"Pi-jja ju-se-yo!" Jiyun mumbled in Korean as we strolled down the sidewalk full of shops and restaurants. She clung onto her father's side, and pointed at a particular building that she wanted to go eat at. Qi Tai lifted her into his arms and embraced a few more Korean words and she nodded.
Qi Tai led us inside and we took a seat near the entrance. "Did you guys walk here?" He asked me.
"Yeah." I slumped forward over the table. "I could use a walk, I need to start losing some weight I gained after giving birth."
"You don't." He eyed my body lustfully.
"You know those eyes of yours?" I pointed my index finger at him. He snapped his eyes up to mine. "That's the reason why we had her. You need to fix your eyes." I gestured at Jiyun and frowned.
Qi Tai burst into a fit of laughter. "It's natural for a man to be attracted to his wife, Char."
"It is." I agreed. "But you need some restraint."
He leaned over the table and whispered in my ear. "How about I put you in some restraints." He licked his lips.
"You're impossible." I shook the dirty thought out of my mind. "Stop it, I'm hungry."
"So am I." Another glint of lust shimmered in his eyes.
"My god, Levi." I hissed. "There are children here. Just order for goodness sake." I lowered my head in embarrassment. Thankfully, a waitress came over and took our order before Qi Tai could say anything else. Jiyun screamed out her order to him and he scolded her in Korean, I assume for not being mindful of manners.
She sat down and crossed her arms.
"Do you want anything else?" He stopped talking to the waitress briefly and switched in English. I shook my head, and he resumed and went back to finishing our order.
"Oh wait!" I stopped the waitress before she could leave. "Can we get an extra small pizza for Joon?" I looked to Qi Tai.
"He can eat it all by himself?"
"They both have your appetite, dummy." Seriously. Both Joon and Jiyun could eat an entire pizza in one whole sitting if you let them. Sometimes it felt like the only thing they inherited from me was their curl pattern and brown skin. Other than that, they were almost exact replicas of their father.
Qi Tai finished the order and drew attention to Jiyun, who was tapping randomly on the table. The two exchanged some words, and I brought my phone out and snapped a picture of the two. The flash sound gave me away.
Qi Tai looked up at me and chuckled. "I was thinking.." He trailed off and grabbed my hand. He relaxed his posture and sighed. "I have to do some business in America. But I wanted to bring you all with me."
"All of us?" I gawked at him in awe. Was he serious? It's not that I didn't want to go, but I've never traveled across the world with both of the kids, and I wasn't sure how Jiyun would hold up on a flight for that long.
Qi Tai nodded. "I'm going to be there for a while, so I wanted everyone to be together."
"Do you know how stressful that's going to be?" I sighed. "Traveling with 2 kids, Qi Tai. And this little one," I pointed to Jiyun, who was staring off into the distance. "She can get fussy."
"I thought you would've been happy." He snorted. "You said you needed a break."
"I do, and I am, trust me." It did make me happy because I'd be going back to see my mother. But she didn't have enough space to keep all 4 of us in her house. She only had 2 bedrooms. "I think you should go, and I'll stay here to take care of the kids."
Qi Tai's jaw clenched, and he squeezed my hand. "It's not really a suggestion." He grumbled and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't think it's okay for me to be separated from you guys for that long."
"I understand, but Joon has school.. and Jiyun, maybe we need to prepare for her to enroll in daycare." I pressed my lips together. "It's a lot of planning. I'm going to have to ask my mom if we can stay with her, and she'll say yes, but she doesn't really have the space for all of us."
"If it helps.." He smiled, "I can just sleep on the couch and you and the kids take the bedroom."
"What about the flight?" I nodded at Jiyun. "How are we going to keep her calm?"
"Seriously Charlie, you worry too much." He groaned.
The waitress came over to our table with two pizzas, one bulgogi flavored and another with only cheese. Jiyun reached for a slice but Qi Tai stopped her. "An-dwae." He scolded her and placed a small slice on her plate.
"I still think you should go without us." I mumbled under my breath and took a slice of pizza before biting into it.
YOU ARE READING
Palace to Plunder (AMBW)
Short Story"Aye, I've never seen o' woman like 'er neither." The pirate replied. "Why is 'er skin so brown? I wasn't taught about women who look like this before." I spat at him. He threw his face back in disgust and released his hold on my wrist to wipe his...
