'Oh no… please no,' he turned to the animal who was getting closer to him, as if stalking his prey.
"Ahhhhh!" He screamed out running like his life depended on it. He had no idea where he was going, but he had to keep running. Head turned to look behind him, he saw the animal nearing him like it was a game!
"Help! Help!" He cried out, but soon bumped into a hard surface.
His head bounced against it, but he felt a hand pressed the back of his head. Face pressed against warm partially covered chest; he found his breath calming down.
"Snow," the Ghost King spoke up and he felt the vibration, heard the calmness.
"Rar…" the beast sounded sad and walked away with his head hung low.
He heard the steps fade away and he waited for the hand to let go of his head, but it stayed like a solid pole.
"Um…" he started unsure, "… thanks."
The hand slowly removed from his head and he leaned back, to see those silver eyes looking at his face down his body.
'Is he… checking me out?!' He felt the tip of his ears heat up.
"Have the ladies dress you up for dinner," Ghost King said and looked off to the side, "He only wishes to play with you. He will not harm you."
"Are you sure?" Bai Lan quickly said, "The stories… they say otherwise."
"Stories," The handsome man said amused, "Tell them at dinner. I wish to hear them."
"Oh, I got lots!" He nodded with a sense of conviction to feel fingers touching his chin.
"Then I shall wait for them all," breath ghosted his face before lips pressed softly against his forehead.
'So familiar… and this smell… the smell of plum trees and wood…'
His own eyes closed on its own and when he opened them, the touch was gone. He was standing there on his own, but the place where lips touched tingled and sizzled all the way to dinner.
The females lived in the same room. It was large and spacious, big enough for four rooms combined. Scrolls, drawings, intricate fabrics and cloths laid in their spaces. Beds adorned in gold embellishments were pushed together to form a large bed.
"Let's have our lady wear this," the one with blue hair held up a green robe with patterns of gold lotuses.
"Oh, yes! It brings out her eyes," the brown haired one nodded.
"Then let's use this hair pin," the blue haired female held up a golden pin with five hanging small jewels.
"Yes, let's start."
Bai Lan had not seen himself since he had somehow taken over this body. All he kept hearing was that he was too pretty to be a boy and looking at himself now with makeup, platinum blonde hair twisted perfectly in place, he couldn't help but agree.
He looked a lot like a woman with his doe like emerald eyes and petite nose. Even his lips were full and plumped. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he looked away guiltily. Whoever this body was before… must have had a hard time convincing people his entire life.
He tried for a few hours and got kicked, slapped, and his hair pulled.
"Our king would be so happy," the blue haired female nodded proud.
"He is already waiting," the brunette laughed, "Let us join him."
Bai Lan followed them out of the room and passed the courtyard to the other side. He wondered why there were so many rooms and why were they empty? Why was this place so large? Who were these ladies and… were they really here to satisfy the Ghost King's appetite?
'Shameless!' He screamed at himself gritting his teeth.
There was a small part of him screaming loudly, possessive with the king. Ignoring it, Bai Lan swallowed as he held himself together. He told himself that he had to tell the Ghost King the truth. It was only a matter of time when the man would find out he was a man and not a woman. Yet, those thoughts faded away when his green eyes took in the beauty that was his king.
'Mine.'
He blanked his face trying to ignore that small voice, but he felt like the entire world just stopped. The light breeze flowed, pulling the dark strands of the man's hair to dance with it. He had earrings this time that hung down his shoulder where the ends had feathers dangling. His robe revealed his mid chest and that made Bai Lan's teeth ache.
"My king," the females greeted together as they went to sit in their designated spots.
The Ghost King's eyes turned to his and the cup in his hand stopped from lifting. He felt anxious standing alone to those scrutinizing eyes. Forcing his shaky legs closer to the man, he bowed with his head lowered.
"My king," he greeted and he heard one of the girls gasped.
'Did… did I say something wrong? Did I messed up again?!' He frowned.
"Sit beside me," the hand gently pulled him down and he felt his cheeks flushed.
"Where is Ah Yun?" The one with brown hair questioned.
'Another woman…' he thought with a frown, '… a handsome man with a group of pretty girls… definitely a harem.'
"I am here," the voice of another female spoke up and he aimed his green eyes at the newcomer.
Hair white like the clouds and eyes a deep purple stared at him. There were three dots aligned with one another on her forehead and he wondered what that meant. Her robe was plain compared to everyone else. The gray robe did not dull her beauty as she sat with her half her hair pulled up into a bun.
"You must be the new wife," she stated beginning to pour tea for everyone, and refilled the Ghost King's cup.
"It is nice to meet you," he greeted remembering to pitch his voice.
The white-haired female blinked at him and glanced at the king to receive nothing.
"My name is Yun," the white-haired woman nodded, "You must have a lot of questions."
"Yes!" He answered quickly before listing those questions, "What do you do? What do they do? Why is he called the Ghost King? Why is there no one else around? Why did those people in gold bring me here? Why were they so scared of him? Why do you have that beast? Do ghost really live here? Were you all offered so he doesn't kill people? Are you all his servants? Who are your parents? What am I doing here and why am I not dead yet? What do you want from me? How-"
Fingers covered his lips and he stared at the owner of them, who wore an amused smile on his lips. Blinking as he calmed down, he didn't realize he just spewed out a bunch of questions. Pulling back and clearing his throat, he felt his cheeks flushed.
"My apologies," he covered his lips with his sleeve because… that's what women do here, right?
"Wow," the blue haired girl let out, "Some of those questions… don't you already know?"
"No, I am afraid all I know are rumors and stories," he offered an apologetic smile.
The females glanced at one another before they looked at their king, who nodded for them to divulge the poor sap the answers.
"My name is Chu," the one with blue hair said, "these are my sisters: Hein," the brunette, "and Yun."
"We've lived with our king for many years now and help him with everything from cleaning, cooking, and bathing," Hien explained, "Many of what you see here and experience are from our king's own power."
"Yeah, normally it is very cold and snows every day," Hein added, "With this constant spring weather, not only do we enjoy it, but the sectors also benefit from it."
"How? And… what are the other sectors?" He questioned to receive confused stares.
"How does someone who live here not know about this?" Chu frowned, "Did they beat you so hard you lost memories?"
"Yes," he immediately nodded, 'What a perfect excuse!'
"We have a library where you can read about it," Yun offered, "As for how it is beneficial, it wards away the ghost at night."
"What do you mean?" He questioned glancing at the male who was staring at him the whole time. Ignoring the heat against his face, he turned back to the white-haired female.
"With his energy surrounding this entire village and palace, the ghosts are restricted here," Yun stated.
"Like… a barrier," Bai Lan found himself saying sliding his green eyes to silver ones, "You must be… very strong."
He saw the small curl of those pretty lips and his own mimicked it.
'Handsome and strong… every person's eye candy,' he found himself thinking.
'My husband,' the inner voice stated and he found himself flushing, remembering that he was offered as the handsome man's wife.