Hello Neighbor ✔

Chapter 6

“The only time you should ever look back, is to see how far you've come.” 

All my life, I've only really had one real friend with me throughout all the major events in life.

I still remember the face of a young six year old girl opening up the new front doors to her new house after moving here from Canada.

I still remember the face of a young five year old boy knocking on the front door the next day to greet his new neighbors.

The girl opens the door only to have a dish wrapped in tin foil almost shoved into her face.

The boy was extending his arms out, holding the plate as if delivering a message to a King from another kingdom.

The girl takes the dish from his small hands and finally gets a view of the young boy's face.

He smiled. There was something about a little boy's pure, toothy smile that could bring joy to anyone.

"Hello new neighbors. Welcome to the neighborhood." The boy announces.

First words that came out of his mouth proudly while trying to show off the nice neighborhood with both arms extended out and spinning around.

The little girl smiles finding it nice to meet a potential friend since she wasn't always good at making them.

The boy finally points to the dish. "This is for you guys. My mommy made it special just for you."

A small thank you managed to escape her lips.

Noted it was pretty obvious at first glance that the girl wasn't exactly shy but just not the best at finding words to start a conversation.

The boy just smiles even more knowingly that his mission to greet the neighbors now has been completed. He leaves waving and saying his goodbyes.

They forgot to say each other's names but it was okay since it was definitely not their last encounter.

About two weeks probably went by and the boy has been over almost every single day. They finally got to each other names and more about one another.

Everyday for those past two weeks it was the same line more or less every time.

"Hello neighbor!"

"Hi neighbor!"

"Hey neighbor!"

"Howdy neighbor!"

And every time it was the same toothy smile.

But now school's started again and break was officially over for now.

And unfortunately for the little girl, school was a different battleground.

How is it that everyone already finds their friend groups so fast? It was a mysterious.

The girls were kind of hard to get along with. All they wanted to play was house or be princesses or whatever.

It's not cause it was too girly or anything but it was just kind of awkward.

But I guess it wasn't that bad. She got along with most kids, more or less, and kinda made friends.

Fast forward through middle school and almost the exact same thing.

There isn't really much to say. School was school and it was best when it stayed that way.

No drama, no distractions, no excuses.

She worked hard throughout her school life only focusing herself to succeed in the future.

But she did still have that young boy who became her best and most trusted friend.

Though not making much friends and keeping away from all distractions, it didn't mean that things didn't get stressful.

But at least they had each other to lean on.

They both went together like sweet and sour.

Ying and yang.

Complete opposite personalities but always had a way to balance each other out.

But that didn't last much long.

It was only supposed to be a beginning of a whole new world of high school for the young girl and the final year of the safety of middle school for that boy.

But there they both stood in front of the picture of a woman with short, black hair wearing the same smile that she once saw on the little boy's face.

Her photo was surrounded with flowers as people all dressed in black passed by her, paying their respects and sending their prayers.

How could one little accident cause such destruction to an entire family?

But life's not always fair.

He fell on his knees with his head down but no tears were coming out.

Whether it was because he had no more tears to cry or he wanted to stay strong for his family's sake, nothing was heard from his mouth.

It was like a part if him was gone too but he couldn't say much about it.

His father was in an even worse place to lose the one he loved but he couldn't help it if he lost his own beloved mother.

While his older brother was taking care of a few things and helping their father calm down, the young girl stood behind him.

No words were exchanged but a simple touch of the shoulder to let him no he wasn't here alone.

And though the boy knew that and felt it, he was still frozen in the same position.

After, that dreadful day, things weren't exactly the same.

Although, they still hung out everyday like they used to, it was hard to pretend that the once smiling boy was now this cold and distant guy.

And that's how it was for most of high school.

That once happy-go-lucky child became this arrogant playboy.

Or that's what it seemed like.

Not that he purposefully toyed with poor girls' hearts but rather didn't stop soon enough and only pushed them away when it was too late.

Of course, he wasn't like that with her. Instead, she was the only one he could ever laugh so hard and show in front of without any fear.

It was hard to admit but that boy definitely grew out of his baby face and became a handsome young man.

But that smile still stayed the same.

And then came the day where the girl had to leave.

Not forever though.

It was only temporary but it seemed like a century has passed by.

And now she's back and standing right in front of him.

If it didn't catch on, yes, that little girl was me, Min Hyunjae.

And that little boy, well there he is...

Jeon Jungkook.