Chapter 7

After dinner, the family snuggled on the couch watching TV. My mother finally remembered me, whom she had abandoned in the wild.

Frowning, she opened Snapchat. It was filled with old messages I had sent her.

[Mom, it’s getting cold. Please dress warmly.]

[Mom, I bought you some vitamins. Remember to take them.]

[Mom, I cleaned the whole house. You don't have to worry about anything.]

But all this care and warmth was met with only one cold response from her.

[You are so annoying. Can you stop texting me? Don't you have your own life? Stop bugging me every day.]

That was our very last chat. For days, I hadn't sent her a single text.

My mother tossed her phone in front of my father, laughing mockingly.

"Look at your precious son. Quite the attitude, isn't he? Just because I scolded him a bit, he stops texting me to throw a silent tantrum. He hasn't even graduated yet, and he's already acting like this. What will happen when he grows up?"

She typed a few angry words, mocking me for being unfilial and having a big ego.

But before sending it, she deleted the draft with a look of disgust.

"He's just trying to force me to text him first. In his dreams! What a pathetic trick. Who does he think he is?"