Two days past her due date, JaeKyung was going crazy with anticipation calling everyone who'd ever had a child and asking how to make her come out.  It wasn't that she was in pain or discomfort.  In fact, if it weren't for the fact that she couldn't focus, she'd still be working.  Ten bodyguards followed her everywhere.  She walked up and down the street all day long as per Abigail's suggestion.  The night before, she'd had WooBin massage her hips and s and make love to her without restraint.  That was Jaejoong's suggestion.  She was even desperate enough to call him.  Other than a wonderful night's sleep and knocking her mucous plug loose, there was still not a single contraction to indicate Hana was coming.  "Yah!"  JaeKyung shook her tummy.  "Hana-yah, come out!!!  Umma can't wait to see you!!"  When all else failed, she begged.

As much as WooBin wanted to be with his wife, he had too many things to do before the baby arrived.  He did not want to be disturbed for a while after she was born, planning to spend time getting to know her and establish himself as Appa in her eyes.  He might have to work a lot and travel and he might have to leave his lovely girls behind from time to time, but not until she knew who Appa was.  GaEul and JanDi came to spend as much time as possible with their Unnie.  They hired an assistant for GaEul at the museum, reducing her duties to only giving classes in the morning.  Her afternoons were free, and she spent much time with her husband in the studio and with JaeKyung, shopping or walking the neighborhood.  JanDi was ordered by both Harabeoji and their obstetrician to cut her hours at the clinic, due to frequent dizzy spells.  So, she too spent time with JaeKyung and GaEul whenever possible.

Returning from a walk and JaeKyung moaned in frustration.  "Hana-yah, juseyo!  Your room is ready, imo GaEul and JanDi, can't wait to see you.   Come out!"  She rubbed her tummy and felt Hana move just a bit.   "This girl is lazy bones; JaeWookie was always moving."  JaeKyung smiled as she remembered him and Isabel with fondness.

 - "Kim JaeWook is a precious baby.  I wouldn't mind another boy," GaEul grinned.  "JeongHee-yah, do you want a NamDongsaeng?  You already have Oppa," JeongHee shifted in Umma's tummy at the sound of her voice.  The three Moms’ laughed.  "I don't know if that's deh or ani," GaEul laughed at her baby.  "Unnie, they say there are foods that induce labor.  Should we look them up?"

 - "Deh!  I'll try anything!  I have to see Uissa tomorrow."

 - "There's nothing proven that those foods induce your labor," said Dr. JanDi.

 - "It's worth a try," GaEul said.  "We need spicy food:  spicy hot wings, General Tso's chicken, but spicy ramen would probably do the same thing.  There's balsamic vinegar and Pineapple."

 - "I don't feel like Hot Wings, but I'm all for Chinese food.  Kaja, before the kids get out of school, then we can take them for smoothies and I can have the cook make me a salad later.  Hana, Umma is going to get you out one way or another."

 - "Mission:  induce labor!  First stop Toh Lim at Lotte Hotel Seoul," GaEul said in a game show host voice.

 - "Their food is really good, I can't wait.”

After General Tso's chicken, Pineapple Chicken, and Pineapple Fried Rice at Toh Lim, they picked up the kids at Shinwa pre-school and Grade school, then took them to Tortine Too in Itaewon for smoothies.  That evening, JaeKyung dragged her husband to Yongsang-gu for Hot and Creamy and Lime Jalapeno chicken wings at Bull and Barrel

Completely stuffed, they walked, around some of the neighborhoods in Yongsang, going up and down flights of stairs and petting stray cats.  They got back home around nine and she had a salad with a balsamic vinaigrette to finish the night.  “Yeobo, she doesn’t want to come out.” JaeKyung let herself be wrapped in WooBin's arms as she stood in front of the mirror in just her bra and underwear, staring at her belly.

 - “Hana-yah!  Why do you make Appa wait so long?  Ah?”

 - “Oh!  Yeobo!  I felt something.”

WooBin rubbed her tummy and brought her face back to his, giving her an all-consuming kiss.  He neck and dipped his fingers lower and lower, dipping them just inside her bikini undies.  The other hand dark s and plump s made so by the pregnancy.  “Should we see if we can coax her out?”  He was already stepping back toward the bed, sitting her on his lap, he continued what he had started in front of the mirror.

November 19, 2015

 - “Woobin-ah!  Something’s happening!”  JaeKyung was definitely in discomfort, waking her up from her sleep.    “Yeobo!!!”  JaeKyung shook her husband roughly.

 - “Oh?  Wae?  Gwenchana?”  WooBin was trying to wake up.

 - “I’m having contractions!”  Aside from the painful punch of the contraction, she was overjoyed.  “Get up!  Let’s go for a walk!!”

 - “Now?”

 - “Deh!!  I’ve got to keep moving while I can!”  JaeKyung was already out of the bed and throwing on her yoga pants and matching shirt.

WooBin was in for a very long day.  They walked for several kilometers before going back to the house.  The contractions were starting to come at a faster pace, but JaeKyung didn’t want to stop.  When she was finally too tired to continue, they returned home.  Their cook made her a pineapple smoothie for breakfast and then she dragged her husband with her into the shower, expecting more than just a shower

 - “Yeobo, are you sure about this?”  He stepped into the shower with her.  It wasn’t that he didn’t want to make love to his wife, nine months pregnant, she was still very y to him.  He just worried about her.

 - “Yeobo, don’t think too much about it and just do what you do best.”  She rode out a contraction, attacking his lips.  WooBin washed her body and paid very close attention to her s; supposedly by stimulating them, it would bring on contractions.  Not that she wanted the painful contractions, but anything to dilate faster.

It didn’t take long at all for WooBin to slip into his role of supportive husband.  With his wife facing the shower wall, he began to make love to her.  He began slowly, teasing her, but soon it was her contractions teasing him.  The less gentle he entered her, the less she thought of the contractions.

WooBin wasn’t sure when they’d left the shower and gone back to the bedroom.  JaeKyung had finally dozed off, exhausted.  Uissa told her she could take Motrin if the contractions were too painful and that immediately made her body relax enough to get some sleep.  WooBin spooned her against him and rubbed her tummy.  He heard her moan slightly in her sleep, perhaps it wouldn’t be long before Hana finally decided to come out.

A feeling of dampness, against his skin, woke WooBin up from a sound sleep.  JaeKyung too began to wake, not sure why.  She just felt odd.  “Yeobo?”  WooBin finally was coherent enough to realize his wife was suddenly leaking water.  “Bin-ah?  I have to go to the bathroom.”  WooBin was up and out of bed in a second and helping her up.

It was official, JaeKyung’s water had broken.  They quickly got dressed, they’d never dressed after their shower and lovemaking, and WooBin drove them in record time to Shinwa Medical Center.  JaeKyung’s contractions were starting to come in about five minutes apart.  She had done well, she was already dilated enough to admit her.

JaeKyung concentrated on breathing as a contraction hit her.  “Should we prep you for an epidural?”  A nurse asked.

 - “Deh,” WooBin answered.  They had discussed it, he did not want her in any unnecessary pain.

JaeKyung groaned as she nodded her head in agreement.  WooBin immediately began to massage her hips, to ease the pain of the contraction.

Once the epidural was in place, there was nothing to do, but wait.  WooBin had already contacted everyone and JanDi with GaEul came as quickly as they could discharge their duties.

Hana did not make her appearance until 21:01.  She’d be entire life about having to be born at a time to coincide with her name.  “Saeng-Il chuka hamnida, Song Hana,” JaeKyung kissed her baby girl.  WooBin had a permanent smile on his face as he kissed his wife and daughter.  “Chukahae Umma.  Annyeong Hana,” the Mafia Prince of F4 was smitten at the site of his baby girl.  The F4 present, slapped his back in congratulations, while the girls gave their friend a quick hug.

 - “Let me take a quick picture, I’ll send it to Ilana and Abigail.”

In New York, Abigail would be getting breakfast ready when she received the news and Ilana would wake up two hours later to see the beautiful Mother and daughter.

November 26, 2015

Mina's parents had arrived in Seoul to keep her company this first Thanksgiving away from home.  Though she went to Stanford University, this was her first time not only away from home but out of state and out of the country as well.  Her younger brother who was also at Stanford chose to stay with a friend close by.  Having a completely empty house for the holiday, they made the decision to make the trip to South Korea and surprise their daughter.

On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., Mina escaped her new assistant to meet her parents.  Her hubae was very sweet, but she stuck to Mina like glue and the one thing she didn't want, was to bring her into Jongno with her.  With the arrival of her parents, it was the perfect excuse to go listen to the Police Choir.  Also, since her parents were in town and she hadn't been to Jongno in weeks, the men wouldn't about where she went every Thursday.  She just told them her parents were picking her up for lunch.

 "If I can drive in Mexico, I can drive anywhere," Mina's father had told her when they first came to Seoul.

Mina was excited, she hadn't heard the choir in weeks.  As the weather was getting cooler, she had been crocheting scarves for them.  Thanksgiving was the perfect excuse to hand them out.  They were all identical, but she put a little extra care into making YoungSaeng's.  She embroidered a tiny brown otter on his, it would not be noticeable at first, but as long as she knew it was there, it didn't matter.

 - "Mina, we spent much longer than anticipated at the restaurant, shouldn't you get back to the office?"  Her Father, asked.  Mina treated them to Samgeytang, which is Jongno's specialty.

 - "Papi, it's okay.  I have my cellphone, and no one has called yet.  I can always work from home or stay late if need be.”

 - "Where is this famous choir you keep telling me about, sweetheart?"  Her Mother was used to hearing about the police choir every time she called and one officer in particular.  Though Mina had not yet mentioned he was one of Ilana's friends.  He didn't even notice her, but she'd fallen in love as soon as she'd seen and heard him sing.  His brown eyes became darker, almost black, she loved the passion in his face when the song was something serious and then the way he flirted with the audience when the song was light and fun.

They were performing a pop song called 'Let It Go' and the usually reserved Mina let herself go, clapping and dancing along with the rest of the crowd.  While she was absorbed in the performance, her Mother studied her for a few minutes before turning to her husband.  "Look at your daughter," her eyes spoke.

Her Father looked to the choir members and back to his daughter.  He knew that look, his little girl had a crush on one of those boys.  He wondered if this crush was one-sided, most likely, since his daughter was very shy.  If they hadn't introduced her to a few boys, she'd never have gone on a first date.  This was worth investigating.  He doubted that Ilana would know.  Ilana's friends were also her daughter’s friends, perhaps the young man was among her acquaintances.

The performance came to an end and the crowd cheered respectfully.  Her Mother had the bag with all the crocheted scarves.  "Mami, let me give them their gifts," Mina said.

 - "Of course, dear, and you can introduce us to these handsome officers, maybe one of them will be our son-in-law?"

 - "Mama!!!"  Mina looked around nervously, hoping none of the men had heard her.  Her parents laughed at the scandalized look on her face.

The choir had dispersed and was greeting the crowd.  "Number one fan!"  One of the men called.  It was the young man who had helped her pass out drinks.  "Annyeong hasseyo," he bowed to her.  "Orenmanida (Long time no see)?"

 - "Deh, I’ve been very busy at work and unable to get away."

 - "Ah, we thought you'd forgotten us," YoungSaeng happened to be talking to a spectator just behind him.  "Officer Heo-ssi, weren't we just wondering where our cute number one fan was?"

The men had been discussing it last week.  "Ah, deh, annyeong hasseyo.  Mannaseo bongapsumnida."

 - "Deh," Mina suddenly was tongue-tied.  She had an excellent education, headed a successful marketing department, could sell most things, but couldn't hold a normal conversation with the man she admired.

 - "Mina does not like attention," her Mother cut in.  "You all have wonderful voices, what a beautiful gift from the Lord."  Mina was trying to pinch her Mother to keep her quiet.  "Our dtal...?  Is that how you say ‘daughter’?"  Her Mother joyfully ignored her daughter’s silent warnings.  "She talks about the police choir all the time when she calls us and one of the soloists she admires as well."

Mina was surely going to die right there on the spot.  "Haha (Mother in Japanese),” Mina smiled through gritted teeth.  “I'm sure these gentlemen don't want to hear about our phone conversations."  Mina reverted to Japanese and caught YoungSaeng's attention, who had a very good understanding of the language.

 - "Agassi speaks Japanese," he stated.

 - "Yes, I'm Japanese," Mina's Mom told him.  "My daughter is half and is also fluent.  Are you familiar with the language?"

 - "Hai (Yes - Japanese), I'm okay...not perfect."  It had been a while since he'd spoken the language, but he did his best to introduce himself.

 - "Very good!!!

 - "Choayo!"  Mina said.  Another strike in his favor, not to mention that she was sure her Mother was starting to warm up to him.

 - "Young man, why is it you seem familiar to me?"

Mina panicked, "Mama, it's the videos I've sent you of the performance!"

 - "No... I’m sure his singing voice sounds like..."

 - "Mama, sorry, but I should get back to the office."  Mina interrupted.  "Let's give them our surprise?"

 - "Yes, but they are your surprise, not mine."

Mina was already passing out scarves.  She thankfully had YoungSaeng's set right on top.

 - "Kansamnida!"  The men began to thank Mina and her parents.

 - "Kansamnida, these are some of my favorite colors."  The scarves were in black with red and white blocks at both ends.  Mina had surreptitiously gathered information on YoungSaeng's likes and dislikes by inquiring of HyungJun what his Hyeong-duel were like.

 - "Waeyo?"  One of the men asked.

 - "It's Thanksgiving Day in my country, but I'm here.  I wanted to celebrate by hearing the choir sing.  Umma and Appa surprised me and I'm not alone.  Instead of turkey, we had samgyetang."  Mina smiled, a little embarrassed.

 - "Kansamnida, that's really nice of agassi to think of us, I'll look forward to wearing it when the weather turns cold."

 - "Heo YoungSaeng-ssi, in California, this is cold," Mina was losing some of her shyness.

 - "Ah!!!  California!"  YoungSaeng laughed, not realizing his buddies had abandoned him.  "Je have a chingu in California who's always cold," YoungSaeng remembered Ilana in her light coat and gloves when she was here for the first time last spring, then he realized the ache didn't hurt as much anymore.

 - "Young man, have you been to the States?"

 - "A few times; I worked on a cruise ship.  I was in California earlier this year..."  YoungSaeng was interrupted by his buddies.

 - "Jwosongmnida, the Captain says it's time to go."

 - "Ah, jwosongmnida," YoungSaeng bowed to Mina and her parents.  "Mianhaeyo, what was agassi’s name again?"

 - "Je ireum eun Rodriguez Mina inmnida."

 - "Ah, until next time Mina-ssi. Eomonni, Abeoji, come visit us again.  Sayonara!"

Mina stood smiling after him.  That was the most he'd ever spoken to her.

 - "What a pleasant young man," Mina's Mother said.  "But doesn't he remind you of the young officer who sang at Ilana's wedding?"

 - "Haha, are you saying they all look alike?"  Mina tried to throw her Mother of the scent by insinuating her comment was stereotypical.

 - "No..hija (daughter),” her Mom rolled her eyes at her and they began to walk back to the rental car.

When they dropped Mina off at the office, her parents both looked at each other and laughed.  "Algo se trae esa niña (That little girl is up to something)."  Her father said.

 - "Yes, she is," her Mother agreed.  “Do you think that's one of Ilana's friends and she's too shy to tell him she met him at Ilana's wedding?"

 - "Te diré que no me fije muy bien, pero come que es mucha coincidencia, no (I have to say, I didn’t really pay attention, but it would be a big coincidence, ¿wouldn’t it)?"

 - "Ay que invitar a sus amigos a una comida y luego le preguntamos a ellos (We need to invite her friends to a meal and then we can ask them)," Mrs. Rodriguez flipped back to Spanish.

 - "Ay mujer, la vas a avergonzar (Oh woman, you're going to embarrass her).

 - "If she didn't want help, she wouldn't have brought us here," so said the matchmaking Mother.

 - "Ay si (Oh, yes)!  Keep telling yourself that."  Mr. Rodriquez chuckled as he drove.

On the bus back to their base, the police Choir men were still talking about their number one fan.  Sure, they had other admirers, many of them much older, but she was the only one that brought them gifts.  Not to mention that the scarves were handmade.  "Arraseo, who gets to ask Mina-ssi out first?"  One of the guys said.

 - "Kai Bai Bo!"  Said another.

YoungSaeng rolled his eyes.  "What makes you think she'd even take you guys, she's a foreigner?"

 - "Foreigners like Korean guys and she's cute."

YoungSaeng knew what most Korean guys wanted with a foreign girl.   He was sure she wasn't the 'easy' type.   He suddenly felt a certain protectiveness; perhaps it had to do with meeting her parents.  "Just don't do anything stupid.  She seems like a nice family girl."

 - "Ooooh!!!  Look who's finally interested in girls?"

 - "Deh!  We were starting to worry."

 - "Tch, Mr.  I can speak Japanese," someone rolled their eyes.  "YoungSaeng-ssi was conversing with her and her parents for a long time.  Japanese like to arrange their children's marriages as well."

 - "Mollah...I heard Mina-ssi speaking with her Umma.  I speak Japanese well enough."

 - "I think he said, 'not perfect'.

 - "Which makes him sound like he is perfect."

 - "Yah!"  YoungSaeng didn't know why he opened his mouth.  Now he knew how Maknae felt when they all ganged up on him.  As usual, when the rest of the guys acted up, he hid under his iPod for the rest of the ride.

Los Angeles, CA

Jihoo, Ilana, Kike, Nana, Harabeoji, Brendon, Suzy, JungMin, and Juan Carlos and family were gathered around the table, heads bowed and hands clasped, giving thanks to the Lord for all the blessings they’d had throughout the year.  Jihoo (actually, Ilana) was able to convince Harabeoji to come back to California with them.  Jihoo, Kike, and JungMin cooked, ordering Nana to sit.  Brendon couldn't cook if you paid him, no one knew how he'd survived college life.  Ilana was almost done with her first trimester.   With the help of acupuncture, her nausea had subsided considerably.  They had returned from Seoul the day after Uee and Ilwoo's 100^th-day wedding celebration.   The flight was much more difficult than anticipated.  Even with the acupuncture, it didn't control her sense of smell.  She spent the entire flight with her nose buried in Jihoo's handkerchief.  Wanting to limit his wife's time on the plane, Jihoo booked a flight with a layover in Tokyo.  Ilana was extremely excited to meet Shancai and her now husband, Hua Zei Lei.  They had lunch and took a quick tour of the city.  Very tired and slightly dehydrated, the evening of their return, Ilana felt nauseous and dizzy.  She spent the rest of the evening in the ER getting an IV.  After which Jihoo made it a point to have at least one bag around.

Ilana was all smiles for her brother, sitting next to her at the table.  She had been completely ecstatic to see him again when he'd shown up unannounced the day before.  They had returned from church that night to the surprise.  Although, he too received a surprise.

Kike had come straight from the airport at about seven.  He was hungry and couldn't wait to dive into Nana's cooking.  A little disappointed his 'Manita' wasn't home, as they'd gone to Church, but at least he had good food to eat.

 - "Como están todos (How is everyone), Nana?"  He dug into the leftover Tteokguk, Nana had made.  It wasn't quite what he was expecting to find, but couldn't deny it was tasty, especially adding a bit of lean meat to it.  Nana told him Ilana was craving it.  He just smiled but didn't pair craving with pregnancy; he hadn't been told yet.

 - "Muy bien (Very well), mi niña y el Doctorcito están tan contentos (my girl and the young Doctor are so happy)!"

 - "Me lo imagino (I can imagine)."  Again, he knew nothing about the pregnancy, but they were still in the 'newlywed' phase.  Why wouldn't they be happy?

Having eaten his fill of the deliciously comforting soup, he went to his room to shower.  Nana told him Jihoo and Ilana usually were home by a quarter past nine on nights Ilana sang and they went straight to their room upon arrival.  He felt a little bad at not going to hear his sister sing.  Not that he wanted to go to church, he'd left his Christian roots a long time ago.  He found it fascinating that his Sister had gone back, but it wasn't for him.  He'd make sure to create opportunities to make music over the long weekend.

Now showered and changed, Kike saw he had about fifteen minutes before his sister and her husband arrived.  He spritzed a bit of cologne and sat to wait for them at the top of the stairway, closest to their room.

It wasn't long before they walked in the door.  "Does Sarang want a snack before bed?"

 - "Gwenchana Sarang, I feel icky going to bed on a full stomach."

He raised his eyebrow at her.  She felt 'icky' if she went to bed on an empty stomach.

 - 'Yah!  What’s that look for?!"  She knew he was teasing her over something.

 - "Ani," he circled her waist and gave her a slow and teasing kiss.

 - "¡¿Hóyeme?!  Van a estar allí parados toda la noche (¿Hey listen?!  Are you guys just going to stand there all night)?"

Ilana turned to the sound of the voice and took off running.  "Kike!!!"  Jihoo was right behind her to make sure she didn't trip and fall on the stairs.  Having launched herself into her brother’s embrace, he lifted her up onto the landing.  Ilana got a whiff of his very strong cologne and felt her stomach turning.  "Kike, put me down!"  She struggled against him.

 - "Hey...?"  He saw the look on her face as he let go and she took off gagging as she ran into their room.

 - "We'll be back in a moment," Jihoo said.  "You might want to wash off your cologne before she sees you again."

 - "What?"

 - "Your dongsaeng is pregnant," Jihoo said before he walked into the room after his wife.

Ilana didn't quite throw up but was lying on the bed, inhaling Jihoo's emergency handkerchief that she carried with her every day.  By the time Kike knocked on the door wearing different clothes and hoping that was enough, Jihoo had her in his arms, soothing her back.

 - "I still can't believe my Manita is having a baby?"  Kike couldn't stop gushing over her.

 - "I'm not the first woman to be pregnant!" Ilana said embarrassed at his fussing.

 - "Unnie, no offense, hajiman I pray I don't get morning sickness as bad as you do," Suzy said.

 - "It's not nearly as bad as it was when we were in Seoul," Jihoo squeezed her hand under the table.

 - "Oppa, she didn't eat for over a week," Suzy told Kike as if in disapproval.

 - "Anae could never hold out that long without eating," JungMin teased his wife.

 - "Jagiya, should I stab you with a fork?"  Suzy batted her eyelashes cutely, even though she threatened her husband.

 - "Ilana is used to not eating," Brendon commented.  "She did it all the time growing up."

 - "Don't remind me," Juan Carlos jumped in.  "If it weren't for Nana chasing her around the house, coaxing her to eat, I don't know what would have become of her."

 - "Praise God, that's all in the past," Jihoo looked at his wife with a serious expression.

 - "Yah!"  She bristled at her husband's tone.  "It's not like I did it on purpose!"

Jihoo smiled and placed a kiss on her cheek.  He didn't mean to annoy her, but it was a bit entertaining.  "Mokda, Sarang has hardly touched her plate."

 - "I'm getting full just looking at everything."

 - "Esta delicioso, muchachos (Boys, it's delicious)," Nana complemented the three chefs.

 - "Oppa?  Uissa?  Chincha?  Nampyon helped or did he just give orders?"  Suzy knew her husband well.  He enjoyed cooking, but he also enjoyed giving orders.  Jihoo and Kike laughed to themselves a bit.

 - "Wae?!"  JungMin yelled at them, making them laugh even more.

 - "Suzy-ah, JungMin helped very well.  The potatoes are his creation."  Jihoo was gracious to the bossy cook.

 - "Don't worry, Suzy, we just ignored him when he tried to be bossy."

 - "Ya, ya," Nana stopped the teasing.  "Jung Min es muy lindo, digan lo que digan (Whatever you say, JungMin is very sweet).  Nunca lo eh visto de mal humor sin provocación (I've never seen him in a bad mood unless provoked).

 - "Which is always," Ilana murmured under her breath.

 - "Yah!  See!  Gracias Nana, sé que soy el favorito de usted (Thank you, Nana, I know I'm your favorite).

 - "Nope," Brendon said.  "Your antics are cute, but 'Minnie ' and 'el Doctorcito' don't hold a candle to her 'niña'."  The table laughed at the truth of that statement.  She'd practically raised Ilana and loved her as if she'd been the one to give birth to her.

 - "Gwenchanayo, nado choah her niña best,” Jihoo smiled with adoration at his wife.

 - "...And I too love her 'doctorcito' best," Ilana answered back.

 - "Wow!  We went through all the courses and are now on dessert?  Jihoo and Ilana are a sticky sweet mess."

 - "Ay Brendon!"  Ilana laughed as did the rest.

 - "Let the lovers be," Harabeoji said.  "They'll have these sweet moments to look back on when life gets too busy with work and children."

JungMin snuck a kiss to his wife, just to annoy the confirmed bachelor.  "What about Kike?”  He asked.  "When will you be lucky in love?"

 - "Well..." he said, surprising everyone.  "Not in love, but I do want children..."  He began to tell a stunned Ilana about going through the process of getting a surrogate to bear him a child.

Ilana didn't know what to think.  "I know you've thought this through and I don't doubt you'll be a great Father, but alone?"

Kike smiled at his stunned sister.  "Only a few can be blessed in love, treasure what you have."

She knew that was the end of the discussion.  Nana looked at him in disapproval, while Ilana was silent trying to wrap her mind around the entire conversation.

Jihoo took her hand under the table, giving it a squeeze.  "Kike, the green beans you made are very good."

 - "Yes, moshisuyo!"  Ilana snapped out of her trance.  She'd have to step up on her prayers for Kike later.

Kike, taking the change of topic asked, "JungMin, so what are you working on now?"

 - "JungMin Hyeong is going to be famous!"  Piped in little Memo.

 - "Not yet Memo, but I'm working on it.  Other than being a Marketing director for ILC Group?  I'm in the process of creating my own publishing company and becoming an independent songwriter.  Kansamnida to Sajangim (President) for all her help."

 - "Kansamnida to JungMin-ssi, we wouldn't have the Asia project without you.  Nae interest is purely selfish, Na want you to produce an album with nae Oppa-deul, using your stage name SS501."

 - "Wau!  That would be daeback!"  Suzy clapped her hands in excitement.

 - "We can even publish an album with Uissa and you playing the violin and piano, deh?"

 - "Mworago!"  Ilana shook her head at the crazy notion.  Even Jihoo thought that was a farfetched idea.

 - "Waeyo?  Daughter of Isabel Contreras and the Su-Am cultural foundation heir...?  You two were born for this."

 - "Pabo, we were born to serve Yesu and each other," Ilana scoffed.

 - "That's a great idea!”  Kike clapped his hands enthusiastically.  “You already recorded the song for the foundation?  Why not combine your talents?  You say you want to serve God, then let the album proceeds go to the foundation?"

Ilana's spine tingled.  Didn't she tell Abigaíl, she wanted to share her testimony through music?  "Ah!  Micheosseu!"  Ilana shook her head, warding off any strange ideas.

 - "Unnie!  Think about it!"

 - "I believe it's a great way to honor the memory of both your parents," Juan Carlos simply stated.

Harabeoji liked the idea.  "When you had nothing else, you had music and it was through music that Yesu joined you together."

Jihoo looked at his wife and she at him, the idea had some merit.  "Mollahyo," Jihoo said.  "We'll be in prayer about it and if it's God's will, an opportunity will come up.  Currently, we're busy growing a baby."  He placed his hand on Ilana's stomach as he did often.  Letting their daughter know she was loved and anxiously awaited.  Everyone teased the future parents at the sweetness of their love for each other.

At the end of the night, everyone gathered for music and dancing, even the kids.  They grew up on Mariachi and the music of Mexico, but Nana's native flamenco was so much fun to stomp around to, at least for little Memo who was ten.  Juan Jr. Was content to sit and watch, until the adults ganged up on him and made him sing.  He sang his Mother's favorite song.  "Sabor a Mi."

The couples all danced together, and Nana took little Memo and danced with him.

 - "Bravo, Juan Jr!  Wau!  Jagiya, I think you'll have to include Juan Jr. In your publishing company."

 - "Imo Suzy!!"  Juan Jr. Blushed at Suzy's compliments.  The kids both used Korean titles when talking to JungMin and Suzy.

 - "He's a natural, don't you think JungMin?"

 - "Deh, keep working on your voice and you could really get into the entertainment business."

 - "Juanito doesn't get the top grades to be in the entertainment industry, he'll be a Doctor like his father," Juan Carlos was only half-joking.  He really expected his oldest to follow in his footsteps.  He could only hope.

 - "Juan Jr. can be a singing Doctor!"  Ilana laughed at her joke.  "That's what the Su-Am foundation is all about, healing through the arts."  Ilana took Jihoo's hand.  "I know when I've been sick and Jihoo hums for me or played the violin or the piano for me, it really helped ease the illness."  Ilana was in danger of getting teary-eyed at the memories of all the times Jihoo cared for her these last two years.

Jihoo wrapped her in his arms before she started to cry.  "Anae is tired, the tryptophan from the turkey is kicking in."

Ilana allowed the distraction.  "Mmm, turkey leftovers."

Gloria laughed, "Jihoo dear, watch her; don't let her give in to all her cravings or she'll blow up like a balloon.”  Gloria caught her hubae giggling to herself.  "At least this one likes to eat healthy; in about seven or eight months you'll be in Ilana's shoes."

 - "Don't worry, Noona," JungMin said.  "She won't gain too much weight on my watch."

Suzy elbowed her husband.  "Yah!  Who's getting soft in the middle?  Hmmm?"

 - "Both of them are too thin as it is and will have to gain extra weight to compensate," Juan Carlos told them.

 - "Juan Carlos, you try throwing up all day long and see if you can gain weight," Ilana huffed at her cousin.

 - "Deh, Uissanim, I promise to take good care of myself when that day comes," Suzy didn't have pregnancy hormones controlling her actions and was able to respond a little more graciously.

 - "Querido (Dear)," Gloria rubbed his arm.  "Don't harass the girls."

 - "How am I harassing the girls?"

 - "You don't talk to pregnant women like that about their weight.  It's either not enough or too much.  Jihoo, you agree, don’t you?"

Jihoo was not about to get in the middle of Gloria correcting her husband.  "We'll see how she does next trimester.  For now, Sarang needs to sleep."

- "Unnie, too bad you can't go shopping with us."  Suzy wanted to do the girl thing of shopping and coffee, but all-night shopping and Black Friday crowds is not what the Doctor ordered for a pregnant woman.

 - "Gwenchana, Suzy has her nampyon to keep her company."

 - "Deh!  It will be a blast and then we can decorate the house and grounds for Christmas when we come back!"  Suzy loved the American tradition of kicking off Christmas a month early.

 - "Suzy, you need to come to Puerto Rico, where we have two weeks of solid Christmas celebrations," Kike referred to their tradition of Christmas starting on Christmas day and not ending until Epiphany on January 6.

 - "Kike just says that because his birthday is Christmas Eve," Ilana teased.

 - "There is some truth to that statement," he said.  "The party would be better if my Manita hadn't ditched me these last few years."

 - "Oh...well...mianhae!  God had other plans!"  Ilana couldn't say she regretted having run away, then she wouldn't be where she was now.  But then it always brought her back to the same question, would she have eventually met Jihoo anyway?

 - "Deh, Oppa!  Had she been with you, we never would have met her," Suzy said.

 - "Arraseo," Jihoo interrupted.  "We can sit here and play what if all night, but anae needs to sleep."

 - "Deh," Ilana didn't realize she'd been yawning for the last five minutes.

It took another twenty minutes to say goodnight, give hugs and joke some more.  It was past eleven by the time Jihoo was crawling into bed next to his wife.  She wasn't asleep yet, but her eyes were focused elsewhere.  Jihoo could read sadness in them.  Without saying a word, he scoot himself up against her and wrapped her in his arms.

 - "Wae?"  A tear spilled over and down her face.

Ilana smiled half-heartedly and burrowed face further into her husband's chest.  "Saranghae," she mumbled.

 - "Nado saranghae, hajima Sarang hasn't told me why she's sad?"

 - "Nae pabo."

 - "Deh."  That got a chuckle out of her.

 - "Yah!" She pinched his side in retaliation.

 - "Wae?" He grabbed her hand and trapped it between them.

 - "Mianhae...Na... just started remembering when Umma, Appa and I used to decorate for Christmas."  As usual, Jihoo remained silent and let her come to terms with the memory and be there for her when she was done and hurting.  "I'm happy Harabeoji was here to spend Thanksgiving with us, considering we had so much to be thankful for this year.  But I'm sad he's leaving so soon."

 - "Sarang knows he misses Seoul and the clinic.  We are fortunate he came and remained as long as he did."  Harabeoji had agreed to come, but only until after the Thanksgiving holiday.  He thought it a good opportunity to give his assistant a short break.  With early pregnancy's nausea and fatigue were an everyday occurrence and keeping her away from the clinic was a challenge.  In this manner, he decided to close for a few weeks and give them both a rest.

 - "Deh...Sarang..." she paused again.  "Na...Haven’t spent a single Christmas in this house since…mollah?  If I did...I didn't celebrate.  Before I got sick in New York, I was looking forward to celebrating Christmas.  Last year..." she took a deep breath.  "I still didn't celebrate, even though I was very happy for a few days, I had to go and ruin things."  Her voice cracked with emotion.  Jihoo tilted her face toward his and let his lips caress her forehead and kiss her eyes that were gleaming with unshed tears.  "Mianhae, I'm rambling.  Ara, it was all in God's timing.  Naega blessed beyond measure this year."

 - "Nado, Sarang," this time he kissed her softly at first and getting bolder as he went along.

After a charged kissing session, they lay entwined sometime later.  Ilana couldn't seem to quiet her mind.  Jihoo knew this, his wife's mood had done a complete reversal since they'd gone to bed it was now close to midnight.  "Sarang needs to sleep.  What's keeping you awake?  Ara, you're tired."

 - "Miahnae...just memories.  Appa...used to let me put the angel on the tree.  We'd climb the ladder together.  He'd tell me that Angel would look after me always and when the time was right she'd send me an angel to be at my side, just like he'd been sent to Mama," the tears flowed down her face as the repressed memories of Christmas's long ago came, flooding back.  Sniffling a bit, she continued.  "Later, we'd have cookies that Mama, Nana, and I made and sing carols and Appa would play 'Greensleeves' on the violin."

Jihoo observed his wife, as he lay facing her, legs entwined with hers and his arm protectively draped over her waist.  She had closed her eyes and smiled even though a trail of tears still dampened her cheeks.  He moved his hand to smooth her unbound hair, reminding her that they have each other now and soon will be parents themselves.  They'd be able to relive all those memories with their own children.  Very soon after, they were both asleep, nestled together as always.  Jihoo protecting her sleep from painful memories.

November 27, 2015

JungMin and Suzy had returned just after sunrise, car full of shopping bags and gift wrap, bellies full of breakfast, they fell into bed until past noon.  Suzy was awakened by tantalizing scents drifting through the open window in their room.  It was another eighty-degree day in the Los Angeles area.  The aroma had to be coming from the main house and her stomach told her it was past lunchtime.  Grabbing a quick shower, throwing on shorts and a tank top, prepared an ice-cold glass of carrot juice for her husband, removed his earplugs and eye mask, left a carrot on his chest and left to see if Nana would take pity on her and give her food.  Suzy found the men carting boxes of decorations from below stairs.  She ducked into the kitchen to avoid getting in the way of the guys.

Ilana was in the kitchen with Nana, baking cookies.  "Annyeong hasseyo!"  She cheerfully greeted and stole a warm gooey, chocolate chip cookie.

 - "Annyeong!"  Ilana greeted.  "What time did you guys get home?"

 - "Seven or eight, I think?"

 - "Suzyta," Nana called her.  "Ya almorzaste (Did you have lunch)?"

 - "No," she pouted cutely for Nana.  "I smelled the cookies in my sleep," she giggled.

 - "Ahorita le cocino una tortita de huevo (I'll make you an omelet, right now)."  Nana always had vegetables and cooked meats chopped and ready to throw together for a quick meal.

 - "Gracias!  Did Harabeoji go for a walk this morning?"

One of the things he really did enjoy about Ilana's hometown, was the hills above her property.  He would take off early in the morning and find a nice spot to observe deer, rabbits, and squirrels.  He did see a mountain lion from far away once, but he remained still and gave the animal the respect it required.  "Deh," Ilana replied.  "He's taking a nap but wants to go with us to pick out a tree later."

 - "Oooh!  JungMin and I will go too!  What are the namja doing?"

 - "Carting all the decorations and seeing if anything needs to be replaced.  Most of them, just haven't been used in twenty-six years."

Suzy realized her friend’s voice change suddenly and decided to change the subject.  "Is Joy hiding in your room?"

 - "Deh, she doesn't like all this activity going on in the house.  You know she'd be in the kitchen, napping by now."

The guys were all busy, separating decorations by room or purpose.  Anything for the outdoors was immediately hauled off and anything for Christmas trees was left in the main room.  Kike busied himself checking old light strings to see if any needed fresh lightbulbs, of which they found tons of replacements.  "Ay!!!!"  Kike yelled and shook out his hand after a string of lights sparked before burning out completely.

Jihoo paused his rummaging and went over to Kike's side.  "Did you burn yourself?"

 - "Not really, just shocked."

 - "Just the same, let me look at it."  Jihoo took a quick look at the hand.  "I would put aloe or an ointment if you don't want it to get worse."

 - "I'll be fine.  Who wants to throw all these old lights out and go buy new ones?"

 - "Me!"  Brendon walked in, he'd been untangling lights outside.

 - "Anae, would not like it if you wasted the money."

 - "Dr. Jihoo is right," Brendon sighed.  "She'd kill us."

 - "She doesn't know what we have, she'll never know."

Jihoo was tempted but thought somehow, she would know.  Somehow, she would remember and realize it wasn't the same as when she was a child.  "Ani, anae will somehow know.  Na want this Christmas to be special.  It's not only our first Christmas as husband and wife, but it's her first real Christmas since the accident."

 - "But you two won't even be here for Christmas?"  Kike asked.  "Your Gala is just a few days prior."

 - "Deh, I've been praying about it and thinking of a way to pull off arriving by Christmas Eve, without it being too much of a strain on her.  Even if it's late, na would like to give her that."

 - "You'll think of something, you always do," Brendon said.

By the evening, the Yoon/Contreras/Park household had returned from a tree farm with a giant tree for the main house and a smaller one for the cottage.  The men decided there was no way they'd be able to decorate the entire outdoors on their own.  Truthfully, it was a first for all of them.  Except for JungMin who usually helped to decorate the ship.  An announcement went up on the Church Junior High & High School Facebook page for any able-bodied male and female to come help decorate, food and beverage provided.  Most of the group had gone to a movie and were delighted to come and help.  Brendon picked them all up and the result was a houseful of people, a giant turkey pot pie in the oven, Christmas carols blaring, singing on key and off-key, laughter and mischief and ice-cold drinks to go with the warm weather.

Ilana was on the floor of the media room with Suzy, working on a project.   They had holed themselves up in the office for about an hour.  This was good, as JungMin, Jihoo, and Brendon were able to pour over Nana's old pictures of the house during Christmas.  The rest of the girls and a few boys concentrated on threading garland through every stairway and archway with the help of ladders.  All new hooks had to be put in place.  Aside from a few small decorations, the house hadn't been fully decked out for the holidays since the death of Ilana's parents.  Project done, Suzy and Ilana went through every room, exchanging the everyday towels with Christmas towels.  They even made a Christmas collar for Joy, complete with a bell.  The cat did not know what to make of it.

Nana surveyed the laughter and delight on her 'Niña’s' face and praised the Lord that he gave her life to see this day.  She immediately ran outside.  "¡Doctorcito, ven (come)!"  She called Jihoo.

Jihoo immediately dropped the net of lights over the bushes he and kike were poised over.  "Deh, Nana?"  He smiled kindly at her taking her hands in his.  He was taken by complete surprise when she wrapped her still strong arms around him.  Harabeoji stood by holding a ladder and smiled at the scene.  He was happy that his Grandson was so well-loved and cared for here.

 - "Gracias, deberás eres un ángel (Thank you, you really are an angel)" Nana's eyes were getting moist.

 - "Nana?"  Jihoo asked in worry.  "Está bien (Are you alright)?"

 - "Si joven (yes, young one), ven para enseñarte el milagro que me has traído (come, let me show you the miracle you brought me)."  She grabbed Jihoo's hand and pulled him inside the house.

 - "Yah Nana?"  JungMin was not to be left bind.  "Mi abrazo (My hug)?"  Curiosity made him follow them back to the house, followed by Kike and Brendon.

They all came to a stop in the Middle of the main room.  "Jihoo, mira (look).  Mira mi niña (look at my girl).  Mírale la carita de alegría (Look at her happy little face).  ¿Habías visto semejante escena tan hermosa (Have you ever seen such a beautiful sight)?"

Jihoo didn't quite understand Nana's words but understood their meaning loud and clear.  His wife along with Suzy adjusted the garland and wreaths from the second story railing.  They danced and sang along to Burl Ives 'Holly Jolly Christmas'.  Ilana's laughter was genuine and unrestrained; her face was bright and alive and lovely.  For the first time, he could see a glimpse of the child that was, prior to her parent’s death.  Nana had already left Jihoo to admire his wife and returned to her task, as did the others, though JungMin snuck a picture to load on twitter later.  JungMin was quite observant and knew the scene with his wife and Ilana was something special.  The guys would love to see that.

Jihoo watched for another minute or two and then quickly went up to her two steps at a time.  With a back hug he surprised her and when she turned, he briefly caught her lips with his.  "Yippeun," he smiled at her.

 - "Sarang!"  She laughed as she turned to give him a proper hug and bury her face in his chest.  He smelled delicious, even with the smell of chimney smoke, dust and even a bit of perspiration on top of his naturally wonderful smell.

 - "Uissanim!  We haven't even hung the mistletoe yet!"  One of the kids teased.

Jihoo laughed and stopped his wife's sniffing to steal another kiss.

JungMin cleared his throat loudly, "Yoon Jihoo, we're almost done and you're having a session with your anae?"  He was the self-proclaimed director of the outdoor decorating.

 - "Yeobo!"  Suzy s her own arms around him, kissing his cheek and tapping his lip playfully.  "Leave Uissa with Ilana and I'll go help you."

 - "Arraso...only because anae is cute."  He pinched her cheek.

 - "Greomyo!  Kaja," she took his hand.  "It's getting late and no one has eaten dinner.  Ilana's baby needs more than cookies, chips and salsa and kimbap."

Jihoo and Ilana watched them go, "begopayo?"  Jihoo asked.  If she got too hungry, she would get nauseous and he wanted to avoid that when she was having such a good time.

 - "Jeogumyo, but we're almost done."

 - "Sarang, what are you working on?"

 - "We're done Uissanim, Ilana-ssi.  See?"  One of the kids pointed to the ceiling.

 - "Wau!"  They had hung light strings from end to end so the entire ceiling was lit up.  The nine-foot tree was also lit up and just waiting for the ornaments.  "It's beautiful!

 - "This was fun, can we help decorate next year too?"

 - "Greomyo!"

Jihoo saw his wife's eyes were shining brightly with joy as she surveyed the room.  He had to admit, it was nice.  Just the action of decorating brought you into the proper heart of celebrating the birth of Christ.  Just like they anxiously waited for their own baby.  Still standing behind his wife, Jihoo Placed a hand on Ilana's stomach, and the other pulled her back against him kissing her tenderly on the cheek.  He really did not mind these displays of affection.  In fact, he craved them, skinship it was called.  Yes, he needed to feel the warmth of her skin under his lips or his hand.  Was it this way for everyone?  He was sure it was that way for her, he thought of the way she buried her head in his bare chest every night.

Their admiration of the lights and each other was interrupted by JungMin running in the door.  "We're done outside!"

Ilana made a move to go downstairs and Jihoo stopped her.  "Anieyo, after dinner."

 - "It will only take a minute to see the lights?"

 - "Deh, after you eat."  They had lost complete track of time and it was now past eight.  He smiled at her pouting face.  We'll have a grand lighting after everyone eats.  He had snuck his hand under her hair and was now rubbing circles on her cheek with his thumb.

 - "Deh...," she reluctantly agreed.

 - "Gather everyone to eat!"  Jihoo called down to JungMin.

 - "That's a good idea!  Yah!!  Mokda!!!"  JungMin had walked over to the front door and shouted.

It wasn't quite what Jihoo had in mind when he told him to gather everyone, but it worked.  Not that everyone was starving as they'd been snacking all day, but who can say no to homemade pot pie.  Soon people filed in and out of the kitchen, serving themselves the turkey pie, Cesar salad, and more cookies.  Jihoo made Ilana sit in the dining room and brought her a plate.  It smelled divine and tasted just as wonderful.  Ilana didn't realize she was hungry until she took the first forkful and couldn't put it down.  The crust was flaky and buttery and the pie filling savory with just the right thickness of gravy, not too thick and not too runny.  She didn't know how Nana did it, but the vegetables weren't soggy, but still crisp.

Jihoo couldn't help thinking of JanDi while keeping an eye on his wife as she ate and didn't stop until the last bite was gone.  If only she ate with that much abandon every day, he thought.  He chuckled at her disappointed face when her fork hit the plate and there was nothing left but crumbs.  He quickly scooped his remaining forkfuls onto her plate to her surprise.

 - "Sarang?  Wae?"

 - "Gwenchana!  Sarang needs it more than I do.  Na don't want you to go hungry."

Ilana bit her fork with a sheepish smile.  She couldn't possibly take his food, could she?  "Anieyo, Sarang!  I'm satisfied!"

 - "Anieyo, finish it, it's only two or three bites.  This is better for you than cookies."  He took a forkful and fed it to her.  All protests were gone once she tasted the wonderful oniony, garlicky and savory bit of heaven.

 - "Omo!  This is sooo good!"

 - "Dtal is happy?"

 - "Deh.  She wants Appa to have the last bite."

 - "Sarang, mokda," he pushed the offered fork back to her.

 - "Ani, I just wanted a little more.  Mokda..." she danced the fork in front of his face.

 - "Chincha?"

 - "Deh!"  He captured the fork quickly in his mouth.

 - "Will you two stop being so cute!"  One of the teen girls mock scolded them.

Ilana blushed, Jihoo grinned after swallowing his food.  "Like this?"  He brought his wife's face to his and softly kissed her cheek, making her blush and the kids howl and whistle.  He didn't know why he couldn't resist kissing her, hugging her, or caressing her all the time in public or not.  This behavior would normally never suit a respectable married couple back home, but here, he could get away with it.

 - "Uissa, Ilana-ssi, come on, let's turn on the lights outside."

 - "Deh!"  Ilana sat up excitedly.

 - "Mollah..." Jihoo .

 - "Sarang!"  She tried poking his side, but he was too fast and caught her hands.

 - "Sarang needs to close her eyes."

 - "Wae?!"

 - "Deh, nampyon," Jihoo teased back.  "Sarang is supposed to obey."

Ilana narrowed her eyes at him.  "Does Sarang love me as Christ loved the Church?"  She reminded him of his part of the deal.

 - "Greomyo, now close your eyes."

 - "Wae?!  I don't like surprises," she closed her eyes as she complained.

 - "Sarang will like this one," Jihoo told her what he always did when he wanted her to comply.

 - "I better..."  They were already walking to the door.

Once Jihoo maneuvered his wife out to the edge of the yard, JungMin began to count.  "Hana!!  Dol!!  Set!!!"  He flipped the switch from his phone and the yard lit up in a glow of soft white lights.  Ilana opened her eyes to see the lawn edged in small glowing lanterns.  The fountain, currently dry because of the drought restrictions, was made to look as if it was flowing lights.  Everywhere she turned there was light, even the bushes were covered in lights.  Her eyes finally landed on the doorway and the lighted animated deer were to the right of the door, just where her Mother always placed them, with a poinsettia plant for them to graze on.  From the windowsills hung a lighted garland, from the eaves of the house, icicles, and her Mother's wreath, which was sent to her from Spain, hung on the door.  It took some time for Ilana to find everything, her heart was thumping in her chest with an emotion she couldn't quite place.  Everything was so beautiful, and visions of her childhood Christmases flashed through her brain.  She laughed as everyone danced under the snowmaking machine.  That she knew wasn't around when she was little.  She didn't know how she could laugh and feel like sobbing at the same time, but that was what was happening.

Jihoo had been observing his wife with joy as she smiled and took everything in with wide eyes.  He knew she was happy, yet he couldn't place the tears, they started to come down faster and before they turned into a full-on sob, he turned her to face him and gathered her in his arms just in time.  She let out a strangled half laugh, half sob, her breathing was erratic, and her heart beating rapidly under his hand while smoothing it over her back and making shushing noises into her ear.

 - "G-ggom-a," she tried to take a deep breath.  "Gomawo."

 - "Gwenchana, Sarang.  Too many emotions all at once?  Just concentrate on one at a time and don't forget to breathe.  Sarang doesn't want to faint in front of everyone."  He had already signaled to the others that she was fine.

 - "Yyyippppeun, how...how did you do it?   I remember it being al-almost identical."

 - "Nana brought out old pictures and we were able to see how everything was placed."

 - "Sarang, I-I miss them," she sniffed.

Jihoo felt her calming down, slowly.  "Deh, Sarang, it's natural."

 - "It's just, I want to share this with them.  I want to tell them, look, look what Jihoo did for me."

 - "Deh, Sarang," he held her tight as the tears fell again.  "Gwenchana, Sarang, I'm here," he kissed Top of her head.  "Yesu brought us together so that we can share in these memories together.  Na...can imagine Abeoji would want to tell me about becoming an Abeoji and Umma would be so happy.  She would already be shopping for the material for our baby's first hanbok."  Not that he really knew, he’d lost his parents at such a young age, be he just had a feeling that was how things would be.

Jihoo held her a little longer until the painful longing subsided and memories were just sweet.

The kids began to excuse themselves as parents began calling them home.  Ilana was still enthralled with all the decorations and was hesitant to go inside.  "Sarang, you should rest.  You've been on your feet all day.  We'll trim the tree tomorrow."

 - "Anieyo!"  She stood under the snow machine's flurries, grinning like a child.  "I want to decorate tonight.  It's not that late."

Jihoo smiled at his childlike wife, playing in the fake snow in shorts and a three-quarter sleeved shirt.  "Sarang, it's after nine.  How long will it take to decorate the tree?"

 - "Not long, there's seven of us.  How long can it take?"

It took almost three hours with JungMin barking orders and everyone disobeying him just because.  Ilana took time out to shed tears a few more times and Harabeoji stood well out of the way laughing now and then.

Jihoo returned his violin to its case after everyone was done.  JungMin and Suzy had already crossed the yard to their home, Nana was still straightening the kitchen, even though Jihoo told her to leave it and go to bed,  Kike and Brendon were tinkering on the upright piano, they had moved into the main room and Jihoo wondered where his wife had disappeared to.  He checked the kitchen, the study, and the music room.

 - "Did you two see Ilana?"  Jihoo asked of Kike and Brendon, finally.

 - "I thought she went into the media room."

Ilana had found an old teddy bear, perfectly preserved in plastic and under it was a video of her Mother and her performing for a Christmas event.  She hadn't watched much before sleep overcame her, had anyone been in the room, they'd had heard her laughing in her sleep.  Visions of the evening flashed in her subconscious.

 - "Yah!"  JungMin shouted.  "Who put this music ornament, right next to another one?  You're supposed to alternate with the spheres."

 - "Park JungMin!  I'll leave your ornament off the tree if you don't relax."  Suzy and Ilana’s surprise where little-bejeweled frames, each containing the picture of a different family member, including Suzy, Min, and Joy.

 - "Unnie, he can wear it on his tie," Suzy husband.

 - "Na would rather carry you with me all the time," JungMin lifted his wife into his arms.

 - "Yah!  Put me down!"

 - "Wait!"  Kike dug in one of the boxes and climbed the ladder over JungMin and Suzy.  "You’re under the mistletoe!"  Everyone laughed, JungMin didn't need a silly tradition of kissing under this type of plant to tell him when to kiss his wife.  But at the time, it was a good excuse to do so.

Ilana took a picture of them with her phone and sent it to the gang.

Ilana uncovered a reddish-pink ornament that read 'Baby's First Christmas'.  "Sarang, look, let's save this for next Christmas."

 - "Anieyo, this is her first Christmas."  Jihoo stood behind his wife, wrapping an arm around her waist and hanging it in a spot on the tree, between their two pictures.

 - "Choah?"

 - "Deh!"  Ilana turned to face him and gave him a peck on the lips.

 - "Yah!"  Again, JungMin being a dork, had to interrupt the moment.  "Mistletoe, remember?"  JungMin brought the ladder to where they stood and held the plant over their heads.  Ilana's face turned the same shade as the ornament and Jihoo brought his lips to hers, kissing her tenderly, lightly catching each of her lips with his.  When he was done, she buried her face in his chest and made a high-pitched sound in the back of .  They were in front of family, there was no need to be shy giving her husband a kiss, but the kissing on command, like at their wedding, warmed her face and gave her a terrible case of the giggles.  Jihoo couldn't help giving her another peck on the cheek for good measure.

When only the topper remained, Ilana gave the Angel to Jihoo, but he refused.  “Sarang is still the daughter of the house.”  While Kike and Brendon steadied the ladder, Ilana climbed with Jihoo behind her and topped the happy tree with its guardian angel.  The tree sparkled in gold and red and the occasional green and blue, beneath them.  “Yesu must have sent you to watch over the baby Miss Angel.  Thank you.”

Ilana thought that was the highlight of the evening, but Jihoo disappeared into the music room for his violin.  Returning, he gave his phone to Brendon with a command to record the proceeding event.  He took his wife's hand and commanded her to sit.  Everyone else found a seat as well.  Jihoo began 'What Child Is This/Greensleeves' just like her Father used to.  Ilana couldn't help the tears that fell and the smile so wide, she felt her face stretching.  He played it through once.  "Sarang, next time sing for me," and she did, along with Suzy, JungMin, and Kike, who had also hopped on the piano.  The four made a perfect quartet and excitedly made plans to go out caroling soon.

Jihoo found his wife curled up with a teddy bear on the couch, asleep with a sweet smile on her face.  It had been a long day and she wasn't sick once.  Perhaps the nausea would soon be over.  He leaned over and grazed her lips with his.  Making a decision, he placed her on his back.  She was so tired, nothing would wake her.

Kike and Brandon were still jamming on the piano up and saw them go up the stairs.  "Jihoo!  Watch out for the mistletoe!"  Kike laughed.  Someone, it could've been the kids or JungMin who was like a kid, hung a cluster of mistletoe above their doorway.

 - "My kissing partner is asleep.  She owes me one.  Jaljayo!"  He inclined his head to the two men and ducked into their room.  As usual, Nana turned their bed down.  He didn’t know how she managed to flit through the house undetected.  He dared even JunPyo's trained army of servants to take care of them like Nana did.  Placing his wife down on the bed, he removed her shorts, placing a kiss on her tummy.  "Jalja dtal."

When Jihoo finally shed his own clothes and came to bed, he wrapped her in his arms.  "Saranghae," he kissed her lips briefly.

Ilana felt Jihoo's presence somewhere in her subconscious, not knowing if she was dreaming or awake, she mumbled to him.  "Gomawo" and that was the last he heard from her all night.

November 28, 2015

Mina's Mother had already planned a post-Thanksgiving feast and they were fortunate to have still found a turkey at Costco, the weekend of their arrival.  It was a huge twenty-six-pound turkey.  Mina thought she'd be eating turkey for a month until her Mother told her to invite her friends.  It worked out very well because both HyungJun and KyuJong both had time off.  KyuJong was spending the night at HyungJun's parent's house and Emily would be dropping him off at the train station around noon on Sunday to head back to Nonsan.  Mina was excited at having the 'gang' over as Ilana always called them.  She wished she could invite JanDi and GaEul, but that would be too many people all in one place.  Her apartment was not tiny, thanks to her Father giving her half the rental price.  And of course, ILC Group owned the complex, so she was able to get a discount.  At least for the first year, she wanted to live in this trendy neighborhood.  Perhaps next year, she'd move to another part of Seoul, but for now, she really enjoyed living here.  It was perfectly centered to most everything in Seoul, with easy access to public transportation.

While Mrs. Rodriguez was in the kitchen, Mina and her Father stayed out of her way and decorated the house with candles and leaves pressed in frames, gathered from their morning walk.  "Hija, estas contenta aquí (Are you happy here)?" 
 - "Si Papi, el arquitecto TaeYoung y su esposa han sido muy amables conmigo e igual las amistades de Ilana también me han adoptado (Yes, daddy, architect Tae Young and his wife have been very kind and Ilana's friends have also adopted me).

 - "Me alegra, oírlo (It makes me happy to hear)."

Mrs. Rodriguez finally came out of the kitchen, "everything should be ready by the time your friends arrive in the afternoon."

 - "Kansamnida!"  Mina bowed to her mother, jokingly.  Her Mother playfully swatted her daughter with the towel in her hand.

Mina couldn't wait for everyone to arrive.

HyungJun woke up excited for his day off and the prospect of good food.  It was very nice of Mina to share her time with her parents with them.  He thought it a shame, Ilana and Jihoo were not in town and Jung Min and Suzy and Sunbae.  Once he started to think about everyone not being together, he wanted to cry.  Then there was YoungSaeng, he rarely hung out with them anymore.  Maybe he was off too and would like to come.  It would be a great excuse for Mina and him to meet.

He began texting everyone.  First on the list was YoungSaeng.

HyungJun:  Hyeong!  Are you free this evening?

YoungSaeng was already working.  He had an early shift, which was nice because then he was free to do whatever he wanted afterward, he just needed to be back by midnight.  The problem was, he didn't have plans yet.  Perhaps he would just go to a movie alone or work on his voice and dancing.  The end of his military service was coming soon and then he'd be expected to completely focus on his music.  He hadn't told anyone, not even his parents.  It just didn't seem real, that an entertainment company heard him singing on the street and scouted him.  He had a contract already, he presented it to a lawyer before signing and knew it was legitimate.  As the end of his military service drew closer, most likely then he would begin to feel excitement.

Just finishing a parking ticket, YoungSaeng checked his phone that had buzzed a few seconds earlier.  He read the Maknae's message.  Should he tell him he was free?  Maybe he would, it'd be fun to hang out.  Perhaps KyuJong was also free this weekend and that's why he was asking.  YoungSaeng responded.

YoungSaeng:  Wae?

HyungJun should have been working but was anxiously awaiting a response.

HyungJun:  Daeback!  You're free.

YoungSaeng:  I asked why?  I didn't say deh or ani.

HyungJun began to text Mina and ask if they could bring one more friend who was all alone on his time off.

Fifteen minutes later, YoungSaeng received another text.

HyungJun:  For Hyeong it's like saying deh.  If Hyeong weren't free, he would have told me straight away.  Five P.M. at (address), a friend's parents are inviting all of us for a get-together.  KyuJong Hyeong is off too.

HyungJun didn't mention the girls being there too.  His Hyeong would complain about it being a couples evening.

YoungSaeng should have known it was a setup, but seeing that KyuJong would be there, he naturally assumed it was the house of his bunkmate and not a female and most definitely not a female he had some type of an acquaintance with.

The turkey was resting, and Mrs. Rodriguez was quickly sautéing green beans with walnuts and bacon.  There was a pumpkin pie in the oven and K-pop playing softly in the background.  Mina's father was setting the table with hand-decorated paper placemats he and his daughter had made.  Candles flickered everywhere, and leaves hung in frames, scattered in bowls or trapped in glass.  All that was left was for the guests to arrive.

Despite both Emily and YiHyun having cars, they took the train so that YoungSaeng would not feel like the third wheel.  As predicted, he was moody at the girlfriends being there too.  Individually, he had nothing against them, it was the fact that his dongsaeng-deul did nothing without them that made him feel awkward.  He never thought about it before, but it was really nerve-wracking when all your friends had girlfriends.

They arrived at the apartment building, it was rather state of the art.  Nothing was cheap on the Island, so the person living there had to be well off.  "Whose house are we going to?"  YoungSaeng asked.

 - "A new chingu we've been getting to know...from the states," HyungJun gave an evasive answer.

 - "KyuJong-ah, you know him too?"  He naturally still assumed it was a 'he'.

 - "Not as well as the others, but deh," KyuJong remembered Mina had sat and talked with all of them for a while at the wedding.  He didn't remember if YoungSaeng was even at the table during that time.

The apartment was on the eleventh floor of twenty, Mina was not interested in heights.  Emily rang the doorbell and Mr. Rodriguez answered the door.

 - "Annyeong hasseyo Abeoji?"  YiHyun on everyone's behalf.

 - "I'm sorry, languages aren't my strong point.  I'm Mina's Father, please come in and make yourselves at home.  She just went into the kitchen to bring out the plates."  They all kicked off their shoes at the door before going any further.

 - "I'll be out in a bit!"  Mina shouted from the kitchen, in Korean.

 - "Take your time!"  Emily shouted.  "Mr. Rodriguez, we brought you this box of Asian pears."

 - "Nado...aish!  Us too," So YiHyun spoke more Korean on a daily basis than English.  "These are dried persimmons.  My Mother made them, I hope you will enjoy."

 - "Ah, thank you!  You shouldn't have."

KyuJong stacked both boxes on top of each other and handed them to Mr. Rodriguez.  "It's our pleasure, thank you for the invitation."

Mr. Rodriguez received the boxes with both hands.  "No, it’s our pleasure.  My daughter is in this country alone and has been blessed by the architect’s friendship and now yours."  He looked to the kitchen and Mina had been detained.  He leaned into the small group.  "Do you know if my daughter is seeing anyone?  Or has a crush on a particular young man?"

YoungSaeng had hung back a little awkward.  Not only was this not the house of one of Maknae's bunkmates, but family from the other day.  How did his friends know them?  What was he supposed to say?  This was all very awkward.

Emily and YiHyun looked at each other and both nodded their head 'no'.  "She hasn't told us anything."  They had tricked YoungSaeng into coming for precisely that reason, to match him up with Mina.

 - "I think she likes an...wait a minute..."  Mr. Rodriguez finally noticed the shy prince hanging in the back of the two couples with his face to the floor.  "We've met?"

Everyone turned to look at each other.  "I'm sorry," Emily said.  "We should introduce ourselves."  She began to place a hand on everyone's shoulder as she said their name.  "Kim KyuJong, Kim HyungJun, So YiHyun, Heo YoungSaeng, and I'm Emily Wells."

 - "It is you!"  YoungSaeng was rendered mute and confused.  "Mina!  ¡Hija (Daughter)!! ¡Apúrate (Hurry)!"  Mr. Rodriguez was overjoyed at the unexpected guest.

 - "Hyeong, have you met the family before?"  KyuJong asked.

 - "Ah, oh...d-deh," YoungSaeng wanted to be swallowed by the ground.  “M-mianhaeyo, abeoji.  I'm intruding, I'll take my leave."

 - "Nonsense!  Mina will be excited to see her favorite singer."

Mina and her Mother were coming out of the kitchen at that moment.  "Annyeong hasseyo!  Mok..."  Mina froze at the sight of YoungSaeng.

 - "Hija!  Look who is a friend of your friends?"

The girls looked at their boyfriends wondering why Mina looked frightened and YoungSaeng looked completely embarrassed and ready to bolt out the door.  KyuJong took the initiative.  Seeing as Mina had frozen with the dish of green beans in her hands, he took it from her and placed it on the table.  "Annyeong hasseyo Mina-ssi, mannaseh bongapsumnida.  Orenmanida.  Since the wedding.  How do you like it in Seoul?"

Mina's Mother had come back out of the kitchen with another plate.  "Eommoni, sit, I'll help you," YiHyun stepped up to help.

Mina woke up from her trance.  "Ah d-deh, KyuJong-ssi, nomu choahyo."

 - "Do you remember nae Hyeong, YoungSaeng?"  KyuJong grabbed YoungSaeng's arm.  "Hyeong, remember Mina?  Her family is very close to Ilana's."

Everything came coming back to him.

 - "You have a lovely voice."

- "Mina-ssi, I'll walk you out."

 - "M-mianhaeyo, na didn't recognize you."

 - "You two have met?"  There was a gleam in HyungJun's eyes.  "Hyeong?"

 - "Mina, why didn't you tell us you ran into our YoungSaeng?"  YiHyun tried to contain her excitement.

 - "Ah, deh...I-I didn't remember...at first."  She mumbled that last piece of information.

Mina's parents decided to save the awkward situation.

 - "Well, now that everyone knows each other, let's say grace so that we can eat."  Mina's Mother called dinner to order.  "YoungSaeng-ssi, please forgive our daughter, she can be very shy at times."

 - "Mama!!"  Mina was even more embarrassed.

 - "Gwenchanayo Mina-ssi, Korean parents like to embarrass their kids too.  Besides Hyeong is shy too, if he'd recognized you, he would've done the same and pretended not to know you."

 - "Yah!"  YoungSaeng yelled at his younger friend.

 - "Maja,” HyungJun said.

 - "Who asked you!"

 - "Namja!"  Emily had to stop them.  She knew from experience they'd go on all night and YoungSaeng and Mina would be even more embarrassed.  "Let's say grace so we can enjoy this delicious dinner."

 - "Ah deh."

Somehow, Mina and YoungSaeng ended up next to each other at the table.  She had been sitting next to Emily when she got up to grab another serving spoon from the kitchen.  When she got back, her mother had taken her place and she was forced to take her spot on the other side of the table.

 YoungSaeng also wondered what happened, he didn't pay attention as HyungJun was being his usual self and talking nonstop.  When Mina's Father asked them all to hold hands to say a prayer of thanksgiving, it wasn't Mrs. Rodriguez that was next to him, but her daughter.

 - "Papi, I'm sure they'd be uncomfortable holding hands."

 - "Oh really?"

 - "Mollan anjii (Of course not)!  We’re all close friends, Maknae used to sit on my lap on the ship."  KyuJong didn't want to offend their hosts and he was sure Mrs. Rodriguez changed seats on purpose.

 - "If you're comfortable, it will just be a minute, In the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost..." Mr. Rodriguez began.

 - "Greomyo!"  HyungJun said while grabbing for YoungSaeng's hand.

YoungSaeng scowled at him, but there wasn't much he could do, he turned to Mina resigned to take her hand.  The poor girl looked more embarrassed then he did.  He gave an embarrassed grin and took her hand.

Once everyone was in proper position, Mr. Rodriguez continued.  "Heavenly Father, we give you praises every day, but once a year we set aside a day to truly remember and thank you for all the blessings you've given us.  Thank you for your provision, Lord, for my work as an Attorney.  Also, you've blessed our family friend this year with the addition of ILC Group-Seoul.  Through ILC, you've given us new friends with which to break bread with.  I thank you for each one at this table, may you bless their work, their families, keep them in good health, and safe while these young men serve their country.  We welcome them into our family, let this meal be a blessing to these young ones as they have blessed our Mina with their friendship.  Amen."

 - “Amen!”  The others replied.

Mina squeezed YoungSaeng’s hand, the same as she did her Father.  It was a habit, a sort of confirmation that they were all in agreement of the words that had been said.  Realizing she had done that, she quickly released his hand.  “If you pass me your plate, I’ll serve!”  Anything to avoid YoungSaeng.  She couldn't believe she had squeezed his hand.  He had to be thinking horrible things about her by now.  Taking a serving spoon, she spooned stuffing on to her Father's plate and ended up dropping the spoon as she served YoungSaeng.  Thankfully, nothing spilled, but the clattering of the spoon hitting the plate, sent shivers up her spine.  "Omo!!  Jwosongmnida!  Jwosongmnida!"

 - "Gwenchanayo, nothing spilled," YoungSaeng reassured her kindly.  She had picked up the spoon again and saw her hands were shaking.  "Chinchayo!!  Gwenchanayo!!"  He couldn't help chuckle, she obviously didn't believe that he wasn't offended.

 - "YoungSaeng-ssi, forgive my daughter.  She's not usually prone to clumsiness."  YoungSaeng had to disagree with her Mother and thought Mina was very prone to clumsiness.

 - "Why don't you just serve yourselves or pass the serving plates around.  That might be safer."  Her Father took her hand affectionately.  He'd never seen her less than completely confident.  It must be the young officer.  When it comes to the opposite she loses all her grace.

Once everyone had food on their plate and no further incidents happened, the atmosphere relaxed and the chatting and joking began.  "Boys, how long have you been in service?"  Mr. Rodriguez asked.

 - "A year and a half or less, Abeoji," YoungSaeng answered as the oldest of the group.

 - "Ah, well it won't be much longer then.  Do you have plans for after?"

This time KyuJong answered, "Emily and I hope to be married soon after and I'll or actually we'll be overseeing the clinics under the Su-Am Cultural foundation."

 - "Papi, that's Ilana's husband’s foundation," Mina explained.  Her father nodded in understanding.

 - "So YiHyun and I have already set up a photo studio, that she runs," HyungJun said.  "We too hope to be married soon after and run the business together.  Though she's doing daeback on her own, she might not need me."

 - "Mollan anjii!!!"  YiHyun exclaimed in a panic.  "I can't wait to work side by side.  We're a team, remember?"

 - "Aigoo!!!  Nae yeoja chingu is so cute."

 - "Ani, Junnie is so cute," they were soon pinching each other’s cheeks and making googly eyes and kissy faces at each other.

Mina couldn't help sigh at this display; may the Lord forgive her coveting a relationship.

YoungSaeng let out his breath a little noisily at the pair next to him and heard a soft sigh coming from the person next to him.  He stole a peek at her slightly annoyed expression.  It made him smile a bit.  If he were looking in a mirror, he'd probably be wearing the same expression.

 - "HyungJun Oppa!"  Mina needed to stop them before the desire to wipe off those silly faces overcame her, and she actually stood up from her seat and wiped them with a towel.  "Remember!!  Single people in the room!"

HyungJun stuck his tongue out at Mina and kissed YiHyun on the cheek before sitting properly once again.

YoungSaeng had remained quiet, but he was so relieved the scene was over.  He opened his mouth to speak before he knew it.  "Kansamnida, Mina-ssi, they're really annoying at times."

Mina jumped a bit in her chair at the sound of his voice, "ah...anieyo!"

Her red face made him chuckle.  He didn't know why he was starting to get the impression he startled her or made her nervous.

 - "You two will have your turn one day, just be patient in the season has you in," Mr. Rodriguez chided the two singles.

 - "Si, Papi."

 - "Deh, Abeoji."  Both lowered their heads chastised but were secretly grinning.

 - "Officer Heo?  I almost forgot about you.  What grand plans do you have after your military duties are done?"

 - "Oh?  Deh," YoungSaeng had been too busy laughing silently with Mina that he hadn't heard Mr. Rodriguez at first.  All eyes were looking at him.  What should he say?  “Deh…I do have something in the mind.”  Should he tell them everything?  He hadn’t known how to break the news to them.  His friends all had their lives all figured out, he was the only one that had run away like an idiot.  Though if he could scarcely believe it himself, what will his friends think?

 - “Officer Heo, if you’re uncomfortable sharing, you’re under no obligation.  I just wanted to get to know everyone here.”

 - “Deh, it’s just…na haven’t told anyone yet.”

 - “Hyeong!  Your suspense is killing me!”  HyungJun was on the edge of his seat, waiting to hear the mystery.

 - “Hyeong, tell us, juseyo?”  KyuJong asked.  “You know if it’s important to one, then it’s important to all of us.  It must be something very exciting, you’re unsure of how to start.”  KyuJong knew his friends well.

YoungSaeng couldn’t back out now, it was say something now or be a jerk.  “Na…want…have decided…to pursue music.”

 - “Mwo?!”  HyungJun jumped from his seat.

 - “Junnie, sit down!”  YiHyun whispered loudly.

 - “Hyeong knows how excitable Maknae is.  Jeongmal?”  KyuJong was shocked but happy for his friend.  “Wau!  Chukahae!”

YoungSaeng sat, not making eye contact with anyone, not sure how we felt after letting the cat out of the bag.

 - “Saengie-ah!  Why didn’t you tell us?”  HyungJun pouted slightly.  “JungMin will be a famous songwriter and now Saengie will follow Sunbae…?”  Omo, omo, omo!!!  This is daeback!!”  He stood again, and again his girlfriend placed a restraining hand on his arm.

 - “This is wonderful news,” Mina was just as excited and forgot herself almost placing a hand on his shoulder as if he were one the guys back home.  She woke up in time to pull her hand back.  “I…meant it when I said you have a lovely voice.”  Her cheeks were bright red and she was looking at her fork, not at him.

 - “Kansamnida,” he too was a little embarrassed.  He had seen her draw her hand back quickly.  “At least I know one person will buy my album if ever I release one.”

 - “Yah, Hyeong!  We don’t need to buy one, you’ll give us all autograph copies and VIP tickets to your concert, right?”

 - “Junnie, how will he make money if he gives everything away?!”  YiHyun was the practical one in the relationship.  “Gwenchanayo YoungSaeng-ah, I’ll buy a lot and make sure my customers buy one too.  Omo!!  I just thought of something?”  Now YiHyun had stood.  “ILC group can market you and Hyung and Hyun studios can do all your photoshoots.”

 - “Unnie!!!  That’s perfect!”  Mina looked up excitedly.

 - “Emily and I will be your personal physicians and Mr. Rodriguez can be your attorney,” KyuJong added.

 - “Saengie dear, just call me and I will find a way to send you food.  I wouldn’t want you to be one of those starving idols.  These agencies only care about you singing and making money for them, but they starve their idols.”

 - “So does the army,” HyungJun laughed.  “Hyeong’s chubby cheeks are gone.”

Mina tried to picture him other than lean and trim and couldn’t.  Actually, she thought he could stand to gain a little bit of weight.  Mina didn’t realize she’d stopped eating and was now staring at his face, trying to picture the chubby cheeks.  “Maknae!!  Mina-ssi is staring.”

His voice had been unintentionally gruff, and Mina dropped her fork nervously.  “M-m-mianhaeyo.”

So, he did frighten her, YoungSaeng thought.  Ignoring Maknae’s scolding beside him, he thought he’d have to ask her ‘why?’ later.  “Mianhae,” he said only loud enough for her to hear.

 - “A-anieyo,” she answered him back.  “Hajiman when YoungSaeng-ssi becomes an Idol everyone will be staring at him.”

YoungSaeng smiled, she had a point.

 - “There seems to be a fantastic story behind this.  I’m sure we’d all like to hear about it?”  Mr. Rodriguez asked.

 - “Hai (Japanese for yes)!”  Mrs. Rodriguez added to the clamoring for the story.

YoungSaeng had told them about singing on the phone and receiving a visit from an agent not long after.  KyuJong didn’t mention he knew the reason why he had to sing on the phone.  Suzy would be completely surprised when she learned that her desperate request to make YoungSaeng sing for Ilana, resulted in him being discovered.

When most of the food had been devoured and Jal moke got sum nida’s (I ate this well), said, the girls tried to help Mrs. Rodriguez clean up and she shooed them away, stating it wouldn’t take long.  In actuality, the serving dishes and plates fit easily into the dishwasher and the only thing to wash was the roasting pan.  “I’ll cut up some of the pears,” Mina said.  She brought a cutting board and knife to the center table.  “Do you guys want to play a game?”  She asked while she cut a pear and handed out toothpicks.

 - "Guerae!"

 - "For money?"  Maknae asked with an evil glint in his eye.

 - "As a matter of fact..., does everyone have W6,000?  If not, I can lend it to you or can make change."

Mina's parents came out of the kitchen with dessert and coffee.  "There's pumpkin pie and coffee for when you kids are ready."

 - "Mami?  Papi?  Will you play with us?"

 - "Anieyo, we'll just watch you, kids," her Father responded.  Truly, they wanted to observe their daughter’s interaction with YoungSaeng.  Her mother was already envisioning a Mexican, Japanese, and Korean grandbaby.

 - "Jeongmalyo!  Eommoni, Abeoji, play with us!"  HyungJun put on his pouty face.

 - "No thank you, we'll sit here and cheer you on," her mother smiled at them.

 - "Arraseo!!!  The game is left-right-center.  You will roll all three dice.  If you roll an 'L' pass one won to the left, an 'R' pass to the right, a 'C' to the center.  The last one with money gets the center pile.  I've doubled the pot, so the game would last a little longer; otherwise, we'd be done in fifteen minutes."

 - "Let's do this!"  HyungJun was always a greedy little thing and couldn't wait to get his hand on a pile of cash.  Even if it was only W36,000, but that was a movie and a snack for him and YiHyun.

Emily was sitting to the left of Mina, with KyuJong across from her and YoungSaeng between them.  Mina rolled first.  "I've got an 'R', a 'C' and a dot.  That means I pass one won to YiHyun, on my right, one to the pot and keep one.  algetseubnida?"

 - "Deh!!!

 - "Oh!!  Pass to the right, I'm going to get tea and pie," Emily said.  She caught KyuJong's eye and he blinked in understanding.

 - "We'll wait," Yihyun said, taking the dice.

 - "Anieyo, I'll be back in a second."

Everyone quickly got into the spirit of the game.  HyungJun lost W3 to KyuJong on his left.  "I demand a replay!"  He pouted.

KyuJong stuck his tongue out at his friend and rolled.  "See what a nice guy I am, Maknae?  Here's W1 for you, don't spend it all in one place."  More glares from Maknae followed.  Emily tapped YoungSaeng's shoulder, asking to sit next to KyuJong so she could share the pie with him.

YoungSaeng rolled his eyes at her and she shrugged helplessly, making him grin, despite the lovey-dovey couple.  Not wanting to knock over the tea, Emily had placed it right next to him, he had to scoot closer to Mina.  Neither realized they had been set up yet again.  YiHyun wasn't moving from where she sat, and Mina was trapped in very close proximity to YoungSaeng.  When it was YoungSaeng's turn, he had to place W2 in the pot and W1 to Mina on his right.  His hand invaded her space to hand her the won, she reached nervously to take it from him; their hands brushed, and an electric jolt passed through them.  "Oh!!"  Mina dropped the won on the table in shock.  "You shocked me!!"  All formalities flew out the window.

 - "Omo!!"  YoungSaeng was also startled, eyes wide.  "Mianhaeyo!!  I felt that too.  Gwenchanayo?"

 - "D-deh," she felt her cheeks burning in embarrassment.

 - "I didn't know our Hyeong had an electrifying personality?"  KyuJong reached over and ruffled YoungSaeng's hair, fully taking advantage that he wouldn't lose his cool in front of Mina.

 - "Knock it off!"

Mina couldn't help but giggle at his disheveled hair.  She saw him glaring at her and she widened her eyes in fear and covered her betraying grin.  Without quite knowing what he was doing and why, he reached over to Mina with a menacing expression.  The way she closed her eyes and cringed, expecting who knows what made him laugh.  He proceeded with his intent to ruffle her hair, just because.  She gasped at the feel of his hands on the top of her head.  "Mianhae..."  She opened her eyes to the sound of his voice and stared at him perplexed.  "For messing your hair...I couldn't help it."

Mina couldn't get angry at his cute otter's smile.  "Gwenchana," she looked away from him as she smoothed her hair back into place.

 - "Hyeong!  Stop distracting her, it's her turn!"  HyungJun complained.

The game passed quickly between laughter, threats and downright unsportsmanlike conduct between Maknae and his Hyeong-deul.  Karma or just the luck of the draw, left HyungJun out of the game.  The last three standing were Emily, YoungSaeng, and Mina.  When Emily gave her last Won to the center, it became a battle of wills between YoungSaeng and Mina.  The others joked that they tried changing the outcome of the dice just by sheer will.

 - "Damn!!"  Mina's mouth opened without thought when she had to give her last won to YoungSaeng.

YoungSaeng looked surprised at what had just come out of .  Mina quickly covered , even though the others laughed.  "Agassi..." he asked.  "What just came out of your mouth?"

Mina quickly nodded her head, indicating nothing wrong was said.  "Darn?"  She squeaked.

 - "That's better..." he more, making her turn bright red.

Her parents observed the comical display as well.  "Forgive our daughter, YoungSaeng-ssi, she always snuck into my poker nights when she was young."

 - "Papi!!"  She didn't know why her parents were deliberately trying to embarrass her, she did that well enough on her own.

 - "No, I think it was all the other boys who took her on as their mascot," her Mother said.  "She was the only girl in our circle of friends.  They treated her like a princess yet taught her every swear word they knew.  I had to almost wash out with soap once."

 - "Haha!!!"  When Mina was upset at her Mother, she used Japanese.

YoungSaeng couldn't help laughing at her parents.  They were cute, reminding him of his own.

 - "Ah deh," KyuJong said.  "Next to our Sunbae, when we scared him by putting insects in his cabin, YoungSaeng often cursed, especially at Maknae."

 - "Mworago?"  YoungSaeng was mortified at his dongsaeng.

 - "Deh!"  Maknae joined the abuse.  "It's the shy ones you have to watch out for."

 - "Mina is always so sweet and Oppa is so quiet," Emily said.  "Who knew they had this mean streak?"

 - "Emily-ssi!!!/Emily!!!  The two shouted out.

 - "YoungSaeng dear, Mina...calm down," her Mother half scolded.  "Your friends are teasing you."

 - "You two should see the looks on your face.  No wonder you're an easy target."

Mina dared to peak at YoungSaeng and YoungSaeng at her.  They both wore an irritated/shocked/offended look on their face, making them look down in embarrassment.

 - "Hija, it's a bit warmer this night.  Give them a tour of the property," Mr. Rodriguez suggested.  This would force YoungSaeng and Mina to pair off as they were the only singles.

 - "Papi, by one degree.  I don't think they want to see the property."

KyuJong had caught a glimpse of Mr. Rodriguez's pointed stare.  "Mina-ssi, I'd like to see the property, perhaps when we get married and are established, Emily and I can live here, deh?"

 - "Guerae," she smiled at her fiancé.

 - "Ahh, I wanted to play another game..."

 - "Maknae!  Stop whining, Mina wants to show us the property!  Besides YiHyun might want to live here too."  KyuJong scolded their youngest friend and gave So YiHyun a pointed look.

 - "Ah!! Deh, Junnie, KyuJongie has a point.  The studio is doing well and with the two of us, I'm sure we can afford it."

Still, the Maknae didn't get it, "haji..."

 - "YoungSaeng-ah," YiHyun interrupted HyungJun.  "When you're famous, you'll need a place worthy of an idol."

 - "Well...Mina-ssi, it will be too cold for you?"  YoungSaeng didn't really want to go as it would be awkward.

 - "Our daughter is used to going skiing every winter, she can handle a fifteen-minute walk in the cold," Mrs. Rodriguez jumped in.  "I'll have hot tea and coffee waiting for you and more pumpkin pie."

Mina couldn't say no, without sounding rude.  The others were not opposed to the idea and even HyungJun was starting to warm to the idea.

 - "Umma is right," Mina smiled, trying not to sound forced.  "It's a very nice community, I've been blessed with good neighbors and enjoy going for walks often."  To YoungSaeng she said, "YoungSaeng-ssi, na have very warm gloves and scarf, I bought in Europe.  Greon, YoungSaeng-ssi can see the cold doesn't frighten me."

YoungSaeng hid a smile, she sounded as if she was trying to convince herself.  "Arraseo, kaja."

Mina gave them the grand tour of the swimming pool, gym and putting room, before heading outside.  The grounds of the park were tranquil, a few people came and went.  Being the weekend, people stayed out later into the early morning hours.  Even when she was alone at Stanford without her parent’s supervision or the other ILC group kids, she didn't partake of the parties, always studying or modeling.  Her parents let her play a bit, but knew she was expected to come home and take her place at ILC as will her brother.  They, along with Ilana were the new generation and the elders had everything riding on them.

As expected, while they walked the grounds, the couples linked hands and Mina and YoungSaeng had to awkwardly walk side by side.  There was a small creek on the property that emitted a cold wet fog.  Feeling the cold seeping through her coat, Mina was ready to go back inside the apartment.  "This is pretty much the best part of the grounds.  My balcony has a very nice view of the creek, why don't we head back?"

Maknae, finally having gotten the hint that they were trying to make YoungSaeng and Mina spend as much time together as possible, began to protest.  "Aww, can't we hang out a little longer?  It's so nice out here  It's not that cold?"

For those native to Seoul, the weather was a bit chilly, like fifty degrees back home, even though it was a freezing thirty-four.

 - "Not that cold?!"  Mina was sure her lips were blue.

 - "Yah guys, Mina-ssi is not used to the weather," YoungSaeng for some reason spoke up in her defense.  Perhaps, it was the desperate look on her face.

 - "Oooh, if it's too cold for Mina, we can go back in."  HyungJun looked so disappointed, Mina didn't have the heart to make him go back.

 - "Gwenchanayo, Jun Oppa, what're a few more minutes."

 - "Daeback!  Why don't we play hide and seek, that will warm you up?"  The four looked at each other wondering how they were going to make sure their two singles found each other.

They played a hilarious game of Rock, Paper Scissors.  Mina had seen it in the dramas but never got to participate in real life.  She really did begin to feel warmer just by the simple act of laughing.  Everyone was now safe, except for YiHyun and HyungJun.  "Kai-Bai-Bo!"

 - "Ahhh!!  Why am I always it," Maknae complained?  "At least JungMin isn't here, he cheats."

 - "Maknae, so do you," KyuJong said.  "Count to forty and no peeking!"

HyungJun began to count, "hana...dol...set..."

KyuJong and Emily took off hand in hand, YiHyun hid strategically close by, Mina looked around for somewhere that would block the cold.  Hoping she had enough time, she headed for the ground keeper's tower.  YoungSaeng was also headed in that direction, but not sure where to go.  Mina passed him in a hurry, not sparing him the slightest glance.  Curious, he followed. She slid easily past the bushes and under the tower just in time to hear, "maheune (forty), ready or not, here I come!"  Maknae most likely woke anyone who had gone to sleep early, his voice was so loud.  Mina sighed and rubbed her hands.  It wasn't warm under there, but it wasn't as cold either.  She gasped as YoungSaeng dove in after her.  He brought his finger to his lips, telling her to keep quiet.

 - "It is warmer in here, I'm glad I followed you," he whispered.

Mina just nodded, trying to keep her nerves still.  She tried to smile but felt her face was frozen. Between looking stupid in front of YoungSaeng or being warm, she chose to bring the scarf up to cover her face.  YoungSaeng was looking out through the bushes for HyungJun, who had easily found his fiancé and was now looking for the other two.  "I think we're safe," he turned to look at Mina and saw she had covered her face.  "Omo!"  He whispered loudly.  "Paboya!!  If you're that cold, why didn't you say something!"  He was irrationally angry at her.

 - "In case you hadn't noticed, your chingu-deul wanted to play.  I was being a good host," she didn't like his tone of voice one bit.  If that was how he was, her romantic illusions had been burst like a soap bubble; drops of water and soap scattering everywhere.  Mina turned her back to him, rude or not, she was cold and in no mood to put up with his scolding.

YoungSaeng stood a bit shell-shocked.  "Mollah," he said to himself.  Peeking out from the shrubs, he saw KyuJong and Emily had outsmarted HyungJun and were now safe.  "Great, everyone is out.  Now we'll never get out of here."

 - "No one asked you to follow me.  if you're going to be an , go ahead and leave."

YoungSaeng looked at her a bit irritated, who was this girl and what right did she have to call him an ?  He only tolerated his friends telling him things like that and even then, it was usually in an argument with JungMin.

 - "I don't want to play anymore, I thought this would be fun, but we're no longer children and should stop playing childish games."

YoungSaeng heard her words and something that she didn't say.  He caught her arm before she left their enclosure, much to her surprise.  This was something that only happened in dramas, so she thought.  "Micheousso?!"  There was no polite way to call someone crazy, that she knew.

 - "Mina-ssi, are you calling me childish?"

 - "If the shoe fits!"  She was so angry at herself for falling for a pretty voice and face, when he was the complete opposite.

YoungSaeng noticed her angry face and shining eyes, not reflecting the moonlight, but frustrated tears.  He really did feel like an .  He hadn't even let her arm go.  It wasn't a firm hold, but she must really be thinking the worst of him.  "Ah!!"  He let go of her arm.  "Jwosongmnida...chinchayo, nomu jwosongmnida."  YoungSaeng turned to avoid her angry stare.  "Naega really not like this...or maybe I am, and I didn't know."  He thought of his past and being rejected by Ilana.  No, he shook his head, he wouldn't go there.  There was nothing he could have done to win her over, it wasn't meant to be.  But...it still would have been nice if it were.

Mina studied Him, trying to figure out what to do next.  Her anger had begun to subside, just a tiny bit, he looked angrier and frustrated at himself than she was at herself.  "Waeyo?"  She asked.  "If this behavior is not who you are, wae would you act that way?"

 - "Nae pabo?"  He shrugged and half grinned.

Mina sighed, just like that all the heat was gone.  That otter's grin, as his smile was described, she couldn't resist.

 - "Mianhaeyo, chinchayo," he apologized again.  "Na was under the impression we were going to one of HyungJun's bunkmates..."  YoungSaeng stopped himself.  "...and this really makes no difference to you, does it?  I was rude, mianhaeyo."

Mina stifled her laugh, but he looked so comical to her.  Even in the dark, she could see his face a little red, it could be the cold, but Mina thought it was a bit of embarrassment.  Perhaps she could overlook his rude behavior just this once.  "Nado, mianhae," Mina said.

YoungSaeng wasn't expecting that.  "Waeyo?"

 - "Na should have told you I recognized you.  Let me introduce myself properly.  Je ireum eun Rodriguez, Mina inmida, we met briefly at a party.  Mannaseo bongapsumnida," she inclined her head.

Smiling, YoungSaeng introduced himself, "Je ireum eun Heo YoungSaeng inmida.  Mannaseo bongapsumnida.  I guess we're chingu, deh?"

 - "Deh..." Mina smiled but then gave him her 'serious' look.  "Don't ever act like that around me again, I might not be as nice."

 - "Dehhhh," he smiled.  He had a feeling, his friends had invited him here on purpose, but she was an innocent bystander.  He felt bad, having been so rude to her.  Her family had welcomed him kindly and she was always kind to him and his choir mates.  Later, in the recess of his mind, he would think getting to know her wouldn't be such a bad thing.

 - "Hyeong!!!  Mina!!!  Where are you?"

YoungSaeng turned to Mina, "If we're found together, we'll never hear the end of it, Mina-ssi knows this?"

Mina's eyes opened wide.  She could already hear YiHyun's teasing.  "Eottoke?"

 - "Na have an idea, Mina-ssi is cold, you go first, stall them and pretend to look for me.  I will head back to your apartment, claiming to have gotten lost and I just decided to head back for tea, arraseo?  What's Mina's cell number and Na will text you when I'm in the elevator?"

 - "Deh!"  Doing so, they stood there a bit awkward, there was this close feeling, like they’d bonded, but not quite sure what to do with it.  "Greon...na will leave first."

 - "Deh."

She jumped out of her hiding spot.  "Lero, lero, lero (nah nah nah)!!!  I'm here!"

 - "Yah!  Where were you?  And where's Hyeong?"  Maknae said.

 - "I was hiding where the wind couldn't hit me.  What do you mean where is your Hyeong?"

 - "Mina-ssi, did you see YoungSaeng Hyeong?"  KyuJong asked, a bit concerned.

 - "Anieyo, na went straight to my hiding spot.  I saw him as I ran past but haven't seen him since.  We'd better go look for him."

 - "Otter!"  Emily shouted.

 - "Hyeong!

 - "Saengie-ah?  Where are you?"

They went through every shrub, HyungJun had a light on his phone and shined it into dark places, but they covered the entire park and couldn't find him.  After Mina felt her pocket vibrate, she led the search party back to her apartment, where they found YoungSaeng loitering outside her door.  The two shared a meaningful look when he explained what happened.  The others weren't quite sure if he was telling the truth or not.

After they left, Mina would be counting the days until Thursday and unknowingly, YoungSaeng would be too.