"Wow... Are these all yours?" Seunghyun asked, eyes darting around the treehouse. I nodded, "Yeah... My father built this treehouse when I was 3. I saw it in a book and I kept bugging him for one."

He smiled with me, "This is a really cool place. I'd stay here forever. Oh? You paint?" He walked towards the easels, then run through the canvases, "Wow... You never told me you could paint. I'm guessing this are your parents?" It was. I painted this before I left home, to travel. I took the painting from his hands, and then remembered why I chose to leave.  

I walked towards the bean bags, and sat down. Seunghyun followed, looking puzzled. Ready yourself, Park Hyunjae... Seunghyun adjusted comfortably, with his arms stretched wide, resting on two other beanbags. 
 

"I painted this from memory, on my 18th birthday. My parents died when I was 6. I was young when they died, but I was old enough to know what was going on, and remember what happened. 

When I was little, I stay in the treehouse and in my dad's studio a lot. My dad is a musician and he taught as a professor in a university. My mum is a poet and novelist. My dad fought so hard to keep his passion alive. I remembered my dad told me that he quarreled with my grandparents because they obviously wanted him to inherit the company since he's the oldest of all the siblings. But I'm just grateful that my grandparents came to terms with his passion because he really was a great musician. 

The house, or rather, mansion, was passed down from my great-grandparents. Nothing much had changed, just some renovating here and there. It was always like a castle to me, with all the people I love; my grandparents, my parents, my cousins' families. We are one big happy family and there was nothing more in the world that I wanted. But on December 22nd, 1996, everything fell apart.

My cousins' family, with my grandparents, went to visit my relatives in Korea, Busan. We were supposed to go, but because my dad had a performance, we stayed back for 2 weeks, before joining them in Korea. 

I was in my dad's studio, while my parents were downstairs making dinner. It was around 5... I was painting in his studio, inside my playhouse, then I heard screams. I wanted to run outside but because I was too afraid, I stood rooted to the ground. The door was not close, I could hear everything clearly. 

"Put the guns down. You want money, that's all you want. I'll give it to you. Just put the guns down. Nobody have to get hurt." 

There was this malicious laughter... then followed by the wails of my mother. I wanted to call out to my parents but I had no voice. I took a step out of the playhouse and tip toed, hoping to catch a glimpse but I couldn't see anything. Then I heard steps up the stairs. I retreated back to the dark corner of my playhouse, looking up once I assumed I was safe. I was so close to crying when a familiar scent engulfed me. My mother hugged me from the back. She said, "Little, I need you to be a good girl. Stay inside the playhouse, okay? Mama and papa will be right back to get you. Everything is fine but I need you to be quiet. Okay?" she tried her best to say it all within a breath because her cries are choking her. She yelped silently and kissed me on my forehead."

I stopped talking, because I couldn't. I tried to hold back the tears that was building up. 

"I asked my mother, "Mama, what is going on? Where is papa?" 
And she said, "There's a bad guy in our house. But don't you worry, okay? Papa's going to get rid of him. I'm going to go help papa but i need you to remember what mama said, okay? You have to be extremely quiet. Stay here. Promise me you won't even move. No matter what happens later, don't come out. Okay? You can only come out when mama or papa come and get you. Alright? Never, never come out, no matter what you hear or see. Okay? I love you, Jae. Papa loves you too. And we need you to stay here, so we can fight the bad guy. Can you do it?" 

I nodded, but I felt like I was going to be drowned in fear. I didn't want mama to leave me. She hugged me so tightly and gave me one last kiss on my forehead. She closed the door of the playhouse so quietly and she left the room, picking up they keys that she left on the table before she came in. 

I don't quite know what happened next. I hear voices, and a lot of sounds but I couldn't make out what was happening. My eyes were clamped shut, and relied entirely on my sense of hearing. I held onto my mouth so I couldn't make a single sound. I did exactly what mama told me to. There were so much commotions around the house, then suddenly it stopped. It was replaced by the most dreadful sound ever - a gun shot. "BANG". It was so loud, it continued ringing in my ears. My eyes sprang opened and more tears trampled down. I prayed that my parents had the bad guy but my hopes diminished when another gun shot sounded. Then another one. Three gun shots in total. 

My imaginaton went bonkers. I didn't know what to do or what to make of the 3 gun shots, i just kept crying. The house became dead silence. The silence grew so deafening. I have not a hint of what is going on outside. I stayed glued to my spot because I had promised mama but the tears won't stop. I kept crying, and crying, and crying. I cried so much, I felt feverish and giddy. Then after what seemed like forever, I hear sirens. Then I hear a lot of foot steps, and even more noises that I couldn't distinguish. 

The foot steps grew louder, and finally, the door swung open. When it finally did, I screamed. I screamed the loudest that I could, then it faded into a cry.
"It's okay... Shh... I am not a bad guy. I am a policeman." I dared myself to look up and I could recognize the familiar attire; he was a policeman. I calmed down and just looked at him. 
"What's your name?" 
In between my sobs, I manage to say, "Hyunjae." He nodded, smiling and then said, "Hey Hyunjae... I am Jonathan. I am a policeman. You can trust me, okay? Now, do you want to come out of the playhouse?" I remembered asking him for papa and mama but he didn't answer. He picked me up and gave me a hug. I still wasn't sure what was going on but I was too weak to flinch at his touch, then finally, I black out.

"My grandparents were beside me when I woke up. It was almost as if nothing had happened because they had smiles on their face that looked so genuine. I sat up and greeted them, then slowly, memories came running back, and I remembered the gun shots, "Where is papa and mama?" 

Both of them remained silent. I started throwing tantrum, watching my grandmother cry. Then Uncle DaeHo came in, picked me up, and softly pat my back, saying, "Little... Papa and mama, they're gone. They went to heaven. They're very safe there. Papa and mama had a mission to do, with God. But don't you worry, Little. You got Uncle DaeHo, okay?" I stopped moving. I was only 6, but already 6. I knew exactly what he meant. They're dead. The gun shots I heard, they were directed on my parents. And the last gun shot? It belonged to that . He shot himself down too." 


I cried harder, with pain and hatred filling my tears.