Chapter Text
Beomgyu has always been the prettiest in town: brown orbs, pointed nose, plump lips, a sculpted face. Boys and girls would definitely envy his features if circumstances were . . . normal.
He's always dreamed of a happy ever after. Not in his wretched town, but in a castle faraway; standing upon crowds of people worshipping him, wearing a dashing suit, a gleaming crown on his head, with his queen, or king, holding his hand as the kingdom celebrates their new rulers. Gowns and suits and ballroom dance underneath chandeliers, tons of servants and princes and princesses dancing on his sides, as he stares at his lover: gray eyes and grayish blue hair, with lips aching to be claimed by him . . . until a hammer broke through the walls of his dream and his eyes open to morning.
"Father, what are you doing?"
"Everyone's been saying that you'll be taken this year," his father said as he nails a piece of wood over his bedroom window, "I don't know why they think it'll be you, but nobody's getting in here tonight, that's for sure." His father looked at him with an unreadable expression on his face, "Maybe we should shave your head or muddy up your face, just to be really certain."
Beomgyu rolls his eyes at his father's anxious statements, "I wonder why nobody thought that locking their children in their rooms would work. Oh right, 'coz maybe it doesn't. Really, father? I thought you said this is all a hoax."
"Hoax or not, I'm not going to just sit here and wait for some beast to take you away."
~
Beomgyu walked along the path to his bestfriend's house. His bestfriend lived in a cemetery, for reasons he can't really understand. At least there's one less people out of the competition. He passed by dozens of cottages, with doors and windows boarded up with blocks of wood, and children reading storybooks as their parents carry an expression not far from fear and panic. He still didn't understand why their townspeople would be afraid of something magical. So instead of worrying over something trivial, he focuses on counting his good deeds.
He thought of his donation of facial wash and deodorant to the town's orphanage, as "proper skin care is a good deed"; he thought of teaching self-defense to physically disabled kids, as "they should learn to be independent". No one is doing it like him, but he wonders if that would be enough to catch the school's attenti-
"Where are you going?"
He turned to see a smiling Jeongin. He's got looks, but not that good so another one off the list. "To see a friend." he answered.
"The witch? Why are you even friends with him?"
"He's not a witch."
"He has no friends, and he's queer. That makes him a witch."
Then you're a witch too, he thought, but he brushed it off as he reminded himself that enduring Jeongin's presence is a good deed, and smiled instead.
"The School Master will take him to evil school, and then you'll need a new friend."
"The School Master takes two children." Beomgyu said, jaws tightening.
"He'll take Wooyoung for the other one. No one's as good as him." Beomgyu's smile disappeared. "But I'll be your new friend." Jeongin added.
"My friendlist is full, come back another day." he deadpans as he saw the hurt in Jeongin's features as the latter awkwardly waved goodbye and left, cheeks and ears red from embarrassment.
Beomgyu facepalms himself, why does he acted that way now of all days that he could've pretend to be nice. He knows that the school master will be judging his every move, but surely he would understand that only villains will associate themselves with someone like Jeongin.
A few more steps and he reached his friend's house, it was on top of a small hill and surrounded with molded headstones. His pastel shirt and light-colored jeans an obvious contrast to the dull and dark environment. He ignored the reeking smell of garlic and headless birds as he knocks on the door and prepares for a fight.
"Go away." small gruff voice said.
"Is that how you talk to your best friend?" Beomgyu coos.
"You're not my best friend."
"Who is it then?"
"It's none of your business."
Beomgyu takes a deep breath, not letting his temper rise like he did with Jeongin. "Oh come on! We had fun yesterday, don't you want to do it again Taehyun?"
"I almost got my bum set on fire after you accidentally kicked the ball to a torch."
"But it didn't and it was an acciden-"
"And you always make me do tiring stuff. Can't you find another person to play fight with?"
"Isn't that what friends are for? To help each other? I'm helping you become physically fit you know."
"I'll never be as good as you."
Beomgyu thought of something nice to say, but took too long as he hears footsteps stomp away from the closed door. "That doesn't mean we can't be friends!" he called, but as soon as he did so, a familiar cat, bald and wrinkly, growled at him from across the porch. "C'mon Hyun, I brought ice cream."
The footsteps stop. "Mint chocolate again?"
"You know I hate that."
"You know I hate it too but you force me to eat it."
The cat hissed.
"Hyunnie, let me in-"
"You'll say I stink."
"You don't stink."
"Then why'd you say it last time?"
"Because you stink last time! Taehyun the cat's spitting-"
"Maybe it smells ulterior motives."
The cat bare claws.
"Taehyun open the door!" Beomgyu screamed as the cat pounces at him, but a hand stabbed between them and swatted the cat down.
"Hobak ran out of birds." Taehyun said. Black hair in a mess, worn out black shirt and shorts, pale skin and thin figure. Bored eyes looking at Beomgyu's shining ones.
"I thought we'd go for a walk!" Beomgyu beams.
Taehyun leaned on the door frame, frowning with arms crossed in front of his chest, "I'm still wondering why you're friends with me."
"Because you're sweet and funny."
"Mother says I'm bitter and grumpy. So one of you is lying." He reached for the plastic bag in Beomgyu's hand and took a peek inside, mint chocolate ice cream glaring at him. He glanced at Beomgyu's face, the other's expression trying hard not to laugh.
"Really? Goodbye Beomgyu." Taehyun rolls his eyes as he retreated back inside.
"No wait! I was just kidding. Let's take a walk and I'll buy new ice cream. Please?"
Taehyun was about to close the door when he saw Beomgyu's crestfallen face, he looks like a puppy not given treats. As if he looked forward to walking with him as much as he did. He sighs, "A short one. But if you say anything smug or stuck-up or shallow, I'll have Hobak follow you home."
"Then I can't talk!"
~
Walking through the town's square, they could see desperation in the residents; as they sharpen swords, set up traps, plotted guarding patterns; beautiful children were turn ugly, and homely ones were beautified. Children were locked, chained, or hidden; a homeless hag shouting to burn the storybooks as no one listens. It was all a mess, especially for Taehyun.
"How can the whole town believe in fairy tales?" Taehyun says as he finishes off his strawberry ice cream.
"Because they're real." Beomgyu shrugs.
"You actually believe that?"
"Of course I do. You know I'm destined to be a prince."
Taehyun rolls his eyes. "So a School Master kidnaps two children, takes them to a school where one learns Good and the other learns Evil, and they graduate into fairy tales. Is that it?"
"Sounds about right."
"Yeah, and I'm actually a performer who dance and sing about cats and dogs when I got kidnapped to be here before my world tour."
Beomgyu glares at Taehyun's statement, "You know for someone who doesn't believe in fairy tales, you sure have a lot stacked by your bed. And how would you explain the missing children that's in the drawings? Jack, Rose, they all have their own tales."
"The books are not real Gyu. Maybe it's the bookseller's prank, or the elders', to keep children away from the woods. There's no 'School Master'".
"Who's kidnapping the children then?"
"No one. It could be that every four years, two idiots sneak into the woods and get lost or eaten by wolves, then boom. The legend of the school master continues."
"That's the stupidest explanation I've ever heard."
"I'm not the stupid one here."
Beomgyu was getting annoyed. "You're just scared."
Taehyun laughs, "Why would I be?"
"Because you're coming with me."
Taehyun stopped laughing. He glances at the children in the square, they were staring at them as if they were the answer to their prayers. One for Good, the other for Evil. The School Master's perfect pair.
Taehyun stood frozen, and as he watched dozens of eyes boring into him, he thought of wanting to spend the next day walking around peacefully with Beomgyu. Next to him, Beomgyu watched them memorize his face in case it appears in the storybooks one day, thinking that they wouldn't look at Wooyoung the same way as the said boy is hunched beside the others: head shaved, face muddy, and clothes ragged. The School Master would never take him, he's nothing.
"Can we go?" Taehyun asked.
"Where?"
"Away from people."
~
"So Wooyoung wants to stay here, huh?" Beomgyu spoke through the silence as they watch the sunset.
"Why would anyone want to leave their family forever?" Taehyun snorts.
"Rude."
They fell silent.
"Ever wonder where your father went?"
"I told you, he left after I was born."
"But think about it. We're surrounded by woods, don't you think he may have found a magic portal or something? What if he's waiting for you on the other side? That would be kinda cool." Beomgyu exclaims, excited by the thought.
"Or maybe he went back to his wife, pretending I didn't exist, and died yesterday after slipping into a rock. I don't care."
Beomgyu went silent again.
"Your mother's never at home whenever I visit."
"She goes into town now. It's a better location than the house." Taehyun said.
"Graveyards are not really that comfortable." Beomgyu giggles.
"It has its benefits. No noisy and nosy neighbors. No roaming salesman asking you to buy a product you don't need. No fishy 'friends' bringing balls and mint chocolate ice cream, telling you you're going to Evil school in Magic Fairy Land."
"So I'm fishy now?" Beomgyu asked, faking being offended.
"I was perfectly fine alone. Why would you even show up?" Taehyun questions.
"You always let me in though."
"Because you seem so lonely and I feel sorry for you."
"Excuse me? You're lucky someone befriended you when no one will. You're lucky I'm a good person and that someone like me would be your friend."
"I knew it!" Taehyun stood up. "I'm your Good Deed! Just a mere pawn in your stupid fantasy."
For the third time, Beomgyu went silent.
"Okay maybe at first, but there's more to it now." Beomgyu confesses.
"Because I found you out." Taehyun grumbled.
"Because I like you. No one understands me here." Beomgyu grabs Taehyun's hand and pulls him to sit next to him again, "But you do. You see who I am, that's why I keep coming back. I don't treat you as a good deed anymore, Hyunnie. You're my friend."
Taehyun flushes red.
"What's wrong?" Beomgyu frowned, concern evident on his face.
"It's just- I'm not- I'm not used to having- friends . . . " Taehyun looks down as if he's ashamed.
Beomgyu smiled and tightened his grip on Taehyun's hand. "We'll be friends at our new school, don't worry. They teach you how to become wicked witches and humpbacked trolls at the School for Evil. Also how to lay curses and cast evil spells! Don't you think it's cool?"
"Evil spells? Did a 4-year old made that up?" Taehyun frowned as he pulled his hand away from Beomgyu's. "And let's say I do believe all this, but why am I in villain school? Why does everyone think I'm the evil boss or something?"
"No one says you're evil Hyun. It's just that, you're different."
"How am I different?" he narrows his eyes.
"For starters, you only wear black."
"It doesn't get dirty."
"You don't ever leave your house."
"People don't look at me there."
"You wrote that Cinderella tripped on her way down the stairs and crashed headfirst to her carriage for the Create-A-Tale competition."
"It was more realistic though."
"You gave me a dead parrot for my birthday!"
"To remind you that we all die so we should enjoy our birthdays while we have them! I was being thoughtful."
"Taehyun, you dressed up as groom for halloween."
"Weddings are scary."
Beomgyu gaped at him.
"Okay so maybe I'm different. But so what?"
"Different usually turns out evil in fairy tales . . . " Beomgyu said with hesitation.
They fell silent again.
Until Taehyun reached for Beomgyu's hand, and softly said "Why do you want to leave here so badly? To the point that you'd believe in stories you know that aren't true."
"Because I can't live here. I can't live an ordinary life." Beomgyu sighs, tides of doubt entering his system.
"Funny. That's why I like you."
Beomgyu smiled, "Because you can't either?"
"Because you make me feel ordinary. And that's the only thing I've ever wanted."
As the night draw near, and as they lose track of time, both of them made a wish. That one day from now, they'd still be in the company of the other. Wherever that was.
~
By the time the night settles in, children were being locked away. Family members carry torches and lined around the dark forest, daring the School Master to cross their ring of fire.
For 200 years, 2 children disappear every 4 years. One beautiful and good, the other homely and odd. Naturally, the villagers blamed bears, but no one had ever seen a bear in Ttukseom. They thought of being more specific, a black bear, one that could easily blend in with the night. Then burrowing bears, or phantom bears, or bears in disguise . . . until realizing, in all ridiculousness, that it wasn't bears at all. While adults spawned more stupid theories, children found something suspicious in the storybooks: the kidnapped children, characters of the fairy tales they read. One hero, one villain.
The books all came from Mr. Bang's shop. They started questioning Mr. Bang on who sent the books, but he stated that he hadn't got the faintest idea. Through further investigation, they noticed something more: the villages in the stories all look like Ttukseom. Every detail, from the dirt roads to the sidewalks, to the buildings.
And the endless woods surrounding the town, in which they would try to storm through, only to be repelled back or the end up back in their village.
The start and the end.
The woods didn't seem like it wanted to return their children though, and they found out why when Mr. Bang saw a seal in the box where the storybooks are;
a seal with an elaborate crest of a black swan and a white swan,
and three letters: S.G.E.
The School For Good and Evil.