𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲

chapter 2

You knock on the door and wait patiently for a few moments before it opens, and a girl pokes her head out the door. When she sees you she opens the door a little wider and smiles at you, and that's when you're able to get a good look at her. She looks like she's around your age, maybe no more than a year or two younger.

When you realise you haven't said anything yet and she's still looking at you in confusion, you immediately bow in greeting.
"Hello," you say, smiling warmly to reassure her since she must be a little weary about who you are.

She returns the greeting, before you continue speaking, "My name's Y/N, my mother and I just moved into the apartment downstairs so I wanted to introduce myself." Her eyes widen in recognition before she nods in understanding, bowing politely to you once again.

"Oh, we heard there would be people moving in but we thought it would be later on in the day. I'm Gowoon!"
"Ah, we arrived earlier than we thought too," you respond sheepishly, rubbing the back of your neck with a little laugh.

While you talk to her you realise that she seems to be home alone, a part of you thinking that she might be living on her own, but you brush it off quickly and hand over the treats you brought for her. She thanks you with a grin, looking down at them with so much excitement that it makes you smile.

The two of you stand at her door chatting for much longer than expected, and you even end up exchanging phone numbers. She thinks you're really kind and fun to talk to, already wanting to become your friend, which you don't mind because you find her to be really sweet too. You never really had any friends, so this is a nice change for you.

Before you leave you ask her for directions to any nearby shops or convenience stores, explaining to her that you need to buy some groceries. You realise it would probably be smarter to get directions instead of just walking aimlessly, since you don't really know your way around the area yet. She very kindly directs you, and you smile and thank her before promising that you would speak to her again soon.

You follow Gowoon's directions and end up finding a nearby grocery store fairly quickly, looking around and trying to memorise the journey as you go. You buy the items you need, leaving shortly after and walking around the shops a little more.

You're just looking around and admiring the surroundings, already loving the new neighbourhood much more than your old one, pausing when you see something in your peripheral vision. You notice a group of boys huddled in a group in an alley, and when you look closer you realise they seem to be cornering someone.

You know you should probably ignore it and continue walking, but you can't just let something happen without trying to help. You curse yourself for a second for being so nosy before opening your mouth.

"Hey!" you shout at them, "what's going on here?"
They snap their heads in your direction when they hear a voice, one of them spinning around to face you completely. His expression changes to a smirk when he realises it's just a girl, a scoff leaving his lips at the sight of you.

"Looks like someone's come to play," he sings as he turns back to the boy on the ground, clearly not taking you seriously.
"Leave him alone," you say, tightly clenching your fists around the handles of your shopping bags to hide the fact that they're trembling.

"Oh?" his smirk widens, "and what makes you think we would listen to you, hm?" You gulp at his words.
"You might not listen to me," you start, lifting your phone up so they could all see it, "but I did call the police a little while ago, so if you don't want to get caught you should probably leave now."

At that moment, as if like clockwork, you all hear the wail of a siren nearby. Now it's your turn to smirk, as you see all of their faces drop. You hadn't actually called anyone, but the timing couldn't have been more immaculate. They look at each other in panic before running away, not forgetting to throw you one last glare before leaving.

You walk over to the boy who was leaning against the wall, crouching down a little so you were at the same level as him.
"Are you okay?" you ask softly. You reach for his arm with the intention of helping him up, but he swats your hand away and stands up himself.

"Why did you get involved? I could've handled that on my own," he says coldly, brushing his jacket a little to get rid of any dirt. He moves past you to walk out of the alleyway without waiting for a response, and you look at him in confusion.
"Well sorry for trying to help," you scoff as you walk after him.

He pauses at your words and sighs before turning back to you.
"You're right, I'm sorry for being rude. I know you were just trying to help, so thank you." You look at him in shock at his sudden change of mood, before a light smile makes its way onto your face and you nod in response.

You realise you should probably head home, so you look around for a few moments as you try to regain your bearings and figure out which way you're supposed to go. He watches you with an amused smile, finding the way you're turning back and forth in confusion entertaining.

"Lost?"
"Nope, I'm just fine," you respond, finally figuring out which direction to walk in. You start walking away, looking up at him in confusion when you realise he's casually strolling beside you.

"Um, why are you following me?" you ask awkwardly.
"I'm not following you, I'm walking home," he responds with a roll of his eyes.
"How do I know you're not some kind of serial killer?" you narrow your eyes at him in suspicion.

"Well, you should've thought about that before you decided to help me," he sighs, clearly fed up with your antics.
"...True," you say after a short pause, letting out a little laugh at your own logic.

You're skeptical for a few moments but you choose to believe him - he looks like he's your age and, despite the prior situation, he doesn't really seem that harmful - and continue to walk back towards your house. The two of you make casual conversation as you walk. You find out that his name is Seojun, and that he is - in fact - the same age as you.

"Watch it!" You gasp as you feel a grip on your arm before you're suddenly pulled backwards. While you were speaking to him you hadn't noticed a bike approaching the two of you. Seojun's first instinct had been to get you out of the way.

You look up at him, your heart beating fast out of shock but also because of the close proximity - your face is only inches away from his, your arm still in his grip.
"Thanks," you clear your throat lightly as you move away, before continuing to walk.

"No worries, just be careful," he responds as he continues alongside you, coughing awkwardly and rubbing the back of his neck. The remainder of your journey home is fairly silent.

"Okay now I'm convinced you're following me," you say worriedly when you reach your apartment building, Seojun still walking beside you.
"I literally live here, aren't you the one following me?" he lets out an exasperated sigh.
You look at the building he's pointing to, and your eyes widen in realisation.

"Wait, you live here?!"
"Yeah, why?"
"I just moved into the apartment below yours." He just nods in response, confused and shocked by how comical the situation is.

"Then you must be Gowoon's older brother, right?"
"How do you know her?" he glances at you suspiciously.
"I introduced myself earlier and gave some cake when I got here." He hums in understanding. The two of you finally say your goodbyes, albeit awkwardly, before heading over to your respective apartments.

Seojun walks into his apartment and greets Gowoon who's sitting in the living room, enjoying some ramen. She smiles as she greets him, before remembering something.
"Oppa, you missed the pretty girl earlier. We have new neighbours now," she says, motioning towards the box of cakes on the table beside her.

"No, I just met her," he responds nonchalantly, too distracted by the treats to fully comprehend what he's saying.
"So you admit she's pretty then?" she smirks, and his eyes widen when he realises what his words are insinuating.

"What? N-no I don't, shush," he stutters, immediately getting defensive. Gowoon's smirk widens, and she just remains quiet as she watches him panic in amusement.