I walked through the forest while grumbling about traitorous best friends, stupid painters and the freaking rain. I was mad at myself too because I could’ve made Donghae finger-paint like some kind of child to get out of the cage but I hadn’t thought of that… And now, I was completely alone and trying to find my way back to the little house and it was raining! I wasn’t really the best person to ask to find something back… I got lost pretty easily. I wouldn’t get lost when I was walking a straight path but if it was a curved one, I certainly would.

So, when I still didn’t see the house after walking for two and a half hours, I got a bit uncomfortable. I didn’t know the way back so I couldn’t go back either.

Frustrated, I sat down on a stump under a tree so that I wasn’t getting as wet as I would otherwise. I put my elbows on my knees and laid my head in my hands and put up a sulking expression. What should I do now? My mother always told me that if you were lost that you had to wait on the place you got lost on so that someone could find you, but that didn’t really work in this situation. Firstly, my mom wasn’t here so she couldn’t find me, secondly Tiffany was even worse in finding someone – really hide-and-seek was hilarious with her – and Donghae was stuck in a cage.

I leaned a bit back, closed my eyes and sighed. What to do now?

“Oh, hello?” I suddenly heard a man say.

My eyes flew open, and I looked at the stranger who had found me – apparently my mom’s idea of what to do when you’re lost was working pretty well.

“Hello.” The stranger gave me a sweet smile. Actually everything about the male was sweet. He had blonde hair that almost looked white, a round face with rosy colored cheeks, brown eyes that stared into your soul and the most perfect kind of lips that I had ever seen before.

His body was actually a bit different from his face, his face looked sweet and if I had shown someone only a picture of his face than they would’ve thought that this person couldn’t hurt a fly but his body was very different. He had a well-trained body, there were muscles and a lean body and you could see that this man had trained for many hours because every movement he made was thought out.

“Who are you? I’ve never seen you in the forest of spots.”

I hesitated a bit, should I trust this male? I mean, he looked trustable but I had learned to never judge a book by its cover. And I tended to stick with that saying. Though I suppose that he wasn’t a bad person because he hadn’t killed me by now or something.

“I’m Lee Hyukjae…” The male nodded and then smiled.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Sungmin.” He held out his hand and I shook it. There was an awkward silence for a minute before Sungmin asked: “So, Hyukjae, why are you here?”

Maybe it was a question to kill time or Sungmin was really curious, I didn’t know but I eventually still ended up answering him.

“Well, initially, I guess that I was trying to find my friends but now, I’m looking for a brush so that I can help my…” I hesitated, I couldn’t really call Donghae a friend because he wasn’t a friend so instead I settled with: “My neighbor.”

“A brush?” Sungmin looked a bit confused, well, who wouldn’t be confused, I would be confused too because how many things could you do with a brush?

“Yeah or something else that could get him out of a cage.” That sentence was out of my mouth before I knew it.

“Your neighbor is in a cage?” Sungmin put up one eyebrow and I nodded a bit depressively because who in the world would believe me if he had a sane mind, I mea-

“I have a brush, do you want to use mine?” I took back what I said about having a sane mind in my mind… And I nodded happily. Now I didn’t need to go back to that little house anymore and Sungmin could help us out which meant less work for me.

“Yes, I would appreciate it if you would help me.” I tried to hide my happiness but it didn’t work as well as I practically jumped up. Sungmin smiled softly at that. The rain had stopped and we were practically good to go.

“So where do we need to go, Hyukjae?” That question left me dumbfounded because I had been lost before Sungmin came to me.

“I, ehm, don’t really know.” I scratched the back of my neck and apologetically looked at Sungmin whose eyes widened twice their size, making him almost impossibly cuter in appearance. Then his expression changed in something indescribable, before he began laughing. A sweet and clear sound. I awkwardly laughed along and it took Sungmin at least two minutes before he stopped laughing.

“Describe the place for me, then I’ll probably be able to find it.” So I began to describe the place, that it was up the hill, hidden in the bushes, that we had seen spots nearby – something darkened in his expression when I said that – and that it had been an abandoned house.

And just from those things, Sungmin exactly knew where to go to. So we began walking through the forest again, we walked in silence in the beginning but eventually I couldn’t handle the silence anymore and I began to ask some questions.

“Ehm, can I ask you why you are walking through the forest with a brush?”

Sungmin didn’t look at me and just kept his gaze ahead while he stepped over a some kind of bush before he asked something back. “You’re not from here, right?”

I nodded and he sighed deeply. “Since a few years, we noticed that there have been spots appearing everywhere. They became more frequent and bigger as time passed, and in the beginning it wasn’t really that bad but the spots became bigger and bigger and suddenly it began people into them.”

Just like what the painting did to us, I remembered.

“Those people were into oblivion and never returned. So we desperately sought for something that could stop those spots, and eventually the mayor found a way.”

I nodded, showing Sungmin that I was listening and I hopped over some kind of stone in the middle of the road before listening to the rest of his story.

“He had examined the king’s paint and found a way to extract some of its powers and make it possible for us to use.”  

I stood still in shock. “You’ve got to be kidding me…” I mumbled and then walked further and Sungmin who hadn’t stopped walking just shook his head. “Nope, the extract of the king’s paint was strong enough to close the holes that were made but it wasn’t as strong as the king’s paint because that paint could even bring painted things to live.”

“Wait a minute, so your saying that this paint is for anyone to use but unlike the king’s paint it can’t make things come alive but other than that, it can do everything?”

“Nah, not exactly. I mean everyone is able to fill some kind of black spot that is as big as your thumb with a color but some big spots can cover as much as a tree and only experienced painters can handle those things so frankly the mayor’s paint is still something that can only be used by experienced painters.”

“So, you’re an experienced painter?”

“Indeed, I am.” In my opinion, Sungmin didn’t really look like an experienced painter or a painter in general but then again the only painters I knew where Donghae and my friends and really they didn’t look like painters either so it didn’t really matter.

“It’s my job to make sure that there won’t be big spots anymore to people in their holes.” He continued. “And, ehm, is the name of this forest also linked to the spots?” I remembered and Sungmin gave me a quick look but I couldn’t really say what kind of look.

“It actually got that name because the spots mostly appear here. But to be honest, nobody knows what makes these spots appear.”

We walked for a few minutes in silence when Sungmin softly added: “Some rumors say that it’s made by a certain man.”

But before I could even ask about that curious little sentence, we arrived at our destination. Sungmin had forced some bushes to the side and revealed the little house that I had been looking for, for the past three hours. Relieved, I walked to the door and opened it.

Something flew around my throat and immediately choked me. My eyes darted through the room and I saw Donghae still sitting in the cage with some kind of goofy smile on his face and with another expression that I didn’t recognize that quickly. Then I focused on the thing that choked me. It had long brown hair and it took me several seconds to realize that it was Tiffany who was strangling me.

“Ti- Fany,” I gasped, “What are you doing?”

“I- I was-s s-so worried!” She cried out while almost screaming the word ‘worried’. I helplessly patted her back and thankfully took some air in my lungs when she lessened her hold.

“I’m sorry for staying away for so long.” I softly caressed her hair and tried to turn around at the same time to look if Sungmin was still there. But I didn’t need to as Sungmin practically screamed out – in the same kind of high-pitched voice that Tiffany always used: “DONGHAE!”

Now that was something that caught my attention and apparently also Tiffany’s and Donghae’s attention as we all gaped at him for around three minutes straight. Surprisingly it was Donghae who regained his sanity first.

“How do you know my name?” He warily asked and I saw Tiffany come back to life and press her body against Donghae’s cage. What was that for reaction? Sure, it was strange that Sungmin knew Donghae’s name but Tiffany’s reaction was a bit too much.

So Sungmin and I looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

“Hyukjae,” she carefully asked me, “who is this and where did you met him?”

I looked at Sungmin for a little bit and he shrugged at me so I sighed and answered Tiffany: “This is Lee Sungmin and I met him in the forest.”

Tiffany turned around to exchange expressions with Donghae. It almost seemed like a little conversation. Tiffany frowned, Donghae shook his head then Tiffany raised her eyebrows while Donghae shrugged and I rolled with my eyes. Why in the world do I always attract the weird people in life?

“Why were you in the forest?” Tiffany asked, her question was obviously directed at Sungmin.

“Because I’m searching for the black spots.” He calmly answered and Tiffany’s posture became very threatening. “You’re the one who put Donghae in the cage!” She accused.

“Wait. What?!” I almost yelled at her and looked from Donghae to Sungmin and back before asking Donghae: “Do you recognize him?”

Donghae shook his head. “No, but he recognizes me and he has something to do with the black spots. And the man wh