Run, Run, Bunny, Run (2x)

The library is the first place he runs to. It’s predictable but no one in these castles knew the library like he did. If the guards were to chase him here he knew where to hide. They were idiots and Jinyoung could easily outsmart them. When he swung open the library doors he slinked into his reading chair trying to catch his breath. Everything was overwhelming. His thoughts were running 100 miles per minute and he was having trouble catching up. What was he going to do now?

Should he just run away?

But what about his royal subjects and the villagers?

What about the kingdom his father had tried to rise with so much difficulty?

He told me that your mother died because of you.

“Your Highness, Prince Jinyoung!”A man clad in black leather armour barged in looking around urgently. Jinyoung stared at the handsome features of the man in front of him and wondered if he had ever seen this man. Did this man work in the castle?

“Your Highness, you must come with me this instant. You are in grave danger!”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Jaebum and I will explain later but for now, we must leave at once! The queen has given the order to kill you for your heart, your highness.”

“Kill me?” Jinyoung swallowed. “How do you know this?” He nearly shouts, fearing for his life. If the queen was on a mission to kill him then he was sure as hell doomed. He was not magic and wasn’t able to conjure up choking forces. All he was capable of was running and yet leaving his castle felt so wrong.

“There is no time, sire” Jaebum begged.

It was all blurry from that point on as he followed Jaebum through the hallways of the castle with a heavy heart. They crept into the stables for a horse each and left into the dark of the night. Everything was too overwhelming and if Jinyoung was completely honest, one wrong step and he would break into shameful tears. But the sounds of the wind against the dark forest were holding his emotions into a mix of fear and adrenaline.

The tears will have to wait.

“Where are you taking me?” Jinyoung finally asked as the horses slowed down when they approached a clearing. “Who are you and why are you helping me?”

It was dark and the only light was from the torch in Jaebum’s hand that he held high above his head. “My father is a huntsman of the castle. When the king died, he had only stayed in the castle in order to ensure of your safety”

“My safety?”

“My father believed that your father was murdered” Jaebum whispered almost as if he thought Jinyoung had no idea. “And he believed you were next. Rightfully so, he was given a direct order to kill you and immediately asked me to help you escape”

“Thank you for helping me but where are you taking me?” Jinyoung called.

They had past further than where Jinyoung was used to walking. He was unfamiliar with these parts of the forest and it was simply too dark for Jinyoung to see anything. He felt fear fill his lungs as the cold night air bit into his skin as Jaebum came to a halt.

“This is as far as I can take you” Jaebum announced. “Go deep into the forest where no will find you”

“And how do you suppose I survive in these forests with only the clothes on my back?”

Jaebum glanced at him and thought for a second. He reached for his sword and Jinyoung instinctively flinches away. Jaebum might say that his father’s alliance was with the King but he also might be a liar. He could easily kill Jinyoung in the darkness of the forest. He could easily betray him and leave him for death as easily as it is for him to lead him to safety.

“Relax, I’m not going to kill you,” he said as he unhooks the sword off his belt. “Take this. It is the only weapon I can offer you. Now you must go,”

Jinyoung catches the sword and settles it into his now, dirtied garments.

“Where do I go?”

“Deeper into the forest where none of the palace guards will ever find you,”

“But why can’t you take me?”

“When the queen realizes that the huntsman’s son is missing after the order to kill you was made she will suspect him. I must be back before they harm my father. From this point, you are on your own”

“What about the people?”

Jaebum looked at him with a sad expression. “I don’t know”

“I cannot leave the people in the hands of the evil queen,” Jinyoung exasperates. “I must go back!”

“You are the only true heir and our only hope, sire,” he said desperately. “For now, you are needed alive,”

“I am good as dead in these forests,”

“Have a little faith, Prince Jinyoung. The forests are your allies,”

Jinyoung blinked at the small smile splayed on the Jaebum’s face. “W-wha”

“I must go now. Here, you will need it more than me,” Jaebum said as he hands the torch to Jinyoung and bows low to the ground before mounting his horse and disappearing into the darkness. Jinyoung takes a single look around him and starts blindly leading his horse through the darkness in the opposite direction of Jaebum. He tries not to cry but fails miserably.

-o0o-

Jinyoung’s eyes flutter open to find a boy staring at him. He jerks awake immediately arming himself with the dagger.

“Who are you?” he shouts at the seemingly nonchalant boy in front of him.

“There is no need for weapons. If I had wanted to kill you, I would have killed you.”

Jinyoung stared at the boy in front of him who was smiling. He seemed younger but not far behind his age. His clothes were dirty and he was skinny. Jinyoung then noticed that his horse was gone. He had tried to tie it to a tree but his knot must have not held. He then noticed that there was an extinguishing fire and a cloth from where Jinyoung had laid.

Had the boy took care of him through the cold night?

“Who are you?” Jinyoung repeats as he puts his dagger away.

“My name is Yugyeom” he beamed.

“Did you make this fire?”

Yugyeom nodded sheepishly. Jinyoung had attempted a fire last night but it was in the middle of winter and the branches were damp. Jinyoung tried his best but nothing happened. In the end, exhaustion took over and he fell asleep. His last thoughts were he was going to freeze to death.

But he had awakened to find Yugyeom.

“You could have died in these temperatures” Yugyeom explained. He stands and Jinyoung takes note of their significant height difference. Yugyeom might seem younger but he was obviously taller.

“Thank you” Jinyoung offered. There was a thousand and one questions going through his head but Yugyeom had helped him survive the night. If he had any bad intentions, Jinyoung could not sense it. “Why did you help me?”

“Do you believe in magic?” Yugyeom asked with a teasing smile, looking at Jinyoung expectantly and completely ignoring the others question. Jinyoung stared at him, mouth hanging from disbelief.

“Magic?”

“Do you believe in magic?” Yugyeom emphasized pressing for an answer.

“I don’t know?”

“Do you think it was a mere coincidence that your mother’s wish came true?”

If Jinyoung had been shocked just now, he was more shocked now. Who was this Yugyeom kid and how did he know about what his mother had wished? No one in the kingdom knew of it besides his parents, the evil queen and to a certain point, Mark. Jinyoung immediately withdraws his dagger. If this boy knew about his mother he must be working with the queen.

“Who are you?” Jinyoung shrills. “How did you know about my mother?”

“Do you believe in magic, Jinyoung?”

Jinyoung was frantic. This boy knew his name and may not be who he seemed to be but Yugyeom didn’t seem to want to talk as long as he didn’t answer the question.

“It's been used on me” Jinyoung said. His grip on the dagger was strong, turning his knuckles white. He thinks of the time he had almost died in the hands of magic and a shiver runs down his spine.

“That was black magic, Jinyoung and should never be compared to magic I speak of” Yugyeom states like I was the most obvious thing in the world. Jinyoung tried not to think of how Yugyeom was reading his mind.

“Your mother made a wish and you came into the world” Yugyeom said, approaching Jinyoung.

“My mother asked for a princess not a prince”

Yugyeom tooted. “Your mother asked for a child but your father tells the story wrong. He thought fair skin, red lips and black hair would equal a princess”

Jinyoung furrowed his eyebrows, his hands shaking from the fear pumping through his veins.

“How do you know all this?”

“I will show you” Yugyeom smirked before jumping up causing Jinyoung to shout in shock. Jinyoung watched as Yugyeom soared high off the ground and turns into a flash of white light that blinds Jinyoung. The moment his eyes open Jinyoung was greeted with a white dove flapping its wings to lower itself to Jinyoung’s level. It coos a familiar melody that Jinyoung is so familiar of. It coos the melody that he had repeated to all the doves he had encountered in these forests.

“You are a dove” Jinyoung breathed, feeling completely unbelieving. “You warned me of the guards”

The dove flies into the sky and swoops towards the ground into a flash of white light that landed on the ground with a small thud. Yugyeom who was squatting from his transformation smiled at him as he stood up.

“What are you?” Jinyoung said. His dagger lowered again. His voice was shaking from the thrill of the magical display shown to him. He was in awe and all the same terrified in what Yugyeom meant.

“The forest is guarded by shape shifting fairies that could shape shift into small animals. I am one of the many that guard the enchanted forest”

“So fairies granted my mother’s wish?”

Yugyeom shakes his head. “No. The enchanted forest granted you not only your life but also the special gifts that reside in you”

“The whistling?”

Yugyeom nodded. “The forest recognizes you as its ally”

“But why are you helping me?”

“A dark time has fallen on the forest ever since the Evil Queen took over the kingdom. I think you are the key to her defeat”

Jinyoung blinked at Yugyeom. What Yugyeom was implying seemed impossible but it put a burning desire to fight in him. “How are you so sure?”

“Magic” Yugyeom smirked cheekily. “Now, we have to disguise you so no one will recognize you”

“Wait, what?”

“Trust me!”

Yugyeom holds his arm and immediately Jinyoung feels like screaming. The warm hand Yugyeom had on him seared his skin and Jinyoung took one look and realized that Yugyeom wasn’t just holding him from running away. He felt as if his world spun as he felt light on his feet, his whole body tingling. A surge of warmth washes over him before clarity in his vision presented himself and Yugyeom was no longer holding him.

Yugyeom has a bright smile on his face seemingly very satisfied with himself.

Jinyoung looked at his hands where Yugyeom had burned him, expecting to see a red burning hand print on his skin. However his skin was still as pale as ever. Almost too pale.

Jinyoung stared at the delicate fingers that were moving according to his commands but it felt strangely foreign. Why am I looking at girl hands?

“It’s the perfect disguise” Yugyeom smirked.

Jinyoung scrutinized the younger in front of him when realization dawned on him. “What have you done to me?”

Jinyoung frantically touched his face and felt smooth skin as contrast to his usual scruff. He let out a gasp at the feeling of his chest which was now full grown and his once dirty garments of clothes now changed into a maiden’s clothing.

“I’m a girl?” Jinyoung feels strange at the echo of his slightly higher pitch voice. It wasn’t unlike his own soft mellow one but it was definitely not as low. He runs to the frozen river, wiping of the snow and watches his reflection in the ice.

He still looked distinctively like himself; brown eyes, soft nose and red lips. His jaw line was distinctively sharp and wide despite somehow managing to seem feminine; his black hair had grown slightly longer and fluffier.

“This way the queen will never know you are Jinyoung” Yugyeom explain when Jinyoung finally let it sink in. “When the time is right the spell will break and it will save you from the harm of the queen”

“How am I going to save the kingdom if they do not recognize me as their prince?”

“I will help you. I promise” Yugyeom assures.

Jinyoung nodded, simply overwhelmed to even comprehend anymore information.

“Now we must get you to safety” Yugyeom announced before jumping into the sky turning into a dove. He coos towards Jinyoung to follow before flying away. Jinyoung once again blindly follows the help he is given deeper into the forest.

-o0o-

It is quite walk before Jinyoung follows Yugyeom into a clearing and all Jinyoung could see were white snow that covered the grounds. The temperature was dropping fast and Jinyoung could feel the ends of his dress chill his legs due to its dampness. Jinyoung was hungry and exhausted. He would give a lot for a simple change of clothes and some warm food.

Yugyeom swooped particularly low to catch Jinyoung’s attention and stopped at a short shrub. Jinyoung looked behind the white dove and saw what Yugyeom was trying to show him.

It was small wooden cottage which seemed old. Jinyoung excitable ran towards it, eager to find any source of warmth. He could hard feel his fingers as he wiped the dusty window to look into the cottage. It was empty.

Yugyeom perched himself on a bird house next to the door and cooed to get Jinyoung’s attention.

Jinyoung knocked the door feeling dumb. He knew it was empty. The door however pushed open as Jinyoung set his fist on it.

“Hello?” Jinyoung called out experimentally. He looked around to see the messy contents of the house and felt slightly uncomfortable. He was entering the house of a stranger; a messy stranger at that.

Jinyoung walked towards the fire place and immediately starts a fire for himself. He lets out a satisfied moan at the warmth that quickly filled the small living room. Jinyoung looked out towards the bird house and found that Yugyeom had gone. He was left to his own devices.

“Might as well clean” he mumbled as he starts picking up the dirty dishes on the floor to bring it over to the overfilled sink. “Maybe they will let me stay for a night if I clean”

-o0o-

“This is ridiculous. She ate my pie”

“But she cleaned the whole house we might need her”

“She might work for the castle and send us to jail!”

“She might be running from the kingdom like us. She might need our help!”

“SHE ATE MY PIE!”

Jinyoung’s eye flutter open to see four men huddled around the fireplace a little distance from where she was sleeping on the floor, in front of the fire.

“She’s awake!” a loud voice filled the small cottage and Jinyoung was greeted by a huge smile and shining eyes. “Hi!”

Jinyoung rubbed the sleep away from his eyes, sitting up, ignoring the dull pain in his back from the uncomfortable floor he had been sleeping in. He then looked at the one who had greeted him and smiled.

“Hi” Jinyoung chirped. He then looked at the other faces of the people looking at him and studied them. He stared at their black blotched clothing and instantly knew that they worked in a coal mine. He had seen those identical blotches before. He had seen them on Mark.

Mark?

At first, Jinyoung thinks that he was dreaming when he saw Mark looking at him with furrowed eyebrows and an angry pout. There was not a trace of familiarity to his face that Jinyoung knew. It wasn’t playful or warm but rather cold and stern. Then, Jinyoung realizes that he was a girl right now. There was no way Mark would recognize him.

“What brings a beautiful girl like you into our house?” Jinyoung moves his eyes to look at the shortest of the lot. His smile was adorable and he squats on the ground to be eye level with him.

“I’m sorry” Jinyoung stuttered at the sudden closeness, jumping to his feet to get away. “The door wasn’t closed and I was freezing”

“YOU ATE MY PIE” The other one besides Mark grumbled.

“Ignore him. I bet you were hungry and freezing!” said the one that was invading his personal space. “What’s your name?”

Jinyoung’s mind stutters. He couldn’t say his name was Jinyoung. Mark would immediately catch on. His eyes catch the glimmer of a snowflake fall on the ground outside and realized what his name would be. “Snow” he whispered. “Snow White”

It was the name his father would have given him if she was born a girl. And now, that he was. It was only fitting.

“Snow...” the shortest smiled. “Well, I’m Jackson”

“Hello, Jackson”

Jackson lets out a shrill of excitement at him calling out his name. “These are my brothers. Mr. All-smiles over there is Youngjae. He is a bit shy but I can tell he likes you already”

Youngjae simpered, hiding his face by turning away.

“Mr. Pie-rage is Bambam and Mr. Grumpy is Mark”

Jinyoung offered a smile which both of them seem to ignore. Jinyoung feels his heart falter at the cold treatment from Mark.

“I’m sorry to intrude” Jinyoung apologized. “But I have nowhere to go and I lost my stead. If you could let me stay for the night I would be eternally grateful” he looked at all of them expectantly, hoping his plea was heard. “I’ll be out of your hair in the morning”

“And where will you go in the morning?” Bambam asked. His expression seemed to soften significantly.

“I’m not sure” Jinyoung confesses. “I haven’t thought about it”

“Well, what can you do?” Jackson smiled, a cheeky expression covering his face. “Obviously you can clean” he said glancing around the already clean cottage.

“I can cook” Jinyoung replied.

“Well, that’s settle then. You are hired. Cook and clean in exchange for shelter over your head”

Jinyoung blinked at Jackson.

“And don’t worry about them. They won’t harm you. I’ll make sure of it” Jackson said, flexing his biceps which Mark rolled his eyes to.

“Thank you” Jinyoung bowed. When he looked up he saw Mark looking straight into his eyes and for a moment Jinyoung felt bare. As though, Mark could see right through him. As though, he knew underneath all the disguise, it was Jinyoung. The room seemed to go silent for a moment as they stare at each other but it was broken when Jackson clears his throat.

Just like that their eye contact broke and Mark dashes upstairs, slamming the door on his exit.

“Don’t mind him. He just got his heart broken” Jackson sighed.

Heartbroken?

“You can sleep in my room. I’ll bunk in with Mark.” Jackson said, catching his hand into his own, dragging him across the living room. Jinyoung followed Jackson, trying to pry his mind away from the upstairs room in which Mark had fled.

It was either very lucky that he had ended up at Mark’s house, or very unlucky.