Episode 1

“(Y/N), do you have any popcorn?”

“Yeah, it’s in the cupboard next to the--”

“Found it!” It was a nice night. Since all of your friends were back at school after break, you’d decided to have a BTS sleepover, as you often did. This meant popcorn, episodes of Run, and as many BTS music videos as you could watch in one sitting. Of course, when you’d told your friends about the gift your aunt got you for Christmas, they’d wanted to see them too.

“Wow, like, I know Mattel must have tried, but...Tae’s hair…” Luna trailed off, gently combing through said doll’s hair with her fingers.

“I know, I was thinking about trying to fix it, but I was afraid I’d just make it worse.”

“Nothing is worse than whatever that Nickelback abomination is.” Ella chuckled sympathetically. “I feel so bad for Tae. They did him so dirty.”

“Who are we kidding, the only one they did RIGHT is Namjoon.” You held up the little plastic version of your bias.

“Wow, how lucky for you, your BIAS is the only one that looks anything like the real deal.” Melody rolled her eyes, Jin in her hands as she looked him over. “You’ll never know the Jin Stan pain…”

“Or the Yoongi Stan pain!” Luna called on her way back from the kitchen, a bowl of popcorn tucked under her arm.

“Right, that either.” Melody agreed.

“Listen, is it my fault my man is always looking like a snack even in doll form? No. Moving on.” You scrolled through YouTube on your TV. “What are we watching first, ladies?”

“I don’t know, just put on a playlist.”

“Okay.” You found one that had all of their music videos in it, right from the beginning, which meant that the first one was No More Dream. Oh, memories…

“LOOK AT THEIR LITTLE FACES HOLY SHIT!” Ella squealed, kicking her legs. “Little baby Jimin!!!”

“Oh my god, the mask...Hobi, I’m so sorry.”

“YOU’RE so sorry?? Look at Joon’s hair oh my God.” You cringed, laughing so hard you nearly dropped Namjoon. You set the doll on the table before you could do any further damage. There, he was safe from your clumsy hands. “Oh sweetheart, what did they do to you?”

“Yoongi literally has not aged a day.” Luna chuckled. “But holy shit, look at those chains. What a badass.”

“God, they’ve come so far…” You shook your head. How was it that these bad-boy underdogs from the company who was beyond broke risen to where they stood today with sold-out world tours and dolls and best-selling albums, not to mention millions of dollars? It seemed impossible. And yet, Bangtan always seemed to be defying expectations, learning and growing and changing. That was part of why you loved them so much.

The other reason was just how much they’d helped you love yourself.

“OH MY GOD SHIELD YOUR EYES FROM THEIR BABY ABS.” You’d moved on from No More Dream to We Are Bulletproof Pt2, and you had to admit you’d forgotten about that one part of the video. And then before you knew it, Joon was front and center, mohawk, sunglasses, chains and all.

Even back then, when you’d been stanning freshman year of high school, you’d been a Joon stan, loyal to the very end. That wasn’t to say you didn’t love the other boys; you did. You loved them all a ton. But Joonie held a special piece of your heart. He’d helped you through a lot over the years, even if he’d never know you existed, he meant a lot to you and he always would.

The four of you watched as the budget of the videos increased, the songs shifted in style and meaning, a metamorphosis of kinds unfolding before your very eyes as seven scrappy boys from Seoul turned into seven world-renowned artists. It was enough to make you emotional to say the very least.

“Wow, they really did That, huh?” You asked quietly. The other girls were in awe too, watching and smiling and remembering when you’d all been in high school and had banded together over your love for the obscure group. You’d gotten lucky to find each other then, and were even luckier when you’d all chosen the same university, which had a club dedicated to not only BTS, but all of K-Pop.

“Yeah. They really did.” Luna nodded. “They changed the world.”

***

Namjoon figured the last girl had fallen asleep around the time they’d watched the third or fourth interview in a new playlist you’d started. You were passed out on the couch, slow breaths entering and leaving you. He watched you for a few seconds, smiling softly to himself. He tried not to let it go to his head, he really did...but you’d said he was your favorite and he couldn’t stop replaying the moment over and over.

Technically, he reminded himself, the human Kim Namjoon that was actually a real person was your favorite. He was a doll. He was made of plastic. He was not RM no matter how much he looked like him. And yet, he was still warm and bubbly inside.

Namjoon wasn’t sure what to call this emotion. He’d never felt it before. He’d never felt a lot of things, he supposed, but since moving in with you, he’d felt all kinds of new feelings. It was odd, but he was pretty sure he liked it.

“Joon.” Yoongi whispered from his spot a little further down the table. Though they were both pretty sure all of the fangirls were fast asleep, moving and exposing themselves was not a risk they were willing to take. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” He whispered back, smiling softly to himself. “I’m...I’m actually great.”

“You look like you’re thinking about something.”

“Yeah. I don’t know. Being here, it’s just...different than I thought it would be, you know? But like not in a bad way or anything. I just...I feel weird all the time but in a really good way, if that makes any sense.”

“It doesn’t, but I understand.” Yoongi nodded to himself. He was sure he hadn’t been feeling what Namjoon had as strongly as the dimpled doll, but he had indeed been feeling...things that he didn’t know how to explain. This had been a learning experience for all of them, he was sure, and he knew that they would only learn more about themselves and each other the longer they stayed in (Y/N)’s care. “She’s different, isn’t she? She’s...she’s our girl, after all.”

“She’s our girl.” Namjoon agreed, a sentiment he was sure all seven of them shared. The bond between a toy and their child was unlike anything else. He’d always known it would be that way, and yet, he could have never predicted just how deep that connection would run. As he laid on that coffee table, there was one thing Namjoon was absolutely sure of: he wouldn’t trade you for anyone in the world.

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