~경수~

I’d been staring at the ceiling, watching the fan rotate slowly and uselessly in the afternoon heat, when Ms. Krystal burst in and said I had an appointment. I was surprised. I’m fourteen, one of the oldest in the orphanage, and that meant I had no hope of adoption, so naturally I was quite taken back.

Now I’m a ball of nerves. I chew at my thumbnails, then draw back my hand quickly – I mustn’t show the slightest negative habit which might make them want to reconsider.

They enter.

My old habit surfaces, and I am chewing my bottom lip to calm my nerves.

~

                  ~엄마~                  

Squishy!

That is my first thought when I see him. Honestly, Do Kyungsoo is absolutely adorable. He stares at the two of us, with two huge bug eyes, bottom lip wedged between his teeth. (I’m sure he has forgotten how to blink.) Then he seems to remember himself, bows low, and says, “Annyeong Hasseyo! My name’s Do Kyungsoo.”

I introduce myself and my husband to him, and add: “Welcome to the family.”

His eyes suddenly sparkle, and there is a glow to it that had been absent before. Kyungsoo seems lost for words. “You mean… me… I – I …. pass?”

“’Course you do!” I laugh. I was going to add, ‘Who wouldn’t with a face like that?’ but then I realize that there must be a reason for this boy to still be in the orphanage after all this time, and thought it better to keep my mouth shut.

But the mind wonders – I find myself thinking what could possibly be so bad about this boy that no one wanted to adopt him for – I glance at the file Ms Krystal had given me – fourteen years…. Wait. Fourteen?!

I look back at the boy, and his heart-shaped lips stretch into a smile that make his cheeks puff out so…. Squishily! (I honestly can’t see him any older than eight!) I shake my head to myself. I shouldn’t worry about Kyungsoo’s misgivings. This adoption was gonna be like no other. Do Kyungsoo was now a part of our family.

~

                  ~아빠~

I climb into the driver’s seat after putting Kyungsoo into the back, and adjust the rear-view mirror to see how the boy is doing. I find his huge eyes staring at me with such intensity that I shudder – that boy just does not blink! Then Kim Minji climbs in behind with Kyungsoo, and he relaxes.

Soon, they are chatting away: rather, my wife does all the talking, with an occasional nod from Kyungsoo, or one of those special smiles he reserves just for Minji.

That is when she drops the bomb. She mentions Jongin.

Kyungsoo stutters.

“Yo-Y’all have a son?”

Minji continues as if she couldn’t for the world see that this bit of news had Kyungsoo all flustered. “Yes, Jongin,” she says, “He’s just a year younger than you, you know. I know you two will get along just fine. I can feel it.” She beams, “I know it.”

I internally facepalm. NOT a smooth move, Minji – you could see from the way the boy had begun chewing his lower lip again. He had probably basked in the victory of winning over the entire ‘new family’ back in the interview room of the orphanage, just to find out now that he had one more hurdle to jump. And the toughest kind of them all. A brother. And a dongsaeng at that!

~