“Good job.” Kibum heard a low female voice say sarcastically as he slowly drifted back into consciousness, realizing he was lying in his bed again. “You were supposed to make it better not worse.”

“And you thought I was the right person to do that?” he heard Kangin scoff quietly.

“I clearly need to question my judgment.” The other person sniffed.

Kibum frowned and stirred.

“Shut up.” He mumbled. He didn’t need any fighting over his head, it was hurting as it was.

The ones in the room hushed down immediately and Kibum opened his eyes slowly. His heart skipped a beat when he still couldn’t see and it took him a moment to realize that it was because a damp cloth was covering the upper part of his face. Just as he was about to reach up and take it away it disappeared and the dark-haired girl who had informed them about dinner yesterday was standing at his side.

Kibum stared at her. She was much prettier up close.

“Are you feeling better, Kibum?” she asked and put the cloth in her hand on the bedside table.

He nodded although his head felt a little jumbled. He still wasn’t entirely sure what to think, but he decided to just go with the flow until he left this place (which hopefully was soon) and to keep him from having a mental breakdown. He could play along for a little while. It couldn’t hurt, right?

He sat up heavily and looked out the window after noticing that the room had become considerably lighter. What he hadn’t seen last night was now visible. In the daylight he could see clear, blue winter skies stretching further than the eye could see, a snow-covered front yard as big as a football field with a large pool and a pathway that led into a white forest at the other side of a black iron gate.

“Good.” He looked back at her and she smiled a little at him, reaching out a hand. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Seohyun.”

Kibum took her hand. It felt smooth and cool in his.

“Hi.”

She smiled at him some more before she turned to the person at the foot of the bed and Kibum's eyes fell upon Kangin who was watching him with crossed arms, leaning against the bedpost.

“I’ll go and tell the others that we can start making breakfast.” She said and Kibum had a feeling her face wasn’t smiling anymore, but looking quite stern. “You know what you have to do.”

Kangin grimaced at her but nodded and Seohyun left. Or left was the wrong choice of words. She kind of just disappeared into thin air, like Taemin had. Kibum's heart got a little shock, even though he was a lot more prepared this time.

Thinking about Taemin he glanced around the room. Where was the boy?

“I’m sorry for yesterday.” Kangin said and pulled him out of his thoughts, not sounding sorry at all. Kibum reluctantly gave him his attention with a glare. “At least you slept through the night without difficulties.”

Kibum’s glare turned into an incredulous stare. “I think I’m right about you being a lunatic after all.”

Kangin snickered and shrugged. Then the door opened and Taemin rushed inside the room, followed by Jin. Kibum felt a little happier seeing the boy’s now very familiar face and his cat. Even if they had only known each other for a day he somehow felt a strong bond had formed between them.

“Kibum!” he said worriedly and hurried across the room before he abruptly stopped a few meters away from the bed Kibum was sitting in, looking scared.

Kibum looked at him questioningly and then it suddenly dawned on him that Taemin probably was scared he would reject him if he got any closer. He took a deep breath and tried to smile at Taemin without making it look forced. He didn’t want him to feel bad, about the night before. Still, it was a bit hard to just admit that magic or something like that existed.

Taemin shuffled his feet insecurely and looked down at the mat.

“Um, Jinki… will come here soon. Is that okay?” he asked in a small voice glancing up at Kibum. He raised his eyebrows at the younger but nodded and pulled Jin, who had jumped up on the bed, onto his lap where the cat curled up. “He needs to check up on you and he was also going to check your fever yesterday but then I made a mess of things and then you fainted and then-”

“Taemin.” Kangin said to stop his rambling.

Taemin shut his mouth at once and went back to look at the mat, biting his lip. Kibum sighed and Jin’s back. As much as they all seemed crazy, he quite liked the blonde boy and the others he had met.

“Taemin?” The boy looked up at him, looking ready to heed his every wish, almost like a puppy. “I’m not afraid of you.”

Taemin looked at him for a few seconds in surprise before his face lit up in his biggest smile yet and it made Kibum's mouth pull at the corners as well. But he couldn’t hold it in and eventually started laughing. On top of looking cute Taemin looked equally as ridiculous.

Taemin got a frown on his face. “What?”

Kibum just shook his head at him and the door opened again, letting Jinki in.

“It’s good to hear you’re feeling better.” He said as he approached the bed with a smile. “We thought we might have broken your brain.”

Kibum wrinkled his nose his smile falling a little. “You almost did.”

Jinki continued to smile, raising his eyebrows at him. Then he put a hand to Kibum's forehead and grabbed his chin to look him in the eyes before the other managed to do much else.

“Mmmhm.” He hummed and turned Kibum's face a little, before he let go. “Okay.”

Kibum blinked at him, feeling a little disoriented, and Kangin snickered again.

“You have a slight cold, but it will probably be gone by tomorrow if you eat and rest properly. Otherwise I would say you’re quite the healthy man.” Jinki said.

Kibum nodded. “O… kay.”

Jinki bobbed his head at him.

“Good.” Then he turned to Kangin. “Will you come with me please? There are some things we have to see to.”

Kangin straightened up at once, a serious look falling over his face. He hastily wished Kibum a good recovery before both of them disappeared, making Kibum's heart skip a beat once again. The curious side of Kibum awakened and he wanted really badly to follow them.

Once they were gone Taemin approached the bed and sat down on the edge cautiously, pulling Kibum's thoughts away from just jumping out of bed and race out the bedroom door.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked.

Kibum smiled at him. “Yes.”

“Can I…?” Taemin reached out his hand towards Kibum's hesitantly.

Kibum replied by taking it and squeezing it, making the other shine like the sun. Jin stretched and left Kibum's lap to go lie down on the sofa, a little jealous of the attention he was giving Taemin, Kibum suspected.

“You know, I reeeally like you.” Taemin chirped, seemingly in a better mood. “It feels like we have known each other for a long time, like we’re best friends.”

“I like you, too.” Kibum chuckled and without warning Taemin threw his arms around Kibum’s waist, which made them fall down on the bed, laughing.

It was a long time ago I had this close contact to someone, Kibum thought fleetingly.

He hadn’t really bothered to make friends after his parent’s death, which left him with only Jin as company.

After Taemin had successfully squeezed all the life out of Kibum, and Kibum laughingly had begged for freedom, he stood up and pulled him to the door for breakfast.

The meal was a lot more pleasant than it had been the night before, now that all the staring had stopped. Everyone was talking cheerily and they also introduced themselves to Kibum, although he forgot half of the names as soon as he was introduced to another person.

Taemin kept to his word and showed Kibum around the place as soon as he had put the last of his breakfast in his mouth, barely managing to swallow it before he was pulled out of the chair and they walked out to the entrance hall with Minho, who had decided to follow them. Kibum had a feeling he was there to keep an eye on Taemin and rolled his eyes without them seeing, amused.

“So, this is the entrance hall.” Taemin exclaimed happily and spread his arms wide as they stepped out of the dining room.

Kibum glanced around with raised eyebrows. The floor was laid in black and white tile and there was also a grand crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, like in the dining room. The big wooden doors were situated straight across from the stairs and large windows on either side of them looked out onto the front yard. It would have been beautiful, he thought, except for the layer of dust that was as thick as a mat and the spider-webs everywhere.

How could they even live here?

Taemin continued his tour of the house with Minho as his self-appointed assistant and Jin trudging along in their wake, sniffing the floor here and there. Kibum got to know that on the ground floor, or first floor as they said, there was reception saloon to the left of the stairs with mirrors everywhere and what he assumed was golden panels blackened by age and covered in dust. There was also a veranda attached to the room but it was too snow-covered for them to go out on it. The other door in the dining room led to exactly what Kibum expected it to, a kitchen. The kitchen was the third room he had seen in this mansion that was free from dust and spider-webs with a long kitchen island stretching through the middle of the floor and pans, pots and ladles hanging from the ceiling everywhere. There was an entire glass cabinet filled with spices and potted vegetables and another with tableware. Kibum knew immediately that the kitchen would be his favorite room with its dark panels, brown tile floor and cozy atmosphere.

The second floor, which Kibum lived on, wasn’t more interesting other than that it had a large library, at the end of the hallway to the right from the stairs, that towered up to the third floor with a balcony running along the inside of the room. Kibum felt a little sad seeing all those books in the rows and rows of bookshelves waste away, but forgot all about them when both Taemin and Minho tried to stop him from going up the stairs in the library to the third floor with lightning speed.

Kibum tilted his head with raised eyebrows, looking at them curiously. He could see Jin make his way up the steps silently with perked ears and tail behind the two blocking his way.

“Is there something I’m not supposed to see?” he asked.

Taemin and Minho shared a glance before Taemin cracked up in a smile and Minho, to Kibum's great astonishment, tried to smile at him too.

“O-of course not!” Taemin said brightly, however Kibum didn’t miss the stutter. “It’s just that you still have a cold and you should probably go and rest for now.”

Minho nodded. “There are only more rooms, similar to yours, on the third floor and then there is the attic.”

Kibum narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew for a fact that the piano sounds he had heard the night before had been coming from the third floor.

“But I want to see.”

“Some other time, okay?” Taemin said and made a cute face.

Kibum frowned at him but nodded, glancing towards the top of the stair where Jin had disappeared. He would still need to go there, allowed or not, to retrieve his cat, even if it was just an excuse. He was extremely curious about were the piano melody had come from since it had filled him with so much nostalgia. He simply needed to know. So when Taemin and Minho started to lead the way back to his room Kibum deliberately started walking slower and slower until he deemed it safe enough to turn around and silently sprint over to the grand staircase, up to the third floor.

“Jin?” Kibum called in a low voice as soon as he had reached the end of the stairs.

Jin always answered when Kibum called him and this time was no exception. He could hear his best friend meowing somewhere close by and started walking in the general direction of the sound, continuing to call for Jin in an undertone.

Minho was right, this floor was almost identical to the one below. Except that it had a piano somewhere in one of the rooms. Kibum had a feeling that if he found the piano he would find the player without much difficulty.

Kibum arrived outside a door that somehow looked foreboding and he could hear Jin growling playfully inside. He put his hand on the door handle and pushed it open slowly, not sure what it was hiding on the other side, until it was fully open to reveal a room similar to the one he was borrowing. Kibum had to squint a little to see it properly since the curtains were drawn, making the room dark. There were sofas and armchairs here and there and two tables on top of each other, all covered in sheets. In the middle of the room was a fireplace with an uncovered sofa in front and above it was a dusty mirror.

“Jin?” Kibum asked into the room but there was no answer. He took a hesitant step forward.

“Jin?” he tried again. Still no answer.

Had his cat also learnt the secret behind turning into smoke?

Kibum sighed and decided that he would examine the room on his own anyway, determined to find at least the piano if not the player.

As he walked past the fireplace he heard a small cough from behind him. He turned around thinking Taemin or Minho had caught up to him but saw no one.

He turned back in the direction he had been heading when he distinctly heard another cough. Swirling around on the spot he let his eyes search the entire room, but all he could see was the sheet-covered furniture, dust and spider-webs.

“Hello?” he called nervously. “Anyone there?”

There was nothing but quiet. Had it been his imagination? He shook his head. No, he really had heard someone else, he was sure of it.

“Who are you?” A voice suddenly said from above his head and Kibum froze with a pounding heart, letting his eyes sweep everywhere but still not finding the one who had spoken.

“U-um… I-I’m Kibum.” He answered unsurely and immediately kicked himself in his mind for answering without thought.

Sure, let every stranger you meet know your name.

He saw something move in his peripheral vision and quickly turned his head.

Someone was taking form inside the mirror above the fireplace and Kibum stared wide-eyed at the young woman appearing in it. He managed, in his astonishment, to glance behind his back quickly to make certain that there wasn’t someone behind him before he gave her all his attention. He realized that he was forced to accept the fact that Taemin and the others hadn’t been completely mental when his eyes fell upon her again. There was no one behind him and still he saw two people in the mirror, one being himself and the other the woman who had just taken shape in there.

She studied him curiously before she smiled.

“Oh, I never get any guests!” she said happily. “They probably don’t even know I’m here.”

“U… huh…” Kibum said dazedly, not quite being able to take in what his eyes were showing him just yet.

“But I didn’t see you a hundred years ago. Had you just gotten a job here?” she frowned.

Kibum started coughing from the fast intake of breath he had taken.

“A-a h-hundred years?”

“Yeah, you know, before the curse?” she looked at him confusedly. “Did you even have the time to do anything before it was brought upon us?”

Kibum shook his head, which wasn’t the greatest of ideas since it had started feeling a little woozy.

“I… came here… five days ago…” he managed to get out, sounding as shocked as he felt. Was she really meaning to tell him that they had lived here for a hundred years?

Her eyes widened in surprise. “What? And he let you?”

Again with the ‘he’. It was Kibum's turn to frown, although in irritation.

“I don’t know who this ‘he’ is and if he let me do anything, but I came here after being rescued by Taemin.” He explained in a snappy tone.

His brain had apparently gotten used to strange things happening and had almost gone back to normal functioning level by now after the most of the shock had left, the irritation helped a little too.

She studied him some more and Kibum stared back at her. She had long dark hair, brown eyes and looked kind of small even in the mirror.

He opened his mouth to ask her what exactly she was doing in the mirror when her face lit up with what seemed like realization.

“I know why you’re here!” she exclaimed. “You’re him! The one who-”

She cut off as the sounds of a piano playing quite close suddenly could be heard. Kibum forgot all about her as soon as the nostalgia filled his chest once again and he turned instinctively in the direction of the melody, taking a few steps.

“Don’t!” the woman in the mirror said worriedly. “It would probably be better if you left for now.”

“But I want to know who’s playing.” Kibum turned to her, trying very hard not to pout.

She smiled a little bitterly. “Oh, you will. Just not now.”

Kibum didn’t understand a single thing she was saying, so he ignored her warning and stubbornly made his way towards the sound.

Suddenly he felt his body stop and turn around, which pretty much freaked him out since it wasn’t his doing. Kibum had for some strange reason lost the control over his body and it was now steering him to the door.

“I’m sorry.” The young woman said behind him and he knew immediately that it was her fault. “But please come back later when the piano isn’t playing. I like you.”

Kibum didn’t even have the control to raise his eyebrows at that comment and his body was marched all the way from the third floor to the landing of the second floor. He fought as hard as he could to take back the control over his body the entire way and ended up collapsing on the floor in front of the stairs from the exhaustion when the spell finally lifted.

“What… the hell?” he breathed into the dusty mat and sneezed.

Jin suddenly appeared at the top and quietly jumped down the stairs to sit down at Kibum's side, yawning.

Kibum glared at him. “And where were you?”

Jin ignored him. Then he started walking in the direction of Kibum's room when Kibum didn’t make a move to stand up.

Oh, how nice of him.

He sighed as Jin’s tail disappeared around the corner and got up heavily. He decided to make his way back to his room as well after having tried to go up to the third floor again and being stopped by an invisible wall. He didn’t want to risk himself getting completely drained by putting up another fight and pass out again since he still had a small cold. Besides, the young woman in the mirror had told him to come back, which he had every intention to do.

Well in his room Kibum plodded over to the bed, just wanting to lie down and close his eyes. His body felt strangely sore as well as completely drained from the fight he had had with god knows what.

He stopped in front of his bed and started pulling off his shirt when the door softly clicked. Jin hissed and Kibum heard him scramble across the room to hide under the sofa. He just had the time to swivel around before someone grabbed his arms and pinned him to the bed. Kibum couldn’t see the face of the person above him but something about them made him freeze in horror. He had never been so afraid as he was at that moment and he was so very close to pass out from lack of oxygen, as he forgot how to breathe.

The man (at least Kibum thought it was a man) was completely surrounded by strange shadows that looked like smoke and at the same time like water and Kibum realized that those were exactly the same shadows he had seen the day before when he had gone looking for his cat. There was also the same chilling aura around him and it made the common sense in Kibum's brain slowly disappear when the source itself was so very close to him. The only thing visible was the man’s eyes, which seemed to be glowing in the dark room as well as in his dark little bubble.

But the eyes… somehow the eyes of the man appealed to Kibum. It was like they were ordering him to leave but at the same time begging him to stay, both threatening his life and asking him to calm down. Kibum also saw a much deeper feeling in them, although he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Then the man above him bent down and put his nose to Kibum’s neck. Kibum couldn’t believe what was happening when he felt the other starting to sniff him.

He didn’t know what he had expected, perhaps having his throat ripped off and his guts open but not this. Not a man obviously smelling the scent on his neck. It shocked Kibum so much that he finally managed to take a breath and let it out in a half laugh.

The man stopped at the sound and looked at Kibum again, before he suddenly disappeared seemingly into thin air and left Kibum to stare up at the red velvet roof of the bed.

Kibum groaned in relief as Jin jumped up on the bed beside him and he turned to pull the cat into his arms. He felt a little shaken and needed Jin’s purring to calm him down. Jin didn’t complain and did just that while Kibum scratched him behind his ears, hugging him closer to his chest.

“What. The. Hell?” he said for the second time that night.

A/N: This chapter became a little longer haha.

Well now, who can that mysterious man be? xP If you don't know I'm not gonna tell you! >_<

I'm in a bit of a rush so I don't have the time to write much else besides:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a great day! :D

Bye! <3