Charlie stepped into the house, making sure the door was closed before turning around on his heels.
His eyes widened in surprise as he saw a shadow in the kitchen. He quickly put the hood of his black sweatshirt above his head and started walking towards his room with long strides when....
"Hey baby! I must say that am deeply hurt."
He halt on his track and let out a sigh before tilting his head to glance at the elegant lady behind him. "Mom."
"Oh, mom? Not even an 'hi' or 'i missed you'? Come on."
"Hi mom...." He mumbled with a forced cheeky smile before turning around and walked away.
Mrs Puth huffed, putting her hands on her waist as she stare at the door of her son's room.
"That's strange." She mumbled to her self, shrugging it off. She then sniffed the air, frowning at the smell of something burning before realizing she kept something on the cooker.
"My fish!" She screamed, running into the kitchen.
.....
"Great! She's back." Charlie talked to himself, throwing his backpack to a corner in his room before rushing to his dressing table, he grab a band-aid and quickly cover up the cut on his forehead and uses his hand to brush off his hair, making sure the spot wasn't exposed. He can't risk letting his mom know he got bullied again.
After staring at himself on the mirror, he let out a sigh and stumbled towards his bed, slumping down on the soft mattress with a grunt.
"Damn, I'm exhausted." He yawned, fluttering his lashes and started dozing off.
......
"Leave me in peace."
"Why?"
"Peace is good, calming."
"Well....yeah but you need to eat."
"Why?"
"Because it's good."
"I don't wanna eat, i need sleep."
"A kid like you needs to eat a lot like an horse, so GET UP!"
"Ouch! Mom! The fuck?! I think I lost my hearing"
"You mean your earring?"
"No. I mean, i can't hear you right now!"
"You just heard me."
"What...the..? right." Charlie let out a defeated sigh and groaned in annoyance.
"Come on, come on, it's dinner time." Mrs. Puth announced in joy, leading her son towards the dining room.
They both sat down and Mrs. Puth served Charlie his favorite, urging him to eat with a smile on her beautiful face.
"Wow."
"I'm sorry am not always home to cook your favorite, son."
Charlie gulped and glanced up, smiling a little at his mother before digging into his food.
Mrs. Puth smiled as well and started eating along with him.
Some minutes later....
"Son."
"Yeah?"
"I er... There's something I need to discuss with you."
"Is it important?" Charlie inquired as he kept his spoon and wipe his lips with some tissues.
"Um..yeah it's very important."
"Okay....So? What is it?" He asked, giving his attention to Mrs. Puth.
"Um..... I'm leaving for Afghanistan on Friday."
"Afghanistan?"
"Yeah... There was an earthquake, so many people died and about 300 hundred civilians got injured. My boss is sending me to the camp."
There was a long silence until Charlie spoke up, softly. "Alright, so.... when are you coming back?"
"I have no clue and that's why I want you to join your cousins in Korea."
"What?! Korea?! Mom! No!"
"Come on Charlie! You'd be fine, everything would be fine. You just have to live with them and go to school. I can't go into war, leaving you here all by yourself-"
"Mom. I'm not a kid. Okay? I-i know you're worried about me but I'd be fine here. I can take good care of myself-"
"Listen, i called Mr. Miller, i already worked your transfer papers and your flight is tomorrow."
"Mom! Oh come on! You should've talked to me before making those plans."
"I'm doing it for you!"
" Oh please, i hate this. I'm not leaving America, i don't care if the flight is tomorrow."
"Charlie...." Mrs. Puth snarled with a threatening tone and her son angrily stood up from his seat.
"What would those kids think of me? Huh? It's like you're taking me to babysitters and you know the fact that i hate traveling, you know that I'm also not close to them."
"Charlie, i know what is best for-
"No! You don't! Don't say that! Okay?! All you ever did was work! You don't know shit about me mom!" Charlie shouted and gulped as he saw the hurt expression on his mother's face.
He went into his room, hurriedly and slammed his door shut, leaning against the surface as he slowly crouch down to hug his legs.
"Korea." He whispered, before fleeting his gaze towards the album of his father beside his bed.
" Charlie!" Mrs. Puth knocked on his door and sighed deeply as the young man didn't reply.
She then crouch down against the door, caressing the surface as if she knew her son was leaning against the opposite side.
She sighed for the umpteenth times and rest her head against the door, then mumbled.
"I'm sorry for not telling you about my plans son but I think it's best for you. You need to go abroad and see things for yourself I'm very sure you'd love it there.
And besides, there are a lot of things you could do in Korea. You should go to sleep, tomorrow we'll be a long day. Love you baby."
Mrs. Puth made a kissing sound and stood back up to her feet before going into her room, leaving her son alone with his thoughts.
......
Mrs. Puth turned off the alarm on her nightstand, yawning as she lazily slip out of her blanket and got up, walking towards her son's room.
She huffed, preparing herself for anything as she got closer and closer to his room, dreading his outburst, but as she opened the door to his room and peek through, her almond eyes widened in shock as her lips fell open, causing her jaw to almost touch the ground at how surprised she was.
"Oh! He is....
up!"
Though, Mrs. Puth tries to hide her excitement, Charlie could tell from her tone that she was truly happy to see him dressing up.
"You are awake." He replied, buttoning up the last button on his sleeve before turning around to face his mother who was still staring at him in utter disbelief.
"Yeah! I mean, I'm widely awake now." She said, giggling as she left the door and invited herself in, taking in her son's features with her fleeting gaze.
"Yeah? So why don't you go get ready?"
"Er... yeah, off i go. Don't wanna miss our flight...hehehe."
Charlie hummed, shooing her out of his room as he lead her towards the door by walking behind her. "Have you always been this handsome?" She asked as she held the door, not wanting to go away.
Charlie smiled, internally rolling his eyes, his mother can be a lot dramatic like typical Korean women and he gets that a lot, after all, her brothers married Korea women who are very dramatic and ended up given birth to dramatic kids as well.
"Yes. Mom. I mean i am my mother's child so of course I'm handsome." He said with fake sweet tone, while doing a cute expression.
"Aww ... I love you baby."
"Alright. I love you too."
"Sure, off i go."
"Right. Go get ready."
"Sure. Give me just few minutes."
"Okay! Bye!"
Charlie closed his door and sighed, shaking his head as he walk towards his luggage.
"Phew. Okay. It's now or never."
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