WALK THROUGH WALLS

ONE HUNDRED AND THREE

“Will the different groups that are going out to meet the different artists to assemble at the parking lot so that we save time. The BTS team, that is the Orange and brown teams will board the two grey vans. The Red team member Lu Na can choose the van to go with. The Epic High team that is the Grey and Violet teams will use the two white vans. We just give you five minutes to prepare. If you wish to leave after meeting your artist, you will be allowed, that means that you carry everything you will be needing to take home after your meetings. Remember that your school or agencies should make arrangements to pick you up or else, you will have to come back with the Grey team. As for the grey team, you will all be coming back to the dorms being that you still have a meeting with Hanse of Victon together with Green team who will be remaining here the whole day. For the rest who are leaving today, please, go and pack up being that some of your drivers have arrived. Please be safe and enjoy your Korean Thanksgiving break. Use your time to relax being that when you come back, we have a lot of work ahead of us.  Being that we have a lot of activities today, we will not have a together assembly. As for the JYP trainees, your agency have said that they will be sending someone in the evening, so just relax and wait. Good luck everyone.” This very long announcement made us to all stop dancing.
“How can they just leave us here until evening?” Cheol complained
“Oh, you are a JYP trainee?” I asked. I was shocked by this discovery.
“That was my reaction the first time I saw him.” Eujin said.
“Why are you guys commenting as if it is a big deal?” Cheol asked kind of pissed.
“It is not in bad faith but you look more of YG entertainment or P Nation where they have free spirited guys like you.” Eujin said.
“Even the director, JYP himself always comment that about him. I thought he will have already left but he is just there fighting. We call him a mini Jackson Wang of GOT7.” 
“You two are also from the same agency?” I asked
“Yes, how else will we know this beshtie of yours?” Kyu Joon Jihoon said
“I have a feeling that we will be waiting for him because if we go without him, it will be chaos to explain where he is. And knowing him, he is planning to go home straight tomorrow and yet he knows that we have to report to JYP before that.” Lee Jin said
“Why don’t you tell Instructor Kim about it?” Cai suggested.
“He also knows the rule being that he is one of our instructors back in JYP so that is why we will be the last to be leaving the venue. “ Lee Jin said
“You talk as if I am a burden to you.” Cheol said.
“Your words, not ours.” Kyu said which made all of us just laugh. “Let us go and pack, maybe Kim will be lenient enough to allow us to go early today.”
“Then I will go and become a BIG HIT trainee.” Cheol said which made his friends laugh
“That has always been your dream Cheol, but shhhh! It is more of a nightmare so don’t shout it out loud.” Lee Jin said as he pat him on the back.
“Yes dude. Who will be the clown if you get ideas of leaving JYP? One Jackson is too big for the JYP. You are important.” Said Kyu and then they went away.
“Dude, you have a weird taste of friends, you know that right?” Tem said which made all of us to laugh.
“Everyone around you is just savage. I pity your life.” Korn said. I had even forgotten that he was with us.
“I guess, this is why he just takes in all the bullying he goes through in our team.” Cai said.
“Wow that kind of shock absorber will be very nice to possess this holiday.” I said and Cai looked at me and just started laughing.
“Sorry mum but with that family of ours, Cheol’s patience is like a drop in the ocean. But you handle them well. Better than I usually do. Now that we will be the whole family, I am just in for the drama.” Cai added.
To say the truth, these boys that I will be going to Jeju Island with are just full of drama much that my head is aching as I think about what is ahead of me. We were going to the van as told. The BTS team had already left. The Violet team were already in their van while our driver was nowhere to be seen.
“Should I come and volunteer to be your chauffer? “ Evan shouted from their van.
“This is Korea, not Taiwan. We want to be safe, but thank you for your concern. Our driver will just feel ashamed and come to drive us.” Cheol said which made all the Violet team members to laugh at Evan Ma.
The violet team left us still waiting for the driver.
“P’, did you annoy the driver before he reached the destination so much that he has decided to forget about your existence?” a girl came and asked but in Thai so it meant that he was talking to either Tem or Korn.
Tem and Korn looked at me as if signaling me to answer the girl. “Not really Nong, we are just not in a hurry so we requested the driver to go and take his breakfast in peace. You know, there is no need of us starving the poor soul and yet it is just a rendezvous that can started anytime, but thank you Nong for your concern.” I said and then opened the van and entered. I noticed that no one talked after that comment. The girl was shocked, I guess because I answered her in Thai.
“P’Tem, she also knows Thai?” the girl asked after a long silence.
“Yes Nong Cherren, she speaks so many languages, I am tired of keeping up.” Tem answered. “By the way, have you heard anything from our school?”
“Yes, they said that we will be going back tomorrow in the evening being that you have not finished your activities. Janista and Mark feel like killing you.” Cherren said which made Korn start laughing.
“For Janista, it is valid, but why is Mark angry and yet he wanted to tour South Korea before going to Thailand?” Korn said.
“I think Jan Ployshompoo is going to meet Hanse tomorrow, so it is not only me delaying you guys, so tell Mark to relax.” Tem said
“P’Korn will be going back with us, yes?” Cherren asked.
“Yes, that is the plan. You know your head teacher very well.” Korn said. From the conversation, I came to learn that Korn is the nephew to the director of Tem’s school. When the girl left, the driver came and Tem and Korn entered the van. We checked if everyone was in, by all, I mean Cheol and then we left for the rendezvous.
“I hope I didn’t make you wait for long.” The driver apologized.
“It is ok, we don’t mind.” Eujin said but apparently, this didn’t seat well with Cheol.”
“We are annoyed, just imagine, the other team left us, not before making fun of us. The others just looked at us and laughed. I am annoyed. We were winners but those who didn’t perform well left us hanging. That is not good. We were…” Cheol complained but I stopped him from talking.
“It is ok, we don’t mind. I prefer getting the person we are meeting instead of being the first at the venue." I said.
“It is ok Cheol, I am sorry I made you feel like a looser. How can I make it up to you?” The driver asked. I think at this rate, everyone in this competition knows Cheol.
“I want ice-cream. It is so hot here in Seoul, much that vanilla coconut ice-cream will do me a lot good.” Cheol said happily.
“Please don’t mind him driver…” Eujin said
“Call me Moon, driver Moon and I don’t mind. Let me treat you to ice cream, all of you but after we meet the Epic High, is that ok with Cheol?” Driver Moon asked.
“Yes!” Cheol said which made all of us to laugh. The driver then put on music and it was Maroon 5 singing. It made me miss my daughter whose favorite artists are Maroon 5. I found myself singing along, singing the whole songs word to word.
“By the way driver Moon, where is the meeting place?” I asked being that it was as if we were going out of Seoul.
“We are going to Gwangan-dong, Suyeong-gu in Busan.” Moon said. At this point, my heart was beating very fast because I didn’t have a good feeling of the place we were going to.
“Are we going to Hotel Shilla Seoul?” Cheol said excited.
“Yes, that is where you are meeting Tablo. Have you ever gone there?” Moon asked.
“No, but I have heard a lot about it. It is a five star hotel owned by the Samsung Family.” Cheol asked which made Cai look at me, I nodded at him and he just smiled.
“Have you ever gone there Lensah?” Eujin asked me which made the others to look at me.
“She owns part of it. “ Cai whispered but Tem heard him and so he looked at me.
“Yes, my dad took us there for a business dinner once.” I said.
“Wow, then it seems that you are from a very wealthy family.” Cheol said.
“Something like that. Anyway, are we almost?” I asked just to direct the attention elsewhere but Tem continued to look at me. I decided to take my phone and send a message to my cousin to ask if my aunt who is the CEO was around because I was in the mood of answering so many questions. It was relieve being that she was on a business trip in China. We arrived and were directed where the Violet team was.  The manager came to welcome us when Tablo joined us. Our eyes met and I had to signal him not to make it obvious that he knows me. This didn’t escape the keen eyes of Tem who was still looking at me. We introduced ourselves to Tablo who was very pleasant to be around. He made sure to answer every question that he was asked. He waqs English was nice. Whenever he talked to me, he mixed Korean and English until it reached a point where he had to request me tio speak English being that he forgot that I can understand all the languages. After sometime, I excused myself so as to go and talk to the manager. It was not hard to find him being that there was a celebrity in the hotel so he had to make sure that everything is ok.
“Well well well, if it isn’t the greal Frachescah Lee.” Manager Park  Han Bitnoori said and then hugged me.
“You know you are the only one who calls me that name.” I said as I moved from his hug.
“Then, I will continue calling you that way. Does the CEO know that her favorite niece is around. From that look, I know that she is not aware of it.”
“It is not that hard for you, right!”
“Jeju Island Shilla branch called and told me that you had requested your cottage to be cleaned and I knew there was something fishy. So how long do you plan to hide from you aunt. Don’t you think that she already knows that you will be going for holiday at Jeju?”
“ I told them that my friend was going to use the cottage.”
“Hahahahaha, cunning as usual. So how long have you been in South Korea?”
“Since February?”
“This is real drama in the making. The family is not aware that you are around?”
“Just a handful, the insignificant once, my grandfather is aware but he is keeping my secret. I will ambush them during the Thanksgiving.”
“I hope you have already had all the fun because the moment you appear to them, you will be in prison?”
“That is where my mother comes in. anyways, I will make some time to come and bond with you, and even share some recipes from Africa.”
“That is how you bribe me, you silly girl.”
“You love my cooking and you know what they say, the way to amn’s hearty is through the stomach.”
“Look at you with your smart mouth. Go away before I mistakenly call my boss and tell her that…”
“Ok, you win mister Park Sir, you are the best uncle out here.” I shouted but not after hugging him and running away. I could hear him laughing out loud. I run into Tem,” Where are you going?”
“I thought you got lost so I was coming to check on you. But now tell me the truth will you, who are you Lensah?”
“Ok, my family owns this hotel, my aunt is the CEO, and I was going to greet the manager being that I know him.” I said in one breath
“Ok, that is why you looked tense when driver moon said that we were coming here!”
“Yes, I didn’t want to meet my aunt over here, she is a chatter box and she would have insisted that I go home with her.”
“Ok. Now I understand. Little Cai also knows?”
“Yes, he is family so he knows everything.”
“He said that you own the hotel.”
“The branch at Jeju Island is under my mother’s care. Stop it with the interrogation.”
“Ok then, let us go, they are about to serve the food.”