granny

17// responsible

han and the perm... short lived but never forgotten

they took the community bus back and only arrived at the village at nightfall. they didn't talk because jisung was trying not to tire minho too much before even going into the house.

as they walked through the yard towards the porch, the door of the house opened and granny stepped out, waiting to greet the duo at the entrance.

"hello," jisung greeted in a hollow voice as he walked up to the woman.

"evening. you are back soon," granny replied, looking to minho with suspicion.

"my brother needs rest. we're leaving tomorrow," the shorter explained and entered the house after granny. grandpa was in the vestibule and closed the door behind them, turning the lock, and put the key in his pocket.

"leaving? no, you can't leave," the woman exclaimed in her squeaky voice, "you said you'd stay one more week!"

"yes but we can't," jisung deadpanned, "hyung should go get some sleep," he turned to go upstairs and gently pushed minho in front of him.

"at least you should stay. tell us what is wrong. did the doctors say something?," granny asked in her high annoying voice, "come. i want to talk with you. and we'll make your brother a nice meal," she invited and jisung turned to minho.

he hadn't eaten anything since the morning and he was injured now. he would definitely feel better if he ate something, jisung thought.

maybe they were putting the 'dangerous' label on the old couple too soon. she just wanted to talk. maybe she was going to ask if she did something wrong. and he would also get the chance to ask her why she declared him dead in the village.

it was the only way to get clean about the whole situation and possibly even keep some sort of bon-ton relationship with their only living relatives. he nodded and turned to minho, "go lie down in your room. you can lock the door, you'll open for me later," he gently took his hips and smiled.

"no, just come with me," the older asked quietly.

"i'm fine. go."

minho hesitantly walked up the stairs to the room. of course he wouldn't lock it. in fact, he was going to keep the door wide open and listen in case jisung needed some help.

granny took jisung to the kitchen and grandpa stayed right behind them, like a guard dog. she took a packet of flour and gave it to the boy, "you and your brother don't act very brotherly it seems."

the comment was strange and jisung didn't know how to reply so he didn't.

"him and you act more like lovers than siblings," she mumbled and got a knife and some potatoes to chop, "don't you know that it's wrong to lie with your brother?"

jisung smacked his lips together but put some flour in a bowl and filled a glass with water. granny looked outraged by his silence.

"you were only taken in because of her," she spitefully continued and put the potato on the table with a bang, "my son never wanted a second one. but she always repeated 'oh, how i wish we could have a big family'.."

granny was choking on her malevolence and spoke slowly. jisung still didn't look at her, "he was going to obey. he was a good son before you came around," she hissed and clenched her jaw, "you tricked him into yearning for you and you ruined his life."

there was no doubt she was talking about minho now. jisung felt a lump in his throat. was she right?

"you were taught to be brothers but you were still wrong, weren't you? both of you, sick since the very early days," granny spilled with disgust, "my son must've regretted adopting you. i wanted to help him get rid of the problem.."

jisung lifted his hand to his mouth, "is that why you told people i died?"

"i was hoping you would," the lady glared, "there were so many things we could've done. but she didn't allow it. no, she said, don't you dare touch him. she always had mercy for the weak. but when she died he did get rid of you."

jisung sniffled and shrugged, feeling his heart shatter, "i'm going upstairs. don't bother cooking," he whispered and walked up to granny in an attempt to move past her.

"no, you're not going anywhere," she squeezed his hand and pointed the knife at him, "i wanted to use that a couple of nights ago when you were alone but i knew he was going to be suspicious if you disappeared," she put on a disappointed smile and took a step forward. he took one back.

"g-granny, why are y-you doing this? i-i'm your child, i-"

"no, you're not," she interrupted and advanced even more. jisung's back was against the wall and he felt his lip tremble in shock, "you're just a dirty rag who came onto this earth unwanted and will leave it the same way."

"granny?," minho's voice chimed from the doorway and all three turned to look at the boy who was in shock.

"minho, run," the younger advised as grandpa was walking towards him, "go, now," he urged and minho saw the man go up to him slowly. he turned to granny.

"get him. and prepare to do your part," she instructed but got pushed off by jisung who used her distraction to his advantage.

she made a step back and leaned against the counter, shouting an 'ah'. minho was out, with grandpa after him, and jisung ran after them too, since he couldn't allow minho to get injured.

"get back," she shouted after the boy and ran after him. minho had gone upstairs so jisung also did that but the electricity was cut off. maybe it was a mistake, or one of the chasers had turned off the lights on purpose.

jisung decided to try and get used to the darkness too, since his eyesight was probably better than his 80+ years old grandparents. he went into minho's room and then his own one but the older was nowhere to be found and neither was grandpa.

granny appeared on top of the staircase and walked up to him with the knife and he ran into minho's room, locking the door behind him.

"come here! injeong!"

she shouted from outside the room and jisung could hear his heart pounding and looked around the room in a frenzy. there was no way out, except for the door and he couldn't do that because his persecutor had a knife and god knows what grandpa could pull out.

they talked about something in the corridor but jisung couldn't hear it. what he hoped for though, was that their concern with him would magically give minho the opportunity to get out safely.