STUDY BUDDIES. | hajeongwoo

24.

"im fine mom," he uttered, answering the recent question his mom has thrown.

his mother was sitting rather carefully at the ginormous couch across from him, an expensive brand of tea placed right in front of her for her to drink as they continue their chat.

he saw how his mom take a sip at the tea in an elegant way, putting it back to its place, before looking at her and putting a generic smile. his family's etiquettes never cease to amaze him.

"well, that's good to hear. im glad you came today, we have to discuss about something," she snapped her fingers for cue as she stated her sentence.

but hearing his mother's way of talking, haruto thought of something unusual to his hearing; his mom speaking to him in korean.

he will never be comfortable of having a conversation with his parents, or any member in the family in korean. and if by chance, having to talk using the foreign language for a long time never happened especially on informal gatherings like this.

"mom, you can talk to me in japanese," he excused, stating it rather casually with brows creased as he take a sip of his tea.

bitter, he thought, wondering why his parents were always obssessing over expensive tea brands when they don't even taste great.

he heard his mom's guffaws echoes around the whole living room, finding his statement funny when it wasn't really the case.

"right, im sorry dear," her mother chuckles, ceasing her laughter while now speaking in japanese.

suddenly haruto felt an odd feeling of relief, knowing that they're talking as a family and not as business persons who would talk in korean with the topic of unendless business related stuffs.

haruto nodded in agreement, accepting her apology without giving much of a second thought.

"why do you want me here?" he uttered, acting as if he didn't know anything, motives as opaque as he could mask up.

bravado was crumbling because he knew so damn well that that would be the topic once again, and would always be whenever he gets called to come in their estate.

"the situation's getting worse," her mother started, heaving a dramatic and heavy sigh as she paused her statement. "if this keeps going our business might go downhill, and theirs too!"

haruto pressed his lips into a thin line as he remained silent and behaved.

he knew he act like he should care, like he should be worried and panic just like how her mom has always been whenever their business is prone to predicaments like these. but the thought of it was ambiguous to him.

if they fail to manage the business or might even be bankrupt, they could start again without caring for money. without being a worrywart when it comes to work and neglect their responsibilities as a parent, that is.

"we've sent one of the most skilled and professional doctor to check and stabilize her condition. luckily she's been holding on well," her mom continued the rant, coming off as calm while uttering the last sentence.

luckily, but uncertain, he thought, knowing that maybe one day there would come a time where she had to let go and stop the fight for whatever illness she could have to arrive to her death bed at such an early time.

haruto nodded, trying to get along with the good news, but couldn't actually care much as he could. his focus wasn't on their dilemma, her mom's rants, but to that someoneㅡpark jeongwoo.

rather peculiar and irrelevant as he could say, wondering why he's the only one occupying his mind when he should have been a worried person for their business is at stake.

"come visit her on the 26th," her mom blurted, leaning her back at the couch, arms crossed as she inhaled for a moment before continuing. "you should even visit her everyday, are you that busy with your tutor lessons?"

haruto mentally rolled his eyes at her mother's suggestion. slightly scoffing, he talked tp himself inside that mind of his. of course not, can't she see im busy?

but being respectful enough to answer her mother, haruto politely shrugged the sentence and said that he was busy with tutoring lessons with jeongwoo and focusing to his studies.

although he wasn't paying attention to anything mentioned, and he was vacant enough to cancel his useless coping and visit her. but that wasn't the case, he does not want to visit her, and had no plans in doing so.

heaving another sigh, her mother nodded in forced understanding.

naive enough to not notice his own son's motives, haruto silently celebrated inside his mind. "but visit her on the 26th. she's waiting," her mother added in condition.

not so bad, he thought. at least he got out of the idea of visiting her everyday when he had no intention to do so.

but saying that he did not care even for the slightest bit doesn't seem to fit in to his thought. he does, but not much to the point where he had to be so overly worried.

ㅡ
trash chapter, sorry.