I wish I could have talked Mom out of taking the job in Seoul. Then maybe my life wouldn’t be such a living hell.

**1 week ago**

Taeyeon lifted the chopsticks to her lips, salivating as she welcomed the freshly cooked beef into . As she was savoring the juicy marinated galbi on her tongue, Taeyeon glanced at her mom from across the table who was busy placing more galbi and bulgogi on the hot grill next to the sizzling chicken and pork belly. Taeyeon didn’t know why her mom decided to have dinner at such a nice barbecue restaurant on a Saturday night. For one, it wasn’t an all you can eat buffet so you had to pay for each plate of meat, plus the food here wasn’t exactly cheap. If Taeyeon remembered right, each plate of meat cost around ₩20,000 to ₩35,000. She was wondering how her mom was going to pay for all this, especially since her mom lost her job a few weeks ago.

“Eomma it’s late now. Now can you tell me why we’re eating at an expensive barbecue restaurant which will probably take you 3 months to pay back the bill?” Taeyeon said as she scooped a spoonful of steamed egg into .

Mrs. Kim chuckled lightly at her daughter while she turned over the chicken, “Oh Taeyeon.  I was going to surprise you once we got ice cream, but I guess I can tell you now since you’re so worried about our finances.”

“Eomma you know I’m just worried about us. It’s been almost a month since those es fired... *SMACK* OWW!” Taeyeon grabbed the back of her head as her mom hit her head with the hot tongs she was using.

“Watch your language young lady! I thought I raised a human being, not some foul-mouthed punk!”

As Mrs. Kim continued to turn the meat, Taeyeon bowed slightly in apology while she kept the hold on the back of her head. “Mianhae Eomma. I mean, when those people fired you from your job for no reason... You worked for that accounting firm since I was in kindergarten, and all of a sudden they just fired you like that just because they were ‘downsizing’ or whatever that word means,” Taeyeon huffed angrily as she stuffed a rice and meat lettuce roll into .

“The firm was just doing what it had to do. Out of all of their workers, they had to let go a lot of their workers because they couldn’t afford them. Plus they just believed I could do better at another firm. It’s not their fault.”

“But you’ve been working there for almost 20 years! You have seniority over most of those workers! If it wasn’t for you then- mmf!”

Mrs. Kim shoved a big piece of kimchi in her daughter’s mouth and let out a small sigh when her daughter just stared at her with a little piece of kimchi dangling from the side of .

“Like I’ve said before, they had their reasons for letting me go and I don’t hold any grudges against them. Besides, your father is still supporting us, even if he isn’t living with us.”

Taeyeon knew that her father had been working in Busan for as long as she could remember. Even though he visited them every 2 to 3 weeks, she felt that the money he sended to them wasn’t enough to pay the bills. Sometimes Taeyeon didn’t understand why her dad just couldn’t find a job in Jeonju and live with them. Her mom kept telling her that it was very hard to find a job in Jeonju, and that’s why her dad had to live far away just so he could earn enough money for them to be happy. But with her mom unemployed, it was only a matter of time until they lost the apartment and Taeyeon didn’t know what they were going to do if that ever happened.

Mrs. Kim was placing the cooked meat on her daughter’s plate as she continued. “I know it’s been hard with your dad working so far away and me not being able to pay for the bills for a while, but I do have some good news.”

After placing the hot tongs on her napkin, Mrs. Kim clapped both of her hands together while smiling at her daughter.

“I got a new job!”

Just as Taeyeon was swallowing the last of the kimchi her mom stuffed in , her face slowly started to light up as the corners of felt like they were rising to the sky.

“OH MY GOD! THIS IS AMAJJING! EOMMA I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!”

Just as Taeyeon yelled her little anthem of joy, she noticed a lot of the patrons around her giving her a strange stare as though she was standing there -. After Taeyeon apologetically bowed at the customers around her, she sat back down in her seat while continuing to beam happily at her mom.

“Eomma, this is incredible! I was so worried that we might lose the apartment! I’m so happy you were able to find a new job in Jeonju.”

As Taeyeon was gulping down her water enthusiastically, her mom suddenly held her index finger up.

“Actually I forgot to tell you. I couldn’t find a job in Jeonju. I’m going to be working in Seoul!”

Taeyeon forcefully spat her water out at the poor waiter who just unfortunately happened to be next to her.

“What?! Seoul?! You mean the big city, too-many-people Seoul?”

“But of course. I already told you before that it’s not easy finding a job in Jeonju, and I was so lucky to find a firm in Seoul that was willing to hire me! I just know you’re going to love the big city!”

“But what about my school, my education? I still have one more year until I graduate and I’ve never even been to a big city before.”

“The education in Seoul is extremely good, Taeyeon. Plus you’ll be transferring to a new school I know you’ll just love! Moving won’t be that big of a deal.”

Taeyeon sighed as she picked up her water glass again.  “So when are we moving?”

Mrs. Kim had a big grin on her face. “We’re moving tomorrow morning!”

The water was forcefully expelled from Taeyeon’s mouth as she digested her mother’s statement; it just happened to land on the poor waiter who had just finished drying himself off.

“T-t-tomorrow?! But it’s so sudden! I still need to say goodbye to Ara and Shinjeong! I need to go visit Aunty Kang and my favorite jelly store!” Taeyeon stuttered as her eyes darted left and right, trying to make sense of the whole matter.

“Now I know it’s a little bit sudden, but the new firm said that they really needed me to come to Seoul now, so I agreed. And I know you’ll just love your new school this coming Monday.”

Taeyeon stopped panicking for a moment to look at her mom with a slightly confused expression.

“Wait a minute, Monday? What do you mean new school on Monday?”

“Oh, did I forget to tell you again? I’m sorry Taeyeon, but I already finished the paperwork from Dongam High School, so you’re all set! You’ll be able to attend classes at Sone High Schol this Monday!”

The world started to look dark around Taeyeon as though the black night was slowly making its way inside the restaurant. Taeyeon slowly got up from her chair, reassuring herself that it was just a dream, that it was all just a bad dream from all the stress she had received from school and helping her mom out with chores. As Taeyeon tried to take a step back, she tripped over the leg of a chair which caused her and a confused damp waiter to fall backwards onto the hard cold floor below them. As the light around Taeyeon faded away along with her consciousness, the last thing she remembered hearing was…

“That’s it Uncle! I’m taking the night off! There are only so many injuries and water-related accidents I can take from one customer!”

**2 Days Later**

It finally sunk into her brain that it wasn’t a dream and that she really was leaving her home town. She spent the next morning helping her mom and the movers pack up their stuff so that they could put it into the moving van. Luckily they didn’t have many things and they were all able to box everything within 2 hours.

After 2 and a half hours of watching the scenery pass by her as her mom drove their old Hyundai, they finally arrived at their new home. Mrs. Kim’s new employers were so happy to be able to get such an experienced accountant from one of the best firms in Korea that they managed to find a decent apartment complex the family could rent out for a good price. Before she knew it, her stuff was moved into her new room, her mom gave her her school schedule and it was already Monday morning.

Taeyeon found herself walking aimlessly around the giant hallways of her new school, searching fruitlessly for her first classroom.

It’s hard enough to have all these classrooms, but why are all of the kids at this school so freaking tall?! I swear I feel like I’m in a forest of giants!

It wasn’t that the students were too tall - Taeyeon was just a little short for her age even though she would never admit it to herself. Even if the adults sometimes mistook her for a 12 year old girl, Taeyeon would just keep telling herself that she’s the perfect size for a normal 18 year old and that the world is overpopulated with old looking giants.

Taeyeon analyzed her situation as she made her way to class.

How is it that one minute I’m enjoying my life just the way it is, and all of a sudden I’m here at this giant city school with... well, nothing? I mean out of all the places she could choose from to work, she could have just gotten a job at Busan and we could’ve been living with Dad,  but no, she had to choose to work for some new big wig corporation while leaving me here in this slightly too pink school.

Taeyeon was grumbling to herself, lost in her thoughts as she passed by the giants. While she was in that daze, she suddenly felt pain in her front as she walked into someone, causing both of them to fall to the ground.

Taeyeon made the motions of getting up, ready to apologize to the student in front of her before she noticed that the person she had crashed into was actually a cute brunette. She saw that the other girl was wearing a black leather jacket, a pale blue shirt and a black baseball cap which sat on top of her long brown locks. She thought that the girl’s face looked too innocent to be wearing those types of clothes. Even though Taeyeon could tell that the girl was trying to pull off a bad girl kind of look, she reckoned to herself that the brunette might have looked even cuter without the sports cap or the leather jacket. In fact, with a pair of tight short shorts and a low cut blouse, it would definitely show off her curves. Or better yet, if she was to take off her -

YAH! What are you thinking Taeyeon?! You just knocked down this poor girl and you start having your byun moments?! I mean yeah she does have beautiful eyes and those luscious… NO! Stop thinking y stuff and apologize to her right now!

While still on the floor, Taeyeon was about to apologize to the mysterious girl until the brunette abruptly stood up from where she was and angrily stared down at the dazed blonde who had rudely knocked her down.

“Why don’t you watch where you’re going you stupid ?!”

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Hello again! I'm sorry if this chapter didn't talk too much about Tiffany, but I'll be sure to put plenty of "TaeNy" moments in the next chapter >.<

I'm a little busy with school work, but I try to find as many chances as I can to continue writing this story. Please comment and let me know what you think!