#17writer-net

Jihoon approaches the doorway slowly, eyeing the hinges carved into the wood on either side of the doorframe, hinting at how the fireplace had disappeared. Jihoon squats to look closer at the wooden flooring, but the lines of the panel that now covers the fireplace and mantel are well-camouflaged amongst the rough lines typical of wood flooring.

He stands again, now examining the door that has been hidden behind the fireplace this whole time. Ignoring the way his phone is buzzing, he tries the door handle, which opens easily for him. The door opens with a loud creak, and Jihoon makes a mental note to get some oil for the hinges.

He takes a deep breath, coughing a little at the dust, and nudges open the door. Upon entering, he feels along the wall for the light switch, and looks up at the staircase curling its way up that is illuminated by the lights at the top landing.

Retreating from the stairwell, he grabs a random thick book from one of the shelves and places it along the doorframe in case the door shuts on him. He isn’t taking any chances at locking himself in until he examines the door and how it works. First though, he plans to explore the area the winding staircase leads up to.

He turns on the flashlight on his phone, frowning down at it with annoyance as it buzzes non-stop. He turns on silent mode, and turns his attention back to the staircase. He takes slow steps up, worried for the structural integrity of the staircase, but the wood holds his weight with nary a sound.

Aiming the light around, Jihoon observes that the walls are still made of wood, much like the rest of the house. He takes the last few steps up onto the landing, where another door waits.

Again, this door opens smoothly, and Jihoon searches for the actual light switch. Flipping the lights on, he stops in the process of turning off the flashlight and stares at the state-of-the-art producing equipment across the room.

He absently turns off the flashlight, locking his phone and slipping it into his back pocket, approaching the equipment reverently. Other than the large desktop computer screens and accompanying monitor, there’s an electric keyboard along the wall, along with an acoustic guitar in its stand.

A thin layer of dust lies over everything, and Jihoon makes a mental note to bring in some cleaning supplies as soon as possible.

Jihoon is pretty sure the computer has the best digital audio workstation downloaded without having to turn it on. He eyes the audio interface lying innocently on the table next to the one with the desktop screen, and the large studio monitors placed at the corners of the room, both on the floor and on the ceiling.

There’s two microphone stands with good quality microphones and pop filters in this room. Jihoon walks over to the door next to the whole electronic set-up and opens it, sighing in bliss at the second soundproof door and what lays behind it as he turns on the light for the next room.

There are bass traps, acoustic panels, and sound diffusers randomly scattered and built into the walls of the recording studio, meant for ensuring the most high quality recordings in the room. Jihoon walks back out of the recording studio and opens one of the cupboards along the wall, and damn near cries as he sees unopened, brand-new boxes.

Unopened, brand-new boxes of one of the latest models of MIDI controllers, the monitor isolation pads he’s always wanted… This is Jihoon’s studio dream come true, and he bounces a little, eager to set everything up.

He’s pretty sure if he looked through the other cupboards he would find other things needed for producing and recording, but he stops, putting everything back to rights and switching off the lights.

He closes the door behind him, slowly walking back down the staircase and examining the door that he had left open. Next to the door frame is a lever that is currently down, which answers his question about how to open the door when it closes behind him.

Just to test it out, he nudges the book out of the way, taking a deep breath as the door clicks shut. He hears the rumble of the fireplace moving back into place on the other side of the door, watching as the lever moves back up with a sharp click. When all is quiet again, he pulls the lever, holding his breath.

The rumbling starts again, and when it stops Jihoon tests the door, sighing in relief when it opens. Finally leaving the stairwell, he closes the door behind him, book in hand, and turns to watch the fireplace emerge from the floor.

‘Well,’ Jihoon thinks wryly to himself, ‘I know where I’m living out of for the foreseeable future.’ He places the book from where he took it from, picking up the notepad and book still lying on the piano. Walking out silently, he switches the light off, door clicking shut quietly behind him as he pads his way back to his room.

The group chat, when Jihoon deigns to check it, has exploded in the wake of his announcement. He sighs, scrolling all the way down without bothering with backchat, lounging in bed until he feels tired enough to sleep.

To: three years is up!!

say moo: i’m not even going to bother with backchat

say moo: i was busy exploring the fucking secret room in the music room okay i didn’t have time to reply anything

say moo: anyway, there’s a state of the fucking art studio behind that secret door.

say moo: it’s my new home now.

size is irrelevant: a studio? behind a secret door found in the music room?

size is irrelevant: wow i’m so surprised

say moo: shut up you ass. no wonder you were tiny when you changed.

size is irrelevant: that’s irrelevant, hyung. i’m still like, a head taller than you normally.

say moo has changed his name to jihoon

jihoon: who the fuck keeps doing that.

im THE dawg: does that mean there are other secret rooms in the house?

i hate being last: i’ve always said that the house looks bigger on the outside than it does on the inside! secret rooms would actually explain a lot. now if one of you would actually listen to me when i say things.

I’M A CHICKEN: the maknae’s suffering: an excerpt

I’M A CHICKEN: wait it’s like super late why the frick is the maknae awake

I’M A CHICKEN: actually why are we all awake

hiss hiss mf: i’m almost done with filming soon, so i’ll be able to come down after that. in the meantime, try finding more rooms? there has to be more.

hiss hiss mf: channie, go to bed.

jihoon: yeah, i’m planning to do so. come asap please. this manor is fucking big.

i’m a horse and look like one: why not ask the others in the manor to help you?

i hate being last: yeah yeah i’m going now good night hyungs

jihoon: they’re hiding shit from me. and minki-hyung nearly ripped into me, so clearly they don’t trust me.

jihoon: i’m not asking anything from them until i absolutely have to.

I hate carrots: Smart idea. I’ll be able to make my way down soon as well. Give me a few weeks to settle my book.

I hate carrots: Good night, Channie.

goatlamb: got a few more weddings to cover, before i can come down. why do people like to get married immediately after the new year?

goatlamb: rest well, chan

jihoon: fuck knows why. just come down as soon as you can.

jihoon: i’m off to get more work done.

orange is the new black: i like how casually everyone just ignored jihoon’s questioning about who changed his name again.

i’m a horse and look like one: avoidance is the key to not getting killed, jisoo-hyung. as long as no one rats us out, we’re safe.

supposed to be tiny but not: someone called me? give me a moment to read backchat

hiss hiss mf: of course he chooses to appear now.

supposed to be tiny but not: what do you mean by that, moon junhwi?

hiss hiss mf: nothing, hyung.

supposed to be tiny but not has changed jihoon’s name to say moo

orange is the new black: you’re just courting death, hannie.

supposed to be tiny but not: nay, death’s courting our missing cat. i wouldn’t court jihoonie even if my life depended on it. besides, i have you, don’t i?

orange is the new black: okay, hannie. I’ll be home late today. i have a few patients coming in a few minutes.

supposed to be tiny but not: okay~ I’ll leave the food for you in the microwave!

goatlamb: ugh, domesticity

size is irrelevant: really? you’re saying that? you??? seo myungho you’re going to break seokmin’s heart.

i’m a horse and look like one: just mine?? gyu don’t lie your heart is broken too

size is irrelevant: my heart was broken from the beginning. I never expected anything going into this relationship. It just means he isn’t getting dinner tonight.

goatlamb: …

goatlamb: just because it’s gross doesn’t mean I don’t like it…

I’m a horse and look like one: you’re just saying that because you don’t want to go without mingyu’s food, aren’t you.

goatlamb: in my defense, it’s really good

I’m a horse and look like one: …true

size is irrelevant: you two shut up and get home already. the food is getting cold.

Jihoon grabs the music score notepad that started the whole thing, and flips to the first open page, inspiration having struck him.

The notes flow from his pen to the paper easily, and he hears the music playing in his mind as he scrambles to record down as much as he can before it slips from his fingers. Already, the exact notes are fading, and Jihoon hums a bar a few times to try and remember what came next.

He spends the next hour like this, bent over the notepad and trying to remember the music that had come to him all of a sudden. He throws his pen across the room, frustrated at the fleeting inspiration that strikes him at the oddest hours.

Sighing, he gets out of bed to pick up the pen and places both pen and pad on the table, switching off the lights, figuring that since his muse has once again left again, he might as well get some sleep.

“I’ll show you the way to your room first,” Jungsu says, even as the oak doors creak open. “I’m currently staying in the Cat bearer’s room, but once I’m gone that room will be yours. For now, you’ll be taking one of the guest rooms, next to Taehyung, the gardener that will be taking over the current one when it’s time.”

Seungcheol nods in understanding, walking up to the man and boy now standing on the porch. The boy observes his approach with cool expressive, intelligent eyes, and Seungcheol shrinks back a little.

Then the boy smiles, and his eyes crinkle up, giving Seungcheol the best smile he can muster. While the two older men greet each other, Seungcheol approaches the boy, who greets and introduces himself quickly.

“Hello! I’m Kim Namjoon, and I’ll be your butler for the future, I hope we can get along well,” he bows, and Seungcheol bows on instinct as well, returning the greeting. “I’m Choi Seungcheol, please take care of me!”

“Seungcheol-ah, I see Namjoon-ah has made your acquaintance. This is the current butler of the house, Jung Yunho,” Jungsu introduces the tall man next to him, and Seungcheol is struck by how good-looking he is.

He bows deeply, greeting him. “Nice to meet you, Yunho-ssi. My name is Choi Seungcheol, please take care of me.” Yunho laughs, ruffling Seungcheol’s hair. “You’re so polite! Maybe you’ll be a good influence on Taehyung. God knows that boy doesn’t have any respect for elders unless absolutely necessary.”

Seungcheol smiles shyly, ducking his head in embarrassment and thanks. Jungsu smiles as well, leading the way into the house. “Come on, I’ll start the tour with the entrance hall. Leave your shoes there,” Jungsu instructs, removing his own shoes and placing them in one of the shoe cupboards, holding it open for Seungcheol to do the same.

Behind them, Yunho and Namjoon bring in their bags for them, Seungcheol having reluctantly relinquished his to Namjoon as Jungsu led him past.

The entrance hall doesn’t look like much, apart from the table along a wall next to the shoe cupboards. It is this table that Jungsu leads Seungcheol to, where a large, old leather-bound book lies on the table top.

The table comes with a small mantel, where there are three rows of hooks carved from the wood. The first two rows of hooks are empty, but the third has keys hooked on them, with plain keychains. Jungsu removes a key with a cat keychain hanging from it from his pocket, hanging it on the first shelf.

“The other twelve hooks in the first two rows hold the keychains for the other zodiac bearers. They’re currently all out, so they’re empty,” Jungsu explains upon noticing Seungcheol’s curious glance. Seungcheol makes a soft sound of understanding, turning his attention to the book lying on the table top.

“This book is one of the more important ones in the manor. No one that isn’t supposed to can open it, and it is only ever on this table top for two occasions: when a new zodiac bearer arrives at the manor, and the first time that zodiac bearer changes,” Jungsu says, tapping the book cover, where the words ‘The Zodiac Register’ are embossed in gold.

Seungcheol is passed the book, and he opens it to the first page to find a table of names. Thirteen names, to be exact. The first column, titled ‘Names’, lists down the zodiac bearers’ names, the second the zodiac they represent, the third the date they first arrived at the manor.

The fourth takes up most of the page, titled ‘Description’. In each row, a detailed description of the animal they change into is given. Seungcheol makes a soft sound of amazement at the details, looking up at Jungsu with wide eyes.

The old man laughs before taking the book gently from the boy’s hands. He flips it to the middle, where an empty table lies, waiting to be filled in. “Go on then,” he then says, handing Seungcheol the book back and a pen he pulls out of his pocket, “fill in your name and zodiac.”

Seungcheol does as he’s told, filling in his name and the zodiac he represents in his best handwriting. He stops to stare at the row he’s half-filled in when he’s done, before passing the pen back to Jungsu, who keeps it. He’s about to reach out to flip to the previous pages when Jungsu speaks.

“Alright, you’ll be able to look through this book later when you’re free, all right? Let’s move on with the rest of the manor,” Jungsu leads him further into the manor, Yunho and Namjoon having moved along to put their bags in their respective rooms a while back.

“The only ones that can open it are zodiac bearers, isn’t it?” Seungcheol asks, and Jungsu nods, grinning down at him. “Smart child. Yes, only zodiac bearers can open that book. When there’s no need for it to be out, I tend to keep it in my room. It’s one of the safest places in the house, you see,” Jungsu explains, leading him down the hallway.

The hallway opens up to another hallway running perpendicularly, as well as a grand staircase leading upstairs. Jungsu tells him as they turn right, “This is what we call the Central Wing, and it’s where everything is. That staircase over there leads to the second floor, where we have a recreation room and other various rooms.”

Seungcheol’s head whips left and right as he tries to take in everything that he sees as they walk past. “The first floor of the Central Wing has the kitchen and the reception room, which really is a ballroom or occasional dining room. There are other, less important rooms here as well,” Jungsu lists.

“As you’ve probably noticed, the walls have platforms protruding out from them, and the ceiling beams have platforms as well. The ceiling has horizontal beams for cats to perch on and rest, and the platforms give them places to relax,” Jungsu points them out to Seungcheol, who is watching as a striped cat makes his meandering way up a series of platforms.

All around them are cats dogging their footsteps, occasionally getting distracted with the empty cardboard boxes and circles formed with string lying around. “We employ any and every tactic here to keep the cats occupied,” Jungsu relays to the younger drily.

Jungsu opens a door, which leads to yet another hallway, this time with a staircase smackdab in the middle. “This is the East Wing, where all the bedrooms are. First floor is the guest bedrooms, second is the Zodiac bearer bedrooms. There are thirteen on each floor, as you would expect. Currently, four of the rooms are occupied, now five with you,” Jungsu says, leading him to a door.

“For the guest bedrooms, there’s a whiteboard next to each of the doors, so you can write your name there so people know that the room is occupied,” Jungsu tells Seungcheol, bringing down the portable whiteboard and marker for him to write his name.

“Now, Taehyung stays next to you,” Jungsu points out the name on the whiteboard of the room next to his, messily decorated with whiteboard magnets and doodles, “he’s the gardener of your generation, so he’s probably in the woods right now.”

Next, Jungsu opens the door to Seungcheol’s new room, and enters. Seungcheol follows with some mild hesitance, emitting a soft noise of shock at the cosiness of it all. There’s a bed in one corner, and a closet in the other, on either side of the large windows framed by curtains.

There’s a light breeze blowing into the house through the open windows, and the soft blue curtains rustle in the wind. There’s a cat perched on the windowsill, enjoying a stray patch of sun, and opens an eye a slit when Seungcheol approaches.

His bag is at the foot of his bed, and he sits down on the bed, testing the mattress. Next to the closet is a desk for him to put whatever he wants, as well as a laptop that Jungsu picks up and hands to him. “Welcome to Zodiac Manor, Seungcheol-ah. This is your welcome gift from the staff here, as well as me.”

“I can’t accept this, harabeoji,” Seungcheol starts, but Jungsu waves him off. “It’s already been bought, they threw the receipt away too. You have zero chance of getting us to return it. Also, you’ll need it in the future. Trust me, kid. I know what I’m talking about.”

Seungcheol quietens, running his hands across the smooth surface. “Thank you for this, harabeoji,” he says after a few seconds, placing the laptop on the bed next to him. “It’s my pleasure, so no need to thank me,” is all Jungsu says.

“This door over here leads to your personal washroom. Each bedroom comes with their own washroom, so no one has to worry about fighting over who gets to use the bathroom first and the like,” Jungsu continues after a moment of silence, clearing his throat.

“If you need any supplies for the bathroom, just tell Yunho or one of the other staff, and we’ll get it for you when we go into town next. I’ll let you get settled in for a few days before we bring you into town to get you acquainted with the people living there,” Jungsu tells him, and Seungcheol nods gratefully.

“I’ll leave you to wash up now, that drive was long enough that I want to take a shower,” Jungsu says. “When you’re done washing up, just head up to my room via the staircase in the middle of this wing. The Cat zodiac bearer’s room is all the way at the end of the hallway.”

Seungcheol nods his understanding and Jungsu leaves the room, closing the door behind him. Seungcheol takes a deep breath when he’s finally alone, letting the situation sink into him. This is going to be his home for the foreseeable future, and these are the people he’s going to have to live with for the rest of his life.

It’s a daunting thought, but Seungcheol steels himself for it. He at least hopes he’ll be able to get along with everyone else.

The time passes quickly when Jihoon is able to settle into a routine. He wakes up in the mornings, feeling like death personified, and goes to the kitchen for breakfast, where he warms up his brain by deflecting probing questions asked by the others and staunchly not reacting to the thinly veiled barbs shot his way.

He exchanges polite conversation with everyone as much as he can, the Jimin mentioned the first night being Park Jimin, Taehyung’s best friend. He learns that along with Namjoon, Seokjin, Yoongi, and Jimin, Taehyung is part of a budding coven, which normally has ten people.

He’s pretty sure that Jonghyun, Minki, Aron, Minhyun and Dongho are part of some secret group as well, but doesn’t want to risk Minki’s wrath to ask until he has Jeonghan here to buffer as well as Dongho.

Speaking of Dongho, Jihoon has gotten into the habit of sending him snippets of audio, and the older does the same, exchanging advice and criticism about their work. It has helped him improve the standards of his tracks a lot, and Jihoon is pleased.

After breakfast, he holes himself up in the studio, closing the secret door behind him so no one knows where he is. He works in the studio until dinner, when his stomach drives him back to the kitchen after he forgets to eat lunch, as usual.

After dinner, he explores the manor, trying to find more secret rooms. So far, he’s been in the music room one, and he’s pretty sure that the recreation room has one as well. He knows that there should be some kind of sign telling him where the secret rooms are, but he hasn’t found it yet.

When he’s tired, he goes to any place with a high concentration of cats, playing with them to pass the time. Gongju and her mate come up to him often, meowing and pawing at him until he plays with them. The chocolate brown cat with white markings that Jihoon always saw around Seungcheol keeps his distance, and is usually perched on one of the platforms close by, observing Jihoon.

The days pass like that, and before he knows it, Jisoo is about to arrive.

To: three years is up!!

orange is the new black: jihoon, i’ll be heading down in a few days. jeonghan’s still busy closing a deal but he’s coming a few days after i am.

say moo: thank fuck

say moo: i need jeonghan-hyung here to buffer minki-hyung. i’m about to go insane.

I’M A CHICKEN: minki-hyung still isn’t happy, huh?

say moo: apparently he’s going to remain unhappy until we give him an adequate explanation, but i don’t know if we’re allowed to talk about that yet.

orange is the new black: …i think we’ll withhold that information for now, yeah? i don’t trust them fully yet. there’s new people too, so god knows what they can spread with that information if they have ill intentions.

say moo: alright. it’ll be good to finally have people on my side in the manor. i’ll inform them tonight about you guys arriving soon.

That night, Jihoon does as he said, informing the table at large that Jisoo and Jeonghan would be arriving within the next few days. Jonghyun and Minhyun exchange glances with each other, as does Taehyung and Namjoon, which does not go unnoticed by Jihoon, but he chooses to remain silent on the matter.

“Finally. I was wondering whether what you told us that first night was a lie. Good to see I’m wrong,” is all Minki says on the matter, and Jihoon is once again out of the kitchen as soon as he is able, hearing the kitchen break out into low whispers when he’s gone.

He briefly wonders if he should stay by the door to listen about what they’re talking about, but rejects the idea. One of the witches would probably sense him, or something. He’s pretty sure Jonghyun’s group is hiding some power as well.

From the past few days he’s been able to observe that whatever Namjoon’s growing coven knows, Jonghyun’s probably doesn’t, and vice versa. Everyone’s keeping secrets from each other because they don’t know what each other’s exact goals are apart from finding out happened to Seungcheol, and because they don’t know how much they can say.

However, in terms of interactions, Jihoon would have to say that the coven is maintaining a rather neutral stance, while Jonghyun, Minhyun and Minki are more standoffish towards him.

Still, the manor is filled with tension, and Jihoon doesn’t like it. He misses the times when Seungcheol was there, tying everyone together. He remembers letting Seungcheol bug him when he was trying to compose, or when he was trying to read a book in peace.

He thinks of Seungcheol’s bright eyes when he beams at someone, and the way the townspeople always greeted him with love whenever they wandered into town. He thinks about the quiet times spent together just lounging on the couch while the others made a mess of the recreation room.

He thinks about anything and everything that Seungcheol reminds him of, and in that moment, he is filled with the most intense longing and grief, all the more determined to find out what happened to Choi Seungcheol and give that man a piece of his mind for causing them to worry so much.

Shaking his head to free himself from his thoughts, he continues down the hallway and going up the grand staircase, walking to the recreation room, where he’s been concentrating his efforts for the past few days.

He enters the room, switching on the lights. He’s been combing through the room inch by inch, and has yet to find anything out of place or hidden. The recreation room is filled with bean bags and the most comfortable couches, along with every game system currently on the market.

Jihoon continues on to the shelves places between the windows, where rows of game CDs and board games and card games are lined, and continues what he’s been doing for the past few days. He removes the things on each shelf one by one, making sure there’s no protrusions from the wall.

As he does so, he grumbles to himself, “Why did I have to find that secret room? I have to lug a chair every-fucking-where now because I’m not tall enough to reach the fucking top shelf. I should wait until Mingyu comes and make him do the rest of the shelves.”

He’s moved onto a bookshelf that has books concerning tactics about different games (he saw a few Minecraft books that he’s keeping in mind to read for later) when the chair tilts after he climbs onto it. He stumbles and jumps off just as he’s about to fall back first.

Kneeling down onto the floor, and moving the chair away, he sighs when he notices a small circular panel on the floor. Seeing as just pushing that one switch didn’t do anything, he heaves the beanbags around the chair away.

Just as he’d thought, he spots three more small circular panels in the floor, forming a perfect square with the one panel pressed down by the chair. He carries the chair over, placing each leg over each panel.

Going over to the shelves, he removes a thick hardcover book and drops it onto the chair seat, smiling in satisfaction as the chair sinks into the floor and a loud click echoes around the room. The wall opposite the one with the television mounted on it shifts backwards and to the side, revealing a door.

Just to make sure, Jihoon goes over to the door leading to the Central Wing hallway and locks the door, before returning to the now revealed hidden door. He removes the book from the chair just to see what happens, watching as the chair slowly rises and the wall move back into place.

Nodding to himself, he places the book back on the chair and waits for the door to appear again, before he opens it and enters. Just like the one in the music room, there is a staircase winding up, and the stairwell is dark and dusty.

He turns on the light and makes his way up the staircase, observing that just like the one leading to the studio, the wood of the staircase is in very good condition, despite all the dust. Opening the door at the top of the staircase, Jihoon notices that just like the studio, this one has a second door for soundproofing as well, and opens it and turns on the lights as well.

He then just stands there, gaping at the miniature theatre that greets him, with a large wall-to-wall viewing screen on the opposite wall. The seats are couches, the same ones as those in the recreation room downstairs, and when Jihoon looks up, there’s a projector mounted on the ceiling to project the films on the screen.

There’s dust everywhere, like he’d expected, but a fucking movie theatre? This was nowhere near whatever he was expecting to find in a hidden room. “Fuck, at this rate I’m going to need to carry a portable vacuum cleaner,” Jihoon says to himself, after sneezing thrice in a row.

He leaves the room, turning off all the lights behind him. When he’s out on the staircase landing, he pulls out his phone, typing as he walks down.

To: three years is up!!

say moo: I found a movie theatre this time.

i’m a horse and look like one: say what?

say moo: a fucking movie theatre

i love bananas: they had a movie theatre at home and we didn’t know???

say moo: yes

I’M A CHICKEN: oh my god

im THE dawg: what happened why is kwannie yelling in my ear

im THE dawg: oh what the hell are you serious

orange is the new black: language, choi hansol. but yes, the sentiment is the same for me.

I’M A CHICKEN: if you find a karaoke room i don’t care where i am or what im doing, im coming down immediately

He snorts, exiting the secret room after switching off the lights, removing the book from the chair and putting everything back to rights. He unlocks the door and exits the recreation room entirely, making his way back to his room, scrolling through social media as he walks.

After Seungcheol is done washing up, he exits the room, climbing up the staircase slowly and finding himself in a hallway similar to the one on the lower floor. Only, instead of just whiteboards hung on the walls on the right of each door, there are wooden nameplates nailed into the doors, with an animal intricately engraved on each one.

He walks down the hallway, darting left and right to look at the different nameplates and whiteboards. At the end of the hallway is a door with a cat nameplate, as well as a whiteboard that has Jungsu’s name on it with angel wings as a backdrop.

He knocks on the door with trepidation, and after a moment the door opens. “Come in!” Jungsu calls, and Seungcheol peeks his head around the door. Jungsu smiles when he sees him, closing a leather-bound book and placing it on the table.

“What’s that?” Seungcheol asks curiously. “Oh, this?” Jungsu looks down at the journal. “It’s a journal, where I write my thoughts in whenever I have time,” Jungsu explains. “Each generation of Cat bearers tend to keep journals because sometimes it’s good to write things down,” Jungsu says, gesturing to the rows of shelves that are along a wall.

“Because a lot of them are old, they fall apart easily under direct sunlight, so I keep them in these cupboards with no glass, so they don’t get damaged. I also have a dehumidifier in each cupboard to make sure they don’t become mouldy,” Jungsu tells him.

“It’s weird, though. I only have the journals from the Cat bearer five generations back to now. I can’t seem to locate the journals prior to that generation’s. Anyway, here, these are the ones I’ve filled in in the years I’ve lived here,” Jungsu says, opening one cupboard, showing him the row of leather-bound books slotted in neatly next to each other.

“Woah,” Seungcheol gasps, looking to Jungsu for permission before taking one. He flips through it quickly before putting it back, feeling as if he’s intruding on Jungsu’s privacy. Jungsu closes the cupboard after he makes sure everything is in place.

“Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the manor. The East wing is simple enough, all of the rooms are similar to the ones you’ve seen,” Jungsu leads the way out of the room, and Seungcheol dutifully follows, trailing the old man.

They head out into the hallway and through the door that leads to the Central Wing, and Jungsu points out the various rooms to him as they pass. “There’s the music room, and that one is the recreation room. The one opposite the music room is an office to do work in, and the one opposite the recreation room is an art room.”

“The other rooms, you can discover on your own,” Jungsu tells him. “I have to show you some other stuff later, too.” They walk to the other end of the Central Wing’s main hallway, where a door is closed.

“Welcome to my pride and joy, the West Wing of Zodiac Manor,” Jungsu says proudly, opening the door to reveal the largest library Seungcheol has ever seen inside a house. Well, granted, it was a manor, but still.

“Woah.” Seungcheol walks into the West Wing, eyes darting in all directions as he beholds the sheer number of shelves in the wing. Instead of rooms, the entirety of the wing is a library, with three floors. In between shelves, there are numerous reading nooks along the wall, framed by large windows to let in the sunlight.

There is a staircase leading up to the third floor and another down to the first floor in front of the door, and another across the wing. There is also one in the middle of the wing, and each row of shelves has a mobile ladder.

“The books are all arranged depending on whether they’re fiction or non-fiction, then by author. The non-fiction books are arranged according to topic as well,” Jungsu tells him, smiling at the younger’s reaction.

“We also have a section focusing on all the lore anyone has ever collected regarding the zodiacs,” Jungsu informs him in a more serious tone, catching Seungcheol’s attention. “You mean…” Seungcheol trails off, to which Jungsu nods, understanding the unsaid question.

“Yes. This is the largest collection of books regarding the curse. Whatever anyone has ever published, be it in a research paper or in a book, fiction or non-fiction, we have it. No matter how ridiculous the things they write are, we have it. After all, even the most nonsensical things can have kernels of truth in them.”

Jungsu points out the section to him, all the way at the other end of the wing. Seungcheol itches to go and check out what books the library has to offer, but refrains from it for now. He has all the time in the world to explore the West Wing.

“That’s all for the inside of the house, now I’ll give you a tour of the outside,” Jungsu says, leading Seungcheol back out of the library and down the grand staircase. Seungcheol remains quiet, a thought having occurred to him.

“Harabeoji, what would have happened if I’d refused the bracelet? If I’d refused taking on the curse as the Cat zodiac bearer?” Seungcheol asks, and Jungsu halts in his tracks. “…you would have changed anyway when the time came. Once you’re chosen, there’s no stopping the curse. All I would have had to do was wait for you to change, inform your parents, then take you away.”

Seungcheol stares at Jungsu in shock. The old man turns to him with a sorrowful expression. “I wouldn’t have gotten to say goodbye?” Seungcheol asks softly. Jungsu nods, and elaborates.

“The best time to take someone who doesn’t want to accept the curse is when they’re changed, because it’s harder for them to run away when they’re not used to their new form. And once they’re within the barrier, they can’t escape.”

“That- that’s just cruel!” Seungcheol exclaims, to which Jungsu sighs and says, “Well, a lot of the world doesn’t care if they’re cruel to Cat zodiac bearers or not. It’s partly for their own protection as well. Cat zodiac bearers aren’t treated well outside of this town, Seungcheol-ah. You’ve heard of the reputation we carry.”

Seungcheol falters, recognising what Jungsu is saying to be true. He’d heard the townspeople talk about harabeoji when they’d recognised the bracelet he wore. With no argument, Seungcheol falls silent again, and Jungsu continues walking, Seungcheol following quietly.

“This is the kitchen,” Jungsu tells him softly as they enter, and Seungcheol looks up from his thoughts, observing the happenings of the kitchen. “That man manning the stoves over there is the chef for my generation, Kim Jaejoong. His protégé, the one rolling the dough at the counters, is Park Jisung.”

Upon hearing their names, the two look up from whatever they were in the process of doing. “Jungsu-hyung! Giving the tour, I see,” Jaejoong says, wiping his hands clean and turning the fire on the stove low. Jisung does the same, patting his hands clean of flour and washing them.

Seungcheol bows low, greeting the two. “My name is Choi Seungcheol, please take care of me!” Jaejoong laughs and replies, “No need to stand on formality, kid. We’re all family around here.” Meanwhile, Jisung bows back as well, introducing himself. “I’m Park Jisung! Let’s get along well!” Seungcheol nods to both replies, smiling.

“Alright, alright, I’m sure the two of you still have a lot to do. I’ll continue on with the tour and let the two of you get back to your work, eh?” Jungsu says, to which the chef and chef-in-training nod in understanding, going back to their work.

Jungsu leads Seungcheol across the kitchen to the back door, which connects to the gardens and beyond that, the woods behind the manor. “This is the gardens of the manor, where we have all kinds of things growing here, from herbs used in cooking, to those used in potions, as well as flowers and fruits.

“The current gardener is Kim Junsu, and his protégé is Kim Taehyung. They’re probably somewhere in this maze right now, I’ll introduce you to them later during dinner,” Jungsu tells him, showing him the hedge-maze that was Taehyung’s idea, who is, apparently, a witch that specializes in plants and potions. They walk through the well-worn paths of the gardens to the iron-wrought gate built in the brick wall.

“Remember when I mentioned the lands surrounding the manor in the car? That treeline over there is the beginning of the woods,” Jungsu says as he opens the gate, “The manor lands extend all the way until the barrier, which is the town boundary. Of course, the woods extend past that, but we only own the land up until the barrier.”

They stand at the treeline, enjoying the breeze and the sounds of nature. A cat emerges from deep within the woods, coming up to them for scratches. Seungcheol obliges gladly, squatting down to stroke down its back and between its ears.

“That about concludes the tour, I should think. There are rooms I didn’t tell you much about, because those are mainly for witches and practitioners to use, but there’s two more things I have to tell you. There are many hidden rooms in the manor, some of which I probably haven’t found yet.

If you find them, you get to do whatever you want to them. Contractors and builders are always sworn to secrecy via confidentiality agreements as well as the best lawyers we can find. Of course, you can try building whatever you want by yourself as well.” Jungsu leans against a tree, looking at the view the manor presents against the backdrop of the setting sun.

“Lastly, I have to show you how to open the Cat’s bedroom door. I opened the door for you earlier, but this is a trick all Cat zodiac bearers have to learn. No one else knows how to open our door, so keep it that way, alright?” Jungsu tells him, moving back in the direction of the manor.

Giving the cat one last scratch, Seungcheol stands up, following Jungsu back into the manor and to the door of the Cat zodiac bearer’s room. “Why does the Cat zodiac bearer’s bedroom door require so much effort to open it?”

Jungsu shrugs at the question. “I think one of the previous generations must have been very paranoid. It’s been like this for three generations at least.” Seungcheol frowns, dissatisfied with that explanation.

They come to a halt in front of the bedroom door in question, and Jungsu changes the topic, focusing on teaching Seungcheol how to open the door. “You can’t open this door in the usual fashion,” Jungsu shows him, pushing the door handle like they do for other doors. It doesn’t move, indicating the door is clearly locked.

“What you need to do is to push this panel here, which has this symbol etched into it,” Jungsu points out a panel on the door itself, which has a triangle-shaped triskelion when Seungcheol looks closer at the symbol about half the size of the nail of his pinky.

“Then nudge the one on the doorframe over here with your elbow, and push the door handle upwards,” Jungsu continues, showing Seungcheol each step in detail. With a click, the door opens.

“If you’re inside the room, there’s a button on the floor you can step on to the left of the door. To exit, just step on that button and open the door normally.” Jungsu points to the button on the floor, almost indistinguishable from the regular wood flooring if not for its odd shape, then closes the door, the locks engaging once again.

“Now you try.”

10 August 2010, Tuesday

Apparently all Cat zodiac bearers start a journal, so this is me starting one.

I’ve met almost all of the people living in the manor permanently, I think. There’s the previous generation, Park Jungsu, Jung Yunho, Kim Jaejoong, Kim Junsu, Park Yoochun and Shim Changmin, and then there’s my generation, which has me, Kim Namjoon, Park Jisung, Kim Taehyung, Hwang Minhyun and Min Yoongi.

If there’s regularly so many people living here, an outhouse may be a good idea.

Maybe a treehouse?

[chapter two end]

With both Jeonghan and Jisoo present in the manor with him, Jihoon feels a lot more comfortable wandering the manor in search of more hidden rooms in the day. He didn’t tell Jeonghan any of this, but the older had seen the tension leave the younger when he’d arrived.

Most of the time, the three of them decide to split up to find anything out of place, but thus far, there has been no sign at all. No sign at all, up until Jeonghan spots something and calls for Jisoo and Jihoon to join him in the study.

“What’s the matter?” his darling boyfriend asks as he comes up to give him a quick kiss, before Jihoon pads into the room.

“I think I found something,” he says, pointing towards a slight indent in the wall. “What is it?” Jihoon peers at the oddly-shaped marked in the wall. “I’m not very sure, but all the walls in the various rooms in this manor are smooth, so I found it weird that this indentation was here.”

“Ah, you’re right.” Jisoo smiles, praising him, “I knew you’d be able to find something.” The familiar look of disgust is back on Jihoon’s face as he preens proudly at the words, and Jeonghan smiles as he makes to cuff the younger behind the ear.

Jihoon dodges quickly, holding up his hands in surrender. “No judgement from me, none at all.” Jeonghan smiles again, pleased at the easy capitulation, and Jihoon relaxes. As soon as he does so, Jeonghan reaches out lightning quick, whacking him upside the head.

“Hyung!” Jihoon whines, rubbing the back of his head. “Respect your elders,” he returns primly, leaving Jihoon alone to sulk and nurse his wounds. “It’s a triskelion,” Jisoo informs him upon sensing his approach. “A what?” Jeonghan asks.

Instead of clarifying, Jisoo tilts the screen of his phone towards his partner, showing him the various types of triskelions that had popped up upon searching it up. “It says here that the three arms of the triskelion, or triskele, represent different things to different individuals or organisations.”

“I wonder what it meant to Cheol,” Jeonghan muses. Jisoo nods, keeping his phone. “From the shape, I guess it means that we have to find something that is in the exact shape of the triskelion and that’ll trigger something.”

Jihoon makes a sound of understanding, having approached in time to catch the end of the conversation. “I’ll try and figure out where the key could be. In the meantime, I guess we could look for more hidden rooms,” he says.

“I feel like I’ve seen that sign somewhere before…” Jeonghan mutters to himself as they split up again.

To: AY BITCHES ITS THREE YEARS

say moo: who the fuck changed the group chat name again?

say moo: for that matter, who the hell changed my name again.

say moo has changed his name to jihoon

BABABANANAS: the chat name was one of the younger ones

jihoon: and my chat name?

BABABANANAS: heh that i have no idea at all

jihoon: whatever; I’m not here for that

jihoon: wonu when are you coming

im the DAWG: that’s what she said

im the DAWG: ayyyyyyy

I’M A CHICKEN: grow up

i hate carrots: I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning to make my way there. You can expect me by nightfall.

orange is the new black: that’s good news :) we’ll be waiting!

sneaky mf: it’ll be good to have more of us here

sneaky mf: wonu ya do you think you can get some stuff for me before you leave?

i hate carrots: Sure, hyung. Just send me a list of whatever you need and I’ll see about getting them for you.

sneaky mf: thanks! i’ll pm you the list in a bit

sneaky mf has changed jihoon’s name to i am COW hear me moo

Jeonghan walks into the recreation room. “Jihoon has already shown me the one hidden here… But it wouldn’t hurt to search through this room again,” he says to himself as he keeps his phone.

He examines the shelves of games carefully, looking through the board games and assorted puzzles scattered on the shelves. He frowns in confusion as he comes across a seemingly seamless box. He picks it up to examine it, eyes brightening when he realises that the triskelion symbol is etched into one of the corners of the box.

‘This probably has something to do with the one we found earlier in the study. I’ll keep it for Wonwoo, he probably knows what to do with this,’ he thinks to himself, bringing the box back to his room and placing it on his table.

He sets a reminder on his phone to remind himself to pass the box to Wonwoo, and sets off for the other rooms in the manor, hoping he’ll be able to find something relevant to their search.

At the end of the day, when they gather in Jeonghan’s room to discuss what they found, Jeonghan shows them the puzzle box. Jihoon fiddles with it for a while, before giving up and admitting that Wonwoo would be better suited for a puzzle like that, with no clues as to how to open the seemingly seamless box.

A few days later when Wonwoo arrives and has gone through the tour, as well as the gruelling experience of dealing with one Choi Minki, they head to Jeonghan’s room, upon which Wonwoo’s eyes light up when he sets eyes on the box Jeonghan takes out from a drawer.

It’s clear that he immediately knows what it is, grabbing the box with delight and running his hands along the sides of the box, as if looking for something. “You know what this is, Wonwoo-ya?” Jisoo asks curiously, and Wonwoo lifts his head to beam at his hyung, eyes shining in delight.

“It’s a himitsu-bako! A puzzle box!” The Japanese words roll off his tongue with ease, no doubt due to his linguistics major having required him to learn multiple languages in the past few years.

“I haven’t seen one of these in real life before, I’ve only watched videos about them. They normally require multiple steps to open, and all the mechanisms are very well-blended into the box itself, so you have to be very meticulous to notice them all,” Wonwoo explains even as he finds a slight groove.

Jihoon, Jeonghan and Jisoo watch with awe as he pushes the edge of the box slightly where he felt the groove, and a slate of wood along the box moves so that it’s protruding. “So… we’ll leave you to figure this out then,” Jihoon pats Wonwoo on the back, leading the majorly occupied man back to his room where the three leave the newly returned man to his puzzle box.

“Ah, hyung! Jeonghan-hyung!” Wonwoo calls suddenly, looking up from his puzzle box momentarily. “Hm?” The three of them turn around, and Wonwoo goes to his luggage, finally pulling out a plastic bag with a rustle.

“The things you asked me to buy!” Wonwoo smiles, before returning his attention back to the puzzle box, absentmindedly sitting on his bed cross-legged. “Ah, thanks!” Jeonghan grins, grabbing the bag, planning to return to his room to sort through the things his dongsaeng had bought for him.

Jisoo follows his boyfriend back to his room curiously, while Jihoon goes off to continue with his producing. With a loud rustle, the plastic bag is set on the bed as Jisoo closes the door behind him, Jeonghan settling down in front of the bag and upending it onto his mattress.

“What did you ask Wonwoo to buy?” Jisoo eyes the items curiously. “Nothing much, just some beauty products that I was running low on,” Jeonghan hums, sorting through the various beauty products.

“No wonder you were so excited to receive them from Wonwoo,” Jisoo shakes his head fondly at his forever make-up obsessed boyfriend. “It’s not my fault I’m the only one that appreciates the effects of good make-up,” Jeonghan retorts.

“I never said anything,” Jisoo holds up his hands defensively, laughing. “I just don’t like the feeling of having make-up on my face, but I do appreciate their effects on your face,” he says, to which Jeonghan whips his head around lightning-quick.

“Are you saying I’m ugly? Is that what you’re implying, Hong Jisoo?” Jeonghan complains, getting up to chase his laughing boyfriend around the room. “I said nothing to that effect!” Jisoo laughs madly, having toppled onto the bed after being caught, narrowly avoiding bashing his head against the bottles of beauty products.

“Your beauty products! Jeonghan-ah, remember your beauty products!” Jisoo reminds his grinning boyfriend between gasps as he’s tickled, writhing madly on the bed and making a mess of the products that Jeonghan had been sorting.

“Hmph! For the sake of my beauty products, I’ll let you off this once. Now get off, you’re crushing my babies!” Jeonghan tugs Jisoo off the bed, where he collapses in a madly giggling mess. Jeonghan staunchly ignores his boyfriend tugging on his pants for attention, choosing to focus on re-sorting his buys, complaining that it’s Jisoo’s fault the entire time.

Meanwhile, Jihoon settles down in his studio, the glee in Wonwoo’s eyes as he’d seen the puzzle box giving him inspiration for a new track. He slides on his headphones and wakes his computer up, the screens coming alive before his eyes. Cracking his knuckles, he bends his neck left and right, stretching for a quick moment, before getting to work.

Wonwoo remains in that position for a long time, fiddling with the box to try and figure out all of its secrets, not washing up and showering until late in the night, when Jeonghan and Jisoo have gone to sleep and Jihoon is halfway through with his track, not that he’s aware of it.

The Rabbit-bearer only tears himself away from the box for as long as is required for him to have a quick shower and brush his teeth, barely glancing at his phone.

To: AY BITCHES ITS THREE YEARS

im THE dawg: whats the sitrep over there?

BABABANANAS: …why are you up so late

im THE dawg: sleep is for the WEAK

I’M A CHICKEN: i take offence to that

why am i forever last: ah but does you taking offence mean anything?

hiss hiss mf: maknae got you there, seungkwan ah

hiss hiss mf: you take offence to everything your opinion has ceased to be relevant

size is irrelevant: why the heck are all of yall awake its 2am

BABABANANAS: why are you awake then

size is irrelevant: i have a final the day after tmr and im cramming obv

BABABANANAS: lmao mood my final perf is in three days

why am i forever last: need help hyung?

goatlamb: I need all of yall to go the FUCK to sleep the incessant buzzing is keeping me awake

goatlamb: I have a final tomorrow, if I’m affected in any way by you guys for my paper I’m coming for all of you

size is irrelevant: the boss has spoken all of yall go to bed

goatlamb: die in a ditch gyu stop making so much noise in the kitchen

Time passes in the blink of an eye, and before he knows it, Seungcheol is six months past his birthday. “I’ve been doing well in school!” he reports to Jungsu with a proud smile as they meet up after school, having just had his results returned to him.

Jungsu receives the report slip with pride, noting with a smile the excellent results Seungcheol has been getting in school. As Seungcheol waves goodbye to the friends he’s met over the past few months, his Cat-bearer bracelet gleams in the light, blinding the older Cat-bearer for a second.

“Let’s go, then. You’ve got much to learn today,” Jungsu tells him as he guides Seungcheol away from the school and back towards home. “What are we doing today?” Seungcheol asks curiously, tilting his head up to meet Jungsu’s eyes.

“You’ve been into coding recently, haven’t you?” Jungsu queries, smiling inwardly as Seungcheol lights up. The boy had stumbled across a coding website while he was surfing the net and had fallen in love with the process of coding quickly.

Jungsu and Yunho had supplemented the library with more books on coding and programming as soon as they realised that Seungcheol was serious about learning about it, but the boy had finished reading everything within two weeks.

Seeing as Seungcheol had so much passion for coding, the two of them had decided to get him a tutor specifically to teach him coding. Today would be the first day of his lessons, and Jungsu hadn’t told him before today on purpose, as a surprise.

“Yeah! But what has that got to do with what I’m learning today?” Seungcheol asks, blinking curiously. Jungsu’s eyes twinkly merrily as he adopts a playful expression. “Why, I’ve hired a tutor specifically to teach you more about coding!”

Seungcheol stares at his guardian in shock for a few, stunned, seconds before he gives a short scream and jumps into Jungsu’s embrace. “Are you serious?” he asks, hugging Jungsu tightly. “No, I’m Jungsu,” the older jokes.

Seeing Seungcheol’s glare, he laughs, nodding his head. “I’m being completely serious. Yunho and I decided to get you a tutor seeing as you are so invested in learning coding. We vetted him a while ago and he’s very experienced, so he’ll be able to teach you a lot.”

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Seungcheol near-vibrates with happiness, squirming from Jungsu’s embrace to hop excitedly, needing a way to get rid of the excitement.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go home immediately!” Jungsu laughs and agrees, following the excited Seungcheol at a more sedate pace.

Yunho is clearly startled when Seungcheol bounds up to him to give him a hug, his happiness obvious, though he quickly realises the reason why as Jungsu follows behind the seventeen year old, laughing a little.

The butler laughs as well as he hugs Seungcheol back, ruffling his hair when he’s released. “Alright, you brat. You’ve got to listen to your tutor well, okay? He’s very good at what he does, so be sure to learn all you can from him.”

Seungcheol nods furiously, to which Jungsu says, “Go and get changed and wash up. Your tutor will be here in about half an hour. You can wait for him in the study.”

The younger does as he’s told, rushing into the manor to go and get ready. Yunho and Jungsu exchange a look, before breaking into laughter again. Jungsu shakes his head fondly as he says, “That boy really never changes.”

“Let’s hope he won’t. Maybe he’ll be the one to finally do it, after so many centuries,” Yunho replies, calming down a little, though the smile on his face never leaves. Jungsu’s fades a little though, at what Yunho mentions.

Yunho quickly notices the elder’s face change, and sighs. “You have to stop feeling guilty about that, Jungsu-hyung.” The latter shakes his head, refusing to accept Yunho’s words. “I could have done it,” he says, turning to look at the land surrounding the manor.

“I could have done it if I were braver, and more willing to give them everything I had.”

“Well, the past is the past, now. They’ve all gone to find their successors, just as you’ve found yours. All we can hope right now is that that boy in there,” and here Yunho gestures towards the manor, “is the one Hime-nim has been telling us about.”

“Besides, you know how I think about some of them,” Yunho mutters, but quietens at a look from Jungsu. “I’m just saying,” Yunho defends. “It’s not their fault, Yunho-ya. You know how they were brought up,” Jungsu sighs. Yunho, ever his stalwart defender, shakes his head defiantly. Jungsu sighs, but lets it go.

“Be sure to treat him well, yeah? Once I’m gone, he’s only got you left as a guardian,” Jungsu looks at his old, old friend pleadingly, changing the topic abruptly.

“Of course I will. I haven’t taken care of all of you all these years for nothing, Park Jungsu,” Yunho says, forgoing formal language for once, knowing Jungsu won’t mind it in this specific case.

Jungsu laughs a little and clasps Yunho on the shoulder. “Right, right. I shouldn’t be doubting you at all, my friend.”

“Right you are, hyung. Right you are.”

The two men stand outside for a long while, before Jungsu heads back into the manor with one last pat on Yunho’s shoulder, to which the latter smiles and nods at his hyung.

The tutor arrives after a few more minutes, earning a point from Yunho. “It’s nice to see you again, Yunho-ssi,” the man says with a slight accent. “And to you too, Zhoumi-ssi,” Yunho replies.

“Your student is currently waiting for you in the study, I’ll bring you to him,” Yunho says, leading Zhoumi into the house and towards the study. “I look forward to teaching him. From what you and Jungsu-ssi have told me, he seems very eager to learn,” Zhoumi says, beaming.

“You should have seen his reaction when we told him about you coming today,” Yunho replies, laughing a little at the memory. “I’m sure it was a sight to see,” the other returns, as they reach the study.

Yunho knocks on the closed door to the study, waiting for a reply before he opens it. “Seungcheol-ah, your tutor is here,” he says, smiling at the excitedly waiting teenager. He has his laptop and notebook with accompanying pen laid out neatly in front of him, with the books he’s been learning from by his side.

The teenager stands as Yunho leads Zhoumi into the room, bowing 90 degrees in greeting. “My name is Choi Seungcheol, seonsaeng-nim. I look forward to being taught by you,” he greets politely, before he breaks composure and beams at the two men.

“No need to call me that,” Zhoumi says, “You can just call me hyung. I look forward to teach you!” Seungcheol nods in understanding, before Yunho takes his leave with a few parting words with Seungcheol to pay attention to his tutor.

“Now, shall we get started? Let’s see what you’ve learnt so far,” Zhoumi settles himself next to Seungcheol, as the teenager quickly boots up his laptop, handing his new tutor the books he’s looked through thus far.

“Not bad, but let’s see what else you can learn by the end of today,” Zhoumi comments as he looks at the various books Seungcheol has read the past few weeks. “Okay, hyung!” Seungcheol replies, and they settle in for a fruitful lesson.

After the lesson, Jungsu allows Seungcheol to take a break for a short while before he has to finish his homework from school, while Yunho sits with Zhoumi to see what he thinks about his new pupil. “So, what do you think of Seungcheol?” he asks.

“He has a lot of potential,” Zhoumi praises, smiling. “He’s very eager to learn and picks up on the theory very quickly. Since he’s started on learning Python, I’ll continue teaching him that and see where that takes us. If he’s ready for it, once we finish Python I’ll get him started on some other languages.”

“It’s just a pity that he won’t be able to pursue a degree from the universities that have better computer science programmes,” the tutor mentions. Yunho sighs, nodding in understanding.

“He has a lot of potential, and he’s smart to boot. Since he’s trapped here, however, he’ll be enrolling in a cyber university once he graduates from the local school. It’s the one Jungsu graduated from as well, so at least we know he’ll be treated fairly,” Yunho explains, to which Zhoumi signals his understanding.

“I wouldn’t mind teaching him until he himself wants to stop, if I’m being very honest,” Zhoumi continues. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a student that is so eager to learn.” Yunho laughs, and nods. “Then we’ll continue this arrangement for the foreseeable future, then. Once a week works out for you?”

Zhoumi checks his calendar, nodding as he enters in the new commitment. “I’ll definitely be here on time. It’s such a joy teaching him, I’ll probably end up teaching overtime a lot,” Zhoumi jokes, not knowing how true that statement will be in the future.

“Ah, that means we’ll have to pay you more,” Yunho jokes, to which Zhoumi shakes his head. “Nah, I don’t mind being paid at my usual rate and not for overtime if it’s for a student like him. I would have said I wouldn’t mind not being paid at all, but well, I have to earn my money from somewhere!”

Yunho laughs, standing up and heading towards the door. “Well, I won’t keep you anymore,” he says. “I’m sure a busy person such as you has somewhere to go after this.” Zhoumi stands up as well, following Yunho as he is led back to the front door.

“I really don’t, but I get when I’m not wanted anymore.” he smiles to show that he’s joking, before continuing, “I’ll see you next week then.”

Yunho nods his assent, opening the gate for Zhoumi. “See you next week, Zhoumi-ssi.”

“Drop the honorifics! We’re going to be seeing each other a lot in the future after all,” Zhoumi calls out as he takes his leave, to which Yunho laughs, nodding. “You can do the same for me, then,” he replies.

When Yunho heads back into the manor in search of Seungcheol and Jungsu, he’s met with the hilarious sight of Jungsu trying to take away Seungcheol’s laptop. “You need to stop coding for now and get started on your schoolwork!” Jungsu exclaims, tugging at his charge’s laptop.

“Coding is part of my schoolwork!” Seungcheol argues back, holding firmly onto his precious laptop. The two of them go back and forth for a while, even as Yunho starts laughing and doesn’t stop for a long while.

“Alright children, stop fighting.” After calming down, Yunho walks over and plucks the laptop out of both of their grasps.

“Jungsu-hyung, Seungcheol needs the laptop to do his schoolwork. And Seungcheol, you need to promise that you’ll focus on your schoolwork first before you can continue with your coding. I’ll be coming by to check frequently, so make sure you do as you’re told.”

The two Cat-bearers eye the laptop-holding Yunho with similar guilty looks, making Yunho laugh again. He returns Seungcheol’s laptop to him with a stern look, and tugs Jungsu away.

“Stop bothering the kid just because your partner is away,” he scolds his hyung, leaving Jungsu sputtering in the hallway as he goes off to do his job.

Jeonghan and Jisoo are met with a tired-looking Wonwoo and Jihoon in the kitchen when they come down for breakfast the next morning, with Minki and the others nowhere to be seen apart from Seokjin, Jaejoong and Jisung.

“Why do the two of you look so exhausted? Didn’t get enough sleep?” Jeonghan asks as the two of them take their seats, Jisung passing them clean plates and cutlery. Jisoo thanks him for the both of them, receiving them and placing them in front of the two of them.

“I spent almost the whole night on a track,” Jihoon mumbles through a mouthful of eggs and toast, barely swallowing in time before a huge yawn hits him. “Finished the box,” Wonwoo says in tandem, “Didn’t sleep.”

Jeonghan and Jisoo exchange looks and sigh as they keep watch over their two dongsaengs, making sure they finish their breakfast, helping them clear their plates before herding them to their separate beds, watching as they collapse face-first and not get up again.

The two older ones sigh, leaving the room and standing in the hallway after they’re done making sure the younger ones are comfortable. “What shall we do while they’re out cold?” Jisoo asks, tilting his head in query. Jeonghan shrugs in reply, walking into his room and grabbing a book from his bedside table.

“Up for some relaxing time? We can curl up in one of the alcoves in the library and relax,” the blond suggests, to which Jisoo readily agrees. “Sounds good to me.” The Tiger-bearer makes a quick trip to his own room to grab a book of his own, and the two of them walk quietly to the library.

Once there, Jeonghan sinks into one of the window alcoves after removing his indoor slippers, sitting so that he can stretch his legs across the entire seat. Jisoo sits opposite him, mirroring him in position.

Jeonghan settles a little lower into the cushions, getting comfortable. Once done, he sighs in satisfaction, opening his book to the bookmarked page to continue reading. Jisoo looks up from his book when his boyfriend sighs, smiling when he realises why the other sighed and turning back to his book.

The peace and quiet is maintained for the next few hours as the two of them make their way steadily through their respective books. Jeonghan was in the middle of a fantasy adventure novel, while Jisoo had picked up some books relevant to his field of study.

Just as Jeonghan finishes his book, hours after they first sat down, Wonwoo walks blearily into the library, rubbing his eyes with sweater paws as he tries to wake up fully. “Had a good nap?” Jisoo asks warmly as the two of them already in the alcove shift to make room for Wonwoo.

The youngest of the trio nods and yawns, sitting down with a soft thump between the two older ones. “The puzzle box was very intriguing,” Wonwoo explains once he is more awake. “Once I started figuring it out I didn’t want to stop as I was afraid I’d forget my train of thought if I fell asleep.”

“So you stayed awake until you finished solving the box,” Jisoo continues for him, to which Wonwoo nods. “It was pretty complex too. I’m pretty sure there are like, at least 50 steps to solve the box,” Wonwoo mentions, before hitting himself in the forehead with a sweater-clad palm.

“I left the box in my room,” he says, clearly punishing himself for forgetting. Jeonghan laughs, standing up. “Well, it’s understandable. You did just wake up, after all.”

Jisoo stands up as well, stretching a little. “Shall we go and get it, then?” he asks, turning to the other two. Wonwoo nods, standing up and following his hyungs out of the room as they head back to the residential wing.

When Jeonghan checks in on Jihoon, the latter is still out cold, so Jeonghan closes the door quietly and heads for Wonwoo’s room just as his boyfriend and the man in question emerges from his room with the box in hand.

In unison, they head for Jeonghan’s room, and Wonwoo makes sure to close the door behind him before he sits on the bed where Jisoo and Jeonghan are settled, waiting for him. “I reset the box after I opened it, to see if I still remember the steps,” Wonwoo explains, showing them the box.

He opens it slowly, occasionally cocking his head to the side as he tries to recall all the steps required to open the puzzle box. Finally though, he slides the last piece into position and opens the box, tilting it so that what is inside falls out.

He holds up the object to Jisoo and Jeonghan, and just as they’d thought, it’s a wood carving in the shape of a triskelion, the perfect match to the triskelion that Jeonghan had found in the study.

“We’ll have to wait for Jihoon to wake up before we try inserting this into the indentation in the study,” Jeonghan murmurs, taking the carving from Wonwoo and examining it closely. The other two nod in agreement.

“We should continue searching. There’s bound to be more,” Jisoo says, getting up from the bed. “Alright,” Jeonghan says, putting the wood carving back into the box and handing it back to Wonwoo for safekeeping.

Before they continue on to the main wing, they make a stop at Wonwoo’s room to allow him to keep the box, moving on once he emerges from his room empty-handed.

When Jihoon wakes up again, the sun has set and his room is dimly lit from the lights out in the courtyard. He sits up in bed, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He checks the time on his phone, ignoring the notifications, and climbs out of bed.

Stretching his arms high up into the air before twisting his torso left and right, he grunts as his back gives a satisfying and resounding crack as the bones pop. After he’s done, he shuffles out of the room in search of the other three, passing by Dongho as he walks down the staircase.

He doesn’t say much, just nodding in greeting to his fellow producer. Dongho returns the nod, clearly recognising the signs of having worked through the night and only just waking up. They continue on their separate ways, Jihoon off to find the boys and Dongho to wherever he’s planning to do.

Jihoon eventually finds the other three in the rarely-used ballroom, searching every nook and cranny in the large room. “Oh, Jihoon-ah. I see you’re finally awake,” Jisoo notices the boy, pausing in his search to ruffle the younger’s hair.

Jihoon hums in reply, giving another jaw-cracking yawn. “I remember Wonwoo saying that he managed to solve the puzzle box,” he says as soon as he finishes yawning.

“Yup,” Jisoo nods, “The box contained the key to the indentation in the wall of the study like we thought. It’s back in Wonwoo’s room though. We were waiting for you to wake up before we went ahead with unlocking whatever’s behind the wall.”

Wonwoo and Jeonghan approach the two, catching the tail-end of the conversation. “Should we go now, then? Have you guys had dinner?” Jihoon asks, to which the three of them shake their heads.

“We should go and eat first, then. We can continue later.” Jihoon decides. They make their way to the kitchen, where everyone else are seated, having dinner and chitchatting. There’s a brief pause as they walk into the room, but conversation resumes after a few seconds of awkward silence.

As usual, the few of them sit as far away as possible from Jonghyun’s group, trying to lessen the chances of them having to snipe at each other. The unofficial temporary truce is silently acknowledged, and they eat dinner without having to listen to Jeonghan and Minki’s barbed conversations for once.

Once they are done with dinner, they clean up their bowls quickly before they’re chased away by Seokjin. They amble down the hallway back to Wonwoo’s room in silence, enjoying the peace and quiet.

Wonwoo enters his room to retrieve the puzzle box and the key within it, then they head to the study. “Do any of you want to do the honours?” Wonwoo asks as he holds out the key to the others.

“Go ahead, Wonwoo-yah. You were the one that unlocked the box,” Jeonghan replies, nudging the younger ahead of him. The others nod in agreement, gesturing for him to do the honours. Listening to them, Wonwoo steps forward, pressing the triskele into the indentation on the wall.

A resounding click echoes around the room as he presses the key in, and they all take a step back in surprise when the section of wall in front of them retreats a little and turns in place. When the wall stops moving, they peer in only to see a staircase heading downwards.

Since there is no light, they turn on the torchlights in their phones and head down slowly. They follow the staircase down for a long while, each of them keeping an eye out for anything out of place.

“We’ve been going down for a while now,” Jisoo mentions after a while. Jeonghan hums his agreement. “I’m pretty sure we’re under the house now.”

The staircase ends in a long tunnel, clearly man-made. The tunnel has smoothed walls of concrete, and though weeds are already growing on the ground, it is clear that the tunnel was once used often. “Pretty sure that the tunnel leads away from the house,” Jihoon says.

As they walk, their footsteps echo throughout the tunnel, as well as their breathing. Eventually, however, the tunnel opens up into a large cavern.

With Jeonghan and Jisoo leading the four of them, Jihoon holds in a yelp as he nearly walks into them, the two older men having stopped in their tracks right at the entrance to the cavern. “What happened?” Jihoon asks, cursing his height not for the first time.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Jisoo’s deadpan statement echoes through the cavern, and Jihoon frowns as he hears water. “Here, look for yourself.”

Jisoo shifts so that the two younger men can see what startled both Jeonghan and Jisoo, and as soon as they catch sight of the Olympic-sized pool smackdab in the middle of the cavern, they’re speechless as well.

“You’re telling me we had a pool underground and none of us knew?” Jeonghan really doesn’t mean to yell, but this is just ridiculous. “How has it even been kept clean this whole time?” Wonwoo, as usual, asks the logical question.

“I have no idea.” Jeonghan walks to the edge of the pool, house slippers narrowly avoiding the water. “The smell of chlorine is strong, which means that someone has to have maintained this pool for a while,” Jihoon observes, wrinkling his nose at the chemical smell tainting the air.

“The holes in the roof of the cavern are probably for ventilation,” Wonwoo points upwards, and Jeonghan glances up to see the fading reds and purples of the sunset sky.

“There’s also a tunnel over on the other end of the cavern,” Jihoon notices, pointing the tunnel out to the others. “Should we continue exploring to see where it leads?” he asks.

“Why not? We have the time,” Jisoo decides, and the four of them walk to the newly-discovered tunnel. “Once more unto the breach,” Wonwoo mutters under his breath.

The tunnel is built similarly to the one leading from the manor to the pool. After a while, it starts sloping upwards, and Jeonghan points out that this could be an alternate entrance or exit to the pool and manor.

Eventually they reach the end of the tunnel, which is covered with hanging branches. Pushing them aside, they emerge from the tunnel into a clearing in the forest behind the manor.  Jihoon turns around again, observing how the entrance to the tunnel has been camouflaged by the large hanging branches of the tree just behind the tunnel entrance.

“That’s one way to do it,” he comments, sitting down on the grass next to the others, who decided to take a break before heading back. They lie there in the clearing for a long while, until the sun has set completely and the stars are twinkling across the dark sky.

After a while, Jeonghan pushes himself up. “We should head back. At least we found something, no matter how ridiculous it may be.”

They file into the tunnel again quietly, and they’re back in the study before they know it. Once Wonwoo emerges last from the tunnel, they turn to the wall, wondering how to move it back into position.

Wonwoo pushes one end of the wall slightly, huffing a laugh when the wall starts rotating. He grabs that end of the wall, pushing it so that the side with the indentation in the wall is facing outwards, and pauses, wondering how to lock it in place.

Jeonghan walks up to the indentation, pressing down on the key inserted into it. There’s another click momentarily before the wall starts moving, causing the two to backpedal quickly as the wall automatically moves back into place.

With one last mechanical click, the wall shifts back into place, returning the study back to normal. “Should we leave the key there?” Jihoon asks.

“It should be fine,” Jeonghan says. “It’s not like any of the others know what we’re up to, anyway.”

With that, they decide to head back to the recreation room to chill and update the others about what they’d found today.

To: AY BITCHES ITS THREE YEARS

sneaky mf: you would NOT believe what we found today

BABABANANAS: what is it??? an arcade??? a pool???

i am COW hear me moo: for once you’re correct.

i am COW hear me moo: oh ffs

i am COW hear me moo has changed his name to jihoon

jihoon: I am literally going to MURDER whoever is doing this.

the most glorious mane: anyway

the most glorious mane: what did you guys find???

orange is the new black: a pool.

I’M A CHICKEN: youre SHITTING me

orange is the new black: we’re not kidding

i hate carrots: There’s an underground pool connecting to the manor via a tunnel.

I’M A CHICKEN: what the actual fuck

sneaky mf: language, seungkwan-ah. but yes that is an actual mood

sneaky mf: at this point I wouldn’t even be surprised if we did find an arcade

why am I forever last: how did they even build it???

orange is the new black: we have no idea

BABABANANAS: is jihoon still here

i hate carrots: He went off to his studio.

i hate carrots: His phone is with us because he thinks you guys are too noisy.

BABABANANAS: great!

BABABANANAS has changed jihoon’s name to ITS COW TIME

im THE dawg: no but really why do we have a pool

Zhoumi does have to say, Seungcheol is one of the more pleasant students he’s had the privilege of teaching. Not only is the boy willing and eager to learn, he goes above and beyond whatever he’s given as homework, allowing Zhoumi to go faster and teach the boy more advanced material.

When asked, Seungcheol just replied distractedly as he tried to parse through his code to find what was preventing it from working. “I really like coding,” he says.

“The amount of energy I put into actually coding the program is exhausting, but when I run the code and it works, the satisfaction I get is immense- aha! I found it!” Seungcheol nearly shouts when he spots his mistake, editing the code and beaming when he runs it again with success.

“Well done,” Zhoumi smiles at his student. “Now, let’s see. Which other problem do you want to try?”

“This one looks interesting,” Seungcheol says after a while of reading through the questions that Zhoumi had prepared, pointing one out.

“Oh yes, that one. We can have a lot of fun with this one,” Zhoumi says, and starts teaching proper, Seungcheol typing along as he listens.

Yunho jumps a little when he feels someone nudge him from overhearing the lesson going on in the study, and turns to find Jungsu laughing at him quietly. “Curious about how our boy’s doing?” the older asks, to which Yunho sheepishly nods.

“I was actually looking for you, Yunho-yah. Have any of the others contacted you?” Jungsu asks after a while of listening to Seungcheol’s lesson by the door. Yunho starts, pulling the elder into the recreation room next door and shutting the door.

“Only Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, Siwon, Hyukjae and Youngwoon have yet to find their successors,” Yunho finally replies his question, taking a seat and nearly falling off the hammock they have in the corner.

Jungsu laughs at his struggles to stay on the hammock, before returning to the topic at hand. “The others… haven’t contacted you?”

“They only contacted me once to tell me that they’d found their successors, hyung. I haven’t heard from them since.”

“What did Youngwoon say?”

“He’s still trying to follow the feeling, so he isn’t sure how long it’ll be before he can come back.”

Jungsu remains silent for a while, eyes dim. “You can’t blame yourself, hyung,” Yunho says after a while, unable to bear watching Jungsu berate himself.

“I could have done it, you know that,” Jungsu starts, but Yunho cuts him off.

“You wanted them to stay with you. That’s understandable, hyung. They understand.”

“That doesn’t help the fact that they could’ve been free long before this year!” Jungsu exclaims, remembering at the last moment that if he yells Seungcheol would be able to hear.

“What’s done is done, hyung. The Princess says that there is a high chance that Seungcheol will actually succeed,” Yunho says in response.

“I didn’t want there to be a next generation, Yunho-yah. You know that,” Jungsu sighs, sinking into a beanbag in front of the hammock, shutting his eyes for a moment.

“I do know that. But I also know that it isn’t your fault you couldn’t do it.”

“Even if they won’t contact me? When they won’t come back? You saw the looks on their faces when I told them what they had to do, Yunho-yah.”

Yunho sighs, about to reply Jungsu, but the older man climbs out of the beanbag before he can say anything.

“Nevermind. I knew what I was getting into when I told them all. At least I had plenty of time with them,” Jungsu says, smiling sadly. “Now, I’ve to go into town to deal with an issue, so help me tell the others that I may be late for dinner and to not wait for me.”

Yunho sighs again, climbing out of the hammock.

“Alright, hyung. I’ll see you at dinner, then.”

23 May 2012, Wednesday

Today’s lesson with Zhoumi-hyung was interesting! I managed to learn a new way of manipulating the code to get what I want, but I think I’ll need more practice. It’s actually really tough to think out of the box sometimes. Yunho-samcheon and harabeoji seemed down today. I wonder if I can help cheer them up somehow?

I’ll think of ideas to make them happier tomorrow.

[chapter four end]

Jihoon decides to take a break from finding more secret rooms until Jisoo’s long-awaited arrival, which is heralded by a taxi stopping in front of the gates and his phone buzzing incessantly. Jihoon is there to greet his hyung when the latter texts the group chat to inform him that he’s at the gates, relief subtly threading through his voice as he speaks.

“Thanks for coming back so fast, hyung.” Jisoo smiles at him in that cat-like way of his, eyes quickly scanning his body to make sure he’s superficially healthy. “It was not good of us to leave you here alone against them for so many weeks,” Jisoo replies, pulling his luggage behind him as they make their way up back to the front doors.

Jihoon shrugs. “I can deal with it. We decided on me being the first one back for a reason.” Jisoo laughs, shaking his head as he hefts his luggage up the short flight of stairs and stops to look at Jihoon, suddenly solemn. “Just because you’ve dealt with tense situations like this during your career doesn’t mean we have to leave you alone to fend against them, Jihoon-ah.”

Jihoon stops as well, sighing as he stares at the front doors. “I know, and I’m very grateful, hyung. Anyway, fill me in on what’s been happening in your life,” he replies, taking the luggage from Jisoo and pulling it into the house.

“Not until you tell me what you’ve been doing to take care of yourself these past few weeks. I’m pretty sure you lost weight from when we last met up, Lee Jihoon.” Jisoo eyes him critically, even as they walk up to the second floor via the grand staircase, turning to walk towards the East Wing.

“I’ve been eating fine, hyung. Have to make an appearance at every meal, especially dinner, if not Seokjin-hyung will be knocking on my door,” Jihoon complains, and one of Jisoo’s eyebrows tick upwards. “What happened to Jisung-hyung?”

Jihoon snorts. “Jisung-hyung and Seokjin-hyung take turns to cook. I’m pretty sure if they combined forces to cook we’d never run out of food for a week.” Jisoo laughs at the image, stopping in front of the door with a tiger mid-leap carved into the wooden nameplate hung across it.

He opens the door and enters, leaving it open in an unspoken invitation for Jihoon to come in as well. Jihoon drags his hyung’s luggage in for him, leaving it in an empty corner. Jisoo heads for it as Jihoon seats himself on the roller chair at the desk, and watches as Jisoo crouches in front of his luggage to unpack.

“Give me a moment to freshen up, and then we can catch up properly, okay?” Jisoo stands with more comfortable clothes than the dress shirt and black slacks he’s wearing, and Jihoon nods silently, drawing out his phone from his pocket to entertain himself while he waits.

“Jihoon,” Jisoo calls, standing in front of the door to his attached bathroom. The younger looks up, internally shying away at his hyung’s observant gaze. “I saw you glance at the mantel as we walked into the house. We are going to talk about that.” Jihoon flinches mildly, and Jisoo turns to enter the bathroom, leaving Jihoon to his thoughts.

He emerges after a short while, having changed in more comfortable clothes. The younger looks up from where he’d been staring at the empty wall, watching quietly as Jisoo keeps his dirty clothes. When he’s done, the elder sits on the bedspread, facing Jihoon.

“Where’s his key?” Jisoo asks quietly when he’s finally seated comfortably. The mantel had been completely empty, a sight he had never seen before. Seungcheol had always been home.

Jihoon shrugs. “I asked around,” he murmurs after a few seconds. “They have their own sets, so no one is using his key.”

“Which means that wherever Seungcheol is, he probably has his key with him,” Jisoo continues his train of thought, to which Jihoon nods.

“And since his key isn’t hanging there, I’m assuming that to you there wouldn’t be any point in hanging our keys there,” Jisoo says, eyes narrowing, “because it wouldn’t be home without him.”

Jihoon’s silence and tense fidgeting is answer enough, and the brunet sighs. “Alright,” he stands up from his bed after sitting in silence for a long while. “Let’s go greet the others, shall we? I’m pretty sure they heard me enter the manor. After we’re done with formalities, you can show me what you’ve found these past few weeks since you arrived.”

Jihoon stands as well, following Jisoo as he walks out of the room, closing the door behind him. They pad quietly to the kitchen, which goes eerily quiet when the two of them walk in. The only two people from Jonghyun’s group that are present for lunch are Minki and Jonghyun, who are sitting at the far end of the table talking to each other.

Yoongi is in the kitchen as well, a rare sight to be seen, eating with the sourest expression Jihoon has seen on his face yet. Probably had his work interrupted and was pulled out of his room for lunch, Jihoon guesses.

Taehyung and Namjoon comes up to say hi to Jisoo, Taehyung more bounding along excitedly than walking, a direct opposite to Namjoon’s confident stride. Jimin stays seated, next to Yoongi, while Seokjin continues stirring the pot cooking away on the stove.

“Jisoo! Welcome back!” Taehyung greets happily, reaching out for a hug. “Hey Taetae,” Jisoo greets serenely, hugging the affectionate man back. Namjoon clasps his shoulder, bringing him in for a one-armed hug. “Good to have you back.”

Jisoo hugs the older man back, replying honestly, “It’s good to be back.” Namjoon opens his mouth, about to say more, but Taehyung interrupts by pulling Jisoo over to introduce him to Jimin and Seokjin, who came to the manor in the three years they were gone.

Jisoo nods a greeting to Yoongi as he is dragged past the hoodie-clad man, who grunts in reply. “Jiminnie, Seokjin-hyung! This is Hong Jisoo, or Joshua! He’s the Tiger zodiac bearer!” Taehyung introduces excitedly.

Jisoo bows, greeting them. “It’s nice to meet you both, Jimin-ssi, Seokjin-ssi.”

Seokjin smiles warmly, as does Jimin. “Just call me hyung, Jisoo-ssi,” Seokjin says, to which Jimin chimes in. “Yeah, you can drop the formalities. We’re the same age after all.” The pink-haired man thinks for a second, before mentioning cheekily, “Though if you want to call me hyung I wouldn’t object.”

“Alright, Seokjin-hyung, Jimin-ah. You guys can drop the formalities with me as well,” Jisoo laughs. “Now, have you had lunch? It was a pretty long drive from Seoul, correct?” Seokjin changes the topic quickly, ushering both him and Jihoon to the table.

The oldest in the room shoos Yoongi away as the man passes him to place his empty bowl in the sink. Namjoon, Taehyung, and Jimin sit down to continue eating as the resident handyman of the manor leaves the kitchen with nary a word to anybody.

“Ah, it’s fine, really. I had some snacks on the way here,” Jisoo says, even as he takes a seat as far away from Jonghyun and Minki, at the other end of the table. Jihoon sits himself down quietly next to him, avoiding making eye contact with either.

“I insist,” Seokjin says firmly, preparing two plates of food. “You too, Jihoon. I haven’t seen you come down to eat, even for breakfast.” Jihoon shrugs in reply to Jisoo’s frown, but the nursing student’s lecture is interrupted by Seokjin placing the plates in front of them.

Jisoo shelves the lecture about taking care of himself for later on, choosing to eat instead, and Jihoon takes the reprieve for what it is, starting to eat as well. Once they begin, Seokjin sits down with his own plate, humming happily as he savours his own creations.

Silence reigns in the kitchen as Jisoo and Jihoon focus on finishing their food, dead-set on ignoring the icy glares from Minki and Jonghyun’s steadfast silence. Thus, it comes as no surprise when Jisoo startles a little when Namjoon speaks.

“Sorry, what did you say?” Jisoo asks, and Namjoon obliges, repeating his question. “What have you been up to these few years?”

“Oh,” Jisoo smiles, choosing not to comment on the way Minki and Jonghyun subtly straighten up in their seats to pay more attention to the conversation occurring at the end of the table. “I’ve been completing my nursing degree in one of the universities in Seoul,” he explains, thinking back to the endless number of hours spent studying and suffering.

“Actually, I was thinking of asking Yoongi-hyung to help me build a frame for my certification,” the man makes to turn to face Yoongi before pausing, remembering that the older man had already left the kitchen.

“I’m sure he’ll agree,” Namjoon replies, grinning. Jisoo makes a point of ignoring the snickering coming from the other end of the table at his mistake, choosing to focus on Namjoon, who is still speaking.

“Congrats on finally getting your degree, Jisoo-ah. Nursing isn’t an easy field to get a degree in.” Jisoo thanks him gladly, before letting the conversation end, and focusing on finishing his food.

He notices Jihoon slowing down the pace of his eating, paying attention to the conversation starting up again where Jonghyun and Minki are seated. He follows suit, matching the pace of the younger man next to him.

Jihoon nudges his arm silently, to which Jisoo tilts his head in reply, looking at Jihoon out from the corner of his eyes. Jihoon crooks an eyebrow and glances quickly to the other end of the room, asking whether he intends to talk to either of the men in that corner of the table.

Jisoo shakes his head in reply, holding in an unflattering snort. He finishes off his food soon after their conversation, with Jihoon following him immediately after. The two of them stand simultaneously to place their plates and utensils into the sink.

Once they’re done with that, the once-Ox bearer nudges the elder out the door when he moves habitually to wash the plates. At Jisoo’s enquiring glance, he explains as they walk out of the kitchen. “Seokjin-hyung would have scolded you if he’d caught you trying to wash the dishes, and chased you out to rest.”

The mild-mannered man nods his understanding and remarks offhandedly, “The tension was particularly thick in one section of the kitchen,” to which Jihoon sighs. “I’m just glad Minki-hyung didn’t bother to talk to you directly.”

Jisoo chuckles softly, patting the shorter man on the back. “Just hold on for another two more days. Jeonghan will be here then.”

“Thank fucking god for that. Now come on, I’ll show you how to open all the rooms I’ve found already. Later on, if we aren’t interrupted by Minki-hyung, I’ll introduce you to Aron-hyung and Dongho-hyung,” Jihoon changes the topic, leading the brunette to the music room where he’d found the first hidden room.

Showing Jisoo the protrusion at the back of the shelf he’d taken the notebook from, Jihoon remembers to lock the door before he asks his hyung to push the panel into the shelf. Jisoo watches in fascination as the wall containing the fireplace and mantel shifts. “That leads to the studio?”

Jihoon nods, smiling at the once-Tiger bearer’s amazement. “I’m usually in there when everyone has gone to bed, so that there’s less chance of any of the others finding out and I don’t have to worry so much about getting caught,” he explains, gesturing for Jisoo to enter the newly revealed stairwell.

Letting the door slide close behind them, Jihoon gives him a quick tour of the studio, refraining from rambling and gushing about the room too much. Jisoo beams when he spots the brand new guitars hanging on the wall, bringing one down to lightly strum the strings.

Jihoon moves to the computer set-up, showing him the song guides he’s made so far. “I’ve been consulting Dongho-hyung, Namjoon-hyung, and Yoongi-hyung for some of these, but coming back here really has helping me in my music production levels,” Jihoon tells him, playing one for him.

Jisoo frowns, playing close attention to the instrumental track littered with Jihoon’s light, airy vocals. “It sounds so sad,” is what Jisoo plans on saying, but decides not to say a word. ‘Of course it would sound sad,’ Jisoo thinks wryly to himself, watching Jihoon focus on the track to tease out any imperfections, ‘his muse isn’t here to watch him be a music genius.’

When the track ends, Jihoon scribbles some notes for himself on a nearby notepad and turns to the older man after he’s done, smiling. “Shall we move on? I’ll show you the movie theatre in the recreation room.”

Jisoo returns the smiles and follows the smaller out of the room, after placing the guitar back in its rightful place on the wall rack. Jihoon pulls the lever for them to exit when they reach the bottom of the stairwell, and make sure everything in the music room is put back to rights.

Turning off the lights and opening the door, they make their way to the recreation room, chatting lightly as they go. 

Seungcheol settles into life at the manor pretty easily, sending emails to his brother and calling his parents in his free time. He’s been trying to get his brother to teach his parents how to use online video calls, so that they can have a semblance of talking face-to-face instead of just through the phone.

He knows it’s not easy for his parents to travel all the way to his town just to see him, so he does his best to alleviate their burdens when possible because they can’t travel.

In the daytime, he learns more about the day-to-day workings of the manor from the various people that Jungsu had introduced to him. Other times, Jungsu brings him around town, where he is introduced to the friendly townspeople.

There, he learns the second function of the barrier, apart from it being the borders of their little gilded cage. Jungsu points out a car approaching town first, telling him to watch as the car slows down, before making a U-turn and driving away soon after.

“It keeps out any person bearing ill will on any of the residents in town, including the animals,” the older man tells him, “Only the zodiac bearers are exempt, given that they are essentially the Cat bearer’s responsibility. Any dissent amongst the zodiac bearers has to be settled by the Cat bearer.”

Seungcheol nods his understanding, watching the car disappear into the distance from where they stand at the edge of the border. “It isn’t easy,” Jungsu continues talking as they walk back to town, “especially when there are several hot-headed people in the zodiac bearers.”

Seungcheol watches as his mentor smiles at nothing in particular, even as he guides them to one of the closer parks in town. His voice takes on the particular tone that it gets when he’s talking about the other zodiac bearers. “But in the end, it’s always worth it.”

They walk through the park for a while, enjoying the rustling of the leaves in the wind and the faint shrieks of laughter from the children playing. “Where are all of them now?” Seungcheol asks after a moment of silence.

Jungsu sighs. “They’re all out hunting down their own successors, Seungcheol-ah. They’re going to bring your family home.” Seungcheol falls silent again, pondering. “What if they don’t like me? They aren’t pre-dispositioned to like me when they come. They aren’t given a choice either, aren’t they?”

The old man turns to look at his protégé, gesturing for him to sit on a nearby bench, cats winding around their legs and trailing them as they make themselves comfortable. A few jump up on the bench to make themselves comfortable on the Cat bearers’ laps and against their sides.

The tawny cat that was once Jungsu’s mentor lounges on his lap, purring like a motor as the old man pets it. Another nudges at Seungcheol’s hand, requesting to be petted, and he obliges, smiling down at the cat. Their purrs fill the silence comfortably, and it’s a while before Jungsu speaks again.

“I’ll be honest with you, kid. It depends on what their parents have brought them up to believe. It’s hard to convince someone that you’re not an evil person when that’s the only thing they’ve been taught about you all their lives.”

Jungsu ruffles Seungcheol’s hair, earning him a disgruntled look and a grumpy huff not unlike a cat himself, continuing, “However, when they open up, they’ll be the best family you can ever wish for. Even though none of us have any idea what it is that decides whether we’re a zodiac bearer or not, they are chosen because one way or another, they are the most suited to make you happy.”

Seungcheol peers up at Jungsu as a thought occurs to him. “How did you know that I was going to be your successor, anyway?” The old man shrugs. “I just… felt a pull in my chest… If I were heading in the wrong direction, I’d feel a tug in the correct direction right here.”

He places a palm against his sternum, feeling himself breathe. “I would have thought it would come from the heart,” Seungcheol mentions, frowning in confusion.

Jungsu laughs, petting the cat in his lap. “I thought so too, when I asked my mentor the very same thing. But when the time came, I knew the feeling definitely did not originate from my heart.”

The teenager hums his understanding, returning his attention to watching his surroundings absentmindedly, petting the cats around him all the while.

“Seungcheol-ah,” Jungsu calls him softly after a few minutes. “When we left your hometown, you didn’t get to finish your schooling, did you?” Seungcheol shakes his head, giggling as two cats jump up onto the bench to compete for his attention with the dozing cat on his lap.

“Alright then. I’ll enrol you in the local school so you can finish up your schooling. You’ll probably have to take some placement tests, first,” Jungsu decides, laughing softly at the cats’ antics. At the mention of having to go to school, Seungcheol pouts, and cries out mournfully. “I thought I’d be free of school!” he wails, causing his mentor to laugh again.

“Nope, no chance of that. Education is important, kiddo. Once you get your high school certificate, I’ll teach you how to enrol into a cyber university,” Jungsu tells him, and Seungcheol starts sobbing dramatically.

At his antics, the cats previously fighting for his attention jump off the bench, startled. Upon seeing Seungcheol’s apologetic face as he tries to coax the cats back, Jungsu can’t help but laugh again.

Jisoo stares at the four tiny switches arranged in the shape of a square on the floor, watching as Jihoon places a chair on top of them, the four chair legs fitting the dimensions of the switches perfectly.

The shorter man drops a book onto the chair, guiding Jisoo up the staircase and into the movie theatre. For a few minutes there is nothing but the sound of them sneezing.

“Fuck, I haven’t aired this room out yet,” Jihoon says a little nasally, and Jisoo nods his understanding, eyes watering. They don’t stay long in the room, shifting the chair back to its original location and watching as the hidden door disappears.

“That’s all I’ve found so far. I’ve been spending the days searching the rooms for any possible hidden switches or panels, and the nights focusing on my music,” Jihoon informs Jisoo.

“Great job thus far, Jihoon-ah. From what I’ve seen they can’t be easy to find. Hopefully with another pair of eyes and a fresh mind it’ll be easier.”

Jisoo’s compliment did much to soothe Jihoon’s stressed mind, reminding him that he was no longer alone in the manor, beset by two different parties that he had no idea how to interact with. “Thanks, hyung. Jeonghan-hyung is on the way, isn’t he?”

Jihoon’s question reminds the older to check his phone, scrolling through his messages. “Not just yet. He’s trying to rush, but his company just closed on a deal and he needs to deal with the paperwork before he can leave,” the Tiger bearer chuckles at the volley of complaints his boyfriend has left him on their private chat.

“Alright then. Shall we take the time to look around then? We have a few hours before dinner to search the manor,” Jihoon suggests, to which Jisoo agrees. “You can introduce me to Dongho-ssi and Aron-ssi,” he mentions.

Jihoon shakes his head, telling him, “That’ll have to be tonight. The five of them are probably out somewhere right now.” Leaving the recreation room, the two of them set off into the room next door, hoping to find something.

The two days pass quickly, Jisoo getting into the habit of accompanying Jihoon in the studio at night so that he can chase him to bed at a relatively early time to ensure that he gets enough sleep. He is also introduced to Dongho and Aron, whose introductions to Jisoo are a lot friendlier with Minki not present.

In the meantime, their interactions with the others living in the manor do not stray from the status quo. If anything, Jisoo’s presence causes Minki to keep his comments to himself, as if preparing himself for the upcoming battles that his arrival at the manor heralds.

Jeonghan arrives with little fanfare, Jihoon and Jisoo greeting him as the gates close behind him and his luggage. “Jeonghan-hyung,” is all Jihoon gets out before the older man is dragging him and Jisoo into a hug.

“Jeonghan-ah,” his boyfriend laughs into his shoulder, “you dyed your hair!” and is rewarded with a brilliant smile. Grabbing his luggage, the now blonde Jeonghan interlocks his fingers with Jisoo and grins at Jihoon.

“I did! Since I took leave for the next few weeks, I decided to take the time to get it done, since I’ve been thinking about doing it for a while,” he explains as the trio make their way up the driveway.

As they enter the manor, Jeonghan notes the empty manor, and opens his mouth to say something about it, but as Jihoon is distracted with carrying his luggage in for him, Jisoo squeezes his hand, shaking his head slightly.

He nods in reply, before asking, “What do you think, Jihoon-ah? Does hyung look good?” Jihoon smiles as he pulls the luggage over, commenting, “The colour suits you, hyung.” Jeonghan grins and pats him on the shoulder, praising him. “Such a good dongsaeng.”

They reach Jeonghan’s room in no time, the three of them filing in. Jihoon helps to place his hyung’s luggage down in an empty corner where he’ll be able to open it easily to retrieve his things, while Jisoo gets himself comfortable on the bed.

Jihoon joins the Tiger bearer after he’s done, both of them watching as Jeonghan gets settled in and washes up. “You came just in time for breakfast, hyung. Everybody will be in the kitchen,” Jihoon calls out as Jeonghan disappears into the attached bathroom.

“Minki’s definitely going to be going all out,” Jisoo comments, “he hasn’t said anything to us since we reminded them that you were on your way two days ago.”

“Well, I’m ready for him. What have they been doing since you got here, Jihoon-ah?” Jeonghan emerges from the bathroom in loose, comfortable clothes, folding his dirty clothes and placing them in the laundry basket by the bathroom door.

“Jonghyun-hyung’s group of five have been heading out daily, but to do what I’m not sure. Namjoon-hyung and his group have been working around the manor ensuring the upkeep of the whole place. Jisung-hyung I see rarely, as I’ve heard he’s been busy in town now that Seokjin-hyung is here to take over his duties in the kitchen,” Jihoon informs his hyung.

“If I have to say, Namjoon’s side has been neutral to the little battle of wills we’ve had going on. I’m not saying that we can trust them just yet, but they’ve been welcoming to us thus far. Jonghyun and Aron-hyung hasn’t said much to us, and Dongho has been talking to Jihoon more about his jobs.

Minhyun is cordial to us as well, but whenever Minki opens his mouth to speak, the tension noticeably increases,” Jisoo tells his boyfriend, who nods in understanding.

“They’re probably leaving it to Minki to try and figure out what we’re doing back here after not turning up for three years,” he says, to which they nod.

“As to the reason why they’re going out daily, maybe they’re trying to figure out any clues as to what happened to Cheol. I’m not sure what they’ve found out in three years, but still, they have to have found some information.”

Jeonghan transfers his neatly folded clothes from his luggage to the closet as he speaks, back to the two men lounging on his bed.

“Again, until they’re less confrontational and more willing to trust us, we’ll just not say anything about what we’ve been doing to them, alright? I’m pretty sure they believe we did something to make Seungcheol disappear, hence the mistrustful behaviour,” Jeonghan zips up his now empty luggage, turning to face the two men.

“Now then, shall we go and face the firing squad?” he jokes, and Jihoon snorts ungracefully. “No need to make it sound like we’re going on a suicide mission, hyung.” Jisoo laughs. “It’s definitely a suicide mission. We’re willingly walking into the lion’s den, Jihoonie.”

“It’s not a suicide mission if we go adequately prepared to kill the fucking lion. If not kill, then at least prepared to make it treat us with some respect,” Jihoon says smartly, to which his hyungs laugh.

As was the case with Jisoo’s arrival, the kitchen goes quiet when the three of them walk in. Jonghyun and his group are noticeably absent. “Jeonghannie!” Taehyung shouts, delighted. “You dyed your hair! It looks amazing!”

The aforementioned man laughs, opening his arms for the hug he knows is coming. “Hi, Taehyungie. Yes, I did, and thank you for saying that.”

“Good to see you here, Jeonghan-ah,” Namjoon walks up to them, and Jeonghan smiles at him as well, “It’s good to be back too, Namjoon-hyung.” Taehyung releases him from the hug, but remains by his side with an arm slung over his shoulders.

“Yoongi-hyung,” he greets as well, and the man nods in reply from where he’s seated. Seokjin and Jimin come up to them when Namjoon gestures for them to do so, and Jeonghan smiles at the two strangers.

“This is Seokjin-hyung and Jimin,” Namjoon tells Jeonghan, who bows to the two men slightly in reply. “Seokjin-hyung, Jimin, this is Jeonghan, the Rat bearer.”

“It’s nice to meet the both of you,” the blonde says. Seokjin smiles at the man he knows to be Jisoo’s boyfriend, and tells him, “I’ll tell you the same thing I told your boyfriend when he came: there’s no need to stand on formalities with us. Just call me hyung.” Jeonghan smiles, pleased, before he turns to Jimin.

“Just call me Jimin! We’re the same age, after all!” the shorter man beams, eyes crinkling up. Jeonghan laughs in reply, nodding. “That, I definitely can do.”

At that moment, Jonghyun walks into the kitchen, pausing minutely at the sight of Jeonghan, before nodding to him wordlessly and continuing to the far end of the kitchen table, where he sits down with little fanfare.

Minhyun follows suit with nary a word, Dongho and Aron taking the time to give Jeonghan their names before joining the couple. Jihoon tenses pre-emptively, as Namjoon, Taehyung, Seokjin and Jimin return to whatever they were doing before quietly, not wanting to interfere with the storm they know is coming.

Minki enters the kitchen with a slight smile that fades immediately upon the sight of Jeonghan. “Ah, and another one finally joins the party,” he sighs, moving slowly to the other end of the table and taking a seat casually, pausing for effect. “…three years late.”

Jeonghan’s eyes turn to flint, and his smile is icy. “Better late than not finding anything for the same amount of time,” he replies, and Minki’s expression turns to stone. The two stare at each other, daring the other to make another comment, before mutually deciding to ignore the other.

The meal is tense and filled with uncomfortable silence, and Jihoon has never eaten so fast since his arrival at the manor. He fiddles with his phone as he waits for his hyungs to finish eating so he can make an escape quickly, texting the group chat.

To: three years is up!!

say moo: oh god get me out of here its so fucking tense

say moo: jeonghan-hyung and minki-hyung are staging world war three

i love bananas: what i would give to be a fly on a wall there rn

say moo: you can take my place, I don’t want it

hiss hiss mf: oh man i can imagine what its like

hiss hiss mf: jeonghan-hyung and minki-hyung: best friends when they’re happy with each other

hiss hiss mf: but also the bitchiest of the bitches when they’re mad at each other

hiss hiss mf: wait whos heading down next

i hate carrots: me, I guess. I’ve been settling things over here. I’ll be able to head down in about four days or so?

size is irrelevant: good luck to you, wonwoo-hyung LMAO next one to face the ice wall that is choi minki

Jihoon looks up from his phone when Jisoo nudges him subtly. Eyeing Jeonghan from out of the corner of his eye as he finishes up his food, they quickly clear their utensils and plates, walking out of the kitchen. Jeonghan saunters out confidently, only dropping the act when they’re out of sight.

“Well, that went well!” Jeonghan says brightly, and Jihoon stares at him disbelievingly. “It could have gone worse,” Jisoo points out, and Jihoon switches targets to stare at him instead, “but it was very awkward.” Jihoon nods in agreement to Jisoo’s amendment.

“It’s over now, at least. Now come on, show me all the rooms you’ve found so far,” Jeonghan orders, and Jihoon sighs, nodding and leading the way to the music room, ready to begin the tour all over again.

Seungcheol is pleasantly surprised when he realises that he is able to do the placement tests with relative ease, and is placed in the better class. The school population is as small as it was in Seungcheol’s hometown. However, here everybody treats him like normal in spite of, and maybe because of, his title as the next Cat bearer.

He is pleased to find Taehyung and Minhyun in his classes as well, not surprised that the other boys are smart. As it turns out, the only reason why Taehyung, Namjoon, and the others had been at home when Seungcheol has arrived was because they had received special permission to be there to welcome him.

Other than that, they have been attending school in the mornings and afternoons, and spending time at the manor in the evenings and nights. Seungcheol learns that Taehyung, Namjoon, Yoongi, Minhyun, and Jisung’s parents all live in town, while they themselves spend alternate nights at the manor and their own homes.

In this town, it is seen as a privilege to be able to work at the manor, Taehyung tells him as they walk through the hallways to get to their next class. They have to be chosen by the previous generation after going through a series of tests that is compulsory for everyone when the time comes.

With Taehyung and Minhyun’s help, he catches up to the rest of his classes with ease, turning to Namjoon for extra help if he ever needs it. Namjoon is only a year ahead of them, while Yoongi is two years ahead. Jisung, who is a full four years ahead of them, isn’t very close to Seungcheol, though they get along when they are together.

As time passes, he realises that the people who live in the manor also hold important roles to the running of the town. Yunho, as the butler of the house, is not only responsible for the upkeep of the house, but also listens to any issues the townspeople might have on his daily trips to the town centre.

He then brings these issues up to Jungsu, and from there they discuss how they could help solve their problems. With the near unlimited budget that Zodiac Manor receives from the government, they normally use the money to help the residents in town if necessary.

Therefore, in a sense, the Cat bearer is essentially the mayor of the town, with the rest of the residents in the manor their council. The responsibility that Seungcheol would eventually inherit is enormous, and he makes up his mind to work hard on his studies so as to not disappoint everybody.

School gives Seungcheol a way to track the days that pass, and settles into a routine easily. In the mornings, he heads to school with the others, and in the afternoons returns with them. They get whatever homework that was assigned to them done as soon as possible, and then play a few video or board games.

In the evenings, they follow after their respective mentors, and learn via observation as they go about their own daily routine, and therefore familiarise themselves with what they would have to do in the future.

When night falls they gather in the kitchen for dinner together, and after the meal Seungcheol retreats to the library to read. He’s just started on a new fantasy book that is heavy and thick in his lap, and he curls up comfortably in one of the wall alcoves, immersing himself into an utterly unfamiliar world.

As he gets ready for bed, he writes an email to his parents, then a separate one to his brother, who he wishes he could see grow up every day. Instead, he satisfies himself with photos traded with each other, so he can still see how his family has changed throughout the days.

Still, he hopes that they’ll finally listen to him and get a smartphone, like the one he currently has, so that he’ll be able to talk to his family face-to-face, despite being it through a screen.

The days slowly trickle past Seungcheol, and he learns more about the curse from Jungsu. He remembers the first time Jungsu changes after Seungcheol’s arrival to the manor the month after he arrives, with Yunho is there to ensure that he doesn’t collapse from the shock or anything serious.

The zodiac bearers change on the first day of their respective months, Yunho educates him, even as Jungsu emerges from the collapsed pile of clothes that he had been wearing and shakes out his fur before approaching Seungcheol. Seven full days later, they change back to human, and there is a day’s grace before the Cat bearer changes.

Unlike the zodiac bearers, the Cat bearer remains in their animal form until the start of the last week of the month, upon which he returns back to human. “The curse had seemingly been put on hold when Jungsu-hyung actively started searching for you,” Yunho tells him, even as Jungsu bounds off to interact with the cats around the manor, after receiving a few pets on the head.

“For everyone involved in the curse, it seems that they don’t change when they find their successors. As you can see, when their successor has settled in, that is when they change. In animal form, all of you will retain your human minds.

“So you’ll be able to think normally, but you won’t be able to talk, of course.” Seungcheol observes Jungsu’s interactions with the other cats quietly, nodding as he listens. Seven days before the month of September begins, Seungcheol watches with fascination as Jungsu changes back to human, getting dressed quickly.

“If only we were able to not lose our clothes every time we change,” Jungsu laments playfully as he watches Seungcheol avert his eyes quickly as he puts his clothes back on. He’d changed back in his room, and Seungcheol is seated on his bed, cross-legged.

“Now, I have to mention something I haven’t told you before, Seungcheol-ah,” Jungsu settles down on the bed, back to the headboard. Seungcheol turns his body so that he’s facing the older man, and makes a noise to show that he’s listening.

“When you turn eighteen, the other zodiac bearers will start arriving. Since your birthday is in August, the September zodiac will arrive first, which means that the Monkey zodiac bearer is the first one you’ll meet,” Jungsu announces.

Seungcheol immediately starts paying more attention to the conversation, noticing that Jungsu looks hesitant. “I… won’t be there to help you receive them when they come, Seungcheol-ah,” the old man tells him softly. The boy he’s addressing frowns, asking, “Why?”

“The day after you turn eighteen… is the day I change for the last time.” The statement is loud in the silence of the room, as Seungcheol realises the implications of his words.

“You can’t leave me!” he flinches at the child-like words that emerges from his own mouth, but stares at Jungsu defiantly, as if he can keep Jungsu with him with his words alone. Jungsu smiles with a tinge of sadness, and opens his arms for Seungcheol to crawl into, giving him a big hug as the boy settles between his legs.

“I wish I could stay,” Jungsu whispers, and Seungcheol clings to him harder. “I’ll still be here, you know that.”

“But you won’t be you anymore,” Seungcheol says petulantly into Jungsu’s shoulder. “I’ll always remember you, just like my mentor remembers me still. Maybe I won’t remember the reason why, but I’ll still remember you,” Jungsu tries to pacify the upset teen.

All Seungcheol does is shake his head, keeping his head buried in the crook of Jungsu’s neck. They stay like that for long moments, unwilling to relinquish their hold on each other. For all intents and purposes, Seungcheol will lose his family come the day he turns eighteen. They’re allowed this.

After long moments of silence, Jungsu speaks again. “You’ll have to take care of the Zodiac bearers. They’ll have less time to acclimatise themselves to their new roles than you had, so you have to make sure they’re comfortable here.”

Seungcheol nods, listening without moving. “You won’t know how long they’ll be willing to stay. Some stay for the whole month, while others stay for only the week where they have to change. Just make sure to always treat them with kindness and an open heart, regardless of how they may act towards you.

“Some of them may be mean to you and avoid you. In that case, just let them be and they’ll approach you in their own time eventually. I won’t be there to give you advice anymore, so just go to Yunho for help if you need anything, okay? He’s been there for me plenty of times.”

Seungcheol nods again, tearing up a little. Jungsu kisses his temple when he feels wetness against his shoulder. “That day is still far off, kid. We have time.” The older man clutches the teen, who is for all intents and purposes, a son, if not a younger brother, to him, closing his eyes.

“We have time.”

A few days after that revelation, Seungcheol turns seventeen, and the party is large. He holds a public party and invites his classmates, issuing an open invitation to the townspeople.

That year, Seungcheol receives more presents than he has ever gotten, and when the party is over they head back home to the manor for a more quiet and private celebration. As it turns out, Jungsu had couriered over his presents from his family, and Seungcheol tears up at the sight and smell of his mom’s home-cooked food.

His brother has made a card for him, and his dad has sent him books that he’d mentioned wanting to read in their last conversation. Little gifts, but all the more meaningful for who had given them to him.

When the celebrations are over, he returns to his room, hands laden with all his gifts. He places everything on his bed to sort through them slowly, but before he does so, his phone rings, and frowns when he sees an incoming video call from an unknown number.

He turns off his own phone camera, before accepting the call, and is delightfully surprised when his family’s faces fill the screen. “Hello?” his father says, peering into the phone his brother is clearly holding. Seungcheol scrambles to turn the phone camera back on, directing it at himself.

“Appa! Eomma! Seunghyun!” he exclaims, grin splitting his face. “You finally got a smartphone!”

“Seungcheol-ah,” his father’s voice is warm and fond, and his mother is tearing up. His brother is grinning an identical grin back at him, and for a moment all Seungcheol can do is laugh delightedly. “A package for us came today, with this phone in it and a note,” Seunghyun explained.

“We were told to call later at night so that we could have more time to talk without being interrupted,” his mother told him. “What did the note say?” Seungcheol asked curiously.

“Nothing much, really. It just mentioned that they wanted you to have the best birthday. It came from a… Jung Yunho?” his brother read out from the note, and Seungcheol grinned again. He’d have to give Yunho an extra big hug the next morning in thanks.

“He’s the manor’s butler, and he’s one of the people that have been taking care of me since I came here,” Seungcheol explains, and his family makes a collective sound of understanding, so utterly familiar to him.

“I’ve missed you guys,” Seungcheol says, blinking away the tears trying to form. “We’ve missed you too,” his mother says lovingly. “Anyway, tell me how you’ve been! How’s school, Seunghyun-ah?” Seungcheol settles in comfortably, back against the bed headboard, prepared to catch up with his family.

8 August 2011, Monday

Today was my birthday, and I got to talk to my family via video call and eat eomma’s home-cooked food. I think I’ve missed seeing their faces real time the most. Nothing beats talking face-to-face.

I really have to think of a good way to thank Yunho-samcheon for the amazing present. I was wondering why he’d told me to wait until later tonight for my present from him.

I’m going to miss talking to the samcheons the most, I think. When harabeoji is gone, they’ll all eventually pass their duties on to Namjoon-hyung and the others. I wonder where they’ll go then. Will I still be able to visit them? I’ll have to ask harabeoji and Yunho-samcheon tomorrow.

[chapter three end]

A person's life can be deeply affected by tiny little things that occur far away from them; the butterfly effect, it's called. However, sometimes it's things that occur closer to home that can change a person's life forever.

For Choi Seungcheol, it begins with this: an old man comes to visit in a small town on the outskirts of Daegu.

For a long break, he claims, tired of the hustle and bustle of the city life. His story is taken to be truth, and the townspeople would have gone on with their lives in peace if they hadn't caught a hint of one discriminating piece of evidence that the old man had tried to hide. Within hours, everyone knows what has happened.

The Cat has come to visit.

They gossip about who it might be. It's a small town, after all, and there's not many people turning sixteen. It could be that spoiled girl down the street, or that boy who loves to skateboard while running errands for his family.

No one expects it when the old man approaches the oldest boy from the Choi family the day before his sixteenth birthday, three days after he first stepped foot in this town. The Choi family is known for their friendliness and their hospitality, and their elder boy is the epitome of the good kid, the model student, the one everyone wants their kid to be.

Maybe he's secretly a burglar, the men and women gossip at the bar. The grocery store has had things stolen from it the past week, and so has the pharmacy. Maybe the good kid persona is just that, a mask hiding who the boy really is.

The Cat has come to town, and Choi Seungcheol is not the good kid that everyone thinks he is. The Cat's curse is never carried by a good person, after all.

There are a few facts in life that everybody knows to be true. A few examples: the sky is blue, the grass is green, and the Cat hates the Rat.

The story that everyone knows goes like this.

Once upon a time, the Jade Emperor, although having ruled Heaven and Earth justly and wisely for many years, had never had the time to actually visit the Earth personally. He grew curious as to what the creatures looked like. Thus, he asked all the animals to visit him in Heaven.

The Cat, being the most handsome of all animals, asked his friend the Rat to wake him on the day they were to go to Heaven so he wouldn't oversleep. The Rat, however, was worried that he would seem ugly compared to the Cat, and so when the time came, he didn't wake the Cat.

So, the Rat began his journey to Heaven bright and early, wanting to be the first as the Jade Emperor had also decreed that the years on the calendar and the months of each year would be named for the first twelve animals in the order they arrived to the meeting. However, halfway through his travels, he came across a river, which he would have to cross in order to continue on.

Stumped, for he would be easily swept away in the currents and hence could not attempt to swim across, he rested there until the next animal, Ox, came upon the river. Ox, being naïve and good-natured, agreed to carry him across, and as Ox neared the other side of the river, Rat jumped ahead and reached the shore first, allowing him to claim first place in the competition and the zodiac.

The other animals came in one after another after the Rat: the Ox in second place, followed by the Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and lastly, Pig.

The celebrations lasted a day and night, and the Cat reached Heaven early the next morning. he saw the remnants of the celebrations, and realised that the Rat had lied to him. Because of the Rat's actions, the Cat missed the meeting with the Jade Emperor and hence lost his chance to claim a spot on the zodiac.

In a fit of anger, the Cat stole the Jade Emperor's weapon while He was asleep, and with it, cursed the Rat to spend eternity as a Human. However, he was unable to control the power, and with his actions cursed all thirteen animals.

When the Jade Emperor saw what the Cat had done, he changed the curse so that the twelve zodiac animals would change forms on the first day of the month that was named after them, for two-thirds of the month, and the Cat, as punishment, would change every last third of every month.

Thus the story of the curse of the zodiac animals ends.

In present day, the Cat is shunned, and the twelve zodiac animals are venerated, for everyone blames the Cat for having the zodiac animals suffer through a transformation once a year.

‘The ahjummas are in a flurry today,’ Seungcheol thinks as he passes by the café where they usually gather to share gossip on the way home from school. True enough, the café is bustling with noise, the old ladies gathered round tables that have been pushed together and talking to one another over cups of tea and coffee.

Seungcheol walks down the streets he grew up on, enjoying the faint breeze in the air. As he walks, his mind turns to the question his mother had asked him before he’d left for school that morning. “What I would like for my birthday, huh,” he ponders out loud as he walks. It’s a question that he always has trouble answering, but he has to come up with something before his birthday in three days.

He meanders through the park, walking a well-worn path home, still thinking of what he wants as his birthday present. He looks up at the sound of a cane and footsteps, meeting the eyes of an unfamiliar old man.

“Won’t you sit with me, boy? Entertain an old man for a while?” the elderly man rasps, and Seungcheol checks his watch, nodding slowly. He joins the old man on his walk until they find a bench shadowed by a large tree, and they sit down together. Seungcheol fidgets awkwardly, wondering what he’s supposed to say.

“The ahjummas were gossiping about you,” he blurts out after a while, and the old man chuckles. “Unusual to have a newcomer in this town, huh,” the old man replies, and Seungcheol nods. “Most of the time, it’s only tourists, but you look local, so they’re wondering why you’re here.”

“Do you want to know why?” the man asks, and Seungcheol hesitates. His instincts tell him that something important is going to happen, and that he should trust this man, and whatever he’s going to say, but his brain tells him that he isn’t ready.

He nods slowly, and the old man smiles, fingers tapping at his cane in beat to the birds chirping in the tree behind them.

Jihoon breathes a sigh of relief as the taxi drives into town. He opens the group chat he has with the others, scrolling through the messages that he’d missed while anticipating the crossing of the border into the town just off the heart of Seoul.

To: three years is up!!

say moo: I finally made it through the town borders.

say moo: okay, who changed my name again? I represent an ox, not a cow.

say moo has changed their name to jihoon

I'M A CHICKEN: not me!

I’M A CHICKEN: thank god we can finally go back

i love bananas: ㅋㅋㅋ

jihoon: seungkwan, the one that says it isn't them normally is the person. >.> kwon soonyoung don't just laugh.

supposed to be tiny but not: it was me ㅋㅋㅋ

jihoon: you're not supposed to abuse your hyung privilege, jeonghan-hyung. anyway, I'm at the manor already.

supposed to be tiny but not: oh. you remember what we discussed? keep us updated, yeah?

jihoon: yeah, I do, and I'll try. anyway, I'm going now, just wanted to inform you guys.

supposed to be tiny but not has changed jihoon's name to say moo

i'm a horse and look like one: ㅋㅋㅋ

Jihoon locks his phone, taking a deep breath as the taxi pulls up to the manor. He pays the driver and thanks him after the driver helps him remove his luggage from the trunk, before turning to look up at the huge manor in front of him.

To his right, the plaque on the wall states in bold words: The Zodiac Manor.

He takes a deep breath and slowly approaches the tall iron gates, placing a hand on the seam between the two and pushing gently. He sighs in relief when the gates swing open under his hand, grabbing his luggage and pulling it behind him as he makes his way up to the front doors.

He pulls out a keyring with an ox keychain hanging from it along with a variety of keys, and separates one from the rest, inserting it into the keyhole. The door unlocks with a loud ‘click’, and Jihoon smiles to himself, pushing open the doors.

“Jihoon,” Taehyung greets. Jihoon startles, looking up from where he was busy keeping his keys, standing in the foyer. “Taehyung-hyung,” Jihoon replies, smiling a little, “Long time no see.”

“Yes, it has. Three years, on the dot, correct?” Taehyung nods, moving forward to help the smaller male with the luggage. “On the dot. We wouldn’t forget the date,” Jihoon replies, following after the male, walking the familiar route to his room.

He brushes his hand across the ox carving that acts as the nameplate for the wooden door that leads to his bedroom as he walks in, surprised to see how clean it is.

“You’ve been cleaning regularly?” Jihoon asks, surprised. Taehyung grins, boxy smile familiar and welcoming. He hums, nodding.

“Five of you doing cleaning all by yourselves? I heard that the housekeeping teams haven’t been coming by,” Jihoon’s incredulous tone sets Taehyung off, and Jihoon watches in befuddlement as the older man cracks up and laughs himself silly next to him.

“N-nah,” Taehyung gasps out, still giggling in bouts, “we had help.”

“Help?” Jihoon wonders, puzzled. Taehyung nods happily, huffing as he catches his breath from laughing so hard. “C’mon, I’ll introduce you!”

Taehyung leads Jihoon down the familiar hallways and into the kitchen, from which Jihoon can smell the divine smell of food a few hallways away. They reach the kitchen in no time at all, and Jihoon enters the kitchen.

For a moment Jihoon tenses, thinking it’s Seungcheol at the stoves, what with the height and the broad back and shoulders, but then the man turns around and smiles at the sight of them, giving Taehyung a mildly confused look.

“Jin-hyung!” Taehyung bounds over, pulling Jihoon along with him. “This is Jihoon, the Ox. Or he used to be, anyway.” Jihoon bows as much as he can when Taehyung introduced him, trapped as he is in Taehyung’s grip.

“Hello,” the man’s voice is warm, and Jihoon relaxes a little at his friendly greeting. “I’m Kim Seokjin, and I’m this one’s hyung. I hope you don’t mind that I took over the kitchen.”

Jihoon shakes his head, taking a step away from Taehyung as the older man releases him, replying affably. “It’s okay, Seokjin-ssi. We rarely used the kitchen when I stayed here, anyway. Cheol-hyung… he was the one that used it the most.”

Jihoon glances around, walking to the worn wooden table in the centre of the kitchen, running a finger along the grooves and shallow gouges in the wood.

“Just call me hyung, Jihoon-ssi. I have a feeling we’re going to be well-acquainted soon enough anyway, thanks to this one over here,” Seokjin tells him, knuckling Taehyung away from the pan where some chicken is cooking.

Jihoon laughs, nodding in acquiescence. “Call me Jihoon, then.” He startles a little when he hears a rattling sound coming from above him, and he looks up to see three familiar cats, one pure white, the second pure black and the last a chocolate brown with white markings. Jihoon watches as they stare unblinkingly down at him, and shivers.

“I’m the Cat, boy. Do you know what that means?” The old man says, watching the clouds roll by in the blue sky.

“Like… the one in the stories?” Seungcheol asks tentatively. The old man chuckles, the sound rusty. He sounds like he hasn’t laughed in ages, Seungcheol thinks to himself. “Not a story, kid. The Zodiac animals are all alive and kicking,” the old man tells him.

“That’s what this bracelet means.” The old man draws back his sleeves, exposing the bead bracelet to the sunlight. Seungcheol observes it. It’s old and worn, a bracelet of black beads except for a white bead in the middle. Looking closer, he notices a figure of a cat carved onto it.

“It’s the bracelet that tells people you’re the Cat, right? Why do you hide it?” Seungcheol wonders, before he realises what a stupid question he’s asking. He’s heard the story of the Zodiac animals so many times, heard all the opinions of the Cat that the town’s older folks had to offer.

The old man huffs a laugh at his expression, before sobering. “I’m going to ask you a question, kid, and it’s going to sound weird. I want you to answer as honestly as you can.”

Seungcheol nods slowly, wondering if he should leave now, before the old man asks whatever question he has. “Okay…” he draws out the last syllable.

“Have you ever felt like you’ve gotten along well with certain animals? Like, cats or dogs or whatever? Small town like this, someone has to have a pet, right?” the old man asks, and Seungcheol frowns.

“It is indeed a weird question to ask, harabeoji,” Seungcheol says, but thinks through the question seriously.

“My name is Park Jungsu, kid. You can still call me harabeoji, I don’t mind. At least someone will know my name and remember me when I’m gone,” the old man, Jungsu, apparently, informs him, before leaving him to think through the question.

“To answer your question… I would have to say yes, I guess? The stray cats around my house love me. But that’s only because I feed them at least four times a week. Jung-imo’s cat from next door loves coming over to me all the time as well.” Seungcheol answers the question after a while of thinking, and Jungsu nods to himself.

“Should never have doubted the cat’s sixth sense. Well then, kid, tell me your name first. If we’re going to be mentor and student for the next few months, I’m going to have to know your name,” Jungsu states, standing up with the help of his cane.

“I’m Choi Seungcheol- wait, what do you mean by mentor and student? Why would I be a student of the Cat?” Seungcheol stares up at the old man now towering over him, offering him a hand to get up, which he takes.

“You’re going to be the next Cat, kid. Seungcheol. That’s why I came to this town. I’m here to find the successor to the position of the Cat in the Zodiac.”

“Eomma?” Seungcheol’s voice is quiet. It’s his last night with his family, and he can tell his eomma wants to cry. It’s only been two days since his world was turned upside down, and he doesn’t want to leave his family on his birthday, but some things are just out of their control, as Jungsu-harabeoji told him.

His mother sniffles a little, turning to look at her older son with red eyes. He comes over to her and hugs her tight, committing everything to memory, knowing that this is probably the last time he’ll get to hug his mother.

“I know what I want for my birthday, now.” Seungcheol tells his mother slowly, and she smiles at him tremulously, breaking away from the hug to brush his hair out of his eyes. “Name it, son. Name it and I’ll do everything I can to get it for you.”

Seungcheol takes a deep breath, before telling her his birthday wish. She starts crying again. Seungcheol cries with her, knowing that in this moment, when it is just them two, he can shed the image of the older, more responsible son.

“I’ll do it,” she tells him in between sobs, and he desperately tries to wipe away her tears, even as his own slide down his face. “I’ll make sure no one forgets that I have a son called Choi Seungcheol, that he is the brightest, most lovable child that you can ever come across. I’ll tell Seungjin what a good older brother he has.

“And in return,” she tells him, grasping his face between her hands and wiping his tears away by rubbing her thumbs across his cheeks. “In return, always remember that you will have a family in us. Call us as often as you can. Send us as many letters as you want. I’ll always pick up, always reply to your letters.”

She smiles at him, her precious son that she had first held in her arms fifteen years, eleven months and thirty days ago, and cradles him to her chest as he cries his heart out. Her husband, his son’s father, watches over them from the doorway, tears glistening in his own eyes.s

The last memory Seungcheol has of his family is this: His mother, standing at the front porch, crying silently as she watches the old man bring her son away, never to be seen again, to live a life of loneliness.

He will never forget the stoic figure that was his father, watching from the window, gruff goodbyes echoing in his head. He would especially never forget the tiny boy that ran after him, only to be chased and stopped by his mother.

His younger brother, the one person he would never see grow up despite wanting to be there for every milestone.

The first thing the old man teaches him is how to hide himself, how to hide his bracelet when he gets it. The black and white bead bracelet is an instant recognition tool, one that will ensure that he is shunned in most communities.

“You’ll have to write this down somewhere,” the old man says, wondering if he should tell the boy this early on. Making up his mind, he continues. “You probably won’t need this information until you can leave the town to find your successor.”

Seungcheol frowns. “What do you mean?”

The old man sighs, looking older beyond his years for a moment, which considering how old he looks, is quite a feat. “Once you step foot into the town boundary, you’re never leaving until you have to find your successor.

“You’ll find out soon enough, but there’s a lot of history that I’m not proud of, kid. Some of our ancestors, the previous Cat-bearers, they did bad things. And now we’re the ones suffering for it.”

Seungcheol’s frown stays fixed on his face. “I’ll be… trapped?”

Jungsu nods, bracing himself in case the kid decides to run. It had been his first thought when he realised he would be trapped in what was essentially a gilded cage for the foreseeable future. The Cat couldn’t leave, and was plied with everything they needed except for the one thing so essential to mankind – freedom.

Unfortunately for him, his predecessor had been smart enough to tell him when they had entered the barrier dome. Seungcheol notes the way Jungsu eyes him warily and takes a deep breath, pushing his panicked emotions aside.

He had been chosen by the Fates, after all. It would be useless for him to panic and put unnecessary burden on Jungsu. “Let’s continue on our journey, harabeoji,” Seungcheol finally says when he feels that he isn’t going to react too much to what the old man had said.

Jungsu continues to eye him warily, and asks, “Not going to run, kid?” Seungcheol shrugs and shakes his head, explaining his logical thought process to the old man, who only shakes his head in reply. “I wish I was as mature at your age back then. First thing I did was run, when I was told. Smacked face first into that bloody barrier and gave myself a nice mild concussion.”

Seungcheol tries holding it in, really, he does, but the laughter leaks out of his sealed lips anyway. “Your predecessor told you only when you were trapped? What a mean person!” Jungsu huffs a short laugh as well, shaking his head at his childhood stupidity.

“Mean it may be, but he meant well. You can’t run from this curse. Sooner or later, with or without the bracelet, when the time comes, you’ll shift. It’s only a matter of where you are when you do. Fate will catch up eventually,” Jungsu says solemnly, and Seungcheol nods back seriously in return.

“Why do we have this bracelet, then?” Seungcheol queries, fingering the bracelet on his right wrist with his other hand. “The public wanted a way to identify the cursed, and our predecessor wanted something semi-fashionable,” Jungsu replies with a wry twist to his lips, and Seungcheol laughs again.

“I’m trusting you, kid. Don’t run off on me. I have a lot to teach you and I only have until you turn seventeen to get everything down. After that, you’re on your own.” Seungcheol nods in understanding, and replies, “I’m a fast learner, harabeoji. I’ll make sure to pay attention.”

Jungsu chuckles before gesturing for Seungcheol to follow as they continue walking. “I parked the car quite far off. Since I hadn’t been out in such a long time I thought I’d walk the rest of the distance,” Jungsu explains, gesturing to the parked car in the distance.

Seungcheol nods, and follows after the old man. “Let’s enjoy the breeze for a while longer, harabeoji,” Seungcheol says after a while, slowing his pace. It had struck him that this would be one of the last times, if not the last time, he would be able to enjoy walking on the fairly empty streets of the town he had grown up in.

Jungsu slows down as well, tension leaving his shoulders as the ongoing breeze ruffles their hair. “You’re right, Seungcheol-ah. Let’s take the time to relax.”

As the wind continues to blow, the two figures walk on, hair and clothes ruffling with every gust of wind, Seungcheol’s luggage dragged along behind them.

Jungsu starts the car as soon as he gets into the driver’s seat, having settled Seungcheol’s luggage in the trunk of the car and made sure that Seungcheol had belted up. After they are off, Jungsu starts talking again, and Seungcheol makes sure to listen closely.

“Now the house is more of a manor, really. I’ll guide you through the place when we reach, but for now all you have to know is that it and the lands surrounding it are huge.

“Given that Cat zodiac bearers can’t get a stable job due to the stigma surrounding us, nor can we leave the town the manor is situated in, the government is the one that pays for the bills. Electricity, water, grocery shopping, the government pays for us.

“Even then, it’s better not to waste taxpayers’ money. Don’t give them more reason to dislike us. Remember to turn off the lights that aren’t in use, don’t waste water, etcetera,” Jungsu says, watching as Seungcheol scrambles for a notebook and pen so that he can note down important information.

Once he’s sure that Seungcheol is prepared for the information dump he is about to unload on the kid, he continues. “The manor is really big, so it’s, as you would expect, a pretty big pain to clean. We have housekeeping staff coming back three times a week to clean the various parts of the manor.

“Normally, though, apart from the housekeeping staff, there’s five main staff living in the manor as well. The first is the butler. The man’s family is sworn to service to the manor since the first generation of zodiac bearers, and each generation’s butler is fairly close in age to the zodiac bearers.

“The one that will be helping you is Kim Namjoon, if I remember correctly. He’s a year older than you, and he basically runs the household so that you won’t have to worry about anything. There’s also a gardener, head housekeeper, chef, and the handyman.

“The manor’s been standing for as long as modern Korean history has existed at the very least, so there’s a lot to fix. They’re all, once again, paid by the government, and the families are all nice people,” Jungsu continues talking, paying attention to the road and occasionally glancing at Seungcheol to make sure that he has the important information down.

“I’m personally quite close to those of my generation – you kind of have to, over the years. Maybe you’ll make good friends there. The townspeople are generally neutral, but some can be nasty with their words. When we walk through the town I’ll tell you more about who’s who,” Jungsu tells Seungcheol, who nods and makes a noise of understanding.

“Okay to continue?” Jungsu asks, merging into a busy lane after emerging on a highway headed in the direction of Seoul. Seungcheol nods again, and Jungsu resumes speaking, Seungcheol scribbling down notes all the while.

“Where’s Jonghyun-hyung? Or Minhyun-hyung?” Jihoon asks, and Taehyung shrugs. “Out somewhere. Ever since Cheol left they’ve gone out every day.”

Jihoon raises an eyebrow. “Every day?” Taehyung nods, even as Seokjin remains silent. Namjoon enters the kitchen just as Taehyung says, “It’s almost time for them to return for the day.” His entrance effectively derails the conversation as Jihoon stands to hug the older man.

“Hello, Namjoon-hyung. How have you been?” Jihoon asks, walking with the man to the table where Taehyung is already seated. “Hectic as usual. The manor still has some places that need fixing up, so I need to find Yoongi-hyung,” Namjoon replies easily.

Jihoon makes a noise of understanding, before Seokjin turns from the stoves to ask him a question. “Why the sudden decision to come back, Jihoon-ah?” Jihoon pauses, flinching minutely, before replying slowly, thinking through his answer as he goes.

“We were… worried about Seungcheol-hyung. We haven’t heard from him in a while, so we decided to make the trip down to see if we could find him.” Taehyung frowns, noting a keyword. “We?” he questions.

Jihoon nodded, indicating that the usage of the term was on purpose. “The rest are planning on coming down as well. I was just the first one that was available.”

“Why now? Why not, say, two years ago?” Seokjin is the one to ask a question this time, and Jihoon tenses up. “There were… extenuating circumstances,” Jihoon says, unwilling to share more, and Seokjin is the one to frown, this time.

“Extenuating circumstances? For all twelve of you? And for three years, at that,” Seokjin points out, and Jihoon hesitates in answering the question, given that he doesn’t know how much they know and how much he wants to share.

They are thankfully interrupted by the return of Jonghyun and the others. “Have we exhausted all the possible locations?” Jonghyun’s voice echoes down the hallway, and Jihoon tenses even more, knowing what’s going to happen.

“For the day, yes we have. It’ll get dark soon, Jju-yah. We shouldn’t risk ourselves unnecessarily by stumbling around in the dark,” Minhyun replies, giving Jonghyun a side-hug. “Well, tomorrow we’ll try again, yeah? We’ll find-“ Minki draws to a halt as he realises they are no longer alone upon entering the kitchen.

“Jihoonie,” Dongho says warmly, and Jihoon smiles weakly at him, despite the sudden tension sinking into the room as the others catch sight of him sitting at the table. “Hyungs,” Jihoon greets them, standing up.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Minki says airily, “I wasn’t expecting any of you to return.” The five of them move to the table as well, pulling out seats and seating themselves, and Jihoon takes his seat again. Jihoon stiffens a little as the hidden barb flies true, and the tension increases, its weight resting heavily on Jihoon’s shoulders.

“Well, we’re all coming down. I’m just the first one to make it,” Jihoon replies, voice tense. The two unfamiliar men next to the three are quickly introduced as Dongho and Aron, but Jihoon remains tense, wary of anything they could say.

Seokjin is the one to break the tension again, announcing grandly, “Dinner is ready! Set the table, please.”

Taehyung and Minhyun move to do as they are told, and Jihoon takes the chance to ask Dongho in a low voice, “Dongho-ssi, where’s Jisung-hyung?”

Dongho makes a soft noise, replying in a low voice, “He’s busy in town, picking up some materials we’ll need for the fixing up of the house and some other things. He’ll be back soon. Also, just call me hyung.” Jihoon makes a soft sound of understanding, and goes quiet when dinner begins.

“So, Jihoon, I heard from Taehyung and the others that you’re a producer?” Seokjin asks, and Jihoon swallows his food quickly, ducking his head a little, “What songs have you produced? I may have heard of some of them.”

“I’ve helped to produce Pristin’s first and second albums,” he replies, naming an up-and-coming girl group that is steadily becoming more popular as time passes. “Oh, is that so? I’ll be sure to check them out later then,” Seokjin smiles.

“You’re a producer as well?” Dongho speaks up, and Jihoon turns to the built man, who grins. “I’ve produced my fair share of songs as well, how about we exchange a few tips and tricks later?” Jihoon, temporarily taken aback at the man’s friendliness, ignores Minki’s low mutter of ‘traitor’ and Minhyun’s sigh in reply, agreeing quickly with a smile on his face.

“Are there supposed to be others eating other than us?” Jihoon asks after a period of low conversation, Minki staunchly ignoring Jihoon, aiming the question at Jonghyun. The empty seat next to Taehyung and another next to Minhyun are laid out, due to pure habit.

“Ah, Jimin is normally here as well, but he’s off with Jisung-hyung to gather some stuff,” Jonghyun replies shortly, politeness taking over for a moment. Jihoon nods his understanding, and goes silent again, wanting to finish eating so he can leave the room and end the cold war currently brewing against him.

After he’s done, he stands up from his seat, moving his dirty dishes to the sink. “Ah, I’ll do it, you just sit and relax,” Aron speaks, making his way to the sinks with his own dishes. Bereft of anything to do, Jihoon excuses himself to return to his room to rest, catching the start of a furious hushed discussion as he is doing so.

Frowning to himself, he makes a note to figure out what the hyungs are hiding from him, make some headway into finding out what had happened to Seungcheol, and where all the cats have gone. But first, he takes out his phone as he enters his room, door clicking shut behind him.

He sits down on the bed, texting the group chat to update the others and ignoring backchat.

To: three years is up!!

say moo: there are new people in the manor.

say moo: met taehyung and the others again over dinner as well. things are tense. yoongi-hyung and jisung-hyung weren’t there.

say moo: i have a feeling they’re hiding some things from me. no idea what, though.

say moo: will try my best to find out about what cheol-hyung did to break the curse.

say moo: who the hell changed my name again im gonna find you and kill you slowly.

say moo has changed their name to jihoon

hiss hiss mf: hiding things, hm? interesting. who’s next available to head down? i’m still busy with some stuff in china. also, jihoon, you would know if you made an effort to read backchat.

orange is the new black: probably me. i’m almost done with my residency.

jihoon: alright, keep me updated. i’ll try and see what i can find out in the meantime.

jihoon: go fuck yourself junnie backchat is always at least 200 messages long.

jihoon: dongho-hyung just knocked on my door, i have to go. he’s a producer as well.

jihoon: bye for now.

i love bananas has changed jihoon’s name to say moo

orange is the new black: one of these days jihoonie is going on a murder rampage with that guitar of his and i will have to stop him.

orange is the new black: because I can’t be bothered to patch you guys up and I’m the only one with a medical degree amongst us.

orange is the new black: why did I ever think nursing was good.

hiss hiss mf: jihoon won’t go on a murder rampage until cheol-hyung is found so I would say we’re quite safe for now

orange is the new black: that’s what you all think.

Jihoon looks up from his phone as someone knocks on his door, locking his phone and throwing it on his bed as he stands up, ignoring the vibrations he can hear. “Who is it?” he calls, moving to the door.

“It’s Dongho, Jihoon-ssi. I wanted to discuss some things about a track I’ve been stuck on, see if you can help me fix it,” Dongho’s voice sounds, and Jihoon moves to open the door. “Call me Jihoon, hyung. Sorry for the mess, I’ve barely unpacked,” Jihoon says, gesturing for Dongho to take the chair as he sits on the bed, grabbing his backpack and pulling his laptop out of it.

Dongho pulls out the roller chair from the desk, placing his own laptop on his lap as he gets comfortable. “So, what did you need help with?” Jihoon asks.

After all that Jungsu had told him about the town and the manor on the drive down to his future home, Seungcheol isn’t expecting the sheer amount of cats wandering around town.

But then again, as he thinks about it, even before he had known he was the Cat zodiac bearer for his generation, cats loved him a lot more compared to the other kids.

They get out of the car on the outskirts of town, Seungcheol watching as numerous cats wander up and scent-mark him and Jungsu, winding around their legs. He kneels down to give those that wander to him affectionate pets, and looks up at Jungsu.

“There’s so many of them,” Seungcheol says, awed. Jungsu nods, and kneels as well, smiling down at the cats coming up to him, and replies,” When people abandon their cats, they all somehow make their way here if they’re able to survive the journey here. We have a veterinarian living in town just for the animals that wander in.”

They’re quiet for a while, showing the cats affection, when Jungsu says quietly, “When it’s time for me to go, I’ll join them.” Seungcheol turns to look at Jungsu again. “What do you mean?” Seungcheol asks, hands stilling.

He resumes petting the cats when one of them head-butts his hands, and waits for the reply to come. “I told you that I would only have until you turned seventeen to tell you all the information you’d need, no? When the time comes, I’ll shift into a cat and I won’t change back. That’s how the curse works.

“Even now, some of these cats probably have the same markings our ancestors had, like this one,” Jungsu says, gesturing to the tawny cat currently curled around one of his legs with white patches on its body. “Those are the exact markings my mentor had when he shifted.”

Seungcheol examines the cat from where he is, absentmindedly petting the cats around him. “You’ll lose your humanity?” Seungcheol asks quietly. Jungsu nods in reply, “For all intents and purposes, I will be a cat. I won’t be able to understand human speech or actions beyond what a regular cat knows, but some of the emotional attachment will remain.

“This cat,” here he smiles down at the feline that used to be the mentor that had essentially brought him up, “keeps me company most days when I’m wandering around town.” Seungcheol keeps quiet, digesting that information as he continues showering the cats with affection.

“Now, I didn’t stop the car here to be emotional. Come here, Seungcheol-ah,” Jungsu gestures for him to stand by the older man, and he does so slowly, pulling himself away from a pure white cat and giving it a few last scratches along its jaw.

“Right in front of us is the boundary line, kid. The moment we step across that line you see in the ground, we’re trapped in it until I turn into a cat and you have to find your successor. The edge of the cage, essentially.”

Seungcheol stares at the faint line in the road. Once he takes a step past that line, he will be trapped until he is as old as Jungsu. What a startlingly scary thought. Even so, Seungcheol sucks in a breath and says, “No backing out, harabeoji. I’m not running away from fate.”

Jungsu sighs and turns back to the car. “Truer words never spoken, Seungcheol-ah. Well, that’s all I wanted to show you. Let’s get back in the car and we’ll drive straight back to the manor. It’s almost lunchtime, and I’m getting hungry.”

They get back in the car with some difficulty, herding the cats away from the doors. Jungsu drives slowly, not wanting to hit any of the cats, watching carefully as the felines dart away from the path of the rumbling vehicle.

At the slow speed Jungsu is going, Seungcheol shivers as he feels something pass through him, which Jungsu notices quickly. “That’ll be the boundary line.” is the quiet explanation Jungsu gives the younger, and Seungcheol nods his understanding.

He’d gone past the point of no returning, now. There was no longer a choice of turning around and leaving.

A few minutes later, they drive up to a large pair of old iron gates, a plaque with the words ‘Zodiac Manor’ embedded in one of the brick walls holding the gates, and Jungsu presses the intercom near the plaque after rolling down the windows. “I’m back,” he sings, and there is a click as the gates open.

Jungsu rolls the window back up, slowing down so Seungcheol can appreciate the manor and its surrounding lands in its full glory. Seungcheol gasps as the manor comes into sight, and Jungsu drives right up to the gravel driveway in front of the front porch, upon which great oak doors are already opening.

“Welcome to Zodiac Manor, Seungcheol-ah. Your new home,” Jungsu says grandly as he switches the engine off, smiling at Seungcheol’s shocked expression. It was one thing to hear it being described, but nothing beat looking at and admiring Zodiac Manor in its full glory.

“Now come on, grab your things and I’ll show you around!” Jungsu says, getting out of the car. Seungcheol takes a deep breath, centers himself, and does as he’s told.

Jihoon sighs as the door clicks shut behind Dongho, noting the late time. They had worked late into the night until both of them were satisfied with the track, and Dongho had promised to put Jihoon’s composer alias, Woozi, on the credits for the song.

Sighing, he stands to crack his back, sighing as a resounding crack echoes throughout the room. He cracks his knuckles and then his neck, before finally closing his laptop. He moves to the desk to tidy up, and sets off to the music room, where he remembers there being a notepad of empty scores he can use that is hopefully still there.

The manor is quiet as he wanders from the west wing to the main building and up the staircase to the second floor, where he opens the door to the music room quietly. The door opens with nary a sound, and the room brightens when he turns the lights on.

He moves in search of the notepad he remembers, pulling out random books that catch his attention on the shelves against the walls of the room and weaving through the numerous musical instruments strewn across the room.

The books in the music room are entirely about different composers and other random stuff to do with music, though the main bulk of the books remain in the east library wing, and Jihoon catches sight of the notepad a while later.

He pulls the notepad out from the shelf, and takes the book next to it as well, seeing as it looks interesting. Frowning, he notices a weird protrusion in the back of the shelf that he had taken the book and notepad from, and reaches in to feel it.

He applies some pressure and pushes the panel into the shelf, and jumps when he hears a click and rumbling. He turns, book and notepad placed absentmindedly on the piano, and stares at the doorway now present instead of the fireplace and mantel.

To: three years is up!!

say moo: guys, i think i found something.

-~-~-~-

4 January 2015, Sunday

Everyone is gone. I’m about to do it. I just finished setting things up.

If you’re reading this, any of you, go and fulfil your dream if you haven’t done so yet. Live your life the way you wanted to, the way I never could, stuck in this house and town like I was. Don’t worry about me, yeah? I won’t have to worry about anything again.

I love you all. You guys are my family. I hope, if nothing else, you guys remember that.

Goodbye.

[chapter one end]

1. why seungkwan was kicked out of the room when jeonghan was on the phone with chan

"Tell your mom you found a goat obsessive cult and the only way to get free was to get that tattoo."

"Seungkwan-hyung, what?"

"Ignore him, Channie. Will she accept it if you tell her it's a temporary tattoo? If she asks again you can just tell her you liked it so much that you went and bought the same tattoo and put it on again."

"Tell your mom you've found your animagus transformation and you decided to get it tattooed."

"...no, Seungkwan. I do appreciate the Harry Potter reference, though."

"well, I don't! I can't tell my mother that! Hyungs, help me!"

"OH OH I KNOW! Tell her you wanna be a goat when you grow up! A mountain goat! So you're training your legs through dance and reminding yourself of your goal with the tattoo."

"What even- Seungkwannie, I love you, but please go out before Chan has another breakdown."

2. why seungkwan and jeonghan threw a fit when they saw what seokmin was going to wear to jihoon's recital

"Hyung, are you- oh my god what are you wearing-"

"it's a tuxedo shirt, Seungkwannie! I found it in my cupboard somewhere!"

"In your cupboard- JEONGHAN HYUNG WE HAVE A FASHION EMERGENCY"

"What is it, Kwannie- oh my. Seok-ah, what are you wearing? Shua! Do you have a spare suit jacket and slacks?"

"Shoes too, Hannie-hyung. I think he was planning to wear his sneakers."

"Well that won't do. I think I have a spare pair lying around."

And meanwhile Seokmin is just standing there like, 'What's wrong with what I'm wearing?'

(Later on Jeonghan grabs Seokmin's shirt that he convinced the younger to let go of and sets it on fire to the great delight of both him and Seungkwan.)

"Hyung, what happened to that one shirt you borrowed from me a few months ago?"

"Shirt? What shirt?"

(Jeonghan tells Jihoon what travesty Seokmin was about to wear the first time they met.

Jihoon shudders, "Please tell me you burnt it."

"I burnt it. I think Seungkwan still has the video somewhere." Jeonghan says it with great relish, and for a moment Jihoon sees horns on his head.)

3. some ideas as to where they went on their travels

a. seventeen stumbles upon hogwarts (to this day no one knows whether it was because of their innate star nature that allowed them to bypass the muggle repelling charm but ether it remains one of the best parts of their travels)

b. they meet the centaurs who are essentially treating them like gods

c. maybe they come across camp halfblood too

It wasn’t a surprise to have the Great Hall filled with Hogwarts students chattering away over their meals. The atmosphere was only intensified by the addition of the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang for the Triwizard Tournament. And with the addition of more students came more admirers attempting to get the attention of Choi Seungcheol, Hogwarts 7th year, Gryffindor’s Quidditch prodigy and captain and Triwizard contestant.

He barely had a moment of peace with so many people hounding him. Seungcheol sighed in relief once he scurried far from the miniature crowd diverting their attention to two Slytherins, making a note to get that hair potion thingy Jeonghan and Junhui were eyeing later.

The seventh year halted once he found an empty corridor, leaning against the brick walls as he caught his breath while scanning the hallway warily for any more of his admirers. Seungcheol breathed out a sigh of relief when no one suddenly popped up in front of him, his stride becoming more relaxed as he straightened up again and turned the corner of the hall. He easily made his way through the corridors before he came to a set of stairs.

Taking two steps at a time, he cursed the fact that students weren’t allowed to apparate inside the school. Even though he had the stamina of a bull (as so described by Lee Chan after an intense warm-up for Quidditch practice and he was the only one left standing), it was still seven long ass flights of stairs before he even got to the right floor. He had someone to meet though, a very important someone that would probably guilt trip him into buying a myriad of Honeydukes famous chocolates using just a cute little pout if he didn’t show up.

Curse his inability to resist cute things.

Once finally making up the dreadful flights, Seungcheol pauses for a moment, catching his breath before straightening and turning down a corridor, stopping in front of a certain brick wall across from a tapestry. He glances around, making sure no one’s passing by before walking back and forth three times, thinking hard of what he needed.

He grins triumphantly when the door to the Room of Requirement emerges, quickly pushing it open and stepping inside to a luxurious bedroom, an elegant four poster bed placed in the center. Really, the picture perfect romantic scene complete with a crackling fireplace and mood lighting with his certain someone already lying on top of the bed and ... studying. Again.

“Soo baby, what test do you have now?” Seungcheol groans as he strolls over while stripping off his robes and loosening his tie, falling on top of the bed with a bounce before snuggling up to his boyfriend. His boyfriend grunts and shifts beneath him, still focused on the open book next to him.

“No test, light reading. I had to do something while waiting for you,” Jisoo hums, not looking up from his book as he snickers at the pout he knows is on Seungcheol’s face. “Two minutes then I’m all yours.”

“You’re lucky I can’t say no,” Seungcheol grumbles, nuzzling into the crook of Jisoo’s neck with a huff as he lazily drapes an arm around his boyfriend’s waist, tugging him closer. Jisoo just purrs at the touch, flipping the page before he giggles at the feather light kisses he can feel being pressed onto his neck. But besides that, he pays Seungcheol no attention, taking his time to finish up the rest of the chapter before setting the book aside on the nightstand. Jisoo laughs when Seungcheol groans out a ‘Finally!’, shifting in his boyfriend’s arms so he can face him.

“Someone’s impatient,” he teases, pacifying Seungcheol with a kiss before the elder could whine at him, giggling when his boyfriend melts into it almost instantly. Seungcheol huffs at him, tugging him closer, intertwining their legs together.

“Can you blame me? Between classes and the tournament and everyone trying to hog my attention, I’ve barely had a chance to see and much less kiss you!” Seungcheol pouts, demanding another kiss from Jisoo (which he willingly obliges to).

“Fine, I’ll give you that,” Jisoo says, slightly out of breath after breaking apart. Seungcheol gives him a smug smirk, making the Hufflepuff roll his eyes at him. It really has been a while though, and (not that he’d ever say it out loud), he really did miss having his overgrown puppy of a boyfriend around.

He sighs in contentment, purring as Seungcheol starts playing with his hair as he tells Jisoo about how annoying it is getting bombarded with attention and love confessions all the time; it’s been months and they still haven’t gotten the ‘I’m really not interested because I’m already dating the most perfect boy in the world!’ hint. It only makes Jisoo laugh and playfully jab at him about being famous instead of his boyfriend’s sympathy and cuddles.

“I’m practically dating a celebrity!” Jisoo teases, yelping when Seungcheol squeezes his sides. He squirms in Seungcheol’s arm, pouting when the older’s grip on his waist just tightens a little. “It’s true, you’ve already got a line of recruiters and fans just begging for you!”

“I’ve got better things to worry about,” Seungcheol groans at the reminder, burying his face into Jisoo’s shoulder. He mumbles something, making his boyfriend blink down at him curiously. It takes a few coos and soft prompting for Seungcheol to finally repeat it and when he does, Jisoo can’t help giggling.

“Asking me to the Yule Ball? That’s more important?” Jisoo says, stifling another giggle at Seungcheol’s pout. Seungcheol nods, saying that he’s been mulling over it since it’s coming up soon and he’s gotten more offers than he wants.

“I know you get really shy doing mushy, coupley stuff in public, but I really, really, really, really, wanna go with you,” he explains, biting his lower lip, a hint of pink tinting his cheeks. “And I can’t just ditch it cause I’m the champion, even though I’d really like to-”

A sweet kiss from Jisoo stops him from babbling on (and makes him lose his train of thought in the process). When Jisoo breaks the kiss, he’s blinking dazedly at him with a dopey grin. “Of course I’ll go with you dummy,” Jisoo says, eyes twinkling with amusement as he brings a hand up to caress Seungcheol’s cheek. “Why on earth would I say no?”

“You hate being the center of attention?”

“True, but that’s not enough for me to say no,” Jisoo laughs, playfully smacking Seungcheol with his other hand. “Besides, I need to show everyone you’re already taken by me.”

Seungcheol chortles at that, bumping their foreheads together. “Soo baby, are you jealous?” he hums teasingly.

“Noooo, I just don’t like how those other people ignore the fact you already have a boyfriend and keep asking you out when you’re clearly not interested,” Jisoo huffs at him. “You’re my Cheollie, not theirs!”

“And you’re my Soo baby, no one else’s,” Seungcheol hums, feeling his heart skip a few beats and warmth bubble in his chest. Jisoo smiles shyly with a nod, giving his boyfriend a gentle kiss, filled with love and affection.

“So ‘Yule’ go with me?” Seungcheol asks again after they part, wiggling his eyebrows at his beloved.

“Oh my god Cheol are you serious?!,” Jisoo huffs with a roll of his eyes, flicking Seungcheol’s forehead.

“Just checking,” Seungcheol laughs, before tugging Jisoo closer and pressing a soft kiss to the top of his head, letting a comfortable silence fall between them.

It was around 4am when you stood in your room, in front of your easel, still wearing your pretty pink dress. No matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t fall asleep. Joshua’s kiss was fresh on your lips along with the thoughts of what had happened a couple of hours ago.

Trying to remember every little detail about him and to hold on to them, you started painting. You weren’t sure what exactly you were going to paint, but every stroke of your brush was a stroke of an emotion. As you painted, you thought of all the doubts you had, all the times you hesitated, pushed yourself away from him and about how reckless you had been to just slip up like that. Were you really in love with him? You didn’t know.

That inner battle with yourself felt never-ending.

It’s over, stupid. He’s gone, a little voice kept whispering, but there was another voice, this one much stronger. It screamed, I can’t let him go just like that.

You didn’t realize the sun was already rising until a beam of light hit your face, making you squint.

Your dress was stained a bunch of different colors, but you didn’t care. All you could think about was the fact that the painting, after endless brush strokes, had appeared in front of you. It was Joshua, with his guitar in his hands. Just as you remembered him, sitting on his granny’s porch swing.

The sudden buzz of an alarm woke you up from your trance.

“Crap! His flight!” you gasped.

Grabbing the fresh painting and slipping on the first pair of slippers you could find, you ran out to Granny Hong’s.

“Joshua! Josh!” you called out, almost bursting through the front door, which to your surprise was locked.

“Granny Hong, are you there?” you called out once again, knocking desperately. A sudden click made you stumble back and a wide-eyed Granny Hong appeared in the doorway. She stared at you in shock, noticing the paint-stained dress, funny slippers and the slowly drying painting of her grandson in your hand.

“Y/N…” she started hesitantly, “the flight was pushed up an hour, darling. One of his managers came to pick him up. He-” she stopped, knitting her brows, “He wanted to say goodbye, but they just wouldn’t let him.”

You’re done, it’s over, over. That voice whispered once again, this time louder. Your face went blank in shock as you dropped your head to your feet, the familiar tears gleaming in your eyes again.

You couldn’t say a word, you didn’t know what to say. Just as you were about to give up, granny’s voice sounded again, “Well, what are you waiting for, dear?!”

Your head darted back up in confusion, “I-I-…I don’t know. There’s no way I'll reach him before the flight leaves.”

“If you really want to reach him, you’ll reach him,” she said, handing you the keys to their car.

There’s no time left, no time, no time. Your thoughts ran all over the place as you parked the car at the nearest entrance. Pushing those thoughts away, you snatched the painting and practically stumbled into the airport.

You were made aware that your dress code was far from acceptable, as the staff kept turning their heads in your direction. Gasping for breath, your eyes darted back and forth, looking for anything that could tell you where Joshua had gone.

That’s when you heard faint and high-pitched screaming. There was a sizable crowd of girls, rushing towards an oversized number 3 hanging on the wall. Gate number 3, that’s where he must have gone.

As you approached, the shrieks grew louder, piercing your ears. How the fans always knew when and where their favorite idols would be, was a mystery to you.

There were too many people to push through, but you tried your best. The security guards had formed a barrier in front of the crowd, blocking anyone from tackling the tall, brown haired boy.

Your lips formed his name as you stubbornly pushed through the crowd. You had to reach him somehow, so you kept on pushing through.

“Joshua, Josh!,” you cried out, waving your hands around the best you could with the painting in your hand, trying to make eye contact. But your shrill little voice was drowned by the screams of starstruck teenage girls.

Your shoulders slumped for a moment, briefly letting yourself believe you wouldn’t get to say goodbye. That he would walk away, and only God knew when he’d be back and if he would still feel what he had felt now. But, no. Not today, Y/N.

“JOSHUA HONG!” you screamed, pushing through the endless arms and elbows that blocked your way. You’d finally reached the edge of the crowd, and that’s when his head snapped back.

Realizing it was you, his eyes lit up with joy. He immediately dropped his suitcase and ran up to you, clothing your smaller hand in his, as your other hand was still occupied with holding the painting. You blocked out the endless noise, listening to only his voice and drowning in his dark eyes.

“Oh, thank God, you’re here. I’m so sorry, I’m so, so sorry,“ he kept apologizing, breathlessly, sweetly. Just like he always did.

“Don’t— Just stop apologizing and take this, just take it,” you swiftly handed him the painting, noticing how uneasy his manager looked and how riled up the fans must have been. You could literally feel their burning gazes on you.

He took it, carefully as if it was some precious gem, and smiled, “What…”

Before you could say anything else, the noise that you’d just blocked out pierced your ears once again. A pair of strong arms had grabbed you by the shoulders and started pulling you away.

“No, please wait!” Joshua urged, but you saw how his manager took him by the elbow and whispered something into his ear, leaving him with a saddened expression.

He had said something, something you couldn’t quite hear anymore because the screams of fans somehow grew louder and as the guard pulled you away, further into the back of the crowd, all you could muster was, “Goodbye.”

“Y/N! You’re not chewing again,” your mom sighed, pursing her lips and looking at you with sincerity.

That sentence made you suddenly aware that you indeed, hadn’t been chewing your carrots.

“Sorry, mom,” you mumbled as you got up to wash the dishes.

You were lost in thought once again. Day after day you couldn’t stop peeking out at your mailbox or staring at the screen of your phone. There was no sign of any communication from Joshua, not that you expected much anyway.

After the incident at the airport, you went to see Granny Hong. The two of you sat together talking, for what turned out to be a whole day.

To say that she was a little disappointed was an understatement. She loved you very much. More than anything else she wished to see you happy, and not just happy, but happy with her grandson.

It wasn’t easy seeing her after that. As you had told her it was over, you had said goodbye. He needed to get back to his world, and you to yours.

Eventually, you stopped reaching out and locked yourself in your own mental box. The perfect summer was slowly forgotten and you drowned yourself in college work.