My Summer in Seoul

“If you want to watch the shoot, you can go over there by makeup and hair. I’ll see if I can find a chair for you. Promo for the concept might take a few hours. This is their last shoot before their comeback, so we want it to be perfect. It will be the first real promo for the MV before it’s released.”

“MV?”

“Music video,” she clarified, then pointed. “See? Right over there where the boys are.”

Yeah, I was afraid of that.

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

She left, and I slowly walked over to makeup and hair and tried not to look like a creepy lingerer as people rushed by me, costumes, makeup artists, hairstylists.

Dude, was Sookie actually sleeping in his chair while they applied makeup?

Kai too?

Man, that was talent.

One of the makeup artists doing Lucas’s eyeliner started talking and then pointed over at me. He sneered and then laughed and said something that had her patting him on the chest in a flirty move that made me want to intervene.

He just went with it while I turned beet red.

Because, of course, he was probably talking about the crazy person that nearly killed him and how she was hopeless.

Rae shoved Lucas in his chair, but Lucas didn’t seem to care he was getting reprimanded.

Jay looked over at me with an almost apologetic look.

I shrugged. What else could I do?

Within a half-hour, the guys were completely transformed into what looked like sexed-up vampires with crazy historical costumes, heavy eye makeup, and a few crazy designs that went from their eyes down their cheeks. They even had different earrings put in, a few dangled really long or connected farther up in their cartilage.

I had to say—although makeup that heavy was rarely seen on bands in the States unless they were grunge bands—it looked good, like really good.

They looked like gods, to be honest. I just wish they acted like it.

Not that it was their fault I was impossible.

“Here you go.” The same woman had a man bring a chair. “Go ahead and sit here.”

My legs were killing me. “Thank you so much!” I sank onto the chair.

“Of course.” She did a little bow again; I nodded my chin and then looked back to the guys.

I literally understood zero words, but it was so fascinating that I was immersed as if I did.

The director, or I assumed it was the director, moved the guys around, and it was like watching them all transform.

The most shocking was Sookie.

He went from “aw how cute” to “holy shit, where’s his mama, quick grab the Bible! He’s too young!” His light brown hair was spiked a bit in the middle, longer on the sides, and they’d added green hair extensions that looked incredible. He came across like a hot sexy mess, and oh geez, he was eighteen, but it still felt weird. He shot a wink in my direction, making me nearly die.

He was seriously the most innocent kid, it felt like, but in front of the camera, he was suddenly part of SWT; he was playing a role and playing it well. The director had him lie back against Kai’s lap.

I refused to make eye contact with Kai since his hair was pulled back into a loose man bun, tendrils were touching his eyes, with his red and black eyeshadow and perfect lips that were parted just enough to make a girl wonder if he was thinking about kissing someone.

Jay was nearly sitting on Rae’s lap in the middle as they leaned back and looked heavenward. Rae’s blond hair stood out against his nearly black eye makeup and blue contacts, while Jay’s dark hair and eyes made me almost think he was going to steal someone’s soul; he was the only one in an all-black leather getup with boots.

Lucas was last.

I almost skipped him, but I was researching, right?

I shouldn’t have looked.

His red hair was falling across his forehead in a wavy motion that nearly begged a girl to touch it and shove it back. His lips were a stained red like he’d just taken a bite out of someone; red blood drips were drawn down his chin. His black shirt was open all the way, exposing his abs and a tattoo that I didn’t know whether it was real or drawn on. He had a different ring on each finger, and his eye makeup was less defined; somehow, he looked the most lethal. Maybe because he looked sexy and pissed.

I’d never seen five guys transform so much in so little time. It was wild, like watching an actor go from this meek, mild person to Magic Mike in seconds.

As the director instructed, the guys moved their heads a bit, their hands, slowly changing positions in fluid-like movements that were impressive, like they knew what each member would do before they even did it.