I'll Grow Tall For You - M I N S U N G

𝙨𝙞𝙭

What started as a week quickly became a month and Jisung wasn't any closer to being normal sized.

Granted, they hadn't made much progress on the matter. Jisung seemed to forget his purpose, invested in Minho's day to day life.

He often sat in the cubby behind the counter, legs dangling as he asked about things in the shop. Minho was more than willing to tell their stories. He'd always loved that about his job. When someone was kind enough to ask him about it; kind enough to spark conversation.

Minho hadn't realized how lonely he'd been before. How nice it was to have someone to talk to throughout the day.

A new month had just began. He'd have to go into town soon.

"It's the first Saturday of the month this weekend." he told Jisung.

The shop had been closed for an hour now. Minho had stayed downstairs, watching Jisung trot around in the dollhouse. It was still odd to Minho, how at home Jisung seemed to be in such a cramped space.

At least for him it was. Jisung probably found it grand.

"So?"

"I'll have to set up my booth at the flea market."

"Sounds like fun."

"Chan will be coming with me." Silence.

His friend had been a sore topic for Jisung. Chan came around unexpectedly, seconds away from discovering the doll on the counter. While normal for Minho, Jisung flailed every time, cowering away behind the nearest object so as not to be seen.

He complained about it. Found Chan's behavior irritating. It was hard to placate the doll when Minho couldn't justify Chan's actions as anything other than ordinary. He was his best friend. He was used to this. To him walking in at random hours to check up on him. To him bringing food. To him whisking him away to some event or a movie, sometimes on such short notice, Jisung would have to stay behind.

Jisung hated those days the most.

"Will I have to stay here?"

"No. If you promise to stay quiet." Jisung didn't look all that happy with the offer. "It'll only be a few hours. We'll leave before lunch."

Chan sounded delighted by Minho's call, telling him he'd get to bed early so he could come by bright and early the next morning.

Minho clicked off the lights, headed for the back room to tell Jisung good night. He found the doll sitting on his staircase, a blank look on his face.

"See you tomorrow." he ended, hanging up when Chan offered his own farewell. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm?" The doll blinked, not startled, but a bit aghast that Minho had entered. "Is it that time already?" Minho nodded. "Well, good night."

Leaving Jisung now felt like a stab to his heart.

"I know your bed is comfortable and all, but I worry about your sleeping habits." Minho admitted, thinking back to the morning he'd wandered down only to see Jisung tinkering away at something on the table.

The doll had shouted at Minho when he noticed him there and he found out how scary Jisung could be when he set his mind to it. He'd scared him off, Minho tending to the store alone for a few hours until he heard the doll calling for him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get like that. I just hadn't gotten much sleep last night." Minho forgave him, obviously.

But since then, he noticed Jisung being more secretive. He imagined him up at night, working on whatever it was he felt he needed to hide from Minho. It concerned him. Jisung should be getting a full night's rest.