Lady Spring

He nonchalantly waved his hand and continued to munch on his toast. Saeun frowned before sighing and going to her room. She needed to be quick with her makeup. She couldn’t afford to be later than she already was.

The sliding door to the room was still open, which meant that Wooyoung could see her very well. She has never had someone watch her put on her makeup, so she felt awkward. Would he think she was spending too much effort on her hopeless face? Or would he think she looked better with makeup?

She was so distracted that her hand shook as she put on her eyeliner. She made a mistake, so with an annoyed sigh, she put the pen down and picked up the remover. It was well past 9 o’clock now. For an unknown reason, she became more and more annoyed. She cleaned her eyes and picked up the eyeliner again, but when her hand shook, she sighed and waited till her hand calmed down.

She was about to try again when suddenly, she heard the dining table chair squeak. The line she drew looked obviously crooked.

“Dammit!”

With a frustrated groan, Saeun roughly removed her mistake. When she picked up her pen again, a large hand stopped her.

“I’ll do it for you.”
“What?”

She blinked and looked up at Wooyoung, who took the pen.

“Look down a little.”
“How would you know how to put on makeup?”
“I’ve done it more times than you have. Just look down. From what I saw just now, it’s going to take you another hour to finish. I can do it in three minutes.”

Of course it wasn’t going to take much time now. She was done putting on her foundation, which meant all she needed now were putting on the eyeliner and lipstick. She rarely wore any blush, so this shouldn’t take even three minutes. But when Wooyoung looked at her with determination, Saeun pouted and obeyed. She supposed there was no harm in letting him try.

“There is no way you know how to put on makeup. Don’t you have a makeup artist to do it for you? Besides, it’s not like you wear eyeliner, right?”
“I do sometimes. And when it gets really busy, I have to do it myself. Haven’t you heard of that guy carrying around a giant makeup box?”

Saeun felt the pen moving across her eyelid smoothly. His hand was surprisingly steady and unwavering. When she tried to look up at him, Wooyoung warned her with his eyes. Saeun quickly lowered her eyes again and asked,

“But that wasn’t about you. I heard it was some actor who was obsessed with makeup.”
“Do you really think it’s just that one guy in the entertainment industry who carries it around? All the celebs do it. That’s how we live. Makeup is part of my life.”

She felt his hand move again. Wooyoung narrowed his eyes to assess her face before putting the pen down. He asked,

“Where is your eye shadow?”
“I don’t wear eye shadows.”
“Just shut up and give it to me.”

Saeun glared at him, but Wooyoung refused to budge. In the end, she rummaged through her dressing table to find a 15-color eye shadow kit she got as a gift two years ago from a friend. He opened it and after studying it for a moment, he used the makeup brush to try a few colors on the back of his hand.

“What a professional you are.”

Saeun grumbled, making Wooyoung grin.

“Just don’t be shocked when you see my work. Now, close your eyes.”

From then on, she followed his orders meekly. She opened and closed her eyes, and even puckered her lips for him. Wooyoung used the eyelash curler, mascara, and even mixed two different colored lipsticks to finish her makeup. The whole process didn’t take as long as Saeun expected. At the end, he applied the eye shadow as blush and even put some shadows.

When he was finally done, he turned her around towards the mirror.

“Have a look.”

Saeun just blinked for a moment as she watched herself in the mirror. Omg. This couldn’t be her face, could it? No, it WAS indeed her face, but she looked much prettier. She couldn’t tell which part made her look pretty, but nonetheless, she looked pretty.
How could this be? What magic was this?

“You must be a makeup genius.”

When she murmured in awe, Wooyoung burst into laughter. His cheerful voice filled the room and Saeun stared at him blankly. The black and blue bruises on his face made him look ridiculous, but somehow he… looked much younger now. Much younger than even last night.

“Now, get to work. When you like the way you look, you will become more confident. Have a nice day, okay? Don’t walk around with your shoulders slouched and defeated like yesterday. Hey, it’s already 9:15 a.m.”
Saeun didn’t bother replying; she ran out the door with her purse in her hand. From behind, she heard Wooyoung yelling.

“Come home early! I’ll prepare a delicious dinner and wait for you!”

Omg. Wasn’t that something a newly married couple would say to each other? As she ran to the bus stop, Saeun couldn’t stop smiling.

***

On her way back home, Saeun’s steps were lighter than the feathers. She climbed down the bus humming a song she didn’t even know the lyrics to.

Six people. Six people have told her she looked pretty today. Six people! This was the first time so many people complimented her look in a single day. It felt like a dream and her heart refused to stop pounding. People said her face looked brighter today. Some asked if something good happened yesterday, but all Saeun could do was smile. She knew it was all because of Wooyoung’s amazing makeup technique, but it didn’t matter! No one seemed to realize the truth,

Smiling like an idiot, she walked faster when suddenly, she noticed the convenient store near her home. Was Wooyoung still home? He did tell her he would prepare dinner for her and that she should come home early, but… she didn’t think he stayed. After all, he was a popular idol. And like he said last night, he had many TV shows he needed to appear on, right? There was no doubt he must be very busy.

Suddenly, her happiness disappeared and her steps became heavier. She dragged her feet to her apartment wondering why she felt so unhappy to return to her empty home when it has always been like this. Perhaps she would feel better if she called one of her friends and gossiped for a while. Yes, that’s what she should do. With a quiet sigh, Saeun continued to trudge along.

Her old apartment building looked ugly and dark. When she got closer, something caught her eyes when she looked up.

There was a bright light shining through her apartment window.