Citrus+

Chapter 19

Nayeon continued to cry until she heard the front door opened. She didn't notice it was already 2 in the morning and her mother came in to her room.

"Nayeon? Oh god, sweetie, what happened?" Mrs. Im softly asked as soon as she saw Nayeon crying on the floor while leaning on the edge of the bed. She noticed a crumpled notebook beside Nayeon and a worn-out paper on her hand. She reached for it and realized it was Jeongyeon's letter.

"E-eomma..." Nayeon weakly said and Mrs. Im took the cue to hug her wailing daughter. She held her tightly while caressing her hair as she whispered comforting words.

When Nayeon calmed down, her mother pulled her up to the bed. "Do you want me to sleep with you?" Mrs. Im asked and Nayeon nodded.

Nayeon laid down on her bed as she snuggled herself in her mother's embrace. It's been a long time since they slept like this. When she was young, whenever she had nightmares, she would always come to her parents' room and sleep between them. But she stopped after her father died and they became awkward. Mrs. Im started to drink every night and get herself drunk. Nayeon didn't want to sleep with her drunk mother, so she endured her nightmares until she got used to it.

Not until Jeongyeon moved in with them. She haven't had nightmares when she sleeps every night as if Jeongyeon scared it away. Her nightmares only came back when Jeongyeon left. And because of that, she endured them again like she used to.

Nayeon felt really comfortable for the first time after three years now that she was embraced by her mother to sleep. Feeling her mother caressing her hair, she drifted into her dreamland.

~~~~

When Nayeon woke up, Mrs. Im was not beside her anymore. She figured her mother was preparing for breakfast. She checked the time and it was almost noon, which means her mother already left for work. When she stood up, she felt a pang on her head, probably because of crying all night.

Nayeon expected that she'd be alone, but to her surprise, Mrs. Im was there, cooking food at the kitchen, wearing her most casual clothes and her favorite hot pink apron.

"Good morning, bub! Lunch is almost ready." Mrs. Im greeted and Nayeon looked at her with puffy eyes, confused.

"W-why are you still here, eomma? I thought you have work?" Nayeon asked as she rubbed her eyes and regretted doing so.

"How can I go to work when my baby is not feeling well? I took a leave since I overtimed last night to finish my works for today."

She served what she cooked on the table and Nayeon sat down after arranging their plates. Mrs. Im sat in front of her and they started to eat silently. They were exchanging awkward sighs and glances while eating.

Nayeon puts down her chopsticks, indicating that she finished eating, and looked at her mother. She finally spoke, "Thank you, eomma." It was intended not only for the food, but also about last night.

"No problem, sweetie. Was it delicious? I only learned that recipe recently, so I don't know if I did well."

"It was delicious, eomma, but... I'm talking about last night." Nayeon looked away.

"Oh. Yeah it's fine, Nayeonie. If you're ready to talk about it, I'll listen." Mrs. Im started to clean the table while Nayeon remained sitting. It was silent for a moment, until Nayeon spoke.

"Eomma." She called and Mrs. Im turned to her. "There's... there's a lot of things that I need to say."

Her mother finished wiping the table and sat back down in front of her. "I understand." She reached for her daughter's hand and smiled before standing up again. "I'll make some tea."