Hastily running out the door, Sungmin ignores the persistant ringing of his recently pocketed cell 

phone. His heartbeat rises to his ears as he races through the streets, oblivious to all the cars speeding past 

him. The sound of his own fear blocks out all the signs of the outside world moving forward. 

He honestly couldn’t care if a car rolled him flat at that moment. Death was something Sungmin 

never thought he would reach at such a young age and he had no plans for it to be outdrawn by Eunhyuk of 

all people.

The kid was odd to say the least. He only spoke when he needed to or when he thought it was 

completely necessary. An unusual flaw of the boy always creeped Sungmin out: his relationship with a 

voodoo doll. 

Eunhyuk would bring it everywhere. At the television class, he would wear it around his neck on a 

lanyard, the metal hook stabbed right through the center of the doll’s chest. Eunhyuk claimed the object had 

no heart. After stating that, he muttered a small ‘just like everyone else in this world,’ before adjusting a 

camera zoom and trudging off to the control room. 

The poor object even had a name: Lee Donghae. Donghae was a lot like Eunhyuk. They both 

don’t say much, had particular fashion senses and enjoyed each other’s company. However, there is one 

difference between the two. It’s the fact that Donghae actually smiles.

Sungmin has never seen Eunhyuk smile once, while Donghae is beaming his way through the day. 

The doll’s smile was creepy. It’s stitched from thin black yard and stretches practically all the way up to its 

ears. Sungmin figured out one day, however, that by standing on a different angle, Donghae appears to be 

smiling genuinely. 

The sound of a couple dozen blaring horns brings Sungmin back to reality. He blinks. What was 

he doing? Cop cars were starting to pull up, curious with the strange behavior of the young man. 

Realizing he had been standing in the street for a good ten minutes, Sungmin quickly breaks into a 

run, hoping to distance himself from the police as well as he could. 

“Hey!”

Shouts and more horns slice through the air and slap Sungmin in the face. He was so out of it after 

that phone call from Eunhyuk, he practically couldn’t control his actions and ended up spaced out in the 

middle of the street. He never liked being on bad terms with strangers, it never ended well, especially with 

the police. He needed to get home as soon as possible.

A green overhanging canopy catches Sungmin’s eye. He stops and turns towards the small shop 

with a smile. He promised himself he’d get home as soon as possible. Checking his watch, he shrugs. There’s 

always time for coffee.