"Johae?"

There was a familiar voice calling me from the other side of the door. Gradually, I pushed myself up from the bed and sat there for a minute. I rubbed my eyes and let out a loud yawn. I was still a bit jet-lagged from the flight. The nap was just not enough. Stretching my arms and legs with the duvet still hovering my lower body, I let  out another loud yawn, not caring if I was making too much noises. I didn't felt like getting out of bed but because Chen was still waiting for my response as he banged against the door, I had to.

A couple of hours ago, after Chen brought my luggage up to my room, I had washed up and gotten myself into a comfortable set of clothes. After I freshened up, I laid in bed while texting my mother about my whereabouts. She has been very worried about my safety so I had to explain to her how my arrive was like. It took about any hour to tell her what happened because she didn't believed me ninety percent of the time. Of course, I told her everything, excluding the fact that I fell and slightly hurt my wrist. That would only make her go crazier.

Clearing my throat when I heard Chen calling for me again, I crawled out of bed. I forced myself to walk over to the door, ignoring the fact that I probably looked like a mess. I was sure that I had a nest-like hair and bad breath. As much as I would love to care about it, I didn't. I was too exhausted and it was just Chen that was standing outside of the room. I reached the door and opened it. I placed a hand over my mouth when I felt another yawn coming at me.

"Did I woke you up?" Chen asked in an apologetic tone of voice.

I would have said yes but because I didn't want him to feel bad, I lied and shook my head. I waved a hand in the air between us. "No, you didn't. I was already awake."

Thankfully, he bought my tiny little lie. With a smile, he jabbed his thumb over to the staircase. "Dinner's ready so come on down if you're ready."

"Let me just brush my teeth and I'll see you downstairs." I quickly said.

-

The dining room was simple yet very pretty and elegant. The room was brightened up from the chandeliers hanging above the dining table. The room was a rectangular shape with a rectangular table set at the center of the room. The table was made out of glass while the legs and border of it were made out of wooden. Tucked underneath the table were six cushion chairs, two on each sides and one at each end.

"Still observant, aren't you, little one?"

Quickly, I shot up from my seat when I saw who it was that had just entered the room. The man was taking his time walking towards me He was about my father's age, just a bit taller. He was wearing a fatherly smile on his face as he looked at me. He was no other than Uncle Kim, who had probably just returned home from a long day at work. Waving my hands at him, I expressed how excited I was to finally see him, even if he didn't have presents for me, like every time he came to visit my family and I back in America. He used to give me presents every time he came to visit when I was still a very young child.

Uncle Kim walked around the table, getting closer to me. We exchanged a quick uncle-niece hug then he went over to the end of the table. He pulled the chair out from under the table at the very end and took a seat. He looked up at me with a fatherly smile that was still glued to his face. He motioned me to have a seat. Although I wasn't used to the Korean lifestyle and its tradition, I still had manners within me.

"It has been a long while, Uncle Kim."

He leaned back in his seat while having a leg crossed over the other. He folded his arms at his chest as he looked at me. He nodded his head, "I have been quite busy with traveling. I honestly don't know how your father does it." He chuckled right after as he sat up with his elbows situated at the edge of the table. He looked at me, "Speaking of your father, how is he? I haven't spoken to him since I came to visit. He is still traveling and exploring about?"

I shifted side-to-side in my seat, trying to find a comfortable part of the cushion to sit on. I let out a chuckle when the image of my father in his traveling gears came to mind. "Of course. He will never settle down, Uncle Kim. In fact, he's currently in India so it's kind of hard to reach him at the moment."

"Oh, that old rascal." He laughed while shaking his head.

It was obvious that he was thinking of my father and how crazy the man was with his traveling addiction. My father and Uncle Kim are extremely close, closer than my mother and Auntie Kim, and they've been best of friends for many years. When the two men are together, they are very talkative. It was to the point that they don't even know that they have been talking for more than three hours, nonstop. Their wives tried controlling them from talking so much but, in the end, they ju