granny

4// night

minho threw up in the bathroom throughout the rest of the afternoon and was excused from working with grandpa. jisung was worried about him but granny didn't allow him near minho in case it was a virus. they let him stay in bed until dinner and then invited him to eat, thinking that he might not want to come but he did.

"how are you feeling?"

"i'm better," minho replied and smiled to jisung, "my stomach hurts a little but maybe it's because i'm hungry."

the shorter nodded comprehensively and asked, "but you're not vomiting anymore, right?"

"no, i hope that's over. i'm also not that dizzy anymore. i'll be fine by tomorrow."

jisung nodded. he wasn't sure minho would stop being dizzy though. he had been here for days and the smell of something rotting hadn't stopped making him feel sick and like he needed to throw up. but still he hoped that minho could overcome it.

the soup today had pumpkin in it, as well as some noodles and peppers but it was far from tasty. it didn't contain any spices, despite jisung's suggestion to use some because granny said that grandpa wouldn't like any condiments.

the dinner was awkward and silent, as per usual, but it finished quickly and minho went to bed again right after.

jisung cleaned the table and also went to his room. strangely enough, none of the other doors, except for the one to the kitchen that was never closed, were ever open so jisung didn't actually know what was in those rooms but he didn't feel like asking.

not that it was important in any way, he knew that they were probably filled with stuff from decades ago that was useless and impossible to use but he still couldn't help but feel a tiny bit curious as he walked through the only path in this house that he knew: kitchen door to the garden, and kitchen door to the vestibule that led to the staircase.

he started reading his book in bed in a slumber, waiting for his eyes to close completely. his thoughts were going back to minho and he was happy that he hadn't heard him go to the bathroom. maybe he was sleeping.

he didn't realise when he fell asleep but when he started dreaming, his breathing suddenly became troubled, his chest was heavy and he wanted to cough but couldn't. he moved around for a while, trying to get out of the nightmare but the vision was holding him down, restricting the oxygen from entering his lungs.

he had the impression that he was fighting it, possibly even succeeding in escaping its terrifying grip until a strong wind came in from the window and made the thing disappear like thin air.

jisung shivered and woke up, holding his throat and coughing. he sniffled and stood up to close the window but heard the moans and wails from downstairs and went back into his bed, his heart pounding.

"jack and jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water," the squeaky voice sang as the owner walked up the creaking staircase, "jack fell down and broke his crown," she screamed out, "and jill came tumbling after."

jisung shivered again, this time from the sounds instead of the cold, and waited for the lady to go away, even though he knew that wasn't going to happen so soon. she would pay him a visit first.

there was a thin ray of moonlight that was coming in from the window, falling down in front of the door, elongating the silhouettes that came in and jisung, whose head was in the shadow, waited to see the familiar shadow before pretending he was fast asleep.

as expected, granny came in, in her airy white nightgown, and walked over to the window to look outside. jisung watched as she noiselessly took in the village and her hair was down, not like during the day when she was wearing it braided.

then she did it again. she came closer to the bed and sat on it, humming the same rhyme as before, still out of tune but barely audibly, and her bony hand did something in front of jisung's face that the boy couldn't quite catch on but he felt as if he was sprinkled with some powder-like substance.

he barely held back a sneeze when she abruptly stood up and walked around the room soundlessly, twirling herself to a melody in her head. jisung opened one eye to see when she gets out and got chills running down his spine over the scene in front of him.

granny, her hands dusted with something that smelled garlicky, was waltzing over the small room gracefully, a big grin on her lips and her grey eyes looking out to the moon as if in trance. she blew the narcissus-coloured powder over his clothes on the chair, then turned towards the window.

she waved her bony arms around in an impromptu performance for a couple of minutes, until the background music only she could hear ceased and she went out again.

jisung gave her a margin of a minute after the stairs creaked and hopped off his bed, shaking the seasoning-like powder off himself frantically.

*

minho was glad he locked the door when he first heard the knocking. he knew he wouldn't fall asleep tonight but he still felt safer now that he knew that there was a barrier between him and whatever was outside.

"minho, are you awake?"

the voice was so quiet that he almost didn't register it at first. he jumped off the bed immediately though.

"it's me, please open," jisung begged and minho turned the key with the speed of lightning.

"come in," he whispered and moved over, locking the door again right after the shorter entered.

"you locked the door..," jisung observed sheepishly, "you hear her singing too, right?," he asked, his big eyes getting watery as they looked into minho's.

"i do. it's spooky," the older agreed and took a step towards the bed, "come sit down."

"sorry i came in like that. she scared me. she sat on my bed," jisung frantically explained, his eyes wide with fear.

"wait, don't you close your door?," minho judgementally eyed the shaken boy.

"she said i shouldn't.. a lot of things may happen while we sleep..," the shorter naively explained.

"well, i don't know if she's sleepwalking or actually awake but hearing her go around at night is weird enough to freak you out. you shouldn't let her disturb your sleep like that," minho gently smiled and sat down on the bed. jisung settled next to him.

"you say that but you can't sleep well here either," the corners of the younger's mouth lifted up in a light-hearted grin.

"fair enough," minho chuckled and studied his guest's face for a couple of seconds, "you can sleep here tonight," he patted his bed, "it's quite big, we should fit well."

jisung looked doubtful for a second but then nodded. he wasn't sure what he was hoping for when he came here but this was definitely better.

*

i was thinking of deleting granny but i've already finished it so i'll release the rest.. tbh someone added granny to a reading list and that's what saved the story so..

thank you so much for your support and sorry for the wait ^^