Saturday morning. I woke up, took a shower, cleaned the whole house, took out my trash, changed into presentable clothes, ate an apple, cleaned the dishes, and sat on the couch waiting.
My mom called last night to tell me that they will come before noon. It was 11:23 now. Just a bit more I guess.
.
I opened the door and was greeted with a very cheerful smile plastered on my mom's face whereas my dad was emotionless.
"Yeonjun-ah! How have you been?"
"Fine I guess"
"I missed you so much dear" She hugged me tightly.
"Yeah me too"
"Let's go in shall we?" My dad cleared his throat before walking inside.
.
My mom busied herself in my kitchen, stuffing whatever side dishes she could bring in my fridge. Me and my dad sat awkwardly in the living room, not speaking.
"So what are you up to these days?" My dad tried to start a conversation.
"Nothing much. Preparing for my college exam"
"Hmm"
And that's how our 2-second conversation died. Me and my dad never really have that perfect father-son relationship. We were mostly awkward with each other.
"I've placed some side dishes in the fridge and left some ginseng on the counter, Yeonjun. Remember to drink it okay?"
"You didn't have to mom" I felt bad, knowing that it was all that she could afford.
"Don't worry son. You need to eat if you want to study hard" she said while patting my head lovingly.
"Uhmm" my dad began. "We came here to talk about something"
"I guessed that much" I knew why they were here. It was pretty obvious.
"I am afraid you will have to move back, Yeonjun"
My dad stated simply as if it was normal.
"Why?"
"I can't pay for your rent. Not for the next 3-4 months at least."
"Dad what are you saying? I can't come back home!"
"Yeonjun try to understand dear. Your dad lost his job. We can't provide you with enough money" my mom chimed in, trying to ease the tension in the room.
I don't care whether my dad was jobless as usual or not. All I cared about was my future. Going back to my hometown meant my life would be ruined.
"I'm sorry but I can't. I will pay my rent on my own. I need to study." as soon as I said this, my dad sprung up from the couch and grabbed me by my collar.
"You think it's easy? You think you can live here in the city with your minimum wage jobs?"
I tried to remain as calm as possible. My dad's eyes were filled with anger but this time, I won't give in.
"I'm doing fine on my own. Besides my jobs pay me way more than what you earn dad"
Slap. One. Two. Three slaps. I heard my mom scream and lunge forwards, trying to get my dad away from me.
"Is this how you talk to your dad? Apologize right now"
I didn't. I didn't even say anything.
"Fine then. Let's see how long you survive without my help"
With that, my dad stormed out of my house, my mom trailing behind.
I shut the door and collapsed on the floor. Why was my life so unfair? Even if I worked 24 hours a day, I knew I would never be able to make enough to live completely on my own. This has happened before but my parents had always found ways to pay for my school fees and rent whenever I declined their offer of going back to Busan. They knew that my dream meant everything to me. But this time, I don't think I'll be receiving any cash from them.
I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, hoping that maybe, just maybe, I'll wake up and everything would be fine.
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I feel like the chapters that deal with parents sound very depressing lol.
Anyways, another short update cause why not ;)
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