A little boy named Sean

"Happy birthday, little bun "

A woman appeared to be in her thirties said a young boy.

"Mom! stop calling me that. I'm not a kid anymore" the boy exclaimed, his face reddened with embarrassment.

" Whatever, you will always be a little boy to me" the mother replied while patting the little boy's head.

Although he said he didn't want to be treated like a kid anymore, he seems to enjoy that.

" So little bun, what do you want for your birthday?"

" I want dad to be here with us" the boy replied with tears in his eyes.

"Of course little bun, mommy wants daddy to be here as well. However, daddy is very busy with his work so we should not bother him. Don't worry little bun, daddy will be here with us on your next birthday. I'm sure he wants to come too."

Although the mother did her best to raise the boy's mood, he still seems sad.

" That's what you said last year too. Dad doesn't love me anymore, does he? the boy asked his mother with his voice cracked from crying.

" Oh no no no, of course, daddy loves you. He's just super busy these days. Let's be patient okay? Only the patient baker..."

The boy answered while rubbing his eyes,

" ...gets the best bread. Sighs* Okay, mom, I'll be patient. Can we go eat at my favorite restaurant today? " the boy asked his mother expecting her to reply.

" Sure, let's go tonight but before that, I have a surprise gift for you, close your eyes for a sec "

The boy did as his mother told him to. He closed his eyes for a second and reopened them exactly as instructed.

"Hey, I didn't mean it to be literal. Close your eyes again until I tell you to open them "

The mother took out a box wrapped beautifully and put it in the boy's hand.

" Okay, you can open your eyes now."

The boy opened his eyes slowly. As soon as he saw the box, he flinched slightly.

"Mom, that's so girly. You do remember that

I'm a boy, do you? " The boy said, confused about why his mother has given him a box clearly meant for girls.

" You sure act like a smartass sometimes, just open it and you will see. I only had that wrapping paper so it turned out like that.

Don't judge a book by its cover."

" Sure mom, whatever you say." the boy opened the box, and there he saw it, a Gameboy in all its glory.

" Oh my god, is this real? Thank you so much, mom. I'm gonna show this to my friends tomorrow. I can't wait to enjoy the look on their surprised faces."

" Like the face you are doing right now?" the mother said to the boy while taking a picture of him.

" Mom! why did you take a picture? that's

cheating."

" Sorry little bun but this is going straight into the album. I love it so much."

" That's it, mom. I'm gonna eat all the cake by myself. I won't leave some for you." the boy chomped down the cake as soon as he has finished talking.

The family continued teasing each other, laughing happily together.

Several years passed by like a raindrop falling during the heavy rain. The once little boy is now in high school, enjoying his youth to the fullest.

"Hey loser, what are you doing here in high school? Go back to elementary school you imp. Hahaha " the bullies humiliated the boy in front of everyone from school.

On second thought, The once little boy seems to be unpopular at school. His small stature made him look like a kid, not a high schooler.

The boy ignored the bullies and continued walking. He seems to be used to this.

The boy went into his classroom and took a seat. After a while, the class bells rang and everyone came in.

The teacher started the roll call. The boy's name was called last.

" Sean grey, are you present?" the teacher asked.

" Yes ma'am" Sean responded.

However, the teacher seems to be in the same league as the bullies.

" What did you say? I can't hear you when you are squealing like a little girl, Sean."

The whole class laughed at Sean. Some even threw papers with insults at him.

`This must be the atonement for my sin. I must endure. I must be patient.' Sean thought in his head.

The sin he was referring to was the incident that happened 3 years ago.

His mother passed away in a car accident

on her way to buy him his favorite snack.

Since then, he constantly thought of himself as a sinner for killing his mother. He has been living with such heavy burdens for 3 years.

The constant bullying at school, the

stress from studying, and the burden of his sin have made a once happy boy into a cold

and detached person. His world has turned grey.

To make matters worse, his father did not even attend his mother's funeral. He gave him money and told him to deal with it.

Sean wanted to throw away the money given by the so-called father who didn't show his face even once in all those years.

However, he had to keep the money because he wanted to do a funeral deserving of his mother.

Amid all the Stress and Chaos, the only times he could be happy were when he was playing games.

After his mother has given him the Gameboy, he played day and night. His mother even scolded him because he was not sleeping properly.

But now there is no one there to scold him anymore.

He played and played to escape from the harsh reality. Even then, his grades did not fall. He always kept a straight-A on his report card.

Some people called him a nerd and made fun of him but he did not care.

For him, the real world has become a place that exists only to atone for his sin. He waited patiently for it to end.

He tried to end his life several times but he couldn't do it because he kept hearing his mother whispering 'live on, little bun' in his head.

Games were his only joy. The game shop was the only place he felt comfortable aside from his house.

'Ring...Ring!' The school has ended for today.

Sean rushed outside in a hurry ignoring all the insults on the way.

A smile appeared on his usually emotionless face.

"Haha. it's finally here".