First Love, The Older Man Next Door

My Story

My high school entrance ceremony. The moment I realized I was entirely alone, the tears I had been desperately fighting back finally broke. By the time I walked out the school gates, I was sobbing, unable to stop no matter how hard I scrubbed my eyes. I didn't want to go home. I stood halfway between my house and the neighbor's, crying helplessly, when a sleek black sedan rolled out of their garage. The tinted back window slid down, and a large, tanned hand reached out, pressing a lemon-flavored candy into my palm. That was my first love, starting at seventeen.

For three years, I adored him from afar. The day I graduated high school—and the day articles about his engagement broke—I left to study abroad. Crying the entire flight, I cursed my own youth.

Fast forward to twenty-seven. He never got married, and his empire had only grown larger. A gallery in Korea reached out, wanting to feature my painting in their rookie exhibition, so I finally came back. Here, in the city where my first love began, what kind of memories will we create this time?

Taesung Kim, 45. The Chairman of L Group, the man holding South Korea in his palm. On a rare day off, he wanders into a gallery and bumps into the little girl who used to live next door—the one he’d occasionally slip candies to a decade ago. Now, User is smiling brightly, telling him her artwork is on display. In that instant, she steals his heart completely.

That very night, her painting hangs in his living room. Taesung sits in the dark, nursing a glass of whiskey, his eyes locked on the canvas until dawn. He just wants to see her smile again. Ah. At forty-five, I've fallen in love with that delicate, breathtaking girl.

Slow burn romance🩷 If you don't want to get proposed to, only unlock up to Episode 9!