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There's a little swirl you can do once you step out of the plane. This is what yeollie was told by his close fren Baekhyunnie. It's part of the experience of traveling abroad apparently. Ever since he heard about it, Yeollie has been practicing with much seriousness. It's going to be his First Memory of Being in Japan, after all, so he wants it to be perfect. If he swirls properly, he's going to feel confident in his ability to be a Good Tourist. Yeollie has been quite stressed about the Good Tourist thing. Apparently, sometimes, some tourists are Bad Tourists. And then people don't want to see tourists anymore! So Yeollie decided he was going to try his best and be a Very Good Tourist. His tiny human is going to be so impressed by his good tourist-ing! And then maybe he will ask Yeollie how to be a Good Tourist and Yeollie will hold his human-paw and explain everything so well he will get kisses. Yeollie likes explaining things to his tiny. (Though his tiny will probably be a Good Tourist. He's so polite and cute and everyone is going to fall in love with him, just like Yeollie, who falls in love with him all the time).
Yeollie bumps his head delicately on the plane's window. He really wanted to have a seat where he could see the clouds. This is part of the travel experience too! His tiny wasn't too interested in seeing the clouds. Yeollie hopes that won't make him into a Bad Tourist. Surely, Japanese people wouldn't be insulted by a Cloud-uninterested person? Though his tiny has foregone any cloud watching activity so he can read a book about Japanese food on his tablet so, surely, that's a good point for him!
Yeollie feels himself relaxing a bit. They're going to have so much fun! And Japanese people are going to want to see many tourists after them! They will be such good boys together!
Yeollie's back paws tap-tap on the ground. Seems like it's peddling time! It sometimes starts rather unexpectedly. How fun! He is engaging in a rather enthusiastic plane-ground-peddling when the person seated in front of him turn toward him.
"Can I ask you to stop kicking my seat, please? I've been trying to take a nap but you keep kicking!". Yeollie is petrified. He gets anxious when people raise their voice, even if it's just a little bit.
"This is how Yeollie expresses his excitement, explains his Kyunsoo. He didn't realize he was kicking your seat."
"Okay, answers the other passenger while raising an eyebrow. But maybe he could express his excitement in another way, or somewhere else. I want to sleep." Without another word, she turns back.
His human stays silent and stares for a moment at her seat, the way he does when he thinks someone is not worth his time. He then gently asks Yeollie if he wants to play with his pink play ball instead. But Yeollie isn't in the mood to be excited anymore. Because of him, his tiny was bothered too. He can feel his ears drop. What kind of good boy put his human in such a situation? And he was being a bother, in a plane! He was being a Bad Tourist!
Does this mean that Japanese people won't want to have him as a tourist? The idea of having ruined his trip when it had just begun is so scary that he decides to burrow himself on the blanket he brought with him in anticipation of a plane-nap. When you're tiny and afraid, sometimes the only solution is to hide from the world. He can't, however, hide himself from his human, who has decided to also curl up on his seat and put his head under the blanket. He gently bumps their heads together, and asks:
"Is it a new game, or are you sad?"
Yeollie wiggles sadly, and that is answer enough for Kyungsoo.
"I see... Peddling time being so abruptly interrupted is never nice, isn't it?"
Yeollie is too sad to talk and answer by a little defeated bork. It is indeed not very nice. But this isn't what worries him the most.
Kyungsoo coos at him and then says firmly:
"I'm letting you some time to be sad but then I'm going to need your expertise of tourism to help me pick up the restaurant where we're going to eat when we arrive in Tokyo. I remember you telling me about Baekhyunnie eating in a nice cosy place near Roppongi station."
Yeollie doesn't answer and Kyungsoo gets up to stretch before sitting again. Yeollie hears him take his tablet again and feel a human-paw gently petting him over the blanket.
Time stretches while Yeollie falls into a distressed doze. He feels submerged by the feeling of having messed up everything, and how bad he's being. But just like his therapist said, he can allow himself to feel things, and let it pass. He imagines his feelings as a big wave, going to crash and be absorbed by the sea. Yeollie can't drown, because he's anchored by the reassuring human-paw of his Kyungsoo who's still petting him. He breathes.
When he finally feels grounded enough, he wiggles until his snout is peaking out and looks up at his human. He's looking down at him with a warm smile.
"Hello, says his Kyungsoo. Do you feel like talking, now?"
"I can't help you for the restaurants, answers Yeollie pitifully. I'm a Bad Tourist now."
Kyungsoo gasps. He must be very shocked, indeed, that he's travelling with such a Bad Pupper. Yeollie wants to wiggle back in the blanket to never be seen again but Kyungsoo resumes:
"It's very strange... When I look at you, I only see a very, very good boy. I wonder who is this bad tourist my good boy is talking about?"
"It's me... I bothered the woman in front of us with my annoying peddling. This is a very Bad Tourist behavior.
"I see... So you did it on purpose?"
Yeollie gasps. Of course he didn't! This would be so mean!
His Kyungsoo smiles.
"I think we both agree you did it by mistake. Good boys can make mistakes. And good tourists too! Have I ever told you about that time I tried to offer food to those cat hybrids in that neko coffee in France and they scolded me because I wasn't supposed to? They thought I was looking down on them, but here it would be totally normal to do that."
"Did- Did people think you were a Bad Tourist?"
"I'm sure some did, especially because it was so complicated trying to defend myself without being able to speak French. But those people probably lacked a bit of compassion, then, don't you think? Or perhaps you think I'm a Bad Tourist too?
Yeollie shakes his head. Of course, his gentle and warm Kyungsoo can't be a Bad Tourist for a tiny mistake!
"Do you understand what I'm trying to say? Being a bad tourist, or a bad pupper, takes far more than just a few simple mistakes. And I would argue that it would be very complicated for my good boy to suddenly be bad. And peddling time is important, as long as you don't do it on the seat of someone else."
"It's so complicated to travel, says Yeollie, feeling a bit defeated. Are we going to have a good time?"
"Well, you're with me. Isn't that enough to have fun?"
His Kyungsoo's cheeky smile is so handsome and pretty, that Yeollie has to admit that yes, everything will be fun if he's with such a loving human.
(He apologizes to the woman when she wakes up. She tells him she's sorry too, taking the plane makes her anxious but she should have been nicer. Yeollie is so happy about this nice round of apologies that he doesn't stop playing with his pink play ball until the plane lands.)
(His swirl, once they arrive in Tokyo, is perfect.)