baby doll - nct, markhyuck

🎀 epilogue 🎀

12 years later

maria coughed as a cloud of dust flew in her head once she pulled the box out of the cupboard.

she carefully placed it down to sneeze a few times.

she hated ordering boxes in places that were dusty because they hadn't been cleaned for years.

"maria? are you done with the attic?"

"not yet!" she replied, making sure that the cupboard was empty before looking down at the box that had her have an allergic reaction to dust.

"call me when you're done with it! i'll help you bring the boxes down!" the same voice spoke again.

"okay, dad!"

dad.

that's what she had started to call jaesun after his wedding with her mother, 12 years ago.

and honesly, it felt so good...

the void inside her chest created by the lack of a fatherly figure in her childhood had been filled when she was turning 9, by jaesun whom her mother had married.

it had been a bit strange at first, calling someone 'dad' when they weren't your real dad, but she had gotten used to it.

she had loved every second she had been able to spend with jaesun, her new dad.

she had loved being cuddled between her two parents while the three of them watched tv.

she had loved being an only child and having both parents' attention constantly on her.

yeah, only child...

a few months after the wedding, mark and donghyuck had rent a small apartment, because mark and him wanted to have their own privacy – which wasn't possible in a house with two adults and two younger siblings. so, mark had left.

and soon after, when maria turned 10, sungchan had left for his studies to a prestigious university in japan. him and shotaro – his best friend who had now become his boyfriend – were so happy when they had received their letters.

so... from 11 years old to now, she had been living as an only child.

she had just turned 20, and as much as she wanted to stay with her parents forever, she knew that she would need to leave them alone and find herself a boyfriend to start her own family...

a boyfriend... if only she could find one... she didn't want a boyfriend. she wanted her haechan... that doll was the perfect representation of what she wanted...

she had even told mark about it: don't you think haechan would be a perfect lover if he was human?

yeah, this was what she thought. haechan would be the best boyfriend she'll ever be able to find. but he was just a doll, right? so, she would never find her haechan...

quite ironical to know that mark had found his haechan: donghyuck, a human-sized copy of her haechan.

maria pushed those thoughts away and ordered a few boxes around the attic, making sure that nothing was missing before calling for her dad.

"dad! you can come!" she yelled. "and can you bring some scotch to close the cardboard boxes, please?!"

yeah, sadly, they were moving out.

this beautiful house that held all of maria's happy memories was going to become a hollow of the past, a beautiful memory itself...

the whole district had to be renovated, and the people living there needed to move out to another part of the town. maria was devastated at the idea of leaving her home.