"You're a vampire too?" Minnie asked Jaeyoon. At this point, she wasn't even that surprised. "Yep," Jaeyoon happily smiled. "Wow, what a thing to keep a secret from your friend," Minnie pretended to be upset while crossing her arms. "Well, I didn’t know that you were going to use poisons to harm people," Jaeyoon countered back.

Minnie quickly changed the subject, "So, how do I get these roses to grow again? Isn't it too late in the year for this?" Jaeyoon's eyes lit up, "Of course, but the castle is special and keeps plants alive which haven't been tampered with." "Okay… It's magical then?" Minnie wasn’t sure that she believed this. Jaeyoon had to think about it for a second, "Hm, I guess you could think of it like that. By the way, these roses were planted for Taeyang's mother. That's why he's so upset about them."

As she didn't know Taeyang's mother, Minnie didn't really care. However, she felt a slight bit of guilt for ruining something that had sentimental value. Maybe she was changing because Taeyang was being nicer to her now.

"The petals are almost black," Minnie commented while lifting a bloom up a little to get a better look at it. "Yes, but they're actually just a very dark red. Their name is 'Black Bacarra' which is a hybrid tea rose," Jaeyoon explained.

Minnie was fascinated to know about the plant, but she remembered that she didn't have her poison pouch which still held some of the rose petals. She looked around and easily found the pouch lying in plain sight on the cobblestone path. Then, she retrieved her precious ingredients.

It took some time for Jaeyoon to explain the different things she would have to do. Minnie was perplexed from so much information but was confident that she could fix the plants. Jaeyoon told her that it would take about a month before the roses could bloom.

When he was finished with his instruction, he attempted to cheer her up. "You'll do fine. Time will pass by quickly, and you'll be back to making poisons," he said cheerily.

She smiled at his strange words, "Thank you." He nodded and left toward his home in the forest. After Minnie waved to him, she suddenly felt alone because Jaeyoon was her only friend. However, she knew she had to finish her task alone.

With a determined mindset, she started her first day of work and hoped time would fly by for her.

…

One early afternoon, Minnie was almost finished working on the rose bushes. She swiftly did the last things she had to do and dusted off her hands.

She wasn't sure if she was allowed to, but she really wanted to work on her perfume poison. She had been working on the rose bushes for three weeks and hadn't been able to do what she loved as she was usually too exhausted at the end of the day.

While trying to go unnoticed, Minnie went back into the castle halls and snuck toward the kitchen. No one seemed to be around which allowed her time to put a pot of water on the stove to boil. While the water was boiling, she found, in a cupboard, a metal funnel and a glass bottle for cooking oil. The glass was clean and would prove useful as a vessel for her poison when it was finished.

Exhausted from her workday, Minnie poured herself a glass of water from a pitcher which Inseong kept on the countertop. As Minnie drank a bit of water, Inseong walked in with a quizzical face.

"I've done all I can for today and just came in here for some water," she calmly explained. Inseong smiled, "Okay. Don't work too hard." With that said, he left. She was relieved that he hadn't noticed the pot of water which was now at a full rolling boil.

When it seemed like the way was clear, Minnie took her supplies and the pot of water to her room. She couldn't lock the door which forced her to work on her experiment in the bathroom. It proved useful to work where she was as she spilled some scalding water on the floor in her hurry.

Taking the rose petals from her ingredient bag, Minnie sprinkled them into the pot. While the petals soaked, she started crafting a scentless poison to add to the perfume when it was ready. It would take until the next day for her creation to be finished, but Minnie felt so much joy in doing what she loved.

By the time Minnie had completed the poison, it was nightfall. She had added the poison to the bottle she had obtained from the kitchen. Now, she lay on her side on the comfortable bed and simply stared out the window into the night.

As she began to drift to sleep, she heard a voice echoing from outside. Wondering who it could be, she moved over to the window. Peering through the glass, she couldn't see anyone, but the sound seemed to be projecting from the garden.

Quickly draping a small blanket over her shoulders, Minnie made her way through the castle and into the garden. Making sure to not make a sound, she slowly approached one of the rose bushes. She craned her neck to see around the plant only to behold Taeyang singing gracefully into the night. Had Minnie not known his true identity she could have mistaken him for a male siren without wings.

As the song seemed to be in another language, the words of the song didn't make sense to Minnie. However, she thought the song was very entrancing so much so that she almost didn't notice when all of the roses began blooming unnaturally. It was then that Minnie remembered what Jaeyoon had told her about the place being magical.

Another strange thing happened next that Minnie really wasn't expecting. Tears had formed and were now streaming down her face to drip onto the ground. Her heart felt different as she now had mixed feelings of happiness and melancholy. As to what had caused this emotional response, she really couldn't say.

Trying to shake the feeling, she moved closer to where Taeyang was while still trying to keep out of sight. Taeyang finally ended his song and fixed his eyes on some roses nearby. He smiled lovingly at them as he remembered his mother.

Without thinking, Minnie breathed out a word for Taeyang's song, "Beautiful." Taeyang was now made aware of her presence and turned in surprise to see her. She wasn't well hidden as he could see in the dark. This also allowed him to see the tears on her face. He rushed over to her. "What’s wrong?" he asked with concern, "Are you hurt?" She didn't know what to say and swiftly wiped away her tears.

**.**.**.**.**

I finally finished chapter 5 after 3 weeks! I'm sorry for the slow update. Hopefully, I can get the next one written faster. 😆

Research:
Rosa ‘Black Bacarra’ (Hybrid Tea Rose)