Chapter 16 The Gift

Chapter 16 Gift.

"Oh! Good timing you're here." My father said to me as we re-entered the room. "They will start giving their gifts to you individually. So let's go to your throne."

"My throne? Present?" I asked, feeling a mixture of surprise and excitement.

I saw our guests in a line to "my throne" holding their presents.

Dad led me there and our guests began presenting me with their gifts. To be honest, I was really excited. Another thing that I didn't experience in the past was coming into reality.

The first ones to present their gifts were our relatives. Through the touch of the wrapper, I could tell that most of their gifts were toys. Some of them were huge toys that were the same height as me, like a rideable electric car, a moving robot, and even a bicycle. Despite being 36 years old, I couldn't contain my excitement at receiving such presents. Maybe I should act like an 8 year old from now on. I will play with those toys after this and no one will think it's weird, right? 

  To my lost childhood, here I come!"

**********

"Thank you very much for this!"

"Hehe you're welcome!"

All of our relatives finished giving me their gifts and I give all of them my heart's thanks. Next batch is my friends… my classmates I mean.

Classmates also fall inline. Woah even though they just met me today they're able to think of gifts for my birthday. "Wait, they just met me today?" 

"Hello Justin! This is my gift!" 

"A-ah thank you very much for this!" . 

My classmates gave me their gifts.Most of them are toys again but I accept it all gladly. It made me truly happy. 

"Heyya Justin!" It is the energetic girl. "Please accept this!" She handed me a straw box that I warmly received. "Do you mind if I look inside of it?" I asked.

"Yes yes!" 

"Ohh these are-" I finally looked inside of it and there were various planting items. I pulled out one item and it's a small shovel. "Woah! Thank you for these!" 

"You're welcome hehe! I also included some seeds inside and there's a written instruction on it on how you will take care of those plants." 

"I see, I appreciate this, thank you!" She gave me this kind of gift because she's from a family of farmers. 

The energetic girl left me with a smile.

"Yo Justin! Here!" That is the lawyer's son. He handed me a medium size box that was the same height and width of my chest.

"You can open it up now if you want to." He suggested, and I eagerly nodded in response.

As I opened the box, I was amazed by the contents inside. Inside, I found an assortment of high-quality, branded art materials, including charcoal pencils, colored pencils, brushes and pen brushes, crayons, and more. 

  The lawyer's son comes from the wealthiest family in our city, so it's not surprising that he would give such a generous gift. However, I was surprised by the choice of art materials, as I had expected him to give me study materials like reference books or encyclopedias, given that he was known as a bookworm who spent most of his time studying and reading.

  I was also happy to see the lawyer's son at the event, as he had always declined invitations to parties like this in the past. I expressed my gratitude for his gift and for taking the time to attend.

Okay the next is…

"Justin, this is for you," said my quiet classmate in a soft, yet beautiful voice. She handed me a palm-sized box, which contained an MP3 player when I unwrapped it.

I had noticed her wearing earphones and listening to music on this device in the past, and I had assumed that she either loved music or didn't want to talk to anyone. But now, she wasn't wearing any earphones, only earrings.

"Thank you so much! I'll definitely use this and listen to some music," I said as I accepted the gift.

The quiet girl let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you like it. It's already loaded with a ton of music, and I hope you'll enjoy it," she said with a smile.

"I'm sure I will," I replied.

She nodded and returned to her seat.

Yosh… next is…

"Here Justin, take this." ahh the least person I expected to be here. The delinquent guy. 

"T-thank you…" It feels so weird to see him being nice to me and giving me a present but anyway, I mustn't communicate with him with fear anymore. He is different now from before, I should be glad about it. 

Like the latter, I unwrapped it and it's a journal book. I thank him once again. He just spoke a little but I think it's alright. At Least he didn't bad mouth me. 

The last one… 

"Hello again, Justin." It's her, the lovely girl, my first crush. "Here is your gift. Happy 8th Birthday." She greeted me with a bright smile then handed me her gift. 

Woah! What an amazing sight of her giving me a present. I hope I can see that once again when Valentine's day arrives… wait this is too much right?

"May I open this?" Her gift was also in a palm size box with a roses design. Rose are truly her signatures ever since then though. 

"Yeah sure!" 

I untied the ribbon and opened up the lid of the box to reveal a thing that put me speechlessness. I also had teary eyes because of the mixed emotions again.

"Thank you!" That's the only word I spoke to her. I didn't expect that I would see such a nostalgic item. I don't know how she thought of this item or is this just merely coincidence? 

CHAPTER 16 -END-