Archive of Our Own

BAEK SAHEON

Some deity up above was laughing their ass off at Baek Saheon, he was certain.

But seriously, what the hell, man?

He almost felt guilty about how badly he’d messed it up. 

Looking left, he could see the dark hallway extend out past his shoulder—his shoulder, which was covered by that ridiculous puffy little sleeve—in an eerie curving form.

The ceiling arced down the way until it came to an itty-bitty point, but from where he stood, it was utterly massive and excessively gothic.

The tile floor was hauntingly beautiful, the shade of red appearing like dried blood in the dark blue night. The left walls were similarly bathed in a vibrant light—a strong cast akin to the glow from a TV—a stark indigo blue reflecting off the white paint.

Portraits lined the castle’s walls, but despite their beautiful, countless colors in normal light, only displayed different shades of blue on this night.

Baek Saheon’s skin shivered as he cast a glare toward the massive windows on the right side of the hall, where his body was facing.

It was that blinding moon. Blasting its business out onto everything it touched. It even dyed the kitschy, elegant pink of his dress a blue color.

He scoffed, looking down at the torn material, then back up to the moon. The dress hadn’t lasted long before he’d torn it beyond recognition, much like how his eyepatch had ended up discarded.

As strong as it was in this place, he had to tear his eyes away. Looking at that thing was like looking at the sun with sunglasses. Less so, but still painful as hell.

Instead, he looked to his right, observing the reflection of what he’d seen to his left.

Bar the blinking red eyes at the end of the hallway. 

Baek Saheon stood, his body frozen mid-jolt.

His body worked overdrive to do anything except run, taking in the tangy outside air—sour with the scent of rain—noting the way his own skin took on a blue shade in the moon’s gaze, sending a cute little layer of goosebumps as if to say “Hey look, your kinda cold, dude!” like he wasn’t in massive danger.

Then, before his body could make more aimless comments on his surroundings, a sound like drums began to rise.

It was low pitched in a way that permeated the air far and wide, vibrating the air and shaking the ground.

The sound seemed to grow from the ground itself, rumbling like a volcano before it solidified into a beat, a beat akin to a thumping heart—one that drowned out Baek Saheon’s own with the sheer force of sound. 

The palace shook, shivered, and trembled.

THUD.

THUD

THUD.

The red eyes grew in the opposite direction that the hallway stretched.

Instead of shrinking they expanded, and in his paralyzed state Baek Saheon could only idly wonder how that worked, unable to comprehend what was about to consume him whole.

Something as cold as he might assume the moon would feel snatched him away from his spot planted on the ground, running and brushing scratchy fabric against his skin.

Baek Saheon remained in a trance, his eyes and mouth slack as they observed the red eyes with a harrowing fascination. 

“Stop looking at it, you're going to get yourself killed!” The owner of the arm and the fabric whispered fervently, and something firm and fleshy whipped across his face.

Pain.

Consciousness.

The sensation was very similar to how it felt when the needles under your skin faded and all feeling returned.

Baek Saheon gasped at last, clutching his chest and stuttering in his movement.

The person did not wait for him to catch his breath, tugging him along more vigorously. His brain turned on, processing the past moment’s events as quickly as he could.

“I’m an idiot,” he whispered, pinching his nose and forcing his legs into a faster sprint.

“It’s best you don’t waste your breath,” the person said, not denying his statement. 

Baek Saheon blinked the blurriness in his eyes away, glimpsing the person who’d saved him.

A billowing dress nearly obscured his vision, but he could make out her collar-length brown hair and the gentle slope of her nose and curve of her jaw, though they were cast in an unfamiliar blue. 

“Goral-ssi…?” He exhaled sharply, his eyes going wide. 

Her face, illuminated in the moonlight, whipped back toward him with her finger to her lips and her brow furrowed in concentration.

Baek Saheon shut his mouth, nervously glancing behind them both.

The red eyes had started very far away, but it was still clearly gaining distance on them. He’d guess it was about eight meters away, which would seem like a lot if tripping or stumbling couldn’t obliterate all that space. 

He didn’t have much time to dwell on that terrifying knowledge as Go Youngeun suddenly yanked them both down a short corridor.

Baek Saheon nearly screamed at her, about to shout out that this was a dead end, but she grasped the edge of the massive painting at the end of the nook and swiftly swung it open, throwing the both of them inside before it slammed shut.

GO YOUNGEUN

It just had to be these two, didn’t it?

Go Youngeun didn’t consider herself a star rookie, like Kim Soleum, or an ambitious young start, like Baek Saheon. She considered herself humble, reasonable, a survivalist.

Her luck so far had given her enough wiggle room to build small connections with others, and she even had affection for some fellow coworkers, like Kim Soleum, who was hard-working enough it was difficult not to admire him.

But never once had she ever wanted to be like Kim Soleum, not a chance.

She’d heard the rumors, seen the gossip in the rookie group chat.

That Kim Soleum went into darknesses for fun, the stories of the things he’d gotten himself into—for goodness sake, she’d seen the physical proof herself in the manor darkness. 

Even if it was just a rumor, she did not want that.

Yet here she was, stuck inside this darkness not only with Kim Soleum, but with Baek Saheon as well.

When she’d spotted him in the hallway five seconds away from death, she’d acted courageously, but now, sitting on the cold, damp stone floor, she wanted to rip her hair out.

Normally, these two were plenty competent. Baek Saheon clearly harbored ulterior motives, but he was polite enough on the surface. And Kim Soleum would do his best to get them out of here, despite the strange tension the two had going on.

But off course it couldn’t be that simple.

“The hell is this place?” Baek Saheon demanded, his shock and surprise erasing whatever finesse he usually had.

Go Youngeun sighed and stood, offering him a hand. He eyed it, but eventually took it and dusted himself off. 

“I’ll show you, come this way,” she said, turning and striding down the darkness. 

“Are there things I should be looking out for?” Baek Saheon asked, following at a much more tentative place.

“There’s nothing—please move quickly,” she said tersely, picking up her pace.

Being away this long was already a massive risk, especially now that everything had turned on them. How it’d happened, she hadn’t a clue, but she had a frustrated suspicion it was their third party member’s fault.

Her nerves were alight and her mind was racing, past the point of thinking through plans or anything strategic, and now just leading itself in circles to tire her out. 

She stumbled, nearly keeling over onto the brutal stone floor. Baek Saheon caught her by the shoulder. “I thought you said there was nothing to look out for?” He whispered furiously, because of course he was just thinking of himself.

Go Youngeun caught her own thoughts and shook her head. She hadn’t been wound up this tight before—was this a sign of contamination?

However, she’d seen the contamination this darkness caused, and if anything, it made them far too relaxed…

She straightened, giving Baek Saheon a nonplussed look. “No, I’m just tired. It's not that far now, come on.”

She led them deeper, down into the darkest part, before turning a sharp, practiced left and revealing a light at the end of the tunnel. Behind her, Baek Saheon inhaled in awe. Finally, he picked up his pace to match hers, approaching the light almost giddily.

Go Youngeun was not as excited, as she could now make out something running straight towards them.

“Move to the side,” She told Baek Saheon. Confused, he slowly obeyed.

Go Youngeun crouched, then launched herself into the blurry figure sprinting past.

In a tumble of clothes and limbs, they both fell to the ground.

Shrieking came from the mass underneath her, but she wrestled it into submission.

“U-um…?” Baek Saheon stuttered in confusion behind them, and she could hear him come up behind them cautiously.

A head of black hair flipped up to face him before she could untangle herself in time to explain.

“She’s keeping me captive! You have to save me! She’s trying to keep me from my marriage!” That familiar voice cried out in an unsettlingly unfamiliar tone. 

Baek Saheon went silent, and Go Youngeun sat upright in time to see his flabbergasted face illuminated by the faint light.

His gaze flickered to her, back to him, and then back to her, his pupil as wide as a saucer.

“Kim Soleum?”

BAEK SAHEON

If it had been any other situation, He’d’ve been rejoicing.

In the moment, though, it was absolutely disturbing. Because what in the heavens was that creature? It sure as hell wasn’t Kim Soleum, of that he was certain.

It looked like him, spoke like him, and was probably as evil as him, but in a completely different, downright sickening way.

It staggered toward him once more, eyes wide and hopeful and admiring.

God, ew, hell no.

To have his deepest wish, for Kim Soleum to be wrapped around his pinky, so brutally turned on him, was gross.

“Please! I’ll do anything! Would you like a ball? A feast? To be my personal servant? Or I could be your best friend, benefactor—anything!”

Wow.

This was…

Enlightening, actually. He’d thought he hated Kim Soleum as much as he could hate a person, but here he was. He felt a weird sense of appreciation for the old Kim Soleum.

He snapped his eyes onto Go Youngeun, pleading with her. “What did you do to him? Can you fix it? Fix it, please. I’m not joking. This is not funny.”

Go Youngeun laughed, which turned into a hopeless look as she hung her head.

“You can’t reverse it?” He asked in horror.

She furrowed her brow, looking up at him. “Why do you even think I did it in the first place? This place has contaminated him; he’s completely obsessed with his ‘purpose’ now.”

Baek Saheon stopped. His body swayed, and he staggered back to find a wall, where he slid down to sit on the ground.

Kim Soleum. Kim Soleum, fucking rookie of the month, favorite of seemingly everyone, had gotten contaminated in a darkness. He barked out a sharp laugh.

Once again, the thought that he could have enjoyed this in any other circumstance tickled the edge of his mind. But he was here right now in this situation and had to deal with it.

Truthfully, the normal Kim Soleum made darknesses a breeze. Annoying when he was trying to prove himself, but he would’ve rejoiced his presence in this situation. 

There weren’t any high-ups here to recount or vouch for his performance, so the one time that Kim Soleum couldn’t steal the spotlight wasn’t worth jack shit.

He groaned, knocking his head against the back wall. He had a worse, sinking feeling that this was his fault, too.

In all honesty, the rest of the current state of things was his fault, so it wasn’t a big stretch to say Kim Soleum’s contamination could be as well.

He wasn’t going to tell Go Youngeun that, though. 

He breathed in, exhaled, and squared himself.

“Do you know anything about our current situation? Like what happened to the castle that made it switch into this…this?” He asked, gesturing vaguely at the way they came.

Go Youngeun narrowed her eyes at him. She’d most certainly been suspecting him as the culprit for the state of the palace, and he could tell his question hadn’t fully erased that skepticism.

Hopefully it pulled her attention away from it, however.

Thankfully, she didn’t make a comment in that direction. She waved toward Kim Soleum, who was now in a praying position with one of Go Youngeun’s hands wrapped firmly around his arm.

His body was tense in a way where Baek Saheon knew he would bolt as soon as her grip slacked.

“I don’t know what happened to cause it to shift so drastically, although it must have been something blasphemous towards the darkness’s nature, but I do know that that thing is known as Queen Vanessa.

“Kim Soleum…he wasn’t like this before the light switched off. Though, perhaps it had been crawling under his skin the entire time.” She paused, looking at Kim Soleum with guilt. 

Why was she feeling guilt? It wasn’t as if any of this was her fault in the first place. Baek Saheon rolled his eyes at her dramatic display. 

She continued, darting her gaze back to him. “Now he’s set on going through with the ‘arranged marriage’ which makes up the overall goal of this darkness—at least, I’m assuming.”

“Marriage, as in code for killing us all?” Baek Saheon asked dryly.

Usually these darkness types that ended in celebration were thinly veiled excuses to have a violent affair where everyone died.

“Maybe when Kim Soleum kisses the bride, it causes an explosion and everyone dies,” he pondered sarcastically, which didn’t amuse Go Youngeun at all.

“Can you take this seriously?” She asked genuinely, her voice barely even hostile. How she could remain so reasonably in the face of their circumstance escaped him. 

“I don’t see how we’re making it out of this.”

Go Youngeun’s firm expression flickered as the light in the distance waned, the shadows washing over her face and dragging her down with them.

Her body seemed to sag with the weight of it all, going lax against its will.

Baek Saheon jolted, looking toward Kim Soleum in a panic. He’d been ready to bolt as soon as Go Youngeun let go, and now was—

He met unnervingly clear eyes, the glint of red that was such a signature of the man resurfacing.

“I have an idea.”

Shivers went down his skin.

KIM SOLEUM

How excited was he to get married?

Originally—zero percent.

Yet here. In an unstable state of consciousness he felt an impulsive urge not belonging to him to daydream about the event.

His head pounded.

He clung to the bright purple ring of Baek Saheon’s eye, which he could make out in the fog. It pierced through everything else. He knew it could see him. His “danger sense” saw past the contamination and into the real him.

Between them, he could resurface and gasp for air, desperately forcing out words from above the pool of sludge.

“I have an idea.”

The words hung. 

A layer of goosebumps dusted the man’s skin, and seemingly out of sheer confusion, he—

BAEK SAHEON

…What?

He was confused. Thought he was hallucinating, really. Naturally he looked to Go Youngeun. It was only natural, instinctual.

And of course, that had to be when Kim Soleum burst into motion.

His white suit dashed in front of his view of Go Youngeun, like a single remaining frame of another movie when it was spliced. 

Their eyes met after he passed, and Baek Saheon and Go Youngeun gave chase. 

That was when he learned that all that extra work and effort Kim Soleum forced himself through did leave him in fairly good shape, because that man could sprint.

Baek Saheon panted, pondering whether it was actually just the darkness inside him that was forcing Kim Soleum’s body to perform such surprising physical feats.

Go Youngeun gave out behind him, though he could hardly blame her, as she'd clearly already had her hands full with him before Baek Saheon came around.

Kim Soleum nearly made it past the corner, which surely would have spelled his own doom, but Baek Saheon managed to tackle him at the last moment, sending Kim Soleum tumbling to the floor for the second time.

Their bodies were a jumble, and this far down the tunnel it was so dark he struggled to navigate off of Kim Soleum without letting him escape his grasp.

He heaved his body up, caging Kim Soleum in below him with his arms on either side of the man’s head. He locked eyes with him.

“Baek Saheon?”

He tensed. 

What? Again? His brow furrowed, sweat trickling down from it and onto Kim Soleum. Was the darkness trying to trick—

“Ew.” He muttered, swiping away the drop of sweat with his free hand.

He wiped it on his pristine attire absently and looked up at Baek Saheon in blatant disbelief. “Why are you on me? And why are you so sweaty?” Kim Soleum asked in a deeper, unmistakable voice.

Baek Saheon’s face grew cold. “You stupid shit, this isn’t going to work on me a second time. Who do you take me for?”

“I take you for an idiot, right now,” Kim Soleum said cleverly, raising an eyebrow.

“Stop. Acting like him.” Baek Saheon gritted out, bringing his head down close to Kim Soleum.

Kim Soleum’s eyes went wide, and wholly unexpectedly, he flushed. “Please back up. You're kinda…”

Baek Saheon processed the position they were in. While he couldn’t see it, he realized those were Kim Soleum’s thighs between his legs, and his lower stomach was brushing Kim Soleum’s. He flinched, jolting away from him.

Kim Soleum immediately jerked, and Baek Saheon only barely snapped out a hand fast enough to grab him before he could run.

He yanked Kim Soleum’s back against his chest, wrapping an arm around his throat. “I didn’t even fall for your bullshit, yet you still manage to trip me up…” He grumbled, dragging the wriggling Kim Soleum back down the tunnel, where Go Youngeun was now catching up to him.

“What happened?” She asked as she jogged up to him. From the front, he could now see she’d been trying to run in heels, and her falling back made even more sense now. She was clutching her dress, which was a pale lilac.

“It’s using some sort of fake Kim Soleum impression to trick us.” He scowled down at Kim Soleum, who was fluttering his wet eyelashes.

The motion looked absurd on Kim Soleum, but Baek Saheon did notice Kim Soleum’s eyelashes were long and elegant enough to pull off the motion, however creepy it was.

“That’s what that was?” She asked. She seemed hesitant, like she didn’t believe him.

“It tried to pull it on me back there, that’s why we were frozen on the floor before it broke away. I’m certain it’s a trick,” he insisted, sneering at the fake Kim Soleum.

Go Youngeun’s eyes fell, looking at Kim Soleum’s writhing, pleading figure with pity, then it turned stern. “Yes…you’re most likely right.”

Most likely, my ass, Baek Saheon rolled his eyes, dragging Kim Soleum’s body along as he and Go Youngeun walked back towards the light.

At the end of the short yet unnerving tunnel, a holed-out clearing was scattered with items.

A lantern with a broken handle—likely torn straight from the castle walls—an open cloche with only the tiniest remnants of food, and a book with a near-broken quill sitting atop it. 

“How grand.”

“You can choose to be quiet any time,” Go Youngeun said in a polite but curt voice, heading straight for the book and quill.

Baek Saheon didn’t stay quiet, but he resisted the urge to make another clever comment. “Are these your…plans?” He asked, stifling the impulse to call them anything else, because the open page did not look like solid plans.

Go Youngeun winced, recognising they were lacking herself. She sighed and drew the book closer. “It’s not really plans, in truth. It's more like a stream of questions that could lead to a plan, if the answers were favorable.”

Baek Saheon snorted. That was wishful thinking.

“But more importantly, this is a general map of the castle,” She explained, flipping to the next page and revealing a rough sketch of the building's layout. 

Baek Saheon came closer in an instant, wrangling Kim Soleum to his side so he could get a closer look. “How did you get this?” He demanded, bringing one hand up to clutch the book. Go Youngeun snatched it away from him and cradled it protectively.

“You can’t just run off with this and try to escape yourself,” she reprimanded him, eyeing him suspiciously.

Baek Saheon clenched his jaw.

So she’d heard the rumors those loud-mouthed rookies had been spreading. Perhaps he should’ve spent a little more time pretending to be nice to them, after all.

Go Youngeun sighed, relaxing. “I don’t think you’re evil, Goat-ssi. But I don’t want to take any chances when you could very well decide to drop Roe Deer-ssi and leave him to fend for himself. Please, swear you’ll cooperate. Two people will be better than one.”

Baek Saheon raised an eyebrow at their dead weight. Yeah, and this one cancels out any advantage you could give me, Goral-ssi.

Despite his rational thoughts, he found himself nodding and raising his hand. Worse, the words came out of his mouth before he could stop them. “I’ll work with you, I promise."

Go Youngeun frowned, but it slowly smoothed out as she took a deep breath, and in the end, she seemed relieved. “That’ll do. Now you can see the map,” she said, holding the book out to him.

He accepted it, immediately flipping back to the page with the map and scouring it for details.

It all made more sense now, seeing exactly how he’d screwed it all up. Brushing his finger against the corner, where he recognized that particular room labelled as “Groom’s Quarters.”

He hadn’t realized it back then, but he had seen Kim Soleum. Seeing him had ruined everything.

BAEK SAHEON (Four Hours ago)

This was gonna be easy.

Sure, the dress was scratchy and disgustingly long—he had to throw the train over his shoulder for heaven’s sake, but he could fake it long enough to make it out of here. He could.

And the darkness was lenient; it was easy. He could carry his dress in this haphazard way and trounce all around the palace, digging his nose into places he shouldn’t, and he had yet to face any consequence for it.

The maids, robotic and dull, would only ask predetermined questions about how he was feeling about the marriage, whether they could do anything to alleviate any nerves, and occasionally press him to pick someone to be his bridesmaid during the big event.

He answered it all fakely and continued on his way.

And no one said a thing. As long as he claimed he was excited to get married, everyone else seemed happy to let him frolic.

So yes, he’d thought it would be easy.

With an experience like that; straight up being rude to the servants and not being punished, there was no way anyone wouldn’t have let their guard down.

Except maybe Kim Soleum, but that bastard didn’t count.

Maybe Kim Soleum wouldn’t have barged into every room, rummaged through every drawer, and so recklessly tried to find escape. Because if he hadn’t, Baek Saheon probably wouldn’t have walked through those blinding, demoniac doors and laid eyes on him.

Him, who was adorned with a sleek, fitted white suit, accented in a deep gold, and crowned with a flower in bloom. Him, with the smooth leather shoes that were clean enough to squeak against the waxy floors when he turned.

When he had turned, Baek Saheon had raced to lift his gaze, astonishingly eager to glean a glance at what would surely be a handsome face to match those clothes.

The stranger beat him to it, laying his eyes on him first, and the entire castle turned off like a light switch.

BAEK SAHEON (Present)

How was he supposed to explain that this was all his fault?

For the first half-hour, when Go Youngeun and Baek Saheon were discussing the layout and possible escape routes, dismissing the guilt was easy.

How could he explain what went wrong when he didn’t even know how he’d messed up? At that point, the whole thing basically wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t known, so it was essentially just bad luck that had caused all of this.

Then the second half of the hour passed, and Go Youngeun began to piece things together. She spoke inquisitively, as if someone was there that could answer her questions.

Her hands clutched the page, tight in thought. “This darkness revolves around the plot of marriage, so in order to escape now that the worst-case sequence has been triggered, it’s likely we’re going to have to resolve the darkness entirely.”

Baek Saheon looked down at Kim Soleum sourly. Now if only you were awake, that would be perfect for this situation.

She continued, murmuring as her hand traced the Groom’s Quarters again. “Perhaps the entire castle turning dark and Queen Vanessa hunting us was because something went wrong with the wedding plans. But what could go wrong with a wedding before it had begun?” Her gaze slid over to Baek Saheon.

“Did you reject or say anything against being married?”

Baek Saheon waved his hands placatingly. “No! I wasn’t going to do something that so obviously went against the grain of the darkness.”

He said that, but he had been horsing around the place rather untactfully. She didn’t know that, though.

“Besides, the bride isn’t allowed to reject the wedding. Perhaps it would cause aggression, but it’s clearly a euro-centric darkness, playing on arranged marriages. There’s no way the bride could have…” His voice trailed off as his mind raced.

Go Youngeun didn’t notice it, nodding along and saying something to the avail of it definitely being a European castle, but Baek Saheon couldn’t pay attention.

He’d figured it out.

He knew what he did wrong. 

The darkness hadn’t given a shit what uncouth things he was up to, as long as he was still fit to be married. But he’d committed a grave sin, one he hadn’t even thought of. And he’d still argue it wasn’t his fault—why would he think of this minuscule, European ancient taboo that wasn’t even present in Europe anymore? 

The groom had seen him.

“Baek Saheon?”

“Yeah?” He croaked out, forcing himself back to reality. 

Go Youngeun regarded him skeptically, though that’s the only way she ever did seem to regard him. “You went pale there.”

He shrugged. “Just…don’t know what we’re gonna do. Scared.” He didn’t sound like he meant it at all. He was usually better at lying than this. That foolish guilt eating away at him, it was all its fault.

In European countries back then, it was considered a taboo to see the bride before the marriage, so that the groom couldn’t reject the lady if she didn’t suit his tastes. 

Having seen him, the darkness considered Kim Soleum’s marriage to him compromised.

“Hand me him, I’ve got a strategy that keeps him busy for a while.”

Baek Saheon frowned, but clearly it was something that had tied her over before he came, and that was enough proof for him. Carefully, he forced Kim Soleum forward, and she grasped him with practice and ushered him into the corner. 

Baek Saheon followed her movements, but when Kim Soleum started whining loudly, he flinched away.

It was a high-pitched, obviously-not-Kim-Soleum voice, but he still couldn’t shake off the fact that it was Kim Soleum’s voice, whining shamelessly.

Panting, Go Youngeun strolled back up to him, straightening out her long purple dress and curling her hair behind her ear. “He should be set for the half-hour.” 

Baek Saheon nodded, rubbing his arms as he felt the relief of no longer having to hold onto that wild animal of a creature. “What’d you do?”

“Ah, just put the Groom’s tie on him. He goes into this trance where he believes he’s got to wait for his bride to come up the aisle to him—so he’ll wait for a fairly long time.”

Baek Saheon’s skin shivered, threatening to raise his hair once more in a telling motion that he cared about what she said. But he didn’t. He didn’t care that Kim Soleum was fully dressed to be wed, only a spin and a blink away from being witnessed by him.

Go Youngeun waved her hand, beckoning him forward as she began to walk down the tunnel, her heels clicking against the floor and echoing in the empty, now unnervingly silent clearing.

Baek Saheon nodded, and he fully meant to move with her down the way, but his legs couldn’t move.

The thought was turning in his head, an addicting temptation the moment he’d thought of it.

“Baek Saheon?”

“Oh, yeah,” Baek Saheon said absently. Then he didn’t move. His mind raced. He shouldn’t look. It was a terrible idea, one that would certainly have ramifications past the end of this darkness—if they made it out.

At the mere question of their death, Baek Saheon quickly made his decision.

Kim Soleum didn’t technically look all that different with the silk tie wrapped around his collar and draped down his chest, tucked under the suit.

However, he didn’t look like a man in a suit anymore, he looked like a groom, with his hands clenched together and his expression drawn in excited anticipation. 

Baek Saheon sucked in a breath and met Kim Soleum’s eyes for just one indulgent moment.

Kim Soleum’s eyes went wide, and for a completely idiotic second, Baek Saheon wondered if that’s what he would’ve looked like if he saw the bride he’d eagerly awaited. 

“Baek Saheon,” he breathed, and the fantasy was quickly becoming terrifyingly real.

Red heat tickled his cheeks, and his fingers twitched two seconds before he broke away from Kim Soleum’s—

“No! Don’t look away!” Kim Soleum exclaimed, his shocked expression flashing through countless desperate emotions as he leaped forward and wrapped his hands around Baek Saheon’s face.

Baek Saheon yelped as his vision was overwhelmed with Kim Soleum’s annoyingly pristine skin and perfectly styled hair.

The feeling of soft skin against his cheeks made him freeze, blood rushing up to them to make the feeling even more pronounced.

He brought up his hands to tear away from him, but Kim Soleum stopped him with another desperate shout.

“No! Don’t let go, you have to keep looking me in the eyes.” He said, his eyes boring into Baek Saheon’s all too sincerely.

This much eye-contact at this little distance was far too intimate for Baek Saheon. “Why—” he tried to speak, but the dry walls of his throat stuck to each other. He swallowed. “Why do I have to keep looking? Another trick? Trying to kill me?”

Kim Soleum’s expression fell—why did his stomach drop when he saw that crestfallen look? His brow furrowed and he tucked his bottom lip between his teeth before flicking it back out, much shinier.

The sight of it made him feel a frightening amount of something. He shivered, gaze drifting to stare at his lips.

The hands snapped his chin back up, but his gaze stayed down. “You can’t look aw—” Kim Soleum trailed off, letting Baek Saheon’s head fall.

“Huh. I guess it still works as long as you're looking at my face? Or does just one of us need to keep eye-contact while the other looks at their face?” He pondered, slipping back into the familiar calculative behavior of DayDream Inc.’s star rookie. 

Baek Saheon scoffed at his predictable behavior. 

“Right in my face, seriously?”

“You wanted to be this close,” Baek Saheon retorted, raising an eyebrow.

Kim Soleum flushed. “Look—That’s not what I—ugh, just listen, will you?”

“How do I know you aren’t the darkness?” Baek Saheon asked coldly, eyeing Kim Soleum suspiciously.

“Um, guys?” A voice called out.

Go Youngeun, he realized, whipping his head around. He could see her now, standing in front of them uncertainly with her hand stretched out.

Within an instant, her expression blew wide. “Baek Saheon, watch out!”

Baek Saheon turned back in confusion, only to meet a flying fist coming straight for his face. A sharp noise began to screech out of his chest when his gaze snapped onto Kim Soleum’s like a puzzle piece.

The fist stopped.

Baek Saheon slowly looked down at Kim Soleum, his breath puffing out in quickened cycles, the damp air around him brushing against his cool skin and his lips prickling with the feeling of little hairs on Kim Soleum’s knuckles.

Kim Soleum exhaled heavily, letting his fist fall to his side. “Does that prove it to you?” He asked dryly.

“Only that I definitely don’t know what the fuck is going on,” Baek Saheon retorted.

“Goat-ssi, please do whatever you can to keep him like this…however you're doing that. Roe Deer-ssi, could you please explain what's going on? Preferably before you go haywire on us again,” she urged, stepping closer.

Kim Soleum nodded curtly, setting his gaze firmly on Baek Saheon. “It's Baek Saheon’s eye, the special one. Something about its nature, its ability to sense the real danger level or ‘aura’ of a person, is allowing me to surface above the other thing fighting for control over me.”

“What?” She exclaimed, her eyes glancing at Baek Saheon’s purple eye.

He twitched, barely resisting the urge to glare at her as she inspected his eyeball blatantly. Something almost cold entered her gaze, as if she were considering asking him to take it out for Kim Soleum’s sake.

Like hell that was happening.

“Can you stop?” He gritted out. 

She jumped, stepping back a bit. “Oh, yes, sorry. Roe Deer-ssi, do you know anything about the contamination invading you?” 

His head shook gently. “It isn’t the same as a normal contamination, where it infiltrates your being and corrupts your identity. Instead, it's more like a ghost possession. It feels separate, like it was shoved into my psyche by force. Which, thinking back to what I believe happened, is probably what genuinely occured.”

Go Youngeun nodded thoughtfully. “It must be a worst-case procedure, forcing you to do your best to follow through with the marriage despite it being compromised. Like a punishment.”

Kim Soleum nodded pensively, going quiet for a long beat. Baek Saheon could almost see the thoughts flashing through his head, imaginary dots connecting as his eyes flitted around to different parts of Baek Saheon’s eyes.

“We need to move fast,” he decided, his gaze focusing and centering on Baek Saheon’s irises, sending yet another non-cold shiver down his body. Was he supposed to just stand here so that Kim Soleum could send him hair-raising, soul-deep looks all day?

“We already knew we need to move fast before the place gets even more fucked up,” Baek Saheon grumbled. “But what exactly are we even going to do when we get up there?”

Instead of a smart-mouthed response, Kim Soleum considered the question seriously—oh god, Kim Soleum taking him seriously made him feel even weirder.

“If it's a marriage-based darkness, but compromising the marriage only plunges everything into chaos…I have a different idea to escape it.” Kim Soleum’s mouth curved, and Baek Saheon was shocked to see a slight smile.

-

Three figures bathed in shadow slipped out of a massive painting, closing it behind them to display the boring-ass plate of fruits to absolutely nobody.

They whisked down the hallway, keeping close to the walls and dodging the rays of moonlight shining through the windows in wide columns.

The brick walls were dusty and damp, a haven for bugs and mold alike to grow. Baek Saheon forced his body against it all the same, clutching the pale arm in his grasp closer, bringing the red eyes consuming his vision dizzyingly closer.

Every time they closed in, Kim Soleum would hold his breath and lick his lips nervously in a way that he didn’t seem to realize was weirdly seductive.

Baek Saheon forced him back a reasonable distance, keeping his hands firmly on Kim Soleum’s shoulders and leading them along like a clumsy dance motion. 

Kim Soleum seemed to have a similarly amusing thought, because he felt a chuff of breath and saw Kim Soleum’s eyes tightening and his mouth curving.

How delusional did this guy have to be in order to laugh inside a life-threatening darkness?

He sniffed, setting a petty gaze on Kim Soleum. This only made the man snicker even more…which only heightened the strange feeling tickling his stomach.

The sense of urgency from before arose once more, stronger and more panicked. Whatever this palace was doing to him, he needed to get out before he started viewing Kim Soleum differently, like all his other brainwashed coworkers.

Perhaps Kim Soleum was secretly a darkness, and the sign of contamination was the weird, amiable obsession everyone around him seemed to have with the guy. 

“We need to take a left here,” Go Youngeun quietly urged.

Baek Saheon frowned. “Seriously? Isn’t that in the opposite direction of where we’re trying to go?”

Go Youngeun pointed down the hallway, and Baek Saheon and Kim Soleum painstakingly maneuvered themselves until the hallway was in their peripheral vision.

Just from the edge of his vision, he could make out shadowy figures, gently shaded in blue, stalking down the hallway in searching motions with small candelabras clutched in their hands. The one closest to them turned suddenly, fixing its gaze down the hallway they were in.

Baek Saheon flinched, desperately trying to make out which direction the maid was looking, wondering anxiously if its eyes could see through the darkness, see them—

“Baek Saheon,” Kim Soleum said, shaking his shoulders vigorously.

Shit. Baek Saheon refocused, training his gaze back on Kim Soleum’s fearful expression. It all felt so strange. Kim Soleum never acted this way.

He was never worried, never vulnerable; he isn’t a normal person, he's a psycho. All these self-affirmations he repeated for his own ego were quickly crumbling underneath the weight of Kim Soleum’s trembling hands and worried gaze.

“What are you worried about? You’re the star rookie, of course you’ll make it out,” Baek Saheon scoffed, the words coming out sour despite his best (worst) attempts to try and reassure Kim Soleum—so that he wouldn’t do anything rash because of his anxiety.

Instead, Kim Soleum’s expression slammed shut like a steel curtain, immediately erasing any emotion from his face. “What’s the point of even saying frivolous things like that? We aren’t on the clock. Just focus on moving faster,” he snapped, picking up his pace.

Baek Saheon struggled to stay in step with him, fighting the urge to complain that he’d been trying to reassure him. 

He didn’t say anything; he kept his mouth duly closed—until Kim Soleum jerked them around the left corner and crashed Baek Saheon into the wall, where his head clipped the bottom of a lantern and sent a spike of pain through him.

Baek Saheon bit his tongue to keep from shouting and brought his simmering gaze up to Kim Soleum. “What was that for?!” He whispered angrily, digging his fingers into Kim Soleum’s arm.

Kim Soleum opened his mouth with a near-guilty expression, and for a moment it looked like he might actually explain himself, but he shut it and opened it again, this time speaking with a frown. “You're being too loud.”

Baek Saheon clenched his free hand. “I wouldn’t have nearly yelled if you hadn’t slammed me into a sharp corner,” he gritted out, forcing his voice to stay low.

Kim Soleum didn’t respond, which only infuriated Baek Saheon even more. “If you don’t want me to look away and leave you and Go Youngeun for dead, stop ignoring me.”

The second he’d said it, he felt vindicated, but he also felt a touch of self-loathing, because he’d known he’d gone too far. It felt glorious, holding his position of power over Kim Soleum’s head.

Yet, when his eyes fell and Kim Soleum’s expression took on a hopeless, dead look, his heart twinged in betrayal, stinging more than his head or his body. 

Up ahead, a sharp gasp from Go Youngeun snapped them both out of their private world.

“The castle,” Go Youngeun breathed, “It's…crumbling.”

Shocked, Baek Saheon whipped his head around to see it. For that split second, he could make out the end of the hallway—it was no longer extending into an endless corridor that eventually became so small in view that it condensed into a point.

The previously looming walls seemed weak and heavy, and looking down the way revealed a crumbled disaster.

The foundation of the castle fell apart more the farther you looked, and beyond the broken walls something incomprehensible could be seen—or rather, it couldn’t, because the more he looked the more he felt his own mind succumbing.

“Baek Saheon!” This time, it was Go Youngeun snapping him out of his trance. “Kim Soleum,” she urged, and Baek Saheon turned to realize Kim Soleum had once again turned into a bratty groom, muttering about marriage and prying at his hand.

He wrestled Kim Soleum’s face into his hands, grabbing him by the cheeks and forcing him to meet his eyes. 

Immediately, Kim Soleum slipped back into a familiar body language. “Hey, let me go, that hurts,” he hissed, slapping his hands away from his cheeks.

Baek Saheon immediately let him go, rushing to explain. “I’m sorry—you turned again, I had to get you to look at me!” He explained sheepishly, holding his hands up like a criminal poised for arrest.

“Oh,” Kim Soleum said quietly. “You apologised.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry to interrupt—”

She did not sound sorry—

“—but we need to go now,” Go Youngeun said, her voice alarmed. “The cracks are growing.”

Baek Saheon peered out of the edge of his vision and his stomach dropped at the sight of pitch black cracks etching themselves into the dark, shadow-laden ground. He reflexively reached for Kim Soleum’s hand, only to find he was grasping for him as well.

“Quick,” he breathed, and he ran down the hall while clinging onto the fleck of red in Kim Soleum’s eyes. They stumbled over each other’s feet, struggling to lock eyes and keep a rapid pace at the same time. They looked like idiots trouncing down the hallway.

Despite the embarrassing picture, he bored into the dark of Kim Soleum’s eyes, his mind wandering deep into the depths where he pictured how close the trail of rubble could be. They couldn’t tell and Go Youngeun didn’t say anything more nor look back, so they ran forward blindly.

“Left!” Go Youngeun whispered, taking them down a hallway with scarce maids. 

Though there were only two, they were forced to slow their pace so they could flatten themselves against the intricate palace walls and duck to the ground under the lanterns.

Perhaps he would have felt stupid, slinking around like a movie character while staring at Kim Soleum, but his life being at stake made the whole thing a lot more bearable. 

Go Youngeun led them down the long hallway, ducking past the maids whenever they came by and eventually slowing their pace when they met the crossroads.

“Which way?” Kim Soleum whispered.

Go Youngeun bit her lip, looking between the right, the left, and the hallway straight ahead. Baek Saheon could only somewhat make out the hallway in front of him, but even stunted, he could see countless maids patrolling the hallway with innocently searching faces.

“We need to make it across without running into the maids, but now we’re on a much shorter timeframe," Go Youngeun said nervously, glancing back down the hallway they came from, where she could no doubt see the cracks chasing after them in the distance.

Her face went pale, and Baek Saheon could hear her breaths coming faster. “I-I don’t know what to do…”

Kim Soleum spoke up. “Go Youngeun…we took a left, didn’t we?”

Go Youngeun perked up, but her expression was hesitant upon hearing what he asked. “Why?” The tremble in her voice; she knew why he was asking.

Kim Soleum’s face, pink from exertion and puffing out gentle breaths onto Baek Saheon, steeled as he spoke solemnly. “The ballroom should be to our right.”

Go Youngeun jolted. “But you said—!”

“I know,” he said. “But there is a way, it was simply too dangerous compared to our options before. Now that Baek Saheon—the bride—is here, it's possible.” His gaze flickered, turning dark. “Not even that…it's our only choice if we want to beat the pace the castle is falling apart at.”

Go Youngeun went silent for a beat, but there was no time to hold it for long. “Yes, it’s to our right. Follow me.” 

In pensive silence they scurried down the hallway, the tense silence only accompanied by their quick breathing and the footsteps of the maids around them. Those sounds faded, too, when they went down the right hallway.

There were no maids guarding the ballroom entrance, the hallway eerily absent of their incessant pacing, and when Kim Soleum guided them to hide against the wall as they crept further down, Baek Saheon even noticed the lamps were unlit. 

He nearly asked how far they had to go, feeling his skin prickle at the strange safety of this hallway, but it was difficult to miss the massive pair of doors, even seeing it from his periphery. 

“Damn,” He breathed, his steps quickening with Kim Soleum’s. 

The doors were almost alluring in their glory, unlike the eerie hallways looming around them. Like a bastion in the dark, it stood glittering gold, shining a luxurious color despite the blue light that invaded every other corner of this palace.

He could hear Go Youngeun inhale in awe as well, and her hand tentatively reached out to touch the handles, as if scared of disturbing something so grand.

Her fingers curled around the handle, and while he couldn’t make out its intricate pattern details, he could see how the sheer scale of it dwarfed her hands.

Yet, when she gave it a light, testing pull, the door opened as easily as a gentle spring breeze, showering them all in splendor and beauty from within.

Kim Soleum and Baek Saheon moved in tandem, their gazes meeting as they refocused on what they were looking at. They met each other step for step, coming to stand by Go Youngeun and awe in the golden sunrays shining down from the magnificent ballroom. 

Baek Saheon looked back first, unable to help his eyes refocusing on Kim Soleum. Kim Soleum’s gaze was still hazy, his eyes in the general direction of Baek Saheon’s face while his expression told otherwise. He looked to be in a trance, his eyes wide in helpless wonder. 

Baek Saheon knew it was the effect of the darkness—its splendor was purposefully greater than normal humans could achieve—but he found himself scouring Kim Soleum’s open face, caught up in the expression he’d never witnessed.

Kim Soleum’s face wasn’t something he’d allowed himself to take in, but now that it was so conveniently presented to him, he couldn’t help plucking out the details like he was meandering through a field of apples—forbidden ones, anyway.

But despite the dangerous game he was playing, he took in the slope of Kim Soleum’s nose and its oddly fitting dorsal hump, the subtle shadow under his eyes where his eye bags stood out, and the little scabs on his lips from worrying the flesh too often.

However, as Baek Saheon watched, he saw the brilliance rot in Kim Soleum’s countenance, revealing a gnawing anxiety underneath. It soured his features and made Baek Saheon feel disappointed. He wanted to claim he didn’t know why.

“Kim Soleum.” What was he saying? Kim Soleum seemed to wonder the same thing, his eyes gaining clarity, then shocked confusion.

Baek Saheon froze with his mouth flopped open like a gaping fish, and a couple of embarrassing noises, also similar to that of a fish, slipped out before he managed the truth. “You’ll make it out. You always do.” 

There was always going to be something off about what Baek Saheon said, even when it came from that weak, vulnerable place.

Growing up where he grew up, trying to achieve what he was reaching for, it would always lead to that same guarded edge to the way he spoke.

He couldn’t help it, and when the words came out, he wondered if he’d taken the last step off the edge and ruined whatever chance he had at whatever this was—friendship, acquaintance, a truce, he didn’t know—but Kim Soleum's reaction left him dumbfounded.

Kim Soleum gave him a pleasant expression. Not quite a smile, but an upturn to his brow that showed what Baek Saheon said had amused him. “You too. You usually muddle your way through it.”

Before he could protest the casual backhanded compliment, Kim Soleum pushed them forward. “No time,” he said lightly, and his lips quirked.

“Whatever,” Baek Saheon muttered, moving faster and making Kim Soleum stumble out of spite.

Go Youngeun had gotten ahead of them during their conversation, but she seemed so caught up in the grandeur of it all that she was only moving an inch at a time.

Kim Soleum laughed softly, likely not seeing her eyes but able to make out the way her head was turned up ninety degrees. Baek Saheon could barely even see that, as focusing on Go Youngeun while Kim Soleum was laughing was difficult.

The sound had barely risen a notch when the repercussions came slamming down on them.

The lights flickered and blinked closed, shutting the entire ballroom down. Bright eyes—reflecting the little light like a cat’s—surfaced in the darkness alongside dim lanterns that illuminated their servant uniforms. 

Go Youngeun blew out a sigh, which he could hear quiver as the familiar fear and tension flooded the trio. “I guess the lights were only on because we hadn’t entered yet.” Her voice held a tinge of regret. “It was beautiful, I wonder if we would’ve seen it had the darkness carried out normally…” she said wistfully.

Baek Saheon could see Kim Soleum’s eyes held pity, but when he spoke it was stern. “Don’t forget this is still a darkness, and it's likely this would have been a dangerous part of the story, considering how close it occurs to the wedding.”

“You’re right,” she relented quietly, and Baek Saheon could hear the “but…” in her following silence. Guiltily, he resonated with it, the blinding light still teasing him on his retinas when he closed his eyes. 

“They’re creeping closer now, so follow my plan closely,” Kim Soleum began, his eyes wavering as he looked at something behind Baek Saheon. More eyes and lanterns, he was sure.

“Goral-ssi, you’re going to have to blend in as a maid, otherwise they’ll target you as an extra, since you don’t have a key role like me or Baek Saheon. You’ll either stand out and receive hostile attention, or be subsumed and lose all human will,” Kim Soleum explained.

Go Youngeun’s resulting silence was bewildered. “How am I supposed to do that?”

Kim Soleum raised an eyebrow at Baek Saheon. “You haven’t declared your maid of honor, have you?”

His eyes went wide as Kim Soleum’s plan clicked in his head. He nearly whipped around to shout it in Go Youngeun’s face, but he carefully controlled his face as he whispered, “I declare Goral-ssi my maid of honor.”

The lanterns and eyes alike stilled as the air vibrated in response to Baek Saheon.

One by one, in the same amount of time that it would take Baek Saheon to shout her name, the lanterns around them went out and they were plunged into true darkness.

Then, the castle’s chandeliers blazed awake, and the whole room applauded. Baek Saheon met eyes with Kim Soleum. “I—”

“Please, check for me,” Kim Soleum said, reading his mind. Baek Saheon was almost thankful, as he realized he was about to fully admit to making sure Go Youngeun wasn’t dead. Kim Soleum held his hands tightly, all too much trust lingering in his gaze as his eyes fluttered shut and Baek Saheon looked away.

There, under the glare of the crystals and firelight, was a maid of honor.

Before he could even begin to let himself fall under the spell of the spectacular venue’s decor, the sudden appearance of the billowing dress snatched his attention away. Go Youngeun wasn’t dressed in her western-style common-folk dress any longer, but rather a tailor-fitted dress with frills and laces lining the panels flowing down her front.

The maids, applauding and smiling wide, suddenly rushed for her, crowding her as they congratulated her without a hint of jealousy.

Baek Saheon wrestled with Kim Soleum while he tried to come closer and free Go Youngeun from the crowd, but before he could reach the first maid in his way, the chandeliers clinked and the lights winked out again.

The lanterns, reflecting eyes, and lethal maids were back. Panicked, Baek Saheon ushered them both back, slamming a hand over Kim Soleum’s mouth and forcing their gazes to meet.

Kim Soleum’s eyes went wide. “What happened?” He asked through Baek Saheon’s hand.

He paused with his hand still over the other man’s mouth, his brain malfunctioning for a painfully long moment.

“Go—” he swallowed. “Goral-ssi is gone.”

He could spot the immediate reaction in Kim Soleum’s face and kept his hand firmly wrapped around his mouth, even as Kim Soleum tried to pull his fingers away. 

“She got dressed in the maid shit and the lights came back on, but they crowded her and now you need to shut up before the whole lot of them right next to us attack us,” he whispered closely, his forehead touching Kim Soleum’s and his feet trying to shuffle the both of them backwards away from the maids.

Kim Soleum took a breath through the gaps of his fingers, and Baek Saheon released his grip once Kim Soleum had calmed down. Kim Soleum’s hands hovered up to Baek Saheon’s shoulder, surprising him.

“What is it?” He muttered, inching them further and further away.

Kim Soleum took obedient steps backward. “I…I’m not sure what will happen to Go Youngeun, but she is the maid of honor, so they won’t kill her yet unless they kill us right now. Now, we have no choice but to dance. That’s the only way to progress through the ballroom,” he explained, waving his hand to gesture to their position, still only a couple of feet inside of the ballroom. 

Baek Saheon hesitantly lifted his hand, exchanging another cautious glance.

“Get on with it,” Kim Soleum gritted out, his eyes glossing over. 

Baek Saheon’s skin prickled, his heartbeat ticking up without being able to see what was happening behind him.

He shakily brought his hand to Kim Soleum’s hip and held his other hand out, where they met and clasped their fingers together. He shivered at the feeling, goosebumps scattering across his body. 

“Move,” Kim Soleum whispered, his cold breath curling against Baek Saheon’s skin. He flushed, the action feeling almost inappropriate. 

He gripped Kim Soleum’s hand obediently and took a hesitant step forward, but Kim Soleum shook his head and tugged him into a long, graceful motion, gliding across the waxy floors in a practiced motion. It felt practiced.

“Do you dance?” Baek Saheon blurted out of pure shock.

Kim Soleum looked at him like he was an idiot, pausing in his confident motions. “No, but this is a reasonably easy step I was shown in preparation for the wedding. Before the…” Kim Soleum shrugged.

Baek Saheon fidgeted his lips between his teeth, not wanting to delve into why his skin tingled at the idea of Kim Soleum learning something so unbelievably rapidly. Kim Soleum had always been competent, and he was supposed to view that as a threat, damnit.

Kim Soleum’s eyes widened and flitted to his cheeks. Pink rose on his own as he did so, and he reflexively reached a hand up to his cheek, as if to hide the blush.

He laughed, and in revenge Kim Soleum forced him through a trickier movement, guiding Baek Saheon into spinning him. 

He watched the other’s form spin, turning into a blur of white before slowing and landing in Baek Saheon’s arms, bent toward the floor but held aloof by his strength. 

Baek Saheon stared at Kim Soleum for a moment that dragged on. His heart kicked, in fear, in protest, in pain, unable to contain the jittery feeling he felt burning under his skin, fueled by the stakes stacked against them. Kim Soleum’s eyes were alight with fear and adrenaline, just like his.

They flashed like lightning, revealing their inner red right as the room was bathed in gold. The castle gleamed in its full glory for that moment in time, hanging in the air as Baek Saheon’s arm kept Kim Soleum suspended, persevering until the burning in his muscles demanded he let go.

He clumsily spun them both back into their original positions, stubbornly refusing to let go of him.

“That isn’t how you're supposed to do it.”

“Clearly the darkness was fine with it,” he retorted.

The lights blinked.

Kim Soleum raised an eyebrow, his face curving into an unmistakably mocking expression in the dim lantern light. Baek Saheon must have looked exasperated or wry—it didn’t matter, either way Kim Soleum was laughing softly, and Baek Saheon found his feet moving smoother than before.

The wax floor didn’t squeak underneath his clumsy movements by some miracle, and it almost made their dance seem eloquent, the flaws disguised by the darkness and bathed in an entrancing, hauntingly beautiful blue. 

“We’re close,” Kim Soleum whispered, his hand tightening around Baek Saheon.

His movements became stiff and jerky, and he could see his eyes drifting to the edge of Baek Saheon’s face.

Go Youngeun.

“Hold tight,” Baek Saheon told him, hooking his arm around him and covering his mouth. Kim Soleum closed his eyes and he flipped around to skim the room for a brown-haired woman in an extravagant dress.

Only, all the maids looked terribly similar. Dark-brown hair, light-brown hair, black hair…it all blended together under the cover of blue.

He lowered his gaze, skimming their dresses, but it hardly made a difference in the darkness.

While he knew Go Youngeun’s had been far more fantastical than the average maid dress, he could hardly parse out the details when they were drenched in indigo and blurred by the servants’ constant motion.

Kim Soleum fought under his hands, scraping at his mouth and methodically prying at his fingers.

He began to worry. Fake Kim Soleum’s motions weren’t as erratic and unplanned as before; it was almost as if the darkness could sense them approaching their escape.

He scoured the dance floor and the empty feast tables, but the hair and dresses only blurred and blended more as he moved furiously to find her. 

Just then, a scream came. 

“HELP!”

The thing possessing Kim Kim Soleum had broken free, and it was very loud about that.

“Shut up!” He hissed, even though he knew the thing wouldn’t listen to him. He clutched Kim Soleum’s side and pushed him forward, shoveling them toward the end of the ballroom.

The maids moved faster, their strides growing long and their eyes locking onto him. 

Run, his mind whispered, leave them both and run. He searched the room, moving from left to—he got stuck in the middle.

Doors.

Grand as the entrance was the exit.

He searched the room, moving from center to right. A short cut with brown hair and a frilly dress drew his attention. Go Youngeun-ssi! 

He hugged Kim Soleum, forcing his face into the chest of his dress so he couldn’t yell, and ran to the maid separated from the rest.

He swiped the edge of her collar, tugging her along as he panted and dragged them all through the rest of the ballroom before the maids on the other side of the room could catch up.

He heaved the doors open, no longer entranced by their magnificence, only annoyed with how heavy they were. He huffed. Guess they’d rather you enter than leave.

He chuckled coldly at the idea of being unable to open the doors, but eventually they let out a groan of complaint and opened just wide enough for all three of them.

He slipped them through with no small effort and collapsed to the floor with Kim Soleum hugged into his chest and Go Youngeun strewn to the side.

For five short seconds he allowed himself to suck in panting breaths and calm his pounding heart to a level where it felt like he wasn’t going to die. He pushed himself through the shakiness and sat up.

 He grabbed Kim Soleum next to him, attempting to wake him, but his skin, shoulders, and even his cheeks this time evaded him in their awkward position. Giving up, he opted to fist the man’s styled hair and force his eyes upward.

“Kim Soleum,” he said, meeting eyes.

Consciousness ignited inside of Kim Soleum again, and he quickly processed his situation.

Immediately he felt embarrassed as he realized Kim Soleum was still shoved into his chest, and his hand was still tangled in his hair. Baek Saheon yelped, scrambling to try to help Kim Soleum get upright. 

In his idiocy, he decided the best way to set him upright was by tugging him by his hair again.

It jerked Kim Soleum’s face upward brutally, and now he had the view of Kim Soleum looking up from his chest, his eyes wet with painful tears and a short whine escaping from his mouth. 

Baek Saheon short-circuited.

“Goat-ssi?” Kim Soleum questioned in a dangerously irked voice, and Baek Saheon jump-started back into motion in an instant.

“Yup. Yes. Let’s get you…off of me,” he blurted, scrambling backward and untangling his hand from Kim Soleum’s hair. Kim Soleum scurried back similarly. 

Fuck. He’d just danced in a ballroom with Kim Soleum. What was he doing? He slapped his face, forcing himself to focus.

Even Kim Soleum was doing a better job of refocusing, readjusting his suit and feeling his way toward Go Youngeun. 

Baek Saheon crouched beside him, his eyes lingering on Kim Soleum’s lower face while he tried surveying the damage on Go Youngeun in his periphery.

Her dress was shabbier than he remembered, probably lightly battered from the harsh landing. Her face was to the floor, hair strewn all about like a jellyfish. 

“Goral-ssi?” Baek Saheon asked.

“Goral-ssi!” Kim Soleum said, getting closer to her ears to say it.

A groan came.

Kim Soleum and Baek Saheon breathed their relief at once, waving their hands about like idiots as they tried to flip her over without breaking eye contact.

Their actions were so silly and absurd compared to their situation that they both ended up letting out choppy exhales—nearly full-on laughs—and smiling just a little.

Eventually, they pushed her onto her back, revealing her limp body in a wrinkled dress, brown hair strewn over her face. Baek Saheon reached forward to push the hair out of her face, nearly shoving his finger up her nose in the process. 

“Goral-ssi!” he said, jostling her body. He couldn’t quite make out the details of her face from his position, but he swore he saw her eyes open.

Kim Soleum breathed a sigh of relief, smiling at him. He knew the smile wasn’t for him, but he couldn’t help the tingling skittering down his skin. 

Go Youngeun slowly rose from her slump and sat perfectly straight.

He frowned.

She turned, her head swiveling mechanically as if on a cog.

“Goral-ssi?” Kim Soleum asked, his eyes flitting toward the edge of Baek Saheon’s face, barely resisting the urge to look. 

“Ah!” Her voice came, not at all like Go Youngeun’s.

They flinched.

“How lovely, we’ve finally found you two!” She tutted in an eerie, high-pitched voice. “How uncouth! You mustn't tell Queen Vanessa you’ve seen each other before the wedding! You two aren’t supposed to be together at all.”

They froze, panic rising to consume any relief they had dared to feel.

She tucked her legs beneath her, rising while her upper body stayed limp in a creepy manner, similar to that of a dead body. Her eyes focused on them, a bright blue completely different from Go Youngeun’s, flashing in the dark as she limped to them, her body still damaged from the rough landing. 

They leaped into motion, grabbing each other’s arms and running, darting left down the hallway.

“No!” Kim Soleum shouted, pointing to the beginning of a crack at their feet. 

“Shit,” He muttered, yanking him in the opposite direction and racing down the right hallway. His feet and his heart pounded as they ran, the hallway barely an impression in the side of his vision.

They stumbled and tripped, and the lost time from going the wrong direction punished them brutally, allowing the maid to compose herself and set off at an inhumane pace.

She limped and dragged her feet, yet every time he could catch a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eyes, she was gaining ground. The strides she took seemed to bend the space between them, bringing her impossibly closer.

The hand around his arm tightened, and he snapped his focus back to Kim Soleum’s blurry face. His eyes hurt from the pressure it took to try to look at something he wasn’t looking at. The pain subsided in an instant when he saw the look on Kim Soleum’s face—resignment.

“Baek Saheon.” He held his gaze. “You have to look away.”

Baek Saheon clung to him, and he realized he was shaking his head. 

“I trust you’ll get us out of here,” Kim Soleum said, and his face was too open, and it scared him.

All it took was the fear that expression struck in him to tear his gaze away.

He looked forward, the hallway coming into focus for the first time since he’d come out of the tunnel. Behind him, he could feel Kim Soleum morph into something less than human, that thing possessing him taking control and fighting his grip, clawing at it. Yet, it didn’t seem as strong as before.

Baek Saheon wondered what was going on underneath his skin. Was he fighting it? Was the thing getting tired?

He didn’t know, but his thoughts dissolved as he ran, the exhaustion corroding his body forcing him to focus on nothing other than his own breath. But as his vision narrowed and his body began to protest, he realized he didn’t know where to go.

Where is it? They had had a plan, a place to go, a hallway to turn down. But he couldn’t remember and the book with the map had gotten lost with Go Youngeun.

He paused, the crossroads coming up on him before he could bring his racing mind to a decision.

Fake Kim Soleum harnessed this opportunity shamelessly, attacking his body by clawing, biting, and scraping feebly. It slowly began to formulate a plan, too, kicking at his side while he methodically pried his fingers off of his bicep, using the slippery suit fabric to his advantage.

“Won’t you just stop?!” He shouted in frustration.

The sound echoed down the hallway, momentarily stunning the maids as each and every one of their heads swiveled his way. 

Even the one they’d mistaken for Go Youngeun stopped, an expression akin to shock dawning on her face. 

“Do not shout in the hallways.”

They all spoke at once.

“Do not run in the hallways.”

They all took a step forward, the combined sound of their single, united footstep shaking the weak castle. Baek Saheon looked up as he shoved Kim Soleum’s snapping teeth away, and he could just barely make out cracks growing on the ceiling through the darkness.

Move, his mind commanded him, natural instinct taking over as his legs propelled him mindlessly. Left versus right. He decided on the right, concluding it was more likely to lead to the destination, as it would make more sense for it to be the intended hallway for the ballroom shortcut strategy. 

Every part of his body felt numb as the air slapped against his clothes and face, the maids sprinting after him from every direction.

The only saving grace was that they didn’t approach from ahead, implying he’d picked the right hallway—not that he had the time to hope so; he could only run the final ten meters mindlessly, clutching onto the wild, thrashing creature behind him.

Another set of doors beheld him.

His mind spiraled into the same pattern of shock and awe, trying to pull him into a long trance of admiring the piece of artwork before him, but the clawing, thrashing pain from the thing clinging onto him drove off the very thought.

With only the slightest stutter in his step to show he hesitated, Baek Saheon threw open one of the massive doors and ran into the room, yanking it back into place behind him.

Immediately, he turned, grappling Kim Soleum’s body into a tight hold and meeting eyes.

With a sharp inhale, consciousness returned to the man. 

“Goat?”

He would choose to ignore the grossly casual address, considering their situation.

“We’re here,” He whispered back, pulling them into the shadows. The room was half as vast as the Ballroom, and the lack of light made it impossible to discern its contents. However, the tall window at the front illuminated a small path straight from the door to the balcony, where a black, smoky mass with red eyes waited.

Kim Soleum met his eyes, and he knew what the man wanted to ask. Yet, it was awkward, because Baek Saheon was greedy and Kim Soleum knew that.

Their original plan had been to come to this same room, where Kim Soleum had vaguely explained to Go Youngeun that he would confront Queen Vanessa to reset the castle and open the original path for escape. Baek Saheon had recognised what he meant to do: he meant to tell the Queen he hadn’t seen the bride at all and that preparation for the marriage could go on, as the inciting superstition involved the fear of the groom calling off the marriage if he saw his bride as unsuitable.

This way, everything would return to normal, and they would have to escape before the marriage through the normal route—which was by faking their deaths and changing the genre of the plot, which would therefore expel them as the victims’ bodies disappearing would be accepted as another part of the new murder mystery plotline.

The whole darkness revolved around the importance of obeying the plot, Kim Soleum explained, so changing the plot with a loud plot twist allowed their escape from the castle to be within the boundaries of the new story’s rules.

Now, Go Youngeun was gone. If they went with the plan, the castle would return to normal and they’d have too short of a time period to find her and rescue her—if she even appeared before the marriage.

Here, Kim Soleum could not act alone. This darkness required both their cooperation, and that spark in Kim Soleum’s eyes said he had something else entirely in mind now.

Baek Saheon closed his eyes, attempting to escape from the burning pressure he felt on them.

Go Youngeun had saved him, despite everything.

“You better have a good plan,” he decided to say, ignoring the slight waver in his voice.

Kim Soleum’s eyes went impossibly wide, his taut shoulders falling.

Then, he nodded curtly and briskly walked up toward the balcony with his back to the glass, maintaining gazes with Baek Saheon.

He bit his lip as he watched him go, wondering if this was the right choice.

Whatever magic had allowed Kim Soleum to make it through the rumors he’d heard, he hoped would be at work today. 

Kim Soleum walked slowly but confidently, pressing into the handle after a subtle fumble to find it, then swinging the door open and striding back a couple of steps. 

The black smoke flickered, showing some alien form of surprise. Kim Soleum smoothly moved to lean on the edge of the balcony, aligning Baek Saheon’s position near Queen Vanessa, so he could appear to look at her whilst looking at him.

Baek Saheon came closer himself, ensuring their eye contact wouldn’t be compromised by the distance.

Their eyes stayed locked, even as he saw Kim Soleum’s lips moving, speaking easily as if the queen wasn’t an otherworldly entity. 

He really should have focused, because in hindsight a lot of things could’ve easily gone wrong, but as Kim Soleum stood in the striking light of the high blue moon, his mind wandered.

Wandered to absorb the features of Kim Soleum’s face, which he was allowed to drink in without abandon here in these strange circumstances.

His black hair swirled in the night air, gently brushing over his face and consistently getting caught in his long, black eyelashes.

His eyes had begun to reach dangerous territory, sloping down from the curve of his nose and touching his Cupid’s bow, before—

The castle shook, throwing off his balance and nearly sending him face-first into the floor. 

The entire ground rumbled and the ceiling rained down dust, releasing a massive groan before the entire place turned back on.

Light showered down from above, retired chandeliers gleaming with newborn light. Baek Saheon nearly looked away, but he tentatively kept his eyes on Kim Soleum’s face.

Even Kim Soleum struggled, his eyes going wide as Baek Saheon saw him nearly get punted off the balcony by all the movement. 

“Lovely!” A massive voice boomed, still shockingly loud even through the thick glass doors.

Baek Saheon stumbled, covering his ears. A second later, the voice continued, no longer as loud. All he could tell was that whatever she asked, it was a question, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was.

Kim Soleum winced, and he saw the man barely compose himself enough to bow. However, instead of stopping and excusing himself with something like needing to prepare himself, Baek Saheon read exactly what he said off his lips.

“I’m ready to start early. Let the wedding festivities begin.”

Baek Saheon sucked in a sharp breath and braced himself.

Only, there was no shaking, no rumbling, or anything of the sort. Instead, like an old school transition scene, his vision was overtaken by a shimmer similar to that of hot air. It wavered and grew stronger, until Baek Saheon felt bile bubbling in his throat and he started stumbling again.

The surroundings warped under the shimmer, transforming into a lovely spring scene, complete with young trees in bloom and white ornate chairs.

Kim Soleum appeared in front of him, holding his hands clasped in front of him, but within an instant he was torn from Baek Saheon as large glass panes slammed over the spring scenery.

He was no longer amongst the fauna but dozens of meters away in a room of the castle he’d never seen. It was bathed in darkness, only the soft, pink dawn light and the gentle humming coming from behind him filling the dead space.

He could feel a massive fabric itching and weighing on his body—no doubt his wedding dress. It was unblemished from any of their escape events, and in a similar fashion, a completely restored eyepatch was on his head.

One by one, candles arranged around the room were lit, illuminating the space and the person behind him.

He turned hesitantly.

“Goral-ssi?”

“Hm?” The woman looked up, revealing a face that unmistakably belonged to their third member, but it only yielded confusion.

“Goral-ssi!” He repeated, spinning around to grab her. Her hands released Baek Saheon’s dress and she yelped in surprise.

“Oh my! Miss, what are you…”

“Goral-ssi, snap out of it,” he said, sifting through the pockets of her dress.

“Oh my goodness, Miss, what are you doing…?” She asked with a blush.

“I’m not a Miss, and I’m not doing anything inappropriate!" He sputtered, rifling through her pockets.

The first ones were empty except for a flimsy veil, but she had a second pair wrapped around her waist for carrying any maidly things, and he dug into those as well.

“Miss, I thought you had rejected our potential female consort…is there something you need to tell me?”

Baek Saheon ignored what Go Youngeun was insinuating with a furious blush, digging into her pockets until he felt something firm and smooth. He promptly shoved both hands into that pocket, fishing out his prize.

“This!” He exclaimed, waving the notebook in her face.

He quickly flipped to the page that held her illustration of the castle, thrusting it into her face. “You made this so we could escape the castle. Everything got ruined, remember?”

Her face remained blank, her mouth slowly opening to ask him if he was okay again. 

Baek Saheon interrupted her, flipping to the page with scribbled notes of her vague plan made up of questions. “Look at this! This was your old ‘plan’, before you pulled me out of the hallway. Then these notes were from the new plan. We were going to have Roe Deer-ssi tell Queen Vanessa he accepted the marriage…”

He swallowed, seeing eyes still fogged over.

“...actually, the real plan was that Roe Deer-ssi was going to tell the Queen he hadn’t actually seen me. To be honest, the real reason the whole castle went mad was because I’d been snoo—surveying the dangers, and I accidentally opened the Groom’s quarters. When he saw me…well, the Queen thought I’d broken this stupid old myth of arranged marriages that brides weren’t supposed to be seen by their—”

“It was you?!” Go Youngeun yelled, her face a mix of shock and bewilderment. 

“Ahaha, great, you’re back…” Baek Saheon said sheepishly, backing away from her.

Go Youngeun folded her arms and gave him a disappointed look. “You seriously didn’t tell us this was all your fault in the first place?” 

Baek Saheon snorted. “Why would I? Besides, I think Kim Soleum figured it out anyway.” 

“Where is he?” She asked, realization dawning on her face as she spun around, looking for him. “Where are we? I thought you said you carried out the plan, so why is it dark? How did you save me?”

Her gaze turned suspicious. “Why did you save me?”

“Well, about that…” he began, quickly explaining how they’d gotten here. 

“...I’m not sure where we are now, though. As soon as Kim Soleum told her he was ready to be wed early, we were simply placed here, and Kim Soleum was sent out there to wait,” he said, pointing out the large windows where the trees and fancy seating could be glimpsed. 

The green foliage and white benches were only blurry figures, though, all obscured by the frosted glass panes. Baek Saheon looked away, turning to examine the ominous candles arranged around him. 

“I suppose that once the victims come this far, they don’t bother with subtlety,” he muttered under his breath. 

“If you’re here and Roe Deer-ssi is out there, isn’t he possessed by that thing?” Go Youngeun asked. 

Baek Saheon didn’t respond, just stared at her with his eyes slowly widening in realization. Go Youngeun grabbed him and immediately began dragging him to the doors, dimly lit on the other side of the room. 

“Wait!” He shouted, yanking her back. “I…” 

“What?” Go Youngeun asked in panicked confusion. 

“It’s not an emergency,” he clarified, “but I, uh, I think I need my veil.” 

They stared at each other for a moment, Go Youngeun’s blank face illuminated in the low light and Baek Saheon's own pinched in a state of wincing.

Out of nowhere, she burst into laughter, giggling and snorting. Tears were streaking down her face as she did so, and it was clear she was reaching her limit in this darkness. He couldn’t blame her because under the surface he was, too.

She pulled the veil out of her pocket like a magic trick, waving it in the air before she carefully arranged it to sit over Baek Saheon’s head.

In their current circumstance, Baek Saheon couldn’t even feel embarrassed wearing a bride’s veil on his head.

His mind was elsewhere, picturing the monstrosity doing heaven knows what with Kim Soleum’s body. Soft words from Go Youngeun as she finished arranging the veil broke him out of his thoughts.

“I don’t know if you had ulterior motives…but even if that is the case, thank you for at least not stopping Kim Soleum from saving me,” she said sincerely, her voice reeking of sappy sincerity that nearly made him cringe.

He felt a prick of annoyance at how she naturally assumed saving her was all Kim Soleum and he was some sort of obstacle, but he pushed it away in favor of focusing on where they needed to go next.

 He muttered an absent “your welcome,” taking Go Youngeun’s hand in his and striding toward the end of the room with her.

She sputtered but didn’t protest further, moving quickly along with him. She even had time to catch up, because Baek Saheon was quickly getting fed up with these tiny wedding shoes he was in.

Another pair of doors lay before them at the end of the room, though this time they shocked them both by opening for them. 

Baek Saheon shuddered and he felt Go Youngeun’s hand squeeze his, but they paid it no mind and walked through to the hallway.

No longer did the haunting lack of light and striking blue moonlight make up the castle halls—now, it was cheerfully lit and displaying bright, unadalted colors.

“Ah! Our lovely bride, there she is! Please, come this way,” a maid called out, waving them over. Her skin was porcelain and clear, with a flesh-like appearance but no shadow where shadows should be. 

Baek Saheon suppressed a shiver and walked down the hallway to her with Go Youngeun, sending glances around the now well-lit hallway.

The castle felt much different in the bright light, the lamps and arcs no longer so tall and intimidating. It felt…in crude terms, like a pastel castle of unicorns and rainbows.

In that sense, he supposed, it was pretty scary. Perhaps this seemingly innocent form was meant to trick them and make them lower their guard.

He clutched Go Youngeun’s arm, looking at her seriously. “Don’t look at the castle too much…it might infect us.”

Go Youngeun just gave him a sideways look, mildly amused.

Baek Saheon frowned. Clearly, she wasn’t taking this seriously enough. He shook his head, choosing to pick up their pace in order to get his foolish colleague and himself out of this horror palace faster.

“Oh my you’re so eager, your highness! Can’t wait to see your Groom?”

Baek Saheon nodded his head absently, to which the maid excitedly clapped her hands.

“Oh that’s wonderful! However, I’m so sorry, but I really can’t take you all the way. You’ll have to walk through those doors yourself—but your maid of honor can take you, of course.”

They both looked up to see the doors that the maid was referring to, and Baek Saheon barely contained the urge to sprint to white wood and burst through.

Instead, under the maid’s watchful eye, he offered his hand to Go Youngeun and they both gracefully passed through the white doors.

A warm breeze slapped against their faces.

Birds tweeted and cicadas screamed around them as if announcing their arrival. Baek Saheon immediately shielded his eyes to the sight of it all, as the scenery was a garish neon green of far too many plants being bathed in a glaring sun.

The white decor didn’t help, every white bench reflecting another sunray and ticking the UV Index up to its limit.

Strange, well-dressed people were sitting in each row of benches, sitting inhumanly still and not making a sound.

Beside him, Go Youngeun flinched with the sheer brightness of it all, and it took her nearly half a minute to recover enough that she could bring him down the aisle.

A comparatively drab white tarp served as a walkway over the grass, as if the darkness had run out of budget. One singular little creepy child walked down it, sprinkling petals as red as blood.

Baek Saheon chose to explore the bench setup out of the corner of his eyes, seeing the people’s faces were actually blank slates whenever he passed them. Standing out from the crowd of blurry figures, however, was one familiar shadowy mass.

The Queen was here. He shuddered, focusing his gaze forward where the final other human in this darkness awaited him.

When he saw Kim Soleum, the familiar cold face did not await him, but instead the man greeted him with a wide, overjoyed grin.

The only thing keeping this overeager creature from jumping Baek Saheon right then and there was the effect the Groom’s tie had on him.

It was easily the freakiest thing about the whole wedding with how utterly out of place the ecstasy looked on him. He felt disgusted at seeing it, repulsed at how disturbing and creepy the darkness overtaking Kim Soleum was. 

After he thought it, he felt a sense of nostalgia remembering how, in the beginning, he hadn’t viewed the true Kim Soleum as more than a darkness. The two felt like two sides of the same coin: dangerous, chilling, and supernatural. Kim Soleum hadn’t felt human, safe to say.

However, now when he saw the fake grin plastered over the real man’s face, he felt a small sense of compassion to bring the real one back. 

The fake Kim Soleum waved and cheered his name in a high-pitched, embarrassing voice.

Maybe he felt a strong sense of compassion to bring the real one back.

He strode up the aisle with renewed vigor, humiliated by the stupid cat-call from his “husband.” At least if he told Kim Soleum afterward, he might finally be the one holding something over the other’s head.

Go Youngeun split off from his side as they reached the extravagant wedding arbor, dutifully taking her place as his maid of honor—though not without sending Baek Saheon a final nervous glance.

He took the final step up onto the white wooden platform, at which point the classic wedding tune began blaring at an obnoxious volume, signaling the start of the ceremony.

Applause arose from the silent audience, accompanied by fake little personal cheers like “she’s a keeper!” and “kiss her good!” as if the darkness were trying to put some comedic modern twist on this.

Baek Saheon ignored them, sliding his eyepatch to the side and walking up to the spot in front of Kim Soleum, at which point the Bride and the Groom naturally met gazes, one intent and the other ecstatic. 

The ecstasy melted from Kim Soleum’s face in an instant, and his true demeanor was restored to its horrified, appalled state. His eyes darted around the edges of Baek Saheon’s face, desperately trying to determine where they were.

“The wedding,” Baek Saheon whispered, and Kim Soleum straightened and cleared his face of his panicked expression instantly.

It was curious, realizing that a lot of what Baek Saheon had viewed as the unflappable psychopath seemed to just be a facade.

Kim Soleum’s eyes clouded over, and for a moment Baek Saheon was concerned something had gone wrong and the possession was occurring once more, but the man’s mouth slipped open—

[What a lovely day to be holding such a joyous occasion!]

KIM SOLEUM

What in the ever-loving dokkaebi flame was Braun doing here?

Kim Soleum had initially entered the darkness with the Good Friend in his pocket, yes. The moment had occurred when all of them had been off work—in some freak coincidence, they’d all been riding the same train car.

Well, him and Go Youngeun riding together had not been a coincidence. They both happened to share that they were going to the same place to run an errand, and their small talk on the subject had been amiable enough that they decided to take the train together.

While Kim Soleum did not know what part of them talking on the train made Baek Saheon suspicious of him, he knew that after all three of them had taken the same train, Baek Saheon had tailed them and fell into the same darkness.

It was after work before he’d changed, so he’d still had the pink bunny plush in his pocket.

Yet, when they spawned in and eventually gathered their bearings, Kim Soleum had noticed that the bunny was nowhere to be found.

He hadn’t shown up at any point during their escape attempt, so he’d simply assumed the darkness hadn’t allowed him in.

A similar thing had occurred before, so he could only hope Braun wouldn’t be too mad when they came back out.

Occupied by other life-threatening things, he’d quickly stopped thinking about Braun entirely.

Yet here he had appeared, in all his TV-head glory. The big black thing was quite easy to see through his peripheral vision, and he did his best attempt at a glare.

Braun seemed to notice his attention, turning to him and displaying that innocent little smiley face on his screen.

[Long time no see, friend! I want to express my utmost regret that I could not join you much earlier. As soon as I entered, ◼️◼️◼️◼️ whisked me away and nearly tried to kill me!] Braun shook his head.

[Preposterous, I know. Thankfully they quickly realized my superiority and after that, they were kind enough to bestow me with such an exciting little cameo! Naturally, I agreed.]

Kim Soleum’s eyes were wide, hanging just off the edge of Baek Saheon’s ear as he struggled not to gawk at Braun.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and attempted to seize advantage of his presence.

“Braun, we’ve accidentally gotten trapped in this darkness, and if the ceremony goes through—”

Braun shook his large TV head gently. [I’m quite sorry, Mr. Roe Deer, but I got all too excited at the prospect, and I’ve already agreed to the part and its limitations.]

Kim Soleum gritted his teeth, meeting Baek Saheon’s eyes. “We’re on our own,” he mumbled, slightly just to say something spiteful in front of Braun. 

Baek Saheon just stared back at him with an utterly bewildered, slightly appalled look, as if saying “was a darkness ever supposed to be on our side?” 

Kim Soleum was sure this wasn’t gaining him any trust points. 

He didn’t express this, however, simply whispering: “You better have a good plan.”

Kim Soleum swallowed. He had a plan, but after immediately being possessed he hadn’t been in the state of mind to formulate it past an inkling.

In the corner of his vision, he could see the black shadowy mass of the Queen. He whispered to Baek Saheon: “When I tell you to bite me on the neck, do it.”

Baek Saheon’s face puffed up like a pufferfish, his eyes bulging comically, but before he had time to whisper anything back, Braun began.

[Dearly beloved friends, today we are gathered here under the sight of ◼️◼️◼️◼️, in order to hold the lovely joining of our Bride and Goo—Groom. I, legendary TV Host Braun will be the officiate, and I will also be the appointed witness of the wedding consummation—]

“What?” Kim Soleum hissed.

“What’s that?” Baek Saheon mouthed.

Kim Soleum blushed. “You don’t want to—”

[Ahem. I will continue.] Braun brought his hand up in a fake cough.

[Our lovely couple here is more than just a joining of hearts and bodies, it's a joining of kingdoms. It symbolizes a future of prosperity and health, where both kingdoms can finally be in harmony after years of dissonance. This being said, it is time I ask the long-awaited question: Groom, do you take this lovely Bride to be your lawfully wedded wife?]

Kim Soleum took in a deep breath and prepared himself. “I do.”

Braun’s smiley face flickered, briefly showing two closed, crescent eyes before returning. [Wonderful! Now, Bride, do you take the Groom to be your lawfully wedded husband?]

Baek Saheon gave him an alarmed look.

He nodded subtly at him, motioning for  him to get on with it.

His nerves were starting to act up, and if Baek Saheon didn’t just say yes already, he was going to implode before they even managed to escape.

“I do.”

[Now the last, and arguably the most important step, you may now kiss the bride!] Braun waved his hands dramatically, and the audience watched on with buzzing anticipation.

Kim Soleum opened his mouth and proclaimed very loudly, “I want to be able to see my Bride’s full face as we seal our marriage, and this eyepatch is only shielding your full beauty from me.”

He could feel his inner self cringing intensely, and Baek Saheon greatly reflected his humiliation on his bewildered face.

He raised his hand as confidently as he could, watching Baek Saheon stare at him with increasing shock, and then he pried the eyepatch so that now, instead of just poking out enough to see Kim Soleum, the whole eye was on display to the world.

A black eye with a single ring of bright purple iris was revealed to the crowd as Kim Soleum discreetly turned the man’s body toward the audience.

Then, he screamed at the top of his lungs: “MY BRIDE IS A ZOMBIE!” 

And quieter, while clutching Baek Saheon’s shoulders tightly: “Bite me now.”

Baek Saheon had one millisecond to fight with Kim Soleum, scrunching his face up in a confused, dismayed expression, before Kim Soleum was gripping him by the shoulders and shoving him into the left side of his neck, mouth-first.

He felt the cool ridges of his teeth sink in, sending an odd zing down his body as the sharp feeling turned into pain, and he felt a warm liquid well up and slide down his skin.

He ripped Baek Saheon off him before he could think about the feeling it was giving him and tilted toward the crowd, letting them gasp, scream, and panic at the sight of the bite. 

“Now look away,” he said, and he spun Baek Saheon’s body forward to turn that frightening black and purple eye to the crowd.

BAEK SAHEON

Whenever he thought he understood Kim Soleum, the man always managed to prove him wrong.

When he’d said: “You better have a good plan,” he’d hoped the plan would be coherent, understandable, and that he’d get the gist of it as soon as it started.

He did not.

And what the hell was up with the biting?

He’d sort of thought it wouldn’t actually happen when Kim Soleum said to bite him when he said so, but then he’d said so, grabbed him by the shoulder, and launched him straight into his neck.

He’d dutifully done so, perhaps releasing a bit of past anger in the process. Yet, despite telling himself this was his moment to make up for all those times Kim Soleum had harassed him, he felt like a savage digging his teeth into the vulnerable, pale skin of his neighbor/tormentor/colleague.

And then the soft, smooth feeling of his skin against his tongue, leaving a bloody imprint of his teeth on his neck and releasing to see Kim Soleum’s lips parted and his expression—

“Now look away.”

Then his gaze had been forced away from Kim Soleum.

He immediately looked back, ignoring the screams and jumping of the crowd. He expected Kim Soleum to be clinging to him, trying to get their marriage-sealing kiss, but Kim Soleum wasn’t looking in his direction, but instead jumping straight at Go Youngeun, the closest person, and carving a bite mark into her neck.

Before she could even react he dove into the crowd, chasing after the crowd of onlookers. They spread like a ripple from a pebble tossed into water, people scrambling in every direction to escape, all while screaming about it being a zombie. 

[Oh my! What a plottwist! Now it seems Mr. Roe Deer has changed the plot to a classic “Zombie Apocalypse.”]

As if acknowledging the words spoken, the whole venue transformed from sunlit to moonlit, bathed in a cool light much more befitting of the new plot.

Baek Saheon looked over his shoulder at the amused voice, expecting to see the strange TV entity, but when he turned the darkness was nowhere to be found. Baek Saheon mulled over his final words, staring at the empty spot.

Kim Soleum said the only way to escape was to change the plot so they were no longer relevant. He whipped his head to Go Youngeun, who wasn’t acting like a zombie at all, only touching her neck in confusion.

“Goral-ssi! It’s an escape plan!” He shouted, his face nearly bursting into a smile at his own realization.

Go Youngeun looked up at him in confusion.

“He’s making us unimportant to the new plot! We have to grab him and get out of here as soon as he’s bitten enough people for the genre to be properly changed.”

Grabbing ahold of her hand, he dragged them into the crowd of chaos to blend in.

The only issue was, while they remained unaffected and Kim Soleum only acted like a zombie, the other people who got bitten quickly turned into grey-green monsters with drooling mouths. They swarmed in annoying circle patterns, looping and doubling back because they didn’t have anywhere to go.

He kicked a nearby one away, only for another to replace it two seconds later. Frustration boiled in his gut. At this point, they’d reach Kim Soleum way too late.

Fortunately, once she processed what was happening, Go Youngeun joined in with great accuracy, making the path much faster and closing the distance.

However, fake Kim Soleum was more effective at infecting people than they thought he would be, and as he managed to bite more people, they too contributed to the growth, until both their power became too little to fight the zombies.

Rotten hands tore at them, shredding through the bottom of their dresses and ripping the veil right off Baek Saheon’s head—contrastingly, one zombie tried to nick his eye and ended up flipping his eyepatch back over his eye.

Surprisingly, the upper part of his dress stayed intact, which just felt like the story was trying to spite him. But with more and more zombies piling up, it likely wouldn’t stay that way for long, as they’d already stopped gaining ground.

At that exact moment, the story decided to establish its new protagonist. 

The shadowy mass that was the Queen stood up on a chair on the other side of the venue, raising a sword it’d gotten from who knows where. 

“◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️body◼️uard!”

From the crowd of remaining uninfected faceless people emerged a strong jawline and a hefty set of armor, accompanied by a stoic face, black hair, and scars telling of a complex backstory.

“I shall save the kingdom!”

Baek Saheon silently fist-pumped, turning and running with Go Youngeun as soon as the zombies began to reallocate their efforts.

They weaved through the distracted group, tracking down Kim Soleum before he could run off with the rest. Even after they cornered him, he refused to even look Baek Saheon’s way, training his eyes on the new protagonist instead.

Go Youngeun waved furiously for him to hurry and find a way, so with great reluctance Baek Saheon crouched and held out his arms. In this humiliating position, he ran forward and scooped Kim Soleum up into a bridal carry before he could even protest. 

[How romantic!]

Baek Saheon swore he heard a familiar voice, but when he darted his gaze around, he couldn’t see it at all. Frowning, he ran with Kim Soleum back to Go Youngeun, who had cleared a small path to stand outside of all the chaos.

Here, he could finally force the real Kim Soleum to return.

“Roe Deer-ssi!” Baek Saheon shouted, peeling back his eyepatch and making their eyes lock.

“Goat-ssi? Goral-ssi?” Kim Soleum’s eyes nearly darted away, then he appeared to remember. “Did it work?”

Baek Saheon’s expression was dry. “Your absurd plan you didn’t bother to explain?”

He had the decency to wince.

“Yes, it did,” he sighed.

Kim Soleum’s gaze wandered to his mouth, and he frowned.

“Is something wrong?”

“N-no,” Kim Soleum stuttered with a pink face, his hand twitched upward and brushing his wounded neck. “You just still have some of my…it's on your…”

He mumbled it so strangely quietly, Baek Saheon couldn’t make it out.

“What?”

“Nevermind. Just let me go.”

Before it could descend into awkward silence, Go Youngeun cut in. 

“How do we escape?” She said, nervously eyeing the zombie battle going on a couple meters away from them.

The crowd still raged on, further away from them now as they formed a mountain around the bodyguard protecting the Queen. None of them wanted to stick around and find out who won.

Kim Soleum dusted off his suit and straightened. “All we have to do is get to the border, then we can simply part the border and step through.”

Something in his voice said it was a slightly crude simplification, but they didn’t have time for a clearer explanation.

“Step through?”

He shook his head. “You’ll see. It’s better we go, before anything can re-focus the attention back onto us.”

She bit her lip but didn’t ask any more questions. Baek Saheon kept his mouth similarly shut. Against all odds, he found he really did trust Kim Soleum when it came to these situations.

They ran away from the edge of the arrangement of benches, led clumsily by Kim Soleum—who was still trying to lock eyes with Baek Saehon as they ran—to go around the wedding arbor into the back. Past the structure of immaculate white wood was an overgrown, rotten back, where the white had long been stained a sappy yellow.

It was unsurprising, seeing a rotten backbone to this darkness’s fanciful affair. Past the wood there lay a wall of greenery—at least, on the surface.

Kim Soleum stopped. “We have to tear through here, the border is on the other side.”

Go Youngeun eyed the thick wall of green. 

Kim Soleum paid her no mind, offering a hand to Baek Saheon. 

His eyes strained to look at the greenery, wincing as he thought of those gnarly branches against his skin. 

“What, you want to go back to the zombies?” Kim Soleum asked sarcastically, a dry smile on his face.

Baek Saheon shook his head vigorously, taking Kim Soleum’s hand and aligning them both so that they stood facing their right shoulder to the green, arms stretched out to pick a way through the mass of brown.

While he hesitated, Kim Soleum began, swiping his arm through it and peeling back a thin layer of the plants. Already there were white scratch lines welling with drops of blood.

Baek Saheon forced himself to follow, raking through spiny branches and bundles of thorns that scraped brutally against his skin.

The deeper they went, the more the green consumed his vision. The only thing that anchored him through the thick wall of sharp brown and green was the blip of black from Kim Soleum’s eyes next to him.

They dug after desperately for what felt like half an hour, the occasional sound of Go Youngeun grunting behind them the only proof that they were all still together. In reality, the whole debacle was probably close to five minutes long. 

As the sounds of cracking, rustling and ripping became softer, the light began to shine through and before long, he could see Kim Soleum clearly beside him, helping wrangle Go Youngeun out of a tangle with his other arm.

They all stood covered in burs and thorns and blood, but all the same, they were alive.

Where they stood, the area was a pure white, nothing like the expansive, detailed scenery of the rest of the darkness. It was impossible to describe, with no clear floor, wall, or ceiling, and seemingly no beginning or end.

Kim Soleum turned, reaching a hand out into the white.

Go Youngeun and him watched with bated breath, and they were not disappointed, seeing the 3D reality around them bend as

Kim Soleum pushed it apart like a curtain. Despite it appearing to go on forever, it had only taken the slightest pressure for the end of the darkness to part before them.

Kim Soleum briefly explained, “Think of it like the black curtains in a stage’s wings, leading from the fake world into the backstage. Our backstage should be the real world, in front of the alleyway where we fell inside.”

Then he waved toward the opening, gesturing for Go Youngeun to go through first.

With a sharp inhale, she stepped through and disappeared. Baek Saheon withheld a gasp, but he could feel his mind spiraling trying to comprehend how it worked. With a stern look from Kim Soleum that said he’d go mad if he tried, he banished that train of thought.

After a breath of final, lingering caution, Kim Soleum and Baek Saheon stepped through the opening.

Around them, the world fell apart.

-

When he next opened his eyes, it was as if time had been rewound. He was a couple of steps behind Go Youngeun and Kim Soleum, staring at their backs just as he’d been when he’d followed them into the darkness.

In hindsight, it was clear their mild discussion of darknesses in the train hadn’t been them plotting to enter a darkness with rare and useful items, and he shouldn’t have ever followed them in the first place.

He probably needed to apologize to them for that.

The two turned to him, until all three were staring at each other in awkward silence.

Go Youngeun chuckled darkly. “Too bad we didn’t get any essence from that, huh?”

Baek Saheon felt a pang and nodded solemnly. Kim Soleum awkwardly laughed with her. 

Silence ensued.

A cough.

“I guess,” Kim Soleum began. “We just go back home now.”

-

Despite the awkward nature of the statement, Kim Soleum wasn’t wrong at all. Once Baek Saheon had gotten home—where unfortunately, he still couldn’t escape Kim Soleum because they were neighbors—he’d felt all the adrenaline drain out of him, leaving him limp and exhausted as a sack of potatoes.

After a half-assed shower and rubbing toothpaste over his teeth, Baek Saheon had thrown on a fresh pair of pajamas and collapsed on his bed. Never had the cheap mattress and sheets felt so silky, and he slept like a baby.

Yet, once he’d entered the sleep realm, he sunk deep enough to drop into the dream one. 

Images inspired from the day’s events floated by. First, his body shivered and shook, tormented by images of a shadowy figure with piercing red eyes, then he was overcome with the image of the terrible wedding dress he’d been shoved into. That had been even more horrifying, his body jolting in his sleep in protest.

He settled as the vision changed, taking on a completely different tone.

Hands curled around his shoulders—no, his mind changed it. Now, he was grabbing someone else’s shoulder. The other one too, squeezing firmly around both of the thin, but broad shoulders.

He yanked them forward, pushing them against his chest and craning his head down. His fingers traveled, crawling up the fabric, touching soft skin, then gripping black hair in two fistfuls as he opened his mouth around the neck.

He felt the muscle memory cave in, the memory changing from familiar to strange. He was no longer biting into that cool skin, but pressing his hot tongue against it.

His lips followed leisurely, enjoying the jolts of sensation sent down his spine as he climbed the neck in languid motions, forcing him by the hair to tilt his head to the side so he could lick up the side, nipping his earlobe.

The motion sent a sensual shiver down the man, and a breath was forcefully expelled from his wet lips, moaning—

“Baek Saheon-ah…”

-

Baek Saheon woke up, eyes wide in the pitch black and cold sweat rolling down his neck. His heart beat at a thousand miles per minute and his body shook like it was in life-threatening danger.

He stared into the black bedroom, raising shaky hands to cradle his damp face.

He sucked in a quivering breath. Between his fingers, he admitted:

“I’m so fucked.”