Summary: How it was for Miae and Cheol on the 2nd day of their summer vacation together back in 1993...

This chapter was made as a gift to Line from the Unripe Apples discord server, for the Secret Santa Event.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Prompt: Cheol and Mi-ae childhood interactions.
I tried to make this as close to canon as possible, so I apologise b4hand.

It was the bright summer morning of 1993. All the kids had summer vacation right now, and they would be doing anything they wished to do.

That, however, was not the case for Kim Cheol. The Hwang family, who are acquaintances with the Kim family, had come over to their house for 4 days and 3 nights. Cheol wouldn't have been bothered much about it had it not been for their daughter Hwang Miae.

She was much smaller than the other girls his age, but she was so loud. Worst of all, she wouldn't leave him alone and insist that they play together. Just the day before, she had exhausted him so much by following him around and yelling loudly.

So now, he was going to make sure to sneak away to 'that place' before Miae would come after him. After making sure there was no one, Cheol got on his bicycle and began pedaling.

It was nice - the wind against his face and the greens of the trees flashing past him as he rode his bicycle.

Suddenly, a girl with two pigtails popped in his vision. Staring at him with her big round green eyes. "Hey! Let's go together!"

"Ahh!" screamed Cheol, and he lost his balance and fell on the ground.

Cheol looked at Miae in shock while Miae stared at him with a stunned expression, her thick eyebrows raised comically.

But she recovered very quickly, her thick eyebrows lowered as if they had calmed down. "Are you okay?"

Cheol, finally having regained his senses, was filled with rage once again "Hey… You little…!"

But this didn't stop Miae "Are you going to where you were trying to go last night? Take me with you!"

While Cheol was "You… You are ridiculous!" he screamed at the top of his voice.

Again. Just like yesterday. Ever since she had come, he could not have a moment of peace at all! The adults and his sister would tease them for their name, or tell them they should get along. But Hwang Miae, she was so loud and weird! And she wouldn't stop talking and would cry so easily. She was his age and yet she was so immature, and on top of that she was a girl! Why should he play with a girl when he never even did with the girls from the countryside?

Anyways, now Cheol had to go back home. It was no use to go out when Miae had found him and he also had to eat his breakfast. So he returned, with Miae following right behind him.

Miae was sad. Just what should she do about him? He is very stuck up and won't play with her and is always so rude to her. 'Even the boys back in the city would be rude. But Cheol-ah is actually very nice...' She thought as she remembered the event from the day before. He was nice enough to wait for her and ask about if she was all right. She didn't want to give up on him!

Suddenly, Miae heard Cheol screaming "AAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!" This pulled her out of her train of thoughts, and she saw a huge cockroach was running around the floor of Cheol's house, and a panicked Cheol was trying to get away from there, in vain.

Seeing such a Cheol, Miae felt the urge to protect him. "Don't worry Cheol, I'll help you!" And so Miae proceeded to smash the cockroach with her two hands repeatedly, without a care for the world.

Cheol was shocked at seeing the small girl smashing the bug with such force, "Eeek! Stop it!"

He was about to go and stop her, until he heard his grandparents and Sunjeong laughing "She is so good at it for such a little girl."

"Cheol gets all scared when he sees anything with more than 2 legs…"

"Act your size!" Sunjeong added, and they laughed even more. Cheol, embarrassed by their words, turned into a bright shade of red.

But before he could say or do anything else, he heard the gleeful voice of Hwang Miae "Cheol-ah, I got it!"

Miae showed the hand with which she had killed the bug proudly, the dead bug squashed completely with a few limbs sticking out. Not able to bear this scene anymore, Cheol threw up.

Now Kim Cheol had had enough. He didn't care that he still hadn't had breakfast, or that Miae would follow him. He just wanted to stay away from her. So he picked up his things and left right after he recovered.

And of course, Miae still followed him "Wait, let's go together! Let me go with you! Let's go together!"

"Hey what's up with you? You're pretending not to hear me, aren't you?"

'Ugh! Why is she so persistent if she knows that I am ignoring her?!' Cheol thought as he turned to throw a disgusted look at Miae.

Miae beamed brightly. 'Ah, did he finally change his mind?'

But no. He immediately turned and continued on his path. Miae was surprised but she was not giving up that easily. But as she was about to call him again, Cheol's father came in "You little-"

And he smacked Cheol on his head very hard "I told you to be nice to Miae-yah didn't I?"

Miae was shocked to see the man be so hard on his son, and tried to stop him "Ah wait-"

Cheol, still recovering from the hit, looked at Miae from behind his arms that he had held up to cover the place that was just hit. Miae looked so sorry and worried for him. He suddenly felt his face become red again. He couldn't understand why, but he was feeling embarrassed. And it was because of Miae. It was always around her that he felt so embarrassed and troubled.

And so he sent a furious glare at Miae. Seeing such an angry and hateful look, Miae became quiet and maintained a distance. Soon after Mr. Kim left, Cheol left without a word, and Miae didn't follow after him.

Now that Cheol had finally gotten away from everyone else. He finally started to enjoy his alone time. This was a time for him to collect his thoughts.

And today's topic was 'That girl, Hwang Miae! She's so weird! Following him everywhere, popping out of nowhere. Why can't she do something else?

'... But, she also doesn't have much to do.' He remembered how Miae enthusiastically looked at every plant, stone and creature around. And when she couldn't find anything else to look at, she saw Cheol and ran after him, as if he was her new target. Cheol remembered his terror over how she kept chasing after him without a pause.

Andhen she fell on the ground, and also in the river. 'She's so clumsy and gets hurt, but even then she runs around without a care…' He remembered how he had tried to help her out and ask her if she was alright.

As for Miae, she looked surprised - as if him asking her such questions was very unnatural. Her eyes sparkled so much when she looked at him. And her smile when she presented the frog she had caught - she was shining so bright. She was like the Sun. So bright that it made him feel warm and tender, and he felt his heart become warmer as it beat faster…

Cheol gasped. He had forgotten to breathe while he got lost in those memories from the day before. He tried to calm himself, his heart still beating very fast, and his face feeling very warm. 'She's… She's so weird!' and with that he decided to focus solely on his work, in order to keep the girl who made him feel so weird away from his head.

.

.

.

Not much long after, Cheol begins to feel hungry. It is time to eat snacks, so Cheol returns home. There he is greeted by the smell of fresh, hot corn, which fills him up.

His mom sees Cheol and greets him, "Oh Cheol, you are back! Could you bring Miae-yah to eat some corn as well? Then we will start eating it together."

Cheol saw that Miae was indeed missing. He said "Alright." to his mom and left. He wondered where she could have gone, but his feet were already leading him to the river.

And indeed Miae was there on the rocks, looking at the river water flow, as she threw pebbles into it.

Her stomach growled from hunger. Miae sniffled as she thought of her time there. 'He's such a jerk!' Miae thought. 'Why can't we play together? And why does he always have to glare at me so much? Does he hate me?

'... Maybe he does. Even the boys in the city would mock me or bully me all the time. So it makes sense for Cheol-ah to hate me too.' Miae remembered how he glared at her and even pushed away her hand harshly the day before. And even today he looked at her with disgust and yelled at her and glared at her so much after his dad hit him.

'But even with that, I don't want to give up on him…' He waited for her when she fell, even though he was running away from her just before that. And when she fell in the river, he came in as well to help her out. And he never judged her for how clumsy she was. 'But it seems I am very annoying to him…'

And so, Miae sat gloomy and lonely by the river. Seeing her like this, Cheol felt his insides churn from guilt. He cleared his throat a bit and said loudly "Hey! They said to come have some corn!"

Miae turned to look at Cheol surprised and exclaimed with a smile "Yay! I was getting hungry!" and got off the rocks.

Cheol turned around quickly and started off with long strides to go back home. But Miae was still not used to the terrain and struggled "W-wait, let's go together!"

Cheol turned around in annoyance to look at her and saw her pink sandals, which were not suitable for this place. 'She wore them yesterday too. It seems she doesn't have any other shoes.'

With a loud sigh, Cheol took smaller steps and slowed down his pace, so that Miae wasn't left behind. But Miae hadn't noticed this and continued to rush, and eventually lost her balance.

"Oops!" and Miae went on to grab Cheol from behind.

Shocked at the girl suddenly touching him from behind, Cheol gets startled and falls on the ground, making Miae fall too. "Ugh don't touch me!"

"I didn't touch you on purpose, I fell over!" Miae said quickly. She felt really embarrassed now. She had made up her mind to not do anything that would upset Cheol, but she just had to be clumsy again. Miae looked down sad, her tears from earlier threatening to come back again.

Cheol saw this and felt upset. Even if she was staying away and not being clingy like before, Miae being so downcast was not very pleasant.

With a deep sigh, Cheol got up and called out to her, "Hey."

Miae turned up to look at Cheol and saw that he had his hand raised out.

Miae looked at him confused. "Grab on and get up!"

Miae still couldn't believe what she was seeing and hearing, but soon took his hand for fear that he might take it away. "Right!" she exclaimed, and got up. His hand held hers very firmly, which made her feel a little ticklish in her heart.

"Now, watch how I am walking. Place your foot firmly on the stones, and then lift your second leg to place it firmly on the stones as well. Then you lift your first leg to take another step and make a firm footing again. Take your steps at the same time as me only."

"Okay!" Miae answered and tried to follow Cheol's steps. He was not taking big steps like before, so Miae was able to keep up.

Soon she got used to it, and realized that their feet were moving in sync like a game. This made Miae start laughing. Cheol, ignored her laughter, as he forced a frown to not let his embarrassment get to him again.

Cheol's beating very fast again. This was very confusing to him, so he tried to avoid it. But to Miae, her heart beating fast made her feel excited, and savoured it by laughing throughout their way back home.

.

.

.

Once Miae and Cheol reached home, they let go of their hands and quickly sat down to eat the corn.

The corn was very sweet and warm, which immediately made all the exhaustion and tiredness from being outside in the heat disappear.

"Miae, do you like it?"

"Yeah!"

"Have some more,"

"Okay!" Miae said excitedly. Her father remarked on what a good eater his daughter was.

The two children were enjoying their corn, and so were the older people. And that was the perfect set up for 'that' to begin.

"Since the family's all here, why don't you two do that dance? It's not everyday that Cheol and Miae are out visiting the countryside like this." Sunjeong commented. Of course she didn't mean anything bad. She was just enjoying the cozy atmosphere like everyone else.

And the adults were too. "Today's main event - Cheol and Miae!"

"That's a good idea! Come out, you two!"

"Mom and dad will dance with you too!"

"Shall we lay down a mat for them?"

But no matter how fun this was for the adults, this was not for the two 10 year olds.

And once again, it was Kim Cheol who blew up first. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT!"

And with that, the small progress Cheol and Miae had made got ruined, and Cheol left immediately after he finished his corn. Miae looked at him upset as he left without looking her in the eye even once.

Cheol had once again returned to his 'that place' and continued his activities from where he had left off earlier. And his train of thoughts began again.

'Ugh! Just when I decide to be a little nicer to that Hwang Miae, the adults just have to start with that stupid joke. Sunjeong Noona really doesn't help with it either!

'I don't care anymore. No matter how much anyone says, I will ignore Hwang Miae completely. She only makes me feel troubled!' With a determined sigh, Cheol continued with his work without.

Cheol continued until it became dark. He was very exhausted but a sense of contentment had filled him, so he didn't mind.

Cheol found this feeling strange and wondered about it, and he finally got his answer when he returned home. Miae was nowhere to be seen, when she would usually pop up again.

Sunjeong, who had seen him looking around, smirked. "Looking for Miae-yah?"

Cheol flinched at his sister's question. Sunjeong, chuckled to herself, feeling touched at seeing her brother care for another girl so much. "She's asleep."

'Already?' Cheol thought out loud, his eyes wide.

Seeing her brother be so obvious was entertaining, but her smirk weakened as she explained further. "She drank a glass of soju thinking it was water. She got so tipsy." Sunjeong sighed to herself as she remembered the ruckus the little girl had made. "I don't think she'll be waking up until tomorrow morning." she added before going elsewhere.

Cheol was weirded out from what he had just heard. But then he realized 'Wait, this means I get to be free from Hwang Miae until she wakes up!'

A relieved Cheol goes into his house and spends the night as he did before the Hwang family's arrival - helping his family set dinner, play with his little sister Hwani, and a peaceful dinner. He was very happy, Miae's face kept popping in, followed by her loud cheerful voice. He simply pushed them away and continued with his activities.

But that was only until he had to go to sleep. He lay wide awake on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He finally fell asleep at some point, but ended up waking again when it was still dark.

The reason - 'Ugh, Hwang Miae!' He couldn't stop thinking about her. 'Why is this happening? She has only been here for 2 days and she is on my mind so much? Dammit!'

Cheol remembers how it felt too quiet without Miae following him around, trying to start conversations with him. 'Why am I feeling this way when her behaviour annoys me?' He thought in desperation.

But then he remembers the sad Miae he saw today. She didn't cry even when she fell and got hurt, or became wet after falling into the river. But she was crying on those rocks. She looked so lonely.

Kids in the countryside are good to him now, but they were not before. Because he was so much bigger than others his age, and felt too shy to speak with others, they stayed away from him or mocked him.

That was why it was so weird that Miae would try to get close to him. No one had ever been so friendly to him right after their first meeting. 'She's different.' Kim Cheol thought to himself.

Cheol then remembered her sandals and how it was hard for her to walk. 'I can't walk with her everywhere by holding her hands - why would I even do that?!'

Suddenly, he got an idea, and sat up straight. He changed his clothes and grabbed his visor and a shovel and went to the river.

He looked at the Moon that was still over the horizon, and he began to move away the pebbles on the road back home. 'It seems like she likes going to the river. I will just clear this path of the pebbles, then she will be able to walk properly. I can't even sleep right now, so this will be a good waste of time.'

It was tiring. Cheol's hands hurt and ached from the number of times he had to push away the pebbles, but he didn't stop.

And he finally reached his house. As he looked at the path he had just created, Cheol let out a triumphant sigh.

But he was too tired to keep standing, so Cheol quickly dropped the shovel on the ground and collapsed on a platform by his house. The sleep he hadn't been able to get finally caught up to him due to exhaustion. 'I wonder if she will be bright again?...' and his eyes close, as he dozes off.

Soon after the Sun came up. The Kim family found Cheol sleeping outside the house, but let him be, seeing how fast asleep he was.

And soon Miae woke up too. She took a bath and everything and set out after having breakfast. She wondered where Cheol was until she saw the road outside - the pebbles had been pushed away by someone. Miae looked in awe, 'Who did this?'

Then she saw Cheol, still fast asleep outside, and a shovel beside him. She saw calluses on his palms and his clothes were a little dirty too. Miae looked at him in awe, "Whoa, what have we here?" she exclaimed, as her face broke into a smile.

'I wasn't wrong.' Miae realized, her heart starting to beat fast. 'He's not just nice, he also cares a lot! He seems to be a jerk, and he actually is. But also so gentle that he will help me out and show concern. He was like the Moon. Everything about him is so mysterious, as if it's covered in the dark. But he then shines so gently, when he lends out his hand to help. He.s different.'

Miae laughed to herself softly, and decided to go explore the path that Cheol had cleared for her, not wanting to disturb the boy who slept so soundly.