The Mannequin - Minsung

sixty-fOive

Minho's checked his phone. He saw Hyunjin's messages. Apparently, he came by. Saw him and Jisung. Breathing. So he's in a good mood. 

Jisung turned back into a mannequin, though. Sometime during the night. Luckily, he was not clinging to Minho.

Now he's curled in Minho's bed. Stonehard.

But this is normal. Jisung's gotten to his sleep stage. That's what's important. He's becoming more human. More living.

And he remembers Minho. Not just the fact that... he's someone he loves. And all this makes Minho happy. Even if he knows: Jisung's going to have many emotions. He'll need more time. Reassurance.

Minho isn't sure about how much Jisung remembers.

So he has to be careful because Jisung might have feelings... without the full memories. It could hurt him.

Minho will try to prepare for it. As much as he can.

He gets work out of the way. Cooks. Makes sure he has snacks for Jisung. Then he checks on him.

He's still a mannequin. Just a few more hours to go...

- - -

- - - - - -

Hyunjin comes later. Minho gratefully hugs him.

"You look much better now that you're smiling," Hyunjin says.

Minho laughs. "Yeah, I feel really good today."

"That's nice— Um, is Jisung up already?"

"Not yet... Just a few hours more."

"Okay. I'll take this chance then. I need to speak to you."

They sit down in the kitchen. Hyunjin places his phone beside himself. "So I told you mom's been looking into things," he says.

Minho gulps. Starts to feel worried. "Yeah...?"

"Well, there wasn't much to learn from Jisung or my grandma, so she searched up on that area in the district you two found him in."

"Mom went back there. She said it was strange because... the people who have lived there for long talk about how the place is cursed."

Minho's eyes widen. He gasps. "Cursed?"

"Yeah... it used to be a little village... Hanok or something? It had small businesses and farms. Mom went through archives, whatever she could find and get from the police, for some history. She got this."

Minho moves his chair. Gets closer to Hyunjin. To see his phone.

It's a picture. Of an old yellow poster.

Hyunjin taps. Magnifies it.

"A clothing store?" Minho says. Men's apparel is displayed in the window. He can't read much properly. "Len... what?"

"Len Seo. I think," Hyunjin says. "Now look."

There's another picture. This is of a news article. It's hard to see what's in it. But words can be made out. An earthquake. Damages.

"Okay..." Minho says. He's unsure what this is about.

Hyunjin swipes again. Zooms into another picture. It's of the street. On one side... there is the store. Len Seo. Rebuilt.

"Are those... mannequins?" Minho says. Frowns. Zooms the picture more. He can't make it out.

"Yeah," Hyunjin says. He moves to another picture. It seems to be an advertisement. "But... take a look at this..."

In the middle of the display window... there is...

"Jisung?" Minho says. Takes the phone. The quality of the image is poor. The advertisement paper is old.

But Minho has drawn Jisung... numerous times...

The angles... lines... contours of his face... body...

"This is Jisung..." He murmurs.

He is the only mannequin with a complete body. The ones beside him are headless. Wooden. They have no legs. They're on thin stands.

"Okay," Hyunjin says. "Mom thought so too. But she just wanted to make sure. Here's another one."

He swipes to an article. It's missing parts. But a few words can be made out: Another storm. Destroyed houses. Buildings.

"Here's another," Hyunjin says. Swipes. Shows Minho a picture of the same store. "This picture was taken a year after the storm."

The store's fixed up. Clothes are displayed. On wooden figures.

"Jisung's not there..." Minho says. "You think he came alive?"

"I don't know," Hyunjin says. "But if this was him... he's really old."

Minho sits back. He's not sure what to feel.

Hyunjin stands up. "There were many natural disasters," he says. "Mom couldn't find more pictures of that store. But occurrences like that happened enough times to make people lose property."

"Maybe that's why people started saying the place was cursed. Mom searched up on the store owners in the picture and found someone willing to talk to her. I'll keep you updated."

"Okay..." Minho says. "No wait. Hyunjin..."

Hyunjin turns. "Yeah?"

"How old are these pictures?"

"I think..." Hyunjin says. Looks at his phone again. "Probably... a hundred and fifty... or seventy years ago? Like I said. Very old."

Fuck. Now Minho doesn't feel so good.

To be continued...

Sorry for the lack of updates. I was so busy and I will be even busier cuz of our increasing school work. (I'm also having writer's block lol)

Anyway... muahahahahahahahahahaha