Talking to the moon

Chapter 34

Curse you Kim Chaewon for being perfect and giving Yunjin unreasonable expectations to live up to.

It all started the day after the three of them got their hair trimmed. For some reason Eunchae hated getting her haircut, she would just sit in the chair and frown as the stylist tried to cut her hair. The attitude would fade away as soon as the trim was over, becoming smiley when Chaewon would tell her the hair looks good and she's proud of her for being so good.

There were a few things Yunjin had started to notice about Eunchae. One, she liked her hair shaggy and her clothes baggy so she could hide in them. Eunchae loved comfy clothes, jeans and a sweatshirt was her go to look, she'd play with the sleeves or tuck her face slightly under the neckline when she felt nervous. Peng offered similar levels of comfort, Yunjin had talked to her about it once before and she said she liked how soft he was and his weight, the same way Eunchae loved to be held when she was upset. Yunjin was actually considering buying a weighted blanket for her, after looking up some things to help anxiety in kids she stumbled upon it and maybe it would help her spend nights in her own bed. Or at least make her feel safe when they couldn't afford to just drop everything and hold her for hours, but that was something for another day.

Eunchae didn't like when things changed. She didn't like when Yunjin told her to wear her school uniform, not the grey hoodie she wanted to wear. She didn't like when she got her haircut because it was different. She didn't like when her homework was completed in a certain order. She didn't like when food touched because the flavors would combine. She hated change. But Chaewon had been good at introducing it into her life.

The lawyer had been the first to suggest doing Eunchae's hair up and Yunjin honestly expected Eunchae not to be a fan. At first she wasn't, squirming as Chaewon made a few tiny braids near the crown of her head and pinned them back, it was cute but Eunchae didn't seem to like it that much at first. They didn't have time to take them out so Eunchae was sent off to school like that, and came home smiling and hugging Chaewon. At dinner when questioned on her good mood Eunchae said her friends really liked her hair and kept complimenting her throughout the day. Even Yeri. So the next morning Eunchae asked Chaewon to do her hair once again, but the lawyer had to rush off to work. It was her first day back and she was swamped, her cases falling behind and just knew it was about to be a long time of long days. Her clients had been understanding when she explained why she hadn't been at the office, a fruit basket had even been sent to their apartment by one. It made Yunjin reassured she was well liked at her job.

So when Chaewon said she maybe tomorrow and rushed out the door with a kiss on the forehead for Eunchae and one on the lips for Yunjin, that responsibility fell onto Yunjin. She was already at a disadvantage judging from the fact that she only had one hand, her cast was coming off next week, the whole thing was now covered in drawings from Eunchae, and she was making slightly more progress with her shoulder. Add on the fact that the only way to style her hair Yunjin had any idea how to perform was to tie it up into a ponytail, this was a recipe for disaster.

Eunchae was patient at first, sitting still on the floor while Yunjin tried her best to do a small braid on the side of her hair. But then Yunjin started going just a bit too hard, knotting her hair in the process. Eyes widening, she attempted to brush it out drawing out a whine from Eunchae in the process. The whole thing lasted for too long and just kept getting worse and worse as time progressed. By the time Eunchae had to go to school, her hair was frizzy and knotted, looking more like a birds nest than the sleek do Chaewon managed yesterday.

The kindergartener didn't miss the way people took double takes at her throughout the day, laughing at her hair. They used to do the same thing before she started living with Yunjin, her grown out messy and greasy hair that Hanni would always tie into a ponytail for her in the mornings. The teacher had suggested it one morning after watching Eunchae try to brush her bangs out of her eyes, tying her hair up and pinning her bangs back. Yeri had openly made fun of her, she probably was just trying to make Eunchae feel better in her own way. Kyujin grimaced but didn't comment on her thoughts, that hurt the worst seeing Kuujin's eyes flicker over her hair and cringe. Add the fact that she only got a seventy-three on her retake of her math test, Eunchae was having a bad day.