3.

“Mom, slow down. Noona‘s stomach will burst anytime soon if you keep it this way.”

“Let her eat more, she just came home after 10 years.”

“It’s not like she starved herself when she lived abroad.” My brother huffs disappointedly, then turns to me, raising a brow as he could read my ‘stomach-is-about-to-explode’ face. I shrug as I have already tried a few times to convince Mom that she has feed me enough for today but the lady just won’t stop. “Mom, please. I’m your son, let me eat some too…! Hm?” Haneul reaches the braised beef bowl in front of me and pour all the content on his rice bowl before getting a good amount of hit from our Mom.

“Why are you taking away your sister’s food?!”

Our dining table was chaotic as Mom haven’t stop pinching my brother here and there while he yells then runs away to hide behind my chair, “Noona, how can you laugh right now? Save me, please…!”

And so I crack up harder than before but stopping Mom from damaging her son’s skin any longer. “No, Mom. It’s okay, I don’t think I can eat anymore for today. Really, Mom, really.”

“See? Noona said it herself.”

The silly kid playfully sticks out his tongue at Mom, earning a slap on his arm from me.

“Are you dumb? Go sit down and finish your food.”

I turn to Mom, finding out that she is squinting at Haneul thus soft chuckles escape from my mouth before I gently touch her shoulders and hold her hand to bring her to the living room. “It’s alright, Mom. Let the kid eat.” The other hand of mine points to my stomach as I grin to her, “See? I’m well-fed, thanks to you.”

Finally, the lady’s expression softens – granting me a relief before I slide closer towards her and give a hug around her shoulders. She beams at that and cup the right side of my face, then place her lips on my temple. “You love this, don’t you?” I bob my head a few times then snuggle with her more, acting like a little kid though people at my age now are mostly mother to their children. My eyes are shut closed as I feel her breath softly gazes the top of my head and I take a very deep breath, enjoying Mom’s scent.

I really miss this.

“You’re surprised, don’t you?”

Over that, Mom raises a hand and strikes on my thigh lightly. Indeed, she is still angry about me showing up at home without any notice. I hid in my room as soon as Mom came home and decided to sneak out and startle her when she was busy cooking and not paying attention to her surroundings. Thanks to Haneul, we obtained a clip of Mom blurting out random words out of shock. If I wasn’t lucky earlier, I would already been knocked with the ladle that Mom used for cooking the stew.

“I was excited to pick you up from the station, I even told our neighbour about it, you know?”

“You’re exaggerating~”

“I’m telling the truth,” she huffs then pats my back. “Then, have you decide about your job?”

I gasp, pulling out from the clingy cuddle. “Already? I just came home, Mom~!”

Of course, that kind of answer would grant me a knock on the forehead by Mom’s knuckles. She clucks her tongue and jokingly squints, “I won’t support your living expenses, young lady. Especially when you’re jobless.”

“Can’t I just help you at the shop? I miss being around the flowers.”

Ever since Mom was young, she had already run a flower shop thus our flower shop is already very popular among people in the neighbourhood. There too, Mom met the love of her life – my dad. I could only smile upon reminiscing that good old times when Dad was here with us. I miss him.

“Keep dreaming,” Mom cuts me out from my reverie. “Faster, find a job. I know someone from a tuition centre here, you can apply there too. I’ll talk to that person later.”

Hearing that, my mouth forms an ‘O’ as I give Mom a sneaky look, teasing her. “Wow, my mom has now build a connection~ Where did you learn doing this stuff?”

Instead of defending herself, Mom raises her brows, bragging. “I know those stuff too. Plus, that teacher is very handsome, very kind.”

I was just about to ask of how Mom talks like she knows that teacher person especially well – also suspiciously as she describes that te