granny

6// swallows

in the morning, the boys got up early and went downstairs, where granny had already served the breakfast.

"buy olive oil," was the first thing she said when she saw minho.

"yes, i will. good morning, granny," the boy mumbled and sat down in front of her.

she squinted at him but didn't say anything. they ate in silence, just the three of them, and then minho stood up and went out to the store, mumbling a greeting. jisung couldn't see any purpose in him going out but he let him anyways.

*

"i need your help," granny squeaked to jisung as she barged into his room a couple of hours after. he was reading and hadn't even heard her come in.

he jumped but nodded, "of course, granny, what is it?"

"you should take down the swallow nests from the window frames," she pointed to the window and put down a chair she had taken from downstairs.

"what? here? on the second floor?," jisung cried out, measuring the chair she was holding. it seemed to be at least 50 years old and clearly wasn't very sturdy. and she wanted him to hang out of the window on that?

"why else would i need you to do it?," she irreverently laughed, "if it were on the first one i would've done it myself, boy."

jisung bit his lip, "do you really need this to be done? they need to live somewhere too.."

"oh, they'll find," she taunted, "i need them to be out of my living space," she laughed, "and yours. so be quick. the weather is bad. it might rain," she held the chair out to him and he hesitantly got up to approach the window.

jisung stepped on the chair with one foot and it already started vacillating, so he looked to the old woman, considering asking her to switch to another chair.

"go, what are you looking at," she squeaked and went out of the room. he looked up and put his other foot on the chair that felt like it was swaying.

he put both of his hands on the window frame, only to confirm that it wasn't entirely stable either, but he took a deep breath and stepped on the windowsill since he was too short to reach the nest.

"oh, good, you're already up," granny chimed from behind jisung and he turned around, almost apathetically. strangely enough, his fear of heights made him slower when triggered and he managed to keep his balance.

she held a long cane to him, accidentally poking his thigh, which hurt. jisung thought it might leave a bruise but he took the stick to use it to bring down the nest.

"jisung! what the hell are you doing there?," minho barged in, with his groceries still in his hands. he had run directly here after he saw the younger hanging out of the window as he was coming into the garden.

"granny wanted to banish some birds from the window frame," jisung innocently explained and held on the frame with his other hand too, throwing the cane on the floor.

"get off right now," the older shouted and dropped his bag, coming over to the boy to help him, "this is dangerous, granny, i can't believe you made him do that," he turned to the woman with a discontented grunt.

"i thought he could manage," she scornfully returned, "who's going to do it now? you?"

"no, i won't, because i'm scared," minho admitted and grabbed jisung's thighs firmly to support him as he was getting down. the shorter put his hands on minho's shoulders and he got swung down to stand on the floor smoothly.

granny groaned but went out, displeased by the disobedience and mumbling under her breath, "ridiculous.. unbelievable cowards.."

"are you alright?," minho asked, grabbing the younger's waist protectively. jisung nodded, "you should've refused to do that. it's dangerous!"

"i wanted to help her," the shorter muttered, "she's old, she can't do much around the house.."

minho smirked, "i think she can manage pretty well honestly. she is probably stronger than us," he giggled and hugged the other, "but it's adorable how hard you're trying to be a good grandson!"

jisung giggled and buried his face into minho's shoulder, hugging tight.

"minho!," granny's voice screamed out urgently. the boy broke the hug and rolled his eyes a little at the insistence.

"i'll be back," he smiled and winked. it was an old habit of his that made jisung simper foolishly, "do you want to sleep here again?"

jisung nodded energetically.

"alright. we can talk then," minho softly said and released the other's hips, "rest well."

jisung blushed and sent his brother out with his eyes. he sat down in his bed and took up his book. his phone had limited service in the house and there was no wifi so he didn't have much to do other than get acquainted with the literary classics.

not long after he sat down though, grandma came in, carrying a tray that she set on the desk in the room.

"i bring you tea," she said, almost gently and sat down next to him on the bed, picking up the cup, "i didn't know you'd be scared to pick the nest."

jisung saw her bring the liquid to his lips and pushed the bony hands away gently.

"granny, thank you but i don't want anything to drink right now," he smiled reassuringly. maybe she had felt bad about making him do it before but he didn't even like tea and was only hoping she would leave him alone.

"oh, have it," she insisted and pushed the cup forward once again, "i made it especially for you."

he took the cup in both hands and prepared to drink the liquid after all but sniffed it and realised it smelled like something weird, like hand sanitiser or rubbing alcohol. god knows where she whipped this cup from, he thought.

"it's not your usual tea. this one will make you very calm," she confided, after sensing his hesitation.

"thanks," he nodded and steeped his upper lip into the cup. he swallowed hard, as if he'd taken a sip and then left the cup next to the bed.

"be good and drink all of it, alright?," she tapped his leg over the covers and stood up to go.

as soon as he heard the creaking of the floor in the vestibule downstairs and was thus certain she was gone, he went to the bathroom and poured the tea in the toilet.