The Train Ride
My Day at the FairThe fair had begun in the neighboring county. The kid and I loaded our backpacks full of lunch, snacks, sunscreen and tablets, eager to enjoy our day. We board the train that will take us close to the fair grounds and I immediately get comfortable. I put in my earphones and listen to Kim Hyun Joong's 'Timing'. I hadn't really been able to spend the time to fully appreciate it. Also, I figure I'd get some writing in as well. My quiet time was soon interrupted by the kid who decides to play twenty questions. We had been sitting across from each other in the cozy nook of seats we were fortunate to get in the crowded train. In an effort to get my quiet time back, I move next to Loy (a.k.a. the kid) and stick an earphone in his ear.
- "Who's this Mama?" He asks.
- "Who else? It's Kim Hyun Joong; the song is 'Good Bye'." I start singing and shaking my head. Goofing it up for him; I'm kinda good at that.
- "Do you even know what you're singing?"
- "Not really, I haven't looked up the lyrics yet."
- "Mama, would you scream if you saw Kim Hyun Joong?"
- "Noooo, I'm not a teenager anymore."
- "Would you scream if you were a teenager?"
- "Yes." Hoping this was the end of the questions I steal back my other earphone and repeat the song.
- "Mama," the kid says not a second later. "So what would you do if you saw Kim Hyun Joong?"
- "I'd say hi."
- "Then you'd faint?"
- "Noooo!"
- "You wouldn't?"
- "Now, if he was on this train and only I knew who he was…? I'd say 'I know who you are, I really admire you.' Well, ideally that's what I would say, if I wasn't rendered mute." The kid laughs and I go back to listening to my music.
Loy and I remained sitting next to each other with our bags across from us on the empty seats. I had closed my eyes and was listening to music when a few minutes later, I'm interrupted yet again.
- "Excuse me," an accented man's voice said. I opened my eyes to see two very familiar looking faces under caps. "Do you mind if we sit here?"
- "I want to look out the window and there aren't any available." The second man said.
- "Oh, of course." I grab the back packs and put them next to us.
- "Thank you." Man #2 said.
Alright what are the odds that 1) two handsome Korean guys happen to sit across from us 2) they totally look like Kim Hyun Joong (man #2) and Kim Jaejoong (man #1)? The two men looked out the window and talked quietly amongst themselves. I catch one in every hundredth word. I feign disinterest, but continue to study them under my eyelashes. Then the kid taps my shoulder. "Mama are they Korean?" They overhear his not-whisper and stop talking.
- "Yes we are," says Kim Jaejoong. "How did you know?"
- "My Mama..." I surreptitiously hide my hand under the tablet and pinch the kid to keep him quiet. "Mama!"
- "Sorry lovey, I don't know what happened?" I say to the kid. Kim Jaejoong keeps looking at us as does Kim Hyun Joong, before returning his gaze out the window. Either I completely freak out and hyperventilate at being in the presence of my bias and his best friend or buck up. Gathering my courage I direct my conversation to Jaejoong, not my bias so he's easier t
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