January 8, 2013

As the train bounced along, Ilana stared out the window at the passing countryside wondering exactly how that guy had talked her into this. HyungJun was too excited to sit in his seat; bouncing up and down the aisles, taking pictures and talking to everyone. He was really good at his work; the guests loved him, doting on him like a beloved grandchild. She had to admit the scenery was beautiful and she found herself getting lost in the rich colors of the countryside. There was green everywhere; deep and vibrant hues of emerald, hunter, harlequin and jade green. Occasionally dots of color like fuchsia, magenta, and crimson could be seen on the green carpet. It was too much to take it all in. Is this what HyunJun was talking about?

“I want to stop the world from spinning…”

She had scoffed at him when he’d said that, but now she wasn’t so sure. Maybe at times, it would be nice to make the world stop. But then, eventually, you’d have to keep going again.  "What’s the point then?” Ilana sighed and mumbled to herself.

- “What did you say, Princess?” HyungJun sat back down beside her, startling her in the process.

- “Nothing.” She narrowed her eyes at him; she wasn’t about give him the satisfaction of knowing that she was actually starting to relax and just possibly (a minute bit) enjoy herself.

Hours earlier:

 - “Princess! Are you ready?” Hyun Jun knocked on Ilana’s door. She didn’t answer him. “Ilana-ssi!” he continued to knock. “Ilana-ssi, Princess! It’ll be soooo much fun! Kaja! You know you want to be my assistant! I can get you get the first view of everything, not to mention the best seat.” He was shouting outside her door, confident that she was listening, but undeterred that she wasn’t answering. “Yah! Ilana-ssi? We can go with the Tropical Train Ride group or the Canopy and Arial Tram group. What do you think?"

- “I’m not going on an Arial tram!” She yelled back at him before she realized she had answered him back. The idea of anything moving in the air, despite being on a cable, made her sick.

- “Tropical Train ride it is. Good choice, Princess!”

- “Maknae, what are you doing? You’re disturbing the other passengers.” YoungSaeng, who was passing by, decided to intervene before his crazy friend made more of a scene.

- “Ilana-ssi is going to be my apprentice today.” HyungJun beamed happily at YoungSaeng.

- “Did she say she’d go with you?”

- “No!” Ilana who was hearing everything behind the door yelled out.

- “But Princess!”

- “YoungSaeng?  Saengie? Please make him stop. I don’t want to go out today. I want peace and quiet, which all three of you are not letting me have.” Panicking at the thought of going out with a group, in desperation she'd even blurted out the name Young-Saeng had told her to call him by.  She had contemplated going out on her own, like she did in Fort Lauderdale, but never as part of a group.

- “Ahh! She called me ‘Saengie’. What do I do now?” Young Saeng thought. As much as he wanted to make a bet that Ilana would be the one to win this contest of wills, he knew if she didn’t go into port today, it will be that much easier for her to shut herself in her room for days. He whispered a plan to HyungJun. “Cinderella, don’t worry, Saengie Oppa will take care of you; Cinderella doesn’t have to go anywhere she doesn’t want to. Maknae, leave her alone, gguh-jyuh go away.”

- “Hyeong...Ilana-ssi, hajima-hajima…you guys are mean! Fine, be that way,” he pretended to stomp away, trying hard not to laugh.

- “Cinderella is safe now; call the lounge and let me know if you need anything today, arraso? Ilana didn’t respond, waiting for some time to pass before opening the door and checking if the coast was clear. Opening the door, she stuck her head out and then took a step away from the door to make sure the coast was truly clear.

The guys were hiding behind a catering cart. HyunJun, seeing she was out the door, jumped out from his hiding place.  While she was still looking in the opposite direction he grabbed her hand, dragging her away from the safety of her room and started running without turning back.  At least she was dressed and had shoes on.  Young Saeng stared at the retreating figures and was laughing so hard, his stomach was hurting.

Ilana was still upset at having been tricked; his charming smile wasn’t going to get him out of this.

- “Ilana-ssi? Princess? You’re not still mad at me are you?” He pouted cutely, but Ilana was not going to fall for it. She remained silent looking out the window. HyungJun sighed.

‘Click, Click, Click’ Ilana heard the camera go off in rapid succession. She turned around to see what had captured HyungJun’s interest.   “HyungJun! Stop! I don’t want my picture taken.”

- “Made you look! Ha Ha! (Sticking his tongue out at her) Arraso! I’ll stop, but you have to forgive me, or I’ll keep taking pictures of you. I just wanted you to have fun, besides, I like your grumpy face better than your sad face.” Ilana sighed, what was she to do with this kid? Although not sure of his age, he acted more like a ten-year-old than a grown man. “Princess? Have you seen anything this beautiful before?” It really was breathtaking.  Her brother had taken her to El Yunque in Puerto Rico, but, you can’t say you’ve seen one rainforest, you’ve seen them all. Each one is distinctly different, beautiful and majestic each in its own way.

- “No,” she finally decided to talk to him though she continued to stare out the window. It’s lovely, thanking you for making me come,” reluctantly spitting out that last part.

- “I-knew-you’d-love it-isn’t-it-amazing?" He rattled off scarcely pausing in between words. “Thank you for not being mad at me anymore, Princess.” There was something in his voice that made her turn to look at him. He was getting teary eyed. Aww! How can she resist? She did resist the urge to pinch his cheek and say: “Qué lindo nene! (What a cute baby)!”

- “Alright now, stop bouncing around; you’re giving me a headache.” This was not an exaggeration; a headache did exist.  Her demophobia (fear of crowds) wasn't very severe, but there was still way too many people surrounding her for her comfort.

- “Deh, Princess, I’ll sit and not bother you until the ride ends;” he gave her one of those charming smiles.

- “These guys need to be actors or something,” she thought. “They all think they can get their way just by flashing a winning smile.”

At the end of the day, Ilana was quite tired. Her day had been pleasant and she could honestly say she was glad that she went. Their group made it to the customs office by 2:30; they had an hour and a half to get through and get back on board. HyungJun had forgotten one slight detail in dragging Ilana along against her wishes, but Young-Saeng had saved him. She had to shake her head and smile while she displayed her Passport to the customs officer.

- “Yeoboseyo?” Hyun-Jun answered, breathless from running.

- “Pabo, did you forget something?”

 - “Dude, why are you calling? Na can barely hold on to this yeoja and run at the same time and now Hyeong expects me to balance the phone too?”

 - “Yah! Stop whining and listen. You’re not going to get her off the ship at all unless she has her passport.”

 - “Oops!” Hyun Jun still had hold of Ilana’s wrist when he stopped running and turned to her with a nervous smile. “Ilana-ssi, has her passport, deh?”

She managed to get out of his death grip and gave him the death glare she usually reserved for when her cousin was pestering her. If it weren’t for his ‘Oh-shoot-I’m-In-trouble-she’s-going-to-start-yelling-what-should-I-do’ face?’ She really would jump down his throat. Instead, she took a deep breath and responded:  “How could I possibly have my passport when you, sir, so brusquely removed me from my room?” Ilana clenched her teeth and fists as she spoke, or she would start yelling or perhaps even slap him.

 - “Ilana-ssi? What does ‘brusquely’ mean?” Ilana stepped forward as if to punch him when she heard Young-Saeng yelling through the phone.

 - “Never mind that! If she’s not planning on killing you…”

Ilana envisioned her hands wrapped around Hyun Jun’s neck; her potential victim took a few steps away from her as if he could hear her thoughts

 - “…ask her where her passport is and I’ll bring it down to you guys.” That was it; she could run back to her room or go and see what Chile had to offer. She would deal with HyunJun later.

As much as she actually enjoyed her day, she couldn’t wait to get back to the refuge of her room. A migraine still hummed just under the surface of her head. An entire day spent amongst so many people did that to her. Young-Saeng will most likely come by and bring her tea; if he didn’t think she was mad at him.  After, she looked forward to unwinding by herself, curling up on the chair in the verandah with her book. If she could forgive the brat, for lack of a better word, she supposed Young-Saeng could also be forgiven.  Even though, he aided and abetted in her mock kidnapping.

Stay tuned for a special cameo coming up next chapter!