NEIGHBOR [chapter 4]

Author : anyakeshx

Rating: T

Genre: Romance

Cast:

1. kang minhyuk
2. you

DATE

(For your moods sake, you can listen to this while you read and imagine their date: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cli7kLkZ4kM)

"Just where are we going, Kang Minhyuk?", you asked him impatiently as he dragged you over an unfamiliar place.

Just awhile ago, you felt awkward but he pestered you to somehow change and come with him. You don't know why you just can't seem to say no to him.

"We are going everywhere today," he said, grinning at you.

You surrendered and let him drag you to where he was going. You finally arrived at some kind of diner.

He leads you to a nearby table and asks you to sit down, then he follows.

He was now in front of you and that wide smile was visible again.

"Ya. Kang Minhyuk. What are you trying to do?"

He looked at you innocently, "Trying to keep you away from that guy."

You smirked at him and looked at somewhere else.

"And trying to keep you to myself."

You looked at him as soon as he finished that, he wasn't looking at you.

He seemed embarrassed by what he said. You giggled.

"Whats this place anyway," you asked, trying to relieve him of his state.

He caught on to the bait and was back to his gushing self.

"Remember when I said that I'll be treating you to chicken when you come with me to practice?"

You smiled at him, "Oh that. You didn't have to you know."

He crunched his nose, "Don't you like chicken?"

"I love chicken."

After your chicken escapade, you roamed the streets, picking out street foods and trying on different things.

He was such a child and he enjoyed teasing you more than anything. You never felt so happy when you were going out. This tops the list.

Wherever you go though, he always gets the oggles and girls tend to flirt with him. Despite that, his attention seemed to be glued to you. You felt smug.

'What am I feeling smug about. This isn't even a real date', you thought stupidly to yourself. 'Or is it?'

Then you stopped by the arcade where you seemed to be lost - nevertheless, you enjoyed.

"You better hit that, ahjumma!"

You gasped in surprise. "Hit what?!" You were playing space invaders and you didn't really get how to do this.

"Those alien things, aish! You're missing!"

Saying those, he placed his plastic gun down and went behind you. He grasped your hands and began to guide you.

You couldn't concentrate as his long arms were around you. You could smell his perfume from where you were and his chest was resting on your back.

"Hey, are you listening?" This seemed to take you back to reality. "We have to reach a high score, araso?"

You just nodded, still in a daze. He went back in position and you started back again.

After your space adventure, he took you to the park where you enjoyed picking on couples. You sat under a tree and enjoyed the view and the fresh breeze playing on your faces.

As soon as a couple passes by, the both of you start your regime of commentaries.

When there was complete silence, you asked, "Hey, ahjussi."

"Mm?"

"Is this really a date?" Again, this question was more of a tease.

He looked at you, "If it is, what would you do?"

His stare was smoldering and you felt hot. He didn't look away, instead his face went nearer. You broke that connection in an instant. You didn't want to expect.

"Don't look away," he gently said as he cupped your face and squished it.

"Ahjumma. You are so cute," he was squishing it and was laughing hard.

You wanted to break free but he was too strong. At long last, after a couple of seconds, he let go.

Then he stood up.

"Its getting dark. We should head home now."

You didn't realize it but you have spent the whole day with him. Time flew so fast. You were enjoying so much that you didn't notice.

'Mom must be worried.'

You nodded and took his hand when he offered it. You were walking side by side, holding hands. It seemed to be a natural thing now. You weren't a couple but his hands are where yours fit perfectly.

"I've never enjoyed going out like this," he said. "But ahjumma, being with you made it a million times better."

 I LiKE Y0U

How you wished times with him never ended. How you wished time would just stop when he's with you. Then it hit you like a turkey on thanksgiving - you liked him.

You liked him so much.

This explains all the happy feeling and contentment you experience when you're with him. You feel all the hurt subside - you don't even remember the pain Ying Zhong gave you when you were with him. It all goes away.

For just a short period of time, you learned to let go slowly.

'I like a weirdo,' you thought to yourself. Then you caught yourself giggling all by yourself in a cloudy afternoon, propped in your bed.

You were too lazy to go out and it was three days ago when you last saw him. Somehow, you felt very disappointed.

'He's busy with practice, I guess,' you explained for his absence.

You didn't even see him out the window. Despite your arduous get togethers, you still didn't get his mobile number. You groaned. You missed him and all his odd antics, his little winks and that wide smile of his.

You rolled over and grabbed the pillow beside you, hugging it close.

"Ya, Kang Minhyuk, where are you?", you asked, somehow feeling silly that you were asking someone who wasn't there.

You kicked your pillow in the air and tried to catch it, it landed heavily on your face.

You heard someone laugh from outside.

"Miss me, ahjumma?"

You abruptly got off your bed when you heard his voice. Running towards the window, you slipped on your rug and landed face flat on the floor.

You heard him laugh so hard.

"Aww," you managed to murmur, rubbing your nose. "I think I broke it."

He laughed even harder.

You stood up, brushed your clothes as if it was the dustiest thing on earth and walked towards the window sill.

He reached for you and gently touched your nose.

"Where have you been?", you asked him, as if accusing.

He squinted his eyes.

"I had stuff to do", he said shortly.

You gave him a small pout, wrinkling your forehead. He smoothed it out with his hands.

Your window seemed to be a portal to your happiness, seeing him there, looking at you. He was oggling at you and you paid no mind.

"Ahjumma, can I tell you something?", he softly said, still caressing your face.

You just nodded, studying his facial expression. It didn't look too happy.

"I like you."

There it was. The words you were waiting for all this time. You felt your heart swell with joy and your feet were light.

You just stared at him, disbelieving. You were about to say something when he added.

"But we can't be together."

With how fast your happiness became evident was the same time you felt your world crashed. Your smile vanished and tears formed. You didn't understand what he was saying.

"W-what are you talking about - I didn't ask to be in a relationship with you," was all you managed to say in gritted teeth.

You didn't want him to know you were hurting, you kept your tears in place.

He just laughed softly, "Really? I'm being a git then."

You averted your eyes away from him and strayed away from his touch. It seemed to burn you. You knew this was all too good to be true. You didn't expect to fall for him yet here you are, seemingly more heart broken than the last time with your ex boyfriend.

"What brings you here?", you asked him coldly, sitting down in the nearest chair.

He shrugged, "I just wanted to see you."

You glared at him. What is it with this whole 'We can't be together' charade when he's still making you expect. It annoyed you so much.

You stood up and grabbed your coat and made an attempt to close the windows.

"Where are you going?", he asked, completely confused.

"I'm meeting Ying Zhong today," you impulsely growled at him.

You didn't really want to say that but you just felt so mad. You saw his face dropped for awhile, then a small sad smile replaced it.

"Okay, have fun."

With that, you slammed the window shut and walked out the door, leaving Minhyuk staring longingly at you.

TEARS

You were in the park, sitting alone, unable to decipher how to feel. It was cold yet the feeling inside you seemed colder.

Happiness does seem to avoid you and you just have no luck in love. You were staring blankly into space when another familiar voice spoke.

"Are you alone?"

You looked up, heart beating abnormally fast.

"Ying Zhong", was all you managed to say quietly.

The man in front of you gave you a small smile. Not waiting for your response of a yes or a no, he occupied the space next to you. So rude.

'Great, can this day get any better?' You hissed sarcastically to yourself.

Despite the deep hatred you felt for this man, you managed to be civilized about your actions. Plus, you didn't really like to put up an unnecessary fight.

You were just quiet, not knowing what to say.

"Tai Hee broke up with me."

"Really?"

He seemed really down but you had no room for sympathy for the guy who just seemed to ruin you as a whole. So you pretended to care.

You had your problems in the first place. You thought he deserved it.

"I know you're thinking that I deserve it," he started.

You laughed bitterly, still not looking at him, "So you're a mind reader now."

He shrugged, "I'm sorry."

When he said those, your whole world just dropped down and crashed.

All the hate, all the anger, all the confusion and disappointments whirled into one - from whats happening today to what happened before. You were sick of it.

Then you burst into tears and faced the man next to you.

"Sorry?", you began, voice cracking so bad. He looked down. "Sorry?! That's all you have to say?!"

Again, he was quiet.

You pushed him back and stood up.

"After that massive heart break you gave me, leaving me confused on what I did wrong - sorry is the only thing you could say?!", you yelled.

Your anger seemed to well up and the disappointment you felt this morning was its reason. Ying Zhong was only the trigger.

"You bastard. You cheated and left me for my best friend after two years of trust we built."

"I regret having to do that."

"Don't you ever say that," you screamed.

He looked up at you, "Calm down."

"Calm down. Calm down?! How the hell can I calm down when your smug, ignorant pug face is right in front of me?!"

He laughed as if he was listening in on an inside joke.

"Whats so funny?", you fumed.

"I never knew you could belt out like that. You're scary", he smirked.

"But thats not what I wanted to say."

You sat down heavily next to him, feeling drained and tired from all the screaming. You still felt so mad and wanted to scream some more but this was not what you wanted to do right now. You closed your eyes and let the wind play with your hair.

"I regret having to do that to you. I am such a pig for doing that," Ying Zhong started. "Somehow, it just happened. It was inevitable. I had a choice but I chose to break your heart."

You snorted, "From which movie did you take that from?"

He decided to ignore your sentiments, "The last time you didn't show up, Tai Hee broke up with me. She said she liked someone else and that I'm not really her type. She did that mercilessly", he laughed hard.

"I guess I knew how you felt."

You just sat there silent, feeling slightly sorry for him.

He seemed to be choking on his words, "I should be shot dead for doing that to you."

He turned to look at you and touched your face, ushering you to look at him.

"A cute and kind-hearted girl like you shouldn't be treated that way, I know somehow you couldn't forgive me for all the things I caused you, but I do hope in time, you would forgive this stupid person for his grave mistake of breaking your heart."

And for the second time, you couldn't stop the tears from falling. You sobbed, looking at the man in front of you.

Then he pulled you close to him and whispered, "You deserve to be happy, ________-ssi. You should find a guy to make up for all the shit I caused you."

Sobbing hard, you nodded.

"I hope he won't be as stupid as I am and let you go like that."

You were crying uncontrollably now. He shushed you and hugged you tighter.

"There's only one thing I want to ask of you: Please don't hate me."

"I-I hated you."

He laughed, "You're still as cute as ever."

He pulled away, "Now wipe those tears away now. Wew. I'm glad I got that out of my system", he laughed.

You noticed tears brim in his eyes, it wasn't that clear but he seemed to be tearing up.

You wiped your tears with the back of your hand as he handed you his handkerchief. You grabbed it and blew your nose with it. He giggled.

"Thanks, Ying Zhong."

"You deserved an apology - you deserve more than that, actually."

You laughed, feeling slightly okay.

As you placed down your hands on your lap, you turned to look at the front, only to see a tall man in a coat staring at you.

Kang Minhyuk looked as if the whole world had turned in on him.

-TBC-