002

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[CONTENTID1] Chapter [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2] 002 [/CONTENTID2]

 

[CONTENTID3]After that night, the following evenings were quieter. I didn’t hear Baekhyun’s screams through the walls anymore, resulting in me having more sleep than normal. But with the silence, I felt like I was more in my head, thinking of Baekhyun and what he was doing instead of gaming so late at night. I would go ahead and ask but I decided to avoid Baekhyun. 

 

Passing by the convenience store wasn’t the same, I ended up continuing to walk home without even looking through the glass window to see him. And once at home, I practically locked myself in my apartment to avoid encountering him. I thought it would be the best way at first as the week passed, I no longer felt embarrassed yet I now felt guilt eating me up continuously.  

 

As I walked down the street after work, the convenience store came to view and I was ready to pass by it without sparing a glance at Baekhyun, even if my heart wanted to. I was only a few feet away from the building until the door opened and Baekhyun stepped out to my horror.

 

“Iseul,” Baekhyun said, waving his hand that held a half-eaten sandwich. “Hey there.”

 

I stopped in my tracks and stood frozen, wondering why he was out here - he never was. My hand gave a small wave and I responded with a small “hi” back. He smiled at my response and I found those loving feelings from before starting to coming back.

 

“I’m on break now, if you were wondering,” Baekhyun stated as he noticed how confused I looked. “I-I memorized the time you would usually come by just to talk to you.” He paused before continuing, “I phrased that weird, I’m sorry. But can we talk?” 

 

That was incredibly sweet of him. “Yeah, i-it’s fine.”

 

“I see. Um, well, ever since that night, I haven’t seen you nor have you visited the store since then. You must be mad at me, right?” His head started to hang low.

 

Mad at Baekhyun? Absolutely never. 

 

Shaking my head, I answered, “No, I’m not mad at you.”  In my head, I wondered if telling the truth would make it better. “It’s just embarrassing to say but I couldn’t face you again after that night,” I continued.

 

He looked up and cocked his head to the side while he sipped on his strawberry milk. “How come?”

 

I couldn’t help but compare him to a puppy at that moment. He looked too adorable.

 

“I was a bit drunk that night… I looked like a mess overall. Really, I didn’t think you would be the neighbor that I would curse at every night.” I felt my hands start to clam up.

 

Baekhyun chuckled and inhaled sharply afterwards. “I understand. I’m not really aware of how loud I can be when gaming since I’m in that zone of just letting things go.” He adjusted his glasses with his middle finger before continuing, “I also noticed a whiff of that strawberry soju from you but you know, I didn’t think you looked like a mess.”

 

Hearing that he didn’t think I looked like a mess only made me skeptical if it was an actual genuine compliment. Part of me wanted to think it was genuine and the thought of it slowly made me smile.

 

“You think so? And h-how do I know you’re just saying this to make me feel better about that night?”

 

“Because, I think you…” Baekhyun paused and shyly smiled before rubbing the back of his head, shaking his perm. “You looked cute.”

 

The guy who made me feel like spring has come everytime I saw him, called me cute even in my most pitiful state. I felt myself smiling widely as my heart galloped from what he said. It felt unreal, I secretly pinched myself behind my back only to know that it was in fact real. I felt like the heroine of a romantic movie.

 

My cheeks burned from that common yet sweet saying. “Thank you. That was sweet of you.”

 

“No problem.”

 

After I tried to get over that compliment, something else came to mind. I turned to him as he took a bite of his sandwich. “I have to ask though, I noticed that whenever it’s around eleven in the evening, you’ll start screaming when playing games. Don’t you get tired after a while?”

 

“Around eleven is when I’m done eating dinner and washing up after coming home, then I would just play games. It’s a stress reliever really, to scream and talk to your friends after a long day of working.” Baekhyun shrugged. “No matter how tired I am, I get so engrossed into it so I scream out of excitement, frustration, that kind of thing… And you know, I keep a water bottle by me at my desk.”

 

No wonder his screams never faltered in volume. He had a chance to hydrate his throat often. At least, I finally had an answer to one of my many questions for him.

 

“I see, that explains it,” I nodded. “So what have you been doing since that night, if you don’t mind me asking. Since then, I haven’t heard anything from you.”

 

“Well, I decided to spend some time at a PC bang or at a restaurant with friends after work, just so I didn’t disturb you. Hold on, I need to throw these away,” Baekhyun said before he finished his strawberry milk and threw it along with his finished sandwich in a nearby trash bin. “And other times, I would watch movies in my living room. I haven’t been this cautious before but really, I got used to it.”

 

“That’s very considerate of you.” It was so kind of him really. I knew for sure he wasn’t the kind to be petty and careless in situations like this. 

 

“You know,” I began. “I find it unbelievable that in a city where millions live, we somehow live next-door to each other.”

 

Baekhyun only chuckled, “Yeah. It’s quite weird. But you know, it’s not a bad thing. At least I finally know someone who lives in the same apartment complex as me.” 

 

I’d imagine as neighbors that it would be eventful once we go over the shock and just be comfortable with each other’s presence. We could be passing notes through our door, communicating to each other through the walls of our bedroom, or even ask favors for each other. The thought of it was heartwarming really.

 

“Yeah, at least if we have troubles, we’re only a wall away from each other to ask for help.”

 

“So, all I have to do is scream in my bedroom for you to help,” Baekhyun snickered but shortly stopped. “I won’t actually do that though. That’ll be rude of me,” he added in a serious tone. 

 

I could only grin at his response. “But if it’s your last resort, you can,” I smiled. 

 

“Eh, I don’t want you to make you angry anymore. I’ll probably find some other ways to get you before screaming.”

 

Our conversation then continued longer than I thought, not that I was complaining. It was surprising how awfully charming and open Baekhyun became in my eyes. I thought our typical conversations inside the convenience store were great and all but this one left me in awe. Not only was it longer than a few minutes, it was this time I felt more at ease from how quickly Baekhyun’s charm made me comfortable maybe because our conversation delved deeper than just the mundane grocery items, weather, and events. 

 

Baekhyun and I discussed our own personal lives. After I told him about my life briefly, I learned that among the games he played, he enjoyed playing PUBG even though it frustrated him the most. When he was younger, his parents made him learn piano in hopes to be a pianist - which I find the thought of him doing so would be dreamy - but he found it wasn’t much of an interest. Outside of work, he claimed to curse as a sailor which throughout the conversation, he surprisingly managed to curse only a few times. He used to work at a PC bang before he got fired after playing games with some customers. There were plenty more that he talked about but if I were to go in detail, I could write an essay about him. After hearing him talk about these things, he wasn’t just that cute convenience store employee anymore. Needless to say, my crush on Baekhyun grew until my heart couldn’t handle it anymore.

 

The words were on the tip of my tongue. Yes, the words that were itching to get out of my system just to convey what I felt towards him. Something around the lines of, “Everytime I see you, it always feels like my world has become a brighter place to live in.” While I wanted to scream those words and ramble on, I didn’t want to embarrass myself further than that night in front of him, especially if he didn’t like me back.

 

My mind snapped back to reality when Baekhyun cleared his throat before saying, “Iseul…”

 

I looked at him, wondering what he was going to say. 

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I was wondering if you…” He trailed off, it looked to me like he was wondering how he would word whatever he was going to say.

 

Before he could say anything though, his watch beeped, ceasing the silence between us. 

 

“,” Baekhyun muttered under his breath. “I have to go back

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PuffTedEBear
#1
Chapter 2: Ahh so sweet!! This was a nice ending. ❤
PuffTedEBear
#2
Chapter 1: Poor Iseul, the awkwardness that is burying her alive right now! How will she and Baekhyun face each other again? Let's hope that our dear author figures it out and we all carry on, preferably with some strawberry soju!
PuffTedEBear
#3
How embarrassing would that be to find out the guy your crushing on is the guy you'd like to crush with your bare hands lol
Nana0412
#4
Chapter 2: This is such a sweet and cute story. I especially love how Iseul describes Baekhyun's features while they were eating ramyeon. She's way head over heels for him, and I feel like sharing her huge infatuation for the guy just by reading how she thought of his features! 😍😍 Love this... Thank you, authornim, for the good read! 💚
Jstbacon
#5
Chapter 2: Such a simple and cute yet sweet story..I had fun reading it....so cute😩😘😚
aprilbug
#6
Chapter 2: This was a great story. I had fun reading this! I hope we get a bonus chapter?? haha anyways thankyou for this! <3
aprilbug
#7
Chapter 1: Finally I'm reading this! But hey this is so cute omg!! Such a smooth read and I loved it!! <3
Minhospuppy
#8
Chapter 2: I got back to reading this as soon as my test ended bc CUTEEE Also if byun bacon is my convenient store guy I'll sleep right outside that store no kidding hehehe he's so adorable ahhh

Also thank you for writing this!! It was a nice short read I even recommended it to my friend hehe ٩( ᐛ )و
Minhospuppy
#9
Chapter 1: Omggg this is such a great story it reminds me of that manga where this gamer girl has her rival gamer move in next door hehe (≡^∇^≡) I never read OC stories but I decided to give this a try and I'm not regretting! I love your writing (❁´◡`❁)
baekberrys
#10
Chapter 2: I finally have time to read some stories that I subscribed to a while ago. This was so cute, I would like to know how are they now? I can't wait to start reading Lovingly Made 💕