翁公和媛媛在厨房里猛烈进出

Upon entering the shop, one of my classmates paid for a huge room before leading us in.

Watching my fellow classmates sit down, order drinks, and eagerly look for songs on the iPad like this was an everyday thing, I felt a tinge of jealousy inside me.

Why had I been holed up in my room, studying this whole time, while they had been enjoying life to the fullest?

Laughing alongside my classmates as I watched my friends try their best to sing, all thoughts and doubts about returning home disappeared.

When I was handed the iPad, I asked my classmate beside me for a recommendation before looking at the screen with the lyrics and trying my best to sing.

"haha, Silas, why is your voice so monotone?"

"Show some emotion, will ya, haha."

"Hey, ignore them, Silas; your singing was much better than whatever bat screech came out of Kang\'s mouth."

"Kai, if we\'re talking about singing skills, then you\'re at the very bott-"

Picking up a melon cream drink before me, I saved its sweet taste while watching the next person in line sing.

"HEY SILAS, LET\'S DO A TRIO!"

"YEAH, ME, YOU AND KANG!"

Putting down my melon drink, I headed to the front stage of the karaoke room where my two friends, Kang and Kai, were waiting.

*BZZT~BZZT*

Feeling a vibration from my phone in my pocket, I hesitated momentarily, thinking whether I should check the message.

How was I going to explain this to my mom? What was she going to say? What was my punishment going to be?

"SILAS, GET OVER HERE!"

Snapping me out of my thoughts, I felt my adrenaline surge as everyone in the room glanced at me from Kang\'s shout.

I\'ll worry about it later.

Following Kang up to the stage, I picked up a microphone alongside my two friends and began singing the lyrics off the screen.

As I saw my classmates clapping and laughing while watching the three of us sing, all thoughts about returning home disappeared.

For the next three hours, I stayed in the karaoke room, laughing and enjoying my free time with my friends.

As people slowly started to leave to head home, I stayed, intending to savor every moment of this time.

I already knew my mother would punish me when I got home, so why wouldn\'t I enjoy this time to the fullest now?

As the sun fell and nighttime arrived, I was left in the karaoke room with my two friends, Kai and Kang.

Upon seeing those two finally getting ready to leave, I decided that this had gone on long enough, so I also departed from the karaoke room.

In the darkness of the night, I used my phone to navigate my way out of the unfamiliar area and back to my house.

Reaching my house\'s front door, I hesitated momentarily at the door before deciding to accept my fate.

There was no possible way for me to excuse my way out of not showing up until this late at night.

Unlocking the door with my key, I creaked it open slightly, expecting to see my mother\'s anxious and angry figure; however, she was nowhere to be seen.

After opening the door fully, I entered the house, which seemed empty, as all the hallway lights were off.

Was I really going to get away with this?

Heading to the kitchen next to my room, I noticed the light was on, so I peeked inside from the hallway.

Seeing my dad anxiously pacing back and forth in the kitchen, I immediately thought I was caught.

Realizing that the chances of me falling asleep were zero as I would be too scared of punishment, I entered the kitchen, ready to tell my dad everything.

*CLOMP~CLOMP*

As the sound of my footsteps entered the kitchen, my dad immediately turned around and looked at me for a moment.

Accepting my fate, I waited for the anger and frustration to pour out of his mouth; however, none came.

Instead, a barrage of questions immediately exploded from my dad\'s mouth.

"Where were you? Where\'s your mother? Did she send you back here? Where is she? She is not picking up her cell, and you weren\'t either."

Realizing I had completely shut off my cell after the first few vibrations, I took it out of my pocket and confusedly answered my dad\'s question.

What was all this stuff about Mom?

"I-i was with my friends at a Cherokee place... I didn\'t see mom at all. Where is she?"

Rather than being outraged at my confession of guilt, my dad simply paused momentarily before grabbing a sticky note off the counter and showing it to me.

[Honey, I\'m sure where Silas is... he\'s not picking up his cell. I\'m going to the school to look for him. If I\'m not back by then time you\'re here, dinner is in the fridge. If Silas somehow arrives before me, please tell him that his Takoyaki plate is in the fridge.]

It was ten a clock... where could she be right now?

As thousands of thoughts rushed through my head, only one emerged.

I have to find her...It was my fault; she left.

She even took the time out of her already work-filled day to prepare my snack while I was enjoying Cherokee...

A snack that she knew I didn\'t even eat...

What if she had gotten into danger while looking for me...?

Reget.

Tons of regret instantly flooded into my head.

Why couldn\'t I take a single second to check my phone and let her know I was with friends...?

She spent her entire life, day in and day out, caring for me, cooking me, taking care of me, and helping me... yet I couldn\'t spare a second for her.

Unable to articulate the words coming out of my mouth due to my head\'s chaos, I spit out.

"t-the Cherokee shop, s-she\'s there."

If she had gone to school, she would have found out from the teachers that I had left with my classmates for the shop, so she would have had to be there.

With my father trailing slightly behind me, I rushed to the train station and took the train back to the shop.

Camping the doors, I jumped off the train as soon as the doors opened and rushed toward the shop.

Nearing the intersection where the shop stood, I looked around before immediately noticing my mother standing in the middle of the crosswalk while frantically looking around.

All this time, she had still been searching for me... more than five hours straight.

Realizing that my voice alone wouldn\'t reach her due to all the noise from others, I frantically waved my hands around, trying to catch her attention while yelling as well.

"MOM! IT\'S ME; I\'M HERE!"

"MOM"

Hearing my yelling, I saw my mother pause before looking at my area and spotting my flailing hands; I sighed in relief.

Did the punishment even matter anymore?

As my mother made eye contact with me, stopping in place, I rushed towards her, ready to profusely apologize and thank her.

However, the light next to the crosswalk turned green at that moment.

Whether the driver was distracted or intoxicated, he failed to notice my mother still standing in the middle of the crosswalk as his truck surged forward.

"MOMMM"

"MOMMM GO"

No matter how loud I screamed, my mother kept her eyes on me, a single tear falling from her right eye as she stared at me... completely oblivious to the oncoming truck.

Not hesitating for a second, I sprinted to the start of the crosswalk, diving forward right at my mother with my arms pointed forward.

None of the stares I received for yelling loudly or the people passing by mattered at that moment.

There were all blurs beside the clear figure of my mom right in front of the truck.

At that moment, there was only my Mom and I.

Feeling the palms of my extended hands touch my mother\'s soft jacket, all my worries faded.

Still mid-air from the dive, I smiled as I saw my mother fall back away from the truck and onto the sidewalk.

I never did apologize to her for sneaking out, did I?

That\'s why I needed to get back to Earth.

To apologize.

That\'s all I needed and wanted to do.

Ah, how I would die for a plate of takoyaki now...

[A/N: Hope this helps you understand Ren better. This is not the end of his backstory; there will be many more flashbacks in the future, so don\'t worry if you have questions.]