Doll Song

 

 

 

 

“I know that you're especially busy these days, but you're our only hope! Consider this.”

 

Mino put his cup down and looked at the small Santa Claus printed on the cardboard. It was early December, but the city was already a blaze of red and green. Mistletoe hanging everywhere, fake Santa Clauses climbing every balcony and window, Christmas trees at every corner. Mino was used to the folly investing everything and everyone as soon as the season to be jolly approached, and sometimes he wished he could enjoy that time like everyone else.

 

The cafe he was sitting in now was no exception. The speakers were playing Christmas songs and the barmaid had drawn a Christmas tree on his cappuccino and a snowflake on Seungyoon's.

 

Seungyoon wore a blue coat, a white wool scarf and a pair of fake glasses that made him look like a professor, which was probably the effect he wanted to achieve – he believed a wise appearance helped him get girls' attention.

 

Right now, he was using his “power lip” – as he liked to call it – to get a yes from Mino. Seungyoon seemed to think his pout was irresistible, but it was just ruining his well-studied “wise image”. They had known each other for such a long time that Mino knew all his tricks, and he usually gave up because he didn't like to deny a friend his help. This time, though, he was afraid he really had to keep his stand.

 

“I really can't,” he replied, shaking his head and tracing the border of his cup with his thumb. “You know this is the worst time of the year for me.”

 

Seungyoon sank in his chair with a disappointed expression. Mino felt sorry, but he really couldn't help.

 

Truth be told, Christmas really was the worst time of the year for Mino. He worked in the only artisan workshop left in town. Technology had replaced most things in his work field since a long time, but Mino still believed in the fine art of handicraft. It was something he always had in him: since he was a child, he had a deep interest for how items worked and he would always try to dismantle everything that could come on hand. He remembered how frustrated his parents were every time they gave him a new toy and the first thing Mino did was to break it down in small pieces to understand what was inside.

 

He had entered the workshop as soon as he was out of college. His friends always told him how much they envied him for having such clear ideas about his future and Mino had always believed he was indeed lucky, until he actually got down to business.

 

His first employer was a gloomy old man who always had something negative to say. But he was also the founder of the workshop, so Mino could just lower his head and nod at everything he said. He wanted his employees to call him Mr. Park and no one could call him by his full name.

 

Mino was never going to forget the very first words Mr. Park had said to him.

 

“Craftsmanship is dead. If you want to work in this field, you need to know at least this much.”

 

And indeed, the first months of work had shred all Mino's dreams to pieces. He had learned that he could spend a month on a single toy in order to make it as perfect as possible, but children would always prefer the latest model of talking robot or whatever. He had worked four years in that atmosphere, both loving and hating his every day, and in the meantime Mr. Park had left them for a better place.

 

Mr. Park's son had taken over the workshop and he was a really good person and probably the best employer Mino could ever wish for – always positive, always nice – and that made the situation only harder because Mino really wanted to bring handicraft back to the times he had only seen in movies – where children would stop in front of artisan's shop windows to stare at the toys with sparkling eyes – just to look at the man's face and see a smile that wasn't overshadowed by sadness, for once.

 

The workshop survived mostly on longtime customers and the only reason Mino didn't leave was because he really couldn't see himself doing anything else as he loved his job too much. That love had finally been rewarded one cold day of five years before, when one of the usual customers – a wealthy man in his forties – had paid a visit to the shop with his son. The man had been a friend of Mr. Park for half of his life and he always made sure to buy some toys every now and then, but it was his first time visiting the shop with his child.

 

The boy was around five years old and had taken an interest on Mino's work table. He saw so many weird tools on it and, as every child his age, he wanted to try everything. Mino had made him play with some harmless items as he finished painting a small rocking horse he had been working on for a while, even if there was no demand for that kind of toys anymore. The child had sat by his table for the whole time and at the end, he had asked if he could have the horse. Mino was reluctant, but the child had insisted so much that his father had offered to pay for it. Nothing out of the ordinary, a customer had been satisfied and a child was happy.

 

What happened a few days later had been the real turning point for the workshop. Apparently, that small rocking horse had become a sensation among that child's friends. It was something children nowadays were not used to see anymore, and something unusual quickly became something fashionable. Rich kids were used to have everything and they all wanted the same things, because they couldn't afford to have something less than their friends – which lead their parents to buy huge amounts of handcrafted toys. And from the elite, the handmade toys trend had spread basically everywhere, to the point where Mino always had work up to his neck, as well as his colleagues.

 

Of course, trends don't last long, and within a year the workshop didn't have those huge amounts of orders for rocking horses and rag dolls anymore. But they had brought their name out there and given that they were the only artisan workshop in town, orders kept coming, especially around Christmas.

 

Mino couldn't be more satisfied, but Christmas had become a very busy time for him. After nine years, he was one of the seniors at the workshop and he had to work more than others simply because he was one of the most skilled.

 

Seungyoon looked out of the window they were sitting by and sighed. “We have a Christmas party every year, it's sad that we can't have one this year,” his fingers were fiddling with one of the napkins, almost nervously. “Also... You know, Jinwoo and Seunghoon broke up and Jinwoo needs some distraction.”

 

Mino raised an eyebrow. “Are you trying to make me feel bad? They break up literally every week over the most stupid things, they'll be back together by next Monday and you know it.”

 

Seungyoon crossed his arms. “Okay, I tried!” A smile suddenly grew on his lips. “Mino hyung...”

 

“Don't call me that.”

 

“Mino hyung,” Seungyoon repeated with a sly voice. “Your place is perfect for a party, do you know that?”

 

Mino rolled his eyes. “How so?”

 

“You have the biggest living room out of all of us,” Seungyoon explained.

 

“That's because my apartment is basically just a living room.”

 

“I already told you that we can't do it at Shinji's club this year,” the man went on. “He's going back to Japan for the holidays and the club will be closed until new year.”

 

Mino looked at the decorations over his head. He wasn't extremely fond of parties, but he had to admit it was the only chance to see all his friends, even the ones that, for one reason or another, he could rarely see during the rest of the year.

 

He mentally went over his personal agenda again. Maybe he could find some free time on Christmas Eve.

 

“Alright,” he gave up. “But don't invite too many people, I don't have that much space.”

 

Seungyoon's face lit up exactly like a Christmas tree. “Of course!” He had that smile he pulled out when he was blatantly lying and Mino knew it.

 

He looked at his wristwatch and his lips. “I need to go now,” he took the bill from the table and smiled. “My treat. See you!”

 

“Love you!” Came Seungyoon's reply as he walked away.

 

What an arse er, Mino thought as he wrapped the scarf around his neck. It was completely dark outside and it looked like it could start raining any moment. He wanted to be home as soon as possible.

 

His neighborhood wasn't that far from the cafe. The street took a hard left after a few hundred meters and from there, the road got rather steep to the point where Mino used to joke about living on a hill. The buildings were old-fashioned and most of Mino's neighbors were retired couples. It was a quiet place, exactly how Mino liked it.

 

It had one flaw though: it was poorly illuminated, with sporadic, old-fashioned street lamps whose lights flickered half of the time. It created a suggestive atmosphere at night and Mino had to be careful with his every step, as the road was starting to ice up. He thought about the work he had to do at home and felt enthusiastic, even though he was aware that he would most probably just take a shower, eat and fall asleep right away. He hated how he was always eager to go home and work when he was outside, but when he actually got home, he always procrastinated until it was time to bed.

 

What should I eat for dinner?, he wondered, taking another turn and finally reaching his block. The street was deserted and most windows were lit. As Mino was looking at the road in front of him, he noticed something falling from the sky. He looked up and realized it had just started snowing.

 

The first snow of the year, he thought, a strange feeling in his belly. Mino wasn't one to get excited about it, then why did he feel like this time was special?

 

When he looked down again, he spotted the dumpsters a dozen meters ahead of him. That was the spot where he usually threw away his garbage as well as the rest of the neighborhood and it was generally pretty clean – everything was inside the dumpsters and there was no trash around. That's why Mino was surprised in spotting a good amount of plastic bags piled up beside the dumpsters.

 

...But what probably shocked him the most was the person lying on the bags.

 

“Hey...” he called, but the shock had taken his voice away. He swallowed his panic and tried again. “...Hey!” he shouted, running towards the dumpsters. Once there, he realized there was actually someone unconscious lying among the garbage: it was a young man wrapped in a paper envelope and he was motionless. He was completely pale and it didn't look like he had any clothes on – the paper wrapping covered him from his chest to his ankles, leaving his shoulders and feet uncovered and .

 

Mino's mind was in turmoil: was he dead? How long had he been out there in the cold? And why?!

 

The craftsman leaned down and shook the man's shoulder lightly. “Can... can you hear me?” He realized he was shaking. That was something that just didn't happen to normal people. What if it was some bloody murder? The man didn't look wounded, there was no blood on the paper envelope, nor anywhere else, but Mino couldn't tell. He still wasn't moving.

 

“Please don't be dead,” he whispered in a plea, touching the man's face with shaky hands. His skin looked like porcelain and overall it was just perfect. Too perfect. He didn't look real.

 

Mino brushed some hair off his face to see if he had a head wound or anything like that. The man's eyes were shut and his black eyelashes stood out against his white skin. Mino carefully slipped one hand behind his neck to see if he could find a wound back there. He was scared he would see his fingers stained in blood once he pulled it back, but instead his fingers brushed against something unusual. There was something embossed on the youngster's nape.

 

A tattoo?, Mino wondered. He moved his head to the side in order to see it, but what he found on the man's nape was nothing he could ever imagine: a series of black, vertical lines seemed to be carved on his neck. A barcode – it was a barcode, no doubts. Just, it didn't have any numbers. Only black lines.

 

It didn't look like a normal tattoo. Mino could feel that something was off with that man.

 

No time for this, he told himself, fishing his phone out of his pocket. He needed to call for an ambulance, but first he removed his jacket and placed it on the youngster's body. He shivered and dialed the emergency number while looking at the boy.

 

“Yes, hello,” he cleared his throat, hugging his waist in an attempt of warming himself. “I found a young man on the streets, he looks unconscious. To be honest, I don't even know whether he's alive or not...” he fell silent. “No, I don't know him. He's not moving and I don't think he's breathing either... Wounds?” He looked at the boy again. “He doesn't look like he has any. Wait, I'll check again...”

 

Mino leaned down and checked his face and neck again. “No, I don't see any blood loss,” he pulled down his jacket and the paper wrapping a bit to check his body. “He doesn't have any–” the phone slipped from his hand and hit the ground with a thud.

 

What the is this, Mino thought. What the actual is this?

 

There was a square incision on the man's chest, too perfect to be the result of a surgery, and it was also located in a very weird place, exactly in the middle of his thorax. It wasn't a scar, it was a real incision, but there was no blood leaking from it, only a green wire – yes, a wire. Mino looked closely and there was no doubt: it was a power cable.

 

Not human, Mino realized, he's not human!

 

He wore his jacket and picked the phone up. “Yes. Sorry, apparently I made a mistake...” he glanced at his side. “It was just a... doll.”

 

A doll, indeed. Mino stared at it for a while. It was the most realistic doll he had ever seen, perfect in every detail. Proportions and face were extremely realistic, its hair too. The skin didn't have the usual plastic reflection, it looked very smooth. Mino couldn't see much more in the dim light, but he knew it wasn't just any doll. He worked with toys every day and yet he had been fooled so easily.

 

“Really a beautiful doll,” he murmured under his breath. He didn't see why anyone would want to throw it away, but the frayed wires suggested the doll was broken.

 

Broken. The word echoed in Mino's mind and made him realize something: he could probably fix that doll, if he wanted to. It was his job. If only he took a closer look to it, he could surely point out anything that need to be fixed.

 

And of course, Mino wanted to. Or better, his craftsman soul was raging and he couldn't just ignore it. What were the odds of working on such a fine doll? Mino couldn't absolutely miss the chance, he felt like he could learn so much from working on it. When he looked at that doll he was still the child who liked to break down his toys to understand how they worked. Nothing had changed.

 

He resolved to comply to his wishes. He leaned down and fixed the wrapping around the body before picking it up.

 

“Ouch, even your weight is that of a real person,” he noticed while he settled the doll in his arms. Luckily for him, his house was just at the end of the road.

 

He hesitated once more, wondering if that was really the right thing to do. He really didn't have much free time and maybe the owner would change their mind and go look for the doll again. Mino would have done that, in their place. He would have immediately regretted throwing away that kind of treasure.

 

He glanced at it again and thought that it totally looked like a sleeping boy. Mino didn't know why, but it made him smile. No – he thought – there was no going back now.

 

“Alright, I hope you don't mind but you're coming home with me.”

 

 

 

* *

 

 

 

The wide living room was the first thing one could see as soon as they entered Mino's apartment, and it gave the illusion of a big house. Actually, the living room was most of his apartment and the kitchen was there too, but it couldn't be seen from the entrance because of a partition wall in between. Apart from that, a small bedroom and a bathroom were all that was left to see at Mino's place. It was small, but comfortable.

 

The said living room had two windows on the facade of another building, but Mino rarely looked out from there: he had set his work table right in front of the windows and he spent most of his time drawing new toys and designs, or even making them. He had two shelves in his room full of the toys he had made at home. His job was also his hobby and there was nothing Mino loved more.

 

Mino had laid the doll on the work table the night before. He had covered it with the wrapping paper and decided he would start working on it the next day, so as to make the best use of the daylight. He couldn't get rid of the feeling that it was no ordinary doll and that there was a reason why he had found it.

 

“Ridiculous,” he murmured, ruffling his bed hair as he poured himself some coffee. He probably just thought like that because he had a weak spot for dolls. Dolls were something out of his reach, because they weren't like the other toys. Mino was good at making horses and trains and planes, but he always had some issues in making dolls, and that only made them more charming in his eyes.

 

That doll was probably the most charming. He sat at the work table after breakfast and removed the paper wrapping. The first thing that caught his eye was the perfection of the skin. It was something he had noticed the night before, but he didn't have the time to linger on it. Mino brushed his fingers along one arm, from the shoulder down to the wrist, and was almost shocked to realize that the doll's skin felt exactly like human skin at the touch.

 

But maybe it was no surprise. Someone had put an incredible amount of work in that doll, that's for sure. Mino traced with his fingers the shadow of the collarbones, and then lips, nose and eyebrows. Nothing in that doll looked fake. If it wasn't for the opening in the middle of his chest and the total absence of ia – yes, Mino had checked that as well – it totally looked like a real human being.

 

“Should I be impressed or freaked out?” he murmured to himself, pulling up his sleeves and removing the lid of the control box.

 

A bunch of cut wires popped up almost immediately. By the amount of it, Mino could tell the doll was probably supposed to move or to talk, even. Maybe it was one of those singing dolls that had two or three jingles memorized and repeated them over and over.

 

Mino inspected the rest of the body and found some scratches, spots where the superficial layer of fake skin was bruised or even torn off. Whoever had thrown that doll in the trash had no delicacy for it whatsoever. It looked like someone had wanted to get rid of it really badly.

 

Mino suddenly felt really affectionate towards the poor thing. As long as he could remember he had always treated his toys like real things, taking good care of them and even giving each of them a name – this was, of course, when he was a child. So, he couldn't understand how someone could disregard such a fine toy.

 

“Well, should I start by giving you a name?” He wondered out loud.

 

Having a human-size doll in front of him made him feel like he could just talk with it, and Mino had always felt a bit lonely living all alone in that old-fashioned neighborhood anyway. He used to have a dog once and he talked with it all the time, it kept him company during the long hours of work. Since the poor thing had died, Mino felt the loneliness down to his bones.

 

That was why he found it so easily to just talk with the doll. “What should I call you, though? It must be a nice name because you're really nice.”

 

He looked at the doll face, many different names running through his mind while he took in the heart-shaped lips and the black eyelashes. Really pretty. He wanted to see the color of those eyes.

 

He brushed some hair away from the pale face, his lips curled in concentration. “It's too bad you can't tell me what name would you like...”

 

 

Taehyun

 

 

Mino turned around in a jerk, his eyes wide. “What was that?” He asked to the empty room. He was sure he had heard a voice echoing in his mind, but it wasn't his own. Or was it?

 

He got up and quickly searched through the small apartment, only to confirm what he already knew: he was alone.

 

“Too much work,” he murmured while running a hand through his short black hair. “I'm hearing things...” he looked at his work table again and slowly walked over to it. The doll didn't move of a single inch. And why would it? It was a doll.

 

Am I going insane?, he wondered, sitting at the table again. He looked at its face and bit his lower lip in consideration.

 

“Taehyun, huh?”

 

It sounded nice to the ears and, looking at the doll features, somehow Mino felt a connection, like that name was the right one. Wherever it came from.

 

“Let's see what I can do for you, Taehyun.”

 

Mino started by turning the doll around to check if there were any other control boxes on his back. He brushed the brown hair away from the nape and looked at the barcode again. He wondered if it was a real barcode or just a weird tattoo. But why would a doll have a tattoo? Maybe its previous owner was behind it.

 

“How was he?” Mino asked the doll. “I'm sure it was a man. I wonder what kind of man would throw away something like you.” He was surprised in finding a hint of disdain in his voice for someone he didn't even know.

 

The doll's back was perfect, the skin white and smooth, no signs of a control box hidden anywhere. Apparently the only one was that on its chest. Mino checked for further bruises along the backside of arms and legs, and that was when he noticed a piece of paper crumpled into one of the doll's hands. Strangely enough, the plastic fingers were clenched around it, but it took Mino barely any effort to slip the piece of paper out of the hold.

 

“Your hands are perfectly made,” he noticed, laying the doll on its back once again. “The flexibility of the fingers is astounding, I wish I could meet your maker.”

 

He unfolded the paper with curiosity, since there could be an address or a phone number written on it, anything that would help Mino understand how that doll had ended up in a pile of trash.

 

There were only three words on the paper, scribbled messily at the center of it. Whoever had written them down had unsteady hands.

 

 

fix my heart

 

 

Just that. No address or phone number under it. Just those three, mysterious words.

 

“Fix my...?” Mino looked at Taehyun, its chest open and that bunch of broken strands pointing in all directions. The message had nothing to do with the doll, that much was sure.

 

...Or it did. Maybe the same person who had thrown the doll in the trash had left the message so that, whoever found the doll, would try to fix it. Maybe that was exactly the reason they got rid of it in the first place. Someone who couldn't afford to have it fixed properly and had just abandoned it out of desperation.

 

But still, what were the possibilities for it to be found by someone who actually knew how to fix it?

 

And yet, the doll was there. In Mino's hands.

 

“It feels like we were bound to meet, Taehyun,” he smiled at his own foolishness. He usually wasn't someone to get all excited like that, but he couldn't help it somehow. The small piece of paper had made him conclude something: it didn't matter the reason he found that doll, he was going to fix it. He still wasn't sure about what to do with it once the work was done, but for now he wanted to give a new life to the toy. It was exactly what he loved to do anyway.

 

Mino wore his work gloves and took his toolbox, realizing something as he did so.

 

“I might not have all the right materials here, but I know where to find them,” he smiled and brushed some hair off Taehyun's face. “I'm definitely going to fix you for good, don't worry.”

 

 

 

 

* *

 

 

 

 

Two weeks before Christmas the shop was trying to keep up with the orders, as most workers panicked and most clients were growing more and more demanding.

 

In that chaos, Mino was trying to come up with new designs, but the paper in front of him remained blank no matter how hard his brain was working. The lack of sleep certainly didn't help: he had spent the last few nights working on the doll and every other minute of his free time saw him going around trying to find everything that he would need for the job. He was putting his heart and soul in that doll and he couldn't quite catch the reason.

 

Sure, it was stunning. Mino had spent an incredible amount of time with Taehyun and it was impossible not to notice the little details: the soft curve of his lips for example. They were so realistic Mino could not help but brush his fingers along the full lower lip every time he got the chance. It didn't feel like plastic at all. Actually, nothing about Taehyun felt fake, and yet he was a doll. And Mino was going crazy.

 

He had looked up those words – robot, android, cyborg. Mino wanted to know exactly what he was dealing with. But Taehyun was none of them. He was just a doll, and a broken one at that.

 

When did I start referring to him as 'he'?, he wondered as he shook his head. He was doing it again – having inappropriate thoughts for a doll. Mino was a dreamer and he liked to imagine things that weren't possible: his current daydream had Taehyun as main character. Sometimes he would look at the doll and he could swear he had seen it moving or blinking its big eyes.

 

Taehyun's eyes. Another masterpiece. They weren't empty, nor vitreous like those of most dolls. Actually, there was some kind of spark in those brown irises. Mino would call it “the spark of life” and joke that Taehyun was just a boy trapped inside a doll's body. Then he would mentally slap himself for his own foolishness. But still, that spark was there and sometimes, when he was at home, Mino felt like he was being watched.

 

Truth be told, some weird things had happened since he had started working on the doll, but Mino was so out of his mind most of the time, he always blamed his own distraction for it. His tools, for example: sometimes they weren't where they were supposed to be. Mino could leave a pair of scissors on one side of the table and find it on the opposite side the next morning. Or his coffee cup: he would drink a lot of coffee during work and sometimes he just left the cup on the work table, but somehow, it was always in the kitchen sink the next day, perfectly cleaned.

 

Mino had gone through such things before: at times, he was so tired he would do things on autopilot and then completely forget about it. So he didn't think much of those weird events, except that he probably needed more sleep.

 

A single thing could be considered out of the ordinary. The second day, Mino had a strange feeling throughout the whole of his breakfast and when he had looked up from his cup, he noticed Taehyun's eyes were open. It was weird simply because he remembered not touching the doll's eyelids at all, the day before. He didn't even manage to fix any of its wires so there was no way those eyes could open automatically.

 

Taehyun was sitting on the work table, his back against the window, exactly where Mino had left him the night before. Nothing about him was different except for his eyes, half-covered by his brown hair as his head was slightly tilted to the side. It was odd, but Mino didn't waste much time thinking about it. He knew from experience doll's eyelids were pretty tricky and he had moved the doll a lot the night before while he studied it. It could have happened back then.

 

Mino couldn't wait to be home and work on Taehyun again. His progresses were slow but steady, and he was positive he could finish his job before Christmas.

 

“Now, that's a really pretty one!”

 

Mino was kicked out of his thoughts and looking up he noticed one his colleagues beside his work table. Actually, he was sitting on the table and had a wide grin on his lips. Mino had been working with him for a few years and was used to his manners by now.

 

“What?”

 

“I said she's really pretty. Is it your girlfriend?”

 

As he nodded to the paper in Mino's hands, the latter looked down at his drawing for the first time.

 

What was supposed to be the new design for a toy car turned out to be the portrait of a person with delicate features. Of course, his colleague could mistake it for a girl's portrait, but Mino knew better.

 

He put the paper down and held his head with both hands, sighing deeply in defeat. Big eyes, parted hair and heart-shaped lips – that was Taehyun, no doubts. And he had drawn him completely absent-mindedly, as if Taehyun was the only thing on his mind. Which was true, but just because Mino was working on him day and night. He had spent restless nights on many projects before, but he never drew them out of the blue without even realizing.

 

“Not really...” he murmured. Not really? Not at all! It's not even a real human being!

 

He cleared his throat. “It's...” it's what? A doll I found on my way home that looks like a real boy and that, for some reasons, seems to never leave my mind? No way I can tell him that. “...He's a friend. Yeah, a close friend,” he laughed nervously. “I promised a portrait for his birthday since it's coming soon.”

 

“You have pretty friends then,” his colleague didn't seem convinced, but he hopped down from Mino's table all the same. He was still grinning. “I just asked because you were smiling from ear to ear the whole time while drawing it, and I never see you smiling like that at work. You're always too focused,” he laughed.

 

Mino felt his ears burning as the heat rose to his face. He wasn't aware of his facial expression and he didn't know how to reply to that. He didn't have any good excuse to explain the situation without making a fool of himself.

 

The man seemed to have his own interpretation for Mino's silence. “You know, if you have such pretty friends I really don't understand how you've been single for so long.”

 

He had crossed the line, but Mino was used to that too. That guy always made the most embarrassing statements without any shame and everyone more or less decided to just deal with it. Mino answered his words with another long silence, pretending to be focused on his work once again.

 

“Here you go again with that long face,” came his voice all the same. The man quickly reached out and stole the drawing from Mino's hold, holding it up in front of his face, but far enough so that Mino couldn't reach it.

 

“Hey–”

 

“Hey, I'm saying this for your own sake,” he waved the drawing with a frown. “I think I'm entitled to give you some advice after working together for so many years. Show some balls and ask him out. Seriously, your face was so disgustingly happy it crept me out.”

 

And with that, he was gone. Mino stared at the empty space his colleague had left for a long minute while his drawing floated back to him. He didn't know if he understood what had just happened. Did someone just suggest he should ask Taehyun out for a date?

 

Mino looked down at his drawing, the portrait of a boy with big eyes and a soft smile on his lips. Mino would never see Taehyun smile because Taehyun didn't have that possibility. He was a cold, heartless piece of plastic.

 

“Yeah sure,” he murmured as he grabbed a pencil with bitterness. “Too bad it's a doll we're talking about.”

 

 

 

* *

 

 

 

 

It was late when Mino came home two days later to find Taehyun sitting lifeless on his work table where he had left him. He had not touched the doll at all during those two days. On the contrary, he had avoided it as much as possible, as if it could read his mind.

 

The man had mixed feelings since after that weird conversation with his colleague: somehow he couldn't get his words out of his head and he was wondering if he was going too far with his fantasies. Sure, Taehyun looked real but he wasn't. Nor there was any way he could become a real person. So what was the point of fantasizing? It wasn't something a normal person would do and Mino could feel himself become insane. It had been just a week since he had found the doll, it was unacceptable to feel like that.

 

He spared a quick glance at it as he passed by his work table to reach his bedroom. There was something in Taehyun's expression that made him look sad, or it was just Mino trying to reflect his feelings on the doll. Another ridiculous thing to do.

 

He dropped his stuff on the bed and went back to the living room. No matter what, his eyes always wandered back to the doll whenever he was in that room. That night, the doll looked in even worse conditions than it was when Mino had first found it. The pale skin had lost his glow and there was no spark in the brown eyes.

 

Mino sighed. “Why is it that whenever I'm not around you seem to get more and more injured?” He quickly checked arms and legs, only to find out that there seemed to be more bruises than two days before.

 

He didn't understand. It wasn't like the doll could go around on its own while Mino was at work.

 

“How did you get these?” Did I possibly miss these bruises for the past week?, he wondered. I checked almost every day.

 

He sank into his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, sighing. “Why... just why do you look so sad?” He murmured. “Sometimes I feel like you're not a doll at all. This is crazy, right?” He looked up with a crooked smile, almost as if he expected Taehyun to answer. But of course, no sound came from the lifeless doll. “...Right. You're a doll and I'm a craftsman. I should just fix you and sell you for the best price. That's what everyone with a brain would do.”

 

Taehyun remained as silent as he had always been, the spark in his eyes still gone. Mino wondered if he had imagined it in the first place. It was not normal for a doll to have such lively eyes anyway. Dolls' eyes were empty.

 

“I really... really don't want to give you away,” he admitted. “And that's exactly the problem. I don't know why I should keep you but I don't want someone else to have you either.”

 

Mino looked out of the window and released a bitter laugh. The situation was just absurd and the most ridiculous thing was that he still found it somehow perfectly normal.

 

“Taehyun... do you think I'm going insane?” He asked at last. “Don't blink if you think so.”

 

The doll didn't move.

 

Mino smiled. “Yeah, I agree.”

 

 

 

* *

 

 

 

Christmas decorations had invaded even the old music store, to the point where Mino couldn't recognize it anymore. It had been some time since he had last visited the store during Christmas time.

 

“Oh, oh, look at this one!”

 

Mino turned around to meet the bright face of an enthusiastic Jinwoo waving a Christmas compilation.

 

“Seriously? I thought it was going to be a cool party,” Mino laughed.

 

Jinwoo looked at the CD and pouted. “It's still a Christmas party though.”

 

“Right, well, I'll consider it – but for now put it down.”

 

Jinwoo did as he was told, but not without a long series of sighs and snorts.

 

Mino liked that about him. Jinwoo was, in a word, spontaneous: he was exactly as he appeared and he was always straightforward, but in a nice way. That was his talent and Mino had liked him since the first day. Jinwoo was one of his best friends and he knew he could tell him everything.

 

As far as Mino could remember, whenever he had a problem, Jinwoo was always there with a solution, or words of comfort. He was one of those people you could trust your life with. Of course, he had his flaws too – he could be pretty childish at times – but his good qualities overcame those little things. Mino was pretty sure Jinwoo knew everything there was to know about him.

 

Except maybe one thing. He had never mentioned the doll to Jinwoo, as he didn't know how to approach the topic, but he still felt like he needed some kind of advice or even just an opinion.

 

Mino glanced at his side, where Jinwoo was going through another bunch of Christmas compilations, his fingers skimming through the albums. He his lower lip nervously and cleared his throat.

 

“Can I tell you something?” His voice was way more raspy than he expected, as if it didn't want to come out.

 

Jinwoo looked surprised. “Since when do you need to ask?” His bright smile made Mino more at ease.

 

“Well...” he cleared his throat again. “You see, there's this colleague at work... This colleague...” Jinwoo was looking at him with his big eyes and Mino felt completely exposed, so he pretended to be looking through some shelves. “...He said he found this doll that totally looks like a person and he's freaking out a bit. He says there's something weird about this doll and basically he can't stop thinking about it, I think he's going crazy because it looks so much like a human being...”

 

He stopped when he realized that Jinwoo was looking at him with a huge grin on his lips, like he knew something that Mino didn't.

 

Mino started feeling uncomfortable. Does he know?, he wondered. But he feigned innocence. “Uhm... what?”

 

“You're talking about that fairytale, aren't you,” it wasn't a question.

 

Mino had no idea what Jinwoo was talking about, but he suddenly heard an alarm ringing in his head.

 

“A fairytale?”

 

Jinwoo nodded slowly, going back to skim other albums. “Well, actually I'm not sure whether it's a fairytale or a legend. Something like that anyway!” He smiled softly as if he was remembering something bittersweet. “Do you want to hear it?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“It's the story of a woman who had her heart broken by the man she loved. Up until this point is nothing special, right?” Jinwoo laughed.

 

“But the love this woman had for the man was so strong that her heart literally broke after he left her. And I mean literally! She would spend her days crying over the loss of her love. Nothing could console her. If she could, she would have ripped her heart out of her chest. Her pain was endless and her existence meaningless – until one day, something changed her life forever.”

 

Mino was hanging on every word for an unknown reason. Jinwoo was telling the story like he always did with every story: in a very enticing, yet nonchalant way. It was another one of his virtues and Mino was hating his every pause.

 

Jinwoo was enjoying Mino's frustrated expression and it was evident from his amused smile as he went on. “She met someone who claimed to have the solution for her problem. It was a witch, and she made a pact with the young woman: she would take away all of her pain in return for her broken heart. There was nothing in the world the woman wanted more than to get rid of her heavy heart, so she accepted without hesitation. But she shouldn't have.”

 

Jinwoo looked upset. His expressions usually went with the flow of the story he was telling – it was a funny thing to witness. “She expected to be freed from her pain, but the witch did things her own way. She turned the woman into a doll,” he looked at Mino, who returned the gaze with wide eyes. “Because dolls have no hearts and the woman had given hers away. The witch had kept her word: she wasn't going to feel anything anymore... but she wasn't going to live either.”

 

Jinwoo concluded his story with a shrug and a little smile. “This story is known as the Doll Song. I personally think it was born during a time when magic was the solution for many problems. I bet a lot of people went looking for warlocks and witches, maybe some of them really got turned into dolls,” he laughed.

 

Mino couldn't bring himself to laugh. “It ends just like that...? Wasn't there any way to bring the doll back to life?”

 

Jinwoo raised an eyebrow. “You look so concerned, why do you ask?”

 

Mino looked away in embarrassment. “I just... like happy endings.”

 

Jinwoo didn't look like he believed him, but he didn't make any comments about Mino's unusual behavior. “The witch told the woman that she would meet a kind stranger on the first day of snow and if that stranger managed to love her in that form, she would get her heart back. But the snow never came,” he pouted. “I wonder, wasn't a True Love's Kiss enough? Isn't it usually like that in all the other fairytales?”

 

Mino cracked a smile. “You're right,” the conversation ended at that. Mino had too much to elaborate. Of course he didn't believe Jinwoo's story had anything to do with Taehyun – it was just ridiculous and Mino wasn't that insane yet.

 

Still, it totally sounded like a story that could be applied to Taehyun. Mino would have never believed such a tale before he found the doll beside that garbage can. Now, his view of the world was a bit more open-minded. And totally unrealistic.

 

“How about you?” He blurted out in a desperate attempt to save himself from his own fantasies. “Seunghoon?”

 

Jinwoo had wide eyes. “We're totally fine, why?”

 

Mino raised an eyebrow. “Didn't you break up again a couple of weeks ago?”

 

“What?” Wide eyes turning into small cracks. “Who told you that?”

 

“Seungyoon...”

 

“Seungyoon,” Jinwoo repeated with a sigh. “He's so dramatic. I just told him we had a little fight and he made a big fuss out of it. Don't worry, we've been getting along pretty well lately,” he smiled and shoved his hand in Mino's face.

 

Mino blinked twice in confusion and noticed the silver ring on Jinwoo's annular.

 

“...Are you kidding me?” His gaze shifted from the ring to Jinwoo's bright smile and again to the ring. “Are you ing kidding me?!”

 

“No, I'm not ing kidding you,” Jinwoo laughed.

 

“When...?” Mino was astonished. “Why didn't you tell me?”

 

Jinwoo blushed. “For our third anniversary,” he admitted in a small voice. “I was going to tell you when we would meet again face to face.”

 

Mino was at a loss for words. “Jinwoo, I'm...” he finally released a long sigh of relief and smiled. “I'm seriously so happy for you.”

 

The older man was shamelessly gloating. “It was the right time,” he just said with a shrug. “When will I get the chance to say the same to you?”

 

Mino shook his head. “Let's not go there again,” he started skimming through old albums again.

 

“Oh no, let's totally go there again,” Jinwoo replied, stopping Mino's hands. “Do you even remember the last time you dated?”

 

“Does it matter?” Mino rolled his eyes.

 

“Yes it does?” Jinwoo raised an eyebrow. “Do you think I can't see that you're lonely? Your life can't revolve around work.”

 

“My life doesn't revolve around work,” ...anymore, he thought. Taehyun took up most of his free time and Mino didn't consider Taehyun part of his work.

 

Jinwoo seemed to study his face for a while. “Seunghoon has a very nice friend. She's single,” he added.

 

Mino's eyes grew wide. “No, wait–”

 

“I already invited her to the party, so let's pick some good music okay?” He smiled. “We've been here for an hour and we still haven't picked a single CD.”

 

Mino sighed. “Jinwoo, really, I don't need that.”

 

“Do you like someone?”

 

“What?”

 

Jinwoo turned around to face him with burning eyes. “I asked if you have someone you like.”

 

Mino's chest was about to explode. He hated how everyone was so concerned about his love life, as if it was the only thing that mattered. It was straight up annoying.

 

“...Yes,” he breathed out before he could help it. Just not to give his friend the satisfaction.

 

Oh no, he realized, what did I just say?

 

But Jinwoo looked already shocked. “Really? Why didn't you tell me? Do I know them?”

 

The first image that came to Mino's mind at that question was his portrait of Taehyun, and he quickly shook the thought out of his head. He blamed his panic for the absurd thoughts revolving inside his head. He didn't know how to bring that lie any further as he knew that Jinwoo could read him too well.

 

His friend was indeed getting his own answers from Mino's silence, but he wasn't angry. Jinwoo knew Mino well enough to know when he was uncomfortable and he just couldn't get angry over something like that.

 

“Listen,” he began with a soft voice. “You don't have to like this girl. I'm just saying, maybe you will? You just don't know and you can't deny yourself a chance. At worst, your life will be just like before. You really have nothing to lose.”

 

Mino could feel Jinwoo's hand on his shoulder and he would have lied if he said he didn't feel immediately more comfortable. Jinwoo had that kind of effect on him and at times like that, Mino wished he could hate it, because he always ended up going along whatever Jinwoo wanted him to do.

 

So, it didn't surprise him when he found himself nodding slowly at his words. Jinwoo was smiling from ear to ear and that was enough to tell Mino that everything was going to be fine.

 

“Let's pick some cool music for the party now, alright?”

 

“I don't really trust your concept of cool music,” Mino replied.

 

Jinwoo looked utterly outraged for a split second, just enough for Mino to start laughing at his face and dragging Jinwoo along with the sound of his laughter.

 

Jinwoo waved an album in front of his face, trying to look threatening. Too bad he still couldn't hide the grin on his lips. “You'll have to treat me to a coffee after this.”

 

Mino raised his hands in defeat. “Anything to make up for my sins.”

 

They were still laughing when they finally left the shop.

 

 

 

* *

 

 

 

Seungyoon had broken his promise just as Mino expected.

 

Just a few friends, Mino thought looking around the room, really?

 

His living room was so crowded, people could barely move around. And the best part was that Mino didn't even know half of them. He was pretty sure he had never seen most of those faces not even once in his life, and having a bunch of perfect strangers at home was probably in the top ten of Things Mino Hated The Most.

 

I'm going to kill Seungyoon, he resolved while sipping from his drink angrily.

 

His apartment was full of Christmas decorations – apparently, every single guest had brought something and now Mino's place looked like Santa Claus's village. Which was fitting for a Christmas Eve, but Mino was already regretting so much about that party and the sparkly decorations didn't help.

 

He was trying to remember how his apartment looked like a few hours before. If it wasn't for the fact that Mino always kept his promises, he would have canceled the party and spent the night giving a last retouching to a certain doll. There were still a few things to adjust and he had to connect the wires and see if it would work. Mino had really put his whole self into that project and he was someone who couldn't keep his mind off of it until he completed every last task.

 

Taehyun was sitting in his room now – wrapped in a warm blanket on Mino's bed. Mino was trying to keep him away from the crowd, not because he was ashamed, but because he was afraid someone could break him. It was better to hide him away from the world. Mino felt extremely protective about the doll and he wasn't even denying it anymore.

 

“Are you alright?”

 

There was a hand on his shoulder all of a sudden and Mino suddenly remembered about Hyojin. He looked at her and showed his best polite smile.

 

“I'm sorry, did you say something?”

 

The girl stretched her full lips into a charming smile. Mino wondered if Taehyun would have smiled like that if given the chance. He shook the thought out of his head, something that he had been doing pretty often in the last twenty-one days.

 

“I just asked where is the bathroom,” he rubbed Mino's back in a way that told Mino she had been flirting with him for a while. But he was only noticing now. “Are you really okay?”

 

Mino took a long sip from his glass and nodded while trying not to choke. He really didn't know how to act around that girl. “Sure, that door.” He pointed at it.

 

Hyojin dragged her hand down Mino's arm before walking away with a smile.

 

Mino sighed and looked down at his drink. There was really nothing wrong with Hyojin. She was pretty, smart and clearly interested in him. But Mino just couldn't seem to focus.

 

“Hey, hey!”

 

Mino was almost crushed by Jinwoo's hug. “My party boy!” He strangled Mino a bit more before stepping back.

 

Mino coughed, briefly acknowledging Seunghoon, who was just behind Jinwoo and nodded back at him. “It's not my birthday.”

 

“It's your party though,” Jinwoo wiggled his eyebrows and slipped his fingers in between Seunghoon's. “How is it going with Hyojin?”

 

Mino wished he could choke on his breath. “She's... really nice.”

 

“Isn't she pretty?” Jinwoo smiled.

 

Mino just nodded. “Yeah... she's really funny too.”

 

Jinwoo's enthusiasm tuned down immediately. “But you don't like her.”

 

He sounded so disappointed, Mino felt guilty. He knew that Jinwoo just wanted to make him happy. “I'm sorry.”

 

“Mino–”

 

“Why don't you enjoy the party?” Mino added soon after. “We picked really cool music in the end. Have a dance,” he cracked a smile and quickly disappeared.

 

There was only one place he could find some peace from that chaos and it was in his bedroom. He could also check on Taehyun as he was there. He could afford a five minutes break from being social, after all.

 

He opened the door with a smile at the thought, but his smile died on his lips as he realized there was already someone in his room.

 

Hyojin had her back on the door and Taehyun was behind her. The blanket around his body had been removed and the girl was touching the doll all over.

 

Mino closed the door behind him without even trying to be silent. “What are you doing?”

 

Hyojin turned around with a surprised look on her face, but her sly smile was back in place soon after. She laughed, “I was just wondering, what is this?”

 

Mino followed her finger in the direction of Taehyun. He didn't like the way she was pointing at him, as if she was mocking him.

 

“A doll,” he said. “Can you please leave now?”

 

“You keep a human-size doll in your room?” She went on, seemingly deaf to Mino's words. “I didn't think you were that kind of guy.”

 

It took some moments for Mino to understand the reference, and when he did his ears turned bright red. He heard her laugh ringing on the walls again.

 

“Oh my gosh,” she said. “So it's true!”

 

“It's not that kind of doll,” Mino replied, dull. “And it's none of your business either.” His patience had been growing short since he had found Hyojin in the room and now he was just running out of it.

 

“Then what is it?” She looked around and opened her arms. “This looks like the room of a kid. What's with all these toys? Aren't you a bit too old to be still playing with dolls and horses?”

 

In any other situation, Mino would have not taken any offense in those words. It wasn't the first time someone mocked him for collecting or making toys anyway. It didn't bother him because he knew there was nothing to be ashamed of. He was proud of his job and of his passion.

 

But Hyojin had been repeatedly touching and poking Taehyun's porcelain skin for a while now, and it was pissing Mino off in a way he had rarely experienced before. He didn't want her hands on the doll. Truth be told, he didn't want anyone's hands on Taehyun.

 

“Get out,” he demanded.

 

Hyojin crossed her arms. “Are you going to kick me out because I touched your toys?” She was being straight up mean now and Mino wondered what he had found so charming about her just a few minutes before. “You really are a crybaby.”

 

Mino opened the door. “Get out of my house!”

 

The buzz ceased as everyone stopped talking when Mino's low voice echoed in the living room. He didn't turn around – he didn't know how to face the crowd and he just wanted to be alone with his anger.

 

“Everyone, please leave,” he said in a calmer tone. “Party's over. Go home.”

 

Mino could feel Hyojin's piercing stare on him as she walked out of his room. He knew she was judging every last bit of his existence and he didn't care. He stayed still while the sound of steps slowly faded away as everyone was leaving.

 

He knew some people would stay and so he wasn't surprised in feeling a hand on his shoulder a few minutes later.

 

“Mino,” Jinwoo's voice came soft to his ear. “What happened?”

 

Mino closed his eyes and sighed. “Just go home,” he pleaded. “I'm tired. Sorry, we'll talk later.”

 

“But–”

 

“Please.”

 

Jinwoo's hand hesitated some more on his shoulder. Then, slowly, his touch faded away as well.

 

“Goodnight,” Jinwoo said, the sound of his steps reaching Mino's ear as he walked out.

 

Mino sighed. He knew he had just ruined it for everyone and it would take his best efforts to make up for it. He knew Jinwoo was going to call him first thing in the morning and he needed to have all the answers to his questions by then. But for now, all Mino wanted was silence.

 

“Merry Christmas, Mino,” was the last thing Mino heard. It was Seungyoon's voice. He sounded disappointed, or hurt, or both. Mino didn't dare to turn around and find out.

 

After that, the apartment fell into a surreal stillness.

 

He was left alone.

 

 

 

* *

 

 

 

It was almost midnight when Mino found himself once again sitting at his work table. Chips, confetti and empty paper cups were still scattered all over the floor, making it look like a tornado had just passed by. Mino didn't have the will nor the interest in cleaning up that night.

 

In the aftermath of the disastrous party, Mino felt still guilty, but he also felt incredibly better now and he felt guilty for feeling better as well. It was a tricky circle he couldn't get out of, and he was trying to keep his mind busy by working.

 

Taehyun sat in front of him, his back against the window and the moonlight shining on his skin. It was snowing outside and Mino thought that was the perfect background for the doll.

 

Taehyun's chest was open and Mino was putting some final touches. Everything was perfectly fixed, the doll looked as new. Mino was proud of his job.

 

“Alright, let's see if it works,” he pulled the switch and closed the control box. Now, Taehyun was supposed to do something. Anything.

 

Mino sat there and waited, looking at the doll in anticipation. His three weeks of work were about to pay off.

 

Taehyun's eyes sparkled for a moment – or so Mino thought. It kept him on the edge of his chair for a good long minute, but nothing else happened. The doll didn't move nor talked.

 

Something sank in Mino's chest, but he still checked to see if there were other switches he needed to turn on. Of course, there was none. Mino knew every inch of Taehyun's body by now and he was perfectly aware that the only switch was that inside of the control box. The control box that he had thoroughly checked and fixed without missing a single detail.

 

Taehyun was a broken doll and he was going to stay a broken doll. There was indeed a reason why he had been thrown away.

 

“What did I expect...” Mino murmured in disbelief. He wasn't upset because the doll didn't function – he was upset because even though he had told himself over and over that everything he could imagine was never going to be true, he still expected something more. He didn't know if it was because of Jinwoo's story or just because of his own disillusion, but he really did expect something special to happen once he was done fixing the doll.

 

But of course, reality didn't match with Mino's fantasies.

 

He removed his work gloves and stood up, throwing them on the table in frustration. There was nothing else he could do. He might as well get rid of the doll the next day.

 

He took a deep breath and looked at his palm, tracing the lines with his eyes. Then, he brushed his fingers slowly along Taehyun's thigh. He could have sworn he felt some kind of warmness radiating from his skin. His lips stretched into a bitter smile and his fingers went up to touch the doll's face. He gently caressed his chin and cupped his cold cheek.

 

Mino had never asked for anything in his life. Whatever he wanted or needed, he would always work hard to achieve it. But there were things he couldn't achieve no matter what. So maybe, it was the right time to make a silly wish.

 

He leaned down slowly, until his lips pressed perfectly against the doll's closed mouth. Taehyun's lips were rigid and cold, and it only made Mino's heart sank further. But he didn't want to think about what was the right thing to do. For once, he just wanted to dream for a little while.

 

“I wish you could be real, Taehyun,” he admitted in a whisper when he parted from the kiss shortly after. He stared at the brown eyes open wide in front of him and smiled. Then, he covered the doll with a blanket and turned off the desk lamp.

 

Despite everything, Mino knew he would not be able to get rid of the doll. If someone asked him the reason, he probably wouldn't know how to answer. He just knew he couldn't bring himself to do it.

 

I'll think about it tomorrow, he thought, looking at the snow falling silently out of the window. It was five minutes past midnight and Mino managed to crack a smile while looking at the doll one last time.

 

“Merry Christmas, Taehyun.”

 

 

 

* *

 

 

 

The snow wasn't falling anymore when Mino woke up. Christmas night had been tough on him: the craftsman woke up with a headache and a gloomy feeling in his chest. He vaguely remembered having some nightmares, but all that was left was a feeling of deep loneliness.

 

Nothing out of the ordinary, he told himself trying to make fun of such an uncomfortable awakening. He dragged his feet out of bed with the feeling that he should have just slept in for a few more hours.

 

Ruffling his hair, he walked into the living room to be immediately reminded of the chaos his apartment was still in. He also remembered he had promised to call Jinwoo.

 

Too many things to do before breakfast, he complained as he walked to the kitchen to drink a glass of water. He stopped halfway to look out of the window, where he noticed the snow wasn't falling anymore and the white layer that used to cover streets and roofs was already fading away. It was unusual for the snow to come and go so quickly during that season, and Mino realized it was probably the first Christmas without snow he had ever witnessed.

 

Something else was off too, but he couldn't quite get what. He turned around, and it was only when he glanced at his work table that he realized Taehyun was not there anymore.

 

The glass slipped from his hand and shattered against the ground.

 

“No way...” he said, a whisper at first. “No way,” he repeated loudly.

 

Mino looked around, but there was literally no place where the doll could be hidden. His apartment was small so it was useless to search for Taehyun. He was not there.

 

Mino didn't know how to explain himself such a situation. But what shocked him the most was the realization that he wasn't concerned about how Taehyun had disappeared, no – his only concern was that he would not be able to see him again, and that just didn't work for Mino.

 

“No way,” he repeated, but the words carried a total different meaning now.

 

He quickly slipped into a pair of shoes and grabbed his coat. If Taehyun was out there, he had to find him.

 

 

 

* *

 

 

 

Mino spent the rest of his Christmas day looking for Taehyun everywhere. Starting from his neighborhood, he pushed himself to the other side of the city, but the further he went the less convinced he was that he would eventually find the doll.

 

He went as far as trying to press charge for theft, but when he said someone could have stolen a doll from his apartment, the policemen didn't of course take him seriously.

 

It was dark now, and Mino was crouching a few meters away from the dumpsters where he had first found Taehyun. He didn't know where else to look and he hoped the doll would just appear again in front of his eyes just like the first time. But the scene in front of him was pretty different now: there was no plastic bags near the dumpsters and most of all, the snow was almost completely gone. The atmosphere was completely diverse and Mino could just feel that he was not going to meet Taehyun there anymore.

 

He looked up at the gray sky. Now that he thought about it, the day he had found Taehyun was exactly the day of the first snow, just like in Jinwoo's fairytale.

 

The... Doll Song?, his eyes grew wide. What if that story was true and Taehyun had just... turned into a real human being and ran away?

 

Mino couldn't help feeling slightly bitter at the thought. If that was really the case, leaving the whole absurdity of the situation aside – magic and legends weren't really his thing – he had taken care of Taehyun at his best and even went as far as fixing him, and in return Taehyun had just run away without a word.

 

But if that's really the case, I guess he would be back to his old life, wherever and whenever that is, he resolved. The thought gave him some kind of comfort – the thought of Taehyun going back where he belonged and being happy.

 

He stood up and brushed some dirt off of his knees with a little smile. That doll was never his in the first place, wasn't it? And those three weeks didn't mean anything. Maybe Mino could really consider them as a long, bittersweet dream.

 

He felt somehow defeated, but also extremely at peace. Somehow, knowing that Taehyun could be somewhere out there sounded better than seeing him everyday, motionless, on his work table.

 

“Jinwoo is going to love this story,” he laughed, releasing warm clouds in the cold air. He knew he was actually never going to tell anyone about it. That was something between Taehyun and him.

 

Mino sank both hands in the pockets of his coat and kept staring at the dark sky over his head. Christmas was almost over and so was that crazy story.

 

“Good luck, Taehyun.”

 

 

 

* *

 

 

 

 

* *

 

 

 

 

* *

 

 

 

 

* *

 

 

 

 

Mino was starting to wonder if that was the last day of his life. He couldn't see anything in front of him, the street a couple of meters ahead was wrapped in a thick fog and the drops caught in his long eyelashes didn't help his vision.

 

It was probably the worst snowstorm of the last ten years, or so the journalists said. The funny thing was that Mino's city had not seen a single snowflake for two whole winters, but this year the snow was back at full force.

 

As he ran desperately under the snowstorm, completely wet from head to toes, Mino realized that even if he was halfway there, he couldn't reach his neighborhood in those conditions. He spotted a place on the sidewalk – it was under a wide balcony and it could be a temporary shelter from the cold snow.

 

He pressed himself against the wall and tried to dry his face with his scarf. Big drops were rolling down his temples from his wet hair and he felt slightly feverish. He couldn't allow himself to get sick, not even on Christmas. The shop needed the best efforts of all its employees until New Year's Eve.

 

“Ahh,” he whined, checking the folder he had hidden inside his coat. It contained the new designs for the toys he was working for and he couldn't afford to get them wet. Luckily enough, there were no major damages.

 

Another person came running towards him just then. They had a large umbrella, but it clearly wasn't enough to fight that snowstorm. The stranger stopped under the balcony just beside Mino and closed the umbrella, running a hand through their wet hair. It was a young man.

 

“Wow, it's snowing so hard this year,” the stranger commented.

 

Mino's heart stopped for a moment. When the man had brushed his hair aside, Mino had caught a glimpse of the tattoo on his nape. It was a black barcode.

 

He moved closer to take a better look at his face and something in his chest sank. He would never forget those features.

 

“...Taehyun.”

 

The young man turned around with a puzzled look on his face. He was indeed Taehyun – Mino would remember those brown eyes for ten lifetimes.

 

“Do we know each other?” Taehyun asked.

 

Mino followed the movements of his lips, his brain registering nothing except one single thought: he was hearing Taehyun's voice for the first time. But how could he answer that question without sounding like a total freak? Apparently, Taehyun didn't remember him.

 

As Mino tried to come up with a good excuse, the other man suddenly assumed a knowing look.

 

“Oh... you are one of them, aren't you?”

 

Mino was confused. “One of... them?”

 

“One of the people I knew before the accident,” Taehyun brushed some snow off his coat as if he was talking about something completely trivial. When he looked at Mino again, he noticed his confused frown and explained: “I had an accident three years ago and apparently I was in a coma for some time. When I woke up at the hospital, I didn't remember anything except my name, and no one came looking for me. Not only that, but apparently I had no documents nor a birth certificate either. It's weird, isn't it? I had to build my life from zero,” he was staring at the snow now.

Mino couldn't believe his ears. It could be a reasonable explanation to what had happened to the doll after disappearing from his apartment. He had no idea how Taehyun could have ended up in a hospital, but then again nothing about that story made sense from the very start. Might as well call it Christmas magic.

“And you... didn't have anything that could remind you of what happened before you woke up in the hospital?” He dared to ask.

Taehyun shook his head. “Nothing. The doctors just told me I was very lucky because apparently I had a heart surgery not long before, and whoever fixed me was really good. I must have been in critical conditions, I have a really big scar on my chest,” he sighed, as if that detail really bothered him. Then he stared at Mino some more. “...You know, I met a few people who swore they knew me before, but none of them was able to tell me about my life before the accident. Did you... by any chance... know me very well?”

Mino had his heart in his throat. It was Taehyun, his Taehyun. It was his doll. He couldn't believe it. His legs threatened to fail him.

“I... I didn't, actually,” he admitted, swallowing a huge lump. “We didn't... talk much. We met shortly before Christmas of three years ago.”

Taehyun looked disappointed. “Ah... I see.”

He tried to smile soon after. “I'm sorry if I shocked you with my story.” He looked up at the sky. “It seems like it's slowing down a bit. I will go home now. It was nice meeting... re-meeting you,” he smiled and opened his black umbrella.

Mino realized right there and then that nothing that had ever happened to them was a coincidence. He had found Taehyun on the day of the first snow and he had lost him on Christmas day. It had not snowed again since then. But now, it was once again Christmas and it was snowing for the first time in three years.

It was a sign. He couldn't lose him again.

“Taehyun!”

The young man stopped in his tracks and turned around. Mino could see his gleaming eyes even in that fog.

“I thought... if you'd like...” he cleared his throat, realizing he was talking in whispers. “I don't know much about the you from before, but I want to know more about the present you. I would like to see you again.”

Taehyun seemed to consider Mino's request for a bit, while the other man could feel his body trembling like a leaf in a storm, but it wasn't because of the cold.

Then, Taehyun smiled. “Sure,” he granted, walking back to him. “I guess I owe you for forgetting about you,” he laughed.

Mino's laugh was as shaken as his heart and he pulled out one of his business cards. He handed it over to Taehyun. “It might be a bit wet, sorry. You can call this number.”

Taehyun took it and read it. “You're a craftsman? No way, I love vintage toys,” he admitted enthusiastically. Then his expression changed completely. “Except dolls. I really hate them for some reason.” And he looked really confused and upset as he said so.

Mino's eyes grew wide. Then he laughed wholeheartedly. It was simply the weirdest story ever told, and he loved it.

“You know what? Me too.”

Their eyes met and a single thought filled Mino's mind: his Christmas wish had come true.