Peninsula Cicada Song Diary

Two days later, in the afternoon, Pei Xiyan drove to a beauty salon in the Jiangnan District at the agreed time.

As soon as he pushed open the door of the beauty salon, the bustling activity inside engulfed him. It truly was an engulfment, because as soon as Pei Xiyan entered, a burly man dressed in rags and beggar clothes, whose movements were agile and whose physique was severely disproportionate to his size, grabbed him by the neck.

"Xiao Yan! What brings you here today?" The burly man's voice boomed in my ears like thunder.

"Ahem, Prodigy." Pei Xiyan gently pried open Prodigy's thick arm, took a few breaths, and replied, "I'm here to get my makeup done."

"Who are you going to cosplay this year?" Shindong asked, then waved his hand dismissively. "I'm fine with anyone, just don't copy Chanyeol. He wants to cosplay Deadpool this year, you know which Deadpool, right?"

"That Marvel thing?" Pei Xiyan asked uncertainly. "What happened to Chanyeol?"

"Yes." The schadenfreude on the prodigy's chubby face was palpable. "Haha, the set he bought didn't clear customs; he can't participate this year!"

"Huh?!" Pei Xiyan didn't expect that Park Chanyeol, who had decided to work twice as hard next year, would be banned this year.

"This year is missing something fun," he thought disappointedly.

This is a beauty salon that collaborates with SM Entertainment. Many SM artists get their makeup done here, including for tonight's Halloween party.

The vampire makeup was simple, so Pei Xiyan wasn't in a hurry to do it. Following the room number Pei Zhuxuan had given him on his phone, he went to visit Red Velvet's dressing room.

"Xiao Yan!" Kang Seulgi, who was sitting on the sofa eating a fruit platter, heard the door open, looked up, and waved happily when she saw him.

Upon seeing her makeup and styling, Pei Xiyan was taken aback. "Seulkino."

Bae Joo-hyun was already wearing the outfit from the photo, sitting next to Kang Seul-gi like a primary school student.

"There's a seat here." She glanced up briefly, patted the sofa next to her, and then looked down at her phone again.

"Xiao Yan, am I scary?" Sun Shengwan's face was deathly pale, she wore a short wig, and her eyes were covered in dark eyeshadow. Her usually energetic smile looked somewhat terrifying now.

"Indeed... a little." Pei Xiyan nodded.

Son Seung-wan raised an eyebrow smugly after receiving the answer.

"Xiao Yan." "Xi Yan oppa." Kim Ye-rin and Park Soo-young were being dressed up by the makeup artist in front of the dressing table.

Sitting down next to Bae Joo-hyun, Bae Xi-yan looked at Kang Seul-gi again, "Seul-gi noona, what are you doing today...?"

"A vampire, huh?" Kang Seulgi popped a cherry tomato into her mouth, raised her lightly drawn eyebrows, and the black eyeshadow on her upper eyelids shifted slightly. "Can't you tell?"

"I only asked because I realized it was true!" Pei Xiyan thought to herself.

"What is Xiaoyan planning to dress up as today?" Sun Shengwan asked at this moment.

Pei Xiyan remained silent for a long time, then said, "Vampire..."

"What?!"

The dressing room was instantly filled with five surprised voices.

The embarrassment of having the same idea as someone else is comparable to wearing the same outfit as a stranger on the street.

"How about... the clown?" Bae Joo-hyun stopped looking at her phone and started brainstorming ideas for her younger brother.

"Unnie, Chenle is going to be the clown this year," Kim Ye-rin reminded her.

"I'm talking about the one from 'It'," Bae Joo-hyun corrected.

"I agree," Kim Ye-rin pouted.

Bae Joo-hyun was surprised that someone else had already copied her idea, and she frowned slightly in annoyance.

"How about we think of some anime characters?" Son Seung-wan pondered, rubbing her chin.

"Shinichi Kudo!" Kang Seulgi raised her hand.

"Xiao Yan dressed up as her last year." Bae Joo-hyun glanced at her; she still had the photos from that time saved on her phone.

Kim Ye-rim thought for a moment: "How about Phantom Thief Kid?"

"Jaemin is playing Phantom Thief Kid this year." Son Seungwan knew a little bit about it.

"Another NCT?" Bae Joo-hyun bit her lower lip in annoyance.

"After all, there are so many people in NCT, so creative ideas are bound to overlap," Son Seungwan said helplessly.

"Then..." Kang Seulgi raised her hand excitedly again, but was interrupted by Park Sooyoung, who had been silent all along.

"I've noticed that you all seem to have forgotten something," Park Soo-young sighed. "Xiao Yan isn't like us, who can wear whatever we want for a photoshoot."

The group exchanged glances, "Yeah~"

"Then let's be vampire siblings!" Kang Seulgi suggested excitedly, her bewitching makeup ruined by her silly smile, making her look like a little bear who had stolen an adult's makeup.

So in the end, Pei Xiyan still decided to dress up as a vampire.

"It's a pity I have to walk the red carpet," Kim Ye-rin said with some regret. She had always wanted to dress up as a vampire, but to avoid having the same idea as someone else, she chose Hershey's chocolate for this year's outfit.

During their casual conversation, Kim Ye-rin and Park Soo-young finished their makeup.

"We're off now." Bae Joo-hyun ruffled his hair as they prepared to head to the company in Cheongdam-dong.

See you then.

After finishing his visit, Pei Xiyan went to the dressing room he had booked in advance. His makeup was done by a familiar woman named Nuna. Except for Halloween, Pei Xiyan rarely wore makeup; Nuna had done his makeup for the previous Halloweens.

We've met several times already, but the makeup artist still couldn't help but exclaim in admiration when she held his face in her hands.

"Xiaoyan's skin is so fair that even I, a girl, am incredibly envious. How can it be so white? It's like a ghost's." She praised Pei Xiyan while fixing her hair, "You don't even need to wear makeup to play a vampire. You can just go for a bare face."

"No need for lipstick, this color is just right."

"The same goes for your eyebrows. Just trim the edges a little. Sigh, although it's easy to do your makeup, Xiaoyan, I don't feel any sense of accomplishment."

Pei Xiyan didn't feel impatient listening to the makeup artist Nuna's rambling.

"Maybe I'm here so that Nuna can have an easier time with her makeup." He smiled.

"It can be less stressful, but not too much so," the makeup artist said. "Luckily, there's only one Xiao Yan in the world. If everyone looked like you, we'd all be out of a job long ago."

"Luckily, my parents are too busy having fun to have too many children." Pei Xiyan felt relieved for her.

"So if I get to see them, I must thank them properly." The makeup artist nodded in agreement.

As she later said, Pei Xiyan's face didn't need much sculpting.

After simply shaping my eyebrows and applying a dark red eyeshadow around my eyes to add a vampire-like eerie feel, I put on light red contact lenses. With that, my makeup was almost complete.

He went into the dressing room to change into the prepared black turtleneck sweater and classic suit. After he came out, the makeup artist pinned a rose brooch on his chest.

"Perfect!" Looking at Pei Xiyan, who was completely finished in the full-length mirror, the makeup artist couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, "If Xiaoyan were a vampire, I really don't know which girl could resist the temptation of being sucked by you."

"Me, Noona?" Pei Xiyan thought of Pei Zhuxuan.

"Not necessarily," the makeup artist said with a teasing smile.

"Definitely." Pei Xiyan smiled.