Dara’s flight arrived on time but there was a problem with the lift necessary to get their luggage out from the plane. As a result the passengers didn’t get out until nearly an hour later. Dara got her suitcase and was looking for her grandfather or his driver once she got out of the baggage claim area. She was surprised instead to see a grinning Jiyong waiting for her.

“Ji oppa!” She ran over and gave him a quick hug. “Are you here to pick me up – or are you waiting for someone else?”

“I’m here to pick you up, of course!”

“Yay!” Dara did a little dance that made Jiyong laugh. He got her suitcase and pulled it along.

“I told haraboji I would pick you up and bring you home.”

“Oh that’s right! You’ve got your license now – and a new car! Wow, I can’t wait to see it!” She clapped her hands and Jiyong was reminded again how childlike Dara was.

“Yah! You can teach me how to drive this summer!!”

“Hahaha!” Jiyong laughed aloud and shook his head. “No ways, squirt. I’m not letting you behind the wheel of my baby.”

“Wah?” She frowned and hit his arm lightly. “Such a bad brother you are.”

They entered the parking area and when Dara saw his expensive looking car she stopped and gawked at it. “Aww, please oppa! You have to let me drive your car before the summer is over!”

“No.”

“Please?”

Jiyong laughed at the expression on her face as she walked around the car and gaped at it. After putting her suitcase in the trunk he walked to the passenger door and opened it for her. “Hurry up and get in, squirt.”

Dara slid in to the car and admired its leather interior and fancy dashboard. “Oh, this is so cool!”

When Jiyong got in and closed his door Dara turned to him. “I bet this is a real chick magnet for you at school, right? Wah, I can just imagine all the girls going crazy for you! Oh, hey, this isn’t going to get me into trouble with any of those girls, will it?”

“What girls?” Jiyong asked, concentrating as he reversed and drove out of the parking lot.

“You know, like girlfriends!”

Jiyong smirked. “I don’t have any girlfriend or ‘girlfriends’.”

“Really? Cool! Because last thing I need is some girl going drama over me,” she said in English, and Jiyong flashed her a questioning look. “Ah, nevermind,” she smiled, switching back to Korean.

“Are you hungry?” he asked. When she nodded enthusiastically in her seat, Jiyong laughed. He wasn’t surprised with her answer. Dara was always hungry. “What do you want to eat?”

“Ramyun!” She just couldn’t find good ramyun in the states.

Jiyong rolled his eyes. Of course she would choose that. He handed his phone over to her. “Call Harabeoji and let him know we’re going to go eat first and see if he wants something.”

“Deh.” Dara called, and Jiyong spent the next few minutes listening to Dara chatting happily with her grandfather.

**

Jiyong took her to a café he was familiar with that served really good spicy ramyun, which he knew Dara loved. He let her order whatever other dishes she wanted while just ordering soda for himself. He already knew that Dara wouldn’t finish whatever she ordered. She liked ordering several dishes and then would eat a little form each. Except for the ramyun which she would devour completely. He’d learned from the previous summer that it was best to let her order whatever side dishes she wanted and then he would just share with her.

“So how were your grades?” he asked. The last they had talked Dara had been worried about her history class project. Her strong subjects were math and science. History though she had a hard time keeping an interest in.

The two spent time talking about school and the fact that they couldn’t believe how time was passing so fast. Jiyong was going to be a senior this year while Dara would be starting her second year of high school.

She saw a look of melancholy come over Jiyong’s face before he hid it quickly with a smile. “What’s wrong?” she asked, not fooled.

“Huh?” He played dumb, like he didn’t know what she was referring to. But Dara only smirked and tilted her head to one side as she studied him. Suddenly her expression changed. It softened.

“You’re thinking of Jaejoongie oppa. He would have been in the same grade as me, right?” Her voice was gentle.

Jiyong smiled and exhaled. “You’re right. I was thinking of him.” He glanced off to the side, staring out the window and into the distance. “I sometimes just wonder what it would have been like, you know. What he would have been like. When I’m out with my friends sometimes, out of the blue, he enters my mind and I find myself thinking what he would have been like.”

He grew silent and Dara reached over and placed her hand over his, giving it a comforting squeeze. He smiled at her in return.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he confided. “You’re the only one I can talk too about Joongie.”

The waitress brought over their food and Dara retrieved her hand. “I’m starving!” she said. Jiyong and the two settled into eating their food.