Journey 10

Jinri's Top Worrisome List:

1. I took care of a baby whom I'm not related to.
2. I spent half of my allowance for his food.
3. I'm lying to Joonmyeon.
4. THE BABY-TURNED-TO-KID IS AN ALIEN. I AM LIVING WITH AN ALIEN.

"Jinri? Hey, are you still listening?"

Jinri snapped out of her thoughts as Joonmyeon's voice intercepted her reverie. She shook her head a little and glanced at her boyfriend, who was looking at her every now and then while  driving.

"Sorry Joonmyeon, I didn't." she folded the scrap of paper that she was reading and placed it on her pocket.

But instead of getting annoyed, Joonmyeon breathed an carefree laughter and shook his head.

"Well? What's bothering you?" he asked.

The girl bit her lip and leaned her cheek on the window pane. There was no point on asking what was bothering her, because she has only one reason to give. However, she doesn't have any intention of sharing that reason to Joonmyeon.

"What were you talking about a while ago again?" she diverted.
"Oh, that. Well Mom, Dad and I were going to Metro Park* to golf this Sunday. Do you want to come?"

Jinri avoided Joonmyeon's eyes immediately. For her, spending Sundays with the Kims was a big deal that requires her whole day of decision-making. She knew that she won't be able to answer a straight 'yes' with an acceptable reason or a blunt 'no' to Joonmyeon. Therefore, she formed her words in the nicest answer she can muster,

"That's lovely, but I'm not yet sure so I'll think about it first, okay?"

*5. I might spend my weekend with Joonmyeon's mom.*

Joonmyeon glanced at Jinri again and smiled. "I hope you'll say yes." he said.

Jinri returned his smile and started another conversation about random things she can think of. The couple talked for minutes until Joonmyeon parked his car in front of Jinri's apartment.

"Do you want me to ride you tomorrow for school?" he asked as he turned the car engine off.

Jinri stopped on pushing the door open and looked back, "Well... the thing is..."
"-You're babysitting?" he guessed.
"Mm-hmm."
"I'll take care of it. Tomorrow we'll bring that kid to prep school, then we can go to school together. How about that?"
"Sounds awesome." Jinri commented with a genuine smile. "Well, see you tomorrow." she pushed the car door fully and was about to step out but Joomyeon reached for her hand.
"Wait, I have something for you."

Joonmyeon searched the back seat and pulled out a small paper bag with childish designs at the front. Jinri raised her eyebrow inquiringly but Joonmyeon just shook his head.

"Open it when you're inside. Good night." and he leaned in to kiss Jinri's cheeks which caught the latter off-guard and blushed deeply.
"You sneaky - !" Jinri started alarmingly.
"Bye!" and he pushed her outside as he started the engine, leaving Jinri one final wave.

After a few minutes of digesting what happened, Jinri laughed for the first time of the week and happily went inside her apartment.

"Hiya!" Kyungsoo welcomed the moment Jinri opened the door.
"Hey." Jinri smiled and flumped on her couch.
"Seems you're in a good mood?" Kyungsoo joined her and leaned his head on Jinri's shoulder.
"At some point, yeah." Jinri answered as she thought of Joonmyeon's sneaky kiss. She buried her head on Kyungsoo's shoulder to hide her burning face, but Kyungsoo was her friend for a long time to not know every little actions she does.
"There are only two possible reasons why you're blushing; 1) Joonmyeon kissed you, 2) Joonmyeon and you had ."
"KYUNGSOO!" Jinri pushed her friend off the couch and attempted to kick his .
"Chanyeol help me!!!!"

Then out of nowhere, Chanyeol launched himself behind Jinri's back, wrapping his flimsy arms around the girl's neck.

"Aaaahhh! Not again!" Jinri yelled while she irritatingly pushed Chanyeol away.

It had been a two weeks since Jinri found out Chanyeol' mystery. Two weeks of absorbing reality and fantasy - when sometimes, she can't point out what was real or not. Perhaps it was because she saw Chanyeol the other day jumping from her second-floored apartment up to the ground floor, or that she was living an abnormally secret life from her friends besides Kyungsoo.

Moreover, Chanyeol launching himself behind Jinri's back wasn't new to her as well. Even for Kyungsoo, who always babysit Chanyeol whenever Jinri was not around.

"I miss you Mama!" Chanyeol exclaimed.
"I'm not your Mama! I'm your noona! How many times do I have to tell you that?"
"Mamaaaa!!!"
"One more word and I'm not giving you dinner!" Jinri threatened.

Chanyeol stopped hugging Jinri and sat down beside her. He titled his head innocently and batted his eyelashes while giving Jinri the same angelic smile that never grew weary on people.

"Can I have dinner now Ma-.. noona?" he asked.

Jinri and Kyungsoo snorted in unison. That kid always knows how to use his cuteness.

* * *

Joonmyeon kept his promise the next day when he, together with Jinri, brought an absolutely thrilled Chanyeol to a preparatory school not far from SMA.

"Prep school, huh?" Ms. Han, the prep school supervisor, asked.
"Yes, but we don't have the necessary documents yet because this kid - what's his name again?" Joonmyeon turned to Jinri.
"Chanyeol."
"-Yes, because Chanyeol was a new resident in Seoul and his parents hadn't took care of the documents yet."
"Well, I'm not sure..." Ms. Han hesitated.
"But we can work that out, right Ms. Han?" Joonmyeon smiled flirtatiously.

Jinri glanced at Ms. Han who seemed dazzled from Joonmyeon's smile. Jinri smirked and looked back at Joonmyeon, who in return winked at her.

"I- I guess so..." Ms. Han replied weakly, pulling her thoughts together.

Soon, Ms. Han started processing the papers while she asked questions to Joonmyeon and Jinri.

"So are you two Chanyeol's parents?" she would ask.
"You're together?" Ms. Han would ask again.
"For how long?" after the couple responded.

Joonmyeon and Jinri kept their smile as they answered Ms. Han's investigative questions. After several minutes of questioning, their cheeks grew stiff and dropped their smiles. Fortunately, Ms. Han was done asking questions as well so they accompanied her instead on ushering Chanyeol to his next class.

"I'll take it from here." Ms. Han said to them.
"Be a good boy." Joonmyeon said, ruffling Chanyeol's hair.
"You'd better be." Jinri whispered to Chanyeol so only he can hear. "No abnormal stuffs. Please."

Chanyeol nodded and did a thumbs-up. He always sees Kyungsoo doing that gesture and being his role model, Chanyeol felt obliged to follow his idol.

"Let's go Chanyeol," Ms. Han opened the door for him, introducing the Exo prince to a new world of human education.

* * *

At 5:00 p.m., Jinri (now accompanied by Kyungsoo) entered Chanyeol's prep school and went straight to Ms. Han's office. They found the kid sitting at Ms. Han's office couch while slurping a large cone of chocolate ice cream.

"Oh there you are Ms. Choi!" Ms. Han stood up and greeted Jinri. Her eyes flicked suspiciously at Kyungsoo, which Jinri did not miss.
"Hello Ms. Han, this is Kyungsoo, my bestfriend." Jinri went on first.
"I see!" the latter nodded and smiled unabashed. "Before you take Chanyeol with you, can I have a word first? In private?"
"Why?" Jinri asked while she followed Ms. Han on a private room.
"Well," Ms. Han closed the door first then faced Jinri. "I would like to talk about some of my peculiar observations on Chanyeol." she said seriously.
"Yeah?" Jinri prompted, her palms sweating.
"Chanyeol.... he's no ordinary kid, isn't he?" Ms. Han stated seriously.

Jinri blinked many times while she wiped her palms on her jeans.

"How... how did you know?" she asked quite calmly.
"Because.... that kid is absolutely gifted! I mean, he can write and speak Hangul with no flaws, plus he can understand English language as well! Superb!"

Jinri let out a shaky laugh and wiped her sweaty face.

"Oh yes, I forgot to mention that. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, but honestly, I suggest that you go and enroll him on 2nd grade already. Maybe 4th if his parents would agree."
"We'll see." Jinri smiled.
"And here, I told Chanyeol that we would keep this but I feel that you deserve it." Ms. Han said, giving Jinri torn paper from a sketchbook.

Jinri was caught off guard as she unfolded the paper. It showed an exact replica of Jinri's face; her defined features of her eyes, the creases in her forehead, and lastly, her scowl - which made her laugh because it was the scowl she wears whenever Chanyeol was around.

"Amazing isn't? We asked the kids to draw the closest person they have, and Chanyeol drew you." Ms. Han continued.

A small smiled curved on Jinri's lips. Yes, Chanyeol was not human. But maybe, Jinri can see a human personality inside that alien nature.

"Thank you." she said.

That night, Jinri (much to Victoria's displease) took another night's off at Blu Planet. Before going home, she and Chanyeol passed on the grocery shop and bought frozen meat and shrimps for tonight's dinner. Perhaps it was because of the sketch, or maybe she just wanted to be nice at Chanyeol for a change, but Jinri felt that she was starting to accept what situation she was in right now.

At 09:00 p.m., Jinri was already on her nightshirt and while waiting for sleepiness to sink in, she started a conversation with Joonmyeon through text.

Jinri: Hey :)

Less than a minute passed and there comes Joonmyeon's reply.

Joonmyeon: Hi. :) How's Chanyeol's first day?
Jinri: Ms. Han said that he was a gifted child. She even suggested to enroll him on 4th grade.
Joonmyeon: Really? Do you want to?

Jinri thought for a second. Well, does she wants to?

Jinri: I'm not sure, I'm not the parent. Hehe.

Before Jinri can exit the message icon, Joonmyeon's text popped in.

Joonmyeon: We can be his parents for a while. ;)
Jinri: Not that kid, please.
Joonmyeon: KIDding. :P So, what else did Ms. Han say?
Jinri: Why are you so interested of Ms. Han? I haven't missed that flirt you did earlier.You have a crush on her do you? :P
Joonmyeon: What if I do? :))

Jinri laughed out loud. Joonmyeon was on his playful mood tonight.

Jinri: I don't mind. I'm the girlfriend. <3
Joonmyeon: Hey Jinri?
Jinri: Yeah? :)
Joonmyeon: I love you.

Jinri's smile slowly faded. What did she do to have a boyfriend like Joonmyeon? He's sweet, caring, understanding and smart. Who else can level this man? Does that man even exists?

As she tapped the 'reply' message, her bedroom door opened and Chanyeol went inside.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, placing her phone on the bedside table.
"Noona... can I sleep here?"
"No." she answered bluntly. When she saw Chanyeol's fallen face, Jinri grew guilty and took her words back. "Okay. But just for tonight, you understand that?"

The kid's face split into two instantly. He threw himself on Jinri's fluffy bed without hesitation and bounced over it.

"Hey! No bouncing!" she warned.

Chanyeol took no notice and started rolling on the bed. At first, Jinri was frowning at him but soon, she started laughing as well. She picked the unopened paper bag that Joonmyeon gave and tore the staple off.

Jinri rolled her eyes when she saw what was inside the bag. Deciding that the gift was meant for Chanyeol, Jinri went back to bed and flipped the book open.

"Hey kid, you can stop now. Do you want me to read you a bedtime story?"

Chanyeol stopped playing and sat beside Jinri. He looked at the book's front cover which showed a boy with green clothes and green hat holding hands with a girl clothed in a lacy dress floating in midair.

"Peter Pan". he read the book's title.
"Yes, Peter Pan. Now come closer."

Chanyeol obliged. Then without warning, he placed his head on Jinri's lap and purred.

Jinri shrugged the gesture off. It was only for this night anyways.

"Once upon a time, there was a boy from Neverland named Peter Pan..." she started. "He is a boy of 12 for the last 3000 years, because he never aged."

Jinri stopped reading. "You know Chanyeol, I think Peter Pan is a fool. He loves to live in Neverland because he won't age there, and he's missing so much opportunities already. I mean, I want to age. In fact, I want it to be sooner, so I can start looking for a job and support my Mom."

Chanyeol blinked innocently. "How does Peter Pan looks like?" he asked.
"Hmm." Jinri placed her fingers under her chin thoughtfully. "I never met Peter Pan yet, but let's picture him like this..." she glanced at Chanyeol and smirked. "He has protuberant eyes that gleam even under the darkness..." and she tapped Chanyeol's eyes,

"and elfish ears that can go on forever," and she pinched Chanyeol's ears.

"Pointed nose that can prick even a woman's heart,"

"and teeth that shines as bright as your tattoo."

Chanyeol laughed. "I'm Peter Pan." he said.

"You're Peter Pan." Jinri agreed and read again. "Peter Pan flies high night and day. He will play with his friends and Tinkerbell, and he will worry nothing but to think of what will be his next prank for the next day."

She paused and looked back at Chanyeol. The kid was already snoring, now deep from his sleep. Jinri closed the book and yawned. Maybe it's time for her to sleep as well.
 

*Did I forget something?* Jinri thought before tucking in her blanket beside Chanyeol.