The clock reads nine thirty when six-year-old Jung Soojung receives a good night kiss from her beloved father. She manages a smile, even though her mind is preoccupied by rather unnecessary thoughts of demons and all those nasty creatures in horror movies. It's not that she has forced herself to watch those movies or begged her dad to tell her scary ghost stories - no. It is more than that, and it manages to terrify the little girl. Her innocent mind isn't fed by tales told by adults - she gives her own mind 'false' information, and only she believes herself that she is not imagining.

"Good night baby Krystal," her father says in perfect English. Krystal is the little girl's English name, but for some reasons, she prefer her Korean name: Soojung. "Sleep tight, and have a pleasant dream." He bends down to kiss her forehead again and pinch her nose lightly before pulling away. Soojung pulls her pink blanket up to her nose, covering half of her pale face. She wears a terrified expression, which actually does not surprise the man. She has been like this for the past few years, and for her father, it would only take a while until she realizes that everything is only from her illusion: the 'monsters' under her bed, everything.

"Daddy," the girl says in a whimper, "I... heard something last night. It feels real, Daddy, I am not imagining it!" She says the last sentence as if she is protesting to her father. The man only gives her a genuine smile and runs his hands through his daughter's straight hair. Soojung inhales an amount of air, and exhales it quite audibly through her slightly opened mouth. She knows that her father would tell her that imaginations may feel so real that we don't know whether it really happened or did our mind just trick us into believing that it did, and she is not really in the mood to hear it. Scratch that, she is never in the mood to hear it.

The man opens his mouth, but his daughter shakes her head quickly, as if telling him that she doesn't want to hear anything. Of course, since her ears are used to - and tired of the same old words. Her father only sighs, not knowing what to tell her. "What did you hear then?" he asks finally. He somehow knows the answer to this, actually: Soojung always hears a little girl around her age whispering into her ear usually every midnight. The girl has the same voice as she does, or so does the six-year-old claim the voice to be.

"Happy birthday to us," Soojung answers.

Her father does nothing but stare at her blankly. "Daddy." Her tiny voice wakes him up from his tiny daydream. He flinches a little and turns his attention back on her daughter's terrified face. "Can you... can you check for monsters under my bed?" she asks, pulling her blanket closer to her face. "Please."

Again with the monsters under her bed, her father thought with a sigh. He squats down and sees nothing but the shadows of the small bed and light that brings his vision across the room. Of course, he doesn't want to do this, but he has to, for his youngest daughter's sake. Someday, he believes, Soojung would get over her thoughts of monsters like all the other kids out there.

"There's nothing," says her father, straightening himself up. "Now good night, and sleep well." He pulls the switch of the night lamp and turns off the light, leaving only the dim light from the small nightlamp to illuminate only a part of the room. A barely audible sigh can be heard as the door clicks shut. Soojung stares at the light beside her, and tries to close her eyes.

And then there is nothing but a whisper, sending chills to the six-year-old girl.

"Sleep tight."