8. CRUSHES

Our next few days continued smoothly. All of us went to drop Jjong in the morning, then shopped and picked up William’s family on our way back. After a hearty breakfast, kids studied and I worked with Heechul and Kibum on video cons. Sam and William took care of housekeeping under Jiyeon’s supervision. Jiyeon also lolled in the Jacuzzi daily before lunch. We prepared lunch together and then set out for touring the city, taking Sam and her kids also with us.

First we visited the National Museum. We booked tickets for the Ultimate Museum Experience which was a guided tour in the late afternoon. Before it began, we saw Circa which was a brief audio-visual introduction to history of Australia and the museum exhibits. Then we went on our own to see the actual displays. But the guided tour was really good. We had our personal guide who showed us all the museum sections in less than two hours.

Children had become hungry after all the walking. Once their tummies were filled with hot chocolates and cakes, we went to see the International Flag Display. All the flags were lit up and walking past each one near the lake was a beautiful sight. I really missed my Puppy. I messaged him to let him know I missed him receiving a kiss in reply.

Children ran around trying to identify as many flags as they could. Ji announced a ten dollar reward for one who identified the most flags correctly, causing an intense competition. Robert was the winner at the end of our walk. He jumped around when I handed him the money. William then showed us nearby places. We saw the well lit Parliament and High Court. The whole area had so many gardens and parks. But kids were not interested in visiting them. We rushed back home to prepare dinner for another 9 people.

Next day we went to Cockington Green Gardens which were miniature garden. We saw many English and Australian buildings in miniature and then went to the International section to see representative buildings from across the world. Surrounded by beautiful landscaping, the entire garden was a delight. I made up my mind to visit it again with my Puppy. We even had a ride in the miniature steam train, which actually ran on gas. It showed us another view of the international displays from a higher angle.

We had thought of visiting more places nearby but we had so much fun at Cockington that it was closing time when we left. Sam and William accompanied us again and their boys had a good time exploring with our kids.

On Thursday we went to the Reptilian Zoo. I honestly couldn’t understand the fascination that lizards held for the kids. Byong and Duckie began whining to buy a tortoise. It was very difficult to explain to them about our inability to carry the animals outside Australia. We purchased one only when Sam agreed to take the poor animal in after our departure. Robert and Donald were over the moon.

It was a surprise to me that out of the 25 most venomous snakes in the world, 20 were from Australia. The kids petted many reptiles including python and geckos. I preferred to keep my distance.

On Friday we went for a tour of walk-in Aviary which boasted of 58 indigenous and global species of birds. As we bought our tickets, we were also given plates of bird feed. Kids had loads of fun with those. Many birds came and fed from the plates. One even landed on Amber’s palm. All the kids followed her and put feed on their palms. Duckie squealed loudly when her palm tickled after a cockatoo landed on it. Sehun and Minx began cooing to each other after a while making even the other visitors grin. Sam wondered if their hands were glued to each other’s.

Every night we hosted dinner for Korean and international guests. Two Koreans became semi-permanent dinner fixtures after the first night. One was a really tall weird boy, just 19 years of age. He never stopped smiling and talked non-stop. I’d wondered about him to Jjong during our flight to Canberra and was told that the boy was not a police officer per se but a hacking genius. He was in charge of keeping KNPA’s digital system safe from hackers. His smile and specialization got him the nickname “Happy Virus”.

Park Chan Yeol, aka Happy Virus, was a delightful dinner guest. He couldn’t drink because he was still below legal age in Korea, but he loved sharing mocktails with Ji and the children. At dinner he always managed to sit next to Ji. She smiled at him as he talked enough for both of them. I observed them silently like I had been watching him from Incheon.

By the time it was Friday Ji had warmed up to him and was an equal participant in their conversations. I mentally thought to myself “JiYeol” and laughed softly, earning a curious stare from Jjong. I pointed my chin towards the two and he grinned watching them talk animatedly throwing their hands around, Chan Yeol’s deep booming voice audible to all of us. Ji talked in her soft gentle voice.

The second Korean was another team member under Jjong. She was an Inspector from Gwangju. I had fun watching her with Jjong. She never left his side from the moment they appeared at our penthouse till the time she had to leave for the hotel after dinner. She laughed the hardest at his jokes, touched his arm or shoulder or back at every possible moment and tried to engage him in exclusive conversations. She even sat next to him daily on the dinner table. I mentally laughed watching her efforts to draw Jjong’s attention to herself.

Lee Hyori was same age as Jjong, 32 with a few months difference. She was a beautiful woman, y, if I could be allowed to say so. Too bad that Jjong was so oblivious to her charms.

On Wednesday I’d watched as she stumbled on her way out of the car and reached out to Jjong for support while regaining her balance. She clung to his neck far too long than was really necessary. On Thursday she had kissed his cheek when bidding him good night. Jjong had just patted her hair without paying any attention.

It was Friday dinner and she put her arm around Jjong’s waist. He put his arm around her shoulder for a minute before disengaging himself to refill the drinks for other guests. Just that morning, Ji had talked to me about Hyori. I had laughed her concerns away. I was still mentally laughing as I watched her hand cover Jjong’s for a brief moment on the dinner table. Jjong caught my eye as he removed his hand from under hers. I could see the concern in his eyes which made me smile at him in reassurance. And wink.

He looked steadily at me as he began tapping his fingers on the back of Hyori’s hand. I briefly glanced at his action and then steadily looked him in the eye. I ran the tip of my tongue over my lower lip. His eyes widened and his fingers stopped their tapping. I ate a spoonful of rice and the spoon briefly before returning it to the plate. Jjong’s eyes were the size of dinner bowls by then. I picked up my wine glass and ran the tip of my tongue over a small part of its rim before taking a sip holding Jjong’s gaze all the time.

A corner of my eye did note that Hyori’s hand had disappeared under the table and after a few moments Jjong’s hand had brought it up and put it beside her plate. I winked at him again and smiled. He choked on the water he had taken a sip of.

Hyori opened the top button of her dress and fanned herself, loudly exclaiming that the room temperature was too high. From across the table, Jjong’s eyes asked me to open my shirt button but I shook my head and rolled up my shirt sleeves instead. Finally having enough of my teasing, he decided to pay me back. He calmly picked up his chopsticks and after eating a bite, he on their tip. I promptly opened a button of my shirt to cool down. He smirked.

Hyori had no idea about our byplay. She kept trying hard through dinner. All she managed to do was make both of us hot and impatient to be alone. When everyone had finally departed and Hyori had tripped over an invisible step to fall into Jjong’s arms for the last time that night, I left a smirking Ji to take care of Sam and family and the kids.

Pulling Jjong into the bedroom, I locked the door and gave him twenty seconds to take his clothes off before I tore them away. He managed in 12. We burned up the bed all night long taking turns loving each other.

In the morning as we dressed for a day out with the team, we wondered how we will manage a long day together without embarrassing ourselves with PDA.