I am only walking back from school. I find a small gray thing on the wet sidewalk, with a red accent. I rush over and pick it up, only to find the small doll had been abused. I pull it close to me and hold it close to my body. It feels like a canvas material and I look at it closer. Jagged stitches are dotted around the poor doll. The eyes are only sewn in and there was a red patch for the heart. I gently press down on the bright red fabric. It was cold and wet, just like the rest of small doll. I hug it and bring it home because this doll in my arms was adorable.

I set it down on the table and drop my backpack. "Han Mi, sweetie, what is that thing on my table?" Mother asks. I smile at her and present my adorable doll to her. "Ack! Put that it in the trash!"

"Mom, no! It's my doll!" I say, giving her puppy eyes. She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "Well, I think it's cute. I'm going to keep it," I tell her.

"Fine. But go put it in the washing machine first, sweetie. I don't think that's very clean..." Mother answers. I obey and take it to the laundry room, squeezing it one more time before putting it into washing machine. I press the start button and the cycle begins.

I wait for it to finish thirty minutes later. I pull it out and hold it in my hands, looking into those black stitches for eyes. This doll looks so broken and dead... "Hello, little doll. Don't you look better?" I ask, not looking for a response.

I go to school the next day and keep the dear doll in my backpack at lunchtime. "What's that? A stupid doll?" a boy says when I pull the doll out. I stand up and scowl at him. "How old are you to like a doll? Five?" he laughs.

"I like it! Go away!" I tell him angrily. He snatches it from my hand and I screamed for it back. I secretly wish for the doll to be him, being snatched up painfully and probably hurt. Then I see the boy drop it and go pale, collapsing to his knees on the floor while gripping his stomach. He is out of breath, struggling to breathe.

"Are you okay?" I ask as I pick up the doll. He shakes his head and puffs out air. "Don't take my doll anymore," I tell him slowly. He gives me puppy eyes and nods pleadingly.

I get home and inspect my doll. Same exact thing. No difference. What happened at school? Did someone punch him or something while I looked away? Or did my dear doll know my secret wish to hurt the boy? "Han Mi, why are you so interested in that doll?" Mother asks me. 

"Mom, something happened today. A boy took my doll away and I wanted the boy to feel the poor doll's pain. Next thing I knew, the boy was on his knees and gasping for air," I explain to her. She shakes her head.

"The doll couldn't have done that. It's just a doll," she tells me before walking away. I pull it forward and hold it like a baby, smiling at the stitches of its eyes.

"You're a little trouble maker, aren't you?" I say. It couldn't have been the doll. It's just a doll... Right?

I want my doll back....

I snap awake at the strange voice and find out that I'm still in my dark room, alone. I sigh and hug the doll in my arms closer to my body.

The next morning, I am woken up by the sound of my phone. I lazily reach out and grab my phone. "Hello?" I answer, getting out of bed and putting my phone on speaker so I can get dressed.

"Hey, Han Mi," says my best friend, Ji Yoon. "Guess what?"

"I don't want to guess. Just tell me," I reply. Her guessing games can go on forever sometimes. She squeals excitedly in such a high pitch that I cover my ears. "Yah, Ji Yoon! Don't scream like that! My eardrums are broken," I complain angrily.

"I'll tell you when you get here, okay?" she says. I groan and confirm this with her.

"Okay, bye!"

When I get to school, I see Ji Yoon jumping up and down, waving to me eagerly. I go over to her and she looks strangely at my dear doll. "What's that?" she asks. She grabs for it, but I quickly pull it away, making her pout.

"I'm sorry. It's just really special and it's already torn," I apologize. She smiles and starts jumping up and down again. "Ji Yoon-sshi, if you keep jumping up and down like that, your school uniform skirt may fly up," I warn her. She stops.

"Han Mi, guess what? Jong Hee and I are dating now!" Ji Yoon squeals. My heart breaks at the thought of my best friend dating Jong Hee. Jong Hee is my crush, and I have been interested in him since eighth grade. Now all three of us -Ji Yoon, Jong Hee, and I- are juniors together and this year would have been the year that I would finally ask him to be mine. 

"But... But... Ji Yoon, why....?" is all that leaves my mouth. She looks at me confusedly, cocking her head to one side.

"Why what? Aren't you happy for me?" she asks. I smile, hiding my broken heart, and nod at her.

"Yes! Of course I am! I'm glad you're dating Jong Hee, and congratulations!" I tell her happily. She smiles with pure glee and hugs me.

"You're such a great friend! Thank you!" Ji Yoon says happily. The rest of my school day is a distracted mess of mixed feelings. Ji Yoon sits with Jong Hee at lunch and offers me the seat next to her. I shake my head and sit alone.

"I see you're back with the doll, little girl," the boy from yesterday says. I stare down at my lunch.

"I swear, if you touch it, I'll make you pay," I growl at him. He chuckles lightly.

"I'm not going to touch it, you baby," he replies coolly, walking away. I take my doll and look into its stitches for eyes. What if I can make the same thing happen from yesterday? I take a fork and stab it into the leg.

"Ahh! My leg! Oh my god, someone help me!" the boy screams out in pain, falling to the floor and holding his leg. A few people start to help him, and others start to stare at me. I quickly remove the fork and put the doll in my lap. I watch the intensely hurting boy being tortured by having to be helped up. He is brought out of the lunchroom to the nurse.

I go home with the doll in my hand, a little uneasy about this new power. I am also slightly intrigued by this new power. An idea pops into my head and I run downstairs to my bedroom. I grab a broken pencil and stab it into the back of my doll, careful not to make a mark on it or a small hole.

"You deserve this, Ji Yoon. You were such a backstabbing best friend, and now it's my turn," I silently whisper. I poke the doll's back several times, hoping to hurt Ji Yoon. "You knew I liked Jong Hee! I can't believe you would do that to me!" I yell. I stop when I realize how much that my doll was already breaking. A few tears fall from my eyes.

I want my doll back, Princess....

"I'm sorry. I need your doll," I reply to the unknown voice. There's no answer, but I hope this voice in my head has heard me and will go away now. "Princess?" I say to myself. No one had ever called me princess before. Except for Daddy, but he died a few years ago. He's gone.

Ease my pain....

I hear this voice around thirty minutes later and don't respond. I give up and just hug my doll.

"Mom, I'm going out to see Ji Yoon! I love you, bye!" I yell out as I leave my house the next day. I take a walk around town with the doll in my arms. I have nothing to do, so I go to the new restaurant around the corner. I find the familiar face of the boy I had tortured indirectly. He looks like a waiter, with a black apron around his waist and a notebook in his hands. His black hair flops into his eyes in a way that almost makes me smile, but I keep it to myself.

Was the boy possibly the one talking in my head? He sees me and looks around to see if another waiter has taken my order yet. Then he comes over and smiles. "Hi," he says nicely.

"Umm, I don't know you," I say with a smile. He flips his hair out of his eyes.

"I'm Bang Myung-Dae. And you are...?"

"Song Han Mi. I'm the girl with the doll," I tell him. His face goes pale and his smile fades. "I won't hurt you."

"Should I trust you?" he asks. I nod to him and smile.

"We could be friends, you know," I say hopefully, but he looks away. "Myung-Dae, you won't have to see the doll again if we are friends."

"Okay." What have I done? I grip my doll under the table and coil my nails into it, meant for no one in particular. 

Princess, please....

I look over at the knife on the table. Then I look at my doll's heart, the only vibrant color on the sickly doll.

I just want to get rid of the scary voices in my head.

*

Hello! So this is my first three shot ever.... I don't know if it will be good or not. I know this is only Han Mi's POV, so please bear with me.