April 28, 2013

Kike couldn’t wait to see his Manita again. Although he would have gladly picked her up as soon as the boat docked, she told him not to pick her up until 10:00. He didn’t understand her reasoning, thinking maybe she wanted to sleep in. Somehow, he felt she wasn’t as excited to see him as he was to see her. Arriving early, he was on the ship by nine forty-five. He looked around the atrium where she said she would be and at first didn’t spot her but then he noticed the back of a girl who was surrounded by crew members. “Could that be her?” He hadn’t seen her in a year, but he should be able to recognize his own sister, even if it was her back. He was certain it was her. What he saw next made him want to hit something or someone. His little sister was being ‘warmly’ embraced by one of the male crew members and then a second one not only embraced her but kissed her forehead and then her hand. He didn’t know what angered him more, the fact that they were hugging her or that she was letting them.

 - “What the h---?” He didn’t know what was going on but he was going to grab his sister and take her away immediately. He was about to walk up and grab her when her behavior surprised her again. They were all laughing at something, including Ilana. He stood there frozen observing her behavior. She was completely at ease with these people; this was a behavior previously unknown to him. She was never even that comfortable with him. He had to find out what was going on. He walked towards where she stood.

- “Manita!” He yelled sternly, while he was still a few feet away.

“Kike?” She said softly.  It took Ilana a little while to register that someone had yelled ‘Manita’. Turning slowly she scanned her surroundings and spotted him.  “Kike!!!” She squealed, seeing him standing there and body slammed him into a tight hug.

- “She’s smiling and laughing, and crying? Who is this girl?” He thought to himself as she practically choked him in a hug. He pulled her away from him. “Are you really my Manita?”

- “Deh.” She answered in Korean, but he didn’t even notice. “Come, I want to you to meet my friends.”

- “Did she just say, friends?” He thought.

- “Guys! This is my brother, Enrique.”

- “Yah! Aren’t you…” HyungJun was not allowed to finish his statement because JungMin elbowed him in the side.

- “Park JungMin, pleased to meet you.” He bowed to Kike. They all introduced themselves in a similar fashion. Poor Maknae didn’t get his turn again until everyone else had gone.

- “Kim HyungJun, very happy to meet you, Enrique-ssi;” he was not so subtle at being excited to greet a celebrity and everyone glared at him.

- “Nice to meet you all,” Kike responded but was anxious to grill his sister on the meaning of this abrupt personality change. He turned to Ilana. “Should we go get your luggage now?”

- “Oh…Guerae.” Again out of habit, she spoke as if she was talking to her friends. She looked at her friends and tears started to burn. “Bye guys, I’ll talk to you later, arasseo?”

- “Unnie, we’ll call you every day.”

- “If we can’t call, we’ll tweet!” HyungJun said.

- “I’ll miss you guys!” She turned her head before they could see the tears fall. They were to the edge of the Atrium when she chanced a look back. YoungSaeng noticed and waved. She smiled at him and continued walking slowly. Kike had felt her hesitate and sighed. He saw the silent tears that were falling even if she was trying to hide her face. This definitely wasn’t the same girl he’s known for the last fourteen years.

- “Can your friends leave the ship at all today? We can hang around and have lunch or dinner with them later.”

- “Chincha?” Her entire face lit up like a little kid and Kike laughed.

- “What are you saying? Now, I know you’re not speaking English or Spanish.”

- “Sorry…, habit. Really?” He nodded his head. “I’ll go ask.” She took off almost running. Everyone had dispersed but fortunately, she spotted YoungSaeng walking towards the Shore Excursion office.

YoungSaeng looked back at the direction of Ilana and her brother and was surprised to see her running towards him.  “Gwenchana?”

- “Deh, Oppa, you guys can break for lunch right?”

- “Oh, what’s up?”

- “Let’s all go to lunch.”

- “Guerae, I’ll call everyone. Where at?

- “I’ll text you, also let me know what time.” She hugged him really quick and went back to Kike. YoungSaeng shook his head and smiled at his Cinderella.

Kike and Ilana met up with her friends at a nearby restaurant. They only had a few hours before having to be back, so Kike asked if it would be possible to expedite their orders. Orders taken care of, they sat down to a few hours of bonding over a meal. Ilana was seated between Kike and YoungSaeng. One might see this as a tug of war between brothers. "She's my little sister, no she's mine." Ilana was oblivious to anything other than she had her two favorites by her side.
- "Cinderella”, YoungSaeng asked, "do you want to try my steak?" He gave her a bite from his fork.
- "Here Oppa, try some of mine." To Ilana, it had become a custom to eat family style and even feed each other, but Kike was not comfortable with this picture at all.
- "Princess, what did you order?" HyungJun distracted her from feeding YoungSaeng.  This was a good thing as YoungSaeng was not a fan of seafood and didn’t want to hurt his Cinderella’s feelings.

- "Ceviche, here try it;" HyungJun was seated across from her but she was still able to feed him a spoonful.
- "Ooooh! Masheesuhyo."

- "Wait, you guys call my sister Princess and Cinderella?" Kike was curious, but also perturbed wondering which one of these guys thought himself her Prince Charming. Everyone smiled at the question.
- "They watch too many old movies, Kike; don't mind them. HyungJun Oppa thought I was a runaway princess like in 'Roman Holiday' and Saengie Oppa said I'm Cinderella who didn't want to marry the Prince. They all have nicknames for each other."

Kike had to laugh at how true those two scenarios fit his sister.
- "So how did you all become acquainted with my sister?" She was not going to go out of her way to make friends, he thought. "She didn't cause some sort of trouble did she?" This made everyone laugh, except for Ilana.
- "Kike!" She smacked his arm with the back of her hand. Ilana had never been playful like that; he just looked at her in shock.
- "Oh, I met her on deck one night. I almost ignored her, but she seemed the friendly type and we engaged in pleasant conversation," KyuJong spoke, while Ilana was glaring at him not to get her in trouble. "And it was all downhill from there," he teased.

- "Kim KyuJong Oppa!"
- "Wau, hyeong is in trouble now; she used your entire name," HyungJun continued teasing.
- "Don't worry," he told Maknae, "she can't hurt me if she wants a good reference."

- "Yah! That's blackmail."

Kike listened carefully to this exchange in which he was completely left out; he'd have to remember to ask Ilana later what they were talking about.  The teasing continued amongst the entire party except for Kike, who kept quiet observing it all. He was bemused and felt not a little slighted that this change in Ilana happened amongst strangers. When the teasing died down, Ilana had begun to recount some of her favorite days on the cruise. To Kike's surprise, one of her fondest memories was the helicopter ride. He raised his eyebrow at her.
- "It wasn't easy." she told him, "HyungJun Oppa and KyuJong Oppa helped me get through it."

- "Yah, my hand still gets numb thinking about it," HyungJun complained.
- "Mianhaeyo, Oppa," she pouted.
- "Gwenchana, you can crush my hand anytime."
- "Gomawoyo, I promise not to take you up on it too soon."
- "Aw man, it’s getting late, mianhae Ilana-ssi, minahaeyo Rick-ssi; we've got to go guys." JungMin just happened to look at the time; protesting and pouting went up all around the table. The time had just passed too quickly.

- "Enrique-ssi, do you think we could all take a picture together? Also, would you mind giving me your autograph?" HyungJun asked unashamedly.
- "No, I wouldn't mind. You're Ilana's friends after all." In reality, he did mind, these people were keeping him from his long-anticipated reunion with his sister but Ilana had poked him under the table and bestowed upon him the sweetest smile. How could he no?
The waitress was gracious enough to take a picture of them. Not that she could say no to Rick Martin. More hugs and tears followed, with promises to call, and they parted ways once more.

The car ride to Miami was long, due to traffic. They had already been on the road for an hour. Ilana was tired and sad to have left the little family she had been part of for the last four months. Kike looked over at his sister; he wondered where the talking, laughing girl from a few hours ago had gone. This quiet girl next to him is the one he's known half his life.
- "Tired?" He asked.
- "Deh," she sighed, forgetting who she was talking to.
- "I'll take that as a ‘yes’?"
- "Oops!" Ilana's eyes widened as she put a hand over and giggled. "Sorry, it's second nature to me, now, answering back in Korean."
- "You always were a little linguist."
- "This is much harder than Latin-based languages, but I'd like to keep learning, so I can surprise my Oppa-deul and Suzy."
- "Well, you’re my hostage for a while; I haven't seen you in a year and I'm not letting you out of my sight anytime soon."
- "It's good to see my Kike again." She smiled at him cutely. "Sorry, Kike," she thought. "I don't know how long I'll be staying. I need to start doing things for myself." That conversation was best left for another day. For the moment she would enjoy the time she had with her brother until the time was right to put her new plan into action.

So, this concludes Part 1: Running away of Love Covers a Multitude of Sins. Ilana's come a long way on her journey but has a much longer way to go. She'll have her good days and bad days like all of us. She's learned the beauty of friendship and to see the beauty around her. She's learned to laugh and also to cry. Will she open her heart to love? That remains to be seen. Will she continue the lifeline with her friends? Will there be days she forgets all she's learned? Continue her journey with me. I'll be introducing a few new characters, but her Oppa-deul and Suzy are only a phone call away. Also, I think she'll be paying them a surprise visit if she can get past jealous big brother. Did I write the jealous brother part ok? Please comment and encourage me, favorite parts? Complaints (be nice)?

Thank you to those who have supported my story.  I’m really exciated! If you've subscribed voted or just commented, I appreciate each and every one of you!

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