A few days had passed since Kyo returned home to his family. He was true to his words; he helped his father at the barn, helped the maids with the house chores, helped his uncle at the farm, and even spent time chatting with his mother. When he finally had some free time, he walked around the neighborhood to meet the people.

“Hello.” Kyo greeted as he arrived at the central courtyard. Seeing the son of the town head who was the talk of the town for the past days, people started to gather around him. “Hello everyone. I’m Pilkyo. As you all know, I had just returned home from only-God-knows-where.” Kyo looked around as more people gathered. He smiled, relieved. “I’m standing here today with one thing in mind.” He took a deep breath. “I want to apologize to everyone for what I have done before; the troubles I caused, the fights I started, the cuts and bruises I made, the things I stolen, everything. I sincerely want to apologize to everyone.” Kyo bowed towards the people. “Please forgive me.” Kyo heard people whispering with each other, but he kept his position. Suddenly, he heard applause. Kyo looked up and saw the people there were smiling at him while clapping their hands excitedly. Then an old man walked towards him.

“Young master. To see you standing here, apologize to us all, already made our hearts warm. Thank you for finally opening up to us. May all your dreams come true, son.” The man patted Kyo’s back, smiling. Kyo then saw the kids he used to bully, who were looking at him with worried look. Kyo smiled as he walked towards them.

“Hey guys. I’m sorry for what I did before.” He reached out his hand. “Friends?” The kids looked at each other, nodded, and the eldest eventually reached Kyo’s hand, smiling. “Great!”

Kyo then walked home feeling lighthearted. He smiled all the way to his house. When he saw his mother watering the plants at the garden, he ran to hug her.

“Mom! I apologized to everyone! And I feel good!” Kyo said, grinning widely.

“This calls for celebration. What would you want to eat tonight?” His mother asked.

“Spicy chicken stew, rolled eggs, and japchae!” Kyo delightfully replied. His mother just smiled. “And don’t forget to put—“

“Lots of sesame seed? Okay!” His mother responded, earning a grin on Kyo’s face.

“Thanks Mom. You’re the best!” He pecked his mother’s cheek and then ran to his room. He slumped on the bed and started daydreaming, when all of a sudden, he felt like someone was calling his name. He looked around the room, but he was alone. He got up to the window, but he saw no one. “Weird.” He shrugged it off and took a book to read. “The Little Mermaid?” He read the book title. That was when he felt it again; like someone was calling for him. He started reading to ignore the feeling. When he stumbled upon the name of the prince, he stopped. “Prince Eric? Why does this name sound familiar?” He asked himself. He spoke that name again a few more times; and every time he did, his heart hurt. “Do I know someone named Eric?” He put down the book and ran outside to find his uncle at the barn. “Uncle!”

“Yes Pilkyo?” His uncle turned to him.

“Is there anyone named Eric in this town?” Pilkyo asked, but his uncle widened his eyes.

“That’s a very uncommon name. I don’t think there is one here. Why?”

“Did anything happen while I was gone?”

“Other than your mother fell sick, nope.”

“Oh never mind. Thanks uncle.” Thinking he was just being delusional, he decided to ignore the matter. He ran back to his room to take a shower and to get ready for dinner.

During dinner, his parents, his uncle, and even some of his father’s right hand men were there. Kyo smiled seeing them, especially his mother who had recovered from her illness.

“Attention everyone.” Kyo’s father stood up and spoke. “Today, my son had shown how brave and responsible he is, that he went to apologize to the people for his misconducts in the past.” His father smiled at Kyo. “And today, he showed me I can never be more proud being his father.” Kyo saw his mother smiled. He felt warm. “To my son, Pilkyo. May you become a greater man than I can ever be.” His father raised a toast, which followed by everyone at the table. Kyo smiled, proud as he lifted up his glass of juice.

“To Pilkyo!” Everyone shouted while raising the glasses.

“To me.” Kyo muttered. He had never felt proud of himself until today.

Before going to bed that night, Kyo went to see his mother. He brought a story book with him.

“Having trouble sleeping?” His father asked as he walked into their room. Kyo just smiled and sat next to his mother on the bed.

“Can you read for me?” Kyo showed the book to his mother, who was surprised upon the request.

“You never ask any of us to read to you before.” His father spoke as he took a seat beside Kyo.

“I just feel like it tonight. Can you?” His mother smiled and leaned back as she opened the book. Kyo and his father leaned back too.

“Sleeping Beauty?” His father asked when his mother started reading.

“Dad, Mom is starting.” He shushed his father, and the latter smiled apologetically. The mother continued reading the book to her son, while the father listened intently. When the story finally finished, his mother noticed Kyo was crying.

“What’s wrong?” His mother asked, worried. Kyo immediately hugged her.

“It’s a sad story.” Kyo answered in between his sobs. His father chuckled.

“Hey, I didn’t know my son is such a softie.” Kyo stopped crying and glared at his father. “Okay, okay. My son is not a softie. He is strong. Like his father.” His father hugged Kyo and tickled his stomach, earning laughter from the child.

“Honey, you’re going to make him pee in his pants.” His mother suddenly spoke; making both the father and son stopped laughing.

“I’m going to bed now. Thank you, Mom and Dad. Goodnight.” He got off the bed and walked out of the door.

“Don’t pee in your pants!” His father shouted as Kyo walked towards his room. Hearing his mother laugh, Kyo felt relieved. He then settled himself on the bed, and grabbed his teddy bear to sleep. All of a sudden, he felt like looking at the night sky. From his bed, he looked out of the window and tried to understand the situation. Why would he want to look at the night sky? He was never fond of the night sky; he even hated looking out of the window for it was dark out there. But tonight, he got up from bed and walked towards the window.

“Eric…” Kyo unconsciously muttered as some unfamiliar images crossed his mind. “Who is this Eric?” He then shrugged it off and went to sleep. He didn’t notice there was a star blinking up at the sky, listening to another boy’s grief for missing his best friend.