when you wake up | sunki

six.

"Hello, Riki."

"How do you know my name?"

Sunoo sits down at the ledge, careful not to knock his guitar against the water pipes running along the other side of the wall. "You told me last night, and last night, and the night before," he says patiently. "I know you don't remember, so I'm telling you now. My name is Kim Sunoo, and I live at apartment #02-03."

"You know?"

Riki's eyes are wide in the moonlight, bright with a mix of confusion and worry and curiosity.

"Yes," Sunoo answers. "I know. You don't have to worry about that."

Riki comes down from where he's sitting on the parapet. "You play the guitar?"

"Yes," Sunoo says. "I write songs and I sing, and I have the first verse of the song you asked for last night ready. Do you want to hear it?"

The younger boy nods, the ghost of a smile on his face. "Okay."

"Rainbows after the rain, and valiantly blooming flowers spread colour about

That day, I fell in love with the you who looked up at the blazing red sky

That one instant, in the scene of the dramatic film

Won't disappear, because it's etched in my heart."

"I like this song," Riki says as Sunoo finishes the verse. "And I like your voice. Thank you for singing to me."

"Can I ask you something?" Sunoo says, and the other boy nods.

"Go ahead. What is it?"

"Your curfew," Sunoo mimes a watch on his wrist. "00:55 every day. What is it for?"

"Ah..." Riki seems surprised. "You know a lot about me. There's a good reason for those curfews, though there's no one at home to enforce it anymore."

"Then, what is it?"

He doesn't seem inclined to give Sunoo a direct answer. "Do you want to see?"

"Okay."

They have half an hour give or take before it's 00:55, and Riki spends the rest of the time asking about Sunoo instead. "Talk about your problems," he says. "I won't remember this when I wake up, so you might as well tell me now."

"Right," Sunoo agrees. "You won't remember this when you wake up, so..."

He tells Riki the story of a little boy in a house in Gyeonggi.

─

"Sunoo, come here!"

The boy buried under his thin blankets tries his best not to listen, but as loud as the beating of his heart is in his ears, he can't drown out the knocking of tables and chairs, the shattering and tinkling of glass on tiles.

"Where's that bastard? He always doesn't come when I ask him to. What's he good for if he can't even fetch me a couple of bottles from the fridge?"

"That useless little brat. I don't want to hunt for him again, what a headache. Take this instead."

"Oh shit, you've got the good stuff. I suppose this will do. I'll kill that kid when he wakes up in the morning."

They are out cold in the living room when he wakes up in the morning, thankfully, and he squeezes past the furniture to reach the door. Thank the lucky stars for government-mandated schooling.

Sunoo often wonders how people get through difficult times, as he lies in bed during colder nights, the cacophony outside his door louder than ever. Other people say there's a light at the end of the tunnel. They say that you should hold on, and that the tough times will be over one day.

He can't imagine any of this ever being over.

It's all he's known his whole life; angry parents, kitchens full of bottles, countertops covered with dust, needles discarded in odd positions all over the house that he's learned he should pick up carefully and throw into the trash for the sake of everyone's wellbeing, but more specifically his own.

In a house of nightmares, it's each person for himself.

─

Riki is silent and Sunoo can tell he's unsure of what to say. "It's alright," the older boy offers. "You don't have to say you're sorry, or anything like that. Like you said, things happen. Circumstances suck, you don't have to apologise for it."

"I don't remember saying that," Riki answers, but he smiles. "It sounds like something I would say, though. Anyway, I'm glad you're here, if that means anything to you."

Sunoo looks up from his guitar where it's been laying on his lap. "It does. Thank you for that. It wasn't always easy, but I'm glad I'm here now."

"It's almost time for my curfew," Riki says, checking his watch. "You're sure you want to see what happens?"

"Sure," the older boy answers tentatively. "Unless there's a reason you shouldn't be showing me, then-"

"No, it's alright," Riki smiles, reassuringly. "I'm just afraid you'll have a bit more trouble tonight. I'll explain everything when I see you tomorrow. Give me your notebook for a second, will you?"

He writes two words neatly below the song title he'd written the day before. "Say these words to me tomorrow after you remind me we've met before. I'll tell you more about my curfew then. But for now, I live at apartment #04-01, here's the key."

Sunoo accepts the key on a ring, identical to his, and keeps it in his hand. He's confused on what this has to do with anything, but he decides to stay quiet and watch.

"It's 00:57, actually, not 00:55," Riki explains when it reaches 00:55 and he hasn't yet moved from his place. "I give myself two minutes to get back to my apartment before it happens, just to be safe, but today since you're here, it's fine."

As the time on Sunoo's phone hits 00:57, the boy sitting across from him collapses before his eyes.