I WILL TAKE YOU HOME

{6}

The next morning, Ni-ki's mom came over to his house. Eun Hee, who was in the kitchen, was surprised to see her. Ni-ki didn't want to let his mom inside, but she pushed him.

"Even if you refuse to acknowledge me as your mom, I'm still the one who gave birth to you. There's nothing you can do to stop me."

"What do you want?"

"I just came to visit my favorite lovely son. Is that not allowed?"

"Cut the small talk and just tell me why you're here."

"I just wants to know what your last decision. Don't waste time. All I want to hear is-"

"Still not giving up? I told you I'm not changing my mind."

"You know something bad will happen if you don't-"

"Then let it happen. My life, my choice."

"Ni-ki!"

"What?! Not agree with what I said? If you're not satisfied, get out!! Don't step in my house with your dirty feet! You're the one who changed me this much, and now you want to act nice like nothing happened? I'm not the weak person I used to be. I'm not a coward anymore, you're the coward!"

Eun Hee frowned as she watched the argument between mother and son, choosing to stay silent and not get involved. She pretended not to hear their conversation. Ms. Jang then walked toward Eun Hee.

"Do you like what's happening now? Since you showed up, everything's turned into chaos!!"

Eun Hee's eyes widened at Ms. Jang's shout. Her mind flashed back to her mother at home, who often yelled at her.

"Do someone cut your tongue? Why aren't you saying anything?!"

Eun Hee stayed quiet, staring at Ms. Jang, who was furious with her. Ms. Jang raised her hand, ready to slap Eun Hee, but Eun Hee quickly caught her wrist.

"What do you think you're doing?! Let go of my hand!"

"Why do you blame me for all this? Blame yourself for putting so much pressure on your son. How long are you going to control his life? He's an adult now, let him do what he wants. He deserves to be free in his own life."

Ni-ki was shocked to see Eun Hee standing up to his mom right in front of him. He felt proud.

"So, you've learned to fight back, huh?"

"I have my pride too! I don't like being yelled at and got stepped on my head. What's the point of trying to be nice and keep quiet if you just want to put me down? If you want to keep belittling me, I might as well fight back, right? Whether I stay silent or stand up for myself, you're still gonna blame me anyway!"

Eun Hee pulled Ms.Jang hand away from her grip.

"And you need to learn to respect your son's choices! In this cruel world not only the child who have problems with their parents, parents mess up too. Don't act like you're holy!"

"Watch out, dear. You've really made me angry. Your luck isn't gonna be good from now on."

Eun Hee hid her fear and tried not to look nervous because she didn't want Ni-ki to see her as weak. She genuinely wanted to help him through all this.