Emeralds

Thirty-one.

Thirty-one
[Leen]

I AM GOING TO SOUTH KOREA PEOPLE!

Adam oppa is sure the best.

We come out of the airport and Adam immediately catches a taxi.

Welcome to Seoul, Lee! I say in my head with a mental smirk.

"I won't even ask you if you wanna rest in the hotel first," Adam says.
"You're starting to know me well, yubo." I laugh.

The driver stops in a narrow old street that Adam has described. We get off and start walking along the pavement surrounded with numerous amounts of Koreans that I would have never imagined myself being around.
"Wow, Adam we're giants," I say mentally measuring the heights of people passing by.
"That just shows how special we are, habibti," he laughs.
"Oh look that guy was tall," I say turning my head with the passing guy.
"You're too loud, Lee."
"Not like they're gonna understand me anyway," I say admiring the fact that people who understand Arabic in this whole street could be less than the number of my fingers, or none.
"You're a kid."
"And proud!" I say in a sing-song tone.

"We're there," he says as we stop outside a local restaurant, one like we watch in kdramas.
"Omo!" I say clapping my hands together. "This is a dream coming true!"
"I've tried this when I came here alone," he says as we take a seat. "We were engaged then and I kept planning bringing you here when we get married."
"You sure work according to plan, oppa!" I say when the waitress comes to take the orders.
"Pronounce that thing right," Adam says pointing to a word written on the menu.
"Dak gangjeong," I say trying to copy their accent as much as I can. "Ah," I suddenly remember as my eyes fall on another dish. "Bulgogi, too," I say smiling at the woman and wishing she doesn't think of me as a fool saying a word in Korean and another in English.
"Can you tell her not to cook anything with liquor?" Adam asks me. "It was a disaster trying to tell the man last time."
"Ah-nee," I shake my head. "I'm not that advanced yet." I smile sheepishly.
"I bet all you know is oppa and ah-nee," he says sarcastically.
"Oh, you didn't say that!"
"Oh, I did!" he mimics me.
The woman clears her throat making both of us jump in our places.
"Sorry," Adam says. "Please can you cook without liquor?" He says slowly.
"Mwuh?" she asks.
"She says "what?"."
"That's your best, Lee?" he says shooting me a look and I shrug. He has to know not everyone on Earth should speak four languages like he does. I roll my eyes mentally.
"Food," he says even more slowly. "No alcohol," he shakes his head, then points at himself and says, "Muslim."
"Aaah," she says as realisation hits her. "Okay, okay," she says with difficulty. "Muslim, alcohol, aniyo," she shakes her head and both hands illustratively.
"Yae," I nod to her. "Kamsahamnida!"
She nods and smiles friendly as she turns to leave.
Adam gives out a sigh of relief. "Next time we're eating in a five stars restaurant, at least they will speak English."
"Adam, you're mean!" I scold him. "The woman is such a cutie pie!"

The food arrives shortly and we start devouring everything on the plates.
"I can't believe I'm finally eating Korean food in Korea!"
"What else do you wanna try?" he says studying my face.
"Mmmm," I tap my chin thoughtfully. "I wanna go skating like they do in all dates, I wanna eat fish cake from a food cart in the street, I wanna go shopping, buy makeup stuff and bags, I wanna eat ramen at a supermarket, eat ice cream while walking at night, go to an amusement park, and..." I suddenly find that my list ran out of stuff.
"What?"
"I can't remember," I laugh.
"Well, take your time," he says pouring me some Pepsi. "We're here so you can do everything you've ever wanted."
I look at him trying so hard to blink the tears or swallow them or get rid of them in any invisible way. "You're even better than everything I've dreamed of in a husband," well my voice cracks anyway.
"Are you gonna cry?" his eyes widen. "We can go back to Egypt right now if you want," he teases me.
"No I'm perfectly fine!" I say in a high-pitched tone. "I just..." I swallow. "I-"
"You?" he waits for me to go on.
I clear my throat and hold my chopsticks tighter. "I love y-you."
He smiles that Robin smile- no even brighter and reaches out his hand across the table gesturing for me to bring mine up too. He holds my hand tight and rubs it. "I love you more."