Ilana practically leaped into bed, grateful to get off her feet.  Jihoo tucked her in next to him as she swung her arm and leg over his body.  “Pigonhaeyo?”

 - “Oh…” he was already smoothing his hand over her tired back.  “Keep doing that.”

Jihoo laughed as Joy decided to help him massage umma.  The cat made herself comfortable, using their joined legs as a pillow.  “Are the girls alone downstairs?”

 - “Deh; Mina, GaEul, JanDi, and JaeKyung Unnie left and I came upstairs. The girls had finished their facials and were eating their homemade pizzas.  We made fresh popcorn and left all the sweet and savory toppings out for them.  They are ready for their movie marathon or whatever they decide.  GaEul told me the little girls kept eating the avocado honey facial mix.”

JaeKyung and GaEul were helping the younger girls with an avocado and honey mask.  “HaYi-yah!  Stop picking at your mask!”  JaeKyung scolded.

 - “I caught Kim (Wells) JungSoon doing the same,” GaEul said, while applying the same mixture on (Kim/Garcia) JaeIn.

The three little girls laughed.  “Ajumma, it’s so yummy!”  JungSoon defended herself.

 -  “I’m being good!”  JaeIn said.  “I haven’t put my fingers in it!”

 - “JaeIn-ah, gomawo.  Now teach your dongsaeng-deul.”

 - “Nina, I think that’s impossible,” HaEun whispered to Mina, overhearing everything from across the room.

 - “I’m sure, one day, she’ll outgrow her silliness just like you’re outgrowing your shyness.”

 - “JeongHee and GaEul gave everyone hand massages.  They are very good by the way.”

 - “I’ll take Sarang’s word for it,” he gave the top of her head a kiss.  “The room was to their satisfaction?”

 - “Deh!  HaEun’s friends love it!!  Appa has a very happy birthday girl on his hands.”  Mina, JaeKyung, and GaEul had decorated with mini lights and the pink and white fabric from their grand entry made them a type of girl’s fort.  The men had removed all the furniture and in its place were six months worth of floor and throw pillows, HaEun had collected, in every shade of pink, white, and cream she could find.  Even the floor mattresses were covered in pink.

 - “Choah.  It was worth it to see such a lovely smile.”

Ilana laughed suddenly, disturbing Joy.  “Mian, chiquita gatita (little kitty),” she gently pushed the cat back down.  “When Kim HyunJoong, YoungSaeng, and the artmatic dancers corralled HaEun, making her dance with them, her pealing laughter reminded me of Karuizawa.  After the rehearsal for YoungSaeng and Mina’s wedding, HyungJoong said hello to her and she hid behind me at first but HyunJoong followed her and then she took off running with him after her.  Her laughs bounced off the stone walls.”

Jihoo also laughed at the picture of his two-year-old daughter, in his head.  Suddenly, he remembered the way his daughter and InSo hung on each other’s every word.  A few times he swore InSo was upset when HaEun gave her attention to any of the other boys.  “Sarang…” he carefully turned dislodging both cat and wife.  “...doesn’t think HaEun and InSo are too attached to each other?”  He hurried to present his case before his wife thought he was acting like an overprotective Father.  “Choah InSo...Na just don’t want either hurt and ruin their friendship.  InSo tends to lean toward having a possessive streak like his Abeoji and what if another namja eventually catches our dtal’s attention.  And right now, other than HaNeul, he’s her confidant.  What happens when a yeoja gets in the way of the two best friends?”

Ilana understood what her husband was thinking but didn’t think they had to worry about that just yet.  HaEun didn’t seem to have any romantic feelings for any of the boys.  She’d seen and heard her complain about the way Matteo always liked to and wondered if the boy was trying to get her attention.  If he was, it wasn’t working.  HaEun was cordial with him but tried to keep a safe distance.  Suddenly, she wondered if this conversation had anything to do with why JunPyo looked upset at her husband.  “Sarang..., does this have anything to do with why JunPyo looked upset with you?”

 - “Mwo?”  Jihoo was caught off guard.  “Anieyo, JunPyo wasn’t upset.”

 - “Sarang…” the humor in his eyes didn’t lie.  Something was up.  “Sarang...no secrets, deh?”

Jihoo couldn’t help laugh.  It was either laugh or get angry at JunPyo and he just couldn’t do that.  “Anihya!”

Ilana propped her head on her elbow and narrowed her eyes at him (which only served to make his lips twitch in amusement).  “Sarang, na already asked JanDi Unnie.”

 - “Oh?”  He was curious if JanDi had confessed the whole embarrassing ordeal.  “What did she say?”

 - “Nothing!  Come on...tell me...Sarang said he’d tell me later…” she hovered over him, brushing her lips against his.

 - “Deh?”  His voice was just above a whisper.

 - “Deh…” she gave his lower lip a tiny nip.  Perhaps curiosity killed the cat but she felt certain that something was going on.

While she and JanDi were in the kitchen preparing the pizza toppings, popcorn toppings, and setting out the gimbap they had ordered and drinks, Ilana thought to ask.  “Unnie’s nampyon looked upset at Jihoo, waeyo?”

 - “A-anihya!”  JanDi responded, trying to laugh it off.  She could feel her face burning.  She was going to kill JunPyo for putting her in this position.  “InSo’s Appa is a pabo sometimes.  Just ignore it,” she waved her hand as if trying to erase the entire conversation.

 - “Chinchayo?  Unnie, tell me if it’s regarding our kids’ friendship.”  Ilana wondered if, for some odd reason, JunPyo already wanted to arrange InSo’s marriage and thought HaEun would hurt his chances of getting a good match.

 - “Anihya!!!”  JanDi’s silky black hair danced as she shook her head in amusement.  “Chinchayo, amogotdoyo!!  Na have already said, nampyon is a pabo hajiman Jihoo is his best friend and nothing could ever really make him angry at him.  Or at least not for long.  They’ve seen each other’s suffering...they’ve saved each other’s lives, and JunPyo was very happy when Jihoo met you.  Mollah if anything could ever come between those two, again.”

 - “Arraseyo.”

JanDi laughed with her perfect half-moon eyes. “Jeongmalyo!  I’ll take this first bowl of popcorn out.”

Ilana followed with a tray of gimbap and hoped her husband would keep his word about telling her later.

 - “Greon, there’s nothing wrong,” he nipped her lip softly, once, twice and then his lips were covering hers.

 - “Mm?!” Ilana was regaining consciousness and pulled back from the kiss.  “Sarang is trying to distract me?”

 - “Oh,” he brought back down so that her neck was at his lips.  Finding her pulse point, he let his lips and tongue dance there, to the steady rhythm.

 - “Sarang…” Ilana resisted the temptation to give in and was now getting more worried than curious.  Her husband didn’t usually hold back or try to avoid a subject by stalling.  “Tell me, juseyo?”  She was tired and her legs and feet ached.  As beautiful as the day had been and the lovely memories she’d treasure always, it was also emotionally exhausting.  For a brief moment, she’d let the enemy convince her she was inadequate to be a parent and now she didn’t understand why Jihoo was keeping secrets from her.

Jihoo suddenly cradled her head against his chest, his lips murmuring in her hair.  “Yah...wae?”  Ilana felt the wet streak on her face that Jihoo had noticed before her.

She shrugged in response to his question.  “Wae won’t you tell me?  W-w-why are you keeping secrets?”  Feeling ridiculous, she bit her lip to keep from crying.  Of course, his shushing noises and gentle on her back did nothing to stop the tears but instead, inviting them to fall.

 - “Anihya...Sarang knows Na don’t keep anything important from you hajiman this is silly and a little embarrassing.”

 - “Sarang has been there for every one of my silly and embarrassing moments for the last eighteen years.  Is your wife not allowed to share your silly and embarrassing moments, too?”

 - “Aigoo...nae Sarang has turned into a curious goyangi.”  Ilana smiled against his chest, relieved and satisfied, knowing this was the precursor to what she wanted to know.  “Gomawo,” he sighed.

 - “Wae?” She lifted her head to look up at him but he brought her back down to his chest.

 - “Wae?  For loving me unconditionally and trusting me.”

 - “Pabo, wae wouldn’t I?”

 - “Sarang, when I’m done, you can ask questions.  For now, just listen, deh?”  Once she nodded her head, he continued.  “Na have told Sarang that Guam JanDi also claims a part of my heart as much as Heo YoungSaeng is in yours.  They are a part of us and shaped us into who we are today.”  He felt his wife nodding in agreement.  “Na friendship with JanDi doesn't take away your place or what you mean to me nor am I threatened by Sarang’s friendship with YoungSaeng.  I confess I didn’t like it at first; it was uncomfortable hajiman Sarang was mine and though a tiny part of me felt insecure, Na trusted you.”  Ilana grinned at this confession.  “JunPyo...on the other hand still gets bouts of jealousy and insecurity.”

 - “Gu JunPyo, pabo!  Love is not jealous,” Ilana laughed.

 - “Sarang was supposed to wait until I was done.”

 - “That was a comment not a question.”

Jihoo tilted her face up and without warning consumed her lips.  “Sarang wants to hear the rest of the story?”  He said, coming up for air.  “Or we can continue our kiss until we fall asleep.  Mmm?”  He grinned watching her silently decide which to feed; her curiosity or her passion.

 - “Aiiishh...Jeona, until you say the word, I’ll be completely mute.”

 - “Arraso.  About the time Na was changing dtal’s shoes I remembered my trip to Macau with JanDi and WooBin & YiJung.  We went to meet up with JunPyo hajiman that’s another story.”  He saw her frown wanting to ask more.  “Sarang, it’s not my story to tell.”  She nodded in acknowledgment.  “I saw JanDi admiring a pair of shoes in one of the shops.  There was no way she would ever be able to afford them so when she wasn’t looking, Na bought them for her.  Na remembered her happy and embarrassed face when I slipped them on her feet.  She was having a hard time back then and whatever Na could do to make her smile, Na didn’t think twice about it.  Money spent on a pair of shoes was insignificant but her happy smile made it worth so much more to me.  Hokshinah JanDi was somehow also brought back to that moment.  Na inadvertently caught her eyes and she looked down, embarrassed.  JunPyo being JunPyo must have gotten the wrong idea.  Gwenchana?  Sarang isn’t upset or disturbed?”

 - “Ani…,” Ilana smiled.  “It’s a sweet memory.  Deh...Na could never begrudge you your friendship with JanDi Unnie.  Na trust you unconditionally and Sarang has never given me a reason to distrust him.  Gomawo that you give me the same trust.  Jeongmal...does Gu JunPyo really think you would flirt or try anything inappropriate with his wife?”  That worried Ilana more than Jihoo’s friendship with JanDi.  If she had complete faith in her husband why wouldn’t JunPyo have the same faith in both Jihoo and his wife?  Anyone can see how much JanDi loved him.  Their cute bickering was just their way of expressing that love.  Ilana never had reason to dislike JunPyo, he had treated her kindly and respectfully from the moment they first met in person (despite knowing her background).  His childlike character had always been endearing to her but now she found herself getting angry.

 - “Sarang?”  Jihoo moved her rigid arm from across his waist and unfolded her balled up fist, massaging life back into it.  “Sarang said she wasn’t upset at me?  Wae?”

 - “Sarang!  How can JunPyo think that?!  Chincha!  Poor JanDi!  And Poor you!  And what am I supposed to be?  The jilted wife?”  Her husband openly laughed, making her anger fizzle away.  Laughter seemed to be the only response required to the entire silly scenario.

 - “Sarang, gwenchana.  Na said it was embarrassing and Na meant for all of us, not just me.  JanDi is the first person to truly give JunPyo the love he never had growing up.  It’s almost habit now to feel that fear of losing his most precious possession.  Ara, she’s not an object...” he stopped his wife’s protest by cupping her cheek.  “...hajiman she and the kids are his irreplaceable treasures worth more than all the riches in the world as is nae Sarang and our kids.”

Ilana lay limply, like a deflated balloon, against his chest.  All anger and tension had melted at his words.  She could understand JunPyo; she had her own precious treasures she could never live without.  Perhaps, she wasn’t given to the same possessive behavior as JunPyo but she understood his fear all too well.  Deep down, she too still felt it.  Her husband was right, it’s a habit.  Untangling herself from him, she lifted herself to bring her face next to his.  “Sarang is my most precious treasure too,” she slowly brought her lips to his, conveying through their kiss just how precious and irreplaceable they were to each other.

YoungSaeng tried to sleep and usually didn’t have a problem with jet lag (he was always ready for a nap) but his mind was still replaying the events of the day.  Mina had returned from Ilana’s and quickly got ready for bed, looking forward to snuggling up against her husband and enjoying his solid warmth.  He had been working on a new album and putting in late nights, sometimes collaborating with JungMin in Los Angeles.  There were times she and the kids didn’t see him until the morning.  Even then, it was just a for a kiss goodbye as he would still be asleep when she left for the office and the kids for school.  With AhReum spending the night with HaEun and KyuHyun wanting to stay at Uncle JungMin’s house, Mina thought it was a waste to drive all the way to her parents’ house only to drive right back in the morning.  Ilana put them up at the bed and breakfast.  They had a King size bed, a whirlpool tub, no kids, and their friends were all at the inn.  It was the perfect romantic getaway but her husband seemed distracted.  “What if…” Mina placed soft kisses on his chest as she slid into bed next to him.  “...we take a nap (she was jet lagged)...and...then wake up...and not get out of bed all day.”  Having worked her way up his chest, to his neck, she took his earlobe in between her teeth expecting some reaction when up until then he had only distractedly been running his hand up her back and through her hair.   He still made no move to hold her tighter or return the kisses.  Lifting her head, she saw that otter smile and a far-off look in his eyes.  “Yah!”  She slapped his chest, somewhat angrily.  “Where are you and who are you with?”  While Mina understood about the nature of his work, including fans (that didn’t mind he was married) and didn’t really get jealous but that didn’t mean she had to like it when her husband was in work mode when he was supposed to be in bed with her.

YoungSaeng’s attention was rudely brought back to her. “Yah!” he hissed.  “Eottokae!  Apayo!”  He rubbed his chest where she’d slapped not so lightly.

 - “There’s more where that came from…” she sat up to glare at him, chest heaving.  “What were you thinking about...or who?!”

 - “Ah…” his eyes widened and he bit his lip nervously.

Mina was going to choke him but instead, she grabbed his crown of glory.  “I’ll pluck you like a chicken... are you thinking of your fans or a new song idea?”

 - “Anihya!”  He gave her the otter smile that always worked to disarm her.  One of these days she would make good her threat.  “Jagi...let go, deh?  Mianhae, I was distracted.”  He turned his head and slowly kissed her inner wrist.

 - “Not going to work, mister.  What were you distracted about?”

 - “Amogotdo!  Just memories.”  Her grip had slackened and he assaulted her wrist again, this time giving it a nip with his teeth.  He slid his hand up her arm, cautiously, she still had hold of his hair and occasionally tightened her hold (just to show him who had the upper hand). “Jagi..., lay back down, deh?”  He cupped her face and tenderly caressed her cheek with his thumb.  He could tell they were in the eye of the storm.  One incorrect move and he’d be blown away by the hurricane.

 - “What were you distracted by?”  Work was work and home was home.  The two were not supposed to cross.  If she brought work home, it was when he was working late.

 - “Jagi, lay down with me.  Na want to hold you.”

 - “Shiroyo, Oraeboni didn’t want to hold me earlier.”

 - “Aigoo...nae jagi is kyopta when she’s blustery.”  She hated to be told that but he had strike while she was distracted.

 - “Yah!”

She’d let go of his hair and he hooked an arm around her back and pulled her down to him.  “There, that’s better,” he gave her grumpy face two kisses.

 - “Annchoah when Orabeoni ignores me.  What were you thinking about?”

 - “Deh, mianhae.  Nae...was thinking of HaEun.  Did you have a ceremony like that?”

 - “Ani, hajiman I was in one or two.  Mollah if AhReum will ask for one if that’s what you’re worried about.”

 - “Ani...it was nice...gwenchana if she does.”

 - “Greon?”

 - “Just memories, jagi.”

 - “What memories...and what do they have to do with today?”

YoungSaeng sighed.  How to bring up the topic of his love for Ilana?  It was an awkward topic that thankfully hadn’t needed to be discussed since before their marriage.

 - “AhReum appa, wae?”  Mina could always get her husband’s attention by invoking their kid’s names.

 - “Deh!  Jagi made my life complete.  Did she know that?”

 - “Oh…” She answered just above a whisper.  He had that smoldering look in his eyes that always made Mina weak.  “Aiiish!!!”  She covered his eyes.  “Wae?  Orabeoni hasn’t answered my question.”

Grinning, YoungSaeng removed his wife’s hand.  “Haengbokhae…,” he tucked her head further into his chest.

 - “Wae…?  Wae doesn’t Orabeoni tell me instead of biting his lip?”  She couldn’t see him but felt his chin on the top of her head and could imagine him trying to word what was on his mind.  “If Orabeoni doesn’t tell me, I’m going back to Ilana’s house.”

 - “Andwae!  Amogotdo!  Chincha!  Nae pabo and getting sentimental over nothing.”

Mina untangled herself and took his face into his hands.  “Orabeoni, we go over this all the time.  Na want to know your thoughts, no matter how silly.”

 - “Ara...hajiman...it’s just…” there was no way of not telling her and he didn’t want her angry or thinking that he still harbored feelings for Ilana.  “Na...noticed HaEun wearing the necklace Na gave to Ilana a long time ago.”  He didn’t need to bring up the fact that he gave it to her the night he confessed on the Empire State Building.

 - “Chincha?”  Mina had never seen the actual necklace.  The night they ran into Jihoo and Ilana at the Empire State Building, it was in a box and after that shock and the drama that followed, YoungSaeng took it and she had completely forgotten about it.

 - “Deh...Na told her to keep it and let HaEun wear it one day.  Haengbohkae.”

HaEun had taken time to dance with all her uncles.  Her Nino was first in line.

 - “HaEun-ah...that necklace looks nice on you.”

 - “Umma told me her special Oppa gave it to her and wanted me to have it one day,” her eyes looked into her Nino’s, sparkling with amusement at the pink tint coloring his cheeks. 

Umma had given it to her that morning.  “Beba, I have a very special necklace for you to wear, today,” Ilana opened the box.  “Ara it’s not your birthstone but my special Oppa gave it to me with all his heart and I know that his heart is so big that it holds you too.”

“Umma, yippeun-ah!  Chinchayo?  I can have it?”

“Deh…, I’ve held onto it for many years.  The last time I wore it was when you were still a baby.  It’s a waste, don’t you think?”

“Umma, who’s your special Oppa...?”

 “Gomawoyo, Nino, for being Umma’s chingu when she didn’t have anyone.”

 - “Anieyo…,” he had fought back tears at her words and the memories of that necklace and its meaning.  “Jagi...the meaning behind the necklace still holds true for both your Umma and you.  Although, your Umma has your Appa, so Na was left without a job,” he laughed.  “...Hajiman...as Na told your Umma once, the aquamarine heart is my heart and it’s big enough to carry you if ever you need it.  The diamond is HaEun, brilliant, precious, and small in age but strong.”  HaEun had proved her strength by hugging her Nino with all her might.

Mina still had her hands on his face.  “Pabo!” she smacked her lips against his.  “Pabo,” she kissed him again.  “Pabo!  Pabo!  Pabo!”  She kissed him after each “pabo”.  “Saranghae.  That’s a beautiful story and I’m happy for you, chincha.  Gomawo, for telling me.  Chincha, I hope...I’ve never made you feel...like I was jealous of Ilana or your bond with her.  Well, perhaps I was just a teeny bit when I found out she was your unrequited love, hajiman not since you’ve been mine,” she gave him a demanding kiss, claiming him as hers all over again.

 - “Deh, nae Mina-yang,” YounSaeng said once she released his lips.  “Naega all yours and nae jagi as all mine,” he kissed her back just as demandingly.

Mina never could win against his kisses and next thing she found herself on her back and her husband hovering over her, melting her with his tender gaze.  “Jagi…” his fingers lazily moved in little circles along her neck.  “Jagi...nae Mina-yang.  Like I told HaEun, the meaning behind that necklace is still true.  Nae heart is big enough for nae Mina-yang, AhReum, KyuHyun, and HaEun and her Umma.  Nae will always be her Oppa.  Ara, Ilana has Jihoo.  Haengbokhae, she found someone to give her heart too hajiman should she ever need her Oppa, Na will be there for her.  Gwenchana?”

Mina remained silent for a minute, thinking.  Should she be a “smart ” as he sometimes called her?  She could think of million reasons why she shouldn't be okay with this but her husband’s heart really was that big and couldn’t begrudge his loyal heart a little corner for Ilana or HaEun.  “Gwenchana...algeusubnida,” she turned to her side and dislodge his arm so that he fell in place behind her.  “Now, enough of HaEun and Ilana and more sleep.  Once, I’m no longer exhausted Na will be very nice to you.  Until then, I need sleep or I won’t be nice.”

 - “How nice?”  His lips were at her ear and his hand was creeping its way up from her stomach.

 - “Not planning on leaving this bed, nice,” she stopped the hand from going further and cuddled it against her neck.  “Jalja.”

 - “Jalja, nae jagiya,” giving a peck to the corner of her lips, he laid back down, tightening his hold on her.  “Na will look forward to not letting you leave this bed tomorrow.”

Mina grinned but didn’t comment.  She hoped both their phones were on silent.

The girls had stuffed themselves with pizza and snacks and had finished watching an old movie about two best friends that promised to marry each other if they had not found anyone else by the time they turned thirty.

 - “Omo!!  That will be HaEun and InSo!”  HaNa laughed, throwing herself back against pillows and clapping her hands.

 - “Andwae!”  HaEun protested.

 - “HaEun, if you don’t want him, I’ll take him!”  One of her ballet class friends joined in.

 - “She tells us all about him and constantly asks for prayer before all his swim competitions,” said another girl.

 - “Yah!  You guys aren’t being nice!”  HaEun tried pretending she was upset.

 - “HaEun-ah loves us too much, she can’t stay angry at us,” JeongHee poked HaEun in the side, making her squeal.

 - “Ara JeongHee is ticklish too!”  HaEun and JeongHee began a tickle fight while twelve-year-old So JeongJa jumped in to help her sister and HaNa jumped in to help HaEun.  Their screams and laughter echoed through the room and out into the center of the house.  If HaEun’s parents or Nana heard the noise, no one knew.  No one bothered to check if it was just the girls laughing or chickens having broken into the house.  The younger girls wanted their share of fun.  HaLee signaled to (Kim/Wells) JungSoon and (Kim/Garcia) JaeIn.  “Grab your pillows,” she told them.  “HaEun!”

HaEun heard her sister calling her and broke from the tickle fight just to get a pillow in her face.  “Yah!!  You brat!  That hurt!  Come here!”  HaLee took off running into the house.  The kid’s legs were short but swift.

 - “I can catch her!”  HaNa, who was an exceptional runner, joined the chase.  Not minding at all the cement or grass under her feet, she kept going past the double doors leading to the patio.  “HaYi-ah, give up!”

 - “Go HaYi-ah!!!”  HaLee’s friends were cheering her on from the door.

 - “Unnie-yah, HaYi-yah!  Don’t get hurt!”  HaEun wanted to get back at her little sister but didn’t want anyone getting hurt.  Everyone watched as the two ran laps around the pool.  The catering company had already cleaned up and HaLee, trying not to get caught, didn’t notice the dance floor cover was no longer on the pool.  “Lero, lero, lero, you can’t catch me!”  HaYi planned to run across the pool to the rose garden and back to the stables.

 - “HaYi-ah!  Watch…!!!”  HaYi turned to escape HaNa and ended up splashing right into the deepest part of the pool.  “HaYi-yah, paboya!”

 - “Omo!”  HaEun came running out, without slippers, worried that HaLee could have hurt herself when she fell.  “Thank God she’s a good swimmer!”

AhReum had run into the pool house and brought out a towel.  “Unnie, I brought a towel.”  HaYi had sunk beneath the surface for about a minute and then began to swim to the stairs.  Coughing and choking back a laugh, she emerged.  HaEun wrapped the towel around her and briskly rubbed it across her sister’s skin.  “Paboya!  Are you trying to break your head?!”  She scolded.  “Appa is a pulmonologist, not a neurosurgeon.”

HaLee giggled.  “That’s what Papi always says!”

 - “Deh!  Why are you so reckless!  What would have happened if you hit your head on the cement?!”

 - “HaNa, that was fun!”

 - “Fun, she says?”  HaEun wanted to strangle her little sister.

HaNa laughed.  “That was kind of fun.  Let’s have a real race some other time, right now we need to clean off.  No talking about anything interesting without me!”  HaNa glared at the rest of the girls.

 - “Let’s Karaoke!”  JeongHee suggested.

 - “Oooh!  I love karaoke.  Palli before Unnie gets back and we have to hear her geese calls she thinks is singing.”

 - “Song HaJin-ah, it’s not nice to talk about your Unnie that way,” HaEun gently scolded.

(Kim/Wells) JungSoon giggled to herself.  She wondered what HaEun would say about all the complaints HaLee had about her.

 - “Waeyo!  Unnie nomu choah,” JaeIn had no complaints about her sister except her horrendous singing.  “Annchoah her singing and if Umma starts up too, we all clear out of the house.”  Evidently, HaNa took after JaeKyung who was tone deaf and she and her brother, HaJun, took after WooBin.  HaJun and her dad could spontaneously start rapping out of nowhere.  HaJin didn’t have that talent but she could at least hold a tune and play a little bit of guitar.  HaEun gave her tips every now and then.

AhReum ran back to the media room and immediately began searching for a fun song to sing.  “HaEun Unnie, let’s all sing one and then we can dare each other to sing solo, deh?”

 - “Arraso…,” HaEun wasn’t ready to sing solo, even among her friends.  Whenever they all went to a noreabang, she played the tambourine and dance with the rest but never solo.  Even HaNa couldn’t bully her into it.

By the time HaNa and HaLee returned, the girls were having a go at Ailee’s “I will show you”.  Mainly it was the “tweens”: Song Hajin, Kim/So DaHee, and Heo AhReum leading the way with some surprisingly mature dance moves for such young girls.  The older and younger girls tried to come in on the chorus but were mostly too busy laughing.

 - “If any namja did that to me, he’d be dead,” HaNa entered the room just before the last “Boy you gotta be aware…”  The song was generally the go to karaoke songs for girls, just like the American classic, “I will survive”; you cringed but sang along anyway.

 - “And uncle WooBin would bury his remains under the torture chamber,” HaLee’s eyes gleamed with the excitement of one who runs to see a car crush or public hanging.

 - “Maja?!”  HaNa agreed, laughing.  She didn’t know who started the rumor about secret dungeons or that her Father ran a network of ninjas but if it was true, how could she and her siblings not know about it?  “I wanna sing!”  HaNa was already reaching for the remote control.

 - “Anieyo, anieyo, anieyo!”  JeongHee quickly grabbed the remote before HaNa’s disastrous voice could be heard.  “Let’s play a game!”

HaNa groaned and plopped herself on the mattress next to HaNa, “all JeongHee ever wants to play is truth or dare!”

 - “It’s fun!”  Said the other So sister, JeongJa.  “Umma said she played when she was our age.”

 - “Deh, she even said she played with Appa, Uncle WooBin, and Uncle Jihoo, and our Imo!”  JeongHee shared this important fact.

 - “Andwae!”  HaEun giggled.  “I can’t picture Appa playing truth or dare.”

 - “Papi likes to play games,” HaLee blurted out.  Still young and not knowing all about her parents lives, she was sure they did normal kid and teen things at one point.  “Papi sometimes plays ponies with me.”

 - “Maja...he’s played tea party with me...but still…”  HaEun dissolved in a fit of giggles at the idea.  She had seen the pictures of her Appa and uncles, mostly at InSo’s house but still couldn’t picture her Appa being her age.

 - “I can totally picture Umma playing along,” HaNa said.  “In fact...I can’t believe I forgot about it?!  It was a few years ago and Umma was laughing so hard at the memory she almost wouldn’t tell me.  She swore me to secrecy, so I can’t say.”

 - “HaNa!”  The girls all protested.  She had them all beyond curious.  The F4 dads didn’t talk too much about their youth.  Only that it wasn’t a happy youth until they met their significant others.  HaNa could never hold out for long.  “Arraso, arraso...what’s it worth…”

 - “Mollah, Unnie,” HaEun wasn’t sure if she wanted to know something embarrassing about her Father.  “Imo JaeKyung told you not to tell anyone.”

 - “HaEun can hold a pillow over her ears, I want to know!”  HaLee came closer to HaNa.

 - “Only if you swear that it doesn’t leave this room…”

 - “Unnie, you shouldn’t swear,” HaEun interrupted, still worried.

 - “It’s only once...that goes for all of you.  If I found out someone told their parents or the boys, I’ll get Appa’s ninja spies to come get you and lock you in our dungeon where you’ll receive electrical currents and hypnosis to make you forget everything.  Of course, there is always the risk of not remembering who you are afterward.”

HaEun saw some of the younger girls shaking their heads, whether in acceptance or fear, she wasn’t sure.  “HaNa Unnie is lying!”

 - “Can you prove that won’t happen?”

 - “Well, no...but…”

 - “Greon!  Everyone agrees?  This doesn’t leave the room or consequences will follow.”  HaNa took her phone.  “Raise your hand if you’ll abide by the terms.  HaEun-ah, you too;” she could see her friend hesitating.

 - “Deh…,” the entire thing was silly but it wasn’t like she was going to say something.

 - “Now…,” HaNa paused for dramatic effect.  “Umma said nobody could make Nonos (she still called him Nino in Greek) Jihoo to do anything he didn’t want to do but on this occasion, he willingly gave my Appa, a kiss.”  Laughter and squeals filled the room.

HaLee, who would rather kiss a snake then a boy sat wide-eyed and horrified.  “Why would Papi do that?”

 - “Uncle Jihoo must have chosen dare instead of truth!”  So JeongJa laughed.

 - “It could have been a penalty,” HaNa said.

HaEun squealed into her pillow.  “Poor Appa!”  She thought it must have been a completely personal question and he had no choice but to kiss his friend. 

 - “What’s the big deal,” HaNa said.  “In Greece men kiss each other all the time.  It’s the way they say, hello.  Enough about our parents.  Everyone, get into a circle as best you can.  We need a bottle for a spinner,” JeongHee brought their game to order.

 - “Got one!”  Someone shouted.

JeongHee spun first and the bottle and the mouth stopped right in front of HaLee.  “HaYi-yah, truth or dare.”

 - “Truth,” HaLee figured she had nothing to hide.

Grabbing a random question from her phone, she asked:  “HaYi-ah, have you ever kissed a boy?”

 - “N…”  What meant to be “no way”, came out as if she were a turkey being strangled.  Instantly, she felt warm and stuffy in the room, remembering that SeoJun kissed her cheek on her birthday.  “No way!”  That didn’t count; he kissed her; not the other way around.  Her shout fueled the laughs of the other girls.

 - “Are you sure...?”  JeongHee asked.

 - “Of course, she’s sure!”  HaEun jumped in.  “She’s seven, Appa would kill her.”

 - “I’m hot, I’m going for water.  Anyone else want to come?”  HaLee jumped up, cheeks still flaming.

 - “I’ll go,” SeoJun said, HaLee had already left the room.  “Unnie-deul probably embarrassed her,” she addressed the others and left.

 - “That true, poor kid,” JeongHee stared out the entryway.

 - “She wanted to play,” HaNa shrugged.

 - “Still, she doesn’t like to be teased.  She gets so angry, her face gets as red as her hair.”

SeoJun and HaLee never returned and the intense truth or dare game went on.  The questions ranged from thought-provoking to “must I answer?”

 - "Would you go a year without your phone if it meant you could marry the person of your dreams?"

 - "Would you rather go for a month without washing your hair or go for a day without wearing a bra?"

- "What part of your body do you love and which part do you hate?"

 - “Who is your celebrity crush?”

One of HaEun’s ballet friends was asked this question.  “HaEun’s Nino!”  The girl buried her face in her hands.

 - “Mworago?!  That’s my dad!”  AhReum shouted.

- “It’s just a crush!”  The girl defended herself.

 - “Yah!  You’re lucky my Nina, isn’t here to hear you,” HaEun warned the girl.

 - “I know..., I just think he’s cute and he’s nice.  Much better looking and nicer than my dad.  Even HaEun’s dad is like a sculpture – always flawless.”

 - “Stop!  I can’t believe you just called my Appa a sculpture.”  HaEun groaned into her pillow.

 - “Ani!  My Appa is the best!”  HaNa shouted.  The game paused momentarily until everyone pulled up their dad’s pictures and compared.  The F3 still made the top 5 and no one was allowed to vote for their own Father.  HaEun was a loyal girl and since she couldn’t vote for her Father, she voted for her Nino, the Otter Prince.  “And the winner of the most handsome dad goes to Nonos Jihoo!  HaEun-ah, does your Umma have a 3D printer in the home office?  We can make him an award.”

 - “Andwaeyo!”  HaEun giggled behind her hand.  "Unnie-yah!!  This is too much,” she pictured her Father’s round eyes crinkling up to half-moons and the corners of his lips twitching but otherwise accepting the award graciously.  And then he would look at her without saying a work and she would be able to read the question in his eyes. 

“Gongju-ah, care to tell me what that was all about?”

 HaEun shook her head.  “Ani-ani-ani!  I could never show my face to Appa ever again.”

 - “Wae?!  He’ll just look at us with that same poker face you got from him and say “Oh, kansamnida,” and walk away.”  HaEun stood and inclined her head to JeongHee, who handed her a pretend award and walked out the door.  The rest of the group dissolved in giggles, including HaEun.

 - “Timeout,” AhReum, shouted.  “I need a bathroom and water break.

  “Deh!  Me too!”  HaEun ran off, her tummy hurting from laughing so hard.

Upstairs, HaLee and JungSoon were sniffling over one of HaLee’s favorite very old movies.  HaLee’s parents found her every horse movie ever made once it was discovered their child loved horses.  “Wau...I love this movie!”  JungSoon said, cuddling with HaLee and a host of stuffed horses on her bed.  “I can’t believe this movie is almost a hundred years old!”

 - “Deh!  The actress is even dead!” HaLee stated as if they needed more proof that the movie was that old.

 - “Choah we didn’t stay downstairs,” they had brought up a hoard of snacks and drinks.  HaLee figured as long as the mess was contained to her bed, her Umma wouldn’t get too angry at her.  “Hajiman were you that upset our Unnie-deul were laughing?”

 - “Maybe, a little...it was embarrassing.”

 - “My chingu doesn’t get embarrassed, wae?”

 - “I don’t know…” HaLee fidgeted with the stuffed horse in her arms, rubbing her cheek against it.  “Soonie…” HaLee found JungSoon too cumbersome to say, so she shortened it to “Soonie”.  “...have you ever kissed a boy?”  HaLee had flipped to her side, to see her friend better.

 - “Andwae!  Wae would I do that?”

 - “Has a boy ever kissed you?”

JungSoon covered her face, squealing and kicking up her heels.  “Andwae!  Omo!  That would be so weird!”

 - “Right?!”

JungSoon shivered at the somewhat revolting scenario.  A year older than HaLee, it wasn’t old enough not to think boys their age were disgusting.  It was funny when the adults kissed but it was expected of them they were married and had to do those sorts of weird things.  Although, none of her school friends’ parents kissed as much as her parents or the rest of her Imo and Ajussi-deul.  “Adults have a weird way of having fun or why else would they make a big deal of pressing their lips together?”  By this time, HaLee was nervously biting the ear of the horse.  “HaYi-yah?”  When HaLee didn’t respond because of the horse ear between her lips, JungSoon snatched it away.  “HaYi-yah!  Why are you biting the horse’s ear?”  Glancing at the television, she saw that the horse and rider had been disqualified.  “Oh no!!  They found out Velvet was a girl!”

 - “Yeah...but she still proved Pie was a champion,” HaLee dismissed the issue of the disqualified rider and was now biting on her hair.

 - “HaYi-yah!  What’s wrong with you?!”  She removed the coil of hair from her friend’s mouth.

HaLee sighed.  “Soonie...you can keep a secret, right?”

 - “Guerae, wae?  Did you do something naughty again?”

 - “I didn’t do anything!”

 - “Wae...?!”  JungSoon couldn’t understand why her friend was getting all worked up.

 - “I lied!”  HaLee had to tell her best friend or burst.  She’d moved on and almost completely forgotten the incident until her sister’s dumb Truth or Dare game.  SeoJun, JungSoon, and she were best friends, now.  She liked SeoJun as much as JungSoon, even if he was a boy.  He didn’t treat her like a girl; he treated her like a friend.

 - “Omo!  To your parents?”

 - “No…downstairs…”

 - “Oh?”  HaLee was chewing on her hair again.  “Hajima!  Your hair will turn into a worm in your tummy and eat your insides!”

 - “Na ah!”

 - “Deh…!”

Moving her hair from , HaLee took a deep breath.  “SeoJun-kissed-my-cheek-on-my-birthday!”

 - “Andwae!  Wae…?”

 - “I don’t know!  It was quick and then he left and I forgot until that dumb game.  Am I going to die?”

 - “From the kiss or from lying?”

 - “Both!”

 - “Well, if you don’t confess your lie, you’ll go to hell, so you might as well be dead.”  JungSoon had her mother’s practical and sometimes sarcastic personality which went well with HaLee’s silly and vivacious one.

 - “Soonie!!”

 - “Wae?!  Oh codswallop (not true)!  SeoJunnie is just sweet like that and he kissed your cheek, that’s not a real kiss and you didn’t kiss him so you told the truth.”

 - “Think so?”

 - “Oh!  Forget about it again.  But if he kisses you for real that means you have to marry him and be my real sister.”

 - “Soonie!!  I’m going to marry a cowboy and travel the rodeo circuit with him!”

 - “Mollah (whatever)...let’s watch the movie.  You made me miss most of it.”

 - “Okay, I’ll rewind.  Want some more popcorn?”

 - “Yup!  With extra chocolate drops (chocolate chips).”  The two little girls continued stuffing their face with candy, popcorn, and gimbap until they fell asleep (teeth and face unwashed) after finishing the movie, National Velvet, it’s sequel, International Velvet, and crashed almost at the beginning of Secretariat .  What time that was, only the stuffed animals tangled in their arms and legs could tell you.

Downstairs, the Truth or Dare/Karaoke party raged on past two in the morning.  Heo AhReum had to take her socks off with her teeth.  Kim (So) Dasom had to spend the rest of the game with her hands tied to her ankles.  The perfect dare was given to one of the ballet students.  All she had to do was spin around ten times and walk in a straight line.  Lamenting she didn’t have her toe shoes; she still performed her spins and walked in a perfectly straight line.  Some dares required singing, others required texting or calling.  By some luck or fate, HaNa, who most wanted a turn and HaEun who least wanted a turn, hadn’t received one.  It was about two A.M. and five of the girls had already fallen asleep, regardless of the noise.  HaEun had provided them sleep masks and earplugs in their goody bags.  So JeongJa had just had a turn and when she spun the bottle it miraculously pointed to HaNa.  “Unnie, truth or dare?”

HaNa hesitated, not sure of what to do.  “Ayyyy...I don’t trust you guys either way.”

JeongJa grinned, “Unnie-yah, what will it be?”

 - “Aiiish!  I’m not afraid of you guys - Truth!”

 - “This will be so good...remember Unnie must tell the truth or pay the penalty.”

 - “Deh, deh, get on with it…” HaNa blustered confidently but inside was getting nervous.  What could she possibly be asked that would be so horrible?

 - “Unnie...have you...had…”  HaNa was glaring at JeongJa to get on with it.  “...your first kiss?  Real kiss!”  JeongJa quickly added.  “Not a kiss on the cheek.”

While HaNa’s face was turning bright red, JeongHee was scolding her sister.  “Yah, you’re fourteen (Korean years) what do you know about real kisses?”

 - “Old enough to want one!”

 - “Yah!”  JeongHee slapped the back of her sister’s head.”

 - “Unnie!  Marihya (Just saying)!”

HaEun was too busy watching the two sisters (she could never be that way with HaLee) and didn’t notice HaNa trying to blend into the blankets and be forgotten.  Kim (So) Dasom was the first to look away from the squabbling sisters to realize someone hadn’t answered their question.  “HaNa Unnie hasn’t answered the question!”

 - “Oh?”  HaEun finally noticed her friend was no longer beside her but buried under the blankets.  HaEun tugged at the blanket over HaNa’s face.  “Unnie, wae?”

 - “Anihya, pigonhaeyo!”

 - “Andwae!”  JeongHee was now helping HaEun pry the blanket off their friend.  “HaNa Unnie has something to confess or else she wouldn’t be acting this way.”

 - “Unnie, chincha?!”  HaEun looked shocked as her friend reluctantly came out of her hiding spot.

 - “Deh!  Mollah!”  HaNa buried her head under the blanket again as all the girls came rushing toward her.

 - “HaNa Unnie, you can’t hide now...we want details,” the younger So sister couldn’t contain her excitement.  “Who?  What?  When?  Where?  How?”

 - “Let Unnie, breathe!”  HaEun waved the rest of the girls back giving HaNa room to sit back up or at least breathe.

 - “Fine!  But remember...what’s said in this room, stays in this room.”

 - “Greomyo!”  JeongJa looked around at the others.  “We won’t tell, right?”

After hearing everyone's agreement, HaNa peeked her head out from the blanket.  “Who?  Kim JaeWook from New York.”  Squeals and shocked gasps filled the room.  “What?  Well, I’ve already told you guys that part.  When…?  Tonight...after we were dancing to “Your Season”.  Where?  By the tree cluster, on the swing.”  HaNa threw herself back and covering her head again, kicked her heels up.  “Mollah!  I can’t believe I told you guys!”  Remembering JaeWook’s sister, JaeIn, was in the room, she immediately bolted upright.  “JaeIn-ah?!”

 - “She’s asleep,” someone answered.  HaNa sank back, relieved, into her pillow.

 - “Unnie, is he your soulmate?  Are you dating?”  JeongHee was imagining every romantic scenario and so was her sister.

 - “How was it?  On the scale of 1-10, ten being just okay and one melting into a puddle at his feet.”

 - “JeongJa-yah!”  Again, JeongHee slapped her sister’s head.

 - “Mollah!!  I didn’t melt at his feet so maybe a two or three?  It’s my first kiss!  How am I supposed to compare?”

 - “Kiss him again!”  JeongJa blurted out and was ready for her sister’s slap by placing the pillow over her head.

 - “Mollah!  I don’t want to talk about it anymore!”  HaNa fanned her over warm face with her hands.  “I get to spin!”  Spinning the bottle, it finally pointed to the birthday girl.

 - “Omo!”  HaEun shouted nervously.  Not wanting to answer any personal or embarrassing questions, she blurted out…”dare!”

 - “HaEun has nothing to hide from us but always picks dare.  Arraso…let’s see what the magic dare is.”  HaNa looked at her phone…”Oh no...HaEun should have picked truth!”

 - “Gwenchana...I’ll be okay,” HaEun was already biting her lip to keep from panicking before she even knew what the dare was.

 - “Hand me your phone.  Your dare is to call the last person that called you and tell them you love them.”  Checking HaEun’s phone, HaNa grinned widely.  “You’re in luck, it’s InSo.”

 - “Mwo?!  Ani-ani-ani!  What will he think of me?!”  HaEun felt her heart racing dangerously.

 - “Gwenchana…” HaNa hugged her friend.  “You can tell him it was all a joke in the morning.”

 - “Shiro!  I’ll do anything else, juseyo!”

 - “I can’t have Oppa angry at me!”  HaEun was on the verge of tears but HaNa was relentless.

 - “Yah...I had to tell everyone I had my first kiss, tonight.  This is easy.  He’ll know it was all a prank, anyway.”

 - “Chincha?”

 - “Deh…I’ll dial and you talk.”

 - “Unnie...Shiro!”

HaNa was already dialing InSo’s number.

Kim (Garcia) JaeWook, his brother, JaeHyeon, and Gu InSo had been in an intense battle with the latest rage of PC games.  The three knew each other well, now, since their sisters were best friends.  InSo’s phone lit up and seeing who the caller was, lost sight of the game and was killed by an online opponent.

 - “Hyeong!  Weren’t you paying attention?!”  Now, it was left to JaeHyeong & JaeWook to hold their own against the other players.

 - “Mian!  I’ll rejoin in a minute.”  The caller had left a voice message.  “Wonder why she called?”  He mumbled to himself, hoping nothing was wrong.

“O-oopppa, s-ssaranghae.”

The caller’s voice wobbled; he could hear the nervous tears b; fighting to be released.  At the end of the message, you could hear stifled giggles in the background.  Lying on the bed, with one hand behind his head, he knew exactly whose idea the call had been.  Grinning, he decided to play along.

 “ nado saranghae.  Bogoshipo”

 - “HaEun-ah!  You have a message!”  HaNa shouted, excitedly.

HaEun, thinking she was done by leaving a message and would have to face the consequences in the morning, plopped herself on her stomach and covered head with a pillow, wishing she’d never heard the question “truth or dare?”  “Shiro!  I don’t want to read it!”  Came her muffled reply.

 - “Arraso!  I’ll read it!”

 - “Ani!”  HaEun sat up and snatched her phone.  While the others, laughed, she read his text.  “Mwo?!  Oppa!  You’re making fun of me!”  HaEun didn’t reply but resumed her previous position and bit her lip not to begin crying.

InSo could almost hear his friend complaining that he was making fun of her and laughed.  It was so easy and fun to ; her cheeks would flush like the inside of a watermelon and her eyes would open wide and round like gimbap.  “Kyopta.”  He figured he’d better scold HaNa for forcing their HaEun to do something like that.  ”Noona!  Don’t be mean to our dongsaeng or else… ”

HaNa saw her phone light up in blue, indicating a message.  “Oh, no...I’m in trouble, now.  How much do you guys want to bet that it’s InSo?”

 - “Chincha?!”  HaEun cautiously peeked her head out from under her pillow.

 - “Oh!!”  HaNa threw her head back and laughed.  “See...he’s defending your honor.  I told you, he would know it was a joke.”

 - “Deh?”  HaEun slowly sat up to read and a shy smile played at her lips.  He always came to her rescue.  “Oh?”  Now, her phone was ringing.  “It’s Oppa…?  Yeobosayo?”

 - “Wae is our gongju still awake and playing tricks on her Oppa?”  HaEun quickly got up and left the noisy room in favor of her parent’s office.

 - “Mianhae...is Oppa angry?”

 - “Deh!  Mollah that nae gongju felt that way, when should we tell our parents?”

 - “O-ppa!”

InSo laughed much like his Dad did (with a toothy grin); you could see his chest moving but he made no sound.  “Ara it was a joke, nae dongsaeng doesn’t love her Oppa.”

 - “Anihya!”

 - “Chincha?  How much?”

HaEun giggled into the phone, they played this game often.  “More than red bean Bungeoppang?”  That was one of her favorite Korean street snacks and his Mother made them the best of all.

 - “That’s it?  A fish pastry?  Aigoo…” he clicked his tongue.  “Na dongsaeng might as well hate me.  Joeun kkum kkwoyo (somewhat formal good night).”

 - “Ani-Ani-Ani!  More than...a trip to Ice Cream City?”  She’d been there a few times.  Her first visit was when InSo’s parents invited her along for a weekend in Tokyo and another time, her Nino and Nina invited her to vacation with them in the Japanese countryside but remembering the place that was an ice cream lover’s paradise, she begged them to stop.

 - “Ahhh...na gongu loves her Oppa so much!”

 - “Oppa, gomawo.”

 - “Ayyy, how many times is nae dongsaeng going to thank me?”

 - “Mollah...na couldn’t have done today without your help and HaNa and JeongHee Unnie too.  You guys are daeback,” HaEun felt herself getting emotional.

 - “Anihya...today was a special day that our gongju really wanted and deserved.  What little Oppa did, Oppa was happy to do and Oppa meant it when he said you were yippeun.  Now, don’t let HaNa and JeongHee bully you into doing something you don’t want to do.”

 - “Gomawo, Oppa, Na wanted to play too and pabo chose dare, not wanting to answer any embarrassing questions.”

 - “Arraso, now go back before Na have HaNa Noona calling me to send you back.”

 - “Deh!”  HaEun giggled.  A few times, InSo knew she was out with the girls but called her anyway, claiming he had forgotten.  Most of the time they lost track of time in their random discussions and HaNa would call or message him to return her friend.  “Jalja!”

 - “Deh!”  InSo had already made himself comfortable on the bed and felt his body getting heavy and lazy, not wanting to move.  The images of the day passed behind his closed eyes.  He couldn’t believe HaEun was still awake.  Her uncle JungMin had played a ballad toward the end of the evening and she was so tired, he was practically holding her upright.  He didn’t mind.  He’d do it for HaNa and JeongHee too or their sisters.  Anyway, their parents were also dancing not paying attention, leaving many of the kids to flirt with each other, especially JaeWook and HaNa.  Though, he would say that his dongsaeng did look amazing in her dress.  Thankfully, JeongHee hadn’t put too much makeup on her, she didn’t need it.  She was blessed with her parent’s perfect skin.  He’d had a good time as well.  Hating to dance at company events, he couldn’t believe he willingly performed a dance.  Usually, he was bored out of his mind wooing ajummas on the dance floor while their husbands talked business with his Father. 

With a shy smile

You cutely look at me

Again today, with the same heart

I’m looking at that spring

He was thinking of the lyrics when JaeWook came in and sat next to him on the bed.  “Yah!  Why does my jagi have to call me just to tell you to not keep her friend on the phone so long?”

InSo remained silently grinning, still playing the song in his head.

The moment I first met you

I think that’s when it started

The person who will fill me up

When I lack so much

 - “Mollah!”  He didn’t lack for anything; he was Gu InSo!  That thought made him burst out laughing.  He could hear HaEun scolding him.

 - “Oppa, chincha!  You know vanity is a sin.  You shouldn’t be boastful but grateful for all you have.  Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.”

The funny thing was he didn’t really act like that with anyone else.  He just wanted to see her reaction, it was cute.

 - “Arraso, praise away,” he would say.  Her exasperated expression would be too much for him and he would walk away laughing to himself.

 - “Yah...are you alright?  Do I need to call dad?”  JaeWook watched, wondering if the younger boy had suddenly developed a fever.

Still laughing to himself, InSo sat up on the bed.  “Deh, deh.  Aigoo...sounds like the yeoja are having fun.”  In a way, he wished he was there, with the rest of the boys.  That was one of his quirks; he hated to be excluded from something (regardless of what and why).

 - “I know what you’re thinking but uncle Jihoo probably has the entire secret service surrounding the house and making sure none of us are anywhere near there.”  This wasn’t too far from the truth.  Jihoo had hired security for the party (and the rest of the night), provided by WooBin, the expert in the field.  One couldn’t be too careful these days; there were too many unhappy individuals in the world that thought no one else should be happy either.

 - “Majayo!”

JaeWook sat on the other side of the king-sized bed; JaeHyeon, being the youngest, was banished to the pull out bed in the living room area.  Ilana had given the kids the junior suits, while their parents were given the full suites.  Pulling out his phone, he smiled at the message, his HaNa sent.

 - “Jaljayo, Oppa!” She never used honorifics with him, even if he was older.

A new message arrived at that moment from the photo booth.  It was a picture of her dressed in white shorts and a lightweight white long sleeved shirt. He wondered if they were her pajamas.

InSo stared at the idiot next to him.  “You have it bad, don’t you?”  He dropped the honorifics and spoke to him in English.  It wasn’t like JaeWook would realize or care.

 - “Huh?”

 - “Yah...I don’t think I know you that well but you seem like an okay guy.  The day you hurt Noona is the day you die.”  InSo inherited the possessiveness from his dad and the protectiveness from his mother.  If anyone dared to hurt one of the people he cared about, nothing would stop him from attempting murder.  Except, of course, HaEun.  She was the only one that could balance out that fierceness.  HaNa and JeongHee also had some influence over him but not as much as HaNa.  You could almost say the four friends resembled the original F4.

 - “Yah?!  What’s that supposed to mean?”

 - “I saw you two flirting all afternoon.”

 - “Greon?  What of it?”

 - “Marihya...she’s one of my best friends, stop it now if you’re not serious.”

JaeWook laughed.  “What about you?”

 - “What about me?”

 - “You’re kidding me, right?  Do you not realize…?”  JaeWook stared at InSo’s perplexed face.  He obviously had no clue that he followed HaEun around like a lost puppy.  “Never mind,” he said.  It wasn’t his place to clue the guy in on his own feelings.  Eventually, he’d figure out that he had a crush on his best friend and when that day came, HaNeul was going to beat him up.  “I’m dead; it’s already morning in New York.  I’ve got dibs on the bathroom.  We only left JaeHyeon for a few minutes and he’s dead asleep,” he pointed his chin toward his brother who was passed out on the couch without having pulled out the bed.

 - “Deh…”

The girls had quieted and were either asleep or quietly talking among themselves.  HaEun and JeongHee were cuddled up with HaNa like they always did when sleeping at each other’s houses.  “HaEun-ah…” HaNa’s voice suddenly pulled HaEun away from the edge of sleep.

 - “Deh…” HaEun mumbled.

 - “Truth or dare?”

 - “...mollah...unnie...pigonhaeyo…I don’t want to play anymore,” HaEun staggered her words, struggling to keep awake long enough to utter them.

 - “One more question...pretty please?”  HaNa propped herself up on one elbow and softly pinched HaEun’s cheek, getting her to open her eyes.  Once open, HaNa made the same pouty face that always made HaEun and JeongHee go along with her schemes.

 - “HaEun-ah...just let her or we’re never going to get any sleep,” JeongHee said, not stifling a yawn.

 - “Arraso…”

HaNa grinned…”truth or dare?”

HaEun sighed, much too tired to care at this point.  As long as she didn’t have to get up or open her eyes, she’d tell HaNa anything.  “Tru-uth,” she yawned.

 - “InSo choah?”

HaEun groaned, wondering why HaNa wanted to play if she was just going to ask a question she already had the answer to.  “Greom...we all do.”

 - “Ani!  Choah...as in sarang?”

 - “Mwo?”  HaEun opened her eyes at that.  Even JeongHee was instantly awake.  “Wae?”

 - “Answer first.”

 - “A-a-ani!”  HaEun was so tired she was stammering.  At least, that’s what she told herself.

 - “Chincha?”

 - “Deh…!  He’s nae oppa, nae chingu, just like JeongHee and you.”

 - “Hajiman...you’re closer to InSo than you are to us.  You’ll tell him what you’re feeling before you’ll tell us.”

 - “Anihya...he’s just all-always there...when I need someone...to talk to.”  HaEun knew this fact well but suddenly it felt like a new revelation and it made her heart speed up uncomfortably.

 - “Arraso…” HaNa decided to revisit this topic another day.  She was sure neither of her friends realized how they felt about each other.

 - “Besides...Umma and Appa say I can’t date until I’m eighteen.”  Again, she didn’t know why anything more needed to be said but she felt as if she’d be sick if she didn’t get it off her chest.  “Anyway, I won’t have time for dating and love, I have to study and learn about the SuAm foundation and running the conservatory.”

HaNa nodded, not wanting to say much more or their friend would shut down and hide behind her mask of indifference.  “Three years isn’t that far away and who says you can’t have success, chingu, and sarang all at once, deh?”  HaNa’s friend had a one track mind and once she focused on something there was little to distract her from it.

 - “Deh…!”  HaEun closed her eyes again, with a smile on her face.  Her friends knew her well.

 - “Unnie...I want a turn?”  JeongHee said.

 - “Arraso - Truth.”  Like HaEun, HaNa wasn’t willing to move.

JeongHee thought about how to phrase her question.  “Does Unnie like JaeWook Oppa that much that she let him steal a kiss?”

 - “Oh...and he didn’t steal it, he asked first.”

 - “Oooooh!”  JeongHee covered her face with her pillow and squealed into it.

Even HaEun was grinning.  “Hajiman Unnie has had so many crushes wae is JaeWook oppa different?”  HaEun wanted sleep but felt like she really wanted to know this.  “I mean...how did you know?”

 - “Nae saw him once...in New York, he and JaeHyeon were skateboarding in front of his townhome.  He was very daring in his tricks and I remember wanting to join them.”

 - “Teach me,” HaNa demanded.

 - “What?  Umm...you’re wearing a skirt?”

 - “Let me borrow a pair of pants, then?”

 - “Yah...you can’t just learn to do tricks like these.  Just stick to being a cute doll; you don’t want to risk getting scraped up, do you?”

HaNa laughed at the memory.  “I think he was saying I was too pretty to be bothering about skateboarding which really pissed me off.  I had recently learned a new Taekwondo skill and he was the perfect target to practice on.  I left him and JaeHyeon on the floor with my shoes and I threw one skateboard into the street and took off on the other one.  They could never tell their parents a girl beat them up and stole their skateboards.  Isabel Unnie helped me wash up, later.  It was so much fun!”  The three girls laughed over the mental picture of the two brothers incapacitated on the floor.  “I didn’t meet him again until we were all in Spain together.  The boys were spying on us in the chapel, did you know?”

HaEun shook her head “no”.

 - “Deh!”  JeongHee took over the story.  “HaNa Unnie chased after JaeWook and I left InSo to make sure HaEun wasn’t alone so that I could chase after her.  JaeWook and HaNa both run super-fast!”

 - “That’s why InSo Oppa was there when I finished playing.  He didn’t mention it and I forgot to ask...he started scolding me for never playing for him,” she wore a soft smile on her face.  “Afterward, we went to the tree grove so that I could ask him to be my for my party.”

 - “Oh, because you couldn’t ask him in the chapel?”  HaNa was grinning from ear to ear.

 - “I wanted to go somewhere we wouldn’t be interrupted.”  HaNa and JeongHee looked at each other and burst out laughing.  “Wae?!”

 HaNa, said, still giggling.  “And wae did my cute dongsaeng not want to be interrupted with her Oppa?  Oh?”

 - “Mollah!  I-It was hard!  Unnie knows I don’t like asking for favors!  What if Oppa said no…?”  Her voice dropped just above a whisper.

 - “Aigoo, he’d do anything for you...deh...” HaNa stopped her friend’s protest.  “...or for JeongHee and me but mostly for you.  HaEun is someone InSo can’t say no to.”

 - “Anihya…”

 - “Hmm...maybe a marriage was secretly arranged,” JeongHee’s heart warmed at the idea of her two friends being secretly engaged as they grow together and slowly fall in love.

 - “Andwae!  JeongHee Unnie should be a drama writer instead of a painter!”

 - “Guerae!   That’d be fun!”

 - “Wae?  Wae is our dongsaeng so against marrying our handsome, sweet, giving, and loveable dongsaeng?”

 - “Unnie...you’re letting your imagination run away again,” HaEun complained.   “Na already said I’m too busy for sarang.  And Na won't settle for just being comfortable...Na want what Umma and Appa have or Nino and Nina.”

 - “Mollah...HaEun knows but doesn’t want to admit, chingu to sarang is not that hard if you close your eyes and listen only to the vibrations of the music in your heart." 

 - “Aiiish, anihya...anihya,” HaEun had no idea why they were insisting but she couldn’t even go there.  InSo Oppa and she couldn’t change.  “Aiissh!  Mollah!”  She burrowed under the blanket, suddenly feeling cold.  “We were talking about HaNa Unnie, not me!”  Discussion was closed and HaNa and JeongHee knew she wouldn’t open up again.

 - “Deh, Unnie...so how did you go from knocking him to the ground twice to kissing among the trees,” JeongHee raised her voice just a little, intending for HaEun to get the indirect connection but as predicted their teasing target was no longer playing.

 - “Well...he’s cute!  His dark long eyelashes and round eyes...he looks a lot like Ajumma Abigail but the way he smiles is all JaeWook Ajussi.  It’s cute, kind of rectangular shaped and his cheekbones are kind of high, making his face crinkle up…” HaEun demonstrated by pushing her cheeks up toward her eyes and trying to make her smile rectangular.  JeongHee buried her laugh under the blanket and even HaEun was now grinning as she peeked out at her friend’s demonstration.  “Mollah...it’s just cute!  We started video calling each other almost every day.  He’d call me from class and make funny faces at me or we’d chat before I fell asleep.  He’s cringey with the lines but it’s cute.  He calls me his HaNa and that just feels like bougatsa.  His words wrap around me like the buttery phyllo dough and I turn into the gooey and sweet custard filling.  He’s kind of a flirt but he’s a gentleman too.  He says his Umma and Noona would beat him with their slippers if he ever did anything inappropriate.  I remember overhearing Umma talking with Abigail Imo and JaeWook had brought her a Lily from the garden.  He’s sweet like that and loves his Umma and Noona I think more than his Abeoji.  Once I got through the pretend JaeWook, I saw his sweetness and fun and friendly side.”

 - “Just like our HaNa Unnie,” JeongHee said.

 - “Yah...I don’t pretend…”

 - “Deh...you want people to think you’re some tough girl that shouldn’t be crossed but really you’re like that sweet and gooey filling.”

 - “Mollah!”  HaNa threw her pillow on top of JeongHee’s face and kept a smile on her face.  “Aiissh...chincha?!  I feel like such a dork!”  She’d done nothing but rattle on about JaeWook for what seemed like an eternity.

 - “That’s because you are one!”  JeongHee returned HaNa’s pillow in the same way it was received. “Jalja Unnie.  I hope Imo and Ajussi let us sleep for the rest of the day.”

 - “Dehhh!  Jalja HaEun-ah.  I know you’re still awake.”

HaEun smiled.  She loved her friends and hoped things never changed.  “Jalja Unnie-deul.  Gomawo.”

 - “Deh…”

HaNa had sent one last goodnight text to JaeWook.  “Why are you so cute?”

Being overly tired and unable to quiet his brain, InSo hadn’t been able to fall asleep.  Especially with his bed partner next to him, making all kinds of noise as he messaged his girlfriend.  “Aww..., Hyeong, I didn’t know you felt that way?  But I don’t think I’m ready for a serious relationship.”  JaeWook responded with a punch to InSo’s stomach just hard enough to knock the wind out of him for a second and leaving him coughing as his diaphragm relaxed again allowing him to breathe and mutter a barely audible “jerk!”

  - “Yah!  Jugeullae (You wanna die)?!  I wasn’t talking to you!  That’s gross!!”

 - “Then shut up and go to sleep!  Chincha, the yeoja are still awake?”

 - “No, only my Hana banana was still up.”

InSo cringed, hearing the sappy way JaeWook talked about one of his best friends.  “Chincha?  How would you like to be smothered with the pillow?  When your abeoji comes to resuscitate you, I’ll claim you were kissing it thinking it was your girlfriend.”  A hard shove sent InSo to the ground.  Unrepentant, he lay on the ground laughing.  “Mollah!  My ears are going to fall off with all your love talk.”

 - “Yah, as if you don’t act that way around HaEun?”

 - “Waeyo?  We’re friends?”

JaeWook fake coughed; “keep telling yourself that.”

 - “Yah...wae?!  Leave my chingu alone.”

 - “Your princess?  You must have called her that at least a million times today.  If I had a dollar for every time you said it, I’d be able to quit school and start my own business...or maybe I’d have Aunt Ilana design me a mansion somewhere...maybe in Jeju...or Hawaii…”  A pillow landed right on his face.

 - “Yah...she’s my dongsaeng...and that’s just her nickname.  Everyone calls her that.”

 - “Only the elders do.  Are you her uncle?  Eeww...that just sounds creepy.”

 - “Yah…,” InSo was about to get on the bed and punch JaeWook when JaeHyeon came up behind him, striking him hard on the back.

 - “Will you two shut up?!”  JaeHyeong had been having a very nice dream about the hottest female idols until his brother and friend woke him up.  “I’m telling Mama!”

 - “Yah!”  JaeWook and his younger brother were soon rolling on the hotel room floor.  InSo wasn’t sure which side to take and remained on the bed, impartial.

Kike and HyunJoong were just returning to their rooms.  They had been unwinding at the bar for a while with Kike’s twins, Park KangMin, and HaNeul (allowing them a small glass of beer each).  After watching sports highlights on the TV screens and eating more food, they spent the rest of the night at the outdoor spa and heated pool.  The boys had fun hanging out and going from the pool to the spa and back again, while Kike and HyunJoong talked “shop”.  Language was still an issue between them but guys hanging out, talking their favorite subject, had their own language.  They’d all been hanging out for hours when the boys decided they were done.  Kike was glad any misunderstanding from earlier had smoothed itself out.  That was why he had asked HaNeul to join them.  Guys usually couldn’t stay angry at each other for long over beer and sports.  Their rooms were at the end of the hall and they heard a crashing noise and some swearing.  The boys all roomed on one floor with their parents on the floor above.  Neither Kike nor HyunJoong minded being unofficial chaperones.  Ilana had asked the staff to try and keep the floor as empty as possible so that the boys didn’t have to worry about disturbing anyone.  HyunJoong knocked on the door, “Yah!  Gwenchana?  What’s going on?”

 - “Dammit, JaeHyeon!  If we get in trouble this is your fault.”  JaeWook had rammed his back into the desk, knocking over the lamp.  Thankfully nothing was broken.

 - “Why is it my fault?!  You’re the idiot that couldn’t evade my combo kick.”

 - “While you guys continue fighting, I’ll go tell HyunJoong Ajussi everything is alright,” InSo rolled his eyes at the two brothers as if he and InBok didn’t sometimes get into these kinds of scrapes.  “Gwenchanyo, ajussi.”  InSo cautiously opened the door.

 - “Oh?  What happened?”

 - “The namja were messing around and knocked into the desk by mistake.  Gwenchana, nothing’s broken; not even their heads.”

HyunJoong laughed and pitted InSo’s shoulder.  “Arraso...jalja.”

 - “Annyeonghi jumuseyo, HyunJoong-ssi, Enrique-ssi!  Jalja HaNeul, KangMin, Matteo, Valentino!”

 - “If it’s okay with your parents, I’ll take you guys to the beach tomorrow afternoon,” Kike said.

 - “Jeongmalyo?”

 - “Kansamnida!”  The three boys were all squeezed in the doorway and with difficulty, inclined their heads toward their “uncles”.

 - “Ja (Sleep)!”  HyunJoong added.  Boys, being boys, they would probably stay awake, chattering excitedly about the beach.

 - “Buenas noches, hijos,” Kike ruffled his sons’ hair affectionately.

 - “Tío, mejor dicho buenos días (Uncle, isn’t it better said, good morning)?”  HaNeul wasn’t a deliberate smart aleck but he could come across that way if one didn’t know him that well.

Kike shook his head at his too-smart-for-his-own-good, nephew.  “Que descanses bien, sobrino (May you have a good rest, nephew).”

 - “Deh, tío,” HaNeul inclined his head slightly.  It was a habit, regardless of what country, they were in.  HaEun and he always bowed or inclined their heads toward an older person.  KyuHa and HaLee always had to be reminded when they were in Korea to mind their manners.

Before HaNeul closed the door behind him, Kike stepped in to stop him.  “Son, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.  My boys and you and your brother seemed a bit stiff this afternoon.  If my boys need to be told off, let me know.”

HaNeul smiled at his uncle.  He’d tell off Valentino and Matteo and him for “ahogarse en un vaso de agua” or making a mountain out of a molehill.  “Todo bien, Tío (Everything’s good, uncle).”

 - “I’m glad.”

 - “What did Papa want?”  Valentino asked warily.

 - “Nothing...making sure I didn’t plan on murdering you two in your sleep.”  With that same amused twinkle in his eye, inherited from his Father, he walked toward one of the double beds and hopped on.

 - “I hope you didn’t try to get us in trouble.”  HaNeul lay back and closed his eyes, ignoring him.  “Hey...I’m talking to you.”  Valentino was itching to punch his younger cousin.

HaNeul sighed.  “No, but if you try to punch me, I’ll defend myself and then you really will be in trouble.”  Valentino sat on the other bed, satisfied.  “So what was eating you guys today, anyway?”  His Father always told him never to leave unsettled business for another day.  Not that he was trying to get into their business but if they were going to start fights with him and KyuHa, he wanted to know why.

Valentino half laughed.  “I don’t know...Mateo was in a mood and then he looked like he wanted to fight you and…” he shrugged.  “He’s my brother; I gotta be on his side.”  HaNeul understood this.  Not that KyuHa went looking for fights but if it came to it, he’d be at his brother’s side without question.  Valentino looked over to the bathroom door where his brother and KangMin were washing their face and brushing their teeth in the double sinks.  “Hey...I think Mateo has a crush on HaEun.”  HaNeul nodded, figuring as much.  “I’m sure he was jealous of InSo...by chance are they…?”

 - “Abeoji would ground her for the next ten years if she were dating at fifteen,” HaNeul said with certainty.  He would if HaEun were his daughter.  He didn’t want to say too much to Valentino because it wasn’t his business but he’d be keeping a close watch on InSo.  Maybe once InSo went to the military Mateo would have a chance; until then, he’d make sure InSo didn’t overstep his boundaries.

 - “Yeah, Tío and Tia are pretty strict with you guys.”

 - "I don’t think so, but maybe I’m just used to it.”  HaNeul didn’t think his parents were any stricter than InSo’s parents or KangMin’s.  Would HaEun really be in that much trouble if she were to start dating before she was eighteen?  Abeoji wouldn’t like it at all but if HaEun cried and made a fuss, he’d relent.  HaNeul thought he’d better make sure that didn’t happen.  “Actually…," he spoke in extreme seriousness.  Yes...they are very strict when it comes to dating.  If they caught her, Umma would probably worry to her death, not eat or sleep and Abeoji would be so angry at HaEun for upsetting making Umma sick, he’d probably ship her off to Uncle YoungSaeng’s house.”  The bathroom door opened.  “Oh...let’s go wash up.”

He left Valentino wondering if HaNeul was actually serious.  One could never really tell with that kid.

JaeWook was still up exchanging messages with HaNa.  The light was keeping InSo awake.  “Hyeong, go to sleep,” he groaned, placing the pillow on top of his head.

 - “You’ll understand when you have a girl of your own.”

More groaning came from under the pillow.  “Chincha?  Are you that into HaNa Noona?  Don’t you date lots of girls?”

 - “Nah...friends that are girls but not girlfriends.  I think HaNa is the first time I’ve wanted my friend girl to be my girlfriend.”

 - “Oh...how do you know if you want your friend girl to be your girlfriend.”  InSo was following the conversation half asleep, so he wasn’t very conscious of what he was asking.

 - “Well...you want what you guys call skinship.  It starts with wanting more than just a hug...you want to hold her hand, you want to her to sit on your lap so you can hold her close.  You just look for excuses to touch and then you want more than a kiss on the cheek.  There’s something about their lips that just draw you there.  It’s like God made them perfectly just for that reason…” the lump next to him was quiet.  “InSo?  You still awake?”  InSo was finally out but JaeWook’s words would find a way into his memory bank for later.

Usually nothing woke HaEun from dead sleep but she wasn’t quite there yet.  Her subconscious was awake enough to here HaNa’s giggling and feel her moving next to her.  “Unnie...what time is it?”  HaEun mumbled, trying not to open her eyes.

 - “Oh, HaEun, mian.  Wookie and I are just being silly.  But we just said goodnight again.  For real this time.”

 - “Unnie...are you really in love?”

 - “Mmm...I think so.  I can’t explain it.  And it’s all happened without us even seeing each other in person.  We flirted and hung out in Spain but I guess our relationship developed from just messaging and talking on the phone.  Today...or I guess yesterday...was our first official day of being boyfriend and girlfriend.  The kiss was just the icing on the cake.”

 - “How did Unnie know you wanted to move past flirting and hanging out?”

 - “More than looking forward to your calls or JeongHee’s or even our video chats including InSo, I couldn’t focus knowing it was almost time for him to call or me to call him.  And then we met again after over six months and my heart did a little dance.”  HaNa heard the soft chuckle from her friend.  “Yah...don’t laugh.  You’ll be there one day and I’ll be laughing at you.  I thought you were sleeping anyway.”

 - “Somebody woke me up with her giggling and moving around.”

HaNa moved her head next to HaEun’s.  “Close your eyes,” HaNa ordered, knowing her friend would comply.  “Think of how happy you get when InSo calls...for example.”  HaNa was trying to get HaEun’s brain to realize that InSo wasn’t just her best friend.  “Now double or triple that and your heart is beating like crazy with anticipation.  When you hear his voice or see his face on the video chat you smile and can’t stop smiling for hours after the call.  And when you finally get to meet face to face, I swear a string quartet plays nearby.  When he reaches for your hand…” HaNa took HaEun’s hand to demonstrate.  “...your palms are just a little sweaty because he’s so warm but the rest of you has the chills.  There’s no one else you’d rather be with at the time and you just can’t wait for his touch in any form and you kind of give him little hints like brushing the back of his hand with yours and maybe walk a little closer so he has to put his arm around you.  When you’re alone and he’s telling you something, you inch closer so that he leans forward, too, and tucks your hair behind your ear.  And don’t get me started on hugs and the way it feels to have his heart beating under your ear...eeeh!  omo!  Omo!  Omo!  I’m not going to be able to sleep, now.”

 - “Mollah!  Ja!”  HaEun retracted her hand and turned away.  For some strange reason, her cheeks felt warm and her heart beat a little fast as if she was nervous.  A glimpse of InSo crossed her thoughts.  “Mollah!”  She spoke a little louder than she should.

 - “Unnnnieeee...jaaaa…” JeongHee mumbled, burying her head under her pillow and turning away from her friends.

HaNa giggled.  “Jalja, JeongHee-ah.  Jalja HaEun-ah…”  Her school’s winter production was the classic “Sound of Music” and the chorus from one of the songs came to mind.

Timid and shy and scared are you

Of things beyond your ken

You need someone older and wiser

Telling you what to do...

  - “Shhh!!!” Someone demanded quiet from the opposite side of the room.

 - “Arraso!”  HaEun threw the quilt over her face and continued humming the song to herself.