Betrothed to the Cold Prince || Taehyung Fanfic || ROYAL AU

Chapter 5:: Hidden Smiles

Taehyung noticed it and said, "Pretend you never left."
"Sure."

Your mother, upon seeing you, approached you and asked, "Where had you been?"
"Uh... just roaming around."
"Come on. Stay close." She said as you nodded. Taehyung smiled a little when he stood in the corner alone.
"Fake smiling is useless either way."
He muttered noticing the people around faking smiles at each other. Really... useless.

—Next day

"Prince Taehyung. Invite Y/N to breakfast someday, okay? You shall get to know her better through often meetings." The Queen suggested as Taehyung hummed, continuing his art. The Queen looked at it and smiled, "You still have the greatest art skills."
He smiled a little at his mother. Her face formed the happiest grin seeing Taehyung's smile after so long.
"You rarely smile... but when you do, it lightens up the entire room, son." She said, caressing his cheeks which cleared his throat.
"Smiling isn't that necessary."

"Of course it is. You should smile more often... you'll look so much more approachable." She said as Taehyung looked at her, past night's events flashing in his mind. You said the same things to him. He realized you never saw him smile. What would you say if you did? He wondered.
But again, why was he wondering that? He tried to shrug off it all and sighed.

—Time skip

"Mina... I swear." You sighed as your best friend blinked at you with her emerald eyes. You noticed how shiny her pupils were as she spoke, "He never smiles... what's with him? Most importantly, he was like... this close to kissing your ear. Are you both close?!"
"No.. I mean, he was telling me not to be anxious."
"He seems cold.. is he arrogant or something?"
"Not really... just.. introverted. And unbothered too." You said, shrugging.

After talking to her for a lot of hours about your everyday lives and sharing gossip, you were on your way back home when you suddenly got a call.
You frowned seeing that it was from Taehyung. You were wearing a mask in public now. Because people would recognize you.

You kind of hated this.

Nevertheless, you picked up and heard his deep voice, "Hello."
"Hey.." You replied.
"So, are you free tomorrow morning?"
"Why?"
"Mother wants me to ask you for breakfast."
"Oh, is it the Queen or you?"
"The Queen, of course. Why would I invite you for breakfast?" He asked as you sighed.
"Right, okay. Well, that was just a question. I'm free, no worries. When should I come?"
"8 am."
"That early?"
"Yes. We serve breakfast at 7:30."

You sighed and hummed, "Alright early birds. I'll come timely. Thanks for the quick invitation.."
He hummed as a car honked near you.
"Are you outside?" He asked.
"Yeah... uhh, going home."
"Where did you go?" His question wasn't a very strange one but not exactly like him either. It made you wonder a bit. But you answered him anyway, "My best friend's house..."
"Oh." He replied.
"Her name's Mina. You might see her soon if she comes to Korea." You spoke.

He hummed.
"What are you doing then?"
"Nothing... just working on something." He said staring at his art piece which was not visible to you as you both were on call.
"Are you done working then?"
"Not really... Mother interrupted me so I thought I should inform you early."
"That's thoughtful. Thanks."
"Yeah."

You heard him clearing his throat as he asked, "So, where are you?"
"West Bailey Road right now..."
"You're near the palace." He spoke. You hummed, walking while looking around. You didn't realize when you accidentally bumped into a girl, causing you to let out a hiss.
"Sorry." You said immediately, helping the woman up.
"Are you okay?" You heard Taehyung ask from the other side but before you could answer, the woman in front of you gasped, staring at you. You were wearing a mask... no way she recognized you, right?
But she did.

"Oh my god! The soon-to-be princess of Korea! Aren't you Min Y/N?!" She asked in a loud voice causing some public attention. You bit your bottom lip, "Uh, no... I'm sure you've got the wrong person."
"Hey." You heard the deep voice from the other side but your phone was on your side now as the public approached. You came out alone, without any security. You were now, in the middle of an unknown crowd, the centre of attention.
You tried to walk away but cameras were all in your direction. You gulped, breathing heavily.
"Excuse me-" You tried to push past the crowd but people didn't move. They kept shouting, calling your name and asking questions, clicking pictures.

"Leave me alone." You whispered, looking down. You pushed past some people, trying to run away but they kept following. By this time, a few reporters were also approaching. How did they approach at the speed of light? This was so unsettling.
While trying to run away, a kid came in between as you stopped.
"Excuse me, kid... please move." You asked in a polite voice as the kid started crying. What was this now?
"Did she make the kid cry? What did she say?!" A voice spoke as you looked at them. The crowd was increasing and you felt stuck.

Did they not know how to respect one's privacy? Were you an animal at the zoo enjoyed by thousands of people around? Even animals at the zoo deserved their own privacy and freedom.
"Move!" You said but no one paid heed. You felt tears brimming in your eyes as you stood there, feeling like a trapped monument. But suddenly, a loud car honk was heard diverting the attention of the crowd.

It was a luxurious black SUV. The door of the backseat opened, revealing a clean and polished black leather shoe. Everyone stared in the direction of the SUV, some people still bothering you. Your eyes widened when you saw Taehyung exiting the car, striding towards you with full force. He pushed past the crowd, glaring at any reporters who said anything outrageous.
He took off his coat, putting it on you, "You should call the police next."
You were too shocked to say a thing as he held your shoulders, guiding you back. A few guards followed him, getting rid of the crowd. Taehyung didn't look back once, he kept walking as you stared at his side profile.
He looked at you, "You're dumb."
"What?" You asked, your voice almost inaudible.

He helped you sit inside the car and sat beside you, slamming the door shut.
"Drive to the palace now." He said as the chauffeur nodded, driving away.
"They.." You whispered as he heaved out a heavy breath, "are nothing to worry about. If this happens again, just push past them. Being rude to them does nothing to you. After all, their rumours will not decrease your money."
You stayed quiet for a moment, rubbing your palms together. The moments that happened just now flashed in your mind. New articles would be published, more drama would happen.

But all that you could think about right now was how he glared at everyone, saving you from them without paying any attention to the public. His reputation was even worse now than before, wasn't it?
You had read articles about it. While Jungkook was the smiling sunshine of the country, he was just an arrogant prince who never bothered to smile at people.

You looked down, "But it'd harm your reputation..."
"So what?"
You looked at him, "People will hate you more now. They'll get more reasons to."
"They don't get reasons. They make reasons. I don't care about the public, not like they ever appreciated me anyway."

You looked at him staring outside the window. A thought appeared in your mind, 'He's used to being hated by the public.'
The more you thought about it, the more it appeared that... rather than being unbothered, he was just used to it. So used to it that he didn't bother anymore. Nor did he care.
But what was the reason? You wondered.

Has everything happened because he's like this, or, is he like this because of everything that has happened?