The Guard who stood by the glass coffin sighed as he waved the girl on. 'Next.' 

He checked his watch. In two more hours, it would be over. The coffin would be closed. The building would be locked, another day of failed attempts to wake him would be gone.

At the end of the line, Oh Sehun shifted his feet, trying to see past all the young women. Why was it all women, except for him? That didn't seem fair.

Oh Sehun was different from these women in more way than one. 12,000 years ago, he had been Prince Luhan's husband.

Sehun was from the past. In his time, when he had been married to the Prince, he had been kept a secret. No one knew of Luhan's marriage....because no one could know that he fell in love with his servant.

Now, every year, for 24 hours, 500 people got the chance to try to wake the Prince. Today, Sehun was last in line. He was confident, however; surely the Prince's own husband could wake him.

In the kingdom, a war was raging. All the neighboring kingdoms had the EXO Kingdom, as it currently had no ruler; no living descendant of the last king-to-be, Luhan, existed; he had never had children.

So the only thing to do was hope that Luhan could be awakened.

Sehun was beginning to get nervous. What if he couldn't awaken his husband? If Luhan was fated to be with another person? If he couldn't save EXO?

Sehun's turn came. He stepped up by the coffin, breathing hard. He prayed it would work. It had to. 

'Name?' The Guard asked tiredly.

'Oh Sehun.'

'Age?' 

'23.'

The Guard pricked Sehun's finger and watched the drop of blood fall onto the Prince's face. 

Silence. Neither dared to breathe. 

'You may go,' the Guard said at last.

Sehun stumbled out of the building with tears in his eyes. It wasn't him. The Prince was not destined to be with his own husband. 

Sehun walked on, all the way to the top of the hill that overlooked the kingdom. At the top was an old, crumbling building. No one ever went there. It was dark, dirty, empty, ready to collapse.

But Sehun remembered when this castle was standing tall and beautiful; lights shining in the windows, laughter floating all around. A rose garden had once grown at the back of it. Sehun remembered when this castle was alive.

He walked slowly through the dark halls, tracing his fingers over the crumbling stone wall. The tapestries had rotted long ago; the doors had fallen from their hinges, the ballroom floor was now full of holes.

Sehun climbed the ancient staircase, and though the stone was old, it was strong; it held his weight. He climbed to the top of the tower and stood at the window ledge, looking out over the EXO Kingdom.

In this room, he had pinned the beautiful young prince to the wall and kissed him. In this room, he had talked to the Prince and put a rose from the garden in his hair, telling him- in his exact words- 'You look gorgeous tonight, Luhan.' 

But here, also, the jealous Princess Taora had, using the assistence of the ancient witch Baekhee, laid Luhan under the curse.

Taora. Sehun smirked. He hadn't paid her a visit in a while. 

 

 

'Doing well, Princess?'

The skeleton looked angry, if that was possible. 'Do I look it?'

'Of course not. You look horrid. You always did.'

'Thanks,' Taora muttered. She sat down on the edge of her gold coffin, glowering at Sehun.

'How's Baekhee?' Sehun asked smugly, dodging the rock she threw at his head. 

'Still trying to escape Chanyeol.'

'The poor little ghost still thinks he can turn her human again? I really pity him; he refuses to believe his wife would sell her soul for power,' Sehun sighed. He really was sorry for the poor awkward ghost. He had never met Chanyeol as a living human; Chanyeol was in fact older than this castle, he was EXO's very first king. And Baekhee the queen, his wife, had given up their happiness for power.

'Did you wake up Luhan?' Taora said bitterly. 'I know that's what you're doing at the old castle.'

'I.....I tried.....' Sehun's smirk faded. 'Actually....yeah, good talk, but I gotta go. Bye, Skeleta.' And before Taora could throw another rock, he had escaped.

 

 

Luhan's eyelids fluttered open. 

And he screamed. It was so dark. He was surrounded by glass. It felt like he was suffocating.

'Where's Sehun?' He gasped. 'Sehunnie?' 

A laugh filled the room. An ancient, evil, cackling laugh.....a laugh that Luhan knew. 

By the tiny light of the small lamp by his- glass box, or whatever, Luhan saw the silhouette of a woman looming over him. 

'It's good, I woke you,' she laughed. 'Now little Luhan, let me tell you something. You are now 12,000 years into the future. And Sehun is here. But poor little Prince......he doesn't love you anymore.'

'Baekhee....' Luhan gasped. 'Go away. Sehun loves me. I know. You can't-'

'Then why did it not work, when he tried to wake you?' Baekhee hissed. 'He tried, but when it didn't work immediately, he gave up and left. Decided it wasn't worth it. Left you to be trapped in that glass coffin.'

Glass coffin. 

'But of you want to find someone familiar, go to the old castle on the hill, where you used to live. Hide your face. In that castle lives someone you once knew very well. At least......What's left of them.' She laughed once more and disappeared, but not before lifting the coffin lid.

Luhan did not like the sound of that at all. However, his curiosity was too much for him; he climbed out of then he coffkn, pulled his hood down over his face, and strode away from the building.

 

 

At the old castle, he walked confidently, undaunted by the ruin it was in. That is, he was confident..... until he opened the family memorial room's door.

One coffin sat open. On it sat the remains of a human, smiling grotesquely at him. He knew, without even asking, who it was. 

'So Baekhee succeeded,' his twin sister said.