Kyuhyun walked with his head down all the way. He was too sad to look at the bright sun and enjoy the day. All Merryland dressed in black, walked to the prince's funeral.

"Hhaaaa? Look who came !" - A young boy pulled Kyuhyun's hair - "Grape Merry and all his family of losers!" 

Many other kids laughed. Kyuhyun just shook his head and fixed his hair. Not even mourning he would get rid of the people's jokes against him. 

"Ha! Cherry Merry is also here!!" - Another one pushed Ryeowook 

"Ah~ Are we supposed to be this happy today?" - Leeteuk scolded the kids - "Our prince had died and you go fooling around? I wonder if the king would like to hear that" 

"Issh!!" - The kids ran away while Ryeowook stood with Leeteuk's help 

"Not even today I stop being cherry Merry" - Ryeowook muttered sadly. 

"Look over there!" - a woman gossiped to other - "The Merries came to the funeral too" 

The Merries. Seven boys that got together by fate. Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun. Even though it was supposed to mean something good, the last name of 'Merry' for them had another meaning. Merryland was a big realm with different places and orphans would take a last name depending of the place they were born at. 

Orphans born at the east would use "Jolly" as last name, those who were born at the north will go with "Cheery",  but the ones that were born at the capital city will end up with the last name "Merry". Heechul often thanked that the king's creativity didn't go as far as calling them 'Gay'. 

"The Merries" was the way people called the strange family that lived at a small house that connected with the bakery they had. Leeteuk, who wasn't ashamed of being a 'Merry' had fun decorating the store as he named it "Merry Merry".

Turned out that their last name wasn't the only reason of their struggles to pass unadvertised. During that day, when everyone dressed black, their hairs showed up the most. 

Leeteuk, the eldest boy of the weird family, had been called 'Peachy merry' not only because of a pun for his girly looks, but his light pink hair that reminded of sweet peaches. 

Yesung, the third merry, had his hair so  light colored it was almost impossible to notice the yellowish flashes on it. He got the "lime merry" nickname. 

Kyuhyun went as "Grape merry" thanks to his purple hair. 

Ryeowook's red hair, that was most closer to the color of strawberries, got called "Cherry Merry" and ended having a song too. 

Donghae had orange hair, but people liked to refer to him as "the stupid merry" instead of searching for something that had the same color of it. 

Eunhyuk wished he could get a Fruit nickname like his brothers, he wanted to be called "Kiwi Merry" but ended up being "Booger Merry" as his light green color seemed to be non appealing for most people. 

Heechul was the hardest Merry to nickname as we was barely seen walking around. His dark blue hair got often unadvertised unless the sun rays shone on him, so he preferred to take strolls when the sun wasn't up. Leeteuk, however, got him the perfect name calling him "Crazy Merry". 

The Merries weren't a normal family. They lived in their small house and didn't mix with other people as much as possible. The elders were always busy working while the youngest two boys would play around. As a result, the so called Merries were one of the favorite topics people talked about in the streets. 

Kyuhyun found difficult to keep walking once they got closer to the palace. He sulked about it but Heechul pushed him. Eunhyuk had never felt so depressed in his whole life. His work at the royal barn often allowed him to have glimpses at the cheerful palace and the fancy gardens. Today, however, even the flowers looked sad. 

The whole kingdom was under unlimited sorrow. Donghae could swear that even the animals around seemed to be sulking. No one could understand why, the young prince had to die. No one could get who, could have hated him that much. 

*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Your majesty" - The grand master approached the king carefully - "The funeral..." 

"I know" - King Liu did his best to keep his tears back - "It must be done" 

The king walked to the place where his son's body laid in his royal coffin. His boy, who always had a pale face, now looked paler than ever. His once soft skin was now stiff and hard to the touch. The king touched his boy one last time. He placed his hand on him noticing the now cold skin, while he inspected his face one more time. 

"He always had been beautiful" - The king told the grand master - "I remember the first time I saw him... he was like an angel" 

"He truly looked like one, your majesty" 

"No" - The king shook his head sadly - "He was one" 

"I agree" - the old man nodded in sorrow 

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People walked silently to the silver coffin that was placed above a flower bed. They would go next to it, bow and place a flower. Heechul didn't know why, but most people didn't seem to have known the prince as much as they did. All the Merries knew Sungmin's favorite flowers weren't roses or tulips. Not even lilies. And yet, everyone seemed to have chosen those types of flowers. 

"Do you think they were low priced?" - Heechul commented to Leeteuk trying to understand the reason behind so many roses - "Were they giving them for free?" 

"Behave, Heechul" - Leeteuk hissed - "Not now" 

"The king looks so sad" - Ryeowook observed - "He looks like..." 

"Like a person who already lost everything" - Yesung replied - "The prince was his last family alive. I heard his wife, the queen, died long ago when Sungmin was born" 

"Poor him" - Donghae pouted - "Sungmin hyung was such a good person" 

"Shhhh" - Leeteuk scolded - "No one is supposed to know he let you call him like that" 

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King Liu mourned his son for at least three days before starting to become crazy. He cried non stop and leaned on the walls for doing so. The grand master often chased after him when he heard the crashing sounds of the angry king breaking stuff. The king didn't know who or why, but he swore he would kill the one that cursed his boy. 

He entered at Sungmin's room again. He had been visiting it at least ten times per day. He would look around his boy's stuff and remember little conversations between them. Sungmin was so smart and well behaved it seemed that he was raised to be the perfect king. Now, he was gone. The bright future of Merryland was darker than ever. 

"Your majesty..." - The grand master, probably the second person most hurt by the lost, entered the room almost dragging his feet - "We found this in his secret base" 

"I told you I wanted to be alone" - King Liu wouldn't take away his eyes from the tiny baby on the pictures - "Don't bother me now" 

"My king" - The grand master insisted - "Its about our prince" 

"I know I have to name a new successor, now leave me alone" 

"We found his diary" 

"Good. Burn that thing along with this room" - The king replied full of sadness - "He was taken from me. My boy. 14 years old. It's not fair" 

"The diary... I will leave it here" - The old man placed the big notebook next to the king - "I will ask the others to not come" 

The king was hurt. Deeply hurt. He thought nothing would ever give him back his son, but turned out he forgot magic existed there in Merryland. Of course it did! But why wasn't magic an option? 

Magic wasn't allowed at all at Merryland. At least not the strong spells. Magic always came with a price and sometimes the price was way too high. 

"Who are these people?" - The king smiled seeing a cute photo of Sungmin with seven boys that looked like a rainbow together - "This is..." 

He found a letter inside. It was folded carefully and had Sungmin's calligraphy on it. 

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

"My king..." - The grand master rubbed his eyes full of sleepiness as the king woke him up violently 

"I KNOW WHAT TO DO! " - The king repeated over and over again - "MY BOY WILL LIVE AGAIN! " 

"Your majesty... I think you are wrong" - The grand master shook his head - "No magic can return people from its death" 

"I wasn't talking about that" - the king opened the diary - "My boy, he knew what to do" 

"Is that... " - The grand master shook his head again - "N-no, it's too dangerous! Too risky, my king! " 

"There is nothing to lose" - The king sat calmly holding Sungmin's diary and the letter in his hand - "My boy is death, my friend; and the future of Merryland died with him. It's the only way" 

"You need to find someone who is powerful enough to cast that spell" 

"I will" - The king replied with a silly smile - "and I will take the consequences of it" 

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"He is coughing again" - Yesung said sadly - "I thought this year would be different" 

"Which one ?" - Leeteuk asked with his hands busy with dough- "Who is coughing?" 

"Kyuhyun" - Yesung helped Heechul to sweep the entrance - "I think the fever went up again" 

Heechul left the cleaning duty to Yesung and went inside the small house to check on the two sick boys. The youngest two Merries, often got sick a lot. Leeteuk knew that if they had received good cared when young, they would had been healthier. 

Another lighting crossed the dark sky. The rainy day suddenly turned into what looked like a storm. Eunhyuk and Donghae tried to repair the leaks on the roof without success. They ended just using buckets all around the house like always. 

"Sometimes I wish we could go back in time" - Leeteuk commented looking at the bakery's door - "Next life, I want to be born with luck" 

Another lighting. This one was stronger. It made all the Merries flinch. Leeteuk was still recovering when the bakery's door opened violently. A man covered with a long coat, walked in drenched. 

"Oh, you are soaked" - Leeteuk jumped above the counter - "Let me help you, sir" 

Yesung gave up on cleaning. He sighed and left the corn broom aside. Now the floor was wet thanks to the new visitor. 

"Teuk! I heard the door's bell!" - Heechul raged from the inside - "I told you to not let anyone inside tod--" 

"Too late...?" - Yesung scratched his head 

"Welcome to our humble place" - Leeteuk greeted the stranger - "Please take a sit, I will search for a hot beverage and some towels to get you dry" 

The mysterious man nodded. He was shivering from the coldness, but still he seemed to be strong enough to look around the bakery. 

The place was small and simple. But  he had to give credit to them for the decorations. The sweets at the counter looked the best he had seen in the whole city. The strange boy that had been nice to him, returned holding a good cup of tea and a cupcake. 

"I hope you like cherries" - Leeteuk said while Yesung helped him carrying some clean towels - "Ah! Use this to dry yourself" 

Yesung handed out the towels and went to look for some more tea cups as Leeteuk asked him. 

"Thanks" - the man replied with his face still covered - "You are very nice persons indeed" 

"Eh~ we are only doing what every human being would do" - Leeteuk smiled sweetly 

When the man took his coat away and his face was revealed, Yesung let a few cups fell. The crashing sound of cups breaking followed by some strong lightings, announced his arrival. 

"Oh, we must have really messed up this time" - Leeteuk walked back slowly 

"Teuk?! What's going on there?" - Heechul shouted again - "Are you alright?" 

"Y-your majesty" - Donghae said surprised - "What are you doing here?" 

"Donghae!" - The hyungs scolded 

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Only the sound of the rain was heard. Yesung started sweeping the floor again with the old broom. 

"I beg your pardon, it was not my intention to scare you" - The King apologized sincerely- "I just came looking for help"

"We are deeply sorry too" - Leeteuk bowed - "... for your lost" 

"Ah" - The king nodded- "Sungmin was a good kid with a big heart" 

"How can we help you, sir?" - Heechul spoke calmly 

"I came looking for Ryeowook and Kyuhyun" - The king smiled sweetly- "Are you the owners of those names?" 

Leeteuk and Heechul exchanged worried looks. They shook their heads slowly. 

"Is he one of those?" - The king pointed at Yesung 

Once again, the boys shook their heads. 

"Your majesty" - Heechul said nervously- "The persons you are looking for..." 

"... are kids" - Leeteuk finished the sentence 

"Oh my" - The king seemed surprised- "That was truly unexpected"