A week or two passed and everything had fallen into a rhythm. The boys took to spending their free time helping with the trainees. Most of the time Dakota and I joined them but we a lot of the time we stayed home and worked on the projects that we’d been holding off on.  One such day, the boys came in, tired from running a dance workshop. Panda came trying to hug me, but I held him off.

            “Uh no. Go shower,” I said. I saw the rest of them about to collapse onto the living room furniture we’d just straightened. “Nope. Nobody gets to sit down until they are clean. Do you know how hard it is to get sweat out of couch fabric?”

            “But Leah, we’re tired!” Daesung whined.

            “No whining,” Dakota said. “The quicker you shower, the quicker you can relax.”

            In a split second, there were 5 boys racing to the two bathrooms. SeungRi and Youngbae made it first, leaving the rest of them to wait outside. Twenty minutes later, TOP and Daesung went in. When JiYong finally came out, everyone was situated in the upstairs living room, not really paying attention to whatever movie it was on the TV.

            “What are you guys doing tomorrow?” I asked.

            “We have a few days off actually,” JiYong said.

            “We should do something fun.”

            “Like what?” TOP asked.

            “Let’s go to an amusement park,” Daesung said. “We never did get to go before.”

            “That’s true,” JiYong said.

            “I don’t see a problem with that,” Youngbae said.

            “Then it’s settled, we’re going to an amusement park tomorrow,” Dakota said.

            We woke up early the next morning to get ready for our day of fun. The park didn’t open until 9:30, so it was surprising to me that when I got up at 8 that TOP was already awake. I did a double take when I saw him pacing up and down the hallway.

            “Oppa, are you okay?” I asked.

            “I’m excited. We’re going to Lotte World today!” he said, grinning.

            “You are such a big kid. Why are you out here?”

            “Dakota kicked me out because I was too hyper,” he said, not meeting my eyes. It was kind of cute to see him embarrassed. “And everyone else was sleeping so I just came out here.”

            I shook my head. “Give me like fifteen minutes and I’ll play cards with you until everyone else gets up.”

            “Okay,” he said happily. He disappeared downstairs.

            I went to the bathroom and when I came out I went to check on Panda before going downstairs. TOP was sitting at the kitchen table shuffling cards. He was rocking back and forth in his chair like he’d eaten a ton of sugar. He is entirely too excited.

            TOP and I played cards as the others starting waking up. Every time someone wandered into the kitchen they were dealt into the game until there were seven people playing. Around 9:15 or so, we all piled into the van and Youngbae drove to the park. When we got there, it was surprisingly empty, but it was the middle of the week so we didn’t give it much thought. We paid our admission price and started to amble through the indoor park.

            Everything in the park was so brightly colored it almost hurt my eyes. There were a few families milling about, tourists it seemed like. We watched a couple of kids run excitedly to the carousel as their parents tried desperately to keep up with them. TOP looked like he wanted to run off with them, but he was made to chill out by the look Dakota gave him.

            We got to the end of the building and got to the outdoor park. Almost immediately, TOP ran over to a game. It was a classic carnival game of test your strength, but instead of a bell at the top, the strength of the hit was measured by how far up you could make the lights turn on. The boys all took turns, with the strongest ending up being JiYong. Seeing how he was kind of on the skinny side, it was a little surprising, but TOP and Panda did manage to win Dakota and me some toys.

            After wandering around for a while, the guys decided to go through the haunted house. I have an extreme dislike for anything even remotely horror related so I waited at the exit for the rest of them to come out. They exited, picking at Daesung who apparently was over reactive to the ‘creepy screams’ that echoed through the building. Next, everyone went on a cruise on the lake in the middle of the park. It was relaxing and a little romantic. Afterwards, we got something to eat and the guys argued over what thrill ride they were going to get on first. I stayed silent and listen to them bicker like little kids. Finally, they decided to get on a water ride, and we walked halfway across the park to get to it. I waited in line with the group and when they got to the start of the line I went to wait at the exit.

            “Why aren’t you riding anything?” Youngbae asked.

            I pointed to the sign next to the entrance gate.

            “You must be three feet, eight inches to ride this ride,” SeungRi read off the sign.

            “Keep reading…” I urged.

            “Elderly citizens(over 65), expectant mothers, guests under the influence of alcohol, with disc-problem, with heart conditions, high/low blood pressure, the physically weak or challenged not permitted.”

            “Really?” Youngbae asked and I nodded.

            “Wait, what? I don’t get it,” Panda said.

            “Read it again.”

            “Elderly citizens, expectant mothers-”

            “What was that last one?”

            “Expectant mothers….You’re pregnant?!” he exclaimed.

            I smiled. “That’s right.”

            The people behind us were annoyed that we were holding up the line, so we moved over to a picnic table nearby.

            “Did I hear that right?” Dakota asked. “There’s going to be a baby Panda?”

            “You heard right.”

            “Yay!”

            I turned to Youngbae. “You don’t know everything oppa,” I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

            “You’re right,” he conceded. “You got me with this one.”

            Panda was unusually quiet. “What are you thinking right now? Are you okay?” I asked him.

            “I’m just in shock a little. I kind of can’t believe it.”

            “Our SeungRi is going to be a dad. Can you imagine little Pandas running around? Aish…”

            “JiYong oppa, don’t start worrying already. You have plenty of time for that later.”