YEH and YC treated their families to a 10-day vacation, from December 23 to January 1, at JS’s resort in Jeju Island so that they could celebrate Christmas and New Year as a family and strengthen the bond between the 2 families quietly and privately away from the public’s eyes.

For Christmas Eve, YC and EH had made arrangements for them to spend it in a Center for the Elderly and the sick run by nuns. YC had asked JS to ask the resort chef to prepare a filling but healthy meal that they could share with residents of the center, their caretakers, the staff and the nuns.  Since it was Christmas Eve, the meal was arranged for 9pm and not the usual 6pm. (They had their residents take a long afternoon nap then served them a light snack, when they woke-up refreshed, to tide them over until dinner.) The Parks and the Yoons arrived at the center, in a van that JS provided for their use while they were on vacation on the island, at 8pm so that they could spend some time visiting with the elderly and sick before sharing a meal together. The smiles the Park and Yoon families received were a joy that they did not expect would touch and warm their hearts.

After the meal, they visited the sick in their rooms and gave them each their gift packs containing a thick warm blanket, 3 towels, a knitted sweater, mitten, hat and scarf; that they had delivered to the Center 2 days before.

After visiting the sick, they proceeded to the large receiving room were the healthier elderly were gathered, they again started to give out the gift packs they prepared to those gathered there as well as to the caretakers and staff of the Center. They also gave these gift packs to the nuns who run the place and a sizable check for the congregation. Although they were not Catholics, they graciously accepted the nuns’ invitation to join them for the Christmas midnight mass.

They left after the mass to return to the resort to have their own exchange of gifts over a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows on top and a small candy-cain stripped mint candy, hanging on the mugs' rim, inside the cup paired with pastries; in a room near their suite of rooms on the floor of the resort they occupied exclusively; YC and EH had earlier agreed not to give each other expensive gifts and instead share their blessings with others, so both had to be creative with their gifts to each other.  As the family were opening their gifts, they all paused to see what EH gifted YC, YC slowly opened his gift and took out a beautiful handmade silk shirt in the palest shade of blue that EH sewed herself, seeing a label attached on the inside back of the shirt, YC curiously reached out to read what it said and burst out laughing. Seeing the curious look on the families faces, brought on by his reaction after reading the label, he proudly showed them the label that said: “YEH’s Man” with a size tag that said: “4XL sized heart…Awesome” making everyone in the room laugh along with him except YEH, who was blushing to the roots of her hair but smiling shyly. It was now EH’s turn to open YC’s gift. It was a knitted mitten and scarf set that YC proudly said he knitted himself. EH saw a card in the box, read it and burst into tears, to everyone’s chagrin. A surprised and worried YC gathered EH in his arms asking her what was wrong. EH answered nothing was wrong, everything was just so right and showed them the message YC wrote in the card. It said: “To my beautiful, kind, thoughtful and loving ae-in, Always remember that I will be beside you to keep you warm and give you comfort. I love you. Your jagiya.” The Moms had tears in their eyes after reading YC’s message to EH but their tears soon turned to laughter when YH and BS pretended to be nauseous because of YC’s ‘cheesy’ message. Shortly after, they said their goodnights with hugs and kisses leaving YC & EH some privacy to make there own goodnights.

EH snuggled into YC’s chest and hugged him tightly saying: “Merry Christmas, jagiya. Thank you for making me so happy this day. I love you!!!”

YC answered: “Merry Christmas, my love.  We have another long day planned later so have a good sleep. Good night! I love you more!!!” as he placed his right hand on her cheek and slipped his left hand to cup her nape and bestow a sweet, gentle but passionate kiss on her lips.

Breaking the kiss reluctantly YC escorted EH to her suite, kissed her on her forehead for good measure and walked towards his own suite to be energized for their planned Christmas Lunch activity.

Christmas Day brought with it a promise of a bright and cloudless day. Despite the late hour the Yoon and Park families went to sleep, they were all gathered in the room set up for meals by 9am for breakfast, excited and energized to face the day. Today, they would be sharing the lunch they had prepared with children in a center run by priests. This center was unique because it was not an orphanage; the children in the care of these priest had parents who have fallen into bad times and have lost their home and livelihood and need a safe haven to leave their children while they pick-up the pieces of their lives and be stable enough to re-claim their children. Meanwhile, the children had food, shelter, clothing and a good education provided by the priest and their benefactors. The center made sure that siblings were together and not separated so that they could form a family bond with each other despite their parent’s absence, hopefully, making it easier for the family to come together when the parents come back to reunite the family.

A month earlier, YC & EH contacted the Rector of the center to make arrangements for the purchase of a complete outfit with shoes and socks for the children living in the center to make sure that they were in the right sizes. They also provided boxes that EH and some of her friends decorated with Christmas inspired scenery and the name of each of the child in place of honor in front of each box. JS helped them arrange for the box to be sent to the center 2 days before Christmas and also provided some staff to organize the gifts by putting the clothes inside each box along with the addition of simple child-friendly and age appropriate toys and school supplies, for those of schooling age.

With the permission of the Rector, and for a treat to the kids, YC & EH had JS’s chefs prepare a western meal of Hamburgers, Fries, Fruit Shakes, Hot Dog, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet corn in a cob, Fried Chicken Wings with muffins and cupcakes for desert. They also requested for Pizza, Pasta and Milk Shakes for a mid-to-late afternoon snack for everyone in the center after the games they had planned to play with the children.

The lunch was a hit with the kids, they seldom had the opportunity to eat the food provided for lunch that day, since the center provided delicious, simple, well-balanced and filling meals and the kids had no complaints but this Christmas Day Lunch was truly a treat for them and they really appreciated it.

With the help of the older boys and girls of the center they organized games for the younger children. Games like the sack race, the 3-legged race and a relay involving putting on clothes, on top of your clothes, and accessories needed for going to the market before running to the mid-point and back, and removing the clothes and getting an ‘ok’ from the judge before your group member can make his/her own run. Most of the games were group games and they always encouraged the children to pick different group mates. The prizes for the group games were boxes of fruits (apples, oranges, pears, permission, etc.)

They also had a ‘Bring Me’ game for everyone to join in, games involving speed addition, subtraction and multiplication, games involving general knowledge with a bar of chocolate for a prize for each winner.

For the older boys, YH and BS organized a basketball shooting game with the winner receiving a gift check for a new pair of Nike rubber shoes and the runner-up receiving a new basketball.

The older girls were encouraged by YC and EH to join an impromptu singing contest with the winner receiving the latest CD of JYJ and CN Blue plus a DVD of the drama ‘Missing You’. The runner-up was given a DVD of the drama ‘Three Days’ and ‘Mirae’s Choice’.

After the games they gathered all the children and gave them the gifts they prepared earlier. To the staff, care-givers and priest they gave the same gift packs they gave the night before to the elderly as well a generous check for the needs of the center as well as another equally generous check for the needs of the congregation. They had the snacks served and ate it with the kids.

The priests could not help but observe what great parents YC and EH would make and sent a prayer asking that the couple’s relationship be blessed, continue to grow strong and, if God wills, may they be blessed with beautiful, healthy, talented, generous, loving and good-mannered children.

The day was full of fun, games and children’s happy laughter that was ample reward for the Yoons and Parks and they left the center satisfied with the way they spent their Christmas Eve and Day. 

Exhausted, the family had a simple meal and an early night leaving YC and EH to spend quality time talking, laughing, joking and snuggling in each other’s arms before heading to their own beds to grab some much needed sleep.

The next few days saw the Yoon and Park families spend their time exploring the island avoiding the crowded areas and looking for unique quite places to spend their day. They still visited the main tourist areas but during the ‘off’ hours so as not to cause a disturbance with the foreign, or even the local, tourist since their party had 3 celebrities in it. They did not, however, avoid the opportunity to feast on the islands specialties in terms of cuisine.

By the time New Year’s Eve came along, YC and EH had a sumptuous New Year’s Eve buffet set up that had an international array of traditional New Year’s Eve dishes laid out on the tables. The Park and Yoon families (all 8 members) met at the room at 10pm gathering around the sofa’s and comfortable armchairs arranged in a circle in one corner of the room and spent time catching up with each other and talking about everything under the sun in a relaxed and loving atmosphere while having light snacks of cheeses, fruits and wine. At 12 midnight they watched the fireworks that filled the sky from the balcony of the room they occupied then, after a short thanksgiving prayer, they offered a toast for the wonderful year that passed and a hope for an equally blessed year to come, they partook of the choices of meats, pasta, seafood, soup, bread or rice and had a companionable meal on the dinner table set-up for their use.

After their meal, friends and family, whom the family invited to join them, who were also in Jeju Island for the festivities, begun to trickle in greeting each other, shaking hands and giving and receiving hugs. Everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable time just ‘hanging-out’ with one another. By 3am the older generation decided to call it a night since they all had a flight home to catch in the early afternoon.

The younger crowd said their goodbyes at 5am with YC and EH seeing their final guests out. Instead of going to their own beds, YC and EH sat in the comfortably roomy sofa in Eun Hye’s suite’s living room and slept soundly in each other’s arms starting the New Year right.