I Couldn't Care Less

The Recollection

"Mom!!"

"Luhan!!"

Luhan hurriedly stepped inside the house, with his shoes still on, and hugged the small woman who had just opened the door. Not expecting the hug attack, his mother let out an adorable "Eeep," but nonetheless she hugged him back.

"I miss you," Luhan said as he pulled back and took a nice long look at his mother. He really did miss her.

His mother has always looked young for her age. She was a pale, dainty woman with short curly hair. Her delicate features becoming all the more brilliant when she smiles. Her smile was one of Luhan's favorite thing about his mother.

Seeing her smile at him, he felt like he was truly home.

"Take off your shoes," She ordered. Yup, he really was home.

"Aren't you too old to miss me?" She joked while inspecting him with her eyes, taking in his appearance. He knew she was checking for two things – whether or not he had gotten skinnier and whether he had any bodily injuries.

"You're never too old to miss your mom," Luhan declared as he hugged her again. She laughed and playfully gave him a pat on the . "But I am too old for pats," Luhan added. She ignored that and inspected him once again.

"Now tell me why you're really here." She gets straight to the point. Apparently, she did not believe him when he had explained over the phone. Call it mom intuition.

"I just wanted to see you. Honest," Luhan replied with a smile.

She raised a suspicious eyebrow. "You could just video chat me like you did before." His mother was determined to get the truth out of him one way or another.

Luhan sighed. "I-I needed to leave the city for awhile.....I felt overwhelmed and I...just wanted to see you."

"What happened? Why are you overwhelmed?" She asked, voice sounding clearly worried.

"School is just stressful, Mom, but now that I'm here, I feel like the stress has lifted itself from my shoulders," Luhan said with a smile.

Even though she was unconvinced, she decided to let it slide and led him into the kitchen, where there was a "welcome home" feast waiting for him. He took a look at all of the mouthwatering dishes, ready to hug his mother once again when he realized something was missing......Dessert.

"No chocolate pudding? No brownie? No strawberry cake?" He pouted.

She shook her head. "I know that when you're at school, you stuff yourself with all kinds of sweets, so you're not getting any more at home."

Aish. One of his least favorite things about his mother was her insistence on him cutting down on anything with sugar.

"Okay okay. Thanks Mom." He sat down and started eating. He had been hungry for hours, but it was all worth it when he took a bite of his mom's cooking. She watched him eat, occasionally ruffling his hair or demanding that he wipes his mouth.

After dinner, they sat on the couch and watched a tv show (her current favorite drama). Every time the show went to a commercial break, she would ask him about school, his new house, his friends and roommates and Luhan would answer her, only to be cut off as soon as the drama came back on.

Not able to focus on the show, Luhan started looking around the small living room, seeing if anything changed since the last time he was here.

On the small table against the wall where his mother kept all the photos in gold glittery frames, he spotted a family photo. His stomach did a flip, but not like the way it does when he's near the person he likes. It was an ominous feeling.