2001 -B

*** Oh,I truly thought I published a chapter yesterday, or at least I wanted, guess I forgot...anyway, before you'll read this chapter I just want to say that there are few lines along the story that are writing in korean. now I know that not a lot of people know how to read korean and that's actually my point, I wanted to make the differences between the languages shown, so it doesn't really matter if you don't understand. if you'll want the translation to the texts you can ask me  at the comment section down below or even google it *** 

Few days has passed by and the house finally looked like a home, Taemin's parents worked hard arranging the house to look like the one they had in Korea with soft touch of modern western look. Taemin liked it, his room looked fun that way, he even got a phone in his room so he could call Minho, he did, it was the first thing he'd done when his parents placed the device in his room.

The two boys were excited to talk to each other and the call lasted for almost 40 minutes, Taemin told Minho everything about the new house and his room while the older told him about school and whatever he missed since he left.

They talked like that every day now, it helped Taemin to get used to his new environment.

Today, while his father went to his new office he and his mother went to do some arrangements- like registering in a new school.

Taemin was a little worried and had the same feelings he had two years ago on his first day at first grade, he knew it would be a little harder this time since he knew nothing in English, however the school principal said he'll be in a special class that would help him to learn the language.

Now as they walked out of school Taemin held his mother's hand and looked around, he saw many kids in many colors running in the yard, playing together, it didn’t look so bad.

"Taemin-ah…do you want to go eat?"

The boy hummed as they crossed the street into a local diner.

Small bell rang above their heads when they walked in and a big lady smiled at them over the counter. They sat in a privet booth and waited for her to come and take their order.

"Hey guys!" her voice was cheerily and even though Taemin couldn’t understand a word of what she was saying he smiled, she looked kind and funny with her huge smile and messy hair, she wore a lot of colorful jewelries that made him stare "what can I get you?"

Mrs. Lee talked with her in English and Taemin just looked at his mother, just like he did when they were at the principal office not so long ago.

The lady wrote everything his mother said in a little note before she went back to the counter.

Moments later the lady came back with a tray of food, she placed a plate in front of Taemin and a glass of juice, she put a swirled colorful straw in it and smile at him "this is for you sunshine. What is your name?"

Taemin stared at her and then glanced at his mother.

"She's asking for your name" Mrs. Lee said in Korean.   

Taemin bowed his head at the Lady as he mumbled sheepishly "안녕하세요, 제 이름은 태민입니다. 처음뵙겠습니다"

The lady squeaked even though she hasn’t understood anything of what he said "oh! Aren’t you adorable?!"

"Where are you from?" she asked Mrs. Lee.

"Korea"

The lady pinched Taemin's cheek in between her fingers softly "you're so cute. He doesn't know English?"

"Not yet, we just moved"

"What his name?"

Mrs. Lee looked at her son for a moment before she said his new western name "Tyler"

"Hello Tyler…I'm Debbie"

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"…I don’t know anybody yet"

"You'll get friends Taeminnie, don't worry" Minho tried to calm his best friend.

"It's a little hard" Taemin said quietly "nobody talks Korean here and I don’t know English…yet. They put me in English class but I don’t understand much"

"Do you remember how hard it was for you to learn how to read at first?"

Taemin giggled "Nae…and you helped me hyung"

"Nae…and now you know how to, it's the same…"

"Hyung, do you know English, you think you could help me?"

"Aniyo…"

"Oh, too bad, you could have helped me with my homework as always. Oh! Maybe I could teach you when I'll know how to speak in English!"

They both laughed for the idea when a knock sounded on Taemin's door, Mrs. Lee peeped her head into the room "Taemin-ah, it's time to go to sleep…"

Taemin gave his mother disappointed look but told Minho he needs to hang up "good night Hyung, I'll call you tomorrow"

Mrs. Lee walked in and placed the phone on the nightstand, she covered her son with the blankets and kissed his forehead "good night Taemin-ah"

"Umma…"

"Nae?"

"Are we ever going back to Korea?"

His mother looked at him and took a deep breath "I don’t know, it's depend on your Appa's career"

Taemin looked sad as he mumbled "I won't see Minho Hyung anymore…?"

His mother sat on the bed by his side "you miss him, right?"

Taemin nodded.

"You two are talking on the phone though…"

"But I don’t see him and we can't play together anymore, it's not the same Umma"

"I know" she said and his hair.

"I don’t like it here, Minho hyung is not here to help me, I don’t know anybody and they don’t understand me because I can't speak English"

"You'll learn with time"

"But it's hard…and I don’t like it when they call me Tyler, my name is Taemin, why can't they just call me Taemin?"

Mrs. Lee smiled "think how hard is for you to understand English, for the kids in school it's hard to understand Korean, so we gave you another name so they could call you with no problems"

Taemin made a face, he understood the logical explanation his mother gave him but was still a little torn with his feelings. Upset he turned his back to his mother and hugged his pillow "I don’t like it here" he mumbled, tears sprang in his eyes but he done his best not to cry.

Soft hand his back and warm lips kissed his top before the light went off and his mother got out of the room, when the door shut Taemin allowed his tears spill from his eyes, he buried his head at the pillow and sobbed until he fell asleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I understand…" Mrs. Lee said and cradled the phone at crook of her shoulder, she glanced at her son who was sitting to the kitchen island with his books and tried to read "sure, we'll get Tyler a tutor. Thank you, goodbye" she hung up the call and glanced at Taemin, 6 months has passed by and her son still hasn’t learned the langue well and it's not like he wasn’t trying, Taemin worked hard, he looked frustrated every time he done his homework, maybe his teacher was right and he needed a tutor.

The doorbell rang and Taemin got distracted, he jumped from the chair and hurried to open the door to his father who came back from work. Cheerily giggles echoed around the house when Mr. Lee walked in to the kitchen with Taemin in his arms, he tickled him making him squirm and squeak before he got closer to his wife and kissed her. Taemin wrapped his arms around both of his parents and hugged them, their heads bumped and it made him laugh, when they kissed his cheeks he laughed even louder.

"Taemin-ah! Go wash your hands and let's have dinner…" his father said as he lowered him from his arms, the boy didn’t need to be told twice, he rushed toward the bathroom.

"Yeobo…how was your day?" Mr. Lee asked when Taemin disappeared from the kitchen and wrapped his arms around his wife.

"It was good" she said and pecked his lips "Taemin's teacher called moments ago"

"What happened?" he frowned.

"She said he still can't keep up with the class, he can barely understand, she thinks maybe he should have a tutor"

Mr. Lee nodded understandingly.

"And…I thought maybe we should give him some motivation to do well at school"

"What's on your mind?"

"A visit in Korea, he really miss Minho"

Both looked at each other smiling for a moment before Taemin rushed back into the kitchen "I washed my hands!" he called and pulled his parents hands so they could sit, making them separate.

Mrs. Lee placed the food on the table while Mr. Lee asked his son about his day at school, Taemin moved uncomfortably in his chair and avoided his father's gaze while mumbling quietly "it's ok"

"Your teacher called, she said it’s not ok…that you’re not keeping up with your class"

"I'm trying!" Taemin raised his voice defensively.

Mrs. Lee sat to the table and her son's hair "we're not mad at you Taemin-ah, we want to help you"

"I'm really trying…I just don’t understand all the time"

"The teacher suggested maybe you should have a tutor, someone to help you with your homework and I think it's a good idea, don’t you think?"

Taemin looked at his mother and nodded his head, he didn’t care.

"And…I told Appa and he agreed, if you'll do well at school we will take you to Korea so you could visit Minho"

Taemin's eye lighted and he jumped from his seat "chinchaa???"

Both of his parents smiled and nodded.

"Chinchaa? Like…chinchaa???"

"Nae"

Deafening scream rumbled through the boy's throat, he jumped and threw himself into his mother's arms, she hugged him tightly and laughed, his father tapped his back fondly "but that's mean you'll have to work hard"

"I will!!!" Taemin squeaked "I promise!"     

After that evening Taemin counted the hours so he could call Minho and tell him the good news, when he did the older thrilled, they couldn’t stop talking about all the things they'll do when they'll meet again. Taemin promised he'll work hard so they could meet soon as possible.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next day at school the teacher asked Taemin to stay after class for a talk,  

she told him about the conversation she had with his mother and about her decision to help him, Taemin barely understood what she was saying but when a beautiful redhead girl walked into the class he understood what was it all about.

"This is Kathrin, she's in fourth grade- one of the excellent students in her class"

Taemin stared at her for a moment before he bowed his head slightly making the girl giggle for his gesture.

"She would be your tutor in school…like a mentor, she could help you with the langue"

"Hey Tyler" Kathrin said and smiled at him.  

"Hello…" Taemin mumbled, his Korean accent noticeable.

They went out of class together and made their way toward school's main gate "where do you live?" Kathrin asked him.

It took him some time to understand the question before he pointed at the left side of school by the park.

"Oh, so you can walk me home, I live few blocks from here"

Taemin nodded and followed the girl, she was beautiful redhead with big blue eyes, very energetic and she talked pretty much a lot, it made him like her.

Since that day they hangout together most of the time, they became good friends and Kathrin helped him with everything he needed at school, she even helped him with his homework just like Minho used to help him in Korea, in few weeks only Taemin improved in his studies, he still had a little hard time with the langue but at least he was able to understand it better.

"Noona…" Taemin called and waved at Kathrin as she ran at him after her class.

"Tyler, stop calling me Noona!" she said as she got closer to him "You're not in Korea anymore, we don’t speak like that here…"

"So how can I call you?"

"Kathrin, isn’t it enough?"

"I don’t know, in Korea we say it out of respect"

"You're weirdo" she said laughing.

Taemin just smiled and shrugged as they made their way home.

"So, have you decided already what you're gonna do on Christmas vacation?"

"I'm flight to Korea" Taemin said excitedly.

"You're flying, not flight" she corrected him and giggled "are you flying to visit your family?"

"I'm going to my Hyung…"

"Who is Hyung?"

"Minho, he's my best friend. When I was Korea-"

"In Korea"

"-In Korea, I used to be him all the time-"

"With him"

"-With him all the time, we were living close to each other, Minho Hyung and I were doing everything together, he used to help me with my homework like you do. We played all the time and watched movies and listen music-"

"To music"

"-To music, he even sleeped-"

"Slept"

"-Slept in my house and I'm in his, I loved it, we used to stay up all night telling scary stories, when I was scared he hugged me so I won't, Minho Hyung have the best hugs in the world!"

Kathrin giggled "are you sure you two are just friends?"

"What do you mean?"

"My sister said that if two boys spent too much time together they're…you know…"

"What?"

"…never mind. Say, are you ever gonna take me to Korea to meet this Hyung of yours?"

"Sure! Minho Hyung is very nice, he'll like you"

Kathrin smiled and stopped in front of her building "I’d love to meet him one day. Well, I'm going…see you tomorrow" she said and waved at him.

Taemin waved back and kept walking to his house, thinking about Christmas vacation that would be next month and about his reunion with Minho, big smile crossed his face, he missed him so much.