.·°¯°·.¸.->Autumn Leaves<-.¸.·°¯°·.

11

There they sat, an awkward dinner party that was meant to be the highlight of their somewhat uneventful week. Honestly, Hyeri and Jay had been really looking forward to the well planned event, but then it happened.

-

Hyeri had just returned from grocery shopping when she felt her phone chime.

"Mum? I've been trying to call you for ages... Where were you?" Hyeri, who was filled with energy from seeing her mum, requested a video call.

Her mum, ofcourse, accepted.

"Sorry baby." Hyeri saw her mum, dark circles under her eyes, frail body and messy hair. Her condition was not good.

"We've been working non-stop. A boy from the group I work with went missing recently, so the companies been a mess." Her mum explained.

"You'd think a lockdown would prompt Hybe to let us all rest, but the show must go on. I guess." Her mum took a sip of her coffee, indulging in its rich taste.

Some background information: the business Hyeri's mum worked in was relating to the idol industry.

Honestly, Hyeri didn't know much, it was company policy. Hyeri's mum was prohibited to tell Hyeri of certain details, like which group she worked with, what her schedule would look like and when Hyeri's mum would be free to communicate with her daughter.

This elicited a lot of problems. Sometimes, Hyeri's mum would go AWOL with no notice for weeks on end, only to return home with an apology cake and sometimes, Hyeri wouldn't be able to reach her mother, no matter what dire situation she was placed in (This lead to Hyeri practically being adopted into Yunjins family, but that's a story for another time)

"That sucks mum, I hope you get the rest you need soon." Hyeri said genuinely, propping the phone on the fruit bowl to give her mum a clear view of what she was doing.

"That's a lot of food baby, it looks like it'll last you a month." Hyeri's mum commented.

"Yeah, well, I don't really wanna go out under these circumstances, so I might as well hoard food." Hyeri said, letting the lie role off her tongue effortlessly.

Just then, the bathroom door opened.

"Hyeri, are you back?" Jay called loudly.

Everything froze.

Shit.

Hyeri may not have told her mum about her visitor.

The startled girl slowly turned her head to the phone, looking for a reaction. Only to be met with her mum's confused gaze.

Her mum had steam blowing out of her ears and nose at this point.

"Hyeri. I know damn well that wasn't Yunjin. Or her brother. Who was that?" Her mum demanded.

"NOOOOOO." Hyeri internally moaned. Don't get her wrong, the girl was old enough to make decisions for herself, and her mother knew that too. But the situation looks very suspicious.

"Umm, mum?" Hyeri said, ready to explain herself, when an oblivious Jay walked into the kitchen, headphones blasting music. He clearly didn't hear Hyeri's mum on the phone, nor did he notice the ongoing video call.

"That's a lot of food, I can easily impress you with my skills tonight." Jay teasingly smirked, taking off his headphones.

"-why are you kicking me-" he kept going, looking at all the groceries, when his eyes landed on the phone.

Hyeri's mums eyes widened.

Jays eyes widened.

Hyeri looked like she shat.

This was awkward.

After a long pause, resulting in nervous perspiration, Hyeri's mum spoke up.

"Hyeri, could you please give the phone to J-" she paused

"-The young man? I'd like to talk to him alone."  She continued.

Hyeri, the obedient girl, passed her phone to Jay, not wanting to imagine what was about to go down. Jay accepted the phone and entered his room, making sure to close the door behind him.

About half an hour later, he returned.

"Your mum wants to talk to you." He said, not meeting Hyeri's eyes.

Hyeri took the phone and ran to her room, ready to explain everything.

"Mum, I swear, he's trustworthy and nothing weird is going on. He just needed a place to stay when corona started and I offered. I promise, nothing's going on." Hyeri rambled.

"-Hyeri stop. I trust you, it's ok." Hyeri's mum interrupted.

"B-but what?"

"It just so happens that I Know him. And I trust him. But Hyeri, why did you wait two weeks to tell me about him?" Hyeri's mum questioned.

"I thought we were close, I thought you knew about telling me important things like these." Hyeris mum continued.

"I swear, I was getting around to telling you. But you weren't answering your phone anyways, so it was difficult to get in touch with you." Hyeri calmly explained, feeling the anger rise up.

"Hyeri, you could have messaged me."

"Mum, you weren't going to see it anyways. You had no time for the past 2 weeks to call me, what difference would it have made? You're finding out now anyways." Hyeri shot back.

"I know, but I would have felt more comfortable-"

"Mum, I really don't wanna fight right now."

"My responsibilty as a mother means I have to take care of you-"

"You're hardly present in my life." Hyeri shot back.

A look of pure hurt reflected on Hyeri's mums face.

Honestly, Hyeri knew she had hit a nerve she didn't mean to hit.

Her single mother had done everything in her power to make sure Hyeri lived a comfortable life, even if it meant that they wouldn't see eachother for small periods of time.

When Hyeri's mum was accepted into Hybe, a big company, the family knew that they had hit the jackpot. They could live their lives in comfort, knowing that Hyeri's university fund was going to be taken care of, knowing that they could move into a bigger, spacious apartment and knowing  that Hyeri would have the comfort of choosing what she wanted to do with her life, leaving behind the financial strain they had once carried.

Hyeri knew that sacrifices had to be made in order to make sure that they were where they were today.

"Ok. How about we talk tomorrow then. I love you, ok?" Hyeri's mum whispered, ending the call.

This action made Hyeri feel 10 times worse.

Then she cried into her pillow for 43 minutes straight, guilt eating her away.