Seok-jin had always been hot-tempered, letting his emotions rule over his better judgments and letting his fists think for him. He really was a sweet boy when he was calm, and there were even days when the two of them could sit together placidly for their mother. He couldn’t even really blame Seok-jin fully, knowing how heavily his little brother had been scarred by the revelation that he was a bastard child. That’s why he had always tried to be understanding when it came to his brother, always looking out for him and helping him get out of the scrapes he always seemed to get himself into. But that meant nothing to Seok-jin, his brother hating him and his mother and constantly trying to run away.

It hurt that the one time he decided not to run after his brother was the time he became trapped as a doll.

He had to force himself not to cry when the horrid woman returned and promptly shoved his little brother back down into the basement, blindfolding and tying his hands together. Saet-byul held his doll tightly between her fingers and had somehow silenced his voice, binding him from moving or speaking. So he could only watch helplessly as his brother was torn from him a second time, the words that he was lucky he didn’t have to go to the basement ringing in his head.

Why did Seok-jin have to stay in the basement while he got to stay up here? It seemed so unfair.

Something must have happened to the woman when she was gone, the woman not sending him one hard look or harsh word. She even went as far as cooking the two of them an actual meal, ignoring the mess that Seok-jin had made earlier. Both he and Saet-byul looked at each other strangely, unsure of what to make of the woman’s sudden change in attitude. They were finally digging into their first bite when she sat down across from them, immediately causing him to lose his appetite.

“So I’m guessing you’ve started moving?” He blinked; surprised she was talking to him, and turned to Saet-byul next to him, the girl slowly nodding her head. “That’s good. There’s something I need to tell you two-” She was promptly interrupted by a loud knocking on the door, muffled shouting causing his hair to stand on end. The woman’s face hardened as she quickly shushed them, standing up.

“Take him and hide in your room. Do not come out until I tell you. Understand?” Before he had a chance to ask what was going on, Saet-byul was already on her feet, dragging him away. She pulled him all the way to her room, though she didn’t shut the door, peeking around the frame. He realized what she was trying to do and knelt next to her, peeking out too.

They could barely make out the conversation, her mother’s voice nearly inaudible. “What can I help you with?”

“Hello, I’m part of the police, detective Ma Choong-suk. We’re currently investigating the disappearance of Kim Seok-jin and Cha Hak-yeon.” He straightened at that, and tried to get up only to find his body suddenly frozen. He looked down to see Saet-byul staring at him, his doll in her hands. She stared at him pleadingly, one hand reaching out and taking his hand to pull it to her face. He opened his mouth to say something but she stopped that too, running a finger over his mouth. He sent her a betrayed look and she turned away, unable to look at him.

“I’ve never heard of those names before.”

“We have witnesses that said Kim Seok-jin was last seen coming into this house, and we have evidence to believe Cha Hak-yeon is here as well.”

“The only people who live here is me and my daughter. No one’s come here for years, let alone those people you just mentioned.” He wanted desperately to run out there, shout that he was here, have them bust down the door and pull his brother out. He wanted this all to be over and go back home and hug his mother. He wanted to return back to his old life. But here he was, frozen, with his fate in the hands of this little girl.

“We would like to search your house-”

“Do you have a warrant?” The other voice was silent. “If you don’t have a warrant I would like it if you left. I don’t want you scaring my daughter.” He made a noise from the back of his throat in desperation, wishing for once the officer would barge in anyway and find him. They would grab that doll from Saet-byul’s arms and free him, and then go back for Seok-jin. Unfortunately, that wasn’t meant to be.

“Sorry for intruding,” the officer said gently. He strained his ears to hear more, though he felt his heart drop when the door shut and her mother’s voice ring out.

“You can come out now.” Saet-byul jumped to her feet and he could feel the invisible binds on him release, and he slumped to the floor. She turned to him and put a hand on his shoulder, though he didn’t care as he angrily shoved her off and stood on his own. She looked hurt, thought he didn’t pay her any attention as he walked away. He wasn’t going to admit that he was angry at her for holding him back, that would get him killed, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t.

Saet-byul followed him at a slower pace; he hoped she was feeling guilty, and they were met with an angry looking woman. He instinctively took a step back, walking right into Saet-byul. There wasn’t any time for either to apologize when the woman ordered the both of them sit.

“I don’t have time to deal with the two of you.” No matter how upset he was, just the look she gave sent chills down his spine. He and Saet-byul hurriedly sat back down at the table.

“You two will be going to school.”

“What?” He looked over at the surprising sound of Saet-byul’s voice before back to her mother, the woman not seeming to have noticed her daughter had spoken.

“You’re old enough,” she continued, her face stoic. “But don’t worry, you won’t be going alone. N will be going with you.” He looked at her in surprise, something she must have suspected since she merely waved a hand at him. “No one will be recognizing you where you’re going. You two will be going to school in Seoul, so no one will see you there.”

He wasn’t about to argue with her, fighting the urge to break out in a wide smile at the news. Who wouldn’t recognize him? The moment he stepped out of this house someone was bound to see him and call the cops, and then this would be arrested and he could go home. He didn’t understand how she could think she could get away with the two of them attending school that way. But he wasn’t about to tell her that. He’d make sure everyone got a good look at his face. He was in the middle of gloating inwardly when he felt something grab his hand, and he looked down to see Saet-byul pull his hand into her lap, her bottom lip twitching.

“You won’t be going right away, I haven’t completed all of your paperwork yet, especially you,” she said this while looking straight at him. “But you’ll probably be starting sometime around next week. Understand?” Saet-byul nodded immediately and he only followed suit when she squeezed his hand. That seemed to appease the woman as she gave them a rare smile, standing up and moving around the table to give her a kiss on the top of the head. She only shoved his head roughly before making her way across the room and sitting by the fireplace, stitching up what looked like the beginning of a doll. “Finish your meal, you two,” she called out casually, sending the two of them to immediately dig into their food.

They wasted no time finishing, Saet-byul dragging him back to the room the moment they were done. It was only when they were completely alone that she started crying, forcing him to pick her up and place her in his lap. He sighed as he felt all of his anger at her dissipate the moment she sniffled, inwardly berating himself for being so soft. Why did she have to be so pitiful?

“I don’t want to go,” she whispered into his chest, having him shift so she could sit up.

“School’s not that bad,” he said, trying to encourage her. He wouldn’t be able to be discovered if she ended up not going. He had to make sure she went.

“But it’s so scary! They’re so many people and I won’t know where to go or-”

“Hey…have you ever gone outside this house before?”

He could see her cheeks redden as she hurriedly nodded her head. “Of course I have! W-why wouldn’t I? I’ve gone out lots of times!”

“Really. And where did you go during those many times?”

“I…” she faltered before sighing defeatingly in his arms, sighing loudly. “I go out into the backyard. I’ve never gone outside outside.” He couldn’t hold back a snicker as he tried to hide his face from her, something that made her pout and lightly hit him upside the head. “Don’t laugh at me!”

“Honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised. You act like you’ve never seen another person in your whole life. You can’t even stand the sight of my stomach.”

“I haven’t seen anyone else before,” she said frustratingly, glaring. “The only people that come home are Mommy’s dolls. And she just takes those-” She quickly stopped herself from continuing, though he knew exactly what she was going to say. “So of course I can’t look at your tummy. I’ve…never seen it before.”

She looked away and he took that time to stare at her, a look of disbelief no doubt showing on his face. How could anyone in this day and age be so sheltered that she hadn’t seen anyone in her entire life, let alone never leaving her house? He never would have thought that was possible. Wouldn’t someone eventually poke around and wonder why this woman’s daughter never left? Or went to school?

Later that night, as Saet-byul slept soundly wrapped in his frozen arms, the door to the bedroom creaked open. Knowing exactly who that was, he squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to block her out. However, she seemed to have other plans when she leaned over the bed and slapped him hard on the shoulder. He winced, Saet-byul shifted in his arms, and he looked up to see her mother hovering over him with the scariest look in her eye.

“Get up,” she hissed dangerously. He looked back from her to Saet-byul and pretended that he couldn’t move, a clearly good excuse. She snorted. “She’s asleep. You can move all you want. Now get up.”

He wasn’t given a choice as he gingerly pulled his one arm out from under Saet-byul, very carefully moving around her so as not to wake her up. It took a while, but eventually he was able to climb out of bed without waking her up. Her mother wasn’t waiting as she snatched his wrist and promptly dragged him out of the room, throwing him onto the floor in front of the burning fire and sitting in the one chair above him. He glared silently at her, sending all his hate in the one stare. That didn’t seem to bother her as she merely lifted the rod she had beaten him with only a week ago, holding it up menacingly.

“You better get that nasty look off your face before I beat it off of you.” He resented the fact that he was so innately scared of her that he obediently did as he was told. She looked on approvingly as she placed the rod by her side, only a hair’s length away from her. “Now, I have something important I need to talk about with you. So I don’t want any snark from you and to just listen quietly.”

When he didn’t respond, she leaned back and continued. “I don’t really want to send her to school.” He made a move to say something but quieted from just a glare. “These child service workers are constantly bothering me, upset that I’m not sending her to school. It’s none of their business!” She grabbed the rod and angrily stabbed the ground with it, noticeably only inches from his foot. He pulled away. “They told me that I had to enroll her into school or they would take her away. What bull.”

“What does this have to do with me?” he asked without thinking, and his thoughtless question was rewarded with a thwack on his arm.

“I made you for a reason. I didn’t make a doll for her just so she can go around and hug you all day.” She turned and snatched up another one of her dolls off the table. He wasn’t sure if that was actually someone’s doll, a morbid thought that made his stomach turn, but she didn’t seem to have a problem of tossing it around in her hands. “She’s all I have, so I’ve coddled her more than I should. She’s never been outside of the house and I’ve never allowed her to talk to anyone outside of Seok-jin.”

He couldn’t imagine her life beforehand, given that Seok-jin had only been there for a couple more weeks before him.

“I’m going to enroll the two of you into a school in Seoul, that way no one would be able to recognize you.” He tried his best to appear hurt at that statement. “Your job is to take care of her and make sure she’s okay. She’s your responsibility.”

“What?”

She hit him again, though this time not nearly as hard. “I’m telling you, this is your life from now on. The only thing important to you now is taking care of my daughter. There is no such thing as dating for you, seeing friends, or even leaving this house on your own. The girl in that room is the only thing that should be on your mind.”

“And you expect me to?” he snapped back, regrettably squealing when she swung the rod inches from his face, holding it out under his nose.

“I expect nothing less. If you do anything to her, intentional or not, I’ll kill you myself. You haven’t been here too long. If I give her a new doll, it wouldn’t bother her. So I’d be careful if I were you.” She dropped the rod onto the floor as she stood up, chucking the doll into the fire. He watched as the flames up the doll, the cloth immediately catching fire and falling apart.

“When you start school, take good care of her. Your life depends on it.”

“Now get back to sleep.”

He didn’t waste any time getting out of there, the last glimpse of the woman being her stabbing at the fire with the iron rod.

--

“N, tell me about school.” He looked up from his seat by the fireplace to see Saet-byul crouched on one of the chairs, her eyes full of curiosity.

“What do you want to know about?”

“Anything! How big is it? Are there a lot of people? Are there lots of trees? Will I get to go outside? What about-”

“Hold on,” he said, shifting so he could face her better, and she did the same as she waited eagerly for his answer. “Do you know what a school is?” She shook her head, and he sighed, knowing this was going to be a long road ahead of him. “Well, school is a place where people go to learn things.”

“Like math and stuff?”

“You know what that is?”

“Mm! Mommy taught it to me for a little bit. I can read and write and add numbers.”

He looked her over, trying to guess her age based on her size, nodding his head. “That should be good enough for you.”

“Do you only go there to learn things?”

“No…you go and meet friends too, and you can hang out with those friends too. Though…I don’t think your mom will let you.” Her eyes fell at that, her shoulders slumping, but both of them knew it was true. Knowing that brute of a woman, the moment school was over he probably had to drag Saet-byul right back. He could only imagine the possibilities if he ever brought her home late.

She stayed silent as she got off the chair and made her way over to him, silently crawling into his lap and pulling his arms around her. “I don’t know if I can have things like friends. Other people scare me. When I see them outside the window, I always watch but think they are too scary to go meet. But it’s okay. I only need you.” He felt his stomach twist at her confession, both uncomfortable and resentful at how attached she was to him. He’d barely been here for two weeks, and yet this girl was holding him, hugging him, and loving him more than anyone else ever had.

It had to be unhealthy.

“You never know,” he encouraged, “you might find someone you like there and then you won’t need me anymore.”

“That won’t happen,” she said quickly, looking up at him with such a blank look that it nearly reminded him of her mother. It reminded him that no matter how sweet and innocent Saet-byul was, she was her mother’s daughter. He looked away as he regained his bearings, no longer in any mood to talk with her. She didn’t think so, however, as she continued talking. “You’re my doll, so no one will take your place. You’ll be my most special person forever.”

She shifted as she slid lower, resting her head on his stomach. “I’m so happy Mommy gave me you. I love you so much.”

He was pretty sure she didn’t understand what she was saying; she couldn’t be older than nine years old. Her proclamations of love were probably just like a child loving their older brother. While he didn’t feel extremely happy about that kind of relationship either, he wasn’t worried with her loving him like that. She rolled over so she was looking right up at him, her face bright again. “Will you be going to school with me?”

“I’ll be taking you there,” he said, still not in the mood to talk to her. She squealed as she sat back up, unable to stay still.

“Really? School can’t be that bad if you go with me.”

She was so positive and happy; he could only imagine what she’d do when they actually went.