Gu Junpyo and Geum Jandi: Gu Seong Min (age4))
Yoon Jihoo and Oh Hani: Yoon Eun Hee ( age3 )
So Yi Jeong and Chu Ga Eul: So Dae Jeong ( age3 )
Song Woo Bin and Ha Jaegyeong: Song Hae Ryung ( age 3)
Chapter six: A trip to remember ( not in Song Hae Ryung's perspective)
THREE YEARS AND SIX MONTHS AGO...
As said before- the feeling of déjà vu was what Yi Jeong first felt on that morning. There wasn't any doubts or fears about that, as the reasons were too apparent for him. Twelve years ago, it was on a Saturday like that very day, they went to New Caledonia. The same day, the same destinations with the same people; at least, the party had only increased in number. Back then, he was tasked to bring ' Jandi's Chingu' to the trip , in exchange of a Tang dynastic piece of porcelain. He could have demanded that simply for his participation if not Jihoo had objected against Jandi coming alone. In further consideration, it still could have gone smoothly, if not Woo Bin had brought the idea of 'that girl who isn't your genre '...
If he did have any idea about what future might hold for him and for that ' girl out of his genre' , as for his personality back then, he would have probably forget that piece of pottery and stayed at home. Not only him, even Song Woo Bin may have enjoyed more of his times if he had ever known that it would be the last trip to New Caledonia as a bachelor. Moreover the next time he'd come, that his wife would accompany her childhood bodyguard who was able to throw him to the ocean if he would even spare a glance at some grown human of the opposite sex.
The thought made him smile. " serves him well" Yi Jeong told himself as getting in to the car. Since by then, it was only that piece of porcelain which made him stay, when he had to babysit the hillbilly who happened to be ' Jandi's Chingu – Ga Eul '. He was half pitying himself and half cursing his friends and not even in his wildest dreams he might have thought, that six years later that hillbilly would become his wife.
Sure, time had changed a good deal for him, and as he looked down at his son, he hoped that it would do more; for the better of course, not for the worse.
When they arrived at the airport, they found an impatient Junpyo, thumping his feet, while waiting for them. It seemed, again, they were the last to arrive. He may had doubts of them coming in the first place, as unlike before he greeted Yi Jeong with a friendly pat on the arm.
It wasn't the first flight for any of the thirteen passengers , yet it was the first one together. And the ride was filled with awkwardness and apologies. As for Woo Bin, he had to apologise from a two year old, on behalf of his three year old daughter who stood up on the seat and climbed on to the armrests to reach the two year old Gu Seong Hee and pinched her cheek. And the two year old was more than twenty five percent related to her huramoni as she never gave up crying until he did. As the behaviour only matters in the presence of others, Ga Eul and Yi Jeong spend half of the flight asking Dae Jeong to put down his legs. And despite all the regulations of Air Shinhwa, Eun Hee had brought her gold fish with her.
The plane ride was not calm and quiet as before. As Jaegyeong and Woo Bin had to give their every effort to keep Hae Ryung's seat belt buckled and even more to make her stay in the sitting position as she sat in every other way except for that. Even Dae Jeong, who was known for his good behaviour, Ga Eul had to always put down his legs as he insisted in sitting cross legged. For Eun Hee, it all went well, till the plane took off. As in every entering of an air cavity she threw away everything she had as a meal. And the fifth time that Seong Min teased his sister to make her cry, Junpyo literally asked the pilot to turn around the plane and head back to Korea.
It was more like getting out of a rollercoaster, for the adults and Jaegyeong was highly appreciated for her wise decision to bring Chen with them. Chen's body guarding skills were much tested after arriving at the Metro Island , when Hae Ryung tried to run off road into the beach and Eun Hee bumped into Seong Min almost pushing him off to the sea. As for Dae Jeong, he again got his usual ways as Yi Jeong was made to carry him to the resort.
Unlike the last time, a tour around the island was unnecessary. As every adult except for Hani, had been there before. And the children were more excited in their own affairs than what the Island held itself.
Thus it was only the Yoon family who went to the tour. They first came to the resort. The purpose was simply to keep the gold fish in there, before Jihoo had to give Eun Hee a two hour lecture on 'Why it won't be a granting of freedom if the fish was thrown in to the sea' . Pointing out every possible fact like it won't have any friends or it won't like to loose its fish bowl and that goldy loves her little castle.
Gu Junpyo and Jandi took the children to the beach, where Jandi volunteered to babysit Seong Hee, while Junpyo took Seong Min to a swim in the sea. The beach was the most foreign and the scariest thing for the two year old Seong Hee who was more than just freaked out when her feet touched the marshy yet comparatively dry white sand. As for Seong Min, for the first time in his life, he managed to display one of his skills to his appa, and the first time was demanded to be the last, as Junpyo went quite hysterical when he did not come out of the water and held his breath for more than a few minutes.
The other two families remained at the resort. Where Woo Bin and Jaegyeong was enjoying the time outside their cabin, Jaegyeong seated on the stairs that ran to the water, giggling at Woo Bin who was tasked to literally dip Hae Ryung in the water, as if some old lady in the late eighteenth century washing her laundry. Hae Ryung was still too short to stand on the bottom as, if she would, the water level would come up to her nostrils. But the three year old, only saw that whole ocean as a huge puddle, which was how Woo Bin ended up doing the weird exercise.
" Agh! My back.." Woo Bin grunted while placing Hae Ryung on a higher step where she could still kick and stir and make all those splashing sounds from the water.
Jaegyeong's giggle retreated into a smile, " looks like... you have really grown older..."
" Boh?" Woo Bin shot his wife a glare, " try doing it yourself, you'll sure find yourself grown old too..." He replied. And Jaegyeong, discarding his glare, waved at another family who were leaning on the railing on the way to their own cabin and who had found it enjoyable; the little drama.
For Woo Bin, it was even more embarrassing when he saw Yi Jeong and his wife laughing at him when they passed by as if they were some tacky little neighbours.
As for the So family,
" Ah.!... silence... at last..."
Yi Jeong fell on to the bed the moment they got in to their cabin. Even after Dae Jeong was kept on the ground he chose to follow his appa and ended up trying to climb on to the bed. Ga Eul aided the toddler while heading for a wash. Dae Jeong crawled near his appa and palmed his face teasingly.
" Ah!... you..." Yi Jeong gave out a cry and lifted himself to a seated position to start tickling him till he giggled and giggled and tears jumped out. Ga Eul silently retreated to the bathroom leaving the pair in giggles and once she came back, found them asleep soundly in each other's embrace.
Ga Eul smiled to herself and simply adjusted the covers, and gave a gentle pat on them . For Ga Eul it was a common thing after all - seeing the adal and appa like that.
For all the eight adults, it was after the nightfall, that they began to enjoy the trip but not before another tiresome hour of feeding, the youngsters fell asleep on the pool chairs giving their parents some space for themselves.
After a slow waltz, they sat around the table to have their dinner, in which at the end as for a suggestion of Jaegyeong a game of truth or dare commenced. Unlike the last time, the rules were a bit different, yet the no comment option remained the same, but the punishment was to French kiss their partner. Not everyone agreed to that though.
" Andwae!" Junpyo was the first to object. " There's no way we would do such kind of things!"
" Boh?" Yi Jeong smirked, " Geum Jandi hasn't objected..."
" E..eh?" The idea of having to French kiss Junpyo in front of everyone had itself made her too embarrassed that she didn't know what to say or do. As for Ga Eul and Hani, they weren't in a much different condition as well.
" What do you mean she did not?" Junpyo raised his voice, " if this whole thing goes as couples, then, we, Gu Junpyo and Geum Jandi object!"
" Arasso.. then.. " Yi Jeong smirked again, joining the Song couple and the smiling Jihoo. " Jagiya, what do you think?" He looked at the confused Ga Eul.
" Eh? Sunbae.. I _" she was silenced by a kiss; the slightest of French kisses. Ga Eul immediately turned in to the brightest shade of crimson. " we agree..." Yi Jeong added.
" we too!"
" We do?"
"Mhmm Hmmm..." Jaegyeong nodded turning at the smirking Woo Bin.
" Ah... So it is a two against one..." Woo Bin pointed out with his lips twisting in to a smile.
" Andwae... Jihoo hasn't even _" Junpyo was literally babbling.
"_We too ... agree.." Jihoo stated calmly.
" yeobae... " Hani looked at Jihoo taking her chance to blush. " Its just the no comment option.." Jihoo continued, " we won't need it, if we'd answer all those questions..."
" So... let the game begin.." with that sing song utterance Woo Bin spinned the bottle. It stopped pointing himself.
" okay..." He smiled and glanced at every one around the table. " Geum Jandi..."
" E ... eh" Jandi gave a shiver thinking of the circumstances of what would happen if she couldn't answer. Junpyo on the other hand, just looked aside trying to hold his anxiety.
" What do you most regret about marrying Junpyo?"
" Boh?" Jandi looked like a deer caught in a trap as everyone laughed except for the targeted couple.
" wha.. what kind of question is that? I object!"
" Yoh Junpyo, the voting is over..." and there followed another laughter.
" There's always the no comment option..." Yi Jeong reminded with a smirk, after having a sip from his wine.
" The thing I most regret..." Jandi asked from herself. " Of course there's none... what on earth is there for her to regret?" it was again Junpyo. " The thing I regret the most... it is... losing my freedom. "
" Boh?.. how could you "Junpyo scoffed, " you sound like I am keeping you in a cage!... I object!" . The rest of the party went silent for a moment, while Jandi kept glaring at Junpyo.
" Will you please... stop .. telling that over and over again ?...I object to this and I object to that!"
" What did I do wrong?"
"Whoah! Whoah.. guys.. calm down..." it was Woo Bin. The rest was just enjoying the drama. It seemed even the five years of marriage hadn't been able to drain off their temptation to object the other nor have the twelve years of friendship had made it boring for the others to enjoy their bickering.
" Junpyo sunbae.." Ga Eul awaked her voice. " what Jandi was trying to say is, that it was hard for her to adapt for everything... " her voice went a bit low, " actually, it was hard for me too.." and she flashed a little smile at Yi Jeong who gave a squeeze on her hand in return.
" Yi Jeong.." Junpyo took his turn, " You... don't you miss your Casanova days?" He asked in a sing song way hoping to corner him.
" Yoh, Junpyo... you really have to ask that in front of his wife?" Woo Bin smirked.
" Boh? Aren't you glad that I didn't asked it from you?" Junpyo stated back. " besides.. isn't it So Yi Jeong, who told us that marriage is the most boring thing ever and that he never gets it- how people tolerate it to be with the same person for the rest of their life.."
" Boh?" Yi Jeong and Woo Bin uttered in unison. " As I remember... it wasn't something like that he said back then... wasn't it that it would be rare for us to find happiness in marriage as we would most probably be forced to marry someone our family would choose for us?"
" Ye ye..." Junpyo let out a sigh, " this or that, it is still the same..." his voice lowered.
" Same?" Yi Jeong scoffed, " it's not even close!" he took another sip from his wine.
" Or in second thoughts, it could have been that way if it isn't for Ga Eulyang..." Woo Bin remarked, reminding all of them about the former Casanova 's wedding with country pumpkin which happened in the most unthinkable way for any of their previous personalities...
Yi Jeong and Ga Eul chuckled.
" won't it be better if we would go back to the game?" it was again the annoyed Junpyo.
" Anniyo. " Yi Jeong uttered.
" Boh?"
" I, do not miss those days... " he took another sip, and grinned exposing his dimples.
" Jaegyeong unnie, why are you really not letting Hae Ryung to buy a puppy?" Ga Eul took her chance to turn that game in to a more comfortable conversation.
" She complained that to you too?" Woo Bin asked with another smirk and was answered with a slight nod.
" it's just that... " Jaegyeong started, " I grieved for Leon when I lost him... I just don't wanted Hae Ryung to suffer that way..." she answered sincerely.
" Leon?"
" Hmm" Jaegyeong nodded. " it's a puppy I had for my twelfth birthday as a gift from appa.." and she gestured at Yi Jeong, " and the same one for whom Yi Jeong gave me a piece from his museum to use as his food bowl..."
Yi Jeong almost choked in his wine, " agh! That was a piece praised by the queen herself!"
" Boh?" Ga Eul asked her husband with a chuckle and the table again filled with laughter.
As when a question was to be asked from the partner of the one who answered, Woo Bin had his second chance to ask. " Yoon Jihoo, " Jihoo and Hani looked up from their chuckle. " it always bothered me... why didn't you invite any of us back then when you two had Eun Hee?".
A little silence followed, before Jihoo awakes his voice.
" We thought you would be busy with your own ones..." Jihoo answered calmly.
" What kind of an excuse is that?" Junpyo glared at him.
" Ye.. I agree with Junpyo.." Yi Jeong nodded.
" You should have at least given us a call... " Woo Bin added, " Ye.. at least you should have told that you two were expecting.." and his wife joined with him.
Jihoo looked at Hani, who was already too nervous, " Would you mind us kissing?" and they exchanged a kiss; not a French kiss but a normal one on the lips. The table went silent for a moment.
" Arasso.." Woo Bin let out a sigh, " Oh Hani, who is your target?"
Hani looked up across the table at the sleeping children before taking her turn. She looked at Eun Hee who was sleeping peacefully as possible. And then at Seong Min and Seong Hee who were embracing each other- an act they do only in sleep. A single empty chair skipped, there was Hae Ryung too...
A chair...
was ...
empty...
then the question came to her mind which made her absent mindedly turn to Ga Eul,
" Ga Eul ra... where's Dae Jeong?" it wasn't meant to be the game.
" Eh?" Ga Eul looked behind, alarmed and stood up abruptly when she saw that Dae Jeong was gone.
She ran to the chairs immediately, accompanied by Yi Jeong and searched every where near. It didn't took long for the two parents to go quite hysteric as they ran here and there searching for their child. Within seconds, the whole night once filled with laughter turned upside down.
Their friends: Junpyo, Jandi, Jaegyeong, Woo Bin and Jihoo aided them for their search while Hani waited with the other kids. As for a Woo Bin 's suggestion, they went off to the beach and all the seven adults were screaming Dae Jeong's name. Well, all but Ga Eul, whose wailing was louder than her scream, but once she did, her voice was shivering with fright and none of the F4 had ever seen Yi Jeong gone that wild and lost of control.
" Aish that kid!" Junpyo cursed, " Where in the world he could have gone? "
" We could go check around the lake side and you'd better go check along the beach..." Jihoo suggested a plan. Ga Eul sobbed even louder, " What if something had happened to him... we shouldn't have left him alone...we.. at least ... we should have asked Chen to be..." her voice lost in sobs.
" Ga Eulra..." Jandi came and hugged her to make her feel better. " nothing.. nothing could have happened to him..."
" She's right.. " Woo Bin agreed. " Yi Jeong ah... calm down..." he patted his shoulder. " He couldn't have gone that far... we'll find him in no time..."
"Arasso.. we'd better get going now, Jihoo, Jandi Ga Eul.. let's go search the lakeside..." Jaegyeong added.
" ye.. the rest of us will go search the beach..." with that the search parties devided and went in opposite directions.
Though it was mostly to calm Yi Jeong, Woo Bin was right in some sort of a way, about it couldn't have been long since Dae Jeong had gone missing. The adults were fully consumed in the game when Dae Jeong woke up from his sleep. He kept staring at the sea as if he heard something calling him, and simply headed out of the resort in to the beach brushing his eyes sleepily. It had been more than a few kilometres away from his parents when he at last opened his eyes to stare at the breath taking sight of moon on the sea.
The moon, as round as it could be, shining a little above the horizon drawing a silvery line across the ocean till the beach. It was quite a visual, Dae Jeong could not help but let himself stare at it. He could have stared at it for eternity, he surely might have... if not a voice awaked him from his opened-eye meditation.
" Its quite a sight isn't it?"
Dae Jeong looked up to see the speaker with the foreign accent. Under the moon light, he seemed darker than himself; the other boy, but Dae Jeong kept staring at him till he turned to look at him and smiled.
" Remember me?" the boy smiled again and waited for his answer. After giving him sufficient time, "we met at the museum... the last time..." he recalled.
It was a boy with brown skin, about seven or eight years older than himself.
Without any hesitance the older boy sat on the sand cross legged and gestured to Dae Jeong to do so. He obeyed, and sat beside cross legged.
" There's no point telling them what you feel... they, won't be able to understand..." The foreign boy kept staring at the moon." Isn't that what keeps you silent.. the fears.. ?..." he then smirked, " just don't freak out... but, it's real.. the things they show you..."
Dae Jeong swallowed and let another long silence to fill the interval of the waves...
" Remember this?" the boy took out a tea cup and held it closer to Dae Jeong. He recognized it, it was the one he ran after back at the museum. He reached his hand to touch it, but, unexpectedly it shattered to his touch as if it was an egg shell. Dae Jeong's eyes widened, and he immediately drew back his hand as he knew, according to his knowledge; after turned upside down, stepped, cut over and over and at last baked in the kiln in 1300 degrees Celsius, the tea cup should not break, unless being hammered. Yet that, was more of an egg shell...
The older boy smiled again,
" When they... enter in to something, even if it is a mere tea cup, it becomes weaker..." he further studied the tea cup, " Ani.. in other words... they enter the weak, and make it weaker..." he let out a smirk and looked at Dae Jeong, firmly in to his eyes. " So, what am I trying to say is... stay strong... don't give in for them..." and he stood up with a grunt,
" As for your fears..." he crushed the remains of the tea cup " crush them, like this..." and handed the bits to Dae Jeong, " and throw them... to the sea..." and smiled when Dae Jeong obeyed him once again.
" And make sure you throw them as farther as you can... so the waves won't return them, back to the shore..."
With that he turned to leave, " if you need any help for that... remember we would always be there..."
Few steps away he turned one last time at the confused Dae Jeong and smiled,
" So Dae Jeong... remember... the ...choice ...is yours... as always it has been..."
So Dae Jeong, was even more confused as he sat back on his seat, and started staring at the moon lit ocean, with no time, he again entered to that eye- opened- sleep like state.
The next time when he woke up it was from a terrified Yi Jeong shaking him wildly. And not long after Ga Eul came running to him and hugged him as tight as she could, sobbing wildly.
" What were you thinking... what are you doing out here this late... do you know how scared omma and appa was ?" Ga Eul sobbed even more.
Yi Jeong was hugging them both and patting Ga Eul on her shoulder to calm her down.
" It was too loud in there..." they heard a tiny voice, almost a squeak.
" Well then you should have simply told appa or me so we could have_" it was then that Ga Eul froze, comprehending what just happened, though Yi Jeong had gone frozen a long time ago.
Woo Bin and Jihoo let out a smirk. Jaegyeong was smiling and Jandi and Junpyo was staring with an 'aww' expression.
Ga Eul and Yi Jeong exchanged a look before they both stared at their son,
" B... boh?.." Yi Jeong swallowed a bit before managing to spell it out.
Dae Jeong looked at his appa with his big eyes which had no trace of sleepiness, " Appa... it was too loud in there..."
It became hard for Yi Jeong to breath but he managed to smirk. Ga Eul hugged the little boy and kissed him nonstop.
" o... omm..omma... te..tell omma...tell omma... too..." she pleaded, her eyes tearing.
" Omma..." the little boy uttered and grinned widely squeezing his eyes exposing the dimples.
The parents were beyond overjoyed. They smiled and laughed and grinned and hugged and kissed. As for Ga Eul she even cried.
The rest of the F4 and their two wives stood there giggling at the overjoyed parents. That was one of the happiest nights for Ga Eul and Yi Jeong and thus it became the most memorable trip of all times...
As they lifted their precious little child and kissed him and hugged him, and grinned with the other grinning grown ups, they never had noticed far away almost hidden in the dark, a brown skinned boy was grinning as well, happy to see a precious family reunited.
It was after the koreans left the shore that he turned to leave as well, but his smile drained away, when he saw the pieces of the tea cup, now turned black as charcoal, lying on the sand, brought back to the shore, by the waves...
BACK IN THE PRESENT TIME at the studio ...
Yi Jeong smiled lifting his head up from the vase that was forming its shape on the wheel, looking at Dae Jeong who sat on his lap. His hands formed alone without the guidance of his appa's. The whole house was filled with the sound of Ha Neul crying, but Dae Jeong, nonetheless was concentrated on the forming vase, as if the room was silent as a cemetery.
" appa... what do you think?" Dae Jeong looked at Yi Jeong grinning widely. Yi Jeong kissed his forehead and smiled back at him with a nod. He was far more relieved to see his son back in good health after suffering high fever for four days.
Ga Eul came to the room carrying Ha Neul who was sniffing and crying as loud as his little lungs could.
" What's wrong ?" Yi Jeong turned to Ga Eul.
" His humble bee is missing..." Ga Eul answered still searching around the studio. " did you dropped it when playing outside with hyung?"
That question drew a smile on Yi Jeong's face, as it made him reminisce the unforgettable trip to new Caledonia. Ha Neul had spoken his first word the day before, and though both Yi Jeong and Ga Eul had high Hopes for it to be omma or appa, ani... just like his older brother So Dae Jeong, So Ha Neul did not uttered either of those words; it wasn't omma or appa, but iyun- which the adults recognized as the way he pronounced 'hyung '.
Yi Jeong let out a smirk while Dae Jeong slipped down from his lap. He ran out of the studio, volunteering to search for the lost 'bumble bee'.
He searched and searched but did not found it. At last when he turned to head back empty handed he heard a familiar voice.
" Searching for this?" and there stood that brown skinned boy grinning widely as before, holding the bumblebee...
A/N:
The waves of the ocean back in the story represents the time... and I hope you got it, what it meant, when it was said that the remains of the tea cup, darkened even more, returned back to the shore...
I was just trying to use some literal symbols... hope you did not mind my tacky experiments :) :)
Any review?