Chapter 11

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A creak from the door echoed throughout the bedchamber. Two sunsets had passed since Minho left the castle. When he returned, he quickly headed for the young boy’s room. Everyone had fallen asleep, even the sick young boy. Minho quietly and carefully stepped into the bedchamber were the young boy spelt. His feet shuffled against the wooden floor. He kept his eyes on the bed. It grew dark a few hours ago and the room was black. The only light was from the moon. It outlined every edge in the room. Even the edges of the young boy’s face as he slept. The dark blue light made him look like a child. The most innocent, loving child that was broken.

Minho approached the bed, noticing the state of the young boy. He seemed to have the cold-sweats. The tips of his hair were stuck to his forehead, but his lips were trembling. His chest was moving up and down under the covers as he was panting.

Minho felt a small pull in his chest. It almost broke his heart seeing the young boy like this. He always hated seeing people suffer. He hated the kid, yes but he promised Onew he would give him a chance. He stepped closer to the bed, shifting his weight on loose floor board. The sudden noise made the young boy awaken from his sleep.

Taemin’s eyes shot open, or almost open. He opened them as far as he could before it hurt. He stirred in his bed when he saw a dark figure looming over him. Minho quickly covered Taemin’s mouth before he could yelp.

"It’s okay. You’re alright." Taemin fought against Minho, as he was trying to calm the boy down. Taemin kicked his feet and tried to pulls Minho’s hand away from him. He grabbed the boy's shoulder with his free hand, and forced the young boy to look at him. Taemin’s eyes were jolt back and forth, looking at the figure, but quickly stopped when we realized who it was. "it’s just me." Minho whispered.

Slowly, Minho’s hand moved away from the young boy’s mouth. "Minho?" the boy’s voice sounded dry, and sore. "W-what are you doing?" Minho sat on the edge of the bed, the weight on the mattress made Taemin shift to his side.

"Look, I know I may have been acting..." Minho nodded his head a few times, not wanted to admit his wrongdoing. "You know, but I came to make up for it." He held out his hand, relieving a bottle filled with water that looked so small compared to the monster’s large hand. Taemin looked at him confused.

"Drink it. It’ll heal you."

After blinking a few times, Taemin pushed himself onto his elbows, shooting pain from his spine through his shoulders, then slow into a sitting position. He took the bottle with shaky hands. He removed the cork from the rim, and held the bottle under his nose. He took a deep whiff before pulling the bottle away from his face and looking at monster. "It’s just water."

"It’s not just normal water." Minho said. "It’s different. It’s magical."

Taemin held the bottle to his lips before drinking. He didn’t finish the bottle before handing it back to the monster sitting next to him. "It’s sweet."

"Yeah, it is."

"What is it anyway?"

Minho looked at the bottle in his hand. "It’s water, but for some reason it has the power to heal." he glanced out the window from the bed, making Taemin to also look. "My wife and I found it in our secret spot up on the mountain one day. It took me forever to find it again." Taemin turned to the monster.

"So this magic water, it can heal anything?"

"You tell me." Minho turned his back to the boy.

Taemin lightly touched his lips and let his eyes drop. He hadn’t noticed his eyes were now fully open and seeing properly. His fever was going down and his body didn’t hurt. "I guess it really is." He dropped his hand, looking back at the monster. "How did you find out it was magic?"

"When I younger, I was climbing up there with my wife and twisted my leg the wrong way." Minho pushed himself more onto the bed and started using his arms as he began telling his story. "we were near the top, so we weren’t able to make it down on our own. My wife went back to get some help. I was stuck there for a few days maybe. However when I was trying to find somewhere to take cover, I stumbled into a pool of water. The water in the pool was sparkling and glowing, that’s when I figured it was magic. Next thing I knew, my leg didn’t hurt anymore and I was fine. "

The young boy nodded, making his hair fall from behind his ears, over his eyes. His hair has grown much longer than it was when he first came to castle. He was farther past his shoulders, and his bangs were past his nose. "You didn’t have to do that for me." Taemin said.

The monster sighed, understanding the young boy wasn’t going to forgive him right away, and he shouldn’t. Minho leaned forward some, and grabbed a small strand of the young boy’s hair, pushing it back behind his ear. Although the boy may not trust him right away, Minho might as well show him, he’s gentle. "I was upset and I took my anger out on you, and because of that, you got ill and could have died. I think I did have to." He gave Taemin a small side smiled.

Taemin felt his cheeks heat up. Good thing it was dark in the room, so Minho couldn’t see. Taemin hugs his legs that were under the bed covers, and rested his chin on his knees. "Thank you."

"Tomorrows a new day." Minho said. "It’s also Jonghyun’s birthday. I was thinking of having everyone out of the castle to have a small party in the garden."

"Birthday?" Taemin looked up at the monster, but still had his chin on his knees. "What’s tomorrow’s date?"

"April 8th."

Taemin chuckled and rested his forehead on his knees. "It’s been that long?"

"What do you mean?"

"It’s almost two months since I first came here." He picked up his head. Minho looked at boy confused. He was right. The boy had been going through two months of hell so far, it was about time to change that or try to at less.

"That was fast. It only seems like a few weeks." The young boy chuckled again. Minho’s puppy ear twitched at the soft, innocent noise the young had created. Taemin noticed this and reached for his ear. They were soft, almost like cotton. They looked just like puppy ears that flopped over because they were so long. They blended in with the rest of the fur, it didn’t even look like he had ears. Taemin smiled and let go of the monster’s ears. Minho shook his head, messing up his fur, making it stick up for a few second before it settled back. "I think I should let you get some rest." Minho stood up from the bed. "I’ll have Tao make you an outfit for tomorrow, this time out of some of my clothes." Taemin nodded his head then laid down on the bed, pulling the covers over his shoulder. Minho picked up a pillow that he hadn't noticed he knocked off the bed. He placed it softly under the boy’s head, and give it a few pats to fluff it out. Taemin smiled to thank him, and grabbed Minho’s hand that was still placed on the pillow.

"Good night." Taemin’s eyes fluttered close, and his grip loosened. Minho lightly pulled his hand away, and walked out of the room. He made sure to lightly close the door to not wake Taemin. When the door clicked shut, Minho leaned up against it. It took everything in him not to rip the young boy’s throat apart. Yet, he didn’t want to. He glanced down at his hand. This boy was the only person that wasn’t afraid to touch him. This monster, this ugly horrible human being, the boy wasn’t afraid to be near. It made Minho realize the boy had a heart. A heart the monster once had before.

Minho dropped his hand to side and signed. Maybe having this boy as friend wasn’t going to kill him.

The sun was peeking from behind the mountains, but still the light wasn’t touching the castle. Taemin had woken up in best shape he’s ever been in. After been sick for what felt like months, he was glad to finally be able to move again. Tao had given him an outfit from Minho. It was a simple blue button cotton jacket. There was only two buttons at the bottom, but Tao had given him a white dress shirt to wear under. The shelves of the jacket rolled up to the elbow and collar was popped up. He had a nice pair of black dress pants and boots to finish off the outfit. Taemin pulled his hair back into a ponytail, pushing his bangs back out of his face.

Everyone else was busy setting up in the garden. Jonghyun was with Kibum making food for everyone. Onew was with Minho in his room getting ready. By the time Taemin had made it outside, everything was already set up. He hadn’t seen the garden before, but it quiet beautiful. it was behind the castle and there was two rows of japanese cherry blossom trees. They each stood next to reach, bordering the path. The path was made of stones and rocks that were nicely placed in a decorative way, that lend into a small field behind the castle. Towards the end of the path, the rocks split off into a circle area, where everyone had set up a table and fire. The tree wrapped around the edge of the circle, creating a beautiful environment.

"I see you wasted no time getting everything together." Taemin said to the coat rack .

"We live for these kinds of things."

Taemin took a few small candles that some little teacup were carrying, and helped place them around the table to light up the area. The fire was started, also lighting up the area. Taemin looked up to the sky, where the dark cloud were luming. It was strange how it was morning, and the sun was out, but they had to set up a party like it night.

"Do those clouds ever disappear?" Taemin asked, still looking up the sky.

"They’ve been there since the castle was put under the curse. Since then, they’ve haven’t gone." Onew and Minho were making their way down the path. Minho was carrying boxes on top of box, while Onew carried a list. He looked like he made a check list and was trying to if everything was perfect. Minho placed the boxes on the small table, while everyone gathered around.

"Kibum and Jonghyun are on their way here now. So everyone get ready." Onew said. "Instruments start playing!" The instruments readied themselves, and began to play. It was strange because Taemin had only seen people ever play instrument. Not instruments playing themselves. The violin started play, followed by flutes and drums. They began with a soft tune, a calm, soothing, sound that could make anyone fall asleep.

Minho opened the boxes he brought out. A few balloons fell out, moving themselves to the trees, and aligning themselves to the tree trunks. Taemin watched in awe as everything moved on it’s own. His brother always wanted to invent something like this. To make things do everything and anything. For plates to wash themselves after a meal, fireplaces to light up without a match, or even a door that takes off your coat when you inside. Anything that made lives easier, his brother wants to make it. Taesun was talented when it came to inventing stuff, but he would also get a few of ideas from Taemin and his imagination. Too bad he would never be able to see his brother again.

Taemin watched as one balloon missed the tree truck and flew up into the air. Taemin’s head slowly rose, as his eyes followed the balloon go higher and higher to the sky. The music slowly entered the young boy’s ears, and the balloon disappeared above the cloud surrounding the castle. Taemin’s eyes slowly closed as he took a deep breathe. Taking in the smell of fresh air, and smoke from the fire. It had gotten warmer outside, but it wasn’t burning. It was the perfect weather to be outside. Perfect for a birthday.

"Here they come!" Someone shouted. Taemin turned around, looking down the path. He saw Jonghyun and Kibum. Kibum was dragging the confused Jonghyun, and when they got closer the circle, the music started playing louder and changed to a more, upbeat song and small teacups, including yoogeun, started throwing confetti. "saengil chukha hamnida!" Everyone shouted.

"This is for me?"

"Of course! Who else would it be for?" Onew wrapped ‘arm’ around Jonghyun and dragged him to the table that had a cake set up with candles. Everyone gathered around the table to sing. While Onew was lighting up the candle, Kibum and Jonghyun were making jokes, making everyone laugh. Taemin also laughed along. When he laughs, he has a habit of covering his mouth and turning away. He faced the path when he was laughing and noticed Minho. The monster was walking away. Taemin took a quick glance to the table, everyone was already singing, then he turned to look back at Minho. He was gone.

Taemin’s feet moved on their own. He followed the path back to the castle where Minho was going. As he was walking, he looked back and forth seeing if he could find which way the monster went. He reached the end of the path before it split into two, and decided to head to the front of the castle, passing the graveyard. The graveyard with one grave. He took a minute to stand in front of the fence, separating him from the stone. Why would there only be one? Has only one person ever died here? He tried to take a small step closer to read the name. Still he couldn’t make out what it said, but it looked like someone scratched it off. There wasn’t even a simple picture or anything. It was if this person had no identity. Was it a pet? A dog that had passed? Maybe the curse stopped everyone from ageing or ever dying, that’s why there’s only one grave, but that can’t be true because Onew said they were only cursed for three years or so. Plus he found Minho in the graveyard, looking like he was crying. As sad as it would be to lose a pet, he didn’t think after three years someone would still cry over it.

Taemin felt his eyes grow wider. It was his wife, wasn’t it? That’s why the monster came here. The person who was in this grave was Minho’s dead wife. He didn’t know why he found it surprising, but he did. He’s heard the monster speak of her, and a few others and he’s heard them say she’s passed away. Why did he don’t believe it until he saw it. He swallowed, feeling a lump in his throat. He grabbed his jacket by his elbows, and turned around following the path again. He shook his head a few times trying to get the image of the grave out of his. Why did it bother him so much? The image wouldn’t leave him. Was it the fact there was no face? The person everyone talks about and knows about, doesn’t have a face to him? Only a scratch out gravestone? Not even a name. He was so focused on the image of the grave, he hadn’t noticed he was standing in front of the castle. He stopped in his tracks, looking at the front gate.

It was open. Open and swinging in the wind.

He was about to walk towards it, until "I thought you going to be at the party." Taemin turned around to the voice. Minho was standing on the three stair, staircase that lead to the front door of the castle.

"I thought the same for you." Taemin said.

Minho looked around trying to find an excuse for leaving. "I had things to do." He looked at the young boy, and didn’t look away. Taemin was nodding his head pretending to except his cover up. The silence made them feel uncomfortable. Minho shifted his weight to one leg, while Taemin grabbed the back of his neck. The gate made a loud clanging sound. Taemin turned around to look at it. The wind was pushing the gate open, and slamming it shut, playing a game. Taemin tilted his head. Wasn’t the gate rusted shut?

"I don’t get it." Taemin felt the breath of the monster go down his neck.

Taemin looked over his shoulder. The monster standing just a few inches away. "Get what?" Taemin asked. Get why the gate was open? Why it’s moving when it just rusted.

Minho put his hands on the young boy’s shoulder, making him look back to the gate. "There’s your freedom. It’s right there in front of your face, calling you." Minho leaned closer to Taemin’s ear, talking no more than a whisper. "So why don’t you take it?" Taemin’s head tilted down, and his eyebrows narrowed. He was thinking about what Minho was tell him. It was true. He could just bolt for it and never look back. "It’s not like anyone can stop you. What am I to do? I already let your brother free. It’s not like I can lock him back up because you got away." His grip on the young boy’s shoulder tightened. "You could and can get away from here. So why don’t you?" By this time, Taemin still hadn’t moved. He stayed still under Minho’s touch.

It was quiet. So quiet, Taemin sore the monster could hear his heart beating in his chest Hear each time in pumped because of the simple touch of his shoulder. He couldn’t tell why it was pumping like this, he felt scared. Scared because of the being standing behind him, and scared because of the question.

There was the longest paused before Taemin moved his head up. He slowly turned around to face the monster, who hands slipped from the boy’s shoulders. "Because I made a promise." to lighten up the situation, Taemin smiled.

"And I’ve never broken a promise."

If there was one person in the village who hadn’t heard Amber cry, they’d be lucky. She hadn’t stopped crying since the doctor told her Suho was dead. She laid on Taesun’s bedside with her head in her folded arms, crying. She felt bad for Taesun. He had to listen to her weep for days. She couldn’t help but let the tears fall. Why of all people, did Kai have to kill Suho? She prefer if he took her life, than someone else’s. She pushing her wrist against her eye, in attempt to stop the crying. She took deeper breaths to calm herself down and leaned back in the chair. The tears stopped, but her bottom lip still quivered.

Her eyes hurt, but her heart hurt worse. She held her head up with her hand, holding Taesun’s with her other. She needed someone to lean on right now, but she was alone. She figured Taemin was dead, Suho was too, and Taesun was out cold. She had her parents, but they weren’t here with her, nor would they understand.

She wiped her face one more time. "Man up." She said to herself. Amber just wanted to push it aside, she really did, but to forget a friend who just passed away wasn’t easy. It wasn’t that he just passed away, he had his life taken from him. A man a few years older than she, had his life taken away.

She hated Kai. She did before, but now it felt like a different kind of hate. The kind that even the name burns your throat, making you want to cut off your tongue. The kind that when you even picture their face you want to put a knife in their heart.

A soft knock came from the doorway. Amber got up from her seat, and was about to walk to the front door, but the person was already in the house. He was standing by the door looking at Amber with the saddest eyes. Amber sniffled and gave the man a weird look. "Who are you?"

The blonde boy ruffled his hair. "I’m Luhan. I heard about what happened." He stepped into the room, walking closer to Amber.

"So what are you doing here?" She asked.

He looked down. "I was friends with Kai." He took a short pause. He could tell she was angry with him. He didn’t have to look up to know that. He had more to say, but he felt Amber glaring at him. He could feel the angry beaming off of her at him. "Was." Luhan held his hands in front of him, playing with his figures. He almost felt embarrassed to admit his past. "After I heard what he had done to your friend, I refuse to consider myself a friend of his anymore."

Amber took a deep breath and looked away. The room fell silent. Luhan shuffled his feet against the floor. "So why are you here?" Amber said.

"Because I know what Kai’s next move is." Luhan answered. Amber still didn't understand what he meant by coming all the way here. She rolled her eyes and turned back to Taesun. Luhan walked closer to her, and knelt beside her. She looked down at him raising an eyebrow. "He plans on coming back in a few weeks. With a girl named Krystal."

I feel like this took a LOT longer to post than it should have.

I still feel like I could have wrote more, but I tired to get this posted for you guys.

I know this isn't the best chapter, and it's very boring, but I'll add more drama in the next one I promise.

Okay, so last time I told you guys about a new story I've been thinking about writeing,

well now I have two.

First one is called

Rose Petals

(mostly Jongkey side of 2min)

Second one is called

Seasons Change Love Doesn't.

(Both 2min and Jongkey)

Rose Petals is going to come out after Taemin and the Beast. Seasons Change may or may not be written during the same time as Rose Petals. I think I might do Rose Petals first, then Seasons Change.