Last Night at the Café

23 | Chocolate Tart

A / N

Writing LNATC always makes me hungry. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

~

A SURPRISED GASP left her at the sight of Kazu's mother standing outside the school gates. She nearly hadn't recognised her because of the mask she wore but at the wave sent her way, Seollal had registered those kind eyes, the slope of her shoulders and her straight posture to that of Kazu's eomonim.

Dressed formally in a jacket and a skirt, Kazu's eomeonim looked like she had come from a function of sorts or was on the way to one. Seollal was overwhelmed in her simple jeans and sweater, her coat and scarf thrown hastily over one arm. It never did to wear anything too nice when it came to being around children.

"Mrs Kamenashi?"

The lady stepped forward with a smile.

"Oh, there's no need to be so formal," she said.

"Seollal?" Yu Ah started, her brows rising in curiosity. "Who's that?"

She touched a hand to her friend's arm.

"You go ahead first? I'll text you."

"Mother-in-law?" her friend whispered sharply, her eyes nearly glittering.

"Just go!" she hissed under her breath, urgently jabbing her friend in the side.

With Yu Ah on her way, merry laughter in her wake, Seollal turned to Kazu's mother, her mouth creased into an apologetic smile.

"I remembered you said this was your last week here, so I thought I'd find you here. I'm sorry if this is a little abrupt."

Then she flashed her a smile.

"Do you have some time? Could I speak with you?"

Seollal walked ahead with Kazu's mother, leading her to a small park nearby where she and her teaching assistant often brought the children to play. They would run up and down the track in their yellow bucket hats like little ducklings, forage for leaves amidst the piles scattered about the foot of trees and occasionally pick up beetles and race them.

"I don't think we've shared the story about how we adopted Kazuya," she said. Her eyes crinkled when she smiled, and for a brief moment, Seollal was reminded of the bright smiles that Kazu wore.

"I remember driving into the orphanage with my husband," she started, folding her hands on her lap. A mild breeze brought a scattering of leaves across their path. "We weren't planning to make any decisions that day but when I saw this small boy standing at the entrance with this bright smile on his face, I thought to myself, that's him."

She looked down at her hands, her features pulled into a tired smile. She settled down onto a bench before tilting her face to the canopy of leaves above. Seollal had taken the space beside her, her hands placed politely together.

"I wanted to talk to you because I'm worried about Decha. He won't come to us for help, I know that. He doesn't want us to worry. But in this pandemic, businesses are suffering."

Seollal cast her a glance, instantly recalling the worry lines on Kazu's face whenever he spoke to his bank manager. He didn't want to reveal too much to her; the extent of debt or near debt he was in was a situation he had cloaked behind the figures and financial details that flew over her head.

"His father has offered to help him financially," she went on. "But our Decha refused. He believes he needs to repay us. But that's not true. Of course, we are grateful that he has worked so hard all his life. He wants us to feel it was worth our efforts bringing him up. But he doesn't have to do anything like that. Even though his father wasn't too pleased at first when he left his job in law, he is still our son and we will support his dreams."