Saturday morning and he felt himself shaken awake by a very persistent person.
"I'm hungry." Micha whined in his ear.
"Don't you believe in sleep?" he groggily mumbled.
"Himchan!"
He winced and rolled over on to his back. "I know, I know. Cinnamon oatmeal. Just give me a minute." he said as he rubbed his face.
She seemed to have relented because he heard her walk away. He lifted his arms above his head and stretched his sore body. Sleeping on the couch was really taking a toll on him.
He sat up, rubbing at his neck and shoulders. Then he opened his eyes and surveyed the room but part of him wished he hadn't. "Micha, can't you keep your toys corralled in one spot?" he asked. "Please."
She let out a huff and a groan before she started gathering up her toys. There was a lot of exaggeration in her movements, as if he had asked her to do the hardest thing in the world.
Rolling his eyes at her behavior, he got up and headed for the kitchen. He made sure to look down and avoid the obstacles in his path as well. Then he hurriedly prepared a bowl of oatmeal for her and sprinkled some cinnamon in it.
"It's hot, be careful." he informed her as he set it on the table.
He went back to the each to make a pot of coffee but stopped. He turned back to the girl still cleaning up her toys and raised an eyebrow. "Did you hear me?"
"Yeah." she replied and dropped an armful of toys by her bag.
"Then why didn't you answer me?" he questioned.
She merely shrugged her shoulders as she walked over to the table. She climbed on to the chair and grabbed the spoon before carefully stirring her oatmeal.
He noticed quite a few toys that still were scattered everywhere. He didn't say anything to her though. Instead he sighed and shook his head as he turned away. "Coffee. I need coffee." he uttered, feeling as if this was going to be a long day.

Indeed, all day long she tested his patience. She wanted to fight about everything and nothing seemed good enough for her. Starting with the oatmeal which didn't have enough cinnamon.
She made him go through every cartoon channel only to hear her say she didn't want to watch any of the shows playing. He ended up deciding on one for her and refused to change the channel. Then she threw a tantrum so he turned the television off. Which turned out to be the wrong thing to do, in her opinion, and she started screaming at him.
At that point he made her stand in the corner for a few minutes until she settled down. It seemed to have work for a bit until lunch time. Apparently if she had an odd number of chicken nuggets instead of an even number, it was the end of the world.
"It's missing one!" she loudly complained as she pointed at the empty spot in the row of three
He promptly reached down and picked one up from the row of four before popping it in to his mouth. "There. Now they're even."
dropped open in surprise at his actions. Then she quickly moved the plate away from them. "Mine!" she angrily yelled at him.
"They'll be mine if you don't knock it off!" he retorted.
She puffed out her cheeks and glared at him before turning away. She proceeded to eat with her back to him.
He gritted his teeth and reminded himself to be patient with her. There had to be something going on in her mind to set her off and he just needed to be understanding. The pounding headache that was forming in his mind though wasn't helping.
After lunch, he took a couple of aspirin and laid down on the couch, hoping to relax a bit. That seemed to be the point in time though that Micha decided it shouldn't be quiet. She stomped, banged her toys together, and made loud noises.
"Micha, stop!" he snapped at her when he finally couldn't take it anymore. He sat up and rubbed the sides of his head, trying to get some relief.
Suddenly the sound of shattering glass made him open his eyes and quickly look up. He saw the broken picture frame on the floor and a toy laying next to it. One of the toys that Micha had just been playing with.
He hurriedly stood up and went to the shelf. Being careful of the glass, he kneeled down and picked up the now broken frame. The picture in it showed him and Yunseo after they had been dating for a month.
He looked over at Micha and saw her watching him. By the expression on her face though, he could tell that she didn't care that she broke the frame. Meaning she threw the toy on purpose.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath as his hands squeezed the frame. Then he let his breath out and put the picture down. "Okay, that's it." he declared and stood up.
He closed the distance to the little girl quickly and picked her up. She yelled in protest but he ignored her and carried her to the couch. As soon as he sat her down, she tried to run away but he grabbed her and forced her to sit there. So she hollered and hit the couch cushion with her fists.
"Enough!" he screamed at her, causing her to jump and finally grow quiet. "All day long you've been horrible! I make you breakfast and you yell at me about the cinnamon! I try to find a cartoon you want to watch and then you yell at me when there isn't one!"
She pressed her lips tightly together and glared at him.
"You're horrible!" he accused. "All week you've been horrible to me and I'm tired of it! No more!" He took a deep breath and then kneeled down on the floor. "Just what is wrong with you? Why are you being like this?" he demanded while softening the tone of his voice.
She refused to answer him though. Instead she crossed her arms with a 'hmph' and continued glaring at him.
"Fine. Be like that. But you're not getting off this couch until you talk to me." he told her, being just as stubborn as he folded his arms as well.
At that, she turned her head and made a point not to look at him.
"Micha!" he shouted.
"I don't want to talk to you!" she yelled right back at him.
Himchan could feel himself losing it more and more as he took another deep breath, trying to stay in control of himself. "You don't have a choice so talk to me. Right now."
"No!" she bellowed and tried to push him away.
"Stop that!" he ordered and brushed her hands aside. "What have I done for you to treat me this way?"
She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a frustrated scream.
It was obvious he wasn't getting through to her. His mind raced at what to do but only one possible solution came to him. Make her confront herself if not him.
He his lips and swallowed. Then he asked her, "Did you behave like this with your mother?"
She stopped yelling and stared at him, surprise in her eyes. She clearly didn't expect him to mention her mom. Then she suddenly bolted off the couch.
"Hey!" he yelled and quickly grabbed her arm.
Immediately she turned and slapped at him while trying to yank her arm free. He tried to keep a hold of her without hurting her but she managed to squirm out of his grasp. Then she picked up a toy and threw it with all her might. It made a loud thump when it hit the wall and barely landed on the floor before she reached for another toy.
"Enough!" he shouted and grabbed her once more. He forced her to turn and face him. "This won't bring her back!"
That cut through her again as she stared at him with wide eyes and breathing heavily. However, even with everything else she had done, he wasn't prepared for what she did next. Her hands flew up to her face where she clawed at her own skin. He watched in horror as she clawed, and scratched, and pulled her hair as she gritted her teeth. Doing everything she could to hurt herself.
"Don't!" he quickly begged as he grabbed her hands. "Micha, stop. Please."
She yelled and tried to pull herself free again. He desperately held on to her though, not wanting her to hurt herself anymore.
Looking around, he relinquished one of her hands in order to grab a pillow off of the couch. Then he it in to her arms. "Here."
She stopped fighting him and held on to the pillow, seemingly confused at the offered object.
"Put your face in it and scream." he instructed her. "Scream as hard and as long as you can. Over and over again."
She hesitated for a second before putting it up to her face. There was a small, muffled cry as she tested it and then another. It wasn't long though before her arms wrapped around the pillow and her little fingers dug in to the material.
Himchan sat back and waited. Every painful scream of anguish that spilled from her caused his chest to hurt more and more. He stayed sitting there, forcing himself to listen and understand the pain inside her.

It seemed as if an eternity had passed by the time her screams started to fade, losing their strength. Then the pillow was lowered to reveal her red face and the tears streaming down her face.
"I want my mommy." she sobbed
In one swift motion, he took the pillow from her and pulled her in. "I know, I know." he said, holding her tightly. The he swallowed thickly. "But she's gone. She's gone Micha and she's not coming back."
She let out a little wail and clutched at him, crying in to his shoulder. So he picked her up before sitting on the couch and holding her in his lap. She buried her face in to his chest as he rocked her, determined to sit there for as long as she needed.
Eventually, the tears dried up and she was just gently leaning against him. He rubbed her back in comfort while glancing up at the clock.
"Are you getting hungry?" he asked her.
"Yeah." she quietly replied.
An actual answer from her. He took a slow breath in relief and then gently pushed her upright. Her cheeks were stained from crying and he brushed one last tear away with his fingers. "Are you feeling a little better now?"
She sniffled and nodded her head. "Yes."
"That's good." he said with encouragement. Then he noticed a red mark on the side of her face. "I want you to do something for me."
"What?" she curiously asked.
"Whenever you start feeling really bad again, I want you to scream in to a pillow." he told her. "Just grab any pillow and scream in to it. Okay?"
Her bottom lip quivered a little but she nodded in agreement. "Okay."
"Thank you." he said. An idea came to him then and he gave her a curious look. "How about we do something special for dinner? Maybe pizza?"
Her face instantly lit up. "Yes!"
"Pizza it is then. What do you like on it?" he asked her.
"The red." she answered and traced a circle in the air.
"Pepperoni?" he questioned from her clues.
"Yeah." she replied. "Peparoni."
That brought a chuckle from him as he smiled at her. "Pepperoni pizza is the best pizza."
She giggled and eagerly nodded her head.
He called in the order and a while later, they were sitting on the couch. She made a point to scoot so close to him that they were touching. So he made a point to put his arm around her which brought a smile to her face. Then they ate pizza and watched a movie together.