"Philip?" Kyungsoo mumbles confused and in worry as the horse runs towards him. Kyungsoo drops his book and runs towards him, pulling at his reins to calm him down. "Hey, slow down boy." He whispers softly to make Philip relax. "Where's father? What happened?!" Kyungsoo begins to panic as he can only think the worst thoughts. Philip neighs and struggles in his grip, pulling Kyungsoo out of his thoughts. "Alright, alright." He mumbles to himself. 

He'll go after him. He can find him, right? Philip will know the way, right?

But Kyungsoo has never been further than the hill outside of town. 

"No, father might be in danger. I have to go." Kyungsoo says as he makes up his mind. He pulls Philip with his to saddle him up, and doesn't think to take with him anything else as he jumps on Philip and rides out of town.

It only takes them a while before they reach the start of the woods. As they reach the treeline Kyungsoo can already see it grow darker as the sun struggles to shine it's rays between the thick branches. His fingers thread through Philip's mane, trying to calm himself down as he takes deep breaths. He doesn't know the way to the next town, and he has no idea how far his father got before he parted with Philip, he doesn't even know if he has walked further after that, what if he got attacked by wolves?

A chill runs through his body, and he pulls the reins to make Philip move faster. 

He's never been so far from the town before. He had thought it would be great, thrilling, amazing. But knowing his father is out there alone, maybe hurt, takes all the adventure out of it. Kyungsoo feels only scared, worried and anxious. The sound of the wind wooshing through the branches does not bring him comfort like the grass hills, it makes him tense, and when an owl hoots between the trees, Kyungsoo jumps. 

After a while they pass a fallen tree, it's trunk seems to have been burned by something, probably lightning, but there's a path where the tree had been, and Philip walks that way. Not before long does the path become smaller, and the woods become colder, as the sun appears to go further and further away. There's no wind here, no owls, no sounds at all. Only Kyungsoo and Philip's breathing is heard. 

Another chill runs down his body, as he notices his breath forming to mist infront of him. It's cold, freezing, and he tries to wrap the thin jacket closer around him as he urges Philip to move faster. 

He begins to panic as it starts to snow, light snowflakes that fall and land on the branches, only getting thicker the further in they go. 

"Nothing to worry about, only a bit of snow..." Kyungsoo mumbles to himself. "In July...." He adds with a scared frown. 

It feels like they've been riding for hours when Kyungsoo finally sees something on the path. "Philip, stop!" He pulls on the reins as he jumps of, taking off in a run toward sthe cart that is tipped over in the snow. "Father?!" He shouts, and the sound echoes in the woods. When he reaches the cart he finds it empty, the invention his father had built is broken, with pieces laying in the snow. A few feet away Kyungsoo finds the small tower box, and picks it up. He looks around, wondering if his father is somewhere nearby. "Father?!" He shouts again, but he can only hear his own echo. He walks back to Philip, keeping the tower in his hand as he jumps up and continues forward, hoping to find some tracks or anything that could lead him to him. The snow is thicker now, and Philip struggles to walk as his hooves sink into the snow. Kyungsoo can feel his fingers beginning to numb, wondering how long he can be out here before he has to ride home. It's still day, it has to be, he hasn't been here that long, but that means it will only get colder. 

Finally Kyungsoo can see the trees beginning to fade, and it only takes a few moments before he can see something over the treetops in the distance. "Faster, Philip." He whispers to the stallion as he pulls on the reins, heading towards the building. When he comes close enough he can see it's a huge castle. 

Confused, he pulls back on the reins to make Philip slow down again, staring puzzled at the castle. Some of the parts are simply ruins, and he can see rocks falling from one of the towers. The garden around it is gigantic, and as Kyungsoo enters through the open gates, he finds rows on rows of rose bushes, splattered with beautiful white roses. As Philip rides by them, Kyungsoo reaches out his hand and lets his fingers slide over the soft petals, careful not to make them fall off. 

"He would have gone here, right? Maybe there's firewood inside and he made a fire to warm himself." Kyungsoo tries to calm himself as he jumps off Philip and pulls him to where he sees a place to tie him and some food. "Just wait here, I won't be long." Kyungsoo mumbles as he Philip's mane gently before turning and heading up the big grey stairs up to the doors. 

He knocks once, not really expecting an answer or anyone opening for him, the castle seems totally abandoned. But the door opens as he pushes against it, creaking horribly loud as he winces and walks inside slowly. "...Hello?" He says softly, taking in the big entry hall infront of him. He walks further in, seeing two flights of stairs leading opposite ways infront of him, and a living room to his right. Though it's a bit warmer than outside, the castle is still cold, and he wraps his arms around himself as he walks around. 

Suddenly he hears something. Almost like a whisper, someone talking. "Hello? Is anyone there?" He calls a little louder this time, but no one answers him. He walks over to the left where it seemed the sound came from, but there's only a table with a clock and a candelabra on it. He walks closer, for a second he is curious of all the details on the clock.

"Kyungsoo?" He hears a faint voice say from somewhere above him. 

"Father?!" Kyungsoo whips around, staring up to the second floor where the voice came from. In his haste he grabs the candelabra with him and rushes up the stairs. "Father?!" He shouts, trying to catch his breath at the top of the stairs.

"Kyungsoo, is that you?" His father asks from somewhere, and Kyungsoo follows a narrow flight of stairs up a tower until he finally sees a cell where a hand is sticking out. 

"Father!" Setting the candle down in an indent in the wall, Kyungsoo falls to his knees and grabs the hand.

"Oh my son, it's really you." His father says, gripping at his hands.

"Are you okay? What's happened to you?" Kyungsoo asks frantically as he looks over his father, without a jacket and pale as a ghost. "Who put you in here?" He asks.

"Kyungsoo, you have to go." His father says as he looks around quickly. "You have to escape before he comes back." He hisses, his eyes wide with fear.

"Who? Who put you in here?" Kyungsoo asks again, but the sound of footsteps stops his father from answering. Kyungsoo stands up and turns, trying to make himself look more confident than he actually was. "Who's there?" 

A growl echoes through the tower, and Kyungsoo takes a step back. "Who are you? Why have you prisoned my father?" He continues to ask, trying not to let his voice waver and show his fear. 

"Your father's a common thief." A deep voice growls from the shadows, sending an icy chill down Kyungsoo's spine. 

"My father is no thief!" Kyungsoo protests in anger. 

"Your father's a thief. He stole a rose from my garden. He is my prisoner, forever." The voice says, and Kyungsoo glances at his frail and old father before looking back.

"Life sentence for a flower?" He asks, and the voice growls again. 

"Would you like to take his place then?!" The voice rumbles through the tower. 

"No, Kyungsoo, no! You can't! Go home." His father begs. Kyungsoo moves back to hold his father's hand to calm him down.

"Step into the light." Kyungsoo says, and waits. He can hear the person breathing before there's more footsteps. Out from the shadows steps a huge beast, and Kyungsoo can't help but gasp and move back towards the bars. The beast is tall, about 6'7, with brown fur all over and horns on his head, with long claws and fangs, dressed in dark rags that cover his body. 

"Leave." The beast growls. Kyungsoo tries to hold back a scared yelp, and turns to his father.

"Will you at least let me say goodbye?" Kyungsoo asks. The beast looks as if he's going to protest. "Please, he's my father, if you're going to hold him here forever, please let me say goodbye!" Kyungsoo begs, on the verge of tears. The beast huffs and moves closer to pull down a hatch, and the bars open to let Kyungsoo in. His father embraces him and Kyungsooturns them around and leans back to look at him. "It will be okay, I promise." Kyungsoo whispers. 

"You have to go home, I will be okay." His father begs, tears streaming down his face. 

"I will find a way to escape." Kyungsoo whispers, and as his father mumbles a confused what?, Kyungsoo pushes him out of the cell and closes the door. His father falls on the floor with shock on his face as the beast moves closer to the bars, a look of confusion on his face. 

"You traded places with him." The beast mumbles, but huffs shortly after and grabs his father by the nape of his shirt before beginning to drag him down the stairs.

"Don't hurt him!" Kyungsoo shouts as he presses himself to the bars, trying to catch a glimpse of his father before he disappears down the stairs, and slumps to the floor when the castle is filled with silence again. Tears begin falling from his eyes, and he tries to hold back his sobs as he presses his forehead against the cool metal of the bars. 

His father will be alright, he will be safe, he can take Philip back to the town and live off his inventions. Kyungsoo will survive, maybe he can even escape. He won't be here forever. He won't.

A sound brings Kyungsoo out of his melancholy thoughts, as he hears a voice of someone struggling. "Ah, why must everything be so high?" A soft voice complains outside of the cell. 

"Hello?" Kyungsoo asks, drying his tears quickly. It was not the voice of the beast, and Kyungsoo had not expected there to be anyone else in the castle. 

Suddenly the sound of the latch reaches his ears and the bars of the cell opens. Kyungsoo stares in surprise for a second before scrambling to his feet and taking a hesitant step forward. "Good afternoon, I will you to your room now." A voice calls from below, and Kyungsoo looks down to see the candelabra, though it's moving for some reason. "Sir?" The candlestick asks, and Kyungsoo shrieks as he throws the nearest thing at it, which is an empty bucket. "Woah! Excuse me! I did not just release you so you could TRY TO KILL ME!" The candelabra snaps as he stands up again, it's arms brushing off imaginary dust. 

"Sorry...?" Kyungsoo mumbles, still a little confused and scared. "How....What are you? How can you talk?" Kyungsoo asks as he takes a hesitant step forwards.

"We are people just like you." Another voice says and Kyungsoo turns around to find the clock from downstairs attempting to climb the stairs. "My name is Joonmyun, this is Chanyeol." Joonmyun says as he stops next to the candle. Kyungsoo gives them a little wave, still wondering if he fell asleep in the cell and this is all a dream. "Now, Chanyeol, the master will not approve of this and you know it." Joonmyun says as he turns to Chanyeol.

"Oh come on, Hyung, the boy can't stay in the cell. It's cold and dusty and boring. Follow me....uhm, what is your name?" Chanyeol says and turns to Kyungsoo with a questioning look.

"K-Kyungsoo." Kyungsoo says as he stumbles to follow the candle and the clock as they begin jumping down the stairs. 

"Kyungsoo, nice name. Now, what brings you to our lovely castle?" Chanyeol says and earns a smack to his head by Joonmyun. "Right, my apologies." Chanyeol says with a wince, rubbing one of the candles against his head. Kyungsoo is too busy staring at all the decorations around the castle to take offense or aknowledge what the other two are saying. 

"Are there more like you? And you told me you were human, what happened? Was it the beast?" Kyungsoo asks, looking around quickly in fear of summoning it. 

"Yes there are more of us, we are servants at the castle. And no it was not the beast. It was a curse."Joonmyun explains shortly, seeming to not want to talk about the topic. Kyungsoo nods and continues to stare in awe at the many paintings and drapes on the walls, as well as the intricite details on the stairs and ceilings. They walk up several stairs, and Kyungsoo pays half attention to what they are saying, only really noticing how important rules is to the clock, and how well Chanyeol seems to get on Joonmyun's nerves. The two gets easily distracted by bickering with eachother, to notice Kyungsoo walking ahead of them. "Wait, Kyungsoo-shi!" Joonmyun shouts behind him. Kyungsoo stops and turns around as the two objects struggle up the stairs. "If you would follow me this way." He adds with a cough.

"The castle really is beautiful." Kyungsoo comments.

"Yes it is, you are welcome to look around after we have shown you your room. You can go anywhere." Chanyeol says with a big grin.

"Except the east wing." Joonmyun adds with a glare towards the candle.

"Why? What's in the east wing?" Kyungsoo asks, glancing curiously towards the other flight of stairs. 

"Nothing, it's not really a wing at all, only ruins. Not much to see. We don't even have an east wing." Chanyeol says loudly with a nervous laugh, grinning even wider, making it more creepy than happy. 

"Alright..." Kyungsoo mumbles, looking back once more before following the others as they turn into a hallway. 

"This will be your room." Chanyeol says as he and Joonmyun open one of the doors. Kyungsoo walks inside, his eyes widening as he gasps in surprise. The room is almost as big as their entire house, with a queen sized bed, a large window, paintings on the walls, a large desk with a mirror and a wardrobe, a table and a few chairs. 

"This is my room?" Kyungsoo asks in disbelief, turning around in circles, a smile rising on his lips. 

"Yes of course." Chanyeol says as he jumps up on the bed, dust jumping off and into the air. Chanyeol coughs and waves his arms around to wave it away. "Sorry, we aren't used to guests." He adds with a chuckle. 

"Did I hear guests?" A new voice fills the room, and Kyungsoo turns around to see the doors of the wardrobe opening. 

"Was that the wardrobe talking?" Kyungsoo whispers to Joonmyun, wondering if he's still imagining things, he is still considering that this is all a dream. 

"Yes, that is Kim Jongdae." Joonmyun says as he walks over to the wardrobe. "Yes, we actually have a guest. His name is Kyungsoo." He explains to Jongdae.

"Wonderful, come closer, let me see!" The wardrobe says loudly, and Kyungsoo steps closer slowly, a little scared. "Well, aren't you handsome as a prince! You'll fit right in, I can see it. Finally, after all these years!" Jongdae starts speaking, the doors of the wardrobe and the shelves moving, making Kyungsoo a little confused as to how it actually speaks. Though of course it's not more logical than a clock and a candlestick. 

"Jongdae." Joonmyun says with a stern look, crossing his little arms. 

"Oh jump off it, old man. We've waited long enough, and here we have it." Jongdae says as he somehow gestures towards Kyungsoo. 

"I don't think that's what she meant, wasn't it a girl?" Chanyeol asks.

"Will you two shut up!" Joonmyun cuts off their rambling, turning to Kyungsoo with an embarrassed smile, who only stares back in utter confusion. He has no idea what's going on, and the wardrobe is just really confusing him right now. 

"Alright..." Kyungsoo mumbles to himself again, moving back towards the bed and looking around the room. "Any other furniture in my room that is alive? It would be nice to know beforehand." Kyungsoo asks as he looks at the objects laying around the room, scared that he'll pick something up and it will suddenly scream at him.

"No, only Jongdae here. He will keep you company." Joonmyun says, just as the doors close and Jongdae begins snoring loudly. "Though he does have the habit of falling asleep." He adds with a huff.

3rd chapter already :D 

This is actually really fun to write. And I know the chapters are varying in length and stuff, but that's only because the beginning of Beauty and the Beast happens so fast, but I still want to write it in the style of the movies. I'm sort of mixing both the animated and the real one, as well as putting my own twist to it. It was really difficult trying to find out which member would suit best for each of the characters, but I do hope you like it.

Please let me know in the comments below how you feel about the chapter, and let me know what you guys think the last members are :D

Thanks for reading beauties :D