o9

He was wearing a very neat white shirt with both cuffs end folded up, obvious expensive black trousers wrapped by a dark brown belt around his waist, a branded watch was hugging his wrist completed by a black shiny dress shoes he used—but that’s not what made Yongguk stopped for a short while when he saw him in front of their door. It was the way he looked, how his face was still looking much younger than his actual age and how he still managed to have those charisma.

He didn’t realize it before but now that he saw it—he understood why his mother easily fell for him.

“Ah, it’s you,” those man used a surprise tone, but it went so different from the way his expression shown.

“Please come in,” Yongguk slightly bowed before moved aside to open a way for him.

“So you took a lot of part-time job?” he asked, walking inside the room with a short step.

“Some,” Yongguk shortly replied, making his way into the kitchen to brew a cup of tea.

“Why?” those man turned to look at him, trying to dig his family deeper.

Yongguk glanced at him. “Please have a sit.”

Those rich man gave a soft chuckle to hear his sarcasm. He walked towards the dining table and sat on one of the wooden-made chair, still looking at the younger with full of curiosity gaze.

“You make money for your own?” he guessed.

Yongguk put the white cup on the table, giving a cold stare into the man. “For my family.”

Those middle-aged man stayed in silence for a while, staring at Yongguk through his dark brown eyes, a little touched by his answer. Yet it didn’t last really long until he smirked to cover up the feelings.

“Don’t you feel it’s useless somehow?” he wondered.

Hearing his question made Yongguk frowned a little but right before he could ask him what did he mean, his mother appeared from behind her room’s door. She was wearing a nice blue dress with a thick white belt to emphasize her waist line and a red high heels that usually only used in an important occasion. She put on a thin make-up, red lipstick and a little work on her eyelines while her normal straight black hair was tied up into a french twist hairstyle—totally not her daily self.

“Yongguk-ah, are you going somewhere today?” she asked.

“I’ll go to work this afternoon,” he muttered, still looking at her different appearance.

“Ah, so you won’t comeback until seven, right? You can have your dinner outside,” she said, feeling a bit relieved.

“Where will you go?” Yongguk frowned.

His mother glanced at the man behind him before flashed a thin smile back. “I’ll tell you later.”

The two left without saying anything, like it had been neatly planned since long time ago and Yongguk didn’t like it. He walked towards the window, pulling the white curtain a little to peek at the apartment lot.

There was a branded black car placed on the side of the road, which he suspected to be his mother’s boyfriend’s but his eyes narrowed a little to find someone was standing besides the car. It was a young girl with short brown hair, showing off her vexed up face while crossing her arms in front of her chest. Her small eyes looked towards one direction and before he wondered what it was, he saw his mother and her lover were walking out of the building.

They were walking closer to where those girl stood, making her to look away in disgust before quickly got inside the back seat without saying anything. Later, he watched them entered the front side with the rich man on the driver seat, completely looking like a perfect small family for everyone who saw them and it was ridiculous for Yongguk.

He hated how his mother caught a random rich man just to support their broken family and how she put aside her past husband like he never existed in their life at all. He wondered how could she live that kind of life—that instead of working with her both hands to make a better life, she went to stick into someone’s wallet like a parasite.

He hated her and felt so regret about his decision to go on her side and left his father alone.

“So, your mother is on a relationship?”

Yongguk turned, looking at Yoseob that just arrived at the class. “What?”

“Your mother,” he repeated, but didn’t finish his words since he couldn’t hold the coldness and quickly blow his palm with his warm breath instead.

“Who says?” Yongguk frowned. He never told anyone about it, including those shorter guy.

“Am I right?” he buried his hands inside his jacket pockets, grinning. “Don’t you know who the man is?”

Yongguk looked away. “I just met him twice.”

“It’s not about it. Do you know who he is?” Yoseob tried to explain his intention.

And, although feeling a little doubtful towards those blonde guy, he finally decided to give an answer. “Not really.”

“He was my father’s former executive that resigned around two years ago,” he replied, before slowly leaning closer to Yongguk and whispered, “because he his own daughter.”

Yongguk looked at him with both widened eyes, couldn’t believe what just he said to him. “How can you make that kind of joke?”

“Am I that kind of person?” Yoseob moved back, showing an offended face. “He resigned from the company before it became a big issue and got into jail for less than a year. His wife even left him because of that matter.”

Yongguk suddenly remembered about the young girl that he saw from the window week ago. “Does he live with his daughter?”

“His wife doesn’t want to take care of her so she has to live under the same roof with his heartless father again. Poor her,” Yoseob replied, slowly shaking his head. “She used to be my friend when we were five but since we went into different school later, I don’t know about her anymore.”

“She’s on the same age with us?” Yongguk asked, quite disbelief since she looked older somehow.

“Yeah,” Yoseob nodded. “Do you ever meet her?”

“How can you know about his relationship with my mother?” Yongguk raised his eyebrows, confused.

“I met them,” he casually replied.

Yongguk tilted his head to the side, wondering. “Where?”

“Jewelry shop.”

Yongguk threw a grey sling bag on the bed, before opened his wardrobe in such quick move.

He wasn’t really picking out which clothes that he wanted to take and just pulled everything out to shove them inside the bag. Once he was done with the clothes, he walked into the drawer and looked under the books inside before his hand slipped between the stack and took out a light brown envelope. It was some money that he saved from two months ago, just in case he needed it like what he did now.

Wearing a dark green coat and untied red scarf, he walked out of the room while carrying the bag on his right hand. He hoped his mother was still asleep on that five in the dawn so he could easily leave without any hesitation but never did his expectation go through the same way with reality.

“What are you doing?” her mother asked, putting her yellow cup on the table.

Yongguk turned, facing her with his expressionless face. “I’ll leave.”

His mother frowned. “Where? To work? It’s only five.”

“I’ll leave this house,” he straightforwardly replied.

“What do you mean?” she walked towards him with wide steps.

“I’ll leave you,” Yongguk paused for a short while, staring at her shocked face before continued, “for him.”

“For him?” his mother frowned, didn’t really understand him.

“You went to the jewelry shop with him. You will marry him,” he explained, still trying to stay calm. “And even if I said I’m against the marriage, you will keep going on it, right?”

Then, he saw her blinked in surprise, didn’t expect her son to figure out everything.

“Will you against it?” she wondered.

Yongguk nodded. “Yes.”

The frowns on her forehead slowly disappeared, replaced by her teary eyes and slightly shaking voice. “Why? You seem like don’t want to see me happy after your father died.”

“It’s not like that,” he muttered. “It’s just because you always choose your own happiness than anything. More than me, more than father.”

“More than him?” she raised her eyebrows. Her expression changed into a tight one. “How about him? He left us for that girl! Don’t forget about it!”

“But he apologized!” Yongguk snapped, running out of his self-control. “He wanted to start everything again. He wanted to change. But did you give him a chance? Did you give me a freedom to choose?”

His mother tightly pressed her lips together, aiming to prevent herself from breaking into tears.

But it didn’t work for Yongguk.

“I regret so many things,” he muttered, using much softer voice than before. “I regret that I have to betray him, to leave him alone, to didn’t hear of his apology—I regret that he had to go in sadness.”

Yongguk looked away and took a second to blink his tears away before fixed his eyes back on his mother in front of him whose already tearing up upon hearing his confession. He knew it probably never came across her mind even once. He knew she always considered him as a nice son, that understand her more than anyone else. But she must begin to listen. She must.

“Let’s find our own happiness,” he sighed, taking one step back. “I hope you will do well.”

Yongguk finally turned around and walked towards the door, without any calling from his mother on the back. He took it as an approval to leave and so, decided not to look back, he led his feet out of the room in silence.

Keep walking, and walking.

And he decided to leave everything.