“Sure this is the place?” Kihyun asks, staring skeptically at the cabin before them. Minhyuk shrugs, glancing down at his phone.

“I guess so… You know as much as I do, Kihyunnie.”

Kihyun rolls his eyes in silent defiance and marches up the rest of the walkway, steering clear of the thick green vines that grow up through the cobblestone path. He nearly trips on a particularly big one, but Minhyuk catches him by the elbow and keeps him from splitting his face open.

“This is a safety hazard…” the shorter of the two grumbles, earning a slight snicker from his same-age friend as he reaches forward to knock on the front door.

It immediately swings open, as if it had been waiting, and Changkyun’s standing on the other side with an impossibly wide smile.

“Minhyuk! Kihyun!!” he cries, reaching out and pulling them both in a tight hug. “Did y’all find the place okay?”

“U-um, yeah,” Minhyuk answers, surprised by how… lucid Changkyun seems to be.

It’s been six months since he’d first come here. After his first month, he’d hired movers to get all his stuff down here and sent his publisher the manuscript for a different novel than one he had supposed to be working on. The publisher sent it through to the editors immediately, the story apparently having been so realistic that he couldn’t help but want to sell it.

It’s been selling like crazy since, but Changkyun also hasn’t shown his face in that time. Minhyuk and Kihyun would get the occasional message, assurances that he was still alive and well, but that was it. No FaceTime, no text… Only one short email a month to say that he was fine and that they shouldn’t worry.

Then, all of a sudden, he’s invited them here for a weekend stay. Of course, they took him up on the offer, needing to see exactly why they’ve lost their precious Changkyun to the cabin by the woods, but they hadn’t quite known just what to expect. Though, that didn’t keep them from imagining the young man living some sort of hermit life with a beard and ragged hairstyle on their way down here. They’ve already formulated a rescue plan in case they need it.

“Com in!” Changkyun tells him, pulling them in by the wrists. “Leave your bags by the door, I’ll show you your room later. I need to introduce you to someone… someone very special.”

Minhyuk glances over at Kihyun, a triumphant, knowing smirk pulling at his lips. Kihyun frowns in response. The taller had been saying all this time that only a gorgeous man could’ve caused Changkyun to make such drastic changes in his life, but Kihyun had been sure the younger would have had a better head on his shoulders than that…

“You two don’t have your phones, right?” Changkyun asks as he leads them through the cabin. The furnishings are a bit modest, with more of those ridiculously thick vines spilling up from the floor and through the walls. It’s like a scene out of… well, a fantasy novel. It’s perfect for Changkyun.

“No, you told us to leave them in our bags in your email,” Kihyun answers. Changkyun nods, seeming relieved.

“Good,” he exhales. “They don’t do well with technology. Or silver.” The two behind him share another glance, this one entirely confused, but the youngest doesn’t notice. He merely leads them through the living room and to the back door. He opens it, revealing two men in the backyard, sitting at a picnic table bursting at the brim with vegetables and fruits.

Kihyun purses his lips. He hates it when Minhyuk’s right.

“Wonnie, Heonney,” Changkyun says, dropping his hold on the other two to join the strangers at their sides. The thinner gets up gracefully, his eyes sparkling with a beautiful life and his lips pulling into a gracious grin. The shorter of the two hums as he regards Changkyun’s friends, pulling Changkyun’s arm against his torso and holding onto him for all he’s worth.

“Hi,” the taller, pink-haired, gorgeous specimen of a man says. He steps forward, offering out a hand to the two. “I’m Hyungwon, and this is Jooheon. We’re Changkyun’s boyfriends. We’ve heard a lot about you two.”

Minhyuk and Kihyun glances to one another again, the taller smirking once more. Great. Now Kihyun owes him twenty bucks…