“Taeng,” Yul said as he enters Taeng’s room, he leans on the doorframe as he waits for his friend’s answer.

“Huh,” Taeng replied, his face still glued on the computer screen in front of him.

Yul laughs, “I’m going to video chat with Jessica again. You want to join?”

Taeng quickly shakes his head, not removing his eyes from the screen. “No way, you guys are annoying when you video chat,” Taeng answered, busily typing away on his keyboard.

Yul chuckles, “Whatever man. I’ll be in my room if you want to join.”

 Taeng nods, not saying another word he resumes typing away with his eyes fixated on the screen. Yul walks back to his room; he grabs his laptop and lies on the bed. He turns it on and logs online, he smiles seeing his favorite username, he quickly clicks “invite” and waits for her to accept.

A buzzing sound was made and Yul’s face was seen on the screen, a pitch-black square appears next to his. Yul smiles, he patiently waits for the other screen to load, he quickly adjusts himself on the bed to a more comfortable position.

“Yul?”

Yul’s face beams up, “Sica?”

 After a couple of minutes, Jessica’s face fades in, Yul grins seeing the blonde latter smiling warmly at him.

“Geez that took forever to load,” Jessica said, leaning back against her chair.

 Yul chuckles, “I’ll say. What time is it in California?”

 Jessica averts her eyes to the corner of her computer screen, “Uhhh 7 a.m. Korea?”

 “12 a.m.” Yul answered; a gleam in his eyes.

 Jessica tilts her head, “You’re not tired?”

 Yul shakes his head, “I should be asking you that ice princess, you’re actually up early.”

 Jessica pouts, “Yah! I figured we could talk early…”

Yul chuckles, “Thanks. I don’t mind staying up this late anyway. I always sleep late.”

 They continue idly chatting, explaining their days and describing their highlights. In the other room, Taeng was busily doing his homework; he was growing frustrated at how difficult the problems were.

“Aish this is too hard,” Taeng says to himself, leaning against his desk.

His phone rings; he diverts his attention away from the computer screen and takes his phone in his grasp.

“Yeoboseyo?”

 “Taeeeenngggg…”

 A small smile forms on Taeng’s face, “Ah Jieun. Annyeong.”

 “I miss you.”

Taeng softly chuckles, “I miss you too. What are you up to?”

 “Nothing, just sitting here. What about you?”

Taeng leans back against his chair, “I’m doing homework.”

 He hears a small chuckle on the other line, “Of course. Why did I bother asking?”

Taeng laughs, “You know me so well.”

He hears another chuckle, “Can we hang out tomorrow?”

Taeng shifts his phone to his other ear, “Sure I’m free. Where do you want to go?”

“The mall, I saw a pair of shoes that I wanted.”

Taeng chuckles, “Okay. We can go after my classes are done.”

 He hears his girlfriend squeal of joy on the other line causing Taeng to laugh at her high pitched noise.

“I’m going to finish my homework now, I’ll see you tomorrow okay?” Taeng said; his eyes on his computer screen.

 “Okay. See you tomorrow. Good night.”

 “Good night,” Taeng ends the call and resumes his homework.

His mind trying to block out the sounds of laughter emitted from down the hall.

 “Hey, where are you? That doesn’t look like your room.” Yul asked, after noticing a different background Jessica was in.

 “I moved out,” Jessica answered, a proud smile on her face.

 Yul’s eyes widen, “Eh really?”

The latter nods, “I’m in an apartment. I live closer to school now though.”

 “Do you live alone?”

Jessica shakes her head, “No I have a roommate. Her name is Tiffany.”

 Yul slowly nods his head, “That’s cool. Is she nice?”

 Jessica ecstatically nods, “She’s really nice! We’re best friends, I’m glad she’s my roommate.”

Yul grins, “Hey that’s great.”

 Jessica beams a grin, “Yeah! What about you? How’s Taeng?”

Yul chuckles, “Taeng’s…Taeng.” He scratches his head, unsure of how else to describe his roommate.

“Let me guess…He’s studying? Doing his homework? Finding the key to world peace?” Jessica teased, chuckling at her comment.

Yul chuckles, “Knowing him? Probably.”

He smiles, “But he’s still the best friend any guy could ask for.”

Jessica nods, “I agree! He’s extremely nice. How come he doesn’t join us anymore?”

Yul chuckles again, “Because he says we’re annoying.”

Jessica frowns, “Yah! How rude!”

 Yul chuckles, he leans his head down on the pillow that was below him. He hears a door creak open, he watches as Jessica turns her head after hearing the same sound he just heard.

“What was that?” Yul asked, his eyes watching the blonde latter.

“I think Tiffany’s awake,” Jessica replied, the back of her head still facing Yul.

 Yul nods, he watches in silence as Jessica shifts herself in her seat.

 “Tiffany!” Jessica yelled, her voice resounding through Yul’s speaker.

 “What?”

 “Come over here!!” Jessica commands; she waits to hear the footsteps of her roommate.

Tiffany enters through the door of Jessica’s room, a water bottle in her hand.

“What?” Tiffany asked; her eyes glued on the blonde latter.

 Jessica motions her hand for her to sit next to her; Tiffany walks over and sits on the corner of Jessica’s bed.

“I want you to meet my friend,” Jessica said happily, she points to the screen to a smiling Yul.

Tiffany her head so that she was facing the computer screen, “Who is he?”

“Kwon Yul,” Jessica replied, she looks at Yul and gestures him to say hello.

 “Ah, annyeong. My name is Kwon Yul,” Yul said, he gently smiles and waves to the webcam.

Tiffany politely smiles, “Hello. My name is Tiffany Hwang.” She turns her attention to Jessica, “How do you know him?”

Jessica crosses her arms, “Well, during the time I lived in Korea, Yul was pretty much my only friend. He’s one of my best friends.”

Tiffany gazes back at the screen, “He’s in Korea?”

 “Yeah,” Jessica answered.

Tiffany’s eyes widen, “That’s amazing. What time is it there?”

Yul gazes at the corner of his screen, “Uh 12:43 a.m.”

Tiffany’s mouth drops in amazement, “Wow, how many hours are they ahead?”

 Jessica her head, “Uhm 17 hours I believe.”

Yul nods, confirming that’s Jessica’s answer was right.

Tiffany smiles again, “That’s cool. My mom is Korean and I’ve always wanted to visit there.”

Yul’s face brightens up, “Ah! That’s so cool. That explains why you can speak Korean.”

 Tiffany chuckles, “Yeah.”

Jessica’s eyes beam up, “Oh! You should get Taeng!”

Tiffany gazes at her friend, “Taeng?”

Yul nods, “Oh okay. Let me go get him.”

 Yul gets up from his bed and heads out to Taeng’s room.

 Jessica looks at Tiffany, “It’s his roommate.”

Tiffany slowly nods her head, “Oh okay.”

 Jessica chuckles, “Don’t worry he’s nice.”

 Tiffany her head, “I didn’t say that he wasn’t.”

 Jessica swats her arm, “Yah!”

 Yul enters through Taeng’s room, he chuckles seeing Taeng intently staring at his screen.

 “Yo Taeng,” Yul said, clasping the latter’s shoulder.

Taeng quickly turns around, “What?”

“Come video chat with me and Jessica,” Yul answered with a grin on his face.

Taeng shakes his head, “No…I already told you I didn’t want to.”

Yul frowns, “But she wants to see you. You haven’t video chatted with her in ages, plus she wants you to meet her roommate.” Yul tightens his grip on Taeng’s shoulder, hoping the latter would comply.

 Taeng sighs; he pushes his chair away from his computer and stands up.

“Okay, but not for long. I still have homework to do,” Taeng said, taking a moment to relax his eyes.

“Yes!” Yul cheered, he wraps his arm around Taeng’s neck and drags him to his room.

Yul crashes on the bed, interrupting the girls’ intense conversation, “Hey I’m back.”

Jessica’s face gleams up, “Hey. Is Taeng there?”

 Yul looks at his friend who was awkwardly standing next to his bed, “Yeah, he’s here. Say hi Taeng.”

Yul scoots over on his bed and motions Taeng to lie down next to him.

Taeng sighs and plops himself on the bed next to Yul.

“Hey Jessica,” Taeng said monotonously.

 Jessica squeals, “Omo! Taeng! Is that you?!”

 Tiffany’s eyes suddenly grow wide seeing the handsome boy on the screen; she bites her bottom lip and keeps her eyes glued on the boy. Tiffany was attracted to his kid like face, his onyx eyes, and his cute smile.

Taeng awkwardly chuckles, “Yeah…”

 Jessica grins, “You’ve gotten so much more handsome!”

 “Aish, thanks, Jessica. You’ve grown up a lot.”

 He fixates his eyes on the girl next to him, realizing that she was quiet. His eyes widen seeing the beautiful girl next to the blonde girl; he felt the wind knock out of him. He suddenly grows quiet and keeps his eyes on the girl next to Jessica.

 Jessica gazes at Tiffany who had the same look as Taeng, “Oh! Taeng, this is my roommate, Tiffany.”

 She nudges Tiffany’s shoulder, silently telling her to introduce herself.

Tiffany snaps out of her thoughts and clears , “Hello.”

Taeng’s mouth was agape; he was struck by the girl’s beauty and gentle voice.

Yul slaps the back of his head, “Hello?! Earth to Taeng.”

Taeng quickly shakes his head, “A-ah. Annyeong Tiffany. My name is Kim Taeng.”

Tiffany shyly smiles, “Nice to meet you.”

 Taeng nods and warmly smiles, “You too.” 

Time passes by and Taeng has not retreated to his room like he said he would. He was enjoying the time he had getting to know Tiffany, he couldn’t help but steal glances at her and adore her beauty and cuteness. Tiffany as well couldn’t help but do the same, she smiled every time she would see Taeng’s warm and cute smile.

 The time in Korea was growing late, Yul and Taeng had classes the next day and frankly, Yul hasn’t started his homework. But he never chooses to do it until the day it’s due.

Yul yawns, “I think Taeng and I should go to bed now. It’s late over here.”

Taeng frowns; he was sort of wishing he didn’t have to stop talking to Tiffany.

Jessica nods, “Yeah. Sorry we kept you up so late.”

Taeng quickly shakes his head, “No. If anything, it was really fun talking to you guys.”

Yul’s eyes widen hearing the latter’s word, a sly smile forms on his face.

Tiffany smiles, “I agree. It was really fun talking with you guys’.”

 Jessica grins, “We’ll talk to you guys’ soon! Take care and it was nice seeing you Taeng after so long!”

Taeng smiles, “You too Jessica. Take care…It was nice meeting you Tiffany.”

 Tiffany beams a smile, “You too Taeng. Good night.”

 Yul yawns, he waves at the webcam, “Good night! Talk to you guys’ soon!”

 Jessica ends the call; her box disappears on Yul’s screen. He closes his laptop and gently places it on the bed. Taeng was silent; his mind was warped around the Tiffany girl he just met.

“Taeng?” Yul asked, noticing that Taeng hasn’t moved yet.

 He pushes Taeng hard, sending him off the bed. Taeng collides with the floor; he quickly gets up and rubs his neck.

 “Yah! What was that for?” Taeng yelled, standing up from the floor.

Yul grins, “That was the longest time you ever video chatted.”

 Taeng rubs the back of his neck, “It’s just been a while I’ve seen Jessica…”

Yul chuckles, “Yeah right. I bet it was because of that Tiffany girl huh?”

 Taeng flinches back, “Yah! What?! No!”

 Yul laughs, “It is! You like her huh?”

 Taeng shakes his head quickly, “N-no!”

Yul chuckles again, he takes a towel and tosses it over his shoulder.

“I was kidding man, you have a girlfriend,” Yul said calmly.

Taeng slowly nods, “Y-yeah…”

 Yul walks past Taeng, “Well goodnight Taeng.”

Taeng swiftly turns around, “Y-yeah goodnight.”

 He makes his way back to his room; he had already done his night routines so he decided to go to bed. He saves his documents on his computer and shuts it down. Taeng crawls into bed; he stares straight at the white ceiling above him.

“Tiffany Hwang…” Taeng said softly to himself before closing his eyes.

“Well that was fun,” Jessica said as the two girls head downstairs.

 Tiffany nods, “Yeah that was. Yul and Taeng are nice.”

 Jessica smirks, “Taeng’s cute huh?”

Tiffany absentmindedly nods, “Yeah…”

Jessica bursts into laughter, “What’s with that look on your face?!”

Tiffany snaps out of her dazed look, “H-huh?!”

Jessica playfully pushes Tiffany, “Yah! You think Taeng’s cute huh?”

 Tiffany grows red, “W-what?!”

Jessica pinches her cheeks, “Aigoo! Look, you’re all red now!”

Tiffany pushes away the latter’s hand, “S-stop it!”

Jessica laughs, “Do you like him?”

Tiffany grows redder, “N-no!”

Jessica grins, she pinches her cheeks again, “Aish. Calm down Tiffany, I was just kidding. You have a boyfriend…Besides he lives all the way in Korea.”

 Tiffany fans herself to calm down, “Y-yeah…Exactly.”

Jessica chuckles, “Come on, let’s go get something to eat.”

Tiffany slowly nods, “Okay…”

She follows behind Jessica, she remains quiet and her mind goes into deep thought. All of a sudden, Taeng pops into her mind and she couldn’t help but think about him. The vision of his face flashed in her mind, Tiffany quickly shakes her head to remove the picture.

 “Kim Taeng…” Tiffany said softly to herself before heading out the door.