Everything was perfect in her life. Her kingdom was in control and the people living in it was happy.
Everybody knew how great of a ruler Kim Yoohyeon was. She was kind, caring, loving, fair, but she could also be professional, composed, strict at her position.
Everyone that heard her name knew how good she was at ruling. Most of the times, those things bring good upon them. But now, something else was coming for her.
❁
Three knocks came upon her door.
It was still in the morning, she could tell by the sunlight that was coming from behind the curtains. And she wondered who would dare disturb her during her sleep.
"Yoohyeon! It's me open up!"
All her annoyance was quickly thrown out the window when she heard her voice. Kim Minji.
"Wait!"
She got up from her bed and walked towards the door, opening them.
"What are you doing in front of my room in the morning, Minji?"
"Nothing much, I just wanted to ask you if you had time to spend today."
"Oh, sure. I think I'm free today. What are we gonna do?"
"It's a surprise."
Yoohyeon's face turned into a pout.
"Come on, you know I don't like surprises."
"But I do, so go freshen up and I'll meet you at the garden in thirty minutes."
"Fine."
"Don't worry, your highness. I am sure you shall enjoy it," Minji jokingly bowed.
Yoohyeon chuckled and made a shoo-ing gesture.
"If you say so, my dear advisor. I will see you in thirty more minutes."
"See you la- oh, wait! I forgot, wear something comfortable."
"Okay, see you later!"
"Bye, Yooh!"
Yoohyeon closed the door and finally let out the silly smile she's been holding in during her conversation with her crush.
Even after all these years, she's still in love with Minji.
❁
After her parents sudden death during one of their trips where they would have a discussion with other rulers, the eighteen year old girl was sad and heartbroken.
She shut everyone away and refused to talk with anyone. Until one day, one of her best friends, Minji came to her while she was out of her room for a short moment, and accompanied her, while also saying words of comfort for her.
She felt a little bit better after spending some time with her. But after that, she spended her entire time in her room again.
The next day, Minji knocked on her door to try and start a conversation with her. Even if she wouldn't respond. She would stay there and try to make the younger girl feel a little less lonely.
The next day came, and Minji did the same thing. And Yoohyeon felt bad for not responding to her at all. So, she decided to let her in. Minji didn't leave Yoohyeon's side for one bit.
It became a habit of her to come over and make the younger girl feel better. Thanks to Minji, Yoohyeon finally opened up little by little.
One night, Minji decided to sleep over in Yoohyeon's room. They were both lying down on her bed and the moonlight shined on Minji's face perfectly, that it made her look like an angel.
She wasn't paying attention to whatever Minji was saying, only paying attention to her beauty. Then suddenly, Minji turned her body around to face Yoohyeon.
Their faces were only a few centimeters apart. Yoohyeon swore she could feel her breath on her lips. Her heart was beating uncontrollably and all she wanted to do was close the gap between them.
"Yoohyeon?"
She broke out of her daydream.
"Hm?"
"I said who would you rather take to go to a haunted mansion with, Bora or Siyeon?"
Yoohyeon took a second to compose herself and answered.
"Uhm, none. Both of them will ruin my eardrums either way."
Minji laughed at her response. Yoohyeon followed. How could she not? Not when Minji is smiling like that and not when her laugh is like the most beautiful sound she's ever heard in her lifetime.
"That's true. After meeting Siyeon and Bora, I could never understand why people feared witches when they're both absolute cowards and are just like us."
That night also, Yoohyeon couldn't sleep. The feeling of Minji's arms around her was too distracting, not to mention her heart and thoughts as well.
She knew right then, that she had a crush on Kim Minji.
❁
Yoohyeon finally finished getting ready and went out of her room. She had a small smile on her face, happy to be able to spend more time with Minji. After a while, she arrived at their usual spot where there was a bench that they could sit on and admire the view the garden provided.
Yoohyeon saw Minji wearing a simple formal button up white dress shirt with a tailored jacket to cover it up, and also black pants.
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah, I'm ready."
Yoohyeon linked their arms together and couldn't help but to admire Minji with her current outfit. She looked charming in the fit.
"So, what are we doing?"
"You'll see."
"You're no fun," Yoohyeon once again pouted.
"Stop pouting, you're gonna be too cute for me to handle."
"You think I'm cute?"
"Not anymore," Minji joked.
Yoohyeon faked gasp, "How dare you insult the queen."
"My apologies, my beautiful and cute queen. I shall never do that again."
Yoohyeon looked in front of her for a split second and saw horses come into view.
She then stopped dead in her tracks.
"No."
"Come on, you haven't even tried yet."
"Still a no."
"But, why? They're just horses," Minji was almost whining.
"That's the problem! Horses hate me!"
"No, they don't. Everyone loves you, including horses."
"I hate you."
"I love you too, now let's go."
"Fine. Just this once."
Minji let out her signature smile.
"Yes! Come on!"
Minji and Yoohyeon finally got on the horse after a minute of Yoohyeon getting scared of them. Yoohyeon held onto Minji tightly.
"Relax, Yooh. I'm not gonna take us on a race. We'll go slow."
"Still. I'm gonna keep holding onto you. If that's okay for you."
"I don't mind."
Yoohyeon loosened her grip on Minji and tried to control the blush that was creeping on her cheeks and tried to control her heartbeat before Minji could feel it against her.
"So, where are we going?"
"I thought it'd be nice to take us on a picnic. Just the two of us."
Yoohyeon couldn't help but to think that this felt like a date to her. But she knew that it was only her wish.
The rest of the ride went silent only with the sound of the horse's steps. But to Yoohyeon, she felt like there was something else. Something watching her. She tried to get the feeling out.
❁
"Okay, we're here."
Yoohyeon noticed that Minji went offroad from the path that was already created. She worried but she trusted Minji nevertheless.
She now knows why Minji went with a different path. Behind the uncovered paths lies a nice little spot that was enough for a group of people.
It had an opening that would let some sunshine in and not let the place get filled with darkness. The floor wasn't all that dirty and it looked comfortable for the both of them. There were a few flowers surrounding the area.
"How did you find this place?"
"Uhm, so not all horses were good."
Yoohyeon held back her smile hearing her friend's statement.
"Told you," she said quietly.
"I heard that, Kim Yoohyeon. But anyways, the horse ended up taking me to this place and that's about it."
Minji got off the horse and so did Yoohyeon. She tied the horse to a branch that was strong enough to not let it run away and desert them. She then prepared the blankets and got out the food she prepared for both of them.
"Alright, we can sit down now."
"Did you make all of this?"
"Yeah, I need to put my cooking skills to use."
"You didn't have to do this for me, but thank you."
"It's not a problem."
They ate their food comfortably and talked while cracking up some jokes as well.
During their time together, the feeling of being watched creeped back up to Yoohyeon. She brushed it off, hoping that it was nothing.
❁
After finishing their picnic, they went back to the castle.
"Thanks for bringing me out today, Minji," Yoohyeon said while they were on their way back.
"It's nothing. I wanted to spend time with you anyways. It's been a while since the two of us hung out together."
Yoohyeon smiled while laying her head softly on Minji's shoulder. Little did she know, Minji had a blush painted on her cheek.
❁
The next few weeks, Yoohyeon had to go to a meeting in another land to discuss some things with another ruler. She thought it was a bit weird since usually, she would meet with the ones she and her family were familiar with. But the person she was meeting had never been mentioned before. She didn't even know his castle existed.
She kept in mind that this could maybe bring a positive or a negative outcome.
❁
"So, you're gonna leave for another meeting?" Minji asked.
They were sitting down on Yoohyeon's bed. Minji came when she heard that Yoohyeon was gonna leave the castle for a meeting with another ruler.
"Yeah. Siyeon, Handong, and Yubin is gonna come."
"Siyeon? That's new, do you need her powers for something?"
"I don't know. I just have a bad feeling about this, so I called Siyeon for help if I needed it."
"Alright then, I hope everything goes well."
❁
Yoohyeon arrived at the meeting location. The other ruler had asked them to meet in front of a small house in the middle of the woods. This made Yoohyeon even more suspicious and on edge.
A guard was ordered to knock on the door but stopped when they heard a man clear his throat.
All the attention was to him and his two guards.
"Good morning, Her majesty ," He bowed slightly.
They all bowed as well to greet him.
Yoohyeon walked over to him.
"Good morning, His majesty," Yoohyeon replied.
"Shall we stop stalling and get to business then?" He said.
"Of course."
"I think that the meeting would be better when it is done privately. If you will," He raised his hand at the direction of the house.
"Why not here instead? Or why not at your castle instead?"
"We had some issues back home, so I thought, why not at my childhood house?"
"𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘺?" Yoohyeon thought.
"The guards stay outside."
"Your's too I suppose?"
"Of course."
They went in the house. Yoohyeon going in with two of her advisors and her close witch friend. While the king went alone.
It was odd. The house was like any other house but there was something slightly different from it. It didn't normal. And Siyeon felt it too.
Siyeon signaled them to slow their walking and whispered.
"There's something wrong with this house."
"What is it?"
"It's like there's some sort of energy or magic. But I can't put a finger on it. We'll have to stay sharp."
They all nodded at Siyeon's words.
The king had lead them to the stairs and went in front of a room of a door.
"This is your stop. If you may, please give me and the queen some privacy."
"I'm sorry, your highness. But my advisors will come with me."
He let out a small sigh.
"Very well then."
They all entered the room.
The room had a round table in the middle of it, two windows, and a fireplace.
"Shall we start now?"
"Yes, we shall."
They started to discuss a few things, explaining how their kingdoms could benefit each other and how it could give both kingdoms an advantage against other kingdoms in the land.
Yoohyeon had been observing him. She thinks that he was a man that had greed for power. He didn't look like the person that was deemed fit to be a king, he didn't look like he would care about others and would care about himself first. But, she hoped that her guess was wrong.
At some point, he asked Yoohyeon's advisors to leave again.
The three of them looked at Yoohyeon. She let out a sigh and asked them to leave.
Now it was just the two of them.
"Well then? What is it that my advisors had to leave."
The man let out a devilish smirk.
Yoohyeon was ready to call out the others.
But, she didn't. Instead her mouth was shut tight. She couldn't speak for herself and she saw the man's eyes slowly turning into an unordinary shadow of green.
"Poor Queen, she doesn't even know her advisors are planning something."
Yoohyeon's eyebrows furrowed.
"They are planning to stab you in the back, don't you see? Even your sweet lover is too."
Her mouth is finally able to speak again.
"What?"
"I feel bad for how blind you are to them."
He had gotten closer to Yoohyeon. Slowly putting his hand on her head, petting her hair.
"Poor you, your parents left you and now your entire kingdom are going to as well."
Memories started to enter Yoohyeon's mind. But she didn't even remember having them.
Memories on how Siyeon and Bora bullied her using their magic. Memories at how Handong, Yubin, and Gahyeon would always put her down for being the queen. Memories of Minji hurting her.
Her eyes started to get teary.
"My queen, do you want me to help you?"
Without her mind being clouded, she didn't hesitate to answer.
"Yes."
A spider came from out of his hands and started to crawl on Yoohyeon's skin. Slowly creeping up her neck.
And then she felt the stinging sensation at her pulse.
"Let it consume you, that is the only way for you to overcome this."
All she felt was anger, disappointment, hatred, betrayal. She threw away any other emotion in her and all the thoughts that were saying that this is all wrong.
The spider had disappeared into Yoohyeon's skin after biting her.
"Now, you will be able to see truth they have been hiding from you all this time."
The meeting ended just like that. Yoohyeon kept her facial expression controlled as she walked out of the room to her "friends".
"We're done here. Let's go."
❁
The ride back was silent. Handong and Dami asked if it went okay, but she would only answer with a simple "it went fine".
However, Siyeon knew something happened in the room. She felt magic from inside and tried to enter but the door wouldn't budge one bit. Now, she was extremely worried for Yoohyeon.
❁
As soon as they got back, Yoohyeon asked for her to be alone in the throne room. While Siyeon gathered the others to meet secretly.
❁
"What is it? Did something happen, guys?" Gahyeon asked first.
"I think so. It was weird the entire time. First, he asked us to meet in a house in the middle of the woods. Second, the house was weird in some way. Third, I felt magic when Yoohyeon was left alone with that guy."
Bora's ears perked up upon hearing magic.
"Magic? What do you mean?" Bora asked.
"I don't know, and I felt a strange energy around Yoohyeon now. It's not good. It's different than her usual one. I think he did something to her."
"I think so too, she's been different ever since she came out of that room," Yubin joined.
They discussed about the matter even further, without noticing a spider that had been watching them silently.
❁
The moment Yoohyeon sat down on her throne, a black cloud covered her and the entire room.
Then, a small spider can be seen crawling under her skin from her neck, to the palm of her hands.
It got out of her hand and was ordered by Yoohyeon to go spy on her friends, that she "knew" was planning something against her.
❁
The spider came back to Yoohyeon after they had finished discussing a few things together. It gave her false memories.
She wasn't sad anymore, she didn't have time for that. Instead, a huge wave of anger took over her.
If they were planning something against her, then she would as well.
❁
She started to change the rules of the kingdom without hearing the thoughts of her advisors. Her people were now suffering because of her sudden actions.
More people were losing their jobs, falling into poverty, lost food, money, and homes.
Of course, her friends noticed this. And had tried to question her about it several times, but she wouldn't listen.
Why would she? They were all planning her fall.
❁
One day, Bora had enough of it. She had dared to go up against Yoohyeon. So, she barged into the throne room and yelled at her.
"ENOUGH, DON'T YOU THINK YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING ENOUGH ALREADY?"
Yoohyeon only stood up slowly from her throne.
"Excuse me? Who taught you to talk back to your queen?"
"Cut the bullshit and stop what you're doing. Your people are already suffering enough from your actions."
Yoohyeon laughed slightly at her words. Soon her laugh stared to become louder and louder. It scared Bora.
"Don't you think you've done enough to me, Bora?"
"What? What do you mean?"
"Come on, don't act like you don't remember the good old times."
"Yoohyeon, stop. You're scaring me."
"You? Scared?" Yoohyeon scoffed. "That's new."
"What's happening to you? You're different now. It feels lik-"
"Shut it. Stop pretending like you don't know. Did you ever think about how I was scared when you bullied ME."
"Yoohyeon, what?"
Yoohyeon started to walk closer to Bora. To which she replied by taking steps back.
"You and Siyeon, remember? When you used your magic on me. To bully me. Make fun of me. Embarrass me."
"Y-Yoohyeon, we never did that. You know we always use our magic for good."
Yoohyeon laughed again.
"Now I know why you liked seeing me so afraid. It's fun."
"Yoohyeon, s-stop. T-This isn't you."
Yoohyeon stopped in her tracks. So did Bora.
The door behind Bora suddenly shut. Making Bora jump.
Bora tried to open the door desperately, using her magic in the process. But it didn't work. Not even her magic could open the door.
She turned to look at Yoohyeon again.
"Y-Yoohyeon, please. Whatever you're doing, just stop it!"
Two guards appeared from the side of the room. Bora didn't even see them in the first place.
Feeling like they were a threat, Bora blasted them with her magic. And to her surprise, all the plate of armor fell onto the ground. Revealing nothing and no one in it.
"W-What?"
"Come on, Bora. I'm not dumb enough to send HUMANS to fight you."
The plate of armor got back up and recovered back to it's previous form.
"Y-Yoohyeon, stop! Please!"
Yoohyeon only tilted her head to the side.
"Why would i? You never did for me anyways."
The last thing that Bora saw was Yoohyeon smiling wickedly towards her.
"One down. Five to go."
❁
Siyeon had been looking for Bora for days now. The last thing she heard from her was that she couldn't take Yoohyeon's actions anymore.
She tried to talk the older girl about it, but of course, Bora's stubborn personality didn't listen to Siyeon.
And now, she's been asking everyone about her whereabouts.
She's tried to not think about the negative outcomes that her mind has been saying. But it was hard not to worry. Not with her saying she would confront Yoohyeon.
She went to her training room, where she and Bora would practice together, she started to use her magic to try and communicate with Bora. Or at least make a connection with her.
"Come on, Bora. Where are you..." she quietly mumbled to herself.
Her eyes suddenly widened.
"𝑆𝑖𝑦𝑒𝑜𝑛!"
"𝐵𝑜𝑟𝑎! 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢? 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑜?!"
"𝑆ℎ𝑖𝑡, 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑌𝑜𝑜ℎ𝑦𝑒𝑜𝑛. 𝑆ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑠. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟."
"𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢."
"...."
"𝐵𝑜𝑟𝑎..."
"𝐼'𝑚 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑖 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑑. 𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑔𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡."
"𝑂𝑘𝑎𝑦, 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ?"
"𝑌𝑒𝑠, 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦. 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓."
"𝑂𝑘𝑎𝑦, 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑜- 𝐴𝐻𝐻𝐻!"
"𝑆𝐼𝑌𝐸𝑂𝑁?! 𝑆𝐼𝑌𝐸𝑂𝑁! 𝐴𝑅𝐸 𝑌𝑂𝑈 𝑂𝐾𝐴-"
Her connection with Bora was cut due to an unbearable headache that caught her off guard. She fell down to the ground.
"Tch tch tch. I expected better from you, Siyeon."
"Wha- Yoohyeon?"
"Of course, who else would it be."
"No. You're not her. She wouldn't be like this."
"And i thought friends weren't suppose to hurt each other but oh well. Here we are."
Siyeon stood up and faced Yoohyeon.
"I know something happened during the meeting with that "king". Something happened to you."
"Oh, something definitely did."
Siyeon's expression turned into a confused one.
"I woke up from the dream i had beed living in. I finally woke up to see what was happening. What you were all doing. I woke up and saw the truth you've all been hiding from me."
"What are you talking about? You're out of your mind, Yooh."
"Again with the act. I had to deal with Bora's and now yours. Are all of you gonna be like that?"
"No. YOU need to stop with- with whatever this is! You're not making any sense with what you're doing!"
Yoohyeon only let out a sigh.
"You know. For as smart as I thought you were, you're actually pretty dumb."
"What?"
"Turn around."
Siyeon turned around, only to be blasted with magic.
"Argh-shit! That hurt."
"Don't worry, it'll all be over soon."
Yoohyeon had the same devilish smirk she gave to Bora before getting rid of her.
"YOU-"
She couldn't finish her sentence before getting hit by the guard.
"Two down. Four to go. This is easier than I thought."
❁
A week passed and the missing news of Siyeon and Bora had concerned the others. Handong and Yubin already talked with each other and came up with a theory that Yoohyeon was behind it all.
Before Siyeon was knocked out, she sent a quick message to Yubin, alarming her about Yoohyeon.
Yubin was quick to tell Handong first and discussed it with her before going to the others.
❁
"What is it, Yubin?" Minji asked.
"As you all know, the kingdom isn't in a good place right now," she looked at Handong.
"And we think we know the cause of it all."
"Which is?" The youngest of them all spoke.
"Yoohyeon," Yubin answered.
"What? Don't joke around like this Yubin. I know what Yoohyeon is like," Minji tried to deny her words.
"She's not kidding, Minji. Siyeon sent a message to Yubin using her magic. Before she was knocked out by Yoohyeon's guards."
"Siyeon? There's no way Yoohyeon would do that to her."
"Minji, the person that is sitting on the throne is not Yoohyeon. Not anymore. Not the one we knew," Handong calmly explained.
"Then, if that's the case, how do we get her back?" Gahyeon asked.
Everyone stayed silent.
"For now, we need to run. We need to get to Siyeon and Bora," Yubin said.
"Wait, you know where they are?" Minji's expression was shocked.
"Yes, they contacted me with their magic and explained where they were. They've been trying to figure out what spell can bring back Yoohyeon."
"How do we get to them?"
Gahyeon started asking questions while Yubin answered.
"We have horses right? We can secretly take them with us."
"When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow night. Can you all do that?"
They all nodded their heads.
Yubin explained their plan on how and when they were going to escape with more details. Once again not noticing the spider that was watching them.
❁
"Hm, they think they can outsmart me?" Yoohyeon said as she let the spider crawl back into her skin.
"We'll see about that, my wonderful, lovely friends."
❁
The next day, Yubin, Handong, and Gahyeon had been called by Yoohyeon. To have a talk with her alone, in the throne room.
Thankfully, when they were called, they were having a conversation with Minji. They silently signaled Minji to get ready for the escape earlier if their was plan going to go south soon.
Once they arrived. They were met with an intimidating Yoohyeon. The atmosphere was darker than usual, it felt gloomy, it felt cold, it sent a shiver down their spines.
They bowed upon meeting their queen.
"Why have you called upon us, your majesty," Yubin spoke first, like usual.
"I need advice from my advisors, of course."
"Of course, what is it that you need advice on, your majesty."
"What are your thoughts about the way I've been doing things here. I figured a change was needed. And now I need your opinions, to be exact. Starting with....you," Yoohyeon pointed towards Handong.
"In my opinion, your majesty, I don't agree with the new rules you have set."
"And why is that? My dear Dongie."
Yoohyeon stood up and started to walk towards her. Her words felt like poison to Handong. She didn't like it when she called her by her nickname.
They all stayed silent while Yoohyeon kept walking towards them.
"Hm? What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"
Yoohyeon stopped in front of her and slowly placed her finger on Handong's chin, making her look at Yoohyeon.
"I'm waiting."
"I do not agree with the rules you have set as well, your majesty," Yubin spoke up.
Yoohyeon removed her finger and looked at Yubin.
"May I ask what your reason is?"
"Because it does not benefit our kingdom in any way, your majesty."
"Who said I cared about the kingdom?"
They all looked Yoohyeon. While Yoohyeon only chuckled.
"I never said anything about caring for them, right?"
"Then, what do you care for, your majesty? If I may ask?" Yubin kept daring herself.
"I care for myself, therefore....I want to see the people who ruined me, beneath my feet, begging for forgiveness, while I smile down at them, pleased with what I've done."
The three of them felt fear in their running through their veins. Their bodies went cold.
"Doesn't that sound good?"
"..."
Yoohyeon chuckled wickedly again. "Well not for you of course. You guys are part of the people I want to see kneeling before me."
"Wh-what?" Gahyeon accidentally slipped up.
"God, are those the only words you guys know?" Yoohyeon rolled her eyes. "You guys were terrible, making me lose my confidence when I was going to be a queen AND before as well. Only sucking up to me when you saw that I didn't do all that bad."
"Yoohyeon, what are you talking about? We nev-"
"Shhh."
They all stopped breathing the moment Yoohyeon shushed them.
"I've heard that from all of you. I don't want to hear it anymore."
Yoohyeon turned around and started to walk up towards her throne.
"Guards! Get them."
And moment they heard her, they bolted for the door.
Only to find it locked.
"SHIT! COME ON UPEN UP!" Yubin desperately screamed.
The sounds of heavy footsteps were heard behind them.
Yubin knew the door wasn't going to open soon.
So she thought of something insane.
"Fuck it. Leave the door, we're using the window."
"WHAT!" Gahyeon yelled.
"Do have a better idea?!"
"Fine!"
Yubin rushed towards the window that was on the side of the room and broke through the grass. She closed her eyes as she jumped.
Surprisingly enough, she landed quicker than she thought.
"What the fuck? Argh-"
She felt two more bodies piling on top of them.
They landed on a balcony, luckily.
"Come on, no time to waste. We gotta get to Minji quick," Handong hurriedly got up.
They all ran to were they were supposed to meet up.
❁
"What the hell happened to you?!" Minji asked.
"No time! Just get on the horses and go!" Yubin yelled.
They all got on their horses and quickly left the castle, trying to lose the guards that were chasing after them.
❁
They hadn't stopped one bit and kept going through the deep parts of the forest. They have seemed to lost the guards from before and have slowed down from their previous pace.
"I think we lost them," Minji said.
"Yeah, I think so too," Gahyeon replied.
"Okay so now where do we go?" Handong asked.
"It should be close from here somewhere," Yubin replied.
"Lead the way," Gahyeon spoke.
Soon enough, they stopped in front of a huge hill.
"This is it, I think?"
"You think?" Gahyeon noticed the lack of confidence in Yubin's words.
Yubin didn't reply and only got off her horse. She then grabbed a sword that they took with them, tracing a symbol that only the seven of them would recognize, on the hill.
"Yubin? What are you-" Minji's words were cut short as the hill started to reveal the side Yubin drew on, as a hidden passage.
"Woah." All of them were in awe of the two witches power.
"Come on, I'm guessing this is our entrance."
They walked into the cave-like hill. And soon saw a light glowing in front of them. And two figures sitting next to each other.
"Siyeon! Bora!" Gahyeon was the first to call out their names.
The two figures, that were Siyeon and Bora, turned around while having an expression of relief. The group of four got off their horses and rushed to hug the other two that were running towards them as well.
"I missed you guys," Bora expressed.
"We missed you too," Minji spoke while still hugging them all.
During the hug, Yubin couldn't help but feel a huge pain that has been on her right arm for a while.
"Shit," Yubin silently cursed. But the others heard her.
"What is it?" Siyeon worriedly asked.
"Nothing, I just fell on my arm and now it's....it's...."
"Broken," Bora finished the sentence for her.
"I think so."
"I'm so sorry, Yubin, for falling on you," Handong apologized.
"Me too, I didn't mean to do that," Gahyeon joined.
"No, it's fine. It was my idea anyways to jump from the window."
"YOU JUMPED FROM THE WINDOW?!" Minji yelled in surprise.
"Ouch, but yes. The door wouldn't budge and I thought about jumping from the window."
"Don't worry, I can patch her up in no time," Bora said.
"Thanks."
While Bora was healing Yubin with her magic. Minji couldn't help but ne worried for Yoohyeon, and the others as well. No, she was worried for the entire kingdom.
She was sitting down, deep in her thoughts. When suddenly Siyeon came to sit with her.
"Hey, don't worry. We're gonna be okay. It's all gonna be okay."
"Yeah, I hope so."
"You're worried about her aren't you?"
"Very, worried. What if she loses herself to the darkness? What if she won't recognize us anymore? What if we can't ever get her back?"
"Minji, it's okay. Like I said, it's all gonna be fine in the end."
"Do you mean that?"
"Yes. Me and Bora found a spell, we think it could free her from whatever it is that's taking control of her."
Minji's eyes widened and was filled with hope. Good news, finally.
"But, we need something. Anything that can bring a small part of her back. To make it work properly and to get rid of it for good."
"How do we do that?"
"That's the thing. It seems like her memories have been replaced or something. She kept talking about how me and Bora bullied her with our magic, but that never happened before. And Yubin said to me just now that Yoohyeon accused the three of them of putting her down with their words. And that's where the problems come in. A lot of possibilities are there."
"Like her possibly not having past memories?"
"Exactly. If that's the case, then me and Bora will have to look for another spell."
"I'm sorry I can't help you with this, Siyeon."
"Don't worry, Minji. We can handle it."
❁
"You lost them?"
"We are sorry, your majesty. They have seem to have escape-"
Yoohyeon suddenly stood up from and throne and screamed. "USELESS."
When she did, a blast of magic suddenly appeared, hurting everyone and everything near it. Then all Yoohyeon saw was red.
❁
𝐴 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
"You guys got the stuff I asked you?" Siyeon asked Handong and Gahyeon.
"Yeah," Gahyeon simply responded.
Meanwhile, Bora walked over to Minji when the others were having a conversation.
"Hey," Bora greeted.
"What's up?"
"You heard Siyeon's explanation right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"We needed something to get a small part of Yoohyeon back. Or maybe a someone."
"Hm? Someone?"
"Yes, I already have a person in mind. Well, I have had a person in mind since the beginning actually."
Minji stayed quiet.
"Who else could it be, Minji?"
"I don't know, but definitely not me," Minji wanted her words to be false but can't help but to think that it was nearly impossible for her to be the one that could bring Yoohyeon back.
"You don't know that."
"And you do?"
"I know that you're head over heels for that girl, and so is she."
Minji laughed bitterly.
"This again, Bora? I told you she doesn't like me back. She only sees me as a sister."
"And how do you know that? I've seen the way she looks at you, Minji."
Minji stayed silent again. Bora let out a small sigh.
"I'll try," Minji suddenly said.
"What?" Bora's face held a confused expression.
"I'll believe what you said, and try to get a small part of her back."
"O-Oh."
"And not just because of what you said, but the others have been hurt way too much. I don't want to put them in any more risk."
❁
"So, what's the plan?" Yubin asked.
"We- you guys are going to go to the castle in two more days, at night, but remember, only Minji will face Yoohyeon," Siyeon explained.
"Wait, why only Minji?" Gahyeon was confused and so was the others. They haven't told them yet.
"We needed something, or someone, in this case, that can bring a small part of Yoohyeon back so that the spell can properly work, right?" Siyeon continued to explain.
The others nodded.
"Well, that person is going to be Minji. We think that she could be the person that is most likely be able to help get Yoohyeon back."
"No offense, but what about us? Or you guys?"
"Because sees seen us before and had false memories take over her. I don't think we'll be able to get Yoohyeon back."
"That is true. And Minji is the closest to her out of all of us. Continue," Gahyeon responded.
"There will most likely be some guards, so I think you guys will need to watch out. Take some weapons and potions that Bora and I created to protect yourselves. We'll also cast a protection spell on you guys since we won't be there because we need to do the spell for Yoohyeon."
"We'll also put you guys into some kind of mind link, more or less. You'll know if one of you is in danger."
Bora started to wave her hand in the air and brought out a map of the castle from it.
"We'll be explaining about how you guys will infiltrate it, stealthily."
❁
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑑𝑎𝑦
The throne room that had a sense of elegance in it was now ruined. Most of it continents were destroyed due to the magic Yoohyeon accidentally let out that day.
The windows were shattered, vines were scattered among the floor and pillars, one of the unlucky guard's sword and shield were still laying on the floor, the skies had turned into a darker shade of red, only the throne was still in perfect condition.
Most of the people that were living in her kingdom had escaped. Those who defied her had suffered a less fortunate event. Those who do not, live a life full of fear.
Yoohyeon was once again, sitting down on her throne. Tapping her finger on the arm rest.
"When are they coming?" She quietly mumbled to herself.
"Or should I go pick them up myself?"
Yoohyeon laughed.
"But, I want to see them fail. I want to watch the look in their eyes when they see that they failed. And like I said, I wanted them on my knees."
"Very well then, I'll wait a little more."
❁
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒.
"You guys have everything set, right?" Bora asked. There was worry in her voice that she tried to hide.
"Yeah. Don't worry, Bora. We can do this," Yubin said.
Siyeon came over to Minji.
"You're gonna be fine, okay?"
"I hope so. Thanks, Singnie."
They sent each other looks of comfort.
"Alright, come on guys, we need to go," Yubin said.
"See you guys later?" Bora asked.
"See you later," Yubin replied, giving her a small smile.
With that, Bora and Siyeon went into their hidden cave. And the rest went to the castle.
❁
Once they arrived, they were surprised at how the town looked.
The town that was once filled with lights and people happily enjoying their night was now empty.
No more lights, no more people, no buildings that weren't damaged.
It was horrible.
But, they still continued with their plan to head into the castle silently.
They placed their horses somewhere that was far enough for them not to be able to be seen by anyone. And continued on foot.
Siyeon and Bora had told them to try and avoid the guards, just in case they were not human. So, whenever they saw one they had to pay close attention to their eyes. Whether they were glowing green or normal human eyes.
They sneaked their way in from the side entrance of the castle, where there weren't as many guards as there were in the main and back one.
After that, their plan was to go from the stairs at the back, where there were usually no guards there. But it changed.
Before they could get there, there were two guards patrolling each side of the stairs.
"What do we do?" Gahyeon mouthed to Yubin.
Yubin signaled Handong and Gahyeon to ready their swords if the plan of Minji and Yubin throwing daggers didn't work.
3....2....1
Yubin and Minji threw their daggers. Thankfully, they didn't miss their shot. But, the alarming sound of their armor falling to the floor echoed everywhere.
They all looked at each other and about the same thing.
"Shit."
They all tried to go up as quietly as possible but suddenly stopped as soon as they got up.
Two guards.
Yubin and Handong went to attack them first. Sounds of their swords echoed more, but they finished it as soon as they can.
"Come on, we can't waste anymore time," Yubin hurried them.
They all went upstairs, trying to get to the throne room on the seventh floor. On the fifth floor, they ran into more guards, this time there were two but they weren't human.
"Minji, go with Gahyeon! Me and Handong wi-"
"YUBIN!" Gahyeon screamed.
Yubin was tossed to the side by one of the guards. Gahyeon went to help Handong with the guards.
"Just go, Minji! We'll be fine!" Yubin yelled at her.
Minji listened to her and started to bolt up the stairs. Trying to go as fast as she can to get to the seventh floor.
Once she arrived, she immediately opened the door wide.
"Well, well, well. Look who we have here."
Anger and disappointment filled Yoohyeon as she saw Minji enter the room.
Minji looked around to see the room being in absolute mess.
"Yoohyeon, what happened here?"
"Just lost my temper for a short moment. Nothing much."
She stoop up from the throne. Picking up a sword that was stuck to the floor.
"I've been waiting for you, Minji. I saved the best for last."
"Yoohyeon, listen to me. This isn't you. We would never do this to each other. We would never fight each other."
"Of course, but that was back then. When I did nothing, and never fought back to you. This time, I won't let you push me around anymore."
"Yoohyeon please, I've never done that to you. YOU know that. You need to wake up from whatever is tricking you."
Yoohyeon started to walk over to Minji, which Minji replied by walking over to her too.
They circled around each other, not breaking eye contact.
"I've already woken up, Minji. I won't listen to you anymore. I won't listen to any of you anymore. I've been held back enough."
They stopped. Yoohyeon tightened the grip on her sword.
"Yoohyeon, we don't need to do this."
"But I want to."
Minji was silent. Trying to think of a way that can bring her back. Until a certain memory flashed in her head.
"Do you remember the first sleepover we had? In your room."
Yoohyeon's breath stopped for a moment.
"We were talking about how loud Siyeon and Bora was?"
Her grip loosened on the sword.
"And you were lying next to me, looking at me. And when I looked back at you, I thought you were the most beautiful person I've ever seen in my life."
The clouds in her head were fading a little.
"And when I turned around, I stopped talking for a moment because of how close we were. You looked gorgeous and all I wanted to do was kiss you."
See was starting to see things a little clearly.
"Do you remember, Yoohyeon?"
Yoohyeon couldn't open her mouth. She was conflicted.
Yoohyeon let go of her sword and fell to the ground.
Minji tried to help her until suddenly.
"NO! YOU'RE LYING! THAT'S NOT TRUE! YOU NEVER WANTED TO DO THAT! YOU NEVER LOVED ME BACK!"
Yoohyeon screamed as loud as she can, trying to convince herself that Minji was lying to her. Trying to deceive her once again.
A blast of magic was thrown around the room again. This time, everything felt different. It was like it was a different universe.
Yoohyeon's outfit had changed and Minji noticed her's too. And Yoohyeon was on her knees while Minji had a sword in her hand.
"Yoohyeon, what did you do? What happened to us?"
"Do it."
"W-What?"
"Kill me. I know you're dying to do it."
"No, I won't-"
"JUST DO IT, MINJI. END IT."
Minji raised her sword up. Tears filling her eyes.
"Y-Yoohyeon..."
She felt her knees and arm weaken at the sight of her childhood best friend kneeling before her, with empty eyes staring into nothing, begging to be killed.
She lowered her sword before bringing it back up, and dropping it on the floor.
"I-I can't. I won't do it."
Yoohyeon's eyes were beginning to be filled with tears as well.
"Minji, p-please help me. I don't want to listen to their voices anymore."
Suddenly, Yoohyeon shrieked in pain. Minji immediately rushed to her side.
"Yoohyeon! Yoohyeon! What's wrong?! What's happening?!"
Tears were flowing from both of their eyes.
"I-It hurts, Minji."
Minji caressed her cheek with one hand and held her with the other.
"It's gonna be okay, Yooh. Trust me, it's gonna be okay," she tried to calm Yoohyeon.
"I'm sorry for what I did, Minji. I didn't know why i did it."
"Hey, it's okay. That wasn't you. We know that wasn't you."
The door of the throne room suddenly opened, and everything came back to what it was before. But Yoohyeon was still in pain.
Handong, Yubin, and Gahyeon immediately went over to them and tried to calm them down.
"Don't worry, it's the magic. Bora told me," Yubin said.
A part of Yoohyeon's veins started to become the colour black, traveling down into the palm of her hands, revealing itself as the spider that bit Yoohyeon.
The spider started to move uncontrollably, until it soon died and turned into dust. As it died, Yoohyeon lost consciousness.
"Yoohyeon! Yoohyeon!" Minji called out to her.
But there was no response from her.
❁
𝐴 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
Yoohyeon struggled to open her eyes for a moment, but did in the end. And was led to confusion.
She was in her bedroom. She had a small headache, but anything other than that, she felt fine. Was it all a dream?
She tried to get up from her bed but a voice stopped her.
"Stop! Just lay down for now."
It was Minji.
She looked at her with wide eyes, confusion could be seen easily.
"Stay in bed for now, okay? You need to rest."
Yoohyeon nodded her head and asked a question.
"What happened?"
Minji stopped her actions and sat down beside on the edge of the bed.
"Uhm..."
"Oh, so that did happen."
"Yeah..."
Silence took over.
"What happened to me when I passed out?"
"It was Siyeon and Bora's magic. They were trying to get rid of the dark ones."
"What about the castle? And the people?"
"We're working on it. We've been trying to gain their trust back and it's...it's working, but some people are gonna wait it out."
"How long have i been asleep?"
"A week."
"Already?!"
"Yeah, that spider really did something, huh?"
Yoohyeon remember the way the spider bit her and crawled under her skin. It sent shivers across her spine.
"I have no idea how I was unbothered by a spider crawling under my skin."
Minji chuckled and smiled sweetly at her.
"I'm glad you're back and okay now."
"Me too."
Both of them were silent, now accompanied by the sound of Minji preparing a meal that she had brought with her.
"Minji?"
"Yeah?" She stopped what she was doing to listen to Yoohyeon.
"Do you...remember what happened during our "fight"?"
"Uhm, I think so. Why?"
"Do you remember what you said?"
Minji froze hearing her words. Of course she remembered what she said. She confessed to Yoohyeon about her feelings.
"I do."
"Do you mean it?"
Minji faced Yoohyeon, she stroked her cheek softly.
"Of course, I do."
"I-I feel the same way."
Minji leaned forward slowly towards Yoohyeon. Yoohyeon stared at Minji's eyes, then lips, then closed her eyes.
Minji soon closed her eyes as well. At that moment, she could feel Yoohyeon's breath against her lips.
And then their lips finally came in contact.
"Hey, Minj- OH MY GOD!"
Yoohyeon pushed Minji off her, letting her fall on the floor.
"Wait, sorry, Minji!"
"It's okay. Seriously, Bora?!"
"Oops. Uhh... congrats on getting kissed? To both of you?"
"Thank you, but can you please leave the two of us alone for a moment?" Minji replied.
"Nope. I need to check on Yoohyeon. There might be some leftover magic and I want to see if that's true or not."
"Oh, okay. Go ahead," Minji let Bora check on Yoohyeon while she sat down on a chair in Yoohyeon's room.
❁
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ
The person who self proclaimed themselves "king", was later captured by the help of Siyeon and Bora. They were also the person who made the decision to sentence the man. As the rules were "different" for magic, from what Siyeon and Bora said.
The kingdom still had things to fix. But they mainly focused on the town first, by doing that, the people who lived there before could have their homes back.
It took a while for most of them to get convinced, but they trusted the words of others that had return back to Yoohyeon's kingdom.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Minji asked Yoohyeon.
Yoohyeon was sitting alone on her usual bench, when Minji came up to her.
"I'm okay, you?"
"I'm fine," Minji kissed Yoohyeon's forehead.
Yoohyeon only smiled like an idiot when she did that.
"Cute."
"Stop telling me I'm cute."
"Or what? You're gonna blast me with more magic?"
Yoohyeon slapped Minji's upper arm.
"What if i do?"
"You wouldn't."
"I wouldn't. I love you too much to be able to do it."
"Aw, thank you, baby. Love you too," Minji pinched her cheeks.
"You're the worst."
"I know."
Yoohyeon laid her head on Minji's shoulder and they sat in silence.
Until, someone broke it again.
"HEY, LOVEBIRDS!"
It was Siyeon this time.
"My ears..." Yoohyeon said.
"What is it?" Minji asked.
"Nothing, you're hot when you're mad."
"Hey. Back off."
Yoohyeon glared at her while Minji looked dumbfounded at Siyeon's statement.
"Don't worry, I was kidding. But, you do need to have a meeting later. I just came by to tell you so I don't forget."
"Alright. Hope there's nothing that'll curse me."
"Cursed Yooh, is the worst Yooh," Minji stated.
"Anyways, I'll leave you to alone now. See ya!"
Siyeon walked away from them.
"They're the loudest," Minji said.
"Agreed. That is why, I will be asking you..."
"What...?"
"Who would you take to a haunted mansion with?"
"I hate you."
"Love you too!"
Yoohyeon gave Minji a small peck on the lips. Minji smiled at Yoohyeon.
"Siyeon."