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It was hours past midnight. A dark and stormy cloud had overtaken the city and opened its watery gates to rain down on all below. Water ran in cold rivers down buildings and along the streets, flooding every indentation and crevice along the way. Thunder rumbled across the sky like a hungry beast desperate for its next meal, and lightning crackled in beautiful, yet deadly streaks.
The kids in the attic room of the orphanage huddled under their scratchy blankets, hoping that sleep would take them away from the scary atmosphere the storm had created. But as luck would have it, sleep did not come.
Kyungsoo peeked over to the side at the bed next to his. The blanket mound on it was trembling and soft sniffles could be heard even over the stormy racket going on outside. “Jongin? Are you okay?”
“Hyung.” Jongin’s head popped out from below the blanket mound. “Hyung, I’m scared.”
Lifting his own blanket and shivering at the cold, Kyungsoo motioned him to join in. It’s like Jongin had been waiting for the invite, because he gathered his pillow and blankets and jumped right in. He cuddled close, pressing his tear-stained face against Kyungsoo’s chest.
“It’s okay, Jonginnie,” Kyungsoo murmured against the boy’s hair. “The storm will pass.”
“I-I’m not afraid of the storm.”
“Oh? Then what are you crying about?”
Jongin looked up at him with wide eyes. “It’s the monsters.”
A shiver of apprehension ran up Kyungsoo’s spine, but he brushed it away. “Monsters? Has Chanyeol been telling you weird stories again?” He squints his eyes, trying to see across the room to the other two beds, but his vision has been getting worse lately. Their Auntie Luna told him they would have to schedule a visit to an eye doctor soon.
Jongin trembles again. “These…these are real monsters.”
Tightening his arms around the boy, Kyungsoo tries to soothe him. “No matter what Sehun or Jongdae told you, monsters aren’t real.”
The trembling increases. Kyungsoo realizes it’s not just Jongin shaking, but the entire bed. It squeaks and creaks, and the storm outside quakes in time with it, hurling wind and water at the windows. Kyungsoo holds Jongin tighter. “It’s okay! It’s not a monster! It’s not!”
Then something latches onto his foot and tugs.
Kyungsoo sits up a lets out a scream.
A thump and then some footsteps. Auntie Luna barges into the room and flicks the lights on. “Is everyone okay? Why are you—” She crosses her arms over her long sleeping camisole. “Sehun, Jongdae, why are you under Kyungsoo’s bed?”
Huh?
That’s when three very naughty kids erupt in to peals of laughter.
“Meanies!” Kyungsoo whacks Jongin with his pillow, and then leans over the bed side and tried to hit Sehun and Jongdae too, but they just roll away.
“You should’ve seen your face, hyung!” Jongdae says loudly from the other side of the bed. He climbs in and hides behind Jongin who is still snorting and giggling.
“See if I bake cookies for you again!” Kyungsoo makes a grab for him, but Jongdae just clings to Jongin, so that Kyungsoo falls on top of Jongin and not Jongdae. The bed creaks under their pile.
Auntie Luna laughs as Sehun runs over and clings to her leg. The kid keeps giggling as she picks him up. “Alright. You’ve had your fun now boys, back to sleep.”
“We c-c-can’tuh sleep,” Sehun says, smiling when he gets through the word without much trouble.
“It’s just a storm, you guys.” Auntie Luna moves to Kyungsoo’s bed and looks fondly down at the three snuggling children. “Would you feel better sleeping together?”
The four boys nod.
Auntie Luna chuckles. “Okay, then.”
Sharing beds turns into making a full tent with extra blankets tied to the windows and draping over the beds, mounds of pillows on each bed, and four happy children snuggling inside. Auntie Luna kisses them each goodnight and reminds them to behave before she turns off the lights and leaves.
“Hyung,” Jongdae’s whisper comes across the small space.
Kyungsoo groans, and Jongin snuggles deeper against him.
Jongdae clings to Sehun’s back, and says over his shoulder. “Will you bake me cookies tomorrow?”
Kyungsoo throws a leg over them both. “Only if you let me sleep now.”