But...
Mom's expression changed.
For a moment, the boy stopped breathing.
Just when he thought Mom wouldn't answer him, she did.
Mom said she didn't know.
Maybe she would never come back.
He didn't dare ask any further.
He simply nodded.
Oh.
He actually had a lot he wanted to say to Mom.
But Mom's intense emotional changes earlier had frightened him.
Besides, Mom was very busy.
She always seemed to be in a bad mood.
He remembered what those grandparents, uncles, and aunties had told him.
They told him not to trouble Mom.
They said Mom was already very tired and had been working very hard.
He had to eat, sleep, and go to school obediently.
He had to do his homework carefully.
If he got good grades, Mom would be happy.
His eyes lit up when he heard that.
That's right.
He remembered that when he had first started school and got a perfect score on his first test, Mom... and Dad had both been so happy.
Dad had lifted him high into the air.
Mom had smiled beside them.
She had been especially gentle.
That day, to celebrate, Mom and Dad had taken him out for a big meal.
He didn't really remember where they had gone or what they had eaten that day.
He only remembered that Dad had been very happy, and Mom had been very happy.
He had been very happy too.
As he thought about it, his nose suddenly began to sting.
He tilted his head up.
Then he blinked a few times.
He had bombed the test.
His hands clenched the straps of his schoolbag tightly.
Thinking of the glaringly red test paper inside his bag, he felt terrible.
The students around him left while chatting and laughing.
Some