Chapter Text
Rumi would deny that she was lost. She knew exactly where she was, how to get to the Teddy Bear Museum and Chocolate Land, and which employees at the Teddy Bear Museum she could trust.
She had, however, lost Celine. She looked across the crowds of Jungmun Saekdal Beach, but since she was nine, she couldn't see above the throng of people milling about. She retreated to the treeline to find a vantage point and look for the tallest person with long hair.
Still no luck. She tried to reach out with the Honmoon, plucking at the barrier so it would reverberate against Celine and show where she was, but she either still wasn't good enough at it or Celine was too far away.
She felt a familiar anxious weight settle over her shoulders, but she was distracted by the sight of a head peeking over the railing, and a pair of large, frightened eyes met hers.
The girl looked around her age, maybe a little younger, with a shock of wavy black hair tied into pigtails and a chubby face smattered with freckles and twisted into an expression of desperate fear.
A kid who was actually lost. At this, Rumi hopped the wooden partition separating the walkway from the beach and scrambling to the girl's side, crouching next to her.
"Are you lost?" she asked, putting on her best, confident kid voice. She was answered by a sniffle and a nod as the girl squeezed a turtle plush half as big as her, one that matched the turtle backpack and the stickers and pins of various turtle species attached to her bucket hat.
"I see you like turtles," at this the girl nodded again, her mouth curling into a nervous smile.
"I—came to see—turtle rescue," the words are slow, unsure, pronounced with a heavy American accent.
"Do you speak English?" Rumi asked back, somewhat more sure in her English.
The girl gasped, and Rumi could see the tension leaving her shoulders, "Do you?"
Rumi nodded, smiling proudly, "My, uh, guardian told me it's good to know multiple languages," she bowed, "My name is Rumi,"
The girl seemed to turn physically brighter, "I'm Zoey! Zoey Selena Alejandra Zamorano Garcia Park! Wait-," she leaned forward, worrying her lip with a finger, "You put your last names before your first names here. Does that mean I'm Park Garcia? What about my middle names? Do they come before or after Zoey?"
Rumi blinked, "I…don't know?" she shook her head, "Did you lose your parents?"
At this, Zoey wilted, her lip trembling, "I wanted to see the turtles so I ran ahead, and then I realized my parents weren't behind me, and then I couldn't see them, and then I got scared and no one would help me be-because I don't speak good Korean-,"
Mortification at making Zoey cry again mixed with an indignant anger at nobody helping an obviously lost child, and Rumi stepped toward her, "I can help you. We just need to find my guardian first,"
"You're lost too?"
"No, I know exactly where we are…I just don't know where she is,"
Zoey's lip began to tremble again.
"Do you wanna see the turtles?" she blurted, offering her hand, "I think they're going to be releasing them soon,"
Zoey sniffled, but took her hand and followed her to the growing semi circle of people.
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Zoey, once she got a little more comfortable, turned out to have a lot to say. Facts about turtles, beaches, conservation, how all three topics compared between Jeju Island and Burbank, where she was from, and music.
To be honest, between the speed of Zoey's words and her own shaky English, she got about 2/3rds of it, but what she did was utterly fascinating, and only broken by the squeal of delight as the turtles were brought out, descending into a reverent silence as they made their way into the water, the tide pulling them into open ocean.
The two of them stayed there as the crowd began to thin, the spectacle having run its course, and Zoey turned to her, worry once again marring her face.
"What do we do now?"
Rumi opened her mouth, maybe to ask her if she wanted to go to the Teddy Bear Museum, but a trio of shouts interrupted her:
"RUMI!"
"ZOEY!"
Zoey leapt to her feet as a pair of adults swept her into their arms, "Eomma! Papi!"
Rumi was distracted from the sight by Celine dropping to her knees and pulling her into a rib creaking hug as she murmured frantic Jejunmal into her hair.
The adults voices overlapped, a frantic mix of relief and reprimand.
"We were so worried!"
"We told you not to run so far ahead!"
"I looked away for a moment then you were gone!"
"I'm sorry," Zoey said, staring at her shoes as they dug into the sand, "But it's okay! I had Rumi to keep me company!"
She pointed to her, and Rumi made Celine proud by not wilting under the attention, instead greeting them with a proper bow.
"Did she?" Celine asked, voice warm with an approval that made her feel fuzzy, "I'm very proud of you for keeping calm, Rumi dear,"
"Thank you Celine,"
At her guardian's name, Zoey gasped, eyes sparkling.
"CELINE!? FROM THE SUNLIGHT SISTERS!?"
Celine chuckled, "Yes, Zoey. That Celine. Glad to know I have a fan in the States,"
"CELINE FROM THE SUNLIGHT SISTERS KNOWS MY NAME!? BEST DAY EVER!!"