Other than the creamy white leather sofa and lights, the rest of the furniture like the cupboards etc still have yet to be moved in. But luckily for me, the beds have. My parents still have a lot of stuff to do at KTB- Like Mom for example, is part of the grassroots organisation(1) over here, and is incredibly popular... She is often invited to many events, and has tons of friends- the kind of person you could think of as a social butterfly.. But she herself doesn't believe so.
Dad on the other hand, is the yang to my mother's yin, the introvert to her "extrovert-ness". If Mom had tons of friends, and is always out of the house, Dad's the complete opposite. Dad has few friends, and instead- invites them over to his house for tea sessions. He conducts his "tea sessions" at our wide balcony on what used to be our dining table back in KTB, a large stone-white marble table. Back then when my parents were deciding on tables to use for dining tables, my father chose the round table over the square ones because according to him, it's better. He said that in Chinese culture, a round table symbolizes completeness, family coming together, being together-ish. He also collects a lot of old tea leaves and tea pots- and claims it's an investment but I secretly believe his just trying to justify his collector's actions..
Because most of their stuff are still in the house at KTB- Dad's wide variety of tea and Mom's books and clothes, they decided that for now I should just stay at the new house-alone- to familiarize myself with the environment first.
Due to the lack of space in my room for a table, I use the white round marble table in my balcony whenever I need to do work.
Did I mention exactly how small my new room is?
There's a built-in wardrobe that can't be removed, taking up like one-fourth of the space in my room already, not to mention, once my piano is moved in, there would be barely any walking space... The reason why my piano had to be moved into my room was also due to the fact that my living room had no extra space after putting a sofa and television-
basically my new house is a lot smaller than my previous house at KTB-
*sob sob*
Anyway right now, I'm doing social studies with my papers strewn all over the table, giving the impression of a messy table- and oops, the wind's pretty strong even though I live on the first floor, so I have to remember to put heavy stuff on my papers when I do work.
I've been sitting at this table for like-
okay it's 4:53 pm right now,
so about 3 hours-ish.
I've been reading up on how conflicts occur among countries, like political stuff and it's honestly getting boring, especially how the same issues pop up again and again. I flipped through my Social Studies notes again, skimming through the passages about North Korea and South Korea- their ideological differences.
"Argh, why can't people just coexist? We're all human anyway," I muttered out loud when I saw the passage talking about how the countries went to war simply because one believed in democracy, and the other in communism. Tearing Korea into two half's, just cause two people believed in different things sound stupid to me, but maybe it's just cause I'm not old enough yet-
"Argh," I stretched my arms upwards, and massaged my neck with a hand.
Maybe it's time for a break, I thought and grinned to myself as I unplugged my phone from the charging spot. I shifted my position as I pressed my thumb on my phone, unlocking it with my fingerprint.
Hmmm, what to play, what to play?
Deemo?
Nah I'm not in the mood for that, what about-
"O-" I blinked as I caught sight of a game I haven't played in a while, Succulent Adventure!!
I waited as my phone screen showed displayed the creator's name- Yookies, and waited for it to update at the loading page. The display page was filled with characters that I've never seen!! Succulent Adventure is something like an MMORPG(2) mobile game- but has lesser functions due to it being on mobile like- the lack of the chatting option during quests, and PVP(3)s. You can only see your inbox lighting up with a notification, but be helpless to it as unless you want to clear out your hard work and the exp you've gain by exiting, you have to wait till you finish the quest.
'Succulents' are humanoid forms with adorable little succulents growing on them, according to their 'race' and 'species'. There were different characters, with different stats, and each character had it's own specialty. My favorite, and current main was the 'Leafy Succulent'. It wasn't really a succulent in real life but well- It's all black, with different shades of small little bright green creepers and leaves as it's hair, clothes etc. It's very shy and appears weak but becomes insanely strong at 'red blood'(4) which is why it's my favorite. It's like a trap, when people believe it's an easy target, it lunges out and defeats the their expectations, just how I like it. I couldn't touch it much since I told myself I wanted to study, but -hehe- now's break time.
I smirked to myself as I gazed at the loading bar.
98%..
99%...
100%!!
Gosh!
How long has it been since I last touched this game? I groaned, thinking about the levels my friends would already be at-
"Woah!!" I gasped just as I entered the game. The creators have really outdone themselves this time!!
There were now Legendary Succulents characters!!
According to the News Succulent, you can get them from the vending machine by inserting a ticket. To obtain a ticket, you need to finish twenty runs in a row in Succulent Run, A mini game in the Succulent Game-mode that I've long unlocked. If you break a streak, or fail a single run, the count would instantly restart. There are a total of five new characters, in order to celebrate their fifth anniversary since creation.
Twenty runs in a row?
Hrph, the administrators are really looking now on me, I thought as I swiped my nose. Who do they think I am? I'm 'yituan', the number one on the leader-board for three years straight even on when still on beta- Okay I did drop ranks once but I was still number two after that, and never dropped again. Just cause I stopped playing for the past two years and- um.. dropped to-
My eyes nearly popped out when I saw my rank on the world leader-board-
Rank #16437???!!
ARE YOU SERIOUS??
I closed my eyes and groaned, massaging my jaw before dropping my phone onto the table, clutching my head in my hands in disbelief. I can't believe I fell so much just from not playing in two years- Well never mind all that, I shook my head and picked up my phone. I don't have time to grind for ranks anymore, I sucked in a deep breath and said goodbye to being number one. I mean I expected falling from the ranks but I didn't expect to have fell this far. Opening the other notice from News Succulent, I understood why.
Apparently players have been complaining about the level cap, so they decided to raise it, as well as make it easier for players to level- what is this bullshit? I sighed and rubbed my head.
Never mind all these, time to grind for these limited edition legendary succulents.
I cracked my knuckles and began.
Twenty runs was really too easy, I thought as I began my twentieth run.
Dodge obstacles, and run until the next target goal? I can do this with my eyes close, I sighed just as I heard soft sounds from the sidewalk beside my balcony. My eyes drifted to the side and I saw a boy slow-running with a golden retriever pass my place. He saw me holding my phone horizontally and smirked when we made eye-contact before heading to the lift lobby and I lost sight of him.
Wait what?
Did that guy just laugh at me? I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion when something else caught my attention- My leafy succulent had slipped and crashed into a small boulder while I was busy staring at some random guy-
MY LEGENDARY CHARACTER-
ok twenty runs in a row is easy, but I don't have that much time to redo this-
---
"I wonder if she's home today, what do you think? Momo?" The boy said aloud as he looked at his puppy, happily pulling him onward. He didn't see that girl earlier when he brought Momo down, just a whole bunch of messy papers on the round white table outside.
Maybe she was busy? He thought to himself, feeling disappointment.
Momo dragged him pass the playground, ignoring his words as they head towards home. It has been two whole days. Each time, he passes without a shadow of her figure but-
This time, he sees her.
With her long hair tied up in a cute bun, in a black shirt and shorts- Hey we match! He thought as he glanced at his own all-black outfit and blushed before shaking his head. Momo dragged him into the lift lobby of the block beside theirs before he realizes.
"Momo, stop, where are you going?" He frowns as Momo pulls him away from his girl.
"Momo!"
Momo finally turns to look at him in confusion as he pulls on her lead, leading her to back to the sidewalk. He lifts his head up only to see the girl holding her phone horizontally, with eyes focused on the screen, fingers tapping-
She must be gaming, he chuckled to himself just as she looked up from her phone and they made eye contact.
For a second, he gazed into her eyes before Momo drags him away, breaking the connection.
"Momo, what are you doing?" he berates his golden retriever puppy as she stops at the lift lobby, looking at him with mournful eyes.
It wasn't like he could walk Momo pass her place again without her thinking he was a stalker anyway, he told himself before sighing, and pressing the lift button.
Well, at least I got to see her again today.
---
What in the world are you thinking Yui Tan?? I berated myself and tried to redo the runs- But whenever I reached the twentieth, my mind thought of only the cute guy with his golden retriever and I failed every-time..
"Get a grip, oh my tian(5)," I muttered as I looked at my watch.
6:08 pm-
Great, I just spent a little over an hour trying to grind for a legendary character but I ended up with moving up the ranks, but no legendary character.
Rank #16251-
okay I guess it's not that bad. I'm just not sure if I have time to grind more for that legendary character later-
Sigh~
Since when have I, Yui Tan fallen to the point where I obsess over whether guys were cute or not? I've noticed guys before, but thinking about them to the point I lose my winning streak- I need to stop.
I took a deep breath and exited the game.
It was almost time for dinner.
My stomach growled just as I stood up and I nodded. Maybe I was just so hungry to the point I'm hallucinating. I quickly swiped all the papers on the table into my Social Studies folder, and skipped to the kitchen, humming.
Opening the fridge doors, I felt my heart sank.
The fridge was empty- too empty. Like a desert- but no at least the desert had sand my fridge has nothing!!
I looked downwards to see the vegetable drawer, and pulled it open, finding a red plastic bag.
Bingo!
"Achievement Unlocked, [item 'Spring Onions'] Found!" I cheered as I thrust it in the air, doing a celebratory cheer.
I pulled out my favorite brand of instant noodles and found an egg tray behind the rice cooker.
"Another item, ['Eggs'] have been found!" I chuckled to myself before grabbing a black pot and filled it with water. Placing it on the stove, I switched on the gas stove and lit it, before grabbing my phone while waiting for it to boil. I switched on my phone just in time to see a text message notification from my classmate Qi Qi-
QiQi: Remember to finish reading up our Social Studies homework!!
"Yes yes," I sighed as I unlocked my phone.
YuYu: Already done, I read up on it earlier~
Now tap send~ Qi Qi replied almost instantly, with lot's of shocked emojis and exclamation marks-
QiQi: Don't lie!!!
QiQi: I know you probably only read a chapter or something and went to play games-
YuYu: Excuse me, I finished all four chapters okay!!
Hprh, I don't play games anymore- I typed when I stopped.
Wait- I was just playing Succulent Adventure earlier~ But she doesn't need to know that. Just as I was about to press send, I looked up from my phone in time to see the water about to boil out of the pot.
AHHH
I stuffed my phone into my pocket and quickly lowered the gas, making the fire smaller.
Whew, I lifted an arm and wiped the sweat off my forehead. Time to put the noodles in!!
I opened my packet of instant noodles and placed the noodles in, and grabbed a pair of chopsticks, stirring it. Looks like cooking and texting is a bad idea- I thought just as another message from Qi Qi came in again.
QiQi: Stop lying to yourself, I saw you on Succulent Adventure earlier!!
Shit! I forgot she played SA too! I unlocked my phone again, about to reply when I looked at my pot of noodles, and decided to finish cooking before replying to her.
My precious noodles are way more important!!
---
Pulling open my front door to the foyer area of my house- I never had a foyer before- I unlocked the main door and slipped on a pair of slippers as I went to throw the trash. I turned left to the rubbish chute beside my main door and opened it, holding my breath as I pulled the rubbish chute door open, putting my plastic bag in. I quickly closed it and breathed in fresh air.
"Finally, I can go grind for my-"
"Excuse me."
I froze as I heard a voice behind me and quickly moved to my right.
How embarrassing!! Someone just caught me speaking to myself!!
I bent my head, hoping my hair would cover my face as the person walked passed me and pressed a button, waiting for the lift. Tilting my head slightly upwards as I walked towards my front door, I recognized him as the boy that caused me to lose every twentieth run earlier when I was playing SA!!
"Isn't he-" I widened my eyes and stopped when I realized I spoke aloud and quickly ducked my head, rushing into my house before shutting the front door.
---
Inside the lift was a teenage boy, making celebratory fists as he hopped childishly in the lift, breaking into a wide smile-
"I saw her again today- Yes YES YES!!! Today's the luckiest day ev-" He cheered loudly and stopped when the lift opened, and Ryan stared at him as he untied his shoelaces on the bench.
"Gor Gor, are you sick?"
"No, no I'm fine-"
"But you were-"
The teenage boy crouched down to his younger brother's level, and held his face in his hands.
"You. Saw. Nothing." He carefully enunciated every word as Ryan nodded quickly and ran back into the house.
[Notes]
1) Grassroots Organisation is like where volunteers come together to do something. It's a non profit organisation.
2) An online role-playing video game
3)Player versus Player
4) Red Blood is the period where your character or the target is at low health, where the health bar turns to red.
5) Tian- sky- 'Oh my tian' shares the same way people uses 'Oh my god'