It took them 2 hours of riding the bus from Seoul, asking people around, transit from one subway to another, asking more people and finally took a cab for them to be able to reach their destination. But unfortunately, it turns out that they still have a long way to go.

“Umm, are you sure this is the place?” Baekhyun asked the cab driver as the car started to slow down.

The reason why they were hesitating was that all they can see were trees. There were trees everywhere. Left, right, back and front were all covered with huge, bulk trees.

“Yeah, I can’t drive any further. You three need to walk from here. There’s a trail there, just follow it and you will arrive soon,” the driver said while pointing out the way.

They thanked the driver and slowly made their way towards the direction that hopefully will lead them to Oasis Palace.

 

“Among all the places in the world, why did Mr. Kang choose here?” Kyungsoo asked as he tried to walk through the slippery trail.

“And did you see the look on Mr. Kang’s face when he assigned us to this place. He looked so thrill and giddy. I mean, who would even be that excited to send their student to this secluded place,” Luhan blabbered while shooing the mosquitoes that were flying around him.

“Yeah, he even said ‘glad to let you have this place as part of your assignment’. Well, sir, I will be really glad if you could just give us a place where we can Google it,” Baekhyun's words managed to make Kyungsoo and Luhan laughed.

Oasis Palace is indeed placed in a very secluded area thus the three friends had agreed to stay there for a few days and tried to complete their assignment whilst they were staying there.

After a few minutes of walking, talking and bickering, the three friends managed to catch a glimpse of the palace.

Feeling eager, they fasten their step and when they finally get the full view, they were left in awe.

For a castle that was left for more than a hundred years, this castle looks absolutely nothing like it. There was barely any sign of rust and dust and the structure of the castle seems sturdy and strong like it was just built a few months ago.

 

“Is this real?” Luhan asked as he quickly adjusted the lens of his camera to snap some pictures of the castle.

“Indeed, it is real.”

The three friends shrieked in surprise upon seeing a new figure joining them. They recovered from the sudden shock and tried to get a clear view of the mysterious figure who was smiling politely at them.

“I’m sorry for my lack of manner. My name is Kim Junmyeon,” the mysterious guy introduced himself.  

Sensing no reaction from the three friends, Junmyeon continued with his introduction.

“You can just call me Junmyeon and I am the caretaker of this beautiful palace.”

Luhan eyed the man curiously, “Aren’t you too young to be a caretaker?”

Kyungsoo nudged him and Luhan glared at the doe-eyed boy muttering a soft ‘don’t tell me you’re not curious Soo’.

Junmyeon being the kind gentleman he is, just chuckled and nodded his head.

“Yes, I am. In fact, I just turned 30 years old this year, but my knowledge about this castle is way beyond my age,” Junmyeon said and guided the three friends to the main entrance of the palace.

“So, do you live here?” Baekhyun asked as he took out his notepad and his favorite purple pen to jot down important information.

“I didn’t live in this castle if that is what you’re asking. My house is just a few walks away from this place,” Junmyeon pointed out to in fact a small and cozy one-story house, where the garden is filled with flowers and green grass.

 

Junmyeon unlocked the front door and let the three friends enter the palace while he helped them with their luggage.

 

ZAPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

The three friends froze on their spot and turned to look at each other.

“Wh-

“Did yo-“

“Wha-“

“Is there any problem?”

Just like any other normal human being who is facing a crisis of something mysterious, surprising them with your sudden presence does not help because of course. They. Will. Freak. Out.

And that’s what exactly Baekhyun, Kyungsoo and Luhan did. They screamed their high-pitched voice that could possibly break glasses into pieces.

Did Junmyeon work as a caretaker or he is a conman that likes to surprise people? Because they didn’t know how many times, Junmyeon will be pulling out this kind of stunt.

Junmyeon was very calm despite having the three of them screaming on top of their lungs.

“Once again I am sorry for surprising you,” Junmyeon said politely and sent them an apologetic smile after the three of them have finally calmed down.

“Junmyeon, how did you do that?” Baekhyun asked and looked around warily.

Junmyeon just chuckled and shook his head.

“Well, I was just following you guys and the three of you suddenly stop as if you were being possessed,” Junmyeon said nonchalantly and walked past them as if it was nothing.

The three of them trailed after Junmyeon like a puppy.

“Then you must hear it too?” Kyungsoo asked and desperately waiting for Junmyeon to agree with him.

“Hear what?” Junmyeon asked curiously.

“Something like zappppppp,” Baekhyun tried to imitate while Kyungsoo and Luhan nod in agreement. Junmyeon raised his eyebrows in confusion.

“It’s probably the sound of the wind,” Junmyeon said as he pointed out and true to his words, the trees were swaying wildly due to the strong wind. “It’s getting quite windy nowadays.”

The three of them let out a relieved sigh.

“It’s just the wind,” Kyungsoo said and smiled at their foolishness.

“See, you guys are panicking for no reason,” Luhan said and flipped his hair.

Baekhyun just rolled his eyes at Luhan’s sassiness and urged the others to take their luggage.

 

They walk further into the palace and soon, they arrive at the main hall where they can see a big shiny chandelier hung on the ceiling, lighting up the whole room. The floor was polished smoothly that they can even see their reflection. But what caught their eyes was the huge family portrait that was hanging on the center of the wall.

The three friends had their gaze fixed on the portrait as if they were being pulled by the lifeless object.

Junmyeon smiled knowingly when the three friends seemed to be interested in the most memorable possession in the castle.

“This is the royal family of this castle known as the Park family,” Junmyeon proudly stated as he climbed up the stairs and went closer to the portrait.

Kyungsoo quickly took out his phone for voice recording, Luhan snapped a few shots of the portrait and Baekhyun was already busy scribbling out Junmyeon’s words.

“The Park family had left a very great impression to their citizens and they were loved by everyone,” Junmyeon paused.

“Sadly, that they didn’t get their happy ending,” Junmyeon mumbled and sighed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that,” Baekhyun said and smiled bashfully.

Junmyeon shook his head and muttered a small ‘it’s not that important’ before he shifted to stand at the other end of the portrait.

 

“Now it’s time for me to introduce to you, the Park family.”

“This was King Wonho. He was a very gentle and soft-spoken king, but he can still be firm and strict especially when it comes to making a decision that involved the citizens. He loved his family more than anything in the world and he was a great example of a perfect king, husband, and father,” Junmyeon explained and smoothly shifted a bit to the side.

“The one that was sitting beautifully next to him was Queen Hana. At first glance, you might see her as a soft-hearted and weak woman, but she was nothing like that. She was a very strong woman. Her wisdom and kindness had managed to capture the heart of the people making her the most idolized woman back then,” Junmyeon explained with a smile on his face.

“Moving on, we are going to get to know more about the most anticipated subject which are the princes,” Junmyeon talked as if he was doing a presentation and the three friends giggled when Junmyeon winked at them.

“Here was Prince Chanyeol. The firstborn in the family and he was known as the Prince of Music. He had composed more than 100 melodies throughout his life. His mood can usually be determined through his music. When he was happy, the tune will be cheerful and when he’s sad, the tune will be somber. He pours his emotion through music and people adore him for that.”

Junmyeon then went to introduce the next prince that was standing next to Prince Chanyeol.

“Next was Prince Jongin. He was the melancholy prince and he was dubbed as the Poet Prince. He would spend his spare time writing poems because that was his way to convey his feeling. Prince Jongin was not a huge fan of reciting his poem, he just loves to write it because he was quite shy. Just an additional fact, Prince Jongin even had his own space in the garden where he would write his masterpiece. In fact, you can see the view of the garden from his room.” Junmyeon giggled causing the three friends to give him a confused look.

Junmyeon who realized that he might appear to be weird, let out an awkward cough and put on a professional smile.

“Lastly, the youngest of the family, Prince Sehun is also known as the Ice Prince. The toughest prince when it comes to expressing his emotion. He rarely smiled thus the nickname. But it turns out that his ways of expressing his emotion were through painting. His love for art was well known all across the kingdom. His painting will usually be displayed every time they had an event in the castle.” Junmyeon end his talk and turned to look at the three friends who had an amused look on their faces.

 

“Are you sure you’re 30 years old?” Kyungsoo asked teasingly.

“Well, I grew up listening to their story and my ancestors had been working in this palace for a generation to generation. We’ve been taking care of this place and we are trying our best to maintain the authenticity of this castle,” Junmyeon said and walked closer to the three friends.

“This castle is so clean and amazing,” Baekhyun said genuinely pleased with the cleanliness of the castle.

“Oasis citizens had agreed to come by and clean this palace weekly after the reign of King Wonho. The agreement had been discussed long before and it is still valid until now. We had an annual meeting to set a schedule and to discuss things about Oasis palace. Since the three of you are here, so for this week, the three of you will have full responsibility of this castle,” Junmyeon explained and walked with them towards the living room.

“After the reign of King Wonho? Are you saying that he is the last ruler of the kingdom? Wasn’t the son supposed to be in charge after the death of the king?” Kyungsoo asked feeling curious as ever.

“Well, that is not my story to tell, but trust me. You’ll eventually find out even without my help,” Junmyeon answered with a soft smile on his face leaving the three friends feeling confused as ever.

 

Junmyeon took them on a tour around the castle and explained to them briefly about every part of the castle.

 

“So, if you have any inquiries or curiosity, you know where you can find me,” Junmyeon said as he was standing at the entrance door, ready to take his leave.

“Thank you so much Junmyeon we will do our best to take care of this place,” Luhan said politely.

Junmyeon smiled gratefully and was ready to leave but he stopped his track and turned to look at the three friends, “Oh, before I forget. Good luck.”

The three friends were really grateful to have Junmyeon to guide them and nodded their head. They bid him farewell and went to the kitchen to make themselves dinner.

 

“Junmyeon is a very nice guy,” Kyungsoo said as he took out the ingredients from one of the luggage.

Lucky for them to have Kyungsoo in their group or else they might end up eating ramen for the rest of their stay.

“Yeah, he’s very wise and knowledgeable,” Baekhyun agreed as he boiled the water per Kyungsoo request.

“But, do you see his face when he was explaining about the Park family? He was so excited and thrill as if he knew them,” Luhan suddenly stated.

“Well he did say that he had been listening about them, so he must feel closer to them,” Baekhyun said trying to make it sound logical and then he frowned. “But I am curious though. Why didn’t the prince step up to take their father's place?”

Luhan just shrugged and helped Kyungsoo to clean the vegetables after being threatened violently by none other than Kyungsoo himself.  

Whay they didn't know, the mystery of the castle is yet to begin. They didn’t know that their stay at the castle will lead them to uncover the greatest mystery of them all.