I quickly snapped open my eyes and looked around the room. It was quite a large room, with storage boxes scattered here and there. It was dark and dusty, I couldn’t make out what was further up the back of the room.

I was afraid. I didn’t know who I was, where I was or what I was. All I knew is that I existed.

I stood up on what I assumed was two feet and I walked, quite wobbly and first but never the less I walked.

“Hey”

I spun myself around, confused as to where the voice came from.

“Over here” the voice said from the darkness.

I tilted my head in confusion but followed the voice anyway. Once I reached the dark shadows the source of the voice became clearer.

It was a female. She had flawless white skin that glowed even though she was standing in the shadows. She wore a silk dress the flowed gracefully from her body. She wore no expression on her face, almost as if she were emotionless.

“Who are you?” I asked cautiously.

“My name is Jessica” she replied.

“Y-You don’t happen to know where this is, do you Jessica?” I said.

“This is a storeroom” she replied yet again “You don’t know how you got here, right?”

My eyes widened and I nodded profusely “Could you tell me?”

She nodded “You were built by an artist. He is our master, he built all of us” Jessica said, gesturing behind her.

I looked to where she pointed and noticed a few other girls.

“Oh, so I was constructed?” I asked.

“Yes, we all were. We are dolls, dolls that are alive. We are free to move at night but during the day we must act as normal dolls. No one must know the truth about porcelain dolls. It is forbidden to act alive while the sun is out, if you do you will be reported to the council of porcelain dolls” Jessica explained “I was the first doll made by our master”

“That’s amazing” I said, my eyes widening even more “Tell me more”

Jessica snickered a little before continuing “As you can see our master creates female porcelain dolls. But you are male”

“I’m...male?” I said.

She nodded “You are a special one”

“Special?” I beamed, smiling brightly.

I heard the other girls giggling from a distance away before one of them stepped forward and took her place beside Jessica.

“You sure are. I think master Yesung made you for a reason” The other girl commented.

“Thank you” I said, feeling slightly embarrassed “Well...what do we do? What is our purpose?”

“Well, each day master Yesung displays us in his doll museum” she explained “I’m Lizzy by the way”

“I’m so curious, I can’t wait until tomorrow!” I said, clapping my hands.

“Girls, come and introduce yourselves to master Yesung’s newest creation” Jessica encouraged.

The remaining four girls made their way over and bowed deeply.

“My name is Minah!” One of the girls beamed.

“My name is Sulli” Another girl smiled.

“My name is Hara” The girl said with a small wave.

The other girl stood still and looked over to Jessica.

“I’m sorry, Jiyeon is still getting used to the idea of a male being part of our group. She’ll get used to it” Jessica said, smiling apologetically at me.

The girl, whose name was Jiyeon, sighed and slipped back into the darkness of the storage room.

“It’s alright” I said, smiling even though deep down I was a little hurt.

“You’re really good looking” The one I recall being named Hara said.

“Am I?” I asked.

Jessica pulled out something shiny and handed it to me.

I took it and stared at it quizzically.

“It’s a mirror” she said “You can see yourself through it”

“Oh” I said, pulling it up close to my face.

I blinked a few times at what I saw. It was a face. It was flawless just like Jessica’s face. Whenever I smiled a large dimple would appear beside the corner of my mouth, none of the other dolls had that. My hair was blonde in color and my eyes sparkled, which I found strange since the others had dull eyes. I was special.

“I think he likes the mirror” one of them whispered.

Embarrassed, I handed the mirror back to Jessica.

“The sun will rise soon, we must head back to our places” Jessica said softly as she tucked the mirror away.

“You’re right” Lizzy said, glancing at the large clock on the wall.

Everybody started to head off in different directions. Where are they all going? Where should I go?

“Umm...excuse me?” I asked, as Jiyeon walked by me.

She glanced up at me and sighed impatiently “What?”

“I-I just wanted to know where I should go?” I asked her, sensing her annoyance from her tone of voice.

She rolled her eyes “Go back to where you woke up. You must be in the exact position as the master left you”

“O-Oh, thank you” I said, bowing and hurrying off to my place.

I lay in the exact same position as I awoke in and then I saw the sun rising. I stopped moving and acted as a normal doll would, just like Jessica said so.

~~~

“My newest creation” I heard someone say.

I watched closely as a man entered the storage room. He had dark hair, dark eye makeup and dark clothes. His head was rather large and his hands were rather small.

“I still need a name for you” He murmured.

 I had to contain my joy at that statement. He was going to give me a name!

“Hmm...well you are pretty special aren’t you? You’re destined for special things. I’ll call you Leeteuk for now” he said, bending his legs a little and picking me up.

Leeteuk? I loved that name.

I was taken out of the storage room, down a flight of stairs and into a large building. I guessed that this was the museum. I was placed in a glass box and soon the other girls were placed in the glass boxes either side of me.

Soon a group of people came walking by, admiring all of the female dolls’ beauty. Then they came across my glass box. The eldest person in the group told the children that “this doll isn’t beautiful like the others” and that they should “move on to the next exhibit”.

That really hurt me. I wanted to be beautiful like the other dolls. I wanted to be admired by the people too.

*three weeks later*

 “I don’t know what I did wrong Leeteuk” Master Yesung said as he placed me back into the storage room “My customers don’t see your beauty”

Master sighed and placed his head in his hands.

I really did wish I could comfort the distraught man right now but it was against the rules.

“A few of them even complained about the mark on your face. I told them it was a dimple but..they just didn’t seem to get it” he said “A few of them were upset that you were in there amongst the girls and that your beauty was nothing compared to theirs and that you are an eyesore. Don’t worry Teuk, they don’t know what they’re talking about”

An...eyesore? I don’t understand, why can’t I be beautiful too? Why don’t the people like me?

“They’re all just snobs Leeteuk. Narrow-minded snobs” he said “If I could I would move my museum someplace else with much nicer people but I can’t afford that. I don’t know what to do with you Teuk..”

What does he mean he “doesn’t know what to do with me?”

“I’ll just see what happens tomorrow, maybe the customers will get used to you over time?” he said hopefully “Well, goodnight Leeteuk. Goodnight my precious dolls”

Master Yesung made his way to the door. He slipped out of the room and closed the door.

“Leeteuk, are you alright?” Jessica asked, making her way over.

“I’m...fine” I said “I just don’t know why no one likes me”

I looked down at my hands.

“We like you, right?” Jessica said, looking over to the others.

They all nodded, all except Jiyeon. This broke my heart a little.

“See? You have us, we’re your friends” Jessica said.

“Leeteuk! Do you like tea?” Sulli asked, skipping over closer to us.

“I’ve never tried tea before” I said.

“Let’s have a tea party then, you just have to try tea!” She said, smiling widely.

I smiled back, despite how awful I was feeling, and took a seat on the floor.

The other dolls gathered around too and Sulli poured me a cup of tea first.

I took it in my hands and brought it up to my mouth, I took my first sip.

“O-Oh! It’s awfully hot!” I said, hissing as it burnt the roof of my mouth.

“Blow on it first, silly Teukie” Minah said, giggling a little.

I saw Jiyeon, out of the corner of my eye, laughing a little.

I smiled to myself and blew on the hot beverage. I took another sip and smiled brightly.

“It’s warm and sweet. I love it” I said, taking another large sip.

“I’m glad you like it” Sulli sang, taking a sip of her own tea.

“This is nice” I said, smiling “I’m glad I have friends”

“Umm...Leeteuk” Jiyeon said softly.

“Yes?” I said, turning my attention to her.

“Can I...talk to you? Alone” she said.

“Of course” I said, getting up and following her into the darkness.

She turned around abruptly and I almost ran straight into her.

“Leeteuk, I’m sorry I’ve come across rude” she said, looking down at her feet awkwardly.

“It’s fine. Honestly, I was really hurt but you seem really nice. I understand why you don’t like me though, not many people do” I said.

“I do like you Leeteuk. I’m just not good with new dolls. Whenever there’s a new doll…I get a little jealous of the attention they receive. Because people don’t usually pay attention to me…” Jiyeon told me.

“Thank you Jiyeon and you don’t have to be jealous of me, I’m getting sold soon anyway…” I said.

“Sold? Master wants to sell you?” Jiyeon asked, her eyes widening.

“He was thinking about it..” Leeteuk said “Maybe...this isn’t the right place for me. Maybe I don’t belong here?”

“Maybe...but remember that you’re always welcome here. I can’t believe master would think about this, he has never sold one of his creations before”

“This place really feels like home to me Jiyeon…but dolls have to leave home eventually, right?” I said before walking back over to the others.

~~~

I studied the people on the other side of the glass box. They were arrogant and rude. I could tell that just by the way they spoke and moved.

The couple looked me up and down and scoffed.

“Why would Kim Yesung build a male doll? It’s so strange” the man said.

“I agree. He should have made another female doll to go with this collection” the woman said.

“And it looks like there is a chip in the porcelain” the woman added.

“Where?” the man asked.

“Right there” the woman said, pressing up against the glass and pointing straight at my dimple.

“Well I’ll be...there is a chip in the porcelain. What a cheap doll” the man said before the couple moved on to the other dolls.

Next a few children approached my box and tapped on the glass.

“This doll looks funny” one of the children said.

“It’s got an ugly nose” a little girl said.

“Why is there a boy doll? Dolls are meant to be girls” another girl said.

“I don’t like it” another kid spoke.

“Let’s go look at the other pretty dolls” the first child said.

“Okay” the others said, quickly agreeing.

I couldn’t bear to go through another day of this. It was awful, standing there in a glass container. Not being able to stand up for myself at all.

~~~

Yesung sighed as he opened Leeteuk’s glass container and took him back into the storeroom.

“I’m going to sell you tomorrow Teukie” he said, a hint of pain in his voice “You don’t deserve this. I personally think that you’re destined for something bigger and better”

Leeteuk felt saddened that he would be sold tomorrow. He didn’t want to leave his family.

“You’ll find a new home Leeteuk. I just know that you are special and I know that you will sparkle and shine. Just not here…” Yesung said, switching off the lights.

Leeteuk felt a lone tear trail down his porcelain face.

“Goodnight my precious dolls” Yesung said before walking out the door, not forgetting to lock it on the way out.

I slowly came to a sitting position and wiped the stray tear that had fallen from my deep onyx eyes.

“Leeteuk...are you alright?” Jiyeon asked, walking over to where I sat.

“I’m fine Jiyeon, don’t worry about me” I said, flashing her a reassuring smile.

“Don’t pretend like everything is okay. I know it’s not” she said “I might not know how it feels to be out casted like that but that doesn’t mean I can’t show sympathy”

I sighed and curled up into a ball.

“I really don’t like it Jiyeon, I think it would be best for me to be sold to someone else. All this makes me feel terrible about myself. I’m starting to think that I’m a failure”

“You’re not a failure...” she said.

“Then why don’t the customers want to look at me? Why don’t they think I’m beautiful?” I asked.

Jiyeon sighed “They’re just not used to you yet Leeteuk”

“Master Yesung said he would sell me tomorrow...” I said, looking up at her.

“Tomorrow? That’s so soon…” Jiyeon said.

“What’s happening tomorrow?” Jessica asked, stepping out of the darkness, followed by the rest of the girls.

“Leeteuk is getting sold…” Jiyeon said, looking down.

Jessica’s gaze fell upon me and she gave me a look of sympathy.

“We’ll miss you Teuk but…if master Yesung said it’s the right thing to do, then it’s the right thing to do. You were built for more than this Leeteuk” Jessica said, wisdom clear in her tone.

I looked up at her through thick eyelashes.

“I hope so. I will always remember you guys as my family. I’ll never forget you” I said, smiling even though I felt upset.

“Teukie, I made you this” Sulli said, handing me a warm cup of tea.

My face brightened up slightly at this and I gratefully took the cup and sipped at the warm beverage. It tasted just like that fist cup of tea I tasted.

“And keep the tea cup Leeteuk. As something to remember us by” Sulli added.

I smiled gratefully “Thanks guys. I’ll be sure to remember you all”

Minah took a step forward to wrap me in a bone crushing hug. I could feel myself running out of breath by the second but I didn't mind.

“Stay safe Teukie” she said, giving me a squeeze.

“And wherever you go keep smiling” Lizzy added, giving the male doll a small smile.

“And don’t forget to take good care of yourself” Hara said, joining in on the hug.

Jessica sighed as she looked up at the clock which displayed the time. They had ten minutes until sunrise.

“Finish up saying your goodbye’s. We should get into positions soon” she announced before turning around and heading back into the darkness.

“J-Jessica” I called out softly.

Jessica turned around “Hm?”

“Thank you so much for letting me be a part of this family. Thanks for everything” I said, bowing down at her.

“There’s no need to thank me” she said with a smile “Now make sure you get back to your spot before the sun rises, okay?”

I nodded before saying my final farewells. Then I went back to my spot by the door, laying in the exact position I was left in.