Tok Tok Tok
Title: Tok Tok Tok
Author:
rubyjn
Pairing(s): Eunhae
Rating: PG
Summary: Have you ever heard that (annoying) marble sound at night, especially when you want to sleep? It would seem that Donghae had been experiencing the same problem and Hyukjae tells him a bed-time story to get him to sleep...or not.
Disclaimer: I do not own Super Junior members.
A/N: My first time writing a SJ fiction and posted online. Enjoy though! Helpful criticisms are welcomed; comments too! Feel free to point out any mistakes so that I can make changes.
********
“Tok….tok...tok…roll…”
“Is someone playing with marbles again?” mumbled a groggy, nine-year-old Donghae. “At 1AM too!” he added, half-whining to himself. Incoherent images of his previous dream - of unicorns and sunshine and no school -, however, interrupted his musing, lulling the half-asleep Donghae back into dreamland’s arms.
********
“Tok….tok...tok…roll…”
An exhausted 25-year-old Lee Donghae, sprawled out the bed, groaned inaudibly. It was still during the Mr. Simple - A-CHA promotion days and all of the members schedules were fully packed, requiring them to work for up to 18 hours a day. Even the resident fish, as per nicknamed, was not spared. However, such was the norm for world renowned artists, and Donghae had willingly put down his signature above those dotted lines. Hence, Donghae just gritted his teeth and bit the bullet, knowing that his effort put in would be rewarded some day.
However, on that particular rainy day, Donghae’s had miraculously finished his schedule rather early and was back at the dormitory straight after dinner. Embracing the extra time he had, Donghae quickly showered and headed to the 11th floor’s dormitory. He mumbled a tired greeting to the members, namely Hyukjae and Sungmin - and Kyuhyun, though he was in the room busy relieving stress via Starcraft - , and bee-lined for Hyukjae’s room, dropping himself unceremoniously on the bed, thus his current position.
The soft patter of the rain, the slight rumble of thunder, together with the air-conditioned room, enabled sleep to grab hold of Donghae within seconds. His sleep-inebriated mind barely registered sock-clad feet padding towards the bed, which was followed by the bed sinking and the mattress creaking with abuse. Donghae automatically rolled over to accommodate Hyukjae, securely hugging him while Hyukjae adjusted the blanket over them.
Soft breathing filled the otherwise silent room, before Hyukjae, out of curiosity, asked Donghae, “Why are you not sleeping in your own room, Hae?” Though all Hyukjae could get out of Donghae were gibberish murmurs. Being the patient friend that Hyukjae was, and knowing Donghae’s various traits, he waited for a couple of minutes before Donghae drowsily replied, “Leeteuk-hyung’s filming Hello Baby in the 12th storey dorm. And the members, especially Ryeowookie, are gushing over how adorable Kyumin is. Also, I can’t sleep when the camera crew is around, otherwise something embarrassing might happen to me, like a hidden camera.” Hyukjae merely nodded in understanding and tightened his hold on Donghae, allowing the both of them to relish in the quietude and peace.
“Tock….tock...tock…roll…”
Donghae’s sensitive ears once again picked out the unmistakable thudding and rolling of marbles. Since he was woken once by Hyukjae, which Hyukjae apologized for, Donghae’s previous yearning to rest evaporated instantly after being disturbed by those marbles. Apparently, Hyukjae noticed the change in Donghae’s demeanor and stared at him quizzically, on the verge of wording his query before Donghae shushed him up. Hyukjae kept mum in acquiescence while training his ears to detect any form of fluctuation.
“Tock….tock...tock…roll…”
“Ah…Did that wake you up, Donghae?”
“Yeah…sorry if I woke you too, Hyukkie.”
“Mmm...It’s alright.”
Both Donghae and Hyukjae lied on the bed, engulfing themselves in the body heat while pondering about what they had just heard.
“Hae, have you heard about the story of the marbles?” Hyukjae inquired.
“Nope; are you going to tell me a bed time story, monkey?” was Donghae’s playful reply.
“I don’t really think it is a typical bed time story,” Hyukjae’s amused and almost deadpan reply came, before adding, “But I’m still going to tell you anyway, Nemo.”
“Anyway, it was said that whenever construction workers build new houses, they would put in marbles between the layers of wall. It was a way to appease and entertain the children ghosts that were said to haunt houses in search for a loving family to adopt them. But being ghosts, these children were, of course, unaccepted by all the families living in the houses. These families even gathered mediums to cleanse their homes. All of these merely infuriated the lonely children, who had wanted love and nothing more. Thus, soft cries and sobs were heard every night by the residents as a form of ‘revenge’ by the children ghosts.
“Having exhausted their resources, the residents were at a loss on their next action. Though, thankfully, one of them knew of a Chinese ‘tongji’ who was a legend in appeasing such ghosts. “Tear down the house and build a new one,” he said. “Remember to place marbles between each wall layer to let those children play with,” he advised.
“Although the residents were uncomfortable at this odd idea - it was uneconomical to demolish and rebuild a new building after all -, they continued to carry out the idea to appease the ghosts and for themselves to have a good night’s rest.
“When the new buildings were constructed, the residents were apprehensive about whether their unholy problems were resolved, no pun intended. Within a couple of weeks, the residents were happily and comfortably settled into their new abodes, catching up on their lack of sleep.
“However, it was probably a couple of months later that the residents started hearing marbles being played dead in the night. Naturally, they assumed that the children of the families living beside and above them were the cause of the disturbance. Hence, it took only a week of constant tapping and rolling of marbles for the residents’ to snap. Every night, the sensitive ones would toss and turn in their bed, mentally cursing and swearing for the noise to stop. Every morning, there would be visits to the various neighbors as a mean to solve the nightly problem once and for all.
“But, each neighbor would vehemently deny that their children were playing marbles at midnight. Some even, amusingly, counter-attacked with the fact that they were single and had not adopted any children. Worried, the residents called for a meeting with the ‘tongji’ once more, hoping to gain further enlightenment of this matter.
““When you take, you must give,” were the tongji’s words. “You ‘took’ away the children’s ‘revenge’ of crying and sobbing by giving them marbles yes? Those marble sounds you claim to hear every night stem from the children playing with the marbles. Would you rather hear these marbles every night or the previously heard soft sobbing?”
“The residents, of one accord, dissented the latter idea and decided to brave through those marbles every night instead. Thus, those marbles you hear every night are from the children ghosts playing.”
Hyukjae finished his ‘bed-time story’, though he had never expected Donghae to freeze up beside him.
“Donghae-ah!” Hyukjae shook Donghae’s shoulders and had contemplated slapping Donghae’s face to get him out of the trance he seemed to be in. His ruminations were cut short however, when Donghae unfroze and started whining and pouting, blaming Hyukjae for telling a ghost story before bed time. Hyukjae could only chuckle at Donghae’s antics before rebuking with a “You were the one who wanted to listen!”
Just then, the ever present, haunting melody of “Tok….tok...tok…roll…” reverberated around the walls. They both gulped audibly, diving underneath the safety net of the blanket. However, since the blanket was made for one person, a small tussle ensued and in the end, two messy heads poked out cautiously from underneath the blanket. But before they could heave a sigh of relief -that they were not being haunted by ghosts-, the door to the bedroom creaked open slightly, slanting in a small beam of light from the living hall. Though what caught the attention of Donghae and Eunhyuk was a small, circular object (“It’s a marble!” squeaked the full grown-ups) which happily and obliviously rolled towards the bed where two petrified grown-ups were clutching the daylights out of each other (never mind that it was night time).
The marble came to a gentle stop at the foot of Hyukjae’s bed, and stared innocently (“Menacingly!” cried Donghae and Hyukjae) up at them. It seemed as though hours had passed before Donghae and Hyukjae regained some of their cool and logic that ghosts did not exist. However, their calm facades did not match their racing hearts and both visibly tensed once again when the door opened slowly. They could see nothing but hear something padding thunderously towards them. But what truly set their terror off was the soft, tinkling childish, almost baby-ish laughter that increased in volume as it moved towards the marble.
With a shriek, yelp and hustle to get the light switch on, both males tumbled towards the floor and unfortunately, stared right into the luminous eyes of their fate. Which, incidentally, set Donghae and Eunhyuk off yet again, causing a ruckus in the room and for the other members to barge in. Lights (“Thank god for lights!” wept Donghae and Hyukjae) flooded the room and a buzz of concerned queries enveloped the messy bedroom. Hyukjae and Donghae waved off the concern, assuring that they were alright, though they avoided the questions on their sudden panic attack.
“Kyumin-ah! Are you alright?” Leeteuk and Ryeowook fussed over the chubby toddler, who was still at the foot of Hyukjae’s bed. With the mention of the aforementioned baby, Donghae and Hyukjae snapped their head and stared incredulously at the baby, their leader and maknae, and incidentally, stared straight into the blinking red light. Although the damage was done, both idols still had the sense to shut their mouth and opted to glance around quizzically. However, it was the other members’ turn to stare at Donghae and Hyukjae, who flinched noticeably, when Sungmin knocked on the door and playfully sang, “Tok tok tok~ Are Hae and Hyukkie alright?”
Bewildered, everyone else, sans Donghae and Hyukjae, trudged out of the room awkwardly, hoping that they could help ease some of the discomfited atmosphere in that tiny room. When the door swung resolutely shut, Donghae and Hyukjae breathed in relief, as well as in mortification that they were caught on TV with their bed-head and slacked jaws and for thinking that Kyumin was a ghost in disguise. As they lay back down, both Donghae and Hyukjae agreed not to tell any ghostly bed time stories and to lock the door before they sleep in the future, to prevent similar incidences from happening (and to prevent their lifespan from shortening).
***********
Notes to make:
Author:
rubyjn
Pairing(s): Eunhae
Rating: PG
Summary: Have you ever heard that (annoying) marble sound at night, especially when you want to sleep? It would seem that Donghae had been experiencing the same problem and Hyukjae tells him a bed-time story to get him to sleep...or not.
Disclaimer: I do not own Super Junior members.
A/N: My first time writing a SJ fiction and posted online. Enjoy though! Helpful criticisms are welcomed; comments too! Feel free to point out any mistakes so that I can make changes.
********
“Tok….tok...tok…roll…”
“Is someone playing with marbles again?” mumbled a groggy, nine-year-old Donghae. “At 1AM too!” he added, half-whining to himself. Incoherent images of his previous dream - of unicorns and sunshine and no school -, however, interrupted his musing, lulling the half-asleep Donghae back into dreamland’s arms.
********
“Tok….tok...tok…roll…”
An exhausted 25-year-old Lee Donghae, sprawled out the bed, groaned inaudibly. It was still during the Mr. Simple - A-CHA promotion days and all of the members schedules were fully packed, requiring them to work for up to 18 hours a day. Even the resident fish, as per nicknamed, was not spared. However, such was the norm for world renowned artists, and Donghae had willingly put down his signature above those dotted lines. Hence, Donghae just gritted his teeth and bit the bullet, knowing that his effort put in would be rewarded some day.
However, on that particular rainy day, Donghae’s had miraculously finished his schedule rather early and was back at the dormitory straight after dinner. Embracing the extra time he had, Donghae quickly showered and headed to the 11th floor’s dormitory. He mumbled a tired greeting to the members, namely Hyukjae and Sungmin - and Kyuhyun, though he was in the room busy relieving stress via Starcraft - , and bee-lined for Hyukjae’s room, dropping himself unceremoniously on the bed, thus his current position.
The soft patter of the rain, the slight rumble of thunder, together with the air-conditioned room, enabled sleep to grab hold of Donghae within seconds. His sleep-inebriated mind barely registered sock-clad feet padding towards the bed, which was followed by the bed sinking and the mattress creaking with abuse. Donghae automatically rolled over to accommodate Hyukjae, securely hugging him while Hyukjae adjusted the blanket over them.
Soft breathing filled the otherwise silent room, before Hyukjae, out of curiosity, asked Donghae, “Why are you not sleeping in your own room, Hae?” Though all Hyukjae could get out of Donghae were gibberish murmurs. Being the patient friend that Hyukjae was, and knowing Donghae’s various traits, he waited for a couple of minutes before Donghae drowsily replied, “Leeteuk-hyung’s filming Hello Baby in the 12th storey dorm. And the members, especially Ryeowookie, are gushing over how adorable Kyumin is. Also, I can’t sleep when the camera crew is around, otherwise something embarrassing might happen to me, like a hidden camera.” Hyukjae merely nodded in understanding and tightened his hold on Donghae, allowing the both of them to relish in the quietude and peace.
“Tock….tock...tock…roll…”
Donghae’s sensitive ears once again picked out the unmistakable thudding and rolling of marbles. Since he was woken once by Hyukjae, which Hyukjae apologized for, Donghae’s previous yearning to rest evaporated instantly after being disturbed by those marbles. Apparently, Hyukjae noticed the change in Donghae’s demeanor and stared at him quizzically, on the verge of wording his query before Donghae shushed him up. Hyukjae kept mum in acquiescence while training his ears to detect any form of fluctuation.
“Tock….tock...tock…roll…”
“Ah…Did that wake you up, Donghae?”
“Yeah…sorry if I woke you too, Hyukkie.”
“Mmm...It’s alright.”
Both Donghae and Hyukjae lied on the bed, engulfing themselves in the body heat while pondering about what they had just heard.
“Hae, have you heard about the story of the marbles?” Hyukjae inquired.
“Nope; are you going to tell me a bed time story, monkey?” was Donghae’s playful reply.
“I don’t really think it is a typical bed time story,” Hyukjae’s amused and almost deadpan reply came, before adding, “But I’m still going to tell you anyway, Nemo.”
“Anyway, it was said that whenever construction workers build new houses, they would put in marbles between the layers of wall. It was a way to appease and entertain the children ghosts that were said to haunt houses in search for a loving family to adopt them. But being ghosts, these children were, of course, unaccepted by all the families living in the houses. These families even gathered mediums to cleanse their homes. All of these merely infuriated the lonely children, who had wanted love and nothing more. Thus, soft cries and sobs were heard every night by the residents as a form of ‘revenge’ by the children ghosts.
“Having exhausted their resources, the residents were at a loss on their next action. Though, thankfully, one of them knew of a Chinese ‘tongji’ who was a legend in appeasing such ghosts. “Tear down the house and build a new one,” he said. “Remember to place marbles between each wall layer to let those children play with,” he advised.
“Although the residents were uncomfortable at this odd idea - it was uneconomical to demolish and rebuild a new building after all -, they continued to carry out the idea to appease the ghosts and for themselves to have a good night’s rest.
“When the new buildings were constructed, the residents were apprehensive about whether their unholy problems were resolved, no pun intended. Within a couple of weeks, the residents were happily and comfortably settled into their new abodes, catching up on their lack of sleep.
“However, it was probably a couple of months later that the residents started hearing marbles being played dead in the night. Naturally, they assumed that the children of the families living beside and above them were the cause of the disturbance. Hence, it took only a week of constant tapping and rolling of marbles for the residents’ to snap. Every night, the sensitive ones would toss and turn in their bed, mentally cursing and swearing for the noise to stop. Every morning, there would be visits to the various neighbors as a mean to solve the nightly problem once and for all.
“But, each neighbor would vehemently deny that their children were playing marbles at midnight. Some even, amusingly, counter-attacked with the fact that they were single and had not adopted any children. Worried, the residents called for a meeting with the ‘tongji’ once more, hoping to gain further enlightenment of this matter.
““When you take, you must give,” were the tongji’s words. “You ‘took’ away the children’s ‘revenge’ of crying and sobbing by giving them marbles yes? Those marble sounds you claim to hear every night stem from the children playing with the marbles. Would you rather hear these marbles every night or the previously heard soft sobbing?”
“The residents, of one accord, dissented the latter idea and decided to brave through those marbles every night instead. Thus, those marbles you hear every night are from the children ghosts playing.”
Hyukjae finished his ‘bed-time story’, though he had never expected Donghae to freeze up beside him.
“Donghae-ah!” Hyukjae shook Donghae’s shoulders and had contemplated slapping Donghae’s face to get him out of the trance he seemed to be in. His ruminations were cut short however, when Donghae unfroze and started whining and pouting, blaming Hyukjae for telling a ghost story before bed time. Hyukjae could only chuckle at Donghae’s antics before rebuking with a “You were the one who wanted to listen!”
Just then, the ever present, haunting melody of “Tok….tok...tok…roll…” reverberated around the walls. They both gulped audibly, diving underneath the safety net of the blanket. However, since the blanket was made for one person, a small tussle ensued and in the end, two messy heads poked out cautiously from underneath the blanket. But before they could heave a sigh of relief -that they were not being haunted by ghosts-, the door to the bedroom creaked open slightly, slanting in a small beam of light from the living hall. Though what caught the attention of Donghae and Eunhyuk was a small, circular object (“It’s a marble!” squeaked the full grown-ups) which happily and obliviously rolled towards the bed where two petrified grown-ups were clutching the daylights out of each other (never mind that it was night time).
The marble came to a gentle stop at the foot of Hyukjae’s bed, and stared innocently (“Menacingly!” cried Donghae and Hyukjae) up at them. It seemed as though hours had passed before Donghae and Hyukjae regained some of their cool and logic that ghosts did not exist. However, their calm facades did not match their racing hearts and both visibly tensed once again when the door opened slowly. They could see nothing but hear something padding thunderously towards them. But what truly set their terror off was the soft, tinkling childish, almost baby-ish laughter that increased in volume as it moved towards the marble.
With a shriek, yelp and hustle to get the light switch on, both males tumbled towards the floor and unfortunately, stared right into the luminous eyes of their fate. Which, incidentally, set Donghae and Eunhyuk off yet again, causing a ruckus in the room and for the other members to barge in. Lights (“Thank god for lights!” wept Donghae and Hyukjae) flooded the room and a buzz of concerned queries enveloped the messy bedroom. Hyukjae and Donghae waved off the concern, assuring that they were alright, though they avoided the questions on their sudden panic attack.
“Kyumin-ah! Are you alright?” Leeteuk and Ryeowook fussed over the chubby toddler, who was still at the foot of Hyukjae’s bed. With the mention of the aforementioned baby, Donghae and Hyukjae snapped their head and stared incredulously at the baby, their leader and maknae, and incidentally, stared straight into the blinking red light. Although the damage was done, both idols still had the sense to shut their mouth and opted to glance around quizzically. However, it was the other members’ turn to stare at Donghae and Hyukjae, who flinched noticeably, when Sungmin knocked on the door and playfully sang, “Tok tok tok~ Are Hae and Hyukkie alright?”
Bewildered, everyone else, sans Donghae and Hyukjae, trudged out of the room awkwardly, hoping that they could help ease some of the discomfited atmosphere in that tiny room. When the door swung resolutely shut, Donghae and Hyukjae breathed in relief, as well as in mortification that they were caught on TV with their bed-head and slacked jaws and for thinking that Kyumin was a ghost in disguise. As they lay back down, both Donghae and Hyukjae agreed not to tell any ghostly bed time stories and to lock the door before they sleep in the future, to prevent similar incidences from happening (and to prevent their lifespan from shortening).
***********
Notes to make:
- “tongji” - Chinese Medium
- The story of the marbles being placed in buildings during construction to let the children ghosts to play with was what was told to me during a camp. Of course, I did add in more to lengthen the story and for it to flow.
- I hope I can sleep tonight….