10. INQUISITIVE BYONG

Sunday dawned clear and bright. We decided to shower before the kids woke up. As we slowly washed each other, I pinched Jjong’s hard.

“Ow! What’s that for now?”

“Stay away from the floozy today.”

“Why? You reached the end of your patience already?” He wiggled his brows in victory.

“Nope, you can stop smirking. I just don’t want your team to bail us out of prison for indecent exposure in public places. Just imagine the headlines.”

“Ah yeobo. I can’t help it. You are so y when you are teasing me. Not that you are not y all the time. I look at you and I feel hot. You simply made me hotter yesterday. Promise I will control myself today.”

“But I like you losing control.” I kissed him to show how much I liked it. Well, the water was nearly running cold by the time we left the shower after that.

As we exited the bathroom, there was loud knocking on the door. “Appa you are going to make us late. Stop your shower. How much cleaner do you want to be? You will melt away at this rate. Ummappa? Open up.” Minx screamed from outside.

I opened the door with the towel around my waist, “Did you help Duckie dress?”

“Yes, yes ummappa. We are all ready. Hurry up and dress.” She was bouncing around with energy trying to enter our room.

“Sunshine take her away so we can dress in peace.” I called out to Sehun who immediately materialized behind her, zipping his jacket. He winked at me as he hooked his arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear. She kissed his cheek and allowed him to lead her away.

My Puppy was almost dressed by then. I helped him button his shirt as we kissed again.

“Ummappa, Ji noona cannot find my jacket. Where did you put it last night?” Byong opened our door, interrupting us. “Oh you two. What’s wrong with you since your wedding? You are kissing all the time. You are turning into Key umma and Tae appa.”

Jjong kept his arms around my waist as we turned our heads to face him. “Byong what did we tell you about knocking on closed doors and not barging in like now? You are turning more into Tae appa with each passing day.” I gently admonished him.

Byong hung his head in acknowledgement. Then looked up and grinned. “But you two are really kissing all the time.”

“What do you expect? We are married and in our bedroom behind closed doors. You should wait for permission before entering.” Jjong advised.

“So you did not kiss before the wedding?” Byong entered the room and asked.

Jjong and I looked at each other. I left the explanation to him as I began dressing. Actually neither of us had any answer to the question.

Finally Jjong answered, “Not like this.”

“So you kissed like hyung and noona. On the hands and cheeks.”

“Sort of.”

“Then how was I born? Duckie said that children are born when you kiss on the lips.”

“Who told her that?”

“Hee umma.”

I face palmed. That princess still was giving wrong information to children. What was wrong with him? Forty years old and still shied away from any discussion about ? Jjong was also speechless.

“So if hyung kisses noona on the lips, they will also have a baby?” Byong continued innocently.

“Eh? No, no. Minx is not having a baby.” Jjong sat down on the bed in shock. I quickly located Byong’s jacket that I had hung in our closet.

“Here is your jacket. Go and make sure Sehun hyung has put all necessary things in your backpack.” I handed him his jacket and guided him out of the door.

Closing and locking the door, I sat in Jjong’s lap. He absent-mindedly wrapped his arms around me. “Jagi don’t worry. We are not going to be grandfathers for a long time.” I tried to reassure him.

“Yeobo lips are not very far from the cheeks.” He buried his face in my neck in worry.

I began laughing. “You know better. Children are not born that way.”

“I am not talking about babies. I am talking about them kissing on the lips. Yeobo what are we going to do?” He worried.

“We are not going to do anything. Because we won’t need to for many years. Have some faith in them jagi. You did not kiss till 22.” I kissed his hair, rocking him to calm him down.

“I was not in love with anyone. They are in love yeobo.” He refused to calm down.

“We have taught them better. Come on cheer up. Future will take care of itself. Worrying is not going to help.” I kissed his eyes and forehead in comfort.

There was loud banging on the door and this time Ji called out, “Hurry up you two. We are getting late for breakfast.”

We opened our door and finished getting ready in a few minutes. Within ten minutes we were driving to the hotel. Children made plans about their seating for the day.

Chan Yeol rushed to meet Ji when we reached the hotel. The younger ones demanded his attention and he tickled them till they were squealing loudly. Amber smiled watching the three in action and asked me, “Ummappa anyone in particular you want me to sit with today or can I mingle with anyone free?”

I looked at Jjong and he shook his head. “Go ahead and mingle Amber. But remain within our sight at all times.” I gave her permission. All of them walked off to get a table for breakfast.

Kris waved us over to the table where everyone was sitting like the day before. Luhan and he had kept vacant chairs for us. When we had greeted everyone and settled down, Luhan asked, “Do you still need our help today? We were just talking about you two. We think this is the most fun thing we’ll do during our time here. My wife laughed herself hoarse last night when I related the day’s incidents.”

“Mine has invited your family for a visit to our home.” Kris added his two bits.

“Jjong has promised to behave himself today. He will be a good boy and keep himself in check till we reach home at night.” I winked at the two. Jjong patted my back. I rubbed his thigh. I figured we had the entire day to exercise the promised control.

We were going for a ferry cruise on the artificial Lake Griffin. Kris and Luhan managed to get the three teams together again. In the bus, Hyori managed to get her claws into Jjong again. Maybe I should stick to the word ‘hands’, claws made me sound jealous. She was a beautiful woman. Maybe talons would sound better. I shook my head and looked at her pretty hands again. I took out my phone and messaged Jjong.

Want to run my hands all over you.

When

Tonite

Sigh will wait. My turn to bite tonite

I shivered at the thought of his love bites. Our friends were right. We really were a weird couple. Kris tapped my head, “Penny for your thoughts.”

I put out my hand for the penny. He stared at me as if I’d grown two horns on my head. “I am not sharing till you give me the offered penny.”

When Kris kept staring uncomprehendingly, Luhan did the honors. “Oh for God’s sake just give the weirdo his penny. You are the one who put the idea in his head in the first place.” He handed me a penny and waited.

“I am thinking of Jjong’s love bites.” I nonchalantly explained to the two. Their eyes bugged out. I seriously hoped it wouldn’t become a permanent condition. Their wives would never forgive me if they began to resemble frogs.

“It’s 10 in the morning for god’s sake.” Kris pointed to his watch as if I had no idea what time of the day it was. I nodded happily at him. “How did you ever become a successful businessman when all you think about is ?” He grumbled more.

Jjong turned around and answered him, “His success formula is simple. Thinking of keeps him happy and when he is happy he has that dazzling smile on his face. That smile turns people to putty and they give him whatever he wants without a second thought.”

I smiled at all three of them. The two on either side of me nodded dumbly. I laced my fingers in their hands and kept smiling. Jjong took note of my action and rubbed his destiny ring. Life was so perfect.

Byond and Duckie were hopping excitedly, eager for the cruise to begin. They’d been pestering me for it since our first outing. We finally got on the ferry and Jjong put Hyori in the company of the bachelors of the day before. He came over to stand next to me and we were soon surrounded by our kids. I whispered to Chan Yeol to take Ji a little away and enjoy the cruise.

Luhan laughed at my suggestion, “You just want him to move away because he talks too much. And you are unable to hear what the captain is saying.”

I winked at him in agreement. The boy never stopped talking. But, it was also to give JiYeol some alone time away from the kids.

From the cruise captain we learned that the earth from the excavation of the lake was used to build six islands in it. We’d be having lunch on one of those islands. The lake was constructed to hold back waters for the Scrivener Dam.

It was not a long cruise. As our ferry glided along the water we saw many important institutions that were constructed along the lake in a planned manner. There was the National Gallery of Art. Caption explained about the Braille on some of the stones on the exterior walls of the National Museum.

Chan Yeol and Ji had come over to be with us again. Chan Yeol explained how some of the Braille messages were just plain random words and phrases like ‘mate’, ‘sorry’, ‘she’ll be right’. More controversial messages like ‘forgive us our genocide’ were covered by silver discs. The boy was really a font of knowledge.

Our teens laughed at the rebellious messages and wondered whether the stone carver was ever punished. The ferry captain had no idea. We speculated that no one had knowledge of Braille and by the time they understood it was too late. Hence, the obscuring of some messages at a later date. Sehun and Minx found that really funny and laughed for a long time.

We also sailed past the Australian National University and the High Court which was also the Supreme Court of Australia. We saw the Captain James Cook Memorial which consisted of a 147 meter high water jet and a skeleton globe. Duckie and Byong began wondering what it would feel like to sit on top of the water jet. Thoughts of bruises and injuries did not discourage them at all.

There were many park lands on the shore of the lake. Canberra, according to me, was a city of parks and gardens. There were many more surrounding the city. When I voiced out my opinion, the captain informed us that the greenery of the southern areas contrasted with the barren beauty of the central and northern Australia.

Jjong and I looked at each other. It was sad that we were in such a beautiful country but could not visit more of it. Jjong had to be near his team at all times. We were fortunate that we were able to sleep together at night.

“How disappointed Hyori must be that you are not sleeping at the hotel.” I whispered to him.

“Don’t remind me yeobo. I get shivers every time I think of it. I am very sure she would’ve tried to slip into my room every night. I am so glad we are not staying at the hotel. How can she not understand that I am simply not interested in her?”

“Because you are so y?” I wiggled my brows at him.

“Only in your eyes. I find myself quite ordinary.”

“Understatement of the year award goes to you.”

“Stop his ear,” Luhan punched my shoulder from behind.

“I am not. I was whispering. You have a dirty mind.” I turned to find both Kris and Luhan glowering at us.

“That’s the effect of your company. I shudder to think what will happen to me by the end of the month.” Luhan complained.

“I plan to have phone with my wife tonight.” Kris mumbled and then blushed realizing he had voiced out his thoughts.

“Appa what is phone ?” Duckie pulled on Jjong’s hand.

“Ask Kris uncle.” Jjong glared at Kris who visibly gulped.

“Ummm it is, it is, ummm,” Kris floundered for words and explanation, turning red in the face.

“It is when you call someone to find out whether they are a girl or a boy.” I intervened, taking pity on Kris.

“How come Kris uncle does not know whether his wife is a girl or a boy?” Byong entered the conversation.

“He’s been away from her for a week and it has scrambled his brains.” Jjong answered acidly.

Luhan was laughing through the entire debacle. Chan Yeol and Ji were grinning. The teens looked skeptical but Jjong’s stern face kept them silent. I was so very thankful for that. I had no desire to explain phone to our teen trio, that too in a boatful of people.

I pointed out black swans at a distant shore to the kids to divert their attention. All of them became engrossed in watching the graceful swans. Chan Yeol began explaining how they kept themselves afloat and how even the white swan babies, cygnets, were born grey in color.

As soon as the children moved to the other end of the ferry to be nearer to the swans, JiYeol going with them, Kris began apologizing. Jjong regained his smile.

“I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life. My kids seem to know more than me when it comes to .” Kris finally regained his composure.

“Welcome to Asian families. Our kids are more sheltered or maybe I should say that certain topics are taboo in our families.” Luhan explained.

“Why do kids always have to catch hold of the most difficult words?” Kris was honestly perplexed.

“Jonghyun, I am not surprised that you got promoted so quickly. You are quite ferocious.” Luhan back slapped Jjong.

Before Jjong could answer we arrived at our lunch destination, Springbank Island. It was a tree-lined strip of land on the western side of the lake. Our ferry left us there to collect us in the afternoon. Apart from the peripheral trees, the island was bare. There were multiple barbecue pits set up for our lunch. Our hosts had set up a picnic for all of us.

But before lunch we were taught a new sport - ‘cricket’. Some teams already knew it but for our Korean team it was a new sport. Jjong was good at batting while Sehun and I at it. We found ourselves good at ‘bowling’ while Jjong kept giving away loads of ‘runs’. Luhan refused to play whining that the hosts had not arranged for soccer instead. Kris turned out to be quite bad at it. Chan Yeol preferred to cheer, preferring to again use his mouth only.

German team leader Viktor sat with Luhan and both discussed the game of soccer. They went to ask the organizing committee if a friendly game of soccer could be arranged for next weekend. That’s when we came to know that our next three weekends were totally free of any organized activity.

Kris rallied and gathered support for basketball games. Amber wanted to join both the games as she was good in both. Sehun pouted as he was bad at both and Luhan offered to teach him the game over the week. Organizers promised to look into arranging for both the games over the next weekend.

After a few hours of laughter-filled cricket, everyone sat down for lunch. Jjong and Sehun drowned their food in tobasco sauce. As a growing teen, Sehun was permanently hungry. His appetite was matched by Chan Yeol, another teen. Both were the first to sit down and last to leave the table. They discussed how bad both were at sports while wolfing down food.

It was evening by the time we returned to the hotel. Kids wanted to visit the International flags once again and show off for Chan Yeol. Duckie simply wanted to spend some time with Jjong.

We asked Luhan and Kris if they wanted to accompany us and received a negative from both. They were more interested in having video chats with their families. Hyori wanted to come with us but Jjong informed her there was no space in our van. She pouted for a while then went off to be with her team of bachelors.

Our family had a leisurely walk down the promenade. Kids recognized more flags this time round. Chan Yeol walked with Ji but paid attention to the kids as well. The teen trio played a lazy game of tag. Jjong and I walked with our fingers twined. Byong and Duckie danced between us and JiYeol, holding our hands by turns.

After the promenade we drove around the whole area enjoying the sight of well-lit government buildings, including the parliament house. Sehun made us promise we’d visit the Questacon. We smiled at how hungry our bunch of kids were to learn about new sciences and technologies. Chan Yeol begged to tag along. Jjong winked at Ji as he said yes.

Seeing how Ji blushed at a simple wink, we knew a new romance was cooking. I invited Chan Yeol back home for dinner with us. But kids wanted to have pizza outside. However, Sehun and Byong insisted that Chan Yeol return home with us so the three could camp out together. At last we decided to order pizza at home.

All of us played rousing games of x-box sports at home. It was worth it to bring the x-box with us. It was a whole lot of gaiety as we ate, played and teased each other. We divided into two teams, boys vs girls, I joined the boys and Jjong played with the girls. It turned out that though Chan Yeol and Sehun were bad at outdoor sports, they were very good at virtual ones. We won by a huge margin.

When it was time to go back to the hotel, Chan Yeol began whining to stay back and camp out. According to him he’d never been camping and Jjong didn’t have the heart to turn him down. He called Chan Yeol’s roommate to let him know and Sehun lent him his pajamas. Girls and Byong were fast asleep by 11 but we could hear Chan Yeol and Sehun talking for a long time afterward.

Jjong and I kissed and he wondered if Kris really did have phone with his wife. I laughed and climbed on top of him. He forgot everyone else but me for the next few hours.