“Seulki, come on, wake up,” a now 8-year-old Insoo cheered, shaking the sleeping 7-year-old girl awake. She yawned and rubbed her eyes and Insoo laughed as she sat up. “You look funny when you sleep,” he giggled, touching Seulki’s messy hair. Seulki blushed and swatted his hand away. “Hurry up, come on,” he continued, “My mom said that we could go to the aquarium today. Come on! Let’s go!”

She yawned one more time and slid out of bed, slightly unable to stand due to fatigue. “Where’s Cinderella?” she asked, looking around the room in a daze.

Insoo scurried over to the corner of the room and grabbed the doll from her usual resting place on the floor and handed it to the girl. “You’re so slow! Hurry up!” he said, grabbing her free hand and dragging her out of the room.

With that gesture, Seulki’s mind instantly cleared and she felt herself waking up. She loved it when her prince held her hand. His hand was soft yet firm and he held her with such protection and such guidance that she wondered if this was how the princes in her fairy tales held their princesses. Seulki smiled at the thought then walked quickly to catch up to Insoo.

A few hours later, they arrived at the aquarium and as soon as they received their tickets, Insoo ran down a hallway and stopped at a glass window that had a lot of visitors gathered around it. "Mom! Mommy! Look! A polar bear!" he cheered, bouncing up and down as the two moms and Seulki trailed slowly behind him.

Mrs. Kang and Mrs. Shin stood next to Insoo in front of the glass and admired the large white mammal. They stood there in awe for a moment until Mrs. Shin turned around to look for Seulki. “Seulki honey, don’t you want to see the polar bear?”

Seulki shook her head and stepped backwards, closer toward the fish tank on the other side. Noting what was going on behind her, Mrs. Kang turned around and walked over to Seulki. “Are you afraid of the bear, sweetie?” she asked. Seulki nodded silently. “Don’t worry. It won’t hurt you. You see that glass there? It’s there to protect you from it. As long as you see that glass, you’re safe. Okay?”

“The glass won’t protect her,” Insoo said, approaching the two of them, “I will!” Seulki chuckled but still didn’t say anything. “I’ll protect you from the bear, okay?”

He grabbed Seulki by the wrist and gently led her over to the glass where the polar bear on the other side was quickly swimming towards the glass, to the side, and then to the back of the enclosure. Every time the bear swam close to the glass, Seulki flinched and backed away. Insoo chuckled and lightly urged her closer. “Mr. Polar Bear Sir, this is Seulki,” Insoo said to the bear that simply ignored him, “She’s my very best friend in the whole wide world! Say hi Seulki.”

With a small bow, Seulki quietly said, “Hi Mr. Bear.” The bear ignored her presence and continued to swim freely in the water.

“See Seulki,” Insoo cheered proudly, “He won’t hurt you as long as I’m here to protect you!”

Mrs. Kang walked up to the two of them and coughed. “Come on children; let’s go see some other animals.”

They both cheered and ran toward the next room down the hall. As soon as they arrived, Insoo pressed his face up to the glass. “I look like that one,” he said, pointing to the shark that was freely swimming around in the tank.

“No you don’t,” Seulki giggled, also pressing her face to the glass, “You look like that one.”

“Silly, there’s nothing there!” Insoo said, looking in the general area where she was pointing.

Seulki frowned. “Is to!” she retorted, “Look!” All of the sudden, a bright orange and blue fish swam out of the coral decorations and into view. “See?” Seulki said, turning to face Insoo, “I told you a fishy was there!”

“Oh my, what a pretty fish, Seulki,” Mrs. Kang then said as she approached the two children and knelt down between them, “That fish is called a Flame Angel.”

Seulki grinned broadly at the compliment. “See Insoo,” she bragged, “It’s an angel, just like you!”

Insoo frowned and crossed his arms playfully. “But I don’t want to be a silly fish!” he whined, “I want to be a shark! They’re big and strong, like me!”

“But sharks are scary,” Seulki said, “You’re not scary.”

A devilish smirk appeared on Insoo’s face. “Sharks are scary, huh?” he said with a laugh. He held up his hands and showed his teeth in a faux-menacing way. “Roar! I’m a shark! I’m going to eat you!”

With a laugh, Seulki screamed and ran away from the Insoo-shark as he continued to chase her. The two mothers happily followed behind the children into an adjacent room that, on one side had jellyfish and on the other side housed a romp of river otters. Seulki ran into the room and climbed onto a bench that was positioned against the otter enclosure and pressed her face to the glass to get a better view of the animals.

“Insoo, look! Otters!” she cheered, pointing to the enclosure. One of the otters then dove into the water and swam up to Seulki stopping right in front of her face. Seulki giggled and looked at Insoo. “It kissed me!” she laughed.

Insoo’s face turned red and he climbed up next to Seulki on the bench and grabbed her wrist protectively. “Hey, back off! She’s mine!” he yelled at the otter. The otter just stared at him and then swam around happily in the water.

“I-I’m yours?” Seulki stuttered as she realized what Insoo had just said. He looked at her and blushed and then looked down at his feet. Seulki giggled and jumped off the bench and ran up to her mom and Insoo’s. “Mommy, look, aren’t they cute?” she said, pointing back to the otters.

Mrs. Shin knelt down to Seulki’s height and looked at the otter enclosure as Mrs. Kang reached into her purse. “Oh this is so cute, let me just take a picture,” she cheered, “Seulki, stand up on the bench with Insoo, alright?”

She stood there for a moment, unsure of what was going on and then slowly walked back up to the bench and stood on it next to Insoo. He grinned from ear to ear and pulled her closer to him. Mrs. Kang and Mrs. Shin smiled at the two of them. “Are you ready?” Mrs. Kang said, readying the camera, “One…two…”

On the count of three, Insoo turned toward Seulki and quickly kissed her cheek just as the camera flash went off leaving Seulki’s eyes wide open in surprise.