A Somewhat Different Fairy Tale

{ K i m K i b u m }

"Cin"

The young boy turned around to see who was calling him. Yes, Cin was how everyone called him. Not because it was his name, but because it was an abbreviation for Cinderella, the boy that was always covered in cinders. His real name – which almost everyone had seemed to forget – was Kibum, Kim Kibum.

He was the only son of Kim Jung Nam, the richest man in the county, and his beautiful wife Kim Gwiboon who died six years ago. They used to be the happiest family in the kingdom, but after her death, everything had changed. Jung Nam had tried his best to raise Kibum on his own, but one day he realized his child needed a mother. That was why he decided to marry again, in order to let his child grow up with both father and mother. Yet, something seemed to go very wrong. Shortly after the wedding, he suddenly became too busy with his work and was barely home, leaving Kibum with his new "family" alone.

"Jia," Kibum said. "what are you cooking today?"
Jia was a younger friend of Kibum. Sometimes, he met her at the morning market, sometimes not. It was depended on what his stepmother wanted to eat for the day, since he only met Jia when he was buying vegetables, because Jia's family was vegetarian.

"I'm not sure yet, what do you think?" The girl asked. In contrast to her who could choose whatever she wanted, Kibum always had to cook what his mother, wait, sorry, stepmother wanted to eat that day. Since whenever he didn't obey her, he would get into trouble, no matter what it was - cooking the wrong dishes or preparing the wrong dress for her or even just looking at her when she was in a bad mood.

"I don't know, maybe Ratatouille?" suggested Kibum.
"Yes, that's a good idea, thank you, Cin." Jia said. "Have you heard anything about the ball yet?"

"What ball?" Kibum asked curiously. In this town which was next to the castle, every piece of news from the King's family didn't need a long time until everyone knew about it.

"The Prince is inviting every young noble and their parents to a ball in order to choose his wife from amongst them. You're so lucky, Cin. You can go there. I bet the prince will choose you."

"What are you talking about? He is a prince and I am... just Cinderella" Kibum said, looking down.

"Oh, sweetheart, don't you know how pretty you are? You're gonna be most beautiful one at the ball and that's for sure." Jia said, grabbing Kibum's hand, holing it tightly. "Promise me, you will go to the ball."

"I promise," replied Kibum. At that the girl smiled and told Kibum goodbye, before going home.

Kibum stopped walking and stood before his family's mansion, looking at the same house in which he had been happy with his dad and mom. It still looked the same from the outside, but inside, everything had changed. His mom was no longer there, his dad was never home and now strangers were living in his house, making him a servant. Life was anything but fair. There were so many times he wanted to tell his dad about his stepmother. Yet, he couldn't. He didn't want to bother his father, since the old man was too busy and was barely home. That was why Kibum wanted his father to feel comfortable when he was here, because if this wasn't a home for Kibum anymore, at least it should stay his dad's home. Besides, his father only married his stepmother, Go Hyun Jung, because of Kibum after all.

"What the hell are you doing outside, Cinderella? The foods isn't going to start cooking on their own."
Kibum heard his stepmother cry loudly. This awful woman seemed to love yelling. If his father wasn't home sometimes, Kibum would undoubtedly forget how her voice sounded like when she wasn't yelling.

"I'm coming, mother," Kibum answered, running inside the house. "I'm sorry, I'll cook the noodles now."

"Noodles? Who said I wanted noodles? Are you doing what you want now, Cinderella?" The woman cried again, causing Kibum to flinch at her sudden outburst.

"But Sulli said you wanted noodles for today," said the young boy.

"He lied, mother. I told him that you want to eat fish today." A young girl said, walking down the stairway together with a boy who looked exactly like her.

"That is not true. Sulli, you didn't tell me that." Kibum argued, trying to hold back his anger. Once again he was tricked by his stepsister. As if his stepmother wasn't enough, there was also his stepsister making Kibum's life a living hell.

"Taemin," Kibum turned to the other boy -his stepbrother- asking for help. "You were here this morning too. Please tell mother I'm not lying."
At that Taemin didn't even look at Kibum. He simply went upstairs again, ignoring his stepbrother.

"Mother, I'll be in my room, preparing for the ball," said Taemin as he left the rest behind.
A smirk appeared on Sulli's face. She knew she won. She always won.

"Go to the market again and pray there are still fresh fish or you're not eating anything today." The stepmother said coldly. Then she turned to her daughter, smiling.

"You, honey, should prepare for the ball too."

"I'm already done with it, mother. I've been waiting for this day my whole life after all." Sulli answered proudly.

"That's my child. I'm so proud of you." Hyun Jung said.

"Mother, may I go to the ball too?" Kibum asked hopefully. He knew she would never let him go, but it's worth a try. He wanted to go to the castle. No, he needed to go to the castle.

"You? At the ball? That was a joke, right?" Sulli laughed at the poor boy.

"Cinderella, go to the market first. We'll talk about it later." The woman said calmly.
Kibum nodded and left the house in disappointment.

"Mother," Sulli cried. "You're not really letting him go, are you?"
By that her mother laughed loudly, stroking her hair.

"Of course not, sweetie. Never in this life is he going to see the castle again. Never."
Standing behind the front door, Kibum was listening to the small conversation between Sulli and Hyun Jung.

"I swear I'm going to the castle, no matter what it'll cost. I'm not wasting this heaven sent chance." Kibum murmured as a smirk appeared on his face.

Meanwhile, at the castle, the King was visiting his son, Prince Jonghyun, who was busy doing the last preparations for the ball.

"I'm so happy you finally think of marrying a wife, my son." The King said.

"So am I." Jonghyun replied, faking a smile. "But please excuse me, father. There is a lot of work I need to finish before the ball."

"Of course, son, go. Don't let this old man detain you. I'll see you tonight, hopefully together with my future daughter in law."

"Thank you for understanding, father." Jonghyun said, bowing, before leaving the room.

The prince walked along the hallway, but stopped as he heard a familiar voice.

"Are you really giving a ball to find your future wife?"

"Minho," Jonghyun said. It was his best friend, Choi Minho who was also the knight he trusted the most.

"You should know me well enough to say that I'm not interested in finding a wife. Besides, you know the real reason for this annoying ball."

"Yeah, I know and you're a genius. This is a really good plan." Minho commended his prince.

"And it had better work. I'll go crazy if all these preparations were for nothing." The prince said. "Speaking of work, where were you the whole day? I was looking for you." Jonghyun asked.

"I visited someone for you, remember?" Minho answered.

"Oh right, I'm sorry. I have been to stressed lately. How is Onew doing?" Jonghyun asked worriedly.

"I'm not sure, but he seems to be too calm. I'm worried about him." Minho sighed.

"Don't be. I'm going to get him out of there. I promise. I'm not letting him die." Jonghyun told his friend with conviction.

[A/N] I know the first chapter is boring, but I need to introduce the characters, so yeah. Please be patient, I promise the next chapter will be more exciting.
PS: Please subcribe and comment^^. I'd love to know what you think about the start.
^^ Love u