13
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Second year was over, and I headed home to Qingdao for the summer
holidays. Muncho and Rex were so happy that they sang for a very
long time on the plane. It was sweet at first, and then became kind of
emotionally draining, but I didn’t want to dampen their joy, so I let them
sing for twelve hours non stop, even though the only song they knew
was ‘Happy Birthday’. My parents and Jordan were excited to see
me. Jordan had grown taller and had turned into a fine gentleman. I was
so proud of him that I sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him. It wasn’t his
birthday, but I just couldn’t think of any other song.
I had brought presents from Korea for my parents and brother. I
knew my mother was going to love the face masks I got her. She
always gushed each time she saw the flawless skin so many Koreans
had, also she wanted to occasionally disguise herself.
I brought a lot of Korean snacks, which Jordan and I enjoyed while
watching ‘Pride and Prejudice with Zombies’, a film that always reminds
me of home. I got my father some Korean tea, which he loved so
much that he drank fifteen cups in a row before his usual fifteen
evening coffees. It was nice spending time back in Qingdao with family
and old friends. I caught up with Andy and discovered he had a
girlfriend.
“How did you do it?” I asked earnestly.
“Well I was just kind, charming, nice and honest. I think girls like
that,” he shrugged.
“What?!” I asked, completely boggled. I was living in a mad world.
My room at home looked quite different. Jordan had migrated from
his bed to mine, which was strange because I had written ‘Josh’ on it
in semi-permanent marker. He had changed the wallpaper in the room
to some music stars that I had never heard of. I don’t like to talk about
it, but I don’t really like music, I prefer the sound of light machinery,
except for the song ‘Happy Birthday’ of course, which everyone