I'm His... Makeup artist and Stylist

Chapter Twenty-Two

Tonight is the night.

The sun was kissing my cheeks. It was unexpectedly hot, not noticing that it was already one in the afternoon. I panicked thinking that I still had work to do when in fact I already have none. 

I still need to get used to this. 

I stared on the ceiling. Ahhh. I stood up, stumbling on my way to the kitchen to find food. I felt my eyes were heavy so I stopped on the mirror on the way to the kitchen. Bang. My eyes were so puffy from crying last night. I had banana oatmeal for myself. My mind was blank. I looked out on the big glass window in my apartment. 

Ugh, I'm going home tomorrow. Hello Medical school once again. I'll surely miss the cold weather here. I'll miss my work. I'll miss my co-workers too. I'll miss everything.

There was a message on my phone. 

Chanyeol, I thought it was a text from him but it was from my co-worker in SM, Rhea, who texted that she'll pick me up later tonight so that we'd go to the venue together. Rhea is my closest co-worker in SME not to mention she's very kind and caring.

Chanyeol didn't reply to my text from last night. I think he's avoiding me. I don't know if it's his choice to avoid me or it's the company's advice for him to avoid me. It is breaking my heart into pieces. I feel so stupid. I don't know how to face him later tonight. Things might get awkward. I don't even know if I'll make it to the venue or his fans will block me on the entrance!

I spent a few hours doing nothing in my apartment before I started to prepare for the event. I just had natural make-up on my face, no more, no less. I wore my dress, and I patiently waited for Rhea to arrive. 

Twenty-minutes after, she arrived. I hopped inside her car and together we drove off the venue.

"Hey, I know what happened." Rhea started when we stopped in a crossing, waiting for lights to turn green. "I feel sad that you'll be leaving soon. And about the issue, don't feel bad about it okay? You know what, those people are just jealous of you because Chanyeol treats you like his best friend." She continued as she patted my shoulder. 

"I know. I just didn't expect that things would go this way. I mean, I never even expected this to happen! I just can't process why people insist and put maliciousness over those pictures..." My voice naturally lowered.

I looked at Rhea who was already looking at me.

"Wait. But you really like him, don't you?" Rhea asked which caught me off-guard but before I could even answer, the lights went green. She concentrated on driving while I on the other hand felt relieved for not being able to answer the question.

From afar, we can already spot the tall building - the hotel. "Wow, this hotel is daebak!"  Rhea exclaimed. I got excited but at the same time, I felt nervous about how people would react if they see especially that the issue is still a hot topic.

"Don't be nervous okay?" Rhea gave a me a reassuring smile. "Ahhh, thank you very much Rhea. I'll surely miss you." I hugged her.

---

The ball was held in a five-star hotel in Seoul, the Grand Hyatt Hotel.  A red carpet was laid out up to the hotel's entrance. As expected, there lots of media personnel inside and fans outside the hotel to witness this gathering of all the SME employees. Rhea and I made our way to the red carpet. The flashing lights made us blind as the photographers shouted at u to look at 'their' way.

"Omo! She's the girl that stole our oppa!"

"How dare she come here like nothing happened?"

"She's thick-faced!"

I could feel my skin heat up. I suddenly felt nervous. I lowered my head upon hearing those from the fans even though the photographers kept on clicking their cameras. Despite of everything that I heard, I managed to arrive safely inside the hotel.  

The lobby was very huge and it had very high ceilings. It had modern interiors mostly with the different shades of black and brown and it looked extremely cozy. The hotel staffs immediately accompanied us to the ballroom where the event is held while another hotel staff took her car for valet parking. The ballroom was huge enough to accommodate 300+ SME employees. It was quite dark inside that gave a cozy and relaxing vibe.

There were tables assigned for each employee and I immediately went to mine while Rhea went to the comfort room to retouch. Familiar faces were scattered everywhere. Everyone was dressed up formally; women in formal dresses and gowns while men were in suits. I could see the executive managers talking and laughing, the SME artists of different groups gather in different tables sharing stories and other SME employees taking selfies, cameramen and photographers. The buffet was ready, everything was set and a few minutes after, the event finally started.

Everyone made their way to their seats. I tried to look for Chanyeol. I felt different since I wasn't the one who prepared him for tonight's event. I'm still worried about him for not answering my calls nor replying to my text messages. Instead, I checked on the invitation to see the event's flow. On the second to the last performance before their finale, Chanyeol will sing with SHINee's Jonghyun as a collaboration made especially for tonight's event.

Rhea and I were on the same table which made me feel relieved again. At least I won't feel alone. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to SM Entertainment's annual ball!" The voice over announced making all of us go "Wooh~". Mr. Lee Soo Man made a speech before the performances started. Super Junior, Kangta, BoA, and SHINee were the first ones to perform before the second batch after dinner. I made sure to savor each moment I have left here. This is a rare opportunity seeing SME artists perform in an exclusive event.

I decided to line up when there were less people. My eyes roamed around the place to check for Chanyeol but yet again, he was nowhere to be seen. Rhea and I made our way to the buffet. Different courses were their which made my mouth water while patiently waiting for my turn in line. Just when I was about to pick up my last choice of food from the buffet table, a familiar voice spoke behind me. 

"You're leaving later tonight?"