“Are you okay Yoona?” Taeng asks seeing Yoona fidgeting.

 After school, they made plans to go to a café to hang out. Yoona wanted to ask Taeng on his opinion but he wasn’t sure how to start. His leg was shaking dramatically; he frantically taps his fingers around his coffee cup.

 “Yeah, yeah I’m fine…” Yoona replies, taking a sip of his coffee.

Taeng notices his hand shaking as he lifts the cup, he starts to grow worried.

 “You don’t look okay. Seriously, Yoona is everything okay?” He asks, worrying about his friend.

 “Taeng, we’re friends right?” Yoona asks; his voice shaky.

 He nods, “Of course we are. I would consider us best friends.”

 Yoona smiles, feeling slightly better “Friends- I mean, best friends help each other out right?”

 The latter nods, Yoona sighs “I’m in love Taeng…”

Taeng’s eyes widen, “Really? With who?”

 Yoona’s eyes darken, “Seohyun”

Taeng smiles, “That’s great!”

The latter looks at him, eyes filled with somber “Thing is…I’ve heard rumors that Siwon is interested in her too”

Taeng’s smile fades, “Do you know if Seohyun is interested in him?”

 Yoona shakes his head, keeping his hand wrapped around his coffee.

“Then go for her man. Take her before someone else does” Taeng replies, trying to lift his friends’ mood.

“Come on Taeng, we’ve been friends ever since we were born. What if she doesn’t feel the same way?” Yoona asks, anger rising in his tone.

 Taeng stares at Yoona with compassion, he could relate to Yoona’s story. He’s madly in love with Tiffany; he’s developed a crush on her ever since he was 10. He’s never confessed to her because he’s afraid she might not feel the same way and ruin their friendship. Taeng feels even more defeated thinking that Tiffany doesn’t even remember him in the first place.

Was he just a toy to her? Did she just play him and let him go as a feint memory not worth remembering? Taeng shakes his head; he can’t be selfish at this moment. He’s there to help Yoona; he’ll have to worry about his love life later.

 “You’ll never know unless you try right?” Taeng says softly “Who knows? She might feel the same way as you but she’s waiting for you to initiate the spark”

Yoona looks at Taeng, “Really?”

 He smiles, “I’m sure of it. You should confess to her Yoona.”

 The latter smiles, he was starting to feel much better after hearing his friends’ advice.

“Thanks Taeng, I’m glad I talked to you about this. If I were to ask Yul, he would give me the worst advice” Yoona says chuckling.

Taeng smiles, he was glad that he was able to aid his companion. A sense of gratitude was floating in the air.

 Yoona takes another sip before looking at Taeng, “What about you?”

 Taeng was surprised and confused, “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about you and Tiffany”

 Taeng holds in his breath, his heart beats start to speed up.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about” Taeng blabbers, looking around frantically.

“I’m not dumb Taeng you’re the one who told me at the restaurant.” Yoona replies placidly. It was his turn to help his friend.

 Taeng sighs, “Things are complicated”

“Complicated?”

“Long story” Taeng says sadly.

 “I got time” Yoona replies, leaning forward.

Taeng chuckles bitterly, “How much time?”

“You tell me” Yoona retaliates. He wasn’t going to give up.

Taeng sighs, leaning back against his seat. “Tiffany…is my best friend” He starts off, looking at Yoona. Yoona nods, telling him to proceed.

 “Our moms are best friends, my mom gave birth to me first; Tiffany was born four months later at the same hospital. Since our moms spent every day together, we pretty much grew up together. We attended day care together, up until middle school. We spent every day of our lives with each other. Our moms would tease us, saying we were stuck to each other like magnets”

 Taeng chuckles “We did everything together; played, cried, fought, shared secrets, everything you can think of. I started to develop a crush on her when I was only ten years old.” Taeng stops, gazing at Yoona who was intently listening.

“It was crazy to think how much I liked her, when we went to middle school I wanted to confess my feelings to her. But my friend kept telling me not too, she was trying to save our friendship. Her advice stuck on me so I never told her.”

Yoona nods, pushing Taeng to keep talking.

 “Well anyways, the first year of middle school was over and I still haven’t told her. I was growing impatient; I wanted her to know how I felt about her. So one day after school I went over to her house, I was finally going to confess my feelings for her. As soon as she opens the door, she runs into my arms crying.” Taeng cringes remembering how Tiffany looked when she was crying “We walked to the park and went to the swings. She was quiet for a long time, I wanted to say something but I didn’t know what to say” Taeng’s eyes fall, “And that’s when my world came tumbling down…”

 [Flashback]

“Tae…I’m moving”

Taeng’s eyes widen, his heart was aching, the world became still.

“M-moving? What do you mean?”

Tiffany continues crying, “My dad got offered a job…in Korea”

“KOREA?!” Taeng replies, hurting even more.

He didn’t know what to feel anymore, he was feeling all sorts of emotions. Tiffany was still crying in her hands, Taeng walks over to her and pulls her up from the swing.

“Stop crying Fany-ah” He says softly, holding her wrists.

She tries to stop but more tears end up falling. He quickly embraces her in a hug, letting Tiffany cry against him.

“I can’t Tae…I don’t want to leave you” She says against his chest.

Taeng rubs his hands along Tiffany’s back, “It’s not like we’ll never see each other again…”

Tiffany remains quiet, tears stained on her cheek.

Taeng wipes away her tears with his thumbs and looks deep into her eyes, “We’ll see each other again. I promise.”

“Promise me that you’ll find me...” She says, staring into his eyes.

Taeng smiles, “I promise that I will find you, no matter how long it takes”

Tiffany smiles, laying her head against his chest feeling reassured.

 If only she could hear Taeng’s heart cracking.

[End Flashback]

Yoona whistles, “Dang…That’s one hell of a story”

 Taeng chuckles bitterly, “Yeah. After she moved, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was lost, I had nobody. We couldn’t even talk to each because of the huge time difference”

Yoona smiles sadly, “You kept the promise huh?”

“Of course I did. I told myself not to give up until I find her. With my dad being in the military, I kept begging him to ask his commander to station him here in Korea.” Taeng replies, staring at his feet.

“Wait…how did you know where Tiffany was?” Yoona asks.

 Taeng looks at the latter and smiles, “I didn’t.”

 Yoona’s eyes widen, “Wow, that’s fate playing right there”

 He chuckles, “You’re telling me. I wasn’t expecting the first school I attend to be the right school.”

Yoona smiles, “I’m glad you found her”

 Taeng smiles, “Yeah me too. I’d be even happier if she remembered me”

Yoona’s smile dissipates, “That must be tough, loving someone who forgot about you”

Taeng nods sadly, “Yeah. I was excited when I found her but then she acted like she never met me and I was crushed. I thought she was joking at first but…it turns out she really forgot about me.”

“Then why are you acting as if you never met her?” Yoona asks.

 Taeng sighs, “I don’t know. I thought it would be fun to play with her but it’s hard trying to conceal my feelings and put on a charade when I’m hurting on the inside.”

Yoona sighs, “Maybe you should tell her already. Stop hurting yourself even more.”

 Taeng tries to smile, “Easier said than done”

 “Take your own advice then, ‘you’ll never know unless you try” Yoona says, quoting his friend.

Taeng laughs, “Thanks Yoona. I’m glad I was able to get that off my chest”

 Yoona smiles, “Of course Taeng. I’ll be here anytime you need to talk”

He smiles, a feeling of confidence surges through him. He wants to tell Tiffany but his heart was telling him to wait. He’s confident she can remember him; even if she doesn’t remember him at all he won’t give up.

“Don’t tell Tiffany about this okay? I want to play the game just a little bit longer”

 Yoona was taken aback, “Are you sure?”

 Taeng confidently nods, “I’m sure she’ll remember me. I want her to remember me on her own, not because I forced her.”

 Yoona was hesitating to argue back but he goes against it. “If you really think so, but I’m only giving you a week. If she doesn’t remember you by next week, I’m telling her,” Yoona replies worried about his friends’ emotions.

Taeng smiles, “Just like my umma”

 They share a laugh, changing the conversation to a livelier one.

After they finish their coffee, they exchange phone numbers before parting their way to go home.

 As Taeng was walking home he notices a familiar looking figure sitting on a bench nearby.

He couldn’t make out who it was, so he slowly approaches the slim figure.

“Tiffany?” He softly says, staring at her.

“Oh, hey Taeng” Tiffany replies.

 She wasn’t expecting to see him here, out of all places, but a warm feeling starts to erupt in her stomach. She was happy to see him, happier to know their meeting wasn’t planned.

 “What are you doing here?” He asks, taking a seat next to her.

The sun was setting, the sky gave off an orange tint, Taeng was watching the trees rustle from the cool wind.

 “Just…sitting” She replies, swaying her feet.

 “Really? I thought you were standing” He teases, poking Tiffany’s arm.

She laughs, “I’m just thinking”

 “About?” He asks curiously, looking at her.

Tiffany shrugs, “Nothing in particular. Just thinking”

 Taeng stares at Tiffany, admiring how beautiful she looks. Her white milky skin glowing, her hair being blown slightly by the wind.

“That doesn’t make sense” Taeng says chuckling.

 Tiffany looks at him, “Why?”

 “Because whenever someone is thinking, it means something is bothering them. Or they have feelings they want to sort out, it can’t just be ‘nothing’”

Tiffany was taken aback, “You’re right…Something is bothering me”

Taeng gazes at the latter, “Want to talk about it? You can trust me”

Tiffany bites the insides of her cheeks. She didn’t want to admit that she was thinking about Taeng the entire time. She kept replaying her umma’s words in her minds, “You’re a player in the game Miyoung, hurry up and defeat the level.”

She wasn’t sure how to start, “Kim Taeng…”

Taeng smiles, “That’s my name. Tiffany Hwang right?”

 Tiffany laughs, admiring Taeng’s sense of humor.

 “H-have…have we met before?” She asks.

Taeng’s heart pangs, taken aback by the latter’s question.

 “What do you mean?” He asks calmly, concealing his feelings.

“I’m not sure why but… I feel as if we’ve met before” Tiffany explains “Your name rings a bell in my head; I don’t know…I just feel as if you were in my past”

Taeng smiles, feeling the surge of confidence he felt earlier growing significantly. He wanted to continue the conversation but he noticed Tiffany was shivering.

You’re getting closer each day Fany-ah.

“Let me take you home, I don’t want you to get sick.” He says coolly, standing up.

Tiffany was feeling a little disappointed Taeng disregarded her comment. She was hoping he would finally clear her head. But at the same time she was touched by his kind gesture and his worry of her health. Taeng takes off his jacket and places it around her shoulders, she was taken aback. Her heart skips a beat, the warm feeling in her stomach feels light.

Whenever she’s with Taeng, she’s comfortable; she can be herself around him. She doesn’t have to go all the way to please him, her body feels light as a feather whenever he calls her name or looks at her.

“Tiffany, we’re here” She hears a voice softly.

 Tiffany dazes out of her thoughts, realizing they were in front of her house.

 “Ah, sorry I spaced out” She replies, growing red of embarrassment.

 Taeng chuckles, “It’s okay. Sleep well okay? I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night”

 Tiffany smiles, “Good night. See you tomorrow”

She turns around and grabs her keys out of her pocket. She was about to unlock the door when she felt a warm presence behind her.

“You’re getting closer Tiffany. Can you hurry up and beat the game already?”

 [Flashback]

“Fany-ah!”

“Tae!”

“We’re going to be best friends forever right?”

“Of course!”

“You’re the best best friend anybody could ask for!”

 [End Flashback]

 Tiffany gasps, “Tae?”

She quickly turns around; only to find out he had already left.