Your grandmother is dead.

Minseok sat up in bed with a start, cold sweat blurring his vision and making his T-shirt cling uncomfortably to his damp skin. 

In his nightmare, someone – he could not quite remember who – had informed him the tragic news of his grandmother’s passing in a mocking sort of tone.  Even though he was awake now and freed from the clutches of that ominous dream, Minseok couldn’t help being a nervous wreck.

He was not quite sure how long he simply sat there in the dark, vaguely listening to the irregularly quick pace of his heart beating when the obnoxious ring of the doorbell interrupted.

If he had a wish right then, it would have been something to the extent of the doorbell being broken so no one would answer the door.  Because when he did open it to find their manager standing there, a grave expression on his face, Minseok wanted nothing more than to slam the door shut, prompted by his intuition telling him something was off.

Tao, Jongdae and Yixing had just staggered out from their respective rooms in time to watch Minseok’s face go a shade whiter than it already was, if it was humanely possible.

They could not quite guess what was going on behind his unreadable mask of mixed expressions.  Guesses would largely include remembering his grandmother.  In truth, Minseok’s mind was absolutely blank.  Nothing registered.  Perhaps it would be counted as unnatural, his unfeeling immediate reaction.  His only excuse would be that their last face-to-face conversation was years ago, and even then he couldn’t be quite sure.  All he knew was his planned visits never worked out, one way or the other.

Soon, the entire dormitory came back to life.  Past grievances were temporarily forgotten as the EXO-M members fussed about a silent – which they mistook for being shaken – Minseok.  Thankfully, the commotion only lasted half an hour at the most, because regardless, schedules still had to be followed and therefore sleep was essential, leading their managers to rush them back into bed.

“We’ll sort this out tomorrow,” they had said.

Lying on his side and listening to the rhythmic thumping of his heart, Minseok whispered to no one in particular, a note of wonderment tinting his voice, “I lost Grandmother.”