In My Arms (Hometown Cha Cha Cha fanfiction)

Chapter 21: My Dear Friend

Hye Jin's POV

"Oh? Where are we going?" I ask Du Sik as he takes an early turn on the road. We are on the way back from Seoul, back to Gongjin.

"We have one last stop to make." Du Sik says as he smiles softly.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"There's someone I want you to meet." He says.

                                                                     Park Jeong U

                              Loving Husband, Caring Father and Beloved Friend

The tombstone reads.

Du Sik places a bouquet of pink and white flowers at the tombstone. He looks at the name of his Hyung with longing and tenderness.

"Hyung, I have someone I want you to meet." He says happily. He takes his hand in mine. "This is Hye Jin, my wife."

"Do you want to say hello?" He asks me.

"Hello Jeong U, I'm Hye Jin. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." I smile.

My heart swells. This is the man who was Du Sik's family when he was studying in a place far from home. Words cannot express the amount of gratitude that I feel towards Park Jeong U for taking care of Du Sik when I wasn't around to.

"Don't worry about Du Sik. I will take good care of him. I'll make sure he spends the rest of his days laughing and eating good food." I say.

Du Sik looks at me with watery eyes. He smiles softly at me.

"Hyung, did you hear that? I'm doing very well. You need not worry about me. Ah, that reminds me. Ha rang knows so many difficult dinosaur names already. He's going to be a genius when he grows up, I think he's got Seon-A's genes." Du Sik says fondly.

"Ha rang is a very sweet boy. He made a huge sandcastle that day and filled it with many seashells." I add.

"Hyung, are you crying now?" Du Sik laughs as a tear streams down his own eye. "I know I made fun of you for being so emotional on the day that Ha rang was born." Du Sik smiles.

"But you know," He turns to look at me. "I get why you cried so much that day. I also get overcome with joy when I see Hye Jin." He says, never taking his eyes off me the entire time.

I reach out and brush a tear away from his face.

"Don't worry Hyung, I'll be a good husband." He says with great assurance.

"Do you know," Du Sik directs the question at me. "Hyung used to tease me that I don't know how to flirt with girls. He would say 'Du Sik ah! I worry for your future girlfriend. Aigoo, the poor girl.'"

"Jeong u ah, you are absolutely right. Du Sik doesn't know how to flirt at all." I laugh as I turn to the flowers seated at the base of the tombstone.

"What?" Du Sik laughs in unbelief.

"Jeong u ah, do you know after I kissed Du Sik for the first time, he pretended not to know about it! And when I asked him if he liked me, he said I was being absurd!" I say dramatically with a smile plastered across my face.

"Excuse me?" Du Sik covers his face in laughter.

"Ah Hyung, it's not what you think!" Du Sik laughs. We speak so naturally. It's almost as if Park Jeong u was standing right there in the flesh.

"How was I supposed to know I liked her so much?" Du Sik laughs as he tries to defend himself to his Hyung.

"But," I add in. "Apart from flirting, Du Sik is good at everything else." I hold my arms up at Du Sik. Du Sik laughs as he takes my hand.

"Hyung, we will live well." He says with sentiment in his voice. "So, you live well on the other side, okay? When we are finished doing everything we want to do here, we'll come find you." He says with red eyes and a smile on his face.

Du Sik puts his arm around my shoulder. My arm swings around his waist in response and I rest my head on his shoulder. He leans his cheek on my head and we stand there for a moment in silence. I feel Du Sik breathing. He stands there, thinking fondly of his Hyung.

Du Sik kisses my head.

"Why?" I ask him.

"Nothing." He smiles. "I'm just so thankful for you." He says as he gives my shoulder a tight squeeze.