⚠️WARNING⚠️:This chapter contains self-harm (slightly), so readers, please read at your discretion.

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One sunny morning, James got up and made himself ready to make breakfast. He walked to the kitchen and opened his fridge, only to sigh later on.

It was empty.

The grocery store nearby that had always been doing the delivery service to his house was closed for a short holiday. There was no other store in town that provided such service; thus, James had to make a personal trip to the store.

It was one hard decision for a father to do, but he had to. James bit his lips to swallow back his tears with a sad face as he brought a rope to tie his son to the bed. The action tormented each and every corner of his heart, yet this was the only choice. He needed to go out, and Bo could not be left unattended alone. The safety precaution was to tie him up so he would not wander off. Even though Bo was still sleeping, who would know whether a three-year-old Bo or the adult Bo would appear the moment he opened his eyes?

It was better safe than sorry, James thought to himself with a heavy heart.

James checked the knots one last time before heading out, placing a soft peck on his son's forehead.

An hour later, Bo opened his eyes and blinked, adjusting his vision to focus on the plain white ceiling above him. He turned his head sideways to see glowing rays of sunlight filtering the room.

The weather must be beautiful today, he thought to himself.

The sight urged him to want to open up the window to breathe the fresh air in. But the moment he tried to move his limbs, Bo found his body to be completely paralyzed. Looking around, up and down, he stared at himself only to find his body was tied up. He became alarmed in an instant; his heart was uneasy, and his mind was terrified.

What happened to me? Did I get kidnapped? The thought itself scared the bejesus out of him.

He kept thrashing his body and wriggling his tied hands and feet with all his strength, yet, he could not make the knots come loose. When he knew he could not escape from the bind, Bo began to scream and cried his heart out loud in panic, causing a silhouette of a man to barge into the room with a pale face.

"Shh, shh, Bo. It's fine. Everything is okay. I'm here," James was by the bedside in a flash. His hands were brushing Bo's sweaty hair that was stuck to his forehead away.

"Dad?" Bo weakly asked with a trembling voice.

"I'm sorry. I had to go and buy some food. You must be scared, boy. Here, let me untie you."

James helped Bo sit up after he untied the rope and tossed it to the ground at the bed's end. The younger turned to look at the string that was binding him a few minutes ago and asked.

"Do I always get tied up like this when I'm, you know, turn crazy?"

James was on the verge of tears. Usually, when Bo was turning into a three-year-old, the older man would tie his son to the bed, for his strength was no match for a full-grown man. However, whenever Bo showed any sign of his right mind, James would hurry to hide the rope away, so the younger did not know about this. Nevertheless, just because he had to go out today, the secret was exposed.

"I'm sorry I don't have a choice. You would either hurt yourself or wander off if I didn't tie you up," Droplets of crystal drops rolled down the older man's cheek as he spilled the beans.

Looking at his father's guilty face, Bo could not help but feel his father's pain. Of course, he was not mad at James. In contrast, he felt guilty for being the cause of his father's suffering.

"Please don't apologize, dad. I'm the one who should say sorry. I'm becoming a heavy burden to you. I'm of age to look after you, and yet I can't even take care of myself. What a shame," said Bo with a sad face.

The next thing he knew, the younger was sobbing in his father's warm embrace. The father and son were hugging each other and crying their hearts out until they felt better. And within this proximity, Bo seemed to notice just how his father was fast-aging despite his actual age. The white hair, the wrinkles on his face, and behind his eyes were the proof.

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Six months passed by in the blink of an eye. Bo's condition seemed to be getting better as he was finally able to cope with his emotional distress. His three-year-old personality only appeared once or twice a week instead of the usual daily appearance. It had been several mornings consecutively that Bo woke up to find himself as a man and not a kid, yet he still found himself tied up. And alone. It seemed his father was not always around in the house lately, to which he found it strange.

Where has dad been? He asked himself a few times.

Only when he could not contain his curiosity anymore did he decide to ask the question to his father one particular night. Nevertheless, James seemed evasive in giving his answer. Whenever Bo prompted it, he just said he would walk or tend to the grasses around the house. Since Bo did not want to pressure his father, he decided to drop the subject after a few unsuccessful attempts. However, he could not brush off the notice of how exhausted his father was every time he returned home.

The next morning, Bo woke up to the pitter-patter sounds of the rain that were splashing onto his windowpane, producing a tuneful melody to his ears. Surprisingly, Bo did not find himself tied up to the bed, although his father was not around. Sliding off the bed, he called for his father, only to get silence as a reply. Bo walked around the small, searching from room to room, yet his father was nowhere to be found.

Grabbing an umbrella, he opened the front door and stepped into the rain with the purpose of circling the perimeter to look for his father. When he still could not find James, Bo decided to further his scope and walked from one house to another. Luckily, the downpour stopped when he walked past the fourth house. Only then, he heard loud voices 一more like a rebuke from a single person一 about a stone's throw away from behind where he was standing, so he decided to follow it.

And what he witnessed made his heart ached in pain.

His father was being scolded by a harridan who declared herself loudly as the orange farm's owner. After standing by and listening attentively, Bo finally got the answer to the question of his father's constant absence.

It turned out James worked as an orange picker to get some money for their everyday expenses. His saving money was spent on Bo's hospital bills, so the older man cannot live by relying on it anymore. He had to find work to make end meets.

Tears streamed down Bo's cheeks as he watched his once elegant father was standing with his head bow, obediently listening to the reprimand from the orange farm's owner who kept blabbering with bad words endlessly.

If and only if I weren't that naïve and careless, dad's company wouldn't have been taken over. If and only if I weren't sick and became such a burden, dad wouldn't have to suffer like this.

Many 'If only' self-accusations popped up inside Bo's head that he could no longer take it. Throwing the umbrella that he was holding to the wet ground, Bo dashed away from the site.

There is only one way to solve it; Bo thought to himself as he kept running at full speed, only to slow down when his destination was within his view.

As he trudged along the not so crowded bridge, Bo took in the surrounding scenery one last time before taking a deep breath and climbed over the reeling.

"Since I'm the cause of all these, let all the misfortunes end with me as well," Bo murmured to himself as he closed his eyes and jumped off the bridge into the stream below.