Ace In the Hole

Chapter 18

With no episodes of anaphylactic shock (yet) Jisoo had lost track of time. Between homemade meals and escorted bathroom breaks, it all became a bit of a blur. Daydreams filled the gaping time and her moments, while boring, never seemed torturous. She had only really interacted with the dude bro --Johnny-- he had supplied, and the deer --Yuta.

Taeyong had yet to visit. He had days, she could only guess how many, but never once did she see even a peep of his cherry colored strands.

Her pears had probably molded by now. She had bought them not too long ago but they were already ripened, almost to perfection. Planned on eating them this week. Her apartment would reek. She wished the gang would supply fresh fruit. Supposed that was too much to ask for a prisoner. Maybe if she was quiet enough, if she acted like a good inmate, they would give her cocoa? That too seemed unlikely. Jisoo missed her pears.

Nayeon and Jihyo made such a cute couple. Made the best cup of cocoa in this corner of the world. And Mrs. Do the best tea. Mmm... a nice herbal jasmine with just a hint of citrus would melt Jisoo to the core right now.

Nobody would notice Granny Do's disappearance. She had no family, only friendly with the neighborhood aunties, closest to Jisoo, the sole inheritor of her apartment key. Their rent was paid for this month and the next. Jisoo had to hope she could be back in time to carefully pack away Granny Do's keepsakes. Water her flowers. Dry her tea leaves. She missed that kindly smile and maternal fret. She had a way about her that made her seem as if she'd been an old woman her whole life, lived as everyone's granny, and was practically professional at this point.

The door was opening and Jisoo didn't know which break this would be. Her body had become much a second entity in a way that left her stomach numb to hunger and her eyes constantly drooping.

Maybe she needed to use the bathroom? Didn't she just do that? Would they finally let her shower? Something about that last one felt more like a wish than a possibility. Jisoo was doubtful the gang of boys would care about the smell of a dungeon.

Yuta came baring his usual tray, setting it down on the floor, scooting it towards her, and then silently stalking to the corner. As if this were procedure. It practically was.

Jisoo had long since gotten used to the silence, though still uneasy about his watchful gaze while she stuffed her face. The only reason Jisoo had even gotten to learn his name was Johnny, whose towering stature and scathing stare, only scared her for as long as he hadn't opened his mouth. In actuality, the giant was much less "frat" and much more "boy", unafraid to make silly small talk even with a fugitive. Going as far as to joke about their yelp rating (to which Jisoo had replied that this had to be her second worst air bnb experience to date) she rather thought their humors aligned pretty well.

On the other hand, Johnny was the only person she could possibly hold a conversation with, these days, and she must have looked desperate for it if he was willing to drop the tough guy act.

Yuta grunted and Jisoo realised she had, once again, been too busy hiding away in her musings. She pulled at the tray to appease the man but couldn't find the appetite to do more than stare at the plate of fried rice. Upon the second grunt, or really sound in general she had ever heard from the man, she took a sip of the water and another look at the food. Her stomach still felt too detached to think about eating, still she didn't want to anger the man. Pushing the meal around didn't help. Jisoo took as many bites as she could manage before giving up entirely.

Jisoo was tired.

Yuta let out another noise, less animalistic, more questioning. Jisoo didn't want to answer, the idea of shattering the safe space they had built seemed unappealing. So she held quiet.

Yuta gave a sigh and she took that as a que to push the tin back towards the center. There was a silent feud before he accepted this response.

No windows and no light switches meant it was back to sleep in the white room. In a couple hours Johnny would be in to wake her up for teeth-brushing and bathroom breaking. Yuta shuffled the tray into his hold and backed out the only exit, the dead bolt clicking after him. Jisoo wished herself a pleasant dream of pear slices and cocoa cups.