“Soo Jung, you’ve come back,” the old lady said and hugged Tiffany.

“Uh… Uh…” Tiffany stuttered.

“Grandma, that’s not Soo Jung. That’s Mr. Hwang’s granddaughter,” Jonghyun clarified.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just so surprised,” the old lady apologized as she backed away, “You look so much like someone I use to know,”

“Soo Jung?” Tiffany asked confusingly, “Who is Soo Jung?”

“Soo Jung… Just someone. Anyways, Jonghyun what’s this beautiful lady’s name?” the old lady asked.

“Lady?” Jonghyun chuckled.

“Hey!” Tiffany shouted as she punched Jonghyun softly on the arm.

“Ouch!” Jonghyun lied.

“Oh, you two, stop flirting already!” the old lady interrupted, “So what’s your name?”

“My name is Tiffany, Hwang Tiffany,” Tiffany replied, shyly.

“Ti-ppa-ny?” the old lady mispronounced.

“No, Ti-ffa-ny,”

“Ti-ppa-ny,”

“Uh... yeah,” Tiffany smiles along with an eye-smile.

“Alright… Well, let’s go inside, it’s getting hot out here, should we?”

“Sure,” Tiffany replied and followed both the couple.

“Walk faster!” Jonghyun whispered from behind.

“Why don’t you tell the two couple in front of me to go faster!” Tiffany whispered back.

“What?” the old lady turned back.

“Oh,” Tiffany stopped walking as Jonghyun bumps into Tiffany, hitting his chin on her head, “Ouch! Watch we’re you’re going! You bas…” Tiffany stopped talking.

“Hahha, let’s go inside! It’s getting very hot!” Jonghyun changed the subject.

“Yeah,” the old lady said and walked inside the house.

“Think before you talk, loser!” Jonghyun whispered as he pinched Tiffany’s back.

“Ouch!” Tiffany quietly shouted.

As they both entered the house, Tiffany couldn’t stand the heat inside the cottage. It had air conditioner, but it was not strong enough.

“I’m sorry if this small cottage doesn’t suit you,” the old lady said.

“Oh no, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” Tiffany replied.

“Oh, okay. Well, let’s go to the kitchen and wash some fruits!” the old lady said and quickly dragged Tiffany to the kitchen.

“Here let’s go sit down,” the old guy said to Jonghyun and led him to the living room which was across from the kitchen. They both sat down on the couch.  “Jonghyun, how have you’ve been doing?”

“Honestly, I’m actually doing well. No more of those problems,” Jonghyun replied.

“That’s good…” the old guy sat there quietly, “She looks hurt, desperately finding a way to be happy,” he said and looked at Tiffany.

Jonghyun looked up at Tiffany. Tiffany cutting the fruits slowly and laughing like a dork.

“Her mom just died. She’s also Mr. Hwang’s granddaughter. An American moving to Korea must be hard for her,” Jonghyun explained as he took his eyes off of Tiffany and laid his head back. Jonghyun gave a sigh, “Mr. Hwang wanted me to watch over her, but she’s so troublesome. She can’t stay put at all. She’s always having to go out. She probably doesn’t even know what situation she’s about to get in. She worries me a little bit,” Jonghyun explained.

“I see, you’re like her protector. Her guarding angel,”

“Grandpa, please don’t say that,” Jonghyun complained and lifted his head up.

“Here are the fruits!” Tiffany cheerfully said and sat it on the coffee table, “Enjoy them,”

“She is pretty good for a starter,” the old lady complimented.

“Oh, not really. I didn’t cut them as good,” Tiffany said, embarrassed.

Jonghyun took a slice of watermelon and ate it.

“How about we go out into the farm and work there for awhile?” the old lady asked.

“Honey, we cannot ask our guest to help us do our farming,” the old guy said.

“Uh, I’m actually fine with that, but I’ll need some practice,” Tiffany said and looked at the old lady.

“Oh, of course, I’ll help you,” the old lady patted Tiffany’s back, “Here, take a seat. Let’s eat some fruits first,”

“Mhmmm,” Tiffany said as she took a slice of watermelon.

“So, Tippany, I heard you’re the chairman’s granddaughter,” the old guy asked formally.

Tiffany gave a confusing look.

“Honey, you’ll have to speak informal. She still can’t understand formal Korean yet,” the old lady told her husband.

“Oh, I heard you’re the chairman’s granddaughter,”

“Oh, yeah, I was surprised. I didn’t know I had another family. I’m actually glad grandpa is my grandpa. If he wasn’t, how was I able to meet you guys,” Tiffany said.

“Tippany, you’re such a sweet darling. I’m glad I met you, come on, let’s eat more fruits,”

the old lady said with a warm smile.

As they sat there, eating the fruits, Tiffany’s phone started to ring. Tiffany grabbed it and looked at the number. She stood up and head to the door.

“Hello?” Tiffany said as she closed the door behind her.

“Tiffany? Oh my gosh! How have you been?”

“Jasmin! OMG ! Can’t believe I’m talking to you right now. I’m doing well, really well. Anyways, how did you call me?”

As Tiffany spoke with Jasmin, the other three sat the in living room, still eating the fruits.

“She’s a great girl,”

“Grandma, why are you always talking about her? Ever since we arrived, you’ve been just with her and talking about her. I really don’t want to hear her name while she’s out,” Jonghyun complained.

“Rude! Jonghyun, you better be nice to her!” they heard Tiffany open the door, “Now act natural,”

“I’m sorry, I had to pick the phone call,” Tiffany apologized.

“Oh, no.. It’s alright, do you want more fruits?”

“No I’m good. How about farming time?” Tiffany asked as she stretched.

“Oh, sure, honey, do you want to come with us?” the old lady asked her husband.

“Why not,” he replied.

“What about you Jonghyun?”

“I don’t want to go,”

“Hey, c’mon! Let’s all go have fun in the farm!” Tiffany said and ran towards Jonghyun. She grabbed his hands to lift him up from the sofa. “Let’s go!” Tiffany shouted and ran out the door.

Jonghyun gave a sigh and looked at the couple.

“Haha, this is going to be fun!” the old lady laugh as she ran after Tiffany.

“Grandpa, please help me,” Jonghyun complained.

“What do you want me to say? Just go along before your grandma gets mad,” the old guy said and went out the door.

Jonghyun walked out the door speechless.

“First, we need to put on rubber boots and our farming clothes,”

“Why do we need rubber boots?” Tiffany asked.

“Because we’re going to go to the rice paddy field,” the old lady replied.

As Jonghyun and the old man took the materials out from the shack, Tiffany and the old lady were putting on the clothes.

“What's wrong with Jonghyun today? Anyways, I'm so glad I got to know his grandparents,” Tiffany said as she tied her hair.

“What do you mean?” the old lady asked as she slipped on the rubber boots.

“Yeah,"

"Haha, I'm not his grandma,” the old lady interrupted.

“Well, then who are you?”

“I’m just a very close friend to his parents. He just calls us his grandparents because he has no one else to call grandma and grandpa. Both of his grandparents died from an illness. His parents always work and now that he’s all grown up, he’s more arrogant,”

“I’m sorry, I’ve been mean to him,” Tiffany said, sadly and looked at Jonghyun, “He’s like me in a way,”

“Let’s not talk about this. It brings depressing memories,”

“Well, will you be my grandma, too?” Tiffany asked with an innocent look.

“Haha, what kind of question is that?"

"Well, if you're willing to be Jonghyun's grandma, why not mine too? I mean, I don't have a grandmother anymore and my grandpa is always busy so he could be my grandpa too," Tiffany said as she pointed to the old guy.

"Of course, I'll be your grandma,"

 

Tiffany’s POV:

After asking grandma that question and her accepting, felt so heart-warming. I suddenly felt loved.

“Hey you two! Let’s get going!” Jonghyun shouted at us.

As we arrived to the rice field, grandma kept talking about Jonghyun, nonstop. And of course, Jonghyun complained.

 “Honey, Tippany just asked me if we could also be her grandparents,” grandma said to grandpa, saying it loudly so that Jonghyun could hear. Apparently, Jonghyun heard it and looked towards me. I didn’t dare stare back at him and just pretended like he wasn’t staring.

“Oh, why not, I’m gladly to be your grandpa,” grandpa said with a warm smile.

Honestly, today just isn’t Jonghyun’s day. Maybe because grandma and grandpa liked me more and kept teasing him. Oh well, he looks cute pissed off.

“Screw you guys,” Jonghyun stormed down the hill, into the rice field. I ran after him down the hill. Well, I was running too fast and tripped which I fell into the water. Thank goodness it was shallow; I didn’t want my face to get wet.

“Hahahahaha,” Jonghyun started to laugh hard.

“Hey!” I yelled at him. Then I heard grandma and grandpa giggling from behind. I turned around and stared at them. They suddenly stopped giggling. Jonghyun walked towards me and lent a hand. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up.

“Karma,” he mumbled.

“What?” I let go of his hand and pushed him aside. I waited for grandma and grandpa to come down. The cute part was that grandpa helped grandma down. How come Jonghyun didn’t help me too? I looked at Jonghyun as he looked at grandma and grandpa.

“Alright, let’s get started,” grandma said as she walked towards Jonghyun and me. As we started, grandma taught me how to pull the rice plant out. It wasn’t that hard actually. All I had to do was pull the plant out and put it in the basket.

We worked in the field for probably two hours long. We finished two rows and now we are ¾ done with third row. The sky suddenly became cloudy and gray.

“I’m tired, are you?” I asked grandma.

“Yeah, it looks like it’s going to rain. Let’s quickly finish this row. We’re almost done anyways,” she replied.

“Mmhhmmm,” I quickly worked harder to finish. To be honest, it gets very tiring even though it’s easy. My back really aches now. I kept telling myself that we’re almost done. That’s the only way I can keep myself going on. I never ever want to do this again. All of a sudden, I felt a drop of water.

“I think it’s raining,”  I said as I looked up at the sky. Then more rain drops started to fall.

“Let’s go inside!” grandpa shouted as he took grandma’s hand and started to run.

I thought Jonghyun was going to take my hand too, so I waited for him to reach over. Unexpectedly, he started to run off without taking my hand. I stood there dumbfounded.

“Hey! What are you doing! Hurry up!” Jonghyun said as he looked back at me.

“Oh... yeah,” I quietly said as I started to run. Again, I tripped because of my laces from the rubber boot had undone.

“You klutz,” Jonghyun teased and ran back to me. He lifted me up and settled me on his back. Is this what they call a piggy-back ride? Is Jonghyun giving me a piggy-back ride right now?  This is so sweet of him.

“Wait Jonghyun! How are we going to get up the hill?” I asked him.

“Well, I won’t carry you up there, that’s for sure,” he replied.

Anyways, that sweet moment lasted for quite some time. Now, we’re back to mean Jonghyun and arrogant Tiffany.

“What do you mean you’re not going to carry me up there? I think I twisted my ankle so… so you might have to,” I lied.

“Whatever,” he replied.

As we came to the hill, he quickly ran as fast as he could. I could feel his grip; trying to hold onto to me. Truthfully, I was scared we wouldn’t make it. He started to go up the hill. I held onto him tightly and closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes, we were closer to the cottage than before. I looked behind us and surprisingly, we made it. I gave a relieving sigh.

“You thought I wasn’t going make it?” he said as he ran.

I didn’t answer him, but smiled.

“Hurry up! Hurry!” grandma shouted from the cottage, “Are you guys okay?” she asked as we finally reached to the cottage; all soaked up.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Tiffany said she twisted he ankle,” Jonghyun said as he put me down; breathlessly.

“Oh, I’m fine,” I said to grandma.

“What? So you were fine this whole entire time?!” Jonghyun yelled at me.

“I said “I think”, I never said that I really did twist it.” I replied.

“You..” before he could finish, I ran inside. I could hear grandma giggling and Jonghyun complaining.

We all came inside and dried ourselves. The wet clothes went inside the laundry basket and the rubber boots stood outside on the terrace. Grandma and I stayed in kitchen cooking dinner and grandpa and Jonghyun stayed in the living room, watching the weather news.

“Hello, I am Go Nara and today’s weather seems to be raining. The rain won’t stop until midnight. Ahead of that, there will thundering and lighten,”

“It’s going to thunder?!” I asked.

“It might not thunder,” Jonghyun said as he stretched down on the sofa, “Why? Are you scared of the thunder?”

“Kind of,” I mumbled.

“Well if it’s raining this hard, I believe you two might not get a chance to go back home. The chauffeur also left hours ago too. It’ll be alright if you guys stay,” grandma interrupted.

“What?!”