32. LOGIC

We woke up early, eager to meet our children after many days of parting from them. Even the daily phone calls were not enough. We wanted to hug and kiss them, inhale their unique scents and feel their warm love in person. Ji grinned at our eagerness. She and Beagle woke up the occupants of the other apartment so they could be ready by the time we returned with our family. Beagle again slicked back his hair in an attempt to look mature. Enroute to the airport, Ji finger combed his hair back to his usual style and gave a pep talk to him in whispers.

At the airport, Puppy and I ran to embrace our three. Minx immediately hung herself onto Puppy’s neck while I picked up Byong in one arm and wrapped the other around Sehun. Puppy whirled her around before bringing the five of us into a family hug. Duckie elbowed her way into our circle and Sehun picked her up in his arms to add her to our family reunion.

When we finally let go of each other, Puppy had to brace himself as Byong jumped into his arms. Minx hung herself on my back while I kissed Duckie who was still in Sehun’s arms. Puppy kissed Sehun’s head while chuckling in wonder, “I never thought I will miss you brat.”

Ji was enclosed in a deep hug by both imo and uncle. Kai and Amber began chattering with Chan Yeol. Little Junsu ambled to us to pull on my jeans. I bent down to pick him up and exclaimed, “Oh my god! Who is this big boy?”

Junsu giggled and pointed a finger at his chest, “Oh my god! Junsu!” When I began laughing at his words, he pointed to the sun, “Oh my god! Sun.”

“Soo you have a parrot.” I called out to Soo who was talking with Kibum.

Junsu picked up on it and pointed towards Soo, “Oh my god! Umma.”

“Oppa now he won’t stop. He speaks only a few words and you have added a whole phrase to his vocabulary,” Soo whined, making me rub noses with Junsu and laugh with him.

Duckie gave Junsu a loud smacking kiss on the cheek, laughing with us. That was the magic of children. Just about anything made them happy and laugh with joy.

We loaded everyone and their luggage into the bus and drove back to the apartments. I guided imo and uncle to sit in the front with Beagle, the kids in the middle and the rest of us in the back. Kibum made a beeline for Ji and couldn’t hide his curiosity any longer, “So, Ji was it worth it? Did he propose? When is the wedding?”

Ji tried to hush him, “Oppa don’t wind up umma. We need her in a good mood.”

I pulled Kibum’s arm to make him sit down and whispered, “We plan to stop over in Seoul for a day to talk to Beagle’s parents. We need to approach it right with imo and uncle. What do you feel?” Puppy and I looked at Soo, Leeteuk, Kibum, Taemin, Heechul and Siwon waiting for them to come up with ideas.

“Are you sure hyung that he is the right guy for Jiyeon? He has not even come of age.” Taemin was not convinced. “They’ve known each other less than a month, after all.”

“Jiyeon has not shown interest in any other guy Taemin. She must be really serious about him to give up her holiday with us.” Siwon pointed out and the rest of us nodded in agreement.

“He is young, but I trust Jinki hyung’s judgement. If he thinks Chan Yeol is right, then I agree.” Kibum gave his opinion reminding Taemin, “Don’t forget we got married within a short period as well.”

“If I had known what I was agreeing for, I would have waited and enjoyed a few more months of freedom.” Taemin teased Kibum who immediately poked his tongue out at him.

“Why don’t we say the kids want to visit Seoul for a day? Or Key and I want to shop? Or we need to meet the new hagwon owners? Imo will agree quicker to a shopping idea.” Heechul suggested.

“We can say Super and I need to meet our seniors in Seoul.” Puppy liked the idea.

“We can shop Hee hyung and meet the hagwon owners also. And you can have your father extend an invitation for dinner for all of us.” Kibum added to Heechul’s suggestion.

“And while all these reasons are there, we can add meeting Beagle’s parents as a post script to a day’s agenda.” Leeteuk added the important bit.

“Yes, and we must pretend that it is not a plan at all.” Siwon pointed out looking straight at Taemin who had the most difficulty holding in any secrets.

“Cinder I am calling your phone, pretend it’s your father,” I dialed Heechul’s number.

While Heechul got busy talking loudly on his phone, Ji was hugged in joy by Key. Thankfully it had taken only a few short minutes to find a solution because the kids came over to talk to us.

They spent the bus journey telling us about Melbourne and how Kibum had squealed like a little baby when they had visited the top of the tallest building Eureka Towers. Kibum was clear that he preferred to see the tallest buildings from afar like the Q1 in Gold Coast which was the tallest in the southern hemisphere. According to him, it should be a rule to see such buildings from at least 500 meters away instead of climbing to their top.

Taemin and Kai began rhapsodizing over the tandem sky diving they had done in Torquay. Sehun had gotten a dvd to tease his older brother. Duckie and Byong talked about the sand castles they made. There were hours of videos and tons of photographs for us to watch once we were back home in Korea. Sehun was happy that he got to see Russell Crowe’s house in Sydney but was sad that they couldn’t find Chris Hemsworth’s house during their road trip.

I belatedly remembered to inform everyone that Gina and Xing were visiting and everyone will have to basically use our apartment to freshen up. Since it was a matter of a few hours only no one minded, as they were all dressed for the day anyway. I saved the last news for later because I wanted to watch Kibum’s reaction properly.

At our apartment, Sam hugged the kids in welcome and gave them milkshakes to drink. She had arrived with Robert and Donald for the weekend. Gina and Xing were bewildered for a while as they met everyone. They recognized each face because Ji and Beagle had shown them photographs earlier but what surprised them was how the whole lot of us worked in tandem to adjust in one apartment. We took fifteen minutes to pack for the overnight trip, while packing away rest of our stuff for the trip back to Korea.

In the meantime, Beagle handed out copies of past week’s newspapers at the dining table for the family to pore over their interviews and articles that were either on the main pages or the editorial pages. The article series had run for five days in total. Each family had two copies of the newspapers to take back home with them. There were extra copies as well in case anyone wanted more.

During breakfast, we implemented our hastily put-together plan and informed imo and uncle that we needed to make a stop over in Seoul for a day before flying on to Daegu. “Uncle, my father would be upset if we just go through Seoul without meeting him. He has invited all of us to dinner with him. Please join us. It’s been many months since I met my father.” Heechul began an emotional appeal.

Imo and uncle looked at each other before uncle turned his full attention to Heechul, “How about you stay back and we move on as planned?”

“Come on Uncle, what reason will we give for your absence? He included you and imo especially in his invite.” Heechul pouted. “Imo we can stop over at his place and shop during the day.”

Kibum immediately jumped in, “Oooh I’d love to shop in Seoul. Imo you’ve got to say yes. Just imagine a day in Myeongdong there. Why only a day Hee hyung? We need more time to shop. Tae hyung give me your credit card.”

“No Kitty, you are not going crazy with my credit card again. One day is sufficient for shopping. You already have closets full of clothes.” Taemin shook his head at Kibum.

Kibum gave his patent pout, “You are no fun at all Tae hyung. I will ask appa and use Jinki hyung’s card.”

“Kibum why are you only thinking of shopping? I am thinking of setting up a meeting with our new and old hagwon owners as well. I refuse to spend the whole day in market.” I made my aversion to shopping clear again.

“Stop planning all of you. We haven’t said yes.” Uncle spoke, halting our planning.

Duckie climbed into Uncle’s lap and kissed his cheek, “Imobu-harabeoji please say yes. I have not met my other harabeoji for a long time.” She smiled sweetly at him.

“Heechul at least find out if it is okay with your father for all of us to visit him. He is a busy man after all.” Imo called out giving in to Duckie.

“He called while we were in the bus imo. I will call and confirm with him. Also he invited everyone to stay with him. I hope that’s okay with you.” Heechul got up to get his phone.

“My house is also there in Seoul if you need more space.” Beagle spoke softly, uncertain how this information would be greeted by imo and uncle. Kai and Sehun jumped at the offer.

“I will make arrangements to submit my Australia report as it will save me a meeting later on. Super do you have any agency work in Seoul?” Puppy turned to Siwon to make their own plans for the day.

Gina and Xing looked on as new plans were quickly set in motion. They looked lost till I explained that it was normal for our family to make last moment plans and everyone to just jump in without too much thought.

“Ummappa, can we sleep over at Yeollie hyung’s in Seoul?” Sehun and Kai came up with new plans of their own. I nodded and sent Kai to take permission from his parents. They got it in a minute flat and went to Beagle to plan more.

We quickly finished breakfast to make a number of phone calls to Korea to finalize everything. Heechul shouted to let all of us know his father had given the green light and even offered the conference room he had at home for us to hold our hagwon meetings. Puppy and Siwon set up their meetings next. Kibum, Heechul and I got busy arranging our hagwon meetings. Beagle, Puppy and Siwon rearranged our flight tickets from Seoul to Daegu. Taemin spoke to our father and decided to spend his time visiting the hagwon sites and setting up appointments for the real estate they were purchasing for the new hagwons.

Soo and Teukkie sat grinning at our manipulation of the situation. Soo finally broached the dreaded subject with her mother, “Umma, as long as we are in Seoul why don’t we go and meet Chan Yeol’s family?” We all went silent in the living room in an attempt to listen to their conversation.

“Soo, he is only a little boy. Give them a few more years first.” Imo exclaimed.

“He is already well-settled and Ji likes him.” Soo pointed out again as Doc spoke in agreement, “Age is only a figure. I am so many years older to Soo but we still get on well.”

“It’s too early. They have known each other for only four weeks.” Uncle gave voice to his reasons.

“Ji knows her mind appa. If she feels she has found the right person, we have to agree with her. In today’s times if she is giving you the respect to decide and give your blessings, you should honor her wishes.” Soo’s opinion was quite clear.

“If you don’t like the family, you can still say no.” Leeteuk gave them the way out.

“I want her to marry in Daegu only.” Uncle shook his head.

“We understand, but just think it over again. If you refuse and she rejects Chan Yeol’s proposal, do you honestly believe she will marry another man so easily in Daegu? She might refuse everyone and remain single all her life. We know how headstrong she is.” Leeteuk continued to explain calmly and logically. “This short stay in Seoul is the perfect opportunity to meet his parents. We can ask Heechul’s father to send them a dinner invitation. Just meet them informally and then decide. If you think favorably, then meet them again the next day formally.”

I tipped off a hat to Doc in my mind. He had presented the perfect solution to imo and uncle. He was usually silent but when Doc did speak, his words were worth listening to.

“You are right Teukkie. I see your point clearly and your suggestion works best for now. If we meet them during dinner, we don’t have to say yes or no immediately. Work it out with Heechul and Chan Yeol.” Uncle finally agreed with Doc and gave his nod to meet Chan Yeol’s parents.

Siwon and Puppy patted Chan Yeol’s back together and the poor boy almost keeled over from the force of it. Kris and Luhan snickered at his lack of balance. We motioned all the kids to remain silent and while the adults pretended non-chalance. Bigger deal we made of it, higher the chances of imo and uncle refusing at the last moment.

Gina came to remind us that we needed to get moving for the photo op appointment we had set up for Kibum who jumped up in surprise. Oh yes his reaction was just as I anticipated it to be.

“Hyung, why didn’t you tell me before? I need to dress again. Oh, I have so little time. You are so mean hyung.” Kibum kept raling at me while going through his clothes.

“You have half hour to dress and paint your face Bummie.” I called after him.

Imo and Heechul made everyone change into clothes more suited for photography than for a day out camping. Amber took Siwon’s permission to pose with Kai if the need arose. We loaded the luggage into the bus in the meantime. It took a lot of work but at last everyone was in the bus in the next thirty minutes.

Sam was really curious about this photography session. She squeaked when she saw Minx’s and Sehun’s huge photograph in the front of the store. There was a small crowd gathered near the poster. Minx, Sehun, Kai, Amber, Kibum and Taemin met with the store manager, who immediately made them stand outside the store and people began taking photographs. There was a professional photographer as well.

The rest of us shopped for drinks and food for the cabin trip. Siwon, Kris and Luhan stocked up on liquor for the teams. Gina, Xing and I loaded up on non-alcoholic beverages and numerous packets of snacks. Ji and Soo bought disposable plates, glasses and cutlery.

Imo saw our loaded shopping carts and went to get more discounts from the manager. She succeeded in making a huge difference in our bill by throwing in Leeteuk into the bargain. Doc resignedly agreed to a few professional photographs inside the store.

By the time we thanked the manager and staff and exited the store, the small crowd had tripled in size, consisting mainly of women and girls. We had to forcefully drag away Kibum who pouted and whined. He absolutely loved his brush with fame, making Gina and Xing giggle at his cuteness.

We finally reached the hotel and found another bus waiting for us. Jjong, Kris and Luhan got their teams into the buses, letting them sit wherever they wanted. Everyone grouped with their cabin mates and boarded the buses. Hyori saw our family sitting in the first bus and made her way into the second bus. She was one really crazy female. When I pointed out Hyori’s actions to Heechul, he laughed and wondered how she was going avoid the whole lot of us for one full day.

It was only half an hour’s drive and we reached our Tourist Park destination.