A week has passed since the first day of school and Tiffany still has not recognized her best friend Taeng. She’s not completely clueless given the fact she has been getting more and more flashbacks whenever she sees his face or hears his name. But her mind would not comply to make her remember.

 The teens were sitting with their friends around a table at school, it was lunchtime and everyone pitched in money to buy bread and chips for the whole group.

“Got any plans after school today Taeng?” Yoona asks placidly while he munches on his bread.

 Taeng nods, “Yeah I have to help my mom rearrange the furniture; she still hasn’t decided where to put them so there’s boxes everywhere. She’s been too busy decorating she hasn’t unpacked the rest of the boxes. The group laughs at Taeng’s comment.

 “Well, that’s nice of you to help. Can we hang out tomorrow?” Yoona asks smiling.

He nods, “Sure I don’t have any plans”

“What are you guys going to do?” Sooyoung asks curiously, stealing a chip from Sunny. Sunny glares at her, muttering words to herself before wiping with a crumpled napkin.

“Why would I tell you? You’re probably going to tag along like you always do” Yoona says, shaking his head while sighing. Although Yoona wouldn’t have mind if the girls tagged along, he wanted Taeng’s advice and he wasn’t willing to involve the girls with issues that should only be discussed between two males.

“Hey…that’s not true” Sooyoung replies feeling hurt.

Taeng smiles, “It’s okay Sooyoung, we can hang out next time okay? I just think Yoona and I need some guy time”

 The latter smiles feeling better hearing the kind words, “Okay promise?” Sooyoung sticks out her pinky finger in front of Taeng he happily locks his with hers.

“Promise, if I don’t then you can punish me however you want” He replies chuckling.

 “Oh! Make sure he forgets then Sooyoung, I have a bunch of ideas to punish him” Hyoyeon says smirking.

Tiffany laughs, “I’d love to know those ideas”

Taeng pouts, “Yah! Now I’m definitely not going to break the promise”

School was over and Taeng makes his way home, saying goodbye to others before heading off.

“Umma I’m home!” He yells, taking off his shoes.

“Right on time! Help me move the TV” She says, standing to the side of it.

Taeng chuckles, “Okay. Where’s appa?”

“He’s still at work. He’s been very busy” She says as she and Taeng carefully adjust the position of the TV.

“Aish, I’m sweating already!” His mother replies, wiping sweat that was dripping from her brow.

Taeng laughs, “Take a break. I can unpack”

She smiles, kissing her sons cheek before crashing on the couch.

“So, how was school?” She asks, watching Taeng open boxes.

 Lately they haven’t unpacked anything, with Mr. Kim always working, Taeng is the only one who can do the physical labor. He doesn’t want his umma to get hurt while he was at school so he tells her to unpack and fix the light objects and leave the heavy ones to him. Taeng rips the box open, taking out the stereos for the TV.

“It was good, I really like it here” He replies, placing the stereos on the floor.

“How’s Tiffany? Does she remember you?” She asks excitedly.

As soon as the first day of school was over, Taeng couldn’t hold in his happiness after finding Tiffany. He reported to his umma that he’s attending the same school as her and Mrs. Kim shared the excitement with him. She too has missed seeing her best friend and she couldn’t wait to reunite with her. But when Taeng told her Tiffany didn’t remember him, she was disheartened. Mrs. Kim smiles thinking back to the smile Taeng had even though he said Tiffany didn’t remember him.

[Flashback]

 “It’s okay umma, I found her and that’s what matters.”

“But she doesn’t remember you…”

“I can make her remember me; I’m just going to play with her for a while, see if I can jog her memory back. If not then I’ll just tell her straight out”

[End Flasback]

 “No” Taeng laughs, “But I think she’s slowly starting to remember me”

Mrs. Kim sighs, “Taeng can you please just tell her already? I’m getting restless; I want to talk to Mrs. Hwang. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her.”

 Taeng faces his mother, “I know. I’m sorry umma…” A sudden idea springs into his mind. “Umma, why don’t you call her now? Tell her you moved here and that I’m attending the same school as Tiffany”

 Mrs. Kim was left clueless, “But then won’t she tell Tiffany?”

Taeng smirks, “Not if she’s playing the game with us”

 Mrs. Kim laughs, “I raised an evil son”

The mother and son share a laugh, having a lively conversation as Taeng unpacks more of the boxes. Taeng realized that he still hasn’t finished unpacking his stuff for his room. He decides to do that after finishing up downstairs. Mrs. Kim was in the kitchen preparing dinner as Taeng was finishing up the living room. The door opens and Mr. Kim enters the house exhausted. Taeng was busy rearranging the furniture that he didn’t notice his father. Mr. Kim smiles, seeing his son help around the house before walking to the kitchen.

 “Hey honey” He greets his wife, kissing her cheek.

 Mrs. Kim turns around, “Oh! You’re home! I didn’t hear the door open.”

 He laughs, “Yeah neither did Taeng, he’s still fixing the living room”

She chuckles, “He’s been so helpful. Can you call him? Dinner is ready”

Mr. Kim nods his head, heading out to the living room. He sees Taeng pondering where to place the recliner, eyeing two different locations.

“Why don’t you put the recliner to the right of the TV?” Mr. Kim says to his son.

Taeng snaps out of his thoughts hearing a male voice, he quickly turns around.

 “Ah! Appa, I didn’t know you were home” He says apologetically while bowing.

His father laughs, “It’s okay. I’m really thankful that you’re helping out. Dinner’s ready, so take a break.”

Taeng smiles, following his dad to the kitchen.

“Honey, did Taeng talk to you about Tiffany?” Mrs. Kim asks as she sets the food on the middle of the table.

 Mr. Kim looks at Taeng confused, “No he hasn’t. Tiffany? As in Tiffany Hwang?”

 His son smiles, “Yeah that would be her. Good to know you have a great memory”

 Mrs. Kim and Taeng laugh on the clever remark, Mr. Kim on the other hand was clueless. Since he’s been busy with work he’s never in the loop, he’s always left out.

He waits for them to calm down before asking again, “What about her?”

 Taeng looks up from his plate, “We go to the same school appa. I finally found her”

Mr. Kim smiles, feeling happy for his son. The memories of Taeng begging him to move to Korea flash in his head. How he desperately wanted to contact his dear friend. He chuckles to himself seeing the smile Taeng hasn’t had in a while. The smile of happiness.

“Really? I’m glad, why hasn’t she come over yet?” Mr. Kim asks, taking a scoop of rice.

 His son laughs again, “Well there’s a slight problem”

 He his head, “And what’s that?”

“She doesn’t remember me”

Mr. Kim was taken aback, surprised to see Taeng wasn’t upset.

“And you’re happy about that?” Mr. Kim asks confused with the ironic behavior Taeng was feeling.

 He nods, “I’m happy because I found her appa.”

His father smiles; astounded by Taeng’s character.

“Aish, stop being so cheesy” Mrs. Kim starts to say “He’s playing with her, he’s trying to make Tiffany remember him”

Mr. Kim looks at Taeng who was smiling dorkily. His father begins to laugh, a heavy whole hearted laugh. The sounds of his father’s laughter broke Taeng into laughter too; he’s never heard his appa laugh like that before. It was filled with happiness.

“Taeng, you truly are evil” Mr. Kim replies, taking a drink of water to calm himself down.

 After dinner was over, Taeng helps his mother clean the table before heading upstairs to finish unpacking. He glances around his room, not happy with the bland white walls. The only things in his room were his futon, a computer desk, and a TV. Taeng was thinking of painting the walls when he has the time; the color blue to be exact. He heads over to the boxes, ripping them open one by one. He hooks up his PlayStation 3 to his TV, neatly setting the game beside it. He finds the box that was filled with his posters and pictures.

 One by one, he places the items on the floor, smiling as he takes out each item. He sets the posters off to the side, wanting to paint the walls first before hanging them up; he then grabs a photo album. Taeng smiles, leaning back against the wall to reminisce. All the photos were of Tiffany and him. The precious memories they shared when they were younger. The smiles, the laughs, the cries. Taeng’s smile was still plastered on his face, staring deeply into each photo.

He leans his head against the cool wall, “Fany-ah, I’m getting tired of playing this game”

Tiffany was lying on her bed, staring straight up at the white ceiling before her. Her stomach growls, she hasn’t had her dinner yet.

 “I wonder if umma cooked anything” She says, getting out of her bed to head downstairs.

“Umma? Have you cooked anything?” She asks.

Tiffany walks into the kitchen, seeing her mother talking on the phone.

“Aish really? How is he not be mad?” She hears her mother say.

 Mrs. Hwang doesn’t sense Tiffany’s presence behind; she taps her fingers on the table.

 Tiffany shrugs, thinking she was talking to one of her friends.

She makes her way to the fridge.

 “Omo, that’s troubling. Tiffany is so forgetful”

 Hearing her name caught Tiffany’s attention; she sticks her head out of the fridge and stares at her mother. Curiosity grows inside of her; she leans in closer to hear her mother clearly.

Her mother chuckles, “I’m surprised she forgot too. They were inseparable when they were younger”

Who is she talking too? And why is she talking about me?

Tiffany leans against the counter.

“Yes, we have to catch up sometime. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Tiffany a thing. You can consider me a player in this game” She replies chuckling again.

Game?

Tiffany makes a face, confusion and annoyance showing.

 “Of course!” Her mother replies happily “Oh, I should go prepare dinner. I hope to see you soon and I’m glad you’re well. Annyeong” She ends the call, getting up from her chair to put the phone back. She swivels and sees Tiffany in front of her.

 “Ah!” She screams, caught off guard. “Aigoo, Tiffany! You scared me!” She fans herself to calm down.

“Sorry umma, I was wondering if you prepared dinner” She replies, her mind still wondering about the phone call.

The latter nods, “I’m going to right now. What do you want?”

Tiffany ponders, “I want… bulgogi”

 “Bulgogi it is then” Her mother replies, heading to the fridge.

“Is appa still at work?” Tiffany asks, sensing no presence of her father.

 “Yes, he said he’ll be home late” She replies, her head in the fridge.

Tiffany bites her bottom lip, she wants to ask her mother about the phone call but she didn’t want to feel like she was snooping.

She takes a deep breathe, “Umma were you on the phone?”

The latter looks at Tiffany, “Yes”

 “I thought I heard voices” Tiffany replies, acting as if she didn’t hear the conversation.

 Her mother laughs, “Oh yes. I was catching up with an old friend”

Tiffany smiles, “That’s good”

Tiffany struck blank; she begins to wonder why her mother and her friend would be talking about her.

“Dinner is ready” Her mother says, placing the food on the table.

The air wafted of bulgogi that it made Tiffany’s mouth water. She quickly sat down, scooping rice on her plate.

 “Aigoo, I’m sorry Tiffany. I was so busy talking on the phone, I didn’t realize the time” Her mother replies apologetically.

Tiffany smiles, “It’s okay umma. I’m glad you were able to talk to your friend”

The latter smiles, taking a seat across from her daughter. They settle into a comfortable silence, Tiffany devouring the delicious food.

Mrs. Hwang looks at her daughter carefully; “Tiffany”

The latter looks up from her plate, “Yes umma?”

 “How is school?”

Tiffany was confused at the sudden question. She stares at the steam the rice was producing, “It’s good. Why do you ask?”

Her mother smiles, “No reason, I just wanted to know”

 “Well, we have a new transfer student” Tiffany abruptly says, still wanting to continue on the topic.

Her mother’s face brightens, “Is that so?”

She nods, “His name is Kim Taeng his dad is in the military so he was stationed here. They’re from the states”

Mrs. Hwang leans back against her chair, “Really? That must be fun.”

Tiffany nods, picking at her food with her chopsticks.

“Is he cute?” Mrs. Hwang suddenly asks.

 Tiffany grows red, “Umma!”

 The latter laughs, “What? I’m serious!”

Tiffany groans, “Umma…”

Her mother shakes her head, “Okay. You don’t have to answer that.”

 “Something about him bothers me though…” Tiffany says, her thoughts being said out loud.

Her mother’s smile fades, “What do you mean?”

Tiffany sighs, “I feel as if I already met him. He doesn’t seem new to me. It’s as if, we were already friends”

 The latter chuckles, “That is a strange feeling”

Her daughter nods, “I can’t shake that feeling off”

 Her mother stands from her chair, walking over to her daughter.

“Aigoo Tiffany, you’re so forgetful” She says, knuckling her daughters head.

 Tiffany stands up from her chair, “What do you mean?” She recalls hearing those words from the earlier phone conversation between her mother and her friend.

“It’s nothing, befriend that Kim Taeng. He sounds like a nice boy” Her mother says, taking the dishes to the sink.

Tiffany chokes on her breath, she stands frozen in spot.

 Mrs. Hwang turns around, noticing her daughter’s confused face. “You’re a player in the game Miyoung, hurry up and defeat the level” She says, reassuring her daughter before heading upstairs.

Tiffany was still left in confusion.

What is this talk about “being a player in the game”?

 She sighs, not wanting to strain her brain; she heads upstairs and prepares for bed.

 “Are you a player of this game too Kim Taeng?”

I’m sorry if this story is starting off boring, but don’t worry! Everything will gradually build up, so please stay with me. :D