Wooyoung didn't come out of his room the next day. He slept in late and then took a bath, not minding the time and Mingi's suggestion to join the beast for breakfast. After he felt clean again, Wooyoung picked out an outfit from the clothes Seonghwa had brought. With a pair of double-breasted pants and a ruffled white shirt, he then got comfortable on his bed once more and tugged his book closer. All sense of time was lost to him as he read. The world he escaped into was warmer than this one, more comforting. Though dramatic battles against the bad guys had to be won, Wooyoung was assured that all would end well. The joys and adventure shared in novels were unlike anything real-life could offer to him.

Seonghwa visited him at lunchtime to ask if he would join the others downstairs. With a satisfied sigh, Wooyoung stretched before he opened the door to talk to the pink orb. A moment later, he was introduced to the idea.

"Will San be there?"

Nervously, Seonghwa drifted to the right as if avoiding Wooyoung's gaze.

"Yes," he confessed when Wooyoung's patience outlived his hemming and hawing.

"Then I'm not interested. You don't need to lug my food up here. Just tell me once the coast is clear, then I shall visit the kitchens."

Wooyoung was about to close the door politely when Seonghwa's screech had him halt. The flame squeezed into the open crack as if he could hold the door if Wooyoung closed it.

"Wait! Can't you reconsider? He has been asking where you were."

"I told him before that I wouldn't eat with a man like him. It shouldn't be surprising that I stand to my word."

Seonghwa winced. He sought the right words and when he spoke, his voice was that of a patient adult who tried to argue with a child. Amused, Wooyoung crossed his arms. His drawn brows conveyed not a shred of mercy.

"He had hoped you would join him anyway. Since you live here, it would be good to get to know each other... In my opinion, he is very lonely. Please give him a chance. He is bad at asking, but he won't make you regret it," Seonghwa pleaded. Wooyoung couldn't possibly tell how old he was as a human or how he looked, but he imagined big, starry eyes looking up at him to get the point across.

"He yelled at me in front of you just yesterday. I have no interest in eating with a man who stoops to such low levels. He is aware of the fear he wakes in me, and that he is a person of respect as the owner of this castle. His rash actions were most unfair."

Seonghwa grumbled under his breath.

"I told him he needed to work on his manners if he wanted to make a good impression," he muttered. Wooyoung chuckled as he pictured Seonghwa like an exasperated mother.

"You were right. If he regains his manners, I will reconsider eating with him. But before I didn't get a proper apology, I will prefer my solitude over company such as his."

With a sigh, Seonghwa sailed towards the stairs.

"I will tell him again. It would be a miracle to see him put effort into anything."

"Thank you for taking care of me, Seonghwa," Wooyoung called after him. Buttered up by his sweetness, Seonghwa disappeared around the corner while Wooyoung went back to his reading.

For a while longer, he got to be not himself, but the protagonist of his book. His worries about Yeosang, the beast, the curse, and everything uncanny about the castle got swept away by fictional challenges.

When he had finished half the story and the recent dramatic arc ended, he set the book aside. He rolled from his bed to arrange the clothes into his dresser and got done right on time when a voice called for him from outside. It was the tiny voice of the feux follet, but Wooyoung was surprised to open the door not to a pink, but a blue orb.

"Oh, hello, Jongho," Wooyoung said, quick to remember names. The blue flame hesitated.

"Seonghwa sent me to fetch you. You needed food?"

"I did." Wooyoung closed the door behind him and followed the flame down the corridor. "What magic did you weave in the kitchens today?"

Affected, Jongho giggled a shy laugh. Wooyoung grinned as he warmed up to the spirit flames.

"I cooked our prince's favourite dish today, to soothe his bad mood from yesterday."

So it still lingered. That room must have been very private to him. Wooyoung pondered if he should be the one apologising, as he felt bad for barging in like that.

"What is his favourite dish?" They crossed the threshold to the dining room and Wooyoung was pleased to see it empty. Eating downstairs would be cosier than in his room, but he didn't want to risk the beast melting from the shadows to nag him more.

"Fresh deer steak with raspberries. We do trades with the forest's hunter. He brings us fresh ingredients, and we pay him in return. He must find it eerie how he sees no one, and yet the exchange works." Jongho giggled to himself, almost mischievous. Wooyoung could almost imagine the hunter's puzzlement.

"That sounds heavenly," he agreed. Since Yeosang had lost his fortune, they lived on a humble diet. Potatoes, stew, bread, occasionally some fish, if they were lucky. Most of their food, Wooyoung got paid in return for his work in the village, but Yeosang occasionally brought spices or ingredients from his trips.

"It's the freshest today, so I hope you enjoy it. It was... Part of the reason why San wanted you to join him. He was happy to hear you would eat from it, still."

"So long as there is food, he doesn't need to fear about me starving himself," Wooyoung reassured. He was angry, not foolish. Though he admitted he wanted to leave this place. However, not in such a permanent way.

"That's good to hear." Jongho squeezed into the kitchen and presented Wooyoung with the wooden tablet. They had spruced the plates and bowls for him to enjoy the full meal. Delighted, he picked up the warm tray.

Hongjoong squeezed into his path before he could leave. The golden orb floated with confidence and cleared his throat before he began a dramatic speech.

"As the representative of our prince's voice, I came to apologise to you for last night. Prince San conveys his regret to have hurt you and wishes you to forgive him and join him for breakfast tomorrow."

Wooyoung blinked at him. By his side, Jongho was as clueless about the odd behaviour.

"He couldn't tell me himself?" Disappointment laced Wooyoung's tone. Still, the beast made no effort to empathise. How could he ever love and be loved if he lacked such a simple skill?

"Perhaps he feared you would get irritable if you saw him," Jongho piped up, quick to defend his prince.

Wooyoung sighed. It was too apparent that the beast had sent Hongjoong out of lack of interest. Perhaps he hadn't even provided the words and just told his teacher to pick suitable ones for Wooyoung.

"This won't work. I need him to apologise in person and to mean it before I pardon him. Excuse me."

He strode off without looking back. Hongjoong grumbled in displeasure, but the two orbs returned to their master dutifully to convey the message.

Back up in his room, Wooyoung ate in peace. As Jongho had said, the meal was delicious, and Wooyoung let it melt on his tongue as he savoured every bite. It was the best dinner he ever had, and perhaps the best he ever would have.

He promised himself to compliment Jongho upon it the next time he dared venture outside of his room.

After a day well spent, Wooyoung readied for the evening. He picked out a comfortable nightgown from his new clothes that smelled wonderfully of roses and curled up in his soft bed with his book. It was a comfort unlike anything he could remember from the life he had lived. He almost felt bad relishing in it, especially since it came at the cost of being ignorant to the one who had invited him. Back at home, Yeosang was alone and scared while Wooyoung got to pretend that his identity back in the village wasn't who he truly was.

Wooyoung lost his train of thought at another knock on the door. In his mind, he was so distracted by his dilemma of homesickness and guilt that he forgot his allies in this house were by far not human-shaped enough to knock on a door. He slipped from his bed and opened it without a second thought, only to reel back when not a glowing orb, but a man made of shadows with a white mask greeted him.

"Beast," Wooyoung breathed in surprise. He steeled himself against another crude encounter.

However, the beast remained calmer than Wooyoung had seen him in the few days he had spent here.

"Your message reached me," he opened as Wooyoung stood dumbfounded.

"My message?"

"You told Hongjoong you do not accept my apology through him."

Wooyoung fidgeted. His arms hugged himself loosely as the coldness radiating off the monster in front of him seeped into the open V of his shirt where he had unbuttoned it partly. His chest shivered at the beast's chilly gaze.

He took a moment to gather his courage to reply. When he lifted his chin, the beast tilted his masked head to observe Wooyoung's reply as if he were an animal in a zoo. From up close, Wooyoung could tell the horns from the pointed ears below them, pierced with two dangling hoops each. The mask was decorated ornately by symmetrical carvings over the horns and the part that snugly cupped the shadowed nose to connect back to the centre piece under the beast's eyes. His mouth - or his version of it - was exposed, as only the upper half of his face was covered.

Wooyoung was curious why San wore it. He never put it down, but perhaps it signalled where his face was in the mass of black?

"That's right. I don't believe in the honesty of an apology given lightly. How would I know you are sincere if Hongjoong is the one to convey it to me?"

A low chuckle sounded from San's chest. It was an unexpected sound, though not unpleasant. It lightened the slithering crawl of his unnatural voice.

Wooyoung stood his ground when the masked shadow put a hand on the door frame by Wooyoung's side to lean in. The red flames of his eyes heated Wooyoung's stomach like a spark jumping over. His nervosity had him wrap his arms around himself tighter.

Compared to the beast's general aura and touch, those eyes were like molten iron, scorching Wooyoung's sensitive soul.

"What does my sincerity matter to you?"

"You wish to be loved," Wooyoung said. He continued before the shadows could spread in displeasure. "For the curse to break, you need someone to love you, and you need to love someone. You can't love without kindness. What you hoped to find in me, my ease to love, it comes from a heart full of adoration for other people. I understand their feelings, and I help them when they are hurt. That makes me so adoring."

The beast stared at Wooyoung as if he were a riddle that needed to be solved.

"You claim I do not have such empathy."

"You don't. If you did, you wouldn't even have thought of sending Hongjoong instead of apologising to me yourself. No matter if you are a prince with important duties to attend to."

Wooyoung dreaded the beast would yell at him and would throw another tantrum, but nothing like that happened. Instead, the beast's intrigue kept him docile.

"So, you decided to test me?"

With a gentle shake of his head, Wooyoung nodded his chin in the general direction of the castle.

"Hongjoong teaches you astronomy and literature, right? Then let me teach you how to understand a person. In the years here, you must have forgotten lots of it, and your servants are too loyal souls to have you learn. If you want to charm anyone outside of these walls, you must relearn how to."

Wooyoung said it with the utmost respect. He was aware of the insult behind his suggestion, but he hoped San's first step would be to acknowledge his shortcomings.

The beast considered him for a moment. Then, to Wooyoung's surprise, he nodded.

"I must admit to my curiosity. If I learn, I can understand what makes you so lovely to others, as well."

A relieved smile broke out over Wooyoung's lips. It lit up his face and, for the first time; he felt he was talking to a sentient person instead of some magical apparition in this castle.

"Very well. Then crank up that charm of yours, and I will guide you through the rest. I can also recommend a few good romance books in your library you can study." Wooyoung blushed at those words. It wasn't his intention to make San a prince worthy of a romance novel, but if he had the chance to, he would seize it. San would pass his curse with flying colours.

The beast laughed again, that pleasant sound. When he reached for Wooyoung's hand, Wooyoung reluctantly let him pull it from his cramped position. The beast's fingers in his were icy cold.

"In that case, I sincerely apologise for scaring you yesterday. I should have been more understanding of your confusion. Please accept my invitation to join me at breakfast in the morning." He tilted his head to press a chilly kiss to the back of Wooyoung's hand.

The boy's heart jumped in his chest when a breezy delight rushed through him. He had felt the touch of lips, smooth and plush, though they were cast in frigid smoke.

When San's mask lifted to look at him, Wooyoung felt he knew exactly what the blush on Wooyoung's cheeks meant and saw how his heart raced in his chest.

Shy, Wooyoung pulled away from him.

"You are forgiven. I will see you at breakfast for your first lesson."

The beast stepped back in satisfaction. As Wooyoung returned to his chamber, he couldn't help but clutch his hand over his tumultuous chest.