Chapter 38: 30-1

"Onee-chan!" Is the first thing I hear when I walk through the door. Soon after a mini-human clings to my leg before I can even take off my shoes. "Hello Ben," I manage to get my sneakers off and lift the boy up into my arms. "Where's mommy?" I ask him. His little finger points to the balcony of the hotel suite. Then the finger travels into his mouth. I walk out and am immediately impressed with the view. "Wow," I say aloud. Erika turns around in surprise, she seemed to be in a daze. "Oh Destiny, nice to see you." I nod my head and do my best with my Japanese. I haven't been studying much lately, and I can blame Jaewook for that. Japanese was my hobby, but ever since dating him, my hobby has taken a huge blow. "Go zoo," Ben enthusiastically tells his mother. She smiles sweetly—a smile that truly reflects the kind of serene woman she is. She's so small and frail looking, her skin so pale and hair so black, I swear I'm going to break her every time I hug her. But it's all just appearances because she is notorious for her 8K jogs each morning. "Thank you Destiny," she clasps her hands together. "Oh it's no problem, I love spending time with my little prince." Ben giggles when I poke his chest. "Destiny!" Finally, my father's familiar voice booms through the room. It appears he was in the bathroom. I let Ben down and welcome my father's embrace. He squeezes me too hard—as usual—and I have to beg for him to let go. "How are you? School going well? You still meditating?" I can't help but roll my eyes at the onset of questions. "Everything's fine dad." "What about your boyfriend, how's that going?" "It's good," I simply say as I scratch the back of my neck. "He might come to the zoo too if that's okay." "It's your play date, you guys do whatever you want. I trust you." Ben is clicking buttons on the TV remote and managed to get it to turn on. He squeals in excitement. "Now if you'll excuse us, my lovely wife here needs to go on her first date in Seoul." He wraps an arm around her and she bashfully grins, as usual. Her embarrassed nature is refreshing next to my straight-forward father, and it makes her seem younger too. After sending a quick text to Jaewook, I take the remote from Ben. "Time to go buddy." "No!" He yells, the shrillness of his voice causing me to wince. "Playing." "You don't want to play with the animals?" I give him a confused looked. He pauses, mouth open as he thinks about it. "Wanna see monkey." "Okay, let's go see monkey then." I grab his hand and he obliges this time. Soon enough we're walking along the streets, the cherry blossoms in full bloom as they line the roads. I hold Ben's hand as we walk to a bus stop. "Ben has to listen to Joojoo Noona today okay? Seoul is a big city." He looks at me with wide eyes and nods. I can tell that he knows he isn't home. While usually a confident little boy in Japan, he clings onto me feverishly here, staring up at unfamiliar people with his fingers nervously in his mouth. He seems to be focused on people talking around us, his eyes fixated on their mouths and the words they use. It's not surprising since the only people he's ever heard speak Korean before are me, Zen, and my father. We get on the bus and I sit him on my lap. He plays with the seat in front of us, but after nearly pulling an older lady's hair, I hold onto his hands with my own and move them around playfully. "Ben is going to meet my friend," I tell him as I bounce him on my lap. "Friend?" "Yeah, my friend. Will you be nice to him?" "Okay." He tries to turn around, so I lift him and let him face me. His hands land on my face, holding it as he initiates a conversation about monkeys. The mixing of Korean and Japanese together still throws me off at times, but it's undeniably adorable. "Ben's birthday is soon, what should I get you?" "Gon be two," he says to me eagerly. "I know, two is a big number. Do you want a toy?" "I wanna monkey." I chuckle, "I can't get a real monkey, but I'll see what I can do." Once we reach the Seoul Grand Park zoo gates, I tap away on my phone again before scanning the area for Jaewook. It's incredibly sunny today so I have to squint. Then I'm reminded. "Ben, let's put some sunscreen." "Sunceen?" "The sun is trying to hurt us, but we have special cream to protect us!" I explain enthusiastically as I crouch down and take the cream from my bag. I've seen my fair share of toddlers refusing sunscreen for whatever reason, but it always works when you turn things into a fantastical story. Not surprisingly, he lets me dab it on his face as he effortlessly continues on with my sun story. "Yeah, sun scary. But we potected." "All done!" I say. He smiles at me, a great gummy grin with just his little teeth charmingly spread wide apart. "Noona." Ben's eyebrows push together at the word. Sure enough, when I stand up, Jaewook is walking up to us. Ben follows my gaze and stares up at the stranger. He clings to my leg immediately and grimaces. "Ben, this is my friend Jaewook. Can you say hi?" He shakes his head against my leg. I glance apologetically at Jaewook, who is now looking lost at the rejection. "He's usually friendly, maybe being in a new country is scaring him," I try explaining to him. "It's okay Noona, how are you?" "My Noona!" Ben bravely yells up at Jaewook. My jaw drops at the aggressive behaviour of the toddler. Jaewook awkwardly laughs. "What am I supposed to say?" He whispers to me. "Ben, be nice." "No friend! Noona, only Ben say," Ben looks up at me with pouty lips and crossed eyebrows. "He doesn't quite get the Korean honorifics yet." "I guess I'm calling you Destiny today," Jaewook remarks. "That just sounds wrong," I joke. We buy our tickets, but trying to get Ben away from the shelter of my legs proves to be futile. He keeps glaring at Jaewook, and I can't help but feel bad for him. He doesn't have experience with kids, so he's a lot quieter than usual. "Look," I crouch down and point past the glass in front of us. Ben finally tears his eyes away from Jaewook and follows my finger with his eyes. "Giraffe," I say. He repeats the word as he looks at the long-necked creature. There are a lot of people at the zoo now, understandably since it's a beautiful Saturday. But this means it's getting harder to see the animals in their enclosures. It's not much of an issue until the monkey exhibit appears. The expanse of people in front of us taking photos begins to take a toll on the once patient toddler that's holding my hand. His face has turned red and his mouth is turned down at the corners. "Joojoo Noona, can't see," he whines as he pulls on my arm. "I know, just be patient and they'll move soon." "No! Wanna see monkey!" The boy's face is bright red now as he shouts. Here it is, the onset of the terrible two's. I feel myself panic as he starts to wail and stomp his feet. Jaewook runs a hand through his hair in nervousness. "Ben, stop shouting," I whisper to him as I squat down. His face is full of tears now, snot covering his little nose as he refuses to understand that he needs to wait. I sigh, a hand coming to my temple as I begin to wish I was home.