Soon Eun Young;

Introvertic  ||  Extrovertic

Eun Young looked into the eyes of her own reflection and sighed – all this for such a small pay?

She got up and walked over to the sofa where her daily seven hour identity laid. She picked it up and lugged it over to the mirror before taking a good look at herself once more before slipping her tiny head into the small opening. What’s the point in looking pretty when the people out there couldn’t even appreciate your beauty? It’s gonna be hidden beneath this other identity, isn’t it?

She grabbed a handful of balloons; as much as she could get, considering she couldn’t exactly decipher the difference between a square and a circle through this thick layer of foam. “All ready,” she thought, plastering a smile on her face despite the distinct stench she breathed in every day, which she believed would cause her death a day to come.

“MUMMY! LOOK! IT’S THE BEAR GIVING OUT BALLOONS AGAIN!” Eun Young immediately did a 360 degree turn to see a toddler running towards her. The toddler crashed into Eun Young and wrapped her arms tightly around Eun Young’s legs, as though grabbing on to her dear life. “Oh bear unnie I’m so happy to see you today! I can’t imagine walking to school without passing by you to collect a pink balloon!” The cheerfulness that burst out of the girl reminded Eun Young the good behind this job – bringing a smile to even the youngest of client’s face.

Eun Young looked through the mesh and tried her best to grab the string linked to the remaining pink balloon, which she successfully managed to. She bent down a little and gestured for the girl to take the string from her hands, which of course, the former did ever so happily. Eun Young straightened her back feeling fulfilled, ruffled the little girl’s head of hair and waved goodbye to both the girl and her mother.

She stared at the girl happily skipping from side to side, hand held tightly within the warm grasp of her mother’s.

“Are you really that happy? It’s just a balloon, Youngie!”

“Mummy, you would never understand the meaning behind this helium-filled rubber. It’s like my happy pill; I go to school all happy because other kids are jealous when I have a balloon and they don’t.”

“Alright. But please hold tightly onto mummy’s hand alright? I don’t want you skipping yourself into danger.”

Subconsciously, Eun Young was backing away slowly when the loud traffic sounds rang in her ear, ever so deafening. The balloons she held tightly within her hand escaped, floating away high up into the sky. Her hands found their way moving up toward the sides of her head to cup her eyes; she wriggled in fear and denial, cold sweat forming over what was caused by the heat. “Mummy, mummy, MUMMY!” Everything was playing back in her head, the vivid picture of what she experienced at a tender age fresh in her memory.

“… observation and we’ll let you know when it’s safe for her to be discharged. Is there any way we can contact her kin of any sort?” A moment of silence; the beeping of a familiar machine resounded through the room. “Not that I know of, I happened to be walking past when she collapsed unto me.” the shuffling of feet was heard, before the sliding of wood against wood, and the fading sounds of foots