The days have passed since Taeng and Tiffany had officially committed themselves into a long-distance relationship and each day their relationship only skyrocketed and their feelings grew deeper.

Each day Taeng would send Tiffany a good morning text whereas the latter would send him a good night text and vice versa. It was difficult for them to video chat often since their studies kept them busy but they would always make time to hear each other’s voices even if it was just for a second or a minute.

 As the days passed by, Taeng would always stay up late if Tiffany had a chance to video chat but it would worry Tiffany that the boy would get lack of sleep for always staying up so late. It didn’t mind Taeng even though this is the first time he’s stayed up so late. He would sometimes wake up late and arrive tardy to class but the teachers wouldn’t mind since his grades are always top-notch. Tiffany would always insist to do it at night in the states but Taeng would argue, saying he’s fine and that he doesn’t want Tiffany to suffer from lack of sleep. Eventually, she gave in but she would always cut their video chat time short for her boyfriend to get the proper sleep he needed, Taeng would try to change her mind but to no avail seeing the stern look in her eyes.

 Taeng was mindedly doing his homework at his desk, his eyes beginning to strain from the constant words and equations. He decides to give his eyes a rest as he looks up from the book and closes them allowing water to moist his strained eyes. His phone vibrates and he quickly reaches for it knowing that the text was from his girlfriend.

 It was already 10 pm on a Friday in Korea, meaning that it was only 5 am on a Thursday in the states. Tiffany had a class at 8 am but she always wakes up early to talk to Taeng. The dorky boy found it cute how the girl would schedule a time interval for them to talk even though it was early for the brunette, she didn’t mind knowing she’ll be able to talk to her boyfriend. Taeng’s phone vibrates again and he quickly looks down at the screen to open the message.

“From: Miyoung<3  -Are you able to video chat?”

 A smile forms on the boy’s face as he quickly sends a ‘yes’ before prying open his laptop and logging on to the chatbox. He quickly presses the invite button as soon as he sees his girlfriend’s username and patiently waits for both their boxes to load. As soon as he sees the loving face of his girlfriend, a grin spreads across his face as he dorkily waves to the screen.

“Good morning my beautiful Miyoung.”

 Tiffany blushes and shyly smiles, “Good morning Taeng.” She couldn’t express how much she loved hearing Taeng call her those sweet words, by now she joked she was going to die of a heart attack from her heart skipping multiple beats.

“How was your sleep?”

 “It was good! Are you doing your homework?”

The boy dorkily nods, “Yeah. But I’m taking a break, my eyes hurt…”

Tiffany chuckles, “Don’t strain them too hard okay? I don’t want you to go blind if you damage your eyes.”

Taeng gasps, “I can’t go blind! I wouldn’t be able to see your beautiful face anymore…”

Tiffany smiles as the butterflies flutter in the pit of her stomach and her heart skips multiple beats. She stares deep into Taeng’s eyes as he reciprocates a smile back to her while looking straight back into her own eyes.

 “You know how to make a girl happy in the morning,” Tiffany commented with a bright smile.

“You mean I know how to make MY girl happy in the morning.” Taeng dorkily corrected, grinning from ear to ear.

The brunette brightly smiles as her eyes turn into the crescent shapes Taeng loves to see. They both felt their hearts jump out of their chests as they gaze once again into each other’s eyes.

“OH MY GAH, YOU GUYS’ ARE TOO FREAKING CUTE!!!”

Tiffany jumps in her seat after hearing someone else’s voice, she turns her head and her eyes widen upon seeing Jessica standing right next to her with a glint of excitement in her eyes.

Taeng’s eyes widen as he blushes hearing the blonde’s comment, “Aish… Good morning to you Jessica.”

Tiffany rolls her eyes and slightly shoves Jessica, “Yah! What are you doing here?! You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

“I heard someone talking so I came in here to see who you were talking to,” Jessica replied nonchalantly with a smile.

Tiffany’s eyes widen, “W-what?! How long have you been here?”

 “Good morning my beautiful Miyoung.” The latter mocked in a masculine voice.

Both Tiffany and Taeng blush madly realizing that Jessica had heard their entire conversation.

Taeng awkwardly chuckles and rubs the back of his neck, “A-ah wow… You were here for a while.”

Tiffany heaves a sigh and swats Jessica's arm, “Leave!”

 Jessica laughs and pinches the blushing girls’ cheek, “Aigoo… Don’t be so embarrassed Tiffany, it’s not like I didn’t know you guys were dating.”

The brunette stands up from her chair and forcefully swivels Jessica around and pushes her back until she was out of her room. Taeng watches in amusement as the two girls continue bickering throughout the girl’s room.

“Yah! Tiffany Hwang how-”

Before she had the chance to talk Tiffany closed the door on her face and quickly locked it.

 “I’m so gonna get you Tiff!” She heard Jessica yell before hearing footsteps walking away from her door. Tiffany sighs of relief before walking back to her computer to Taeng who was looking at her with an amused smile.

 “What?” She asked in confusion.

“You’re adorable.” He said smoothly.

 Tiffany blushes, “Aish… Shut up.”

Taeng chuckles, “You guys are like siblings… It’s cute.”

The brunette laughs and shakes her head, “Oh trust me… My real siblings and I have worsts fights than that.”

“You have siblings?” Taeng asked in awe. He never had time to ask the girl about his family life, he would always try to bring it up but the girl would always change the subject so Taeng never brought it up for quite some time. He wanted to know about her family life however seeing that they’re going to be together for quite some time and he’s hoping that one day he’ll be able to have the chance to meet them and have her parent’s blessing.

Tiffany nods, “Yeah… They’re both older than me. I have an older sister named Michelle and an older brother named Leo.”

 Taeng’s eyes sparkle with awe, “That’s so cool.”

 Tiffany chuckles, “Yeah… How about you? Do you have any siblings?”

He dorkily nods, “I have an older brother named Jiwoong and a younger sister named Hayeon.”

 Tiffany smiles, “That’s nice… They must be really good siblings.”

Taeng laughs, “Yeah… Sometimes.”

 The brunette laughs along with the latter. Her mood starts to sink realizing that they were going to be talking about their personal family life. She hated to admit that she’s been avoiding this certain topic to Taeng, even though they have been dating for some time now she couldn’t find it in her to tell him.

“How about your parents? Do they live in the states with you as well?” Taeng curiously asked.

 She felt her heart sink hearing the question she’s been dreading not to hear. She bites her bottom lip as she hangs her head low as the question the latter asks resounds in her head. She fidgets with her fingers as she felt tears forming in her eyes. She sniffles and wipes her eyes with the back of her hand to stop them from completely falling but it didn’t help the ache in her heart.

Taeng’s eyes widen hearing the weak sniffles of his girlfriend; he quickly changes his expression into a worried one as he stares at the girl whose head is hung low.

“Hey hey, what’s wrong?” He asked worriedly.

Tiffany could only bite her bottom lip harder as the tears that were threatening to fall finally failed to stay as they trailed down her cheek. She finally looks up into Taeng’s concerned eyes and felt the pain ache her heart again seeing the latter’s worried expression.

“Miyoung-ah what’s wrong?” Taeng asked soothingly, “Did I say something wrong?”

Tiffany remains quiet as she lets Taeng continue soothing her with sweet words and concerned questions. She’s battling within herself to tell Taeng the truth but for some reason, she couldn’t find it in her to talk. She felt weak thinking about and felt dry as they failed to even make a sound when she opened .

The dorky boy grew even more worried that the girl wasn’t responding to his questions, he patiently waits for the girl to respond but to no avail. He remains quiet and lets silence linger in the air between them as his mind wanders where he went wrong.

 “I should go…” Tiffany said weakly, catching Taeng’s attention.

His face falls hearing the frail tone in the girl and his heart aches seeing her eyes red from her tears. He grows frantic, thinking that he said something wrong that caused Tiffany’s dramatic change in her mood.

“Did I say something wrong?” He asked weakly as sadness drowns in his body.

 Tiffany’s heartaches more seeing the pained look in the boy’s onyx orbs, she wanted to tell him that it wasn’t his fault. She just needed time.

She weakly shakes her head, “No… You didn’t.”

 “Then… what’s wrong? You know you can talk to me right? I’ll always be here.” Taeng reassured soothingly as he looks straight into her eyes.

Tiffany takes a deep breath as she ponders on Taeng’s words. She hates how she’s afraid to tell her boyfriend what happened in the past. It just brings back bad memories of the horrible time that it hurts her whenever she speaks about it.

The girl weakly nods her head as she sends a small smile, “I know Taeng… I just… Need to think about something.”

 Taeng slowly nods, “Okay… Take all the time you need then okay? I’m only a text or phone call away.”

Tiffany nods again as a response, she takes another deep breath and shifts in her seat. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow Taeng. Good night, sweet dreams.”

The boy felt hurt knowing there isn’t anything he can do to help his girlfriend through her tough times.

“Alright… Good night. Have a good day…” He said weakly, sending a small wave to the screen.

 “Thank you Taeng…” She replied, blowing him a small kiss before logging off the chat.

 Taeng sighs sadly as he turns off his laptop and stares blankly ahead. He decides to leave his homework for later seeing his mood turned sour as he does his night routines and crawls into bed. He stares at the white ceiling above him and sighs again.

 “Tiffany…” He mumbled before closing his eyes off into slumber.

 

 Tiffany trudged through her day of school, her mind couldn’t think of anything but Taeng. She felt guilty she made him sad that she couldn’t concentrate. She finishes her last class and speeds home, she was having a mind splitting headache. She enters through her apartment and stashes her keys away before going to the medicine cabinet to take some painkillers. As she gulps them down along with her water, her mind trances back to her boyfriend. An image of his pained expression flashes through her mind and it made her heartache.

She tiredly sighs as she walks over to the living room and plops herself on the couch. She was about to close her eyes to take a nap but they immediately open hearing the door swing open. She gazes at the hallway until Jessica walks through and smiles at her.

 “Hey, Tiffany.” Jessica greeted happily, oblivious to the brunette’s change in her demeanor.

“Hey…” Tiffany replied softly, forcing a smile.

“You and Taeng are just adorable. Seriously, I swear you guys’ are going to giving me diabetes.” Jessica stated while sighing of happiness as she takes a seat next to her best friend.

 The brunette weakly chuckles, “Ah… Yeah… Thanks.”

The blonde finally sees that the girl wasn’t behaving like herself; she adjusts herself on the couch so that she was sitting criss-cross facing her sad friend.

 “Hey, what’s wrong?” Jessica asked in concern.

Tiffany sadly sighs, “I’m… having troubles.”

“With what? Did Taeng do something wrong?” The latter asked softly.

She quickly shakes her head, “No…It’s more like I did something wrong.”

“What happened?”

 Tiffany faces the latter with moist eyes, “Should I tell Taeng?”

 “Tell Taeng what?”

“About… my mom.”

 Jessica's eyes widen as the girl beside her begins to cry again, she quickly soothingly rubs her back as she tries her best to comfort her friend.

 “He doesn’t know?” She asked softly.

Tiffany shakes her head as she continues crying in her hands. She thought not telling Taeng would hurt her this bad. When she was with Jay, her heart never ached the time she never told Jay about her mom. With Taeng, it’s different. Her heartaches and her mind swirl with endless thoughts. 

Jessica allows some silence to seep in between them, only letting the weak sobs of the girl fill the air. After some time, she heaves a tired sigh and looks at the girl.

“He should know.”

 “I know he should know… I don’t know Jessica; it just hurts to bring it up again...”

“I know… But, he needs to know eventually. I know it hurts but he can help you get through the bad times. He’s not like Jay remember? Taeng will do everything he can to help you.”

Tiffany sniffles hearing the comforting words from her best friend. What she said was true, she knows Taeng’s different. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to make her smile and he always seems to achieve it from his small actions.

Tiffany sighs again as her tears finally stop falling, she stares blankly ahead as her mind swirls.

“I don’t know why I’m so hesitant to bring it up…”

“It’s hard to bring up things that hurt us in the past… It’s understandable Tiff.” Jessica reassured.

“I’m don’t know why I’m such a coward…”

“Stop it, Tiffany. You’re not being a coward. Taeng cares about you…. A lot. Even if he’s miles away I know he’ll do everything he can.”

Silence seeps in again, allowing time for the brunette to think about the latter’s words. She knew the latter’s words were true, thinking about how much she cares about Taeng made her heart tingle. It’s not that she was afraid of being judged by her boyfriend, she just hated recalling an unfortunate event that happened in her life. But she knew that everything about Taeng was right, no matter what happens, Jessica’s words will always be right. Taeng will do everything he can even though he’s miles away.

After some time, she takes a deep breath and looks at the blonde girl who was looking back at her with expectant eyes.

Tiffany slowly nods her head, “Okay… I’ll tell him.”

Jessica gently smiles, “Good… You can do it, Tiffany.”

The brunette softly smiles and quickly hugs the blonde latter tightly, “Thank you, Jessica.”

 

The Next Day

Tiffany quickly rushes home after her classes and turns on her laptop. She quickly logs on her chat log as she pulls her phone out of her pocket.

“To:Taeng<3 –Can we video chat?”

In an instant, she quickly receives a reply. “From: Taeng<3 – Be on soon.”

She patiently waits for the latter to log on as she stares blankly at the computer screen, processing what words she was going to say. In no time, she invites Taeng and both their screen load in a matter of seconds. Taeng’s face still showed the same concerned expression he had on yesterday when they last chatted.

“Hey…” Tiffany croaked as the nerves built up in her body.

“Hey, Tiffany… How are you feeling?” Taeng asked in concern. He had trouble sleeping last night since his mind couldn’t stop thinking about Tiffany. He had to go through a whole day thinking of the endless questions as to why Tiffany was so sad and it only frustrated him that each question would find its way to him.

“I’m fine…” Tiffany replied softly, receiving a slow nod from the boy.

Silence seeps in between the two. Taeng stared patiently at the girl who was fidgeting in her seat and biting her lower lip. Tiffany was hesitant as reality hit her that this wasn’t a dream, that she was going to talk about a dark event.

After some moments of silence, Tiffany musters up the ounce of courage she had as she took a deep breath and looked at Taeng with a glint in her eye.

“Taeng… About yesterday…”

 Taeng nods, “Yeah?”

“There’s… something I’ve been meaning to tell you…”

Again the boy nods, “Okay. What is it?”

The girl takes another deep breath, “It’s about my…parents.” She bites her bottom lip, “Specifically one.”

Taeng’s eyes fall seeing the tears forming in his girlfriend’s eyes again, it hurt him seeing how in pain she was and it hurt him more knowing that he’s not there to hug her and reassure her that everything will be okay.

 Tiffany sniffles and wipes the tears with the back of her hand, “I’m sorry…”

Taeng quickly shakes his head, “Miyoung-ah, don’t be sorry. Take all the time you need. If you don’t want to talk about it now, we don’t have too. I can wait.”

Tiffany felt her heart skip a soft beat hearing the affectionate words from the latter. It helped her feel a little bit better as she felt the little ounce of courage growing.

 “No… I want you to know now.” She replied weakly.

“Are you sure?” He asked for reassurance.

She weakly nods before sending him a small smile making Taeng nod for her to continue her announcement. She felt tears brim again as she takes a deep breath and looks straight into Taeng’s eyes. She sensed trust and compassion when she looks into those onyx orbs and she knew that it was okay for him to know.

 “My mom… passed away.” She finally admitted, biting her bottom lip to stop the tears that were threatening to fall again.

At that moment, Taeng’s face falls and his heart aches to hear the news the girl mustered up to tell him. He finally understood why the girl would always dodge the question if it was about her parents specifically. He stares with sadness spread across his face at the girl who was looking back at him with moist eyes.

“Tiffany… I’m so sorry…” He said softly, unsure of what to say to comfort the poor girl.

“It’s not your fault Taeng… My mother died…” She swallows, “When I was young.”

 Taeng runs a hand through his hair. He mentally curses at himself for not being able to hug his girlfriend. Seeing how weak and frail she was, all he wanted to do was to pull her into his arms and assure her that he’s always going to be by her side. It ached his heart that all he could do was watch his girlfriend cry on the screen.

“Miyoung-ah, please stop crying… It hurts me to see you cry.” He said softly.

Tiffany wipes away the remnants of her tears, “I’m sorry…”

He quickly shakes his head, “Don’t be sorry…”

“No… Sorry for not telling you…”

 He blows out a soft breath, “You still shouldn’t be sorry. You had every right to not tell me. I’m sorry for always bringing up the subject. It must hurt to bring it up at times you don’t even want to think about it. I understand Tiffany.”

Tiffany was left in awe hearing the comforting words of the latter; she felt her heart tingle with warmth as the feeling runs throughout her body.

“I was a coward…”

“You’re not a coward Tiffany. The feeling of losing someone you love is painful. It’s just an event that you don’t want to recall. I understand Tiffany. Please don’t call talk down on yourself. You’re still the perfect girl I fell for months ago.”

Tiffany felt her heart swivel with happiness, hearing those comforting and affectionate words from her boyfriend was all she needed to make her smile. It amazed her how even the littlest of words from his mouth could help wash away some of the pain.

 “You’re amazing Taeng…” She replied softly, causing the boy to smile.

“So are you Tiffany. I know it must have been hard to tell me… But I’m glad you told me. It made me feel trusted. Don’t worry Tiffany; your mother is happily watching you in a better place.”

 Tiffany felt a smile grow on her face as she heard those last few words. Hearing it from Taeng felt so right that it made the butterflies in her stomach bursts out of their cage.

“Thank you Taeng… That means so much coming from you.” She sincerely replied, her smile turning into a brighter one.

 “Of course Tiffany. I’ll always be by your side. Through the ups and downs, we’re in this together.” He said soothingly, his smile warm and gentle.

Tiffany felt her heart skip another beat as the warm feeling subdues in her body. She smiles warmly at the dorky boy as they stare into each other’s eyes.

“I wish umma had a chance to meet you…” Tiffany confessed with a gentle smile.

Taeng softly chuckles, “I bet she was as beautiful as you.”

The brunette softly chuckles, “You can be the judge of that.”

“Well… She did create an angel.”

Tiffany blushed upon hearing the words from the latter; she shies her face away as her hair covers her face.

 Taeng chuckles, “It’s true.”

Tiffany looks back at the boy with a smile on her face, “Thank you Taeng.”

 “Of course Tiffany. I’m glad we were able to talk about this.”

She quickly nods, “Me too… I’m feeling a lot better finally lifting that weight off my shoulders.”

“Like I said… We’re in this together right?”

Tiffany nods as she sends another warm bright smile, “Through the ups and downs.”

 Taeng smiles as he stares affectionately at the girl whose mood begins to grow brighter.

They begin to discuss other things to lighten up the atmosphere between the two. After some time, both the two teens bid each other good night as the time in Korea was growing late. Taeng slips into bed with a smile on his face as he stares at the white ceiling above him with a different perspective than last night’s with his eyes slowly closing into slumber.

 Umma... I hope you can hear me but Tiffany told me a lot about you. The more I think about it, the more I see you in her. Umma, I care about your daughter. Even though we’re miles apart from each other my feelings for her are true and they only keep growing deeper. I hope you bless us and I hope I’m the perfect guy for your daughter. Don’t worry umma, I’ll take good care of her. I promise.