“Going once, twice and sold to the men up the back” an old man announced.

The two men who had won the auction stood from their seats and made their way up the front to retrieve me.

“This one’s pretty unique” the shorter one commented “We’ll get big money for this one Seunghyun”

The one named Seunghyun nodded “We might be able to save up for a bigger apartment if we make a decent profit”

The shorter man smiled and lifted me off the ground with a huff.

“Jiyong, allow me” Seunghyun said, taking me out of the shorter man’s arms and throwing me carelessly over his shoulder.

I cringed slightly as my head thumped against the large man’s muscular back. I could have sworn that I heard a cracking sound.

“Let’s go home” Jiyong said “We can think about selling this thing tomorrow”

“You’re right. Let’s go” Seunghyun said, turning to leave.

“Wait!” a raspy voice called out.

Seunghyun and Jiyong turned around and spotted a short man with dark hair and dark make-up rushing over towards them. It was master Yesung.

“J-Just treat him well, okay?” Yesung said, almost out of breath.

“Ah…” Seunghyun said, looking over at Jiyong “We’re not keeping him for very long. We are going to sell him, we need the money”

“Oh, I see” master said.

I almost noticed a tear forming in the corner of his eye.

“I hope that you two find a good home for him” Yesung said “His name is Leeteuk, if you were wondering. Because he’s special”

“Um…” Jiyong started “You know it’s just a doll, right?”

That hurt me a bit. To think I was only just a doll.

“He’s not just a doll. He’s more than that” master Yesung said “Hang in there Teuk”

I wished so badly to tell master Yesung that “I would be fine” and “not to worry about me” but I knew that was against the council’s rules, so I stayed silent.

Yesung forced a smile and bowed to the two men before leaving and I knew that would be the last time I would ever get to see that man again.

“He’s weird” Jiyong commented “Let’s just go home and sleep”

“Sleep? I thought you wanted to…I don’t know…have some fun?” Seunghyun asked, slapping Jiyong’s .

I wondered what that meant. Did they want to play games? I thought games were fun.

Jiyong gasped and a smirk wiped across his face “You know exactly what I’m thinking”

Seunghyun chuckled and the two headed off back to their apartment.

~~~

“Where should we put him?” Seunghyun asked, looking over at his companion.

Jiyong shrugged “Just put him in the closet over there”

“Okay” Seunghyun agreed, opening the door and closing it on me.

It was dark and cold in the closet and all I could hear from outside were muffled voices and shuffling of feet on the tiled floor.

I didn’t feel like this was my home and I didn’t feel like this was my family. I just wanted to go back home and have tea parties with Sulli again.

I felt around in my pocket for the tea cup and once my hands gripped around the handle I pulled it out and held it with two hands. It reminded me of home and it reminded me of family.

I sighed and placed it back in my pocket, leaning back against the wall of the closet.

Suddenly I heard loud noises coming from the room across from the hall. There were screams and shouts and thumping.

Was this the game they were talking about? It sounded fun. I wonder if I would ever be able to play a game like that.

~~~

I watched silently as the light shone through the small window high up above me.

I immediately froze as I heard footsteps approaching the closet door.

“We should probably take him down to the doll shop” a deep voice said, opening the door.

I noticed that it was Seunghyun, the man who had carried me home and stuffed me into the closet earlier.

“Yeah, the sooner we get the money the better” Jiyong said, appearing beside the taller man.

Seunghyun hauled me out of the closet and carried me down the hall and stopped in what looked like a kitchen.

“What do you want for breakfast?” Jiyong asked, shuffling around the small kitchen.

“Just pancakes would be fine” Seunghyun replied, setting me up against the wall and taking a seat.

Suddenly I heard the front door swing open and out of the corner of my eye I spotted a young man bouncing into the house.

“Taeil, didn’t we tell you to knock next time?” Seunghyun asked, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, right!” the man, whose name was Taeil, said.

Taeil turned around and went right back out the door. Not long after a knock was heard.

“Come in Taeil” Jiyong called out from the kitchen.

Taeil skipped into the house once again.

“Was that better?” he asked.

Seunghyun sighed and nodded.

“Oh my!” Taeil exclaimed, his eyes suddenly falling on me “It’s another one of those dolls that you guys make a heap of money on!”

The short man made his way over to me, poking at my dimple.

“This one’s cute” he said “I want to play with it. What’s his name?”

“Um…I think his name was Leeteuk?” Jiyong answered.

“Wow, he must be pretty special then” Taeil commented.

He lifted me up, throwing me up in the air.

I felt my eyes widen slightly and I had to resist the urge to scream.

Luckily Taeil caught me and giggled.

“Holy crap Taeil!” Seunghyun shouted “That thing is made from porcelain! Do you know how easy that is to break?”

“Huh?” Taeil asked, still occupied with me.

“Look, would you do me a favour and take the doll down to the doll shop?” Jiyong asked “And be careful with it”

Taeil screwed up his face in thought “And what do I get out of this?”

“We’ll give you some of the money we make” Jiyong offered.

“Deal!” Taeil said with a huge grin.

“Just go already before I wipe that smile off your face” Seunghyun threatened, seeming to get annoyed with the younger man.

Taeil huffed and started to take me out the front door of the house.

He carried me down to the end of the street, stopping in front of a quite large and fancy looking store.

Taeil opened the door with one hand and a bell sounded throughout the store. The bell sounded like fairies tinkling away under the sun.

“Hello and welcome to the doll shop where you can buy or sell any porcelain doll that you desire” a tall young man wearing a suit greeted.

“Um…hi…” Taeil said, looking around the store in wonder.

I was also amazed at what was within the store. There in the middle of the store was a magnificent water fountain which sparkled in the rays of sunlight which shone in through the large glass pane on the roof.

On a platform there stood at least fifteen other porcelain dolls. Just like me.

They were mostly girls but there were a few other boys and suddenly I felt accepted here.

“Uh…I’d like to sell this doll. What price are you offering?” Taeil spoke.

The tall man walked over and inspected me.

“As you can see, he seems to be very well designed. He is quite unique and I don’t think I have ever seen a doll like him in my life time. May I ask for his name?” the man asked.

“Leeteuk” Taeil supplied.

“Well…I’d say I’d buy him for around 10 000 000 won” he said.

“A-Are you serious?” Taeil asked, his eyes widening.

The man nodded “Is it a deal?”

Taeil nodded “Yes, it’s a sure deal!”

The taller man chuckled and made his way into the back room, coming out seconds later with a large bundle of cash in his hands.

The man handed it over to Taeil and Taeil wordlessly handed me over to the man, staring down at the large amount of money in his grasp.

“It was good dealing with you” the man said, as he took me up in his hands.

“Y-You too” Taeil said, practically running out of the store.

“You’re probably nervous. Aren’t you Leeteuk?” the man asked.

He was right. I was nervous. I was so scared to meet all of these new dolls.

“But you don’t have to be. Everybody here is very welcoming because most of these dolls are new here too” he said “Most dolls get sold within a week of being here so you’ll have to get used to new dolls while you’re here. Dolls come and go so quickly”

I wondered why this man was talking to me like this. No other human knew how I was feeling.

“I’m Minho by the way” he introduced “And if you were wondering…I know your little secret”

The man winked at me and I gasped a little.

How did he know?

“Now go and stand over by the other dolls. You can walk there yourself, I don’t mind” Minho said, placing me back on the ground.

“W-Why?” I asked.

Minho chuckled “I work for the council of porcelain dolls. It’s my job to make sure that every doll gets a home”

“Oh…but you’re human” I stated.

“Yes, but I am one of the three chosen humans” he explained to me “The three chosen humans work for the council and they can interact with dolls”

I nodded in understanding, still not quite sure of why he knew about us.

“Now go and make friends with the other dolls” he encouraged.

“O-Okay” I said, nervously making my way over to the others.

“Hi, you must be new here!” a girl greeted, stepping forward and smiling.

I nodded “Yes, I am”

“Where did you come from?” the boy standing beside the girl asked.

“I came from a museum in the central part of the city” I answered.

“Woah, I’ve never been to the central city before” another girl said with a gasp.

“It’s not that great” I said, shrugging it off.

“What about here? Do you like it here so far?” the first girl asked.

I nodded “Everyone has been so nice! Well…except for the people who sold me here. They were just after money”

The three other dolls all nodded and then the boy spoke up again.

“What’s your name? My name is Henry!” he said.

“My name is Leeteuk” I said.

“I’m Miso!” the first girl said.

“How about you?” I asked, looking over to the other girl.

“Oh, my name is Hyeri” she said.

“It’s very nice to meet you all! I hope we can be good friends!” I said with a bright smile.