A Tiger Called Rapunzel ✓ || TaeGyu || HYBEPride 2021

The Hidden Tower

Taehyun rode onward with Brenna, eventually finding the main path that would take him to the town of Euphoria. But he stayed off the main path, knowing that the kingdom guards would find him if he stuck to it. Instead, he traveled along the path, under hill and dale, soon winding away from the path itself and finding him more in the range of a town he knew as Shinkisoku. The small town was home to the Naeil Kingdom's university and housed an extensive library. Taehyun knew the librarian; perhaps he could make a slight change of plans and Seokjin could let him stay there for the night.

He turned toward Shinkisoku and slowed his roll, making sure he could get there in one piece. Before long, he found himself in a thick wood, hills all around him. When it began to rain, Taehyun and Brenna found refuge under a cliff, which he found then tunneled into a clearing. It was a beautiful clearing, untouched, with high walls and wildflowers of all types on the grassy ground. The strangest part about the clearing was that there was a high tower, standing on its own, situated right on the edge where it could get the most sunlight.

"How peculiar," he whispered to himself, dismounting Brenna. The tower had several windows at the top, where it seemed like there might be a room, but there was no door on the ground to let anybody in. "Even more peculiar. I wonder if anything's here." He grinned, pulling out a set of knives. "Only one way to find out."

The tower was old enough that Taehyun could use the ledges in between bricks to climb, using the knives to stabilize himself. And the tower was tall; Taehyun knew that if he made one wrong move, he would fall and he would break his promise to Soobin. But if he could remember where this vacant tower was, he could possibly use it as a Magic Island outpost. The cliff had been so unassuming that Taehyun wouldn't have ever found this place, if not for his circumstances. It was a perfect hiding place.

He finally climbed up to one of the windows, pulling himself up and sheathing his knives. Then, he looked around. "Hello?"

The room at the top of the tower was one big room that seemed to hold everything one could want for living. There was a bed in the corner, an open sink that looked like it was in actual working order, an icebox for food, and other assorted accoutrements. A staircase looked like it led to a different level, above this first level. And from the looks of things, it seemed like this tower had been occupied relatively recently.

"Hello?" and then, "Is anybody here?" Even if this was somehow a trap, Taehyun knew he could defend himself. "I mean no harm, I'm just curious if anybody is here. It's awfully hard to get up here, you know."

"I'm here." And Taehyun watched as a lone figure descended from the upper level. It appeared to be a girl, with long blonde hair that reached all the way to the floor. She was wearing a plain purple dress, laced up the back, that looked older than dirt itself, faded in several places. When she hopped off the staircase, Taehyun noticed that she was barefoot, and that her bangs concealed her face.

A ghost? It certainly seemed like one.

"How did you get here?" And the girl pushed the hair out of her face, and for the first time in his life, Taehyun found himself speechless. This girl was beautiful, with high cheekbones and pretty brown eyes and lips that --

He shook himself out of his stupor. "Knives. I mean -- I climbed the tower, with knives."

"Well, I never get visitors. Mama says visitors are nasty and awful people who want to steal me away. But you're not a nasty person. If you were a nasty person, then you would have attacked me first."

"This is true..." Taehyun considered his options. There was this random girl -- okay, a random beautiful girl, which is odd, considering Taehyun has never once thought a girl was beautiful -- a random girl living in a tower with no doors, talking about stranger danger. "So you live here?"

"Yes."

"And -- how do you leave? There's no front door."

"Oh, I do not leave. The outside world is dangerous. I only leave with Mama, when she is able to watch over me."

"Oh, okay." Taehyun footed this information away in his head for future reference. It still didn't answer how she left. "Well, do you know who I am?"

The girl shook her head. "You are a stranger, but you are not attacking me, and Mama is not home to protect me. I must admit that I am very scared right now, but I am also curious."

Taehyun let go of the breath he had been holding. "Well, I know this probably doesn't sound like much, but you can trust me. My name is Taehyun. Can you pronounce that?"

"Taehyun." The girl smiled at Taehyun. He nearly died. And then: "My name is Cholongkkoch. Can you pronounce that?"

Taehyun rolled the sounds over in his mouth. "Cholongkkoch. How about Cho-yah?"

"Cho-yah is fine. Mama never calls me by my name. She calls me sweetie and dearie and most beautiful." There was something very odd about this Cholongkkoch, so Taehyun never stopped fully being on guard, but he wanted to know more.

"You said you were curious. What about?"

"Well, why are you in my tower?"

"I was traveling to Shinkisoku and it started to rain, so I hid in a cave. But the cave led me here, to this clearing, where your tower was. And it mystified me why there would be a tower with no doors. How do you leave? Does your mother come and visit? How does she enter?"

Cholongkkoch walked to the biggest window, her long blonde hair skirting the floor as she went. She took a rope from the wall and tied it to a huge metal ring there. "I put this rope out the window, and Mama climbs it up. I help her get up here, and she brings me food. But I'm not allowed to use the rope, because I'm too fat, and Mama says I'll break it and then I'll be stuck outside forever."

Taehyun figured that couldn't be it -- Cholongkkoch was skinny as a stick. "So you live in a tower all by yourself. And your Mama comes to visit you, and you never leave."

"It's not safe out there. But you're from the outside world. Is it as dangerous as people say it is?"

"It's certainly dangerous. But if you're smart, and you're kind, and you're strong, then you can certainly survive without too much trouble."

"Tell me about it." Cholongkkoch sat on the floor. "Please? Just a little bit?"

And Taehyun knew that he couldn't tell her about his money laundering missions, so he pretended he was just a normal person who lived within the gates of the palace. He was familiar enough with the area, he could pretend he was a courier for the King. And so he told Cholongkkoch about the gleaming roads within the palace, and the storefronts that carried every book imaginable, and the summer sunsets that cast shadows over the stones.

And then, "But you go to the Tiger Festival, don't you? Everybody's required to go to the Tiger Festival."

Cholongkkoch shook her head. "Mama gets us an exception every year. So we don't go. It's too dangerous."

"Suit yourself. The Tiger Festival is the most fun." Taehyun looked to the sky. "I should probably leave, if I'm going to hit Shinkisokou by nightfall."

"But please come back," Cholongkkoch asked, "someday. And tell me more about the palace?"

Taehyun laughed. What a sheltered girl! "I think I can do that."

--

Asterhythm: In case anybody's wondering where Cholongkkoch's name came from! The leaves of the bellfower are called rapunzel and are eaten in European countries. This is why people say Rapunzel is named after lettuce. Cholongkkoch sog refers to both the flower and the leaves. Sog is just saying it's a flower or a live plant. As for why Cholongkkoch is named this, I'm sure her mother has her reasons...