[Neo Zone] Population: 23 Kids

Room Invasion

"Mom! Mark won't stop following me!" Johnny yelled up the stairs, knowing it was safe to do so because the cafe had closed for the night.

"Well then tell him to get up here because his Mom's on the phone and wants to talk to him!" With no hesitation, Mark bolted up the wooden stairs, the brightest smile on his face as he took the phone from his aunt and sat down on the floor to talk.

Jaehyun groaned as he sat up, rubbing his eyes and searching around the room as if he forgot why he was in a basement and how he got there. It was strange waking up and not remembering where you were.

"I lived in America for four years, man. That's why I'm here." He whispered to himself, and Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Where'd the kid go?"

"His Mom called and wanted to talk to him. How do you still look so tired?" Jaehyun shrugged, swinging his legs around so as he sat he was facing Johnny.

"I had to fly from Connecticut to Vancouver so Mark and I could fly together, and I think I only slept an hour or two the entire time. He managed to sleep through half of it, though." He was currently convinced he'd never recover from the amount of sleep he missed out on and that he'd forever live in a state of exhaustion.

"That sucks."

The two cousins fell into an awkward silence, neither of them knowing what to say anymore. It was so much easier when they were younger to start up a conversation those few times they had ever seen each other. Now, it was just awkward.

"Can you boys give me a hand?" Johnny's Dad called from upstairs, and the two gladly went up the stairs to end the awkward silence. Two large boxes sat on the floor joined by two mattresses, and Johnny's Dad motioned for them to pick up one of them.

The three managed to get the boxes and mattresses down, and they helped Johnny's Dad put together the bed frames and get sheets and blankets on their beds. With a place to finally put his suitcase, Jaehyun slid it under his bed along with his backpack, not bothering to move Mark's for him.

"You can move them around if you want, but do not try stacking them to make a triple bed." The two kids groaned, upset their master plan they had been whispering to each other the entire time was turned down.

When the adult left the room, Johnny and Jaehyun took a step back to look at the current bed arrangement, shaking their heads simultaneously. They first moved Johnny's so it was diagonal in the corner, adjusting Mark and Jaehyun's so they were on either side but with their headboards up against opposite walls. It formed a sort of cove to them, especially when they moved the dresser so it was next to Mark's bed like a wall.

"Now it looks like a permanent sleepover." Johnny commented, sitting down on the floor in exhaustion from their hard work.

"I mean, isn't that what it is?" The older of the two shrugged, and Jaehyun sat down on his new bed before deciding to switch over to Johnny's.

"Did your mom really want you to come here to be more responsible?" Jaehyun sighed, running a hand through his dark brown hair.

"She says that, but I know it's because her and dad are having problems and they don't want me to be around while they work it out or break it off. She's always been the one telling my dad that they should let me be a kid."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Jaehyun put on a smile that was half faked just to brush it off, and he was grateful for the attention switch when Mark came running back to the basement and threw himself on the bed they had ever so neatly made.

"Auntie said we can have a cupcake!" Johnny's eyes widened, having almost never been allowed to eat the leftover products from the cafe since they went into the freezer for the next day.

"It's good to know Mom likes you better than me then."