ii. the lady in portrait

The day was hot humid and it was making me feel sluggish and lazy to move at all. After lunch period was over, Bora and I, along with the rest of the other girls went to the entrance grounds of the school to wait for the bus to the National Museum.

"The bus has arrived. Please go in pairs and find your seats." Mr. Kim had instructed. Bora and I occupied a vacant seat in the middle with her being near the window while I sat near the isle.

As the bus started to move in motion, the other girls started to talk about endless things. The same goes for Bora who was talking about how her neighbor gave their dog a chocolate cake for its third birthday. The motion of the bus was making me feel sleepy that I didn't noticed that I had closed my eyes and fell into a sleep.

🌸 🌸 🌸

"We have reached our destination. As soon as you get out of the bus, please form two lines upon getting into the entrance." Mr. Kim's voice awoke me up. I turned to look at Bora whose face looks like she too fell asleep.

Bora and I filed into one line and entered inside the museum. The museum held alot of paintings and I was quick to discover each oil in portrait my grandfather made. I wasn't paying any attention to what Mr. Kim was talking about. My eyes wandered at the different paintings and sculptures the museum had to offer. We went from floor to floor, and each painting just amazed me.

As I was walking into another room to show the old Korean money, a hand grabbed my wrist and dragged me away.

"Hey Lee Bora! Where are we going?" I asked her as I followed behind her.

"You'll never believe what I found Chu Eunsol. I, myself, was even amazed." She chuckled to herself and brought us to a different room. She stopped on her tracks and I stopped on my tracks too.

"Now, where is this portrait that you were amazed of?" I asked her. She used her lips to point the direction. Following its direction, I found an old portrait of a woman in black and white hanbok with her hair tied up. But the woman was not any other woman. The woman looked exactly just like me.

"Eunsol, she looks just like you." Bora commented. I took steps closer and looked at the file of the portrait.

Oil in Canvas
"Lady Chu Eunha" 
Chu Ho Dong

"Lady Chu Eunha? Was she related in your family, Eunsol?" Bora turned to face me.

I shook my head in response. It was my grandfather who painted this portrait. This portrait of Lady Chu Eunha who looked exactly just like me.

"I overheard from someone that this Lady Eunha married someone before. But his portrait is not here yet, the workers here told me that after 4 years, they'd put the portrait of her husband beside her." Bora informed me.

"That long?" I asked. But Bora could only shrug and move out of the room. I followed behind her shortly, and I had noticed that her white ribbon hairpin fell from her hair. I quickly picked it up and followed after her.

"Hey Bora! Your hairpin fell over there." I spoke and handed her hairpin.

"Oh thanks." She said and took the hairpin from me.

"Anyway, I'll head over to the bathroom to fix myself."

"Yeah yeah. Make it quick!" Bora called and I quickly made my way to washroom to pee.

After doing so, I head over to the sink to wash my hands. I lifted my head up and noticed that it wasn't me in the reflection. It was Lady Chu Eunha.

My eyes widened and I couldn't find my voice to scream. The Lady Chu Eunha in front of me wore the same hanbok she wore in the portrait. I slowly lifted my hand up and press it into the clear mirror. I noticed that Lady Eunha raised her hand in the mirror too.

Whatever was happening, I only knew one thing for sure.

Lady Chu Eunha and I are the same.

And it was at the moment, that as soon as our palms pressed together, I was sunken and pulled into another world.