“When darkness is at its darkest, a star shines the brightest.” 
― Louise Philippe

The school bell rang indicating the end of the lessons for that day. After greeting the teachers, the students went out of their classes and headed to the places they wanted to go. Some still wanted to stay in school while some chose to go home. Among the students who preferred to go home, ByulHee was one of them. She walked out of her class and strode straight to the school gate, expecting her daddy to pick her up as usual.

But much to her dismay, her daddy was nowhere in sight hence she frowned a little as she looked around the place. ByulHee couldn’t help but to feel weird with her daddy’s absence. For years, Chen was never late to pick her up from school and he was always on time.

ByulHee knew that she was going to her daddy’s library that day but Chen will still be the one who took her there each time she told him that she wanted to visit her daddy’s workplace.

ByulHee went to the nearest public phone and started to call Chen. In her heart she began to feel a little uneasy as it was very unlikely for Chen not to pick her up from school. Even during the most rarest conditions when Chen suddenly had an urgent thing to do, he will still somehow tell her to wait for him until he came.

But that day, no word from Chen. Nothing. And worry gnawed at her. ByulHee was starting to feel that panic was rising in her as she was scared if anything had happened to her daddy. She waited a moment for her dad to pick up the phone and she sighed in relief when she heard Chen’s voice on the other line.

“Daddy !” Called the 12 year old. “Where are you ? Are you alright ? Why aren’t you picking me up today ?” ByulHee shot Chen with questions that lingered on her mind. She felt like a heavy load was lifted from her shoulders once Chen told her that he was fine and he was already at home, waiting for her.

ByulHee frowned deeper at her daddy’s answer. Chen was already at home ? “You’re at home already ? I thought I told you I’ll visit your workplace.” ByulHee said as she tried not to sound angry at her daddy’s drastic actions. Chen had never done this before. If anything he will definitely tell her first as to not have her worry. But unfortunately, something seemed to be wrong with her father that day.

First, he didn’t pick her up and second, he was already at home when his work time hadn’t even ended yet.

“I’m sorry, hon, but I’ll take you there some other time okay ? I need you to be home now. I can’t pick you up today so I need you to walk home. Walk straight home, okay ?” Chen said gently and in his mind he knew that confusion had been all over his daughter’s mind. He was sure that once his princess got home, he will be interrogated with questions from little miss detective.

ByulHee sighed a little before she just obeyed to her father’s instructions as she ended the call. She stepped away from the public phone and began to walk home. “I’m sure daddy has a good explanation for this. He won’t usually go home without me. He says it’s dangerous for me to walk home alone. But he didn’t care about it today so something must have gone wrong.” ByulHee made her own assumptions as she crossed the road and walked on the familiar pavements towards her house.

She couldn’t help but to feel the annoying silence on her journey back home. Everyday once she had finished her school, Chen will pick her up and together they will walk home with either Chen or her telling each other stories and laughters will be heard as they walked side by side with Chen holding her hand.

But that day, she felt a sudden longing of the memories and even though those just happened recently, she felt as if it had taken place a long time ago. And a part of her told her that those were the last times Chen will walk her home.

ByulHee shook the thoughts off as she finally reached the front door of her small and cozy house. She took off her shoes and her eyes widened once she saw another two pairs of shoes, each belonged to a man and a woman beside her daddy’s. She knew her daddy’s shoes very well but ByulHee couldn’t recall the other two. They looked very expensive and high class and nothing that her father can afford.

More questions started to form inside her brain and she couldn’t wait to know the answers. She opened the door with her keys that Chen had given to her as a spare and opened the door. She stepped inside the house and was shocked to see her daddy sitting in front of a couple that looked not much difference from her daddy’s age. Maybe a year or two older from her dad.

Three pairs of eyes turned to her and ByulHee was still frozen at the front door. She wasn’t sure if she should enter the house or just go back out since she could feel tense in the atmosphere and it seemed like the three elders were having a serious conversation. Hence explaining the tense in the air.

“ByulHee.” Chen called as he gave her a small smile. ByulHee turned to her dad before slowly walking towards the three of them in the living room. Maybe after giving the strangers a greeting, she can lock herself up in the room until they left.

ByulHee glanced a little at the strangers and admitted that she had never seen them before and she knew they weren’t from here. By the looks of what they were wearing, ByulHee understood immediately that they were from the city.

ByulHee sat beside her daddy as Chen had insisted her to. She felt someone was staring straight at her and went she looked to see who it was, she met eyes with the woman who was looking at her with loving eyes.

ByulHee couldn’t tear her eyes from the woman as she felt a strange feeling inside of her. She knew that she had never met this woman before and also the person beside her who ByulHee assumed as her husband, judging by how close they sat with each other and the way they held each other’s hands. This was the first time they met but ByulHee felt a strong attachment towards the both of them.

It was something she felt towards her daddy and she couldn’t fathom why she somehow felt the same way towards the couple.

“She’s grown.” The man said as he, too, looked at ByulHee as if she was a piece of diamond. ByulHee looked up at her daddy and found him smiling down at her. Somehow, the look in her daddy’s eyes were trying to tell her something but she couldn’t decipher the meaning. Chen’s smile was also unlike the usual smile he gave her. This time his smile was sad and seemed like it was forced. ByulHee didn’t know why but she felt like her daddy was going to cry anytime soon.

ByulHee had a lot of questions in her mind but she didn’t know when to start. And with the man’s statement simply added another questions on her list. Why did he say that ? He’s seen me before ?

“Daddy,” ByulHee said, “Who are these people ?” She whispered the last part though but somehow could still be heard by the couple in front of her. ByulHee didn’t notice it but the couple’s faces fell a little as she didn’t recognize who they were.

With a sigh, Chen took her hand and locked eyes for a moment with the two people in front of him. This has to be done, Chen thought as he tried to send the message with only his eyes. She’s old enough to know the truth. But I need to tell her privately.  As if on cue, the couple stood up and left the living room before walking to the kitchen. They knew where the kitchen was even after so many years becau