The Mannequin - Minsung

nine

Jisung stays around for two hours now.

And with more time... he's more curious. He shuffles around Minho's place. Opens and closes things in the kitchen—

And pops into the bathroom to run the taps!

He sits on Minho's bed. Bounces on it. Rolls around it. Rummages in his closet. Tries out more clothes. Peeks out windows.

Then he goes back to looking in the fridge.

He eats strawberries. Ice cream. Chips. Anything delicious.

Minho enjoys bringing him food. He can always guess what kinds he'll like. Then he just watches him with a smile.

Jisung will taste them. Then his eyes will light up.

Minho loves it the most when he yells out, "I remember this!"

It happens with strawberry milk. So Minho tells him, "It's milk flavored with your favorite fruit."

Jisung shakes his head. His soft hair flies around.

"No, I remember having this!" He says. "She gave it to me!"

"She? Who is she?"

Jisung stares in shock. Then pouts. The excitement disappears. "I don't know who she is. I just... know. She. Sorry..."

"Hey," Minho says quickly. He combs his hair gently with his fingers. "It's not your fault for not remembering! You can't force yourself to remember. And you don't apologize to me for it, okay?"

Jisung nods. "Yes. I understand." Then he drinks his strawberry milk. He turns around to watch the news. His face is serious.

Minho smiles. "You probably have fifteen more minutes."

"Okay. Thank you."

Minho keeps smiling. Jisung... always brings a smile to his face. Or makes him laugh. Or fills him with overwhelming surge of care. Love.

"You're very special, Jisung..."

The mannequin turns around instantly. His strawberry milk's finished. "Really? You think I'm special?"

"Oh uh, y-yeah," Minho says. He spoke very quietly... How did Jisung hear him with the noise of the TV?

Jisung shifts closer. His eyes are wide. Round. "What about Hyunjin?"

"Huh?" Minho says. Startled by the question.

"Is Hyunjin special to you?"

"Uhhh, yes... I guess? He's a friend of mine. He brought you here, actually, so yes, he's special."

Jisung's eyebrows are knitted. Probably from how hard he's thinking. "Oh... Yes. That does make him special. He comes to visit you, right?"

"Yes. He does. And sometimes, I visit him."

"He does not visit at night, though... Why?"

"N-No, actually, I've uh... told everyone that I work during this time now. So no one will bother me or be scared of you—"

Jisung gasps. His eyes slowly fill with tears.

"I'm sorry!" Minho says. Touches his face. Wipes his tears.

"T-They're scared of me?"

Shit. Shit. "No, Jisung, they're not! You're not scary or bad."

"B-But..." He slowly starts to sob. "They'd be scared of me. Because you said mannequins don't come to life..."

Minho sighs. Takes his hands. "I'm so sorry. Yes. You're not scary. You're sweet and just wonderful! But because you're a mannequin..."

"You're living and then not living... People could be scared of you. Many people can be scared of what they don't understand."

Jisung nibbles on his lips. His eyes are still tearful. "Will they hurt me?"

"No! I won't let anyone hurt you!" Minho says. "Let's try to be patient, okay? You still need to remember more. Be alive longer. Then you can see more outside this place because you'll have more time..."

"And you can meet more people! If you have more time being alive, then no one is going to think you're a doll coming to life, right?"

Jisung blinks his tears away. He nods. "Okay. I understand." He leans in to kiss Minho. "Thank you." He gets up, and then he sighs.

"I have so much to learn. So much to remember. I guess I won't be kissing Hyunjin anytime soon..."

"W-Wait, what?! Why would you do that?"

"To thank him," Jisung says. He turns around as he goes back to his spot. "He brought me to you. So I have to thank him."

Minho laughs nervously. Then he turns serious. "No, Jisung. You are not kissing Hyunjin if you ever do see him."

"Why?" Jisung asks. He's smiling.

"We'll talk about this again tomorrow." He tries to smile. "You can't kiss just anybody. And you don't need to kiss people to thank them."

"I need looove!" Jisung pouts. "And you don't kiss me anyway."

Minho's mouth drops open.

Jisung closes his eyes. Becomes a mannequin.

Minho rubs his face. How will he tell him? It's not that he doesn't want to kiss him. It's that he doesn't know if he should! Especially when he loved kissing him so much last time...

Obviously, he hasn't kissed him again. Since a week ago.

The beautiful creature can easily convince him.

But after some thinking, he's decided he must not.

Jisung is... a mannequin? That turned into a man?

Gosh. Just what really is he?

To be continued...