The Barbie Doll

He’s in a bad mood and she’s talking so much, so he obviously chooses to not mind what she says. “What was that? I didn’t quite catch it, the smell of plastic gives me headache,”

“It’s certainly better than the stench of failure positively wafting off of you. And, if I were you, I wouldn’t start fights you can’t win.”

Joori laughed despite herself, rolling her eyes a little bit. “We really do, don’t we. We’re both nightmares. Everyone who has to work with us deserves a raise,” she muttered, sighing deeply. Joori stared at Ginny with a worried expression, her fingers lacing around the elders and squeezing a little. “I never said you weren’t. I just……you shouldn’t have to put up with it is all I’m saying.” Her face fell a little bit and she shook her head quickly. “I wasn’t trying to do that at all…..” she trailed off. The kiss took her off guard. As someone who’d exchanged many a kiss in her life, she’d thought she didn’t like kissing, but clearly it just had to do with who she was kissing, because this was nice. She enjoyed this one.

“I’m nice sometimes. I think that evens everything out pretty nicely,” Ginny said with a roll of her eyes--Joori was right. Their manager especially deserved something for putting up with the singer. Once their fingers were intertwined, it was like Ginny’s hand because a vice; she refused to let go, her thumb running over the back of Joori’s hand gently. “Yeah, well, I don’t care. I’ll put up with it if I wanna put up with it. You can’t make my decisions for me, even if you think I’m making the wrong one.” Pulling away, she rested her head on Joori’s shoulder, closing her eyes. “You’re stuck with me,” she mumbled quietly, sighing.

Hansol is in a particular sour mood, there’s no reason other than him being his usual moody self. At the moment all he wants is to be completely alone but Ginny doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. There’s a groan at the back of his throat “Didn’t you understand? Get lost.” he mumbled, not bothering to look up at her.

“Do you understand?” Ginny snapped, turning to look at him, her eyes dancing. “First of all, I was here first. Second of all, fuck off. Third of all, even if you were here first, I don’t need to listen to a damn thin you say. If you want to be alone, then lock yourself in a closet. I’m not moving. Solve your own damn problems because I’m not moving just because you’re feeling moody or whatever the fuck is wrong.”

“I haven’t been in the zoo forever. Let’s go to the zoo… I think it’s time you reunite with your family.”

Her eyes narrowed threateningly as she leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. She wasn’t dignifying him with a response. He wasn’t worth it. Plus, her wrath was too much for anyone to handle, and there was no sense in making his life miserable over this.

Maybe it was just a concept that Rian would never understand. Not to say that she grew up friendless, but when the majority of her life was spent in hospitals, her list of friends that she was actually still friends with and not related to was slim. “As a UNION member? No way, I doubt it. They can’t even take a shit without those groupies tweeting about what they had for lunch earlier, if he has a secret life he needs to start sharing his tricks with the rest of us. We’re all in this mess together,” she mentioned with a humored snort. As much as she disliked to swear, the situation was appropriate for it. “That’s even? Like, that’s pretty forgiving if you ask me. I don’t know if I want to see what kind of wrath the next person faces when they cross you.”

“If he gave away his tricks, they wouldn’t work anymore. They’d get passed around and somehow the media would accidentally find it and then everything would blow up. I mean, if he does have a secret double life, I don’t blame him from keeping it secret. Except from me. He’s not supposed to keep secrets from me,” she added as an afterthought, crossing her arms a little. She had ‘made up’ with Kyu, but she was still pretty pissed. “I was in a good mood. Plus, the set he got me was the expensive illustrated set so....” she sighed. “He definitely knows how to win me over.”

There were times when Yewon felt a bit awkward around her members; more specifically, around Ginny and Joori.  The two were a lot more serious than she was in terms of personality.  While she was the group’s sunshine, the two often acted like they would much rather be under a rock.  And although she had gotten used to their clashing personalities, there were still times when she would actively avoid the two grumpier members because she knew that they wouldn’t appreciate being around her.  It never really hurt her feelings, just made it a little difficult to bond with them.  Maybe that was why, when they were in good moods, she went out of her way to hang around them – especially Ginny, whose good moods were often rare.  “Am I really that special?”  She knew it was a silly little comment, but couldn’t bite back her grin, “I’ll definitely nap with you if it means we can cuddle.  I’d be stupid to pass up such an opportunity.”  With a laugh, Yewon shook her head slightly, “No, no, it needs to come from your heart.  That’s what makes it so special.”

Haven had a system. After seven years together, that was understandable--it made sense that all the girls would be used to each other and how they all worked by now, and would be able to adapt accordingly. And really, Ginny wouldn’t want to live with anyone else. They were all sisters by this point. Better than sisters. Many of them had shitty families, and these girls made up for that. They were real family. Ginny had never been one to get sentimental or mushy, but she genuinely believed that. Haven was her family. “You know the answer to that,” Ginny replied with a little roll of her eyes, trying to bite back a smile. “Exactly. Plus, I’m comfy. It’ll be nice. It’s a date, then--my next cheat day is yours too.” Ginny raised an eyebrow, shaking her head. “It’s going to come from my brain. My heart has long since frozen over by this point. Wouldn’t want to be too mean in my speech.”

“You haven’t done anything, either! You were mistreated by your parents to the point where you changed everything about yourself. You’re not at fault. They’re at fault for being absolutely shitty parents,” Joori argued, shaking her head. She locked eyes with Ginny, her words caught in her throat for the moment. “I—-” she murmured, he eyes widening. She stopped crying, mostly in shock, trying to process the new information. “Jin—” she murmured, finally collecting her thoughts and shaking her head. “I…..Jin, I love you too, I just…….no. You don’t deserve to be caught up in this. You deserve to be happy. I’m sorry I just….I don’t want you to have to put up with this.”

“Whatever. Nothing was either of our faults, then. We were both fucked over majorly and we both need to come up with better coping methods than the ones we have,” Ginny grumbled. She sighed deeply, regretting bringing her feelings up as she watched Joori’s face. She might have just ruined one of her dearest friendships. But when Joori spoke, however, she smiled a little, shaking her head. “Oh, shut the fuck up. I’m happy around you, you dolt. I’ll put up with it as long as it takes to get you out. Don’t you fucking tell me you love me and then tell me no, Ri. I barely have a heart--don’t stomp on the little bit I’ve got left.” She rolled her eyes, smiling a little before leaning in and kissing Joori chastely on the lips. 

Maybe the main dancer and Ginny were not the closest members in Haven, but it was still a relationship that was very dear to her.  They never really spent too much time alone together, often just hanging out with the rest of the group, but they had also known each other since the elder was only fifteen years old.  They had trained together, spent time before their debut by each other’s sides, and it really did mean a lot to Yewon.  Even if there were times when she felt a bit insecure about their relationship, by the end of the day, she knew that the two of them were like sisters; maybe even more so than some of the other members.  “But you’re doing it because you love me, right?”  The younger teased, batting her eyelashes in an overly cute manner before dropping the act with a laugh. “I guess, maybe if it’s with you, napping wouldn’t be so bad.  Maybe we could even cuddle a little,” once again, her words were finished off with a giggle, showing that she was just joking around… even if she was quite the cuddler.  “Right.  If you’re forced to seem too nice, then it won’t come from you.”

Ginny often felt like she didn’t fit in with most of Haven’s membership. First, she was quite a bit older than most of them; she was coming up on her 28th birthday and the closest person to that was Joori--who was only 26. Second, she wasn’t as talented as the others. They all really shined, and while she was a decent vocalist, she was nothing special. She wasn’t pretty. Or she was, but no one acknowledged it--instead trying to bring her down for her surgeries. And her personality made her stick out like a sore thumb. It’d been a long road, but she was glad she could finally somewhat get along with the members. Even if she’d never admit to even liking them. “If you say so,” Ginny murmured, glancing sideways at Yewon with a little smile. “I hope you know you’re, like, the only person I’d cuddle with. And only if it meant you would take a nap. I’ll take one for the team. Exactly. if I sound to nice, everyone will think someone wrote it for me, and that won’t do, now will it?”

“I’m not a victim if it’s my fault everything is like this,” Joori sobbed, shaking her head. The fact of the matter was, if she didn’t look like this, if she didn’t conduct herself like this, no one would even be interested. “I don’t want to get more people involved. That’s just more people who can ruin my career. Haven can’t lose another member, JInahn. we wouldn’t survive that.” Taking a deep breath, she tried to stop the tears. “I love you too. I just……It’s my lot in life. There’s nothing we can do.”

“Oh, please. It’s not your fault. And even if it was, you don’t want it to go on any longer, and it still is. You’re a victim. These fucking people are hurting you, and I hate it. You don’t deserve any of this, and you’ve done nothing to bring it upon yourself.” She rolled her eyes in frustration. “The people who work here want to help you. They’re not out to get you, goddamn it! And even if you got in shit, we wouldn’t abandon you. If these girls have stuck with me of all people for years, then they’ll stand with you without question.” Ginny pulled away, wiping the tears and looking Joori in the eye. “I don’t think you understand,” she murmured, tacking on an exasperated ‘Yoo Jinahn, you have shitty-ass timing’ under her breath. “I love you. As a Haven member and a friend and that shit, sure, but I actually love you. And even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t want to see you like this. This is not your lot in life. I refuse to think so. You are strong, and kind, and genuine. You deserve so much more than this bullshit.”

Although she would never voice it aloud, it was almost a personal achievement to Yewon that she had managed to get on the elder’s good side.  Of course, it was difficult not to get along with someone you were in a group with; at least, not in a sense that you could act upon it.  If group members didn’t like each other, they still had to act like they did.  And for that reason, in the beginning, the dancer had worried that maybe Ginny was just putting on an act.  But then the two of them would have their moments, as short and sweet as they could be, and she was reassured on that front.  “Ah, unnie, no! You know I don’t nap,” the word was almost laced with disgust.  It was an activity that just wasted time.  Why sleep during the day when there’s a set time for it at night?  “Besides, I don’t take cheat days.  I can’t afford to.”  She almost hummed with contentment at the skinship, flashing a bright smile.  “Nice for you.  I wouldn’t want to put you out too much.”

Ginny didn’t understand people who claimed they didn’t genuinely hate anyone. Ginny hated a lot of people. A ton of people. She had hated half her group initially, and while she had come around and mellowed out over the years, Yewon had never really been one that Ginny hated. She’d been mildly annoyed with the sunny demeanor the other always seemed to have, but she’d never genuinely hated her. Which was really quite a feat--Ginny hated pretty much everyone for at least a while before getting to know them. “And you know I don’t have civil conversations, and yet here I am. It wasn’t a request. Everyone can find time for a cheat day if they really put their mind to it,” the elder said stubbornly, shrugging her shoulders. “Fair enough. Plus, you’d want it to sound genuine, so...”

“Like I said– I didn’t find out about it until like, two months ago,” Rian replied. Granted, her constant travels were more to blame, plus not being a fan of completely bombarding herself into others business, but it was never fun to be the last one to find out anything. “I don’t know about a secret kid. Wouldn’t that require a lot of hiding, unless there were some other secrets going on?” She mused, eyebrows furrowed together until her train of thought returned back to its original tracks. “You still haven’t told me how he made it up to you.”

Ginny shrugged. Yeah, she supposed that was true, but Kyu was her best friend. He was like her brother. She’d been friends with him since she was three years old. She didn’t think it so wrong to expect him to tell her things as important as this. Especially since she told him everything--he was the only person she told everything too. “I bet he has a whole damn secret life without me. What an ass,” Ginny grumbled, pouting a little bit. “Oh. Yeah. He bought me a pizza. And got me gift cards for more free food. And bought me a special edition set of the Harry Potter series. So we’re even I guess.”

Tears welled up in Joori’s eyes. She squeezed Ginny tighter, hiding her head in Ginny’s chest as she desperately held back tears. “They…..they won’t help. They’ll just scold me for letting it happen, especially for so long…….and say it’s too long gone. There’s nothing they can do, Jin. Nothing.” She was screwed. There was nothing she could do. This was the hand she’d be dealt.

“If they scold you, I’ll end their lives. You’re a victim. You don’t deserve to be scolded. You could probably press harassment charges on half these guys too, and that’d be enough to scare the rest off. You just have to take the step, Ri. It won’t stop until you do.” Holding Joori tight to her chest, she murmured, “I love you and I don’t want them to hurt you anymore. They need to stop. You need to stop. I’ll go with you to a PR manager or the CEO or something if you need me to.”

“An extremely long time!  Maybe even months,”  Yewon replied with a smile and a nod.  While group activities were nice, she felt it was important to spend time with her members individually as well.  It helped strengthen their relationship as a whole when they were all close on a more personal level. And while she had spent most of her time with Rian and Yuhye in the last month, one being her roommate and the other a part of the same subunit, she found that she had not been alone with Ginny since their last promotion.  Solo activities always got in the way.  “And it would be nice to get out of the dorm and not end up in a practice room for once.  I’m working myself to death, unnie,” she let out a dramatic sigh, leaning her head gently on the elder’s shoulder, “promise me you’ll say something nice at my funeral, even if you don’t want to.”

Ginny hated people. People had never been nice to her, and they never would be. She didn’t understand; if they thought an idol was ugly, they pressured them to get plastic surgery to fix that, but any plastic surgery was frowned upon and shamed. Of course, Ginny had gotten hers as kind of a ‘fuck you’ to hr parents, but it was still ridiculous. She was getting tons of hate for something she did six years ago. Haven was her exception, though. She loved them. They were her family, even if she refused to talk to them half the time. “You need a day to just nap. Fuck all the schedules. Next cheat day I take, you’re taking it with me. You’re laying down and being lazy and napping,” Ginny announced. She patted Yewon’s head gently. “Actually nice, or nice for me?”