“Try to get some sleep, close your eyes.” I tuck HyeRin into her bed tonight. After what seems to be another awkward conversation between us earlier.

“Ng, goodnight.” She follows my order and closes her eyes.

I get up and walk toward her door when she stops me from leaving. “Oppa, tomorrow is my birthday, can I ask a present from you?”

I turn around and sit on her bed again, “What can I do for you, HyeRin-a? Please tell me.”

“I don’t know what I need yet, I’ll think of something.” She winks playfully.

“I thought you already have something you want in your mind.” I move my hand to pinch her nose.

“Originally I wanted you to be around for my birthday, but you’re here already. So I need to think of another gift.”

“Arraseo, you think of your gift carefully.” I mess with her hair before I get up, “go to sleep now and I don’t want your tantrum tomorrow morning because of what happened tonight.”

“I won’t be angry at you because of my mistake again, I promise.”

“Sleep tight, HyeRin-a.”

I close her bedroom door and immediately head out to the barn. It’s almost twelve and I haven’t checked on Park IlShik work at the barn. He’s supposed to decorate it with banners and prepare a birthday cake for her also.

“You’re here, come and help me with the balloons.” He greets me by handing me a hand pump and a bunch off balloons to work on.

“What’s the plan again?”

“You will wake her up, telling her that you cannot find me. You have to make her panic, and the last resort you have is to take her here—to the barn—and say “maybe he’s in there”. Once she opens the door the light will be on and the balloons and confetti will fall, we both we’ll shout “SURPRISE” and sing her a happy birthday song.” He’s almost jump out of excitement.

“Samchon, is this your first time to surprise her during her birthday?” I laugh at him, the way he plan this surprise is like a father waiting to surprise his ten year old kid.

“Truthfully, I never held any surprise party before. It’s just the two of us, how crowded would it be. Since she lives with me, on her birthday I usually wake her up by midnight, cook something for her while she’s opening her presents.”

“What kind of presents you gave her?”

“Anything related with her favorite stripes cartoon—Calvin and Hobbes, stuffed animal, the dogs you’ve seen running in the yard, a permission to go abroad, and so on.”

“That doesn’t sound so hard to find a perfect present for her.” I mutter my thoughts.

“Why do you think she’s hard to please?” he chuckles and pat my back. “TaecYeon-ssi, I provide her with anything she wanted but I failed to provide her with something she needed the most—a childhood. That’s why you think all my presents for her are simple, because those are the gifts you give to young children. She never received such presents as a child, therefore the idea of getting present for her is still revolves around those childish stuff.”

“Samchon, why her parents treated her that way?” I ask the question that’s been bugging me lately.

He clears his throat, “HyeRin should be the one that’s telling you about it.”

“She knows why?”

He nods, “It’s her biggest denial.”

What denial? Why would she live in denial if she said she’d appreciate little things in life? If she knows the reason why her parents treated her that way, shouldn’t she confront them?

“TaecYeon-ssi, forget about her past, ne? We have only two hours to finish        `these whole things.”

***

“HyeRin-a, wake up.” I tap her shoulder to wake her up.

“Ng.”

“Ya! seriously wake up.” I try to sound panic.

“Ng, what? What happened?” she turns under her blanket and yawns.

“I search for your uncle and he’s nowhere to be found. Do you know where he is?”

“Is his car in the garage?”

“Yes.”

“He probably in his study.” She takes a stuffed animal and hug it, ready to go back to sleep.

“I checked everywhere, he told me to see him after I said goodnight to you and I’ve looked around but he’s nowhere to be found.” I try being more panic. Seems like fooling HyeRin is a hard job.

“At the barn?” she replies half-heartedly.

“Believe me, if I can find him I wouldn’t wake you up. I’m worried about him HyeRin-a, what if he fell down somewhere?”

Seems like I get her attention this time. HyeRin gets up from her sleep at once and turn on the lamp beside her. She gets her feet into her Hobbes slipper and leads me to her uncle’s room, she checked the bathroom, the closet, even under the bed before making sure her uncle is not in his room. She then moves to his study only to find that he’s not around.

“Oppa, please get a flash light on the emergency box in the kitchen. I think we need to search the garden and the wine basement. I’m afraid he’s having another heart attack, the last time it happened, he was at the wine basement.” Her eyes start to water in panic.