“Uhhhh.” Taeng groaned against his pillow for the hundredth time. His body lifelessly sprawled out on his bed.

Yul walks in his room hearing the noise his friend continuously kept emitting for the past week, he restlessly sighs and leans against the doorframe.

 “Taeng, how long are you going to keep moping?” He asked.

Taeng groaned again as his response, Yul sighs again and walks over to his lifeless friend and sits on the corner of his bed.

 “Come on man, don’t be so down.” He said, trying his best to comfort his best friend.

The dorky boy finally lifts his head from the pillow. He listlessly sighs and sits himself up from the bed and turns to face the latter who was looking at him with concerned eyes.

“How can I not?” He replied, “It’s been a week since she contacted me back! What if she heard my confession and found it awkward or weird? Maybe that’s why she’s ignoring me!”

After Taeng’s sudden confession and disband of the internet connection, Tiffany had not been contacting Taeng. He would text her and ask if they could talk but she would always reply that she’s busy. Each day he would text her the same message only to receive the same message back. It frustrated him to think that the girl was ignoring him because of his confession instead of rejecting him on the spot. He felt hurt that he gave up contacting Tiffany and allowed her to do whatever she wanted.

Yul felt a little saddened when he heard the sad news from his friend. He tried contacting Jessica but she too was busy and wouldn’t answer his calls. He thought it was because Tiffany told Jessica not to tell him about his friend’s confession and it made him angry to think Tiffany would be the kind of person to do such a thing.

“Maybe she is busy?” Yul injected, trying his best to comfort his friend.

 “But if she was… Wouldn’t she tell me why she is? Instead of just a simple, “I’m busy.”?” Taeng retaliated, running a hand through his messy hair.

 Yul sighs, “Have you tried contacting her?”

“No. I haven’t the past 2 days.” His eyes become empty and hollow, “I think I’m just going to give up…”

The darky haired boy’s eyes widen in surprise, “What?”

He chuckles bitterly, “There’s no point in chasing her if she doesn’t want me too… It’s going to hurt me more knowing that I’ve fallen for her and I’m only going to fall harder for her each day.”

Taeng slumps his shoulders and drops his head low. It hurt him to say that but he knew it was for the best. Yul, on the other hand, was in dismay to hear his friend give up so quickly. He wished he could think of something to say to keep his friend going but he couldn’t think of the right words.

 “I see…” Yul replied softly.

 He slowly gets up from the bed and makes his way out the door. Taeng sadly sighs again and lies back down against his bed. He looks to his nightstand to his phone that was hanging precariously on the side. He slowly reaches for it and presses the unlock button.

“No new messages.”

 “Tch…”

 He tosses his phone to his side and absentmindedly stares at the white ceiling above him.

“Was it the way I said it? Did I come on too strong?” Taeng asked himself, coming up with hypothetical situations to answer why Tiffany was ignoring him.

He sighs again, “How should you know Taeng? Only Tiffany has the real answer…”

Taeng motionlessly lies in bed as the hours pass by. He wasn’t in the mood to do anything, not even his homework. Though doing his homework usually helps him overcome his problems, he was afraid not even this could help him. Yul would offer to take him out but Taeng would politely decline. He didn’t want to feel like a burden to his friend for acting so depressed, he’s already probably irritated that he hasn’t done anything all day.

 After a couple more minutes, Taeng finally lifts himself out of bed, the defeated growls of his stomach made him finally move. He walks over to the kitchen and sees Yul sitting on a stool at the countertop texting on his phone.

 Yul lifts his head hearing footsteps; he sends a small smile to this friend, relieved that he finally got out of bed.

“Hey.” He greeted nonchalantly.

 Taeng tilts his head to the side, “Hey.”

“What’s up?”

 He dorkily smiles, “I got a little hungry.”

Yul warmly chuckles, “Do you want me to cook? Or do you want to go out?”

“Let’s go out. I’ve been stuck in this house for eternity.”

Yul steps off the stool and chuckles, “Good because I wasn’t going to cook anyways.”

 Taeng laughs, for a second he felt a little better and he was starting to forget about the situation that happened with Tiffany. After all, he even said that he was going to move on.

Taeng dashes to his room and changes into outgoing clothes. Yul offers to drive and they both enter his car, allowing silence to seep between the two teens as they drive.

They arrive at their favorite restaurant and take their seats in a small booth in the corner.

“Well if it isn’t my two favorite customers!” A middle-aged woman said as she approaches the two boys.

“Hi, umma!” They both greet cheekily.

She sends a warm smile and laughs, “Let me guess. Kimchi fried rice for Taeng and bibimbap for Yul?”

“Correct!” They reply in unison, sharing a laugh with the older woman.

 She takes back the menus and leaves the two to discuss as she prepares their meals.

“So are you seriously going to give up on Tiffany?” Yul asked; a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Taeng sighs and takes a sip of his water, “I don’t want too… But it’s for the best. I don’t want to get myself hurt…”

“But…” Yul tried to beg to differ but he was intervened by Taeng.

“Can we not talk about this? I don’t want to talk about it…” Taeng said softly, his eyes staring lifelessly at the table.

Yul sighs in defeat but nods, seeing that there was no other way to differ his friend’s reason.

Their meals arrive and they both eat their meals in silence, exchanging very little words here and there. After some time they finish eating and they pay for their meals and head back home.

“Man I’m full,” Yul said as he rubs his stomach.

Taeng chuckles and opens the door to their apartment, “Same here.”

 The latter yawns and stretches his arms, “I’m going to call it a night.”

He nods and smiles, “Alright. Good night Yul.”

He watches as the dark-haired boy groggily makes his way to his bedroom. He makes his way to his room and sits down at his computer desk.

“Might as well do my homework…” He mumbled as he takes out the many papers and books.

As he busily completes his work, he reaches in his pocket to take out his cellphone to check the time. His eyes widen realizing that his phone wasn’t in his pocket.

 “Aish…” He grumbled, getting up from the chair to search for his mobile device.

“Did I have it at the restaurant?” He asked himself as he retraced his steps.

 He searched from Yul’s car to the kitchen and he wasn’t able to find it.

“Crap… Where did I put it?” Taeng mumbled as he enters his room.

He runs a hand through his hair and stares at the bed. His eyes widen as he dashes to the side of the bed. He looks down at the floor and there was his phone.

He groans in irritation, “It was in here the whole time.”

He picks it up from the floor and sits down at the edge of his bed. He clicks the button to unlock his phone and his eyes widen in shock.

 “10 missed calls from: Tiffany Hwang.”

“3 unread messages.”

“S-she called me?” He said in disbelief.

He quickly opens the messages to find out that all three were from Tiffany as well. He gulps as he opens each of the messages, each text he read only made his eyes widen even more.

“Taeng! I tried calling you earlier but you didn’t answer… Call me back okay?”

“Taeng, why aren’t you picking up?! Are you that busy?!”

“Okay… I might have spammed your phone but I just need you to call me back!”

He couldn’t believe that Tiffany was contacting him, even more, surprised to see that she did it multiple times. He felt his lips go dry as he stares blankly at his phone.

“Why does she need to talk to me so badly?” He asked as he drops his arms to rest on his lap.

After contemplating for some time, he takes a deep breath and decides to call Tiffany. He felt sweat develop in his palms after each ring along with his heart racing out of his chest. After what felt like an eternity, the girl in the states finally answers the call.

“Taeng!” She said happily.

Taeng gulps, “H-hey Tiffany.”

“What were you doing? You seemed really busy.”

“A-ah. Sorry about that… I was eating out with Yul and I forgot to bring my phone.”

“Ohhh I see… Can we video chat?”

“Right now? You don’t have class?”

“It’s Wednesday here silly! Remember I don’t have classes?”

Taeng awkwardly chuckles, “O-oh yeah. That’s right. Okay, I’ll be on soon…”

Taeng ends the call and takes another deep breath, trying his best to control his rapid heartbeat.

“Relax Taeng… She’s acting normal… Maybe she didn’t hear it?” He said to himself as he grabs his laptop and settles on the bed.

He logs on the video chat and invites Tiffany seeing that she was online as well. They both patiently wait as both their screens load on each other’s laptop screens.

“Hey, Taeng!” Tiffany greeted happily with a bright smile.

Taeng awkwardly smiles, “Hey Tiffany…”

 The brunette on the screen suddenly clasps her hands together and pouts her lips, making the boy confused about the girl's action.

“I am soooooo sorry that I haven’t been contacting you. I didn’t mean to sound rude when I told you I was busy. I was studying for my finals and I wanted to make sure that no one distracted me. I was so focused on my studies that I didn’t bother to tell you why I couldn’t talk to you… I’m really sorry.”

 After her heartfelt apology she looks at Taeng, his eyes were wide and his jaw was agape. Tiffany looks at him oddly and waves her hand, “Uhm… Taeng?”

 So that’s the reason… Aish Taeng, you’re an idiot!

Taeng snaps out of his thoughts and stares at the girl.

He clears his throat and shakes his head, “It’s okay… I’m glad that you put your studies first.”

Tiffany sighs of relief, “I’m so glad you’re not mad at me… I thought you thought I was ignoring you or something…”

Taeng awkwardly laughs, “Psh! Why would you think that? Psssshhh…. Nooooo.”

Tiffany tilts her head to the side seeing Taeng act weird, “Are you okay?”

He quickly nods and chuckles to cover up his odd behavior. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

 She slowly nods her head, “So you’re not mad at me?”

Taeng shakes his head and sends a smile, “No… Of course not. I just…” He bites his bottom lip, “Missed you…”

 Tiffany found herself blushing hearing the comment from the dorky boy. She felt her heart skip a million beats.

 “I missed you too…” She confessed softly, causing the boy to blush as well.

Silence settles between the two, both staring into each other’s eyes and trying to think of the next word to say.

Taeng clears his throat and takes a deep breath, “Tiffany?”

 “Taeng?”

They both share a laugh after saying each other’s names at the same time.

“You go first,” Taeng said with a warm smile.

Tiffany chuckles, she stares at the bottom of her computer screen, allowing silence to return to the air. Taeng patiently waits for the girl to process what she’s thinking; he stared at the beautiful girl and was so mesmerized he didn’t hear the girl calling his name.

“Taeng?”

 He snaps out of his daze and gazes back at the girl, “S-sorry…I zoned out… What were you saying?”

Tiffany chuckles, “I said… Were you going to say something to me during our last chat?”

 Taeng froze in his spot hearing the question from the girl. He was stunned because he didn’t think the girl would even remember.

 “I…Uh…” He trailed off, heat growing to his cheeks.

 “Our connection was so weird that day… But it looks like it’s working fine right now… So do you need to say it again?” She asked curiously, staring straight into Taeng’s eyes.

He gulps and fidgets in his seat. He felt his heart beating erratically and the butterflies in his stomach burst out of their cage.

“Uhm…” He said softly. The latter nods her head reassuring him that he had her full attention.

 He felt a little defeated realizing that the girl didn’t hear his first confession. It softened his confidence to think he would have to confess a second time. He felt a slight tug in his heart. He wanted to confess but at the same time, he didn’t want too. His heart was battling with his mind and he wasn’t sure which one to follow.

 “Uh…” Taeng finally said.

Tiffany slowly nods and leans closer to the computer screen anticipating what the boy is going to say next.

“It’s nothing…” He answered softly, drifting his eyes away from the computer screen.

 “Really?” Tiffany asked; a hint of disappointment in her tone.

Taeng weakly nods his head, “Yeah… It wasn’t important…”

The girl slowly nods her head, “I see.”

 Silence seeps in again, Taeng sighs in defeat as he continues staring at his desk while Tiffany stares at him with affectionate eyes.

 “Taeng?” She said softly, breaking the silence.

 He slowly gazes back at the computer screen, “Yeah?”

 “Since you don’t have anything to say…Can I say something?”

 He slowly nods his head, “Yeah of course.”

She takes a deep breath before looking straight into the boy’s eyes with her precious eye smile.

“I like you too.”