The Mannequin - Minsung

four

The next evening, Minho tries staying up again. He miserably fails at it and falls asleep. Hours later, he wakes up to quiet sounds.

He slowly sits up. The mannequin is seated near the sofa. It's frowning at a book. A comic volume. Minho's work.

"Hi..." He quietly greets it.

The mannequin gasps. It holds the book to its chest.

They both stare at each other for a moment. Then the mannequin speaks in its soft voice. "Are you still okay with me?"

"What do you mean okay with you?"

"Y-You don't hate me? You don't want to hurt me?"

Minho carefully moves closer to it. "I told you... if you don't plan on hurting me, then obviously I won't either."

The mannequin nibbles on its lips. Minho is so eager. Impatient. To know more before it can become lifeless again.

"Can I still ask you questions? Do you have to turn back soon?"

The mannequin's brows furrow a little. It's thinking.

"I can stay a little longer," it says, and smiles. "Because you showed me more love last time."

"Have you been up, or, uh, alive today for a while?"

"I think less than half an hour?"

"Oh, why didn't you wake me up?" Minho says. He's disappointed.

It puts aside its book. Moves closer to Minho. Leans in. Kisses his lips.

Minho feels his cheeks burn. Its lips are really perfect.

"H-Hey... um, why have you been kissing me?"

The mannequin blinks. It tilts its head. "Why, can't I?"

What to say to that?

"Um, well, I don't mind and I'm single... But, uh, I'm not sure how it works for you. Kisses aren't... shared with just random people..."

"Random people?"

"Yes, like... You uh, only kiss someone if you like them... or love them."

The mannequin's eyes shine. "Love," it repeats.

Oh. Would that also help it get life? Is that why it kisses him?

"You... kissed me too," the mannequin says slowly. "Do you love me?"

Minho gulps. So it knows what happens to it when it's not alive?

The mannequin looks so hopeful. Minho realizes it's waiting for an answer. So he smiles and nods.

"Sure. You're beautiful," he says. "A-And I kissed you because... I was testing if, um, you were the one kissing me. There's no one else here. Mannequins don't usually come to life, you know?"

The mannequin stares at him. Its cheeks turn pink. "Beautiful?" It repeats again. Minho marvels at how adorable it looks.

"Yes," he assures the mannequin.

The mannequin beams, reaches back to grab the comic book, and holds it out. It's opened to a full page of three huge panels.

"Actually, I kissed you the first time because when I woke up, I saw this."

There are two people. One is speaking in a bubble. It's saying, "You're beautiful. I love you." The other gives him a kiss and says, "Thank you."

Minho remembers. He always had this book by his side when Hyunjin brought the mannequin. It's because he was working on new chapters.

He kept the old volumes around for reference.

"So... when I say you're beautiful, does that give you life?"

The mannequin smiles a little.

"Yes. It did. The first time. And you kept saying many nice things. So I wanted to thank you... that's why I kissed you."

"I see. When you kiss me, do you get more life too?"

The mannequin frowns. Confused. "I don't know. Maybe if there's love from you too... then yes." It sighs, closes its eyes, and gets to its feet.

"I'm sorry. Looks like I must go. Ahh... I wanted to eat."

Minho watches dejectedly. The mannequin stands in its place. Becomes a statue. Poor thing. Minho feels regretful.

He asked it questions... when he could've fed it...

To be continued...