Payback AU: What If

Act 4 - REVENGE

Yoohan felt like it had been a long time since last he saw his mother. Even if they met and eat together during breakfast, Yoohan never really "looked" at his mother. If he had to give a reason why, Yoohan didn't actually have one. Things just turned out that way.

He felt resentment towards his father that left them. He felt resentment towards how difficult it was to live with only his mother as the breadwinner. He felt resentment towards the way he was mocked and bullied for having no father and being poor. He felt resentment about having to share everything with his little brother. He felt resentment about being looked down upon by everyone.

And his immaturity and selfishness directed those resentments toward the people he lived with. Yoohan was, in nature, a temperamental person. And he always felt this inexplicable sourness every time he looked at his family members—perhaps because they reminded him of how hard it is to live. Perhaps he was just fed up with shielding and giving up things for his brother. Perhaps he was just fed up with how his mother still yearned for his father even after all these years. Perhaps he was just fed up with life, and both of his family members just remind him he had an attached burden to carry.

Perhaps, because looking at his family is a reminder for Yoohan that he's a bad person.

And he felt that when he looked at his mother; eyes filled with sorrow and exhaustion. She knew Yoohan didn't take school seriously, that he fight often, and that he hated his life. But like all mothers, she probably still hoped that Yoohan would come to his senses one day, preferably before he caused some serious damage.

But that hope was shattered today.

"Your teacher said they will expel you if you fail your exam." his mother's voice was dry. Yoohan refrained from saying anything. They'd only argue otherwise. He just stared at his mother's face, as tears began to pool in those tired eyes. His mother used to be a beautiful woman, and she gave birth to a pretty son. But that son had been the source of her heartache. Not because of the trouble Yoohan caused—after all, what teenager hadn't caused trouble—but because she knew Yohan didn't like her. She was still young, barely forty, but wrinkles were apparent around her eyes already.

"Yoohan-ah..." her voice become weaker, "I know I have been a bad mother, I know you have been feeling dissatisfied..."

Yoohan clenched his fist, nails digging painfully into his palm. No, you're not a bad mother, was what he wanted to say. But when you had been estranged for many years with someone, it became hard to express even simple words.

"I won't nag at you anymore, I won't tell you what to do anymore after this, but can you please...please at least try to finish school?" his mother reached out her hand across the dining table and touched his clenched fist. "Please?" she was pleading with teary eyes, and Yoohan's heart started to sting.

"I'll try," he replied curtly, staring at his mother's rough hand. Ah, I really am a bad person. When was the last time Yoohan touched his mother's hand? He couldn't even remember. But he was sure the last time, those hands weren't this rough and wrinkled. Yoohan felt rueful. Had he been avoiding his family too much?

Of course, normally, a 14-year-old boy wouldn't need to have this kind of thought. But not everyone could have a rosy garden.

His heart ached. Yoohan frowned at those rough hands and those teary eyes. At the sorrow and bitter expectation. But right away, the ache in his heart turned into boiling anger.

"If only your father's still here..." his mother was weeping now, the sobbing sound could be heard between words, "you wouldn't have to...hic..." Yoohan felt the rage inside his heart grew larger and larger. "This is my fault...if I act better...your father wouldn't have lef—"