What Remains

Chapter 8

"Okay, keep going straight," Alejandro instructed Yuna as he held her hands, leading her forward. She was wearing a makeshift blindfold made from a red handkerchief. Alejandro walked backward, looking back periodically so as to not trip and bring her down with him. "We're almost there," he assured her.

"What is all this about?" she asked with a laugh. "You're always so extra," she teased.

"I think love makes us all a little extra," he admitted. Yuna smiled but made no comment. He had said "love". She had not missed that little detail.

Suddenly, Alex stopped, causing Yuna to bump into him. "Okay, we're here. You can take off your blindfold," he told her. Yuna pulled the cloth from her eyes to see a blanket on the ground. In a circle around the edge of the blanket were various stuffed toys. In front of each was a teacup in a saucer. There were two open spaces, presumably, for Yuna and Alejandro.

Yuna giggled. "Should I even ask what all this is about?" she questioned as her smile became wide enough to crinkle the corners of her eyes.

"This is part of the reclamation of your childhood," Alejandro explained. "You joined ITZY at 16, but I remember you told me that you began going to dance and singing classes much earlier than that. So, it seemed like you didn't get to just play like a little kid."

Yuna's smile remained, but tears began to stream down her cheeks. "Happy tears," she assured him. She sat down at her place at the head of the congregation of stuffed toys. Alejandro sat down beside her.

"So, who do we have here?" Yuna asked as she looked around the circle.

Alejandro picked up a stuffed snowman beside him, "This is Friolín," he said. It comes from the Spanish word for cold. All of these guys have Spanish names. Next time you can get new stuffed toys and name them. It was my turn this time since it was my idea," he teased.

He set the snowman down and picked up a stuffed moose. "This guy is Cornelio, which comes from the word for antlers," he said. "And I call this guy Momo because he reminds me of the monkey from Avatar," he explained as he shook the monkey in front of her.

"Don't shake him!" she scolded, grabbing the monkey and placing him gently in his spot.

Alejandro picked up the final toy which was a bald baby dressed in denim overalls. "I call this little buddy Pelón, which means 'Baldy'," he laughed.

Yuna beamed as she appraised the motley crew of toys. "My mom had me in dance classes since I was very little. There was never time to play. Everything was always for my future, but nothing for the present moment at hand," she explained. "If you can believe it, I never had a tea party before. Never," she whispered, a bit of emotion cracking in her throat.

"Well, it's about time," Alejandro said. "Since I have a little sister, all I played for years was tea party because Mom was too sick to get on the floor and play with her. So, it fell to me to make sure Abi got to play her games. Sometimes I missed my alone play time, but I brought my action figures to the tea parties. So, it was okay."

"I'm starting to see how you got so in touch with your feminine side," Yuna teased. "I have never known a man who understood women on the level that you do," she praised him sincerely.

"Oh, gosh, you're making me blush," he said, touching his tan hands to his warm cheeks. "So, you are the anfitriona, the hostess," he informed her. "This is your tea party. So, you can do it however you want to," he explained.