Love Together

Chapter 36

Radhi's POV

After the torment, I hesitated before opening the door. As I walked toward it, I cautiously peered through the  peephole to see who was outside. Strangely, no one was there.

It felt odd like someone had been there but had suddenly disappeared.

Yet, who could have rung the doorbell? Despite the silence outside, I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone had been there just moments ago.

I thought, "Who keeps ringing the doorbell like this?" But then I reassured myself, “Whoever it is, if they need something, they’ll ring again. I’ll open the door then.”

With that thought, I moved away from the door, went back to the living room, and sat down on the couch. Just as I was starting to relax, the doorbell rang again.

This time, it wasn’t a single ring but a continuous, persistent ringing. It started to get on my nerves.

"Who on earth keeps ringing the bell like this?" I wondered, irritated. Every time I went to open the door, no one was there. I was beyond frustrated now.

"I'm not letting this go anymore," I decided, anger rising inside me.

With that frustration building up, I stormed toward the door. The bell rang yet again, and this time, I didn’t wait.

As soon as the first ring sounded, I flung the door open immediately.And then, it became clear who had been playing this annoying game.

Even though I opened the door, I didn’t see anyone. But as my gaze dropped to the ground, I found evidence of the culprit a small pair of children's slippers.

It was obvious now. It had been a mischievous child all along.

I couldn’t help but yell out in frustration, “There’s no point in hiding now! I’ve found your slippers, so you better come out! If you don’t come out right now, I’m going to complain to your parents and make sure they scold you properly!”

As soon as I mentioned his parents, a little boy, around 5 or 6 years old, slowly started descending the stairs from the upper floor. He walked down carefully and eventually stood in front of me, his head hung low.

The mention of his parents clearly struck a chord with him, and as I looked at him, I called him closer. With small, hesitant steps, he slowly approached me, standing in front of me with his head bowed down.

"So, little one, this was your doing?" I asked.

The boy didn’t say anything, just nodded his head in silence.

"I knew it! I was wondering who kept ringing the doorbell and then running away so fast."

I couldn’t help but tease him a bit, "Tell me, are you training for the Olympics or some marathon?"

At this, the boy shook his head quickly, still not saying a word.

"Do you even speak? Or are you only silent when you’re being mischievous? You’ve made me open the door so many times today don’t you think you deserve some punishment for that? Just wait until your parents come home!"

Hearing me mention his parents again, the boy suddenly grabbed my leg and pleaded, "Please, aunty, don’t tell my mom! She’ll make me into a pulp!"

"Oh, so now you’re scared? You should’ve thought about this before annoying people. Is bothering others a good thing to do?"

The boy held onto my leg even tighter and started to cry louder, "Aunty, how can you do this to me?"

As his voice grew louder, suddenly my neighbors started opening their doors. Some were sweeping, some were mopping, and others were just watching. I had no idea why everyone had gathered so quickly.