CHAPTER 5
 

The wife gently tapped the microphone in front of her and shot her husband a glance. He nodded at her with a smile. Everyone then had turned silent, anticipating what the woman had to say. She wandered her eyes at everyone, who had gleeful smiles on their faces. She felt very proud. She felt very honoured. Suddenly, there were tears forming around her eyes, blurring her sight. She was happy. She was very happy. Everyone would finally be able to witness the young beauty of their own and only princess. She let out a deep sigh, flashing everyone her brightest smile again as she excitedly announced,

"Everyone, please welcome," she paused, biting her lower lip in excitement. "Our beautiful princess—I present you, our Cha Yeon Ji!"

Blinding lights, that was all that the boy could see. They were like the lights from lightnings when there are storms. The lights kept coming one after another, and it stung his eyes that he had to shut the close just to block the blinding lights from further hurting his eyes. He could hear the sound of a clapping hand—No—He could hear many claps, as if it was a rhythm that soon turned into music to his ears. He could hear many voices cheering: from his left and also his right. The boy tried to open his eyes, but the lights were still there. They did not stop. He started to feel scared. What were the flashing lights for?—Then, he heard his mother's voice. Even though the lights were still there, he managed to open his eyes and found his beautiful mother smiling at him at the end of the red-carpeted stairs. A smile formed on his lips. He started to take small steps down the stairs, walking closer and closer to where his mother was. His mother had her hand reached out to him as if telling him to come closer to her as fast as he could. He was happy. Never had his mother reached out her hand for him to hold hers.

Taking the last step down the stairs, his eyes widened when suddenly a group of unfamiliar faces surrounded him. They were holding a thing that kept on producing lights that also kept on blinding him. They were talking but he could not understand what they were saying. It was as if he just suddenly turned deaf to them. They gathered closer towards him, limiting the space around him. And when he turned to look at his mother, she was gone. He could no longer see her. The strangers were towering over him. The boy felt his breathing become unsteady and his heart beating so fast. The people kept on talking and talking, flashing whatever it was in their hands at him. He was scared. He was frightened. He did not know what to do.

Then, he finally heard his mother's voice once again, "Everyone! Please, calm down! Please!" Her mother shouted on the microphone, panic evident in her voice. The boy then noticed some of their house workers in black suits shoving the group of strangers surrounding him away right after his mother spoke. His breathing was still shaky, but the beating of his heart started to slow down. As soon as they were no people blocking him, he immediately ran towards his mother and hugged her.

The madame noticed the way his body was trembling and she bent down to match his level. "Baby, are you alright?" She worriedly asked. A bead of sweat trickled down his face and his mother immediately wiped it away for him. "I'm sorry for that, my princess. Mummy didn't expect that to happen..." After that, his mother straightened her back, looked back at the crowd. "Please refrain from doing any unethical actions. You've scared my precious daughter. Haven't I told you earlier that we'll be sparing you our time just to answer your questions regarding about our daughter?" She said, directly pertaining to the group of media men and reporters at the lower right side of the hall. The flashing lights slowly ceased and the entire hall fell silent once again. There was a restrained smile on the madame's lips as she eyed everyone in the room. If ever there was one thing that she did not like about having guests in her mansion, it would be their noise.

The mother eyed her little daughter beside her again and mumbled a soft 'sorry' to her.

Who are these people? Why do they keep on approaching them? Why would they not stop talking things he did not understand? Questions started to flood the boy's mind and he could feel his own breathing becoming erratic. The ten-year old boy was sitting in between his mother and father and they were facing the crowd inside their home. When the lights stopped coming, he thought that would be the end, but it came back again as soon as his mother said, "We'll now be answering every question that you have for us."

"Mr. and Mrs. Cha, why did you keep having a child a secret?"

"Mrs. Cha, how were you able to act like you didn't have a daughter at all?"

"Mr. Cha, whose idea was it to keep your one and only child hidden to everyone? Did you really agree with each other about it?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Cha, what finally pushed you to introduce your only daughter to the world?"

"Mrs. Cha, is she really your daughter? You didn't adopt her from an orphanage when she was still a baby, right?"

"Mrs. Cha!"

They kept on questioning one after another. The boy could only whip his head from left to right. He felt so scared with all of the attention that he was receiving that he would rather run away and hide inside his closet even though it would be dark in there. Questions after questions. It seemed like there was no end to it. The idea of meeting new people, the beautiful idea of having to see new faces turned out to what seemed like a nightmare. Was this how it really was to meet new people? Was this how it really should be? All the things that his Nanny Eomma had told him before, are all of those a lie?—'Meeting new people, befriending them, that's the most beautiful and wonderful thing that would ever happen to your life. It'll change your life forever,' His Nanny Eomma had told him, but what kind of meeting was happening right in front of him? Was this really it? They're loud. They're aggressive. They did not know when to stop. The boy clutched his dress, trying his best to get his breathing to steady and wished that it would also calm his poor heart down. For every single time that he turned to look at the people before them, he felt like he was being trapped. He felt as if they were charging towards him, making the world seem small for him. He was scared.

"Take her back to her room. My husband and I will continue to entertain the guests and answer all their questions. It looks like she's tired with all of the attention here. And also..." The madame paused and bit her lower lip first before continuing, as if what she was about to say next was not really what she wanted. "...Call for Ms. Shin. Yeon Ji needs her. I fired the new maid you got for my daughter earlier," The boy heard his mother say to her assistant.

Her assistant nodded her head, and turned to look at him. The assistant was smiling at him as she nodded her head. She walked over to the little boy and held his hand. "Let's go, Young Miss?" She asked.

The boy could only nod.

And just like what she was told, the assistant brought the boy back to his room. They made their way to his room quietly so that none of the guests would notice as they made their leave.

Reaching the boy's chamber, the assistant left the boy alone inside his room. He looked up at his own reflection at the mirror and stared intently at himself as if he could not longer recognize the face that he was looking at. Pink glitter lipstick, eye-shadows, fake eyelashes, make-up, his long hair— those were all what he could only see. Who was he looking at? Was it really his face? Was it really him? His hand slowly reached out to touch his small lips. His lips were soft. But with the lipstick applied, it somehow felt dry. The boy then touched his cheek. The powder was rubbing the tips of his fingers, causing him to sneeze. Suddenly, his chest began to feel heavy and hot tears flowed out of his eyes. He remembered the events from earlier and his anxiety worsened. He was so scared. He felt as if the world was closing into him and he couldn't escape. There was no way out. No stairs to climb up and no walls to break through. He was trapped. More tears streamed down his face, smearing his make-up.

"Will this be my life forever?" The boy whispered to himself miserably.

Knock.

There was a small knock on the door that startled him. He hurriedly looked through his cabinet for some tissue paper to wipe out his tears and also his ruined face. Then there was a soft voice who called out for his name, "Hakyeon?" The boy stopped and slowly turned his head to the direction of the door, blinking. "Baby, it's me," he heard his nanny eomma's familiar voice—

"N-Nanny eomma..." The boy immediately ran to the door and opened it. He was pulled into a tight hug as soon as the door swung open. "Nanny eomma..." Tears spilled from his eyes once again. He could not understand what he was feeling. He could not figure out if he was happy, sad, scared, frightened, or what. It was all mixed emotions. The boy could feel the older woman's warmth through her embrace. He had missed it. He had missed it so much even though it had not been that long when the woman suddenly disappeared from his sight.

The nanny gently caressed the boy's back and they remained hugging each other for a while. She was the first one to pull out from the tight embrace to wipe the tears that kept coming out from the boy's eyes. She smiled. The boy's life was way too different from other children but his tears were always remain warm. "Stop crying now."

The boy nodded and used his own hands to wipe away the remaining tears on his eyes. Then he smiled—as if everything was fine once again. "Where have you been, nanny eomma? I've been looking for you..