Pygmalion

Sukyung frowned at the thought. Sungwoo was right. If she was walking beside Jaewon and she was walking funny… It would embarrass Jaewon for sure. She had always found it amazing how some women walked so elegantly and fast in high heels. Perhaps here, she could learn to walk just like them…

Sungwoo smirked and muttered,

“Hmm, you must be thinking about ‘him’, huh? Do you feel more motivated now?”

Sukyung blushed brightly, noticing Sungwoo studying her. When she saw his sharp eyes, she looked away from him and murmured,

“No, it’s not like that… I…”

Just then, Jungim returned with the camcorder. Sungwoo ordered, 

“Give it to me. I’ll record it, so you go ahead and keep going with your lesson, Jungim.”

Sungwoo grabbed the camcorder and sat down on his chair again. Jungim looked at him with curiosity before returning to Sukyung. She announced,

“Alright. We’ll start with your posture again. Now, do you remember what I told you to do a moment ago? Try it now.”

Sukyung tried her best to do what Jungim wanted, but all Jungim did was frown and click her tongue. 

“No, that’s not right. When did I teach you to do that? You’re pushing out your chest too much. Look at yourself in the mirror. You need the angle here to be like this. Push this part in a little and straighten your shoulders! Your head is looking up too high. You need to look down. I said down!”

By the time the evening came, Sukyung was sweating profusely. She had been learning to walk and sit for the past three hours. During the last hour, Jungim also gave her an express course on facial expressions. After smiling, frowning, and trying out tired expressions in an “elegant way”, Sukyung felt like her face was going into a spasm. 

Towards the end, Jungim announced that vocal training was also part of her lesson. But Sungwoo shook his head and announced that it was enough. Jungim finally sighed and left the room, and Sukyung collapsed on a chair in exhaustion. She didn’t care how ugly she looked. She was so tired. 

Sungwoo, who remained seated in his chair, gestured his finger for her to come closer. Shaking her head, Sukying replied, 

“Just give me a minute. I need a moment to breathe.”

It looked like Sungwoo was about to order her to come closer, but when he saw how tired she looked, he stood up. Grabbing his chair, he walked up to her and placed the chair next to her to sit down. He was sitting so close to her that she could feel his body warmth. But Sukyung was too tired to care at the moment. Besides, this wasn’t the first time Sungwoo sat this close to her. In fact, he even kissed her before, didn’t he?

Suddenly, Sukyung blinked. Ah, that’s right! It seemed like it happened a hundred years ago, which was why she had forgotten all about it. But remembering the kiss made her face redden even more. She was already breathless, but now, she felt like she couldn’t breathe at all. How could she have forgotten?!

And they were all alone here! Until a moment ago, Jungim was here, so Sukyung didn’t even think about this. But now, she was very well aware of how there were only two of them in this windowless room. 

But it appeared that Sungwoo didn’t feel a thing. He ordered,

“Have a look. I recorded everything.”

Glancing at him secretly, Sukyung watched herself in the camcorder. On the screen, she was standing with Jungim before she began to walk. Sungwoo explained,

“This is the walk before the lesson. Do you see what’s wrong here?”

On the screen, Sukyung saw herself walking awkwardly. Jungim instructed,

“No, not like that. I asked you to follow the line. Take one step at a time. If you can’t do it, try doing it slowly. Focus!”

On the screen, Sukyung looked like a child being scolded. The truth was, Sukyung did want to cry during the lesson. Jungim was treating her like an idiot, and Sukyung felt so confused because she didn’t know what she was doing wrong. 

But as she watched herself on the screen, Sukyung could now see her problem. In fact, she was doing everything wrong! The moment she began walking, her shoulders slouched and she walked with zero confidence. She kept looking down, making her back slump as well. It looked exactly like the way Jungim mimicked to show her at the beginning.

A hunchback.

“Do you get it now?”

When Sungwoo asked, Sukyung blinked quickly to stop herself from crying and nodded. She now realized that all the pretty clothes in the world were going to be useless on her if she walked like this. It was no wonder Jaewon didn’t want her near him. The woman on the screen looked like she had no confidence in herself. In fact, she looked like she feared the whole world. 

Sungwoo said to her,

“But this is how you were walking at the end of the lesson. Do you see the difference?”