Taemin could still feel the effects of hitting his head on the ground. He was still dizzy and it was hard to stay alert.

He remained on Minho's back the entire run back to the mansion. The sun was starting to rise when they came to that dreadful road that led to the manor. In his tired, disoriented state, Taemin could see the house in the distance, but Minho's speed was slowing down.

His strength was failing him.

Even though all the arrows had come out of his back, they had left behind open flesh. He was afraid all those wounds were taking their toll, but that wasn't all. Morning had come, and he was reverting back to a human.

The beast growled softly as he finally stopped and collapsed to the ground. Taemin rolled from his back onto the road and watched warily as the beast transformed before his eyes. Within less than a minute, Minho was back in his human form, and unconscious. All the wounds he had received from the villagers were obvious now too. He was bleeding badly.

"Minho," he said as he tried to shake him awake. He didn't respond though.

He forced himself up from the ground and looked around for any sign of travelers, but they were alone on that empty road.

"Minho, you idiot," he said quietly as he struggled to stand. He was so weak. Had that blow to the head done that too?

It didn't matter. He needed to get Minho home. He couldn't let him bleed out on the road.

The mansion wasn't far.

"Hey!" he yelled as loud as he could, "Can anyone hear me?" He thought if Minho had escaped the boundary, maybe the others had too. Maybe they could come help him. Or maybe at the first taste of freedom, they had ran as far as they could. Maybe there was no one left to hear him.

Having no other choice, he looped his arms under Minho's and began dragging him the rest of the distance. He had a feeling he was doing him more harm than good, dragging his wounded self through the dirt and gravel, but he had no other choice.

It was hard and Minho was heavy, which only made his weakness that much more obvious. He was starting to ache all over, especially in his chest.

He stopped briefly to catch his breath and alleviate the aching, but it wasn't working. "Wake up, Minho!" he begged, smacking him weakly. "Wake up!"

Still, he had no response. He was in worse condition than him.

"Please don't die on me out here," he whispered, fighting off his tears.

He gathered whatever strength and determination he had left and started hauling him again. He wasn't that far from the mansion. All he had to do was get to the gate. If Jinki and the others were still there, they would find them.

"Help me!" he shouted now that he was a little closer, hoping they would hear him. "Help--"

The pain in his chest increased exponentially, to the point where he was forced to drop Minho. He clutched at his chest as he fell to his knees. His flesh was unusually soft beneath his shirt. He suddenly realized what his pain was: magic.

Damn that Kibum.

A wave of nausea overcame him, only made worse because of his dizziness. He fell to the ground at Minho's side as his fatigue worsened, to the point where he couldn't even keep his eyes open.

Minho's face was the last thing he saw before he went unconscious, but he could have sworn he heard someone calling their names in the distance."I don't understand it."

"Did your stupid spell do this to him?"

"I...I don't know. I don't know why it took over so late."

"Yes, because your magic always works so perfectly."

"It's not my fault!"

"Yes, it is! You shouldn't have do that to him!"

"He asked me to! I warned him about it, I told Minho to consult you both! I told them! This isn't my fault! None of this is my fault!"

Jonghyun and Kibum fell silent. The only noise was the magician's exasperated breathing.

"Can you help him?" Jonghyun asked in the end, no longer angry but afraid. Taemin felt him touch his face and move the hair from his eyes.

"I'd remove the spell, but I don't know what that would do to him. Granted, it might be causing this, but...between the blow to his head and the magic in the mansion...I don't know."

Taemin forced his lips to move and, through his heavy fatigue, pushed his voice from his throat. "Minho..."

Kibum and Jonghyun turned to him. The magician's hand was on his forehead when he lazily opened his eyes.

"Taemin..." Jonghyun said, relieved and concerned at the same time.

"Where's Minho?"

"Jinki's with him. He'll be alright," the gardener assured. Taemin felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off his chest. One of the heavy weights at least.

"Kibum?"

"Yes?" the magician asked fretfully.

He weakly lifted his hand to Kibum's neck, then with all the strength he had, choked him. "Get this stupid spell off of me."

It was well into the next day when Taemin woke again. Aside from a little grogginess, he felt fine. A cumbersome bandage had been wrapped around his head, which had become useless since Kibum obviously used magic to heal the wound.

He also used magic to reverse his spell, for which Taemin was glad.

He sighed in relief as he placed his hands on his bare, flat chest. He made a promise to himself that he would never, ever let Kibum use magic on him again.

After pulling the bandage off of his head, he rose and changed into the clean clothes that had been left behind for him.

Neither the magician nor the gardener were in sight, but it was a beautiful day out. Chances were, if all was well with Minho, they were outside, enjoying the day. Or perhaps since the boundary came down, they weren't even in the house.

He hoped they wouldn't all leave him there with Minho now that they had their freedom. He had a feeling things would be a lot more boring without the motley group.

Freshly clothed, he left the bedroom to go find the rest of them. Like he expected, they were outside. They were all sitting under the shade of the apple tree, having a serious discussion. They paused when the noticed him approaching, and everyone's mood lightened a bit. Jonghyun even rose to give him a warm hug, which surprised him.

He wasn't aware everyone else had grown so attached to him too.

"Good to see you up again," he said.

"Thanks."

Taemin looked to Minho, who averted his gaze awkwardly. He was obviously glad he was alright, but the fact that he stormed a village to bring him there was awkwardly hanging over everything.

He decided they would discuss that later. "What's going on?" he asked as he took a seat beside Jonghyun on the grass.

"We're trying to figure out what the hell is up with the mansion," Kibum answered, "We're stuck again."

"What?" he said, shocked. "Have you tried leaving?"

"Of course we have."

"It's the strangest thing," Jinki added, "We were able to leave to go help you guys. No problem."

"But before you came back, we couldn't," Kibum said. "After Minho left, I tried following him. We all did, but couldn't. Till we saw you guys on the road."

"It's like the barrier knew you guys were in trouble, so it let us go help you," Jonghyun commented.

"The curse is that smart?" Taemin asked. He wasn't aware it was actually capable of such knowledge.

"No, it's just a curse, it wouldn't know," Kibum replied. "But maybe it's weakening."

"How come?"

Kibum's look was answer enough.

"Me?" Taemin said.

"Yep, I knew it," Jonghyun said with a mischievous smile, "You're falling in love."

"I am not!" Taemin snapped.

"Even so," Kibum continued seriously, "maybe whatever you do feel for us is enough."

"Well he obviously doesn't care for us that much, if he had no intention of returning," Minho remarked, not so subtly pointing out his broken promise.

Taemin turned to him. "I'll have you know my father locked me in my room so I couldn't leave. I had planned on returning the next day, but some massive beast came and attacked my village."

"Oh, you didn't," Jinki said with a sigh.

Minho looked away from him, both ashamed yet defensive. "I was the beast, I wasn't thinking clearly."

"I think you were thinking just fine," Taemin replied.

The other three sat there awkwardly while the tension between the two of them only grew.

"The villagers attacked me first, I was only defending myself."

"You shouldn't have been there in the first place."

"Well you should have been here," Minho retorted.

Taemin bit his tongue to keep himself from exploding at him in front of the others. He turned away from him and said with a heavy sigh, "I thought you changed."

"I have," Minho assured confidently.

"You went on a rampage in my village and stole me away from my home. Regardless of what promise you think I broke, you literally ripped me away from my family. Do you really think my sister could ever fall in love with you now?"

"I don't want your sister, I want you."

Taemin was silent. So was everyone else.

For a moment, it looked like Minho regretted making such a confession, but his regret was brief and he decided to own it.

"Well this is awkward," Kibum broke the silence.

"It's what you wanted, isn't it?" Minho snapped.

"Are you saying you're in love with me?" Taemin asked to clarify.

"No, I'm not in love with you," Minho answered defensively, before calming down a second later, "But...I want your company. More than the company of a woman who would hate me."

Taemin was confused. "But...why?”

"You know, it's not really unheard of for a man to fall in love with another man..." Jonghyun pointed out.

"I’m not in love with him," Minho reiterated.

"But you said he was a philanderer!" Taemin said, addressing the others like Minho was no longer there. "That he had a bunch of women!"

"Oh, he did," Jinki confirmed.

"See? How could you want me around more than you want a woman? I'm not even that interesting!"

"You're interesting," Jinki argued, "and you have many admirable qualities."

"And you managed to get him to behave when none of us could," Kibum said, gesturing to Minho.

"And you are cute," Jonghyun added.

"What, are you all in love with me now?" Taemin asked.

"Will you all stop it!" Minho said, cutting off their wandering conversation.

They all quieted down, but Taemin's curiosity wasn't satisfied. He still didn't understand his feelings.

"I just want you here, by my side. Why do I need to explain that to everyone?"

"Because we're cursed and he can't break that," Kibum answered, "I can't believe you'd choose him over a chance at getting out of here."

"I've given up on any hope of getting out of here."

That surprised them all even more. The house's trick on them must have been the last straw. Taemin couldn't help but feel sorry for him. A life without hope was not a life worth living.

"For how long then?" he asked, "How long do you want me to stay with you?"

"I don't know yet."

His answer didn't surprise him, nor did it upset him. He knew that when the beast pulled him from his home, that it was permanent. Somehow, he had accepted that he wasn't going back.

"You no longer want Naeun then?"

"...No."

"If I promised to stay here with you, for as long as you want, will you make sure my family is secure?"

"I will."

"Then I'll stay. For as long as you want."

Minho looked surprised. "Are we making a deal?"

Hesitantly, Taemin nodded.

Minho could only smile. He extended his hand to him, ready to seal that deal. Taemin had already agreed to it, and he could do nothing but shake his hand.

And the deal was sealed. He wouldn't be leaving that house for a while. He accepted that.

Without saying anything, he rose from the grass and left them all.

"Where are you going?" Jonghyun asked.

"To get some breakfast," he answered automatically, though there was more than hunger that drove him from the garden.

He needed to be alone for a moment, to accept that he might not see his family ever again.

Taemin felt weary as he entered the kitchen. He wasn't that hungry, but he knew he needed to eat. He couldn't work, or even think properly, on an empty stomach.

He grabbed a peach from the bowl on the counter and munched on it in silence, slowly letting his deal sink in. He could live with it. He had been living with it for the past month. Life could be worse.

"Quite the sacrifice you're making there."

The voice made Taemin freeze.

He had come to that kitchen to be alone. He didn't expected to find anyone there waiting for him, much less Krystal.

The witch was sitting on the counter in the corner, hidden by a shadow cast by the wall.

Though Taemin had seen her before, her presence was no less impressive the second time. She was beautiful, confident, and exquisitely dressed. Taemin hadn't ever met a witch before her, but she lived up to how witches were commonly described.

He didn't expect her to come back after Minho had thrown her out, but then again, he knew almost nothing about their relationship - what it had been then, and what it was now. Maybe she came by often, despite how much Minho hated her. Maybe her presence in the mansion was just an accepted fact. He really had no idea.

He supposed he was about to find out.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. Oddly enough, he wasn't afraid of her. Maybe his last experience with magic had desensitized him.

"I came to check things out. I could tell something was up with the mansion. Apparently, our little beast escaped."

"Apparently," Taemin replied.

His attitude seemed to amuse her.

"Are you the reason they're all locked in here again?"

"No, I haven't done anything," she answered.

"So it just let them go all on its own?"

"Well it didn't really let them go, did it? They're all back here again, where they're supposed to be."

"But it did let them out."

She smiled again, amused but still very villainous. "Look at us, arguing and we haven't even been introduced." She slid from the counter and approached him, extended her gloved hand. "I'm Krystal."

Seeing no harm in the gesture, he shook her hand. "Taemin."

"So Taemin, why are you here?"

"It's a long story."

"And you're still here after all this time. I can't say I'm surprised, but I am a little impressed."

"Why's that?"

"Because the curse doesn't seem to have affected you yet. When you stay in this house long enough, it affects you. Like it did with Kibum. It'll change you, Taemin."

Her words were a little unsettling, but he clung to her previous statement. He hadn't been affected yet.

"Is that why you're here? To warn me?" he asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. He doubted that the witch had come all the way there just to possibly spare him. Even though he knew nothing about her, he could tell she wasn't prone to that simple kindness.

"I wanted to give you a chance to get out before it's too late."

"Are you trying to help me escape?"

The woman smiled mischievously. "My magic controls this house. I know of ways that lead out of here, of corridors that even Jinki isn't aware of. I could...point you the way."

Taemin couldn't deny that a small part of him was tempted, but his common sense was stronger than his urge to be back home.

"What's your price?"

"Price?" she asked, playing innocent. "I don't want anything from you."

"Then what do you gain by getting me out of here?"

Her innocence switched back to mischief. "A few more years of satisfaction maybe."

"So Minho will suffer more?"

She didn't answer. She didn't have to. He could see the malice behind her playful smile.

"I don't need your help," he said in the end, turning away from her. "And if you want Minho to continue suffering, don't worry about it. I'm not falling in love with him anytime soon. He'll be here for a while. Now please, get out. You'll only upset everyone by being here."

"Of course I will. That's the only reason I come."

Annoyed, Taemin left the kitchen, not willing to waste anymore of his attention on her. However, she followed after him, with her heels clicking on the hard tile.

"I'd be a little kinder to me, Taemin," she said with her tone harsher than before. "I could make your life just as miserable as I made his."

"Are you that petty that you’d curse me because I dislike you?"

"I'm not talking about cursing you. I'm just saying that I have the power to make your life a lot easier. There may come a time when you'll need my help. I suggest that you don't upset me before then."

"I don't need your help," Taemin replied.

"...We'll see."

She walked past him and left the kitchen behind, while still smiling. Taemin watched her make her way to the front door and sighed in relief. He didn't want Minho to know she was there. On top of being concerned for his emotional state, he had no desire to clean up his trashed room again.

He had a feeling his indefinite stay there might be a little harder than he previously calculated.

A/N: This chapter was originally a lot mushier, but I toned it down a bit because I was just writing about too many mushy characters lately and it was all starting to numb my brain. lol Besides, Minho will always turn into a major sap if I let him. XD

Not sure why I felt the need to add that litttle commentary...

Anyway...

Subscribers, comments, and votes are always always appreciated. <3