If anyone looked up into those dark, but beautiful, windows they would see a lone man starring off into the distance. They would see the glowing blue eyes, a color not meant for a man like him, and how it flickered as his eyes moved. They would see the empty barren landscape, and the stone statues that looked way too realistic to have been sculpted, but people didn’t look up at that castle. The townsfolk had learned not to, because with a sweep of those bright eyes you were turned to stone right before everyone’s eyes. 

It wasn’t like the man could control it. He was born with the curse, and nothing would ever change it. His parents had made a deal with the wrong person, not giving them what they wanted or holding up their end of the deal, resulting in their first born child to be cursed as a monster for the rest of his life. He was only 4 when he turned the first person into stone, his own baby sister. He was 7 when it was the nanny, and his mother and father would go when he was 16.  

All the servants and people of the castle were ordered to leave long ago, and the man was fine with that. At the age of 22 he had seen more death, caused more death, than anyone needed to see in a lifetime, and he had no control over any of it. Just a accidental look in the eyes, a sweep of his gaze that landed on the wrong spot, and it was over for that person. 

It was one snowy winter night that he heard the banging on the castle gates. He didn’t dare look, for he didn’t want to hurt anyone else, but it was freezing outside, and there was no way he would allow the person to die. So, he quickly pulled the lever, allowing the person that would mean so much more to him than he could possibly think, and leaving a note on the table in the middle of the room. 

"Hello?!" The man called, and from his spot above the stairs Minho could only call him beautiful.  His dark hair was swept out of his face, his thin blanket was wrapped around his shoulders and hit everything from view. "Is anyone home?" 

The man walked further in, shaking the snow from his hair, and with shaking fingers read the card. 

My castle is at your disposal. The kitchen is stocked and to the right. Feel free to use anything you wish. The left wing is off limits. Please keep warm by the fire.

                                                                                  ~ M.

The man looked around the room, to take in his surroundings, and Minho quickly looked away. He sighed, because no matter how close someone got to him, he could never actually reveal himself.

That night when he deemed the other man asleep, curled up in the huge chair that he always sat in during the evenings, he sneaked in to get a closer look at the visitor. Most people stayed away from his castle, because they knew what was in store for them if the man opened the door, but not this man. He had come in and even fallen asleep. Who can’t fall asleep if you feel afraid.

The fire was roaring behind him as he knelt in front of the man to gently run his fingers over the man’s dark hair. The man murmured, and Minho quickly pulled away, but he quickly settled again. He took one last look at the man, before placing a message on the table for the man to read when he woke in the morning. He made sure that the fire would last until morning, gently laid another blanket across the man, and after lifting the man’s head softly he placed a pillow underneath it. Then after giving the man one last look, he disappeared up the steps into the left wing, where he knew the man would never look.

                                                                                  ———-

In the morning Jinki woke up to feel the fire still going, another blanket across him and a message on the table. He was confused, but touched. He softly smiled, because he knew there were only one man in the castle, and reached for the message.

This must be strange for you. Coming into a stranger’s house, a house I am certain you know is thought to be dangerous, but either way I want you to know that you can stay here as long as you wish. If there is anything I can do for you, there is paper and a quill in the room I’ve prepared for you, and all you must do is write what you want, and I’ll will get it for you. 

                                                                     ~ At your service, Minho

He softly smiled and placed the message back on the table. Jinki thought that maybe it was about time that he searched this place. Curiosity was always a flaw in him, ever since he was a child, but he had never shied away from it. He embraced it, because curiosity always lead to the most amazing discoveries.

And as he walked down the halls, the blanket placed on him the night before around his shoulders, Minho was watching. Careful to always look every where but the man’s eyes, and to look away if he turned.

And as he continued to watch the man, how his feet shuffled against the wooden floors, he began to learn small things about him. How he got amused by little things, and he had a great love for music. And he told himself that first thing in the morning if the man wanted to stay, he would go into the dusty music room and clean it up. Maybe even bring the big grand piano back out into the ballroom.

He learned that the man loved tea, and how he must of liked it with creme because he cursed when there wasn’t any in the kitchen. He also learned that the man was curious about anything and everything, and more than a dozen times tripped on his own two feet because he was too busy gazing at something that caught his interest. 

The sun was lowering in the sky when the man finally went to check the room Minho had prepared for him, and the owner of the castle stood with apprehensive eyes as he waited for the man’s approval. When that giant smile erupted on the man’s face Minho knew he did well, and he quickly returned to his wing so he wouldn’t be spotted.

                                                                              ————

For weeks Minho allowed the man to stay, both talking to one another through letters. He learned that his name was Jinki, and that he was 2 years older than him. He learned so much about the man, that he suddenly began to feel something more than just admiration toward him.

Jinki never once asked why he could never see him, but did say that he would love to get the opportunity. Oh did Minho want to give him that, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. If he was falling in love with the man, he didn’t want to hurt him like every single other person he has ever cared for.

As spring rolled around, and the flowers began to grow, Minho would watch from his window and smile when Jinki would gently smell them. He learned that the man’s favorite flower was a white rose, so that night when he went into his room the older man found dozens and dozens of them around his room. There were white rose petals everywhere, and if Minho had to choose the last thing he would ever want to see, it would be the deep red blush on the man’s cheeks and to hear that sweet happy laughter as Jinki covered his face with his hands to hide the warmth that was radiating off of him. 

So that night Minho received another letter, and he smiled as he unfolded the slightly rough parchment. 

Thank you for the flowers. They were really beautiful. How did you know that white roses were my favorite? Oh never mind. You keep finding out things about me that I don’t even notice myself. Heh, well the roses are beautiful, though I’m pretty sure I could have done with a little less of them, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love them any less. 

Can I confess something to you Minho?… Well over these last couple weeks, of talking to you through these letters and messages, and I just… I’ve learned to love you. I love you Minho, and for the last couple days I’ve thought about why I thought that I did and the reasons why I might love you, and I realized that there wasn’t much to think and debate about. I’ve loved you from the moment I woke up that first morning with an extra blanket on. I’ve loved you for so many reasons, but I just have been so blind to see.

Is there any way that I could see you? You keep telling me that you would harm me, but I don’t believe that. You call yourself a monster, but I don’t see that. I never have. I know the rumors. I know the stories and the bar talks in the village. I know it all, but I don’t believe it. I don’t see that, because I believe in you as a person and I believe in you Minho. Not the monster they make you out to be.

I’m sorry if that’s not what you wanted to hear from me, and I understand if you wish for me to leave, but I had to admit it. 

                                                          ~hopefully until next time, Jinki

Minho stared hard at the words before him. Jinki loved him? Him? He just couldn’t understand how someone as perfect as Jinki could even think about loving him. He kept rereading those lines, of the older man’s confession, and his heart began to beat fast and hard in his chest. He smiled, but then it fell. Jinki thought that he wouldn’t want him here anymore, when that was the last thing Minho wanted. He wanted the man to stay here forever, even though he knew that would probably never happen, because you would stay in a house to be with someone you could never see in person? Could never talk to face to face, and never touch them like you may want to? 

Then he began to doubt the confession. How do you know you love someone that you’ve never seen before? How could Jinki believe he wasn’t a monster, and have Minho believe that, when he hadn’t seen him?

Minho began to think of his life without Jinki in it, the constant sunny presence in his dark gloomy life. He shuddered just thinking about it. He hadn’t know he needed the man, until he had showed up at his gates by fate. When he realized that he couldn’t even think about a life after Jinki without his heart sinking to the bottom of his stomach he knew.

He loved him too.

                                                                                      ———-

When Jinki awoke the next morning he found another message from Minho, and a tiny box tied with a blue ribbon. He reached for the paper with shaky fingers and a fast beating heart. He didn’t know what the man would say, but he had almost everything to lose. Jinki had confessed his affection for the younger man, and had asked to see him. He had no idea if Minho would make him leave, because if he asked, Jinki didn’t know if he could force himself to leave. So with trembling hands he opened the message.

Meet me by the fireplace tonight. Bring what I have given you in the box. And wear that sweater I got you.

                                                                                   ~ Minho

Jinki in a breath. Minho wanted to see him, at least that’s what it seemed like. Asking him to meet him was a way of saying that right? Then again, it could be the final goodbye. 

Jinki shook his head, and fell backwards onto the bed. His heart was threatening to bust of of his chest, and his brain wouldn’t stop bombarding his head with worried thoughts. What was he going to do?

                                                                              ———

That night Jinki stood in front of the fire, the box in his hands as he nervously awaited Minho. The flames crackled and hissed against the wood, but he still heard the man’s precise footsteps walking down the staircase. 

His body shivered when he heard the man’s voice for the first time. “Open the box. Put the fabric over your eyes.” 

His voice was so deep. It was nothing like he imagined it to be, but he loved it way more than those of his imagination. He quickly untied the ribbon, and pulled open the box. Inside was a red silk blindfold, and with shaking trembling hands Jinki tied it around his head. “Can I turn around now Minho?” 

He heard the man chuckle, and he frowned. Did the man not like his voice or something? “Of course you can Jinki.” The voice was closer now, so close that Jinki could have sworn he could reach out and touch the man. “Your voice is nothing like I imagined it to be.”

"Does it fit my appearance?" Jinki asked slowly.

Before the man answered him though, Jinki felt the hot breath of the man against his face, and he in a sharp breath as he felt the man grasp his wrist. The hand was lifted, and warm soft lips were pressed against his knuckles. “It’s beautiful just like you are.” Jinki blushed, and he didn’t know if it was because of the compliment or the huge embarrassment that Minho might see that he was blushing. He felt the man pull him in, and graze their noses together. “Tell me to stop and I will.”

Jinki didn’t know what was happening until the soft warm lips were pressed against his own, and a warm slightly calloused hand was placed softly on the back of his neck. For a moment nothing happened, and Minho began to worry, but then the man was kissing him back. His body pressed tight against him with his arms around the taller man’s neck. 

Minho finally pulled away and whispered. “Please don’t go away.” 

Jinki just smiled, because Minho had kissed him and more than that didn’t want him to go. And when the younger man leaned in to kiss him again, he was more than willing to comply.

                                                                                      ———- 

As summer rolled through the weather wasn’t the only thing rising in temperature. Jinki rarely slept in the room that he had been living in for weeks, because he was always curled up against the younger man. He was always sleeping in Minho’s room, on his chest with the younger man wrapped around him protectively. 

Minho gently ran his finger down the man’s spine, and he felt the man shiver against him. “Stop that.” He mumbled. 

"Stop what?" Minho asked teasingly. 

"The little finger wiggle." 

Minho just chuckled and brought the man closer to him. “You didn’t mind my finger wiggle last night.” Jinki groaned and pressed his face into the man’s chest, only making the man laugh all the more.  ”Would you like to go on a walk with me today?” 

Jinki moved his head up, as if to look at him, and smiled. “Holding hands and everything?”

"Of course Love." Minho gently kissed the man’s forehead before getting up. "Get ready. I’ll be waiting for you in the garden." 

Jinki sighed as he heard the man leave. He loved the man, and the blindfold, but once.. just once he wished he could see what he was touching. He wished he could see the faces Minho made as he came, or when he smiled. He wanted to see him laugh and see just how soft his hair felt against his fingers. 

Sometime’s he wanted to see the man, really see him, and not just what his heart sees.

                                                                                ——-

Minho held Jinki’s hand tightly in his own, loving the way the man’s smaller soft hand seemed to fit perfecting within his own larger bonier one. He looked over at the man, who was all smiles as he smelt the single rose the man had given to him, and he suddenly felt tremendously guilty. 

Jinki deserved more than him. More than this life. He deserved someone that could love him for all that he was worth, and someone that he could actually see. Someone that wasn’t a monster.

Sometimes being around the older man helped Minho forget what he was, or about the curse, because when he was around Jinki he was a person. A normal person in which the man loved without bound, but then again, Jinki had never actually seen him.

So as they made their way to the fountain, surrounded by the dozens of white rose bushes, he asked softly, “Are you happy Jinki?” 

Jinki stopped, tugging on the man’s arm to prevent him from moving any further. “Why wouldn’t I be?” 

"Oh. No reason." 

Jinki frowned, because he knew by that tone that something was bothering the man, but he also knew from it that he didn’t want to press the issue any further. So instead he pulled the man hard against him and crashed their mouths together. Because weeks of practice had him knowing the other man’s body by touch and muscle memory better than his own. “I love you, you know that? And nothing will change that,”

Minho smiled, “I know Love.” 

Even though as they continued their walk hand in hand, negative thoughts kept bombarding his brain. 

                                                        ———-

It was a night, some time after, that the thought finally came out into the open. Jinki was withering against the younger man’s touches, fingers clawing any piece of skin they could touch, and Minho was loving it. 

Minho snapped his hips against the man hard, biting the pink hard before it as the man screamed his name. He changed angles, bringing the man’s thick thigh up before pounding harder into him. 

Jinki came undone as the man slammed into him hard at the exact moment in picked up the speed of his hand that was around his swollen . His teeth latched onto Minho’s shoulder as he shot the white substance all over the younger man’s hand and his own chest. The way Jinki arched off the bed, almost made it impossible for him to hold it back, but he managed to.

Minho stopped his movements, contenting himself with gently on the man’s neck. “Min.. you didn’t finish.”

"I know Love." 

"B-" A gasp and a change in position stopped the man from finishing his sentence, and Minho chuckled as the man moaned softy. 

"I’m letting you recuperate." He said softly as he gave the man’s adams apple a gently . 

He felt the man’s hands in his hair, and the warm breath of the man as he leaned in closer. “Can I see you?” 

"I’m right here." 

"No. I mean," Jinki sighed, gently running a thumb along the man’s jawline. "Really see you. Without the blindfold."

Minho froze at the question, and not just physically. His brain seemed to malfunction for a moment, “What.. I’ll kill you.”

"Please Baby." Jinki pleaded. "Please just one look." 

Before Minho could respond though, the man was already reaching behind his head and gently pulling the knot loose. The fabric was falling, and his eyes were squeeze shut quickly, before he could even think about stopping him. He heard the man gasp, so soft that it was almost too quiet to be heard, and then he felt the cold touches of Jinki’s fingertips over his skin. “You’re beautiful.” The man whispered.

"I am something evil Jinki." Minho stated. "I’m a monster." 

Jinki frowned at the comment, ” I love you Minho. I love you so so much. You are beautiful.” He began to lay soft kisses on every piece of skin he could find. “You are not evil, or a monster. I love you, and I could never love or be with someone that was evil Minho.” 

After a moment Minho quietly asked, “Could you put the blindfold back on? Please?” 

Jinki frowned but did as he was asked. “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have done that.” He gently but quickly removed himself from the younger man and scrambled over to his side of the bed. 

Minho heard the sniffle before he saw the tear. “Oh Love, please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”  He rushed over to him, wrapping his arms around the man and pulling him in close.

Jinki quickly turned in the hold, pushing his arms around the man’s waist and pressing his head into the familiar nook of his neck. “Why do you think of yourself as a monster?… How could you even think that I would see you as something evil? I love you for crying out loud… I love you so much.” The last part coming out as a whisper as the man’s voice cracked. 

Minho swallowed the lump that was in his throat. As he held the man that owned his heart, he began to feel like a moron. He had always believed that as soon as the man saw him, saw his face, that he would think he was a monster just like everyone else. He had never seen his own face, because looking into the mirror could have horrible consequences, but if he wasn’t a monster, then why did everyone run away? 

With every touch and every ounce of love Jinki had shown him that he wasn’t a monster, but he had just been to thick headed to notice. The older man was never anything but loving, giving up his sight most of the time just to be with him. Minho knew that Jinki deserved better, but the man wanted this. The older man wanted him, when he could have anyone he wanted.

So Minho gently kissed the man’s forehead. “I’m so glad that you happened upon my gate Love.”

Jinki sniffled, before hiccuping, smiling up at the man who was chuckling at the cute sound that just came out of him. “I always knew my curiosity would lead me to the greatest discoveries.” 

                                                      ————

So uh yea. I got prompted on Tumblr for this. so uh here. The red blindfold and all that came from their performance of Evil