She had been sitting down on the chair for a while now, with the self-proclaimed professional Haru the makeup artist, brushing her cheeks with a puff brush while holding it softly and only grazing her skin slightly. Haneul looked up at Haru and blinked her curled lashes twice.
"Why though?" Haru asked, pulling the brush away. "Why do you suddenly want to try?"
In the past 15 years of countless blind dates, Haneul had rejected each and every one of the men, no matter his looks, no matter his status. For her, the ambitions and goals embedded in her heart were far more important than marriage.
"My parents have had enough." Haneul looked at herself in the mirror.
Haru didn't do much to her already gorgeous face. A little tint here and there and she was perfect. Haru only got the weariness off as Haneul had had a long working day. Her long and sleek black hair fell on either side of her face and her fringe revealed only the center of her forehead. The tassel earrings she wore hung at the back of her ear with a pearl stud on the ear lobe.
Her dress was simple as well. They were sitting in her room facing her dressing table with her wardrobe's door opened and different dresses and outfits were hanging out. Although her room was tidy, compact and normal, with a modern contrast of gray and white, her wardrobe was rather feminine.
Her dressing table was by the corner of the room, attached with a mirror on the wall and another full body mirror placed next to it. The sliding wardrobe door was right behind it, opened to its glory.
The bed was on their right and nightstands, galaxy lamps and scented candles. Behind them was her study table and a bookshelf, stacked with books, medals, awards and her printed diploma on the wall. She had become a pediatrician like she had always dreamt to. And here she was, dressing up for another blind date.
"What do you mean?" Haru snarled. "You've had enough too!"
"They were serious this time, Haru." Haneul clenched her teeth. "I'm turning 30 this year. It's too old, they say." She added.
"What if you don't like him?" Haru folded her arms together and furrowed her brows. "Who is he anyway? Did they at least show you his face?"
"I mean," Haneul shrugged, reaching her hand out on the table where her phone was placed, her net dropping sleeves arching downwards as she grabbed her phone and brought it back.
Her dress was a sky blue mesh stitched and covered with a cream white floral net. It reached just the top of her knees, tightened with a golden belt on her waist. The sleeves were breathable and see through with just the cream white net. The neck was round and her pretty silver neck chains were expressed out perfectly.
She looked like the clouds in the sky, enough to melt a man's heart. Haneul unlocked her phone and opened a search app. Haru quickly raised an eyebrow.
She typed a name in the search bar and then faced her phone towards Haru.
"Yeom Tae." Haru read out loud, then let her eyes swirl around the handsome man displayed on the page. "Um." She cleared her throat. "Doesn't this man show up on TV sometimes?" She asked.
Haneul nodded, "His family is also on the board of directors in the hospital my father owns, our workplace." She added. "They invested a huge sum last year."
"So it's a business marriage?" Haru sarcastically smiled.
"Yes." Haneul nodded.
"Yeom Tae-ssi is good looking." Haru said, "But make sure you don't say yes until you know for sure."
"Don't worry." Haneul smiled brightly.
With that Haru stepped back to take one last look. Her lips curled into a smile, approving the look.
The door of the room knocked twice before Haneul's mother opened it and walked inside, gasping right away as she saw Haneul dressed up nicely.
"What is the occasion?"
Of course, she had to be sarcastic about her daughter's appearance since every other blind date was taken so roughly by Haneul.
"Soomin-ssi, don't you think I made her look pretty?" Haru tried to lighten the atmosphere.
"Fortunately!" Soomin exclaimed in surprise. "Go now, the chauffeur is waiting."
Haneul blinked twice and repressed a sarcastic smile. Haru quickly grabbed essentials including a lip tint and cell phone, shoved them into a small white twinkling handbag with a silver chain, putting it over Haneul's shoulder and then pushing her out the room, her heels clacking against the tiled floor.
Haneul walked out of her room, leaving her friend and her mother to walk downstairs and then outside the house from the main door. A few steps down and she was in the front garden from where she made her way to the main gate. Their house was huge and well maintained. The society they resided in was all the same.
Haneul walked towards the car whose door the chauffeur had left open, standing right beside it. She sat inside and let the chauffeur close the door, driving soon after.
Haneul tapped her heels continuously on the car floor, nervous and unsure of what she was going to witness today. Will Yeom Tae be another man she would reject and bring 'disgrace' to her parents? Or will she be able to accept her endless blind date fate?
The car stopped in front of a 5-star-hotel, obviously. The chauffeur opened the door of the car and Haneul walked out, swallowing the lump in her throat. She wasn't an antisocial person but got along with only some.
Her grandmother used to tell her, 'Nerds only get along with nerds.'
But she wasn't a boring person, or so she thought. Sure she was ambitious and goal centered even after achieving her goal, but she wasn't boring. If she had been a boring person, she wouldn't have had any friends. But then again, maybe nerds only get along with nerds after all.
There was too much overthinking today, but she let her heels click and clack against the marble floor of the hotel.
Her table was at the topmost floor for her and her blind date to see the night sky together. She wasn't sure if she was into candlelight dinners and sightseeing, but she had vowed to try her best this time. She even prayed before entering the 15th floor that the man she would be facing today gets captivated by her, and she gets captivated by him.
Haneul was guided to the 15th floor by the waiter, then all the way to the table in the corner, by the glass wall. The man sitting there was facing the window and his back faced Haneul and the waiter. She gulped as they walked close, and the man turned around to look at her.
A smile it was, "Kim Haneul-ssi?"