Saeng speaks, "Yeong-a. What are you doing here? How did you trick your mother and come here? You know that your mother will be searching for you. What you did was an extremely wrong move. the train already started moving, so we need to inform your mother. You are becoming more mischievous these days. Now, do whatever you want to do but don't roam far from your seat. 그게 분명해? ( Is that clear?), Yeong-a ".
Yeong nods and sits near the window, and looks past the window, admires the passing view, which makes his eyes shine and twinkle in the dark, a mesmerized expression on his face.
Meanwhile, Saeng calls his mother as she thought that she would be quite worried until now when she finds his son missing.
She waits, but his mother didn't receive her call, she then tried again, but still, her mother didn't pick up her call. She then sent her a message to her phone, that Yeong-a is with her and safe, once she finds this message, call her back.
Saeng then observes Yeong-a sitting close to the window and not looking a second away from the window, she came closer to him and looks through the window to find out, what interesting thing has caught his attention.
She feels something inside her in a good way, when she stared at the view, in which, the forest is glowing because of the streetlights, which look like fallen stars floating in the forest, and the moon glowing in the sky, staring back at them and maybe wishing them goodnight. Then after some time, the train crosses a bridge, and there they saw a beautiful large pond glistening like thousands of pearls dancing around the moon in the sky.
Saeng remembers something, which makes her eyes dull and loses their shine, she turns away from the window and leans her body against the seat, and closes her eyes. Then she hears Yeong mumbling out words in a low tone, which is inaudible.
.She opens her eyes and turns to him and saw him sitting with knees bent up, hiding his face again and rubbing his arms roughly, and mumbling something. Yeong looks scared to her.
Saeng calls his name and speaks to him, "Yeong-a. What happened, you look scared. Did you see something scary from the window?".
Yeong becomes silent and doesn't say anything.
Saeng then sits beside him and speaks in a neutral tone, " Yeong. You are not scared. Because you know music. The person who knows and recognizes music in life, he/she can't get scared. It is because of the power of music, music is powerful magic, which defeats scare, worry, tension, and loneliness. And, you are learning about music and also know how to play some tunes and sing a few songs. I was taught in my childhood that, whenever I feel scared or lonely or worried, I just need to sing or listen to music around us".
Saeng notices that Yeong was looking at her with a curious and bubbly expression, he was back to his happy self.
Yeong requests her to sing him a song as he is feeling a little scared, she accepts his request and starts singing the Korean song 'Campfire' by a K-pop band named SEVENTEEN.
She emphasizes the last part of the lyrics of this song, which is :
When it's hard and you're tired
I'll light you up
Just smile brightly
So that we can be each other's strength
Let's all sing together
Even after this night
When it's hard and you're tired
I'll light you up
Don't let go of my hand
You were next to me
I, who was next to you, will light up each other
*Our campfire*
Yeong hugs her, but she just lets him hug her and doesn't hug him back, she feels his body shivering due to the cold.
She takes out her scarf from the bag and wraps it around him but the scarf was too small for his body, he was still shivering a bit, she then covers him with her body and pats his head, softly and his shivering stopped and she feels him hugging her tighter, she felt a warmth inside her heart and her eyes glow for few seconds.
After some seconds, her phone rings, she receives the call from his mother and informs her about his stupid plan, and suggests she scold him a lot when Yeong is back home.
She assures her in a demanding tone that she needs to trust her, and he will be safely back home after a few hours.
His mother speaks in a soft tone, " I trust you, Saeng-a. I know, that you will take good care of my son. And, the most important thing is, Yeong trusts you more than me. And, you also take care of yourself. I don't want any of you to be hurt or injured ".
Saeng notices he is still awake, so, she tells him in a neutral and intimidating tone that, she has already prepared a list of punishments for him, that he will have to face and fulfill after reaching home,
Then she also demands an answer from Yeong about how and when he arrived at the railway station, and when he entered the train.
He explains everything in a sleepy tone," When we were waiting for my mother, I noticed something peeking out from your handbag, then when I observed keenly, I saw the train number and seat number written in it, but the destination part was hidden, but then, you only informed us about the destination.
So, I felt like going with you on this mini tour as I wanted to spend time and have fun with my teacher. If I would have requested my dear mother or you, you both would have surely denied my request.
And, I have heard about this place, this place is full of plants and animals, and I wanted to meet them and talk with them.
So, when I and my mom returned home, I went inside my room instantly and was going to pack my school bag, but if my mother sees with bag, she would surely know, that I am going somewhere.
So, I just packed some toffees in my pocket and a torch, in case, we need it. While my mother was busy cooking dinner in the kitchen, I sneaked out of my house and entered a taxi standing near the grocery mart and requested ajeosshi (older man) to take him fast to the railway station as his Nuna (elder sister) is waiting for him.
Kind ajeosshi asked me, where was my mother, so I answered that she already went there and she didn't take him. Then, I offered my toffees and some coins in my pant pocket as payment, but he just laughed warmly and took only the toffees and left me at the railway station.
I then ran through the stairs and saw you at the booking counter, then I silently stood behind you, and the receptionist let us in as he assumed I was your son.
Then, as soon as I recognized the train, I entered inside from another door and walked through till I found the seat number, then when I found the seat, I immediately climbed through the small stair to the upper seat, so that you can't see me until the train starts.
You came a little bit late after me, I felt a little scared and I slept facing the wall and was mumbling out words, which I too don't remember now. Sorry, Nuna, I did not wish to cause trouble or worry any of my close ones, I just wanted to explore places".
She listens to everything and understands, then simply asks him to lay down on her lap, which was a quite shocking gesture of her to him, he accepts the gesture and lays down on her lap, and then she says with a neutral tone, " Yeong-a, I will sing you a lullaby and then narrate some stories to you that my mother used to do for me every night until I left my home and came to stay here alone in my flat house.
Then Yeong questions her innocently about her parents and their residence, so she answers him by telling bits and pieces of her story and then goes back to singing a lullaby to him.
Her voice has some power to enchant casually with her sweet voice but is quite ironic to her personality.
Other passengers in that same A-class train room, were pleased by her sweet voice with a soothing rhythm in it.
Yeong falls asleep with a smile on his and his face regains its cheeky and calm expression.
After that, she also falls asleep in a sitting position and wakes up after an hour.
She looks out of the window, the night sky looks more beautiful with lots of stars hanging in it, and the city looks quite small and beautiful with streetlights. Within a few minutes, the train arrives at its destination.
She grabs her backpack and wakes him up but he is deeply asleep, so she places him in a piggyback position and holds him tightly, and walks out of the train.
She then books a taxi and asks the driver to take them to Upo Marshland, which was a few distances away from the station.
She then reaches there after 20 minutes, then she again carried him in a piggyback position as he is still asleep, then she walks carrying him and reaches the wetland, where greenery, moist soil, and different plant species can be seen and she recognizes a cabin house, little far away from the wetland, where she usually visits and stays for few hours every week.
She enters the cabin and, books a room for them and all the cabin employees mistake Yeong for her son.
She then walks into her room, carrying him, places Yeong on the bed, and covers him with a blanket, then she relaxes a bit on the chair lounge, then she takes a shower bath and changes into a suitable waterproof and fully covered dress, which was fade blue colored denim full sleeved shirt, along with spyglasses hanging on her neck and faded brown color hat on her head, completing the fashion with dark green cargo pants and grey combat boots.
Yeong opens his eyes and found himself on a bed, he observes his teacher, walking out of the room, he feels sad that his teacher left him alone, he bows his head down and feels scared and alone, then he hears the sound of footsteps but, he does not look up, then something is placed beside him, he lifts his head a little bit, looks beside him and finds a checkered full sleeved t-shirt with black pants and brown boots, which is just a little bit taller than his size.
She thinks of going there alone but refuses the idea as Yeong can irritate and annoy the other guests, so she decides to take him along with her, and for that, she needs to buy their camping dress of kids' size. That's why she left him alone for some moments.
He grabs the clothes and looks straight and sees his teacher looking at him and giving him a hint to get ready fast.
His eyes glow with happiness and a toothy smile on his face, he grabs those clothes and immediately stands on the bed and runs to her, and hugs her tightly.
Saeng's eyes glow and she felt like something is melting inside her heart, she hugs him back tenderly. Yeong-a feels the same warmth and affection that he feels whenever his mother hugs her. Yeong feels safe and warm in her arms just like his mother.
Then, Saeng removes her arms from him and asks him to change fast and come outside, as she will talk to the tour guide and wait for him outside. Yeong changes his outfit into those new clothes and runs outside the cabin.
His teacher was talking to the tour guide, so he sneak up on them and tried to scare them out of a sudden, the tour guide pretends to be scared, and both Yeong and Saeng raises eyebrows at him for his overacting.
Yeong speaks in a playful tone, "Tour guide uncle. You are really sweet as you didn't want to hurt my feelings. But, still, you need to improve your acting skills a little bit, because your acting is quite over-acting. So, uncle, lead the way, show us the forest world".
Yeong jumps here and there and grabs his teacher's hand and runs forward, while the tour guide runs to lead them through the forest.
Then, they are introduced to many different plant species, which looked beautiful and unique, the tour guide explains about the plant species, then his teacher elaborates and makes him understand more easily, Yeong was fascinated by the beauty of nature, and was curious to know about it more, he wanted to study more about them.
They went deeper and deeper inside the forest, the tour guide shows them different animal species, that were sleeping, Saeng clicks photos of Yeong with animals, he looks so happy, observing everything with wonder in his eyes, his teacher felt good seeing him so happy, then they were taken to a wide river, which was quite clear and looked magical due to moonlight.
Yeong steps closer to the river and dips his hand in the water, feels a tickling in his hand, so he giggles, then his teacher also dips one hand into the river and closes her eyes, and then dips another hand, then brings out her hands joined together, in which a small turquoise colored fish was swimming in her handful of water.
Yeong observes the fish closely and touches the fish tenderly and takes the fish out of her hand and gently leaves the fish back into the river. The tour guide is adoring their beautiful bond
They spend 2 hours there, then they return to the cabin with him.
She packs her bag again and leaves the cabin, and reaches the railway station, after 10 minutes, the train arrives at the station, they enter inside the train and after 1.3 hours, the train arrives back at the railway station.
She then walks back to her flat, carrying a sleeping Yeong in her arms.
While walking through the sky road, someone from the crowd recognizes her, he looks in his early 20s, wearing a college uniform, and is busy doing something, notices her among the crowd as she had some kind of interesting vibe to her as she looks quite different from others but she seems unbothered, unaware of the attention on her as she is ignorant to the strangers.
She buys some groceries and food items on the way to their colony, and then she arrives in front of Yeong's house and gives Yeong back into his mother's arms, and then goes inside her flat.
Yeong-a receives lots of scolding for his careless behavior, as he wakes up when he realizes that he is home. And, he apologizes genuinely for his actions and accepts all the punishments given to him by his teacher.
Saeng sits on her sofa and unfolds the paper bag that she bought recently from a convenience store, and looks inside that paper bag, grabs some chocolates, and choco rolls, and eats it.
Yeong explains every detail of their tour and expresses his happiness over getting attention and care from his teacher just like you do. His mother feels happy seeing her son so happy and cheery.