Episode 1: Hugging a Sunlit Rabbit Doll

After 10 p.m., as the cold spring rain lightly tapping on the window frame subsided, the world sank into deep, quiet silence. In a small two-story attic in a residential area on the outskirts of Seoul, ten-year-old boy Ha-jin was curled up in an old but cozy polka dot microfiber blanket, pulling the blanket up to his chin. All the lights in the room were turned off, and only the small orange sleeping light in the corner of the desk gently hugged the corners of the room. In Hajin's arms, as always, the old velvet rabbit doll 'Bonnie' was tightly held.

Bonnie was a one-of-a-kind handmade doll made by Ha-jin's maternal grandmother, stitch by stitch, when Ha-jin was only three years old. The yellow velvet fur, as warm as dandelion petals soaked in sunlight, was stained with stains from Ha-jin's hands over the past seven years, causing it to become fluffy and gently worn. At the end of his right ear, the marks of light blue stitches that his grandmother had firmly added were clearly visible, and there were small dimples embroidered with pink wool on both cheeks. And in the very center of the dark navy blue wool jacket Bonnie was wearing, there was a small anchor-shaped vintage brass button with a subtle shine that had been attached to it from her grandmother's old sewing bag.

“Bonnie… something really upsetting happened at school today.” Hajin looked into Bonnie's round, black plastic eyes and whispered quietly in a throaty voice. This day, it was art class for third grade elementary school students. In the 'Drawing the Most Precious Treasure' class, Ha-jin used crayons to draw on drawing paper the blue jacket and kind eyes of Bonnie, who stays by her side day and night. However, Minwoo, the mischievous friend sitting in the back seat, and several other children looked at Hajin's drawing paper and giggled and pointed.

‘Hey, Kang Ha-jin! Do you still play with dolls? Even though he is ten years old, he sleeps like a newborn, hugging a teddy bear and a bunny doll! 'Errericollerri!'

‘Look at the stitches in your ear. 'Didn't you just pick it up from the old doll trash can?' As the children's heartless laughter spread throughout the classroom, Ha-jin's face turned bright red and she lowered her head, holding the drawing paper to her chest. I felt like tears were about to fall, but I managed to hold them back. Hajin couldn't even bring up what happened during the day because his mother, who came home from work late in the evening, was wearing a patch, saying her back was hurting from standing at the supermarket checkout counter all day. In the end, the sadness and loneliness that I had buried deep in my heart without being able to tell it to anyone were turning into tears and soaking the pillow feathers now that I was lying on the bed in the dark attic.

“I think you’re the best person in the world... but why do kids make fun of me? You’re my only friend that my grandmother made for me with all her heart...” Hajin sniffled and hugged Bonnie tighter to his chest. Bonnie's fur exuded a mixture of the soft scent of sunlight, the lavender scent of her mother's fabric softener, and the smell of her grandmother's old closet. It was a time when my eyelids were slowly becoming heavy due to sadness. Slurp-. The dark clouds completely cleared, and bright full moonlight poured in through the wooden windows of the attic's triangular roof.

The moonlight was not ordinary white light. It was a dazzlingly soft and brilliant milky white shine, as if silver powder had been dissolved in milk. The moonlight spread a gentle silver carpet over Ha-jin's bed sheets and shined directly on Bonnie's small chest in Ha-jin's arms. At that moment, something unbelievable happened. Tick, tick…. The small brass anchor button in the center of Bonnie's royal blue jacket began to emit a warm amber light and make a tiny, rhythmic ticking sound. At the same time, a small, warm heartbeat, like the heart of a live baby rabbit, came from the cold doll's chest to Hajin's palm.

"……uh?" Hajin opened his eyes wide in surprise and took Bonnie out of his arms. Parrrr. Bonnie's long yellow velvet ears fluttered and trembled slightly. Then, the eyes that I thought were black plastic buttons sparkled like vibrant jewels, and Bonnie blinked! Bonnie lifted her two short front paws, gave a long yawn, brushed her butt off the bed sheets, and jumped up easily.

“Whew! I got scolded because the seams on my jacket were a little stiff. Hello, Hajin!” The small, plump velvet rabbit looked up at Hajin and smiled. The voice was clear and kind, like a glass bead rolling around. Hajin was out of breath and hesitated, leaning his butt back against the headboard. I rubbed my eyes hard with my hands, but it wasn't a dream. A palm-sized rabbit doll was standing on two legs, adjusting its blue jacket.

“Look, see…? Are you… are you talking to me? Are you really alive and moving?” “Hehe, then it’s fake? Touch my ears, are they warm?” Bonnie jumped up and sat on Hajin's lap. When Hajin lightly touched Bonnie's right ear with her trembling fingers, soft and cozy warmth spread through her fingertips and throughout her body.

“Oh my... this is ridiculous! How does the doll move?” “It’s true that I am a doll, but you have never treated me like one.” Bonnie tilted her head and squeezed Hajin's fingers with her small cotton pad. "Ever since the day you first came into this room when you were three, you've always put your ear to my heart and told me your heart, whether I was happy or sad. When I fell, you held my ear and cried, and when I ate a delicious candy, you put it to my mouth first. And do you know what magic my late grandmother placed on the anchor button on my chest when she made me?"

"magic……?" “Yes. ‘When our Hajin has the most lonely and tearful night in the world, this button becomes her heart and wakes up to wipe away Hajin’s tears.’ That's how you prayed. So I woke up tonight because you desperately needed me." At Bonnie's sincere words, the tip of Hajin's nose twitched again and clear tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

“Bonnie… did you hear what I said earlier about being upset?” “You heard everything! You don’t know how upset I am.” Bonnie put her hands on her hips and snorted like she was pouting. “That boy, Minwoo, is such an idiot that he doesn’t know anything! What a wonderful picture you drew! You even drew every wrinkle in my blue jacket and painted the blackness of my eyes with so much care. I was the coolest rabbit gentleman in the world on your drawing paper. So there’s no need to be discouraged by other kids teasing me, Hajin.”

“Really…? Is it okay for you to make fun of me because I’m a baby?” “Of course! People who know how to love precious things until the end become the bravest adults in the world. You are the child with the warmest and most wonderful heart in the world.” Bonnie stood on tiptoe and gently wiped away the tears that had flowed down Hajin's cheeks with her soft, fluffy cheeks. The touch was so tickling and warm that Hajin burst into laughter without even realizing it.

“Thank you, Bonnie. When you said that, I felt like a heavy rock had been lifted off my chest.” “Hehe, now Hajin’s smile has returned! But Hajin, isn’t it too much of a waste to just sleep like this tonight?” Bonnie pointed toward the attic window and squinted.

“It’s a waste? What do you mean?” “Tonight is the opening of the ‘Moonlight Gate to Dreamland,’ which opens only once a year on full moon nights when the moonlight is the clearest! Look out the window over there.” Hajin got up from the bed holding Bonnie and walked to the window. When I carefully pushed open the window, a dazzling miracle unfolded in the refreshing, cold night air. Starting from the attic window sill to the round full moon high in the night sky, there was a long, gentle staircase of clouds tightly woven with hundreds of millions of silver stardust. On both sides of the stairs, small, glowing fireflies were dancing and waiting for the two people.

“Is that... a cloud staircase? Can we walk on it?” “Of course! Take my hand, Hajin. Tonight, join me on an adventure beyond the clouds into the starry Milky Way. It holds all the beautiful dreams and secrets you can imagine.” Bonnie stretched out her small front paw towards Hajin. Hajin felt his heart pounding. Forgetting all his sadness and loneliness at school, the brilliant flame of adventure burned in the boy's eyes.

"Yes, Bonnie! I want to come with you!" Hajin held Bonnie's hand tightly, and stepped carefully across the window sill softly bathed in moonlight onto the first silver cloud staircase. The countless stars that decorated the night sky were waving affectionately towards the boy and the rabbit's journey into the great dreamland. Just before crossing the window sill, Ha-jin suddenly looked back at today's picture diary spread out on her desk. Drawing paper densely covered with black and dark gray crayons and crushed beyond recognition.

“Bonnie… Today during art class, the teacher’s face darkened when she saw my drawing. My partner Minwoo giggled and said, ‘Hajin’s drawing looks like a goblin’s den’… Why can’t I draw a colorful and pretty rainbow like everyone else?”

As Ha-jin's shoulders shrank slightly, Bonnie, wearing a blue jacket, gently stroked Ha-jin's cheek with her soft cotton hand. “Hajin, do you know why the night sky is colored with deep darkness? It is so that I can embrace the most brilliant starlight in the world more dazzlingly in my arms. Your black crayons were not sadness, but were the canvas of the deepest and warmest night sky on which you will soon be able to create your own dazzling stars.”

The moment Bonnie's sweet voice reached his ears, the ice block of inferiority complex that had been coldly stuck in Hajin's heart melted away. “Is that really true, Bonnie?”

“Of course! When we return from our trip to the Milky Way in Dreamland tonight, your sketchbook will be filled with the most dazzling rainbow stars in the entire universe!”

Hajin smiled brightly and nodded. The boy held Bonnie's soft hand tightly so as not to let go, and took his first courageous step toward the silver cloud staircase in the night sky.