11. BORROWED HUSBAND

Monday morning our week days’ routine started again. After lunch we went to visit the Dinosaur Museum but on coming to know that we could visit after hours for an extra fee, we booked for the next evening for a visit with Jjong and Chan Yeol. Children were excited about going with both of them.

For the remainder of the afternoon, we went indoor rock-climbing and spent a few hours scaling artificial walls pretending we were climbing Mount Everest. We got even William to join in with us. Robert, Sehun, Minx and Amber competed with each other. Duckie, Byong and Robert did it leisurely with Ji and me.

We returned home all sweaty but laughing at the amount of fun we had. As the kids bathed, Sam and I prepared dinner. Ji insisted on helping. We took turns showering. Ji took extra time and I could see she’d taken more care with her appearance. I smiled to myself.

Jjong arrived just as the children were finishing their dinner. Chan Yeol smiled widely the moment he laid eyes on Ji. She smiled equally brightly at him. Hyori was once again hanging onto Jjong’s arms and Kris was rolling his eyes while muttering about her sudden clumsiness. Luhan wrapped his arm around my shoulders in greeting. Jjong had brought along English team leader Harold this time as well as three members of Kris’s team.

Hyori refused to let go of Jjong even as he leaned in to kiss my cheek in greeting. He whispered, “You look hot yeobo.” I wanted to kiss him deep but controlled myself. When everyone was seated with a drink in hand, Byong came bouncing in to the living room and glared at Hyori next to his father.

“Don’t you have a husband?” Byong asked Hyori as he climbed into Jjong’s lap.

“I am still looking for one.” She replied.

“Appa is already a husband. Hope you know that.” He smiled at her, hugging Jjong tightly.

“Yes I know.” She became a little flustered.

“Then why are you always hanging all over him or touching him all the time?” Byong finally came to the point.

I tried to hide my grin as Luhan and Kris elbowed me hard from either side. Dang, my ribs really hurt.

“Ummm,” Hyori had no response. Her face pinkened and she glared at my seven-year-old little boy.

Byong was not to be cowed down. “You see that man there?” He pointed a finger at me. “He is my appa’s husband. And my appa is his husband. I think you need a husband of your own so you can stop borrowing other people’s husband.”

“Byong hush. You are becoming rude now. Apologize.” I admonished him even though he spoke nothing but the truth.

Hyori immediately let go of Jjong’s arm and stopped leaning on him. She tried to find a response but failed again.

Byong shook his head belligerently, “Why should I apologize for telling the truth ummappa? You only taught us that it is wrong to borrow or take someone else’s property without permission. Have you given her permission to borrow appa from you and us?”

Everyone laughed at his innocent words while Hyori’s face turned red in embarrassment. Jjong and I held back our amusement.

“Young man I also taught you that you should not say anything that hurts other people. You need to apologize for your words. They are clearly hurting her.” I mock glared at Byong, trying not to give in to the laughter bubbling inside me.

“I am sorry my words have hurt you. I only spoke the truth.” Byong bowed and apologized to her.

Before Hyori could respond, Duckie joined Byong in Jjong’s lap. I looked back to see Ji and the trio silently laughing just out of everyone’s sight.

“You know what my umma told appa?” Duckie asked Hyori who helplessly shook her head.

“He said that if he catches any woman touching appa, he will scratch her eyes out.” Duckie informed her serenely then looked at me. “Ummappa are you going to scratch her eyes out?”

I dumbly shook my head as laughter erupted all around me. Even those out of sight couldn’t control anymore, including Sam and her family. Hyori looked at Duckie and then at me wondering how safe she was in our home at that moment.

I didn’t even know what to say to Duckie. There was nothing to scold the six-year-old for as it was an innocent statement and question. I was certain the quartet laughing out of sight was behind all of this.

I bowed to a red Hyori, “I am really sorry and apologize on behalf of our children. I hope you will consider their young ages of six and seven and forgive them.”

“But ummappa I really want to know. You don’t even have nails like umma. Then how will you scratch her eyes out?” Duckie continued, blissfully unaware of the comical havoc her words were causing. She poked her fingers in her eyes to test her theory, and then whispered conspiratorially to Hyori, “I think you should not touch Jjong appa anymore. It really hurts to have your eyes scratched out. Just try it with your fingers like I did. Can you imagine how much it will hurt when ummappa does it to you?”

A very flustered Hyori sprung up from her seat afraid that Duckie would poke her eyes next. “I am sorry Jinki-ssi, I have to go. I just remembered that I have to place a call to my Superintendent.” She bowed to all of us.

We stood up as well and bowed back. William suddenly materialized and led her to the van to take her back to the hotel. As soon as the door closed behind her, Duckie and Byong high fived each other , and Jjong and I were hugged by Sehun, Minx and Amber. They were yelling various versions of “yippee we got rid of her”, “thank god the witch is gone”, “we did it, we did it”, “we have appa back now” and “thankfully we are off the hook now with Jinki.” The last one was from Kris.

I turned to see Luhan explaining the situation to a bewildered Harold. Chan Yeol poured non-alcoholic drinks for all the children, Ji and himself. They toasted to their victory before gulping down the drinks. I handed a whiskey to Sam whose preferred brand was always in stock with us.

Surrounded by children, Jjong and I exchanged heated looks till I felt someone poking a finger hard into my shoulder. Luhan’s voice followed, “Stop it you two. There are children around.”

“We are used to it ahjeossi,” Minx responded. “You should see Tae appa and Key umma. They kiss all the time. These two only look at each other.”

Sehun muttered, “I wish they were more like Tae appa and Key umma then I can interrupt and ask permission to kiss my Minnie.”

“Be glad Jjong appa didn’t hear you say that,” I hissed at him. He hugged me and whispered his apology. I kissed his forehead and whispered back just for his ears, “Have patience Sunshine. You may be in love, but both of you are also very young. There is a right time for everything. When it is right time for you to kiss, we won’t stop you.”

He nodded his head on my shoulder. I knew he was blushing hard. Jjong looked at me questioningly but I shook my head and smiled, not wanting an explosion in the house.

As we had another round of drinks, one of Kris’s team members, Mark, voiced his curiosity, “I’ve heard that Korea is very homophobic. How did you both manage to get together and continue your public professions?”

Jjong laughted and winked at him. “Have you seen his smile? He won over everyone with it and they forgot to protest.”

Luhan and Sehun made retching sounds. Chan Yeol looked at us keenly while Ji teased, “How cheesy oppa. Come up with something new now.”

I clarified, “Actually it’s because Jjong became a national hero just about the time we got together.”

Jjong put his arm around my shoulder and hugged me to him. “Nah, everyone at the station knew about us long before that incident Onew. You even visited the station with Minx. It was your smile. No one wanted to be the reason for it to go away, so they gave their blessings to us.”

I beamed at him and this time Minx and Amber made the retching sounds and actions.

Mark caught on to what I’d said. “National hero? I am drinking and eating with a Korean national hero? Did you know about this?” He asked Kris who shook his head.

The kids related the incident with lots of drama and action. Robert and Donald, Sam’s children looked at Jjong with awe. Chan Yeol looked at our rings when he heard about my string tying in the hospital and at the end of the narrative he spoke out, “Are you still wearing destiny rings? Can I see?”

All our guests became interested in them and we took them off so they could be passed around the room.

“Wow, I’d only heard about them. You actually wear them.” Luhan said as he looked at my ring in his hand. “No wonder you have such a great bond. I am feeling jealous of you.”

“Do they really work? I recently had my third divorce. The alimonies are killing me.” Harold asked us.

Kris answered him, “Harold these rings don’t work on their own. You have to make the effort. These are just expressions of what you feel.” Harold nodded glumly as Kris looked at us expectantly, “My anniversary is next month. Can you help me buy these? My wife would go crazy over them.”

“If you know her ring size you can order them online. We can help you or if you want we can ask our family to bring a pair with them when they come this weekend.” Jjong offered.

“Tell them to get it. Oh, I am feeling excited like a teenager,” Kris bounced in his seat.

We laughed at his enthusiasm. As we wore our rings again, Luhan slaked his curiosity, “So did you call your wife last night Kris?”

“Oh yes. It was so exciting. Just like when we were dating. I wonder why we never did it before.” Kris mumbled with a pink face.

“So, you know now whether your wife is a girl or a boy?” Duckie asked Kris.

He blushed deeper remember his foot-in-the-mouth syndrome of the day before. “A girl. Definitely a girl. A very pretty girl.” He took out his wallet and showed his family photograph to all of us.

Harold showed the pics of his three children. “Their mothers divorced me because I am so busy with my work.”

“Then do what Jjong oppa does. Refuse all assignments away from home.” Ji suggested.

Harold looked at Jjong, “How is that possible? You won’t get promoted if you do that.”

“Jjong appa says his family is more important than his job. But appa says it’s because he cannot survive without ummappa.” Duckie answered Harold. “Ummappa, what is survive?”

“It means to live. What Simba appa means is that Jjong appa cannot live a day without ummappa.” Sehun clarified for Duckie who climbed into his lap.

“Who is Simba now?” Kris asked in confusion.

“My appa. He roars just like Simba in the police station and even purrs like him at umma and me. In the morning his hairs also look like Simba’s. I like brushing them and applying gel so they stand straight. He looks very funny when I do that.” Duckie’s explanation confused our guests even more.

“Simba is my best friend Heechul’s partner and they are Jinri’s parents,” I clarified. “He was Jjong’s Superintendent when we met, and now he is the Superintendent General of the Daegu Police Agency.”

Duckie climbed down from Sehun’s lap and stood in front of Luhan. “Is it true that your name is Bambi? You don’t look like a deer to me.”

Luhan picked her up and put her in his lap, “My name means ‘deer of the dawn’ and because I am very easy going my team calls me Bambi.”

“I like Bambi very much. I have watched it many times. I like you also.” Duckie kissed his cheek. Luhan smiled and kissed her back.

“You are Duckie and your father is Simba. What is your mother called?” Luhan probed.

“Cinderella.” Duckie beamed.

Our guests burst out laughing. Ji whispered to Chan Yeol to show proper respect to Cinder oppa because he was a Minister’s son. Chan Yeol’s big ears twitched at that piece of info and his mouth gaped. That piqued the curiosity of our other guests. Ji explained to them also, much to their astonishment.

Harold turned to me, “You are rich was understood by your ability to come with Jonghyun. But there seems to be more than meets the eye with you. You are important enough to make headline news on your arrival here.”

The children rolled their eyes in a ‘not again’ manner. I hedged not wanting to go into another full blown explanation. “Jiyeon’s older sister is married to last year’s Nobel Prize winner.”

Chan Yeol’s eyes bugged out again and he looked carefully at Ji. She smiled innocently at him and then winked. He blushed at being caught staring.

To direct the attention away from our family, I led our guests to dinner while the children played x-box games. Kris and Luhan sat with Jjong and Harold near the head of the table. We talked about the number of cyber crimes around the world by kids. There were gales of laughter as everyone told anecdotes about the cyber criminal juvies they’d handled. It made me real glad about our well-behaved kids, that is, not counting their occasional foot-in-the-mouth disorder.

I sort of missed Hyori at dinner. The teasing games between Jjong and me. I looked to see him busy in conversation with others. Just as I was about to look away, he looked at me and then smiled and winked, on his chopsticks. I watched as he rolled up his shirt sleeves and opened top two buttons of his shirt while continuing to talk. I smiled happily and opened the top buttons of my shirt in response.

My Jjong was the best.