Opening the door of the dollhouse, the witch took out a doll made of husks and cloth, with black buttons for eyes. Placing it on the floor, she drew a circle around it and approached Jinki with a blade. He felt a sharp pain as she drew the knife along his cheek and collected a few drops of his blood. His heart beating faster and faster in fear, he stared open-mouthed as she dropped his blood onto the doll, which slowly began to change features and turn into a replica of him.

“From now on, you will live as a doll, in this house. You will remain the same age until you meet your soulmate, and only then will you grow along with them. You will never be able to leave the dollhouse”

There was nothing more than Jinki could do, as he felt something like a vacuum, in his insides. Looking at his hands, he was shocked to see them begin to slowly disappear. After that, he had been shut in the dollhouse for what seemed like an eternity. The first person who had taken the dollhouse had been deeply involved with the occult. That girl had obviously read a lot about voodoo dolls and had begun to use him as one. In order to harm the other person, she would spend her time stabbing him with sharp needles, that made him spend his days just crying. The silent tears that no one could ever hear, weren’t able to help him at all. All he could do was hope and pray that he could be freed from this torment soon. When the dollhouse ended up in the hands of Jonghyun, Jinki knew that he was his soulmate, purely because of the way he was treated. Surprisingly, he was able to show his true self and even started to grow older. Years of being trapped had made him cynical, but Jonghyun had showed him how to smile again, using his unconditional love. After years of peace, the needles had begun yet again. It didn’t make any sense because the dollhouse was with Jonghyun. Could it be possible of there being a second one? That was really something he couldn’t figure out. The only way of knowing for sure is if he visited the witch again, but without Jonghyun’s help, there was no way of that happening. Could he be selfish enough to ask for his help and risk his safety?

No, he couldn’t do that to him. All he could do was try his best to make Jonghyun leave him forever. Just being next to him was causing Jonghyun to experience what he usually did, and there seemed to be no way out for either of them. Now, he just needed to wait for Jonghyun to return.

Rushing straight to Jinki, Jonghyun wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tightly.

“Jinki, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. How is your headache? Have you had another one today?”

“No, I haven’t”

It was exactly as he had thought earlier, and it was due to his proximity that Jonghyun had been affected.

“Jonghyun, I really think you should go to the university you wanted to. Don’t worry about me, I’ll still be here when you return”

“How can you say that? I will never leave you”

“Don’t be so stupid, Jonghyun. Do you really think I can let you remain here and risk your life? No way. I want you gone before you get hurt. I can’t stand you feeling pain because of me”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. The headache was just a coincidence”

“Why are you like this? Fine, I’ll tell you the truth, and at that time, you’d want to leave by yourself”

Surprised at Jinki’s sudden change in temper, Jonghyun sat down next to him, waiting to hear the truth he was referring to.

“To begin with, I’m not what you think I am. The dollhouse is centuries old, not just left by the previous owners of this house. Do you remember when I helped you with your History homework? That was my life and that’s how I knew so much about life during those times. I did something really very stupid when I was young, and I’ve been suffering the consequences ever since. I’ve had a curse put on me, and that’s why I have been doomed to live as a doll. I was fine on my own, Jonghyun. Now that you’re here, I’m afraid to see that my curse has started to affect you. This is why I want you to stay as far away from me as possible. I can’t live with myself if something bad happens to you”

“You really can’t expect me to leave just like that. Is there anything we can do to remove this curse?”

“I don’t know, Jonghyun. I’ve thought about it a lot, and I think only the witch who cursed me, or her descendants can remove the curse. I don’t even know where to go since I can’t leave the dollhouse. Maybe I’m just meant to stay like this forever”

The sad expression on Jinki’s face touched Jonghyun’s heart. He’d do whatever he could, to help him. Determined, he spent the rest of the day quizzing Jinki about everything he remembered so that they could find the witch. So what if Jinki couldn’t leave the dollhouse? He’d just carry it with him, and that technicality could make all the difference. After spending two days doing his research, Jonghyun had almost figured out the exact area he needed to go to. It was just a matter of getting there without the knowledge of his parents. Since it would take a day of travel, he informed his parents that he’d be going on a trip with his classmates.

“I don’t want you to go, Jonghyun. I’ve got a weird feeling. Why don’t you go on the next trip?”

“I’ll be fine, mom. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be back sooner than you realize. I love you, mom”

“I love you too, son”

Hugging his mother tightly, Jonghyun was finally able to see how much she really cared about him. All through his childhood, she was too busy to bother about him, and it honestly felt good to see her other side. When he returned, he decided to spend more time with them.