Note: The story follows timeline of what ends in "Papunika Story".
Chapter 2 - If It's Alright
Marm gets up and discovers Hyunkel not being around.
What's the date of today?
Marm quickly reaches for her notebook and is released after seeing date on the calendar.
Then she lazily rolls on the lounge before getting up and putting on a silk sleeping robe.
Marm looks around the huge bedroom that is attached to a reading room, walk-in wardrobe and bathrooms of Hyunkel and herself. Her husband and sons are nowhere to be found.
Their house is located in a new residential zone of Dylan city, where facilities, infrastructure and public areas are designed to bring quality to lives of residents. Most projects in the zone are designed and constructed by Mn Komice group. To Hyunkel, it's currently the best place to nurture the kids in Romos.
Before that, Marm and him lived in a more romantic district. According to Marm's memory, they have bought nine houses after three and a half years residing in Romos. It's a relief that they only moved once: from the first house to the current one. Marm believes she will go mad if they have to move whenever a new house is purchased.
Over the past three and a half years, Marm has lived everyday the way she plans, the way she loves.
Hyunkel has been getting along with Karl and Danny so well since they were born.
He has started training the boys at quite an early stage. Marm has no disagreement with him on the outdoor games and activities he plays with the boys. It scared both kids at first, they cried, they refused, and they progressed. Hyunkel tells Marm it's really hard to born like Karl. The kid is very responsible at this age, Karl always takes a good care of his little brother on his own way. He will share his foods and drink to Danny. He always pay attention to Dan. If his parents asks him to hold Danny's hands, he would never let Danny go.
Danny, at this age, always cries or shouts if he has to leave something he is interested in playing, especially children cars. Rather than that, he spends most of his time to smile, to play, to eat and be adored by whoever gets to see him.
Karl would grow up very handsome. Everybody can foresee that. He gets the best features of Hyunkel. Dan is a question mark. He is chubbier than Karl and has a smile that everybody falls in love with. Both kids have the long and well-shaped eyebrows of Hyunkel that Marm loves very much.
"You make breakfast today? Where is madam Swan?" Marm hugs Hyunkel from behind, secretly feeling happy for today is Saturday, he won't attend to any work matter.
"Hey, morning." He gently squeezes her hands, "I told her I would do it. Look at Karl and Danny, how quiet it is when they eat."
Marm bursts into smiles when seeing her boys sitting cutely at the dining area, being totally focused on the foods.
"What do you make for them? Seems very yummy..."
"Mushroom, spinach and scramble egg."
"I will skip that first." Still hugging her husband from behind, she says.
"Why skipping breakfast? Are you fine?"
"I'm going to dance. Then I will come back and make coffee for you." She kisses his cheek and walks to the dining hall.
And Hyunkel hears music of the Kuk Kuk songs as well as Marm's voices singing with the boys. From the kitchen counter he can see the boys follow Marm's movements, the dance with mom and music make them so energetic in the morning. Both are laughing cutely, they like Marm so much. They totally agree with Hyunkel that their mom is the most beautiful girl in the world. And they never forget giving Marm flowers when they are back from the garden.
"Karl has a terrible talent when it comes to singing." Marm tells him when she is back. The boys are still having breakfast in the dining hall when enjoying the cheerful music.
"He must have got it from Marm."
"Nooo... from you..." Marm tangles his hair.
"Nice dress." Hyunkel pulls her into him, "Its shortness is the best."
"Can we take the boys to a farm this morning and..."
"Sure we can." He answers her, giving a lip lock before she ever completes the question.
...
Hyunkel genuinely enjoys weekend outdoor activities of his family. Marm and him will drive the boys to suburbs of Dylan city. They have gone to farms, plantations, villages to get the kids familiarise with natural environment. They also go to beaches, highland, ski resort and even overseas. Among friends, they are the most active parents.
In recent years, technologies are blooming and many new applications are introduced to life, facilitate the livings. Now people are used to the existence of vehicles, planes, telecommunication system... just to name a few.
Last year, in a get together, friends laughed when listening to Leona and Larhalt arguing about the competition among countries in term of technologies. In the end, as a result of their argument, one strategic move has been implemented by Papunika: the launch of Intellectual Property Act. Papunika is the first country that protects, encourages and rewards efforts of inventors. Nowsaday, it's not surprised that most inventions are known to be from Papunika, even the inventors are citizens of elsewhere.
"Karl and Danny, where are we going?" Marm asks.
"Farm!" Danny answers her with excitement. The twenty-month old can make simple sentence, yet normally speak with individual words.
"Right! We are going to a grape farm. You like grape, Karl?"
Karl says Yes softly and yawns. Karl is a sleeping prince, he sleeps the longest hours in their family. For these weekend trips, Karl normally sleeps throughout half of the drive, in the remaining halfway, he is super active and keeps talking, playing, singing with his brother.
"Look at the orange trees, aren't they awesome?" Hyunkel tells the boys when they are passing by a suburb cottage.
"Wow..." Both boys exclaims with excitement, orange is their favourite fruit.
"Let's get out to see them, ok?" Marm asks.
And they have a quick stopover.
"Daddy and Karl drink orange juice in the morning with no sugar." Karl tells Marm.
"Yes, we both are health conscious." Hyunkel carries both boys in his arms. "Look at how big the oranges are, it can take up to three years for the tree to produce fruits."
Karl listens and nods while Dannie follows him. Karl has a very good memory, sometimes Marm and Hyunkel are surprised when he mentions about places and things he reads or experiences by himself.
"Hello, beautiful boys!" An old lady comes out from the house.
"Say hello to granny and grandpa." Marm tells the children.
Karl and Danny carry the instruction well. Cheerfully, Danny even greets them as "Dannie's grandma, grandpa." and that makes everybody laugh.
"You have beautiful orange trees that we want the kids to see. Sorry for the disturb."
"No disturb... It's great to see such an adorable family with children." The husband says to Hyunkel.
"Where are you from, sweethearts?" The wife asks them.
"We live in Dylan." Marm smiles.
"I do guess you are from the city... Should we both visit Dylan soon?" The woman asks her husband. "Roads are much better now."
"Absolutely, absolutely..." The old man agrees. "Get some oranges for the boys."
"Oh... no... we can't take them for grant." Marm refuses. It must have taken such a long time for the orange to grow.
"It's ok, we two can't finish them all. Let's your cute boys have more orange juices, and become stronger and handsome like their daddy, ok?" The granny says.
And they continues a short nice chat with two senior residents before leaving.
Marm and Hyunkel are happy to hear compliment of the roads. Because roads expansion and construction were made by Mn Komice Corp.
The longer they live in Romos, the more they love being here. Although Romos is not as charming and sophisticated as Papunika, people are very friendly and the society is connected by a common care for life quality, rather than wealths.
...
"We will make one bottle of grape juice for grandmother and one for Avan grand sensei." Marm tells her sons. They attend the workshop right in the farm, picking and mashing the grapes together.
"Mom and sensei will be so happy." Marm leans in Hyunkel and has a sip from his wine, house product, while their children are having another good time with cakes, treated by the farm.
"Right. This tiny blueberry looks like the cute little body parts of Marm." Hyunkel shows Marm before eating it. His imagination makes the taste sweeter for him.
"Oh... so mean..." Marm pinches him and takes over his wine glass.
And the last part of their trip is to buy boxes of freshly picked grapes and blueberry for the helpers at home.
"What's for lunch, honey?" Hyunkel asks. It's so good to have a wife prepare the whole itinerary.
"We are going to eat barbecue and grills. You guys like meats, don't you? We can let Danny try a little bit."
"Sure we love it. High five, Karl and Danny."
The boys happily agree and genuinely look forward to the meal. Play time at the farm has made them hungry. "Dannie... yumyum..."
"Yay... Danny is going to the yummy lunch! Daddy will drive us there soon. Wait for a little while, ok?" Marm caresses her younger son's chubby cheek, she can't imagine in a few months, how would Danny look like? How much can he speak by then?
...
On the way back home after lunch, when passing by the cottage with orange trees, the family is surprised to see an ambulance stopped in front of the house.
"It's the grandpa, Hyunkel..."
He reduces the speed and stops the car. "I will see what can help them. Can you drive, Marm? I'll be back soon." Hyunkel tells Marm.
"Sure... call me later."
And Marm sees Hyunkel rushing to the ambulance.
That's life and its fast pace. Everything can happen in a blink of eyes. Marm thinks.
...
"He has a stroke. Low blood pressure, weak heartbeat..."
"It takes at least half an hour to reach the nearest hospital, let me carry him instead. Can a nurse accompany us?" Hyunkel asks.
"I'm supposed to look after him in the ambulance. But...what do you mean?"
"Good. Put your hand on my shoulder. Granny, follow me, will you?"
The old lady nods. Her intuition tells her to trust this young man. Meanwhile, the nurse is more reluctant, but she feels like trusting him, too. Hence, Hyunkel can take three of them to the hospital by teleportation immediately.
The grandpa is sent to A&E straight away and the accompanying nurse reports to AE team here what was going on.
Almost half an hour were spent until the medic team comes out, informing Hyunkel that the grandpa is okay.
"Fortunately the patient is sent here immediately, it helps a lot. However, he needs to stay here for tonight for post observation. If all remain well, he can be discharged tomorrow."
When Hyunkel comes to the ward for a visit, the grandpa is already back into consciousness.
"All are good, you can go home tomorrow. Just be patient for tonight, ok?" He tells the old man.
"Yes, of course... I will do all it takes to stay with this woman." The grandpa is holding his wife's hand, they both are smiling at each other.
"What brings you here? You looked very strong in the morning when we met."
"He argued with me and got an heart attack." The granny explains to Hyunkel.
"It was silly." Her husband bursts into a laugh.
"Guess that's why they say Happy Wife, Happy Life." Hyunkel smiles. "Take care, grandpa, stay healthy. I have to leave now."
"Thanks very much. How can we contact you later? Our children would like to thank you in person."
"It's ok. I'm glad I can help."
"Please... you even paid the hospital fee for us. At least leave us a bank account so we can pay you back." The old lady holds Hyunkel's hand and requests sincerely.
"It's really not necessary. You have already given us the oranges."
"But those are just our homegrown fruits."
"Which we can't get from anywhere else. " He says gently. "Goodbye..."
"Ok... Goodbye, God bless you, son."
Right after Hyunkel has left, the old couple realise they don't even know his name, as well as forget to ask why can he do magic.
"Perhaps we can ask Arberk." The wife suggests.
The husband doesn't reply, he becomes grumpy when hearing the name.
...
"Marm, everything is ok now. Where are you and the boys?"
"Thanks god." Marm's voice is happy. "I'm still driving, reaching the highway. Karl and Dan are sleeping."
"Reaching highway? Turtle speed you have, honey." He bursts into laughs.
"My drive, my rule." Marm replies. She is smiling at her side. Thirty kilometres per hour, Hyunkel won't be able to stand such speed if he is here right now. Marm just wants to live slower.
"Can you stop at Pat Cafe, the coffeeshop toward entrance of highway, I'll be there."
"Give me fifteen minutes to reach." She teases him. The place is only five minutes away.
As she arrives, Hyunkel is standing on the pavement, waiting for her.
"I will be the one who drives." She opens the shield and tells him.
"Get out, you turtle." He unlocks the car door and carries her down. Instead of putting her to the passenger seat, he holds her in front of him and they kiss lovingly.
Romos is in the beginning of autumn, today's weather is just a great component of the afternoon.
"The grandpa is having a heart attack when arguing with his wife." He tells her.
Marm leans in to Hyunkel, staying closer to him so he can embrace her more. "Now you know you shouldn't argue with me?"
"I never want to argue with you, Ms Marm. You are a cry baby."
"That old story you keep believing from sensei and mom." Marm curls her lips.
"And somehow you are not my official wife."
"But I'm still your wife..." She argues.
"Yes, a wife who keeps delaying the wedding and marriage registration." Hyunkel lifts her chin up, from his eyes, she sees a seriousness.
Marm is using her sweet and soft voice to melt his heart. "Why won't I want to marry? That's when I will have another diamond ring." She smiles.
He holds her closer, "I'm not sure. That's the only thing I don't understand about our relationship. Are you not confident in us?"
"I'm very confident" Marm confirms to him immediately. "Everything is perfect in our family. Hyunkel, I love you."
"I love you, too. If it's alright with you, then it's alright with me." He cups her face and kisses her passionately, showing his love. He doesn't have any tendency to develop the problem. He can feel the happiness they are having. So Marm's laziness, or perhaps, reluctance, in formalizing a relationship is most probably what he needs to be patient with.
...
"Hyunkel, how long have we known each other?
"Nine years." He replies while reading a project evaluation. Night falls without his notice.
"To be correct, it's eight years eleven months, ok, make it nine years. Here you go, a poem... for you. The title is Nine Years." Marm hands him her notebook.
"Poem?" Hyunkel looks at her with a half smile. Marm seems very guilty since the afternoon because he was not happy about delay of their wedding. Up to now, she does whatever she can to compensate. Now a poem?
"Come here." He says.
Marm comes to him as requested and he grabs her waist, makes her sit on him. "Let see what is your poem like."
"But I want you to read it alone."
"I want to read it with Marm."
He puts Marm's notebook on her thighs and opens the latest page. Marm always take notes, draws or writes whatever she wants in her notebook. Her notebook is not a secret to be kept away, she puts it anywhere in their bedroom. Sometimes, Hyunkel glances through pages and secretly loves the way she runs her life. Sometimes Karl and Danny even draw in it.
The embrace can never last long
Someone is bound to leave first.
Won't miss the story you told,
Won't have time to come back.
The smile will always stay strong
To catch the rhythm of wind
To walk through the light of stars
To be missed upon October.
Next year today,
This kind of warmth,
I will remake a confession
I Love You.
"I hope you like it." Marm says, while placing kisses all over his neck.
He smiles and tightens his embrace around her, "Why is it about leaving, about to be missed?"
"Ignore those parts."
Hyunkel puts her notebook on his desk and whispers to her ear. "Did you spend the whole night writing?"
"Yes. What else am I supposed to do while you are working even in our bedroom?"
Hyunkel kisses her again, "My Marm is waiting to be loved."
"What were you into?" Marm looks at the files in front of them, on his desk.
"An urgent document, has just been posted to me."
"Why is it that urgent to be delivered to home?" Marm is curious.
"Look at the map of Romos..." He gently explains to Marm while having her sitting on him. "Dylan is having almost a dead end in north. The only way to access to further northern part is through a ferry which can accommodate really small scale of boats."
"Yes. This part of Romos has been remained in quite an isolation for years, composed by several villages that were established hundreds of years ago."
"According to the report, economics of this region are growing fast regardless of limited access and trading to other parts of Romos."
"Then you mean they have a lot of economic relations with this country?" Marm points on the map a neighboring kingdom.
"You still have that sense of a trade ambassador." He smiles. "You are absolutely right. But not only trading, the region has a very tight connection with Ringai even in term of cultures. His Majesty of Romos is very concerned about this. While the region has very limited access to other parts of Romos, it shares lots of entrances to Ringai."
"I see where will the concern lead to. Then what does His Majesty want from you?"
"Not from me." Hyunkel turns off the light on his desk and carries her up. "From our corporation, he wants a project to develop more access to this part of Romos before it's too late. He wants the project to be completed in a year time."
"One year? Is it possible?" Marm covers her arms around his neck and leans on his chest.
"Can't answer that question now... Marm has successfully destroyed my attention for work."
He lays Marm down on their bed and undresses her. "I love your clothes, very easy to be removed."
"Whose clothes are difficult for you then?" She wonders and questions him immediately.
"Mine."
Marm bursts into smiles. She can't love him enough.
End Chapter 2.