I'll Be By Your Side: Memories of the Alhambra

Chapter 9 - Seju and Jinwoo

HEEJU POV

I've been trying to give Sang-beom Oppa a call to share the news with him but he hasn't been picking up. Minju said that he had called me at the house the day after Jinwoo proposed to me to tell me that he was going back to Granada to attend a friend's wedding but since I wasn't home to pick up the call, Minju went ahead to share the news with him. Well, I hope he's happy for me.

I'm happy. Life is back to normal for us. We wake up together every morning and after Jinwoo and Seju leaves for work, I get to work at the guitar workshop downstairs too. Jinwoo has been driving Seju to work every day now. The two most important men in my life have never actually gotten a chance to properly hang out before so I love that they have the chance to now. Spending more time with Jinwoo might just be a good thing for Seju. Seju needs to learn from and depend on an older male figure in his life and Jinwoo might just be the right man for it. Seju never seems to be able to rely on Sang-beom Oppa although he comes to our place often when we lived in Granada. But I think he thinks differently of Jinwoo.

One day when both Seju and Jinwoo returned home from work, Seju addressed Jinwoo as "Hyung' which definitely came as a surprise to Halmeoni and I. Seju has never gotten comfortable with anyone that quickly.

I pulled Jinwoo to a corner that night and asked him about how he managed to become close to Seju that quickly and Jinwoo shrugged saying; "Well, I'm about to marry his sister so I am his Hyung. What's wrong with that?"

"It's just... I'm overjoyed that he feels comfortable enough to address you as Hyung." I said with the biggest smile I had on my face.

"Actually, Seju hadn't spoken much when we drive to work every day but today on the way home, he took the initiative and spoke to me," Jinwoo explains.

——— in the car

"Daepyo-nim, our Noona... Life wasn't kind to her. We went to Granada to help her achieve her dream but she had to give it up for us. Back in Granada, she works hard and suffered quietly alone. The ten billion won you gave her, it bought her a nice place, a guitar workshop and to live life comfortably but the past year when you went missing, she wasn't happy. She was never truly happy. And our Noona... Our Noona deserves to be happy."

"Is Daepyo-nim confident enough to give her a different life? A life that she could take a break and never have to be sad anymore? Our Noona seems to really like you, Daepyo-nim. So Daepyo-nim, please treat her well and let our Noona be happy."

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Tears swim in my eyes after hearing what Seju said to Jinwoo. My little brother who had always kept to himself cares for his older sister. I always knew my little brother had a warm heart. Losing my parents had been hard for Halmeoni, Seju and I. Minju was too little to have understood then. I always felt bad for my family. What if my family never left for Granada? Would things have been different if we stayed in Seoul instead of going to Granada to realize that dream of mine? Maybe my parents would still be around, and Seju, and my family would have had an easier life. But if it wasn't for Granada... Maybe I wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet Jinwoo.

Pulling me away from my thoughts, Jinwoo clears his throat and says; "I promised him that I would if you were wondering. You and your family, are my family now. I will take care of you, all of you. You and your family." Jinwoo says holding my hand.

"I know you will, I believe you will."