Chapter Four: Faded Red Toy Car

"Hey um... Remember me, at the convenience store yesterday? Did you perhaps drop an old toy car? Red colour?" Choi Minguk asked the moment he sat down across Park Manse with his lunch tray set on the table, next to his. "At night...?"

Park Manse stopped eating. Surprised by the sudden question and taken aback by the presence of a stranger, he could only afford to stare back as a response. "I noticed you were still looking for something and I spotted this faded red toy car about-" He held out his left palm and described the size with his right index finger and thumb, "-this size inside the convenience store after you left. I thought hey maybe this was what you were looking for since it did not belong in the convenience store and it isn't exactly a new toy that would belong to a kid in this decade, well its not like it exists anymore so I thought..." Minguk voice trailed off as he noticed a change of expression on Manse's face. Minguk suddenly felt embarrassed. "That toy could have been there for ages or it could belong to a grandchild who got it from their grandparent or just an old toy that some kid dropped... ahh!" A voice spoked in Minguk's mind, making him uncomfortable and awkward. Despite the cafeteria being air-conditioned, Minguk suddenly felt hot. He looked at his food then he looked around, waiting for a response, trying to look natural.

Manse hesitated. He did not know how or what to respond. His memories of being bullied in elementary school came rushing back. His nightmare during middle school was refreshed in his mind. That toy was what all he had as evidence that he was adopted. That he was not given birth by a sick mother. Apart from the vivid dreams he had that might be created from his imagination, the toy c