Episode 5

It hurt Namjoon’s little plastic heart to see you so scared of him. He never wanted this. He never wanted to see you literally quaking in fear, one second away from passing out on the spot.

It was quiet while he thought and you sat there shivering. Yoongi looked to him to say something, anything. He was maybe the only one of them that would be able to talk some sense into you before you threw them into a recycling bin or donated them to a thrift store. The other six, who had moved into an upright position somewhere on the dresser, were all depending on him. So, he did what leaders do, and he gave it his best shot.

“So uh, first of all, we’re not going to hurt you. There are some scary movies that give toys, dolls especially, a bad reputation for that sort of thing, but that’s just a stereotype and it’s mostly ventriloquists and porcelain dolls that are like that anyway.”

“Creepy.” You shuddered.

“Maybe don’t talk about that, genius.” Hoseok shook his head. Of course Namjoon would get nervous talking to his crush. Why would they let him do the talking?

“Right. So, um...I’m sorry, I’ve just...never talked to a human before.” Namjoon rubbed the back of his neck. What was this new emotion he was feeling? This jittery one that made him want to explode?

“W-well, if it makes you feel any better, this is my first...interaction like this too. I mean, when I was little I used to talk to my dolls, but they...well, they never t-talked back…” The fact that you were starting to talk a little more was encouraging. Maybe Namjoon could gently nudge you out of your shell. Baby steps.

“We toys, we, uh, we aren’t supposed to talk to our humans. It usually scares them off...I’m really sorry we scared you. We never meant to. You mean a lot to us.”

“Namjoon wouldn’t be exaggerating if he said our whole lives revolve around you.” Yoongi added, and Namjoon nodded.

“Wait, so, are ALL toys alive?” You asked, eyebrows furrowing. The pieces were slowly starting to come together, this world he was opening you up to. Your fear was gradually fading, being replaced instead with curiosity.

“Yeah, for the most part.” He confirmed, making your heart sink and soar simultaneously. “There are a few exceptions. Board games aren’t alive, neither are playing cards or dice, marbles and bouncy-balls aren’t. The basic rule of thumb is: if it has a face, it’s alive.”

“I feel very guilty all of a sudden.” You sighed, running through memories upon memories of all of your beloved childhood toys. Sure, some of them were still back home at your parents’ place, but most of them had been sold at garage sales, donated to your little cousins, or sold on Ebay. Yikes…

“Don’t feel too bad about it. That’s just how it works for us.” Jin tried to be reassuring, but that didn’t make their grim circle of life any less devastating when you looked at the reality of it all. “We know you don’t mean it. We understand.”

“That makes me feel a little bit better…”

“Again, we’re really sorry for scaring you, (Y/N).” Namjoon smiled softly. “And we’re sorry we kind of just...ruined your whole childhood.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m really sorry for sneezing.” Taehyung hung his head, letting out a little sigh. If it wasn’t for him, they wouldn’t be in this wild rule-breaking mess. They’d still have their secret and be safe. Now, even though you seemed like you were cool with it at the moment, they were vulnerable, and it was all his fault.

“It’s okay, Tae.” You reassured him. “Really, I…I think I’m going to be okay, I just...need some time to think about everything.”

“If you have any questions, you can ask, alright? I think we at least owe that to you.”

“Do you...you can see and hear, obviously, but, uh, do your other senses work? Smell, taste, touch?”

“Not really. We can’t eat food, so we don’t have a reason to taste things, and we’re made of plastic, so we don’t really feel anything either.”

“We can smell, but it’s pretty faint.” Jimin added.

“Weird.” You thought about what that would be like, to be alive, but not really LIVING. “And so toy stores must be like little prisons for you, right? When are you like aware of everything?”

“For me...I woke up in the toy store. I don’t remember anything about being made or packaged, but I know it must have happened at some point.” Jungkook sounded almost sad when he talked about it, eyes fixed on the floor, not looking at you or any of his brothers. “From then, it was just...lonely every night, hoping every day that someone would choose me, hoping even more that I wouldn’t be alone once someone did.”

You could have about cried. “That’s so sad.”

“Yeah, I...yeah, it is. But that’s just how it is. And then you get a kid and everything is better.”

“I’m sorry you guys didn’t get the full...experience, I guess. I’m not exactly ten years old anymore.”

“And we’re thankful for that, believe me.” Namjoon put his hand on his heart, chuckling. “Dolls like us, especially dolls that are meant to look like celebrities and stuff, we usually get forced into a lot of, uh, romantic situations, for lack of better term. That’s not fun.”

“Oh. Well, I promise I’ll never...put you through that.”

“Thanks.” Yoongi chuckled.

You tried to think of something else to ask them. You were buzzing with questions for sure, or you should have been at least, but none of them would come out; they just stayed inside of you, bumping into one another. For a while there, your fear and excitement and everything had drowned out the symptoms of whatever sickness you’d caught. Now that you were falling back down to earth, though, you were reminded of the pounding pain in your head and the fact that you couldn’t breathe.

“So uh, I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m really sick right now, so I’ll probably be home for a few days, if that’s alright.”

“This is literally your apartment. We’re guests here, not the other way around.”

“Right. Yeah. Anyway, if nothing else, it’ll give us--ACHOO!--some time to *sniffle* get to know each other better. I mean, I guess you already kind of know a lot about me…”

“We’d love to get to know you more!” Jimin smiled, perking up excitedly. “I’m Jimin!”

“I know that, Jimin.” You chuckled, shaking your head as you plucked a tissue from the box and blew your nose. “Nice to meet you. Officially, that is.”

Once the others officially introduced themselves, you got up and walked to the kitchen to scour through the medications you had on hand. You had to have something for this congestion. You ended up taking something to minimize the fluids in your face and then smeared some Vicks under your nose for good measure. When you were healthy, you always took breathing for granted, but you would give anything to be able to take a clean breath right now.

“Are you okay?” It was Jin. He must have followed you out to the kitchen. You turned around to look at him and nodded, offering a weak smile.

“Yeah, I’m alright, Jin. It’s just a cold, I think. ‘Tis the season for that sort of thing.” You shrugged before turning to your Keurig to make some warm tea, which was different from the iced stuff you usually drank, but you needed the steam to open up your pores.

“What are you making?” He asked. You felt him tug on your pantleg and bent down to help him up onto the counter.

“Just some tea. It usually helps when I’m feeling sick.”

“Hmm.” He nodded, contemplating it for a second. He watched as you dipped the tea bag into the hot water, letting the leaves steep and darken the liquid surrounding them. He looked up at you after a long patch of quiet. “Thank you. For in there. Anyone else would have freaked out on us.”

“Luckily for you, I’m not ‘anyone else.’” You chuckled. Once the tea was done brewing, you blew on it a bit and took a few tentative sips, careful not to burn your tongue as you had so many times before. “It’s a lot to get used to, but I think I’ll be okay. I’m just gonna need a few days, alright?”

“Of course. Anything for you.” He agreed. You held out your arm for him to grab on, and he climbed up your extended limb, clinging to your shirt and attempting to give you the tiniest hug you’d ever received. “We all love you so much.”

“And I love all of you, too.” You smiled and used your free hand to reciprocate, gently stroking his little back with your fingers. “Don’t worry, Jin. I promise I’m not going anywhere.”

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