“Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who is the fairest of them all?” Kyuhyun asked as he sat in front of Heechul.

Heechul looked up at Kyuhyun with a look of confusion.

“What? What is it?” Kyuhyun asked.

“It’s Hyukjae… he’s still the fairest” Heechul said.

“But I thought you had Zhou Mi get rid of him?” Han Geng asked his master.

“I did” Kyuhyun snapped “I even heard the gunshot”

“Well obviously Zhou Mi didn’t kill the prince” Heechul said.

“That bastard! I’m going to kill him” Kyuhyun shouted.

“S-Sir, are you sure killing him is the best way to go about it?” Han Geng asked, afraid of what Kyuhyun was going to do to his friend.

“He didn’t do my bidding Han Geng. I would do the same if it were you who disobeyed me”  Kyuhyun said, turning around and leaving.

“Hannie, go. You need to warn Mimi” Heechul said from the mirror.

Han Geng put his hand up against the mirror “I love you, I’ll be back soon”

Heechul put his hand up against the mirror as well “I love you too Hannie. I’ll be right here waiting”

Han Geng ran out of the den, jumped on a horse and rode the short cut to Zhou Mi’s shack.

He knocked on the door a few times and when Zhou Mi didn’t answer he high kicked the door down and ran into the shack.

“Zhou Mi!” he called out frantically.

“What? I was sleeping you know?” Zhou Mi asked, rubbing the sleep in his eyes.

“You didn’t kill prince Hyukjae, did you?” Han Geng asked.

“How did you know?” Zhou Mi asked, suddenly fully awake.

“It’s Kyuhyun. He found out and is going to kill you Zhou Mi!” Han Geng warned.

Zhou Mi’s eyes widened in horror. What was he to do now?

~~~

“Hyukjae~! Come play with me outside” Henry pleaded, jumping up and down .

Hyukjae smiled at the mochi cheeked kid and nodded.

“Yay~!” Henry cheered, taking Hyukjae’s hand and taking him outside.

“Let’s play tag” Henry said, tapping Hyukjae’s leg “You’re it!”

Hyukjae laughed at the younger boy and chased after him, reaching him quickly and hugging him.

“Henry, Hyukjae! Your lunch is ready~” Leeteuk called out from the door.

Hyukjae released Henry from his grip and they both walked into the house for lunch.

~~~

“Yesung, can you pass me the salt?” Kangin asked.

“Yes appa” Yesung said, passing Kangin the salt.

“So Hyukjae, how long are you planning on staying here?” Leeteuk asked.

“I don’t know” Hyukjae said.

“You can stay here as long as you need” Kangin said.

“I appreciate that. I have nowhere else to go” Hyukjae explained.

“Why? What’s your story?” Leeteuk asked.

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to” Kangin said, sensing Hyukjae feeling a little uncomfortable.

“It’s alright. My mother was queen of our kingdom and she passed away. My father found love with another man and it turns out he was a witch and he wanted to kill me so he left me in that forest and that’s when you guys brought me here. I have nowhere else to go and I’m afraid if I leave he’ll find me again”

“You never have to leave. We’ll do our best to protect you” Kangin said.

“Welcome to the family” Leeteuk said with a bright smile.

Leeteuk’s smile must have been contagious because Hyukjae flashed a gummy smile not long after.

“Umma! Shindong ate my ramen!” Ryeowook complained.

“Shindong, you could have just asked for seconds instead of stealing your brother’s food” Leeteuk said.

“I’ll make you both another bowl” Kangin said.

“Me too!” Yesung called out.

“Anyone else?” Kangin asked.

“Me~” Leeteuk sang.

Kangin chuckled “Okay” he said, walking off to cook more ramen.

~~~

“Run, Zhou Mi. All you can do is run” Han Geng said.

Zhou Mi nodded “Goodbye Han Geng and tell Heechul I bid him farewell too”

“I will” Han Geng said, nodding “I hope you’re gonna be okay”

“I’m gonna be okay” Zhou Mi said, more to reassure himself than to reassure Han Geng.

Zhou Mi escaped out the back door and fled into the dark forest while Han Geng returned back to the den.

Kyuhyun on the other hand had just arrived out the front of Zhou Mi’s shack.

“Oh Zhou Mi~” he sang out.

Kyuhyun looked through all the rooms and never found Zhou Mi.

“Where is he?!” he growled.

He ended up searching the kingdom and the neighbouring kingdoms but to no avail he didn’t find his hunter anywhere. Kyuhyun decided to give up for the day and he returned to the palace.

~~~

Zhou Mi had no idea where he was going. He had run into the forest without a thought about where he was going to end up and he was growing cold and hungry. He looked up to the sky and spotted clouds approaching him. It was going to rain.

After about an hour the rain was pounding onto Zhou Mi’s back and dripping through his hair and onto his face. He couldn’t see too well because of the rain but he could have sworn he had seen a chimney over the tree tops. He headed in that direction and once he was through the trees he found himself standing in front of a small house.

He shivered a bit before he knocked on the door. A smaller than average man opened the door and stared at the stranger in shock.

“You must be freezing, come inside!” he said, ushering Zhou Mi inside.

Zhou Mi followed the man inside and the man turned to look at him.

“I’m Leeteuk, who are you and what were you doing out in the cold?” he asked, tilting his head curiously.

“My name is Zhou Mi. I’m a hunter and I worked for a witch…”

“A witch?! You’re after Hyukjae?” Leeteuk shouted in surprise.

“You know prince Hyukjae?” Zhou Mi asked.

“Yes, I mean no! Of course not, go look for him somewhere else” Leeteuk said.

“I’m not looking for Hyukjae. I’m running from the witch, you see I was meant to kill Hyukjae but I couldn’t. I let him go and now the witch wants me dead” Zhou Mi explained.

“So, you don’t want to kill Hyukjae?” Leeteuk asked.

Zhou Mi shook his head “I’m just looking for somewhere safe to stay”

“Well you are welcome to stay here” Leeteuk said warmly.

“Umma~! Hyukkie didn’t shower and he smells” a boy called out.

“Ryeowook, he’s our guest and if he doesn’t want to shower then he doesn’t have to shower” Leeteuk said back.

Ryeowook walked into the room and spotted Zhou Mi “Who’s he?”

“This is Zhou Mi and Zhou Mi, this is Ryeowook” Leeteuk introduced.

Ryeowook waved shyly at Zhou Mi and Zhou Mi smiled at how cute the boy was.

“Who’s the one that called me smelly?” Hyukjae said, entering the room and faking a grumpy look.

“Prince Hyukjae. I don’t know if you remember me but I am Zhou Mi” he said, giving a ninety degree bow.

“Zhou Mi? What are you doing here?” Hyukjae asked, afraid of what the older man might say.

“Kyuhyun found out about you still being alive and since I was supposed to kill you he decided it would be nice to kill me. So I fled the kingdom and ended up here” he explained.

“So he doesn’t know where I am?” Hyukjae asked.

“No, he doesn’t and Leeteuk here said I could stay here because it’s safe”

Hyukjae sighed in relief “I think I’ll go take a shower now because Ryeowook seems so persistent for me to take one” he said, bidding farewell and then heading up the small stairs to shower in the small shower block.

Kangin walked into the room and didn’t seem too surprised by the random stranger who was dripping droplets of water onto the floor in the middle of his house and he walked straight passed them and into the kitchen.

“Kangin! Get our guest something to eat while you’re in there” Leeteuk shouted.

“Okay!” Kangin shouted back.

“It’s okay, I’m not that hungry” Zhou Mi said, but his stomach said otherwise as it growled in pain.

“Sure you’re not hungry” Leeteuk said jokingly.

“Here is some fruit” Kangin said, handing Zhou Mi a bowl full of all sorts of fruits.

“Thankyou” Zhou Mi said, taking the bowl and hungrily eating the fruit.

“You can sleep in the same room as Hyukjae if you like, there isn’t that much space in any of the others” Leeteuk said “And you can stay here as long as you need, you’re welcome to be a part of this family”

“Thankyou” Zhou Mi said with his mouth full.

“Don’t mention it” Kangin said light heartedly.

~~~

Kyuhyun arrived back at the palace and sat down on the couch next to Sungmin. He looked over the older man fondly. When he had planned to become second king he didn’t envision himself falling for the other king but he couldn’t help but feel somewhat happy when he was around the other man. Could witches even be happy? He had no idea. But Sungmin was one of the best things to come out of his life and as he gazed upon his new lover the whole Zhou Mi problem just so happened to slip his mind.

“What?” Sungmin asked as he smiled at Kyuhyun.

“Nothing… You just look so beautiful right now”

Sungmin blushed a light shade of pink and looked away from Kyuhyun.

“Look at me” Kyuhyun commanded.

Sungmin looked up at Kyuhyun “Yes?”

“I’m so glad we met” Kyuhyun said.

“Really?” Sungmin asked, his eyes tearing up at Kyuhyun’s words.

Kyuhyun nodded, his eyes never leaving Sungmin’s deep brown ones. As he gazed into Sungmin’s eyes he really felt guilty for all he was doing. He never meant to hurt Sungmin by getting rid of Hyukjae but he was obviously missing the boy. But Kyuhyun had to be the fairest in the land, he had promised his father he would.

Kyuhyun’s father was a witch. He was the cruellest witch throughout the land and he had believed Kyuhyun had the power to become king. His father had, funnily enough, been killed by Sungmin’s father who was the king before him. They had been sworn enemies and one day Kyuhyun’s father had attempted to overthrow the king but things didn’t go to plan. The last thing his father had told him before he died was to “become the fairest in the land no matter what stands in your way” and that is exactly what Kyuhyun tried to do. He wanted his father to be proud of him but most of all he wanted his father to love him like he never did when he was alive.

“Kyuhyun ah, are you alright?” Sungmin asked his boyfriend as he stared at him.

“Of course I am” Kyuhyun replied, pinching Sungmin’s cheeks.

Sungmin smiled “I’m going to go make us dinner okay?”

Kyuhyun nodded “Let me help”

“You want to help? You mean like cooking?” Sungmin asked.

Kyuhyun nodded.

 “Okay, but if you burn down the palace, no dessert for you” Sungmin joked.

~~~

*The Next Day At The Den*

“Mirror, mirror on the wall. Where is Zhou Mi?” Kyuhyun asked Heechul.

“I’m not telling” Heechul said, folding his arms.

Kyuhyun grew frustrated with the man in the mirror “What will it take for you to tell me?”

“Free me from this mirror” Heechul demanded.

Heechul knew only Kyuhyun possessed the magic to get him out of the dreaded mirror and he wanted to be free so badly. He wanted to visit places, he wanted to breath fresh air but most of all he wanted to be close to Han Geng, he wanted their bodies to touch and their fingers to lace.

“If I free you from the mirror then I won’t have a magic mirror, will I? I’ll just have a plain old mirror with no value at all” Kyuhyun said.

“Fine then I won’t tell you” Heechul said.

“Will you tell me where Zhou Mi and Hyukjae are before I let you out?” Kyuhyun asked.

Heechul nodded “Only if you let me out first”

Kyuhyun thought about it for a moment “Alright”

Kyuhyun used his magic to release Heechul from his glass prison and Heechul was standing there, outside the mirror for the first time in forever.

“I’m outside, I’m really outside” he shouted happily.

“Yeah, yeah. Now tell me where they are” Kyuhyun said.

“They are both in a small house in the forest somewhere. They are living with a group of short men” Heechul reported.

“Thank you. You are free to leave now, your services are no longer needed” Kyuhyun said.

“But what about Han Geng?” Heechul asked.

“He is still my slave and therefore must stay here. Now go” Kyuhyun said.

Heechul walked out of the room and started to cry. The one reason he wanted to get out of the mirror was to be with Han Geng properly and now he can never see him again. Heechul felt like he should just give up all hope on life.

He stepped out of the den and the fresh air into his lungs. He turned around and looked at the place with sad eyes.

“I love you Han Geng” he whispered before setting off to wherever his legs would take him.

~~~

“Heechul, I did it. Zhou Mi escaped before Kyuhyun could get there!” Han Geng said as he entered the room.

He looked over to where he usually saw Heechul smiling at him from the mirror but the mirror was blank. There was no Heechul in sight.

“Heechul?” he asked.

“I set Heechul free. He told me where Hyukjae and Zhou Mi where hiding out and so I gave him his freedom but he can never return” Kyuhyun said, entering the room.

“I-I didn’t even get to say goodbye” Han Geng said.

“Why would you even care? He’s just a man from a mirror”

“Just a man from a mirror?! I love him” Han Geng shouted in frustration.

“You… love him?” Kyuhyun asked.

“Yes love. You probably don’t even know the meaning of love” Han Geng spat.

“Actually I do” Kyuhyun said “You are free of my services as of now. I can always get a new minion”

“Wait…what?” Han Geng asked, puzzled.

“Didn’t you hear me? I command you to leave and find Heechul, Arasso?”

Han Geng nodded “I-I will sir”

“Good, now go” Kyuhyun said.

Han Geng took one last look at his master and then silently left.

Kyuhyun could feel the large knot in his heart, twisted from his past, untangle itself slowly. But then he remembered what he had to do. He had to kill Hyukjae for his father’s love and honour. He kept telling himself that he was doing the right thing but he knew how much this would hurt Sungmin if he were to find out. But it was too late he was already headed to the forest in search of this small house.