Trouvaille ~A 2min fanfic~

~14~

It was around midnight by the time I reached my apartment. I quietly swung open the front door, fully knowing that my mom would be asleep at this time and even if she wasn't asleep, she would be drunk out of her mind. 

But tonight, to my surprise, it was none of the above. 

As  I opened the door, she turned her attention towards me and then back to whatever she was doing. 

"Hey, you're back. How was your day?" She asked, still doing whatever she was doing. 

"Why do you care?" I asked and she sighed. "Come and look at what I'm doing." She said and I scoffed.

"Yeah, no. I'm tired." I spat back but just before I was about to enter my room and slam the door, I stopped in my tracks.

"Don't you wanna see how your dad looked like?" 

I have never seen who my father was. Apparently, he passed away when I was really small. I don't know how though. She didn't tell me. 

I turned around, making my way around the couch to find my mom surrounded by a bunch of photo albums with a soju bottle and a glass. I placed myself on the couch and peeked over her shoulder to glance over the photographs. 

"That's your dad and you." She pointed at one of the photographs before handing it to me.

It was a photograph of a beach as my father held me in his arms, I was a newborn baby, so small that his big arms almost hid me. I can be pretty confident in the fact that my looks are definitely from my father while my nose is of my mom's. 

"And this is our only family photograph." She handed another photo of me that was taken in a living room on a couch as my parents held me up in the air as they kissed each of my cheeks. 

We were a happy family. 

"You were one year old in that one." A smile appeared on her lips as she flipped through the other photos. 

My father seemed like a tall 30 something man, he seemed healthy and well-groomed. So did my mother. She looked so much happier and pulled together. 

Where did everything go so wrong?

"Mom... What happened?" I asked, hesitantly as she closed one of the albums and took a sip from her glass. "It was an accident. He passed away in a car crash." She said as the smile faded from her lips.

"His family was horrible. After he passed away, they took away everything from me because it was their son's. Leaving me nothing but you. My parents passed away when I was young so I had no one to go back to, so I was left with no other choice but to take care of you by working hard." She said as a tear rolled down her cheek but she wiped it away from the back of her hand. 

I didn't know what to say, to be honest. I felt bad for my mom for the first time. She had lost the person she loved the most and had to raise me up all alone.

"But I screwed up there as well." She left a dry chuckle as my glance fell on the ground "Why didn't you tell me all this before?" I asked and she shrugged "You were too young to know. Now, you need to know, Taetae."

It's been so long since she called me that. 

"I didn't need money or anything... I needed you." I said "I could've worked, Mom. If only you were there to support me and gave me enough love." I continued as she smiled, placing her hand on my lap. 

"I didn't want you to. I always wanted to be the perfect mother but somehow I lost track on the way." She said, taking a soju shot. 

She poured a glass of soju and placed it in front of me. "I'm underaged." I pointed out as she glared at me with disbelief "You want me to believe that you didn't drink even once?" She said and I left out a chuckle "Well, aren't you supposed to?" I said as she smiled.