For the first time in three days, the siblings had been able to get a decent night's sleep. At least Naeun and Jongin could. Taemin still could not. Even though their father was back home with them, he knew that something had happened.

He tried to tell himself it was just the robbery that had him shaken, but even that didn't seem to settle right.

He was quiet and forlorn. And their father was never quiet and forlorn. He was always up and about, always tinkering with something, or singing, or talking to himself. That night, he sat quietly at the table, wide awake, just staring at Naeun who had fallen asleep on the couch. Jongin was asleep as well, in their bedroom. Taemin was the only one of the three who was still troubled.

He approached their father at the table. He was reluctant to bother him, but certain he needed to. "Dad, what really happened?"

Daevy was jerked out of his somber thoughts. Immediately, his usual jovial smile came to his face. "What do you mean, kid?"

"Please don't lie to me. I can tell something happened - something more than just a robbery. You can tell me. Whatever is going on, I can handle it." He was the eldest, after all. It was his job to handle things. "Are you really alright?"

His smile didn't fade, but he could see the sorrow in his eyes. "For now."

"What do you mean?" His father didn't answer right away, so he pulled out a chair and joined him at the table, willing to give him all the time that he needed.

"I didn't tell you guys everything," he admitted, speaking quietly so he wouldn't wake his daughter. "I didn't want her to know. I didn't want her to feel guilty in any way."

"Guilty over what?"

"The man at the house, who saved me from the robbers, he wasn't just a man. He was something else entirely. A monster...A beast. He attacked me and took me into his house. At first, he wouldn't let me leave no matter how much a begged him. He wanted me to stay there, to be his friend I suppose. He seemed very lonely."

He paused. As anxious as Taemin was for him to continue, he didn't pressure him. He waited until he was ready.

"There was another man in there with him, a magician of some sort. He started asking me questions and before I knew it, I told him about you three. I was hoping he would be more sympathetic, knowing I had children back home waiting for me. But the moment I mentioned Naeun, something changed."

Taemin felt his stomach sink uncomfortably, even before he heard the rest of his father's story.

"The beast - Minho was his name - he agreed to let me go, if I would bring back Naeun to stay with him. Obviously, I refused. I would have rather been a prisoner in that house than subject my precious daughter to that beast." His gaze once again drifted back to Naeun.

"How did you escape then?"

"I didn't escape. Minho let me go, to bring Naeun to him."

"You wouldn't."

"Of course not!"

"Then how could he trust you to come back?"

Daevy grew quiet again. Taemin knew he wanted to tell him, but the pain was too much. He was nearly to the point of tears. Instead of speaking, he undid the top buttons of his shirt and pulled it open to bare part of his chest.

Taemin drew in closer. In the light from the candles, he could see a number inscribed on his father's skin, right above his heart. "36."

"What is that?" he asked.

"I've watched this number go down with every hour that's passed since I left that mansion. It started at forty-eight. When it reaches zero...I will die."

"What?" he exclaimed, "How is that even possible?"

"The magician in the mansion. He cast a spell on me. He said he would only remove it if I brought Naeun back to them."

Everything hit Taemin at once. His father was going to die. His solemn behavior now made sense. So did his silence. He couldn't tell Naeun that he would be dead in a little over a day, simply because he refused to give her over to a beast.

Taemin wouldn't have told her either. His sister didn't deserve that guilt.

"There has to be a way to stop it," he said, with his mind grasping for some hope or answer.

They couldn't lose their father, not so soon after losing their mother. Even he, who liked to consider himself strong, knew he couldn't handle that. They needed Daevy.

"There isn't any time. Who could I find in one day to stop this?"

"There has to be a way!"

"Taemin, I'd rather spend my last day with you and them. You guys are my whole world. I want to be here, at peace, not struggling to fight something I have no control over."

"I won't just sit here and watch your life tick away!" he snapped, raising his voice higher than he meant to. Daevy tried to hush him, but it was already too late. He had woken Naeun.

He and his father tried to act like everything was normal, but even in her half-asleep state, she could tell something was wrong.

"Are you guys fighting?" she asked.

"No, sweetie, it's fine," Daevy assured her with a smile. He buttoned his shirt again, before rising and going to her. He took her blanket and drew it back over her shoulders, trying to make her comfortable. "Go back to sleep."

Meanwhile, Taemin's mind was racing. He couldn't accept that his father was going to die. He simply couldn't. There had to be a way they could stop the spell, or get the magician to reverse it without sacrificing Naeun in the process.

An idea came to him suddenly. His hand went automatically to his hair - to the long brown strands he hadn't had the heart to cut since his mother died.

"Take me to him," he told his father.

"What?"

"Take me to the beast. Tell him I'm Naeun."

"What? Are you crazy?" he hissed, both for proposing the idea, and for discussing it in front of Naeun.

Taemin figured she needed to know. After all, if his plan was going to work, he would need her help.

"I'm pretty enough to pass for a woman, everyone says so. I'll wear a dress and pretend to be her. The magician will reverse the spell, and before he knows the truth, you'll be long gone."

"What about you? You think I want to sacrifice you to that monster?"

"It's better than her!"

"What are you guys talking about?" Naeun demanded, obviously troubled by the words they were throwing around.

All the commotion had woken their brother as well. Jongin groggily came out of the bedroom, asking what was going on.

Daevy stared at his eldest son, disappointed and saddened that he had revealed the truth. Taemin had no regrets.

"I'm not going to let you die, dad. You're not going to talk me out of this."

"Dad, what's he talking about?" Naeun asked fretfully as she stood from the couch.

"Oh Naeun..." Daevy couldn't find the strength to say anything more. And Taemin wasn't about to make him explain it to her.

"Come on," he said, taking his sister by the hand, "I'll explain everything to you. I need your help and we don't have much time."

A/N: Thanks for reading!

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