Well, after being sick for a couple of days somehow things got straightened out!

Here's a chappie to enjoy!

*****

Minho didn’t what do.

A part of him felt it was best to leave the poor boy alone; but another part of him wanted to kneel down with him and comfort him. What could he do? What could he say?

Taemin was sitting with his legs drawn in towards him, his head buried in the hole he formed with his arms. His body didn’t move, it was like he had turned to stone with no emotions. But Minho knew underneath, there were a pile of emotions that were bubbling and threatening to overflow.

He didn’t know how much time had passed since the troll had kicked them out. All he knew was that he had hit his head pretty hard when he was literally chucked out and had been knocked out practically all day. The sun had set, transforming Taemin back into human form again.

“Taemin , , ,”

There was no reply.

Minho tried to move his feet to get closer, but he seemed to be frozen to the spot too.

“Taemin . . . I’m sorry.”

Those words sparked Taemin to life.

He lifted up his golden head and took a shaky breath.

“Why are you apologizing, Hyung?”

The way he asked the question was so filled with pain and sorrow.

Taemin turned his head and faced Minho; his eyes sparkling with unshed tears. Minho finally found the strength to move but as he did, his feet collided with something, making him trip over.

“Oof!”

Despite the desolate situation, Taemin cracked a smile at the sight of Minho. It was remarkable how Minho could cheer up without even knowing it.

“What is stupid thing?!”

Minho growled and kicked the object which he had tripped over towards Taemin.

It hit Taemin’s foot.

While Minho started ranting, Taemin turned the object over so he could get a closer look at it. He brushed off the dust on the front and inspected it more closer.

“Argh, why would anyone put a stupid random block there? And does it have to be so damn heavy-“

“Minho.”

He stopped.

Did Taemin just call him by his first name?

“Do you know what this is?”

Taemin asked quietly, his face turned away from Minho so he couldn’t figure out what Taemin was thinking. He looked at the object closely and frowned. Its sides were completely straight. Nature never made things there completely smooth and had straight edges like that. Only manmade objects had that. Which meant . . .

Taemin’s voice was trembling in delight when he spoke again.

“It’s the Book of Forest Law, we found it!”

*****

“EEEOOOOOMMMMMAAAAAAA!!!!”

All Key saw was a flash of blonde before he was caught up in a giant bear hug that squeezed all the air out of him. He saw the forest blur into a green mush before his eyes as he was twirled around and around; yells of excitement from his death-squisher filling his ears.

“M-minnie . . . “

He managed to choke out softly.

“Y-you can put me down now . . .”

The spinning didn’t stop; the hug increased and vague Key wondered how on earth Taemin managed to get so much strength into his skinny arms. He shut his eyes to stop the nauseating images from flooding in.

“You can put him down now.”

 The spinning suddenly stopped.  And Key mentally thanked whoever that deep voice belonged to for saving him. The voice sounded familiar though . . .

A deep voice . . .

Key’s eyes flew open as Taemin abruptly let go of him and Key sank to the ground in relief, his legs like jelly. He turned to see his saviour and his jaw dropped.

“You nearly killed that poor guy.”

“Ahaha . . . Key-eomma’s strong! A simple hug won’t kill him, Hyung!”

Hyung?

Since when did these two get so close?

Don’t tell me . . . those couple of days . . . instead of going home; the Prince went to find Taemin?!

Key’s eyes narrowed as he watched the two interact with each other.

They were too close . . .

“So what’s the good news, Taemin?”

Out of the shadows, the other hyungs arrived, hearing the commotion. Key instinctively searched for Jonghyun but there was no sign of the said person.

“Guess what Hyungs! WE FOUND IT! WE FOUND THE BOOK!”

There was much cheering and yelling as the Hyungs closed in on Taemin, each one wanting to hug him in joy. In the hustle and bustle of it all, Jonghyun arrived, with Taeyeon. Key felt a twinge of jealously flare up in his heart as he looked at the two. They looked perfect together.

“Well, what are you waiting for, Oppa?” Taeyeon said excitedly, “Open it!”

Taemin sat down and everyone surrounded him as he pulled out the book.

A hush descended among the group.

Taking a deep breath, Taemin turned the book face him and . . .

*****

“He still isn’t back, Your Highness.”

The Queen sighed.

“I still believe in him. He’s my son. I should know him the best . . . so this time I will listen to my heart.”

Onew looked thoughtfully at the dark night outside.

“And what does your heart say?”

“Call off the search squads.  He will come back. He is a Prince, and he knows his duty. You have taught him well, Onew, he will come back.”

Onew nodded.

“I hope.”

*****

“What!”

Eun Kyung rolled her eyes as she watched her father blow his top off. SO what if they had found the book? It didn’t tell them exactly how to break the spells . . .

“Eun Kyung. Stay here. I will be back.”

“Where are you going, appa?”

He growled as he turned into an giant eagle.

“To get that book!”

*****

Taemin’s hands trembled as he tried to pry open the lock on the cover of the book. Un-noticed by everyone, the diamond in the crown on Taemin’s head glittered once, and the book suddenly responded to it. The lock opened automatically by itself, Taemin’s hands pulled away in awe.

And just when he reached back to open the first page, a strong gust of wind blew into clearing.

In the midst of all the dust and fog, Taemin felt the book being tugged away from his fingers. Desperately, he tried to hold on, but with one sharp pull and the book was out of his grasp. The wind died down and everyone checked to make sure everything was ok. 

“Taemin?”

It took Taemin a while to reply.

“It was him . . .  He took it.”

Key frowned.

“Who? What?”

“The magician! He took the book!”

Taemin felt like he couldn’t breathe. It was like he had walked so far for so long, only to be told that there was no end to this nightmare. Tears welled up behind his eyes; not wanting his hyungs to see his disappointment, he ran into the woods and ran as far as he could before he collapsed against the base of a tree.

He took deep shuddering breaths, not wanting to let his tears fall.

The night was cold, it seemed colder than ever. He shivered and drew his arms around himself. How could this have happened? What were they, no, what was he going to do?

A warm coat unexpectedly plopped onto Taemin’s shoulders.

Taemin turned and stood, clutching the coat close.

“Minho . . . hyung. . .”

Minho didn’t say anything.

He stepped closer to Taemin and held out his arms.

“H-hyung . . . “

Taemin practically flew into Minho’s arms, he buried his head into Minho’s chest and held on. All the tears overflowed and Taemin just let it all out, holding onto Minho like he was the only thing that could give him shelter during a bad storm. Minho wrapped his arms around Taemin and gently rubbed comforting circles on Taemin’s back.

“Shhh . . . shhh . . . it’s alright.”

“N-no, it isn’t! T-the book’s g-gone . . . what-what do I do?”

“Live. Like you used to.”

Taemin’s sobs died down into quiet sniffles.

“How? What do all the hyungs think? They must hate me for losing it!”

“They would only hate you, if you left them. Don’t worry.”

Taemin shook his head.

“But the forest is dying . . . we need another way.”

“I’ll go. And I’ll come back with soldiers; we can defeat that stupid magician.”

“No. He’ll only turn the rest of you into swans like us.”

Taemin’s eyes suddenly widened as he realised something.

“It’s been 5 days . . . you have to go don’t you hyung?”

Minho looked down.

“Yeah . . .”

“Then, go. You have to! The village needs you, who else would become King?”

Minho didn’t look into Taemin’s eyes.

Inside, he felt so torn. He didn’t want to leave, living life here in this forest was nice. But the village would be lost without their ruler. Electing another one would cause much trouble and confusion. But Taemin . . . he would have to leave Taemin . . .

For some reason that felt so much more painful than watching his village run into ruin with no ruler.

“I know . . .” Minho mumbled.

Taemin nodded sadly.

He didn’t want Minho to go too. Being near Minho had become a habit, a regular thing.

“You have to go. The village needs its leader.”

“But I-“

“You must. How many people are you letting down like this?”

Minho ran a hand through his hair in frustration. 

“I’ll go. But . . .”

“But?”

“I have one condition.”

Taemin raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

“You have to come to the ball tomorrow night.”

“What?”

“If not, then I’m staying.”

“No!”

Taemin bit his lip.

“Fine. I’ll go tomorrow. Just, go back now.”

Minho stared down at Taemin, who was looking away, not meeting his eyes.

Quickly, he bent down slightly and brushed his lips lightly against Taemin’s.

“You must come!”

Minho called back as he walked away, leaving a dazed Taemin.

Taemin stared at Minho’s retreating figure and lifted a hand up to touch his mouth.

“What just happened?”

*****

Key winced as a thorn dug into his thigh.

He held back his gasp of pain and closed his eyes, waiting for the agony to fade into a dull throbbing. Then he continued climbing up the wall of roses. Once in a while he would stop and pause to take a breath, but he forced himself to hurry. He had to get that book back; even if it meant going into the mouth of the lion itself.

Past this rose wall was a moat, then a steep climb up towards the house of the magician.

There was a tiny splash as Key entered the water gracefully, swimming as fast as he could, trying hard not to think about what might be in the waters. Unwanted, an image of Jonghyun and Taeyeon flashed up in front of eyes. Furious, he brushed it away. Trivial things could wait. Still, he could feel the stinging in his heart. Jonghyun had spent most of his time with Taeyeon when Taemin was searching for the book, leaving Key all alone.

Sure Key understood that Taeyeon would be worried about her brother and would have liked osme comfort, but weren’t they all worried about Taemin?

Scrabbling for a handle, Key hoisted himself up onto the first level of the tower. He looked up and was thankful for the dim light that the moon brought him. Shaking out his hair, which was now soaking wet, he continued climbing.

He fell into a rhythm.

Grab. Pull. Climb. Grab. Pull. Climb.

Then, out of the blue, one of the patrol crows up at the top of the tower screeched once. The loud sound shocked Key, causing him to momentarily loose grip of the wall of the tower.

But one moment was enough.

Key frantically tried to grab on, but his hands grabbed nothing but thin air. And then, he was falling.

He fell silently and as he did he closed his eyes.

Is this the end?

Goodbye Taemin, I’m sorry.

Goodbye Jonghyun . . .

I . . .

Love you . . .

*****

WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY WRITING! (headbash)

 I barely made the deadline this week . . . I was too busy . . . not to mention the fact that K-POP tickets are out!

OMG!

 I must get one, otherwise getting my parent’s permission to go would have been for nothing!

AND I WOULDN’T GET TO SEE SHINEEE...

I

MUST

SEE

SHINEE

Anyways, ignore my ranting and 

 Review! :D

Kamsahamnida!