Day IV: Revealed

Unfortunately, Yunho is called away before breakfast even ends. Changmin can only try to break into the secret room by himself.

He studies the layout of the room - as if he wasn't familiar enough with it anyways. The ceiling is a little too high for Changmin to reach, even standing on a chair.

Gears in his head whirring, Changmin decides to risk it. He sets the chair on the table, carefully climbs up, and precariously balances on the chair.

His waist nearly twists in half as he slams his hands on the ceiling to stop the entire tower from collapsing.

As everything settles, Changmin lets out a slow, shaky breath and turns his attention to the trapdoor.

Honestly, it's no more than a crack in the ceiling, so Changmin has no clue how Yunho managed to get it open. Another question pops to mind: how did he enter and exit the room without waking Changmin up?

Stopping to think about this, Changmin nearly doesn't notice that his tower is toppling over again. This time, with a yell, he claws desperately at the wall, hoping in his panic to find a grip. Fortunately, he grabs onto the molding between the ceiling and the wall and manages to save himself from a painful, embarrassing death.

Changmin stays in that position for a while, breathing heavily, still shocked. He could have died, could have been a human pancake on the floor by now, because he was thinking stupid thoughts.

Wait, no. It wasn't a stupid thought. Changmin grins suddenly, finding the adrenaline to leap down from his tower. He immediately regrets the pain in his feet, but he knows that he has found a breakthrough. It just involves a thorough investigation of every single room in the castle.

Unlike last time, however, Changmin knows where to start.

Day IV: Snapped

Changmin knows that it's near impossible to enter the trapdoor within his own room, which means two things.

One, the entrance is elsewhere, and two, Yunho was lying about it being Jaejoong's favorite place, considering Jaejoong never would have been able to access it from his room, which makes absolutely no sense.

But the question now arises: why would Yunho lie? Did it hold some unspeakable secret? Had he known that Changmin would find out? Was it a test?

Acting casual, Changmin exits his room. Sweeping a glance around to make sure that no one is around, he tries Yunho's door. It's locked.

Another glance, this time more furtive, and Changmin pulls out a pin, swiftly picking the lock. He enters and closes the door behind him, letting out a relieved breath.

The shock only comes once he turns around. Yunho is already inside the room, and it seems like he's been waiting for a while, judging by how low the fire has burnt.

"Congratulations, Shim Changmin," he greets, standing up. His red and gold coat gleams in the firelight as he walks towards Changmin, hands held out.

Some instinct tells Changmin not to trust Yunho this time, so he opens the door and tumbles back out, right into the arms of Junsu and Yoochun.

"Oh dear," Junsu sighs, gently pushing Changmin behind him. "Not again."

"Third time this week so far," Yoochun grumbles as they slow advance towards Yunho. "I better get a promotion soon."

Suddenly, Yunho lunges, flicking his wrists to reveal the knives hidden in his sleeves. Junsu and Yoochun dodge and circle behind him. Yunho rounds on them with a snarl, but a figure suddenly darts past Changmin to jab something into the upper part of Yunho's arm.

"Oh, Boa, you're early today," Junsu remarks lightly, dragging Yunho's body away from the fire. Boa only scowls, tucking away her syringe, and turns to Changmin.

"Sit down if you want answers," she orders quite brashly. Changmin sits, not so much that he wants answers - which he does - but more so because he's a bit scared of Boa.

Yoochun rekindles the fire, and the three servants face Changmin, debating amongst themselves when to start the story from.

Finally, Boa gets the upper hand and hums in victory.

"So," she begins. "You already know that Yunho was sixteen when Heechul finally came to see him. The bastard." She snorts, and Junsu nudges her lightly.

"His powers were completely in control," he continues in a soft voice. "But his mind was not. He kept seeing Jaejoong in the oddest places. The cellars, the bathroom, the kitchen, basically everywhere where something horrible might happen."

Yoochun glares at him and picks up where he left off. "Not even Heechul could explain it as anything but mental instability. It was a sad time for the king. Both sons lost, one to death, one to hell. Of course, with Heechul helping, they contained Yunho's bad side as well as they could. He could go years without an episode. But then he found out about you."

Boa huffs annoyedly. "He grew obsessed with you. You were all he would talk about, every single ing day. Heechul knew that he couldn't stop him, so he told him all he knew. Almost."

Junsu sighs a bit. "He left out the most important part: where Jaejoong's spring was. Yunho drove himself crazy trying to find that spring, but by then, Heechul had already left. That's when the bad side started showing up again, and that's when he carved out that tunnel. His good side thought it was his brother's, and his bad side insisted that it was the spring."

Yoochun's eyes darken as he continues. "His bad side wanted to perform a ritual to reunite the elements. That, in turn, would bring Jaejoong back, or so he hoped."

"We found out just in time," Boa says, crossing her arms. "If it hadn't been for us, you'd be dead by now."

Changmin doesn't get a chance to respond before a blow on the back of his head knocks him out.

Day V: Awakening

There is a throbbing pain in his hea d,right where his head touches the hard surface beneath his body.

Slowly, carefully, Changmin opens his eyes just a slit to judge his whereabouts. It's so dark that he ends up just opening his eyes all the way.

It's obviously a dungeon of some sort, dark stones lit dimly with torches. He is chained to the floor, and so are Junsu, Yoochun, and Boa.

"Very well." Yunho's cold voice echoes through the chamber as he strolls in. "This is just as well that I have more sacrifices."

He stops and bends down. Changmin strains his neck to try to see what he's doing, but a neck restraint keeps him down.

Yunho chuckles creepily, walls amplifying the sound, and Junsu moans in pain. Boa clicks her tongue in disapproval.

"Jung Yunho,what is the meaning of this?" she demands, glaring at him. "Unfasten us this instant."

Slowly, Yunho bends down to look into Boa's eyes. Suddenly, he shows a cold smile.

"My dearest Boa," he says, each syllable clear and deliberate. "I love you, you know, but now I have to kill you, if only for that comment."

At that moment, Yoochun yells out, hoarsely,"Yunho, stop! If you have anything, come at me, don't take it out on her!"

Yunho raises his eyebrows and stands up, dusting off his hands. From the corner of his eye Changmin sees him walking over to Yoochun.

"Such nobility, Park Yoochun. Very well, let us start, then!" Yunho exclaims gleefully, every inch the madman that Changmin had heard about, unfortunately right before he was abducted.

Boa splutters in rage. "Don't make him pay for my actions!" she seethes, struggling desperately against the metal restraints. "Jung Yunho, if you have any guts, you will kill me!!"

Unfortunately, Yunho hums to himself and heats a knife over the fire until it turns bright red. "Dear Boa," he sighs, turning the dagger around. "My friend Yoochun has already volunteered, and I am afraid that I can only take one such volunteer."

Both Changmin and Junsu are much too scared to make any noise in fear of losing their own lives. Boa curses, trying to glare at them, but does not say anything else.

Yoochun, despite his words, lets out a whimper of fear. "Why, Yunho?" he whispers, eyes following the knife. "Yunho, we're friends..."

Yunho smiles brightly, touching the tip of the dagger to Yoochun's sternum. "No," he replies. "No, Park Yoochun, you are my sacrifice."

Yoochun's screams echo around the chamber, and Changmin tries to block out the sounds of his sobbing, his agonizing pain,turning his neck as far away as he possibly can. Junsu starts crying, and Boa begins her shouting again. Changmin, unbidden, feels tears running down his face. A sound of slashing, and then Yoochun falls silent.

Just barely moments later, the door bursts open, and Yunho is thrown back by a flash of purple light. Another beam of light, this time red, and Yunho stops moving.

Someone curses, and clothes rustle. Changmin feels his neck restraint being lifted away, then his arms and legs, and someone pulls him up.

Boa is still screaming at Yunho, and Junsu cannot stop crying. A tall man with long hair and a blue robe pulls her into an embrace. Mechanically, Changmin turns to his savior.

"How are you?" the mage asks quietly, dark eyes calm but alert. "I'm Kyuhyun, here to save you."

Wordlessly, Changmin points to his companion, still murmuring soft words into Boa's ear.

"Heechul," Kyuhyun answers simply. "All right, come on, let's get out of here."

He helps Changmin to his feet, but suddenly,all Changmin can see is Yunho.

Sweet, beautiful Jung Yunho who lies motionless on the floor. Terrible, awestriking Yunho who just wanted his brother back.

"Yunho," he rasps. Kyuhyun snorts, shaking his head derisively.

"We'll take care of him," he tells Changmin. "Don't worry about it."

"Don't hurt him..." Changmin murmurs, eyelids drooping down.

Day VI: Calming

Changmin wakes up in his room. Oddly enough, Yunho sits at the foot of the bed, seemingly asleep. As soon as Changmin shifts, however, Yunho's head snaps up.

"Changmin?" he asks worriedly, standing up. "Um, I-I don't have an excuse. I'm sorry, though." His eyes glisten, and he fidgets with the clasp of his cloak. "Perhaps you should go back."

Changmin doesn't say anything. After one too many seconds of silence, Yunho turns around, grabbing the door handle.

"Yoochun."

Yunho turns back around. Changmin clears his throat. "What... how is he?"

this is where i left off. unfortunately, i will be taking a break from aff (feel free to check out my explanation here). this is also why i decided to upload the rest of the updates to this story in one chapter (they're all really short so it's not a long read). i'm sorry for leaving off here haha i hate cliffhangers tbh but i will definitely consider a fantasy au for them (like i said, i had ideas).

in the meantime, if yall would like more homin, i've recently finished a hogwarts au for them (the first of the series can be found here). i've also written a collection that is so far only homin (here) but may in the future contain other groups. again, i'm sorry to leave off this story, but i really did have fun writing it at the time, and it was a ride. thank you all for being here for it.