Just Enough For Her Little Dream: Book Two

In Kyung

We all wake up pretty late. Jongho said that it's because, in Korea, there's almost a twelve-hour difference. He said we would get used to the time difference soon enough.

Grandfather is worse than I thought. He reminds me of unnie when she got beat up. He tries his best to hide his pain so we don't feel bad. But I can see it. I can see how worried Jongho is, too.

During breakfast, he didn't come out. Jongho took his plate to his room so he can eat in bed and rest. Once he came back, I turned from my seat and said, "Is Grandfather alright?"

"He has his worst pain in the mornings," Jongho said with a soft sigh. "But I always take him out on walks in the evening so he can get in some exercise at least."

"We can take a walk with him," I said. I then remembered that my sisters were there and I looked at them for their approval. They both nodded and I gave Jongho a smile.

He looked at us for a moment with a hint of surprise and then he did a warm chuckle. "Thanks, guys. You don't have to. I'm sure you three are still pretty exhausted from that long flight."

"We're okay," unnie said as she got up to wash her plate. Jongho tried to stop her and she gently shook her head. "We want to explore this new city, too."

"Maybe we can even look for a job," I said.

Jongho shook his head and came to sit next to me at the dinner table. I couldn't help but scoot back with wide eyes. But he didn't hear the butterflies starting to soar in my stomach. He only gave me his sweet smile and said, "I don't want you to look for a job right now. I want you and your sisters to have fun and explore. At least for a week. I want you to fall in love with your new home before you finish your dreams."

I had forgotten what Jongho does to me. All he has to do is that childish smile of his to make my whole world disappear. My heart races but my mind is silent. For once, I don't have running thoughts everywhere. All I have to do is look into those shining eyes filled with hope.

When I didn't say anything and only nodded, he gave my cheek a warm hold before walking off. My sisters were quietly watching all of this and I let out a breath I had been holding in. In-hye is the first to do a quiet giggle.

"Unnie," she said. "If you don't kiss him, I will."

"What?!" I pretend to hit her and she ducks with a laugh.

"In-kyung," unnie now said. "What's going on with you two? Are you two still..."

I looked toward the hallway where he passed by with his new sous chef uniform. My heart continued to race and for the first time, I couldn't understand my own thoughts.

"I'm not sure..."

I didn't let it bother me so much as excitement took over my emotions. We went on a walk in the middle of the day with Grandfather and he gently told us so many things about Chinatown. I was perplexed at how deep this part of the city is with the Chinese culture. I've never really looked into other cultures before, but it was amusing to see so many different things.

"Grandfather," unnie softly said to him as she held his arm. "Do we need to learn Mandarin, too?"

I was also worried about this as I listened to so many unfamiliar languages around us. But Grandfather said, "Well, Mandarin is spoken, but Cantonese is more. Maybe stick with English because if they don't speak it, they will understand it. You three know English, right?"

"In-hye knows the most English between the three," I proudly say. In-hye seemed distracted with her quiet observations of our walk until I said her name.

She looked at me and smiled. "Yes. I studied a lot with my best friend back in Seoul."

"Oh really?" Grandfather said with wide eyes. "Speak to me in English then. Let's see if those lessons paid off."

In-hye laughed at his tease but I was surprised to hear how well she spoke the language. Unnie also exchanged a surprised look with me before clapping with a proud smile. "Wow! You're good, In-hye!"

"Now we know who to send for errands," Grandfather playfully said.

We didn't go for a very long walk, but we did visit the nearest grocery store. Unnie and I were in awe at the variety of things there were in there. How is this city mainly for low-income families when they have such luxurious places?

I was tempted to look at any signs of hiring, but my heart reminded me of Jongho's warm words telling me to relax for a week. I forgot how good he is to me.

We stepped out with a few goodies and I had a small interaction with the owner of the place. She seemed to know Grandfather well and he introduced us to her. It's a good thing that I understand English very well, but I feel bad for unnie when she barely understands a thing.

By the time Jongho got back from work, I hadn't realized how fast the day went by. Is this how it feels like when you don't have any weight on your shoulders? Is this how it feels like to watch the man you love come home every night?

My heart jumped when I heard him say hello from the front door. Unnie and I were in the kitchen making dinner and I couldn't help but smile wide at his arrival. His eyes landed on me first before bowing at unnie and giving In-hye his sweet blink. I caught In-hye's eyes as she stood from drawing by the sliding backyard door and gave me a hint of a smirk. If Jongho wasn't there, I would've chased that brat down.

But I was too distracted with controlling my bubbly heart as I gave him a quick hug. He went straight to see what unnie was doing at the stovetop and I watched him from behind.

Before I could have a chat with him, I have to know what I want, right?

We've kissed only once. I had given him false hope that I would be by his side, but now that I'm here...will everything change? We don't even have any mystery to solve together. We finally have a normal life to share.

Maybe my heart felt that way back then because of the adrenaline from our investigations and everything we went through. Maybe it wasn't love? I found peace with him.

He turns from laughing with unnie and locks eyes with me. He notices my quiet observation and gives me a warm smile that makes the world go silent.

Silence. Is that what I want? It's so new to me. Will it be enough?