"I'M SO TIRED!!"

 

It's mornings like these that I really hate. I woke up this morning with the sun pouring in through my window. On a normal day, I'll say 'The beautiful river of gold moved gracefully through my window as it illuminated my room and brought my sense to life'. Not today. Today, I'll say 'The stupid giant orb in the sky called the Sun decided to shine it's annoying rays of evil into my room so that as soon as I wake up, the sun's in my eyes'. Instead of the usual 'The aroma of freshly cooked eggs met my nose in a clash of amazing smells. The bacon caused my mouth to water, and the orange juice fell slickly down my throat, causing my body to involuntarily let out a sigh of relief as the sweet citrus taste hit my tongue'. Oh no, today it was 'My cereal tasted bland. My water wasn't cold. I couldn't find my slippers'.

 

Not even the matokis were happy.

 

"Sunbae, what's wrong?" Inhyung asks. I look over at my young neighbour.

 

Oh to be young again! I adjust my shirt, fix my hair and close my eyes.

 

"It all started when I invited HyoJae over..."

 

I explain everything to him. From the ice cream and strawberries, to finding the man, to the police.

 

THE POLICE.

 

It took them forever to finish investigating! They kept asking me questions and taking finger print samples. One guy kept playing with Kakamato's suit. On and off, on and off, for the ENTIRE time! And let me just say, Joko looked unimpressed (with a mix of jealousy, I swear) while Keke looked ready to back-hand slap the cop until he was dead.

 

Don't mess with the white masked bunny!

 

They said they would analyze the finger prints and get back to me when they got the results. After the cops all left, I contemplated whether I should make another call. Before I got on to that, HyoJae and I said our goodbyes, including the matokis. Toto gave her a delightful smile, Dada gave her a strong smile and a thumbs up, Joko blushed the entire time and would not let go of her when she hugged him, Keke kissed her on the cheek, Tats gave a casual salute and Shishi GOT a kiss. Hyo left and Joko burst. He was yelling something in a different language while the others went along to do their business.

 

I decided to make that call and call the window repairman. He showed up an hour later. It was some chubby old guy with the WORST combover who laughed his head off at my story.

 

Maybe I should push HIM out the window. Hehehe.... Evil laughter, COMMENCE!

 

Well, you see, this old guy is now charging me TONS of money to fix my window. I would search for other people with better offers, but this guy's the cheapest. Not only will my "Super Candy Friday" be stopped, but I'll have to get a job to make sure Casey and the matokis get food.

 

But I don't need to tell Inhyung that.

 

"Wow! Sunbae's got it rough." My neighbour snickers.

 

The walk to school is quiet, but not the usual quiet. The wind through the trees sounds the same, and the sound of our foot steps sounds the same, but the light to heavy breathing of sleeping matokis can't be heard, not that is was so loud in the first place.

 

"Are you guys asleep?" I ask, trying to peer behind me.

 

For some reason, when they woke up this morning, they weren't their lively selves. Shishimato and I did not exchange witty insults and comebacks. Dadamato didn't willingly, and usually with a lot of enthusiasm, volunteer to help me make breakfast. Jokomato and Kekemato came and sat on the table instead of going and doing other things. Even Totomato and Tatsmato weren't themselves. They're usually quiet, but today, they looked very depressed. They all wanted to be in my bag instead of in my arms

 

"No..." Tats answers.

 

"Noona, can I please ask you something?" I hear Toto's little voice break the awkward silence.

 

"Go ahead!" I smile. It's not as fun when they're quiet like this.

 

"Can we please go with Inhyung today?"

 

And there goes my world. I'm going to die in a hole now. Bye bye....

 

•  •  •

 

"I promise to take good care of them!" Inhyung yells and waves goodbye.

 

"You better!!" I yell back and head to my class.

 

TIME LASP!!! My day was so boring, I'd prefer you not hear it. You know, takes notes, eats food- I DIDN'T EVEN SEE THE MATOKIS DURING LUNCH! Can you believe it?! Jeez....

 

Thursday and Friday ends up being the same. I see the matokis in the morning, pass them off to Inhyung and then only see them again when I come home.

 

Well, that may not be entirely true. 

 

The matokis, my unearthly guests, have decided to invite Inhyung over after school. I don't mind, since I'm busy with homework and my search for a good job, but the seven of them take the space ship into my guest room and locks themselves inside until six, when Sihyun or Suji comes to get their son.

 

On the weekend, instead of me showing the matokis around, they invite Inhyung over and lock themselves in the room. After maybe in hour in the room, Inhyung comes out and gets private tutoring from me (I told his parents I would do it for free, but they insist they pay. Now all I need is another job...).

 

Anyway, it's now three in the afternoon TWO WEEKS after the matokis started living at my place. School has returned to normal, and BIGBANG stays away from me. Inhyung sits at my table while the matokis gather around him. I'm busy making them each a grilled cheese sandwich and trying to listen to their whispers.

 

"....guys..." Whispers Tatsmato.

 

"... That's good..." Whispers Inhyung.

 

"... We can't be...." Whispers Dadamato.

 

I sigh and give up. I put their sandwiches on plates, give them to my guest and head upstairs. I look at my room and my face automatically scrunches up into a look of disgust. Socks and shirts are scattered everywhere. My bed sheets have been torn off my bed and thrown to the ground. My countless stories laced with vacuity spread across my desk, some papers fluttering gently to the ground every few seconds. My closet, formerly holding a pile of my junk, is wide open, allowing my pile'o junk to succumb to the power of gravity and fall aimlessly on my carpet.

 

Only my shelf of favourite books and Casey's bed remains untouched. Speak of the devil and he shall come. I hear Casey's collar and watch as she passes through my legs to enter my room. She glances around the room before going to her bed, ready to watch as I work to clean this catastrophe.

 

I hear a boom, and the fire alarm goes off.

 

I run out of my room and fan the smoke away from the alarm. When it finally turns off, I run to my guest room to make sure everything is okay.

 

Definitely not.

 

And I though my room was a mess!

 

A series of white feathers dance down in the still air, covering all in sight. Black soot-like dust covering the faces of my young neighbour and the various matokis, making it harder to distinguish between the six. In the place of the dazzling Matoki space ship I once saw, lies the remnants of discarded dull pieces. A bedside table that used to hold an old lamp now rests on the floor beside what looks like to be the remains of a blown up blanket. Pictures have fallen, ruining the glass covering. My grandfather's assiduous vase, long ago admired by passerby and various artists, now lies caked in black and harbours a fine but definite crack down the middle.

 

Nothing in the world can possibly harness the anger slowly boiling up inside of me. Never once in my life have I yelled at someone like I'm going to do now.

 

"I expect this all cleaned up within the hour." And with that, I closed the door quietly and returned to my room.

 

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