Chapter 4:

Dara's eyes lit up in excitement and she bowed her head and returned Jiyong's greeting and introduced herself. She couldn't believe she was actually meeting someone from Jaejoong's family!

Her cheerfulness was a pleasant surprise for Jiyong. It matched the cheerfulness of her photos. He could tell immediately that she was the type of person that was probably popular and well liked by her peers. Which was the opposite of him who tended to be more moody and silent and didn't like to hang out with a lot of people. But her smile and twinkling eyes rubbed off on him and Jiyong found himself smiling back at her. He noticed then the elderly man walking up the path toward the two.

Dara looked over her shoulder to where he was gazing before turning back. "That's my grandfather," she told him, and then pointed beyond where Jiyong was standing. "My grandmother is buried over there."

Sanchol arrived to catch Dara's introduction and he looked over the young man standing by Jaejoong's grave. He quickly surmised the situation as the young man bowed his head and introduced himself.

"You've met my grand-daughter, Dara," Sanchol said, smiling. "And you're probably wondering who we are in connection to your brother's grave. Well I'll let Dara explain that to you while I go over to visit my wife." With that he continued on to his destination leaving the two youngsters behind.

After a few seconds of awkwardness Dara gave a short laugh and moved closer to Jiyong. She held out her hand, American style, and said, "It's nice to meet you, Jiyong-ssi."

Jiyong shook her extended hand, still feeling a little awkward.

"I see you got my note," Dara said, pointing to the slip of paper in Jiyong's hand.

He nodded, his eyes glancing down at the piece of paper. "Yeah. About your question, the photo is our family. It's the last family photo we took before Joongie died."

"Ah, I see."

Dara pointed to the grass and asked him if it was okay to sit down.

"Yes, please, go ahead and sit." Jiyong moved to the side and made room for Dara. He waited for her to sit down and then followed suit. After a few seconds they both began to speak at the same time, then stopped and laughed nervously.

"You go first," Dara said.

Jiyong had so many questions, he wasn't quite sure where to begin. Finally he settled on the one that loomed foremost in his mind.

"Who are you?"

Dara smiled, and Jiyong realized that she smiled a lot. She was also very pretty, even prettier than she appeared in her photos.

"My name is Park Sandara," she told him. "My family and friends call me, Dara. I'm named after my grandmother that's buried over there. That's my grandfather, Park Sanchol. We come to visit my grandmother every Sunday if we can. On one of my visits I noticed your brother's grave here because it was new at that time and also because we have the same birth year."

"So you've been visiting my brother's grave since he was buried here?" he asked.

Dara nodded. "I hope that's okay. I know it may sound weird since I didn't know your brother or anything, but I guess I felt bad seeing someone so young buried here. So I started visiting with him each time my grandfather and I came."

Jiyong pointed to the bouquet of pink roses she held. "You've been leaving flowers too on his grave?" When she nodded her head he asked her again exactly how long she had been visiting Jaejoong's grave.

"Hmm, since the summer I was eight so it's been six years now."

He was flabbergasted. "You've come every week?"

Dara shook her head as she explained that she lived in the U.S. with her parents but only visited Korea and her grandfather during the summers. "My grandfather likes to visit my grandmother's grave every Sunday it the weather is good. Mr. Kim, my grandfather's driver, brings us here and we visit for a couple of hours."

Jiyong was silent as he stared at his brother's grave marker. Dara noticed the pained look in his eyes and his lips wer pulled in a thin line. She worried that he might be upset that she had intruded upon his brother's grave all these years, and she began to apologize. But Jiyong shook his head and raised his head to look at her.

"Don't apologize. I'm grateful that Joongie had someone to visit him all this time."

She saw the look of sadness in his eyes. "You must miss him a lot."

A small smile touched his lips. He nodded silently.

She could see he was having a hard time speaking of his brother, so Dara began to busy herself with doing what she normally did in order to give Jiyong time to feel more comfortable. She removed the old flowers that were in the vase and she arranged the new ones there.

"I don't know if Jaejoongie likes the color pink but they're my grandmother's favorite so that's why I brought him pink roses too. I guess I was too young then to think that maybe a guy wouldn't like pink flowers, but it's become such a habit that I sometimes think if Jaejoongie didn't like pink roses then he probably does now. Right Jaejoongie oppa?"

Jiyong watched Dara and listened as she prattled on. She placed the old flowers in a plastic bag she had brought with her and then reached into her backpack and brought out a soft cloth from it and began to wipe down Jaejoong's grave marker.

"You do this all the time" he asked her. Dara nodded without stopping what she was doing.

"Papa -- my grandfather, likes to visit with my grandmother for a couple of hours when we come. So I spend my time cleaning Grandma and Jaejoongie's grave and arranging the flowers. I tell him about my week and what me and grandpa did, the places we visited, those sort of things."

She reached for the tin can that was near Jiyong. "These are some of the things I brought to share with him. That's a friendship bracelet I made for him. The other one is mine and I used to wear it all the time but it broke so now I keep it here with Jaejoongie's."

Dara went on explaining about the different items she had in the box and Jiyong sat back and listened to her. He found himself relaxing and even laughing at some of the stories she told. She sure was talkative, but he liked that about her, especially when he thought that this was what her visits with Jaejoong must have been like.

"Don't you find it a little strange to spend so much time in a graveyard?" he asked.

Dara made a face, which made Jiyong found cute and caused him to smile. "No -- I don't think it's strange. To me it's like visiting with your loved ones. Besides I know my Papa really misses my grandmother. When he comes here to see her he gets to spend time remembering her and talking with her. I think that helps to ease his missing her so much. I learned from him that its okay to talk to our loved ones who have died and not to be afraid."

"You're a strange girl." He chuckled when Dara scrunched her nose at him.

"Oh, wait!" She dug through her backpack again and pulled out a little plastic pouch. Inside was a beautiful brown and white seashell with dark brown and black spots on it. "Look," she said, holding it out for Jiyong to see. "I got this from the beach that my grandfather and I visited two weeks back. I forgot to bring it last week but I brought it now to put in Jaejoongie's tin can. You can hear the ocean if you hold it up to your ear."

Jiyong lifted the seashell and placed it next to his ear. "Cool." He paused a while before saying to her, "Why did you leave all these things for Joongie when he's no longer... Well, you know, he's no longer here with us."

Dara's gaze softened. "When my Papa and I visit my grandmother I feel like a part of her is still with us because we talk about the memories we have with her and we share with her those things we've done lately. She remains a part of our lives even though she's passed on. I wanted that same thing with Jaejoongie. Since I never knew him when he was alive though I thought I could at least share with him with those things I've been up to."

Jiyong nodded, understanding now what Dara meant. "You're creating memories with him by sharing with him your experiences..."

Dara nodded back. "Does that seem weird?"

Jiyong smiled at her, his heart touched by this girl's thoughtfulness. "I think what you're doing is a very beautiful thing for Joongie.  Thank you, Dara-ssi."

"Call me, Dara," she insisted, smiling at him again. "I've always wanted to have a brother and Jaejoongie oppa has become that for me. I hope you don't mind."

Jiyong shook his head. "I don't mind at all. I believe you've earned the right to call him your oppa and that Joongie would love having you as a sister." He didn't add that he too would not mind having her as a younger sister as well.

Time passed quickly and soon Dara's grandfather was standing up to leave. Dara stood as well and dusted her clothes off.

"How did you come here," Sanchol asked.

He explained that he had caught the subway and then a bus.

"Where do you live" Sanchol asked him. It was a neighborhood about thirty minutes from where Dara's grandfather lived. "Let us take you home," he offered, but Jiyong politely declined.

"I'll be alright. I'm going to stay here for a while longer and visit with my brother."

Sanchol nodded in understanding and bid Jiyong farewell.

"It was nice meeting you." This came from Dara as she bowed and smiled toward him. "Maybe we'll run into each other again here," she said.

Dara was turning to leave when Jiyong suddenly asked, "Do you have a phone?"

When Dara handed her phone over, he quickly entered his number and pressed dial. "That's my phone number," he said, handing it back to her. He saved her number on his phone as well. "Let's keep in touch, okay?"

Dara nodded and smiled back at him. "I'd like that. Until next time!" she waved, and then turned and ran to catch up with her grandfather.