Jennie
I pull Bambam aside while everyone makes their introductions. "Bambam." I smile. "Hi. I don't mean to interrupt."
"Not at all, darling." he says. He looks at ease under the blue sky, his broad smile just a little wider. "What can I do you for?"
"You grew up here, right?"
"Sure did. Spent my childhood running up and down that road."
A sprig of hope grows in my chest. "So your family owns... all this land?"
He snorts a laugh. "All thirty acres of it, darling. We Bhuwakuls go all in."
Our conversation gets cut short when Roxanne pulls us all into her home. It's a cosy place, filled with warm colours, swaths of reds and oranges, traditional rugs laid on the ground, and a large deer head stuffed over the fireplace. It smells like open firewood and coffee beans, and I immediately feel nostalgic, though I can't pinpoint where the feeling comes from.
When Mina steps inside, she's breathing light, like a hummingbird.
"I'll show you to your rooms so you can put your bags down." Roxanne waves us all in.
"The three of us have a hotel room booked down the road." Ren explains.
"We've got room enough for all of you to squeeze in." Roxanne tells him.
"Thank you, but we won't impose." Ren reassures her. "We should check in and reconvene in the morning."
Mina's hand reaches out suddenly and squeezes my arm. "You aren't leaving already, are you?" Her grip is tight, and her eyes flicker between mine frantically. She looks like a fox in a dog kennel, and I can't blame her, she's out of place, with a family she doesn't know, with only her ice-cold sibling to comfort her.
It's my job to make her happy, so I smile. "I'd love to stay." I move my hand to Ren's arm and murmur, "I'll catch up with you two later."
His eyebrows lift, but he nods in acknowledgement. He and Nayeon say their goodbyes and then duck out. I adjust my bag over my shoulder, and we scale the steps to the second floor. Roxanne asks Mina about the plane ride, oh, and has she ever been to Jeju, what's Seoul like at this time of the year, and does her troublemaking son give her too much of a hard time?
Mina's answers are mainly monosyllabic. Upstairs, there is a long hallway with rooms on either side. "We've got a large family." Roxanne explains. "Never seemed to have enough beds."
"Do you think I could shower? Plane rides always knock me off my feet." Mina asks.
"Of course, dear!" Roxanne says. "Everyone, get comfortable, I'll get some snacks going downstairs."
Excused, Mina disappears into her room. As Roxanne passes by me to go back downstairs, she squeezes my arm and gives me a smile. "Stay the night, dearie. She could use a friend."
A friend. That's what I am now. Admittedly, I'm touched by the upgrade. "I'd love to, thank you." I tell her.
Lisa doesn't look quite as pleased with the decision. She shoots me a look and then slips into her room next to mine. Well, tough. She'll have to get used to not getting what she wants eventually.