The Mannequin - Minsung

seventy-eight

Minho doesn't understand... It just hurts.

He's afraid to ask... or say... the word curse. Especially after learning of the shit someone told Jisung in the past.

Cursed child. Cursed the town. Evil.

It makes Minho furious. Sick.

"I wish I knew what's hurting you," Minho murmurs. "Wish I could take it away. So you wouldn't have to suffer."

"Minho..." Jisung whimpers. "I w-was cursed..."

"C-Cursed? What does t-that mean?"

"H-Helen... isn't the same woman... who told me to call her mother," Jisung answers. Unexpectedly. "She took me from somewhere."

"I d-don't remember where. I don't know if I want to know... Helen did more about me than I did... she took care of me... she told me she loved me... Her husband was nice too... I thought they were like family."

Jisung gasps. Cries against his neck.

"B-But they wanted to know something from my past. S-Something I was told. They pretended to love me... so I could become more human... so I could remember and tell them."

"W-When I got some memories... they w-would be painful... I would get scared a-and Kyungseo would get angry because he didn't like that I was weak... that I couldn't just tell them everything..."

"But I d-don't remember everything at once and I never understand it... when they started getting scary... I would turn into a mannequin."

Jisung pulls back. Wipes his bloodshot eyes.

"They knew how to get me back though. They knew I would forget things. They'd lock me up. Leave me for months. Then bring me out."

"They put me in their shop. They would be nice to me. They'd make me come alive again. A-And I wouldn't know. They would change their methods. Their stories."

"T-They tried so many times to take care of me... to tell me they loved me... that they're like my parents... they would lie to me too... so if I remembered them from last time... they'd warn me that I understood wrong... so I could never be sure..."

"B-But always, they would get tired... of me not remembering what they wanted me to... not trusting them... not giving them those secrets they knew I had somewhere in my memories..."

"I spent years with them... over and over... t-they just knew how to lie to me... how to get me to trust them a-and... I don't know why, but bad things started happening in the village... to them too... their jobs... their shop... all because of me... so they were meaner."

"They'd have less patience. They told me they do so much for me... a-and I never give anything back... then H-Helen... she died... Her husband was so mad at me and he... he..."

Jisung sobs through the words. "He pushed me to the ground a-and said if I want love... he could give it to me... I got so scared b-because he ripped my clothes... and I turned mannequin..."

Minho's breath hitches. In horror.

"The next time I came alive... it was another person... her name was Nari... someone young... she was sweet and patient. She said she loved me. She kept me in her home and took care of me when I got memories of Helen and Kyungseo... she helped me through it."

"It was only after I was staying human the whole day... I noticed she would leave for a long time... when I had all memories of Kyungseo and everything they did to me... I noticed we were in the same place..."

"A-And I realized she lied to me... she was Kyungseo's new wife... she was making me human for him... to get me to remember a-and tell me what I hadn't told Kyungseo and Helen... I was so sad and scared that I ran away... I think I turned mannequin somewhere else..."

Jisung heaves for a breath. Looks up at Minho.

"P-Please... if you want to get those secrets from me... I don't remember them... I might just become a mannequin again before I get to them. My curse may destroy this place and hurt you—"

Minho hugs him. Lets his tears fall.

"No, I don't want anything from you. Nothing. I don't care what you are and what you know, I just want to love you a-and keep you safe and happy." He pulls back. Holds his face.

"I know nothing about what your secret might be and I don't want to know. You d-don't even have to love me, Jisung— just stay with me and accept my love, let me take care of you..."

Jisung's arms come around his waist.

His sobs get louder. Gut-wrenching.

To be continued...