The next day.
As promised, Yeo Ri was going to go shopping with Choi Da Na and her mother, Park Soo Yeon.
The itinerary for the day was to look for school supplies for Da Na, who was also about to enter university. But of course, considering the fickleness of women inside a shopping mall, they would probably end up buying more than what they came for.
The three browsed through the shops the moment they stepped into the mall, their itinerary almost forgotten. They were blinded by the glamorous clothing and big promotions that was still ongoing in the stores.
"Back-to-School sale? Nice!" Da Na said, smiling craftily. She was already planning on begging her mother to buy her several new sets of outfits. She glanced at her mom, thinking: 'Going shopping with your parents feels like carrying a mobile ATM machine.' She was usually very cautious about spending money outside, but with her mom around, she didn't need to worry about the price since her mom would happily pay for it.
"Mom~" she sweetly called out. "Can we go check out Eternally 20 first? I feel like getting a new blouse. Pretty please?"
Mrs. Choi smiled, nodding in agreement, "Why not? Let's go." She gestured to Yeo Ri who had been keeping quiet the whole time. "Do you want to go to Eternally 20 too, Yeo Ri-ah?" Mrs. Choi asked the somewhat absentminded girl, smiling amiably.
Yeo Ri bowed her head politely at the older woman, snapping out of her thoughts, "Yes, of course. Shall we?" She returned the woman's smile with one of her own, making the older lady's smile widen even more.
Yeo Ri felt awkward about accompanying them to shop even though she was not going to buy anything, but she did not have the heart to reject them when they had asked her since the Choi family had been nothing but kind to her this past year. She could only play the obedient, nice girl so they wouldn't be offended. Furthermore, Da Na was Gun's friend so she didn't mind being nice to her.
"Yay!" Da Na cheered happily after getting her way. She excitedly looped her arms around Yeo Ri's arm, dragging the younger girl along. "C'mon, Yeo Ri-ah, we should go try out some clothes!"
"Mm."
With Yeo Ri's assent, the Choi mother-daughter pair secretly exchanged glances.
Actually, Da Na and her mother had made a pact before they picked up Yeo Ri to go to the mall; they were planning to get something pretty for the pretty girl. Yeo Ri didn't have many new clothes—no, it could be said that she didn't have a lot of clothes in general, so the mother-daughter pair felt like they needed to 'enrich' Yeo Ri's closet. They felt like it was just too pitiful for a girl to own such a pitiful amount of clothing.
If one were to look at this from another angle, it could be seen as rather selfish of them. But alas, they were too excited about playing dress-up with the doll-like younger girl that they forgot to ask if she was fine with it. In any case, who in their right mind would reject such goodwill, the rich and privileged duo thought.
"Yeo Ri-ah, come and try this one," Mrs. Choi said, eagerly holding a two-piece outfit for Yeo Ri to try. She could already imagine how nice it would look on the girl.
Yeo Ri flashed a difficult smile, "No, I'm fine."
"Aw, Yeo Ri-ah, it won't hurt to try, please? Da Na doesn't like wearing this kind of style so I was hoping you could satisfy Auntie's pitiful heart." Park Soo Yeon attacked Yeo Ri with puppy eyes. She was originally a beautiful woman, so the attack power of her gaze was strong. Yeo Ri had no choice but to cave in.
"...Alright," Yeo Ri nodded, gingerly accepting the outfit and dragging her feet to the fitting room.
"Mom," Da Na said reproachingly. Her mother was an experienced actress-turned-businesswoman, so she was good at getting her way. She should have known that her mother would do something like this. "Don't force her; you're being too pushy."
"What? All I did was ask her to try some clothes," Mrs. Choi said, defending her actions. "Why are you blaming me? You also agreed to the plan," Mrs. Choi childishly pouted at her daughter.
"..." Da Na pursed her lips, speechless. It was true that she agreed to the plan, but...
"We should take it slow; slowly, and, I don't know, ease her into it?" If they were too pushy, Yeo Ri might run away, after all. And Gun might hate her for it.
While the two were having their hushed conversation, Yeo Ri was checking herself out in the mirror inside the fitting room.
"..." Yeo Ri stared at her reflection, her eyes flashing with distaste. The clothes were nice but it showed too much of her soiled, dirty skin. The skirt was too short, the neckline was too revealing, the fabric was too light... she made all sorts of excuses in her mind. "You're still so ugly even when you put on pretty clothes," she whispered to herself quietly. She had an urge to pull at her clothes, wanting to cover up the revealed skin. 'Ugly, ugly...'
"Yeo Ri-ah? What's taking you so long?" Da Na called out suddenly, worried about the girl. It had been a while since she entered the fitting room but it was taking her a long time to come out. "Are you having some trouble putting it on?"
"Ah, yes, I'm sorry," Yeo Ri shook her head and blinked her dark emotions away. Putting on a perfect, demure smile, she turned around and walked out of the fitting room.
"H-how does it look?" Yeo Ri asked shyly.
The Choi duo's eyes brightened. As expected of Park Soo Yeon's fashion sense—the two-piece suited Yeo Ri to a T; it looked as if it was made for the girl to wear.
"Twirl for me~" Mrs. Choi said, grinning widely. Her eyes twinkled with happiness. The girl was truly a sight for sore eyes. She could tell that Yeo Ri had successfully grabbed the attention of the other patrons of the store even though she was simply standing there.
Yeo Ri's face reddened from the attention she was receiving. Awkwardly, she made a slow twirl as requested.
"Hm~ skirts look good on you, Yeo Ri-ah. Especially white ones," Da Na complimented, nodding her head in approval. She pulled out her phone and openly snapped a few pictures. She was going to send them to Gun later to show off.
Yeo Ri blushed harder and immediately fled to change out of the clothes.
"Try this one next," Mrs. Choi said just as she was about to enter the fitting room again. She passed several more articles of clothing to Yeo Ri with an expectant gaze.
Defeatedly, Yeo Ri was pressured by the gaze and tried all of the clothes.
"Yeo Ri-ah, if you like anything, then Auntie will buy it for you. What do you think?" Mrs. Choi happily said as Yeo Ri came out wearing the last of her picks. A satisfied look was on her face, signifying how much she had enjoyed the impromptu fashion show, starring Lee Yeo Ri.
Yeo Ri's eyes widened at her question and lowered her head embarrassedly. "You don't have to bother, auntie. Just being able to try them is good enough for me." These clothes were too expensive for her; she had checked the price tags and almost fainted from the amount. This kind of price could feed her family for a whole week with change to spare!
"But what should I do? I want to buy them for you and dress you up in pretty clothes," Mrs. Choi sighed in a troubled manner. Da Na liked wearing girl crush-styled clothes, and while they were pretty and suited her, Park Soo Yeon still felt that a more feminine style was better, but Da Na refused to wear skirts other than her school uniform. So to her, buying these clothes for Yeo Ri could not be considered a waste.
"Mom, you're making Yeo Ri uncomfortable!" Da Na sighed exasperatedly.
"Haha, I'm sorry~ this is just too much fun. Having another daughter is great," Mrs. Choi said. She then looked at Yeo Ri with scrunched brows, pulling another set of puppy eyes and a pout. "Sorry... am I being too pushy?"
"Ah... no..." Yeo Ri immediately shook her head. How could she be so rude to refuse the older woman's request? Actually, Yeo Ri was beginning to feel intimidated due to the former actress' fervent attitude. 'Was buying clothes for me such an important and necessary thing?' She thought to herself. She couldn't understand why the woman was being so kind to her.
After coaxing Yeo Ri for a good few minutes, she finally—although reluctantly—bought an outfit from the store which Park Soo Yeon had picked out for her.
Afterwards, the three headed to another store and repeated the same routine.
In the end, they ended up wasting a lot of time in the boutiques and clothing stores rather than searching for the items they originally came to the mall for.