Behind Watanabe

Night Play.

A babysitting day was well spent and Junkyu was finally dismissed. After putting Hanami to sleep, Junkyu washed himself and made sure that he rewarded himself with a simple thing after a long day taking care of someone's child. The instant noodles he bought a few days ago — which were originally for Hanami — were truly the cherry on top, especially after an exhausting day. Though, it was Junkyu initiative and goal to take Hanami outside as often as possible, as long as the sun was still shining, as long as summer was still lasting. Junkyu wouldn't call the weariness as a consequence, but rather a healthy result of good intention, simply to let Hanami enjoy her precious childhood.

It was ten at night, everyone was already headed to their room. Whether they were asleep or not, Junkyu had been released from his daily task and he could finally spend some quality time by himself.

The noodle was hot and spicy, but that went right in Junkyu's alley. Instead of eating alone in the dining room — feeling suspected and irritated by the eerie atmosphere in the house — he decided to bring the bowl to his room and cherish his late night meal there. He would normally watch Netflix series or YouTube videos while eating, since there was no other companion, but right at that moment, he received a message from one of his close friends and was asked to make a video call. So Junkyu agreed and he called his friend immediately.

"So you still haven't got rid of that nasty behaviour of yours." Instead of responding to Junkyu's amiable greeting, his friend looked instantly unpleasant as soon as he saw Junkyu on the screen.

"Ey, we used to do this together almost every night when I was still in Germany." Junkyu avenged himself and the friend didn't flinch for a few seconds afterwards. "How are you, Yoshi? Everything's going well?

"Except thirty five degree summer night and massive invasion from mosquitoes, yes, I guess everything is fine. I'm still haven't received any feedback from the company I applied to, so I'm continuing my paid apprenticeship at the uni." Yoshi's poised answer gave peace to Junkyu. "What about you? How's it being a babysitter?"

Junkyu chuckled for a moment and swallowed his instant noodles, only then did he string up words to answer Yoshi's question. "I already said that my host family is Japanese, right? For Japanese, they really have been localized, even somewhat blended into Korean culture, well... considering they've lived here for a long time, too. However, so far so good."

"Why not just look for a family in Seoul?"

"I wanted to do that, but the Watanabe family are very reassuring and I think this is an opportunity for me to travel again from Seoul. They are very kind and the area here is very calming. A bit of relaxation for me and getting out of the crowds of the big city."

Yoshi's looked impressed by Junkyu's answer. "Indeed, you should have just stayed in Germany." He mocked. "So, only good things... I guess?"

"Yeah, although..." Junkyu fixed his seating position and put the chopsticks to the side. "I noticed something unsual from this family, a lot of things that I don't understand still, but I guess it's just cultural and lifestyle thing."

"Such as...?"

And Junkyu proceeded to tell the strange experiences from the beginning to the point he could peacefully enjoy his instant noodle. He often used the term "inexplicable" and "eccentric" but Yoshi rather took it to different direction of meaning. Yoshi in the other hand, sensed something more than just cultural and traditional contrast, as he himself was a half Japanese-Korean. Surprisingly, Junkyu noticed the odd in Yoshi's expression. Though he was uncomfortable with the fact that the Watanabe family behaved differently, but Junkyu preferred to sugarcoat his words and avoided spreading negative image about his host family.