granny

18// the plot thickens

i know it's not han in a corset but we have a couple of chapters more for that

when minho left the kitchen, he went up the stairs and was going to enter the bathroom since it was the first door he saw. as he was advancing through the staircase though, the lights went off and he stumbled upon a stair, falling down on his hands. luckily, the thump was deaf, almost soundless because of the thick hideous carpet beneath him.

in his frenzy and thanks to his slow thinking, minho crawled towards the light source, the window, that was giving off only a few rays of moonlight and a distant street lamp. he bent down under the window in order not to be seen and closed his eyes, trying to gather his exhausted braincells and use them.

the footsteps that first came up were fast and agile, and minho knew it was either jisung or granny, and when the second pair echoed, he knew that his brother and the lady were both on the top floor. grandpa had probably continued checking the rooms downstairs but he soon heard granny call him over.

when grandpa's footsteps finally reached the top stairs, minho's breath hitched and he lied down to hide, using the light to see the man as much as possible but not allowing him to do the same.

he waited for grandpa to leave the staircase but when he noticed him carrying a big jug-like container he realised why he was so phlegmatic.

minho didn't have a phone with him, nor any kind of weapon he could use and he could hear his pulse in his ears but he immediately leapt up and started running down the stairs right behind the old man, pushing him a little.

"get it going, i'll catch the second one," granny instructed and turned to go downstairs once she heard the creaking of the stairs under the hurried boy.

minho then realised that grandpa had kept the key to the front door in his pocket instead of leaving it on the clothes hanger and bit his lip in a panic. he needed to find a way out, and then a way back in to get jisung.

he opened one of the doors downstairs, the one to the bedroom and went in, looking for something he could use, or a way to get out unseen. granny would take a couple of minutes if she went from left to right when checking the rooms, he thought, and he would have a bit of time.

but the door handle was pushed down and minho hysterically looked around for a place to hide. under the bed was too simple, behind the door had a 50-50 chance of her not noticing. the coffer was a definite no-no, the thought, and went into it in just a second's time since it was the closest to where he was.

he went in and covered himself with a blanket as the door creaked open and the footsteps moved around the room, searching it fast. he was in luck that this room was the first, because she only looked around for a few seconds, without turning on the lamp, and then left.

the door was still open but minho started thinking of a way to go out without being seen. she would've definitely noticed him if he moved and he was getting ready for that because footsteps came in again, this time slower, and he was preparing for his own brutal murder.

however, the persecutor was in the room longer, in the corner, and picked up something from it there, or so it seemed, and minho heard granny's voice from afar, "are you still not ready? here, i'll help you," she spoke with annoyance.

in a second, two pairs of footsteps came into the room and minho heard them come and go. he thought that they would enable him to escape after they were gone, but once the door closed, the key was turned in and minho found himself locked inside the bedroom with no way out.

at least they didn't seem to care about him anymore, he thought, and he came out of the coffer. the room was big and dark but minho couldn't spend his time watching it. he pulled the curtain and opened the window, considering whether he had other options.

no, that was the only one.

*

jisung stayed in minho's room, waiting for a sign that would tell him what to do. he was on the second floor with someone, and minho was downstairs with someone else. this lasted for what felt like forever, and jisung frantically sought for something, even a pen, to use in defence.

there was hardly anything, except for a copy of dostoievsky's 'crime and punishment', and he prepared for the offender to break in so he could attack them. however, the person in front of the door seemed to have left, because there was no further attempt to open the door.

jisung thought they may have gone after minho and was about to open the door, when the footsteps came in again, this time two pairs, and stopped in front of the room. a minute passed, during which only the gargling sound of spilling something was heard so jisung put his ear to the door to hear it better.

after just a second, he lifted his foot to make a step into the room and prepare his book weapon again, but he realised that he had been standing in something wet. were they trying to drown him?

jisung's brows furrowed and he thought about how they could harm him by spilling water under the door. how could they even think that was possible? at this rate with the door being closed they would need hours to get the water to even reach his ankles.

and then it hit him. the rumour that minho told him about about the arsons grandpa might have been responsible for. they weren't trying to drown him but set him on fire.

he leaned down to smell the liquid and choked when the smell of gasoline filled his lungs. he looked around and started gathering all the clothes he could find and tying them together into a rope to go down by. he probably didn't have enough time but he was certain he had a few minutes before they'd light it up.

*

the old couple spilled as much of the gasoline on the door as they thought was necessary and then granny took out a matchbox and gladly offered it to her husband.

"now? let's spill some down the stairs and then we'll light it up from there before getting out," the old man reasoned and refused to take the matches.

"oh, silly, you don't need to worry about getting out at all," she smiled and reached into his pocket to get the keys to the front door, "i've thought of everything," she cockily insisted.

he didn't even seem to listen to her anymore and lifted up the gallon that was already empty. granny took it from his hands and whispered, "here, let me help you," and spilled the last couple hundred millilitres over the man.

before grandpa could react, she lit a match and glided it over his collar and clothes, igniting his shirt that was dampened by the liquid immediately. he let out an 'argh' and started running his hands over his face as the woman took the rest of the gasoline and ran downstairs to search for her last victim.