81. DAY 11 EXHIBITS

After waking up to Pluto in the morning, we had no problem getting the children ready for the day. As the morning before, they rushed for breakfast with Heechul. During breakfast umma narrated our eventful night to imo who had a difficult time controlling her laughter. Puppy and I looked around the café surveying our group.

With only a few more days of holidays remaining, Kai was in full on mode to woo Amber. He was in Amber’s company constantly. She also seemed to be warming up to him, if their lack of verbal and physical assaults were any indication. Kai had learned from Sehun. At that moment, he was following Sehun’s actions and buttering a piece of toast for Amber. Sehun and Minx were sharing their breakfast as usual.

I called Kai over to me. Once he was sitting at our table that was shared only by Puppy and me, I satisfied my curiosity. “Kai are you following Sehun’s actions because he is doing it or because you can’t think of anything else?

He immediately blushed, “Omoni, I want to take care of Amber like Sehun does for Dotty. But I don’t know how. Appa does not do anything for umma. Even harabeoji does not do anything for halmeoni. But I see Puppy appa doing so many things for you. Hee umma also smiles every time something is done for him. Sehun is so good with Dotty. Of course, he has years of practice.”

“Kai you should do something that your heart and mind tell you to do, not simply follow Sehun.” Puppy adviced him.

“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to take care of her. Just look there. See how umma is doing everything for appa, even getting his coffee for him. Does appa do anything in return or even thank him? No. I can follow what you do Puppy appa or follow Sehun. It’s almost the same thing. Sehun is my age. So I decided to follow him.” Kai made his point very clear.

“It has to come from your heart Kai,” Puppy continued.

“It is Puppy appa. I am putting my heart and soul into it. But I don’t know how to put it in words. How do I tell Amber I love her? What if she beats me up? What if her father beats me up? I am a little scared of him as well.”

“Are you sure you love her? How about starting with just confessing to liking her? And then move on to stronger words.” Puppy suggested.

Kai nodded, “But how do I tell her even that? I am scared to confess to her.”

“What is the hurry Kai? You just realized you like her. Why not give yourself and her more time to know whether your feelings will sustain once you are back home and in your own group of friends and people? It shouldn’t turn out to be a holiday romance born out of your close proximity here.” Puppy looked at me as he advised Kai. I nodded my approval.

“So you suggest I wait to tell her? But we do not meet that often back home. Umma won’t let me come to the other hagwon. He wants me to study under his care.” Kai whined.

“This is why you must wait to confess. If four months after returning, you still feel you like her as much as now or more, then confess.” Puppy guided him.

“What if someone else confesses to her before that?” Kai worried.

“You can still confess and let her make the choice who she wants to be with. You can keep in touch with her via phone or internet. You are both very young. If you develop stronger feelings for someone else, you will break up. Even if you confess to her right now, it is no guarantee the relationship will continue forever.” Puppy clarified.

“You are killing me with your words Puppy appa. I have not even confessed and you are already talking about breakup. How did you get omoni to agree to you? I heard umma and appa talking about how omoni was totally against any relationship when he met you.” Hope and despair warred for dominance in Kai’s expression.

Puppy looked at me and we smiled at each other as he explained, “I fell in love with him at first sight. But he wanted nothing to do with me. I wanted to be near him, talk to him and the only way possible was to be his friend. I decided if that was all he was willing to offer, then I will respect his wishes and be happy just being friends. But I cared for him as more than a friend without pressurizing him to return my feelings. I brought him his favorite flowers as I liked his smile when he saw them. I did things that made him happy. His happiness makes me happy. I was there when he needed my support any time of the day or night. I was and am his best friend. I never forced him to love me back. I just wanted him to be happy. I will always put his happiness above mine.” I smiled radiantly at his words.

“That’s the thing I want. I want Amber to smile at me like that Puppy appa, like I am the only person in the world.” Kai bounced in his chair.

“Then you need to be patient. You cannot force her to love you. You have to make her fall in love with you. Tokki once told me that an average human being falls in love seven times in their life. If Amber does not love you back, remember you are young. Someone will love you for sure. You have many years ahead of you to find the love of your life.” Puppy winked at him.

“You mean like Hyukkie sookbu? But I will not give up Amber that easily.” Kai had a determined look on his face.

We wished him good luck and he skipped off to take care of his crush once again. We continued to watch them and didn’t realize when Kibum sat on the chair vacated by Kai.

“Jjong what were you discussing so seriously with Kai? And why did you have to book family rooms? Tae hyung is getting antsy today.” Kibum startled us with his questions.

I simply smiled at him and let Puppy handle the minefield.

“Didn’t you notice hyung that only family rooms are available here? And there is always balcony.” Puppy smiled innocently at Kibum.

“What?” Kibum exploded in a whisper. “Why am I always the last to know things? How can both of you be so mean to me? First in the camp and now here, you both always find your ways and no one catches you. We do it in our room and kids walk in on us. Life is so unfair.”

We winked at him riling him up further. He pouted. We laughed. He was so funny. He poked his tongue out at us and huffed back to his table. Puppy and I were happy. Kai’s discussion with us was totally forgotten by Kibum.

Kids again had a free hand in what they wanted to do for that day. They took in more rides, danced in the Phineas club, and shopped after lunch.

Minx had been saving all her allowance for shopping in Disney World. Sehun took some of his Jackpot winnings in Vegas to secretly buy an animation drawing kit for Minx for her birthday present. Minx secretly purchased a Harry Potter wand replica and a Cars racing game for his Birthday. Puppy and I felt so proud of our kids at that moment.

Minx also purchased hair clips and bands for her friends, and glassware for her favorite teachers in school. We’d set a limit of $2 for her friends and $5 for her teachers. Sehun purchased stationary items for friends and teachers. After shopping for everyone else, Minx counted her money and she and Sehun began shopping for her. Puppy increased their shopping budget by 200 dollars.

Byong and Duckie were arguing over what they wanted to buy. They took out swords but we were afraid they’d injure each other with it, and they pouted as we kept them back. After a lot of pouting at our refusals they filled their baskets with lunch boxes, plates, cups, watches, puzzles, t-shirts, some jewelry for Duckie and a pair of shoes for Byong. We also added toiletries that both of them nagged us to get for them.

Heechul wanted to buy more clothes for Duckie till we reminded him that she’d very soon outgrow them. He settled to buy fashion accessories for her. Siwon purchased a beautiful Cinderella snow globe for Heechul. Jiyeon and Soo purchased t-shirts. Puppy got a Minnie Mouse crystal glass for Ji to drink milk in. She hugged him tight in thanks. Despite her whispered arguments, he quietly slipped her two hundred dollars to buy more stuff. Soo helped her.

Amber kept picking up stuff and showing to DongHae who kept shaking his head. Taemin and Kibum were doing the same to Kai. Hyukkie saw it all and convinced the three to go have coffee with the sisters, Doc and Uncle who were getting bored. As soon as they left, Hyukkie began Amber’s shopping by picking up the stuff DongHae had made her put back.

Umma and imo helped Kai, with umma following our example and fixing the budget at below 150 dollars. She came over to Puppy and me as she had very limited money with her. Puppy gave her 300 dollars. Imo came over and began scolding us in whispers. I pushed her towards umma and Kai. She pouted and went away muttering how it was unfair that we were spending all the money and would soon bankrupt ourselves. We ignored her mutterings. Umma gave us 160 dollars back after the billing.

When all of us exited the shop and located the rest of our group, Kibum questioned the bags in Kai’s hands. Umma informed they were hers and Kai was helping her carry them. Kibum narrowed his eyes but didn’t argue. We knew that Kai would tell Kibum the details later. But for now we didn’t want any scenes. Minx began showing her stuff to him, diverting his attention from the matters in hand for the second time that day.

Reaching our rooms, we ordered snacks and drinks for the children and began packing our stuff to leave. With the new shopping, all our bags were really stuffed full to capacity. I called Minx and Sehun to sit on the bags so as to zip them up. All the stuff that we’d need in the next two days was put in one bag for all five of us. The other bags contained either dirty laundry or our purchases, and their locks would only be opened once we were back home. Our family was prohibited from buying anything more.

I was one happy bunny. I had only one bag to unpack and repack. I did a short happy dance and kids took my snaps. We opened our room door to take our luggage down. Puppy, Siwon and uncle were at the reception clearing the bills as usual. We put the tip for housekeeping.

DongHae, Taemin and Doc began supervising movement of our luggage to the bus. DongHae was frowning and wagging a finger at a sober Hyukkie before leaving. Hyukkie immediately grinned and high fived Amber. So, he’d received a royal scolding for shopping with Amber which left him totally unfazed.

The last seat in the bus was occupied by the sisters, umma and imo who kept a constant chatter about Hollywood all the way to our next destination. Kibum and Tae began a lively round of Hollywood trivia quiz, occupying all of us for the next one hour. Byong and Duckie played with their new game puzzles that they had put in their backpacks.

In an hour’s time we entered the city of Los Angeles. We saw the hustle-bustle of the city in the evening as we reached our hotel in Hollywood Boulevard. There were loud calls to see the sign of Hollywood till uncle informed everyone it was on next day’s itinerary. We had similar room allotments as earlier and after quickly putting our bags in the rooms, we rushed out to enjoy the Walk of Fame. We oohed over whichever star name we recognized. Many we didn’t.

From there we walked to Hollywood’s Wax Museum enjoying the wide open walkway. Fearsome Four were bouncing with every step. They still couldn’t believe they were in Hollywood. Hyukkie was jumping right along with them. We grinned at their enthusiasm which was infecting all of us.

The special thing about this museum was that it was full of wax replicas of Hollywood celebrities. But I laughed seeing some of the figures which no where resembled their originals. Still we had loads of fun taking snaps with those that were good. Byong and Duckie kept poking each figure to check whether it was dead or alive. We were out within an hour. It was nice quick fun time.

We went across the street to Guinness Records Museum. It was sort of okay. We enjoyed reading and seeing exhibits of many records which more US-centric than international. We wanted to take more time but kids were jumping to go to the Ripley’s Odditorium next door.  In between the two places was a fast food place and we rushed in for a speedy dinner as Duckie and Byong would be running out of steam very soon.

We entered our last stop for the day and were immediately smiling. The Odditorium was by far the best of the three. What set it apart were its strange exhibits. It actually lived up to its name. We were in for nearly two hours by the time Byong and Duckie climbed up into our arms and promptly fell asleep. We herded the kids out without too much protesting on anyone’s part and leisurely walked back to our hotel with Puppy and Siwon carrying the sleeping kids.

We soaked in the feel of LA at night. Minx and Sehun walked holding hands and Amber hooked elbows with Kai. The four walked chattering to themselves about the exhibits. Kibum was whining trying to wipe out some of the most bizarre exhibits out of his mind. Ji and Soo were laughing at him. The ladies preferred to discuss the wax museum instead.

It was nearly midnight by the time we reached our rooms. The children changed without difficulty and fell asleep within a few minutes. With Byong sleeping in Soo’s room again, Puppy and I grinned on locking our room door. Even though we were tired, I spent time making slow love to the love of my life.

After three nights, we finally slept tangled in each other again.