Chapter Text
Yeonjun had been dancing for hours. After Taehyun and Beomgyu showed him the dance hall, he immediately sent them away so he could have some time to himself.
As expected the instruments weren't so familiar with the hiphop and pop songs that he was used to dancing to, but they played the songs he hummed nicely enough that he couldn't actually complain.
The music was beautiful and in a way, Yeonjun kind of preferred it to what he was used to. It made him feel some type of way, like he was the princess in a fairytale. Which couldn't be further from the truth, afterall he was essentially trapped in this place by a curse and he was no prince.
He was just about to turn and try one of the complicated dance moves he'd seen his dance partner do to a song called Lie when he noticed he wasn't alone.
Right in front of the door was Soobin staring at him slack jawed. It was a comical sight, the big bad beast going dumb because of a little dancing. It made Yeonjun's chest puff up a little.
"Like what you see?" He teased, laughing when Soobin rights his expression and pretends he wasn't just basically drooling over Yeonjun a minute ago.
He clears his throat and walks towards Yeonjun. Normally, Yeonjun would be bracing himself for a fight but right now he was still feeling the euphoric high only dancing could give him. Also he promised Beomgyu he would be nicer.
"Do you dance?" He smiled at the taller man, giggling when he trips on his own feet in surprise.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm asking if you dance."
"A little. I had to learn how to do some dances as a kid." He's finally close enough for Yeonjun to actually touch him.
"Do you want to dance with me?" He asks calmly and Soobin's eyes widen in shock.
"Why?" He sounded suspicious, it was extremely out of character for Yeonjun to invite him to do something together. The fact that they have been in the same room for a few minutes without biting each other's head off was an accomplishment itself.
Yeonjun shrugged. "It's fun dancing with people. Besides, I want to see just how terrible you are so I can beat you." He smirked.
Soobin growled lowly but it was obvious in his eyes that this time it was playful. He moved closer and looked Yeonjun directly in the eyes.
"It's on."
×+×
Soobin was clearly no match for Yeonjun after a few rounds and he squawked in indignation when he learnt Yeonjun was a dance teacher.
"That's so unfair, why would you challenge a novice?" He whined like a small child.
"It's not my fault you're easily baited." Yeonjun cackled as Soobin shot out a hand to swipe at him from where he laid on the floor, exhausted from dancing. "If you want I could teach you a few moves."
Soobin thought of it for a while then nodded.
And so it began.
Over the next couple of days, Yeonjun and Soobin danced together until dinner time and talked well into the night after having their meal together.
Yeonjun enjoyed every second of it and sometimes caught himself smiling or laughing a little bit too hard at Soobin's words and mannerisms.
He had to pause to reevaluate his feelings. There was no way he was starting to like Soobin. It had only been a few days since they got closer, not to mention he wasn't exactly human. Even if he was cursed. But still, whenever the beast shot him those puppy dog eyes…
Yeonjun stopped that train of thought and said to himself, " Am I… a furry?"
Before he could dig himself into an even deeper hole in his thoughts, the person that had been plaguing his mind showed up. He looked sad and that simply wouldn't do. Yeonjun was quick to speak up.
"What's wrong?" It was still early, what could have upset Soobin so badly, he let it show on his face? The others said he was usually hiding things so why was it so bad, he actually showed it today?
"It's nothing, just… tired." He was lying. Yeonjun knew he was lying. He figured it must be about the curse, he wondered just how much time they had left.
"Is there anything I can do? To cheer you up?" He said, reaching out to touch him. Soobin sighed and leaned in just a little bit closer.
"Well, there is one thing.
×+×
"You want a fancy suit just so you can dance with Soobin." Beomgyu deadpanned.
"He seemed sad so I asked what I could do to cheer him up and he said he missed dressing up for parties. So I thought we could dress up to dance today."
Beomgyu eyed him for a while then sighed sadly.
"Okay, I'll find you something. He deserves this anyway, you both do."
Yeonjun wasn't really sure what he meant by that.
"My, you're a slow one, aren't you?" Beomgyu tsked at his confused expression and hopped to the dresser. He knocked on it, rousing the massive thing and Yeonjun watched in horror as the thing yawned and creaked, somehow looking miffed at being woken up despite not having an actual face.
The dresser was alive! This was where he slept and dressed up everyday, had it been asleep the entire time or was it creepily watching him? He shivered at the thought.
"Sorry to disturb your sleep but we need to find clothes for this one, Soobin wants to have a formal dance with him." He turned to Yeonjun. "You do know it's formal wear right?"
"Yes…" He drew out, understanding that he wasn't about to get club jeans given to him for a dance at a castle where inanimate objects could speak and give attitude.
"Very well." Armoire boomed. Fuck it was loud. "Stand in front of me, boy." He eyed her with skepticism but obeyed and got off the bed to stand in front of it.
He wondered if he was supposed to start going through the clothes when suddenly pieces of clothing starting flying out of her, momentarily blinding him and causing him to scream.
"Oh stop being a baby, it's part of the process." Beomgyu yelled over the noise. Yeonjun ignored him and continued screaming until the last spare piece of clothing fell to the floor.
"It's done." Armoire said, then shut her doors loudly making Yeonjun jump back in fright. Yeah he was never getting dressed by this creepy wardrobe again.
"You could have warned me before hand, you asshole-" He trailed off when he turned and came face to face with the mirror, seeing the work the wardrobe had done on him. He takes it back, he was so going to let her style him another time. He looked amazing.
"Wow, how did she even make my hair look good?" His hair had been laying flat on his head since he got here, now it was styled and combed. If he ever left this place, he was taking the wardrobe no matter what.
"Magic. Come on let's go. Soobin must be waiting for you."
Beomgyu led him back to the dance hall, stared at him for a while and gave him a small smile before hopping away, confusing Yeonjun even more.
Was their time ending already?
He felt his heart sink at the thought. No. They were going to find a way to fix it.
He went into the dancehall and was surprised to see the ceiling had changed. Instead of the opulent style that was there before, it had a very realistic picture of the sky, the sun in the corner shining beautifully.
There in the middle of the room, Soobin stood in his own formal wear. Even in the body of a beast, there was something about Soobin that radiated royalty. He looked every bit of the prince that he was, minus the fur and scary teeth of course.
"Hyung." He had taken to calling him that when he learnt that Yeonjun was older. "You look stunning." He reached out his hand.
Yeonjun smiled. "You too. You're not so bad for such a scary looking person." He teased, taking Soobin's outstretched hand.
The taller man rolled his eyes. "Do I really look like a man-eating carnivore?" Ah so he heard one of Yeonjun's comments when he was bitching about his attitude the first week he arrived.
Yeonjun eyed his huge teeth and gnarly horns. "Honestly you do look like you eat people." He jumps back when Soobin snaps his teeth at him playfully. "It's the truth!" He laughed, enjoying the disgruntled look on the Beast's face.
"Shall we dance?" Soobin said as the band started to play. Yeonjun nodded and stepped even closer.
"Of course."
Together they danced for hours, forgetting all their worries and just focusing on the moment. Yeonjun knew he felt something, he just didn't know what it was.
"Hyung?" Came Soobin's unsure voice.
"Hmm?" Yeonjun answered with his eyes closed, still in a world of his own.
"I know we got off on the wrong foot when you got here but is there a chance you like me now?" He rushed out, still moving along with Yeonjun.
Yeonjun opened his eyes in surprise. "Of course I like you now, why would I dance with you if still hated your guts?"
"Hyung, that's not what I'm trying to ask. I want to know if you feel-"
"Soobin! We're under attack! We need you to go now." Beomgyu rushed in, interrupting their moment. Soobin cursed under his breath and followed Beomgyu, leaving Yeonjun standing there still wondering what Soobin wanted to say. He ran outside to the balcony and was surprised to see his sisters at the forefront of a bunch of policemen and neighbours. He even saw some of his co workers from the studio.
Yeji yelled when she saw him at the top. "Yeonjun!" Every other person turned to him and started moving in to the castle to reach him.
He had to do something, he could see them destabilising the peace of the castle in their haste to get to him. A policeman that he had the misfortune of knowing before getting to this place was the first to find him.
"Yeonjun. There you are, everyone has been so worried." He said, taking a step forward even though Yeonjun clearly didn't want him around.
"Thanks for the concern. You can leave now." He said coldly. He still remembered the time this man groped him when he went to report his father missing the first time he started his reckless adventures.
"Don't be like that, we're here to help- oh fuck what is that thing?" He stumbled back at the sight of Soobin coming up from behind Yeonjun.
"He clearly doesn't want you near him, so back off." He snarled, stepping in front of Yeonjun. Yeonjun sighed in relief at the sight of Soobin and then it happened.
One minute, Soobin was standing in his front protecting him and the next minute, he was howling in pain, stumbling back onto the ground. Yeonjun's blood ran cold when he realized what happened.
He got the shot. The crazy bastard shot Soobin.
At that moment, the rest of the people searching for him found him due to the commotion and some of the castle objects came out to see him. He could feel their fear and sadness.
He crumpled on the floor beside Soobin, panicking and trying to stop the wound from bleeding with his hands.
"It won't work, hyung." Soobin was struggling to open his eyes now. "It's over."
"Don't fucking say that." Yeonjun hit Soobin' s chest angrily then shrivelled up in guilt when he groaned in pain. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Just… stop talking like this is some cliche story and you're dying."
"But I am dying. Even if I hadn't gotten shot, it's only a matter of time before the enchanted flower dies. We're down to one petal hyung, I'm sure you know everything by now. Kai told me they told you."
"You can't die. You won't die so stop saying that!" Yeonjun cried, begging Soobin to end his very horrible, not at all comforting parting speech.
He was ignored. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you when you got here, you didn't deserve it. These past few days that we've gotten along have been pretty special to me."
"Stop."
"You're a beautiful dancer hyung and once I die, the curse will be lifted and you'll be able to go back to your old life. You'll be able to dance in front of people again."
He paused to breathe, wheezing with the effort he was using to speak.
"I love you, Yeonjun. Thank you for making my last days happy." He smiled softly and stopped speaking, going still.
Yeonjun pulled at him and screamed at him to continued speaking.
"Soobin, fuck you can't just die on me! Not when you haven't heard me say I love you too." He wiped the tears streaming down his face. "I love you. Don't do this to me."
He cried into Soobin's shoulders, breaking down even more when he felt the presence of his sisters by his side, trying to comfort him.
After a while, he heard everyone around him gasp but still kept his head down, not wanting to look up to see the lifeless face of Soobin.
He felt a third hand, very big on his waist, different from his sisters touching him and he froze.
"Yeonjun. Hyung, it's me. You did it. You broke the curse."
It couldn't be…
His head shot up and he was met with the face of the most beautiful man he had ever seen. Pretty blond hair, the most enchanting eyes he had ever seen and oh... he had dimples too. Yeonjun was finding it hard to breathe.
"What? Cat got your tongue? No more ugly jokes?" The man smirked, obviously enjoying himself. There was no way.
"Soobinie?" He said softly, touching the other man's face.
"It's me, hyung. It's me. Thank you for saving me. I love you." Soobin touched Yeonjun's face gently.
"I love you too." He started crying again, but for a different reason this time. "I love you so much Soobinie, I can't believe you're alive. And hot." He pulled back to wipe his tears and looked at Soobin again.
The taller man rolled his eyes. "Vain."
"Hey, you had the privilege of seeing my pretty face. All I had was your scary mug and your shitty attitude in my first few weeks here. If anyone's vain here, it's you." He defended himself.
"Hmm guilty. And lucky too. I have the prettiest man in the world in my hands and he loves me anyway." Soobin grinned and pulled Yeonjun in for a kiss.
Yeonjun couldn't remember the last time he was kissed so good, he was still dazed even after pulling away. He met the sight of a happy Soobin and realized the rest of the castle must have been freed from their curses too. He could hear the voices of some of them behind him but he wasn't ready to look away from Soobin yet.
He couldn't believe he actually got his own happy ending.