75. Day 7 Special

Kids chattered around us. We greeted them with big smiles and hugs. Sitting on the bed we pulled on our socks and wore the shoes. As usual, we had neatened the bed, removing signs of our lovemaking.

“Appa can we shop today?” Sehun asked.

“Yes. Keep it under 150 dollars. You can add the allowance for the remaining days also if you want and part of your jackpot winnings, then you can use 400 dollars. Do buy something that your hyung will also like.” Puppy gave him his budget.

Sehun smiled happily, “I plan to buy a car set or something that we all can play, even Minx and Byong. You will help me choose. Right?”

“Of course Sunshine. I suggest you save some money for later on as well. Don’t use it all today. Have you put your minifigures for trading in your backpack?” Puppy confirmed.

“Yes. Hyung gave me some of his also. I have six figures in total to change. If we don’t find too many good things, we will save half the money for later.” Sehun planned with Puppy.

We’d decided on the shopping budget for each day before leaving home. Daily budgets were different for each child. Sehun had foregone shopping before, saving the daily allotment for big purchases. Minx had built up a small plushie collection with part of her daily allowance and was saving a major chunk for another day. Byong had also decided to do his major shopping today only.

“Ummappa check my bag for my figures.” Byong was bouncing excitedly around his bag. I opened it and checked his three figures, all of them with bite marks on them from both Byong and Duckie.

Duckie dragged her backpack to me, “Ummappa check my bag.” She had one equally chewed up policeman and fireman. Siwon really was big on raising her like him.

Kai and Amber went to their parents to confirm their shopping budget and check their bags.

Puppy and I began counting backward from 10. We had reached 3 when Kibum entered our room.

“Hyung what is this nonsense about shopping allowance and budget? Kai is eating our heads that we give him a shopping allowance to shop today. Tae hyung is nearly pulling his hair out. What is there to buy today that cannot be bought back home in Daegu?”

“Calm down Bummie. You do remember we are going to LegoLand today.” I grinned as Puppy tried to control his laughter.

“How can I forget hyung? Both Kai and his father have been jumping since morning.” Kibum sat down in the chair I pointed for him.

“Well, it is not necessary that what we get here we will get in Korea also. The figurines will be made for Americans and will be a good holiday reminder to the children for their lives. I am sure appa gave you money for shopping. He told me he did. Tell Tae to loosen his pockets for a day and give some money to Kai for random shopping. But then the choice is yours. He is your son.”

“It’s a waste of good money hyung.” Kibum was adamant.

Puppy and I looked at each other and shrugged. Kai was their son after all. Puppy mediated, knowing how much I hated this miserliness of theirs. “Kibum hyung did you ever play with Lego sets while growing up?”

“No Jjong. Did you?”

“Me neither. I am so excited about today. We can even create our figures. There will be mini golf and many other play areas. There will be face painting also.”

“Oooooh. I want to build a city there.” Kibum squealed excitedly. Jjong led him out of the room leaving me to lock up.

Minx immediately commented, “Ummappa, appa is better than you when it comes to Key umma.”

I wagged my finger at her but couldn’t help grinning.

“Sunshine, keep an eye out on what Kai likes today. Tell appa to buy it for him.” Sehun nodded and grinned at my instructions.

We trooped down to have breakfast, knocking on all the doors on the way. I had Byong and Duckie half fed by the time Siwon and Heechul joined us. I hugged Heechul and whispered a thanks to him for the morning. His eyes danced and he winked, “That’s for all the mornings you have given us till now.”

We grinned and gulped down our breakfast. There was a hum of excitement at our tables. Our excitement was infecting the sisters as well. In the bus, we couldn’t help but sing nursery rhymes in Korean and English. Our hotel was very near to LegoLand and we reached it in no time. There was a lot of whooping from kids and adults on getting down from the bus.

After showing our online bookings, we entered and took the online advice to begin from somewhere near the back and move forward. We started with the Flight Squadron for Byong and Duckie, with umma staying back to get them down. Rest of us loaded onto ship ride. It was a wild fun way to begin our day.

Next the children enrolled in Skipper School to take individual boat rides. We put Duckie and Byong back into the airplanes of Flight Squadron. We watched and waved at the whole group. The kids laughter was infectious. Moving on to Funtown Police and Fire Academy we rooted for the kids as they put out mock fire.

Then there was ride over a small rollercoaster. Tae preferred to sit in the Power Tower and zoom up and down. Kibum absolutely refused to sit in any of the rides. Umma gave Kibum company and took Duckie and Byong to nearby toddler rides. The rest of us began going up and down in the Tower rides.

We rounded up the kids and took them to the driving school. All children got their LegoLand driving licenses and proudly showed them to us. We next took a safari and were amazed at the animals made of Lego bricks.

We enjoyed the water fountains and kids got their faces painted. Minx insisted on Puppy getting his face painted the same design as her. Jiyeon and Soo also got theirs painted. Kai, Byong and Sehun were pirates. Girls were mermaids and superheroes. Seeing how much fun children were having, each of us picked up a simple and quick design for our faces and became a colorful bunch.

We took in a Lego movie, sailed through Fairy Tale Brook in boats and then took another rollercoaster ride through Dinosaur land. We had never seen so many Lego bricks before in our lives. Kids were beginning to feel hungry. We had Japanese lunch, teaching the sisters the fine art of Asian cuisine.

Puppy and I sat and observed the sisters at work. I had noticed how they’d been trying to get close to DongHae and Doc since breakfast. Doc wouldn’t let go of Soo’s hand. He helped the sisters into and out of the bus, on and off the rides. But he always went back to holding Soo’s hand and talking in whispers with her. A polite gentleman.

Jessica tried with DongHae. Hyukkie good naturedly gave her his seat next to DongHae in the bus. DongHae had escorted her for all the rides. Hyukkie had walked with Amber and Kai, rapping and dancing. Even now Jessica sat apart from her sisters next to DongHae with Amber, Kai and Hyukkie.

I saw Hyukkie and DongHae smile. But there didn’t seem to be any apparent reason for it. I looked closely and found it, making me grin. I nudged Puppy to see what I was seeing.

DongHae and Hyukkie were holding hands under the table. As we watched, DongHae let go of Hyukkie’s hand to run it over his inner thigh. They had a brief under-the-table tussle for hand holding, which DongHae won. He placed Hyukkie’s hand on his thigh and went back to rubbing Hyukkie’s inner thigh, all the while talking with Jessica. Hyukkie was turning pink.

“Sookbu why are you turning red? Are you okay?” Kai asked Hyukkie.

Hyukkie gulped down a glass of water. “It’s very hot Kai.” He began fanning his face in pretend heat.

Oh he was feeling hot. But of a different kind. Puppy and I high fived and laughed. Siwon raised his brows in question. I shifted my eyes to show him what we were watching. He nudged Heechul. Four of us sat watching the show.

DongHae’s hand was no longer on Hyukkie’s thigh. It was rubbing between his legs. We were shocked. This was our staid and sober DongHae. The ever perfect gentleman. And he was giving our Hyukkie over-the-clothes in a public place.

I pinched Puppy. He yelped. We were not dreaming. This was happening. “Puppy, Siwon this is a family park. He can get arrested for indecent behavior. Should we warn him? If we can see, so can anyone who cares to look.”

“Go pinch him Tokki. Stop poking me. I am not your pin cushion.” Puppy pouted.

“You don’t complain when I poke cupid in you,” I whispered in his ear. He managed to control his blush.

“Hyukkie can you come here for a moment? Got something to show you.” Puppy called out loudly. The diplomat found a perfect solution to our predicament.

Hyukkie checked to see his lose t-shirt covered his front before coming over to our table. He stood between Puppy and me. Puppy whispered in his ear, “We could see everything Hyukkie. This is a public place and both of you could get arrested for indecent behavior. I am not saying you say no to DongHae hyung. I am all for it myself. Just cover his hand with a jacket or a bag so no one can see what he is doing. You can also try sitting closer so your body covers his actions.”

Hyukkie nodded trying not to blush. I gave him one bit of advice from my side. “And Hyukkie, there is no harm in returning the favor for him. Give him a taste of his medicine. He makes you red in public. Make him match your color. But remember to cover.” I winked as Hyukkie nodded.

Hyukkie went back to his chair, pulling it closer to DongHae’s and covered both their laps with a jacket. The four of us watched and approved. We grinned and high fived each other.

After lunch, kids wanted to jump onto another rollercoaster but we held them off by taking them to the miniland tour. We walked and rode boats through miniature America and world. There were photographs taken with every miniature.

Our next creation was Stars Wars station. From the huge masterpieces of Star Wars, we went to play mini golf. None of us had ever played golf before. There was a lot of jostling, hooting, cheering and yelling involved.

Jessica and Nicole wanted help with holding the clubs in the right way. DongHae and Leeteuk passed the buck to Hyukkie and my Puppy. Krystal approached Taemin but Kibum growled at her, scaring her away. Uncle offered to show her. As Puppy showed the method to Nicole, I winked at him and blew him a kiss. Puppy missed his shot. He came over and pinched me.

Minx and Sehun played as a team against Amber and Kai. Kai and Sehun kept helping the girls out and we got to watch the kind of help the sisters had been hoping for. Leeteuk and Soo joined the kids. I played with Jiyeon teasing her throughout. It was an even match with both of us golfing seriously. Tae and Kibum played against each other and we could hear them arguing all through the course.

After a fun hour of play, we went through jousting area where kids learnt old fashioned games. Two more roller coasters had us saying no to the last one. The kids were the only ones to ride the last one while we ordered burgers for everyone. A few more rides and play zones and we were on the way to exit, all tuckered out.

Our last stop was the Lego shop. Puppy and Sehun went crazy in the shop, allowances and budgeting a distant memory. I tried to reason but gave up when both turned puppy eyes at me. They purchased city sets, world architecture sets and galaxy sets. Sehun saw Kai looking longingly at the airport set and whispered my instructions to Puppy. They picked it up and added it to their cart.

We were nearly two thousand dollars lighter by the time they laughed their way out of the shop. I smiled at them. We could well afford to buy more that’s why I didn’t stop them. Puppy was always so careful, and watching him become a child was worth every penny. What they bought were things that our whole family could participate in.

In the bus, Puppy presented the Airport set to Kai who refused to take it. His parents glared at him till I shushed them. I reminded them how much fun they all could have with it at home. Kai was over the moon and hugged it tight, kissing Puppy in thanks.

The kids talked about their minifigure exchanges. All had been successful. Duckie proudly showed off her new dino and mermaid. Byong had star wars figures.

We reached our rooms in no time and dispersed for dinner. We preferred to bathe and order room service for dinner. With our three kids we sat in our room munching on burgers and going through our Lego purchases. We controlled the urge to open them and put them in the luggage.

We wondered what would be best place to create them. With Byong at home, we thought the displays would be safer at Sehun’s place. We were sure his father would love to join in as well. We’d found a new way to spend our weekends at home. Kids were yawning by the time our dinner ended. With the kids asleep, we finally got some time for ourselves.

We crossed our fingers that no one knocked on our door for the night.