The Labyrinth-Ateez x reader

The Five Boys

Wooyoung was hobbling around the hedge maze still, minding his own business, and most of all minding that that girl had gotten his jewels. He'd tried to please both her and Hongjoong, and that's what you got for trying to please everyone. No baubles. When Y/N screamed, he heard her. It stopped him in his tracks, which were heading for the start of the Labyrinth. He listened, heard a second scream, wrestled with his rudimentary conscience, came to a decision, and began to run in her direction. He knew his way around this place better than the stupid goblins in the castle. "I'm coming, missy," he shouted. He galloped around the corner straight into a person. Hongjoong was wearing his cloak and looking quite handsomely fiendish. "Well," he said pleasantly, "if it isn't you." "It isn't me," Wooyoung told him, trembling. "And where are you going, hmm?" "Ah ..." Wooyoung was staring at Hongjoong's boots. "Ah ...," he said in a different tone of voice, to hold his audience's attention. Then he spent a little while scratching his nape, suggesting that a person can't be expected to answer a question while he's plagued with an itch. Hongjoong was content to wait, with a smile on his lips. "Er ..." At last Wooyoung came up with it. "The little missy, she give me the slip ... er ... but I just hears her now ..." Hongjoong's eyes narrowed. "So I'm ... er ... er, I'm going to fetch her and then lead her straight back to the beginning. Just like you told me." He wished the King of the Goblins would kick him, or pelt him with slugs, or do anything, anything but smile that nerveracking, pleasant smile. "I see." Hongjoong nodded. "I thought for a moment you were running to help her. But no, you wouldn't. Not after my warnings. That would be stupid." "Ha-ha," Wooyoung agreed, with a trembling heart. "Oh, ha-ha-ha. Stupid? You bet it would be stupid. Me? Help her? After your warnings?" Hongjoong elegantly inclined his head to examine Wooyoung's belt. "Oh, dear," he said, seeming concerned, "poor wooyerng!" "Wooyoung," Wooyoung growled. "I just noticed that your lovely jewels are missing." "Uh ..." Wooyoung looked down at his sadly unadorned belt. "Oh, yes. So they are. My lovely jewels. Missing. There now. Better find 'em, eh? But first," he promised in a profoundly reliable voice, "I'm off to fetch the little missy back to the beginning of the Labyrinth." He thought of trying to wink, but decided not to. "Just like we planned," he said, and started to march obediently away. "Wait," Hongjoong told him. Wooyoung froze. His eyes closed. "I have a better plan, Wooyoung. Give her this." With a wave of his left hand, Hongjoong produced a bubble from the air. In his hand it became a compass. He waited for Wooyoung to turn around and tossed it to him. Wooyoung caught it. It had become an apple. Wooyoung looked at it, dumbfounded. "Wha — what is it?" "A present." Wooyoung's eyebrows beetled. "It ... it ain't going to harm the little missy, is it?" he asked slowly. "Oh." Hongjoong placed a hand over his heart. "Now, why the concern?" Wooyoung pursed his lips. "Just ... curious." "Give it to her, Wooyoung. That's all you have to do. And all you have to know." Wooyoung was torn between fearful obedience, which was familiar to him, and affection, to which he could not have put a name. "I ..." He stood more erect. "I won't do nothing to harm her." He reckoned that such a moment of defiance might have earned him a pint of earwigs down his breeches, at least. Instead, Hongjoong replied with that pleasant smile that by now was like broken glass on Wooyoung's nerves. "Come, come, come, Voobung," the Goblin King laughed teasingly, "I'm surprised at you. Losing your head over a girl." "I ain't lost my head," Wooyoung scowled. "You don't imagine that a young girl could ever like a repulsive scab like you, do you?" Wooyoung was stung. "She said we were ..." He stopped himself in mid-blurt, but it was too late. Hongjoong gave him a coy, sideways grin. "What? Bosom companions? Was that it, Piggle? Piggly-Wiggly? Friends, are you?" Wooyoung, red-faced, was blinking at his boots again. "Don't matter," he muttered. Hongjoong's voice came back crisply. "You give her that, Wooyoung, or I'll have you tipped straight into the Bog of Eternal Stench before you can blink." In miserable obedience, Wooyoung nodded. "Yes." He had started to hurry on his way, assuming the interview was over, when he heard Hongjoong's voice again. He stopped, rigid, not daring to turn around "I'll tell you what." Hongjoong had his head back and was looking down his nose at Wooyoung. "If she ever kisses you — I'll turn you into a prince." Wooyoung knew there was going to be a catch. "You will?" There was a catch. "Prince of the Land of Stench." Hongjoong thought that was a capital joke. He was still laughing as he disappeared. Wooyoung remained standing still, staring at the apple in his hand. His face registered several emotions at once. Amusement was not among them.