After a moment of staring at him across the table, Hyuna finally sighed.
The sharp look in her eyes softened as she stood up from her chair and walked around the table toward him. Doyeon barely had time to react before she wrapped one arm around his head and pulled him gently against her side, her hand resting on his hair.
"Sweety…" she murmured softly. "You know you can stay here."
Her fingers brushed lightly through his hair as she continued.
"And honestly? Like I care about those ghost things."
Doyeon lowered his gaze slightly.
Before he could say anything, Hyuna suddenly grabbed his cheeks with both hands and squeezed them, forcing his face upward until he was looking directly at her.
"And in two days," she continued calmly, "it's your second year of college."
Her eyes narrowed just a little.
"Where exactly are you living right now?"
A small pause.
"And how did you even end up broke?"
Her voice softened again, but the question didn't lose its weight.
"How much money do you even have left?"
Doyeon hesitated.
Then—
As he subtly tried to slide his phone deeper into his pocket, Hyuna moved faster.
Her hand shot forward and snatched the phone right out of his pocket.
"Hey—" Doyeon reached out instinctively.
But he stopped halfway.
(She doesn't even know the password… so it's fine, I guess…) He thought to himself.
Then—
Ting!
The phone unlocked.
Doyeon slowly turned his head.
"ಠᴥಠ…"
Hyuna, meanwhile, was grinning proudly as she held the phone.
"There's no mom who doesn't know everything about her son," she said smugly. "Tsk tsk."
Hyuna moved through the phone with surprising confidence, her fingers tapping the screen like someone who had done this many times before.
And… unfortunately It only took a few seconds for her to reach the banking app, and without hesitation she opened it.
And then she froze.
Her thumb stopped moving.
Her eyes locked onto the screen, unmoving, as if the numbers had suddenly turned into something unbelievable.
For a moment she didn't say anything at all. She just stared, completely silent, her glasses reflecting the faint glow of the phone.
Doyeon noticed the sudden stillness and slowly leaned a little closer.
Hyuna didn't react.
Instead, she slowly pulled a chair over with her foot and sat down beside him, still staring at the screen like she was trying to make sure what she was seeing wasn't some kind of mistake. Her gaze dropped to the number again.
Then again.
"ಠᴥಠ…"
Finally, she turned the phone slightly toward him.
"What the hell is this, Doyeon?"
On the screen, the balance sat there without mercy.
₩278,010
Doyeon scratched the back of his head awkwardly, his shoulders lifting in a small shrug as if that number wasn't nearly as tragic as it looked.
"Uh…"
He coughed lightly.
"Yeah… I'm kinda broke, Mom."
For a moment, Hyuna didn't respond.
Her face stayed completely still, her eyes fixed on the screen.
Then—
Her shoulders began to tremble.
"M-mom?" Doyeon asked cautiously, leaning forward a little.
Hyuna sniffed softly, her grip around the phone tightening slightly as she stared at the screen a moment longer. When she finally lifted her head, her eyes were beginning to glisten, the faint shine of forming tears visible behind her round glasses.
Doyeon blinked when he noticed.
Her expression had changed.
The earlier confusion was gone, replaced by something softer… and a little sadder. She looked at him quietly for a second, her lips pressing together as if she was trying to keep herself composed.
"Sweetheart…" she murmured, her voice suddenly much gentler than before.
The next second she leaned forward and pulled him into another tight hug, wrapping both arms around him like she was trying to hold something fragile together.
"Just stay here," she mumbled softly into his shoulder, her voice shaking a little. "Let's forget all those paranormal things about you… and just live here."
Doyeon blinked in surprise as she held him close.
Hyuna sniffed again before pulling back slightly, her hands still on his shoulders as she quickly wiped the corners of her eyes.
"Oh my god…" she muttered with an embarrassed little laugh, shaking her head. "I'm so sensitive."
But even as she said that, she leaned forward again and hugged him once more, holding him quietly for a moment longer.
When she finally spoke again, her voice had become softer.
Quieter.
"Sorry for your mom being like this…"
She sniffed once more, rubbing her nose lightly before continuing.
"You know… since your dad died in that accident seventeen years ago… things were really hard."
Her hand moved slowly across his back, gently patting him as if she were comforting him instead of the other way around.
"For a long time… I couldn't even push myself to do anything," she admitted quietly. "Every day just felt… heavy."
She paused, taking a slow breath as her fingers tightened slightly against his shirt.
"But thanks to you…" she continued, her voice warming a little, "I found the strength to keep going."
Her expression softened as she looked at him again, though her eyes were still a little red.
"You were the reason I got up every morning. The reason I kept cooking, working, cleaning… all of it."
She smiled faintly.
"And then a few months ago… actually… it's almost a year."
Her gaze drifted downward.
"After that strange night… you started leaving the house more and more."
A quiet pause filled the space between them.
"And before I even realized it," she continued softly, "you had already packed all your things and left."
Doyeon hesitated.
For a moment he didn't know what to say.
Then he slowly lifted his hand and awkwardly patted her back, his movements stiff but sincere as he tried to return the comfort she had given him.
"Yeah… sorry, Mom."
Doyeon looked away slightly as he said it, his gaze drifting toward the table instead of meeting her eyes. His fingers rubbed the back of his neck in that familiar, awkward habit of his.
"I just didn't want something to happen to you."
For a moment, Hyuna simply stared at him.
Her expression changed slowly as the words settled in. The softness in her eyes flickered, replaced by something sharper— something almost annoyed.
Then suddenly—
"Fuck that shit."
Doyeon froze.
His head snapped back toward her so fast his chair creaked.
"W-what?"
He blinked rapidly, clearly more shocked by that sentence than by half the paranormal things he had seen recently.
"M-mom… you cuss?"
Hyuna immediately covered her mouth, but it was already too late. A quiet laugh slipped out of her as her shoulders shook slightly.
She leaned forward and planted another quick kiss on his cheek before sitting back again, smiling like nothing strange had just happened.
"Sorry, sorry," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "I just got carried away."
Her finger reached out and lightly poked his forehead.
"You didn't expect your sweet mommy to swear, did you?"
Doyeon stared at her for a second longer before a quiet chuckle escaped him.
"Yeah… I really didn't."
The heavy atmosphere from earlier slowly melted away after that.
Soon the two of them were eating properly, the table gradually getting messier as they moved from one dish to another. Their conversation wandered everywhere— college stories, small bits of neighborhood gossip, random memories from when Doyeon was younger.
At one point he nearly slipped and mentioned that he'd been living in a tiny basement room recently— and that he still hadn't paid the rent.
The words almost came out.
He caught himself at the last second.
Doyeon quietly stuffed another bite of food into his mouth instead.
(Yeah… maybe Mom doesn't need to know that part.)