36. SEOUL AGAIN

It was 10^th September and we were on our way to the train station to go to Seoul.

Abeoji was throwing another wedding anniversary party for JiYeol next day and our entire family was invited once again. He had thrown one the year before as well.

Imo had prepared the house for JiYeol to return with us. Ji was nearing her full term of pregnancy and Beagle had howled on the phone, like a certain Puppy in our family according to imo, at the mention of parting from Ji. So both would return with us and stay for at least a month after Ji’s delivery.

Beagle’s mother had needed a lot of persuasion to allow Ji to visit us for such a long time. What made her agree was imo’s logic that a new baby needed a lot of care and with Beagle’s grandfather suffering from an attack of illness, she wouldn’t have the energy to look after the baby and a new mother.

I carried 17 months old baby Jaejoong in my arms while his father tried to control his older brother, 3-year-old Junsu, from running around the departure area as we waited for the train. Puppy handed Teukkie the length of rope we’d brought with us and showed him the way to tie Junsu to his waist so he could run in a limited diameter. Jaejoong was busy eating my hair once again and making cute faces at me. I was thankful that I didn’t color my hair like the two Divas known to us.

Soo tried to get imo to stop harassing Uncle by enticing her with thoughts of meeting with Ji quickly. Hyemi noona was laughing at Soo’s tactics.

Since Sehun turned 16 in April that year, he had taken to wrapping an arm around Minx to hug her to his side rather than simply holding her hand. Uncle was certain that year 2013 would drive him crazy with their skinship. Kai was walking just behind the two with his arm around Amber while DongHae and Hyukjae scowled at their backs.

DaongHae was not talking to Puppy or me because we let Minx and Sehun set a bad example for Amber and Kai. We tried to clear our names by pointing out it was Amber and Kai who had started this sort of skinship amongst the teens. But, according to DongHae we were still to blame because we had guided Kai in wooing Amber. And to top the matter, Sehun and Minx kissed each other’s cheeks a lot. Since Kai was explicitly forbidden to kiss any part of Amber by both DongHae and Hyukjae, Kai had begun the practice of wrapping his arm around Amber and hugging her to his side all the time.

Byong and Duckie were pestering Heechul to give them the candies that he had put in my bag. As soon as Heechul would make a move to give in to the two, I would glare at him. Jaejoong was fond of eating candies as well and when he got his little hands on any, it meant a lot of cleaning time for all of us. From our hair, skin, clothes to all nearby surfaces became sticky because he would keep taking the candy out of his mouth almost every minute to check how much it had reduced in size. Siwon guided the two to go and separate the teens, but they refused.

“Siwon appa I am not a baby to hold their hands and walk,” Byong had indignantion written all over his 9-year-old face.

“Appa, why don’t you ask them to take care of Junnie and Joongie? They are the babies of the family.” Duckie had a better response.

Siwon and I looked at each other and I immediately handed over Jaejoong to Minx and Sehun to make them walk him between them. Siwon got Junsu from Teukkie and handed him over to Kai and Amber.

Jjong’s phone pinged and it was a call from Seoul. Kris and Luhan had landed with their families at Heechul’s father’s house and were demanding to know how much longer we would be. Both Luhan and Jjong talked at the same time, making it difficult to understand what they were jabbering about.

In about two hours our family was greeting Abeoji and our friends. As our luggage was carried inside, Ji and Beagle arrived with his mother. Our Fearsome Four got busy talking with Kris and Luhan’s children. Duckie and Byong as usual made a beeline for Abeoji, Heechul’s father. And Junsu and Jaejoong were cooed over by Gina and Xing.

Kibum wanted to know if Gina had brought the maple syrup he’d requested and the maple syrup cookies that had become Taemin’s favorite. Kibum and Taemin had developed a penchant for pancakes and maple syrup for breakfast when we’d gone to stay with Kris and Gina the year before during our family holiday.

Taemin wanted his cookies from Gina and as soon as he had them he opened the container. Jaejoong climbed into his arms and both began to devour the sweet treat.

“Hyung, be careful or Joongie will get the syrup stains all over your clothes.” Kibum became concerned.

“Sit next to us Kitty and keep wiping his hands then. But I want to have these cookies before the kids realize their presence.” Tae was not to be deterred.

Kibum got out our stock of wet wipes from Soo’s bag and sat beside the two and Tae began feeding him cookies as well. Both chattered with Jaejoong as Kibum tried to keep his hands and face clean. Junsu gravitated towards the three and docilely sat near Tae, silently munching on his own cookie.

Chan Yeol talked non-stop with Jjong. Heechul and Soo went to the kitchen to arrange for beverages and eatables for everyone. Junsu went with them as Soo’s shadow. Imo, Xing, Gina and Hyemi noona began fussing over Ji. While the others were busy, we down at the dining table to leisurely talk over a cup of coffee and introduce Kris and Luhan to Sunwoo hyung, DongHae and Hyukjae.

In our regular mad cap style, our family had gathered to celebrate Ji and Beagle’s second wedding anniversary.