*Warnings: torture, drowning, character death

He hadn't wanted her. His mother had seen her sitting alone in the orphanage and couldn't pass by, especially when she heard her story. Something about being a criminal's daughter. He had opposed it, saying the girl looked creepy and probably didn't want to be adopted, but his mother was firm. She didn't want the girl to live with such a stigma, and was ready to raise her as her own so the girl could live a normal, happy life.  

His mother should have goddamn listened to him, he thought as he lay uncomfortably on the floor, his body bound again. He knew Yoon Saet-byul had always had something strange about her, had hated how his parents focused all their attention on her to make her feel welcome and loved. He hated watching her being so pampered when the girl did nothing in return, locked in her room for days and refusing to speak with them. 

And then one day it was as if nothing happened, Saet-byul suddenly so friendly and happy, acting as if five years hadn't passed where she gave his parents hell. It infuriated him, disgusted him when she started calling him 'oppa' and following him around as if he was a precious older brother. He hadn't meant to actually hurt her the first time, just a slap to get her away from him. But she liked it, would come to him all the time and looking so happy when he hit her.  

It made him even angrier, he didn't want to do things to make her happy. She was a little orphan girl who came into his family, a girl who did nothing in return to the people who had devoted their lives to making her life better. She was a girl who enjoyed him hitting her.  

But then one day she exploded, accusing him of hurting her and how could he even dare hurt her precious 'N'. He didn't know who 'N' was, why she was suddenly so angry when she had been practically begging him to hit her. He didn't know what hit him when suddenly his arm was bleeding, his head throbbing as she hurriedly stitched his hair to a doll and drenched it in his blood. The way she had looked at him chilled him to the bone, the smile she gave as she told him that he was hers now, that she would repay him for all the pain he inflicted on her 'N'.  

He was so confused, he had no idea what was going on besides the fact that she could hurt him when she touched that doll. She wouldn't explain anything to him, would glare at him with the utmost contempt, and he could only stare. She did something so he couldn't speak.  

His parents were confused at his sudden "sickness", wondering why he didn't want to leave his bed. He had to watch as Saet-byul would sweetly tell them she'll take care of them, watch as his parents happily agreed. She better not touch his parents, he would figure out some way to kill her if she did. The day she brought all her friends over and paraded them in front of him, she had somehow sent his parents away; he could only hope they weren't hurt or turned into one of these dolls. He wouldn't wish this on anyone.  

He watched as she started to grow crazy, something he always knew was bound to happen, watched her talk to herself as she tore and tortured dolls. They started knocking on the door, one the first time, two coming the second time. She was trying to get the blood off, scraping the blood with a knife the first time and bleaching them the second time. He screamed inwardly when they suddenly combusted, terrified for the first time at whatever Saet-byul was.  

She didn't look fazed in the least, just grabbing another doll. They were coming faster and faster, her wasting less and less time in between each one. Those two weren't even dead for five minutes before she grabbed the next one. He shivered; he didn't know who these people were, didn't know how many of them she had, but he only prayed that she continued to forget his existence. The others looked like they were in great pain as she worked, screaming when they burst into flames. It terrified him that this was waiting for him.  

She had always seemed so distant when they came, almost resigned.

Until he came. 

Her face lit up at the next one that showed up at their doorstep, his face still expressionless as if in a daze. She ran up and took his hands in hers, pulling him in slightly before locking the door behind him. It was a couple seconds before the daze wore off, him blinking confusedly before landing on Saet-byul. They widened in hate and fear, him stumbling back when she grinned.  

"Hello Baek-hyun." Baek-hyun fell back into the door, his face contorted in pain as he slid to the floor, his eyes never leaving her. She crouched down in front of him, tilting her head innocently as she looked him over. "What, does that hurt? Hmm, Baek-hyun?" Baek-hyun cried out as he huddled in on himself, trying his best to crawl away. Her smile vanished, ripping his doll out of her pocket and forcing him back, a hand shooting out and grabbing his collar. Baek-hyun's eyes were wide in terror as she leaned in, her eyes wide and lips pulled out in a snarl.  

"It's all your fault," she ground out, her hand shaking. "None of this would have happened if it wasn't for you!" His eyes darted to the doll in her hand, widening even more when her fingers adjusted so they wrapped around its neck.  

"S-Saet-byul-" 

"Ahh, now I'm Saet-byul? I thought I was just a 'thing'." She squeezed the neck gently, laughing when his whole body seized up, tears running down his cheeks as he shook. "I was just a 'thing' that hung off N." He coughed, gasping for air, and she growled as she released him, throwing him away as she stood up.  

"It's your fault that I hear them, that they force me to do this." She walked away, Baek-hyun just gasping and crying where she left him. He could faintly hear her in the kitchen, sounds of banging of cupboards and the sink running echoing in the empty house. "If all of you had just left me alone, let me try and bring N back to me on my own, none of this would have happened. I didn't want anything to do with the dolls. I hated them. I would have left you all alone."  

She came back in with a giant tub of water, some water sloshing over as she set it on the floor. Baek-hyun stared at her in horror, and even he wondered what she was going to do. This wasn't how she normally was, wasn't her just trying to clean the doll. Her face was so animated, filled with so much hate. He gulped, for the first time glad that he wasn't able to move. The last thing he wanted was for her to lash out on him.  

Not like this. 

She went back over to Baek-hyun, grabbing a handful of his hair and yanking him to his feet. Baek-hyun cried out painfully as he grabbed his head, trying to push her away and only causing her to pull harder. "This is all your fault!" She forced him over to the tub, not pausing for a moment before shoving his face into the water, holding him there despite how he thrashed. When it looked like he couldn't hold on any longer she pulled his head out, letting him gasp and cough.  

"Why couldn't you let me be happy?" she asked, her voice breaking as tears of her own decorated her face. "I never touched any of you, wouldn't have bothered you. Why couldn't I be happy?" 

"Y-you..." Baek-hyun choked out, looking in so much pain with his hair still in her hand and water and spit running down his chin. "M-mot-mother...one day...d-doll...already made one. You already made...made a doll." Baek-hyun's eyes flickered over to him and she followed his eyes, her desperate eyes narrowing in hate at the sight of him. "C-couldn't...couldn't trust-"

"I am not my mother!" she screamed as she shoved his head back in the water, pulling him up and dunking him back down again over and over, crying shrilly. "I am not her! None of you understand that! I never wanted to do anything like this, wanted to just live normally and happily with N! Why did none of you understand that?"

"Stop! Please!" Baek-hyun begged, his hands gripping onto the edges of the tub as he tried to stop her from pushing his head in again. "Please Saet-byul!"

She stopped at his begging, slowly letting go of his hair and standing up, staring down at his shaking form with the blankest of expressions. When Baek-hyun finally looked up at her hopefully, she whispered softly, serenely, "You're the one I want to die the most." He only had time to widen his eyes before she took his doll and forced him to put his own head in the tub. She repeated the process over and over, laughed at the sounds of his screams. He watched in horror, the sounds of Baek-hyun's choking and screams echoing in his ears , the cries mixing with the sound of absolute delight in Saet-byul's laugh.

She only stopped when his screams cut off abruptly, blinking confusedly when his body no longer moved, his head submerged in water.

"Baek-hyun?" she asked, kneeling down and shaking his shoulder. His hand slipped off the edge it had been holding, falling still by his side. She grabbed his soaked hair and lifted his head, his face blue and eyes closed. She let go and his head fell back in the water.

He watched her stand there, just staring at Baek-hyun's body, before she very slowly reached down and dropped the doll in the water. She scrubbed the doll until the blood started fading away, fading just enough that Baek-hyun's body burst into flames. She sighed again as she watched the fire die down, leaving only a pile of ash and specks of bone.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, though the way she spoke made him think she wasn't talking to the man she had just killed. "I...I enjoyed that too much."

His heart leapt into his mouth as she turned her head to stare at him, a small curl at the edge of her lip. "Did you enjoy it?" she asked, tossing Baek-hyun's doll away as she crawled slowly up to him, her face only inches from his own. "Don't worry, I won't let you get off so easily. They crave too much from you, and even I want to see it. Though don't worry..."

She leaned in until her lips barely brushed his cheek, her eyes wide and grin malicious.

"...I'll make sure your death is extremely painful."

That was when he became truly afraid of Saet-byul.

Hello!

I know this chapter is a lot darker than the story has been so far, and I'm sorry if it's too dark for some people ;--;
I've always been afraid of this part of the plot and that some people would think it too much for the story, so I hope you all will still read!

Thank you all for being such wonderful readers, I appreciate every one of you!