"Congratulations on surviving the 2nd term final exams!"

 

YES. FINALLY. HELL WEEK IS OVER. 

 

"As you all know, you now have a 2 week break, so use it wisely. Rest up. Now, you may go." our teacher said, and everyone immediately took to the hallways.

 

"Yoojungie!! Lets celebrate!!" Minri said, bouncing over to me. 

 

"Mian. I have to go to TSENT today." 

 

"Ah wae?? C'mon!! We just finished hell week!!" she whined like a little kid.

 

"Its kinda important… I'll try hanging out with you this weekend arasso?" I replied, trying to use my "aegyo" on her.

 

"Aish arasso. And don't do your aegyo again on me, its awkward." she said and I stuck my tongue out at her.

 

"I'll be going." I told Minri and gave her a quick hug before making my way to TSENT.

 

When I got on the bus, I put my earphones on and tried not to think about the make-over thing (but to no avail). Unwanted mental images of me with bizarre hairstyles kept popping into my mind and it was scaring the hell out of me. 

 

By the time I arrived at TSENT, my face was as pale as a ghost's and my hands were shaking really badly. The make-over hasn't even started yet and I'm already freaking out. 

 

"Aigoo Kim Yoojung, bring yourself together. What could possibly go wrong?" I said out loud. After a few more deep breaths and mental pep talks, I pushed my glasses up my nose, rubbed my hands clean of my cold sweat and finally entered the building. 

 

I entered the room where we had our trainee orientation and was surprised to see that the once plain room was transformed into a hair and make-up salon. Jaemin unnie and Sungjin seonsaengnim were at the back of the room, flipping through different portfolios. I went up to them and tapped Jaemin unnie on the shoulder.

 

"Ah annyeonghaseyo." I greeted and bowed.

 

"Oh Yoojung-ah, you're here already. The stylists will be here in 5 minutes. Are you ready?" she asked and I nodded politely, trying not to show them how nervous I was. 

 

"Jaemin and I were looking through this portfolio of different possible hairstyles. Here, have a look." Sungjin seonsaegnim said and handed the portfolio to me. 

 

The hairstyles in the portfolio were amazing. Flipping through it helped calm nerves until I saw a particular picture where half of the girl's head was shaved. "I hope they don't do this to me…" I kept on repeating in my mind.

 

"Annyeonghaseyo."

 

I turned around and saw two people walk in. 

 

"Yoojung-ah, they are the stylists who will be working on you today." Jaemin unnie said and led me to a chair in the middle of the room which was right in front of a huge mirror.

 

"Annyeong Yoojung-ah. I am Song Minji…" one of the stylists said and pointed to the other stylist next to her, "…And this is my assistant Choi Kyeojong. We will be your stylists for the day. Don't worry, you are in good hands." 

 

I nodded politely and sat on the chair. Just before they were about to start, I blurted out one of the dumbest questions ever. 

 

"You're not going to shave my head right?" I asked and then immediately mentally slapped myself after. 

 

Minji unnie chuckled and patted my head reassuringly. "Of course we won't. That would destroy your pretty little face." she said and started to brush through my untamed hair. I unconsciously let out a sigh of relief and earned another chuckle from Minji unnie.

 

At that moment, her assistant whispered something into her ear and a mischievous grin crept onto her face.

 

"Want to make things more interesting?" Minji unnie asked. 

 

"What do you mean by interesting?"

 

"Throughout this whole make-over, you're gonna be blindfolded. You'll have no idea what me and Kyeojong will be doing to you. If you get through this make-over without begging us to take it off , I'll buy you beef. How does that sound?"

 

Blindfolded? The thought of changing my look entirely is already scaring me to death, what more if I'm blindfolded? But then, if I couldn't see what they were doing, I think it will do my nerves some good. Plus, she'll buy me beef… After my short contemplation, I finally gave her my answer.

 

"Let's do it."

 

~~~

 

"It took us awhile, but now we're finished!! Are you ready Yoojung-ah?" Minji unnie asked.

 

"N-ne." I stuttered, trying to stop my nerves from taking over my entire body. 

 

"Don't be scared, you look gorgeous." Kyeojong oppa reassured. I gulped and nodded. "Fighting Yoojung." I whispered to myself. 

 

"Did you say something?"

 

"Aniyo."

 

"Okay then, I'll be removing the blindfold now." Minji unnie said. Kyeojong oppa and her started counting down.

 

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Ta-da!!" they cheered and removed the blindfold.

 

I blinked several times and waited for my eyes to adjust to the light in the room. I put my glasses back on and stared at the girl in the mirror in front of me. She was beautiful, unlike any person I've ever seen. It took me awhile before it finally sank in. 

 

That beautiful girl in the mirror was me. 

 

"So, do you like it?" Minji unnie asked. She looked like a little kid who was showing her artwork to her mom and dad. 

 

"I love it." I said and turned around to face these two miracle workers.  They turned an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. For the first time in my life, I actually felt beautiful. And it was all thanks to them. 

 

"Kamsahamnida." I said and gave them big hugs.

 

"Aigoo, you're welcome. Now lets go buy some beef and on the way, I'll tell you how I did your make-up." she gushed and skipped out of the makeshift salon, with Kyeojong oppa on her tail. 

 

On the way out, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror again. "You're not as ugly as you think, Kim Yoojung."  

 

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My update was a little faster this time hoorah!~ :D