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59.  NEW YEAR 2024

We gathered in Hyukkie’s house to celebrate Seollal, Korean New Year, on 10^th February, 2024. Keun appa, Hyukkie’s father, was unable to travel due to his ill health so we brought our fun to him. Being a KATUSA doctor, even Sehun was able to attend because he had weekends off. We missed Chan Yeol, Ji and the kids as they didn’t want to leave Chan Yeol’s parents alone on this special occasion.

We conducted ‘Charye’, the memorial services for our ancestors, at our individual homes, and then gathered to hold the other ceremonies together. Children wearing new colorful hanboks pranced around and we gorged on plates and plates of traditional food that everyone had brought from home and set on the dining table. When we were too full to eat another bite, we started preparations for the ritual of ‘Sebae’. Our large family had its own version of Sebae tradition.

All the elders of the family - Hyukkie’s parents, my parents, imo and uncle - sat down in a semi-cirlce with Hyukkie’s parents in the center as the eldest. There were piles of colorful luck bags in front of each couple. The rest of us would take turns to offer them one deep traditional bow, wish them good luck for the New Year and present them our gifts. Heechul’s father was visiting Japan and his presence was sorely missed by us.

As I was the eldest in the family, it was my family’s turn first. Puppy and I stood with Byong by my side and Puppy pulled in Minho next to him to offer the deep bow to our elders. Imo pouted seeing Minho bow with us, but thankfully remained silent. We offered the gifts we had brought, to all the elders.

The previous month Puppy and I had gone to Seoul for a week to attend a work-related seminar for Puppy. There we had ordered custom-made jade ‘dojang’, personal name seal, for all of our family for Seollal. The jade seals for the six elders had rose of Sharon which was the Korean national flower carved on top, inlaid with semi-precious stones. For the other couples, we had opted for Double Hee symbol to be carved on the sides as our way of wishing them continued happy married life. For the children we got the seals carved with fishes to symbolize diligent self-discipline, which we hoped they’d learn. For our kids and grandkids, we had put the seal boxes in their luck bags only, while we packed the rest in separate small gift boxes.

When the elders picked up luck bags to give to all of us, Kai teased Byong, “Byong does not deserve any luck bag as he did not bow deep enough. I have proof that his head did not touch his hand.”

Byong gaped at Kai and made a face but Kai just grinned unrepentantly. I pressed a hand to Byong’s back and he complied with my silent command by bowing once more. Then he cheekily told his grandparents, “I deserve two luck bags from each of you. I bowed twice.”

“I will give you two luck bags when you bow to me with your children,” Aunt Hee Young told him.

Byong winked at Duckie who was wearing a blue couple hanbok with him, “Come sweetheart let’s go make some babies for halmeoni.” Heechul squawked loudly at that and Puppy reached behind me to whack Byong on the head. Byong just grinned at Heechul and shamelessly opened his luck bag from his grandmother Hee Young. “What? Only 300,000 wons? I wanted to use my Seollal money to buy the new Samsung W-Flex phone that can wrap around my wrist.”

“Stupid boy, open all of them first. This is just the first set of luck bags you are receiving today,” my father glared at Byong’s insolence. “Gag him Jonghyun.” Puppy pulled Byong away and let the next family take our place.

Sunwoo hyung and Hyemi noona took their place in front of the elders to offer their bows, greetings and gifts. Though they were both older than me, they refused to be the first to bow by repeatedly pointing out on every occasion that I was the eldest in the family by blood. Sehun, Minx and three toddlers bowed with them. The toddlers squealed in delight on receving their luck bags. All three of them kissed the great-grandparents.

Joohyun gave her luck bag to Sehun and Jungkook gave his to Minx. But Taeyong insisted on opening his and took out the crisp 100,000 won note. He waved it at his sister and brother who then took their money bags from their parents to check what they got. The three of them of ran around the house with the money as their parents chased them. We just watched the young family perform its routine for the next five minutes. When finally the naughty kids had been lured in by a promise of more gifts, the harried parents joined us and handed each of the kids to Puppy, me and Minho with an exasperated pout, “Here, tell them when they will receive the gift we promised them.”

Next Siwon, Heechul and Duckie took their turn. Byong tried to sit next to Duckie but Heechul pushed him away, “Wait for the wedding, till then Duckie is all ours. Jinx, teach him some patience.”

The elders began laughing at Heechul’s advice to me. Uncle and imo laughed the hardest. Uncle managed to speak between his long bout of laughter, “You are asking Jinki to teach him patience till the wedding? That’s the funniest thing I have heard.” Minho and I blushed. The youngsters were curious at Uncle’s words but Puppy glared at them to keep their silence. Heechul’s eyes promised me a private conversation later.

“Byong be silent or I will really gag you. Stop embarrassing us,” Puppy whispered to our son as he pulled him away from Duckie. “One more mention of your relationship with Duckie today and I will ask Tokki to stop your kissing.” It was that warning that Byong paid any attention to and he immediately mimed zipping his lips while winking at his father.

Next Taemin, Kibum, Kai and Amber took their turn with the 3-month-old twins Jongdae and Minki next to their parents. Sehun took revenge for Byong, “Kai I can see a millimeter between your forehead and hand. Bow deeper.” When Kai glared at him, Sehun just smiled sweetly, “Oh sorry, I mistook Amber noona for you. She is wearing the same hanbok as you. How sweet!”

“Sehun I have my gun under my belt. I won’t hesitate to use it,” Amber warned while positioning Chen to make him give his first bow to the elders. Kibum was attempting to do the same with Ren. DongHae had given Chinese nicknames to both his grandsons.

“You are no fun noona since you joined the police force. I have never seen such a trigger-happy cop before,” Sehun teased Amber. “I still remember you pulling a gun on Key umma when he first dressed Ren in girl clothes.” Amber glared at her father-in-law who ignored her and continued to fuss over Ren whom he had dressed in a tiny pink girl hanbok with pink bows in his hair and frilly pink booties on his feet.

“Kai make your wife stop drilling holes in my back,” Kibum calmly ordered his son. “If she does not stop with her glares, I will stop cooking food from tomorrow.”

Puppy and I counted seconds on our fingers as Minho watched both of us and our family in awe. We reached a count of six before Taemin’s voice rang out in the large room.

“What Kitty? Why? What did I do? How can you punish me for something I did not do?” Taemin began whining non-stop. “Amber, stop troubling your mother-in-law. I need good food in my belly at least three times a day, four if possible.”

“I am not her mother-in-law. Stop calling me that or I am kicking you out of our room,” Kibum hissed at a highly worried Taemin.

Taemin pouted, “I did not do anything. I did not even start anything. I am always on your side Kitty. Why are you getting upset with me?”

Kibum whispered something in his husband’s ear. Taemin looked at a smirking Kibum in horror and shot up from his kneeling position, forgetting everything. He covered his with his hands and hid behind Minho. Those of us who understood his actions, doubled up with laughter. Kibum offered an innocent smile to everyone and coolly collected Taemin’s luck bag from the elders when Taemin refused to budge from his hiding place behind Minho.

Hyukkie and DongHae bowed next. It was Amber who troubled her parents. “Appa I can hear your bones creak when you bow.” When DongHae pursed his lips at her, she giggled, “Don’t frown, it makes you look double the age of Hyukkie appa.

“Just for that, Kibum you have my permission to buy girl clothes for Ren forever,” DongHae glared at his daughter as he told Kibum the only thing he knew would silence Amber.

My father and Kai groaned in despair while Kibum crowed happily. Taemin looked at Kibum hopefully, still hiding behind Minho. Kibum stared meaningfully at Taemin’s bottom and Taemin turned Minho to stand between him and Kibum. Minho looked at us in confusion, not understanding Taemin’s actions at all. We laughed and Puppy left it to Taemin to offer whatever explanation he wanted.

Soo, Leeteuk, Junsu and Jaejoong took their turn to repeat the ritual. Before bowing Joongie asked imo what was in his gift bag. She smiled indulgently at him and showed the luck bag that uncle and imo were giving to him. It looked bulkier than the rest. Joongie quickly gave one deep bow to all the elders and another deep bow just to imo. She laughed and he rushed to get his luck bag from her. Soo and Leeteuk tried to hold him back but his enthusiasm infected Junsu also. Their luck bags from imo and Uncle held monthly gift coupons for the book store where the boys purchased manga comics. Their penchant for reading manga was well known in the family.

As the elders got up from their place, we began taking our positions and piling in front of us our set of luck bags to distribute. Puppy and I sat in the middle. Puppy made Minho sit on his other side with Taemin and Kibum sitting next to Minho because Heechul hesitated to sit next to Minho. He and Siwon sat next to Kibum. Sunwoo hyung and Hyemi noona sat next to me and next to them sat DonHae and Hyukkie with Soo and Teukkie sitting next to Hyukkie.

“Our seating would be perfectly balanced, if we get Ji and Beagle to join us,” Puppy’s comment had everyone nodding.

“I wanted to sit next to Jinx and Jjong,” Heechul pouted and glared at Minho who squirmed in discomfort. Taemin glared back at Heechul which the old diva chose to ignore. Sunwoo hyung and Hyemi noona got up and changed places with Heechul and Siwon to keep peace.

“I am the oldest Lee here,” DongHae complained as was usual on such occasions.

“And Hyukkie the youngest,” Taemin pointed out with a victorious smile.

“I should have married Jinki. Now I am stuck in this position forever,” DongHae looked longingly at my place in the center. Hyukkie elbowed him in the ribs in displeasure.

Puppy wrapped an arm around my shoulder and grinned at our brother-in-law, “Too bad Boss, I had the first dibs on him. Maybe Hyukkie will be born older to Tokki next time.”

Taemin suddenly cackled and fell backward laughing his head off, “Actually Puppy, it was Minho maehyung who had first dibs on Jinki hyung.”

Puppy quickly retorted with a smile, “Too bad Minho lost him. Finder’s keeper, Tae hyung. Tokki is now mine for eternity.” He turned to me and whispered, “I love you Tokki.”

I kissed his shoulder and let my voice express the depth of my emotions, “I love you too. Silly, Puppy.”

“Always, for you.” Puppy pressed a kiss on my hair. There were wolf whistles when we got lost in our private world for a few moments. Choking sounds from Minho made us look away from each other and stare at him in concern. Minho was pink in his face and trying not to look at us. “Are you alright Minho?” Puppy asked him. Since Taemin’s heart attack, Puppy worried a lot about other older males in our family.

Minho nodded and responded with a strangled whisper, “Umm, can you not do that in front of me?” He stared at the wall in front for a few seconds before turning to look at Puppy with sad eyes, “Jonghyun, I understand that Jinki is now yours. But do you really have to rub it in my face all the time?”

I wiped my face clean of all expressions, and looked steadily at Minho. Puppy peaked at my blank face and then turned to Minho. He softly smiled at the older male who was still avoiding my eyes, “Minho, we don’t do it to rub it in your face, in your words. We did in the beginning, but not any more. We have always been careful about any physical display of our love in front of the family. Should I apologize for using your presence as an excuse to kiss Jinki?”

Minho thought for a moment before shaking his head in negative. “Should I apologize for feeling jealous?” He whispered again, his voice too low for anyone else to hear.

Puppy winked at Minho and leaned into him to whisper something directly in his ear. Minho turned red immediately and looked down at the floor, ignoring Taemin’s jabs at his arm to know what Puppy told him. When I raised a brow in question at Puppy, he turned to me and whispered, “I told him to be glad that he was getting his voyeuristic fantasy fulfilled all the time of watching you with another man, when he didn’t feel jealous earlier why feel jealous now?”

Heechul, who had leaned heavily into me to hear what Puppy whispered, tried to stifle his laughter. When Siwon poked him to know the reason, he whispered Puppy’s words to him. Both toppled forward in laughter. Minho looked shocked that they knew. Everyone else looked puzzled at the five of us. Puppy wiggled his brows at Minho and grinned, “You can thank your friend Yohan for their knowledge. Any more requests or questions?” Minho quickly shook his head and tried to act uncaring but failed. His face turned even redder.

“Yah, Puppy, this is unfair,” Kibum yelled in annoyance. “How come those two know but I don’t? Jinki hyung you don’t love me at all.”

“Stop your antics and behave your age,” my father scolded us. “Children are getting restless waiting for all of you to settle down. I have idiots for sons and sons-in-law.”

We sobered up and sat straight. Heechul continued to giggle and throw pointed looks at Minho which made the older man look guiltily at the floor. Taemin and Kibum pouted at their lack of knowledge. The others tried to act unconcerned as Kai and Amber bowed in front of us with their twins. Kai hugged his parents when he found open tickets to Egypt for two in his luck bag along with a lot of cash to spend there. DongHae and Hyukkie’s luck bag for Amber contained the latest laser-guided Glock to carry in her ankle holster. Kibum glared at them for giving his daughter-in-law another firearm.

After them, Minx and Sehun repeated the Sebae with their triplets. They had a similar reaction when their luck bag contained another two tickets for Egypt and expenses money. The four youngsters began planning the leave schedule for Sehun and Amber so they could travel together.

Byong whined to join the two couples with Duckie. He ignored the daggers thrown at him by Heechul and completed the Sebae ritual with Duckie by his side. He pouted when his luck bag had a different shape from the older two couples. But then began running around the room in joy when his luck bag from Puppy and me contained the new cell phone he desired. Duckie’s contained a credit card from her parents.

Junsu and Jaejoong completed their Sebae greeting full of anticipation. They opened their luck bags and found 3 full passes each for E-World amusement park. Hugging each other in joy, they completely forgot to thank their parents. Along with the crisp notes in our luck bags, the two brothers had enough money to spend for a group of 6 revelers.

Minho’s pile of luck bags had different gifts for the youngsters. To the three young couples, he gave gift cards for shopping in an exclusive fashion store. To Junsu and Jaejoong he gave movie passes for 4, two each, and money for food. To the toddlers, he gave school bag sets with money for buying other additional items. To the twins he gave luxury portable baby beds. We wanted to protest the gifts he gave to the five babies, because he’d already sent 3 big car beds to our main office for the five grandchildren to use while Kibum and I worked and looked after our grandkids. But Minho silenced us with his pleading eyes.

When Taemin invited Minho to our Seollal family gathering, Minho’d enquired the details from him and sent massage chair sets as gifts for the elders. Imo had refused to touch the one Uncle and she’d received. My father was offended and complained to Kibum that he could buy his own chair if he needed one. I had expected them to tell off Minho for his expensive gifts, but they remained silent when keun appa thanked Minho. Minho smiled at him as his approval finally sealed in Minho as a member of our extended family and that meant Minho would now be an official part of our family gatherings.

Puppy stood and held my hands to pull me up. He kept an arm wrapped around my waist and whispered, “I am not going to stop touching you just because he feels jealous.” I nodded and kissed his cheek in agreement.

“Hyung, why were you laughing?” Kibum immediately descended on Heechul. “What did Puppy say to Jinki hyung? How come no one tells me anything anymore? I don’t think you love me. How can you do this to me?”

I looked around and found Minho trying to move away. I took hold of his arm and stopped him from slinking away. “You wouldn’t like to miss the drama Minho,” I told him with a wink. He unwillingly stood next to Puppy and me.

Heechul smirked teasingly at a hyper Kibum, “Yah! Get a hold on yourself. Who made you a grandfather? You are behaving like a kid.”

“Stop distracting me. I want to know what Jinki hyung whispered to you,” Kibum began stomping his feet.

Siwon thumped Kibum’s back to calm him down, “Stop harassing Cinderella. All Jjong told Jinki was that he likes making Minho jealous. And if Minho thought they were going overboard with their affections, then he should see you and your bratty husband Taemin. According to me, you and Taemin are complete exhibitionists and corrupting all our new generations.”

Kibum pouted in displeasure, “Hyung your words wound me. How can you accuse me like this? Minho maehyung knows that I am nothing like you are accusing me of. Oh lord, what sin did I ever commit to be surrounded by mean older brothers like you?” He was very easily diverted from the real issue. He turned to Minho and began shaking him by the shoulders. “Tell them, I am not an exhibitionist. You must tell them I am an innocent man, who is always careful with the children. I am a grandfather. Tell them not to talk nonsense about me.”

Minho stared at Kibum in shock, with his mouth hanging open. He looked at Puppy and me for help but Puppy simply shrugged. “Ah Kibum, don’t let them rile you,” Minho finally managed to close his mouth and speak a few words.

Taemin came to Kibum’s rescue, “Kitty why are you letting two old withered up men bother you. I am sure they don’t even know how to spell the word kiss, forget about doing it. No wonder Heechul hyung is always taking lessons from Jinki hyung and Siwon hyung keeps asking details from Puppy.” Taemin pecked Kibum’s pouting lips and hugged him from behind.

Minho was even more shocked at their open intimacy, he had not been around them too much in the past two years to see them in their exhibitionist mode.

“Mmm Kitty, you taste so delicious. Did you change your lip balm? Can we go home now? Just you and me?” Taemin whispered to Kibum not realizing that he was loud enough for us to hear.

“Shameless creatures,” Uncle called out. “Act your age.”

“I am acting my age Uncle,” Taemin answered. “Do you know how difficult it is to have any alone time with my Kitty since the twins were born? Both of them choose exactly the wrong moment to cry at night. Little co-”

DongHae who was standing behind Taemin quickly covered his mouth with his hand and hissed, “There are children present Taemin. Pay heed to what you are saying.”

Puppy and I watched as our kids and grandkids surrounded their grandparents and great-grandparents, pulling the eldest generation to play games with them. As they all left the room, we turned our attention back to the drama playing in front of us. I pulled Puppy to sit with me on the couch that was pushed to one side of the room on such occasions. Minho saw us and followed. The three of us shared the couch with Puppy in the middle.

I had snagged a plate of rice cakes on the way and the three of us thoughtlessly ate them as we watched Taemin call his grandchildren ‘monk makers’. He got hit not only by Kibum but by DongHae and Hyukkie also. Heechul and Siwon laughed at the thought of Taemin becoming a monk. Taemin picked up Kibum in his arms and whirled him around. Kibum clung to his neck in fear and closed his eyes while chanting, “Don’t drop me hyung, don’t drop me.”

Of course, Taemin being Taemin did exactly that which led to Kibum chasing Taemin around the room. Sunwoo hyung and Hyemi noona came and sat near us bringing another plate of sweets with them. Leeteuk and Soo tried to break up the three couples hell bent on teasing each other all day long, getting embroiled in their drama without batting an eyelash.

Taemin placed an open mouthed kiss on Kibum’s lips and then whined, “I want an empty table. I don’t mind the floor also. Only it will be too harsh for my Kitty. Stop shushing me, you old men. You cannot even guess at my suffering. It makes me think of when Kai was born. Little Soo be useful and take care of Chen and Ren for a little while. Aish, Teukkie hyung stop covering my mouth! Hae hyung your daughter is useless. As useless as my son! They sleep alone every night without the babies, making me to sleep alone also because Kitty is busy with the little devils. Yes I know they are my grandsons. But they are little devils. Just because I am 50 does not mean I am a shriveled up old man like all of you. I am in fact in my prime now. I need my Kitty back. I-”

Taemin’s monolog continued for some time. The five of us munched and watched my brother who was on the verge of losing his sanity. Puppy and I squeezed each other’s thighs in agreement without looking away from the bickering couples. Yes, the twins were definitely staying with us for the weekend.