Swan Lake (ATEEZ JongSang story)

Chapter 9 - The Troll

A/N: They'll meet soon, for those who are wondering :D

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'So Mingi, is it true what San and Wooyoung said about the troll?' asked Yeosang as they were walking around in the dark forest. It wasn't completely dark though, some fairy lights and fireflies here and there showed them the path to the northern part of the forest.

'I'm not sure' said Mingi. 'Nobody goes near the troll's house. Mostly because of these rumors. You can never know what is true about them. But considering those two's wild imagination... And I tell you, human being has never been near the troll. So I can't tell whether they eat them or not.'

'We'll find out soon, won't we?' sighed Yeosang. They walked in comfortable silence, both deep in thoughts, until Yeosang decided to speak up again. 'So, you are a real unicorn, huh?'

'Yes!!' Mingi seemed to be excited and proud about the topic. 'I'm one of the few creatures in the forest that's not cursed! Along with Seonghwa of course, because he is too powerful! And I'm too strong and cool to be cursed! I could even defeat Rothbart if I wanted to but unfortunately I'm not the Chosen One.' He suddenly stopped and leaned so close to Yeosang's face that he had to take a step back. 'But you are the Chosen One!! Together we can defeat him! I'll protect you and you just be pretty and I'll do the rest. Not that you are weak or something because you can cut them in half if you wanted, but I've been waiting for so long to kick those two's ass-'

'Okay, I got it' laughed Yeosang. He was glad Mingi was so excited about the adventure, but he was pretty sure no matter how daring the unicorn was, he will have to do more than just stand there looking pretty.

'Look, there's the tree' said Mingi. They arrived to a huge tree which had a big locked door at the bottom. Yeosang gulped and took the leaf Seonghwa gave him.

'Let's see' he mumbled. He put it on his palm. Suddenly the leaf started sparkling and the door opened with a loud thud. Yeosang looked at Mingi who nodded and the two entered the door not leaving each other's side.

'Uhm... hey! Is there anyone here?' asked Mingi. His voice echoed in the tree, which seemed like a huge cave from the inside. It was quite dark with a few lanterns glowing only. The place had books everywhere. It was a big mess.

'Mr Troll!' tried again Mingi.

'Who aRe yOU ANd hOw dARe yOu eNtEr mY trEE?!' shouted a deep voice. They both winced. They arrived in front of something that seemed to be kind of a pulpit. It was a really tall thing, and on top of it they could see a huge shadow of someone. It was way bigger than either of them, but they had to trust him.

'A-Are you Mr Troll?' asked Mingi trying not to sound scared as he didn't want Yeosang to be afraid.

'WhO aSkS?!' To Yeosang something seemed off about the troll's voice. Like if he was talking into something that distorted his voice.

'I'm Mingi and this is my friend Yeosang' said Mingi.

'The Fairy King sent me' spoke up Yeosang. The strength in his voice surprised even himself. 'He gave me this leaf to let me in.'

The shadow started moving, like if the person started walking down a flight of stairs. It slowly started shrinking and suddenly from the back of the pulpit appeared... a small boy. He was literally the height of Wooyoung and San. Yeosang rolled his eyes.

'How come everybody here is the size of a toddler? I'm feeling like a giant here!'

'Woah, calm down, big boy' said the tiny guy. Yeosang's suspicion was right, his voice was way warmer and sweeter than the one they heard before. He took the leaf out of Yeosang's hand and examined it. Then he looked up with sparkling eyes. 'Oh my god, guests!! Please, make yourselves comfortable! I'm Beomgyu by the way, nice to meet you, Mingi and Mingi's friend, Yeosang!' He brought a chair for Yeosang, making a pile of book fall down in the process. He had a huge smile on his face.

'You are the troll?' asked Mingi in disbelief. The boy nodded. 'And what about the stories of you being huge and ugly and dangerous and eating human bodies?'

'Ugh' Beomgyu waved his hand. 'People always talk' he sat down on another pile of books with a sigh. Then he suddenly jumped up again and rushed towards one of the cabinets. He grabbed a plate which had sweets and mugs on it and ran back to them. 'Here, take some cupcakes!! My father's recipe!'

Yeosang took a cupcake from the plate. Mingi didn't hesitate, he ate a piece in one bite, but he spit it out immediately. 'Bwah, it tastes like bear shit' he mumbled. Yeosang chuckled and carefully hid the cupcake behind his back so he won't hurt Beomgyu's feelings. The troll seemed to be way too happy because of his guests.

'You live here alone?'

'Yeah' the boy said. 'It's been decades since someone visited me here. It's nice to have guests again! You came from the forest? Have you met my old friend Jeonghan there? Any news from him??'

'Uhh, he retired from his job years ago' said Mingi while still trying to get rid of the bad taste of the cupcake. Looks like Beomgyu was still too immersed in the fact that he has visitors to realize it.

'Oh... that's great! What about Jungkook? He was a good mentor back then!'

'He retired too. Now he has a carriage and travels around the forest' answered Mingi.

'Oh... and Jungwon?'

'He started a boy group last year. Entisol or Engine or Enhypen or something like that. He is famous now.'

'Looks like everyone found what they wanted' Beomgyu laughed bitterly. 'And I'm just here in my tree since centuries... and they didn't even come to say hi!' His bottom lip quivered and his eyes teared up. 'Nobody needs Beomgyu anymore!!' He curled up on the ground as he started crying, obviously really hurt.

'We need you!' said Yeosang quickly as he crouched down to be face to face with the troll. 'We need to find the Book of Forest Lore. It will tell us how to break Rothbart's spell.'

Beomgyu looked up at him with teary eyes. 'But the spell can be broken only by the...' he gasped as he saw the crystal crown on Yeosang's head. 'You are the crystal's Chosen One! Oh my god, the Chosen One needs Beomgyu's help! To your service!' He jumped up excitedly and ran to one of the bookshelves. He picked up a thick green covered book. 'It looks just like this but it's bigger, red and has a lock on it. I swear I've seen it somewhere.'

'We'll help you look for it' said Yeosang and they started looking through the thousands of books in the troll's messy library.

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A/N 2.0: Beomgyu to your service ~
I hope you liked the chapter <3