Before she left the house that morning, Ha Jin’s mother gave her some allowance. When Ha Jin tried to give it back, her mother refused.

“Please, just take it and treat yourself. It hurts me to see you passing through the days aimlessly like this. Go shopping, see a movie, anything else that will spark your interest again.”

With a kiss on the cheek, her mother left the house for work, and with Ha Jin to her thoughts.

Looking at the money in her hands, Ha Jin immediately grew guilty again. She hadn’t been very productive these past few months, but all the previous times she had just chalked it up to her accident. ‘I need more time’ or ‘I don’t feel ready yet’ were the types of thoughts that plagued her mind. 

But today, something was different. Seeing her parents day in and day out working made her realize that it was time for her to start her life again. She couldn’t bum around all day anymore, and it was high time that she gave back to her parents, especially since they were nothing short of caring and understanding despite her situation.

After putting more effort into herself for the day and writing up a resume, Ha Jin headed out towards the mall. Maybe she could find a job there somewhere to start. One that would be better than a noisy BBQ joint or a boring desk job.

When she entered the mall, she wandered around the counters and shops, trying to see if there were any openings. For the most part, none of the counters were hiring and she was forced to keep looking. When she thought she had gone by all the shops, Ha Jin stumbled upon a small make up shop that was hidden partly by the banners of the shop next to it.

It was a shop dedicated to selling make-up inspired by ones made during the Goryeo period. Something in the back of her mind told her there was something else she should remember, but she ignored it and approached the woman who looked to be the manager.

“Excuse me, do you happen to have any positions open? I’m currently looking for a job.”

The manger set down her clipboard which she was using to complete some paperwork and looked at Ha Jin warmly.

“Hello there. I happen to be looking for someone currently. Do you have a resume? Have you had any experience with make up?”

Ha Jin was surprised the manager was willing to consider her but she got herself together quickly before handing over a resume she had worked on earlier this morning.

“Here is my resume. I do have a beautician license, but I have little experience working at a counter. I did make-up mostly for my family and friends for fun.”

The woman looked at Ha Jin curiously.

“It says here you worked for a corporate company prior to this. Why a sudden switch in career now?”

Ha Jin still felt uncomfortable talking about it, and she wondered if it would affect her chances of getting this job. Still, it was best to be truthful, though she hesitated before answering.

“I was in a coma six months ago due to an accident and recently woke up.”

A look of understanding crossed the woman’s face, and she nodded. 

“I see. Well, I don’t see why that should stop you from working here. I simply need someone with customer service experience who can help me out at the counter. If you can bring a copy of your license, then we can officially hire you. Would you be able to start tomorrow?”

A bit of hope grew inside of Ha Jin. Was this really it? Did she really land a job?

“Yes, of course! What time should I arrive?”

“I will be here starting at 9 in the morning. I can start showing you the ropes before we open.”

Ha Jin grinned and gave a bow, thanking the manager.

“Thank you so much for your consideration. I will be here tomorrow morning…”

Her voice trailed off before she saw the name tag the manager was wearing. ‘Oh Soo Yeon’...why did that seem so familiar to her? She was sure she had never met this woman before. 

“Is everything all right?”

Well, that wasn’t good. Not great to be zoning out in front of a person who held the fate of her employment in their hands. Shaking out of her reverie, she smiled again.

“Yes, I apologize Ms. Oh. I was already thinking about tomorrow that I lost my train of thought.”

The older woman smiled gently.

“I applaud you for your enthusiasm, but I hope you can work on your concentration in the future. We wouldn’t want this to happen too often, now would we?”

“Yes, you have my word, Ms. Oh. I will take my leave now, please have a good day.”

With another bow, Ha Jin turned around to head home. She let out a sigh of relief as she exited the shopping mall, and began to think of what to prepare for tomorrow. 

——

As promised, Ha Jin arrived at 9 o’clock in the morning and trained with Ms. Oh before she was allowed to staff the shop front on her own. She was given a uniform and demonstrated her skills on a fellow coworker Min Ji, who was so pleased with her make-over that it was all she could talk about for the rest of her shift. Although Ms. Oh did not say anything, Ha Jin could see the approval in her eyes, and smiled to herself. 

The next few months passed by quickly. It seemed that work was turning out to be a good thing for her. Not only was she a contributing member of society now, working helped her keep her mind off of her accident. When she got her first paycheck, she treated her parents out to a family dinner. Her parents were relieved to see their daughter live again, and despite it being very different from her previous job, they were both glad to see the light in her eyes once more.

Although things were fine for a while, her dreams started one night. Ha Jin could never really make sense of the dreams she first had. They were moments that flashed across her eyes before disappearing. But as the nights progressed, they would grow longer in duration, more vivid, and seemingly more real.

They were all similar, in the sense that it was set in the olden days. Everyone was wearing robes, ones which looked to be like that of the Goryeo period. Most of her dreams were set in the palace, amongst the royals, and it seemed as if it was someone’s memories that she was watching. It seemed almost too private for her to have access to, yet every night without fail she would have these dreams. There was a period of time where she would wake up every morning with tears in her eyes but not remember what she was dreaming about to cause those tears.

 After some time, she decided to record her dreams. It wasn’t much at first, but slowly she was able to remember what she dreamed about, as long as she turned to her journal right away after awakening. What she found interesting was that even in her dreams she was providing make-up services to the people around her. 

Furthermore, the mysterious “4th prince” seemed to be a constant presence in her dreams. He appeared frightening at first, with half of his face hidden by a dark mask, and he walked around in black robes which was a stark contrast from the colorful ones that his brothers wore. But after a while, she began to have dreams of him being very affectionate with the person who had covered his scar. He was entirely a different person, and she wondered why she ever found him scary.

Speaking of which, who was this 4th prince anyway? Wasn’t his name Gwangjong? Why was he always referred to as So in her dreams? She took out her phone to type in his name and numerous articles popped up regarding the history of Goryeo’s rulers. However, as expected, there was too much information and Ha Jin was overwhelmed by it all. She felt another headache coming on so she closed the browser on her phone and set it aside, ultimately choosing to close her journal and put down her pen afterwards.

The next day found Ha Jin on her day off, and she quickly ate some breakfast before heading out to her local bookshop. It was a small one but she managed to find the history section and several books regarding Goryeo and its earliest rulers. She nearly laughed at herself as she stood in line to check out. She would have normally never touched history books but she supposed her dreams and her job working with products based on those from Goryeo perked her interest.

As she set her books on the counter, the cashier raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Goryeo, huh? I thought those books would never be purchased. They’ve been sitting back there for a long time.”

Ha Jin smiled politely and simply said “It’s for research related to my work.”

“Are you a historian?”

“No, I’m a beautician. Our shop sells make-up inspired by those made during the Goryeo period.”

The cashier nodded in understanding and turned to scan her books before pausing and turning back to her.

“You know, now that you mention it, there’s going to be an event dedicated to Goryeo history in a few weeks. They’re going to have paintings, booths, and everything. I think they’re still taking applications to open up a booth. Maybe your shop could consider renting a spot there to advertise your products?”

The cashier pulled a flier from a stack on the counter and handed it to her. Ha Jin was pleasantly surprised at that piece of information and smiled in gratitude.

“That sounds like the perfect idea. I’ll let my manager know.”

The cashier finished ringing up her order and Ha Jin paid with her card before the books were bagged up and handed to her.

“There you go, hope those books help with your research.”

“Thank you, have a nice day!”

-----

The following day, Ha Jin showed Ms. Oh the flier regarding the Goryeo history exhibit and she was immediately sold on the idea. The next few weeks were spent planning how to set up their booth and what products they would bring to sell. The logistics were a lot more complicated than Ha Jin thought, but she was still excited about the idea. Perhaps it would provide more traction to their shop if they were able to attract exhibit goers.

In the end, they decided that Ha Jin and her Min Ji would man the booth. The exhibit was a week long, so they would work from there that entire week while Ms. Oh stayed at the shop. Although Ha Jin expressed concerns about Ms. Oh being by herself, her manager simply laughed.

“Don’t worry, Ha Jin; one week alone at the shop will be fine for me. I, on the other hand, am expecting you to send hoards of new customers to our shop. If this endeavor is a success, we can consider other fairs or venues for advertising our brand.”

Ha Jin nodded and vowed to do her best in increasing sales for Ms. Oh. She spent the rest of the day attending to the counter and various customers who came through to have their make-up done, but she couldn’t shake off the feeling like someone was watching her. Several times she would look over her shoulder to see if anyone was there, but everyone seemed to be busy with their own tasks as they walked by the shop.

Eventually she felt that feeling go away, and after she closed the shop, Ha Jin and her Min Ji went to grab dinner at a nearby soup shop before she went home. As Ha Jin went to bed that night, she was excited for the fair and to see the results of her hard work in planning it. It had been awhile since she had been this passionate about something, and she hoped it would have good results.

Seeing the bag of books she bought the other day, Ha Jin decided to do some reading before going to sleep.  Although it was interesting learning about the past, she found herself dozing off, and eventually fell asleep just as she turned to the page about Gwangjong.