Hye-jae - Book 1: New Beginnings

New Life Part 26

Hye-won realised that for swimming with Ciara, she would need something more than underwear so Seon-jae brought her to the department store that, along with the smaller food stores in the centre, he had visited just before Hye-won's arrival. She laughingly reassured him that she would be absolutely fine alone and though reluctant, he sensed that these little separations were important in helping her regain her independence and didn't press too long to remain with her.

'I'll buy some food and cook dinner when I get home from here and we'll eat together later, ok?' she suggested, placatingly and with a final hug and a longing look, Seon-jae was leaving for an afternoon of technical classes and practice. As he moved towards the university, he thought of the surprise piece that he was spending most time working on at the moment and the sense of anticipation he felt to work on this music was incentive enough to have him increase his pace so as not to be late for his first session.

Hye-won felt less confident than she had expressed to Seon-jae but she reassured herself that e-payment was universal now and she probably wouldn't need to speak much German.  The department store was housed in a modern renovation, squeezed between 2 wooden-latticed medieval buildings which was an incongruous look but inside, the layout was modern and pleasantly spacious. Hye-won forced herself to enjoy the time alone and within a few minutes, she could feel herself begin to relax. Before, dressing well was almost a duty.  I think clothes were my armour in that world. Now, I'm dressing for my own pleasure, which is kind of exciting.

She wasted no time in picking out a sporty swimsuit in navy blue, as well as a more adventurous two-piece, in black with trimmings in lime green. She stocked up on cotton tees and shirts and some more shorts and skirts. She also bought some jeans, one cut-off mid-calf with a loose leg, the other more fitted and full length, in white denim. On a whim, she also picked out 2 sweet summer dresses, one a white sheath to the knee that would skim her body comfortably and the other with tiny flower sprigs in pale yellow, fitted bodice showing small yellow buttons along the mid-line, giving way to a full kick-skirt. She was just leaving the clothing section, when her eye fell on a black, satin, bias-cut mid-length dress with a scooped, low-skimming back and thin shoulder straps. She couldn't resist feeling the smoothness of the shimmering material and from experience, knew that the material would drape her curves elegantly. I might need at least one more formal dress for concerts. She also bought plenty of underwear - her usual white cotton for the heat of summer - but some inner devil seized her when she saw a rack of more feminine satin underwear.  I need underwear for that dress, at least.

She didn't fit on anything before buying - she knew her body shape well and was fairly confident that everything she had chosen would be practical, stylish and fit reasonably well. Though she was beginning to feel slightly profligate, she forced herself to move to the footwear section and picked out a comfortable pair of sports sandals as well as a low-heeled black shoe that she thought would not make cycling impossible - maybe.

Her last purchase was to buy some tees, shorts and swim-wear for Seon-jae but she didn't prolong this, feeling slightly self-conscious and trusting that anything he wore would look amazing on his youthful, healthy frame.

Her mood on leaving the store was up-beat, the whole experience having been far more pleasurable than she had expected. She stored her clothing in her backpack with no difficulty and thought about her next focus - food. On a hot summer day, fish was often her go-to option and she trusted her instinct on this. She enjoyed shopping in the smaller artisan stores and having visited the fish-shop and bread shop, spent some time choosing 2 candles - a citronella for outdoors and an indoor one, with orange scents.

Eventually, the logistics of getting home in one piece by bicycle made her conclude her shopping trip and make the journey back to the bike-park. That wasn't too bad - maybe even fun.