Mina and Chaeyoung

"Is that..."

"I think so. We have made it here!"

Mina helped Chaeyoung up, though both of them couldn't take their eyes off the scene before them. In front of them is a tall iron gate with a sign that reads Tōhō (東方) Castle, below which was the five-star constellation symbol, Cassiopeia. The bell is nowhere to be found, and not a lock to be seen, they push open the door and enter. Behind the gate is a large garden, planted with many large trees and a carefully tended lawn. They could see pine trees, cypresses, ginkgo, and many other trees that were gradually turning the garden golden during the leaf changing season. A small pond with marble fountain is situated in the middle of the garden, with water flowing out from the marble dolphin's mouth and the arrows of the little angels.

Walking cautiously, their eyes constantly searching around, but there is not a single person in sight. Having to go through many hardships to get here, is it possible that this place has no one to guard? It's absurd. However, no one or anything is stopping them from moving forward. Eventually, they reach a large castle with smooth golden walls and pointed roofs. They carefully ascend the steps and knock on the door.

***

The heavy wooden door creaks open after three knocks, with no one behind, must be by magic. It’s dark inside, contrasts with the morning sunlight bathing the garden. They can only make out a tall, slender silhouette standing on top of the grand staircase.

“It’s been so long since the last time we had visitors. Come in.”

A silky voice welcomes them, not too strong, but with enough power to establish its status as the place owner. As soon as the word escapes the man’s mouth, a strange wind suddenly blows from behind, pushing the two girls into the hall. With each step they take, light from the wall sconces gradually brightened, until they come to the middle of the hall, the room is illuminated to every corner. They stop in the middle, keeping a safe and respectful distance from the figure.

Both can’t help letting out a gasp when seeing the owner’s face. He is so beautiful. There is something almost too perfect about his face, like it belongs in a painting, not on a living human being. His face is an ingenious combination of a man’s sharpness and the soft and elegance of woman. His whole existence exudes royalty, as if he is born in royalty and destinated to be an empress. Yes, not an emperor but an empress. And that can’t be argued. He is ethereal. They would believe if someone tell them he is a god, the god of beauty, even. Aphrodite can’t get better than that. Now they really wonder if he’s the demigod they’re coming to see.

The man descends downstairs elegantly, eyes never leaving the visitors, a hint of amusement glistens. They feel trapped, as if they’re preys, and he, the predator, knows exactly they can’t escape and decides to have some fun. They know, in that moment, they wouldn’t in any possible way get out unharmed if he doesn’t allow so.

“Welcome to my humble abode. What can I do for you ladies?”

“We come to ask for help. To cure her curse.”

Chaeyoung, finally finding her voice, says. It’s scary, but she has Mina to worry about. The man only raises his brow, gaze dashes to their joining hands for a moment before looking back at their faces.

“Straight to business, aren’t we? Let’s get inside. I want to hear the whole story.”

He saunters a few paces ahead gracefully. The two girls have no choice but to follow. He leads them to a big room, not as big as the hall, but enough to set a tennis course. Of course, no one would play tennis here, not with this luxurious furniture around. The burgundy red wall combined with velvet and golden furniture creates a royal feeling. A set of sofa and table is situated in one side of the room, where they’re heading to. This must be the guest receiving room. The man sits down on an ornate curved wingback chair with golden edge, which is much resemble of a throne, and nods at them to sit down. They settle on the sofa on his right side and wait for him to start.

“I have received message from Irene, saying there’ll be two girls coming to my place to ask for help. One is severely injured.”

His eyes dart to Mina’s hands again, obviously knows who’s injured out of the two.

“Yes.”

“Let me see your hand, young lady.”

The two girls exchange a look, with a little nod from Chaeyoung, Mina holds out her hand. The man takes Mina’s hand in his, more gentle than she imagines it would be, and carefully examines it.

“An ancient curse. Powerful too. Sadly, I’m not an expert in this.”

He lets go of Mina’s hand and rings a small golden bell, which looks as if it just materialized in his hand. They haven’t seen him holding it just a second before. Very quickly, a middle-aged man comes in through the door, dressed in a black tuxedo. He bows to the young man and the girls.

“Call Chun here for me, please. Tell him it’s emergency.”

The man nods again and quickly retreat to the same way he just came in.

“That’s our butler, Mr. Lee. He’s calling my eldest son, a healer. He’ll know what to do with this. Hmm, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Oh sorry. We haven’t introduced. I’m Son Chaeyoung, and this is Mina.”

“I’m Jaejoong.”

So, he is the kitsune.

Right at this time, in comes a young man bringing a wooden box, his long hair tied loosely behind. His clothes are shabby, but clean, as if he doesn’t bother with what he wears.

“What’s wrong?”

The new man asks. His voice is deep and warm, creating a sense of trust to others. No wonder he’s a healer. He’s quite handsome, tall, with beady eyes and such a sad look it makes the girls’ hearts drop in sorrow. Chaeyoung explains briefly on what happened, the curse and how Jeongyeon trapped it with the silver bracelet.

“May I?” He gestures to Mina’s hand.

“Sure.”

All eyes are on him as he examines the hand carefully, checks the purse and the bracelet. Then, he starts pulling out needles and some small bottles with shiny liquid.

“I’ll try to retract it out. It might hurt, just a bit. You okay with that?”

“It’s alright.”

However, the needle couldn’t pierce through the skin of Mina’s left hand, making the healer frowns. He quickly pulls out another needle – golden one this time, pours a drop of blue liquid on, saying an incantation before pushing it right in. It successes this time. From the tip where the needle pierce through, blue starts spreading until Mina’s left hand turns a dark shade of blue completely. However, it doesn’t stop there. The blue keeps spreading out, only stops when reaching near Mina’s shoulder. His frown deepens, and Chaeyoung doesn’t think it’s a good sign.

“Can we move to the infirmary? I’ll need her to lay down first. The tests can be tiring.”

With a quick nod from Jaejoong, they stand up and move to the infirmary room. If the dominant colors of the previous room are red and gold, this room is mainly white and beige. Looks like it is rarely used but clean enough. Following the healer's instructions, Mina lays down on one of the two white beds, her left hand facing out. Jaejoong and Chaeyoung sit down on the other, close enough for Chaeyoung to observe everything, but also creating enough space for the healer to work.

The following actions look like series of test he’s performing on Mina’s hand – pouring different liquid and trying devices. Nothing seems to work, Chaeyoung guesses as the healer’s eyebrows knit strongly.

“Now.” The kitsune speaks up “Could you please tell me what happened?”

…

"Interesting" He ponders, after listening attentively to Chaeyoung's story. "Just a few days ago, we received a letter from the emperor of Japan, asking for our help. Now even the old lady said we should help you. You've got a strong support.”

"Do you know that lady?" Chaeyoung asks. She knows the emperor letter is probably the Hirai's doing, but the old lady's identity sparks her curiosity.

"I have met her a few times, through the course of my life. Not all meeting is pleasant, I must say."

"Who is she?"

"To be honest, I don't know for sure. Just know that she's probably the most dangerous deity you'll ever encounter in your life."

"Is she a god?"

"A very powerful one." He confirms. "But what got me curious is what she said about opportunity. Do you know what she's referring to?"

"Honestly I have no idea." Chaeyoung admits.

"Could you tell me a bit about yourself? Your background. And Mina's too, if you please."

Glancing at Mina and the healer busying doing test on her, Chaeyoung sighs and recounts about how she's brought up by her mum, how Jihyo has helped taking care of her when they moved to Japan. She tells him about Nayeon and Jeongyeon, who's treating her as if she's their own baby, about her friends Dahyun and Tzuyu, and lastly, how she met Mina. It's quite long and all over the place but the man in front of her listens patiently.

"So, you're born in Korea and moved to Shinki village when you're five? Do you speak Korean?"

"Yes. We have to learn it together with Japanese."

"Never have a father in your life?"

"No. My mum told me he's passed away shortly after I was born. There's not even a photo of him."

She fiddles with her hands, not knowing how it's related to saving Mina. But she daren't ask. This action has caught the man's eyes.

"Sorry for your lost." He says softly. "What a nice ring you have. Is this a family heirloom?"

"It's hardly an heirloom." She chuckles nervously. "My mum left it for me before she passed away. I just know about its existence recently. She said it'll help me when I'm in danger. But nothing happened."

"Can I see it?"

"Sure."

She takes the ring off and hands it to him, which he examines cautiously. What's with this ring anyway?

"Interesting." He says as he hands the ring back and she puts it on her finger.

She's about to ask what he finds interesting in this ring when the healer’s voice interrupts her chain of thoughts.

“Go to sleep.”

He snaps his finger and Mina is out cold, which keeps Chaeyoung twitching on edge of her seat. She holds her tongue as the man takes off the silver bracelet (It’s keeping the curse from spreading) and replaces it with another bracelet made of red thread. If you look closely, there’s golden thread woven in it as well. It seems to be done, as he puts her hand back after saying a spell.

“It’s not much I can do at the moment. The poison is too strong, it has infiltrated her blood system despite the silver bracelet. Whoever put the bracelet on has done a good job of keeping the poison from being active, but they cannot stop it from infiltrating the blood. I can’t, either. I can only change to a more powerful material, which is the red thread, to buy more time.”

His words are like thunder in the clear sky, leaving Chaeyoung stunned and speechless. She thought that coming to this place would guarantee for curing Mina. They are gods! Couldn't they treat a mortal? She feels dizzy. Was their journey of the past two weeks pointless? Now where do they find the antidote? Do Mina really have to die?

"Do you want to lie down?" The kitsune asks, concerning about Chaeyoung's state.

"No." She stammers “How long do we have?”

“That one, together with some medicine, I’d say you have 6 months, roughly.”

“Is there another way to cure this?” Chaeyoung asks desperately. No. this can’t be.

“The poison has set itself in. It’s too late for a cure. What you need now is a life-saving remedy like Elixir of life.”

“Do you have it?”

“Sorry, we don’t have any of that here.” The healer bows his head.

Chaeyoung feels like she has just free fall to a bottomless abyss. She turns to look at Mina lying on the hospital bed. She looks so peaceful like a little angel, not knowing how dreadful the situation is.

“There must be some other ways.”

Jaejoong’s mumble makes her head snaps to his direction immediately. She quickly stands up from her seat and gets down on her knees.

"Can you please save her? I'll do anything!" She cries.

He helps her up and stares at her pensively, his delicate face tilts slightly, looking deeply in thoughts.

"We'll see if there're any other ways. My husband is back this evening and I'll call my sons here. We'll find other way to save your companion. You two rest here for the time being. Mr. Lee will bring lunch to you. You must be tired from your trip. Rest. Take your time. We'll meet up at dinner."

Then he stands up, signaling the healer to wake Mina. The healer brings a small bottle under Mina's nose and the girl stirs up immediately. The men nod goodbye and go out of the room, leaving the two girls confused.