My eyes wouldn't open when I woke up the next morning, and it took me a minute to realize it was because two small bodies were sprawled across my face.
I only let Jungkook sleep next to me, so how did more up end up in my bed?
Because I was a nice person and didn't want to wake them, I carefully peeled the doll bodies off my face and laid them down on my lap as I sat up.
Only to realize that five more were asleep on me, two on each shoulder and one sleeping soundly on my chest. Before I could undo my action, the rest of them tumbled off of me and rolled into each other. I winced as they became a tangle of limbs. All except for Yoongi, who had been one of the two sleeping on my face. He was sleeping away from the pile, unbothered.
Jungkook was the first to wake up and complain, Taehyung quickly following suit. I strained to swipe my glasses off the my nightstand and put them on so I could clearly watch the dolls untangle themselves.
Even though Kitty had limited cat expressions, I could tell she was amused by their struggle.
"Jimin," Namjoon sighed. "Your butt is in my face."
"You shouldn't be complaining," Jimin countered. "I have a really nice butt. I should be the one complaining since I have someone's smelly crotch in my face."
Taehyung gasped as I fell into hysterical fits of laughter at their interactions. "I don't smell!" Taehyung complained, offended.
Before any of them could say anything else, a scream cut out of my throat. It spooked the dolls enough to completely separate them from one another, ready to run from any hint of danger. Their wide eyes scanned the bedroom as I scrambled out of bed and toward my bathroom, abandoning the dolls on the bed.
"I'm late for work!"
"Oh," Hoseok said, disappointed. "I was so ready to go hide."
"You still have time for waking me up," I heard Yoongi joke before I shut my bathroom door and threw on yesterday's clothes. I speedily brushed my teeth and hair, put on some deodorant, and rushed back into the bedroom to meet their startled gazes.
"Can we come with you?" Jin asked, sitting on top of Yoongi to keep him off the others, I assumed.
"Hell no," I said as I pulled on my shoes. "It's not bring-your-dolls-to-work day. Sorry."
"What are we supposed to do all day?" Jungkook shouted after me as I sprinted to the door.
"I can't worry about you guys right now," I said before grabbing my keys and opening the front door. "But I'll be back soon. We can talk then, sorry guys."
With those last words, I closed and locked the door, then headed off for work. All I could think about as I walked away was how it probably wasn't wise of me to leave seven live dolls alone with my cat during my eight hour shift.
I shrugged it off, because what's the worst that could happen?
♡ ♡ ♡
"You're late," Sarah stated the obvious as soon as I walked through the doors.
"I know, I'm sorry. I had a crazy morning. It won't happen again, I promise," I babbled.
To my luck, the bookstore wasn't even in the middle of a rush. It was calm. A few people were scattered around the tables and chairs in the coffee shop inside. There was only one other person that I glimpsed walking through the aisles of book shelves. Other than that, it was practically empty. Certainly nowhere near being considered busy.
"It better not. Now, I need you to train the new guy. Logan!" Sarah called out, turning on her heels to find the said guy.
He popped out from behind another shelf and rushed to her side. "Yes?"
Sarah turned back, gesturing to me. "Y/N, this is Logan. Logan, this is Y/N. She'll help you get used to the system around here, since you'll have a similar position to hers. She'll teach you how to put the books away, and also how to use the registers and answer the phone. Basic stuff until you feel comfortable on your own. Questions?"
Logan shook his head, earning a smile from Sarah. "Perfect, I'll leave you guys to it, then. Y/N knows where to find me if you need me."
As Sarah sauntered off, I turned my attention to the new guy, wrinkling my nose in disgust. "Logan? As in Logan Paul?"
He laughed a light, airy laugh at the joke. "No, actually. Logan, as in Logan North."
I took a second to adjust my glasses so that I could memorize his features. He had dark, curly hair that fell in rings over his forehead. When he laughed he revealed a set of perfectly straight teeth with the faintest hint of yellowing near his gums. A slight stubble outlined his square jaw and light pink lips. Freckles were peppered in a horizontal stroke under his eyes and over his nose.
I mentally snickered at the fact my dolls were much prettier than him, a literal human man.
"Follow me, I'll get you started." I turned and started walking toward the counters, not even bothering to see if he was following.
He caught up, matching my pace with his as he walked beside me. "So, now that we'll be working together, perhaps we should get to know each other. Perhaps over a coffee on our lunch break?"
"Wow, already flirting are we? We just met," I rolled my eyes as I rounded the corner to walk toward the registers.
"Oh c'mon, I'm just being polite. Plus it's not that uncommon to flirt right off the bat these days. I think you're very pretty," he explained. I flushed and smiled a tiny bit, grateful for the compliment.
But his words were smooth. Almost too smooth. I narrowed my eyes at him, mostly because I was used to people being socially awkward.
"Or," he continued. "If you're uncomfortable with one on one time, we could go do something as a group. You could bring along your friends, I could bring some buddies."
"Thanks for the invite, but I'll pass for now." I politely declined.
"Well, even if you don't want to plan something, I'm having a party this —"
"Alright," I cut him off. "I really appreciate it, but I'll probably be working. Anyway, let's stop the chit chat for now. We have work to do. Come here, let me show you how to do this."
"Okay," he gave in at my dismissal of the subject. "Just think about coming to the party. Okay? I can text you the details."
Then he focused as I showed him how to manage the registers, check people out, and properly answer the phone.
I was lost in thought. It wasn't that I minded hanging out with Logan, it was just that I didn't want admit that I didn't really have any friends. Well, I did, except they were new friends that were a tad too small to bring along to public activities.
♡ ♡ ♡
"I'm home," I announced to the dolls upon my entry. I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of my cat tied up and abandoned in the middle of the floor.
My entire apartment was trashed.
The packing peanuts from the package I received the dolls in were laying around like used confetti, Kitty's food was spilled all over the floor, decorations were knocked over, the dollhouse was on the floor, and broken pieces of who knows what was everywhere.
To top it off, the dolls were nowhere to be seen.
Until I walked further into my apartment, horrified, and saw them casually sitting all together on the couch in front of my laptop.
My laptop.
Oh no.
There was no telling what they could find on my laptop, or rather, what could find them.
I ran to free Kitty from her restraints, not even bothering to question how the dolls managed to do that to her, and then raced to my couch and snatched the laptop from them. My eyes quickly scanned the screen for anything important or inappropriate.
Luckily, my writing remained untouched. They were watching a YouTube video for one of my favorite kpop bands.
Angered by the violation of my privacy, my cat's freedom, and my apartment that was no longer clean, I slammed the laptop closed and tossed it back onto the couch. The laptop nearly swiped Hoseok as it skidded to a stop against the back of the couch.
I crossed my arms over my chest, nostrils flared as I glared down at their surprised expressions. "What happened here? You have ten seconds to explain yourselves before I lock you back up in the dollhouse, or worse, the box."
___
Unedited.
I told myself I would take a little break from writing but then I ended up staying up for 2 extra hours to pull this update together. Oops.
Just out of curiosity, if I were to make a separate story to list all of my other story ideas, would you guys check it out and give me opinions for which one to start next?
I want to focus on one at a time, so I'll finish Doll House before I start any other story, but I wanted opinions to see which one seems the most appealing.