"My girlfriend is coming today from the States so I can't make it." Youngsoo said through the phone, kept on speaker.
"It's okay." Haneul spoke while Haru did her makeup. "Say hi to Chaehyun from me."
"I will. K, I'm cutting off." Youngsoo muttered before ending the call.
Haneul and Haru simultaneously sighed.
"I hate that b*tch." Haru pouted, referring to Youngsoo's girlfriend, Chaehyun.
"Who doesn't?" Haneul sighed.
"Youngsoo." Haru said with a smug face.
Haneul shook her head. "I don't understand what he sees in her." She added.
"If only we could understand." Haru said, brushing Haneul's cheeks off with a coral shade. "You should see something in Yeom Tae by now too, I suppose."
Haneul kept her expression still as Haru pulled the brush back and declared her makeup done.
"I am." Haneul replied as she stood up to change. She walked towards the wardrobe and pulled out her brand new dress. "I am seeing something."
"Really?" Haru shaped her lips into an O.
Haneul nodded then walked behind the changing stall that she had just installed in her room. She had had too many dates and often called her friends for those so she figured a changing stall was needed.
She changed into a new hanbok inspired modern dress. The base was a royal blue cotton tiered knee length dress, infused with a built in petticoat underneath, with white puff sleeves. The sleeves had an extra white net layer to make them stand out. Over the basic plain royal blue dress, an orange, slightly peachy hanbok style coat was worn. The coat was also cotton stitched and only waist lengthed. It was tightened around the waist with a white waist belt.
Haru nodded and slowly clapped in admiration before taking her shoes out. The shoes were traditional royal blue danghye with upturned toes. They had a small kitten heel to them to add in the modern touch.
Though Haru wanted to tie Haneul's hair into a traditional updo, Haneul opposed the idea and let her hair flutter like a waterfall. Haru twisted an inch of hair from either side and brought them to the back, secured with a pretty white colored hairpin. The hairpin was inspired from KungKung-I flowers (Angelica polymorpha) which were worn during Dano festivals.
Overall, the woman looked beautiful. Her little traditionally styled handbag added to the beauty. She looked like an angel.
"Perfect." Haru muttered as she smiled.
"Really?" Haneul asked while sighing. "Haru…"
"Yeah?"
"I'm ready to get married."
Haru didn't want to react extravagantly and make Haneul change her mind.
"That's good." Haru smiled sincerely.
The reaction was enough to make Haneul feel good about her decision. She was ready to take off. Changmin drove his daughter to the train station where Yeom Tae had already been waiting.
As soon as Haneul got out of the car, she gave Yeom Tae a quick scan. His clothes were rather basic. Black pants, a traditionally printed, multicolored, buttoned shirt, and the hanbok as a black coat with white lining. Very basic, but it suited him quite well. He paired that with loafers. There was also a small iris flower in the pocket of his coat to promote the participation in the Dano festival.
"Greetings." Yeom Tae greeted Changmin with a smile as he left his daughter off.
"Hey, Yeom Tae!" Changmin exclaimed joyfully. "Looking fresh!" He added. "Take care of Haneul, yeah?"
"Yes." Yeom Tae nodded as he grabbed Haneul's hand.
Changmin smiled and drove away. As the two saw him off, Yeom Tae quickly turned his glance to Haneul.
"I want to see your wardrobe one day." Yeom Tae admired her right off the bat.
Haneul was flustered for a while, but then she felt good about spending her quality time online shopping.
"Be my guest." Haneul said while chuckling.
Yeom Tae was left astonished by her genuine chuckle. It was almost like she wasn't suppressing her personality like she usually did when they met up.
"You seem happy today." Yeom Tae said.
"I was told the rice cakes in Gwangju are very delicious." Haneul said bluntly.
"You're happy because of rice cakes?" Yeom Tae asked dumbfoundedly.
"Yeah!"
Right. Yeom Tae told himself to stop having positive feelings regarding her smiles. There was no way his presence made her happy. Even rice cakes were better than him. Not that he wanted to compete with rice cakes.
Now that he gave it a thought, telling Haneul about himself like he wished to would've made him even lower to rice cakes. Probably lower to rice flour let alone rice cakes. That was agonizing to even think about.
He cleared his throat. "Shall we?"
Haneul tightened her grip around his hand and they set off to walk towards the train. It was going to be less than 2 hours of a train ride to Gwangju from where they had set off, Seoul.
Their train compartment was closed so it was going to be a nice, chill and perfect ride.
"How are your friends, and the cat?" Yeom Tae asked as the two were comfortably seated.
"Oh, they're okay now." Haneul said. "The cat is still recovering."
"That's good to know. I'd like to meet them more often." Yeom Tae said.
"You should." Haneul smiled.
Uh oh. Another smile. No Yeom Tae, no. The smile is probably for another delicacy.
"You did mention wanting to invite us to your house." Haneul said, "I mean I support the idea but your house looks very bland for their personalities."
Yeom Tae nodded, "You mean my parents' house." He said slowly, smirking lightly.
Haneul narrowed her eyes in confusion.
"I live alone." Yeom Tae added. "Moved out quite a long time ago actually."
"Wow." Haneul looked shocked. "I want to see your house." She said with anticipation.
"Why not?" Yeom Tae smiled. "I'll invite all your friends too."
Haneul nodded, "Will that be the same house when we get married?"
Yeom Tae blinked. Why was she suddenly so open about marriage?
"Excuse me?" Yeom Tae asked hesitantly.
"I want to see where I will live after our marriage." Haneul said, bluntly.