Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[MC POV]

“I’m tired” I whispered to Jaehee behind the counter as I buried myself in my school books. Jaehee did her best to console me and gave me a quiet environment, being her cafe, and plenty of coffee to drink after having constant all nighters trying to finish my literature report and history report.

“Well, I was like you once; but then there is the joy of java.” Jaehee giggled as she refilled my mug. “You’ve been coming in a lot lately, and we’ve barely gotten to see you at all. Only on the messenger do we ever hear from you. I feel very privileged to even get to see you once or twice a week here in the cafe.” Jaehee turned around and started to clean up dirty mugs.

Yawning I looked up at Jaehee and shrugged. “I can barely handle a social life when you’re trying to understand the history of Parisian at the same time while reading the ‘great works’ of Victor Hugo.” I sighed heavily and hit my head on the table.

Jaehee gasped and stared at me with shock as I said the last couple parts. “Victor Hugo? Like the great french author of Les Miserables and Notre Dame de Paris? How could you sigh like that to a great author like Victor Hugo?”

Lifting my head I sigh heavily. “Why are you suddenly so interested?” My eyes widened as a thought came to me. “Wait, Jaehee, do you know about Victor Hugo? Please, oh my goodness please I beg you tell me what he was trying to teach other than… suffering people and ancient architecture.”

She stared at me longer and put her hands on her hips. “I can’t believe it. You don’t even understand it that well do you? You know Zen was in a Seoul production of Les Miserables, and that’s what got me into his works so much in the first place.” Jaehee cupped her cheeks and sighed then grabbed her phone pulling out pictures of Zen in dirtied clothes and wearing french revolutionary clothes. “It truly was a great production, but it was sold out and I couldn’t make it.” For a second I thought Jaehee was about to cry.

“Hey, hey, it's okay. I get it. Zen’s a great actor, he’s beautiful, and he sings like the greatest angels that ever graced the ears of god, now…” I grabbed Jaehee’s hands and stared directly into her eyes. “Victor Hugo. Tell me.”

Blinking, she smiled and then looked down at my books. “Well what do you already know, MC?”

“Nothing much but from the lectures I have been able to drag myself to.” I sipped my coffee then placed it down. “But from what I remember… he was basically a revolutionary author and brought a bunch of attention to the architecture of Paris… especially the gothic cathedrals. Like he was some sort of inspiration for the whole cathedral to not be demolished by the public or something like that?” I said while my thumbs began to play with the rim of my mug.

“Not bad, but not fully on the nose either. While most things have been diluted by things like Disney, or other companies that try to rewrite his work, it ends up getting washed up from the true meaning. Perhaps Luciel knows more about the cathedral business… and maybe… well.” There was a strange look in Jaehee’s eyes. Like some sort of idea blooming and becoming greater and greater, and her eyes looked so large, I thought I would have to catch them.

“Are you oka-”

“A play!” She interrupted me.

“Excuse me?”

“Okay, well you know how I just said there are bunch of things that can change up the way the actual stories are meant to be. What if I immersed you into a play-like-structure of one of his works? We could get the help of the members since they haven’t seen you in a really long time!” She was practically squealing with delight at this moment.

“Wait Jaehee… This is a big idea! I highly doubt anyone will want to take part in something like a stage play. Especially some of these works that already have stage plays. I’ve read most of them already! They always have romance and end in tragedy!”

“Well MC, then you know that maybe this could possibly be the best way. Zen did say he had a great sense of empathy when he was in Les Miserables. He even went as far to study the French revolution!”

“God, please stop talking about the revolution. My brain hurts so much.” I complained.

“You also need a way to study and not over strain yourself.” There was a glint in her eyes as she said this.

“W-What… well… I…” It was really hard to argue when she said that. I’ve been barely doing anything for myself in regards of freetime, and this might be a good chance just to study and hang out with my friends that I haven’t seen in so long.

At last I finally sigh and take a long sip of my coffee. “Fine. Do it. Well… We can try it. My finals are in a couple weeks. If I don’t understand at least one of his novels and write a full report, my GPA is done for. Jaehee smiled and pulled her phone up and began tapping on it like fire. I began to feel my phone buzzing. She was using the messenger clearly.

“That should do it.” She laughed and then grabbed my literature book. “Now which one?” Shaking my head I sip my coffee once more. “Whichever one could be easier to write about and has enough characters for us all I suppose?”

“Oh, that would be this one then.” She pointed at the page I was hoping she wouldn’t.

Notre Dame de Paris. The story about the hopeless romantic deformed man trapped in the cathedral, a priest experiencing love for the first time, and a womanizing soldier.

“What could possibly go wrong.” I said as I looked at her. These would be the words I will always regret.

~~

Two days later I was able to come to an address Zen had sent out to everyone. Apparently the studio he usually practices his shows at was empty for the weekend, so he got us in. We all sat in the front row looking at a stage in front and wondered what was possibly going to happen. How much did Jaehee tell them exactly?

“Uhm… Jaehee?” I looked at her as she started writing things on a clipboard and looking from her phone to the board.

“Mmhmm Yes?” She looked like she was in complete secretary mode. I almost feared it. Zen appeared behind the red curtain and smiled at us and bent down to talk to us.

“So MC, its so wonderful you’ve finally taken an interest in the world of the stage! Jaehee said you had show you wanted us to look at.” Looking into his crimson eyes, I blinked a few times before looking back at Jaehee who was nodding.

“What is the play we are looking at my dear?” He grinned and I felt as if my entire body heated up. God, I forgot how beautiful he was.

“R-Right uhm… I thought Jaehee told everyone?” I said looking around a bit frantically.

“Miss Kang has said nothing but to come to this address and discuss with you your literature issues. But apparently we are turning it a play if I heard Zen correctly.” A lower voice boomed as it started to approach from the back of the theater. Jumin arrived and looked quite peeved. He appeared like he obviously has other things he wants to do at the moment.

“Jumin you don’t have to be here if you don’t want to you know.” I said quietly.

“I haven’t gotten to spend time with everyone in weeks, and I needed a good reason to get out of the office. This is simply recreational, and it also makes me happy to see you again. Not cluttered up in a library. You worry me sometimes MC.” Jumin sounded so concerned, I couldn’t help but smile joyously. I did miss his company as well.

“Jumin don’t just walk away like that! I asked for you to help me with a ride, but not abandon me in the car!” A recognizable voice soon followed Jumin’s. “We’re all supposed to be here!” Yoosung jumped into the theater and looked upset, but once looking at me he jumped and hugged me tightly.

“Thank goodness you’re alive! I thought the university ate you and wouldn’t spit you back out unless someone saved you! I would have done it you know!” He’s still cute as ever. Hugging him back I smile at him. “Good to see you too Yoosung. I’m fine! But I’m certain you can save me on LOLOL.” I laughed at him and hugged him again.

“Well that creates a small cast… we’re just missing a couple more faces.” Zen started. “I’m surprised Luciel hasn’t showed up yet, he usually is really excited to do something like this.”

“But what about Saeran?” Yoosung said as he stood up straight and a little frightened.

“I agree with Yoosung, what about the Choi twin? He doesn’t seem to be the kind to be interested in literature or the fine arts.”

“Nonsense. He may have just been saved from Magenta, but he did appreciate things other than just his computer books and flowers.” A softer voice came from the curtain and V appeared. “Hey everyone. I hope I can also take part in this.” His smile was innocent and I couldn’t help but wave happily at V.

Both V and Saeran escaped Magenta with their lives before it fell to the ground and was attacked from the inside. Rika was no longer stable, and after the infiltration into mint eye, we were able to see her true nature. But she chose her precious paradise over living in a world where she can’t manipulate anyone anymore. It’s been difficult for anyone who she’s had a great impact on, especially Saeran and V who spent a lot of time with Rika. They are in a delicate place I don’t really want to disturb, but at the same time I desire more than anything to be more apart of their lives and make sure that they are alright. The whole ordeal was humongous for us all, but still there is part of us all where we all choose to remain quiet and forget it as much as we can. Let the past die, Saeran would say.

“Jihyun… It’s good to see you out of your dark apartment.” Jumin said softly. Yoosung agreed and nodded.

“Good to see you too Jumin.” V shoved his hands into his pockets and jumped off the stage and stood beside me. “Now please, what are we looking into as a subject for literature?”

“I hacked into MC’s phone and checked her browser history before we even arrived. She seemed to have been looking up a lot of Victor Hugo’s works so I’m assuming Les Miserables right?” A cheery voice came in from the back of the theater and Luciel and another figure stood beside him. The figure was hooded and seemed to stick to the shadows.

“Hey, that's an invasion of privacy god seven!” I shouted with a sense of laughter.

“It is not; unless I know I don’t want to waste my time! I’m as busy as the next Jumin Han!” Luciel ran over and picked me up and spun me around happily. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Luciel. I’m happy to be able to be in the company of my friends again. I look behind him and see the hooded figure approaching quietly.

“Saeran?” I say as I step closer to him. The figure removed his hood and I could see the red hair and mint eyes that told me it was the twin.

“Hey princess…” He smirked and then looked down.

“Still calling me that?” I asked as I reached for his hand and began to bring him closer to everyone.

“You always will remain so.” He said softly. Saeran claimed that he was the first to see me before anyone, but I still cherish him like anyone else here.

Jaehee finally looked up from her clipboard and shouted at Saeyoung. “Luciel, you are correct. We are working on something regarding Victor Hugo.”

“Fantastic! I know everything from Les Miserables already. I can give you all a one man show!” Zen said as he enthusiastically pretended to wave a flag.

“Actually Zen, we aren’t going to work on something you’ve already done. We want to do something we all can learn from.”

“Shit.” Saeran said quietly.

“Bro, whats up?” Saeyoung turned his head to look at him as he began to sigh heavily.

“If it’s not Les Miserables… I have a guess.” Everyone’s eyes were on Saeran as he walked over to Yoosung and punched him in the back of the shoulder causing Yoosung to hunch over and cry out.

“Ah- Why?!” The poor blonde boy looked up at Saeran while clutching his right shoulder.

“Because... everything is on fire because of some guys raging boner and he doesn’t know how to handle it.” Saeran looked at me and then at Jaehee. “Am I correct?”

Nodding, I laugh at how Saeran was quick to understand, but then I begin to pat Yoosung to console the pain he was suddenly brought upon. An interesting way to demonstrate, but still unnecessary.

“Is he perhaps referencing the Phantom of the Opera?” V said looking at Yoosung and thinking about what Saeran just said.

“Sorry V… Same premesie… Different deformity.” Jaehee said crossing her arms.

“Wait what? There is another deformity than the Phantom of the Opera?” Yoosung said still clutching his shoulder. “But.. there was a lot of fire in that one. Didn’t a lot of-”

“You’re all hurting my brain. Please be quiet.” Saeran said as he stood next to Jaehee and looked at her clipboard. “I knew I was right.” Saeran looked at his twin and gave a strange look. “I can’t believe you thought Victor Hugo wrote Phantom of the Opera…. It was a french author originally, but not the same one.” Saeran threw the clipboard to his twin who caught it flawlessly.

“Hmmm yes lets see here. Oh my… Yes yes I see now. I knew my ‘hunch’ was correct when Saeran punched poor Yoosung in his shoulder and said what he said.” Laughing, Saeyoung ran to the top of the stage and then hunched himself over and began to walk across the stage screaming “Sanctuary” repeatedly.

Shaking his head Saeran nodded and pointed at him. “Yep. You make a perfect half formed stupid brother.”

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Saeran and Saeyoung broke everything down in front of everyone, and then Jumin’s eyes widened. “Oh… You mean. The novel he wrote regarding the cathedral right? I thought it to be a beautiful novel regarding architecture, I didn’t know there was a deformed character in it.”

“Oh that one? But wait, what do you mean you didn’t know there was deformed character in it Jumin? It clearly says there is a man who is basically a beast because he has a hunch and is deformed greatly in his face.” Jihyun laughed. “It’s like you to look over the basic plot I guess.”

Jaehee nodded and shushed everyone. “Yes, yes, you all get it I guess. We are doing Notre Dame de Paris.”

“Notre what?” Yoosung said as he shook his head. “I thought it was called the Hunchback of Notre Dame?”

“It is Yoosung, but that’s the english name translated from french! It’s originally called Notre Dame de Paris. You don’t see people calling Les Miserables the Miserable ones right?” Zen said as he sat at the edge of the stage and laughed to himself.

“I can’t speak french though…” Yoosung said.

“You won’t be.” Jaehee said as she clarified. “You’ll be speaking the script the lines that I found for you all.”

“What?” I interrupt everyone's discussion. “Jaehee, you found a script of Notre Dame de Paris?”

“Of course I did. I did my research. This script is considered to be the most accurate to the novel there is.” Jaehee said smiling grabbing her clipboard back from Luciel who was still clomping around the stage like a hunchback. “It will become the RFA’s version of Notre Dame de Paris. And it will be everything only you need to know MC.”

I understood what Jaehee was trying to do now. The play was a learning device while also being able to spend time with everyone after everything that’s happened recently. It’s an escape to another world and another time. And more than anything I was willing to fall into right now just to be able to be with them all.

“Alright then. What did you have in idea for a cast then Jaehee my dear?” Zen said as he took a peak at her clipboard. “I’m hoping you didn’t cast me as the lead… I would much rather be a minor character.”

“That’s very humble of you to say Hyun… I would have expected you to want the soldier's role more than anything.” Jumin said rubbing his chin.

“I agree, I thought Zen would make the ideal role of a Phoebus sort of character.” V added along to Jumin.

“I will cast you how MC wants you to be cast. She hasn’t done anything yet. I’m leaving this all to her.” Jaehee said as she handed me the clipboard. I looked at it and there were stage sketches, and scene sketches, I was amazed. How late was she up last night. Zen grabbed my hand and helped me up onto the stage so I could take the role as a director. Looking at everyone I blinked a few times and tried to remember the characters from the novel.

Yoosung smiled at me and then jumped up onto stage putting his hands on his hips. “I will volunteer to be the soldier Phoebe!” Staring at him I couldn’t help but start laughing since he said the name wrong. Saeyoung who was still on stage came next to him and then started dancing around him.

“Ah yes yes, let me be the pure virgin and main beauty, la Esmeralda!” Saeyoung said as he began to dance a little erotically. Saeran facepalmed and jumped up behind him. “I forbid it. You’re more like a Clopin.”

Nodding at Saeran’s suggestion, I walked over to them and grabbed Saeyoung’s clapping hands. “You’re brother is right. You would make an amazing king of thieves.” The red head looked at me and smiled brightly. “I’ll steal your heart after picking the pockets of Paris.” Blushing, I let out a nervous laugh as I right down Saeyoung’s name and then Clopin's.

Saeran looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “Need help casting? I’m assuming you didn’t really read much, and Jumin read mostly about the architecture.” He was actually asking to help? This was actually very nice and moving for me. Nodding I ask him for the next name down.
“Jehan Frollo…” Saeran said shaking the back of his head and looking at everyone.

“Jehan? Wait a moment there is another Frollo?” V looked puzzled for a moment and then looked at Jumin.

“Well, yeah. Claude Frollo has a younger brother.” Jaehee said as she clarified the information to V. “I should probably said ‘had’ though.” She then giggled to herself at the small joke she made regarding the character’s fate.

“I didn’t know. I only ever saw the Disney version and maybe skimmed the actual book.” V said laughing nervously.

“You saw it?” Jumin said in a questioning manner. “I’m assuming this is when-”

“We saw it together! Me, Rika, and V!” Yoosung interrupted Jumin. “I was a bit younger, but I still got to enjoy it! Rika really liked it, so I also really liked it. And since she was going to marry V, she made him watch it.” Yoosung then realized he was opening up old scars and silenced himself. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay Yoosung, you didn’t mean it.” I patted his shoulder and then looked at Saeran. “Could Yoosung make a good Gringoire?”

“Can we let him hang?” Saeran said raising an eyebrow.

“What?” Yoosung said in a sudden panic.

“Come on Saeran! Pierre’s character is actually the kind that means well. I feel like Yoosung could do a good job portraying him.” I said gesturing at Yoosung, and then Yoosung began blushing. “Y-You think?”

“Sure, make him the poet that lives with a goat. I have nothing against it.” Saeran shrugged and then pointed at Zen. “He’s Jehan.”

“Excuse me?” Both me and Zen said at the same time.

“EXCUSE YOU?” Jaehee screamed. “How dare you value Zen’s life like that! He is no scoundrel nor is he anything like the blasphemous fiend Jehan! He’s pure and perfect and meant to be Phoebus!”

Saeran shook his head. “I disagree. As handsome as he may be, Zen has his flaws still and so does the character of Jehan. It could be very well the character that makes Zen find a new part of himself.”

“Zen say something!” Jaehee said. She clearly didn’t think Zen deserved the role of the antagonists sibling.

“I’ll play him. Sounds like something I could be interested in. A drinker, a smoker, and a risk taker… If he existed, it sounds like me and him could have been friends maybe.” Zen said and straightened his jacket.

“Well… if you say so Zen.” Jaehee sat down and crossed her arms. She’ll have to sit on this one for a while. I began writing down Zen and Yoosungs names down next to Pierre Gringoire, and Jehan Frollo.

Looking at the cast list, Saeran began to rub his chin and became really silent. His mint eyes looked up at the few who remained seating in the theater in front of the stage.

“Jaehee, do you mind being the king?” I said as I waited for Saeran to say something.

“Like King Louis the eleventh? The one who listens to everything Claude Frollo tells him to?” She asked curiously. Looking down I read over the role of King Louis XI and thought of what Jaehee would be like as the monarch of France. “Well you don’t have to. You can be Esm-”

“Perfect. Honestly yes. I was afraid you were going to ask me to be one of the female leads. I’m very happy to play the King.” She nodded her head in triumph and sat back. Well she did write this cast list, perhaps she wrote for herself. Writing her name next to the maiden role, Saeran lightly tapped my shoulder and pointed at V.

“I had to fight about it in my head, but he should be Phoebus.” Saeran said. “In short, I know Phoebus is this womanizer or whatever, but when I look at V all I can think about is the time he had with… his ‘sun’. And if Rika were here she would be Fleur de Lys. She would have her sun.” Frowning he looked back at the cast list then at me. “It’s only if you think the same thing.”

He was sort of correct. Phoebus meant sun god, and V was considered to be Rika’s sun. There is something there I can’t see, but she did. Perhaps this role could uncover this about V. Without really thinking about it I wrote V’s name next to the soldier Phoebus’s name, and with a small note under it writing Rika’s name as Fleur de Lys.

I hope this is respectful to your past Rika, the people who miss you still think about you.  

Nodding, I looked back at Saeran and said softly. “That leaves you and Jumin.” Saeran’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “No, I thought it best if I just maybe watch or help direct. I’m not good with actually acting.”

Looking down at my cast list, I had to make a choice. One of them had to be Claude Frollo, and the other the innocent Quasimodo. “We could just make you Clopin and have your brother-”

“No… He’s perfect for Clopin believe me. Don’t make him do multiple things.” He said as he looked back out at everyone. He slowly then looked back at me and asked for the clipboard. Handing it to him willing I wonder what he writing down.

“There is only one way you can have me in this show.” As he finished writing, he turned the clipboard back to me and showed me what he wrote. It was my name next to Esmerelda’s name.

I didn’t even think on who I was going to cast for the main heroine. Jaehee obviously showed her desire for not being a female lead, so did she deliberately leave Esmerelda’s open for me? Then I remembered how she wanted me to actually be in the moment.

“Of course… I should have known.” I said taking the clipboard. Laughing and looking back at him. “Then I can pick who you can be right?” I said looking at Saeran with mischief in my eyes.

“Oh god, what have I done.” He said with a little bit of worry in his voice. Writing his name down quickly before he had the chance to take the clipboard back from me, I sealed his name next to his role.

“I’m Esmeralda right, so then I can pick who you are. You gave me that option!” I said laughing and teasing Saeran. I wasn’t about to tell him whose name I wrote his next to.

“You are already acting like a witch!” Saeran said as he tried to look at the clipboard. Holding it closely, I quickly jolt down Jumin name next to the last and final role. “All done!” I said triumphantly holding the clipboard above my head.

Everyone looked at me and gave a smile, expect Saeran and Jumin who had no idea who they were going to be. V was still in the unknown as to what was happening and to who he was possibly going to play. But once I had everyone’s attention, something began cause a stir. A quite literal one.

“What’s happening?” V said as he stood up from his seat standing up in shock.

“An earthquake?” Yoosung said as he began to jump a bit nervously.

“That’s impossible! I’ve programed an app on my phone to allow me to know whether or not something like a natural disaster is suppose to happen anywhere near me!” Saeyoung said as he frantically looked at his phone.

“Honestly, what is happening? We shouldn’t be inside with all these lights hanging above us! We need to go outside!” Jumin said frantically as he leaped from his seat and gestured to everyone.

Saeran looked at me, and I leapt off the stage with him following behind me. As we all reached for the door of the theater to get out the ground below us began to crack and open its wicked mouth. Screaming, Seayoung grabbed me and pulled me over to one side of the aisles of the theater while the others looked down into the crevice with fear.

“Jumin, call someone!” Jaehee screamed loudly at her former boss.

“I-I don’t understand.” Saeran said. Looking at us all he quickly came to a realization. “Jaehee, please tell me that this script you found off the internet isn’t cursed?”

“Why would you say something like that?” She laughed and then blinked. “I mean… I didn’t write it, all I did was make stage sketches. The whole script was written prior like I said. The internet said it was the most accurate script of Victor Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris to date!”

“Well if the internet said… But did you read through it Jaehee?” Yoosung questioned.

“Well that… No. I’m too busy taking care of the cafe! I didn’t want to ruin the authenticity if it was supposed to be considered that accurate!” She argued back.

“That’s very smart of you Saeran, to think of a cursed script! But if that’s what it means does that mean our play awaits us at the bottom of the crevice?” Saeyoung said as he looked down into the darkness. The theater shook more and more as we spoke back and forth. None of us dared to move.

“Guys…” We heard V talking behind Jumin and suddenly noticed that he was holding a sword. “Is this a prop?” He asked while looking and scanning it to the best of his ability.

“Something is very wrong.” I said as I felt sick to my stomach. I found a tambourine at my side, but I was too afraid to pick it up. Saeran looked at what was in his hand and stared at me. His mint eyes seemed to give a inhumane gaze before I saw him fall down into the pit.

“Saeran!” I screamed as he sunk like a rock in water. There was a soft glow at the bottom. It was no longer as dark as it was before. “I’m not leaving my brother alone.” Saeyoung let go of me and leaped into the crevice. The light began to glow brighter once he fell in.

“We all have to jump... “ I said.

“Are you crazy? We don’t know what will-”

I interrupted Yoosung. “The ending of the novel… Once we reach the end… We should return. That’s how normal curses work. Right?”

There was silence and a sense of the unknown resting amongst us all. “We’ll just have to find out won’t we.” V said as he leaped into the crevice. The light grew brighter. “God, I hope I don’t regret this.” Jumin said as he stepped into the crevice and allowed himself to fall.

“There is no graceful way to do this is there?” Zen said looking at Yoosung, Jaehee and I. “Live and die for the theater then.” He leaped into the crevice and I swear I could hear him laughing all the way down.

Jaehee stood up and cracked her fingers. “Alright curse. You’re my fault. Now let's solve you.” Plugging her nose she jumped into the crevice and the light was shining brighter than ever. Me and Yoosung were left.

“I can’t help but wonder… if this script is a work of Victor Hugo, or some demonic creature.” Yoosung said with some humor hanging in his throat. “I may only be a poet… but… “ He smiled at me and then leapt forward.

“Damn it Yoosung, at least finish what you’re going to say before leaving me alone like this!” I screamed. Thinking everything over to myself, I had to think of the novel. To finish to story, I have to follow its rules and what is laid out for me. I have no choice but to accept Esmeralda's fate at the end. “God…” I said as I took a step forward.

“I’ve never done so much just for one class.” Were the last words I let slip from my mouth as
MC.

~~

The world shifted around me and changed the way I thought, and felt. It felt as is the very breath from my mouth became someone else's. The brightest light warmed up my body and overwhelmed all my senses until there was only a sense of euphoria left in my being.

Shaking and rocking, I quickly shot up and began panting heavily. Blinking rapidly I looked around me. So many people were sleeping. Strangers and scoundrels curling up for warmth deep within catacombs just to hide away from people who would wish to do them harm. There was a faint sound of music not to far from where I had woken up. Standing up from my makeshift cot, I found myself wearing a very lacy dress that had a slit in it allowing my left leg to be completely free. The corset was rather tight though. Wrapping my blanket around my shoulders like a shawl I began to make my way to where I heard music.

Two or three men were playing on small instruments while another was looking at some papers and counting gold coins skillfully. Stepping in closer I squinted my eyes and recognized the man counting the gold.

“S-Saeyoung?” I said softly in curiosity. Looking up from his little tower of coins, Saeyoung looked at me with bright eyes and open arms. “Ah! My belle! You’re awake! Did these guys wake you? I told them not to play, I did! But they insisted to play since they haven’t gotten any practice in lately, and I couldn’t resist a-”

“You’re alive.” I said looking at him. And wrapping my arms around him in relief, I let out a large sigh. I found him. And he’s who just as I casted him as. He’s the king of thieves, Clopin.

“Of course I’m alive. Did you have a bad dream? And since when have you called me by that name? That was just a child name you said.” Saeyoung began to caress my cheek and smile. “Goodness you’ve really grown up haven’t you. It’s almost like yesterday I remember you running around and squealing songs of bohemia.”

“C-Clopin… then?” I said unsure.

“Yes?” He said crooking his eyebrow. “Did you come to ask to practice the dance before tomorrow afternoon?”

“The dance?” I repeated.

“Yes the dance. While you dance tomorrow during the feast of fools, my men will be picking the pocket of all the men who will be drooling. Way too busy to keep an eye on their wallets. Besides, they would already give you the money, but we’re doing them a favor by taking our own fee for your high class dances. You understand, my belle?” Saeyoung said brushing his fingers through my hair. He truly has become the character. He doesn’t remember the casting or the theater. But wait…

“The Feast of Fools is tomorrow?” I ask again unsure.

“What kind of nightmare did you have Esme? Was it the kind where you’re another person or something? Calling me by a childhood name, and suddenly full of all these questions.” Saeyoung suddenly seemed so concerned.

“I’m fine. Honestly. I’ll practice. Uhm… Goodnight Saeyoung.” I said as I walk backwards to remove myself back to the cot I woke up in. This script truly was a nightmare.. I’m living it in real time and have to live like Esmerelda up to the end.

As I crawl into the cot, I suddenly remember everyone else's roles. I blinked before I curled into a ball and worried for all of them. If all of them have become the character, some of them are going through hell or through completely new lives. And what’s worse is what I’m putting Jumin and Saeran through.

I hear the ringing of bells in the distant and realize that the morning was coming soon, and the bells ring as soon as the sun rises.

“....He’s in there.” I said to myself sadly. Hugging my knees and taking a breath I let it out softly. “Do as Esmeralda would do… I have to do it as he wrote it.”

I am Esme...

Chapter Text

[Saeran POV]

It’s cold. I can barely breath. The last thing I remember… was falling and looking into her eyes in disbelief.

I attempted to stand up straight but something was wrong. I could barely even see. It’s like my right eye was….

Waddling to where I saw form of light I looked over an edge and noticed I was extremely high up. A tower. It’s true then.

“I am… the hunchback” I said with an estranged voice. It wasn’t my own. It was mine but it was clearly different. It had more husk to it that normal. I attempted to move my head around to locate where exactly I was. Yes, of course this is Notre Dame. There are gargoyles… and looking back over the balcony I remember the look of the Seine. No mirrors anywhere. Of course. Why would someone like me want to know what I look like or be reminded of the curse I have been given.

Looking up I noticed the bells as they stood still in silence. I can’t hear anything but their rings. This character became partially deaf because of ringing the bells. This will be a struggle.

“Find… MC…” I waddled up a flight of stairs to reach some ropes. “Get back.” I husked out of my voice. Could she remember? Before all of this? We all were casted characters from the novel before dropping into this world. This must be part of the curse. I am already acting and walking as the hunchback would. So that means I should probably act his part till the end in order fulfill this curse.

The first light of day began to brighten up the cold stone within this room reserved for me. The world was not meant to see someone like me, that is why I am trapped in here. Right, I must also think like him. I must ring the bells to wake Paris.

Grabbing onto the nearest rope and grinning, I gave a large tug and began laughing as I could hear the sound of the morning chimes. I can hear it.

“I hear you Gabriel, I hear you!” I looked at another large bell, and its rope that appeared lonely. I tugged it as well. “Sing Marie, wake them! They deserve to hear your morning song!” The rope lifted me off the ground and I found myself enjoying this moment. My friends… My friends are these bells, and cold walls that secure me within.

But my real friends….

I jumped off the rope, and tumbled down to regain my balance. Waddling back to the balcony that looked over the square, I sighed and gave a grunt. “They don’t know I’m here.” Resting my head on the railing, I hopelessly looked out and let the bells give out the last of their chimes.

“Quasimodo.” A voice came from a distance. Turning my body to face the direction it came, I waddled behind a gargoyle to hide. I am unsure to who would visit me. The voice almost seems recognizable, but I am far too deaf to really understand it.

“Quasimodo.” It repeated, and a figure in a dark cloak appeared. I understood. This was supposed to be the hunchback’s master. This is Claude Frollo. Stepping out from behind the gargoyle, I slowly approached the figure to understand who I was looking at. MC was the one who chose this character, but it was me or-

“Are you ready for your breakfast?” I stared at the lips to read and understand them. It couldn’t be... That dark hair and eyes belonged to one man amongst the RFA.

“Jumin… Han” I softly said looking up at him. She cast the CEO as the archdeacon. I would laugh, but if I attempted to, I felt a great fear somewhere rise within me. Perhaps it was the personality of the character I am playing?

Jumin’s eyes grew wide as I said that. “Who told you of that name?” His mood seemed to have shifted. Did I hit a nerve? Backing up slowly, Jumin crouched down to be at my level, and forced me to look at his lips as he began to speak.

“Where did you learn that name, Quasimodo?” His lips read.

Stuttering, I had to come up with a reason I knew Jumin’s name. “F-Forgive me master. Just something I hear my friends say.”

“Who are your friends?” He looked at me with curiosity.

“T… The gargoyles.” I replied hestiently. This is what I’m suppose to say right? I felt it within me that this is the true response.

“They are made of stone Quasimodo. And can stone talk?” Shaking his head, Jumin looked at me with disapproval.

“No.” I admitted quickly in defeat. I wasn’t going to fight him. If we were back at the theater, I would have no fear of giving Jumin a good smack, but there is a new sense of cowardice I feel in me. Something I haven’t felt since I lived within the walls of Mint Eye.

“Very good, now for your breakfast. I’m sure you would also like your lessons for the day.” Jumin said as he pulled out a basket and sat it at a bench. Nodding I hobble over to Jumin and allow him to feed me the food he has brought me. Considering that this is the 1400’s, it's actually a decent amount of food.

Jumin lectured me on multiple scripture verses of the bible, and I remained focused on him at all times. The fear deep within me to disobey is like a dog who would shun his master allowing him to sit at his lap. I would not forbid myself from such kindness, possibly the only kindness I will ever know. Claude Frollo, after all, is suppose to be like a father to me.

Jumin’s head turned in irritation as he looked at the trapdoor. Was there a noise coming from there? Suddenly, the door shot open, and I noticed crimson eyes gleaming at Jumin. However, they seemed to avoid me at all costs.

Zen clearly got his role as Jehan.. Otherwise he wouldn’t be in the picture looking like a sad dog to Jumin right now.

“Brother dear, the feast of fools is today and I need just a little spending money for beer!” Zen said while begging on his knees.

“Jehan, you already know my answer. Why would you take yourself so far as to bring yourself up here and ruin breakfast?” Jumin asked in annoyance.

“Because I know how much you care for the boy! But care for me too brother!” Zen reached out for Jumin’s hands and began to beg a little harder than he was before. “Just a few pieces of gold for just a few sips. Just enough to make this poor sinner happy on this day. Allow your brother to enjoy today, I beg of you.”

Wow, I’m surprised in my intuition about Zen. He makes a perfect Jehan. And it seems the relationship between them remains the same almost. Without saying a word, I shift away from their conversation and start to hobble away from them.

“Quasimodo… Come back, we aren’t done yet with the flight into Egypt.” Jumin said as he gestured at the book that laid in his lap. “He won’t come back Claude. Come now. Let’s discuss the festival!” Zen said as he closed the book and held it above Jumin’s head.

With an aggravated face Jumin attempted to take his book back. “How dare you Jehan! You know I have no intention of attending the festival today.”

“Ah-ah, then how will you possibly keep an eye on me brother? Besides, isn’t it your duty to go out and keep an eye out for those gypsys you sworn to keep out of Paris?” Laughing, Zen gave Jumin the bible back. “I swear you have the tightest ass ever for a archdeacon. The king could care less, but you clearly see them as some sort of nuisance.”

“They are sinners Jehan.” Jumin responded. “They wonder our beautiful streets of Paris and defile them with their lecherous ways. To walk the same paths at them makes me feel as if the devil is crawling through the cobblestone of streets.”

“And your goal is?” Zen crooked his eyebrow and shoved his hands into his pocket. “They are here to have fun like any other sinner. And for today they are allowed to dance and be merry. So if that is allowed, why not allow me to dance and make merry?”

As soon as Zen came up with that argument, Jumin was taken aback and reached into his pocket to pull out a small purse. “Here… “ Jumin handed it over to Zen who took it with a great expression of delight on his face. Jumin raised his finger with a stern look and gave him a threatening gaze. “Do not… spend it all… on women. You said to me that you would remain at the festival. If you dare bring back a woman I will force you to start writing your scriptures again.”

Zen looked horrified. “O-Oh Okay. You got it dear brother.” Giving Jumin a friendly kiss on the forehead, he jumped down and excitedly left Jumin in awe.

I’ve only been staring this entire time at the interactions between them and can’t help but feel delighted with MC’s decision in the cast we created. But the story also seems to be progressing perfectly so far. Zen mentioned that today is the feast of fools so that means MC will appear in the square as Esmeralda. I have to make sure to be down there…

I hobbled back over to Jumin and tugged at his robe to get his attention. “Master, the festival?” I asked in my unfamiliar voice. I’ll need to get used to it.

Jumin looked at me and then sighed heavily and looked really irritated. “Yes… The feast of fools. The sinners gather around and all create an outburst of debauchery and licentious acts.”

“Sinners?” I repeated.

“Yes Quasimodo. Sinners. The gypsies who are invading the city. They are evil and want to ruin this beautiful holy land.” Jumin's fingers started to run through my hair and he seemed to be comforting me. I knew this was all part of the story, but since half of me has become the character of the hunchback, I could feel myself believing him.

“Gypsies. Evil” I spoke nodding at Jumin.

Jumin smiled at me and then began to make his way out of my domain. I hobbled after him like a dog following its master. He turned around and looked at me in confusion.

“Quasimodo, what are you doing?”

“Coming with you, master.” I said attempting to look confident.

He laughed at me and cleared the hair out of his face from his hysterics. “Quasimodo, you can’t come with me.”

“But I am strong. I can protect you from evil gypsies.” I said pointing out of the balcony looking out.

“No my boy. If you came down to the feast of fools, it would be redefined entirely. I won’t allow you to leave your sanctuary. Besides… “ He knelt down and drew a cross on my forehead. “You have been blessed by God up in heaven. You must stay within Notre Dame and remain safe where no one will see you. This is your cross to bear alone Quasimodo.” His hand ran down the deformed side of my face. The very sense of feeling fingers along my face was so unfamiliar, I believed that this was my only saving grace.

“Yes master. Stay here.” I nodded and began to step back into my domain.

“Good… I’ll return after the festival. Maybe I’ll bring you something. Be a good lad now.” I watched as Jumin left through the trapdoor he came in. Blinking a coupling times I turned around and started to hobble back to look out into the square. The square was already starting to fill up with people, but ever so slowly. From up on my perch, perhaps I could recognize the others?

The sun as it started to rise suddenly shone brightly into the hair of a young man with similar hair to the sun.

“Yoosung.. He must be getting the play ready.” I said to myself as I looked along the sides of my balcony for a way to get down to the square. Eventually I am going to have to go down and allow myself to be seen. I know how this story works, and in my dark hours would read it to myself in order to fall asleep. For some comical reason, I enjoyed the romantic touch to the novel and found myself quizzically entranced while turning each page. It was better than being forced to read a book about coding for several hours straight. A little bit of freedom for my mind.

“Freedom… Like the birds.” I looked as a flock of sparrows began to fly over the cathedral. Nodding, I began to connect myself more to my role and allow myself to become the hunchback who has been living his life inside the cathedral for twenty years. Living and learning all from Dom Claude Frollo, and having only the company of the saints in windows, stone walls, and the bells.

Grabbing onto a rope and dangling off the side of the balcony, I smiled as I let myself swing from arch to saint. From window and then to the hot lead that burned at the top of the cathedral. “I found it… I’ll have to remember where it is then from here.” Looking back over the edge I tried to find Yoosung amongst the crowd. He wasn’t that hard to spot due to his brightly sun-lite hair.

I let in a large inhale as I looked back out once more toward the Seine and all the buildings built around the city. Letting my breath escape, I began to watch the crowd patiently for the arrival of la Esmeralda… MC.

[Yoosungs POV]

God I must have had the worst rest in the world last night. I woke up this morning almost feeling as if I was another person from another life. It’s almost inspiring. I can’t write about that now, I have to focus on this right now. The fest of fools is the only time where I can fully advertise myself as a poet. The troubadour prince of Paris.

Hopefully this play will be successful enough to give me enough money for a place to rest tonight. I’m tired of sleeping in the streets on random sacks of hay. Woah is me, the life of a fair poet is pitifully unfair. I desire to only share my intellect, and yet I receive nothing in return.

“Gringoire…” A voice came from behind me. I was looking off into the distance obviously monologuing in my mind about this epiphany that has just aroused me.

What is this dream that I had. What is the name… You sung?

“Pierre Gringoire, monsieur.” The voice repeated. I finally turned my head and was greeted with an impatient face. It was one of my actors. A fairly old man I casted to play the roman god Jupiter to cast judgment.

“Ah, yes. Jupiter, is the time now? Is the stage set?” I ask looking at him with a sense of eagerness.

“Well, yes monsieur, but there is a slight problem.”

“What could you mean?”

“The populace.. They seem to not be the kind of fan of literature. The band can’t locate their instruments, and someone claimed that a man is shouting slurs at the other actors.” He seemed a bit frightened.

“Well, we must continue with the show. If we all desire something in our pockets by the end of the night, we must put something on.” I impolored to my actor.

“But monsieur Gringore. We could be very well going home covered in yesterday's produce if we even attempt anything.” He seemed to really want to fight me right now. I have no strength.

“Simply do as I ask. If it goes wrong, I will make sure to see to it myself and take the fall for you all.” I said in the most heroic voice I could possibly.

“Monsieur, you are kind. But I am afraid of what will become of you.” My actor faced away from me and climbed upon the stage. There was a sound of boo’s and curious awes as strange sounds of the littlest music was playing. He cleared his throat and held up two props of lightning and then proclaimed-

“I am the roman god, Jupiter!”

“Jupiter? Are you sure it isn’t Uranus?” A man’s voice became louder than anyone else's in the crowd, and the way he said ‘Uranus’ was closer to ‘your-anus’ than anything else. It seemed to cause the entire crowd of on-goers and viewers of my play to laugh in hysterical bursts.

“God… What an insult.” I leapt onto the stage as I promised and met with a face who stood at the front of my stage and looked as smug as Lucifer himself. His eyes were a bright red crimson, and his hair was long and white like the wings of a dove. To be completely frank, he was actually quite handsome. Should I feel thankful that someone as beautiful as him had come to witness my play?

“And who could you possibly be? Icarus perhaps? Flying too close to the sun has caused his hair to become permanently stained from the wax!” The man opened his mouth and began to throw slurs at me.

“I-Icarus? B-But what do you… How could you possibly know of such a story and yet throw swinish insults at my play?” I ask in confusion.

“Your play?” He gestured up to my actors standing around like deers fearing the hunt of man. I simply nodded and crossed my arms confidently.

“Yes, my play. And if you were more patient, you’d be able to enjoy it more properly I believe.” I said smiling at the white haired man. He gave me a devilish grin and laughed.

“Ah ha? Then let's hear what comes. Let Jupiter speak fair poet! Do not waste my time any longer or the thieves will come and pick the pockets of us all.”

Standing up, I nod at my lead and allow him to speak once again. The white man look bemused and stared straight up at the actors with a very judgemental gaze.

“I am roman god, Jupiter!” My actor repeated lifting his prop of lighting into the air.

“You already said that!” The white haired man shouted once more. “Waste of time! One line. Truly a marvel of what the poets of France have become!” Mockingly he kissed his fingers as if to say the play was a marvel.

“Jehan!” A man on horseback began to ride through the crowd. He was wearing priestly robes and gazing down at the crowd with eyes that I can only describe as disgust.

The white haired man turned around annoyingly and faced the man on horseback. “Oh, my dear brother. I haven’t forgotten you. The finest poet of them all. After all, you are not only a man of the church but of great science!” The man referred to as Jehan jumped up onto the stage and began to act like a priest.

“Kire elision, god bless all of thee. We have come to the feast of fools to watch… a play?” He raised a finger and shook his head. “Tsk tsk tsk, come now. We are here to have fun are we not?” The crowd responded with cheers and gay laughter. Whoever this man is, he truly did know how to rouse a crowd… better than I at the current moment.

“Come everyone! They have gypsies at the square! I hear la belle Esmeralda will be here! Come come, let us all grab our pockets to give the Egyptian queen what she deserves.” He paused and laughed. “That is unless your purses aren’t snatched by the pickpockets that live amongst the court of miracles!” Laughing, he climbed onto the shoulders of whom I am presuming are fans of his and they carried him off deeper into the square. As he past the man on the horse, he gave almost a sorrowful smile to him, and then laughed it off. Siblings did he say?

The man on the horse began to trot over to me. “I apologize. Some people don’t enjoy such craft as literature anymore. Something as great as knowledge is rare, and God has blessed you to share your words with the world.”

“Do you apologize for the one who slurs at my play?” I asked the darker haired man. Is it really possible these two are brothers? They don’t quite look like brothers.

“I do. But he will be further humiliated later. I will be sure to deliver… some sort of punishment to him.” He turned his steed around and began to make his way to where his sibling was carried off too.

The sound of tambourines, and clapping began to come from direction he also went. “What in the name of…?” I left my stage and actors and began to jog deeper into the square. I began to push past people and then accidently fell over a man who appeared to have lost and eye and an absences for a leg. “I-I am terribly sorry sir! Are you alright?”

He looked at me and smiled brightly. “Charity for a pour soul? Charity for a king of thieves?” As he held his hand out, he pulled his eyepatch up and removed the peg leg that replaced his ‘missing’ leg. Slipping back, I began to stutter. “I-I have no money.” I said with a bit of fear in my voice. His red hair was so bright, it was truly a spectacle to see such a brilliantly vibrant smile on a man who was considered the king of thieves. He looked down at me and lifted me up and patted me down.

“You’re right, you don’t! Not a purse on yah! What a shame. What was it I heard you were earlier? A poet? Jehan may be rude, but he’s correct. There is no life for a poet in France.” He shook his head and then put his eye patch back on and cackled. “Perhaps try the life of a pickpocket! What other way to put money in your own?”

“La Esmeralda!” A voice shouted deep from within the crowd. Turning his head, the thief king stood up and looked very proud.

“Ah, it is time. Enjoy the show lad! She is the finest of all in France, now go. Go watch la Esmeralda dance!” The red headed thief slipped back into the crowd; possibly to pick the pockets of onlookers while they stared at the gypsy. I couldn’t understand why though. What’s so wonderful about a gypsy girl?

Walking closer I saw a woman dressed in bright red silk that glittered when the sun hit it. Her ankles had small bells on them and she danced with a tambourine held tightly in her hand. Every beat she would lightly tap it to her rear to make it ring with delight. I have never seen such a sight. Her long chocolate hair caught the rays of sunlight perfectly as she spun around to a unseen song. Her voice lit up the square as she began to rattle the tambourine in entrancing circles. The crowd was so silent as they all gazed at her beauty.

“A marvel… this is the bohemian queen?” I covered my mouth and held my breath as she danced and stepped on each cobblestone on the square. Each move was so delicate and precise, it was like an angel dancing on a cloud. “Who is she?”

“A demon… a gypsy witch.” I turned my head to see the priest from earlier staring at her with almost the same expression as my own. He seemed to be in a fit of rage, and yet he couldn’t look away from her. Perhaps she was a witch if she was capable enough to put a priest under her spell.

But then I too would be under that spell. Oh foul witch, cast your spell on me and let me stare all day at your beauty. As the tambourine shook sporadically, she stopped and bowed. The crowd cheered and applauded, and the red headed man appeared from the crowd without his peg leg or eye-patch. He seemed very proud of his dancing distraction.

“La belle Esmeralda will now crown the pope of fools! Ladies and gentlemen, you know the rules! The ugliest of them all shall become the pope! Perhaps an even better king than the one we have now!”

Esmeralda pulled out a crown that had small golden bells attached to it, and men from the crowd produced a chariot fit for a king of the faeries. It was admirable to say the least. One by one, I watched as people walked behind a pillar and shoved their face through an archway to show off their hideous faces.

Blemishes, moles, and bald people laughing. Teeth missing, and hideous cackling. True, they were all ugly, but I couldn’t quite describe how I would chose the king myself. After all, it seemed like it was up to the populaces cheers. Looking around at the people around me, I noticed our gypsy was missing.

Then her bright dress caught my eye. She seemed to be standing in the shade near an archway. Was she perhaps talking to someone? It seemed she only knew the king of thieves though. Shrugging it off, I began to join the crowd in their screams and shouts of laughter. If I can’t show off my play, then I might as well just play along.

[MC POV]

I looked at him as he hid behind a wheel. I recognized his mint eyes as soon as Saeyoung told me to find a pope of fools. It was from up in this novel I knew what I had to do. It was my job as Esmerelda to find the hunchback and place him on the throne as the king of fools. But it seemed not only did I find the hunchback… but he also knew who he was.

“Get it over with.” He spoke softly covering half his face. Seeing Saeran like this was so shocking to me. I casted him to be like this, but how come he knew who he was? I’ve already noticed Saeyoung and Yoosung, but they haven’t said anything to me about who they were before. Even Jumin remained silent…. Jaehee is here only as the king to watch us all having fun. Of course she wouldn’t know. But could it be…

“Do you know who I am?” I asked Saeran while reaching my hand out to him.

He stared at me and blinked a couple times before realizing what I asked. “You know?” I nodded at him.

“No time to talk.. Have to progress story.” He grabbed my hand and began to waddle to where people were lining up to show off their hideous faces. I could barely even watch this… He was about to show his face to everyone. Biting my lip I looked up in anticipation.

Suddenly looking out, I saw as the crowd began to scream and point at him with fear in their eyes. “What a hideous mask!”

“That’s no mask, that’s his face!”

“It’s the bellringer of Notre Dame, The Archdeacon’s kid!” I finally found Zen as he stood up on a stool and pointed at Saeran and then at Jumin who was sitting on his black steed. Jumin scowled at Saeran and almost seemed to hiss. People began to silence themselves and in fear didn’t know what to do. Saeran looked at me with his one good eye and frowned at me.

Staring at him, I felt pity start to boil up inside me. Is this what Esmarelda was suppose to feel? Half of his face drooped and he seemed to try and hide it with his hair which had turned the color of white like when he lived at Magenta. Clutching my chest, I looked at Saeyoung who smiled and laughed at this moment. Saeran looked at his sibling who was playing another character and seemed to be even more broken at this moment in time.

“Citizens of Paris! We asked for the ugliest face did we not? And we got it!” Saeyoung said triumphantly looking back at Saeran then at me to get me to crown him. Saeyoung led Saeran down to the chariot to sit upon.

“Good luck talking to the king! He’s blind in an eye, and the bells up in the tower have made him deaf!” Shouted Zen. Jumping down from his stool, he walked over to Saeran and pinched his cheek. “Lucky him though, he finally dropped his balls to actually disobey my brother.” Turning his back to Saeran he laughed and shouted to all the woman.

“Look away all women who want to have children! His mere gaze will kill off your fertile chances! The devil lives within him!” Zen proclaimed. Damn, Saeran was right about Zen being a good role for Jehan. I angrily walked up to Zen and smacked him across the cheek. I didn’t know what came over me, just the anger of Zen talking like that about his friend. I looked at the palm of my hand then at Zen.

“You do not speak like that to another man.” I hissed out at him. He grabbed my wrist and closed my palm and brought my fingers to his lips. “He is no man la belle. He is the beast that my brother protects. There is a beast within me too belle.” He growled at me and I tugged my hand away from him. Saeyoung shot up from behind me and gave dagger eyes to Zen. “Speak no more, it is the crowning ceremony! If I see you speak, I will personally have my dear auntie Fatcheek sit upon all your faces to suffocate you so that you may meet god in the most unholiest of ways.”

A large woman, taller than any giant I have seen walked through the crowd and laughed with a really low voice. I didn’t know Saeyoung had a bearded man as another show person, but I suppose that’s Clopin’s character. Get the entertainment, and while they entertain, pick the pockets of those being entertained. It’s the simple cycle Clopin had created, and to be honest, it worked for a thief. And since he was the king, it worked for them all.

Once Zen silenced himself, I walked over to Saeran and placed the crown onto his head. I stared right into his mint eyes as he looked up at me. In his eyes I could see a bit of joy from this moment. I smiled at him and then took steps back and nodded at Saeyoung. “I’d like to dance for our king.”

Grinning with excitement, Saeyoung looked at the crowd and gave a few winks to a couple of thieves hidden within. “La Esmeralda dances for the king!” Saeran clapped his hands together foolishly and gave out a laugh as the crowd joined him in his laughter.

In this dance, I did my best to pull out the character that was buried within me.

Esmeralda help me dance like you. Help me dance to apologize. Help me sing to him. And like that, I could feel my body moving and my voice rising from the bottom of my chest to reach the ears of the crowd. The poor deaf hunchback stared at me as I danced to the words I created for him.

I’m sorry Saeran. We have to work together to finish this. But before I could even finish my dance, a black horse rushed past me and almost stomped on my foot. The man upon the horse jumped off the horse and ripped the crown from Saeran’s head. I stood up straight in anger as I was interrupted from not only my dance, but my apology!

Then I recognized the man who picked up Saeran and pointed at the cathedral. It was Jumin. He was watching earlier on his steed, but now it was his time for his action. To send the king of fools back into the church away from the crowd. Saeran looked at me one last time before lowering his head and hobbled away back into the church.

“Of course you would take away our fun.” Zen’s voice rang up out of anger. Jumin approached him quickly and he stared at him angrily. “Keep your mouth shut, or you will find lashes on your back in your sleep.” Jumin’s threat seemed to reach Zen and as he walked back to his horse, his eyes met with mine and they seemed to be full of fire. I felt a cold shiver run down my spine from this point.

“It’s begun hasn’t it?” I said quietly.

“Not quite my dear, we still have all night!” Saeyoung came from behind me and held a sack of gold in his hand. “Come, it's time for drinks.”

Of course… It's not the end of the story yet. But only the beginning of the love affair. Slipping away with Saeyoung, we made our way back into the crowd to avoid the eyes of the more judge mental. But I already knew… Tonight I am going to be followed.

And fall in love.

Chapter Text

[Jumin POV]

The overwhelming sound of the crowd boos and harassing words were all thrown at my back as I followed my ward back into the cathedral. Sealing the doors behind me, I let my eyes wonder the crowd to stare at all the faces who mattered not to me. Nothing mattered in this moment. I have been humiliated merely by Quasimodo’s appearance at the Feast of Fools when I told him to never come down to the world below.

I have been humiliated, shunned, harassed, and yet there was something else still inside me that was burning. That gypsy. The devil lives within her for sure, there is no denying it. Just from the way she moves, it is certain. And she even dared to strike my brother… given he deserved it, but no woman should dare have the gall.

It lit something up inside me. Her moxie and confidence. I must stop thinking about her. I must rid myself of this witch that has bewitched my very soul. Whilst thinking heavily of the gypsy’s body movements, I suddenly found myself tripping over my ward. He stopped in the middle of the cathedral when I was escorting him back to his quarters.

His one good eye looked at me as if it could read my mind. It was strange, it almost felt like he could read my soul. I woke up this morning with a name in my head that said something like what Quasimodo said at breakfast. Regaining my footing, I straighten my robes and look back into his eye.

“Why have you stopped?” I asked bluntly.

“Something is on your mind?” He raised an eyebrow and then continued to walk forward toward the spiral staircase that lead up to the bell tower.

He was correct. There was something on my mind. A curse, a spell, a hex. I feel as if my very soul is on fire. I thought the idea of desire and lust vanished once I gave myself to the mother church, but this Romani has somehow made it awaken once again inside me. I must bring her back to the cathedral and cleanse her.

I reach out and grab Quasimodo’s humped shoulder and turn him to me. He stared up at me in curiosity as I opened my mouth and made sure he could read them clearly.

“I need you to do something for me boy.” I said slowly, and pointed at my lips so that he knew how important this was.

He nodded and pointed at his head to sign that he knew and he was watching. “The girl who danced for you-“

“Esmerelda. She is nice, and so pretty.” He became starry eyed.

“She has cursed you too my boy. She is a witch. Remember what I told you this morning. Gypsies are evil and deserve the pyres.”

“B-But she didn’t seem like a bad gypsy.” He looked away for a moment, but I pulled his face to look back at me.

“She put you on that throne Quasimodo. She put the crown on your head. She humiliated you in front of Paris. She must apologize to you… and to god for her sinful ways.” I moved my hand in the way of the father, the son, and the holy spirit across my chest and over my heart that was pierced with cupids burning arrow.

“What would you have me do master?” He looked worried at this point and reached out for my head that I used to just cross my heart. “If she is bad… What do we do?”

“You must go out tonight while it is dark. You must find her amongst her gypsies, and bring her back here to the cathedral. We will lock her up and cleanse her soul.” I say to him and caress the deformed side of his face.

Nodding he hobbled up the steps and looked back at me. “She will come back here! I will bring her.” I watched him ascend the steps and in my heart, I felt it skip in anticipation. If the hunchback is successful, then I will have Esmeralda to myself in this holy sanctuary. But what is it that I have to offer for such a beautiful maiden like her? I would give her everything I have, but have only the knowledge of my studies.

I realized that for a few weeks now I have been dabbling in the arts of alchemy. If I am successful, I could possibly become richer than the King who sits happily on his throne. I could offer her all of France. Quickly striding across the cathedral, I place myself into my chambers so that I may begin this long night of impatience for her.

“I will create gold… And make you happy la belle Esmeralda. I will give you everything…”

God forgive me… The devil has already swallowed my soul and I only want to fall deeper.

[Saeran POV]

I must be a better actor than I thought. I practically had Jumin eating out of the palm of my hand. I knew he was going to ask me to steal MC, but I couldn’t just wait all day for him to say something. This story needs to progress in order for the curse to end, and for all of us to return to ourselves. Emphasis on ourselves; I don’t know how much longer I can bare being in this body. It almost feels like I’m trapped in a strong body but isn’t beautiful like any hero you’d see in a movie… Even MC looked away from me when she first saw me.

Throwing my fist against one of the bells, I felt no pain whatsoever and let out a soft curse to the bell.

“Why did I allow myself to write her name in like that… If I didn’t do anything, we wouldn’t be in this mess.” I smacked my head against the bell a few more times before looking at my reflection in it.

“Truly a hideous sight… Not even my brother knew who I was. At least I don’t look like him anymore.” I softly touched the deformity on my face and hissed at my cold touch. “I’m barely even human… a monster.”

Was I not a monster before all of this? I attempted the very same thing when I lived in Magenta. I was tasked with taking MC back to paradise. And now I must repeat the same task, but this time I know how this part of the story will work out. “And she will not love me. Never, not even in this story. A pitiful creature I am for thinking or hoping.”

It won’t really matter. Even if we get out this curse alive, there could be the chance we will all forget any events that aspire inside this world. I silently make a prayer under my breath before looking out of my tower. The sun was coming close to setting. Grabbing hold of a rope and giving a large exhale, I let myself be lowered so that I can find MC, and bring her back.

Despite me knowing I will be unsuccessful, I must progress this story to save everyone.

Eventually the darkness had overtaken all of this illusion of Paris, and I hid myself in the shadows. I was close to a nearby pub where I could hear the sound of shouts of cheers, and slurs of singing men. None of the singing was any decent, but you could tell that anyone in there was having a good time. It made up for what happened at the feast of fools and Archdecheon Jumin interrupting it for the crowd.

I was used to being close to the shadows, and waiting for MC. This was how I spent half a month waiting for her to join me in paradise, but that was to never be. A comfortable place for me to remain was the shadows at this moment; where no one can see my horrible ugliness that was cursed upon me.

A single thought crossed my mind. Should I be angry, or thankful? MC cast me as the pitiful hunchback, and Jumin Han as the pitiful priest… Who is to be pitied more? Maybe this was to be a discovery for all of us, and not just her. This was a project for her after all.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a goat chuckling and the slight chime of bells. Not the bells I play in my tower, but the bells that would hang off the side of Esmerelda’s dress. Or hanging off delicately next to her soft ankle. Turning my head, I saw the white goat with a rope strung around it’s rope and at the other end of the rope was MC dressed at the gypsy Esmerelda.

All at once, an overwhelming sense of excitement filled the bottom of my heart, and I leaped from my perch in the shadows and landed in front of her. I was prepared for her to scream, but she didn’t seem like she was going to jump. Her eyes merely became wide as she looked at me, and grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me aside back into the shadow with her goat.

Well this is obviously not how the real story is supposed to go, could it be that MC knows she’s Esmerelda as I know I am Quasimodo?

Clearing her throat, she let her goat go and smiled at me. “That’s what’s supposed to happen right Saeran?” She said without any hesitation.

Looking up at her, I crooked a brow and then at her goat that began to run around without a lead. “Well… More or less. But you were supposed to let go of Djali when I grabbed you.”

Suddenly, her eyes became wide as she recognized that I didn’t correct her when she said my name.

“Y-You’re not going to ask me to call you Quasimodo? Or be confused on why I’m not screaming?” She said while looking around frantically.
“No. But is there a reason you know it’s me, and I know it’s you when the others haven’t reacted at all to when we call them by their name?” Hunching over to a more comfortable position, I give her a soft gaze of confusion.

She seemed relieved at this moment and then lunged down at me to hug me. It then came to me that she couldn’t see all of me. Just my hunched form. Only this morning she saw my deformed face, but in the shadows, she can only see my silhouette. “I am ugly.” I said softly into her ear as she hugged me.

“I know.. I’m sorry.” She seemed sympathetic. It didn’t matter. We don’t have time to talk all evening. I tightly wrapped my arms around her and lifted her over my should and began to run.

“W-Wait, Saeran!” She shouted as she found herself being taken away from the shadows, and now riding on the shoulder of the monster Quasimodo who was told to bring her back.

“I must bring you back. You know who wants to see you.” I simply said. Then with a small laugh and hobble, I spoke once more. “Scream Esmeralda… Someone needs to save you.” It felt terrible to say that, but this was how the story is supposed to go. She can’t let me take her to Jumin. This is the night she is supposed to fall in love with V.

[V POV]

Hunched over on a horse, I began to sigh out of relief when I heard the sound of a scream just down an alleyway. It was common to hear the sound of a screaming women at night, and be the knight in shining armor for them all. Their eyes of shining passion as they looked at me was a figure of marvel as I lead them back home and bid them adieu and returned to my sun. Tonight will prove would be no different.

Charging my horse down the alley way, I followed the sounds of a shrill scream until I found the sigh of a monster carrying a girl on his shoulder down toward the cathedral square. What an unholy sight to behold! A monster so desperate for love he has taken it into his own hands to find a woman for himself. In a way it’s almost poetic, and I felt bad for the creature, and yet justice must be served!

Swiftly ripping the woman from the hunchback’s should and pulling her onto my mount, I let the men that followed behind me drag him down to his feet and tie him up with the thickest rope we had on us. A monster like him was capable of a fight, and it was obvious to see. He was able to throw one of my men completely across the square without a sign of exhaustion.

“Take him to the Bastille, he will serve trial in the morning.” I shouted at my men who had finally secured a grip on the white haired beast. “Now, let’s take a look at what he was trying to take.” Caressing the shoulder of my passenger, she lifted her head quickly and then stared at me with a bit of fright in her eyes.

“V?” She said softly and out of breath.

“V? That is a nickname I have! I am known as Captain Phoebus de Châteauper.”

“Captain Phoebus?” She muttered as she tried to balance between the horse’s neck and my lap. “Like… The Captain of the guard, and the.. No I shouldn’t say that, should I? Well, Captain Phoebus… Thanks for the rescue. I guess.”
“You guess?” She seemed to be playing hard to get. What was so strange about her was this enticing look in her eyes that seemed to drag me in. I walked my stallion under a streetlight so that I could look at her in a more finer light, and my eyes were not ready to behold the creature that I had saved.

“You’re… A gypsy?” I said with curiosity.

She nodded and then leapt down off my horse. What a strange woman. Dismounting, I stood next to her and grabbed her hand. “I have told you my name, but please Madame, tell me yours.” I lifted it close to my lips but waited to hear her name.

“Esmerelda. But, please call me Esme.” She cooed out to me, and I planted a soft kiss on her beautiful hand. Such soft hands as well. The kind that dance and clap. The kind that beg for money, and yet so pure.

Looking up into her eyes that glowed with the moon light, I whispered out to her as if to caress her with my words. “Is there any possible chance of seeing you again mademoiselle Esmerelda?”

Batting her eyes at me, she began to skip back words with a teasing smile placed upon her crimson lips. “Perhaps. Most likely. It is, after all, how we must play our parts. Right, dear Phoebus?” Laughing, she waved her fingers at me and blew a kiss before sprinting into the shadows of the street.

Feeling at a loss for words, and only astounded by beauty, I stood still for moments in the chilled wintery night. My heart was racing quickly, and my entire being felt warm as if by a fire; and yet it was still January. It was as if I had become drunk off love.

Was I already not in love with my beautiful Fleur de Lys? My sun, my glorious reason to be?

And yet, this… Gypsy draws me to her like a moth to a flame. I desire to see her again.

“Forgive me Fleur de Lys… I believe now… I am a man who has known no love… Until now.”

Chapter Text

[Yoosung POV]

In a wobbling and drunken fashion, I was finally able to escape the tavern with my clothes still on my back. I won’t go into too much detail, but I was able to find enough money just to get a beer or two in me, and now I can’t stop hiccuping.

Stumbling out onto the cold streets of Paris that were only lit up with dim street lights, I try to find a near hay stack I can collapse onto. Never will a poet like me find a bed to rest my head upon. My play was an utter failure, and so is my life in love.

With another hiccup, I hear the cry of a young goat galloping past me. I must have drunken too much, or I am more of a light weight than I thought. Following this estranged creature through the dark alleyways I find myself coming upon figures and shadows crouched and hunched over. Beggars no doubt. The same that hung around earlier during the feast of fools. I wouldn’t let them stop me from my pursuit of this white angel in the darkness. It could be my only saving grace! But as soon as I let out another hiccup, I felt an arm wrap around my leg, and then from another angle fingers tightening a grip around my ankle. I soon lost balance and fell forward into a man who appeared to have no legs and used only the support of a cart to be mobile.

Looking up at the man, he seemed frightfully angry and snarled at me. “I uhm, am dreadfully sorry, I seem to have lost my balance… And my way.” Trying to regain my footing, I fall once again, but this time the man catches me.

“A thousand gratitude’s sir, but I must be going. I-I need to find that goat.” I shuddered when I suddenly felt myself being lifted up by the man who appeared to have no legs. How could it possibly be? I could have sworn that he was a cripple?

“A goat huh? The only thing I see that looks like an animal around here… Is you. Filthy trespasser.” He snarled at me and began to show me his rotten teeth that began to turn into a smile.

“Trespasser? There must be some mistake! All I have done was-mph!” A piece of rotten fabric was shoved into my mouth and I was prevented from speaking any longer. The taste and smell filling my senses almost caused me to pass out. It smelled like an un-mucked out stable… with animals left for dead within.

“What have you got there Frederique?” I heard a lady’s voice come from behind me as she slipped her arms around my waist and into my pockets. “You found a man with no money!”

“I’ve seen’t him… ez dah man in front of the ol’ cathedral tryn’a put on some play or what not.” Another woman’s voice chimed in sounding more husk and old.

“A poet huh?” The man referred to as Frederique laughed and began to drag me by my collar deeper into the shadows of Paris. “Let’s see what Clopin has to say about this one, eh?”

“Most likely we’ll let em’ hang like the rest of em!”

“Nah, can’t be! He’s too pretty to be hung. Look at his pretty hair!”

“Quiet wench! It’s up to Clopin. He’s the king, and what he says is law. After all, this trespasser must follow all the rules of the court of miracles like we have to follow the rules of his precious Paris.” The man spit into my face and I started to mutter and sigh. It seemed I was in a troubling situation at this moment. That goat was no angel in the darkness… it was a devil in a shroud of white leading me to death!

I was soon surrounded by the sound of laughs and cheers of men and women alike with mixed accents that ticked the hairs on my skin. My whole body felt like it was going to be sick, and reject this rotten cloth in my mouth. This taste surely was going to linger on my tongue for weeks if I managed to even get out of here alive.

Being dragged to a man with red shaggy hair, and rustled clothes, he turned to look at me and gave me a large grin as if to see an old friend. “Oh ho ho ho, what do we have here?” He spoke and grabbed the cloth from my mouth and pulled it out. “Feel better there friend? Now, let’s talk about why you’re here, and your sentence.”

“My-My sentence? Whatever do you mean? I only followed a goat!” I protested at the man as he continued to smile and write on a piece of papyrus with a quill made of pigeon’s feather.

“Followed…a…goat.” He wrote every word I said, and then looked back at me with glistening eyes. “And then you found us. Which is naughty, very very naughty my dear poet. For this there is only one sentence I can give to you.”

He paused and then tapped his chin. He looked like he was really having fun with carrying out these words to me. I was hanging on every word he said, and anticipating for whatever torture the king of the gypsies would put me through.

“You will hang.” Snapping his fingers, I felt rough tugging and my feet being dragged beneath me as I uselessly struggled in the arms of someone much stronger than me. I cried out to the king in fear for my life.

“B-But we met earlier today. At the feast! How could you do this to me? Didn’t you say yourself that I was useless to you?” I tried to find some sort of way to save myself in this situation. As I began to plead for my life, I found myself standing on the shoulders of a very large woman and just two men tightening a rope around my neck. The king of thieves looked at me like I was a fine piece of art work and laughed.

“Ah, that I did. You’re that poet with the empty pockets and terrible play. Jehan truly did make you look like a fool. But here’s the think dear poet.” He stepped closer to me and looked up as I stared down into his piercing eyes.

“You stumbled into the kingdom of the downtrodden without ever having being trod upon. Despite it being a lonesome goat that lead you to us, there is no reason for you to be one of us. You live the life of a poet do you not? You have ways with words when all we can do is dance and sell ourselves for money.” Taking a breath he sighed and turned around to look at the crowed that began to gather to witness my fate.

“What say you? Should I allow this ‘poet’ to become like us?” There were various boos from the crowd, and some whistles. “Alright, alright, hush it. Let’s let the women decide then?” Turning back to look at me, I saw a very sly grin on his face. “By the law of Bohemia, you may be saved from the rope on one condition.”

“Anything, please tell me what I must do?” I pleaded at him, I pushed down the tears pulling into my eyes, but I would not show fear now if I were to stand up to the king who laughed in the face of it all.

“Well, its simple really. A woman amongst us must choose to marry you! Once all is said and done, you’ll be one of us.” He laughed and then his eyes became almost wolf-like in a second as if about to swallow his prey whole. “If no woman chooses you… Then your bride will be the rope.” Everyone started to burst out in laughter as if this was some sort of show and they expected me to die no matter what. So I did what any other man would do who would struggle for their life…

I begged.

“Any woman please, I will make a suitable husband I promise! Please, I am a good man, I promise!” I spat these words like a waterfall into an empty basin that would never fill. Women just looked at me and sized me up. Some would touch my legs and feel my shoulders, while others would sniff me and run their crooked fingers through my hair. All I could do was shiver and pray that one, just one, amoungst them would tell their king they wanted me for some play toy. I couldn’t care. Just don’t let me die here God.

“Going once?...” Clopin began to speak and raised his fingers up to the roused crowd who waited to see the woman drop me. I could barely balance on her shoulders anymore.

“Going twice?...” Please god, If I am to die, let me just see her again. Her beautiful skin, and wondrous gaze. I just wish to see her is all I beg.

“And…..Sol-“ A voice rose up from the crowd in a panicked matter and began to rush forward. The woman who was my perch began to shift, and allowed me to remain on her shoulders. I looked for who the voice was.

“You my belle?” Clopin looked as the woman who danced earlier at the feast rose from the crowd and came face to face with him.

“I won’t let you hang him. I will marry him.” She said softly looking up at him and then back at Clopin.

“If it is he you want Esmeralda, then it is HE you shall have!” I felt a sudden shift as I was being taken down from the perch, and the rope being released from my neck. Soon I was face to face with the woman who declared she would be my bride. La belle Esmeralda. God you truly do listen.

We stared into each others eyes for a moment while Clopin stood between us holding a large urn. He passed it to Esmeralda, and then she passed it to me. “You’re suppose to throw it on the ground.”

“Ah-ah? Right!” I threw the urn onto the ground below us and it shattered into four different pieces. Clopin raised his hands above our heads and began to speak in a different dialect. It must have been Romani.

Nodding, he looked at me and said “Brother, she is your wife for four years.” Then back to Esmeralda and smiled while saying “Sister, he is your husband for four years.” He hummed a bit, and then whispered out an “Amen”.

I could see Esmeralda sighing at this moment when the crowd suddenly burst into laughter at this one moment. It’s so strange, one moment you are to be hanged and the next you are welcomed into the court of miracles through marriage. Then I felt her grasp my wrist and tug it to a different direction. My bride wished to talk to me?

“Come Yoosung, I have to feed you now, and as you some questions.” She said leading me into a room further down a corridor. “Don’t worry, I’ll feed you too. You’re probably hungry. I am too. Who’d knew you could get hungry in a story.”

It didn’t matter what she called me. The name sounded familiar as if from my dream this morning. If my angel has chosen this name for me, then let it be mine for the rest of my life till I die an old and happy man.

[MC POV]

This is still merely the beginning of my story, but now Yoosung is here. I feel a sense of ease wash over me as I look at the back of his bright yellow curls as he digs into the food I prepared for him. He wasted no time whatsoever to dig in. I know Pierre Gringore is basically a starved artist of some sort, and he marries Esmeralda through the law of Bohemia which saves his life an secures a sanctuary for him with Clopin and the Court of Miracles. Sighing, I refill his goblet with water to help wash down a piece of bread he was scarfing down into his mouth.

Yoosung didn’t seem to really care that I called him by his real name. Perhaps he knows who he is just like me and Saeran know who we are? But he seemed very Pierre like back there while his life was on the line. Perhaps everyone is a mix of themselves from reality, and the characters created by Victor Hugo.

“What has my wife in such a philosophical state?” Yoosung’s soft and charming voice rouse up and began to wake me from my enigmatic thoughts.

“I am thinking about my life. And where I am along with my friends. I want to help them and myself, but there is only one way to do that.” I say looking at him. I wobble back in forth and wrap my arms around myself.

Yoosung stood up from his seat, and walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me. “I wouldn’t dare leave you in such a position to think on your own like this. I will lend you all my support.” I felt his breath on the back of my neck, and my body began to feel very hot. This moment was intense. I could feel him tightening around me, and nuzzling into my neck. I had to break free from this moment, or else I just might fail the entire story.

Esmeralda can’t love Pierre. She loves Pheobus. But in this sense of struggle and feeling alone, just a few more seconds of imagining this to be Yoosung and I is all I desire. As much as I love having Saeyoung around, he is merely having fun with all his other pawns like he would in his bunker. It’s just me and Yoosung.

“Esmeralda…” Yoosung whispered into my ear and began to nibble on my earlobe. No, this wasn’t Yoosung, I have to remind myself! This is Pierre’s character in Yoosung’s form! I can’t let myself ruin this scene or else I will let everyone down!

Clearing my throat, I pulled away from Yoosung and huffed at him holding a dagger to his throat. He looked scared and saddened like a puppy thrown out into the rain. “Forgive me Yoosung, but it has to be this way.”

“You mean… You didn’t save me out of love?” He asked shakily.

I pulled the dagger back and looked at him in bewilderment. “Would you rather let me let them hang you? I wouldn’t let you die. Besides you can’t die.”

“Than what am I to be to you? Your… Yoosung or whatever you called me.” He said as he began to recover from the sudden shock.

“We are to be like brother and sister…” I said thinking about the novel. This is what is said, this is what must be told. But I also must ask him a very important question. “Yoosung… Do you know Latin?”

“As a poet, it is pertinent that I know it. It’s a second nature to me. Like the language of love.” He giggled, and smiled at me. “Why do you ask?”

“Could you tell me what… Pheobus means?” I said looking away from him and playing with my dress. A sudden rush of excitement washed over me as I said the name aloud. This must be what feeling like the character is like. There was a large smile across my face as all I could think about was V saving mean earlier this evening.

“If I do recall that word means….. The sun.”

“The sun. Oh, very much so the sun.” Smiling I turned back at Yoosung who looked like he was working out a puzzle in his mind.

“You couldn’t mean the Captain of the Guard, Pheobus? Could you? I don’t know what it is, but every time I look at him I get so furious. Esmeralda, please don’t tell me it is him that you love.”

Sighing heavily, I couldn’t lie to Yoosung. And yet, it wasn’t I who loved Pheobus. It was Esmeralda. I could feel a heartbeat that wasn’t my own racing when the name was merely spoken of. I wouldn’t be like this in my day to day life back at home. But this is the story after all, and it must progress.

“I love him. With all my heart.” These were the words of Esmeralda.

Looking a bit broken hearted, Yoosung caressed my cheek and smiled. “Then I support you in your love. Just please, don’t get yourself hurt.”

I reached up and kissed him on the cheek. “I won’t. I promise. Goodnight dear husband.” I ran into a separate adjacent room to go to bed, and out came my goat Djali to greet Yoosung. As I closed the door I put my ear against it and hear Yoosung began talking to her and laughing about his day. Smiling, I turned around and skipped to the bed while playing with the tassels on my dress.

“Don’t worry everyone. We can get through this together.” Sighing heavily, I crawled into my bed and curled up into a ball. Then I felt a sudden shiver run down my spine. A sense of fear and anticipation was welling up inside me as the thought of tomorrow came.

Chapter Text

[Zen POV]

Within a crowd stands a lone man who truly knows no destiny of his own, and purely lives in the moment of every second of everyday. That is who I am; Jehan Frollo. The women want me, and the men desire to be me. Alas, I must deal with my strict brother who nags at me every waking hour of his insufferable life to merely feel that he is making some impact on me. Dearest Claude, you have done but the opposite and caused me to hate your pious life and what it has to offer me. Although, the high status you hold makes me become a respected citizen, you are still trying to boss me around as if you were a father to me. Act like a friend, act like my brother for once and try to understand what I want.

I walk among friends who take me away from the blessed cathedral under the name of Notre Dame, and find myself in a courtroom among onlookers and people who wish to hear the jestering tales of those either being sent to gallows, or just to be merely flogged. I must admit, I am simply bored just sitting and waiting for something exciting.

A man sits besides me coughing and writing various notes down on a piece of parchment he propped on his lap. I recognize this fellow well. In fact I ruined his shining moment yesterday during the festival. Tapping his shoulder, I get his attention and look deeply into his purple eyes. I truly am such a marvel to look at, and his eyes make me look so much better. Coughing, I smile and then begin to speak.

“Might you be that young poet in the crowd yesterday talking to us about your anus?” I snickered at him and waited for a response.

“Indeed… However, that was you who regarded Jupiter as the god Uranus. And it’s pronounced your-an-ass.” Looking quite bold, he resumed to write on his parchment. My goodness, it seems the poet has grew some overnight. Sticking my hand out to him in friendly gesture, he takes it and shakes firmly.

“Pierre Gringoire… “ He said with his nose back into his parchment.

“I am Jehan Frollo. Brother to the archdeacon and scoundrel of the streets.”

“Your name becomes you. I see why you have decided to become a scoundrel. It’s possibly to spite your brother since he is considered a holy man. You in turn have chosen a life completely opposite of him equating to the world's equilibrium and keeping all forms of personality balanced between pious, and pitiful.” He exhaled and then blinked a few times.

“What a mouthful. Perhaps you are also a philosopher?”

“In times, I like to assume I am. However, what is a philosopher if not a man who knows the experience of love.” He seemed troubled.

“A love sick poet and philosopher? Should it not be you up there in the stands marking whether a man is innocent or not, and finding some connection to their punishment poetic in a way?” I responded to him as he took a moment to think about my question.

“I believe today’s judge is quite a form of entertainment young Frollo. Not only is he a fool, but he is almost deaf. All these guilty and innocence are getting the incorrect punishments. In a way, its poetic, but also tragic.” He paused and then let out a soft chuckle. “It takes my mind off some things to say the least. Like imagining what the judge could be hearing versus what the defendants are saying.”

 “Truly a marvelous jest. I find this boisterous man to be quite a laugh.” I snicker at the man with a javelin and sits with a proud face plastered onto his wrinkles. He thinks he’s doing good when really he’s hurting the innocent. And no one in this room is truly helping him. “I guess it’s my turn to be charitable to the next man who comes to receive punishment.” I sighed and began looking over the head of the crowd to see who they were dragging by the wrists to the stand.

“My god… it couldn’t be.” I swore my eyes were deceiving me when I noticed white hair stricken with blotches of red, and a single piercing eye the shade of mint leaf. “It’s Quasimodo.” Laughing to myself for a bit, I see Pierre with a confused look upon his face.

“This should be interesting.” He said and put his quill behind his ear.

“I should say so. A deaf judge versus a deaf and half blind bell ringer. I have no clue what could possibly come of this but merely entertainment.” Biting my tongue, I wait to hear my bell ringer friend to speak. He may be my brother’s ward, but Quasimodo is still a gentle person. I have no idea what would cause someone like him to be caught up in a mess and then receiving a sentencing from a judge in the courtroom.

“I do suppose I should defend him. After all, my brother would kill me if I let his ward get something worse than flogging.” Standing up I walk close to the stand so that I can hear the mumbles of the judge. Turning my head, Quasimodo has his head down and appears as if he already knows what’s going to happen.

I slam my hand down in front of the judge and cause him to look right at me.

“A-Agh, Jehan Frollo, what have you to do with the guilty party?” He sputtered at me and coughed out every syllable.

“You’re so deaf, if I insulted you, you would have no clue what I would have said would you?” I turn back to the crowd staring at me with anticipation, and then I hear the judge answer me.

“Mhmmm, yes. Now what is it you wanted to say?” He smiled and played with the corner of his paper as I stepped in front of the stand and bellowed.

“Dear judge you are an old buffoon with the face of a donkey.” The crowd began to laugh, and I also heard the laugh of the judge.

“Quite, indeed, yes.” He laughed as well as if to try and understand what I was saying was funny, but he didn’t know it was a shot at him. Smiling, I look at him and then mouth words to him as I have seen my brother mouth words to Quasimodo.

“What is this man's crime?” I mouth slowly.

 “Ah, this thing attacked a woman in the night.” He sputtered once again, and I felt as if this was a big lie. How could Quasimodo force himself onto a woman? Could he really have found such a desire to leave his tower and take someone back?

“He is but a man, Judge. He has desires, and needs like any of us. Right men?” The crowd behind me cheered, but I noticed Pierre looking amused.

“He is a thing, not a man.”

“If my brother heard you say that, he would have you take all the punishments you’ve ever sentenced to any man. Claude Frollo loves his ward very much.”

 “Then it would be him here looking after him and not his foolish brat of a brother.” The judge replied to me as if attempting to hit a nerve. I just nodded and then waved my hands around aimlessly.

 “Alright, you have a point. But he is the archdeacon, and not some brat like me. He has things to take care of, just like Quasimodo has things he needs to take care of. He’s the bell ringer after all.”

 “Don’t take that tone with me young Frollo!” And this was the moment I knew he wasn’t going to listen to me, because he never was listening to begin with. He was deaf! He turned to Quasimodo and then began to question him.

 “What’s your name.”

 Quasimodo looked down at the floor and then back up at the Judge. “Sae-… No. Q-uasi-mo-do.” He said slowly and loudly. But it seemed as if he was going to say something else. “Bell ringer.”

The judge nodded and then began to look between a few papers. “Do you have anything to say about the accusations put to you? Regarding assaulting a woman at night?”

Quasimodo gave a heavy sigh and then blinked at me as if he was bored. “Quasi… modo.” He repeated his name once again as if the Judge didn’t understand the first time.

“My god… Quasimodo is nearly deaf because of the bells, and this buffoon can’t hear him back. This is just madness.” I said as I looked into the crowd and they laughed at this irony.

“For your crime, you will be thrashed fifty times, and left in the square for public amusement for an hour.” The judge slammed his hand on the table, but I quickly ran up to the podium.

“Sir, he is deaf. He can’t reply much to you as you can’t reply to him.” I attempted to defend Quasimodo, but then I was responded with…

“Ah, is that so? Two hours of public shame then.” He slammed the javelin down, and Quasimodo was dragged away from where he stood, merely repeating his name.

“My brother is going to die of shock when he sees this... “ Turning back and sitting next to Pierre once again, I sigh heavily.

“Good show Jehan. It’s a shame neither party could hear you, and twas only the crowd that heard all.” Writing down notes on his parchment once again, I felt a twinge of guilt sitting inside me as if I just allowed a friend to receive punishment. But Quasimodo wasn’t much of a friend… More like a servant. But somewhere in my mind I had imagined defending the soul as if I’ve known him… in another life perhaps?

[V POV]

“Phoebus… Phoebus…” A soft light voice was calling out to me. I was looking out into space, repeating the events of last night in my head over and over. Beautiful, and sweet Esmeralda smiling at me, and her soft hands in mine.

“Hello Phoebus? It’s your fiance talking.” Blinking, I turned to see a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, and lovely green eyes. It was my sun, Fleur de Lys. “Ah, sorry my love.” I grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it gently. “I was thinking about something last night.”

She smiled at me and scooted herself closer to my body. “Something exciting? Do you want to tell me?” Her eyes were looking directly into mine, and I could feel her hands caressing my cheek slowly. I moved my head so that I could kiss her palm and continue this gaze of love.

“It’s nothing too interesting my love. Just a maiden in distress, and saving her from a horrible beast in the night.”

“Horrible? It couldn’t have been that bad.” She spoke with a tease to her voice. I smiled at her and shook my head.

“It was a hideous creature. He has a hunch, and a crooked walk. One of his eyelids hang so low the man is blind.” I said trying to recall the looks of the hunchback.

“The bell ringer?” She asked while playing with my lapel.

“I assume he is.” Taking a moment to think about the man, I see a different mans image in my mind. As if he were able to stand straight and I could look directly into both his eyes. A velvet suit was wrapped around him, and his hands hidden in black gloves. This had to be some lord or nobleman I was imagining. Nothing like the man I apprehended last night.

“What are you thinking about?” I hear Fleur de Lys voice tickle my ear as I focus back to her.

“I thought I saw that man before. But… not dressed in rags and with a hunch parallel to his deformity.”

“Who did you see?”

“A white haired man with a cold stare… But gentle and unknowing all at once. His eyes a mix of blue and green, but almost as bright as the moon that reflects off his hair.”

“Hmm, that does remind me of someone.” She made me look into her eyes and she smiled. “A man named Ray looks similar to that. Such a useful man he is.”

“Ray?” I repeat the words and a different man pops into my head. The same figure, but in darker clothes. His arm was blacked out with ink, and his eyes crazed with desperation. Bent on vengeance or anger, I couldn’t tell. He was unknown…

“Jihyun?” The voice called to me again and I looked at my beautiful fiancee smiling at me warmly. “Who did you see last night?”

“I saw… Saeran.” I repeated as if not quite knowing what I was saying completely.

“So he’s here then? I wonder if Yoosung is here as well.” She stood up and began to walk to the window.

“Yoosung? My love, what are you talking about.” I come up behind her and hold her hands in my own.

“You have lost your memories and are posing as Phoebus. This is a story we are living in, and it’s been created for the device of reviving me. So far, all I can do is try to bring back your own memories.” She sighed and leaned her cheek on he hand. “It’s possible that Saeran is Quasimodo and MC has made herself into Esmeralda. If that’s the case… then they’ll be dead by the end of the story and I will take her place during the final bow.”

“What are you talking about Fleur de Lys?”

“No.. Don’t call me that. You know who I am, so call me by that name.”

“R-Rika.” I stuttered out with almost a sense of fear.

“That’s correct my sun. Now you must continue this plot. After all, it is us in the end who survive.” She pushed a hair back behind my ear and kissed the top of my head. “They’ll all be dead, and it will leave just you and me my sun.”

“I don’t understand. Have you been reading something to make you talk like this? With all these foreign names, and strange talk of a story?” I was worried about her for a moment before she tightened her grip on my hand to the point where I winced.

“It’s nothing you need to be concerned with right now Jihyun. Just make sure to see that girl again.”

Was she giving me permission to seek out Esmeralda? But how could Fleur de Lys know about her?

“What girl?” I repeated.

She smiled at me and then pressed her thumbs to my lips. “Just make sure to see the gypsy girl again and really tell her how you feel before you let her slip out of your hands again.” I felt my body shiver, and I stepped back.

“I.. I have to go.” I stepped out of the room leaving Fleur de Lys alone in there to stare out her balcony. In my mind, I knew what she was saying, but there was a mental block up to deny all she was saying. But how can a man not resist an invitation to see a beautiful maiden such as Esmeralda once again? She even told me to seek her out! My heart was pounding a mile a minute, and all I could think about was Esmeralda.

The last words of Fleur de Lys were drowned out by the sound of a tambourine beating against my mind. A crowd was cheering outside, and I could only imagine seeing la Esmeralda. Opening the doors I saw before me gypsies dancing and a goat spelling out words as if by magic. I wanted to approach, but a fellow guard grabbed me by the shoulder.

“Captain, we are to be reported in at the Bastille.”

Hesitating, I looked within the crowd for the brunette hair I adored to see, and saw it flying in the wind mixed with the tune of the tambourine. I felt a pain in my chest as I turned away her smiling face, and followed my guard away.

I looked back at her and blew a kiss to her. She jumped up excitedly, and began to dance around more fervently. Belle, what a woman to lay my eyes upon. What man would deny her to save their soul. To merely kiss her, I’d let the devil swallow me whole.

“Captain?” My guard repeated to me once again.

I grinned and then nodded. “I have a rose to open up tonight, so let us make haste.” As we left the square, the sound of tambourines became more distant, but still ever present inside my head… as if a picture was placed there so I could look at her smile in my mind for hours.

Chapter Text

[Jumin POV]

I carved words delicately into the stone of my home. These Greek words were to read out all that I felt, and it was I the true scholar who knew the translation alone. Dusting off the stone, I look at my handiwork.

Anarkia was carved deeply into the cold stone of Notre Dame, and I slowly ran my fingers over it to feel the power of this word alone. It truly felt like fate for a man such as me to write powerful letters such as this. Sighing heavily, I could only imagine Esmeralda dancing in the sunshine like she did yesterday. It was as if God himself was giving her a spotlight, but yet she danced on the coals of hell without catching fire. Truly she must be a witch to curse her way into my melancholy heart.

The sound of distant beats and chimes started to fill my head. I turned to look around an arch of the cathedral to notice gypsies dancing in the square once again. But there was something a bit odd about this scene. The poet from yesterday stood among them juggling multi colored balls, and dancing along to the sound of Esmeralda’s tambourine. How could a scholar like him become something as filthy as a gypsy heathen?

His purple eyes caught my hateful stare of disapproval, and he began to run toward me. Does he wish to ask forgiveness when he has dared to already ignore God’s light.

“Archdeacon Frollo! What a pleasure to see you.” He bowed his head and then stuck his hand into his pocket to pull out a small piece of parchment rolled up into a scroll. I kept my hands crossed within my robes as I stared down at him in beguilement.

“You dance with the gypsy’s? You entertain alongside them, and collect the gold thrown at you like a hungry peasant. Are you not the man I saw in the square trying to present your play to a rowdy crowd without fear of mockery?” I hissed out at him in disapproval, and he seemed to flinch at that.

“Father, I have no choice. If I am to live in the court of miracles, I must also learn to make my form of wage for myself and my wife.” He said clutching his scroll to his chest in what looked like fear. Marriage? How is it possible for a poet like him to be married in one night.

“You are a married man? To whose hand have you taken in matrimony to make you dance with swine?” I raised a brow as he turned to look into the crowd and sigh heavily in a manner of hopeless love.

“I have married la belle Esmeralda. She is-” I cut him off once he spoke her name, and I grabbed him tightly by the color to stare into his eyes now filled with fear.
“You are married to that witch? What purpose have you to marry and sleep with the devil’s mistress?” I spat at him with raging anger… and jealousy for a man who has taken her away from me within a night. I am not young like this poet. I am far older, but still a wise man am I not?

“Monsieur, she is my wife, yes! But we have not consummated the marriage…” I loosened my grip on his collar.

“You mean… that creature is as pure as the virgin Mary herself?” I spoke softly and with a sense of hope pitched into my voice.

“Like a newborn lamb, father. She rather look at me like a brother than a husband.” He sounded disappointed and then insisted I take the parchment from him once again. “I wrote about it last night after she fell asleep. Mere poetry of a loveless husband. It’s rather inspiring, and I thought a scholarly man such as yourself would know about something like this due to your nature being a holy man of the church.”

I reached out and gripped the parchment firmly before unraveling it to read out the words this young poet had written out. He writes about following a symbol of light into the night before being saved by an angel who shared a tender moment, but did not dirty herself for the sake of love… but talks of another man to the one she saved.

“Another man… Who does she regard to you to whom she actually loves?” I asked while holding the parchment close to my chest.

“She seems to have fallen in love with the Captain of the Guard, a Phoebus de Chateaupers.” Biting my lip and tucking the scroll away, I hiss out the name given to me.

“Phoebus…” A man born to be loved by countless women, even the angel that rose from hell herself. If he were to take her purity, I would never be able to live with myself for having to let her lose it to a man like him. God would shake the very earth…

“Father, what is written here on this stone? It reads Anarkia… ?” The poet's voice echoes in my head. I wasn’t paying attention, and he somehow walked past me to see the carving in the wall. I turn to face him and clear my throat.

“You are a man possessed… Anarkia is the Greek word for fatality.” I said approaching him and ripping his hand off the stone.

“Strange for such a word to be written here. Fatality written into the very stone of Notre Dame.” He looked like he was puzzling something within his mind as he read it aloud to himself once again. “But then again, I suppose that's fate itself.” He gave me a warm smile, and in return, I felt the corners of my mouth turning as well as if to smile at a friend. I barely know this poet, and yet there is an instinct inside me telling me to be kindly to him.

“Dear god… is it really time already?” He turned his attention behind me to a crowd of screaming people yelling curses and profanity as some guards pulled a form through the crowd to the great wheel.

“A man to be punished?” I asked with curiosity.

The blonde man nodded and then pulled another parchment of paper out. “Yes, I was at the trial. Your brother seemed to try and defend this man since he is your ward after all.”

My eyes widened as I looked back to see Quasimodo being tied to the wheel and his shirt being ripped off to expose his pale back and abnormal hump. “Q-Quasimodo? How did he let himself get captured?”

“Apparently he was arrested for assaulting a woman late last night.”

“The fool! He’s gotten himself captured and now will face punishment… For failing me.” I whispered the last part out to myself, and I could hear the poet sighing heavily. “Such a sad turn of events. Can you not do anything Monsieur? He is your ward after all.”

I shook my head and stared coldly at Quasimodo as the enforcer began to whip his back with the tail of a thousand cats. “This is a learning moment for him… He has failed to listen to me and put himself in this moment. After all… I am the one who tries to tell him to hide in the tower, but yet he has gone and gotten himself captured.”

Nodding, the poet stood still and watched as the whip was brought down with a great force onto the back of my ward. Even the first whip began to draw blood on his back, and it seeped out slowly almost painting his hunch a crimson red. I turned around and began walking back into the cathedral.

But not before I turned my head one last time to meet the mint eyes that stared at me with betrayal and sadness.

[MC POV]

The music that I danced to suddenly came to an abrupt stop and soon became an overwhelming sound of boo’s and sounds of laughter. Turning my head I saw a hunch over body being spun around on a wheel in front of the cathedral, and being whipped repeatedly without any form of mercy.

The quick sound of the whip shook me to my core as the cracking sound on skin could be heard throughout the square and began to blend with the voices of the people to stare at watched at the man being punished. I shot my gaze closer to the wheel and soon realized this was the scene where the hunchback gets punished for trying to kidnap Esmeralda.

My heart began to burn with every crack that was shot down onto Saeran’s back. This was my fault. I put him in this position, and now he’s suffering. Could he be feeling actual pain on that wicked hunch this story has created for him?

A hand grabbed onto my wrist and I turned around to face the man who requested my attention. It was Saeyoung who looked just as pained as Saeran on the wheel. He looked like he was going to cry for this stranger, this deformed man he barely even knew.

“No man deserves this… “ He said under his breath. “He’s… like us.”

“Like a brother?” I asked, seeing if I could trigger any memories in Saeyoung. Blinking multiple times before looking back at me, he nodded slightly. “In a way.. I suppose.” He responded.

“Wa… ter.” The crowd grew silent and only the voice of the hunchback began to rise up from the dead cheers.

“Water… Please.” He repeated without lifting his sorrowful head. His white bangs drooped in front of his face, and it seemed like he was trying to hide any tears he possibly shed while being whipped. Even now, he is trying to remain stronger than anyone else around him.

The crowd began to mock him and repeated what he said. A small child soon threw a wet and dirty rag at him, and it only made Saeran more desperate. That moment, I caught his eyes with my own. I was compelled to move forward to him.

Both Saeyoung and I moved through the crowd until we eventually arrived at the wheel. Saeyoung removed a flask of water from his satchel and handed it to me. As I grabbed it, I felt my heartbeat in my ears as I walked up crooked steps to the wheel. This man was suppose to be my kidnapper, but here he sat in pain, and begging like any other normal man. This is the vulnerability of Quasimodo. But still, all I could see was Saeran, and him trying to be stronger than he appeared.

I grabbed a handkerchief that I kept close to my chest, and began to dab softly at his drying tears. He refused to look at me now.

“Hey… It’s okay.” I said softly. “I came back didn’t I?” At that moment, his eye opened and stared right at me. I jumped back a bit and then regained my balance. I held up Saeyoung’s flask to his lips and allowed him to begin drinking the water. He drank eagerly, and I watched as he tried to get every last drop with his tongue. As I pulled the flash back he laid his head down once more to where my hands were as if to kiss them in appreciation. I leaned down and placed my head onto his head, and to this the crowd burst into a shocked sigh. I ran my hand down his back and brought his shirt back over his back to save him dignity.

“You don’t need to act tough Saeran. I know how hard you are trying for everyone’s sake to get through this story. I’m trying too.” I looked to my side to see a hourglass ticking time away with sand falling down into the next vial. There wasn’t much privacy up here, and I couldn’t do much for Saeran at this point besides giving him water.

“I’m not trying to act tough… The character comes in through the skin and then becomes me. I’m sure you’ve felt those moments too when you’ve danced.” He said silently just loud enough for me to hear. “But… I am trying.”

I snuck my hand down my leg in search of my dagger and pulled it up quietly so that the man with the whip wouldn’t notice me attempting to free the hunchback.

“What are you doing?” I heard Saeran’s voice softly.

“Setting you free. I can’t bare to see you up here like this anymore. You have to go back into the cathedral and stay safe inside.”

“We can’t disobey how the actual story goes MC. You’re not even supposed to be up here with me that long… You may cause your knight in shining armor to become jealous.” He retorted to me.

“H-He’s not here. And I can damn well do as I please. I got us into this mess, I will get us out however I want!” I quickly snap the rope keeping Saeran down, and find myself being ripped off of Saeran.

 I found myself soon flung into the crowd and being picked up by Saeyoung. The people seemed to be still in shock at my kindness toward the deformity they were just making fun of. As Saeyoung ran through the crowd holding me and scolding me for my stupidity, he called out to Yoosung who was standing beside Jumin in front of the Cathedral.

I cast my eye up toward the front of the cathedral to see Searan hobbling in through the large doors with Jumin’s eyes watching him move the entire time. But once Saeran was inside, Jumin’s eyes quickly flashed toward me like fire. I saw fire in his eyes yet felt this cold shiver run down my spin. It was the most bizarre feeling I can describe, and hope to never feel again while I look at my friend Jumin.

But… He’s not my friend in this story. He’s the one who sent Saeran after me right? This isn’t the Jumin Han I know back in reality.

[Saeran POV]

My lips were still wet as I stumbled onto the cold floor of the cathedral. I could still feel the warmth of her touch upon my cheek. Other than my wet lips, the tears on my cheeks began to fall once again. The character within me was rising out once again and crying out of pure joy due to being caressed.

Caressed by a beautiful woman.

I began to stumble back onto my feet and make my way toward the flickering lights of candles near the rose window. I huffed heavily and clung to the heavy stone, tucking my disfigurement against its cold touch. This felt like pain in my chest more than anything I knew. I had her all to myself, but she would be pulled away eventually. Just as she always has been. Taken away by someone else, or something else. Not to be mine.

Letting out a sigh, I felt a cold touch on my shoulder, and turned around to see the gaze of Jumin staring down at me.

“You look frightened boy. Or could it be… Enchanted?” He seemed to be interrogating me.

“E-Enchanted? Not me, I’m strong.” I had to drag onto what character was left inside of me at this moment to be able to finish this chapter. It almost seemed like the more we broke apart from the story, the more of this reality would become broken. Even now, the candlelight flickering behind me almost seemed static like a broken film on VCR.

Somewhere in this world someone was not keying into their character as much as they should.

“Yes, Enchanted. Look at me Quasimodo.” I was taken away from my train of thought by Jumin regaining my attention. I see what’s happening now. This is when he starts to fear for his sanity due to Esmeralda’s overwhelming kindness and beauty that he tricks himself that she is sinful through Quasimodo’s eyes.

I shook my head to argue. “Can’t be. She is kind Master. She gave me water.” I said as I gestured to my mouth.

“I gave you a home when your mother abandoned you. I gave you food when no woman would nurse you. She gave you water from the dirty flask of a thief. Their king no less! She has enchanted you to believe she is good.”

“If she is not good, then what is she?”

“She is a witch… A siren who desire to see men beg beneath her delicate feet. And she has caught you Quasimodo. You must not desire to see her again, or you will be fully under her spell, and God will help you no longer.”

“God did not help me when I sat on that wheel being whipped without mercy. God did not help e as I stood in court for a crime I did not commit. God did not cause this pain I feel in my chest when she is not by my side. All fault does not fall on God… Master.” I bowed to him and twisted my body to start walking away.

I felt something burning inside me. A rage that had sparked the night I sat in that jail cell. Of course Quasimodo would not yell at his master or talk back as I have, but I somehow was able to break free from his chains for a moment and say what I desired. I could make this story my own for only a brief moment if I wanted to.

“Quasimodo!” I head a large voice boom from behind me, I turned quickly to be only met with the back of a hand. As if I didn’t already go through enough pain today. Looking up, I saw the sheer anger of the Archdeacon as he huffed at his ward.

“You will not talk back. You will obey me.” He seemed to almost his everything out. He quickly leaned down and embarrassed me and caressed the cheek he had just struck. “I am sorry Quasimodo… but I only want to protect you. I don’t want you to get yourself hurt out there. I just want you to understand that the gypsy girl is dangerous, and we must save ourselves. Do you understand my son?”

Looking back at him, I could see pity and tears in his eyes. It was like anger faded to a fatherly love and protection. This was the pure love and affection that Frollo had for Quasimodo. In this moment, I felt my body fall into his and I hugged him as if to agree to his rules. I obeyed all his laws, and became the little servant he desired, but I also became the son he needed.

“Good.” He stroked my head and then placed a small cross mark upon my head. “Now… go to the tower and practice reading. I… I have something I need to take care of.”

Nodding, I hobbled away and saw him hesitantly stepping toward the cathedral doors. I already knew what was going to happen tonight, and it pained me heavily. But I had to think to myself quickly on what could be happening to this world around us now.

The curse that had developed this world had created a story in it as well. In it are characters that we become and allow ourselves to personify due to our names being written on the script. It could possibly be since both me and MC cast people on the script, we were able to retain part of who we are back in reality. But it seems like there might be a cost if we act like ourselves too much like I had just now.

Arriving in my bell tower I looked out a windowsill to gaze into the sky, and similar to the candles, I watched as the clouds would flicker like that of static but then quickly regain their image as it was before. Random people, extra characters in the street would lose their faces and then regain them in a blink of an eye. It seemed if the story lost it’s characters, it then would become a new story and be rewritten…

There was something archived back at magenta that was similar to this case. We had a novelist working on how to turn works of fiction into reality through the elixir, but we soon figured it to just be a huge vision of drug usage as we lost some of our greatest followers. Most of them would be lying in their cells gazing at the ceiling reciting poetry for weeks.

No, what happened to us in the theater almost seemed magical… or impossible. It wasn’t like a drug trip, and the elixir has taken me to dark corners of the world that I never want to return to. I played with my reflection in one of the bells and then noticed that my face seemed almost normal. I quickly touched the side of my face to feel it and realized the disfigurement was still there, but what I saw through my own eyes was myself. My own reality.

Something, or someone other than me and MC is causing the story to malfunction. I would assume the story would allow it’s director to make a few edits, but if it’s characters start acting on their own, something is bound to change.

I crawled beneath the bell and found it’s well worn rope and gripped it tightly in my hands. There was a large drop below me, and I gulped before I let myself fall and allow my body weight to encourage the bells to trigger the sound of their song.

As I swung back and forth on the cloisters rope, the tolling would grow quieter, and I could only hear MC talking to me and telling me to not act so strong. She had even kissed the top of my head in front of the whole crowd showing no fear of me. My cheeks felt hot as I relived this in my mind, but scolded myself as I was not to think of her.

Damning myself, I smacked my own face and slugged myself back to the ground only to mutter. “Damn… I wish to think of you MC, but Jumin has prevented me… and so has Quasimodo’s loyalty. If we want to finish this story, we can’t alter anything in the slightest… anymore.”

I leaned my head down and hugged my legs tightly. The sound of the bells finishing their song was a bit of comfort to the hunchback lingering in my heart.

Chapter Text

[V POV]

The night was cold, and started to strike like a dagger at my skin as I walked in the street. I felt the wind start to blow icy tears into my eyes as I tried to keep them open to at least know where I was going, but my only guidance was an arm I was holding on to. This arm belonged to whom some believed to be a man of the church. Other’s knew he was just a scoundrel who used a prestigious name to get his way. I heard him laughing as he tried to lift me up as I began tumbling and tripping on the cobblestone beneath my feet. His white hair glowed in the moonlight, but his eyes seemed to be like dark embers that reflected the streetlights. “J-Jehan… Would you mind telling me why we are performing a bar crawl? I told you I have important rendezvous tonight.”

“Rendezvous? Another lady perhaps? A hopeless mistress that you have saved? Oh the quest for true love can go on and on my friend. But the quest for beer is always a fruitful one! Another pub is just around the corner, and I have a pocket full of gold straight from my brothers chest.” He let out a laugh as he took a swig of the drink he carried in his hand and tossed it behind him.

Looking at the small pouch attached to his side, it clinked and swung happily full of gold. Just enough for a room at a tavern for me and Esmerelda to spend the night. I could never steal though. Giving a hiccup, I slumped down in defeat almost feeling my heart fall down with me.

“Jehan, you do not know love.” I sighed heavily.

“Nor will I ever. A woman is like prey; you capture her from the hunt and then feast upon her like a wild beast. Once you are done with the spoils, you search for the next meal.” He laughed and laid me down on a hay stack that was between a tavern and a pub. “You have decided to devout yourself to one meal for the rest of your life, and yet you still hunt. Stay here then and hunt my friend.” He turned around and began walking toward the pub with a sway in his hips. Looking at him in defeat, I laid my head back and closed my eyes.

I only came out tonight with Jehan to calm my nerves before seeing Esmeralda. I didn’t know a few drinks with him would soon turn to a dozen then a whole bar crawl. The bile in my stomach began to rise as I felt disgusted with myself. What a fool I was.

“God…” I spoke softly. “If you pity a man in love… Please help me off my feet… bring me to la Esmeralda.”

“You wish to see the woman you love?” I heard a deep voice come from the shadows. I lifted my head and saw a cloaked figure with his face hidden.

“Who are you?” I asked attempting to reach for the sword at my side.

“Please. I mean no harm. I merely have come to offer my help.” He raised his hand, and in it he showed me a coin purse. “I am assuming this is what you desire?”

I stared at it for a good minute before standing to me feet. This miracle of a man somewhat brought a soberness to my being. “Are you offering to buy my room?”

“I am asking to see the woman of whom you speak of. I have come to warn you about her.” His tone suddenly changed from almost a friendly tone to a worried voice.

“Friend, what do you mean?” I stepped closer as if to see the man under the hood, but he stepped back further into the shadows.

“If you speak of la Esmeralda, I must warn you she is a married woman.” He spoke as if he was trying to stop me, or prevent me from seeing her.

“Married? Is it consummated?”

“She is still pure as the virgin. I ask you do not soil her if you go to her tonight.” He pulled the coin purse back and seemed to almost hiss at me now.

“I am engaged as well… But… my heart burns for her. I must see her. Only she is the one to decide if she truly wants me or not when I desire her more than moon and the stars.” I lunged forward and grabbed the coin purse from the cloaked man. “If you are so afraid, then stow yourself away to watch and wait for her as well. If she does so as to agree to be with me, I ask that you leave to give us privacy and you will do so or God help you, you will meet with the end of my sword.”

The figure remained silent. Then nodded as if to give a sorrowful agreement.

“Very well.. Let us go to the Tavern where I promised I would meet Esmeralda.” We began to walk, but at a distance from each other. I felt something lingering in my mind that shouted as if it was telling me I was walking to the end of my chapter.

[MC POV]

The night was cold, and each step I took closer to this climactic point caused my heart to pound faster. This was V I was going to meet up with. I could feel my cheeks becoming warmer with the thought of him bowing to me and kissing my hand. I could barely believe it, even now as the tavern lights lit the night. There were about a thousand questions burning in my mind as I got closer to the door.

Will he hold me close and confess his love to me?

Will he kiss my cheeks and tease me?

I reached out for the knob and began turning it. My eyes were already so blinded by the fact of what me and V were going to do this evening that I had forgotten why we here together in the first place. As soon as I swung the door open, there were two people there staring at me as if I was cat walking on two legs. Blinking a few times, I opened my mouth as if to answer an unasked question.

“V?” I said softly. They still carried a blank expression on their faces.

“Whose that then? That’s the strangest name I ave’ ever heard of.” One of the tavern maids said.

“Could she be speaking of the gentleman who came in ere’ not too long ago with the pocket full of gold?” The other replied.

“What’s his name then?”

“I do believe it’s the Captain Pheobus. Got me smitten as soon as he walked in.”

I heard the name “Pheobus” and my eyes became really wide. “Him! That’s who I meant. I’m looking for Captain Pheobus.”

“Well, why didn’t yah say so? Just standing there with your mouth open wasn’t going to elp’ you now was it?” The maid reached out for my wrist and began to pull me toward the staircase leading to a small room upstairs.

“The Captain told us a lady would be coming for him. Make sure you don’t break the bed now.” Both the maids began to laugh in a teasing manner as I walked into the room.

The room was well lit by a couple of candles and a fireplace to keep it warm. In it stood a bed, and a cupboard big enough for a man to hide in. “I should really look into getting something like this back home. This thing is huge.” I started to run my fingers along the wood of the cupboard until I felt a large hand grab my waist.

I turned around and saw the blue eyed figure that had been plaguing my mind all day. “V.. I- I mean Pheobus.” He didn’t appear shocked at the sudden correction of his name. Instead he shrugged it off and pulled me close to him. Without his clunky armor on, he appeared so fine and handsome. His beautiful blue hair rested happily on his shoulders, and I lifted my fingers up to start playing with the broken ends.

“You look troubled my lady.” He said looking at me, then pulling my hand to his face. “You came as I had asked… So you must share some sort of similar desire for me as I do you?” Kissing the tips of my fingers, he began walking me backwards towards the bed and I felt my cheeks become red with embarrassment.

What am I supposed to say? I could barely make out any words other than his actual name. I still had to somehow remind myself that I am in a story, trapped, with my friends trying to escape, and not trying to play pretend love story with a really hot guy. But.. Oh god, I’m falling in and out of character way to much I can barely keep my own head on straight.

“I-I thought of you on my way here.” I replied to him.

“And at any other time?”

“I think of you now.” I began to stroke his cheek in a comforting way. As I sat down on the bed, something began to poke at my thigh in an aggressive manner. I lifted the side of my skirt up to see a dagger hidden on my leg.

“Thinking of killing me as well?” He teased and laughed as I reached for the dagger and ripped it out from where it was hiding.

I stared at the dagger for a moment trying to remember what was suppose to happen with it later. I kept repeating to myself earlier this afternoon that something bad was going to happen tonight, but now at this very moment I can’t seem to remember what it was. I tossed the dagger onto the floor, and we both heard it hit it with a large thud.

“Why would I kill you my sun.” I said as I held up my arms welcoming. He rushed into them and began to kiss my nape gently. “Does this mean you love me?” Hearing him say that now caused butterflies to well up in my stomach. The me I know would say “Hey, let’s talk about this. Don’t you feel like this is a bit rushed?” but Esmeralda is screaming right now and all I can hear is “I love you, I love you, I love you.” Since I can’t be me at this moment, I let the Esmeralda inside me take over, and she begins to sing endless praise to Captain Pheobus who laid above her, showering her with kisses and blinding her from anything above them.

The room was filled with heat, and desire, but I felt so strange to it as my lips would touch V’s. These aren’t really V’s lips, I had to keep saying to myself, these are another man's lips. His hands began to roam, and that’s when I pulled back and had to stop him. “Wait… “

“What is it? Did I hurt you?” He seemed so worried in this moment.

“N-Not that… I just.. “ Quick think of an excuse. “I’m a virgin.”

“I can go slower.” Was his reply. Shaking my head I put my hands on his face before he tried to kiss me once again. Something inside my chest began to hurt. It was no form of jealousy, or sadness, nor was it passion. It felt like betrayal. V still had Rika, and she no longer existed in our world… It felt wrong to do this. That’s when it hit me. “Aren’t you a married man?”

“Aren’t you also married?” Touche.

“I had to save his life! It’s different.” I replied.

“But do you love him?” He pried a little more.

“Do you love her?” I snapped back at him, and he began to stop his questions then. He seemed insulted and hurt at that point. I couldn’t stop but feeling guilty or bad with the way he looked at me in this moment. He desired me, yet also still showed love for his own love.

“Do you love me?” He then replied a bit solemnly. “If you say yes, then I will be a joyful man. If you say no, I will leave you be.”

Once again, I couldn’t control my own mouth. It felt like my breath was being sucked out of me as I began to pour a flood of words from my mouth. “Please don’t leave me. I love you. I love you more than the stars, the moon, and the sun. You mean so much to me. If taking my virginity means love to you, than take it, I want to be loved by you in return. Please Pheobus.” I found myself clinging to him and crying like a lost child. But he seemed pleased with what I had to say.

Once again I found myself on my back and being blinded by V’s body as he began to tease and kiss me. I had to try to hide my own mind away and not think of this man as V as this began to happen.

Opening my eyes for a brief moment I saw a flash of anger and fire… and then it all became black.

I woke up moments later to a loud scream of one of the tavern maids, and gazed down to see that V had appeared lifeless on top of me… with my dagger sticking out of his back.

Chapter Text

[Jaehee POV]

It was utterly boring waiting around on a gilded throne, whilst the sound of old and monotone voices past through one ear and out the other. I leaned my cheek upon my hand and began to let out a yawn as a innocent prisoner was dragged forcefully out of my courtroom.

As a king, my duty is to be a guide upon the land, and dictate order. However, I feel like my own opinions do not matter to my lower citizens since I must on please the bourgeoisie. A part of my heart belong to that of my city and its people, but my duty was to also keep the upper class happy and my coffers full. Such a pain it is to be the king.

The doors swung open once again, and I sat up straight to see a woman walked into court. She didn’t seem to want to lift up her eyes, but her long hair remained over her face as if to cover the sins she has committed. For some reason, gazing at her, I felt this soft warm feeling in my chest and I could not help but seem enamored with why a young looking woman like her appeared in my court today.

 “What is this woman's crimes?” I asked to my court judge who sat beside me gazing at a rolled up piece of parchment.

“Apparently, this creature is being accused of witchcraft, and murdering one of the royal guards in the name of Satan.”

“No! I would never!” She raised her voice and looked straight at my judge with piercing and fiery eyes. “I could never hurt my best friend. I am innocent your grace.” Her eyes were swollen red as if on the brink of tears and already tired of crying, but she was brave as she stood here before me and countless other powerful men.

“You seem so sure of your innocence my dear… What happened that night?” I asked to her in a soft voice.” She paused and looked at me for a moment. Her brown eyes seemed glued to my own and I felt a moment of pain as I saw her eyes well up. But it seemed like it was relief this time; not of sadness.

“Jaehee… You’re the king… that’s right.” She spoke softly under her breath.

“I’m sorry, speak louder my dear.” I repeated.

“Uh… For you my king, I will tell you anything.” She paused and looked around the courtroom until her gaze landed on one person. The archdeacon of Notre Dame. “Me and the Captain were meeting in the night, and in the dark I saw a figure of a cloaked man. Not the devil… but the archdeacon himself!” She pointed her finger at Claude Frollo who stood up in protest. The entire court began to mutter and talk in gossip voices. My judge began to slam his javal to silence the crowd.

“Order! What say you Claude Frollo to this gypsies accusations?” The judge said looking at the now pale faced archdeacon.

He seemed to compose himself as he looked to me, and then to the woman who seemed to stand her ground. “I am a man of the church. It is impossible for me to commit such a crime to kill a royal guard. However… I have studied witchcraft my lord, in order to weed the vile ones out of our city that is.” He gazed at me and then straightened his posture.

“A woman who ties herself to Satan usually sees his form as a man, or a cloaked figure perhaps. Maybe, the gypsy saw a cloaked figure of Lucifer standing over Phoebus de Chateaupers spurring her, or possessing her mind to kill the captain. Something beyond her control. She isn’t holy, so her mind is easy to manipulate by the lord of darkness.” He finished.

The judge paused and then looked at Frollo who seemed to be enchanted whilst looking directly at the gypsies spiteful gaze. “Claude, are you suggesting she was possessed and is innocent of the crime?”

“It is possible that she is not the witch... “ He paused while looking at her.

I remained puzzled while looking at this affair in front of me unfold. The archdeacon claimed that the gypsy girl was innocent of the crime of stabbing the captain because she was possessed by a demon all because she is not holy now. “Is there a way we can save her soul then Archdeacon Frollo.”

“Give her to me. She will be under Notre Dame’s care, and her soul will be exercised from the demon's grasp.”

The woman began shaking her head furiously. “No, do not give me to him! He killed my Phoebus! It was the Archdeacon! I swear to you my grace.”

“It is very dangerous of you to accuse a man of power my dear.” I said to her. It pained me in my heart as she looked at me with such angry eyes. They were so determined and full of hate. She tried to tell me it was not her, and yet the others in this court stared at me. She was a woman who danced on the street for money. A pitiful, and poor soul woman. Though she could be a citizen… she is to be made an example to Paris.

“We could possibly get her to claim the correct culprit in this situation?” My judge leaned next to me and whispered into my ear.

“What do you mean?” I asked with hesitation.

“The court grows in protest, and possibly demands blood. She is a gypsy after all, and to see her innocent is a crime in itself. Why Claude possibly sees innocence is beyond me. Most gypsies are witches by default. It is best we change her mind on whom the actual killer is. Not the Archdeacon or some cloaked dark lord, but her herself.”

“Are you suggesting torture?”

“It is the best option. In the end she will be happier to die after we break her feet to prevent her from dancing any longer. Paris will be rid of yet another pest, and the bourgeoisie will be pleased with the outcome. And all that has happened today in court will be nothing but a joke to share at the next masquerade.”

Inhaling slowly, I broke. I nodded and allowed the judge to carry out the order. I couldn’t strike down this woman with words like torture. I had to lower my head in shame for agreeing to such disgraceful end for this woman.

May god have mercy on her soul.

[MC POV]

“Esmeralda, you are to be tortured until proven guilty.” A large voice boomed and then echoed into my ears. I looked up and saw Jaehee with her head lowered, unable to look at me. She looked like she was about to be sick. I looked at Jumin and he seemed to be in the same amount of pain.

“B-But… I’m innocent.” I hissed out. “Please… No, Tell me he is safe! Tell me that Phoebus is safe, and is okay! I didn’t kill him.” Already in my head, I knew who the real culprit was, but I still had a mental block that rested in my mind that prevented me from knowing if V was okay or not. I couldn’t remember anything at this point. I looked at Jumin as is begging for an answer and he looked at me with sorrowful eyes.

I was being dragged away from the podium, and yet I couldn't even feel my feet anymore. My legs felt numb as I was being dragged down somewhere dark and musky. The smell of blood began to stain my nose, and all I could hear was screaming and endless wishes for death. Saeran, was this a mistake on our parts to do this?

I was laid down on a large wooden table and my wrists and ankles were soon hooked into a cold and rusty trap. I was barely able to move. A man with a heavy hood walked over to me and stared down at me. I could see his eyes through the mask, and just with the way he was looking I could see a wicked grin through his dark eyes.

Another man soon approached me, and it was the judge from the courtroom. He looked content with himself as I laid on this rack. Looking back at the man with the hood, he began to heat something up on a fire. Was I about to be burned?

“Now my dear… You will confess to stabbing the captain, and all the pain will stop. I promise, death will be easier than torture.” I could have sworn I heard a sadistic giggle as he finished that sentence.

Giving him a hissing grin “I did not kill him.” The judge looked bored, and then nodded at the torturer to begin his job on me. He walked toward my feet and placed the spit directly at the sole of my feet.

The pain was unbearable. I screamed louder than I ever screamed before. I might break my voice even with how loud I’m screaming. I could feel him twisting this sharp burning rod into my worn feet. Tears began to run down my cheeks as I cried out in pain. “P-Please stop! No! It hurts please stop I beg you!”

The judge raised his hand and ordered the man to stop burning my feet. Anymore and I think my feet would catch on fire.

He leaned in close to my face and began talking slowly. I could smell his disgusting breath as he spoke these words to me: “Did you kill your lover, Captain Phoebus de Chateauper?” Biting my tongue, I felt like I had freedom to speak again. Phoebus wasn’t my lover, nor was V. I hissed out my answer.

“Not at all.” I smiled this time. “He’s alive…. And kicking…. And when I get out of here, I will be so happy it’s all over. I won’t have to deal with a disgusting slime ball like you or painful torture like this. This is only temporary, yes. Death maybe permanent, but it’s waiting for all of us in the end. It’ll may come sooner to me here in this world, but I’ll live happily ever after when this story is finished because I will be with him, and none of you will hurt me, or threaten me, or kill me!”

The all seemed shocked at what I said, but then the judge just smiled. “I like your fire. Let’s see how well you do in the boot.”

Of course the torture was going to continue. It wasn’t going to stop until I pleaded guilty. I laid back and waited for unbearable pain to hit my feet, and eventually it did. I thought the pain was going to send me into death itself. I may never be able to walk again. When they stopped, he asked me the same question once again. Giving up, and wishing for the pain to just end…

“I killed him. I am the witch you speak up. Please… kill me.”

They lifted me off the rack and my feet were pulsing. The cold floor felt soothing, but also like a thousand needles as they shocked them. I could barely stand, and was dragged into a cell with only a little bit of sunlight and a small stack of hay and broken cloth for a blanket.

I pulled my legs to my chest and laid my head onto my knees and softly sobbed.

Everyone… I hope we get out of here soon. I gazed at the bars in front of me and reached out to touch their cold metal. “Heh… Quasimodo could easily break these... “ I smiled with the warm thought of Saeran coming to free me. I heard footsteps approaching, and my head lifted up. My heart started to race.

“Hello? Is someone there?” I grabbed the bars and began looking through them. “Saeran?”

No response.

“V…? V are you there?” I asked the empty air once again.

Then a cloaked figure appeared before me, and let down their hood. I leaned back and gulped. Of course it was going to be you.

“Jumin….”

[Jumin POV]

“Where have you heard that name before?” I asked softly, not trying to scare her.

“It’s your name… You don’t remember it cause we’re in a story.” She sighed and looked away and began to play with a string of hay.

“My ward called me that name the other day… He said he heard it from the gargoyles. But you probably heard it from caravans on your travels.” She is a nomadic woman, she possibly has a gypsy translation of my name.

“Did he? Oh that’s right.” She smiled as if she knew something and then tucked her head into her knees again. She was talking to me in such a calm manner, and here I was afraid she wouldn’t talk to me at all.

Taking a breath, I sighed heavily as I looked at her broken form. I heard ever scream she wailed out why she was being tortured and felt every single one of them as if they were a cold stab into my heart. I was the cause of her of being trapped into the prison, and now I must free her.

“Why are you here?” She asked with curiosity, still playing with her small string of hay.

“I want to free you, and absolve your soul.” I said while keeping my hands together tucked into the robe sleeves.

She let out a small laugh, and looked directly at me. There was a gleam in her eyes as she shook her head. “That’s not why you’re really here mister archdeacon. Tell me what you really desire.” She asked as if we were both were dying and it was my last wish.

I fell onto my knees and crawled toward her prison and grasped onto the bars hastily.

“You… I desire you more than anything.” I cried out to her. She nodded at me, and began to pull herself closer to her cell wall away from me. She looked disgusted.

“Esmeralda, I love you. I want you to come and be with me. We can run away together and live a peaceful life together away in the country.” I begged to her as I never left her gaze.

“You’d give up your priesthood to be with me?” She asked and I returned with a nod. “You would let the judge torture me just so that you could tell me this?” I remained hesitant. “You killed a innocent man just because he loved me? What does that make you ‘holy man’? You are no holy man… Nor are you the man who will whisk me away to sanctuary.

I was at a lost for words on what to say. Then I remembered the night I stabbed the captain. “You looked troubled. You said ‘no’ to the captain, and yet he continued to try and take you. Your precious purity is something I couldn’t allow him to taint. Not a man like him.”

“Because he’s a captain?” She asked.

“Because he’s a womanizer who does this type of thing to woman constantly! He has a fiance, and yet he still goes out night after night playing with another woman. My kid brother tells me this constantly as he goes out and plays with the sins of the night himself!”

She seemed upset with that response and turned away from me. “I can not love you.” She responded. I reached out to her and began to grovel.

“You said… When you were being tortured that the man you love is still alive. Did you not?” I asked.

She looked at me and gazed firmly before giving me a single nod.

“Esmeralda I can give you all that you said when you were being tortured. I can give you that freedom, and better life. No one will threaten you, or hurt you when you are with me.” She began to shake her head and grabbed my shaking and trembling fingers. Their touch was so warm compared to my cold tips.

“He’s alive. He’s not you. He’s none of you.” She blinked and kissed my fingertips before saying softly. “I’ll free us all Jumin. I promise. You’ll soon laugh at how funny this all was the next day at how you proclaimed your love to me. It’s all just a story in the end.” She let go and turned away.

I pulled my fingers to my lips and pulled back from the prison. “I-I… Don’t understand anything that you say witch.”

“Then leave me. Just let it end quicker so that we can be free.” I remained hesitant and pulled myself to my feet.

“Tomorrow at dawn.. They are building a pyre. They will burn you alive.” I took a breath as I pulled my hood over my head. “I will give you one last chance to absolve yourself, or be taken by the devil.” As I walked away from her cell, I could have sworn I heard her pitiful crying echo through the cold prison walls.

Chapter Text

[MC POV]

A spark of sunlight woke me up in my dark cold cell. I opened up my eyes half-lid and looked up to reach toward the light that broke open to the dawn of my fate. I could already hear the sound of clanking and heavy armor approaching me, and I let my body grow limp as I already knew where they were going to take me.

Overnight, I could hear guardsmen talking and discussing the pyre being built in front of Notre Dame Cathedral. Most of them were discussing how it was a good thing that another witch was going to burn in the name of god, but only a few talked about how it was such a pity to see such a youthful woman die a horrible death.

Hearing some people discuss this made me feel a small bit of hope in these dark moments, and not abandon it completely. It wasn’t the complete end of Esmeralda yet; she still has a fight left in her before the end.

As two men opened up my cell, I gained what strength I had left and stood up with confidence and walked beside them.

“Shall we gentlemen?” I said as one of them began to wrap a tight rope around my wrists. My feet were still sore from the torture, but I would stand strong at this moment, and not let a single man in Paris see how weak Esmeralda’s character is. Even now, I could feel her bravery shining through me, and with my own strength, I felt untouchable.

Limping to a caged carriage, I sat with my head high, and began to be escorted to the cathedral to be burned just as the sun would rise to the peak of the sky. The road was bumpy, and the confidence burning in my chest remained strong. People along the street would gaze at me and follow the carriage; shouting hateful slurs at me and calling me a gypsy witch, and a whore. Never, in my life back in Seoul, would I believe to be called a witch or whore while riding in a prison carriage to my death. It was almost poetic in a way.

Once the carriage arrived at the front of the large Cathedral, I looked at its majesty and gazed at the rose window in awe. I never really had a moment to just admire the cathedral. It felt like a bittersweet moment as my heart began to rise to my throat, and my stomach dropping further and further. I felt countless of eyes on me, but there were a particular set of eyes that I was counting on in this moment.

Looking up higher toward the buttress of the cathedral, I made a small prayer that he was watching me. This was his shining moment. ‘Don’t let me die now Saeran… We still have so much to do.’ I thought to myself. I was pulled forcefully up onto the pyre and my wrists were secured to the back of a dry wooden beam. My feet were blistered on the pointy and sharp wood beneath me, and it hurt the scabs that were already forming from my torture.

As I let out a couple of winces, a cloaked figure began to approach me with a rosary in their hands, while resisting multiple prayers in latin. I didn’t need to see their face to know who was coming toward me since I already knew it to be-

“Jumin…” I let out with a breathy sigh.

“Esmeralda.” He pulled down the hood that rested on his head and revealed himself. “I can still save you. I have come to you so that you may recant your soul. I advise you take this offer and save yourself.” He came closer to me and placed his mouth close enough to my ear so I can feel his hot breath upon my skin, as well as the following words;

“Say you’ll be mine, and I can save you from your bindings. This will be nothing but a memory, and we can escape together. Let me save you.” Pulling back, I saw a warm smile grace his face. It almost seemed like it was Jumin looking at me again.

I swallowed the spit that Esmeralda wanted to shoot at him, and instead offered Jumin these words of departure; “Instead of you saving me; let me save you. You have to let me die though. I can’t be with you. That’s not how this story goes.” I looked down, and avoided his gaze, afraid to see anger in his eyes.

He turned from me and raised his voice to the still gathering crowd. “The gypsy witch has refused to be absolved and has damned her soul to eternal damnation by satan’s side!” I winced once he walked away, and fought the tears that wanted to pour from my eyes. I turned my head to see the executioner approaching with a brightly light torch and placing it just below the pyre to start the flames to consume my flesh.

I let out a breathy gasp as the smoke began to envelop around me. I saw countless eyes staring at me; either cheering or fearing for my soul. Smoke began to fill my lungs and climbed higher toward my feet. I could barely hang on much longer as my consciousness began fading in and out.

Then, I heard the crowd gasping… Then it was silent.

[Saeran POV]

Already out of breath from making a hasty climb. I rushed through the crowd and hissed at every insult that was directed toward me. I damned my hunch and my cursed limp as I approached the pyre that was slowly climbing faster toward MC’s body. I ignored all threats made to me, and was suddenly blocked by the executioner.

Violently growling, I rushed him and grabbed him by his waist lifting him up easily and throwing him into the crowd with little care for injury. He was a fake character, and didn’t exist in reality, why would I care for his safety when the real important person at this very moment was MC.

I climbed the executioners stand and quickly ripped off her binding that tied her to the pyre. There was so much smoke surrounding her, I could barely breathe. I carefully reached around the pole and grabbed her limp form and laid her over my shoulder like I did the first time I carried her away.

Jumping back down into the crowd, instead of hissing and insults, there were cheers of men as they all claimed I had saved her. Only days ago they had all claimed I had raped her in the night, and now it was cheers of rescuing her from a pyre. I swear this novel is as bipolar as I was in magenta.

I used my free arm to shove aside soldiers and priests alike to make my way back to the safety of the cathedral. The clanking sound of soldiers were marching and charging after me, but then I heard the sound of Jumin shouting to them “Stop, this is my ward! Please do not harm him.”

I’ll have to thank you later Jumin. I gripped the rope I left down off the side of the cathedrals facade and began climbing slowly since I had to carry MC’s limp body along with me. It was more difficult than I would have imagined, but with the hunchbacks lended strength, I felt like a superhero rescuing the heroine.

Exceleration took over my body as the cheers in the crowd grew louder, and I felt my heart rate double as I reached a balcony beneath the rose window of the cathedral. I ran beneath is while carrying MC in my arms.

This was my moment. This was a time to shine above all others. I looked at her sleeping face and gave a small smile as I raised her above my head so that the crowd below me could see that she was safely in the walls of the cathedral. The laws of the church applied here, and no soldier is to set foot inside as long as I say…

“Sanctuary! Sanctuary! Sanctuary!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. The crowd cheered and was in awe at the bravery of rescuing the gypsy. I looked down and saw the eyes of Jumin giving various mixed emotions. I won’t let you touch her Mr. Archdeacon. I know your character in this story, and he won’t win in the end.

Carrying MC carefully past my bell tower, I took her to a room where I had slept for the past couple of nights. Each night I had tried to improve its living conditions knowing that this moment would come and have to house MC. I laid her gently on the bed, and placed a blanket over her body to keep her warm within these stone walls.

I didn’t want her to wake up and to see my hideous face… Glancing around I quickly stumbled toward my bell tower to escape her eyes. I pray, to any god that listens, that she will still see me as the Saeran she knows back in the theater… playfully teasing her and writing her name down as the main character of this twisted tale.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10

[MC POV]

My mouth tasted like smoke, and was dry. It was hard to swallow any saliva that my tongue tried to scrape through my teeth. I could smell firewood on my own breath as I began to cough. I could barely even open my eyes still. They felt like they were sealed with wet charcoal. I felt a damp cloth go over my eyes and labored breathing as I leaned up to allow whoever was helping me with my clouded eyes.

As I tried to open them, I felt the damp cloth get shoved onto my eyes as if to tell me not to open them. Realizing where I was with the sound of a dozen cooing pigeons and hushed wind blowing through small crevices, I reached my hand up to grasp the cloth.

“Must you blind me?” I asked as I found the wrist of the man I questioned.

“I really don’t want you to see me MC…” A scared and sad voice whispered out in reply.

“I saw you twice though! Why would you not let me see you?”

“Because, in here, I want to remain in control of what happens to this story.” There was a pause and then a heavy sigh. “The story has started to become corrupted with some characters acting like… well.. Not themselves.”

Letting out a small laugh, I shrugged and began to pull at his wrist. “I wonder who that could be?” I said in a sarcastic tone.

“I too, do wonder…” He finally released his grip, and as I opened my eyes, the man before me vanished above me into shadows. Looking up, I could only see him shifting around and hiding among the shadows of the many bells hanging from the aged wood.

“Look at you… You could never have this kind of talent back in our day to day lives.” I said watching his blue eyes gaze at me.

“And look at you… Dancing for coins in the street. I’d never allow you to do that back in our day to day lives.”

“I can sing too.” I retorted.

“You can…” There was a small laugh. I stood up and then quickly hissed to realize my feet haven’t fully recovered from the torture. I winced in pain and let out a groan as I fell back onto the bed. I heard a heavy thump behind me as Saeran finally decided to be near me. But it seemed he was more worried about my health than anything else.

“They hurt you, right?” He asked as he hid half his face behind the bed post.

Nodding, I gestured at my feet. “Part of the story, remember? Being tortured was the only way I could progress and get to see you again.” I said smiling at him. He grunted and waved it off as if I was teasing him.

“Why would you want to see me again? I’m hideous. I feel like the only thing I can do is listen to the character whenever he talks through me. Right now he is only saying one thing.” He hobbled over in front of me and finally allowed me to look at him fully.

He didn’t look completely horrible. He looked almost like Saeyoung after sitting behind his computer for ten days straight and not straightening one side of his back. One of his eyes seemed a bit heavier than the other, but I could see a slight disfigurement across the left side of his face. Like someone dug into his cheek until he grew endless scars stemming from one another. They all hung under his heavy eye. Other than that… It didn’t frighten me.

With a hand that hesitated only for a brief moment, I reached out and caressed the disfigurement and smiled. With my hand cupping this small little change, he looked like normal Saeran with run down clothes, and a bad posture.

He jumped back a bit when I touched his cheek. The sudden warmth was shocking to him. I could feel him leaning into it though. This could either be the Quasimodo that was in love with Esmeralda, or Saeran who has been missing a friend to talk to.

“What is he saying? Quasimodo?” I said gazing into the intense mint eyes. Saeran licked his lips and took in a small breath to give me a response.

“Did you ever wonder why a creature like me would want to rescue you from something as cruel as death?” This was Quasimodo talking to Esmeralda, and not Saeran to MC, so I had to let the heart of my character listen to him as well.

“Tell me.. Why did you save me from the pyre then?” I responded.

“ Water, and a little pity.” He paused and I saw a smile come across his face. He was referring to the moment when I gave him water as they were torturing him in the square. “ You may not remember that poor devil… but he remembers.”

“You rescued me for giving you water?”

“You are the only one, who isn’t my master, who has ever shown kindness to me. Tell me, who in that crowd would come to a man and give him water as he begged for it? A man like me? They all just watched as if it was their newest form of entertainment.” Pulling himself away from me, he hobbled toward a small whistle tied to a string and picked it up, playing with it between two fingers. Coming back to me, he dropped it on my lap and looked upset as he began to explain the purpose of the whistle.

“I can’t hear as good in this world as I could in our own. I can hear the bells perfectly, but I can’t hear your voice.” He looked sad. “I can read your lips, and understand that much.” He got on his knees and began to reach toward me cautiously.

“I damn this body as I can not hear your voice as I once did. I watch you sing, and wish I could hear it since you never would sing back in reality. This reality is false and nothing more, but I still wish to be the man you remember me as.” He didn’t remove his eyes from me. I stared in awe as he almost seemed determined at this point. This wasn’t Quasimodo talking… it was Saeran.

“You really want to finish the story… don’t you?” I asked picking up the whistle carefully.

“More than anything… I want to finish this and get back home so I can live my life peacefully again and not listen to anyone. Not have to lay in dirty every night. I’ve lived that life before MC. As a prisoner. I don’t want to do it again.”

I could see small tears forming in the corners of his eyes, but he refused to let me see his cheek become damp with his sadness. Rubbing his eyes quickly, he focused our attention back to the whistle. “Blow this… I can hear it.”

I bring the whistle to my lips and give it a soft blow, allowing a bright scream of sound echo from the whistle. Saeran nodded at me and began to back away as I gave it another blow.

“Blow it when you need me. I will come as soon as I hear it.” He peered out through a opening in the walls that acted as a window to the outside world. Looking down he huffed and gazed back at me. “If they find you… they’ll kill you. And if they kill you, then I will die.”

“But isn’t that how the story is suppose to go?” I ask in curiosity.

Nodding without another word, Saeran walks further away into the shadows and out of my sight. Twiddling with the whistle in my palm, I tuck it between my breasts to keep it close to me. Saeran already knows this story better than I do, so he will be watching from afar no matter what.

I laid my head back down on the cot and tried to close my eyes. I know I needed rest more than anything right now, but the pained words that Saeran spoke still echoed in my mind. I curled into myself and allowed the sounds of the old cathedral to lull me into a state of false security.

[Jumin POV]

My heart was racing as I walked quickly into the church. What happened before me was almost like a miracle of God falling down from heaven and bringing my angel back to the church. If she was here, then she has no choice but to be mine. She can only ever be safe in the church.

I found the stairs that lead up to the bell tower and used my hand to lean onto the cold stone as I began to climb hastily up the stairs. With each step, my heart began to beat harder, and my pulse would become warmer with the thrill of knowing she was here.

I turned several corners, and stepped over some books that Quasimodo has carelessly left on the ground and finally found the bed he usually sleeps on. This is where he laid her down to rest. The witch that captured my heart with her angelic wings dyed black.

She was rolled up in a thin blanket, but still I could see parts of her leg sticking out from under the soft sheets. Still soft, and unharmed. Only a few singed hairs on her legs, but that only made it more soft to the touch. I sat down on the bed and began to breathe her in. Her whole soul was heavy with pleasure and desire, it was almost impossible to not want to take her in my arms now.

The hairs on the back of my neck twitched as I felt an eerie sense of eyes following every move I was making. How I moved my eyes like a hungry animal along the curvature of her body like a predator examining its prey before a meal. Quasimodo was suppose to be somewhere deep within the bell tower. He would have no purpose to watch the gypsy.

I laid my hands on both of Esmeralda's sides trapping her within my arms. I began to lean over her, and the cross that laid on my chest began to fall out of my priestly robes and onto her cheek. This caused her to stir and open her eyes. She gazed at my hungry gaze before realizing the position we were in. We were like lovers on a wedding night.. Something a priest will never have the pleasure of feeling.

“Get off of me.” She said putting her hands against my chest and attempting to shove me off. I allowed my body weight to shift onto her to prevent her from moving me. She was still weak which made it easier to stand firm.

“I will not. You must listen to me. You must listen to my love for you!” I began to cry out as I laid my head into the crook of her neck. My hands grabbed at her sides and began to feel the soft touch of a woman. She squirmed and squeaked as my lips tickled her ear and neck. The fire inside my was burning so much, I could swear Satan himself was going to take over my soul. “Be mine Esmeralda, I beg you!” I licked the corners of her ear, and she began to cry out for Quasimodo.

Her hands moved from my chest to her breasts and she pulled out a small whistle. Her blowing it caused me to fall back onto my knees since she rang out the noise directly into my ear. Looking at her in bewilderment, I attached myself to her neck once again and desperately clung to her. I ignored her whistling until I felt hands gripping violently at my back and ripping me off of Esmeralda.

I was thrown several feet away from where I laid and looked up in fear to see cold mint eyes staring at me in pure anger. He almost stood like a tall proud statue, ignoring the hump on his back completely. Gulping, I pulled myself to my feet and brushed myself off. I attempted to glare back at Quasimodo with the same threatening gaze he gave me, but I still felt more fear at this moment than I have ever felt just from being near him.

Esmeralda stood up and gazed at us both with a worrying glance and hid behind Quasimodo like he was her knight in shining armor. It wasn’t her strong Phoebus… but a hideous hunchback with a deformed face. She clung to him like he was her only friend in this entire world. Hissing between my teeth, I backed away from them both and stumbled back down to the stairwell.

I let my hand guide me through the darkness plunging through my heart at this very moment. As I descended the stairs back into the main hall of Notre Dame, I stared at the rose window and fell onto my knees. Tears began to fill my eyes as a smile crawled onto my lips in a slimy matter.

“Dear Lord… She has chosen beauty, and then she has chosen death. She has been saved by a monster, and choses the ugly.” I stare at my hands as they are pressed together tightly. “She has chosen the monster… then she has chosen death once again. Let the very earth tremble with my jealousy… I will see her dead. She will die for not having me. The monster, and the knight, but not the priest! Lord, let the earth shake as you bring this angel down to hell!”

Standing up with a raging passion, I stomped out of the cathedral. There was no way she could die in here… If I wanted her dead, I would have to break the laws of Sanctuary. I have to see the king to declare her a public menace and a danger to all the people. She will either choose me, or burn as she was meant to this morning.

[Saeran POV]

There was silence for a good moment. Hanging in the air was nothing but our breath as we waited for the pigeons to stop their aggressive cries once Jumin had left. I turned around hesitantly and gazed into the eyes of MC to see sadness plastered over her beautiful face.

“I-I… I never seen him like that before.” She softly said.

“That’s cause that’s not him remember. It’s suppose to be Claude Frollo… The man who is desperately in love with you and will basically do anything to have you to himself.”

“Will he kill me?” Her eyes were wide and her hands were shaking. Fear had taken over her body after she had witness me rip Jumin off of her. She had saw a man with her friends face attempt to harass her. She must be going through a lot in her mind right now.

“Kill you? He can’t kill you. He can try, but he won’t. He’s too much of a passive aggressive character.” I said grabbing her hands attempting to calm her down. “It’s not Jumin you know… Just a man with his face.”

“No… It is Jumin. No matter how I look at him, it’s still my friend in there. We put him in there Saeran! We made him like this.” She cried.

Despite her saying this, it was true. Every cast member that was put into this world was who they are because of us. Only because of who we thought they would suit best.

“Why do we have to be the only ones who know… that it’s us…?” She asked in a whisper like voice.

“Because… We were the ones who chose who was to be who. If we made them who they are in reality, then it makes sense that we know who we are in this world as well. But… it is unfair.” I replied.

She shook her head and fell back onto the cot in exhaustion. “I’m married to Yoosung… I have some kind of affair with V… Jumin has a desperate crush on me that basically is going to endanger all of the cast and this world…. And you…” She looked at me with her cheeks slowly turning red.

“You love me… don’t you? You are suppose to after all. I-I think… t-that’s what the character is supposed to f-feel, right?” She was obviously embarrassed to be asking this question. But I was more embarrassed to hear it… or even answer it for that matter.

“Everyone in this novel is suppose to have some sort of infatuation with the Gypsy la Esmeralda more or less. You are suppose to be the most prettiest woman in all of Paris.”

“What about in Seoul?” She laughed in a teasing matter.

“That’s reality… “ I said back slowly.

“So you’re saying I’m not?”

“I never really answered, did I…?” I grinned at her, then quickly hid my mouth afraid of her disgust in my looks. Damn this body to hell. I felt her warm finger touch my cheeks and make me face her.

“Then answer me. Do you love me.. Or do you love Esmeralda?”

Such a strange question… Whether I loved the character… or the woman playing her. My heart pounded, and my ears began to feel hot. I could see her cheeks warming up with a bright pink as she answered this question. Gulping, I took a breath and answered slowly.

“Yes.” I then grinned.

“Wait… What?” She asked in confusion.

“Yes… I answered right? I’m telling you that I love Esmeralda as Quasimodo.”

“Then what about me? MC, hello?” She seemed to be more comfortable now. Backing up and letting out a small laugh I shook my head.

“I already answered princess.” Turning around and ducking into the shadows I could feel my heartbeat in my ears.

Did I just confess to MC?

Chapter Text

Chapter 11

[Yoosung POV]

The streets had become dark, and the air was dry and cold. Wrapping my arms around myself, I could see my breath as I slowly breathed out. The pyre was still laid in front of the Cathedral as if still waiting for it’s prey to be consumed. The fumes continued to burn since no man had enough water to douse the flames of anger toward my wife.

My wife…. Esmeralda. No… MC she wanted me to call her.

I gazed up at the cathedral and wondered of her safety… of her innocence. The hunchback came down with intention I have never seen before that struck my heart with inspiration. He grabbed her and saved her like an angel from heaven. Such a poor creature to be deformed and trapped alone in his tower. Who was it that was his caretaker again? Master Frollo?

My empty steps soon brought me upon the stairs of the cathedral, and I heard the wind bellowing between the facade above me. Walking to the door, I made my way inside to soon be greeted with a warm light of lit candles made of prayers and wishes of the people of Paris.

There is a sense of sadness in this room, as well as a sense of majesty. The sin I may have felt outside these cold walls feel left behind as I walk straight toward the altar where I see a man on his knees. His robes seemed to be disheveled as if they were roughly removed or ripped from his form.

I step closer and make sure to show a sense of graciousness to the room I was in. Crossing my head and my heart, I kneeled beside the man and lowered my head. My voice came out like a whisper…

“Father?”

He was silent as he continued to mumble words that I couldn’t make out. It almost seemed like frustration and sadness all at once as he spoke. I tried once again.

“Father Claude Frollo?”

“What is it?” He seemed upset.

“It’s about my wife… Esmeralda. She’s in the bell tower with the hunchback… Is she safe?” I asked with the utmost concern.

“She’s safe alright… She is well guarded by God, and his servant.” He sounded a bit sarcastic. Frollo lifted his head to look at me, and I saw a strange smile plastered onto his face.

“You worry for your wife?” He asked.

“Of course… I do care for her, and to see her hanged is that last thing I would desire. The king of thieves has also expressed his worry and the entire court of miracles is abuzz with violent protest for their lost princess. I only wish to bring her back home without bloodshed. The king talks heavily of attacking the cathedral.” I said with worry.

“You show concern for the cathedral? But I thought you had alligene with the court of miracles after your marriage to the witch?”

Hesitant to answer, I stumbled on my words. “I-I… uh… I’m against violence greatly, and the king would see me as a coward in the highest regard if I did not participate in attacking the cathedral… I am usually okay with being called names, but being called a coward is an insult to my manhood.”

Frollo placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled. “You are a lamb of God, and show bravery in sitting beside me now in God’s realm despite your marriage to a heathen.”

“You act as if you hate Esmeralda, but when I look in your eyes I see something else…” I said under my breath.

“She is a woman. And she is beautiful. I am a man. It hurts my manhood to despise such a creature of God. But she has chosen her path, and I have chosen mine a long time ago. As long as she refuses the righteous path, then I shall refuse to acknowledge her as a normal woman.”

As a poet, I can usually sense lies when I stare into the eyes of those who I talk to. As I stared into Frollo’s silver eyes, I saw them rapidly moving back and forth as they avoided my own gaze. What is this man's purpose with Esmeralda?

“Would you at least save my wife, and help me bring her back to the court of miracles before they decide to attack the Cathedral?”

“There are multiple ways we could go about this. The royal guards have permission to grab her as soon as she leaves the cathedral, so she must have multiple options to save her life. Let’s start with a certainty… “

He hesitated and then looked at me curiously. “There has been time the last we discussed the matters of her purity. If you were by chance to impregnate the gypsy, then she would be pardoned of execution until the birth of the child. Until that time, you and the witch would have time to leave Paris and find sanctuary elsewhere.”

My cheeks grew red as I realized what he just meant. I still had no luck bedding Esmeralda since she only ever treated me as a brother. Not to mention, she vanished for a evening to see another man!

“I have not slept with Esmeralda. There is no possibility of her being pregnant.”

“The hunchback perhaps?” Frollo said with a sinister manner.

“Excuse me?”

“Well, pardon what I may say, but my ward is a very lonely man. He is rarely seen by any people, and he did kidnap your wife one night a while ago. Having her all to himself in his tower with all that pent up adolescence might drive him to-

“Monsieur, please stop! I do not wish to think about that! The hunchback may have saved her, but I do not believe him to be that kind of man! At least that’s what I pray. I also believe her to be more than capable of preventing something like that to happening to her.” I said with confidence. Frollo only grinned at me and nodded.

“I do believe you are right.” He let out a small chuckle. “Then there may be only one other way to save your wife.”

“Tell me, I will do anything for her.” I begged.

Giving a warm smile, he grabbed my hand and began to speak slowly. “I can arrange for a gondola to take you and your wife out of the city. From there, you are on your own. But you must promise me one thing.”

Nodding with enthusiasm, I wait for his conditions.

“You will bring her to the gondola… and I will lead her out of the city. She will be safe with me. You are a citizen of paris and have free passage to come and go as you please. All you need to do is promise me not to tell her that I am leading her out.”

Before I opened my mouth to ask questions, he raised his finger at me.

“Do not ask questions my boy… If you wish to live a long and happy life with your wife, then do as I ask. Come to the Cathedral tomorrow and travel to the belltower when the hunchback is down here at the altar restocking the candles for mass. Steal her away, and bring her to the river where I will be waiting.”

Blinking a few times before I responded, I had to think about what Frollo was promising me. This was indeed a risky task due to how I would have to sneak Esmeralda out of the tower away from the hunchback and into the streets of Paris where guards were looking for her. If I was caught with her, I too would end up on the pyre with her. However, if I succeeded in this mission, I would be able to get out the city alone and innocent of crime while Frollo safely brought Esmeralda out of the city to a meet up point.

“Just tell me where we will meet, and I will bring her to you.” I gave a warm smile that was responded with a smile that almost seemed to belong to a snake.  

[Jaehee POV]

It was only hours ago the Archbishop came into my court and began begging for something regarding the pyre this morning. It escaped my mind, and I sat on my throne sipping on imported coffee. Such a mild and bold taste, it filled my senses with a comfort of home… and a memory of that beautiful dancing girl I saw in the square. Sipping on the coffee once again, I looked up and saw the Archbishop once again.

“Claude Frollo, you were here hours ago. What have you need to bring to my attention now besides the fact that a gypsy is in your tower avoiding execution?”

“I am merely stunned, your majesty, at the fact of how uninterested you are in the gypsy avoiding her execution. Why is that?”

Sipping my coffee, I looked at Frollo and gave a small chuckle. “She was to be executed for the crime of murdering a royal guard correct?” I turned my head and gazed at Phoebus whose arm was in a makeshift sling. He was talking with another guard about his wedding to Fleur de Lys, so I merely blinked and looked back at Frollo.

“She is clearly innocent. She has also escaped death which proves she has the desire to live. Why kill an innocent and beautiful creature?” I questioned Frollo. I saw his expression grow into something of anger. This was interesting to see on him.

“She is the princess of the court of miracles, your majesty. It is because she was wrongfully imprisoned and tried for execution that their king has now declared war upon Notre Dame!” He said with concern. Being the Archbishop of Notre Dame, I could see the reasoning behind his distress.

“So you’re asking me to start a war with the king of thieves because he wants to save his people?” I made my voice sound menacing, and impatient. I was really not happy with Frollo coming into my court for the second time and trying to tell me what to do in my country.

“Your Majesty... “ He bowed with his head facing the floor. His voice cracked and he sounded worried. “The bourgeois use the Cathedral as a place of peace and worship. If the thieves and scum of Paris rise from their den to destroy it, then where or what will the bourgeois do with their money that they so humbly offer you?”

Now he had my attention. When it came to the upper-class citizens of Paris, that’s where most of my coffers came from. Frollo had a point when it came to Bourgeois being disappointed with the state of Notre Dame’s facade. It was almost a reflection of Paris herself, and if Notre Dame became a disheveled and broken piece of rubble, then there will be no tourists, nothing to fill my coffers.

“What do you suggest then Frollo? Break sanctuary to allow the Gypsy to return to her people?”

Shaking his head, he seemed disappointed. “The Bourgeois need to see the Notre Dame is righteous and holy… as well as their king being a holy monarch. You have to let her die.”

Frowning at this proposition, I placed my coffee down and stood up to walk to Frollo. “You want me to break the holy law of Sanctuary to prove my divine right to rule, and then to provide entertainment to the bourgeoisie so that they provide the royal palace with gold? This seems risky Frollo. What of the Court of Miracles?”

“When they come to attack Notre Dame, send for the royal guard to eradicate their people so an uprising won’t be a problem.”

It seemed almost like a disgusting proposal, and I disliked the idea of murdering a bunch of innocents, but when it came down to the breadth of my city, I had to please the higher ups in order to keep my status as king. This felt wrong, but I had to agree with Frollo.

“Very well Frollo. You may have royal guards stationed at the Cathedral prepared to fight the thieves and scoundrels, and once they are removed, continue with execution of MC.” I gasped when I finished my final sentence. Frollo seemed to notice what I said as well.

“Who you majesty?”

Gulping I looked to the coffee I placed down a moment ago and thought of the name that just brushed past my lips. It all tasted familiar now, and a pain in my chest began to grow. I had to shake it off and look back at Frollo who was waiting eagerly.

“Execute the gypsy Esmeralda.”

Frollo nodded and began to make his way out of my courtroom. Once he left, I felt a wet salty taste begin to fill my mouth. My attendant rushed over to me and began to dab my cheeks.

“Your majesty are you alright?” She said with concern. “You’re crying.”

My eyes widened at this realization and then looked at my attendant. “Do you know anyone by the name of MC, Elizabeth?”

Elizabeth took a moment and purred out her answer. “Mmmm, not that I can recall? I have met so many of your friends, that I might have forgotten a MC. But I do admit it does sound familiar. Perhaps it's the name of a princess you wish to marry?” She said with a cute tone.

“I would remember… but for some reason…. It feels more like a friend that I’m losing… Or that I have killed myself.”

“Would you like more coffee then? Or perhaps some wine?” Elizabeth offered to me as she took the handkerchief away from my cheeks.

Nodding slowly as I returned to my throne “More coffee please.”

[Saeyoung POV]

It was loud, and people all shapes and sizes began to scream for their king. I was hiding behind a wall with a small pain in my chest. I knew what they desired, and I could not lie to them since I desired the very same thing.

My beautiful Esmeralda was still alive but held captive by Notre Dame. The only way for us to bring her home to us is to go to the Cathedral and secure her ourselves. It was war they wanted, but it was only her I desired.

Revealing myself to my people, they all began to laugh and cheer. It was almost like a performance every time I showed my face to my people. Unlike our king, I was a king of the people… not just the riches. But a little money does end up going a long way.

“Settle down! Settle down! You think I don’t know why you’re all mad in the first place? I’m mad too. Mad they have taken our princess! Mad that they tried to burn her like so many of our other innocents. But more importantly… We need to remember something boys and girls.” I got on my knees and then began to talk quietly. The crowd quieted themselves so that they could hear my muffled voice.

“We need to remember not to mourn, or to be sad while she still lives. The hunchback has saved her, and we will respect that. While most lives we may view as unimportant, he is a brother….” It stayed on my lips. I said it again.

“The hunchback is my brother for saving Esmeralda, and we must thank him! We have offered him water, but now let's offer him a home amongst us thieves and misfits. This is where he belongs!” I shouted to my people as they all began to cheer for Quasimodo.

“If that’s the case… have room for one more misfit?” A voice came from within the crowd, and the thieves began to separate allowing me to gaze upon the wandering who stood amongst my people. It was no surprise to see a young man who does misdeeds in our group of bandits and thieves… but to see blood relations to the archbishop in our court was something that caught my attention.

“Jehan Frollo? Could it really be the Archbishop’s littlest brother?” I asked with a baby-toned voice. His red eyes reflected a tone of playfulness as I spoke to him, and he nodded his head.

Bowing like a knight, he raised his hand up and smiled like a jester. “Indeed, I am the brother of that foolish Archbishop who believes himself to be a holy man. But I promise you… he is as much of a sinner as you Clopin!” There was a silent gasp in the crowd when he said this. “As Frollo is so eager to kill your dancer, he is also very eager to please her. He has started practicing alchemy in hopes of wooing her.” Jehan stayed silent for a moment as he made sure he had everyone's attention in the court.

“I hear him mutter in his chambers about her. About her being a witch. I’ll give it to her that she is beautiful, but Frollo has said things that will make God upset. He has claimed that Esmerelda may be more beautiful than the virgin mary herself! If you ask me Clopin…” Jehan approached me and joined me on my pedestal. “I believe he is obsessed with your little bewitching beauty and plans to do unholy things to her.”

Hissing, I stared at Jehan’s red eyes as he smirked at me with a look that made him look pleased with himself. “Are you so sure?”

“A man’s passion for a woman could lead to her death. He has her all to himself up in his little castle of lies. Why not just go and rescue her and be what she needs.” He slowly whispered out my title like it was my birthright. “King of Thieves… You are a thief right? Well, steal her back.”

“We are already planning on that young Frollo.” I said at him mockingly.

“Do not call my that. Just refer to me as Jehan I beg of you. It’s already an embarrassment to be related to that cretin who calls himself my brother. All I ever do is steal money from him… So am I not a thief already that spends the money of righteous prick and spends it on booze and women?” He winked at some women and clicked his tongue. As he did that I smacked the back of his head. He looked insulted.

“What do you want with the court of miracles? To join our ranks and kill your own brother?” I asked with concern.

“Hell no… I simply wish to free myself of Claude Frollo, and the title of Archbishop’s brother. I desire to fuck, and drink. I’m tired of being tied down to stone, and I wish to be a man of the people instead of God. Are you not for that Monsieur Clopin?”

It was shocking to hear him say all this, but from what I have heard from my people is that Jehan is usually very peaceful with our crowd. It may be beneficial to have him on our side as we attack his home to take back Esmeralda.

“Very well brother. You may be one of us. You just have to help us infiltrate Notre Dame and take back Esmeralda.” I smirked at him like it was a challenge.

He gave a laugh. “Oh come on Luciel! That’s all? I can do better than that, just watch me!”

“Luciel?” I asked hesitantly. “I thought… that was just a name MC gave me.” Then my mouth became dry as I said that name. Both me and Jehan looked confused.

“Perhaps… too much drink?” Jehan asked with smile on his concerned face.

“Perhaps that and more! Come let us talk thievery of the century. The pillage of Notre Dame!”

The crowd cheered as I wrapped my arm around Jehan’s shoulder and brought him into a corridor that lead to my chambers. As my arm lingers on his shoulder I felt comfortable with this man. As if I’ve known him longer than these few moments. I really must stop piling down those fried honey baked crisps.

Chapter Text

[Saeran POV]

She was walking around now. It seemed her wounds had healed, and her spirits had recovered after nearly being killed and kissed by Jumin. But still, the man who tried to kiss her wasn’t Jumin… Just a man with his face and voice. Than how could I possibly be Quasimodo when my face was so distorted?

I felt hands creep behind me and I jumped at their soft and surprising touch. MC had a cheeky smile on her face as she saw my reaction and began to laugh. In the moment, I decided to laugh with her. It was these small moments where we were okay with being who we were because at least we still knew who we were.

“How much longer must we stay up here, Saeran?” She asked curiously.

“As long as it takes.” I replied slowly.

“I don’t quite understand what that means. If it’s like that, then the story should have ended right?”

“I suppose if you put it that way, yes. But we still have a few more chapters to go.” I began to look over the stone balcony over the cathedral into the square where there was active life running around. Faceless men and women forgetting the events of yesterday, and continuing their day to day lives as usual. MC scooted herself next to me and gazed down below with me.

“What do we have left?” She asked. I could tell she was prying me for answers, but I couldn’t give her the answers because that would be breaking the books rules, and more of this world would begin falling apart. Perhaps… I’ll give her a hint.

My eyes scan the square frantically until I find the person who plays a key role, and will further our progress. “It sure is a beautiful day… Look there in the square! They are selling such beautiful flowers!” I gestured MC to look to the man I was looking for, and her brown eyes settled on him giving flowers to a blonde haired woman… I blinked frantically before I finally realized who that woman was.

“Rika!” We both said in unison.

Clearing our throats, I had to regain composure and try to lead her to the male figure, and not the female. However, I was just as curious to see this woman here… I once was so loyal to her, and seeing her sends bittersweet shivers down my spine.

“The soldier... ?” I tried to hint to MC.

“U-uh… Oh! V! It’s Phoebus!” She began to smile, and I watched as if her body changed and switch it’s mind and heart into that of Esmeralda's thoughts and desire. I soon felt jealousy stab into my chest as her eyes would not remove themselves from him.

She smiled at him with such love and admiration, but yet she was put to death because of him yesterday. Her love for him was certainly an enigma, but it still hurt me nonetheless since even back at home… I’ve seen her look at my brother with these eyes. The small spark of anger began to join it’s brother jealousy in my heart… For now it will remain only a small fire, and I will preserve it’s flames for later.

She finally turned to me, and smiled with begging eyes. “Quasimodo, please go to him, and tell him I am here! I am up here!” She sighed heavily. She tightened her hands around my own, and my heart skipped a beat.

I would jump off this cathedral for this woman if she asked me to.  

“You want me to bring him up here?” I asked.

“Yes? If only for a moment I can just see him… and… and I’ll slap him… Then I’ll... “

“Don’t think too hard about it. I’ll settle for you just smacking him.” I joked with her.

She remained silent at the jest, and then blinked a few more times. “Will you just get him?”

“Anything for you.” I rushed away and began to climb down the cathedral.

This body became more fun the more I made use of it by climbing, and jumping around the cathedral. I could move so easily despite the hunch on my back. I felt like a bird practically. Sliding down the flying buttresses, and slipping down the side of the facade, I soon made my way to where Rika and V were standing.

Realizing once again that Rika was present, I wanted to give it a moment to just have V to himself. Despite it being the novels figment of Rika, I still had no desire to see her again… Just not so soon.

Rika had a bouquet of roses in her arms and trotted off with what looked like an older woman. They must have been gossiping about something. V stayed behind, and began small talk with the gardener who sold the flowers. Coming behind him, I grabbed him and began to pull his hand. He shouted and looked at me in confusion.

“What are you doing?” He winced out as he whipped his hand back and wiped it on his shirt.

“Lady to see you monsieur! Lady who wishes to see you very much!” I replied, keeping in tone with my character. Or at least, keeping in theme of what he possibly saw me as.

“A lady? What lady isn’t looking for me?” He laughed at his small joke. He then nervously looked behind his shoulder as if looking out for his fiance.

“A very important lady to you monsieur! She loves you very much. Speaks of you often monsieur.” I spoke once again, trying to appease to the knight.

“Whom do you speak of? There are a multitude of women who share a love of me.”

"It is the gypsy Esmeralda!” I said happily, but then was met with his forceful hand shoving me down onto the hard cobblestone. He dramatically pointed his finger at me and hissed “I want nothing to do with that witch.” He twisted his feet perfectly so that he was facing away, and began heading off to where Rika went.  

Trying to regain my footing, I stood back to my feet to hold my hands out in front of me in confusion. “H-How could you refuse her?” I ran my hands frantically in my hair, trying to come up with something to tell MC.

Fingers once again found their way onto my back and surprised me greatly. Turning around, I see Rika smiling at me with her bouquet still in her hands. “Hello there… Did Phoebus give you a hard time? He seemed to have push you down. I hope he didn’t hurt you.”

I shook my head. This didn’t feel right. Never did Fleur de Lys interact with Quasimodo. I had to leave. I tried to leave the scene without answering to any of her words, but she soon grabbed me once again.

“Ray.” She spoke softly. I stopped dead in my tracks. My heart felt like it was in my throat. Turning my head slowly, I blinked and walked slowly back to her. “Come again?” I asked.

“The rays of sun today are really bright, don’t you think?” She chuckled as my face lost all it’s color. “Are you having as much fun as I am?” She put her finger to her lips.

“I’m trying to do what I can. There is no fun in this.” I reply.

“Are you so sure? Just think about it really quick… Everyone will die… and only me and my sun will live. I consider that to be fun.” She knew who she was.

I had to prevent myself from attacking her. I can’t change the story. I tried to calm my breathing before I lost myself, and began to question her slowly.
“Is this… The scripture that was written in order trade places with a dead member?” This couldn’t possibly be scripture that was written in the walls of magenta. We only wanted to test it to bring back a member who died, and one of our own was willing to sacrifice themselves… but in the end of making the script… more than the volunteer and the writers died.

“Rika, this script is dangerous.” I repeated.

“Then tell me why you are using it? Is it because you missed me? You want me back right? You wrote me in only because of that reason right?” Her voice was growing more hostile, and I stepped back with fear building up in my chest.

I couldn’t tell her the real reason. I need to know what she is planning. “Perhaps… I would do anything for my saviour. You know I would.” I kneeled before her and tried to sell as much as I could. Not only was I acting as Quasimodo, but now I’m the unknown man I used to be.

“Then tell me Ray, who is it that you plan to sacrifice in my place? You do know that mostly everybody dies in this story in particular.. So I suppose it’s up to you since you have consciousness over the story.”

“You only have consciousness because-”

“I’m not here, and you’re trying to bring me back. I automatically know who I am. Just as you, who wrote all the names know who you are. You just have to pick one to take my place before you die I guess since you also die.” She giggled. “I wonder if it will be that little princess of yours? Or do you still plan to keep her if you get out of this alive?”

I had to bite my tongue as she said those words. There would be no way I would let Rika back into our world… but she is already cast as a character that doesn’t die. If we don’t carry out the story as it’s supposed to… who's to say that we all don’t make it back alive?

“Don’t think too hard about it my dear Ray.” She handed me one of her flowers. “A rose… one of your favorites.” Smiling in her sweetest manner she softly ran her fingers through my hair and sighed softly. “Just make sure to write the name before you die. Otherwise, we’ll be trapped in a loop forever.” She raised her hand to her lips and began to laugh as she returned to V.

Cold sweat filled my entire being, and I rushed back into the cathedral. I had no time to catch my breath as MC was waiting for me, but I also had to tell her what just happened. My feet began to become sore as I reached the final step to reach my bell tower, and I ran onto the balcony where I left MC.

She looked at me with concerned eyes, and ran to me. “Hey, Hey! What’s wrong.. You’re panting… You’re so pale… calm down what’s the matter?”

She didn’t seem to give a damn that I didn’t come back up with Phoebus, but she actually was more concerned about me.

Catching my breath… I was able to get out a couple words.

“Rika… Kill… Us…”

“W-What?”

“Rika… wants… to… Kill us.” I repeated. “This whole script, this whole story… Was originally made in magenta with the goal to balance life. When someone dies, in order to bring someone back, someone in return must give their life. I never knew the made a successful version before it burnt to the ground.”

“What are you saying Saeran? What did Rika tell you?”

“Because we cast Rika… She can’t die. She has a role that can not die, and that is cemented into stone by the original writer. Her character never dies… However… Our characters.” I stopped and gave her a solem pause. “We die MC… We all die… You, me, Jumin, Saeyoung, even Zen… we all die. “

“B-But what about Jaehee, Yoosung, and V? Are they safe?” I nodded

“Their roles won’t let them die. They practically have protagonist armor.” I exhaled deeply and tried to remain calm. “Rika told me we have to pick someone to die. Otherwise we will be trapped in this loop forever.”

“B-But we can’t. We can’t let her come back! Isn’t there someway we can just break the script?”

My mind was drawing a blank. I couldn’t think. “We could possibly write her name again and see if that counteracts the original name? You know, like when you subtract a number by the same number.”

“Do you think that could work? If it fails we will end up waking up where we started all over again.” I could hear the fright in her voice… I shared the same fear.

Soon we heard the sound of screaming coming closer to the cathedral. Both of us looked over and saw Saeyoung, Zen, and Yoosung leading an army of misfits, and beggars towards the cathedral with weapons.

“We don’t have much time… This is the climax.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of sight.

Chapter Text

[Saeyoung POV]

This was the moment. The court of Miracles could no longer be without their Queen. Paris has been dreary without her being able to dance freely on the streets. My power as the King of Thieves, their Pope, their God, has come to play. Now I must rescue Esmeralda before the so called “king of France”’s men gets to her first.

Arriving in front of the Cathedral, a thousand eyes behind me glanced up at the foe that stood between us, and our prize hidden within. It seemed daunting indeed. The spires reached to the heaven as if to kiss the stars. Each perch created by the gargoyles seemed to have scared the clouds, and carved a path so that she would remain untouched by all of nature's forces. The saints that stood on the facade glanced at us, and there was a long quiet stance of questioning our intentions.

“Do you intend to stop?” A voice pulled me out of my shocked stance. I turned and glanced at the man whom the voice belonged to. Jehan’s white hair was hanging low in his face, but his crimson eyes showed a fire of excitement. “Tell me. Do you really plan to hype your people to come and save a gypsy just to stop and stare at a building?” He seemed bored.

Shaking my head, I ran my fingers through my red hot hair and began to laugh in a cold tone. “You think I will back out now? My dear sweet Esme is trapped inside, and I must save her! If we don’t they’ll do to her worse than what we will do to this simple building.”

“Good.” Jehan grinned and began to lick his lips. “I needed to make sure you hadn’t lost spirit. Plus I needed a reason to ransack my godforsaken brothers treasury. There are at least a dozen chests filled with gold in this monument.” He raised his finger, and grinned like a child. “If we are successful with rescuing your treasure, than we will be so rich that we won’t need to beg for charity any longer.”

It was very enticing. Money, and my queen. This was going to be the crusade of a lifetime. Turning to my people, I raised my hand and my voice and bellowed to all vagabonds, thieves, prostitutes, and misfits.

“My people… Notre-Dame holds our Queen in her walls. The Church has always been merciful to those who had asked for Sanctuary, but at dawn… they will come to the mother church to rip Esmeralda out and hang her in the Place de la Greve! We will be lost. We will be defeated. We will have lost all reason.” Taking a breath, I looked back up at the great church and shot my voice once again.

“If Notre-Dame won’t offer her Sanctuary, and the King is so pitiful he should take it away from her… Then we, as the court of miracles, will restore Sanctuary within our home! My men, open the doors! My women, find openings within. Slam your hands, scream with your voices! Make sure all of Paris hears the injustice that has risen this evening. We shall perform the greatest heist of mankind that the world has ever seen. Steal Esmeralda, Asylum! Asylum!”

All at once, men and women, vagabonds and prostitutes, wicked and vile alike all ran up to the rich cold stone of the Gothic cathedral, and began clawing at its icy grasp of Esmeralda.

They banged.

They shoved.

They shouted.

They kicked and punched.

They were my people fighting for a cause. The grin on my face has never been more wide than it has been than at this moment.

However, as we began carving and breaking our way in, I felt familiar cold blue eyes staring at me from above. A shiver had ran down my spine, and I refused to look up an acknowledge the presence of the gazer. What could he possibly do in this situation?

Sure, the hunchback is a strong fellow. He was able to shove about one… two… three? Three men was it off of Esmeralda from the pyre. He didn’t even seem to break a sweat after he began to climb back up the side of the cathedral to claim sanctuary.

It shouldn’t matter. He saved her, so he shouldn’t have a desire to hurt us. We both have the same intentions after all, and that’s to keep Esmeralda from dying.  

Suddenly, a shocking sound of the earth shaking cause everyone to take a step back and look at several individuals crushed underneath a pillar of stone.

“It fell from the sky!” Shouted a gruff voice.

“It nearly got me, I could’ve died!” A lady began to cry on my shoulder.

“Shame.” Jehan said as he shrugged and looked directly up the side of the cathedral. I followed his eye pattern and saw the hands that tossed the pillar.

I waved both my hands as if to gesture to him to stop. “Oi! Quasi! We’re just trying to get Esme! Can you do us a favor and like… Not try and bloody kill us?”

“He’s deaf.” Jehan shrugged and took steps back. “He doesn’t know if you’re on his side, or the kings side. You know, the side that has men sending soldiers in to kill your gypsy queen in the morning?”

A giant wave of worry began to fill me as I saw the top of his head disappeared back into the shadows. With determination, I looked at the large pillar and directed them to grab a hold of it.

“Now, what the hunchback doesn’t know is that he just gave us the key to the cathedral! A battering ram! Heave ho now men!”

“That’s your way in?” Jehan chucked at me, and withdrew a crossbow he had taken from the court of miracles. “You have to take out the source of the problems first, and then from there... “ He gave a sly grin. “The door will open.”

“What are you proposing?”

“There is a ladder near the scaffolding on the side of the cathedral. I shall climb to the north tower, and from there I will kill the beast my brother has cared for, and then let you run in to claim your prize. And I suppose from there, we go our separate ways.” He had a solemn look on his eyes.

“You speak as if these are your last words?” Blinking a few times at Jehan, he gave a charming grin and began to run from me. All I could hear as he ran was-

“See you on the other side, Seven!”

[Saeran POV]

I followed Zen’s bright moonlit hair as he made his way toward the scaffolding on the side of the tower. Before the mob even broke out, I had locked MC in the south tower. I can still hear her banging on the door that gives access to the wooden roofs.

“Saeran stop! Searan there has to be another way! Please listen to me! Open this damn door you idiot!”

I had ignored it all. Cause after all… aren’t I deaf? That’s a question that kept buzzing in my head. Quasimodo was a ginger child with a horribly disfigured face, and he was deaf because he was so close to the bells as a child.

But here…

I ran my fingers through my bangs and looked up at them. My hair is white like the time I was in Magenta. Is the ugliness that is Quasimodo…. The ugliness that I was at magenta?

“Hunchback!” I head Zen’s voice coming closer. I merely took a breath and slipped once again into the shadows. A mere natural habitat of mine.

MC’s voice had began to quiet down. As if she was listening now instead of screaming or begging. Is she finally coming to terms with what must be done?

Zen was panting after his long climb up. I could hear him placing a bolt into the crossbow. His mark was my blind eye.

“Come out… Face me. Face me and beg for forgiveness!”

Sighing, I stepped out from the side of a gargoyle, and stared into his crimson orbs. “Forgive? Why must I ask for your forgiveness?” My voice was low.

He aimed the weapon. He paused his breathing. It seemed like he was going to pull the trigger.

“You stole my brother’s love.” He whimpered out with a brave sigh.

“I am sorry then.” I lowered my head, and then lifted it back up to meet his eyes. He had lowered the crossbow, and his eyes began to pool with tears. And yet he refused to let a single tear fall.

“Why are we here?” He asked. “Who am I?” He seemed strangely confused now. This caused me to become confused as well.

“I’m not sure I follow… You are Jehan..?” I asked him.

“No.. That’s. That’s not the name I was born with. This is not the place I was meant to be in.” He dropped the crossbow onto the ground and began to looked panicked. “I… was in a theater. A-And… A large crevice had swallowed me. I woke up here. With… this… name? But… my real name is…”

“ZEN! YOUR NAME IS ZEN!” MC began shouting behind the closed door.

“MC?” Zen said without any hesitation. He ran toward the door, but I grabbed him by his elbow. “Sorry friend… This is where your act ends.”

The look of betrayal was laid on his face as I lifted him up and held him over the edge of the cathedral roof.

“S-Saeran… Searan! It’s you! Oh my god it’s not a dream! We are in the play!”

“And this is the part where I kill you .”

“W-Wait!” A final whisper was let out as I let his body drop to the stone below.

“No!” MC began screaming and banging once again. I looked over the edge and saw that Zen’s body had vanished. The sound of distant thunder began thrumming it’s way closer.

“One down… All of us to go.” I said holding my head low.

Walking over to the door, I let MC out. She fell onto the ground because she had placed all of her weight on the door. She quickly stood up and began throwing herself at me. She tried hitting me, but I caught her wrists, and only frowned at her.

“Please… You know this is how the story goes.” I pleaded with her.

“But… What about Zen?” Tears were streaming down her face at this point.

“His character, Jehan, is dead. Quasimodo has killed him in defense of protecting you. However… Zen is very much alive, and the story has acknowledged that. His body is gone which means his body has returned to the theater. “

Looking at me with sadness in her eyes, it soon turned to confusion. “W-What about you? Saeran.. Your face. It’s… well… your face.”

“What?”

“Well before… You had this… half and half kind of face, but now it's… Just like looking at you again.” Grabbing her wrist, I pulled her back into the bell tower where glistening reflections surrounded us. I found grande Marie and stared at my reflection… and she was right.

Before, half of my face was deformed in a way that looked like I had no muscle or structure in my jaw and nose… but now.

“You’re turning back..” She whispered.

“They all are.. I am assuming.” Pausing, we heard thunder approaching quicker, and louder. “Their characters are no longer needed since the stories are coming to a close, and now it’s just to the point of finishing it. You remember who you are… right before you die.”

“So.. you’ll look like you completely again when-”

“When I carry you to the grave and lay down beside you to die.” She paused. Her cheeks became red. There was a long pause between us before she spoke again.

“What do we do about Rika?” She asked quietly.

“We write her name… But where exactly is the question. We don’t have the script here.”

“What if we just rewrite the cast list?” MC’s eyes lit up.

“That could work.. Possibly because we are already in the script itself. Now the only question left is… Where to write it?”

*BOOM* BANG *CRASH*

The door to the cathedral had been broken down by the battering ram.

We looked at each other in fear at this moment. “Okay, I’ll go pour the molten lead to slow them down, you go write the cast name on the wall in the cathedral! You’ll need a chisel, there is one on the workbench in my room!” I departed from her as she gave me a single determined glance, and began running.

This had to work. Otherwise we will be forced to deal with more fatality .  

[V POV]

The clapping of thunder was accompanied by the trumping sound of horses hooves on the cobblestone beneath their powerful legs. Stamping in place, my men arrived at the cathedral, and what we were witnesses before us had all of the king's guard in awe.

A large magnitude of vagabonds, illegal immigrants hiding within the Parisian walls, breaking their way into Notre Dame, while from the top of the church a multitude of bricks and wooden blocks were falling onto their heads to stop them.

One of my men moved closer to me in a confused matter and softly spoken, “Your orders, sir?”

Inhaling deeply, I looked at him and responded; “Our mission is to retrieve the gypsy girl inside. If there is anyone in the way… kill them.”

With a nod, the guard turned around and faced his fellow soldiers to pull them closer into the cathedral. Leaping from my mount, grasping my sword, I began to charge into the crowd of vagabonds and beggars. They all were screaming the same thing which astonished me.

“Asylum!”, “Asylum!”, “Sanctuary for Esmeralda!”

It did occur to me that we were breaking the sacred rule of Asylum… being no men of the king allowed to interfere with those who claim ‘sanctuary’ within the house of God. The law has no power within a church. But because of what Claude Frollo has said to the king, our soldiers were implored to destroy the witch.

Deep within my heart, I did not desire to kill her. I did indeed love her. She had caught my eye, and had given me something that my fiance had not sparked in a while. However… The knife in my back is an undeniable fact. She must have tried to kill me that night. She did try to argue with me when I reasoned with her that I indeed loved her. But still, it is strange to suddenly say yes, and then proceed to stab the man you ‘love’ in the back.

In a way, she has stabbed me in the heart instead of my back, and for that… It doesn’t pain me so much to carry out her punishment. I do have a fiance, and I must stop playing around if I am to be a married man.

As I finally reached the door of the church, a man with bright red hair stared me dead straight in the eyes and shoved me backwards away from the door.

“Hah, trying to break in before us? Trying to carry out your kings orders Mr. Sun?” He hissed.

Stumbling, I had gripped the handle of my sword in a threatening manner. “I do not wish to fight.”

“No? That makes you a coward. A coward, and a womanizer. We know who you are Phoebus de Chateaupers… our women know you well. You were even so great as to catch the eye of my precious Esmeralda… but now look where that has lead her!” He gestured at the church. “You’ve doomed my belle la Esme…” He seemed solemn.

“She had stabbed me.” I replied, pulling my sword halfway out of its sheath. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to commit to killing this man, but if he was in the way of me carrying out my orders, then I would have no choice in the matter.

“She had not. She is an innocent, and you do not see that. You do not believe that. You do not believe that she wouldn’t harm you. But your cowardice has turned you into a murderer, and I can easily see now that you are pussy whipped by your own bride to be.” He chuckled to himself, and at this point I was done with his jests.

Ripping out my sword, I began to swing it at him. Immediately, I had struck him in the shoulder and he fell to the ground. He grasped his shoulder and screamed angrily at me as blood began to pool from his arm.

“You bastard! You damn bastard!” He leaned back and gazed up at the stormy sky that was brewing above us all. He let out a chuckle, and then gazed back at me.

“Hey... “ He whispered out, as if trying to hide the pain. “When you see him… tell him I’m sorry I didn’t recognized him right away. And… Ah” He hissed and paused for a moment. I gazed into his amber eyes and saw that he was crying now. I didn’t see the fight that was there a moment ago.

“And when you see MC… When you see her… You need to tell her that you are sorry. And I guess…” Looking up once again, he smiled. “I’ll see you on the other side Jihyun.” He winked at me, and suddenly I watched as molten lead started to pour over the opening of Notre dame.

Stepping back, I watched as so many people began to be covered in the hot lead. Their screams were relentless, and they fell to the ground as their skin began to burn from their flesh and bones. Using my sword, I quickly carved my way into the door of Notre Dame, and climbed in.

Even within the walls, I could hear them screaming. But that mans words were still ringing in my ear. That’s why Fleur de Lys calls me… isn’t it? Jihyun? My chest began to hurt, but my mission was far from over. She had to be in the tower.

Making my way to the stairs that climbed to the south tower, I began to step higher and higher up the stairs to reach the top of the bell tower.

As I approached the top, I saw her in her white gown from when she was meant to be executed a few days ago. She was carving something into the wall… and it looked like she was trying to be as hasty as possibly. There was fire in her eyes as she carved, and the dust of the stone was stained on her hands.

Approaching her, she quickly stopped and stared at me in fear. “V… I need to write down one more name.”

“You need to come with me. You are to be hanged at dawn.” A crack of thunder sounded above, and felt as if it shook the whole ground.

“I need to write one more name.” She said staring at her pillar again. I gazed at what she was writing and saw strange symbols. However… I somehow knew what they said. They were names, next to… names of people I have met before. But the last name she was writing was the hunchbacks.

Dropping the chisel as she finished the final name, she let out a heavy breath, and gazed at me with eyes on the brink of tears. “I’m ready to die.”

This took me aback, and I was a little confused on to as why she had surrendered so easily after hiding in a church for a few days, and begging me to finish writing names on the church wall. She just defaced the church and now given herself up.

“You are still such a mystery to me Esmeralda… Even now.” I whispered as I flipped her around and gripped her hands together. Securing a rope around her wrists, I could hear a small whimper.

“You do know it wasn’t me that killed you… right?” Her eyes were glued to the stone she had carved into.

“I am not dead though?” I replied in confusion.

“But yet… I am to be hung for killing you. That was my sentence. Attempted murder. And yet here you are arresting me to be hung because being burnt by fire wasn’t good enough.” A small laugh left her throat. “I wonder if it will hurt?”

In that moment, I had lost all the worst I could say to her except for- “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“I-I… Don’t know. Suddenly, I feel like… I must apologize to you. I’m here to arrest you, and then bring you to the executioner, but that’s not what I’m sorry for. It’s more like… I’m sorry for putting you through this overall?” I managed to stutter out.

She laughed and shook her head. “I suppose it’s all the same. It’s almost the end after all. You’ll remember more once it’s over.”

Clearing my throat, I gripped her shoulders and began to escort her from the cathedral. She was right… Something felt like this was the end.

Chapter Text

[Jumin POV]

There was screaming. All I could hear was screaming and then sudden silence surround my cathedral. The thunderous booms that the sky had created to show its discontent toward the protection of Esmeralda soon became silent. All that was left was the flashing heavenly lights left behind, only left with no crashing booms to carry their screams. 

Every vagabond in the street had grown silent, or had died fighting trying to break into the strong walls of Notre Dame. After the molten lead had solidified, the crowd had dispersed, and all that was left was the Place de la Greve, and soldiers carrying a woman in their arms with a sack held over her head. 

My heartbeat began to quicken as I tried to catch a simple glimpse of her stepping up beneath the necklace strewn for her. I could see she had tighten her fists. Her body was trembling, but she seemed to want to display a stance of bravery in her last hour.

My breath had escaped my mouth as I opened it and watched the executioner wrap his hands around the woven necklace, and tighten it around her soft and breakable neck. My legs grew weak. I felt sick. My head is pounding. I began to climb the tower on mere instinct. 

Something in my soul was pulling me higher to the bell towers. Higher it demanded. Higher you fool, watch as she dangles from the heavens. I crawled up each stone step, and felt bile crawl up my throat. 

Once I reached the top, I could hear the sound of drums thrumming. It was the signal that death was approaching to take his newest victim to the grave. It was what I had asked for. She was to have no one if she was not to choose me. Death will be her wedding bed.. And yet…

I had reached the top and gazed over the ledge, hanging onto a wing of a solemn gargoyle. My hand gripped my chest tightly as I watched the executioner smile beneath his devious mask.

The drums stopped.

There was a sound of snapping, and cracking.

And once again, silence took over the dawn. 

Not a tear shed. Only my breath was escaping me. Pained breath, and relieving sighs. I was rid of her. Right? She would no longer enchant me. Right? I didn’t kill my best friend.

“This is all your fault.” A voice came from behind. Very clear, and very loud. I thought the only other person up here would be Quasimodo, but his voice has stumbles in them, and lack the sound air to power each word. Turning, I was faced with a man in Quasimodo’s ragged clothes. 

“W-Who…” I started. 

“Heh.. This is similar to an earlier situation. It’ll come to you soon enough.” His eyes seemed to dart at me, and had lost and sense of mercy within them. Yet, they also seemed familiar. I know him. 

“You know it’s strange to witness people you care about die. I killed my friend… and then I had to melt my brother with lead. But then that just now…” His lips began to quiver. “I was told once we were going to kill her. But even then I was going to protect her as my assistant. I loved her even then.” He paused. Lifting his head up, I saw his eyes swirl with despair and hatred at me. 

“It was an idea for fun. It was a mistake turned into madness. Now all I can feel is pain and anger!” He punched the stone beside him over, over, and over again until blood began to pour from his bright reddened knuckles. “Damn it all! Damn this stupid script!” 

I couldn’t back up, my back hit the edge of the brick that fell to the ground below. And at that moment, I felt it rush to my mind. 

This man… Is my friend. We had rescued him from Magenta. And that woman… Was MC.

“Just came to you, didn’t it?” He had a crooked smile come across his face, and yet his eyes began to become tender. “I could enjoy this if I really wanted to. After all, you made me feel weak for the past couple of days. You made me kidnap MC for your desires… You decided she would be better off dead than breathing the same air as you because then she would drive you insane with lust otherwise.” His voice had risen higher and higher with each sentence, and soon I had found my voice.

“Saeran stop!” I held my hands up in an attempt to calm him. 

He paused for a brief moment, and allowed me to speak.

“This… This is a story Saeran. The past couple of days had been things out of my control. Out of your control. You feel that, right?” I asked hesitantly. 

He nodded. 

“Of course. But… This is the end of my role. You and MC had cast me to be the main antagonist.” I turned my head to see the fate that awaited me. “I assume… It’s you who kills me?”

He nodded once again. “I kill you over the grief that you murdered the only woman I have ever loved.” He spoke slowly, and his eyes seemed empty now.

“Do you love her?” I asked, wondering if I was stepping out of line.

“What?”

 “Do you love MC?” I repeated. 

 “I… She… To watch her die here has never made me want to die more. But then again, I do die with her.”

“That didn’t answer my question Saeran. I asked you if you love her.”

He suddenly grew impatient and angry. “Why are you asking me this? Do you love her?” He gripped my collar and held me closer to the edge. I felt my feet no longer touching the ground, and it was harder to catch my next breath. I didn’t know which gasp would be my last. 

“I-I’m… Only asking… Cause when we r-return… You’ll… have to tell her… Your t-true feelings. If you l-love her. O-Or not… This s-story has impacted you b-both… No… Us all.” I gave him a faint smile as I gasped for air. 

He seemed distant. Then I felt his fingers loosen their grip, and the ground vanish. 

It’s dark . 

[Saeran POV]

Letting him fall down to the ground was almost satisfying, but yet another part of me felt snapped in half once again. It’s like i was losing more and more of myself, and yet I was gaining my normal figure once again from reality. 

Leaning over the edge, I viewed how Jumin laid on the stone. Blood oozing from him while a sad smile was laid over his face. I turned my head to gaze at MC’s body being dragged off in a wagon. They were taking her to Montfaucon. I was to join her soon. 

“There lie all that I have ever loved.” Standing up straight, I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed heavily. “I understand now, Quasimodo. It was at the end you became free. Free from your cruel master, and free from that torture. But yet you still knew the touch of love and gentle gestures of kindness.” I began to make my way down from the bell tower.

As I passed each cloister, I lightly touched each rim of the bells to hear a soft ring from them. “These were your friends in your darkness. Their music deafened you to the rude world… But your life would end so soon once you experienced love.”

I made it into the cathedral and passed under the rose window to see the rising light shining through. “Love is blissful, and you’ll do anything to preserve it. But it also pricks, and is painful. When the one you love doesn’t love you back… you still try to make them happy at least. And yet…”

I pushed open the cathedral doors and walked out into the square. It smelled like lead, ash, and blood. My feet carried me to the direction of where they would lay MC’s body down. Montfaucon. A graveyard for men and women alike. “Your love is eternally loyal and pure. You only wanted her happiness. You and I share that quality.”

I found the gates of Montfaucon and vultures had already began to soar over the sky. I climbed up to the Mausoleum and trekked down into the tombs where her body had laid out strewn gently. The sack was removed, and her hair was laid around her head like a halo. She only looked like she was sleeping. 

Crawling beside her, I wrapped my arms around her as if hugging her close to my warm body. “Take me with you. Death is not death if it means I can be with you.” Closing my eyes, I nuzzled my face into her neck and waited. Waited for an awakening. Waited for a darkness. Something. 

All I know is that I never let go. 

Chapter Text

[MC POV]

I’m cold. I can’t breathe. Everything is dark. It seems like this small moment is lasting forever. I can’t open my eyes. I’m frozen solid like a corpse. 

Is this what it feels like to be dead? 

It feels lonely. But there was a warmth that held onto me. That single warmth enveloped me into a light that we shared, and soon I could feel my breathe return to me. But it was different. 

This breathe was familiar, and the heartbeat I felt was familiar as well. No longer did I share a mind with another person, or synchronize my breathe with their soul. 

I was me again.

“Is she awake?” 

“I can’t tell. She seems to be breathing.” 

“That’s a relief, I was afraid Seven was about to give her mouth to mouth.” 

“What?! How dare you assume I would do that… Right away.” 

“Guys, shut up, I think she’s waking up.” 

My eyes softly opened and I noticed familiar faces surrounding me. All in the clothes we had started with. We were back in the theater, all sitting in large aisle between rows of seats. 

“G-Guys?” I softly petaled out. 

“Good, she is awake.” Jaehee sighed with relief as she placed her hand on her chest as if calming herself. 

“You were asleep for a long time MC. We think that you and Saeran are the last to wake up.” Yoosung added. 

As soon as I heard Saeran’s name, I burst up and looked around for him. He was laying peacefully on the ground with Saeyoung holding his hand. 

“He’s okay… right?” I asked. 

“Yeah. Still asleep like all of us were. His character is the last to.. Well.. die. So once that happens, he should wake up.” Saeyoung added looking at me. 

“Okay, but Jaehee, Yoosung, and V’s characters don’t die. How come they are awake now?” 

“Simple.” I heard Jumin’s voice come from behind me. “It’s cause their role was over, so they returned.” 

I nodded trying to follow along. “So that means to first to wake up was-”

“M-Me…” Jaehee piped in. “Once the King’s role was done. I somehow regained consciousness, and realized who I was. A dark feeling surrounded me like when we all fell into the chasm… and I woke up here.” She paused. “The first thing I noticed was all of you guys where basically where we were standing before we fell. But you were only asleep instead.” Jaehee began scratching the back of her neck. 

“Soon after Jaehee woke up, I woke up as well.” Yoosung added. “Once she saw that I was awake, we both started watching you guys one by one to see who would wake up next.”

Jahee sighed happily. “I was lucky to watch and witness Zen’s sleeping body, and then his shocked reaction as if waking from a nightmare in a cold sweat. Even his frightened look was so cool, I could barely contain myself.” She squealed just a bit. 

Sighing from the corner, I saw Zen’s bright white hair coming close and he took a seat on a theater chair. “I woke up after Searan tossed me off the cathedral.” His eyes remained straight, and he looked dazed. 

“I-I remember Zen. I was there. I heard you scream.” I held myself as I remembered the moment. 

Zen cleared his throat and then looked at V who I noticed, just now, couldn’t take his eyes off me. Almost like there was something stuck in my hair, or my shirt was inside out. Was he trying to remember something?

“I woke up after my brother poured molten lead on my face.” We all turned to look at Luciel who never took his eyes off his sleeping brother’s form. “I saw his eyes… looking down at me in sadness as he had to do it. I could tell he didn’t want to. But, it’s like Jaehee said; you remember who you are, and everything. Right at that moment, I knew it was my brother up there who was about to kill me.” 

Saeyoung pulled Saeran’s hand to his chest. “He was forced to kill me just to finish the damn story. He had to kill us.” He looked up from Saeran, and then straight to Zen. His amber eyes bore into Zen’s bright red orbs until they darted at Jumin. “He killed us to finish it. We shouldn’t be angry at him. We should thank him if anything. And he sure as hell is probably going through a lot of mental struggles once again having to kill two of his friends and his brother.”

The room was silent as we all realized what we had just gone through. We had faced so much pain, and loneliness that wasn’t even ours. It was another character, and yet we were forced to feel it all the same. Only me and Saeran knew of ourselves, when everyone had forgotten themselves and had been absorbed into their character till the last moment. 

We had fallen in love, and we had killed because of this cursed tale. 

“I woke up… “ V inhaled sharply. “After I sent you to your death.” His voice was cold and directed toward me. Closing his eyes, he turned away from me. 

“Yes, I know that. And V, please don’t feel bad. It was the story, you were doing what your character was written to do. You couldn’t control that.” 

He kept a sad look on his face, and the guilt remained hidden behind glazed eyes. His bright blue hair hung low and draped lightly over his eyelashes. He seemed to want to hide from my gaze at this moment. I don’t blame him to be honest. I don’t really know if he remembers a lot, but the night in the Inn was certainly a night that I can’t forget. 

Blinking a few times in confusion, I had realized Jumin was awake before me. “Wait a moment.” Everyone looked at me with questioning eyes. “If I died before Jumin, how come he was awake before me?” 

“Astute observation MC.” Jumin responded. “I questioned that too after I took the plunge like Zen over here.”

“It’s not fun, is it?” Zen asked with a bit of a laugh in his voice. 

“When I came to, I had noticed you were still asleep after I had witnessed your death. What didn’t occur to me until you had woken up is that you weren’t at your final resting place in the novel.” Jumin pointed out. 

“What?” I appeared quizzically. 

“What Jumin means is… “ Jaehee intervened. “They were killed, and left at their final resting place. This is where the author left their character, and no longer returned to speak of them later. Like dropping paper in the wastebasket, you no longer need it. Zen, Saeyoung, and Mr. Han had all been murdered outside of the cathedral, and the author left them their to mean that is where there body remained. After Esmeralda, you, were hung, you were taken somewhere else for your final resting place. This would lead into the final chapter where Quasimodo, Saeran, would die next to your corpse.” 

Nodding and following along, I began to understand. “So because Zen, Saeyoung, and Jumin’s body don’t move for the rest of the novel… their roles are complete and they can then wake up.” 

“Basically, yeah.” Jaehee responded. 

“So I didn’t wake up until-” 

“Until you were laid in the mausoleum. Left to rot as I would come and lay beside you to die slowly of starvation.” A quiet and dry voice arose. We all quickly turned to see Saeran had finally woken up. 

Everyone rushed over to him, but Saeyoung didn’t let them get too close. He wanted his brother to at least breathe a bit after dying. Saeran didn’t seem to want to lean on his brother, so he leaned up himself, and drowsily ran his fingers through his bright red hair. There was a sigh of relief. 

“Thank god.” He whispered out. “I’m me again.” He glanced up and stared directly at me. “How do you feel right now?”

“I feel tired… Like I’ve been awake for days despite being asleep for hours.” 

“Yeah, kind of like that inception move, right?” Yoosung added. “We were all out for only six hours!” 

There were small murmurs here and there, but I remained eye contact with Saeran. “You good to get up?” 

“Never better princess.” This time, he did lean on his brother to stand up. He looked relieved once he was able to straighten his back out. We all heard a large crack come from him and a large sigh of relief. 

“Holy shit, I’ve been wanting to crack that for hours! Jesus, that’s been such a pain in my ass!” He cried out. Everyone seemed to share a laugh once he cracked his back a few more times. 

“So… Does anyone remember anything?” Saeran got right to the point. I wanted to ask that too. 

“They seem to remember their death, but…” I began. 

“I only remember dying mostly. Honestly it was like once we were there I was someone else. I had lost my conscious, and had gained theirs. I was someone else entirely.” Saeyoung chimed in. 

“That’s the same for me. There are bits here and there, but… I only remember the last moments before waking up. Everything else is like you’re watching a movie through someone else's eyes. It just doesn’t seem real.” Zen added. 

Jumin stared at Saeran for a brief moment. “I remember clearly… the last moments of the end. But before that.” He then switched his eyes to me. “It’s a blur. I only know that my character must have harmed you severely, and I apologize.” He fell to his knees and bowed in front of me to apologize. Soon V came beside him. 

“I too apologize. I remember clearly sending you to the gallows and the pain remains in my heart that I did that.” He was breathing heavily. “Forgive me please.” 

“Guys please, it’s just a story.” They both looked up. “Even in the story I still cared for you. I knew both of you weren’t you. I played my part as you played yours.” I fell down to their level and hugged them close to me. “You’re my friends. It’s okay that it happened. We should be thankful we got out of it.”

I felt them nod their heads in agreement as they returned my hug. I turned around and faced Saeran. “It also wouldn’t be possible without you Saeran.”

“What do you mean? I did do all the dirty work, but you prevented Rika from stealing one of our bodies.” Soon everyone grew dead silent.

“R-Rika?” 

“Are you serious?” 

“She couldn’t have been in the story, that would be impossible.” 

“She was, and she’s gone thanks to MC’s quick thinking.” Saeran silenced everyone. “The cast list was made up of all our names, but we didn’t have a Fleur de Lys. We cast Rika, thinking this was a normal script.” 

Saeran’s blank stare went to Jaehee, as if to shame her for getting the script online. 

“The truth about this script was that it was created in Magenta with the soul purpose of switching bodies with another person. That’s basically why you guys felt like you were switching souls with the character you were playing as.” Saeran took a breath. 

“If someone, who is considered valuable from magenta, dies, we would take a script and sacrifice one of our and replace their soul with that person. You would only have to make sure that person you cast to return to life is a character that lives, and the person you wish to sacrifice dies. This way there is a balance of life.” Saeran lowered his head in shame as he had to explain this. 

“Rika’s soul was basically inhabiting the character of Fleur de Lys, and me and MC had to prevent her from returning and taking over one of the dead casts bodies. Namely, MC.” 

“Dude, that’s fucked.” Zen said staring straight at me. “I knew Magenta was warped and everything, but that still means you guys are killing someone.” 

“We considered it balancing life. The old saying of and Eye for and Eye.” Saeran paused and Saeyoung raised a finger to question us.

“So… how did you stop her?” He asked, then turned to me. 

“I had to rewrite the cast list… On the church wall.” I added. 

“So that’s what those words were!” V jumped up and looked at me. “You rewrote the cast list to cancel Rika’s name out!” 

"Exactly. I wrote down every character, and who was playing who. But I wrote it in reverse. So it’s like who will play who when we return.” Everyone blinked for a bit. So I simplified it. 

“Okay, so you know when a cast list roles after a movie, and the character is on the left, and the actor is on the right. I basically switch that. On the church wall I put our names on the left, and the characters on the right.” 

“So you basically-” Jaehee started.

“Killed Fleur de Lys, yes. Fleur de Lys is where Rika’s soul is.” Saeran finished. 

“Wait, but does that mean…” Yoosung brought a finger to his lips in confusion. “We have a bit of our characters soul still inside us?” 

Saeran turned to Yoosung and nodded hesitantly. “It’s a yes, and no. The characters are fictional. They don’t exist. They belong in a fictional world. We are real when they are not. The only place where they remain is left in our mind. Our imagination. That’s where they live.” 

“Bro, that’s deep.” 

“Don’t touch me.” Saeran said quietly as he gently pushed Saeyoung’s hand off his shoulder. 

“So, that means it’s over right? And we can all go home now?” Jaehee quickly questioned. “Cause I really feel like I could use a nap… or ten cups of coffee right about now.” She grabbed her coat and waved at us as she leaped out the door. 

“Ahhh, my sweet honey buddah chips are calling out to me! Sleep is for the weak, so it’s Dr. Pepper all night for me baby!” Saeyoung switched into full 707 mode. 

“Oh jeez, I need to get home. Maybe I have enough time to make some snacks before doing and raids on LOLOL.” Yoosung looked around for his bag. 

“It’s about time I get some real beauty rest, and not have dreams of falling off ageless historical monuments. Although I do look rather dashing when I’m falling, I have to say.” Zen smirked at himself as he and Yoosung left together. 

“I should get back as well. Those pictures I left processing should be done by now. Jumin, you think you can give me a lift?” V came up beside Jumin and smiled at me. 

“That’s not a problem Jihyun. I have work to be doing.” Jumin turned to look at Saeran. “I haven’t forgotten. You should still tell her. Good day MC.” They both turned away and exited the theater, leaving only me, Saeran, and Saeyoung. There was a pause as Saeyoung read the air and told his brother he’d wait for him in the car. 

Saeran’s eyes were on the floor, and his hands stuck in his pockets. He needed to tell me something, and I could tell just by the way he refused to move his feet. He barely even shuffled. Was he uncomfortable? 

“What was Jumin telling you?” I asked curiously. 

“Uhm.. “ He looked up. I noticed his cheeks had become brightened with a bit of pink. He seemed embarrassed. “Before I… Before Jumin woke up, he told me to tell you what I… How I… basically how this has affected me.” 

“And how has it affected you?” I raised an eyebrow. 

He stumbled on words and couldn’t find the right ones to start with. It’s not often you seem embarrassment on a Choi’s face… except when they are unsure about something. 

“When I first saw you, Rika had told me to bring you in to be cleansed. You would have basically been murdered. I wanted you… for my assistant.” He gulped. “Because I had fallen in love with you.” 

I stepped back and began to feel my own cheeks heat up. He loved me when he stalked me? Well I considered that when he told his brother that I was “his” cause he saw me first or something. But I thought it was all part of Magenta or something. I didn’t know he actually loved me or anything. 

“Seeing you die… Knowing it was your body… “ He lost his coolness, and his breath became ragged. “I wanted to die as well.” He looked at me and I could see tears in his eyes. The weakness he was afraid to show me and his brother. Something he had been pushing away for years and years. The sole reason he had become “Unknown”. 

“And it wasn’t the character in me talking. I was furious. I was angry. Not even killing the person who was the reason you were dead sated me. I still felt like I was alone all over again. I had you then I lost you.” He fell to his knees and began scratching at his head furiously. 

“Before I knew it, my feet carried me on their own to where they took you. And I held your body as the warmth left your corpse. I didn’t want the heat to leave. I stayed. I closed my eyes. I cried.” It was hard for him to speak now. 

“I wanted the story to just end… so that I could wake up… and see you…  so that I could finally tell you what I have realized while going through all of that.” He looked up at me, and I came down onto my knees to be face to face with him. Cupping his face, I felt like I knew what he was going to say. 

“God damn it… I love you.” His lips were quivering, and it seemed like he was afraid to say it. I wiped his stray tears with my fingers and pushed his hair out of his face. 

“It’s okay Saeran. I know the pain you feel. I was cold and alone. Dying wasn’t dying until I felt peace with your body next to mine. It was like I was falling until someone caught me.” I tucked a stray hair behind me ear and came closer to his face. 

“You found me. You kept me warm. I wasn’t lonely in that darkness left to rot alone. I had you. As forced as those roles were, and as sad as it is that even Esmeralda didn’t realize a pure love such as Quasimodo… I can see your love for me is deep. Deeper than even the story. And it’s true.” 

He smiled at me, and it seemed like a small child was giggling and laughing all the same. My heart was beating fast. “If it’s all the same to you. Then… I love you too Saeran.” Interlocking my fingers with his, I rested my forehead onto his and we both laughed like children. 

This was like two young children playing all day, and after defeating the bad guy, the good guy got the girl. But it was different than that. There were trials. There was death. There was pain. These children have grown up. And as they stare at each other, they softly come together and share a tender kiss. 

“We should probably go now.” Saeran said softly. “I believe you have a book report to write.” 

“Can I get your help with it?” I asked sheepishly. 

“As long as I don’t get forced to do something like kill my brother, then okay.” 

Walking out of the theater, fingers still locked with Saeran’s, I still feel the warmth I felt at my last moments. I’m not lonely. Nor am I falling. 

I am awake in the arms of who I love.