Beauty and the Monster-A Namjin AU story

Chapter 11

Recently, Seokjin had taken to frequenting the garden. The once delicate tulips were coated with a layer of ice, and the bench was a bit uncomfortable, but it did not matter. It was beautiful like crystal clear glass, just like his stories told him. Besides, it was a good reading spot.

Namjoon appeared by his side, a book in his paw.

"What're you reading?" Seokjin asked.

"Uh, nothing."

"Guinevere and Lancelot," he observed, smiling. He didn't know Namjoon liked romance, even a little.

He was definitely blushing under the fur. "It's uh, knights at the round table. You know, fighting and swords and...stuff..."

"It's romance," Seokjin concluded in a teasing way.

"I guess it is."

"I never thanked you for saving my life," Seokjin said in earnest.

"I never thanked you for not leaving me to be eaten by the wolves."

Seokjin giggled. Inside the castle, he could hear the servant's laughter. They were a joyful bunch...when the master wasn't around, that is.

"They know how to have a good time."

"They do," Namjoon's eyes were glued to the ground. "But when I arrive, laughter disappears."

He sighed. "Me too. The villagers say I'm a funny boy. I don't think they mean it as a compliment..."

"I'm sorry. They sound terrible."

The two shared a moment of pure understanding.

"It's almost as lonely as your castle."

Namjoon appeared to ponder something for a moment. He turned back to Seokjin.

"How about we run away?"

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They walked to the library together. As they walked down the corridors, Namjoon felt the sudden urge to hold Seokjin's hand. He brushed it away. Seokjin was growing more comfortable with him, but his claws. No, he'd want nothing to do with that.

The library was a familiar sight to Seokjin, but it was wonderful nonetheless. Namjoon quickly made his way to a shelf and pulled out a book. The book looked well used and had no dust on its cover.

"It's another gift from the enchantress," he said, "It's a book that allows you to escape."

"That sounds amazing!"

"It sounds it," he grumbled, "But it's just another cruel trick. There is no place for a creature like me in the outside world. For you, though...place your hand on the book. Now imagine the place you desire to go to, more than anywhere else."

As soon as Seokjin imagined the place in his mind's eye, the world around them seemed to spin in circles. Books and papers flew off the shelves as everything rapidly moved. Namjoon shut his eyes tight to block out the blur, and then-

They arrived in an apartment uptop a tower.

"Where did you take us?" Namjoon asked.

"I wanted to go to the home of my childhood..." he breathed, "This is it."

Seokjin delicately touched the crumbling wall. Inside these walls was the home of his childhood. The place where the artist dearly loved his wife. His first breath of life was inside these walls.

He picked up a glass rose that lied on the dusty bed sheets. He recognized it as clear as day. It was the rose his mother always held in the paintings his father made of her.

"This was my mother's," his voice shook. "It's so easy to remember this place."

"What happened to her?" Namjoon asked.

"It's the one story my father could never bring himself to tell. I know better than to ask."

Namjoon gestured to a mask in the corner of the room. "A doctor's mask. It was plague."

Seokjin could see it. His mother on her deathbed, begging them to leave the place. She would not lose her only child to the plague. They would live and be free. He could feel the pain it brought his father, and he felt it just the same.

Namjoon frowned sympathetically. "I...I'm sorry I ever called your father a thief."

He looked up at Namjoon, pain in his eyes.

"Let's go home."

A.N. Hey guys! Hope you're doing good~! Just wanted to do a little self advertising...I have a oneshot book out now if you feel like reading. Have a great day/night (Probably night because staying up reading fanfic at ungodly hours is basically a fandom ritual at this point)