"Where do you want this box?" Jin called from the other side of the garage.
I looked up for a split second before returning my attention to the box I was digging through. "That one goes in the kitchen."
"How about this one?" Hoseok asked from beside Jin, holding a smaller one against his chest.
"That one goes in either one of your rooms. It has your old stuff," I replied.
As soon as they headed back inside the house, I called after them, "Thank you!"
"Yep!" Namjoon yelled back.
I looked up again when Yoongi emerged from inside to stand next to me.
"Was this your plan all along? Wait for us to come home and then unpack the bulk of your shit from your apartment?" Yoongi huffed, hands on his knees as he breathed hard. I could see the moisture dripping down the side of his forehead from where I sat on the garage floor.
"No," I answered absentmindedly. "I just never got around to it. And you guys did ask if there was anything you could do for me while you're staying here."
"Whatever," he heavily breathed. "Where do you want the treadmill I'm assuming you impulsively bought after all those McDonalds runs you used to do?"
I glared at him. "In the workout room."
"You have a workout room?"
"Yes, Yoongi, I have a workout room. If you weren't too busy falling asleep while I was giving the tour then maybe you would remember that."
"Bold of you to assume I would remember the things that would come out of your mouth, anyway."
My glare splattered into a wave of happiness that had to have been evident on my face. "I've missed you."
He kept his head down, but I could see him smiling, too.
"Taehyung!" Yoongi shouted into the house. "Help me lift this thing."
"Sure!" He chirped. I could hear his footsteps quickly closing in until his head popped out from inside the house. "Do you need any help, Y/N?"
"No." I shook my head. "Go ahead, help him."
"M'kay," he relented, squatting to help Yoongi lift the heavy machine.
They loudly groaned until they managed to lift it in the air, but the real struggle for them was getting it through the door.
"Jimin!" I yelled. "Will you come help them?"
"Yeah!" He shouted from somewhere inside. "After I'm done hanging up my banana canvas!"
"I got it!" Jungkook ran out to immediately help maneuver the large item. "Okay guys, tilt it this way and then walk toward me... yep! Just like that! Here, let me—"
I tuned the rest of that out, still searching the smaller boxes.
While I opened said boxes and sorted through my stuff, the rest of the boys ended up joining the team trying to deliver the treadmill to the workout room.
And after that, they stopped bothering to ask where each box went and resorted to opening them and figuring it out on their own.
"What exactly are you looking for, Y/N?"
"Huh?" I lifted my head to meet Jungkook's questioning gaze. "Oh, well, remember the dust stuff that I used to bring you back to life? There was some left over and I can't seem to find it... and oh! I also have the dollhouse remains in a bag somewhere in here..."
I stopped my little ramble when I noticed that he wasn't responding, just watching me.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Like a deer caught in the headlights, his eyes went wide as he stuttered out an apology.
It didn't take long for him to start staring at me again, but I didn't say anything while he said on the other side of the box I was sorting through.
"Are you ever going to tell us what happened to your glasses? Did your vision fix itself? Or are you just too cool for them now that you're a known author?" Jungkook prodded with a teasing tone that matched his small smile.
I shrugged. "I still have them. I just got contacts."
Jungkook shuddered. "Ugh, I hate contacts. Sometimes they make us wear colored ones to match the aesthetics of our music videos. But what's wrong with our brown ones? Other than the fact they're the color of poop?"
I chuckled. "Nothing is wrong with them, Jungkook. God knew all of you would be too powerful with colorful eyes."
"God?" Jin scoffed from across the garage, mid-process of lifting one of the final boxes. "More like whoever invented us. Don't you think it was a little inconsiderate to perfectly mold our bodies and faces just to give up on our eye colors? Unfair."
"He has a point," Jimin agreed.
I returned my attention to my box when a piece of paper stuck in the corner of it caught my eye.
"What—" I reached for it, carefully moving the other items in the box to the side until I could safely tug it free.
Jungkook observed as I flattened the paper against my leg, smoothing it out so that I could read the writing inscribed on it.
Familiar writing.
It took me a moment to realize that it was the same writing as whoever left the dolls for me in the first place all those years ago.
My breath hitched in my throat, alarm ringing throughout my body.
"Woah, are you okay? What is it?"
"I—I just need a minute. Will you help them finish up?"
After hesitating for a moment, Jungkook nodded and stood to leave me to read the paper.
With a deep breath, I began to read.
"Y/N,
I heard about what happened to your friends. I just wanted to apologize about your dolls causing so much trouble for you. I really thought that my gift to you would make you happy.
I know you have many questions, but there are many of them that I just can't answer for your own safety.
I know I have no right, but I'm asking you to not search for me again. Last time it almost got you and the others killed.
In return, I will tell you this.
Have you ever wondered why you never knew your mother?
You don't have one, Y/N. I made you myself. You were a doll just like the rest of them until I granted you the life of a human.
But doll or not, you are still my daughter. I care for you and I've been looking after you, which was why I gave you the dollhouse and the dolls. I didn't want you to ever be alone just because I could no longer be a part of your life, even though it was a great risk getting them to you.
The world is a dangerous place. You never know the kind of monsters people become for money and selfish causes.
I don't want to ramble too much, but I'm leaving you this gift. You can choose to use it however you please, or not at all.
The dust I'm leaving you with will bring your dolls back to life, giving them a second chance to live. It has the same enchantment properties that your dollhouse did before it was destroyed—to bring inanimate objects to life.
What they did was brave, and I hope that they will look after you the way you looked after them. So their life won't be tied to an object, only themselves and the choices they make. Wherever that may lead them.
I know this probably leaves you with more questions. I'm truly sorry that I can't answer them.
Be brave. Be cautious.
— Dad."
My tears were soaking the paper before I could stop them as everything in my life began to click into place.
Monsters. He was referring to the man that tried to take my boys from me.
The dust. He was giving me instructions on a manual, on a letter that I somehow missed all those years ago.
The answers were with me all along.
When I looked up again, my gaze sought out Jungkook. He and Taehyung were sitting around the box that contained everything I'd kept aside for them, including their favorite movies.
And the longer I stared at Jungkook, the more I thought about how all that time three years ago, I didn't want to feel any attraction toward him because he was a doll and I was a human.
But that was never the case.
I was a doll, too. The boys and I had much more in common than we had ever known.
"What's wrong, Y/N?" Hoseok broke the silence from where he stood in the doorway, capturing my attention.
I forced a smile at him, conveying all the emotions I could muster through my watery vision. Kitty was cuddled safely in his arms, and she watched me too while I reflected for a moment before answering.
"It's just... it's crazy to me how everything that has happened is all because of a dollhouse."
END.