Never tell (Yeonbin)

0.2

  "How was school?"

When he shut the door behind him the first thing he heard was his mother.

"It was good yeah." He shrugged, taking off his hood as he was inside. "But ma why are you home so early, shouldn't you still be at work?"

The woman smiled down into the pot she was mixing and nodded once. "They let me go early, since it's your first day back at school I wanted to be home to make dinner."

  "You didn't have too though, I know how to feed myself." He shrugged, eyes peering towards her.

"Just let me be your mom ya? I never get to take care of you anymore."

An awkward silence filled the air between them before she spoke again.

"It's almost ready now, how about you go wash up and then help me set the table hmm?"

"Okay mom" He agreed with what she had suggested and then headed up stairs towards his room.

He stepped into the bathroom connected to his bed room, splashing his face with cold water. He reached for the cotton towel and dabbed it lightly on his skin, now staring into his reflection.

He resembled his father, he found it hard to look at himself because of this.

   "Fuck" he breathed out while rolling down his head to stair at the floor once more. His throat felt dry and itchy from with in. His eyes stung red and he found himself hiccuping and choking on his sorrows. He didn't want anyone to hear him in pain. He didn't want them to know how  vulnerable he truly is.

~~

Yeonjun walked down the set of stairs in different clothes. Standing at the bottom step, he watched his mother toss carrots into the pot.

"What's on the menu?" He asked as he took his seat.

His mothers smile was wide while she set his bowel in front of him before making one for herself.

"You sound just like dad, every night he'd ask me the same thing, 'what's on the menu tonight?'" She chuckled once again, shaking her head as she took her spot on the end.

"It's Doenjang jiigae. Your father's favorite, and I think it's perfect now that the seasons are changing."

Yeonjun looked down into his soup, spinning his spoon around lightly. "You haven't mentioned dad much."

  "It's hard too. I've been worried of upsetting you and- and well- myself of course." Her voice cracked as she spoke, and her bottom lip stuck out while it quivered. Her eyes began to feel heavy as did the weight in the room.

The rest of their meal shared, Yeonjun was forced to listen to his mothers weeps. His heart went out to her even though his own sat just as heavy.

He didn't move from his spot. He counted to gaze into his cold bowel of soup, counting to ten, feeling pure numbness wash over him.

        ~~~

"Welcome in class, did everyone have a good lunch?"

The biology teacher asked as the kids flooded in through the door.

He then proceeded to take roll when his eyes schemed over a name "Yeonjun?" He looked up, silence filled the room.

"Hmm, already absent on just the second day.. does anyone know where Yeonjun might be?"

   The teachers eyes peered around, waiting for an answer when they landed on a boy with light brown hair who looked to have something to say but was bitting his tongue.