Side Story.6

“Eunwoo is okay, Father. He’s strong. I’m three years older than him, but he’s the wisest, most reliable, and rational person I know. He definitely struggled after losing his mother, but he got through it in his own way. You know that, don’t you?”  

At her words, Professor Go slowly nodded.  

“You don’t need to feel guilty. Eunwoo worries about you a lot. And you weren’t in Laos just to run away.”  

“Hm?”  

“Eunwoo told me. He said you felt a lot of pride and fulfillment from your medical volunteering there. You enjoyed it, didn’t you? For the past five years.”  

Eunwoo had once shown Yujin a photo of Professor Go with a child in Laos, most of the child’s face wrapped in bandages.  

Professor Go had treated the child for free.  

Even though Eunwoo knew little about medicine, Professor Go would sometimes tell him about the heartbreaking medical situations and patients there.  

“When you found joy in your work, it wasn’t running away anymore. You were just spending some time for yourself. And now you’re back—with Eunwoo.”  

“…Hearing you say all this makes me feel like a child.”  

“No way, Father.”  

Yujin smiled and raised her eyebrows.  

Professor Go shook his head and laughed, his shoulders shaking, then ran his finger along his right eyebrow and took a deep breath.  

“Two months ago, Eunwoo called me and said he suddenly wanted to get married.”  

“What?”  

“He told me to wrap things up in Laos and come back to Korea quickly.”  

Yujin was stunned.  

She hadn’t imagined Eunwoo would say something like that.  

Even as she tried to process it, Professor Go kept talking.  

“He said he wanted to marry you, and since you hadn’t been together long, I wondered if he was being reckless. I thought maybe you should take more time to get to know each other.”  

Yujin waited for Professor Go’s next words, a gentle smile lingering at the corners of his eyes.  

“But now I see there’s a reason Eunwoo is so certain. Please take good care of him, Yujin.”  

When Professor Go bowed his head, Yujin, flustered, quickly bowed back.  

“I’ll do my best.”  

At that moment, the door opened and Eunwoo, who had gone to the restroom, came in.  

“What are you two doing?”  

Eunwoo looked puzzled at Yujin and Professor Go, who were both bowing. Professor Go lifted his head and smiled more comfortably than ever since meeting Eunwoo.  

“We were just talking about when to set up the formal meeting between families.”  

Yujin’s eyes widened as she looked at Professor Go.  

Eunwoo, not knowing the context, added even more,  

“Okay. I’ll set it up soon.”  

“Uh?”  

Yujin, embarrassed, nudged Eunwoo’s waist with her elbow, but he just smiled at her.  

“You remember what we talked about in your room four days ago, right? No backing out.”  

Yujin’s mind flashed back to what happened in her room four days ago.  

Her face instantly turned red, and since it wasn’t the right place, she just glared at him in warning.  

“What are you two talking about?”  

As the two whispered, Professor Go asked curiously, and Yujin quickly waved her hands to say it was nothing.  

Luckily, Eunwoo cleared his throat and changed the subject.  

“We’ll take you home after we eat. Go unpack.”  

“What about you?”  

“I need to go somewhere with Yujin.”  

Since this was news to Yujin, she raised her eyebrows.  

She’d thought today was just about picking up Professor Go at the airport, greeting him, and having a meal together.  

She kept asking with her eyes what he meant, but Eunwoo just smiled mysteriously.  

***

After dropping Professor Go off at Eunwoo’s house, the place they headed to was surprising, yet not so surprising.  

Yujin stared blankly at the sign on the building that read ‘Memorial House’.  

“…This is where we’re going?”  

“Yeah. I realized I’d only thought about Hajin, but never actually came to visit. I wanted to come with you.”  

Yujin, having gotten out of the car, looked up at Eunwoo standing beside her.  

“Let’s go in. You know where Hajin is, right?”  

“…Yeah.”  

She hadn’t been to the columbarium since last Chuseok, always using the excuse of being busy with the store.  

Even though the building was in a sunny spot, an inexplicable chill hit her as soon as she stepped inside.  

Hajin is dead.  

She knew that.  

She should be able to accept it calmly by now, but every time, memories of not having treated him better weighed her down and made her heart heavy.  

“He’s in the left corridor.”  

Yujin walked half a step ahead of Eunwoo, heading toward where Hajin’s urn was kept.  

She found the exact spot and pointed with her finger. She didn’t need to read the name; she knew instantly Hajin was there.  

It was because Yujin, Bangsook, and her father had decorated the front of the urn with a photo.  

Hajin, wearing his Banho High School uniform and glasses, was smiling shyly and making a ‘V’ sign with his fingers.  

“Here he is, Park Hajin.”  

Following Yujin’s hand, Eunwoo looked at the compartment with the urn and quietly stared at Hajin’s photo.  

Yujin stood beside him, blankly gazing at her younger brother’s face, whom she hadn’t treated so warmly when he was alive.  

Whenever she stood here, only one thought circled in her mind.  

‘I should’ve treated him better. I should’ve been kinder when he was alive. Why was I so mean back then? Why couldn’t I be a good older sister?  

Regret filled her heart, making her eyes damp.  

“It’s been a while, Park Hajin. I came because I have something to say.”  

Her eyes grew hot, and she instinctively bowed her head.  

Suddenly, Eunwoo’s voice echoed softly in the empty columbarium.  

“This is something I needed to say in front of you. It feels more genuine to do it here.”  

Yujin wondered what Eunwoo was about to say.  

“I met someone I want to spend my life with, and somehow that person turned out to be your sister. Park Yujin.”  

Eunwoo gently entwined his fingers with Yujin’s.  

“So I came to tell you. I want to marry Yujin—I will marry her.”  

“Go Eunwoo.”  

Yujin raised her eyebrows and called his name.  

Eunwoo looked down at her with a gentle smile in his eyes.  

“What, you came here just to say that to Hajin?”  

“So what?”  

“No, I mean… you didn’t have to go this far.”  

“I wanted to.”  

Eunwoo took a small black box out from inside his jacket.  

He pulled out a ring with an intricate design and silently raised the corners of his mouth.  

“Did I ever tell you I fell for you at first sight?”  

“What?”  

Yujin, who had been mesmerized by the ring, snapped back to reality at Eunwoo’s words.  

“When I was burned out and feeling useless, I came to Banho-dong. The time I’d truly been happy was back in Banho High School, and I thought of Hajin. When I took my first step, I met you.”  

Yujin’s ears turned red as she realized when that was.  

She remembered the commotion with the dentist who’d seduced a part-timer, and how her meddling had caused so many rumors and upset her parents.  

Eunwoo had come to apply for a part-time job at the convenience store after seeing her stand up to the dentist.  

“…At first sight? You never said that before. And how could you fall for someone after seeing me like that?”  

“Well, you just caught my eye.”  

Yujin’s eyes widened.  

“I couldn’t look away. Everything else in the world seemed dull, but you were so vibrant. So I was drawn to you.”  

“Eunwoo.”  

“When I realized you were Hajin’s sister, I thought I had to be careful. But now I see that was just an excuse. I just liked you. I fell for you at first sight.”  

With that memory, Eunwoo smiled brightly and fiddled with the ring, then looked at Yujin.  

“If I hadn’t thought of Hajin, maybe we never would’ve met. Then maybe I’d still be miserable. So I’m grateful to Hajin.”  

Eunwoo gently lifted her hand.  

“That’s why I wanted to come here and say this properly, and make a promise to the one who gave me such unforgettable memories in my school days.”  

“What promise?”  

“I can’t promise you’ll never get your hands wet… but I promise to look only at you, Park Yujin, love only you, cherish only you for my whole life. No matter what storm comes, I’ll be your sturdy shelter, and I’ll support everything that makes you happy.”

Eunwoo whispered softly and pressed his forehead gently to hers.  

“So, Park Yujin, will you marry me?”  

Yujin bit her lip.

Otherwise, she felt as if she would burst into tears.  

From childhood, Yujin had always felt breathless, envying and coveting what she didn’t have.  

She was jealous of Hajin, longed for her parents’ love that seemed to favor only Hajin, and hated herself for not being as good as him.  

But after experiencing Hajin’s passing, she gradually began to learn how to love herself.  

She started to comfort and encourage herself, wishing sincerely to live well, instead of always pushing and criticizing herself.  

She had always thought she was struggling alone.  

She thought she would continue to do so.  

She had never imagined, nor even hoped, that someone as wonderful as Eunwoo would appear in her life.  

But he appeared, loved her, and expressed his feelings so sincerely and respectfully.