Two weeks.

It's been two weeks since he had gotten a customer.

Two weeks since he'd had something to do.

Two weeks since he last saw Kris.

"Sometimes I wonder what I'm dying of," Kyungsoo snorts as he drinks a cold glass of water. "loneliness or depleting life essence."

The world was running out of lonely hearts. The population began to grow again, no longer is humanity on the verge of extinction. Which meant Kyungsoo is no longer needed. He debated where he wished to die, either on a nice, warm beach or in the comfort of the home where he had grown up. But that meant facing his parents after five years of not speaking. They knew of his power, and they knew of the risk.

They could not handle that they are going to outlive their own son.

'The ones that love me, I tend to leave behind'

He bites his lip in thought, eyes scanning around his dreary apartment. He hums and finishes his glass of water, before heading downstairs into the shop. It didn't surprise him that no one entered and stolen anything. He watches as everyone walks past his shop, as if they had no clue it even existed.

"Welcome to Artificial Happiness." He grins to himself and takes a deep breath. "Where I'll give you the lover of a lifetime."

He softly drums his hands on his glass counter, searching around the shop for something to do. He keeps the artificial mask underneath the counter, in his line of vision, but away from the prying eyes of those who stand on the other side. He didn't have the heart in him to destroy it. He decided that he'd do so before he takes his last breath. He leans on his hand and whistles a small tune. He thinks about taking a quick nap, or maybe even cooking. Not like he ate much anyway. The doll maker pokes at his stomach, vaguely wondering if his lack of body fat should be alarming. Probably.

He hears a small creak to his left and he furrows his eyebrows. The only thing on the left side of the shop were old, incomplete or abandoned DOLLs on old shelves. But there was one he did not wish to think about.

Kyungsoo takes his bottom lip between his teeth as he anxiously stares at a particular DOLL in the midst of cobwebs and dust.

"Kai." He sounds breathless as he finds himself moving to the DOLL, hand outstretched.

This is a DOLL that is still very much alive with Kyungsoo's happiness swirling deep inside him. He chose to become dormant, never leaving his porcelain state for five years. Kyungsoo knows that any time, he could awaken Kai. But would today be the day?

"You no longer love me." The doll maker sighs sadly, brushing aside the cobwebs.

He isn't sure that Kai ever loved him. But Kyungsoo loved him with all his heart. He made sure Kai had everything, and then some. But it was not enough. Kai had fallen in love with someone else, despite being made for Kyungsoo only. It made the doll maker realize that his own creations do not and will not love him, and only see him as the man who created them, a father even. It had broken Kai's heart that the man he loved came to Kyungsoo for another DOLL. In turn, it broke Kyungsoo's heart as well. The DOLL began to hate him, feeling scorned that his own master would create a lover for the person that Kai held dear to his heart.

Kyungsoo cried for days when he no longer woke up to a warm bed.

He found Kai back in his original state, humming with energy but put into a self-induced coma. Kai will always have a place in Kyungsoo's heart, and no one would ever replace him. Not even Kris.

"Maybe you would be so kind, to be with me in my final moments." He murmured as he brushed Kai's hair with his finger tips, smoothing his bangs covered in dust.

"I'll never forget how we promised one day, to love one another forever that way."

He smiled as he thought of their moments together, holding hands and stealing kisses beneath wool blankets. The way Kai knew how to cook a perfect meal, but never judged Kyungsoo for his uncooked spaghetti. He blinks away tears as he recalls the hurtful words that his significant other had spat in his face. Kai felt anguish when he learned that his love for another was unrequited, and disgust when he realized he held his Creator's heart in his hands instead. Kyungsoo never asked Kai if he truly loved him, or asked if the kisses they shared were real. Or the moments they made love meant nothing.

He pulls his hand back when he sees a tall male stopping in front of the shop door. He feels a lump in his throat as he practically dives for the mask, placing it on his face the minute the door opened. He hesitantly stands back up, practically peeking over the counter to see who it was.

"Kyungsoo." Kris sounds winded as he holds Suho by the fabric of his clothing.

The doll maker looks in shock at Suho's dormant state, mouth set in a straight line. He feared the worst.

"I can't fall in love with Suho, I'm sorry."

'The heartbreak only the lonely know'