“I’m calling a family meeting,” Baekhyun announced that evening when he and Junmyeon returned to the estate. “It’s high time we let the others know everything that we’ve learned.”

Junmyeon hesitated. “Do you really think that’s wise? I mean, the others haven’t exactly been welcoming. To either of us.”

“I may not like them, but that doesn’t mean I want them dead. And I really think that we should have all of the remaining Kim family there when we burn the bones,” Baekhyun said. “Send word that all the Kims need to meet in the formal drawing room,” he barked at the butler who opened the door for them. “Immediately.”

It took about half an hour before they gathered, but eventually they did. Jongin came in first with his father, Junhyung. They both looked ragged and tired, dark circles under their eyes. Junhyung also looked a bit drunk. Jongdae was next, his clothes and hair disheveled. Minseok was the last to arrive, his knuckles bruised as though he’d been punching something to let out his anger.

“What’s all this about?” Jongdae spat angrily when everyone had gathered. “I don’t want to be in the same room as him.” He wouldn’t even look in Minseok’s direction.

Minseok’s lip pulled back in a sneer. “Maybe if your mother could keep her legs closed…”

For the second time in as many weeks, Jongin had to hold his brother back from lunging at their cousin.

“Enough!” Baekhyun shouted, and him raising his voice was enough to make Jongdae stop struggling in his brother’s hold. “For god’s sake, the only person who is at fault for your parents’ deaths is Kim Hoik.”

Minseok then turned his sneer on Baekhyun. “What idiocy are you spouting now?”

“It’s not idiocy,” Junmyeon spoke up. He seemed nervous, as he always was when addressing a family member, but his voice was clear. “Baekhyun knows what he’s talking about.”

Baekhyun took a deep breath and began to explain everything he and his friends had discovered. “A long time ago, back in the early eighteen hundreds, our ancestor Kim Hoik met and fell in love with a girl named Woo Yewon.”

“Everyone knows Kim Hoik’s wife was named Namjoo, not Yewon,” Jongdae said dismissively.

“I didn’t say he married her,” Baekhyun snapped, annoyed at the interruption. “I said he fell in love with her. And then she got pregnant. Of course the Kim family would never support such a union, since she was poor and didn’t come from some grand family, so they accused her of being a witch and executed her. After she had her child.”

“Are you saying there’s a whole other branch of the Kim family?” Junhyung said, a bit incredulously.

But Baekhyun shook his head. “No, unfortunately for all of us, that’s not the case. Hoik and Yewon’s baby was murdered when it was just a few days old.”

“That’s impossible,” Jongin said, though he was thoughtful when he said it. “Surely we would’ve heard about it before.”

“It was kept secret, but we’ve confirmed that it was the truth,” Baekhyun assured him. “We had the body exhumed and DNA tested. It matches both me and Junmyeon, so there’s no doubt that it’s a Kim.”

Jongin let out a low whistle but didn’t comment further.

“Okay, so here’s where the story really gets…” Baekhyun struggled for the proper word.

“Unbelievable,” Junmyeon supplied.

Baekhyun smiled grimly. “Yeah, that’s a good word for it.” He took a deep breath. “It’s no secret that this family has been plagued by mysterious, horrific deaths for centuries. We think that it’s a curse, caused by the murdered baby. We think this curse is the reason everyone in our family dies so horribly.”

“A curse?” Jongdae scoffed. “You’re insane, country boy.”

Junhyung surprised them all by speaking up. “No, I think he’s onto something.”

Jongdae gaped at him. “Father, you can’t be serious. Listen to him! He’s obviously screwed up in the head. Probably from that low-class father of his.”

Baekhyun balled his hands into fists, but he knew that getting rid of the curse needed to take priority over punching his pompous cousin in the nose.

“Think about it, Jongdae,” Junhyung said waspishly. “Your mother and Junho could hardly stand each other. You really think they were having an affair? And Minseok’s mother, Lyulin, would’ve committed suicide too? I guess you were too young to remember her, but she was definitely not the type to kill herself.”

Minseok looked up at the sound of his mother’s name. “You don’t think she killed herself?”

“I don’t think she killed herself anymore than I think my mother fell out of a window,” Junhyung muttered. “I don’t think any of the deaths in the family were natural.”

“So,” Jongin said, running fingers through his dark hair. “This dead baby is the reason we’re all dying? What do we do about it?”

Junmyeon glanced at Baekhyun nervously. “We’ve been doing some research, reading up on occult and curses and things,” he explained. “We think if we burn the bones, we can end the curse.”

“So where are these bones?” Junhyung asked. “The sooner we get this done, the better for all of us, I believe.”

“They’re at the research facility where they confirmed the DNA match,” Baekhyun explained. “I’ve got a judge working on getting a release form so we can get the bones. It should be done by tomorrow.”

“So we’ll do it tomorrow,” Junhyung said, sighing. “Then we’ll all have a drink.”

Baekhyun secretly thought that his cousin had a very good idea.

After leaving the parlor, he and Junmyeon made their way to his office to work out the details. “We need to clear the house out,” Baekhyun said, closing the office door behind them and sinking into his desk chair. “All the staff, everyone. I don’t want anyone within the estate gates that isn’t a Kim.”

“You know they won’t go for that,” Junmyeon said, sitting down in one of the armchairs opposite the enormous desk. “Yixing and Kyungsoo and the others. They’ll want to be here to help.”

“I don’t care what they want,” Baekhyun snapped. “I could never forgive myself if anything happened to an innocent bystander. So they all have to leave. Yixing, Kyungsoo, Luhan…Chanyeol.”

Junmyeon nodded. “I’ll find Yixing and we’ll start evacuating the estate.” He hesitated. “Do you think it’ll be dangerous? Burning the bones? Won’t the spirit or ghost or whatever the hell it is try to stop us? It wants all of us dead, after all.”

“I’m not sure,” Baekhyun admitted. “Sometimes I think maybe we deserve it. The Kims…we’re not good people…”

Junmyeon sighed. “You don’t mean that, Baek.”

“Don’t I?” he challenged. “I mean, our family history isn’t exactly filled with do-gooders.”

“We’re products of our environment,” Junmyeon said. “I mean, what if I wasn’t illegitimate and my mother hadn’t run off? Maybe I’d be just as much of an as Jongdae and Minseok.”

Baekhyun couldn’t help but chuckle. “I don’t think you could be an if you tried, Junmyeon.”

His cousin smiled back. “Who knows? The point is, asses or not, none of us deserve to die.”

“Well, hopefully burning the bones will work,” Baekhyun muttered. “Now let’s make sure the estate is completely evacuated by tomorrow night.”

Junmyeon nodded and turned to go, but Baekhyun stopped him.

“The horses too,” he added. “Chanyeol would kill me if something happened to the horses.”

At seven o’clock the following evening, Baekhyun stood at the front circle with Yixing. He was the last staff member remaining on the grounds, and he was fighting to stay.

“You need me,” he insisted. He was dressed in casual wear, an overnight bag in his hand.

“What I need is for you to stay safe,” Baekhyun said firmly. “You’re a good guy, Xing. I couldn’t forgive myself if something happened to you.”

He offered Yixing his hand, but Yixing ignored it and pulled him in for a hug instead.

“You better live through this, you ,” he said gruffly.

Baekhyun couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll certainly try.”

Then Yixing was climbing into the taxi that had been called and it drove off down the drive, the gate shutting behind it with a clanging sort of finality.

Baekhyun took a deep breath and went back inside.