Sad, Beautiful & Tragic // Love Next Door

Four

Choi Seung-hyo, 7 year old twerp

The first time Choi Seung-hyo saw Bae San-yeong properly without cowering in fear was when he was seven years old and she was ten. The neighbourhood kids had ferociously ganged up on the little boy and he in turn had climbed up on the top of the jungle jump. Seung-hyo in fear of being beaten up by the kids did not realise what he had done. The realisation sank when he tried to climb down and saw the distance between him and the ground.

"MOM!!" Seung-hyo had let out a ferociously loud scream. Bae Seok-ryu who had visible face-planted herself on the sand pit after hearing her best friend's scream stood up and dusted her clothes. The seven year old girl started running towards the exit of the park and that's when Seung-hyo saw her too. "SEOK-RYU!!!" He had shouted but the girl was too busy running.

Seung-hyo wiped his nose and started to quieten his screams of terror when he realised that nobody was going to come for him. His mother was in Africa, his father was too busy and now Bae Seok-ryu too had run away. That's when someone called out his name from beneath.

"SEUNG-HYO! ARE YOU HURT?!" He saw Bae Seok-ryu's tall and scary elder sister standing beneath the jungle jump along with two other people. "Mom will kill me if he gets hurt..." San-yeong bit her thumb and looked at the young boy again.

"Seung-hyo jump down. San-yeong noona and Sung-hoon hyung will catch you!" The ten year old Song Nara suggested. Seung-hyo started crying louder, shaking his head vehemently rejecting the terrifying idea of jumping down.

"Choi Seung-hyo! Look at me. Trust me. We will catch you. I promise that you won't get hurt!" San-yeong tried to coerce the child to jump. "This won't work guys. Let me go up and get him down..." San-yeong proceeded to climb the jungle jump. She reached where Seung-hyo was stuck and say beside him. "Are you scared Seung-hyo?" The little boy looked at her and nodded.

"Don't be scared anymore. I will not let you get hurt." San-yeong caressed the boy's head and picked her up with great difficulty. She slowly climbed one step down. Seung-hyo, now scared of falling had wrapped his arms around San-yeong's neck tightly. She climbed down another step and handed over Seung-hyo to Nara and Sung-hoon before jumping down on her feet.

"See you didn't get hurt!" Sung-hoon ruffled the boy's hair and patted San-yeong's back. "Well done Supergirl" San-yeong rolled her eyes and took a hold of Seung-hyo's hand. "Let's go home and console Bae Seok-ryu. She's afraid that you might've died..."

That was the day Choi Seung-hyo saw Bae San-yeong in a new light. That was the day when she was no longer "Bae Seok-ryu's scary older sister" but "The pretty noona who saved me."

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San-yeong begrudgingly took Seung-hyo's hand and climbed up to sit beside him. Seung-hyo was excited as it is because he was sharing the evening with her after ten years.
She sighed and looked at the starry sky above them. "Are you an architect now?" She asked to which he nodded and smiled.

"Do you remember the sauna where mom and aunt Mi-suk used to take Seok-ryu and me?" He asked. San-yeong looked at him and chuckled. "That sauna where you both first saw each other naked and then ran for the door which lead to you both slamming your heads on the wall and you passing out?" She cackled loudly hitting his shoulder.

"Why do you remember it in such details?!" He shouted, his ears turning pink in colour. "Hey ofcourse I would remember it clearly because I was the one who got scolded by both aunt Hye-suk and mom!" She hit him again and gave her entire attention to him. "What about it though?"

"It's my office now. I've started my own company..." San-yeong nodded. "But Choi Seung-hyo..." She pretended to ponder over something. "Won't you get embarrassed working there? It was the first time you saw a girl naked and a girl saw you naked." Seung-hyo jumped down from the jungle jump and looked at her. "You're disgusting!" He exclaimed.

"Oi CHOI SEUNG-HYO!" San-yeong shouted. "Repay your debt you ungrateful brat!" The man stopped on his tracks and saw her struggling to climb down. "Do you want me to pick you up or something?!" He screamed.

"Hey you're tall! It won't be a big deal for you! Come here fast!!"

It was as if someone has stepped on his Trachea. Seung-hyo could not breathe properly. The thought of San-yeong being in his arms seemed quite an tempting offer. "What the fuck are you waiting for ?!" Seung-hyo snapped back into reality and went near her.

She jumped trusting Seung-hyo. She knew that he won't let her fall because he had to repay her for saving him. Just in time Seung-hyo caught her and spun around to balance his feet. "Good boy." She ecstatically ruffled his hair.

"Tomorrow is the opening of my office. I have no idea about Seok-ryu but I think she will show up even if I told her not to." Seung-hyo let her down and she adjusted her clothes. "Your point is?" She asked. "I wanted to return something of yours. I have it in my office so please collect it tomorrow at noon." She frowned. "What did you steal from me?" She asked, holding him back.

He smoothly removed his hand from her grip and bit his lower lip. "Why don't you find it out tomorrow yourself?"

"Choi Seung-hyo you brat!!"

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A/n

Again not my favourite chapter but we're getting there. We're slowly pacing towards the pining for each other phase 😭

Also did you guys ever face this kind of situation where you had to help a kid that was stuck somewhere?

Happy reading ♥️