11
Love Is...
Chapter Eleven
“I really said that?” I asked as I finished my egg toast.
Kai was telling something about me calling him Nampyeon last night.
It’s hard to believe it because I don’t, I mean I never talk while I’m sleeping.
“Yep, you did,” He wiggled his eyebrows.
We finished eating breakfast and Kai went to my room to change his clothes.
“I’ll be back by lunch. We’ll go somewhere.” He smiled and went for the door.
“Okay, see you later, bye!” I waved goodbye and he left.
"Does he know you'll be going for a vacation in Jeju after the engagement party?" Halmeoni asked, standing behind me.
I pretended I was not startled by her sudden appearance and replied, "I'm not sure. He isn't talking to me about it." I started walking towards the living room and sat down on the couch.
Halmeoni sat beside me. "Are you gonna go out with him later?"
"Yeah,"
"Well, maybe you should start telling him about it. You two needs to start preparing for your vacation."
"Yeah, I know,"
She looked at me with concerned eyes. "Minah, are you okay?"
I sighed and stood up. "Where's Sungjae?"
She paused for a moment, grasping the fact that I don't want to talk about it then answered, "In his room."
I headed to Sungjae's room, leaving Halmeoni.
Sungjae was lying on his bed while holding a book right in front of his face.
I sat beside him and tickled his sides.
He moved, but didn't laugh.
"Hey, baby boy,"
No response.
I lied down beside him and leaned my head against his so I can see a better view of the book. "What book are you reading?" I asked.
He looked at me, "Math Is Fun," he answered with a peeved look on his face.
"No, it's not, it's never fun." I said.
"Anio, noona that's the title of the book." He placed his thumb on the page he was reading and closed the book. "See?" He placed the book in front of my face.
"Oh," was the only thing I said.
He's always the smart one, it hurts.
"Is one month a long time?" He suddenly asked.
"Nope," I answered.
He didn't say anything, like he was still waiting for me to say something more, "that is why it's called one month. One, meaning not long."
Very senseless.
I, myself, did not understand a thing I just said.
"Is Halmeoni good at Math?" Sungjae asked as he placed his book under his pillow and looked at me.
I looked at the ceiling, thinking. "I think so... Maybe?" I tilted my head to the side so that I was facing him. "Why?"
"You're going to be away for one month, right? No one's gonna help me with my homeworks especially with Math. I don't want my teacher to scold me for not doing my homework." He pouted.
And then suddenly, I felt guilty.
"Do you want me to look for a tutor?" I asked.
"What's a tutor?"
"It's someone, um, like a teacher who will help you with your lessons and homeworks."
His eyes twinkled and he sat up. "Really? Cool! Who is it?!" He asked, grinning.
I placed my hands on the back of my head. "Um, I'm not sure yet. I still need to-"
"How about Sehun hyung?"
I really had to laugh at that.
Sehun is studying in a university where the well-heeled people are.
But I am not yet aware of how intelligent he is. Or if he is.
I still have to know about that.
"I really want Sehun hyung to be my tutor!!" He said buoyantly. "Please?"
"I, Sehun is," I sighed, "okay I'll ask him." I finally said.
Sungjae hugged me. "Yay! Thank you noona!"
I smiled and hugged him back.
It was almost eleven thirty and I was still with Sungjae inside his room.
I'm really going to miss this kid.
And so I decided to text Kai and ask him if we could cancel our plan and just stay here in the house because I wanted to be with Sungjae and Halmeoni.
After about ten minutes, he replied...
From: Kim Jongin
Okay.
Then he texted again,
From: Kim Jongin
How about we just go outside for lunch with them?
That sounded okay.
I texted him back saying 'okay' and he didn't reply anymore.
"Wash up and get dressed. We're going to eat lunch outside with Kai."
Sungjae perked up and immediately went inside the bathroom.
I left the room and looked for Halmeoni.
Once I found her sweeping away the leaves in the garden I told her to get ready. She said she's going to finish cleaning our mini garden first and that I, too, should get ready.
...
Kai parked his black Maserati in front of a restaurant called Munch Lunch which had a small playroom inside. He removed the key from the ignition.
We all went out of the car.
Kai opened the glass door for us and we walked inside. Our table were two tables away from the playroom.
Sungjae saw the playroom and asked Halmeoni if he could go and play.
"Wait, what do you want to eat?" I asked them.
"Anything is okay, you decide, Halmeoni can we please go now?" He pleaded, pulling Halmeoni's hand.
"Halmeoni how about-" Before I could finish my question Sungjae was already dragging Halmeoni towards the playroom.
I closed my eyes then looked at Kai who was giggling silently. I sat across him and opened the menu.
I noticed that half of the food being served in Munch Lunch were huge burgers and fries. I was scanning the menu when a waiter went to our table to get our orders. "Um, I'll just have the," I hid my lips, "uh, this one." I pointed towards a picture of a grilled burger with bacon and fries then looked at Kai who was also scanning his menu.
"I'll have this," he pointed to the one under mine.
There was a picture of a spaghetti with garlic bread at the back part of the menu and that's what I got for Sungjae.
For Halmeoni, it was the same as mine.
"Twenty-five minutes." The waiter said before leaving our table.
I looked at Halmeoni then at Sungjae who was really enjoying himself.
"It's Friday today, right?" Kai suddenly asked.
"I'm not sure. Try looking at your watch." I said.
He was wearing a digital watch which, as we all know shows both date and time.
But in reality, I really wasn't sure what day it was today.
"I just wanted to start a conversation." He said, then looked at me, waiting for a response. "Anyway, aren't you supposed to be at school today?"
At first, I became confused with why he was asking this, but then it hit me, he still doesn't know about it.
"I'm not a teacher anymore." I said.
Then, as expected he had a surprised look on his face. "What?! Why?!"
"Because we're going to Jeju." I answered simply.
"Jeju? Why?" From confused, his expression went to very confused.
"Because we're going to spend a one month vacation there before the wedding day. If you're going to ask me why is that needed, the answer is I don't know, too." I explained.
He scowled, taking it all in. "How about Halmeoni and Sungjae? Will they go with us?"
"Nope, but don't worry. Jungah ajumeoni said that they will be okay."
"How about you? You're not gonna go back to teaching? Ever?" He asked with a concerned expression.
I sighed.
I still don't know about that, too.
But if you're going to ask me, I really wanted to go back to that school and continue teaching.
Is that possible?
"I don't know, I hope I could go back. That's my one and only job."
I realized that now isn't the right time to be thinking about that so I just looked at him and smiled. "Let's not think about it for now."
Kai was quiet for a moment, then suddenly, "Are you really serious about the one month Jeju vacation?" He looked at me like I was the funniest person on Earth.
"What do you think?" I asked him.
He shrugged. "I don't know, yes?"
"Tch. Of course I'm serious!" I said.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." He laughed then bit his lip.
I scanned his face and I can say that he was really glad about this.
I, on the other hand, was still unsure whether to feel glad, confused or troubled about it.
All I know is that I have to prepare myself for everything that's bound to happen.
Comments