Page 54 of Force Play
“Why are you awake again, Eomma?”
I hear my mom laugh from the other end of the phone. “No sleep.”
I’m grateful we’re speaking in English since my Korean isn’t as sharp as it used to be, but my mom does struggle with her wording still sometimes.
“That’s because you go to bed at like seven,” I chuckle, gritting my teeth against the bitter cold.
“I’m old, Jae-Hyun.”
I scoff. “Eomma, you’re fifty-five. That’s still firmly middle-aged.”
“But not young,” she replies, tone light and happy.
It’s hard for me to not be happy, too, when I’m talking to her.
“You’re practically a spring chicken.”
“Spring… chicken?”
I can’t help but laugh. “It’s an American phrase. A spring chicken is young.”
“I think winter chicken then.”
“You’re ridiculous.” I shake my head but still smile.
“But you laugh,” she says now, and I can hear the pride in her voice. “My job done.”
I finally make it to my building, and I feel myself thawing as I step into the lobby and head for the elevator. “You have any plans today?”
“I read.” I can hear her flipping through the pages of her book. I get my love of reading from my mom, though she’s not really a romance reader.
“Another mystery book?” I ask, stepping onto the elevator and pressing the button for the top floor.
“Yes.”
“Let me know how it is then. Maybe I’ll read it after I finish the book I’m reading right now.”
“Oh yes, you love it,” my mom says happily. It’s almost like I can feel the warmth of her smile through the phone, and it helps her feel less far away.
The elevator dings, and the doors open, so I step off onto my floor, heading to my penthouse door. I precariously perch one cup of coffee on top of the other while I fish my keys out of my pocket, hoping that I don’t drop them.
Thankfully, I manage to open my front door without incident.
“I miss you,” I sigh, walking into my kitchen and setting the coffees down on the counter.
“Miss you, too, Jae-Hyun. You home now?”
“Yeah, just got back,” I reply, watching as Lucia comes to join me in the kitchen.
“I let you go then. We talk soon. I love you.”
“Love you, too, Eomma. Talk to you soon.”
I hang up the call and set my phone down, looking over at my roommate still wearing Knox’s fucking jersey.
Did she do it to annoy me? Yes.
Isit annoying me? Hell yes.
