May

“Alright, boys, hurry up so I can help you get your cleats on.” Jodi stepped out of the SUV, opened the hatch and waited for the boys to hop up. She tied the laces tightly and taped them down for extra safety. After handing them their bags, she kissed each of them on top of their head, wishing them luck and telling them to be careful once again.

“Noona I’ll score a goal for you!” JeongUi promised before dashing towards his teammates.

JinShil, calm as usual, hesitated briefly before saying, "Is . . .,” the little boy tilted his body to the side to look up at the bleachers.

“What is it, baby?” Jodi asked as she crouched down in front of him.

“Is hyung coming?" he inquired, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm sure he’s on the way, baby," Jodi reassured him with a smile, trying to sound as convincing as possible. JinShil looked at her for a moment, nodded, then followed his brother. , Jodi thought.

On her way up the bleachers, Jodi couldn’t help but wonder if she should have called Jiyong to remind him. With every step, she looked around for a glimpse of anything that might resemble her husband. Spotting a familiar face near the top, Jodi greeted Mrs. Moon, a charming lady in her late thirties, mother of HaNeul, one of the boys’ classmates.

“Is HaNeul excited about the game today?” Jodi asked as she sat down with her bag between her feet.

Mrs. Moon rolled her eyes playfully and smiled. “Excited doesn’t cover it. He wanted to sleep in his uniform last night. Then he wanted to wear it to school today. We compromised. He slept hugging the cleats.”

“JinShil is okay, but JeongUi keeps finding excuses to yell ‘GOOOOOAL!’ Crazy boy keeps yelling it when he goes to the bathroom.” Jodi pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. The twins were entertaining, if nothing else.

Jodi listened to the ladies surrounding her with half an ear. Part of her brain was busy watching the boys warm up, and the other was wondering where her husband was. She pulled her camera from her bag and took a few test shots. Out of habit, she tapped her pocket to make sure that her phone was near. She couldn’t control the urge to bring it out and turn the screen off and on, just to be sure it was working properly. Jodi noticed the alerts along the top and ignored them. She knew without looking that they were a lot of angry tweets from fans accusing her of cheating on their ‘G-Dragon-oppa’.

Jodi chose to ignore it as much as she could. She knew that anything she said would just add fuel to the fire. JiYong’s silence was what really kept it going. His lack of comments left a lot of room for speculation.  

Over the weekend, keyboard warriors got to work filling in the blanks as they saw fit. Elaborate rumors popped up about a long standing and illicit connection between Jay and Jodi. Rumors like, ‘he picked the girl from the ‘Know Your Name’ video because she looked like Jodi.’ Jay tried to help by posting a few BTS images from the shoot they had done years ago. Most of the netizens accepted it and saw it for what it was, a hug from one friend to another. The others . . .

Where is he?

 * * * * *

JiYong adjusted the baseball cap so that it sat even lower on his forehead as he walked into the park. Even with sunglasses, a scarf, a baggy hoodie and old jeans as a disguise, he still felt exposed. A part of him wished he had called for security, but that would have drawn even more attention.

The game was just beginning when he made his way over to the field. He looked up in the stands and after a few sweeps, his eyes connected with Jodi’s. She looked relieved to see him and gave him a small smile. They nodded to one another, then he moved to stand next to the bleachers. JeongUi saw him from the field and waved in his direction. JiYong shoo’d him, motioning for him to keep his eyes on the game. JinShil, following his brothers gaze, turned to see JiYong standing there. He smiled at JiYong and gave him a small wave, which JiYong returned enthusiastically. Probably too enthusiastically, because JinShil looked embarrassed and turned away. JiYong was so surprised that JinShil had acknowledged him for once.

“Did I miss much?” An older man in a business suit came to stand next to JiYong. He has a round face and big rosey cheeks. He was also breathing heavily, like he had just run a great distance.

“Ani. They blew the whistle a minute ago. It just started,” JiYong answered.

“Good, good,” the man said. He loosened his tie and crossed his arms. Then he turned to JiYong and inclined his head a little. “I’m Kim MyungHun.”

“Kwon JiYong,” he returned with a small bow.

“Mine is the girl at the end. Number 27. Which one is yours?”

“None, actually. The twins, numbers 6 and 9, are my wife’s younger brothers.”

“Ah. You seemed a little young to have children old enough to play,” MyungHun joked. “Which one is your wife?”

JiYong looked over his shoulder and pointed. “She’s near the top in the black hat.” MyungHun followed his finger and the smile he was wearing froze for a moment.  

“In the . . . black . . .hat?” MyungHun asked slowly, just in case he had heard incorrectly.

“Yes. In the black hat, near the end of the aisle. She’s my wife.”

Just to be absolutely sure, MyungHun whispered, “The dark woman? Those are her brothers?”

JiYong pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth and paused to gather his calm. JiYong spoke slowly so that there was no way the man could possibly misunderstand. “Her name is Oh Jodi, and yes, those are her brothers.”

“Ah. Arrasso.” MyungHun cleared his throat a few times, but stayed quiet beside him. JiYong turned his eyes to the field and all but ignored the man for the rest of the game.

More dads showed up, their suits in varying states of disarray, and they all seemed to congregate in the same area. They introduced themselves to one another, pointing out which children belong to whom. Without fail, each one paused for a moment when JiYong pointed out Jodi, but no one said a word.

The men cheered and clapped loudly from the sidelines and shouted encouragements to children of both teams. Because of the age of the kids, no one officially kept score. Unofficially, the twins’ team won. When the game was over, the twins ran off the field at JiYong and he crouched down to hug them both.

“Wah, you boys played so well today. I didn’t realize there were two Park JiSung’s in the family.” JeongUi jumped around in delight at the compliment, JinShil smiled bashfully.

“Thank you for coming, hyung,” JinShil said quietly. JiYong ruffled his hair.

“Nowhere else I’d rather be.” JiYong looked around for Jodi and saw her standing on the bleachers, surrounded by a group of women. Their eyes met, and she held up her hand saying she needed five minutes. JiYong nodded to her. JiYong walked over and picked up one of the lose soccer balls. “If you guys can score a goal on me, I’ll buy you ice cream.”

Challenge accepted.

* * * * *

Jodi made her way down the bleachers carefully. She had, had a bad experience before. She looked out at the field to see JiYong and the boys playing a really bad three-person game of soccer. JiYong obviously wasn’t even trying. He ran slowly behind the boys with his hat backwards. He laughed and ridiculously yelled for them to slow down.

“You’re husband is so cute,” Mrs. Moon said from behind her. Jodi observed him in the baggy clothes with a bright smile on his face and had to agree. Unable to resist, she lifted her camera back up to take a few pictures.

JiYong was chasing JeongUi, even though JinShil had the ball. He got ahead of them and stood in the goal. Once JinShil got right up to him, he made a slow, lazy dive in the wrong direction. Utterly defeated, JiYong rolled on to his back and laid there while the boys celebrated.

“Having fun?” Jodi asked as she approached them. JeongUi jumped around asking if she had seen the goal he scored. Of course she had. JinShil smiled at her happily and Jodi had to smile back. It had been a long time since she had seen his cheeks flushed and his eyes bright with excitement. JiYong’s expression flattened out as he saw her. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he responded stiffly as he stood.

“Are you boys ready to go? I think we--”

“But noona~! Hyung said h