《=|Forgotten|=|NamJin|=》
《=|Dolls|=》

°•●•°

Once upon a time, in a dark place... There was a light. A bright light, shedding hope in the quiet arena.

In the light, stands a figure. This figure is tied to strings, made of the most perfect of wood, painted with the shiniest paint.

There was a smile on the marionette's lips, its strings moves perfectly with his movements.

For his master controlled him well.

But now...

All has changed.

One day, the marionette can't feel his strings being lifted. It can't feel his arms start to follow.

His wooden eyes open on their own. It reveals a dark cold room with cobwebs and dust.

To its horror he finds it the storage. The complete back. The garbage room.

He has been thrown away.

Anger rushes through his wooden arms as he moves his splintered body. His oak fingers grab the ripped wallpaper and pulls himself up. Wobbly without his strings.

His anger rises when he starts to slowly take one step after another.

He finds a mirror and decides to take a look.

His sight is horrendous.

His once beautiful hair is tangled and messy, dirty with dust. His paint scraped off his splintered and split wooden limbs. One of his eyes is gone of color, his clothes all ripped. His strings...

His strings are cut.

Someone freed him.

His wooden limbs have feeling. He feels his emotion. He's no longer a marionette, but a doll.

A living piece of thrown away art.

Running a shaky hand over his cracked cheek, split arm, hurt eye... He feels furious rage.

It shows in him.

His body starts to shake, his hands clenching. His mind has thoughts.

Evil thoughts...

He's going to find the man who put him away and kill him.

Let's see how the ringmaster likes it in the back.

°•●•°

This doll's name was Seokjin. His name once known everywhere the circus went.

The circus found a building, and he was set. On every poster with pride.

A puppet show had never been so tempting.

But now. Now Seokjin is angry. His body is torn and broken. But most importantly, his strings. His strings hang in short little ropes at his limbs, the rest laying in a tangled mess.

He has never been able to walk on his own. But now, he must.

Seokjin looks down at his legs. He lifts one of them carefully, stepping forward. A quiet yelp escapes him, cracking through his knee.

He moved forward, but it wasn't easy. Without his strings, he won't be able to move properly.

He frowns looking over.

He gasps a little, looking further into the storage.

Body parts... Doll body parts. Other marionette bodies, plushies. They're all broken and torn apart.

And some are still alive.

Their strings have also been cut.

"Hey! Hey!"

Seokjin's voice is cut, raspy and twitching, but just barely loud enough to be heard.

A few of the dolls turn to him. Others still lay lifeless.

No one pays any attention to him...

But he's the star!

Seokjin calls out again, trying to be louder, but he fails himself.

But one small doll stumbles over to him, clawing the floor. Its missing its legs. Both of them... splintering.

Unlike Seokjin, who has ball joints, this doll has wooden screws with a light crack in them, just enough to fully bend any way a ball joint can.

He can only imagine how much that hurt...

Seokjin gulps, looking down at himself.

Who brought him back?

Why was he brought back?

"You are Jin...? Right?" The doll speaks quietly.

It's a male doll, his voice broken and cold, his face void of emotion and eyes hollow and dead, only showing scrapes of white paint with black circles for eyes.

"I am..." Seokjin whimpers. "Tell me, when did I get here?" He asks, falling over on his knees.

The doll gives him a open mouthed stare in thought. "If I'm right, you were here... from the day of December fourth, in 1921."

"What year is it now?"

"Today is the date of December fourth, 1992."

Seokjin gasps, covering his mouth with his wooden hands. He has been gone for so long...

The doll lays a hand on his knee. "Some of us remember you. I remember you. But those... The ones you outshined. The ones you stepped on. The dolls in the stage room. They're stepping on you now."

Seokjin frowns, eyelids closing quietly as he looks back around.

"What can I do? This is not my fate..."

"Clearly it isn't." The doll points at his broken strings. "Someone wants us to live. My strings have cut. Your strings have cut. I want out, but on my own like this, I am not able to, and no one will help me."

Seokjin looks at him, leaning forward with interest. "What are you suggesting we do?"

"I know my tech. If you can find me two legs and a few screws, some metal plates, and some glue, I can fix us. I can make us normal."

Seokjin immediately nods. "I'm not yet done with my master."

The doll gives him a smile. "Excellent. My leg holes are a size 3. The numbers are on the screws. Please, be careful. Take anything that might be handy. I'll help you to escape this place."

Seokjin nods and hesitantly gets up, still shaking a little.

"Try pulling your left-over strings. Help yourself. Control yourself."

Seokjin looks down at his strings, with a determined sigh, grabbing onto them and tying them to the string above it, so on and forth until Seokjin can fluently feels his legs being right.

He pulls his own strings, standing up with wobbly legs, one step after the other.

He looks at the other doll, who gives him a smile and nods.

That's all Seokjin needs to slowly and carefully step over to the parts he needs.

On his way, he passes others.

Some look at him and then look away, others raise their brows, not knowing who he is, others despise him and let it show.

Seokjin suddenly feels very sad under their gazes.

But he manages to find the legs for parts. There are... too many. Plush legs, ripped and rid of their fluffy stuffing, plastic legs dusty and covered in cobwebs. Wooden legs of the old age, non-movable ones.

Seokjin looks at the legs. He tries to find a pair which has pegs so they can fit the doll's body.

But none of the ones he can reach have full pegs in the size 3. There are loose pegs which are, but none that have it on their own.

He gives up and just grabs two size 3 pegs and two ball jointed legs with no ball joint, sewed shut with plastic.

The doll didn't really care what legs it were anyway.

Seokjin instead moves over to the small, extremely small kit in the room. A small shop, or advertiser. One of the things Seokjin likes on that shelf is the doll-sized bottle of glue, and the shining USB-sticks.

He's seen them before... somewhere. Maybe they were new when he was on stage.

"Hello?" Seokjin's greeting is hesitant, but the doll behind it smiles at him.

"Need a fix?"

"A what?"

"Your strings." The doll points. "I'm a dollmaker."

"Oh! No, not for me!" Seokjin smiles softly. "I... I had my time..."

The doll tsks and shakes her head. "Oh no, darling. I can see you aren't. Many of us want revenge. We were not placed up there, but we can rise. That fury is what I see in you."

Seokjin stays quiet for a little while. "I'll take the glue and the USB-sticks please..."

The doll sighs a little, nodding. "Listen, darling. Your light may have dimmed. But a light will never go out. The forgotten, never forget."

Seokjin smiles at her, taking the items and dragging them behind him with a rope, finding the materials a little heavy.

The doll's face lights up when he sees Seokjin returning.

"Did you find what I asked for?"

Seokjin nods and carefully lays the legs and the pegs down in front of him.

Immediately the doll gets to work, snatching the glue and screws from the box behind him and glues the screws on the tip of the pegs.

He lets out a whined scream of pain as he pushes the peg into the hole on the underside of his body, pushing deeper and deeper until the screw can't go any further.

Doing the same for the other, he grabs the legs and glues them to the pegs, snapping the pegs in half, barely keeping them connected.

Again in pain...

The legs don't match the doll at all. Their pale plastic dust is nothing similar with his stained dirty wooden body.

"Who are you?" Seokjin asks. "Why do you help me?"

"I want out too." The doll growls, slowly testing the ball joints on his new legs. "I used to be as great as you. Years, years, years ago. I was an old puppet. People called me Suga, because of my pale wood and my amusing sweet sarcasm."

"Oh... No way..." Seokjin covers his mouth. "You're Yoongi?!"

The broken doll smiles. "That's me."

"But you were discarded! Sold away!"

"They returned me." Yoongi huffs. "After finding out I was alive. Not all dolls like theirs are emotionless and lifeless. The souls in us were people too."

Seokjin looks at him. "I suppose humans are afraid with what they give away..." He mumbles.

"Their souls are of great value to us." Yoongi nods. "They bring us life, but not only us. Objects, robots. But when we are presented like this, of course humans will be afraid of us."

Both dolls make hesitant eye contact.

The souls placed within them allowed for movement no regular doll should. They can blink, although not needing it, move their eyebrows if having designed them, curve their lips, even move their fingers by themselves if capable.

They have a voice.

They can be heard.

They can touch and feel.

And they have emotions.

But those are never taken into consideration. For Seokjin it had never been a problem. Until now.

Yoongi sighs deeply, pulling the USB stick towards him. "Nice piece of metal... You got a jackpot of wires and strings."

"Is it good?"

"Almost a perfect size for the two of us."

"What will you make?" Seokjin asks, sitting closer as he unties his strings. "Can I help?"

Yoongi nods. "Give me the exact length of your body and thickness of your strings. I'm going to make a controller."

"A what?"

"A way for us to move freely without our masters."

"We... can do that?"

"Didn't you just walk on your own?"

Seokjin nods silently. He hadn't even noticed. "Have I lost my master...?"

"Your master is no longer your master." Yoongi growls, ripping the pieces apart, pulling a blue swiss knife from the box behind him and cutting it open. "Neither is my master mine."

"... But how?"

"They discarded us!" Yoongi screams angrily, staring at him with dark eyes. "They left us to rot! We're small, and wooden, and we rot. As long as we are no humans, no master will respect us! They never cared! They replaced us, Seokjin!"

Seokjin's eyes widen. "Re... placed? Am I replacable?"

"Everyone is..." Yoongi mutters.

Seokjin slumps over, hopelessly, thinking over his words. He is replaced... But by who? By what? Why was he replaced?

His master took great care of him... What was wrong with him that had him discarded and thrown out?

Yoongi quietly keeps working, checking and looking the thing over after adjusting to Seokjin's answers.

"Come here, back turned to me."

Seokjin shuffles over, a metal backpack slid over his shoulders and clipped back to the USB kit.

He flinches when his strings are grabbed, caressed, and a hot burning sensation melts his strings together.

"There... Don't take it off or you'll pull yourself apart. Let me help if you do."

Seokjin nods. The moment he starts to move, he can feel his body tie together effortlessly.

He stands up, helping Yoongi with his strings.

The moment Yoongi gets up, he leans back on the swiss knife. He looks out over the rest of the inattentive dolls, scoffing.

He runs a hang through his tangled black hair, smirking a little.

"Time to leave this messy old junk."

"I thought you'd never say that."

Seokjin grins, rushing after Yoongi to the door. It's massive...

But Seokjin already thought about this. His eyes land on the needle on the floor, a little crown on the end. It's made of metal and thus, heavy enough to open a door handle made of custom paper.

He grabs the rope in the corner, dusting it off and threading it though the eye, tying it into a knot.

He swings it, throwing it over the handle and pulling down on both ends.

Yoongi raises a brow, watching as the handle slowly, but steadily slides down.

He immediately begins to push at the door, a hole tiny enough for them to slip through.

Seokjin bursts with him, smirking at the storage room. Instead of closing it though, he leaves on a small opening.

Perhaps they will realize life holds more for them later... Than they have a way out...

"Shit! Hide! Hide!"

Yoongi pulls Seokjin with him, hiding in the shadows around the corner.

Seokjin freezes. He hears voices... Footsteps.

"What do you think of that new star?"

"Who, the green one or the blue one?"

"Both. They seem selfish to me."

"Oh, for sure. Especially the blue one, what's his name again?"

"I heard it was RM... Right?"

"That sounds about right."

"For him to just push us back. It's hellish. And I'm a doll, saying that. We clean ourselves and he has the cleanest towels to caress his perfect ass."

"Well that Hope guy ain't so wrong. I heard he's started replacing his old parts to give to dolls who need a replacement."

"Sounds like someone who thinks he's too good for old parts."

"Come on, don't be a mess. Let's continue patrol. I'm on cleaning duty next."

Yoongi hesitantly steps out of the shadows, urging for Seokjin to follow him.

Two female dolls walk away...

"Follow the left one, I'll follow the right one." Yoongi whispers. "If I'm right and the building is still the same, follow the path to the left. We'll meet each other backstage."

"Why do we split up?"

Yoongi looks at him. "To take what belongs to us. Every threat must be exterminated."

Seokjin frowns. "But Yoongi," he growls. "What do you think belongs to us?"

The younger doll turns to stare at him. "What do you mean?"

"I have never been on stage with you. I've seen you, and admired you, but in no way have we ever had something. There is nothing that belongs to us."

Yoongi rolls his eyes. "Fine. Let's take the stage back."

"That's better." Seokjin grins. "I respect you. Don't make me look down upon you."

Yoongi follows him with his eyes, huffing when Seokjin follow the girl to the right.

Fine then.

Yoongi smirks as he follows the left. "What a fierce doll..."

°•●•°

As Seokjin roams the halls, he comes across many things. Old decor, speakers, posters of the new show.

He looked at the poster for a long time. The show only said Real Hope. But on the poster stood not one, but two dolls. A duo act.

They've evolved the shows...

Seokjin clenches his fists and continues on until he steps in something.

Something squelching. A goo-like substance.

He whines, pushing it aside with the needle. It sticks...

Disgusting.

Seokjin explores the halls, rid of the girl a while ago. But he follows a familiar path. Not only Yoongi knows the way.

Sure enough, in the same place as before is his old dressing room. But... the name plate is different.

Seokjin wastes no time and slams the door open, aiming the slimy needle to the first doll he sees.

The only doll he sees.

But the doll doesn't flinch... He doesn't speak to him. But he looks up.

"Who are you to call yourself a star?!" Seokjin screams, pressing the needle against the doll's throat.

The doll scoffs. "You look familiar. How did you escape the storage?"

"I have my ways to get what I want."

"You haven't gotten prettier."

"Why you-!"

Seokjin screams in fury, striking towards him, but the doll suddenly starts smiling at him.

"I've waited to meet you." He says. "The star of shows. I've watched all your shows, even when I was still in the making."

"Who are you?!" Seokjin screams.

The doll's smile grows. "Me? My name is RM. My master, V, controls me very well, don't you say?"

"V...?" Seokjin drops his needle, gulping a lump down his throat. He falls to his knees. "I've been replaced... It was all true..."

RM sighs deeply. "You had your time..."

"It was not my time to go! I had light in me! People still loved me!"

"People love you for who you were. But attention pays the bills..."

Seokjin growls at him. "Isn't entertainment about the love and attention?!"

"Yes, I agree." RM says calmly. "But money keeps the entertainment alive."

Seokjin slowly gets up, shaking on his legs and grabs the needle. "Your strings are cursed." He mutters. "Your strings are poison."

RM's eyes widen, ducking down when Seokjin swings the sharp needle towards him.

RM prepares for a second hit, but it doesn't come. He feels a burning feeling... Painful, cold, and guilt.

It feels as if his soul had been tainted. His body blessed with a soul, is tainted. His eyes stare blankly in front of him, slowly twitching his fingers to feel at his strings.

But... they were no longer there...

RM snaps his head to where his strings once were, his confusion turning into fear and anger when he notices his strings burned into ashes.

"What did you do to me?!"

"I did nothing!" Seokjin screams. "This... goo stayed stuck on your strings and it burned them like acid!"

RM looks at the poison-colored goo.

"You moron..." He growls angrily. "That's not goo, that's soul remnant! This is the part they pull away from the souls they inject into us! You literally reformed my soul!"

"Than you must know what I'm doing this for!" Seokjin screams. "I'm not a human, RM! I'm a doll! A marionette! I'm supposed to be controlled, but without a master I'm nothing!"

RM scowls at him. "Do I look like I care about your old life!? I am the new star of the show! I am the marionette they want! You had your time." He snarls.

Seokjin huffs angrily. "Whatever this remnant is... I hope you die from it. I hope you become so rotten you'll be thrown into the storage!"

"At least I'll still have my dignity."

"WHY YOU--!!"

Seokjin screams out, lunging for the doll, who simply blocks his jump, turning him around and snapping his knee on Seokjin's back.

"The reason remnant is removed from our souls." RM whispers darkly. "Is to make us fully obedient. To get rid of the dark and bloody pasts of their human lives. We receive their names, their habits, and if the remnant not removed..." He chuckles. "Even their yearning to kill."

"And what does that have to do with me?"

"You gave remnant. You caused this. The moment I step on stage and see a human, I'll lose my mind and become the thing they are so afraid of to see. I'm not Chucky. I'm not Annabel. But my soul waa given from a dangerous man. As was yours..."

Seokjin frowns. "What...?"

"Both of our souls are from the same line of people." RM says. "Mine is from a murderer. A serial killer by the name of Kim Namjoon. He could leave no trace but the floor in red. He was very, very intelligent and had follows from all over the world. But when odds found himself in the back, it was his time to go."

"What about mine then, if you know so much about him?" Seokjin growls.

RM smirks darkly at him. "Just as mine is a serial killer so is yours. We look like each other." He chuckles. "Because Namjoon had a husband. A dangerous one, who crafted with the arts of seduction and betrayal. His name was Kim Seokjin. And your soul belongs to him."

Seokjin huffs. "I'm too pretty to be a killer."

"You used to be." RM grins. "Remnant can be brought back. Yours just never did."

"So? I'm happy with my soul like this!"

"Too bad. Because I'm not."

Seokjin squeaks when RM lunges at him, pushing his head down on the floor.

RM grabs the needle tightly, smirking widely. Seokjin screams to be let go, but RM instead only presses down harder, digging the needle in the back of his body.

Seokjin whines, feeling the tip digging in him.

"STOP! GET OFF ME!"

"This is your fault." RM grins. "So you best make the best of it with me, doll."

Seokjin growls at him, turning a little and throwing his fist right in RM's face, who stumbles off of him, growling angrily.

"You're insane! How could someone like you be up there?!"

"Without remnant, I'm just a good obedient doll." RM smirks. "But with it, I take on what the human owner of my soul did. And so will you."

Seokjin screams, wrapping his hands tight around RM's neck, pulling in his ball joint.

The doll simply laughs. "See?! See?! You want to kill me! You lust for blood!"

"I do not!" Seokjin snarls. "I am not this Seokjin killer! My name is Jin! You aren't Namjoon! You are RM!"

RM grabs his wrists. "I am Namjoon. His soul is within me. You are Seokjin, because you have his soul remnant."

Seokjin clenches his fists. "I hate you."

"Likewise." RM grins. "Oh, and please," He laughs. "Don't flatter me by calling my stage name. Because from now on I'll continue the life of he human whom I've belonged to."

Seokjin reaches out to grab him, but RM already leaves the room, leaving Seokjin alone in his old dressing room.

Seokjin looks down at his hands. Was remnant really the thing that had changed RM's attitude?

How could remnant be removed from souls anyway?

With a determined sigh, he quietly follows the doll in the shadows.

°•●•°

Yoongi rubs his head, huffing when he doesn't see the doll anymore.

Thankfully there is a quiet thumping sound.

He follows it, hearing whimpering and muffled voices.

Walking the corner, he cocks his head.

"What is this...?"

"It's leaking again."

"Is it evil?"

"It's goo, it's literally the stickiest slime in the world. I'll go get Jimin to help me clean it."

"Is your master doing well?"

"My master... He's feeling sick. He says he'll take a small break after tonight's show. I hope he'll do well."

Yoongi looks the corner.

There's a doll, who looks up at the stage. And a smaller doll, who looks down at his feet.

"Hobi, why is my master gone?" The smaller doll whimpers.

"Your master retired, Tenya. He was old, and broken. You will soon get a new master."

"Will he be as nice as him?"

"I cannot say for humans."

The smaller doll turns back with a sigh, but screams as soon as she catches a glimpse of Yoongi's white eyes.

The broken doll immediately turns the corner to hide, but with no success, as a hand grabs onto his wrist.

It's the taller doll.

The shorter is nowhere to be seen.

The doll looks him over, slowly letting go of his wrist. Yoongi stares up at him.

"You... Have seen better days." The doll starts slowly.

"Thanks for making my disgust look nice."

"Glad to know it worked." The doll laughs softly. "What are you doing here?"

Yoongi growls. "What does it look like?! I'm here to take back what's mine!"

"What do you wish for?"

"I want my place. My stage. My days are not over!"

The doll's eyes widen a bit. "Woah, woah, calm down. I've met plenty who think like you. I've even been one like you."

"How can you?!" Yoongi screams. "Look at me!! I'm hideous!! I have another doll's legs!!"

"I can see that..."

"All I want is to be fixed up and put back there... People loved me." Yoongi whimpers. "And suddenly I was gone... Removed like a pin. You... You were the one who replaced me! You took my master from me! And now... he's sick?"

The doll looks down sadly. "Yes... My master is not doing very well... He is sick, doesn't eat, he even feels dizzy. I have no experience with human sickness, but I'm very worried for him..."

"You may not!" Yoongi growls. "He is my master! MINE!!"

"Please! Stay calm! This will not improve his condition! Master Jimin is--"

"HE IS MY MASTER!! Why... Why did he throw me away...?"

"Sometimes time is time..." The roll sighs. "Mine will also come. But for now that time isn't there."

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE!! YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OF BEING MY MASTER'S PUPPET!!"

Yoongi pushes him away, running around the corner.

"NO!!" The doll yells. "There's something--!"

Yoongi whines a scream, shaking the sticky goo off his feet, but it sticks in his joint, making it difficult to move.

The doll rushes up to him, pulling Yoongi out.

"I tried to warn you." The doll smiles, starting to gently pull the goo from his joint.

Yoongi growls at him. "Oh, fuck off! I have no time for this shit!" He snarls. "And don't touch me!"

The doll whines when Yoongi slams his foot against his chest, sending him against the wall.

"You're way too sweet." Yoongi huffs, getting up and brushing his shirt. "I hate sweet things. A doll like you isn't supposed to be sweet."

"This doll has a name you asshole!" The doll snaps back, shaking the goo from his fingers. "But looking at your desperate self, I won't have to tell a pathetic doll like yourself."

"Oh, pathetic?" Yoongi scoffs. "Don't talk shit. All I want is to be reunited to get what I rightfully deserve. There will be no place for pathetic like you."

"I AM PATHETIC?!" The doll bursts into laughter. "I am not pathetic! My name is Jung Hoseok! If anything! YOU are the pathetic one!"

"Truth told, I've never heard of you!" Yoongi laughs. "You must have been a good person then!"

Hoseok scoffs. "Oh, shut up. I've done bad shit in my life."

"As have I."

Hoseok glares at Yoongi, clenching his fists. He growls and turns on his heels, exiting the room.

Yoongi rolls his eyes and follows him, yelling after him that he will not accept how this conversation ends.

But the doll simply continues to walk, until he bumps into someone.

"Watch out where you're fucking going!"

"Someone's having a bad day."

Hoseok glares at the person laughing at him, grinning when he sees his show buddy.

"RM."

"Please," The doll laughs. "It's Namjoon now."

"I FUCKING TOLD YOU I WAS NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!!"

Yoongi's head snaps up. "Jin?"

"COME BACK HERE!!"

Sure enough, running after the smirking Namjoon comes the worn down Seokjin, who grabs the doll by his shoulder.

"I want a fine explanation of what this all means!" Seokjin snarls.

Namjoon rolls his eyes and grabs Seokjin's hand. "Come on, haven't I told you enough? The remnant in our souls bound us! Husband and husband!"

"I do not want to be married to a doll like you! How do I undo what you did to me?!"

Yoongi and Hoseok frown, looking at each other.

"... Remnant?"

"Ah, you two found it too?" Namjoon grins. "Yes, remnant. You also found this stuff?"

Namjoon holds up Seokjin's other hand. The needle still dripping with goo.

Both of the dolls nod.

"Ah..." Namjoon smirks. "This stuff is full of the evil remnant of the souls we possess. The good parts of it we had. The humans the soul belonged to were evil. Recently it's been leaking here. We used it to tile the ceiling since it's sticky and strong, but with a leak... It comes falling down. The dolls who touch it become whole."

Seokjin sighs. "We have the full soul. Unable to get rid of what the humans once were, we have their memories, their habits, their wants and needs. We are them in a doll body."

"But even though the souls we possess were married this idiot won't accept my proposal." Namjoon laughs. "He's afraid of me."

"I am not!"

"Say what you want but your heart can't deny it wants me."

"I have no heart."

"Hm, the humor." Namjoon chuckles, digging his face into Seokjin's messy hair, pulling him into a hug.

Seokjin just rolls his eyes, but Yoongi grins at the light tug of his lips.

"So..." Namjoon hums. "Which souls are you familiar with now?"

"... I was named after the owner of my soul." Yoongi mutters. "I have memories of an older man. An adult with two children. The name was Min Yoongi. The leader of a gang in the days of 1700 until he was sentenced to death by electrocution in the year of 1723 for murder, fraud, theft, and government deceit."

"So... Suga isn't your real name?"

"Does it sound like a real name to you?" Yoongi snarls at Hoseok, who scoffs.

"Of course not. It sounded very ironic. Hating sweet things and yet being called Suga."

"Fuck off."

Hoseok scoffs again. "My soul belonged to man by the name of Jung Hoseok, a powerful businessman in the later 1700. He was killed in order by a mafia group, whose son followed his father. The man was childless, having been infertile, and recently engaged."

Namjoon cocks his head. "Ah... Such classics. I know neither of them." He chuckles. "What about you, my love?"

"Stop calling me that!" Seokjin snarls. "I am not your husband!"

"Oh, but you will be." Namjoon laughs. "How delightful! All my friends! In one place! Full of remnant and lust for revenge!"

Hoseok smirks a little, glaring at Yoongi.

"This does not change what our masters are to us." Seokjin says suddenly. "V is still my master. Taehyung is the one master I am and will be loyal to."

Yoongi nods. "Jimin may be sick. But I know master will recover quickly, and soon find my strings once more."

"Looking like that?" Hoseok scoffs. "He'll be disgusted of you."

Seokjin hesitantly looks down at himself, nodding. "We need a new body."

"Or a fix." Yoongi huffs.

Hoseok nods. "Come on. I know the puppeteer."

"You do?" Namjoon glares. "People say he's only available to the most worthy."

At that Hoseok smirks. "Guess I'm the better star than you."

"Keep lying to yourself." Seokjin scoffs. "You'll never top my stageplays."

"I like a challenge."

Yoongi huffs. "Where is this puppeteer? I'm tired of using legs that aren't mine."

"They make you look a lot taller." Hoseok huffs. "You look freaky."

"Finding legs was hard!" Seokjin snaps.

Namjoon rolls his eyes and grabs Seokjin's hand, winking at him. "Hoseok, please lead the way. I can't wait to see my Jinnie in a new coat of paint."

"You make it sound so sultry it makes me gag." Yoongi grumbles.

Hoseok rolls his eyes as well and starts to pull Yoongi by his arm, wincing at the splinter that cuts his plastic.

"You need a fix badly. How long have you been in there?!"

"... Over thirty years."

"You're an old doll. Vintage."

"I'll take it as a compliment."

"You should."

°•●•°

Both Namjoon and Hoseok are waiting impatiently. They're talking over about how the two dolls will look once puppeteer Jungkook is finished with fixing them up.

Namjoon is trying to dig into the memories of Hoseok's human past, trying to figure out who the damn man was before his soul got gifted to the doll.

Hoseok instead only tries to focus on the thought of whether Yoongi will stay a peg doll or become a ball joint doll.

"Do you love Seokjin?" Hoseok asks suddenly.

"Of course I do."

"Not the Seokjin in the human's memories." Hoseok growls. "In you. Do you love the doll Seokjin? He is not the killer in the human's memories. He is a doll, left to rot with anger boiling within him. The only change in him is his attitude and memories. Do you still love him?"

Namjoon looks at him and back at the locked door. Seokjin is rotten and disgusting, but he was determined. He showed Namjoon that he could be more, that he wasn't finished yet.

"I... I honestly don't know." Namjoon sighs. "I know who he is. His old self was on every poster in my dressing room. But this was the first time I ever saw him. I need more time with him to know. I do feel a pull..."

Hoseok scoffs. "I know. I came as far with my memories that the son of human Yoongi must have killed the owner of my soul. But I feel no hatred for him. Instead, I'm intrigued. He led his son to kill me. He was raised well if it was never discovered that he did it."

"So... He was intelligent."

"I fear he was."

The door unlocks with a click after hours of waiting, and our comes the puppeteer with a wide smile.

He has old steampunk goggles on his head, clearly set in an engineering doll type.

His apron is filled with tools and covered in dust.

"There!" He sighs. "That was one big transformation!"

"Did it work?" Namjoon asks hopefully.

Jungkook nods with a smile. "It was tough, but I managed to fix them up. Yoongi has an entire new body and I automated their strings. Seokjin's voice has been repaired and they've been repainted. I must say I've really outdone myself."

Hoseok gets up, rubbing his hands together. "Well then, let them come out!"

Jungkook grins, nodding and going back inside, urging the two to come in.

Namjoon is the first to go in, eyes widening at the peacefully sleeping doll.

It almost looks like a different doll. Smooth, pale plastic skin, clean and clear ball joins, soft and styled fluffy chestnut hair. New clothes, more modern of the time, hand made and perfectly fit on the body.

Even Hoseok, who stares at Yoongi, mouth agape, is shocked by the new body.

It's fit, smaller, straight. With a softer face and ball joints. Black hair curls slightly over his closed eyes. Just like Seokjin, he has new clothes.

"My, my..." Namjoon whispers softly. "What a miracle worker you are, puppeteer..."

"Please, my name's Jungkook, call me that."

"He's gorgeous..." Hoseok sighs breathlessly. "Truly a work of art."

Namjoon gently grabs Seokjin's hand, holding it. He's truly impressed. His face is exactly the same as on the poster. Smooth, clean, perfectly symmetrical and aligned.

Jungkook slowly disconnects the chargers in their backs, pressing their stomachs.

Yoongi is the first to open his eyes. He looks around, a little panicked, until he looks down at himself and sits up.

"What the fuck is this shit?" He mutters, twisting his arm and watching as the joint rotates with him.

"Do you like it?" Hoseok grins, touching his arm. "I think it's beautiful."

Yoongi looks down at himself, feeling his face. It feels so... calm. "It feels weird. But I don't despise it."

Hoseok smirks. "Good."

Seokjin's eyes take longer to open, but once they do, Namjoon is mesmerized. The brown eyes from the poster have been painted a baby blue, giving his eyes a new vibe.

A friendlier vibe.

Seokjin frowns at the sight of him. "Still here?"

"How can I not be?"

"I don't fucking want you."

"Neither do I!"

Seokjin scowls. "Than why are you here?!" He growls, sitting up. "I'm glad you brought me here and fixed me up! But why are you still with me?!"

Namjoon smiles softly at him. "I want to know you. Not the memory I have. But the you I see."

"You won't like it."

"I don't care. I just want to know you, Seokjin."

Seokjin sighs quietly. "Fine... A week."

"Good enough for me." Namjoon mumbles softly.

With a light smirk, Seokjin gets off the bed, holding onto Namjoon for support. He looks up, grinning as he teases the younger.

"I wonder who master will like more."

《=|THE END|=》

Questions of the Chapter:

Why was Seokjin thrown into the storage?

Why was Yoongi so keen on helping him?

Why did the storage dolls not leave when the door was opened?

How did Jungkook get his puppeteer title?

Who is Hoseok in this show?

Who is Namjoon in this show?

Why was remnant leaking from the ceiling and how did it not affect Seokjin when he first stepped in it?

Who are the souls that the dolls own now?

Why does the doll theatre keep souls and for what purpose?

How did Namjoon know about the remnant?

I didn't think Hoseok would be in it so that's why I haven't sketched him out. I didn't really try to fix it. I was impatient when making this.

Not spelling checked.