"I still can't believe that you bought that for a thousand Franc!"
Hye Kyo snapped at the 25-year old man who was averting gaze with her, his eyes fleeted to the other side of the long-living area getting melted by baseless accusations. Hyun Bin moved around trying to ease the rigidness caused by his sister's indignant glare. There was a long pause between the siblings, Hyun Bin could feel the lady's laser eyes heating up the back of his head.
Looking back at the HD screen of the television that was left on for no audience to watch, Hyun Bin finally turned his attention to Hye Kyo. The room occupied by two different energies got stuffier by the minute with the uninvited company of the loud chiming clock. The grandfather clock embellished at the foot of the house struck ten, it chimed ten loud bangs, bouncing against the walls and eventually breaking the deafening silence.
"Okay...assez de, you've been on my back for the past two days"
"What are you even going to do with that thing?!" Hye Kyo again raised her voice, failing to understand why the man had brought a creepy doll back home, had he not watched Annabelle?
Hyun Bin stayed mute, not wanting to answer the ridiculous question his sister had raised he directed his attention back to the television screen.
"Don't you think it will come to life or something? You know that I am afraid of dolls"
Chuckling at the sudden confession, Bin turned back with a mocking expression ready to throw bantering insults and teases towards her useless imagination.
"You should really stop watching those low-quality horror flicks"
Seemingly taken aback Hye Kyo could only send a glare his way knowing that the childish man in front of her did not seem to take her fear with seriousness.
"You never know! Now Bin why don't you tell me...what will you do if that doll comes alive? It already looks half alive"
The random question got Hyun Bin thinking; a lopsided smile grew on his face.
Why was she so damn cute? he thought to himself before shaking off any growing thoughts that may cause problems for them both. She was his sister...sister!
"Have you seen that doll? She's gorgeous and do not for once think that I would hesitate to seduce it with my charms...but that's never going to happen so stop complaining"
"Whatever it is, I hate that doll. Throw it away!"
"That's not your decision Hye Kyo, she's my doll- it was me who paid a thousand Franc for it and I decide what to do with it", Hyun Bin's voice went a decibel lower hinting that his words were coming from a serious place and would like it for her to stay in lane.
The purchase he made at Bahnhofstrasse two days back had brought a storm back home. The constant bickers with Hye Kyo had doubled in frequency due to the notably realistic-looking doll.
"I'm telling this to your father!"- she finally snapped wondering if her words were getting registered within him.
Hyun Bin internally winced at the mention of 'your father'. It had been five years, but the latter had not been convinced that this was now their life. They were family now- he was her brother as much as she was his sister.
"You mean our father", Bin drawled out loud as a reminder- a reminder to himself honestly. He had successfully accepted fates' way of games, but there was still this minute lingering of yearning he harbored for her.
He was working hard towards eliminating any fondness for his, now sister.
"He is not my father! And don't you dare call yourself my brother...it's disgusting", Hye Kyo spat menacingly with an intention to hurt Hyun Bin.
The man could only his hurt heart by tearing his gaze away from her- again going back to the screen. His thoughts and inner monologues flew in random directions not knowing where to place all those compiling emotions.
Life was not what it was five years ago. He loved and appreciated his stepmother, for never once had felt the love of a mother. Being the son of; one of Seoul's biggest business magnates he lived a life surrounded by money, concrete, and 'love' from those his single father could buy off.
Dragged away from his mother at the tender age of five, Hyun Bin yearned for a mother's unconditionally benign upbringing and love so when his father brought home a woman introducing her as his new mother, he immediately sacrificed the pinch of adoration he had for the woman's daughter.
Once the adults had made a clear decision to tie the knot, they proceeded to leave behind the prejudice of late second marriages back at Korea, making their way to the central of Zurich.
Hye Kyo on the other hand couldn't accept Hyun Bin's betrayal. She thought they had something special, something that he would not have thrown into the ridges within a split second. She had waited for him to say something, to stand by her side going against the union of their respective parents. But he did not instead, he stood there smiling in glee when the news got broken to them.
"You're right its disgusting..." Bin lamented in a whisper, repeating Hye Kyo's words wanting her to understand how downright offensive her words sounded.
With that he stood up from the white leather couch, heading towards his room on the third floor. Bin proceeded to crash himself onto the fluffy blankets of his king-sized bed only to be greeted by the doll standing tall on the wide platform of his shelf.
She was smiling at him almost as if persuading him to smile together with her.
"Well, you seem happy", raising his thick bow-shaped eyebrow almost challenging the lifeless doll back- refusing to belief that a mere doll could make him smile.
The longer he stared at his doll, the more he felt the inner inclination to genuinely smile. The beautiful smile on her pink plump lips and the certain glint in her eyes forecasted nothing but the willingness to make Hyun Bin happy.
Similarly, he was determined to not get let her aloofness affect his ridiculously terrible mood. But seconds later his heart faltered, and he gave in to the bewitching doll that had been blessed upon him. He forced his frown to turn back to a lined smiled.
"You're really creepy aren't you", he mockingly shuddered for the slightest before turning over burying his rather sinewy self into a blanketed mess of fabric. Closing his eyes shut he allowed sleep to engulf in him thinking bout how empty his life really was despite having everything one might want and need.
The cold icy breeze that signaled that winter was nearing, brought along comforting coldness and moisture. The stars across the vacuum sky sparkled brightly bringing in the colors of the night into Hyun Bin's mundane room.
Magical dust ever so lightly brushed against the cold clouds sending strong cold wind into his room via the open balcony. The blueish-white curtain blew with the wind and Hyun Bin buried himself deeper into the warm blankets.
And that was when the magic happened- silently. So silently that nobody would have guessed that something truly did happen.
Sitting on the high platform of the shelf in full human-for, the figure gingerly jumped down- her bare feet touching the cold marble tiles. Walking across the room in her tippy-toes, Ye Jin tilted her head to one side wondering who this handsome looking guy could be.
She reached her white, almost ceramic skinned looking hands to wake the man up only to retreat it back in fear of really waking him up. Quietly she sat on the surface of the large white bed, right beside Hyun Bin.
Soon enough, she felt her eyelids drooping making her close them involuntarily. She let out a soundless yawn and eventually slipped herself under the blankets together with said man. His body temperature was a whole lot warmer and comforting in comparison to her chilly one.
Ye Jin kept her eyes on the human two inches away from her, his breathing steady as the motion of his chest going up, down and back up. Scooting herself a little closer to get a clearer view of his face- she recoiled, with pure surprise.
Hyun Bin was a man of any girl's dreams, or so she derived. For he had smooth flawless skin, which was like a sheet of well-done cloth. His soft brown hair lightly fluttered beneath the cold early winter wind; he even sported a high-bridged nose that was perfectly placed among his two eyes. His soft sharp lips were very attractive and captivating- luring her into wanting to touch them, but she decided not to do so.
Observing the sleeping man, she noticed how he squirmed in his sleep several times. She mirrored his constantly changing expressions- smiling when he smiled and frowning when his brows pulled in together meeting at the center. The constant use of her new facial expressions dawned tiredness upon her willing her to fall asleep.
Hyun Bin again stirred in his sleep and finally opened his eyes. He opened them slowly only to close it immediately with laziness trying to pull him back into a deep slumber but his throat was scratching with dryness- he needed water to quench his thirst before he really died from the lack of water intake.
The man forced his heavy eyelids to open up and tried his level best to keep them stay open. However, once his eyes were fully opened, they didn't shut back as they did a few seconds prior. His chocolate brown eyes went wide, upon seeing the reflection of himself in the eyes of an unfamiliar presence.
"Hello" the girl raised one of her hand up in a greeting notion.
Hyun Bin's reaction was far from those portrayed in the movies. He blinked his eyes several times, silently wishing that she would not vanish in the tiny interval of the blinks.
"Who are you?" his voice came out soft and calm- there was no panic in his tone. He laid on the bed without moving, trying his best to draw a line between the fragment of imagination and reality.
Ye Jin opened her mouth to answer his fairly odd question when Hyun Bin's eyes scanned down her entire figure from the top of her head to the tip of her toes.
That was when it hit him, the red trench coat, the long black hair, the unrealistic white skin, those hauntingly beautiful eyes contained within other soft features, and the 'Y' stitch at the corner of her coat.
"YeJin?"
This time Hyun Bin freaked out a little, just a little as one might say. He sat right up, with her following his actions. Ye Jin could not hide her smile, finding herself looking straight at the confused stranger- her legs folded elegantly, tugged below her soft rump.
Hyun Bin let out a loud scoff, deciding that he had gone mad as his eyes flew to the top platform of his shelve where he had originally left his doll- she wasn't there. Panic rose in his slow reacting system once more.
Did his wish come true or was there a more logical explanation to this situation?
"You could have placed me elsewhere; did you know how afraid I was to jump down to the ground"
The poor confused soul's eyes fleeted back and forth from the shelf to YeJin. Her voice ringing at the side of his ear swarming him with intangible fuzziness.
"Am I hearing things now?", he whispered under his breath cursing himself for eating that weird tasting milk ice-cream in the fridge. It was probably spoilt...
"What's your name?" Ye Jin spoke once again ignoring the clear fact that she wasn't the most welcomed person in the room. Hyun Bin completely ignored her question- bringing his shivering index finger up, he poked it onto the bouncy surface of the girl's pink rosy cheek.
The retention of his finger against her cheek projected more panic into Hyun Bin's body. Smoothness that of a new-born wrapped in a warm swaddle. She felt so soft, smooth, and perfect. He immediately retreated his long finger realizing that she was indeed real.
"Hyun Bin" it was a short but clear reply from his side.
"ravi de vous rencontrer!!"
The overexcited girl shouted and wrapped her smooth cold arms around the guy. Her tiny head burying at the crook of his neck for a painfully slow second. She somehow managed to warm Hyun Bin up the slightest, despite her oddly cold exterior.
"ah...ni...nice to me..meet you too" he flushed bright red as the girl pulled away from the too-tight hug.
Switzerland as one might describe it was the land filled with countless whispers, hugs, kisses, and love. Despite living in said country slightly over 5 years, Bin was not able to come out of Asian shyness. The slightest contact with a gorgeous woman like YeJin was enough to morph him into a tomato.
"Don't worry; I'll be bringing you to the shop in the morn and return you back"
His voice came out reassuringly, wondering if someone was out there waiting for Yejin. His heart was all the more screaming at him to keep her right by his side, but his learned morale knew better. This doll cum human was not his possession, she didn't deserve to be placed within a price tag of mere thousand Francs.
***
"You sold the doll!!!"
His loud shout reflected against the store's walls, startling the customers- who slowly yet silently left the store not wanting to be between the banter.
Go-eun cooped her shrinking form at the corner of the cashier table, mad at herself for committing such a big mistake.
"I'm sorry" her voice came out as a light whimper worried about the repercussions her actions might have caused.
Hae In's enlarged eyes shrunk for the slightest, dropping himself to the cane chair by his side- his legs losing all of their strength.
His bride had been sold...
All he wanted was his mother back in the form of his bride, but she was now in clutches of an unnamed nemesis.
Slowly dragging her feet towards her friend, with the sole of her plastic flats brushing against the wooden platform creating dry draggy sounds; Go-eun kneeled beside the cane chair.
Hae In who had his face buried in his palms, looked up to witness his best friend crying along with him, sharing his grief. Immediately hugging his friend, the poor doll maker sobbed into her chest unceasingly, hands clutching at her art apron. Go-eun held him in silence, rocking him slowly as his tears soaked her clothes.
A tiny lapse willed him to pull away, blinking lashes heavy with tears. The pain of losing the best thing he ever had been presented in this pathetic life, came in waves and he hurled himself back into the outstretched arms of his friend.
"I'm so sorry Hae In-ah... I'm so sorry"
"It's okay" he breathed out, not more than a whisper. It was not okay, but he had to console his only friend, it saddened him to see her hurt.
"I will...find her for you, even if that's the last thing I ever do"
"That's not the problem here, she could be hurt easily. She's not much different from a child"
Images of his Ye Jin getting treated awfully, getting hurt, or sexually abused by some stranger made his heart bleed. She was an innocent child, probably unaware of the abuse she was facing.
The small hand of his wristwatch ticked to the right once more, clearly telling him that if what the shaman had told was true, if the magic was real.
His doll...his YeJin was out there alive in someone else's arms and it was his sole duty to rescue her.
***
Still on the bed, Bin's eyes went wide when the girl in front, had just thrown herself on him in a tight embrace. Burying her watery eyes at his shoulder blade, the doll sobbed while tightening her hold on him.
Normally, Hyun Bin would have been taken back by the directness of such approach, but he could not help but hug back the crying girl in his arms. The desire to protect and console the being was growing within him as seconds trickled by.
Hyun bin wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her in closer, gently rubbing her cold arm- as though it hadn't been lesser than fifteen minutes since he first met her, as though he had known her his entire life.
Despite the heaviness at the pit of her stomach, YeJin's heart fluttered at the feeling of her body pressed against his. She sunk into the warmth of his front, appreciative of the simple gesture. His touch was reassuring and made the room warmer somehow, her future within its walls seemed a little less bleak.
"Are you crying?" his voice came out so softly careful to not startle the crying girl.
Ye Jin stayed mum not wanting to break from the comfortingly protective hug but eventually Bin pulled her to the front wanting to see her face. With his arms still protectively yet gently placed around her petite figure, he stared at Ye Jin's pretty face- searching her teary eyes for answers.
However, when he saw YeJin's face he was shocked. Letting go of his grip on her, he raised his hands up to her face, tenderly dragging his thumb across her cheeks to check if his eyes were playing tricks with him.
There weren't any tears- her eyes were watery, and she was taking deep breathes in from the crying but there weren't any tears. She really was crying but she couldn't really form any tears...
"Do you mean to say that you're going to leave me?"
"Do you want to stay with me?"
"Do you not like me?"
Taken aback by her sudden question, Bin blinked hard a few times wondering if it was normal to be having such conversation with a 'magical creature' he created acquaintance with lesser than 10 minutes ago.
His right hand never left her beautiful, freakishly perfect face as she snuggled closer to his large warm palm enjoying every second of whatever comfort he offered.
YeJin noticed Hyun Bin's confused face and guessed that this was the best opportunity to get him to change his mind. She swept her long, sweet-scented hair towards her right shoulder and lowered her body on the bed, placing her head on Hyun Bin's lap and finally curling into herself like a child.
Looking down at the female that had so very unguardedly lied on his lap, Hyun Bin's heart started to thump hard against his ribcage.
Do I really have to send her back? It was a fleeting thought on his part but then she said it...
"Hyun Bin..." his name rolled off her tongue so naturally making him swoon a little at the bubbles her voice created within him.
"I'm not going anywhere, so please do not send me away will you"
She didn't get to finish her sentence as the cold wind cooed her to sleep. To experience her very first dream right on Hyun Bin's lap.
A/N: Hi everybody I hoped you like this chapter :D I recently watched Summer Scent and my goodness Ye Jin looked like a doll in it and I got inspired to write this story. Please leave any comments you have below. Thank you :D