Counting on Stars // NCT Ten

House

"Hi, Mom," Byeol put the phone on speaker and set it on the counter, then pulled out her clip and tied her hair up. It was a few days later and, as usual, her mom was still at office way past work hours.

"Hi, Byeolie," Her mom replied back. Byeol could hear the underlying tones of stress behind the sweet demeanor she tries to put up around her only daughter. "Did you eat dinner yet?"

"I'm making it right now," She said as she pulled out a pot from one of the cabinets.

"What are you making?"

"Instant noodles. I'm too tired to make anything else." She admitted as she filled the pot with water.

"Oh, honey... you know those aren't good for you." Her mother said softly.

"I know, Mom." Byeol mumbled.

"If I was there, I'd surely make a wonderful dinner, but work has been really stressful and demanding..."

"I know, Mom." Once the water was boiling, she plopped the noodle cakes in. It wasn't new that her mother was staying late in her office, working on her computer or whatever. Once, she had fallen asleep at her desk and didn't even come home until the next evening.

"You know I love you, right?" Her mom said after a long silence. Byeol let out a small sigh.

"I know, Mom." She kept her voice steady as she mixed the flavorings. "When are you going to get home? I want to tell you about-"

"Oh, sorry Byeolie, I have to go now! I'm so sorry, I'll try to be home before midnight. I love you so much, sweetie. Bye!" And with that, the line went flat.

"... Bye, Mom." She mumbled. Her mother was always too busy for her. And her dad? In Germany, working day and night in his superior role in some big company. But Byeol didn't get it- what's the point of all that if you couldn't stay with the people you loved? Why pick such demanding jobs if you're getting nothing out of them?

She sighed and put some music on her phone to muffle out her thoughts. Once her food was done, she shifted it to a plate and sat on the couch with her favorite stuffed panda toy sitting next to her.

"At least I've got company, right, Bamboo?" She said to the panda, then felt stupid for talking to a toy. She rolled her eyes at herself and picked up her phone to scroll through her socials. Her entire Instagram feed was filled with posts from her friends from her old school. It's Thanksgiving break there, so almost everyone went to visit their family. She found one post from her best friend captioned, we miss you byeolie! and the picture was Byeol, her friend, and both of their mothers.

It's barely been a month since Byeol moved. She's still getting used to the new place and thinks about her old friends a lot. Looking at the picture, she felt her eyes stinging a bit. Byeol's best friend and Byeol's mom, the two people she's the most closest to, but she finally felt like she lost both of them- one to the move, and one to their work.

Byeol turned off her phone and wiped at her eyes, telling herself not to cry. It's not like that was going to change anything. She's just... going to have to get used to it. With those thoughts in mind, she put a random show on the television and made herself eat some food before she did some homework and went to sleep.

Down the street inside a big house, a small family of three were in the living room. The atmosphere was very tense. The son was sitting on the couch with his mother next to him as his father paced back and forth, rubbing his temples. The single child was giving his parents death glares while they complained on and on.

"I just don't get it, Ten," The father sighed, turning to his son. "You get good grades. Your teachers like you. Why do you want to ruin all of that for some measly dream?" Ten looked off to the side, his jaw set tight as colorful words ran through his mind.