Footsteps

Chapter 4

A week passed by in a whirl of Eunji's usual daily life interspersed with wedding preparations. When she visited her parents over the weekend, the house was already starting to fill up with table settings, flowers and general decorations for the wedding ceremony. It made her nervous, but she was even more nervous meeting this Lee Howon person.

Her mother had made preparations with Howon's mother to let them meet and the agreed date was coming up fast. In two days, to be exact.

Eunji knew she shouldn't think too much into it, it wasn't even a date after all, but she wanted to make a good impression.

---∞---

The day of the meeting arrived all too soon and that morning found Eunji rummaging through her closet, finding something decent to wear. She and Howon were meeting for dinner that evening, but she didn't have time to go home to change so she had to pick an outfit that would serve both work and date-not-date purposes, and she was having trouble doing just that.

That was why she was consulting her best friend and fellow colleague, Park Chorong, through the phone balanced between her ear and shoulder while she held up hanger upon hanger of outfits and scrutinised herself through her full-length mirror. Most of them ended up on a haphazard pile on her bed.

"What about that maroon top? It complements your hair so well!"

"The one with the lace up collar? I wore that a couple of days ago. It's in the laundry."

"What about a denim jacket look? You can't get anymore casual than that!"

"Chorongie, we have work today. That's a bit too casual for work, don't you think so?"

"Oh right, sorry, Eunji-yah. I forgot."

"It's okay, just help me think of something. I'm gonna be late for work if I don't get ready soon!"

"You know what, how about you take a shower and put on your makeup first? I'll swing by with some of my best clothes that you can borrow. Be there in five!" The line went dead as soon as she said that.

Eunji tossed her phone on the bed along with another rejected outfit and figured Chorong was right, so she stepped into her bathroom and awaited the arrival of her best friend .

---∞---

"There, you look so pretty!" Chorong stood back and inspected Eunji from head to toe. She was in Chorong's floral peasant blouse and a black denim skirt that she paired with a pair of dusty pink sling-backs. "And here, you can borrow my new purse too. I usually pair it with this blouse; it matches so perfectly it might as well be a set!"

Eunji accepted the clutch and went over to give Chorong a grateful hug. "Thanks, Chorongie. I really don't know what I'd do without you."

Winking after she pulled away, Chorong giggled. "It's gonna be thanks to me and my impeccable sense of style that this Lee Howon person falls in love with you!"

She was joking, but Eunji paled a bit at the words. Was that what she wanted? For this person she hasn't even met yet to fall in love with her?

Chorong, being the best friend she was, noticed her discomfort and softened. "Hey, don't be so nervous. It's gonna be alright, okay? He's gonna like you." She then grabbed her handbag from atop the dresser and hooked her arm around Eunji's. "Now come on, we have some advertising to do!"