As I was mindlessly reading another mediocre romcom, my phone screen suddenly darkened, displaying an incoming call. Three big white letters displayed the caller's identity.
I declined her call and got out of bed. I already knew that she was calling me down for dinner, so there was no point in accepting.
The walk downstairs was… quiet, to say the least. It wasn't something heavy or awkward, just neutral—normal.
By the time I arrived at the dinner table, everyone had already taken their usual seats. There was no chatter and no small talk; only the *clinks* and *clangs* of the utensils as my family ate. And the only one missing... was me.
As I approached my seat, I quickly studied everyone's expressions. Dad was chewing with his mouth open, wearing an obnoxious, yet childish grin. Lily, who sat across from him, leaned back in visible disgust. Mom, who oversaw the whole thing at the head of the table, watched with a pleased, angelic smile.
I sat down in the same corner seat I always did. For dinner today, we had rice with some sort of chicken wing recipe that Mom made. I wouldn't call it grilled or crispy—just Mom's chicken.
Before I even managed to get comfortable, Mom got up and quickly prepared a bowl of rice for me. She passed it onto Dad, and without asking any questions, he took it from her and passed it to me.
Aside from the rice, everything was already set in front of me, including a pair of chopsticks and a napkin.
I grabbed my chopsticks, reached over for the plate of chicken wings at the center of the dinner table, and took three wings to my bowl.
I hated getting my hands dirty, so whenever I ate, I always used only two fingers: my thumb and index.
By the time I finished my first wing, I set the bones in the empty bowl that Mom had prepared at the center of the table and got up.
"Huh?!" Dad yelped in surprise, his mouth half-full. "Are you done already???"
"I don't know," I replied flatly, "Is my bowl empty?"
Dad and I glanced at my bowl at the same time. The bowl still had two untouched wings and two-thirds of the rice remaining.
His eyes returned to my face with a confused frown. "Then what are you standing up for?"
Suddenly, a soft, soothing giggle cut through the room. Dad, Lily and I all turned in its direction. Mom was covering her mouth, giggling happily to herself.
"You don't even know that, Honey? Don't you know anything about our Son?"
An offended, yet playful pout appeared on Dad's face.
"Noooo. I know a lot about my Son!" he insisted. "I just don't know why he's getting up."
Mom let out a small sigh. "He's getting up to wash his hands. He hates getting his hands dirty, so he always gets up when it becomes too much for him."
Mom turned to me, her smile unwavering. "Right, Son?"
I gave her a quick nod as I proceeded towards the kitchen sink. My fingers felt greasy and disgusting, so I wanted to wash them as fast as I could.
"What's the point of washing his hands if he's just going to come back and eat again?" Dad asked, genuinely trying to understand my thoughts.
"Right?!" Lily chimed in loudly. "He's just wasting water! And he's being dramatic! Sometimes I think he's the girliest one here."
I turned on the sink and ran my hands under the cool water.
"Now, now, everyone," Mom said evenly. "This is just who he is. There's no need to judge him. I think it's pretty funny."
After getting a quick rinse, I applied soap and gave my fingers a diligent scrub to rid myself of the grime completely.
Lily scoffed. "Really? Are you going to support this? I think you should tell him to man up!"
The soap began to bubble up in my hands, a pleasant aroma drifting to my nose.
Dad let out a loud, contagious giggle. "Hihihi. That's right! How is he supposed to be a man if he's scared of getting a little dirty?"
I gave my hands one last rinse.
Mom quietly set her chopsticks down right at the center of her bowl, leaving nothing but the softest of *clangs*. "Still, no matter how much we tell him, he won't change. So, instead, let's just say 'who cares'."
I turned off the sink and wiped my hands clean with a paper towel.
Dad and Lily turned to each other before bursting into a billowing laugh.
"Hahaha! You sound just like Hoshino, Mom! Are you trying to make fun of him or something?" Lily said in between gasps.
Mom picked up her chopsticks and grabbed a perfect portion of her rice with a soft giggle. "Maybe, but that's enough of that. Let's eat. Dinner will get cold if we wait too long."
Lily waited for her laughter to die down before continuing her dinner. Dad, meanwhile, listened to Mom right away.
By the time I sat back at the table, the usual atmosphere had returned.
I picked the next wing with the same two fingers I had just cleaned.
I stared absently at the wing, feeling the grease seeping into my skin as my thoughts drifted back to the conversation Mom, Dad and Lily had just had.
This wasn't the first time we'd had this dinner, and it wasn't the first time we'd had this conversation. It was one of the few times we actually talked during dinner. Every time without fail, Dad would be surprised and question me about my strange habits, Lily would jump in and support him, while Mom would laugh and try to defend me.
And for my last wing, it happened again.
Eventually, everyone finished dinner. We all put our bowls in the sink, and I washed my hands one final time.
Without saying anything else, I went upstairs and into my room. I was always the first one to leave, with Lily shortly after. Dad stayed behind downstairs, just like he always did.
I closed the door, turned off the lights, and spent the rest of the night mindlessly reading whatever it was I felt like at the moment.
Whenever I finished a page and moved onto the next, I'd forgotten what I just read and would have to go back to read it again—properly this time. This happened for the entire rest of the night.
Eventually, my eyes struggled to focus, and my consciousness began to slip away.
Instead of fighting it, I simply closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift off to sleep, welcoming the week ahead.
I had my work cut out for me starting from tomorrow. After all, the next time I woke up—
I'd be preparing for exams.