The Beauty and the Beast (Seventeen Meanie story)

Chapter 11 - Be Our Guest

'I've never seen anyone make dinner this fast' admitted Wonwoo once he was seated by a long table by his hosts with a variety of dishes in front of him.

'Just call us if you need anything' said the teapot. Wonwoo took a spoonful of soup in his mouth (after making sure the spoon isn't alive and won't yell at him). He thought for a second.

'I don't mean to be nosy... but who are you, guys?' he asked.

'Well...' began the mantel clock, but he was immediately cut off by the candelabra that just climbed on the table with a feather duster following him closely.

'We are the staff of this beautiful castle! Sorry, kind Sir, we haven't had the opportunity to introduce ourselves properly' bowed the candelabra. 'I'm Soonyoung, your main host' he continued. 'That's Seungkwan, the head butler' he gestured at the mantel clock. 'I think you know Jeonghan, he is the housekeeper, and the teacup is Chan, a palace servant. And this is Jihoon, also a servant' he added gesturing at the feather duster.

'A-ha, so you two were the ones making out outside my room' nodded Wonwoo. The feather duster choked on his spit while the candelabra just shrugged.

'Got a problem?'

'Not at all' shook his head Wonwoo. 'Although I'm wondering, how does a candle holder and a feather duster get together?'

'That's a long story' said Soonyoung. Wonwoo shrugged in an I have time manner. Jeonghan jumped forward.

'You know, we weren't always like this' he started. 'We are actually humans. Just like our Master.'

'But... how...' Wonwoo didn't find the right words to ask what he wanted to know. He also hoped he won't hurt the staff's feelings with his questions. Luckily Jeonghan continued.

'We were cursed. Five years ago... the whole castle and its crew got cursed by a witch.'

'We are waiting for the one who could break the curse, but they can only be found by our Master' said Seungkwan carefully. Wonwoo chewed on the food deep in thoughts, then snorted.

'Well, good luck with that. Your Master is a tiny bit... arrogant to say the least.'

'Yeah, we got that many times' said Jihoon and Soonyoung nodded, making the candle on top of his head blow out from the movement. Wonwoo stared at the strange couple for a second and he suddenly felt a wave of sadness mixed with admiration. Finding such love that's able to survive such differences between the two, one being cursed to live as a candle holder while the other is a feather duster... Just a touch of Soonyoung would be enough to set Jihoon on fire. In the most non-romantic way.

'And... what about all the other items?' asked Wonwoo to change the topic, once again looking at his spoon suspiciously.

'Not all of them are cursed' helped him out Seungkwan. 'You've met Minghao, your wardrobe. He and Junhui, the coat hanger used to be in charge of our Master's outfits. The stove in the kitchen is Hansol, another servant... we believe he was cursed to be a stove because once he set the kitchen on fire.'

'Our dog, Sultan is a footstool, and there are a lot of other employees you might meet later' shrugged Soonyoung. Wonwoo meanwhile finished eating and the dishes went to wash themselves. The boy stared at the scene in awe.

'This is insane' he muttered.

'It's getting late. Maybe you should go to bed' suggested Seungkwan. Wonwoo shook his head immediately.

'I'm not feeling tired. And here's this huge castle... your Master said I can go wherever I want to, and I really want to explore!' he said excitedly.

'I don't think that's a good idea-' began Seungkwan, thinking about how Mingyu said all of that before Wonwoo managed to piss him off and at the moment he really shouldn't run into their Master in the middle of the night. However he was immediately cut off by Soonyoung.

'Of course, that's a great idea! I can show you around if you want to!'

Seungkwan glared at the candelabra who just glared back. 'It's not a good idea, Soonyoung!'

'It is!'

'No, it is not!!'

Wonwoo chuckled amusedly and leaned closer to them. 'You two could show me around... I have a feeling you guys know everything about this castle' he said slyly, expecting the flattering words do the magic.

It seemed like it did because they stopped arguing and both of them stood proudly in front of him.

'Of course!' said Seungkwan. 'We know the castle better than anyone else!'

.

So that's how Wonwoo ended up wandering the castle's hallways in the middle of the night with Soonyoung and Seungkwan leading the way, talking about all the different items showcased such as armors, paintings and statues. Wonwoo felt like he was in a museum. Except for how sometimes a random statue or armor would just move and wave to him.

'Yeah, that's again not a real statue but Taehyung. See, some of us weren't so lucky that they can move around. I mean they can move, but can't walk away or run or anything. Like Hansol in the kitchen' chattered Seungkwan as they passed by a statue of a beautiful man who was looking at them with curious eyes. Wonwoo felt sorry for him.

The candelabra walked in front of them to give them light to show the way. Wonwoo's steps echoed in the hallways while Seungkwan and Soonyoung were talking non-stop, sometimes arguing about the origin of different items.

They reached a bigger room and Wonwoo saw a wide staircase that led upwards. He expected themselves to go up, but the duo acted like the staircase wasn't even there and continued walking and talking. Wonwoo hummed and turned towards the stairs, beginning to walk up.

Suddenly Seungkwan and Soonyoung realized that no one was following them anymore and they turned around, gasping when they saw their guest walk up the stairs.

'Oh, that's a no no' rushed back Soonyoung and stood in the way of Wonwoo. The boy stopped and looked at him questioningly as Seungkwan caught up to them.

'Why?' he asked.

'The west wing is the forbidden place' added the mantel clock. Wonwoo felt a smirk tug at the corner of his lips but he kept a blank face. Bingo. So that's the infamous west wing.

'You can go anywhere but there' said Soonyoung. 'Why don't we check out the library instead?' he suggested. Wonwoo looked up hearing that.

'Oh, this place even has a library?!' he gasped. Seungkwan and Soonyoung sighed in relief, thinking that they managed to get Wonwoo's attention off the forbidden place. 

'Yes, of course! A huge library with thousands of books!' said Soonyoung excitedly, going back down the stairs. Wonwoo followed them to the bottom of the staircase, then Seungkwan rushed forward to catch up to Soonyoung in leading the way.

Wonwoo waited a few seconds, making sure the duo is too busy arguing as usual, then he turned around, and taking two steps at a time he rushed up towards the west wing.