She didn’t normally like anyone playing with her hair. It was part of why she hardly styled it, aside from letting her Uncle Gil put it up like Princess Leia: As much as she liked the barrier it gave her when it hung down, she disliked people touching it. More often than not, they tried to be too gentle, resulting in light, just-barely-brushing-against-her touches that made her feel squirmy. Lucy-unni was different, though, delicate yet firm. It made it somewhat easier for her to sit relatively still, hands shoved between her legs as she bounced her knees eagerly, trying to be patient enough to let her unni finish braiding flowers into her hair.
She didn’t have enough fingers to count the number of times she braided a fidgety girl’s hair, and past experience made it easier to follow through despite the little bumps here and there. Granted, it had been awhile because her formerly unwilling younger sisters were old enough to do their own hair now. “Almost done,” Lucy chimed softly as nimble fingers steadily worked around the girl’s head. She knew better than to do anything too intricate or tight, but an effortless waterfall braid encircling the crown of her head and accented with little touches of baby’s breath and small flowers reminded her of the children back home.
“Alright, pretty girl,” she breathed, nudging one final bloom into place before reaching out to grab a mirror from the bathroom counter to hand the girl so she could see the back, “What do you think? If you don’t like it, I can take it all down. It won’t hurt my feelings, okay?” Seonhwa was a timid one, after all; she didn’t want to do anything to make her anxious or uncomfortable. Even if she thought it was such a shame to hide her face behind a hair security blanket.
