You're  Beautiful : Moving Forward - Part 14

"How do you think we should surprise her?" Jeremy asked excitedly. "Shall we all just barge to her class and shout - Surprise! Or shall we wait in her dorm, behind the door and jump out when she enters the room. Or shall we..."

"How about if you just finish your banana and keep quiet for at least five minutes," snapped Min Nam in irritation, tired from the long flight from Seoul.

The entourage was traveling from the Aruan airport to the abyss via three dusty Jeeps - the first carrying Tae-kyung, Min Nam and an excited blond guy. Shin Woo, Ma Shilbang and Cordi Wang sat in the second truck, while the third one transported various gifts and supplies as well as enough clothing for the group's one week stay in Uganda.

Despite Min Nam's tiredness, he was lucky that the group travelled via private jet this time around. Apart from the fact that flying private was collectively cheaper, Tae-kyung decided that it was also the better option since they could dictate their own schedule unlike if they were to fly commercial.

From the day the group decided to visit Min Nyu in Arua, it took them collectively with Manager Ma and Cordi Wang two full days to make all the necessary arrangements.

The group did not arrive empty handed unlike Tae-kyung's initial visit.

This time they came bearing gifts of more school and food supplies as well as some items needed for church use, brought on behalf of Mother Superior.

As a special treat, Tae-kyung included Nintendo Game Boys of myriad colours for each child - pink for the girls and blue or green for the boys. Initially, Tae-kyung wanted to purchase the Portable Sony Playstation consoles for the children, but he decided that the Game Boys with their interchangeable game cartridges would be more practical; and as expected, Tae-kyung included two to three cartridges of every imaginable game sold in Seoul.

However, for a special round faced six year old, Tae-kyung lovingly hid a pair of baseball glove and a leather ball, specially autographed by Korea's top baseball export, Park Chan Ho.

Like Jeremy, both Min Nam and Tae-kyung were excited to see Min Nyu just as Shin Woo, Manager Ma and Cordi Wang. But unlike the blond drummer, the others were a bit more controlled in containing their excitement. Even President Ahn wanted to join the party but last minute promotional assignments needed his urgent attention and dictated him to stay back.

Before leaving Seoul, Tae-kyung managed to get in touch with Sister Joanna to inform her of their visit. Of course the sister was sworn to secrecy of their plans.

But instead of taking up the sister's suggestion of staying in a little inn at the village, the group made a consensus decision to stay at the church. A boxful of sleeping bags solved their sleeping arrangement for the week.

Cordi Wang, however, will be put up in Sister Joanna's room.

The group also thought of having a special concert at the end of their stay for the church and the villagers. Hence, along with their luggages and such, they also packed in a mobile keyboard, their guitars and a mobile percussion set for Jeremy. Apart from the guitars, they planned to leave the other instruments to the church's care, when they finally leave.

"Ya, African bananas happen to be surprisingly good," proclaimed Jeremy, earning a smack behind the head from Min Nam.

"Yup," Tae-kyung smiled to himself, above Min Nam's and Jeremy's bicker, "this visit is definitely a good idea."

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As luck would have it, the group arrived at the church at dinner time, much like Tae-kyung and Min Nyu's previous arrival.

As the group alighted from their vehicles and made their way into the dining hall, all chatter in the dining hall stopped in surprise.

But before Jeremy could yell his much practiced 'Surprise!', Iko Kimbe shouted and got up from his seat and ran towards the group before launching himself on his much missed idol!

"Well, I expected my first hug to come from your Sister Gemma, but I think your hug is better!" Tae-kyung laughed in greeting, returning the boy's hug before cradling the latter on his hip.

After that, all hell broke loose with children laughing and hugging their visitors, even if the only person they knew then was the leader of the group. Tae-kyung laughingly introduced all the children to the team by their first names, earning smiles of approval from both Sister Joanna and Sister Agatha.

While the ANJell team was busy making acquaintances with children and the two nuns, Min Nyu just stood in a stunned silence, not quite believing her eyes. But her surprise was short-lived before her twin seeked her out for a greeting hug. The visitors from Seoul then all took their turns to hug their much missed family member and friend.

At the very end of the chaos and boisterous introductions, Tae-kyung stood in front of his much missed Number 1 Fan.

"Anyeoung," he quietly said in greeting, giving her the sweetest of smiles, little Iko now permanently attached behind him on a piggy back.

Silenced by utter happiness and unable to reply him, Min Nyu simply moved forward to give him a tight bear hug - laughing and crying at the same.

"I'll take it that this means you missed me too," laughed Tae-kyung, returning her hug.

Then, draping his arm around her shoulders while straightening Iko further up his back, he turned to both Sisters Joanna and Agatha.

"Sisters, do you happen to have enough food to feed some hungry travelers?"

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As Tae-Kyung predicted, it was truly a happy visit for all of them.

The children loved their presents and despite the heat, the visitors from Seoul enjoyed themselves immensely.

The sleeping arrangeement for the men too proved to be an adventure. With the exception of Tae-kyung and the English bred Jeremy, the other men in the group were used to roughing things out. But equated with children who wanted to join in the supply room camping setting, things started to get crowded after some time. In the end, it were the men who joined the boys in their dorm at nights.

The group tried their best not to disrupt the church's routine. They divided themselves into two groups. The first group comprising Shin Woo and Min Nam, while the other consisted of Jeremy, Manager Ma and Cordi Wang. Each group took turns to either help out during classes or take the time to explore the little village and surrounding area.

Tae-kyung himself had another project of his own. He invited along two extra personnel from AN Production, both of whom arrived the day after.

One was a photographer, frequently engaged by the company and the second a Corporate Social Responsibility expert.

While the photographer's obvious assignment was to document their stay there as well as Min Nyu's and the sisters' hard work, Tae-kyung wanted the CSR expert to assess if there were anything else the ANJell could do to help, not only for the church but for the little village as well.

For a long time then, Tae-kyung had ceased becoming just a mere artiste for AN Production. In fact, after their first year with the company, Tae-kyung had insisted that the group decide their own musical direction, opting to chart their own creative content in terms of composition, arrangement and lyrics.

At first, President Ahn consented due to the respect he had for Tae-kyung's reputable father; but after a while, the president acknowledged the young man's and his friends' raw talents and left them well alone. AN Production instead concentrated on the group's promotional stints and concert management.

In time, President Ahn also realized Tae-kyung's keen business acumen and tended to rely on the young man's input in the company's management more and more.

Tae-kyung, either on his own or with the ANJell band members, not only composed and produced for themselves but also for other budding and established artistes in the market.

Hence, when Tae-kyung initially refused to write for Mwa Ha Ran, President Ahn had to concede despite of the former's reputation and influence in the industry; valuing his company's prized asset more than the female diva. And also when Tae-kyung requested for the photographer and CSR expert to join the excursion on the company's expenses, President Ahn approved it without any hesitation.

Thus, back in Arua, despite the group dividing themselves during the earlier part of the day with their respective tasks and pursuits, they all regrouped during the five to seven o'clock free and easy sessions.

The two hours were spent either playing with the children, or practicing for their impromptu concert, or just chatting amongst themselves.

Tae-kyung began to shed his reserved nature more and more - opting to either sit and hug Min Nyu openly during their chat sessions with the others; or cuddling and playing with Iko and the other children. By the third day of their stay there, the children had already mastered the basics of baseball and some already amateur pitchers.

The initial planned one week visit was extended to include five extra days with the last night being the concert night.

ANJell performed all their hits while the children performed local dance and choir songs. Most of the villagers and parents of the children came to enjoy the performances. Despite the audience not being familiar with the Korean language much less the ANJell brand of music, they all enjoyed themselves.

The concert ended with a barbeque and impromptu dancing by the villagers.

Hence, when it was truly time for the group to leave, the whole village turned up at the airport to say goodbye. Some even bearing gifts of local delicacies and ethnic cloths.

Throughout their stay, as expected, three of the group members received most adulation and following - the y Cordi Noona, the ever handsome Min Nam and the always comical Jeremy. Shin Woo, though, kept getting extra food and shy smiles from the local lady who cooked and cleaned for the church.

Thus, despite the sadness of seeing their surprise visitors off, the children and villagers waved them goodbyes in high spirits.

Min Nyu and the group's parting too was not as sad as the previous ones, knowing that the former would be back home soon.

Yes, it was truly a happy visit for everyone.

~ To be continued ~