Minseok awoke with a soreness in his arms and legs. Struggling to sit up, he wondered why it seemed like he could barely move.

 

 

"You're finally awake?" A sweet voice asked him. Minseok's eyes fluttered open. And then he yelled.

 

 

An innocent, cute, deer-like boy was looking down at him, smiling brightly. 

 

 

Minseok then noticed that he'd been tied and bound to a bed, with ropes about as thick as a finger. He yelled again.

 

 

The boy tilted his head to look at him, amusement evident in his face. Minseok was flustered. Not in the least because, well, said boy's face was looming not more than ten centimetres away, and all Minseok could breathe in was the boy's carbon dioxide. The way the sunlight was shining from behind made him glow with an angellic aura. Minseok blinked a few times, slowly adjusting his eyes to the light. Until, much to his horror, he realised that the boy was practically save for some kind of loincloth wrapped around his nether regions.

 

 

Minseok promptly yelled for the third time. 

 

 

"Um... is this how you humans talk nowadays? Looks like a have a lot to catch up on," grinned the -but-not-exactly- boy. Minseok wanted to retort something witty on impulse before realisation dawned on him. He had been practically kidnapped by this random stranger who was now breathing hot air down his neck. 

 

 

"Who are you? Where am I? And what have you done to me?" Minseok asked, struggling against the rope. He was secretly thankful that the crazy boy didn't decide to gag him as well because he was pretty sure that with how he was rapidly hyperventilating, he would suffocate to death if he did.

 

 

"I'm Luhan. You're in my hut now. And, as you can obviously see, I've tied you up," Luhan replied with ease, eyes still beaming. "What's your name?"

 

 

"I'm Kim Minseok. But why have you tied me up and basically kidnapped me here? Are you like some kind of psychopath? Let me go, will you? I'm sure we can work something out," Minseok squirmed even harder in his uncomfortable position. 

 

 

"You're cute," Luhan chuckled, as he fastened his eyes on Minseok's chubby cheeks. "Stop struggling. I'm not gonna let you go."

 

 

"But why? Why? What do you want from me?" Minseok practically shouted in frustration. His thoughts were running a mile a minute. 

 

 

What does this person want from me? Is he nuts? Oh my god, is he some kind of ual ert? Oh crap, what if he really is? That would explain why he's stark and practically leering at me. Gross.

 

 

But nothing prepared him for the answer that came out of Luhan's mouth. "I'm a cannibal," he declared proudly. "And I'm going to eat you."

 

 

There was a pause. Minseok blinked. Once. Twice.

 

 

Then he burst out into guffaws. He laughed uproariously, till tears rolled down his eyes and the rope was cutting him because he moved too much. Luhan stared at him, a little dubiously. Finally, Minseok's laughter subsided. 

 

 

"Are you serious? You, a cannibal?" Minseok half-shrieked, half-cackled. "Best joke I've heard all year! I'd have believed you better if you said you were some real life reincarnation of Tarzan or something." 

 

 

Luhan looked a little hurt. "Excuse me, I really am a cannibal. And the reason why I've captured you was to cook you and eat you!" His eyes were wide open, as if he couldn't believe that anyone would dare doubt what he was.

 

 

"But you don't look like one. No way. I still don't believe you." Minseok was a naturally skeptical person and he tended to take everything with a pinch of salt. Not to mention Luhan's claim was so absurd that he simply couldn't will himself to take it as the truth.

 

 

"Then what do I look like?" Luhan asked curiously.

 

 

"You look kind of like a deer and you have really pretty and delicate features." Minseok blurted out. Then, he realised with a shock what he'd said. God Minseok can't you just watch your mouth for one second? I mean, you're talking to a very dangerous possible ual ert here. You can't just say anything you like! Minseok berated himself harshly.

 

 

"Really?" And Luhan did the unthinkable. He blushed. Cheeks tinted a pretty shade of pink, he smiled at Minseok, "That's the first time anyone's said that to me. They used to call me a freak because, well, I looked too much like a girl and was too pretty to be a cannibal."

 

 

Minseok furrowed his brows. "So... you aren't joking. You are a cannibal after all." Luhan nodded. "Yup! See here, these are all the skulls I've collected along the way." He pointed towards the wall and Minseok widened his eyes in horror.

 

 

Skulls of various shapes and sizes were attached to the walls of the cottage. Minseok tried counting, but soon he gave up. There were just too many. He suddenly felt a little sick.

 

 

"You―You mean you ate all those people?" Minseok asked, now truly beginning to feel afraid. He should really learn not to judge books by their cover anymore because hell, he was talking to a cannibal and his life was in imminent danger. 

 

 

"Well," Luhan bit his lip, "not exactly. Our family ate them together. I usually just eat a small portion of the arm. That's where the meat is the tenderest." 

 

 

Oh right. Not only would he be chopped to pieces and seasoned with garlic and pepper, but he would be speared with a fork and eaten by what, ten other cannibals? Wait, did cannibals even use forks in the first place? Minseok wondered. Not that it mattered right now. He would have tried to run away, except that he was trussed up like a turkey and it wasn't exactly very convenient to do so in that position. 

 

 

"And you're my first catch! I'm so happy, I haven't been eating human meat for such a long time," Luhan beamed excitedly, and Minseok couldn't help but smile along, even with knowing that maybe two hours later he would be trussed up like a turkey and end up somewhere in Luhan's digestive tract. There was just something magnetic about Luhan that made people like him despite knowing what he was.

 

 

Wait. Was Minseok getting a case of Stockholm Syndrome? He shook his head vigorously, clearing whatever random thoughts he had of Luhan from his mind. He could not let himself be taken in by Luhan. For heaven's sake, he's going to chop you into tiny pieces and maybe rip meat off you like you would eat a chicken drumstick. Or do cannibals prefer their meat raw? Minseok didn't think so, because if there was a universal law of the universe, it was that everything tasted better cooked.

 

 

"Well, if you're gonna cook me, I suggest you be quick about it. You'd prefer your meat as fresh as possible, right?" Minseok gathered up his courage and said to the cannibal who was now pacing up and down the room.

 

 

Luhan seemed to be in deep thought over something. He furrowed his brows and chewed on his lip. Finally, he seemed to come upon a decision.

 

 

"I'll let you go. On one condition."

 

 

"What?" Minseok was pretty much prepared to accept anything. Maybe Luhan wanted his clothes. Minseok could understand why. Loincloths weren't very big in fashion nowadays. Minseok wasn't one to brag, but he had to admit that he looked exceptionally dapper in them. Poor Armani Exchange shirt, I'll miss you. Minseok looked sympathetically down at his clothes, now wrinkled and dirtied with mud and sand.

 

 

But he never expected the words that tumbled out of Luhan's mouth next.

 

 

"You stay by my side and don't run away. Keep me company, you know. It's been lonely these few years." Luhan actually looked apprehensive as he awaited Minseok's answer. Minseok's brain started whirring and clicking.

 

 

"I thought you had family?" Minseok managed to squeak out. 

 

 

"They―It's kind of a long story. I'll tell you sometime later. I promise," said Luhan. 

 

 

Minseok considered the proposition. It sounded fishy, but he was too desperate to live to care. Anything was better than being eaten. Even if it meant he had to put up with cannibal quirks (whatever they were). 

 

 

"But aren't you afraid of me running away?" 

 

 

"I trust you. You wouldn't run away," answered Luhan.

 

 

And this simple faith in Minseok is what spurred him on to say 'yes'. Luhan was so happy when Minseok agreed that he started doing some kind of weird dance (Minseok could only assume it was a typical cannibal ritual) and mutter incomprehensible words for ten minutes before Minseok coughed awkwardly and Luhan remembered to untie Minseok from the bed. Minseok then requested for some water, which Luhan immediately brought before him.

 

 

So began Minseok's somewhat inexplicable relationship with Luhan, his cannibalistic captor.