SORRY FOR what? seungmin thought but complied with hyunjin's wishes as soon as everyone returned inside (without dusting the sand off of their bodies, much to chan's annoyance). however, it seemed that felix knew exactly what hyunjin had meant.

"it's because he already left!" the freckled male huffed, crossing his arms. he had emerged indoors with changbin a little while after the beachgoers had returned, which seemed a bit suspicious, but seungmin decided not to question it. "i'm so fed up with him already! he keeps sneaking around and going places but won't even tell anyone where! it's just..." he ran his hands down his face and let out a noise of frustration.

seungmin felt saddened on behalf of the boy. felix was like a bubbly ray of light, so seeing his spirits dampened didn't sit well with him. "well... have you ever tried following him before? to figure out where he goes?"

felix paused. "actually, no, i haven't," he admitted. "chan would skin me alive if he found out i left the castle by myself; he always stays home to stand guard in case an intruder comes, so he would never consider coming along. jeongin doesn't go anywhere without chan and jisung is stuck in the fireplace, so i've never had anyone to go with before."

seungmin shrugged. "i'll go with you if you want me to. i don't think chan would object if you left the castle with someone else."

felix's entire demeanor brightened almost immediately. "would you really? that would be amazing! let's head out right now." before seungmin could say anything, felix grabbed a couple of cloaks from a coatrack and pulled him to the door. "the arrow is on the red mark, so that means hyunjin went to porthaven. i guess that means we'll be heading there, too!"

as felix threw open the door to reveal the bustling streets of porthaven, an odd feeling rooted itself in seungmin's stomach. he felt as if he had eaten too much of minho's baguettes or had been sucker-punched in the gut. it was almost nauseating, and it grew with every step he took towards the entrance.

"wait... felix..." he gasped, right as he walked into a wall and fell down with a yelp.

but when he opened his eyes, there was no wall. he had crashed into what seemed like nothing. felix looked down at him confusedly from the doorstep, asking, "what's wrong, mate? did you trip and fall?"

"uh, yes," seungmin mumbled, rubbing his nose. he clearly remembered walking into something hard— the pain in his nose was evidence of that— but there was nothing in front of him but an empty doorway. am i going crazy? he thought, standing up and attempting to take a step outside again, only to be stopped once more by an invisible force. seungmin's eyes widened and he pushed his hands against the force but to no avail. he was stuck.

"...seungmin? you good?" felix questioned. the tailor shook his head frantically.

"felix, i...i can't get out."

the freckled boy blanched. "your curse," he realized. "you can't go anywhere without hyunjin nearby."

seungmin groaned. of course, something like this had to happen to him. now he wasn't able to help his friend, whose face was slowly becoming more and more dejected by the second.

"i'm so sorry, felix," he began, "but i—"

"are you two going off on an adventure without me?" seungmin turned at the sound of minho's voice to find his best friend standing there, pouting. "why am i always left out of the fun?"

a thought popped into seungmin's head. "minho," he said quickly, "would you be willing to go on a secret mission with felix? i was supposed to go with him to look for hyunjin, but i can't leave the house because of my curse. it would make him really happy if you went with him."

thankfully, minho shrugged. "i don't mind. i've been needing to get out for a while now and buy more ingredients."

"perfect!" felix cheered as minho raced out the door, shutting it behind him. a small smile made its way onto seungmin's face as he recalled the wizard's look of glee when minho had agreed. the boy deserved some good in his life, he reckoned.

on the other hand, though, seungmin couldn't help but wonder: why was he stuck indoors? changbin had cursed him to spend eternity with hyunjin, so if his intent was to figure out where he had gone, shouldn't he have been able to go with felix? i need to find changbin and ask him, seungmin decided. if felix is able to deal with him without getting killed, i should be able to as well.

"imagine being able to go outside," a snarky voice said behind seungmin. it had come from the fireplace where jisung was confined in his flame form. "you have no idea how lucky you are."

"jisung," seungmin said, "you realize that i can't go outside either, right?"

"and?" jisung yelled. "at least you can move around! all i can do is wiggle around in this soot-hole! by the way, i'm really hungry right now. can you fetch me some eggshells?" the flames shifted to make a face, jisung's expression turning into one of a starving beggar who had been on the streets for months.

"don't be dramatic," seungmin scoffed, making his way to the stairwell. "you eat more than everyone here. you'll be fine going without food for another hour or so."

"no i won't!" jisung protested, his flames shooting up. "please! feed me!"

"i'll see you in a bit, jisung," seungmin responded, ignoring the demon's cries and going upstairs to changbin's room. (or holding cell. either one worked.)

when the tailor had first come face to face with the infamous warlock, he had been terrified. seo changbin was not someone to be messed with, in case his bounty of one thousand gold pieces told you otherwise. but now, as he opened the door to find changbin curled up on his bed with a frown, seungmin felt that the warlock was more of a grumpy cat than anything else.

"what do you want?" changbin hissed, squinting at the light pouring into his room.

"i want you to— queen of ingary, what happened to your face?" seungmin asked. a gash ran across the bridge of changbin's nose, the exposed flesh slick and raw.

the warlock clicked his tongue. "just a sparring accident with felix. it's nothing major. now go away."

seungmin hummed in thought as an idea popped into his head. "i'll go away if you answer a question for me."

"about?"

"my curse."

"no." changbin turned over so that his back was facing the doorway. "i've given you enough help. now let me sleep."

"fine," seungmin shrugged, slowly stepping into the hallway. "but i'm calling chan in here to come and patch you up. cha—"

changbin flipped around with wide eyes. "wait! wait! i'll answer your question! just do not call that mangy beast in here!"

got him. "alright," seungmin agreed with a sly grin, stepping back into the threshold of changbin's room. "a bit earlier i tried to leave the castle but there was an invisible force that stopped me from getting past the door. however, isn't my curse supposed to tie me to hyunjin for eternity? it doesn't make sense for me to be stuck inside when he's not even here."

"that's where you're wrong," changbin replied. "your curse doesn't necessarily make you stuck to hyunjin at all times. if he's nearby, you can follow him wherever he goes to; if he's too far away, you'll be confined to the place that his spirit is the most attached to. in this case, it would be the castle since it's where he takes up his residence. does that answer your question?"

seungmin nodded. "yes, thank you." he began to make his exit, but before he left completely, he quipped: "by the way, i'm still calling chan!" before quickly shutting the door behind him. it was a good thing that he did, for a loud swear was heard as well as the sound of various objects thudding against the other side of the door. seungmin bit back a laugh. he's a grumpy cat indeed.

although this newfound discovery about his curse was sure to hinder him in the future, seungmin couldn't help but feel like a bit of weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. not only had the day brought him new information and a spell that could possibly fix everything, but it also brought him a small sense of hope that everything would turn out alright in the end.

i'll find a way out of here, even if it's the last thing i do.