Author’s Note: hi everyone! I’ve a bit of a cold so won’t be updating as much as I had planned... but that means updates after Christmas as well!!! I have also written this on my phone so editing is a bit... well, I haven’t edited it. I will when I am 1- home and 2- feeling better. Love all of you!  Xx

 

Nam Ji-hyun was running around trying to find the red bag that had Min-seo-ah’s teething rattle. Their flight to Jeju was leaving in three hours, and she knew from experience Min-seo would scream the whole flight if they didn’t find that stupid rattle.

 

“Hyunie, have you found it yet?” Eomeonim asked. She was equally rattle-Ji-hyun laughed at her own joke- and was rushing about in her old slippers. “I checked everywhere. Even the Hyungs don’t know where it is...”

 

Ji-hyun was a little skeptical about her eight year old sons even caring about their little sister’s rattle. She finally decided to check her handbag again, no the third time.

 

“Found it!” came a shout from the door way. Chang-wook waved his hand about his head. A little rattle in hand. 

 

“Of course he found it,” Eomeonim groused. “The perfect son... humph. He needs to let other people be... oh never mind. I’m going to put my shoes on.”

 

Ji-hyun might agree with her mother-in-law but in that moment all she could think of was a quiet flight, her baby girl happy, and no screaming.

 

“She had it,” Chang-wook grinned.

 

“Do you know... If we hadn’t found that rattle,” she shuddered at the thought. Yes, she thought, there are times when Ji Chang-wook really was an amazing husband and father... and today was one of those days. “Are we ready to go?”

 

“Yes. And I called ahead to make sure that we are sitting at the very front of the plane too,” he kissed her forehead. The twins, they had discovered pretty early on got motion sickness and only felt better after some flat ginger ale and if they sat at the very front of the plane. “Ok Jiji, you get going and we will be right behind you.”

 

Ji-hyun gave him a quick kiss, put on her shoes, and went to the waiting taxi. This was going to be a difficult journey...

 

Except it wasn’t. The twins managed the trip to the airport without getting sick—they revealed that their halmoni had refused to feed them breakfast—and they played with their little sister, keeping her distracted. At the airport, Ji-hyun got out of the taxi and herded the children inside. The family gathered and managed to check in without any hassle... 

 

Dread began to replace relief when they arrived at security. There was no way that a journey with her children and husband could go so smoothly. It was against everything she had experienced, it was against nature... Something bad was going to happen, she knew it. Deep in her bones she knew that something was going to happen. 

 

Except nothing did. Everyone was so preoccupied with their Christmas plans—even if they didn’t observe the holiday—that no one stopped them for a photograph. The twins were fine. Min-seo was fine... There was nothing wrong.

 

Her dread started to grow exponentially. When they landed, she expected the twins to be sick because the landing was rough... they weren’t. She expected Min-seo to cry because of the change in altitude, she didn’t. They even collected their bags with no incident. The taxis were waiting for them. In fact, the only thing slightly off was how cold it was. But since they didn’t plan to spend much time outside, Ji-hyun didn’t worry about that. 

 

So she relaxed a little. It would be just fine. Nothing was going to surprise her this year.

 

The two taxis pulled up in front of the villa they had rented for the week. It was right by the sea and looked exactly like it had in the pictures. Modern but on a moderate scale—perfect for a family vacation for people who lived simply. Chang-wook paid the drivers as she and Eomeonim took the bags onto the small terrace in front of the house. Hyung-joon started jumping up and down, needing to use the bathroom “RIGHT NOW!!!”

 

Chang-wook show up just in time to unlock the door, before her son sprinted in, kicked off his shoes, and couldn’t find the bathroom. Eomeonim rushed about trying to find it, but it was Hyung-min who found it. Crisis averted. While Eomeonim settled Min-seo for a nap and Chang-wook helped the boys unpack, Ji-hyun called her aunt. 

 

“Imo!” She smiled at the sound of her aunt’s voice. “No, we had a very easy trip. Though it was a nightmare beginning because we couldn’t find Min-seo’s teething rattle.” Then her jaw dropped. She sunk to the floor in shock and tears began to fill her eyes. This was it. This was the dread she had been feeling. This was the Cosmic Punishment for her journey going so well. She repeated her aunt’s words.

 

“Everyone has the flu? Imo! No... what about you?”

 

The answer was muted. She wasn’t sick yet but she did not want to risk it when little Min-seo was so small. “ But don’t worry, I will drop off the presents and hopefully your eomma and appa will be feeling better by the time they have to leave.”

 

Ji-hyun said all the right things, how she knew everyone would get better, how they should take care of themselves, how she would drop off some soups and broths so that no one needed to go out. But she was disappointed. How could she not be? It had been a month since she had seen her parents, who had been on a long vacation in Europe. And it was even longer since she had seen her Imo. There was no getting away from it. This trip was not going to be special. It was going to be nice, it was going to be fun, but it wasn’t going to be special.

 

She moved into the kitchen and aimlessly poured herself a glass of water... when she went to take a sip, she discovered that there had been no water in the pitcher. With that the first tear started to fall and then another, and then another. She wiped them away and sniffed. “Don’t worry, Nam Ji-hyun. You will make this a wonderful trip no matter what. You will have a good time. It isn’t like your parents will die or your aunt or your sister or her husband or their children. And it is better that they will stay there because if we got sick...” She couldn’t bear to voice the rest of that thought.

 

“Is everything ok?” Chan-wook asked when he found her a moment later. 

 

 

“EVERYONE staying wtih Imo is sick,” she sniffed again. “They have flu.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“OH!?!? That is all you can say?”

 

“I am sorry. I’m just taken aback. I wasn’t expecting that...”

 

“Oh,” she said morosely. 

 

“Come here,” he dragged her into a big hug. “Don’t let it get you down. We can still have a fun time. Just because we aren’t going to see them... I know how important it was you were going to see them. Hey, everyone is napping, why don’t you take bath while I go and pick up some groceries.”

 

###

 

Chang-wook swore. He had planned this trip meticulously. Every single thing was accounted for... how could he have predicted that Ji-hyun’s Imo would tell her that everyone had flu? That was not part of his plan. His plan had been perfect and now they were sick.

 

His first thought was to call his in-laws and shout at them for ruining Christmas but he didn’t really want to because they were great and they wouldn’t ruin her Christmas unless they absolutely had to. And it wasn’t their fault they had flu. No one wanted flu.

 

The first thing he did was get groceries like he had planned. The car they had hired for the week was not the model he had picked out but it was good enough for their purposes. Because, and he would never tell Ji-hyun, his day had been a nightmare so far. The taxis hadn’t been the right ones, the airline had forgotten to make sure they were at the front of the plane so he had paid a premium to get the seats changed. On top of that Min-seo had grinned EVILY when he had discovered that she had her teething rattle. The Hyungs were behaving only because he had threatened to make them sleep in their sister’s room if they didn’t behave. His eomma was mad at him because he had turned down a movie. But he had to turn it down because there was a bed scene and even though Ji-hyun didn’t mind, HE minded. He blushed just thinking about it. And then blushed again when he thought about the telling off he would receive from his very brilliant actress wife. Maybe, he mused, he could turn this to his advantage... and distract her with news, seduce her, and help her forget that they were not being joined by her family for the holiday. He was lost in thoughts of demonstrating to Ji-hyun that he still had the ability to make her happy when there was a loud THUD. 

 

Someone had crashed into him.

 

He looked in the rearview mirror. There was a large, old fashioned farmer’s truck with an even older halmoni driving. He got out of the car and made his way to her door, which she was struggling to open.

 

“AISH! Gaesaekki! Don’t you fancy people learn how to drive? What were you doing stopped in the middle of the road like that?”

 

Chang-wook’s mouth was open. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

 

“Halmoni, I was driving the speed limit,” he protested.

 

“Speed limit! You were only going sixty kilometres an hour!”

 

“That is the speed limit...”

 

“Humph, everyone drives at 100 kilometres an hour along this road. And locals, like me, drive 120. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt because you were driving such a fancy... you probably think that because you look like Ji Chang-wook that you can get away with anything!”

 

“I AM Ji Chang-wook,” he protested. 

 

“Prove it.”

 

He pulled out his id. She inspected it as if she was a member of the police but handed it back with a grudging apology. 

 

The tentative truce achieved, they inspected the damage. Despite the speed she had been going, it wasn’t too bad. But she declared that she couldn’t be considered at fault. Chang-wook was about to protest when he looked down and saw how old her shoes were. He looked her over again. The woman was clearly not very wealthy. He considered the situation. And something clicked as she continued to ramble at him. She was lonely. And while he didn’t think she meant to cause the accident, now that she was talking to someone she wasn’t going to stop talking. 

 

“Halmoni,” he interrupted. She glared but waited for him to speak. “Would you like to come to dinner tomorrow. I don’t know if you celebrate Christmas but we are having a nice family vacation and have too much food because my wife’s family can’t come...”

 

“Humph... I guess a free meal is what you owe me at the very minimum.”

 

Chang-wook coughed to hide his smile. This prickly halmoni was just the sort of distraction Ji-hyun needed. If she couldn’t take care of her family, she could at least fuss over a lonely old woman. He handed the Halmoni, who introduced herself as Lee Soo-mi, the address of the villa and told her to arrive anytime she wanted tomorrow. All she did was grumble that he should drive the real speed limit before she left. And she meant it. Chang-wook watched in horror as she started speeding down the road...

 

When he got back from shopping, he found a much more relaxed Ji-hyun sitting in front of the tv with the twins watching Batman cartoons and Min-seo crawling about, her rattle tight in her little fist. He waved his eomma over and explained the situation with the halmoni had met. He left out the accident and focused on how lonely she seemed.

 

“You did the right thing, our lovely son. I am sure she appreciated it. No one should be alone, especially in the winter.”

 

Ji-hyun smiled at him too when he told her. It would be lovely to have an extra person. He was a generous man... etc etc. 

 

###

 

The next morning, there was a very light snow fall and Ji-hyun wondered if the halmoni Orabeoni had met really would join them. She hugged her arms around herself and looked out over the empty swimming pool towards the stormy sea. The flakes danced lazily on the breeze. It really was a perfect winter day. A little bit of snow to remind you it was winter but not too much.

 

At ten o’clock there was a loud buzz. She looked at the video feed and saw who must be Chang-wook’s halmoni. She opened the gate and went to greet the old woman.

 

“Hello, Thank you...”

 

“You are Nam Ji-hyun!” There was a cackle of delight. “I thought that man had a fake id yesterday. But I would recognise you any day.”

 

Ji-hyun’s muttered her thanks and allowed the older woman to proceed her into the house. The halmoni had dressed up for the occasion in a bright floral blouse tucked into a skirt that finished mid-calf. Her hair looked like it was freshly permed and she smelt vaguely of citrus. Eomeonim came forward, After the introductions, Ji-hyun watched as the older woman pulled out a bag of tea. She informed them that she picked the tea herself, it was her own special blend. Ji-hyun smiled skeptically. The loose tea leaves were in an old plastic bag. But after smelling it she had to admit it smelt very, very nice.

 

It turned out that Lee Soo-mi was a very nosy woman. She stuck her head into every room in the house, glared at the twins and demand that they recite their times tables... but she was enchanted by Min-seo, whom she declared was the most beautiful baby she had ever seen.

 

“Is she a good distraction,” Chang-wook whispered in Ji-hyun’s ear while they watched their children, her mother in-law and their eccentric guest play in the seating area.

 

“Yes, thank you,” she turned at kissed him. 

 

“I have a confession,” he admitted. She cocked her head in curiosity. Orabeoni rarely had confessions. “We were meant to surprise you... Your Imo was going to pretend that some crisis had happened and then they would come and surprise you... I didn’t know that they would get flu... it was supposed to be that your parents missed their flight and then...”

 

“Orabeoni! Oh... I mean... I don’t know if I would have liked that surprise but it is wonderful. Maybe next time?” she brushed the hair out of his eyes and rested her head against her chest. She was glad he had told her because she really didn’t think that she would have liked that surprise very much. 

 

The family was laying the table... the Hyungs were poking each other with chopsticks, Lee Soo-min was lecturing Eomeonim about how to prepare whatever dish they were making. Chang-wook was busy with Min-seo who had lost her rattle again (Ji-hyun had spotted her sticking it under her bottom and wondered if she would be able to manipulate her father like this for the rest of their lives.) 

 

BUZZ

 

Ji-hyun looked up and wiped her hands down her jeans. It was probably the agent who had secured the house for them. He had promised to stop by and say hello.

 

Except the faces on the screen didn’t belong to strangers. There, smiling and waving, were her family. Her family who didn’t look like they had flu at all. She squealed in delight.

 

“Orabeoni! Eomeonim! They are here! All of them are here!!!”

 

She opened the door and ran out to greet them. Her Eomma reached her first.

 

“You were surprised, weren’t you?”

 

“Of course! You had flu!”

 

“No, we just didn’t trust your husband not to spoil the surprise,” her eomma smiled brightly at her daughter. “Come, it is freezing, I really do not want to catch flu by standing out in the cold.”

 

Everyone trailed into the house laughing and smiling. Ji-hyun didn’t know if she would ever stop smiling. This kind of surprise, she decided wasn’t so bad after all.

 

The first thing that happened when her aunt came in was gasp in wonder at Lee Soo-min.

 

“Omo... Ji-hyun... do you realise who she is?” 

 

Ji-hyun shook her head.

 

“That,” her Imo continued, “that is none other than Lee Soo-min... THE Lee Soo-min who pretty much owns Jeju... Where did you meet her?”

 

“She ran into Chang-wook oppa yesterday. He thought she was lonely... and, um, poor.”

 

“POOR! Who thought I was poor?” Lee Soo-min asked. Ji-hyun pointed to Chang-wook who was helping his in-laws unpack all the extra food they had brought. The little old lady rolled her eyes. Then caught Ji-hyun chuckling. “That’s right Nam Ji-hyun actor-nim. Go ahead and laugh at your husband. That will keep you happy. If you can love him while laughing at him...”

 

“I don’t think you should laugh at...”

 

“Oh no,” the decptively not poor but very, very wealthy old lady said. “ You must be able to laugh at them Remember their foibles, all men have them, and love your man for them. Besides, I admire him for wanting to give me some company. You have a good man. And he is lucky to have you too... don’t forget it.”

 

###

 

Chang-wook was still in shock about the day. 

 

First his Ji-hyun’s family had surprised all of them. Second, the little old lady was not some poor lonely halmoni but a very wealthy lonely halmoni. Finally, he had figured out that Min-seo—his little gongju—was a manipulative little so-and-so. She had been hiding her teething rattle under her all day and when he had caught onto that trick, she started dropping it into the hot soups so that someone else would have to fish it out. 

 

“Nam Ji-hyun is the happiest woman in the world,” his wife whispered into his back as she gave him a back hug. 

 

“Ji Chang-wook is happier...”

 

“Bah. Not a contest,” she laughed. It was his favourite sound in the world. Her laugh made everything perfect.

 

“Let’s do this again next year,” he said.

 

“Deal, so long as we don’t have any car accidents or my family pretending to be sick,” she said as she let him go and drifted towards the bathroom.

 

“Deal.”

 

“Ji Chang-wook?”

 

“Yes, Nam Ji-hyun?” He grinned and started to follow her into the bathroom.

 

“I don’t think you have enjoyed the bath tub yet... It is very, very comfortable... but I found it to be too big for just one person...”

 

Ji Chang-wook got a wolfish smile on his face. It was no contest, Ji-hyun was right, he was the happiest person in the world... and always would be. With Ji-hyun by his side, with all of their families, how could he not be...

 

 

 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!