Autumnal Equinox (JinJi)

Eleven

They learned that the shotgun Harabeoji was wielding wasn't operational. It wasn't loaded, and all of its little holes and spaces had been filled with lead so it would never be able to fire anything anyway. Still, nobody in the hall knew that. As far as they knew, the old man was about to shoot up a wedding reception.

He must have wandered out of the house and into the town again. He must have seen the slew of Japanese guests wandering into the hall, and it triggered his memories from the war. At least that was how Jisoo explained it.

Jinyoung looked further down the hall and saw Jisoo. She was speaking to the town sheriff, who was scolding her for not taking better care of her grandfather. According to the doctor, the extent of his delusions and memory loss would have warranted him professional attention months or even years ago. Why had they never brought him to see someone, or took him to live someplace where he could have around-the-clock care?

Jisoo answered their questions as best as she could, but Jinyoung could tell that she was shaken by the experience. When the panic died down, he offered to give her a ride to the hospital where Harabeoji had been rushed. It starting to get late, but he was waiting until she finished up her conversation with the police before taking his leave.

Jisoo gave the pair of policemen a deep bow before they left. Then she started to walk back. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she was rubbing her arms to comfort herself. Jinyoung stood as she neared him.

"You're still here?" she asked with a trembling voice.

"Yeah," Jinyoung sighed as he got up. "I was waiting for you to finish up with the police. "What did they say?"

"They're taking the shotgun," Jisoo said, rubbing her arms. "Good. It's better he doesn't have it. How is he doing?"

They both turned and looked into the window of the hospital room where Harabeoji was sleeping. When he hit the ground, he dislocated his shoulder, and the electric shock from the taser brought on even more problems. He woke up once and exhibited some symptoms of a panic attack, and now the doctor wanted to keep him a little bit longer to monitor his condition and then later run some tests to check for Alzheimer's or dementia.

"The doctor said he's stable for now," Jinyoung said. "They said you can go in there now, too."

Jisoo let out a shaky sigh. "I have to call my parents," she said. "They're out of town, they need to know about this. Can I borrow your cell phone?"

Jinyoung fished his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. "You might need to step out of the building to make calls, though," he said. "They purposefully weaken cell signal in here."

"Okay," Jisoo said. She looked at Jinyoung and then her grandfather. "I'm sorry you had to stay so late—"

"It's fine," he said.

"Could you just stay with him while I make this call?" she asked. "I don't want him to wake up alone and start panicking again."

Jinyoung agreed. Then Jisoo turned and exited the hall to call her parents. Jinyoung went into the hospital room to sit at Harabeoji's bedside. The room had a sterilized, clinical smell that was just slightly tainted with the scent of old age given the room's occupant. He found a chair and sat down. It was quiet. The only thing to hear was the beeping of the EKG monitor and Harabeoji's weak snoring.

Jinyoung heaved in a deep breath.

Real gun or not, Harabeoji had scared the living daylights out of him back at the wedding reception. His stomach still lurched when he recalled those moments of sheer panic. Minji was screaming, she was scared shitless. Then he remembered looking up and seeing the old man pointing the barrel at Yoshiki and his sister, his finger over the trigger. Then Jisoo put herself in front of them and then he put himself in front of her.