Her Mental Breakdown

Eun Ji gazed at her own reflection―she didn’t have a voluptuous body like those models she shot, living in the world of models had never made her lose heart being not too tall. She was wearing her casual plain jeans and V-neck long sleeve gradient blue-color blouse, giving a touch of retro-style owl necklace and her chestnut hair was twisted up into a ponytail.

She spent more than one hour picking what outfit she should wear. As a female, it was nothing out of surprising, but for her, being grew up as a tomboy, was something out of the blue. She was a major tomboy―she had never wore make-up, never followed the latest fashion trends.

Being a fashion photographer wasn’t the precise dream she had and was completely out of her league. She was more to become either a wildlife photographer or a travel photographer, which were more likely fit her image. But her parents forbid her to do something extreme―she didn’t agree though―because she is a girl. Eun Ji didn’t get what her parents were thinking even though she indeed took up photography, just from a different perspective.

Today was an exception. Her skin was brushed with makeups ―her sister-in-law, Seo Hyun used her skills and turned her into more ladylike image― and a soft glossy pink shade on her lips.

She looked at the mirror once again, not believing to her own look. “Eonnie, don’t you think you overdo it?”

“You looked gorgeous Eun Ji,” Seo Hyun said while squaring away the makeup tools that were spread on the dressing table, “I wondered why…” she turned and looked at Eun Ji, “You always surrounded by models and they wore thicker makeups than you do. Believe me, wondering around with your look like this, it’s normal.”

Commonly, the in-laws are hard to socialize with, but if it is Seo Hyun, it was hard to resist. Despite her elegant appearance, the perfect word Eun Ji would describe her was sophisticated, she was unfailingly kind, she always put others first. No wonder, her brother, Yong Hwa would fall head over heels for her and without hesitation asked for her hand in marriage—if he hadn’t then it would be his whole life regrets. They had now been married for five years and was endowed a cute little angelic daughter―a niece that had always be the apple in Eun Ji’s eye. 

“I’m sorry for bothering you,” Eun Ji sat on her bed, bringing an oriental-sense cushion on her leap, “you were supposed to taking care of Rai-Hee, but instead, I, asked you to do something unnecessary like this.”

Seo Hyun giggled. “This is nothing. Besides, I am the one who offered to spruce you up. I can tell that you are nervous, are you meeting someone?”

 Eun Ji gulped. Was everything written down on her face? Was she that easy to be read? She buried her head into the cushion she held and murmured in a low voice, “Sprouting about meeting someone…it’s a reunion after all.”

Seo Hyun shook her head and couldn’t help giggling as she scrutinized her sister-in-law’s behavior. She indeed was about to meet someone and not just someone. Then, she gave a light smack to her arm, “You are ruining your makeup.”

She lifted up her head, her face looked so stupefied, “Ah, sorry.”

“Geez… Eun Ji, why won’t you take it easy?” Seo Hyun settled beside her and held her hands, “When it comes with school reunion, I admit, people would get nervous—I would be nervous.”

“You do?”

“Of course I was,” she pulled a face and continued, “I remembered when I first attended my school reunion, I was full of anxiety, I worried almost about everything—mostly about appearance and afraid being laughed by my old classmates, but as soon as I got there, I finally understood that going there was all about having fun with old friends, pairing back the old memories,” she gave a sweet grimace face to her, “as long as you face it with the usual, courageous spirit of yours, I’m sure you’ll be handling it just fine, just like I did.”

The sweet smell of jasmine’s fragrance was lingering in the air, when Eun Ji looked at Seo Hyun, it was as if she looking at her own mother back at Busan—except the tenderness and the elegance. None had ever crossed her mind that her brother would marry such a pleasant girl, she was more than blessed to have such girl to be her sister-in-law.

It was then, chaos entered the peaceful situation. The door to Eun Ji’s bedroom was abruptly opened and startled both of them—Rai-Hee had been crying and her little body was trembling as she ran to Seo Hyun’s direction. “Eomma, Eomma,” she kept repeating the word again and again with her sweet voice. Her tiny hands squeezed Seo Hyun’s violet cotton skirt until it wrinkled, on the other side, she buried her face on the clement fabric.

What on earth was going on? In bewilderment, Eun Ji and Seo Hyun exchanged looks.