CHAPTER 2

 

Not once did the couple heed the child any of their attention. Instead, they focused on their companies who needed their immediate presence so that they would keep running efficiently. The child still lived under the same roof where the couple lived, of course. However, because of the feelings of regret and disappointment still lingering in their hearts, the couple lived as if the child did not exist at all. Their only way of knowing that the child was still alive was because they would see the nanny attending to the child in his room every now and then.

The child became a cheerful and adorable little boy. He also grew up learning that the nanny was the only one taking care of him, so there had been times when he would mistake his nanny as his mother. Naturally, his nanny would remind him that she was not his mother and would always explain that his real parents were always busy with work. She told him every single time that because of work, they are unable to see him.

This, nevertheless, changed when he reached the age of five. The nanny did not miss every single chance to remind the little boy that she was not his mother and that she was just his nanny. It was also the time when his biological parents began paying attention to him—her. On the day of his fifth birthday, the little boy slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by the white ceiling of his room. He sat up from his bed and looked around him. He searched for his nanny, but found no one inside the room with him. It was just him all alone in his huge, spacious room. He stretched his arms out first as he yawned before he stood up and walked out of his room.

The hallways were unusually noisy, he noticed. He could hear faint noises from a distance. And upon reaching the living room, his eyes widened in surprise. There were balloons and banners everywhere that had his face on every single one of them, completed with words that he could not understand just yet. There were also lots of boxes wrapped with colorful papers and ribbons placed in the middle of the living room. The little boy knitted his eyebrows. The housemaids seemed busy and were moving fast past him from one place to another in a hurried pace. No one even noticed his presence. So, he made his way to the kitchen and found his nanny there. There was a wide smile on her face while she talked to a maid.

"Nanny eomma?" The little boy called out, interrupting them in their conversation.

As if she had seen a ghost, the nanny's eyes grew wide as soon as she saw the little boy. "Baby, you're awake!" She exclaimed. The little boy nodded. He looked around once again and everyone in the kitchen wore the same expression as his nanny. They look funny! He thought, frowning. The nanny looked behind her before she proceeded to move closer to the little boy. She bent her knees and crouched down to match the his level. "Why don't we go back to your room?" She asked, placing her hands on his tiny shoulders.

"I just got out from my room... Why go back?" He asked innocently.

"Uh..." The nanny tried to search for the right words to say. "...Let's just go, okay?"

This made the little boy even more confused, but he nodded anyway. He shot the people inside the kitchen one last glance before he followed his nanny back to his room.

Once they were inside his room, the little boy watched as his nanny locked them inside. "Why are you locking us in here, Nanny eomma?" He asked. He cocked his head to the side, waiting for his nanny to reply. But the reply never arrived. His expression fell and he pouted. His nanny noticed the subtle change on the little boy's expression so she took a step away from the door and walked over to where the little boy was. She sat down at the edge of the bed and reached for his face. "Let's stay here for the meantime, okay? Ms. Ahn will bring your breakfast here," She said, hoping that it would make him stop asking questions.

The little boy only kept his eyes on the floor.

He had not noticed that he fell asleep after eating his breakfast. When the little boy woke up, he found no one inside the room with him again. His nanny was gone. He stared at the door and wondered if his nanny locked his room like she always would whenever his parents were home. Never did he leave his room when his parents were around because of this. His nanny told him that his parents were only busy and that they needed rest so they did not want to be disturbed. Honestly, he had not properly seen his parents' faces before nor had he ever spoken to them face to face. The only times that he would catch a glimpse of them was through his window whenever they would leave for work. The little boy was not allowed to pull the curtains, but he would still try to at least steal a quick look.

The little boy stood up from his bed and walked towards the door. He twisted the knob and a smile immediately formed on his lips when he found that he could open it. He peeked behind the door. When he saw that no one was in the hallway, he ran down the stairs and made his way to the living room. The little boy noticed that the house was dark. Since the lights were turned off, he began to panic. Where was everyone? Why are the lights off? Such thoughts ran in his mind. He was not really fond of the dark and he tested whether he was alone whenever he could not see a single thing. "N-Nanny eomma?" The little boy cautiously called out, his voice a bit shaky. "N-Nanny eomma!"

Suddenly, all of the lights by themselves and the first thing that he saw was the familiar face and uniform of his nanny. She stood in the middle of the living room, holding a two-layered chocolate cake topped with five candles. Behind her was everyone else who began singing, "Saenggil chukkahamnida. Saenggil chukkahamnida. Saranghaneun Baby Yeon Ji-ssi. Saenggil chukkahamnida!"

He just stared blankly at them. And when his mind finally registered what was happening, tears started to form in his eyes, blurring his sight. "It's my birthday today!" The little boy cheered and started jumping everywhere. There were tears on his eyes, but that did not mean that he was sad. If anything, he was ecstatic. "It's my birthday today! My birthday! My birthday!" He continued to jump around, his excitement palpable to everyone that was in the room.

"Okay. Stop jumping now. You have to blow your candles and make a wish," His nanny told him as she placed the two-layered cake carefully on the coffee table that sat at the center of the room.

The little boy stopped as he was told and stared at his birthday cake. It was his favourite after all and it had been so long since he last tasted the sweet taste of chocolate cake. He continued to stare at it for a while, supposedly happy about the celebration; however, his smile gradually fell and tears started to fall from his eyes. This made all of the house workers surprised. The last thing that they wanted to see was the little boy crying with a pitiable look all over his face.

"Why are you crying?" Mr. Cook, as the little boy would address him, asked. He knelt next to the boy wiped the tears that were streaming down his face.

"A-Are they coming home?" The birthday boy asked, hopeful. The nanny lost the smile on her lips, as she finally understood what he was referring to. It was his birthday so it was normal for him to look for his parents. "I-I know they're busy... I was just hoping... T-That maybe this time... Mummy and Daddy will be here to celebrat