twenty-eight || racing against the clock

✧˖*°࿐

Beomgyu was fucking bored, while also slightly terrified.

Just thinking about it, it wasn't an everyday experience to witness a close friend literally say 'oh hey! today is the day you die and i'll be the reason you do!', because, in all honesty, what the fuck?

When Huening Kai had practically said that to him, he was beyond terrified and sickened with fear, there was nothing — not even just a little bit, of sarcasm in the males tone... he really wishes there was so he wasn't on the brink of a fucking panic attack!

But now, here he was, perhaps an estimated thirty minutes later or maybe an hour, bored out of his damn mind while he waits for his unfortunate fate on the other side of the bars, just staring dimly at the chipped stone in front of him as some sort of pathetic entertainment.

"Hueeenninngggg!" Beomgyu whined loudly, leaning back on the uncomfortable metal bed. "I'm bored! Don't you think an execution is harsh? Just let me out, I served my time!"

Even with the males back facing him, he just practically feel the irritation radiating off of the young guard, oh how badly Beomgyu wishes he was turnt around so he could see his eyes twitch in annoyance, but maybe... just maybe... if he was more annoying the younger would let him go!

...or shoot an arrow in his chest, he wasn't particularly sure which fate was waiting for him.

"You won't be so bored anymore," He heard Huening Kai grumble out, the male sheathing his sword into his side. "Soon enough, in about thirty or so minutes, you'll be dancing in the clouds while your head is on a silver platter."

"Oh, I'm so honored that you think my head is pretty enough to be on a platter — a silver one at that!" Beomgyu beamed brightly, ignoring the fact the threat was a bit terrifying. "I mean, I am handsome after all, the people of the city will adore me and call me handsome even after—"

"Oh shut up will you?!"

" — Actually, instead of a silver platter, make it a gold platter, that's so fancy! Oh oh! How about a pure diamond platter? Is that possible? That has to be possible!"

Huening Kai groaned loudly, obviously fed up with all of Beomgyu's shenanigans, so for the sake of his own mental health, the young knight took off from his position in front of his cell — walking down the hallway to breathe in fresh air and maybe indulge in some silence for once.

Beomgyu couldn't hold back the small fit of giggles when he overheard Huening Kai muttering exhausted curses under his breath, but once he was finally alone, his smile had dropped into a worried thin line, eyebrows furrowing tightly as he looked over towards the window that wasn't a window... just a small hole in the wall with shabby bar cells.

Anger, frustration, and fear was coursing through him like a sickening motion, he had been tricked and fooled when he got off of that little boat he and Taehyun were on, a part of him believed that there was a chance he could mend the bad tension between him and the psychotic murderous twins who wanted him dead.

He had offered the satchel with the lame ass crown in it, ready to walk back to the boat and adore his darling princess even more in the moonlit night!

But nope! Those two fuckers done knocked him out and tied him to a boat, sending him away while Taehyun...he just hopes he's okay.

Okay, fuck, okay. Beomgyu breathed out a heavy breath, leaning his head down while he ruffled his own hair in frustration, messing up the tangled locks even more. Think, Choi, Think! What the fuck did Flynn Rider do to escape from the jail house?

A frustrated groan made its way out Beomgyu's throat, the male taking a step back to ruffle his hair up even more, he couldn't remember jack shit from the movie! An answer in plain sight that can help him escape, but the more he thought about that goddamn disney movie he's stuck in, the more his mind becomes nothing but blank!

Taehyun said the longer we're in this fairytale, the more we become like the character. Beomgyu took a step back, looking over towards the front where he saw Huening Kai talking to some guards. That explains why I have the urge to steal that shiny sword off of that brats waist.

The male inhaled a deep breath through his nose, closing his eyes to focus more on what possible actions there may be available to him in order to escape this hell hole of a jail cell.

Anxiety, he felt anxiety pooling all in his gut the longer he thought about Taehyun, he needed to find a way out now.

click!

Beomgyu's eyes shot open at the sound of a lock clicking open, his head turning towards the now opened cell door — revealing two guards (including Huening Kai) waiting for him, it made his heart drop down to his stomach, he knows what time it was now.

"Alright, pretty boy," Huening Kai spoke up in a harsh tone, seriously... did the fairytale land have to make him such an asshole? "Enough daydreaming or reminiscing about people who won't miss you, time to head to the courtyard."

"Awww!" Beomgyu cooed, still feeling a bit okay to crack jokes at this time, even when there were two aggressive knights binding his hands together behind his back. "You think i'm pretty? Aw shucks, Hyuka! You're so sweet!"

"God... so help me... if you don't shut up..."

He could barely hear the last bit of Huening Kai's sentence, which was a bit rude, but the two guards had pushed him out into the gross stone hallway — barely lit up by a few torches and pure sunlight beaming through the windows, pushing him slightly forward to force him to walk straight.

Beomgyu, becoming more irritated by the second from the harsh treatment, had clenched his jaw tightly in anger, biting back his tongue to prevent himself from saying snarky remarks — it'll only land him in a deeper death hole sentence.

With no other choice, the male began to walk forward slowly while the two guards stay by each of his side, holding onto his arms tightly as they guided him through the eerie corridors, while Huening Kai, stayed in the back to keep a close eye on the wanted criminal.

Man... why the fuck am I even here in the first place?! Beomgyu felt his anger bubbling up once more. How come in every single goddamn fairytale, one of us is on the verge of death or actually dies! It's getting fucking irritating at this point.

He knows that there's a high possibility of coming back alive, it's happened two times now, he knows that Taehyun would save him somehow if he were to die, vice versa for him as well.

But... when he passed by the window, it was like time itself had slowed down, his eyes widening in horror when he caught a glimpse of the courtyard outside, his eyes landing on a huge structure where he saw a brown rope hanging off the middle of the wooden beam. A rope in the shape of a noose.

Okay so, maybe after all he was a bit scared of death and dying.

Beomgyu slowly looked away from the window, time continuing its horrific normal pace once more, he felt that pitiful pressure of anxiety build up in his stomach once more, the realization hitting him harder than ever knowing that he's going to die if he doesn't manage to escape.

In the hands of Huening Kai as well.

The male began to look around rapidly, praying... hoping... practically begging for something, anything, to appear so he could—

Beomgyu suddenly froze in his track, the world around him becoming a blur while the two guards behind him — who were yelling at him to keep moving — had become nothing but blurry nonsense. His eyes widening when he caught glimpse of two familiar faces on the other side of the cell wall.

That's when he felt his eyebrows furrow in anger, his vision flashing red for a split second when one of those faces looked directly at him, the memories flooding in right away how those... those little fuckers...

Beomgyu's jaw clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white from how badly he was clenching them, slightly trembling when the memories of those fuckers chasing them down, making HIS Taehyun scared and afraid for his life, how those two...

...were the reason he couldn't reach him.

As if some sort of light switch had flicked off in his mind, all thoughts circulating in his head had instantly cut off — his mind a now blank canvas as his body immediately betrayed him and acted on its own.

The male pushed back against the two guards and angrily growled, using all of his force to shove the two guards away from him — slamming them against the walls harshly using his shoulder while kicking the latter down, once he was free on both sides, he quickly used that time to jump up and swing his tied up hands under him, using that chance to turn towards Huening Kai to punch the male — forcing him to stumble back.

Just for that brief second, Beomgyu took the chance to storm closer over towards the cell wall, slipping his hands between the open space and grabbed onto the collar of Xion's pathetic shirt, yanking his arms back so harshly — it made the male behind the cell bars fly forward, his body crashing into the cold metal bars, igniting a satisfying cry from the male.

"Where is he?!" Beomgyu said through his gritted teeth, a raspy growl blending in with his words as he stared at the male in front of him with full hatred. "What the fuck did you do to him?! Where is Taehyun?!"

"Agh!" Xion choked out a pained cry when Beomgyu had pulled him even closer — his skin turning slightly red from the pressure against the bars. "I-I don't know— shit!—"

"Don't fucking lie to me!" Beomgyu's hands, despite being tied up, had wrapped around the males neck, pressing tightly. "Where the fuck is he?! I know you took him! So help me if he's hurt I will kill you myself!"

His mind was a foggy mess, his vision was flashing red from how angry and frustrated he was, all alerts in his body was begging for him to kill the man who had hurt HIS love.

"I-I-" Xion choked out, underneath Beomgyu's fingers, there was a faint red ring forming there from the harsh pressure he had around him. "I-I don't know shit about your girlfriend! The old lady took him!"

Just for that split second, Beomgyu's focus had faltered — his breath hitching in his throat, which gave the guards the chance to pull him off of the male a bit too aggressively, causing him to stumble back while Dongmyeong took the opportunity to grab his brother and pull him back into the safety coven of their cell.

The old lady took him. The old lady took him. The old lady took him. The old lady took him. The old lady took him.

Those five words repeated over and over and over in his mind, each word felt like knives striking his heart over and over again, a disgusting sensation of horror and fear ran through his entire body the more they repeated.

"You damn criminal," One of the guards spat out disgustingly, he swore he felt little beads of spit fly out and hit his cheek. "I just can't wait to see your body swinging soon, damn brat!"

Beomgyu then started to panic, his overwhelming emotions taking control over him as he started to trash around begging and pleading with loud 'stop!', 'let me go!', and 'I need to save him!' while the two guards began to shove him forward, pushing down on his back to prevent him from moving even more — eventually making him give up.

Shit. He breathed in a sharp defeated breath. The old lady took Taehyun, I have to find a way to escape but...

He took a second to pause, tuning out the two guards cursing him to death; looking over his shoulder and over towards Huening Kai who was strangely quiet and... surprisingly didn't do anything to stop him from hurting Xion.

When he got a better glimpse of the males face, he swore he saw guilt appearing on his face before it returned to his usual stoic expression, staying eerily silent.

How strange.

But now he was absolutely fucked, he needed to find a way to get out of here, to escape the prison ward and find a way to get to Taehyun before it's too late. Although, he couldn't remember, there was a feeling in his gut that just screamed trouble if he left Taehyun alone.

The guard on his left side had walked a bit faster so he was now in front of him, fumbling around with the holy shit grail of keys he had in his hands before picking one from the entire collection, unlocking the wooden door with metal bars in front of him, signaling to the other guard to continue on.

Beomgyu's jaw clenched tightly, becoming more irritated by the second the longer his precious body was treated so harshly, but he couldn't help but wonder why the hell they were in some sort of small hallway with three different doors, the guard on his left fumbling with the keys once again as an impatient Huening Kai began to aggressively tap his foot against the stone flooring, making the guard even more anxious.

The male sighed tiredly, looking all over the room... oh look, outside was the same hanging post he saw earlier, and on his side in a random hole in the stone wall was a damn mini green duckling figure—

— why the FUCK was there a mini green duckling figure on there?

"S-Sir!" The puny guard from earlier spoke up. "The- the key isn't working! It won't unlock the door!"

"The fuck do you mean by that?!" Huening Kai exclaimed angrily, pushing Beomgyu to the side a bit harshly and approached the guard who was shaking.

The keys that were jingling quietly in the young guards hands were quickly snatched away by Huening Kai, who examined each and every key carefully before picking out the same one the guard had used earlier, shoving it into the doors keyhole and wiggling it around — waiting for it to open. (spoiler: it didn't open).

"What the hell?" Huening Kai huffed out, taking the key out of the small hole to examine it, searching for any flaws. "It's not supposed to do this, I'm certain that this is the key for these damn doors!"

Huening Kai's jaw clenched tightly in anger, looking up towards the door and started banging on it loudly, the harsh sound echoing all throughout the hallway as he raised his voice loudly, saying stuff along the lines of 'open this door!' or 'who is on the other side?! don't ignore orders from your captain!' so cliché.

It wasn't until a small little click had responded to Huening Kai's rage, causing everyone to pause in that very moment. The small wooden frame in the middle of the door had opened, revealing—

Haechan...?

"What's the magic word?" Haechan said in a sing-song voice, throwing everyone, especially Huening Kai off guard.

"Wh-Wha—" Huening Kai spluttered out, taken aback by the newcomer who was definitely not part of the knight squad. "You... You're not allowed to be in here! Who are you?!"

"Wow..." Haechan's mouth gaped open, as if he were astonished by the accusation, but Beomgyu could tell he was being sarcastic with his reactions. "You... really suck at this, let's try again! What's the magic word?"

"What the?! I don't have time for this! Open the damn door!"

"You're not even close man!"

"I demand you to open this door!"

"Ohh, so scary! That's not the magic word thoughhh!!"

"That's it!" Huening Kai growled angrily, his face a now bright shade of red — woah, was that smoke coming out of his ears? "Open this damn door! You have until the count of three!"

After receiving no response from Haechan, the thin string holding all of his patience together had snapped right away, causing the male to unsheathe his sword with a tight grip, preparing himself to kick down the damn door and kill Haechan on the other side.

"One!"

A soft sound of a click was made from above, which made Beomgyu immediately snap his head up towards the ceiling where he saw Renjun smiling at him, bringing a finger to his lips — a signal to stay silent.

Wait a minute...

Just before he could question what was going on, Renjun had suddenly swooped down with a rope around his waist, grabbing onto the guard on his left side and wrapped his arms around the knight who nearly yelped in shock if it wasn't for the hand covering his mouth. With another quick smile, Renjun had tugged onto the rope, sending both him and the knight back up into the ceiling — which was now covered.

...what the fuck.

"Two!" Huening Kai had grown more angrier.

Beomgyu looked over towards the other knight on his right side, whose mouth was opening and closing like a fish out of water after being stunned at what he had just witnessed, his eyes blown wide open and his finger pointing towards the ceiling then back down towards Beomgyu, gesturing if he had saw the same thing.

A lazy smile grew on the males lips as he shrugged his shoulders, tilting his head in an oh so innocent way as the guard turned towards Huening Kai, ready to alert the male before the door next to them had swung wide open — revealing Jisung who had wrapped both hands around the knights head and dragged him back harshly, causing the male to yelp out loudly before the door slammed closed.

"...Three...?" Huening Kai slowly said, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he slowly turned around to face Beomgyu who was... alone?

"What the?!" He exclaimed angrily, looking around for the two knights who disappeared then over back towards Beomgyu who stood there smiling. "Where the fuck did they—"

SMACK!

With a loud thud, Huening Kai had fallen to the floor completely unconscious which made Beomgyu flinch back in shock, his eyes widening before he looked up towards the door that was now open, far too distracted to see it ever open at all.

Instead of Haechan on the other side, there stood Taeyong with a snarky smile plastered on his face while a frying pan was in his hand.

It just had to be him, huh?

"Wow!" Beomgyu strained out, a fake little smile growing on his face to hide his irritation, he still hadn't forgotten about that damn hug he shared with Taehyun. "Frying pans! Amazing, who knew?"

"Always getting yourself in sticky situations, criminal." Taeyong tsked, stepping over Huening Kai's unconscious body. "Let's go, we have to get you to the front gate, Soobin is there waiting for you."

An overwhelming sensation began to grow in his heart when Beomgyu realized that Taeyong and his whole Neo-citrusy duckling crew had came to the prison to save him from being executed, oh gosh... he's so happy right now he might cry—

"Can you stop smiling so creepily? Maybe we should've let you get executed."

Nevermind, he takes back all of the kind words he said about Taeyong.

BANG! BANG!

"Knock the door down!"

"That criminal is escaping!"

"Hurry! Capture him!"

"Save the captain!"

The door behind the male began to creak loudly, signaling that it was near damn close to breaking down because of the multiple knights outside, just how did they manage to alert the whole prison unit?

"Shit, we have to go now!"

Taeyong didn't even give Beomgyu the chance to fully comprehend what the hell was happening at the moment, only grabbing the male by the elbow and sprinting out of the hallway right in time as the door behind them broke down, revealing a whole group of palace guards ready to attack — some staying behind to aid Huening Kai who was slowly regaining consciousness.

"So- so do you have a plan or something?!" Beomgyu frantically said, looking over his shoulder to see the amount of guards after him! Wow... they want him so bad! He's so handsome after all!

"Keep running straight then turn right into the courtyard!" Taeyong shouted, punching a guard who tried to jump him to slow him down. "You'll see Johnny and Ten, go follow them! I'll buy you time!"

Beomgyu nodded his head and shouted a 'thank you' with full gratitude in his voice, pushing himself to run faster while Taeyong slowed down and unsheathed his sword — running back to fight the remaining guards to buy him more time.

Never in his entire life would he ever imagine that he, Choi Beomgyu, most handsome member and president of the council team would be running for his goddamn life with an execution and bounty order above his head! Shit! His legs hurt so much!

"Stop right there!"

God! Why couldn't I get the princess side of the fairytale?! Beomgyu nearly cried out, taking a sharp right which almost had him stumbling onto the floor. Can't we get one fairytale where it's all nice and normal with no villains or running from death?!

"Hey! Criminal boy!" A voice called out from not so far away, causing him to look up as his eyes immediately landed on Johnny waving him down from down the hallway. "Over here! Hurry y'ass up!"

Beomgyu suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, this wasn't the right kind of situation to be having an attitude, plus these guys were kinda saving his life so he had to oblige with whatever they said!

The male ran even faster than before, approaching Johnny who immediately wrapped his hand around his wrist and started dragging him along like he was a sack of nothing! What made it even worse was that the male was a faster runner than him, so the pain in his legs ached even more from straining them so hard to catch up.

The clock was ticking loudly, with every passing second it became more suffocating than ever, he was racing against time and fate to save Taehyun; the boy he loves.

Soon enough, both of them stumbled into a random open space, just in front of them was another entrance leading down a long hallway where the main entrance was — where Soobin was!

"Capture them!"

Beomgyu's eyes shot over towards one of the stairwells leading down to the courtyard, his breath hitching when he saw a whole army of guards swarming down the stairs along with some blocking the only entrance to the main gates, which meant they were trapped!

"Alright, plan B!" Johnny said, quickly dragging Beomgyu over towards something. "Now listen to me!"

Beomgyu nodded his head confidently, ready to do whatever he wanted him to do.

"Head down!" Johnny instructed, which a bit weird considering the situation they were in.

Beomgyu hesitantly followed the males words, leaning his head down slightly. "Head down!"

"Arms in!"

"A...Arms in!" He stuttered in confusion, bringing his arms close to himself.

"Knees apart!"

"Knees apart??" Beomgyu repeated with obvious confusion this time — turning to look over towards Johnny who quickly stepped away.

Just before he could ask what the fuck the male was planning, a loud 'Beomgyu!' from behind where he stood, causing him to quickly snap his head behind and look up where he saw both Ten and Jaemin waving directly towards him, causing his eyes to widen when he realized he was on a damn wooden platform!

"Wait! wait wait we can think of another- AAAAHHHH!"

The two men jumped down onto the other side of the wooden platform, forcing the side Beomgyu was standing on to shoot right up — the force causing the male to shoot up high into the sky like a catapult!

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" Beomgyu screamed in horror, squeezing his eyes shut and straining all of his muscles to maintain the pose he was forced to be in.

This was it, now he's really done it, he's going to die and it'll be his stupid fault for following a bunch of damn thugs hoping they would save him! Now there it was, the sickening stomach dropping sensation growing inside of him as he flipped around and began to fall down down down onto the hard, rough, stone —

— saddle...?

Beomgyu's eyes immediately shot open when he felt himself sitting on a damn saddle, looking around before he looked down in front of him to see Soobin smiling at him with his gross horse teeth and all!

"Soobin?! You- you came to save me?!"

"Yeonjun and I saw what happened, we went to alert the Neo-Citrusy duckling gang while Yeonjun made his way back to the tower to find Taehyun!"

Something inside of Beomgyu's heart squeezed with happiness knowing that Soobin had organized this whole thing, a fond smile growing on his lips as he shook his head and nodded, so fucking happy.

"Thank you..." He said softly, a bit too soft in fact. "I feel like... this entire time... maybe we both were just misunderstanding—"

Soobin gave him a disgusted look.

"Mmm," Beomgyu smacked his lips, brushing off whatever sentimental shit he had in his mind. "You're right, let's go to Taehyun!"

Beomgyu grabbed onto the reigns and rolled his shoulders, preparing himself to flick it hard so Soobin would take aim, preparing himself as he—

"Stop right there!"

Just before he could do anything, a hand had grabbed onto the back of his hair and shoved him off of Soobin harshly, the poor horse crying out as it was pushed away while Beomgyu was thrown onto the ground — being pinned down by the shoulders by two large hands.

"What- what the?!" Beomgyu hissed in pain, his eyes squinting up to see who had pushed him - oh fuck, of course it was damn HUENING KAI.

"Huening Kai!" Beomgyu strained angrily, where the fuck did this dude come from. "Let me go! Please! I swear— I need to go save him—"

"I've had enough of your bullshit!" Huening Kai reciprocated that same anger, his arms thrashing around while his knees pinned the males legs down. "I am not letting you escape on me again! You are ordered to be executed! I don't care if it has to be by me!"

The male soon took out his shiny sword and pressed it right against Beomgyu's neck — forcing the male to instantly freeze up in fear that any small movement would make his life end right there.

This can't happen. Beomgyu began to slowly panic, looking over towards Soobin who cried out loudly, being pushed back by two guards. This can't happen like this, no- no no no no!

"Please," Beomgyu said desperately this time, making direct eye contact with the younger above him. "You don't understand, I have to save Taehyun, he's- he's the lost prince and... and if I lose him then-"

"...if I lose him... that's worse than death itself."

Some type of emotion had flashed all over Huening Kai's face, his grip on the sword had faltered. Before he knew it, that cold metallic sharp feeling being pressed against Beomgyu's throat had disappeared — his eyes widening when the younger had pushed himself off of his body.

"Go."

It felt unreal, honestly.

Beomgyu immediately stumbled up, his mouth trembling to say the words that began to build up in his throat, but before he could even say any of them, Huening Kai had given him a look that just screamed 'hurry up and go before I change my mind', which made him nod in gratitude before he ran over towards Soobin who was now free.

"Alright," Beomgyu breathed out, hoisting himself up and sitting down on the saddle. "Okay Soobin."

"Let's see how fast you really are."

✧˖*°࿐

Beomgyu huffed out an exhausted breath, his eyes flickering up towards the sky where dark clouds began to roll in, the beautiful bright sun now being covered by those angry storm clouds as the whole atmosphere began to dim down — becoming more gloomy by the second.

But that didn't stop him at all, no shitty weather will stop him from getting back to Taehyun.

It had taken a total of ten minutes for Soobin to run out of the kingdom and then into the woods, with Beomgyu giving some shit instructions with his bad memory on where the tower was located, the two of them eventually began to race down a path that slowly became familiar.

"Turn left, Soobin!"

Soobin huffed loudly and took a sharp left, causing Beomgyu to nearly fly off the saddle — but he didn't care, what mattered most to him was making sure that Taehyun was okay, please let him be okay.

It didn't take long for that familiar cave entrance covered by vines to come into view, his eyes widening as he flicked the reigns even harder this time, a signal for Soobin to head straight into the hidden entrance.

Anxiety was pooling inside of his stomach, unconsciously biting his chapped lips until they were nearly bleeding the closer they approached the vine entrance. Raising his arms up to cover his face as they passed right through the vines, he could feel his stomach drop at the sight of the tower in the dull gray light.

"Alright, stop right here Soobin!"

Soobin huffed and nodded his head, coming to a brief stop near the tower as Beomgyu stumbled off of him, his gut began to twist in a sickening way — something was wrong.

He brought his hands up to his face and cupped it around his mouth, his heart racing by the second, this wasn't good at all.

"Taehyun!" He shouted loudly, leaning forward so his voice would echo more loudly. "Taehyun, let down your hair!"

Beomgyu began to shift around on his feet anxiously after a few minutes of radio silence, constantly looking up or listening closely for any signs of Taehyun from within the tower, yet there was nothing at all.

Shit shit shit shit shit! He began to grab at his hair in stress, panting out heavily as the panic began to really set in while a boiling anger slowly began to rise as well.

"Taehyun!" He called out again, this time with a bit of anger laced in his tone. "Let down your hair, now!"

After a few more minutes of more silence, the male groaned out angrily. He had no other choice but to climb the damn tower like he did in the beginning of the fairytale.

Looking over towards Soobin, the male rushed over and asked if the horse had any sorts of sharp objects on him, but after receiving nothing but a disappointing answer — he had no choice to use his damn hands.

It was pure adrenaline at this point, the male grabbing onto stones that were propped out from the towers exterior while gritting his teeth in pain, when one of his hands slipped on the harsh stone, receiving a small cut, yet that barely stopped him from ascending up the tower.

Once his hands gripped around the wooden windowsill, the male heaved himself up and ignored the tight pain in his arms as he did. Pulling himself upwards until he brought his knees up onto the platform and heaved heavily, pushing the wooden covers open.

Right then and there, his heart had shattered into millions of pieces at the sight he had seen.

"T-Taehyun!"

The room that was once filled with bright lights and beautiful murals all around, radiating that sunshine like feeling had dulled down into a room full of darkness and horror. Every single window was locked shut along with the murals painted all around covered by black sheets, on the floor was a mirror that was on the ground; shattered.

Pieces of broken mirror shards were scattered all along the stone floor, signifying that there was definitely a fight going on. It was sickening, so sickening that he felt like he was about to puke from how the life inside of the once colorful tower had been drained to something horrific.

The sound of... chains... clattering caught Beomgyu's attention, snapping his head towards the direction where it came from.

There in the center was Taehyun, kneeling down on the floor as muffled screams were heard because a damn white cloth was tied around the males mouth, the cloth was wrapped around the males mouth so tightly he could see the faint red marks from where he was.

But what made Beomgyu even more angry were the metal chains pinning the male to the ground, the younger's hands tied behind his back as he thrashed around rapidly — trying his best to get to where Beomgyu was.

Oh, he was definitely going to kill that old lady witch.

"Taehyun! Shit!" Beomgyu gasped out, throwing his legs over the platform and into the tower, quickly rushing over towards the younger. "Hey! It's okay- calm down! You'll hurt yourself!"

Beomgyu grabbed onto the younger's shoulder as his other hand quickly untied the white cloth, ripping it off the moment it was loose as a loud sharp gasp was heard from the male who was panting heavily.

"Beomgyu!" Taehyun strained out, his voice slightly raspy as if he spent hours screaming for help. "You- you... what are you doing here?! You can't be here!"

"Would you rather be stuck here forever or what?!" Beomgyu scoffed moving to the side so he could fumble with the metal cuffs around the younger's wrist, his heart hurting by the second when he saw the damage. "I came to save you, a thank you kiss would be nice!"

"You have to hide or... or leave!" Taehyun panted out desperately, looking over towards the elder. "Ms. Yoo could be back at any second and she's- she's gonna hurt you!"

"I'd rather get hurt than not save you!" Beomgyu argued back, looking at the male with a frustrated expression on his face.

"You're so fucking stubborn I swear! Why did you even leave the boat?! If we just went back to Soobin then we wouldn't be going through this!"

"I was trying to be a good civilian and return the stolen crown to those psychopathic twins!" Beomgyu explained, his anger bubbling ever so slightly, but it was the heat of the moment! "Instead, I was tricked and they knocked me out... now tell me why you're back here?!"

"Because I went to go look for you, idiot!" Taehyun said before hissing loudly when the elder had pulled too hard on the cuffs. "I knew the moment you didn't come back then something went wrong- I-I went to go find you then Ms. Yoo got me!"

Beomgyu couldn't help but feel a bit more angry, but not at Taehyun, more at himself. He felt like a damn idiot, why would he ever try to mend something that's broken? Ugh! If only he could reverse time.

"Then she knocked me unconscious," Taehyun's voice began to waver. "Next thing I knew, I woke up in this damn tower chained to this floor and- and..."

Beomgyu could hear the hesitance in the males voice, along with how fear and sadness was written all over his face, it made his heart hurt so much... he wanted to slap himself for not arriving sooner.

Leaning back, Beomgyu shuffled a little so he was now kneeling in front of Taehyun whose head was tilted down, refusing to look at the elder.

"She..." His voice cracked slightly, as if he were on the verge of tears. "She had told me that you were sent to the prison, that you were executed and that- that nobody would come save me... I'd be stuck here with her forever."

Something inside of Beomgyu had broke down when he heard those words, his heart shattering even more than before as he stared at the male in front of him; weak and exhausted.

His anger began to boil even more, how dare Ms. Yoo put those words into his Taehyun's mind? There's no way that would ever happen, not even in a billion years would Beomgyu ever let that happen!

"Hey, Tyun-ah," Beomgyu kept his tone at a calm level, but he was so close to screaming his lungs out. "Look at me, beautiful, please look at me."

Taehyun exhaled a shaky breath, slowly tilting his head up to look at the male, his eyes brimming with tears as a sorrowful expression was on his face. It made Beomgyu sick to his stomach, there should be happiness on his face — not sadness.

"I'm here," Beomgyu breathed out, gently cupping his hands on his face, leaning forward. "I'm here and I'm alive. I'm here to save you, okay? Remember what we said to each other? No matter what happens..."

"...We'll escape together."

Taehyun stared at the male for a few seconds before a gentle smile grew on his lips, the male nodding his head before looking away. "Yeah, yeah, together... we'll escape together."

Beomgyu smiled warmly, happy he could bring back that sweet gentle smile on the males face once more, but he began to look around as a weird gut feeling began to build inside of his stomach, something still wasn't right.

"Taehyun..." He slowly said, looking down towards the male. "Where is Ms. Yoo?"

"I-I don't know," Taehyun admitted truthfully while Beomgyu began to mess with the cuffs more. "She had left a long time ago, she said something about... getting more materials for the long trip we'll take. I-I don't know when she will be back!"

Beomgyu felt like that wasn't right, but he decided not to comment on it, only messing with the cuffs more until a green blob had began to move closer to him in the corner of his eye, his head turning towards that direction to see Yeonjun rushing over towards him with a key in his mouth.

"Hey! It's the frog!" Beomgyu beamed brightly, holding his hand out. "Thanks for the key, where'd ya find it?"

"For the last time!" Yeonjun squeaked angrily, turning a bright shade of red. "I'm a chameleon! Also, you're just damn blind! It was under the carpet!"

"Yeah yeah whatever, why don't you jump down the tower? I'm sure Soobin will catch you!"

"Hey!"

Beomgyu ignored the rest of the loud squeaks coming from Yeonjun and placed all of his focus onto Taehyun, inserting the key into the keyhole and twisting it around until a loud click ignited — the cuffs falling onto the ground as the younger quickly rubbed his wrists to ease the pain.

"Beomgyu hyung," Taehyun breathed out, looking up towards the male. "The happily ever after, we still have to find out what it was. It wasn't the lanterns, so what could possibly be the ending?"

Beomgyu furrowed his eyebrows and began to think hard about what the possible happily ever after could be while gently wrapping one hand around the younger's wrist and the other around his waist, guiding them both back up onto their feet.

He took that moment to dig deep into his memories, everything outside of the fairytale life a total blur but he concentrated hard, trying his best to think of what the happily ever could be.

After a few minutes, an idea finally clicked.

"Taehyun!" Beomgyu gasped out, looking over towards the male who was soothing out his hair anxiously. "I think I have an idea!"

"Oh, great!" Taehyun smiled sarcastically. "So like... you gonna say something about that idea or just have a little 'huzzah!' moment?"

"Obviously I was going to explain it, idiot!"

"Then continue on!"

"Alright," Beomgyu said, nodding his head while the two of them walked towards the open window. "So at the end of the movie... I... I can barely remember, but I think Rapunzel reunites with the queen and king; her parents!"

Right away, Beomgyu's idea began to snap in Taehyun's mind, the male gasping in shock as he continued on. "So that means... We'll have to go back to the kingdom together and reunite with them to achieve the happily ever after!"

"That's right! Aren't we so smart, darling?"

Taehyun huffed in annoyance, ignoring the way his heart had skipped a beat but regardless, he nodded his head while picking up Yeonjun and gently placing him on his shoulder.

"Alright, let's go! We have no time to waste and I would love it if we could go to the next fairytale, the last fairytale."

Something inside of Taehyun began to fill with anxiety when Beomgyu had mentioned that the next fairytale would be their last, he wasn't sure why he was so anxious about it... he should be happy right? They can finally go home!

But maybe...

...never mind.

"You think you can bring us both down safely?" Beomgyu asked, getting on top of the windowsill and gently pulled the male up who smiled brightly.

Taehyun grabbed all of his hair and threw it around the giant hook out the window, looking over towards the elder who was still impressed with his magical hair.

"Just leave it to me, hyung!"

✧˖*°࿐

"Then, I ran down the hallway before Huening Kai was knocked out by a frying pan! It was crazy!"

The both of them were on the way back to the kingdom, but this time, with Soobin and Yeonjun by their side once again.

After the whole tower ordeal, the both of them agreed that they needed just a little bit to cool down and relax since that whole thing was dramatic while also exhausting, he never wants to experience that type of pain and discomfort ever again.

So while on the road, Beomgyu had been yapping away, retelling his experience on how he managed to escape the prison unit and that he was able to make Huening Kai be nice again.

In all honesty, Taehyun was barely paying attention to the elders words.

There was something... weird about this whole entire thing, a weird feeling that swirled around in his guts that something wasn't right, they had managed to escape the tower but... it wasn't supposed to go that way... right?

This whole entire time, ever since Ms. Yoo had left the tower to go get more supplies, there was that uncomfortable anxious feeling that just wouldn't go away... no matter how hard he tried to make it go.

He had Beomgyu now, safe and sound by his side, the both of them were just a few more steps away from the happily ever after... so why does it feel... strange...?

"And then, they told me "head down, arms in, and knees apart!", which was really crazy Tyun! You should've seen it, they launched me in the air!"

Taehyun hummed softly, just so that it seemed like he was acknowledging the words that Beomgyu had said.

It was all... too weird, too strange, too... abnormal.

Maybe it was the horrific thoughts that Ms. Yoo put in his mind or the overwhelming emotions that piled up when he was desperately trying to escape the shackles he was bounded to.

But something just didn't feel right at all, like they were missing an important key in this fairytale, that they had missed something... but he just couldn't remember at all what it was.

Taehyun looked down towards the ground, a frown growing on his lips the longer he thought about it, just what was going on that made things seem so... wrong...?

"Then, when I landed on Soobin, and convinced Huening Kai that we had to go save you! He let me go! I think he likes me now!"

A part of Taehyun just wanted to tell Beomgyu to shut up, but he knew his weak heart couldn't muster up the words anymore. It used to be so easy to just tell the elder to stay quiet or shut up, but now... he could barely bring himself to say it, because he knew it would hurt him.

I just don't understand. Taehyun softly inhaled a deep breath, trying to focus and get his mind thinking straight. Why the hell do I feel so... so weird? There's nothing wrong...

I escaped the tower, we saw the floating lights, I'm going to reunite with my royal parents who aren't really my parents... so why does... everything feel so wrong?

Had they missed something? Had they been too quick with this whole entire fairytale life? It's been three days, three quick days inside of the Tangled fairytale which was way shorter than the last three, so... things were supposed to be fine?

Maybe it's just his anxiety messing with him.

Taehyun continued walking forward mindlessly, his eyes staying glued to the ground as only the sounds of leaves crunching and the soft pats of his footsteps echoed out.

Yeah, maybe it was just his anxiety this whole time, nothing was going to go wrong anymore.

whoosh!

Taehyun paused for a brief second when he heard the faint sound of something soaring through the air, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion before he slowly continued walking on, every thing is making him so jumpy.

It was probably the wind, a leaf blowing by, since it was so dark out and that the wind was slowly picking up. Yeah, it was the wind.

A horrifying sensation exploded within Taehyun's stomach out of no where, bringing the male to a pause — standing there with his eyes wide open when he realized something.

For the past few minutes, Beomgyu hadn't talked at all.

Taehyun felt horrified, he knew that the story the elder was telling was no where near finished, he wanted to just slap himself and say that it was his anxiety messing with him, but everything slowly began to crash down onto him when he realized another thing.

He had only heard his own footsteps for the past few minutes.

No. no. no no no no no.

That twisted gut feeling began to become worse by the second, his eyes widening in horror as his breath was shaky, slowly turning his head around to look back behind him.

"Sh-Shit... Taehyun..."

Taehyun wanted to scream in horror, he wanted to collapse onto the ground and gauge his eyes out until he finally woke up from this horrible nightmare.

He should've known that something was bound to go wrong, he should've known that they really had missed something — that escaping the tower, escaping Ms. Yoo, would not have been that easy.

Once he fully turned around, he froze in pure horror at the sight in front of him.

There stood Beomgyu, standing there in front of him with shock written all over his face — yet the color in his face began to pale rapidly as a crimson red liquid began to stain the elders shirt.

Taehyun's eyes slowly glanced down towards the elders abdomen, nearly about to collapse onto the ground and scream in horror at what he saw.

There was a sharp arrow, big as a large stick, piercing right through Beomgyu's abdomen.

✧˖*°࿐