𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈

eunjae's return to onyang wasn't surprising to her, per se, as she always felt she was more fitted as a small town girl. however, that didn't stop people from talking. it was expected with this community but was still annoying.

of course, she'd never admit that out loud. no, eunjae's been around too long to risk making a bad impression on anybody. plus, her family simply knew too many people for her to be badmouthing this town's tendencies. so, instead, she just sucked it up and continued with a smile.

it helped that she wasn't the talk of the town too much. others, unfortunately, weren't as lucky. in her eyes, gaeul fell in that category. eunjae's heard all about her marriage and—although she never really wanted to know all the details—her divorce as well.

maybe that's why eunjae's mom constantly overstepped boundaries and tried to show more concern for the seamstress. that concern bleeded into eunjae's life as well.

it's how she ends up standing in front of gaeul one late night, bread in her hand that her mother insisted she hand out to the other. she had stayed behind at school herself to catch up on work. gaeul and her were on friendly terms, for the lack of the better word. friends? that might be a stretch, but eunjae wasn't as bothered by gaeul's presence compared to some of the other townspeople.

the choi's are onyang natives and have been for many, many generations. her family's been running a bakery around town for generations as well, so come on by to get your bread! very likely that she would've taken over if she hadn't been convinced to go off to college, but now her older sister runs the bakery along with her mom

eunjae's always been the type of girl who wanted to breeze through life. puts 80% of her effort into everything rather than 100%. "it is what it is," is probably her life motto

so far, that's worked out for her, so she's not eager to change up how she navigates through life

a typical girl next door kind of person that your parents may compare you to because she appears kind, hardworking, non-rebellious and so on

and that's not totally off because, again, she's never taken much risks or steps that could lead to complete failure, but she doesn't love always being mentioned by the older townspeople since she wants to live a more lowkey life

went off to college, and it was a fun experience, but she stills feels more at peace at onyang since it's such a familiar place. she uses her mom constantly missing her as an excuse to come back. the pact's broken, but eunjae's not too concerned about that as she never put much emphasis on such things anyway

she works as an elementary school teacher! loves children, so it just felt like the right step to take when she did go off to college

she follows the order mainly because it's comfortable for her to do so. again, they've all known one another for so long and eunjae's not the type to break something that isn't broken. nothing significantly terribly has happened for her to break out of it, so she hasn't taken any steps to do so

however, there's a feeling deep down that tells her that maybe it's time for all of them to grow up. she'd never admit this out loud, but eunjae does feel a little trapped in this circle of hers, and she wants to escape, but it almost feels like she physically can't

so she just follows it because that's just who she is...

personality-wise: she's quite easy to get along with! with almost everybody around town knowing who she is, it's hard for her not to be friendly to everyone, but she genuinely is a caring and kind person, especially to children & elders

however, she also appears mysterious in a way that most people probably don't really know what she's thinking. she keeps a lot of her inner thoughts to herself almost like a defense mechanism. she thinks if people know her actual thoughts, they'll use it against her

can seem a little boring because she prefers safe and predictable things, but she's a teacher so she can't exactly be seen doing risky things either oops

a chill person overall. a little protective of her family and those she considers close to her, but she's also the type to step away from an argument because she'd rather not get involved