Kyung was stuck in a dream like state; he couldn’t quite figure out if he was asleep or awake. All he knew was that he felt very dizzy and all too hot. Where was he, again? Why was it so hot, and why couldn’t he open his bloody eyes? It was all a little overwhelming. His body shifted and squirmed from its position but he couldn’t will it to wake up. He could hear things; there was something rushing around near him. Maybe it was an animal? No, it only had two feet. It was a person, definitely, and they were getting closer to him. The footsteps stopped with a thud next to his head. Then he felt a warm hand press against his already steaming face. They harshly prodded his jawline and neck before slowly moving their hand to over his eyelids, causing them to flutter and twitch. Kyung tried to concentrate on the feeling. He was so close to waking up. Just open your eyes. He did. And he was still just as confused.

A man in a violently yellow suit was peering down at him like a cat watching a mouse scurry around. The slight smirk on his lips gradually spread to a shining grin. He tilted his head and giggled at Kyung before moving away from his face and sitting up with his legs crossed, reminiscent of a school kid with a crush.

Kyung blinked his eyes a few times; everything still seemed to shiny and blurred, as if he’d spent too long looking at the sun. Just think. What was he doing here? He had no clue, whatsoever. Try again. What was he doing in the last moment he remembered? He flicked through clips in his mind, shuffling through his thoughts rapidly. He was asleep, in someones arms. Jaehyo! They were walking somewhere. The circus, of course, they must have actually made it.

“Aha, you’ve figured it all out.” the man in the yellow suit brought him back from his thoughts, “well, sort of. You were rather quick, unlike your other friends, who are still out like a rock.” he giggled and smiled, placing his head down on his hand.

The others. “Where are they?” he asked, a little worried. The man just nodded his head to the side, pointing in their general direction. Minhyuk and Jaehyo were lying piled on top of each other in a corner of the small furnished room. Jaehyo had his mouth open and was snoring lightly whilst Minhyuk had his face buried into the floor and most of his body on top of the other. They didn’t seem like they were in any pain or extreme discomfort but Kyung still went to stand up and check. However, as soon as he tried he was pulled down again.

“You need to stay with me” the man’s demeanor had completely switched as he held Kyung down to his chest and gripped at his skinny arms. “Besides, you shouldn’t wake a charmed person from their slumber, it’s dangerous.” Kyung stiffened in his hold as he whispered the last part. He slowly released him, letting his body go slack so Kyung could shuffle away a little bit.

“We came here for a reason” he said boldly, yet he didn’t meet the man’s eyes. He couldn’t quite put his finger on the reason but they must have come for something.

“Yes, I know” he hummed, “we’ll get to that later, but first, you should meet the others”. He was back to giggling as the idea made him giddy. The man stood up, brushed himself off and then extended his hand. Kyung cautiously took it and was hauled up to his feet.

“I,” the man lowered into a bow, “am, Jiho”. He then looked expectantly at Kyung.

“Oh, right, I’m Kyung” he bowed quickly, moving his hands awkwardly to his side.

“That you are” Jiho said laughing. “Come on, this is going to be fun.” With that, he led Kyung out of the small room.

They walked down a narrow corridor and then into a large empty room. Kyung looked around but there really was nothing there; it was just a big empty room with dark red walls and checkered flooring.

“Come meet our newest” Jiho called out. Kyung wasn’t really sure what was going to happen. Something really horrific but soak out of the wall to meet him, for all he knew. He was also confused as to why Jiho had called him his ‘newest’ but he couldn’t hold that thought for long as something, or someone, just feel from above and landed in front of him.

It was a rather tall man with stark white hair and a childish smile. The only thing was that his forehead and cheeks were covered with iridescent blue scales and his ears were webbed. He held out his hand for Kyung to shake, which he shook out of politeness despite the fact that they were partly covered in scales and slime. At least he didn’t look really threatening.

“This is Jihoon” Jiho announced “he’s a little shy”. Jihoon smiled at Kyung with crinkly eyes before stepping off to the side.

“Yukwon and Taeil should be around here somewhere” Jiho said, squinting at the ceiling.

They waited for a moment but no one appeared. It was getting really awkward for Kyung and Jiho was starting to get impatient. Suddenly, they heard a shout.

“Ah, there they are” Jiho said before hurrying away to the door. “Stay here, with Jihoon” he called after them. Kyung looked up at Jihoon awkwardly. He smiled at him and that was the end of their exchange.

After a while, Kyung was starting to get bored. He looked around but the room was still empty, except for Jihoon who was sat crosslegged on the floor. What were they even here? He couldn’t seem to figure out the significance of being at a circus.

Just then, Jiho returned loudly through the door and with him he brought slightly disheveled Minhyuk and Jaehyo, and two other men who he assumed must be Yukwon and Taeil. When Jaehyo looked up and saw Kyung he lit up.

“Kyungie!” he shouted, relief clear in his voice, as he nearly tripped running towards him. “Are you OK?” Jaehyo asked him whilst frantically brushing over his clothes.

“Yes, I’m fine, I think.” he smiled. He definitely was happy to see Jaehyo, and even Minhyuk at that.

“Are you still cursed? Did they heal you?” Jaehyo touched Kyung’s neck and face. The curse! That’s why they were at the circus. “You don’t seem like you did earlier” he honestly felt a lot better, so much so that the curse had just slipped his mind.

“I don’t know.. I haven't thought about it all day” he told him.

“You haven’t felt the need to.” Jiho cut in harshly, glaring for a split second at Jaehyo. He turned back around, as if nothing had happened, and started introducing the others. “This is Yukwon”, the taller of the two bowed whilst swirling his hand in the air. He didn’t have any unusual features like Jihoon did, and neither did the other man who was introduced as Taeil. He didn’t bow as the others had, instead just waving and smiling faintly. Kyung noticed that neither of them had really turned to Jaehyo or Minhyuk, focusing solely on him. Maybe they had met them before he had. However, he also couldn’t help but notice the way that Jiho had glared at Jaehyo and how quickly he had cut them off.

Jiho sighed loudly, “right then. I suppose it’s time to talk about why you’re here”, he seemed mildly annoyed as he flopped down onto the floor. Yukwon and Taeil left the room, and Jihoon just moved over to sit next to Jiho. “Sit” he commanded and everyone else sat immediately.

Minhyuk cleared his throat. “Uh, so, we think Kyung is cursed” he started, looking at Kyung and then to Jiho.

“Yes, he is” Jiho declared, bluntly.

Minhyuk expected him to continue, but he didn’t. Jaehyo exchanged looks with him, urging him to just go on. “Right, so we need help” he hesitated “uncursing him”.

“Uncursing?” he hummed, the word seemed funny to Jiho. Minhyuk nodded. “Well, that’s a tricky process” all humor was dropped from his voice now as he looked over to them. “At the moment, no symptoms are present, as I have placed a charm over Kyung, but they will return and they will just keep getting worse”.

“What can we do to stop it?” Jaehyo asked quickly, not really thinking about it.

“Well, you can’t do anything. If you knew what was good for you, you would have sent him here alone. But obviously, you do not.” His voice was bitter as he spoke to Jaehyo.

“Why is he cursed?” Minhyuk asked. He thought that getting to the route of the problem was the best option in trying to solve it.

Jiho thought for a moment. “It could be many things. Something strange he ate or drank. Something he touched or stole. Possibly even someone he angered”. These things all sounded like something that Kyung would stupidly do, just to be funny. “The cause may not even be that important, but the symptoms are something you need to watch out for. Once the charm has worn off I will be able to see the extent of the curse but this may take a while yet.” He looked over at Kyung who was a little distracted drawing shapes on the floor with his finger. His head was low against his chest and his head bobbed slowly. He was tired, a small sign that the charm was already disappearing.

“Maybe you should get some sleep, and we’ll check up on him in the morning. The room you were in before is free to use” Jiho stood up and smiled at them. “Good night, Kyungie” he giggled and bounded away.

Jaehyo turned quickly to Minhyuk and snapped. “You said this was a good idea! This was an awful idea, Minhyuk!” he was seething. “I don’t know who this man thinks he is but he’s creeping me out.”

“Yes. I realise that now. Thanks for the reminder” Minhyuk glared at him.

“Ah, why did I listen to you?” he sounded distressed as he ran his fingers through his hair, gripping it at the ends and pulling. “Oh god, he could be a murderer for all we know! This circus could all be a set up”

“It’s not a set up. Calm down, Jaehyo. Do you see how much better Kyung is? He’s not grey anymore!” he pointed to Kyung, who, although, was not an unusual, was drifting to sleep. “Look, all we have to do is cure Kyung and then we can get out of here. OK?” Jaehyo slowly nodded his head, looking over at Kyung.

“Fine.” he sighed. “Come on, Kyungie, you need to sleep” Jaehyo stood up and then lifted Kyung. He walked to the other room with Minhyuk trailing behind and laid him down to sleep on the red sofa.

“What have we gotten ourselves into?” Jaehyo said in a hushed voice, rubbing his temples. “What have we done?”