DARK EIGHT

-Sorry, I overslept-

"Lele... Wake up... Lele...Where are we?..." the eight-year-old boy asked as he takes a glance at the unfamiliar cream-colored room, surrounded with toys and paintings scattered on the wall. He noticed his brother rubbing his eyes, stretching his body as he takes a look at the room.

"I don't know, Blake..." Lenan said, grimacing at the unfamiliar room. holding his brother on his shoulder who's now sniffing, He fumes when he heard his brother's growling stomach, same goes for his.

"Lele... Hungry... I'm hungry..." Blake says while rubbing his stomach gently to ease the growling sound. He pouted. He just let his brother hold him.

He just crawled into bed and he pulled his brother closer to him to accommodate him temporarily. He remembered that they ended up sleeping at the arcade cafe last night.

He mentally hissed at the idea of them sleeping in strangers' beds. He started to think of something to do but he was stopped by the sudden knock on the wooden door.

They sat up to look in its direction only to find the said door opening. The sound of its creaking gave them shivers on their spines and starts to breathe shakily as they crawled back and shut their eyes but ears open.

Lenan held his brother closer when he saw the shadow walking towards them as he heaved a sigh of relief when he noticed the size of the same kind as him

The said shadow was the owner's son's shadow. He was told to wake their guests in his room but before he uttered a word, he chuckled at the shaking tent-made that was covering their shoulders, pretending to sleep.

"Hey, buddy, you need to wake up..." They heard him said, "Dad's waiting for you to come... Come on, let's eat breakfast... We have strawberry pancakes there!.." he cheers and beamed a smile when he saw the tiny body stands while looking at him in awe then looked back at he thinks his brother.

"Lele! They have strawberry pancakes!" Blake happily says as he shakes his brother gently as the giggles filled their ears.

Lenan glanced at the stranger as he started to examine his face. He saw him smiling and the twinkling of his eyes that made him stop doubting himself. He sat up and looked at his brother Who's now grinning at him with his hand's clasps together. Heaving a deep sigh of relief, he decided to introduce himself and ask his.

"I'm Lenan. He's Blake, he's my brother..." Lenan says as he saw him smiling at them. There's something in his eyes that stating a calm ones.

"My name is James. Just call me Hyung cause I'm probably older than you and you're currently sitting on my bed, but don't worry, I don't mind..." He says calmly as he stared at them like with pity but he doesn't want to show it.

"Hyung!... Dad is looking for you! Why are you taking so long?!"...

They heard a shout like a kid's voice as they shared each other a look. Then after a couple of seconds, Lenan and Blake watched the boy as he frantically ran inside the room. Shocked by the sudden appearance, they stared at him which they received a smile and waving hands from the strict looking boy.

"Hello! So you guys are finally awake. come on, let's eat! And oh! If you're wondering where on earth are you, you just slept at our cafe last night so we decided to let you guys sleep on my brother's bed." The boy said, explaining at the two nervous boys, "my name is Ten! What's your name pretty!?" He asked, looking sharply at the little midget who caught his attention.

Pretty was the first word that popped up on his mind when he saw the cutest kid he had ever seen in his life that he thinks as he looked on the latter's small complexion. Cooing was the first thing he did at his cute puffy cheeks.

"I'm B-Blake... H-He's Lele, h-hes my b-brother..." Blake says stuttering by the intense stare at him which made his cheeks felt hot. He saw him a nod and immediately gave him a smile with his hands being offered.

"Come on, let's eat. Dad's looking for us!" Ten exclaimed, he didn't mean to shout at them but there's something made him to, so he decided to pull Blake out of the bed as he tugged him on his shoulders, snaking his arm at the latter.

"Ten, stop that! What are you doing? Hey, you brat! Don't pull him!.." James said, hitting his aggressive brother who happens to freak their guests, "Yah! Stop that! You're scaring him! Look! If you don't stop, I will smack your head until it bleeds!" He said and smirked when he noticed his brother's scared face as he crossed his arms laying on his chest.

"Uhmm, James-hyung, where's Konan? Have you seen my friend?" Lenan asked when he remembered that last night Konan was with them.

"Yes, yes and yes! He's waiting for you guys cause you two literally sleep like a dead log. Are you sure that Konan is the only one with you last night cause there's a bunch of idiots there in our living room." He blurted out and not a minute he let his hand gripped on Blake's wrist again and he continued mumbling.

"There's a loud chubby kid and a quiet one with a pair of teddy bear clothes. And, don't worry about Konan cause he slept in my room last night, he already knows about me... He's my second cousin that's why." He said, heaving a sigh of relief when he saw them smiling then look at the midget beside him.

"Don't call them idiots! They're not idiots, they are my friend!" The midget suddenly growled, scrunching his nose as he shoots him a not so deadly glare cause for Pete's sake, he's not scary at all. "Well, sometimes Chris is making some idiots stuff... But... But you can't do that with my friends! I can punch you!" He said, pulling his wrist.

"Awe! You're so cute! Come on, let's eat cause I'm hungry!" Ten said, ignoring the midget's words but he can't ignore the cuteness of him tho. He decided to lead their way to the stairs, still pulling the latter by his wrist as he talked about him and his toys and how can they be good friends. "We have a bunch of cars and robots here! You can play with it anytime you want! It's so sad here! I don't have a playmate..."

"I c-can be your playmate i-if you want..." Little Blake said. He can't deny the happiness and excitement when he heard the word 'Toys' that it even appeared on his face but a fume made its way on his face when he heard that he's lonely here. "Why are you sad? You have James-hyung here to play with..."

"He's not into toys. All he knows is study and study. Read books and paintings. Be my playmate, Blake, please! I will be forever happy if you pay me a visit here!" Ten said. It's true. His brother is a bookworm and his parents are always away from their works that made the latter goes silent and all he knows is he's now being hugged by the small kid.

"You must be l-loney here... Don't worry, I will visit you here, everyday! Don't be sad now..." Blake says while tapping Ten's back as he nuzzles on its soft garments.

while they're walking down the stairs, Lenan and Blake immediately wave their hands on their best friends when they saw the three having their breakfast on the table. Lenan immediately ran to Konan's direction, mumbling his apologies.

"Blake! Sit here beside me!..." And there's Chris beside Ken, waving his hands on the latter but his eyes suddenly darted at the other kid who had his wrist holding.

"No thanks! He will sit beside me..." Ten protests, pointing his hand to his chair. He smirked at him, not leaving the glare on his face.

"And who you might be? Are you even his friend?" Chris asked, glaring at he thinks his opponent who happens to make his pissed just by looking on his face. "come here, Blake. Sitt beside us!"

Ten couldn't help but feel offended by his question. yet, he's still stand confident with his smirk not leaving his lips when he remembered the latter hugging him just about minutes ago.

"He's my friend now and he said that he will visit me every single day to play with me. Besides, I might have much more toys than you..." He says confidently as he tightened his grip on Blake's wrist but not that tight to harm it. He started to walk on the other side but Chris called the latter again.

"Blake Dawson, Sit. Here. Beside. Me." Blake heard from Chris that made him startled. Guilt was creeping on his head as he remembered their promise that they won't make friends with others because they are already happy with just them.

"I said he will sit beside me! And, I am the owner of this house so I can do whatever I want!" Ten exclaimed, returning a glare at him. He did not want to shout but anger filled his head that triggered him to.

"Ten!... Quit messing around! Let him sit beside his friends! You're being stupid again! Come on, we need to eat now cause their parents are probably waiting..." James said with a warning tone, looking at his brother with a knowing look that even his parents know what that one means.

He gave them a smile when Ten unleashed Blake on his grip who immediately goes to Chris's direction and mouthed a sorry by the sudden attitude of his brother. He let the maid hands their plate strawberry pancakes with a glass of milk.

Then, they started to munch their breakfast and talks about them and how they ended up sleeping in the cafe. Well, their so ever-energetic friend didn't let them go that he told them to lay on the cafe's couch. Thank the heavens that their cafe has home-like features that you can watch movies, play arcades, and order some foods.

They told them about Konan being their second cousin and they talked about some random kinds of stuff that they didn't notice the warm accompany they're building.

As another chapter of their lives passes by, is another day of their lives nearing into tearing them apart...

                                        🖤🖤🖤