granny

21// home

"i don't know if i can enjoy ulsan if all we do is stay at this hospital to be honest," jisung cracked up after they had considered the facts.

"yeah, i want to get out of here too," minho replied, "what did she tell you?," he asked quietly and took his jacket off the clothing hanger, "when you were in the kitchen i mean.."

jisung stayed silent for a second and took a deep breath before speaking up, "she said i failed you."

the older was perplexed and he took jisung's jacket too, bringing it towards the bed to offer it to the boy when he continued, "that i seduced you and took advantage of you to.. make you like me," jisung swallowed hard, repeating the hard words with tears in his eyes.

"she said that to you?," minho muttered, in stupor of the exchange he'd missed.

"yes. she said you would've been the grandson that they wanted if i wasn't there," the shorter gasped and felt his good hand shake. he really didn't want to cry because he didn't want to play the victim but it was so hard, "i'm sorry," he mumbled and started blinking vigorously.

"don't," minho softly uttered and sat down on the bed, "it's not your fault, really," he held the younger's cheek in his hand and lifted his face gently, "you were just a kid, same as me. what happened between us was as much your fault as it was mine."

jisung looked down again after he heard that. so minho remembered. he gulped.

"can you look at me?," the older asked and it startled jisung who lifted his eyes fearfully, "everything that we shared was my idea but i didn't see any of that coming, even though i'm older," he admitted uncomfortably, "i didn't know we were despised by all the family and i'm sorry it reflected on you."

"no, it's not your fault-"

"no, listen," minho insisted, "you had to go to malaysia because of me and paid the price for what i made you do-," he blurted out and looked down fast.

"you didn't make me do anything i didn't want," jisung reached to catch his hand, "you wanted to kiss me and i let you but that doesn't mean i didn't want it too," he smiled sweetly.

"i didn't know he would get so mad," the older covered his face with his hands, "i didn't know they would want to kill us because of it!"

minho started sobbing into his hands in shame until he heard a weird sound, some light-hearted snickering and he gazed to jisung sheepishly, fast enough to see him titter.

"i'm sorry, but we almost got murdered for having been caught kissing when i was 5. and by our own grandparents," the shorter pointed out with a smile, "if you think of it that's an adventure of a lifetime."

minho started giggling. 'adventure' was one way to describe what happened in the last few days but he admired jisung's approach, "i still remember running back to the house and seeing you hang out of the window with your bedsheet like mary poppins."

the younger laughed, "i was imagining myself as more of a tarzan so don't pop my bubble."

"uh, of course not. you're the hottest tarzan," minho nasally returned and smiled.

"you can't blame yourself for it either, okay?," jisung whispered and caught the other's hand finally, "you don't choose who you fall in love with-"

"..and there's nothing wrong with falling in love," the older finished it off but earned a questioning look, "you said that to me. when we talked about.. being in love," minho explained, "it kind of stuck with me."

"i did say i'm in love with you then, didn't i?," the shorter giggled at the sweet memory, "i thought we could get out of being brothers back then.. i thought when we reach puberty nobody will care anymore.."

"we were never able to avoid it," minho squeezed the hand that he was holding, 'but we can forget about it now,' he wanted to say but stopped himself.

"i never felt wrong about our thing," jisung admitted and licked his lips, "even if we did get in trouble for it multiple times i still can't feel inappropriate."

the taller shifted and touched jisung's cheek, leaning in to rest his forehead on the other's, "i'm not sorry for loving you either."

jisung's eyes closed and his only free hand rested on minho's chest as his lips joined the older's.

minho took a startled breath in but responded gingerly, tasting the dry and chapped lips longingly. both of his hands took the puffy cheeks and patted the soft skin gently, and he shifted even closer.

their lips moved in sync and their tongues eagerly met in the middle, reuniting and parting again, shy but devoted and they both didn't know how to address this but knew exactly what they wanted. jisung stole one last avid kiss and pulled away, his hand not quitting its place on the older's chest.

minho smiled and let go of his cheeks, waving his hands in the air as he hesitated where to put them.

jisung giggled, "i know, it's hard to find a place when the cast is taking up so much space."

the taller uncomfortably laughed and brushed a hand through his hair, flustered, "i've wanted to do this for years now.."

"i've dreamt of it too," jisung agreed, "you've improved a lot since the last time we did that."

they both laughed and then minho suggested, "do you want to get out of here? not that i mind but i'd rather we were home now."

"oh, i am home," the younger exclaimed and squeezed minho towards him, nuzzling his face into his shirt.

the taller wrapped his arm around him and kissed the top of his head.

"but i get it, i'd rather be elsewhere too," jisung giggled and they got up to check out of the hospital.

*

"are you ready to go?," the young doctor asked at the reception desk.

"yes. thank you for the care," minho softly said, rubbing jisung's back as the younger was signing the papers. he stared at his side profile that looked adorable as ever and smiled tiredly but with eyes filled with happiness.

"thank you," the shorter repeated and cracked a small mechanic smile.

"of course," the man chimed, "the cast should be removed in 35-40 days at any hospital. cover it with something waterproof when showering," he instructed with his kind smile.

jisung nodded and turned to minho just to find him staring and he shyly looked down while the older put a hand around his jaw tenderly.

"um, we're not genetically related," jisung reassured as he shot a glance at the doctor who just chuckled soundlessly.

minho felt encouraged by the lack of reaction and pecked the shorter's lips affectionately and let go, though jisung was ready to go on.

"sorry," minho uttered and dropped his eyes with embarrassment.

instead of reacting, jisung pushed him towards the end of the corridor and blurted out a 'bye' to which the doctor responded.

when they were almost out of sight, jisung tiptoed and eagerly kissed the older, sliding his tongue in smoothly. minho was pleasantly surprised and gently held onto the shorter's waist, supporting him as they made out.