A week had passed and the weekend was just around the corner. Jungha was excited because his mother would be returning home to the city. Ever since Jungha began high school, his mother had found a new job working as an assistant to the CEO at a well-known company in another province. Jungha had something planned after class. Once the bell rang, he casually wandered to Rain's desk.
"Rain, I'm going to walk with you and Jiang to see Mickey. There's something I need to ask him," he stated.
Without glancing at Jungha, Rain replied while packing up, "Okay, give me one second."
Jungha looked over to see Jiang, who was waiting behind them.
"You've been quite chummy with Mickey and Rain, haven't you? Don't you have other friends besides them?" Jiang insensitively remarked. His eyes were dark and tired.
Jungha cleverly answered, "I could ask you the same question too Jiang! You've been spending a lot more time with them as well. Are you worried I might replace you? Ha-ha."
Rain burst into laughter, "Oh he got you, Jiang. Don't bully him too much Jungha, or else he'll go back to treating us bad again."
Jiang scoffed and headed out the door, "Hurry up and get moving. I don't want to stay here any longer than I should."
They saw Mickey from a distance, standing by the school gates. Unable to contain himself, Jungha made quick strides to Mickey first.
"Mickey! Can you come to my house today!?" Jungha exuberantly asked.
Mickey raised one brow, "Huh, what for?"
Jungha eagerly elaborated, "My mom is back in town from work. She's only visiting for the weekend and I wanted you to meet her before she leaves."
Mickey saw the glimmering stars in Jungha's eyes. Something inside of Mickey did not want to disappoint his friend.
"I was going to work at our stall today, but since your mom is only here for a short amount of time, I can go with you. Rain or Jiang can watch the store today." Mickey devised.
Rain and Jiang overheard and shot sour glares at Mickey.
"This is the second time you've ditched us to hang out with Jungha," Rain complained.
Mickey curved the corners of his mouth and spoke sarcastically, "Think of this as payment for all the times I went to sell by myself. Today is a special day, I can't let my good friend Jungha down. I'll be back to help you close, promise!"
Rain pouted, "Fine! If there are any good snacks at Jungha's house, bring some back for us."
Jiang snickered, "You really have no shame, do you? Taking food from other people's house?"
Rain contended, "I'm close enough with Jungha to take things from him," She proceeded to showcase Jungha's dashing face, "Look! He doesn't even care, and when Mickey does come back with treats, I won't be sharing."
Mickey chuckled and whispered to Jungha, "Let's leave before we get stuck listening to them arguing."
Jungha chuckled as well and nodded.
Mickey intervened, "Okay! We're going now. See you guys later!"
The two boys joyfully ran out of the school premises and onto their weekend. While on their way, Mickey was a bit confused about Jungha's family situation. Though they been spending more time together, Jungha never mentioned anything about it.
Mickey could not help but ask, "I didn't know your mom worked in another city. Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't really know anything about your family, Jungha"
Jungha rubbed the back of his head, "Aha, I guess it never crossed my mind. It's only my older brother and I who live at home. My dad left before I was born, and my mom had to care of us."
Feeling bad for bring up a sensitive subject, Mickey apologized, "Sorry… for prying into private issues. No wonder it never crossed your mind to tell me."
"It's no big deal! It really doesn't bug me at all. There was never a right moment to tell you about this stuff. Besides, I'm more excited to introduce you to my mom then dwell in the past!" Jungha exclaimed.
"Why does she work outside the city? Does she come home often?" Mickey wondered.
"Ever since my dad left, my mom had to struggle to raise my brother and I. It was tough for her, but she somehow managed to provide for us. She made sure we never felt like we were poor. My mom worked really hard and she finally got a huge position at a big company, but she had to move to another city for the job. Even though we don't see her much, I know she's doing what she can to help us here," Jungha explained with vigor.
Mickey saw how Jungha's mood was instantly lifted as he talked about his mom. The amount of enthusiasm and pride he had could convince anyone to know how special she was. Seeing this warmed Mickey's heart to the core, it reminded him of his mother. Somehow witnessing this side of Jungha, gave him a strange sense of peace.
After a sometime, they arrived at Jungha's home. They lived on the second floor, in a two-story apartment. Mickey followed Jungha up the stairs to the door. Jungha clutched the knob with his hand. Right before he opened it, he glanced back at Mickey with a genuine smile.
Jungha pushed opened and announced, "I'm home, and I brought a friend over too!"
A youthful middle-aged woman was at the kitchen cooking. She turned around to see the boys, "Ah you both are here right on time! I'm almost done cooking dinner. Jungha, bring your friend inside."
"Come in Mickey! She knew you were coming, so she wanted to prepare something special." Jungha proudly claimed.
When Mickey came inside, he was stunned at Jungha's mother. She looked as if she could have been the same age as Nanami, but the woman had to be in her early-forties at least. She had long elegant hair that curled at the ends. One noticeable feature Jungha's mom had was the beauty mark below the left corner of her lips. She was radiating an aura of sophistication and tenderness.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Mickey. Jungha told me a lot about you," The way Jungha's mother spoke was quite motherly.
Mickey was still astonished by her appearance before recollecting his thoughts, "Thank you for having me here. It's a pleasure to meet you and thanking for inviting me."
Jungha's Mother smiled with her red lips, "So formal and well-mannered. Jungha has never brought over a friend who's as polite as you are."
Jungha added and praised Mickey to his mom, "He's polite and a hard worker too! Even after coming here, Mickey has planned to go back to the market to help his family. No matter how exhausting it is, Mickey always has the energy to do anything!"
"You seem like quite the catch Mickey! I hope you can teach Jungha to be more like you," She teased.
Mickey blushed with embarrassment.
Jungha's mom then placed her hands together, "The foods ready! Let's eat!"
They sat around the table and ate the meal together. After they finished, Mickey had to leave.
"Thank you for the meal. I should get back to the market now." Mickey said.
"It was a pleasure to meet you. Please come by anytime. Jungha is usually home alone, so it would be nice to have someone to keep him company." Jungha's mother insisted.
Jungha got up from his chair and led Mickey out, "I'll walk you out, Mickey."
Jungha closed the front door and stood outside with Mickey alone.
"So, what do you think? She's amazing right?" Jungha asked cheerfully.
Mickey whole-heartedly answered, "She is. It's kind of frightening, she reminds me a lot of my mom. It felt like I went back in time. Thanks for inviting me Jungha, I now know why you wanted me to see her."
Jungha cracked out a big and proud grin.
Footsteps then came up from the stairs. It was Don, Jungha's older brother. He was twenty-five and wore a dirty work jacket. He was well built like Jungha, and had medium length hair that was unkept. The smell of rubber and car oil permeated from him.
"Oh, is this the friend you been talking about Jungha?" Don questioned.
"Yeah. Mickey, this is my brother, Don," Jungha introduced.
Mickey slightly bowed, "Nice to meet you."
"Sorry I didn't make it in time to eat with you guys. I had to stay late at the shop today. Feel free to stop by anytime you want Mickey." Don said.
"I should get going now. Thanks again for the meal," Mickey stated and left.
The brothers returned inside. Jungha's mother was still at the table, she looked as if she was wanting to tell them something.
"Jungha, come sit down. Can we talk?" She kindly requested.
A bit confused, he obliged, "What is it?"
Don sat down and began piling food onto his plate.
Jungha's Mom continued, "You know it's almost three years since I started working at this new company? Well, a lot can happen in that time."
Dumbfounded, Jungha replied, "What are you trying to say, Mom?"
A nervous expression surfaced on her face, "I know this may sound very sudden, but keep an open mind, okay? Do you remember Mr. Kang, the CEO that I work for? Him and I have been working together closely and we have been seeing each other in the last year. He had proposed to me and we are going to get married. I want to take you to meet him and his family this weekend."
The shattering news left Jungha distraught, "I don't get it… How come you never mentioned him before?" He looked at Don, "Why aren't you saying anything, Don?!"
Don was nonchalant, "Jungha, don't overact. Mom told me first, I knew about this for a while already."
Jungha's mother spoke out, "Dear, please listen. I knew something like this would upset you and I wanted to wait for the right time to tell you. Look at it this way, with Mr. Kang, we can afford to live a better life. You won't have to worry about anything and we can get you whatever you want."
Feeling betrayed, Jungha talked back, "So you two have been going behind my back this whole time?! Do what you want, but I don't want to have any associations with your boss. You can go without me."
Jungha then stormed off to his room. He slammed the door loud enough that a bang echoed through the apartment.
"Don't worry, I'll talk to him Mom. He's too young to understand. It will take time for him to get used to it," Don comforted.
"Thank you, Don, but finish eating first. I will clean up after." She spoke.