ ✰

Reaching behind the bed in the room, I pulled out my Luis Vutton bag, b so full with cosmetic kits, the latest hair products and lotion creams that the zip would break if I had tried to keep everything in it. This was my baby, and everything that was needed to change our country bumpkin Seohee into Cinderella was in here.

I searched through the tools, excited to give Seohee the make over she needed, and realised that the most of the products in here actually belonged to my mum. She was a beautician and worked in her salon, which was about an hour drive away from here, visiting our apartment only on her rest days. She’d leave a spare emergency cosmetics kit with me whenever she visited, just in case a fire lit or… whatever else she claimed might happen… at her salon that month and she couldn’t travel back home fast enough to retrieve her equipment. I knew this would come in handy one day.

When Seohee finally arrived through the door of the guest bedroom, I seated her in a cushioned, swivel chair in front of the mirror, impatient to experiment with these seemingly glamorous products. I felt her gaze following my hands as they swept the junk off the desk top.

“Just wait here, yeah?” I said, my pitch rising involuntarily at the ‘yeah’.

I turned around to search through my amazing collection of beauty products and took out the foundation. Squirting out a small portion on the make-up sponge which came with the package, I turned back to rub and then spread it evenly around Seohee’s face. The repetitive motion continued until the effect of the foundation had sunken into her skin. When there was no more but a thin, unrevealable layer, I retreated to my collection of cosmetic products, whistling in delight. I was having too much fun.

Second came the concealer to cover the flaws she had… Actually, she didn’t look like she needed any at all. So I threw that thought out of the window and started with the eyeliner.

I leaned in close to get a better view and understanding of her facial dimensions, and challenged myself with all the designs that would make her eyes captivate everyone’s attention. Her eyes up close looked already beautiful and unexpectedly large, but her deep, double eyelids emphasised them even more. It was going to be hard deciding on a solution that would match her exquisite features.

Then, her gaze met up to mine. I gulped and looked away immediately, digging out the pint black liquid eyeliner out of the pocket of my bag.

“Close your eyes.”

Leaning myself even closer to her face now, with what seemed like just five centimetres between our noses, I brushed the eyeliner onto the tip of her eyelid and began my art. Seohee sat really still, so the eyeliner pen followed smoothly across her lids. I kept the volume of the liquid constant, but when I reached the outward corner of her eye, I created a little, elegant flick to give edge to the petite, sharp features she had on her face.

From here on, I felt myself concentrating really hard, because if I hadn’t, I would have had probably screwed the whole thing up. I mean, her breath tickled my throat every time she exhaled. Eventually getting a hold of myself, I proceeded then to tracing the inner rims of her eyes, colouring the line I had already made before to darken her eyeliner. Darkening it slightly had always given it a more striking effect. Too much just made you look y.

The mascara came next. I had chosen the run resistant, long-lasting formula over the volumizer, and with it I coated evenly her lashes on her left eye. The colour spread from the root to its tip as I waited for it to dry, giving her lashes an innate yet alluring effect. After that, I started with her bottom lashes, and then the other eye.

“Okay, you can open your eyes now.”

Seohee did as I said, and fluttered her eyelids like a butterfly batting its wing. She stared so hard into the mirror I was afraid the glass would crack. But I rested easy when I realised that her cheeks were brightening by the second, her light yet attention-grabbing make up giving it a natural glow. 

With the eyeliner pen and mascara tube still in my hands, I looked at her face again in the mirror to see what else was missing before taking out the next tool from my kit.

Ah, of course, her lips and amber brown tresses were still untouched.

So I retuned to my bag, pulling out the hair curler iron, and then hair spray. My eyes adverted between the lipstick and the lip gloss, but naturally I took the lip gloss because I figured it would be good to give Seohee a younger, more innocent look. I started with the hair, transforming her messy locks into light, Gyaru curls, and then went on with toning her lips. Another half an hour of intense concentration and silence passed, and deep down inside the both of us were impatient to see the final result.

There, finished.

And just on time to make it for the party, too.

Lastly, I handed her a mask. Of course, when people said party these days, they had meant to say masquerade. Looking at my collection, my eyes ran across all four colours. The ebony one was too ordinary, the royal velvet one overdid it, and the lime green one… was just bad altogether. The wild pink one however, I thought, complemented perfectly her lips and white dress, highlighting her spice and her purity.

So I chose it.

I ripped off the lone feather glued to the crown of the mask, making sure the gem hadn’t fallen off while I was doing so, and slipped it over her face. I pushed her fringe out of her forehead before turning her back round to the mirror to see her lips curve under the mask when she saw her reflection.

Kim Chaeyoung was going to be so proud of me.

► Choi S e o h e e :

“Jonghyun, is my makeup really okay?” I questioned him, looking closely into the mirror, poking at the substance that felt icky all over my cheeks.

‘Jonghyun’ threw his head backwards, scanning the room, then returned to me with a confused look. “J – Jonghyun? What? Is he here?”

I raised an eyebrow at his quirkiness. “Aren’t… you Jonghyun? Kim Jonghyun?”

“No… where’d you get that idea from?” I watched as his eyebrows furrowed, but not in a bad way, while he put a grandiose, silver mask rimmed in obsidian gems over his head. He hadn’t even bothered using the concealer because it covered up the dark patch under his right eye perfectly.

It wasn’t until I had gathered the courage I hadn’t before that I asked, “Then… what’s your name?”

“Kim Kibum, but I’d prefer it if you called me Key.” The atmosphere swallowed up in awkwardness.

Oh.

So I had gotten it wrong all along. It made me feel almost guilty. Before I could get to the bottom of this, though, a beeping horn sounded from outside the apartment block. I looked at the boy who all this time I’d thought was Kim Jonghyun, grinning as he beckoned for me to stay put in my chair as he left the room to open the front door. He returned in a few seconds with a beam on his face.

“The limo has arrived, you ready princess?”

I almost didn’t believe my ears, but nonetheless didn’t stop to question him. Leaving my chair, I made my way to Key and then to the front of the apartment. I slipped on a pair of buttoned black heels while Key put on his low cut motorbike boots, and stepped outside into the streetlight. My fingers clammed themselves tightly onto the strap of the handbag Key had handed me, the rest of my body shaking in the cold as I waited for him to lock the door and then come to me.

This was going to be a big night.

✰ ✰ ✰

A/N: A short update and overly wordy chapter compared to the previous, but ayshienjulie I still haven't had the time to edit the next parts yet so ;______; And Kim Chaeyoung. We'll reveal who she is in later chapters... For those who can guess who she is, give yourselves a pat on the back XD but for those who can't, don't worry~ she's not going to be a major character so rest assured. Oh, and just for those who are interested, we decided to attach some photos in case.. uh.. some of our descriptions didn't make sense;

Seohee's Mask

Seohee's Heels

Seohee's Dress + imaginary strap over right shoulder

Seohee's Light Gyaru Curls

Key's Outfit

I hope you guys are excited for the next chapter ;) PARRTYYYYYYY TIMMMMEEEEEEEE. Lots of love, hyukxin and ayshienjulie. ♥♥

hyukxin ft. ayshienjulie ©