The Mannequin - Minsung

sixty-eight

It happens... as Minho expected.

Jisung's memories come back. Little by little.

His sleep does too. He panics... during the times he sleeps. He has nightmares. It's of the incident with Hyunjin's father.

Minho keeps reminding him: What happened wasn't his fault. He is not hated. He is not a bad person.

There are a few nights of tears. Jisung can't sleep. He's too tired.

Minho comforts him. Through ways he knows. He gives kisses. Cuddles. Food. Books. Whichever ones Jisung wants.

Hyunjin finally comes to see Jisung. The latter's timid at first. Then he slowly becomes himself. He seems to be remembering Hyunjin. His family. But it hasn't sunk in. That the person in his memories... that woman... is older now. That it's Hyunjin's grandmother.

Minho explains that too. To prepare him.

When Jisung's calm... when he sleeps without becoming a mannequin... when he's alive all day... Minho asks the Hwangs. If they can come over.

Jisung's too afraid. But Minho's been through it. He has seen how much Jisung's loved. By all of the Hwangs. So he keeps encouraging him.

It helps a lot. That Hyunjin's been informing his parents. Of all that Jisung's going through. The family welcomes him. With tenderness.

He is stunned. At all of it. He glances around. Confused. Tearful. But slowly falls into it... like the cheerful being he is.

Minho's emotional. He has to step away. To wait for his tears to stop. To hold his heart in place. It's hurting. From all the love it feels.

"Minho? Are you alright, dear?"

He turns. Startled. It's Mrs. Hwang. "Yeah. Sorry."

Mrs. Hwang squeezes his shoulder. "You're a wonderful boy, Minho. I'm so blessed to call you family."

Minho has to wipe his tears. He's touched. As always. The Hwangs have shown him nothing but love and care. Minho's trying to get words out. But Mrs. Hwang leans on the wall beside him.

"Your Jisung... it's hard to believe what he is... And for that reason, I tried to find answers." She smiles at Minho. "I need to make sure you two can stay together. You both deserve each other."

Jisung's in the living room. He has looked up. His eyes search for Minho. He spots him. Then his eyes light up.

Minho beams back. Jisung tugs on Grandma Hwang's arm. Points at Minho. Speaks excitedly. The old woman laughs.

"She adores him," Mrs. Hwang murmurs. "He's a joy. Very pure."

Minho nods. "Yeah, he—"

"So I learned more about Helen and Kyungseo."

Minho looks away from Jisung. "S-Sorry?"

"The owners of that store. Len Seo. They had Jisung in the window."

Minho bites his lip. He almost tells Mrs. Hwang: Stop. He doesn't want to hear it. Doesn't want to know. Whatever happened back then.

Fuck the past. Fuck it all.

Mrs. Hwang goes on. "Kyungseo... his wife was named Helen. She died. No kids. He remarried. Someone young. No kids again. Then Kyungseo ended up dying too. In a storm, I believe."

"His store was destroyed. There's not much else I could find in old records after that. But... someone had stories about that village... and in the stories... there's an interesting boy... one who turns into a doll."

Minho feels pale. Mrs. Hwang turns. Her shoulder's against the wall. Her arms are crossed. She faces him.

"Remember how we found Jisung? After he got lost?" She says. Very quietly. "Like he'd escaped an attack? It's because he had. I found out that some guy and his friends tried to ask him what he was up to."

"Jisung got scared and ran. One of them later found him... when he'd turned into a mannequin. The person told his friends. Who probably didn't believe him. But told others."

Minho listens. His heart's sinking.

"And the news got to someone who remembered an older tale... from her great-grandparents... It's about someone who was cursed, could turn into a doll, and who had cursed the village, ages ago," she says. "Remember Kyungseo? His second wife survived."

"She told that story for years. I spoke to an old lady while investigating... she said that if storms come again now, then they'll believe it's not a superstition... the doll creature's curse. She seemed to think it's silly."

"We got Jisung out in time," she says. To Minho. "That one guy could've eventually convinced his friends to see for themselves."

"With Jisung not there... they can all go back to thinking that the same story's just doing its rounds again..." Mrs. Hwang sighs.

"Anyway. That's all I could find. It's too old. If we want to know the whole story... we'll have to wait for Jisung to tell us. If he can."

She smiles again. "Minho. Could you help me with dinner?"

He glances at Jisung one last time. "Oh, okay... sure..."

- - -

- - - - - -

Minho's preoccupied. Deep in his thoughts. All evening.

He tries to give Jisung reactions. Responses. Because Jisung's bouncing on his feet. Smiling. Laughing. He swings Minho's hand. Holds it. Gives it kisses. Giggles. Chatters away.

When they get home... Jisung hugs him. "I love you, Minho..."

Minho's pulled out of his thoughts. "I love you too."

"I think you were right about the now and the present," Jisung mutters. "I want to stay with you... Mama Haeun... and everybody... I don't want to remember anything else..."

Minho buries his head into Jisung's neck. Pulls him closer.

Oh, if only it could stay like this forever...

To be continued...

MUAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHA

Aight that's all for this week. See you guys in 4 months.